Geology Commons^™

Debris-Flow Activity In Canyon Of Lodore, Colorado: Implications For Debris-Fan Formation And Evolution, Jennifer A. Martin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Large-scale characteristics of Ladore Canyon debris fans are dependent upon the bedrock and lithology of the mainstem and tributary canyons. The largest fans occur in the widest section of the mainstem canyon, which typically correlates with the location of large faults. The steepest fans are found at the mouths of tributaries where cliffs are formed by resistant lithologies. Smaller-scale fan characteristics are dependent upon the magnitude and frequency of events from the respective drainage basin, which is controlled primarily by climate. Three distinct deposit ages (oldest, intermediate, youngest) were distinguished on individual fans and were tentatively correlated throughout the canyon …

The Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation In The Drum Mountains Of West Central Utah, Loren P. Schneider

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The majority of the Middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation in the Drum Mountains was deposited during a single 3^rd order sequence. Superimposed onto this sequence are three indistinct 4^th order cycles and twenty distinct 5^th order cycles. These higher order cycles were likely deposited within short intervals of geologic time (204 to 405 ky).

The lower sequence boundary zone occurs within the Swasey Formation. The Transgressive Surface is the contact between the Swasey and Wheeler Formations. The Maximum Flooding Surface is located near the top of the lower Wheeler Formation, which also approximates the base of the Ptychagnostus …

Holocene Tephrostratigraphy, Southern Kenai Peninsula, Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, Kathleen J. Lemke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis describes the results of a study of 33 tephra layers found within two peat sections near Anchor Point and Homer, Alaska, on the lower Kenai Peninsula. Numerous lower Cook Inlet volcanoes have been active through the Holocene. Tephra layers found at these two sites provide a partial record of their eruptive activity. The hazards that accompany this activity have increased as populations and commercial activities expand and air traffic over the region increases. The tephras analyzed for this study provide an initial geochemical database for the lower Cook Inlet volcanoes. The database is available in electronic format at …

Late Quaternary Glacier Fluctuations And Vegetation Change In The Northwestern Ahklun Mountains, Southwestern Alaska, Yarrow L. Axford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research examines moraine and lacustrine records of glacier fluctuations, in combination with palynological records of vegetation change, from the previously unstudied northwestern Ahklun Mountains in southwestern Alaska.

Moraine mapping reveals that ice-cap outlet glaciers in the study area extended ca. 60 km from the center of the Ahklun Mountians ice dome during the early Wisconsin (sensu lato), and ca. 40 km during the late Wisconsin. Correlations with well-studied moraines in the southern Ahklun Mountains indicate an asymmetry of glaciation over the range, with ice-cap outlet glaciers more extensive to the south. This asymmetry was more striking during …

Type Locality For The Great Blue Limestone In The Bingham Nappe, Oquirrh Mountains, Utah, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The Great Blue Limestone was named originally by Spurr (1895) from exposures near the Mercur mining district in the Oquirrh Mountains, Utah. The formation was described in greater detail by Gilluly (1932) in the Ophir mining district. Neither formally established a type locality for this formation in the Oquirrh Mountains. However, the formation has since been correlated broadly with similar sedimentary rocks elsewhere in the adjoining Rocky Mountains and Great Basin regions. For the record, and to assist future correlations, a type measured section of the Great Blue Limestone in the Oquirrh Mountains is located, described, and a detailed measured …

Geologic Map Of The Lima 30' X 60' Quadrangle, Southwest Montana, J. D. Lonn, B. Skipp, E. T. Ruppel, Susanne U. Janecke, W. J. Perry, J. W. Sears, M. J. Bartholomew, M. C. Stickney, W. J. Fritz, H. A. Hurlow, R. C. Thomas

Geosciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sequence Stratigraphy And Paleoecology Of The Middle Cambrian Spence Shale Member Of The Langston Formation Of Northeastern Utah And Southeastern Idaho, Scott H. Wright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Middle Cambrian Spence Shale Member contains meter-scale, shallowing-up cycles (parasequences) and record approximately 360 ky of deposition. These meter-scale cycles are nested within transgressive systems tracts (TST) and highstand systems tracts (HST) which reflect different stages of a lower-order, higher-magnitude sea-level excursion.

Fossil assemblages are located in stratigraphic positions within the Spence Shale Member that can be predicted on the basis of sequence architecture. The cycle architecture, taphonomy, and geochemistry of the Spence parasequences confirm synthetic sections and theoretical models of meter-scale cycles developed in other studies. Delineation of meter-scale cycles, based on taphonomic and sedimentologic criteria, allows high-resolution …

Tertiary Stratigraphy And Structural Geology, Wellsville Mountains To Junction Hills, North-Central Utah, Kathryn M. Goessel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study integrates detailed mapping of Tertiary deposits along the divide between the lower Bear River basin and the Cache Valley basin with several other techniques to generate a depositional model, define extension-related structures, and compile a geologic history for this part of the northeastern Basin and Range province. The study area is situated along the topographic divide between Box Elder and Cache Counties, Utah, from the Wellsville Mountains north almost to Clarkston Mountain. These ranges are cored by folded and thrusted Paleozoic rocks. They are bound on the west by normal faults of the Wasatch fault zone and on …

Chemical And Hydrostratigraphic Characterization Of Ground Water And Surface Water Interactions In Cache Valley, Utah, J. Mike Robinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A series of five east-west and two north-south hydrostratigraphic cross sections were drawn from drillers' logs of water wells within the southern half of Cache Valley, Utah. These cross-sections demonstrate that ground water flow to streams is restricted by a continuous low- II permeability layer, nearly 100-feet thick. This layer was correlated to the lake-bottom deposits of the Bonneville (30,000 -13,000 years ago) and Little Valley (140,000 - 90,000 years ago) cycles of the ancient Lake Bonneville.

The most productive aquifers in the valley, collectively termed the principal aquifer , are in the southeast corner , approximately between Smithfield and …

Cenozoic Structural And Stratigraphic Evolution Of The Southeastern Salmon Basin, East-Central Idaho, James J. Blankenau

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The southeastern Salmon basin (SB) of east-central Idaho is a complex east-dipping half graben containing four unconformity-bounded sequences of Tertiary volcanic, alluvial fan, lacustrine, and fluvial deposits. From oldest to youngest these are the Challis volcanic group, sedimentary rocks of Tendoy (new name), sedimentary rocks of Sacajaweja (new name), and Quaternary-Tertiary deposits . The thick sequence of volcanic rocks was deposited in a southeast-trending paleovalley . New mapping, cross-cutting relationships, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations, and angular unconformities show that the SB has experienced at least four episodes of extension, and that it lies in the core of an …

Geology Of The Oquirrh Mountains, Utah, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The Oquirrh Mountains are located in north-central Utah, immediately south of the Great Salt Lake, in the easternmost part of the Basin and Range physiographic province. The range consists of northerly-trending aligned peaks 56 kilometers long flanked on the west by Tooele and Rush Valleys and on the east by Jordan and Cedar Valleys. The range hosts several of the more prominent base- and precious-metal and desseminated-gold mining areas in the western United States. The 130-year old Bingham porphyry copper mining district, which is of world-class magnitude in the central part of the range, is still active. The Mercur mining …

A Case For Site Acclimation In The Reintroduction Of The Endangered Razorback Sucker (Xyrauchen Texanus), United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Two site-acclimation studies (Mueller and Marsh 1998, Foster and Mueller 1999) were conducted in 1997 and 1998. The primary emphasis was habitat use and dispersal but we also examined if the rapid dispersal, typically associated with hatchery-produced razorback suckers (suckers), could be mitigated by allowing fish a period of time to recover from stocking-induced stress. Findings of those studies and existing physiological literature suggest that current stocking protocols may subject stocked fish to unnecessary behavioral or physiological stress that could impact performance and ultimately survival. This report presents those findings and recommends an evaluation of existing stocking procedures for the …

Description Of The Pelagic Zooplankton And Fish Communities Of Lakes Powell And Mead, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Fishery biologists from Arizona, Nevada, and Utah have been faced with the imposing dilemma of monitoring the pelagic fishery of Lakes Powell and Mead. Standard sampling procedures typically used to monitor shoreline fisheries are simply inadequate for the deep volumes of pelagic habitat found in these two reservoirs. Nearly a decade ago, Arizona and Nevada biologists recommended that hydroacoustics be used to monitor these communities (Persons and Dreyer 1987a,b, NDOW 1994). However, for various reasons an acoustical monitoring program was never fully implemented. This study represents the first attempt to describe the pelagic fishery of either reservoir using acoustic technology.

Stratigraphy And Tectonics Of Tertiary Strata Of Southern Cache Valley, North-Central Utah, R. Q. Oaks Jr., K. A. Smith, Susanne U. Janecke, M. E. Perkins, W. P. Nash

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Southern Cache Valley occupies one of several large north-trending valleys in the northeastern part of the Basin and Range Province. It lies between the Wellsville Mountains in the west and the Bear River Range in the east. Paleozoic rocks exposed in the two mountain ranges dip easterly adjacent to the north part of the study area and in a narrow horst along the valley center in the south, but curve to a northerly dip in the southwest. A complex depositional and tectonic evolution of Tertiary strata in southern Cache Valley was determined in this study. Detailed photogeologic and field mapping, …

Folded And Faulted Salt Lake Formation Above The Miocene To Pliocene New Canyon And Clifton Detachment Faults, Malad And Bannock Ranges, Idaho: Field Trip Guide To The Deep Creek Half Graben And Environs, Susanne U. Janecke, J. C. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Previous studies identified a major detachment terrane in southeast Idaho in the Oxford Ridge area of the Bannock Range. This study shows that these top-to-the-WSW detachment faults are late Cenozoic in age, not Mesozoic to early Tertiary as previously inferred. Provenance and facies patterns in the Miocene-Pliocene Salt Lake Formation in the Deep Creek supradetachment basin show that deposition was syntectonic to slip on the detachment faults. The highly extended Bannock detachment terrane likely persists north to the Snake River Plain and south into Utah. The breakaway for this system lies in the Portneuf Range to the east. At least …

Quaternary Amino Acid Geochronology Of The Lahontan Basin, Nevada, And The Chewaucan Basin, Oregon, Jeffrey Bigelow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Amino acid geochronology based on fossil molluscs provides a useful approach to determining the Quaternary history of Great Basin lakes. The Lahontan basin, Nevada, and the Chewaucan basin, Oregon, in the northwest corner of the Great Basin, both contained lakes during the Quaternary. The aim of this study is to improve the Quaternary geochronology in these two basins by measuring time-dependent changes in amino acids preserved in fossil molluscan shells. The abundance of D-alloisoleucine relative to Lisoleucine (All) characterizes the extent of racemization, which increases with age and Ul forms the basis of relative and correlated ages. An age-calibration curve …

A Preliminary Analysis Of The Fluid History Of A Normal Fault In The Keno Pit, Alligator Ridge Mining District, White Pine County, Nevada, John G. Solum

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The flow of oil along faults is only poorly understood. In many cases a fault is the only means of transportation for the oil from its area of deposition to its current location. This assumption is reasonable due to chemical fingerprinting of oil. In some cases the oil in a reservoir and the oil in a fault zone have been analyzed chemically and found to be the same. The problem is this; early in a fault's history it produces a thin layer of fine-grained material between its fault surfaces. This condition is not conductive to fluid flow. Therefore another mechanism …

Small Strike-Slip Faults In Granitic Rock: Implications For Three-Dimensional Models, Siang Joo Lim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The geometry and mineralization features of small left-lateral strike-slip faults and associated fractures in Lake Edison Granodiorite of the central Sierra Nevada, California, were examined in order to model the three-dimensional structure of strike-slip faults. These faults, which are reactivated joints, were also examined to determine fault sizes, starting joint size, and evidence for fluid flow.

The associated secondary fractures are usually found in the dilational quadrants of fault-tip regions. The longest fault-segment trace is 32.14 m; the longest joint trace is 22 m. The joint population length (l) is represented by a power-law distribution (l^{-n …}

Three-Dimensional Structure Of Small Strike-Slip Fault Zones In Granitic Rock: Implications For Fault-Growth Models, Kim R. Robeson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three small strike-slip fault zones exposed in granitic rock in the central Sierra Nevada, California, provide field-based data to construct three-dimensional representations of each fault zone in order to compare with the geometries predicted by existing fault-growth models. All three fault zones are nearly vertical, strike -N60°E, and have left-lateral slip. The fault zones range from 60 to 140 m in length and 1 to 12 m wide. Each fault zone consists primarily of parallel to subparallel fracture and fault traces 2 to 56 m long and is separated 25 cm to 7 m by intact rock. One fault zone …

Late Pleistocene Glacial Chronology Of The Western Ahklun Mountains, Southwestern Alaska, Jason P. Briner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

New glacial mapping and 35 cosmogenic ³⁶Cl surface exposure ages, the first ever reported from Alaska, constrain the extent and timing of late Pleistocene glacial fluctuations in the western Ahklun Mountains, southwestern Alaska. Morphometric and soil relative-age data characterize two main drift units deposited during the Arolik Lake and Klak Creek glaciations, named herein. During the Arolik Lake glaciation (early Wisconsin), outlet glaciers emanated from an ice cap over the central portion of the Ahklun Mountains and deposited moraines at or beyond the modern coast. These moraines have slope angles averaging about 11° and crests averaging about 35 m …

Selected Hydrologic Data For The Central Virgin River Basin Area, Washington And Iron Counties, Utah 1915-97, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Hydrologic data were collected in Washington and Iron Counties, Utah, from 1995 to 1997 to better understand the hydrologic system. Data from earlier years also are presented. Data collected from wells include well-completion data, water-level measurements, and physical properties of the water. Data collected from springs and surface-water sites include discharge and physical properties of the water. Selected water samples collected from ground- and surface-water sites were analyzed for isotopes, chlorofluorocarbons and dissolved gases.

Post-Stocking Dispersal Habitat Use, And Behavioral Acclimation Of Juvenile Razorback Suckers (Xyrauchen Texanus) In Two Colorado River Reservoirs, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Information pertaining to post-stocking dispersal and habitat use of endangered razorback sucker (Xyrauchen Texanus) is primarily limited to the adult life stage. Radio or sonic transmitters are normally surgically implanted in the fish's abdominal cavity.

Stratigraphy, Geochronology, And Tectonics Of The Salt Lake Formation (Tertiary) Of Southern Cache Valley, Utah, Kristine A. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study synthesizes the deposition and tectonic evolution of the Tertiary deposits in southern Cache Valley, a narrow, north-trending valley in the northeastern Basin-and- Range Province. The surrounding mountains consist of Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Southern Cache Valley is an east-tilted half-graben. The oldest Tertiary sediments are on the west side of the basin, and the overall dip is to the east.

The Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Salt Lake Formation (Tsl) accumulated above the thin (to absent) Early to Middle Eocene Wasatch Formation (Tw) and the newly identified Fowkes and Norwood Tuff equivalents (Tfn; late Middle Eocene to …

Geomorphology Of The Green River In Dinosaur National Monument, Paul E. Grams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Longitudinal profile, channel cross-section geometry, and depositional patterns of the Green River in its course through the eastern Uinta Mountains are each strongly influenced by river-level geology and tributary sediment delivery processes. We surveyed channel cross sections at 1-km intervals, mapped surficial geology, and measured size and characteristics of bed material in order to evaluate the geomorphic organization of the 70- km study reach. Canyon reaches that are of high gradient and narrow channel geometry are associated with the most resistant lithologies exposed at river level and the most frequent occurrences of tributary debris fans. Meandering reaches that are characterized …

Geochemical, Petrologic, And Structural Characterization At Multiple Scales Of Deformation Associated With The Punchbowl Fault, Southern California, Steven E. Schulz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three traverses across the exhumed trace of the Punchbowl fault zone in the Pelona Schist, southern California, were examined at the millimeter to kilometer scales to determine the morphology, deformation mechanisms, and geochemistry of the fault zone in schistose rocks. The Pelona Schist is predominantly a quartz-albite-muscovite-actinolite schist with associated minor metabasalts. The Punchbowl fault zone, which is exhumed 2-4 km, has 44 km of right lateral slip, and is composed of a fault core enveloped by a damaged zone.

The fault core is a region of extreme slip localization that records most fault displacement. Deformation in the fault core …

Quaternary Bear River Paleohydrogeography Reconstructed From The 87sr/86sr Composition Of Lacustrine Fossils, David P. Bouchard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Diverted from its former course to the Pacific Ocean by basalt flows in Gem Valley, Idaho, the Bear River presently flows south into the Bonneville Basin. Constraining the timing of the river's diversion is pivotal to understanding the hydrologic budgets, and thus the climatological implications of the Bonneville Basin lakes. This study employs strontium (Sr) isotopes in mollusc fossils as a tracer of the Bear River water that entered Lake Thatcher, a small, closed-basin lake into which the redirected river flowed en route to the Bonneville Basin. The Sr ratios, combined with the temporal control afforded by amino acid geochronology …

A Hydrogeochemical Study Of The Evolution Of The Headwaters Of The Bear River In The Uinta Mountains, Utah, Michael F. Leschin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The headwaters of the Bear River in the Uinta Mountains of Utah provide a good setting in which to examine the influence of geological materials on stream chemistry. Ionic contributions to the stream-water from soils, vegetation, and the atmosphere generally are sparse enough that they do not mask the geologic contributions. Samples from 37 sites on the four major headwater streams and several minor tributaries were examined geochemically. Data derived from the samples allowed the construction of a hydrogeochemical weathering model specific to the study area. A significant feature of this model is that carbonic acid is the dominant chemical …

Cenozoic Tectonic And Paleogeographic Evolution Of The Horse Prairie Half-Graben, Southwest Montana, Colby J. Vandenburg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Horse Prairie basin (HPB) of southwestern Montana is a complex, east dipping half-graben that contains three angular unconformity-bounded sequences of Tertiary lacustrine, paludal, and fluvial sediments overlying middle Eocene volcanic rocks. The basin is near the eastern edge of the Cordilleran thrust belt, and represents the western half of a larger Paleogene rift basin. Geologic mapping within the Everson Creek and Bannock Pass 7.5 minute quadrangles indicates that five temporally and geometrically distinct episodes of extension characterize the late Mesozoic (?) to Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the upper HPB.

The first episode of extension occurred prior to emplacement of …

Physical, Chemical, And Biological Data For Detailed Study Of Irrigation Drainage In The San Juan Area, New Mexico, 1993-94, With Supplemental Data, 1991-95, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Investigators collected water, bottom-sediment, soil, and biological samples at more than 50 sites in the San Juan River area during 1993-94. Sample sites included (1) sites located within Department of the Interior irrigation project service areas, or areas that receive drainage from irrigation projects; (2) reference sites for comparison with irrigation project sites; and (3) sites located within the reach of the San Juan River from Navajo Dam to 10 miles downstream from the dam.

Hydrochemical Definition Of Ground Water And Surface Water, With An Emphasis On The Origin Of The Ground-Water Salinity In Southern Juab Valley, Juab County, Utah, Heidi K. Hadley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As part of a U.S. Geological Survey study in Juab Valley in central Utah from 1991 to 1994, the chemistry of ground - and surface -water samples was determined. Total dissolved solids in the ground water of southern Juab Valley have historically been higher, in general, than ground water in other areas of Utah. Total dissolved solids for ground-water samples from this study ranged from 623 to 3,980 milligrams/liter. High-sulfate chemical data of previous studies suggested that the major source of ground-water salinity is the dissolution of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate ) from the Arapien Shale. Sulfur-34 to sulfur-32 isotopic …