Geology Commons^™

A Structural Investigation Of A Basement-Involved Thrust System In Southern Sphinx Mountain Quadrangle (Madison Range) Southwestern Montana, Jeffrey Scott Brown

Masters Theses

The Madison Range is the eastern limb of the Laramide Rocky Mountain foreland Madison-Gravelly Arch. The main segment of the Madison thrust system in the map area is the basement-involved Scarface thrust which dips westward, trends north-northwest, and places Archean rocks onto an overturned footwall of Cambrian through Cretaceous rocks. Foliation of Archean rocks in the footwall is folded with overlying sedimentary rocks.

The Shedhorn Mountain thrust splays from the Scarface thrust. It is exposed north and south of the Shedhorn Mountain anticline, but is blind beneath it. The Taylor fault, an east-dipping back thrust, is inferred to be associated …

Stratigraphic And Sedimentologic Analysis Of The Middle Devonian Filer Sandstone, John Charles Rodwan

Masters Theses

The Filer Sandstone, a multistory assemblage o£ lenticular sand bodies, is a member of the Middle Devonian Amherstburg Formation of the Detroit River Group in the subsurface of the western and central portion of the Michigan Basin. It is distinguished from the reworked eolian and nearshore marine sand facies of the underlying Sylvania Sandstone by recognition of its barrier island facies relationships and stratigraphic position within enclosing carbonates unique to the Amherstburg Formation. Lithologically, the Filer ranges from a fine-grained, carbonate-cemented, supermature quartzarenite at its upper shoreface facies, to a texturally-inverted sandy carbonate at its lagoonal facies. Facies distribution was …

Petrography, Diagenetic History, And Development Of Porosity In The Richfield Member Of The Lower Middle Devonian Lucas Formation, Northeast Isabella County, Central Michigan Basin, Kevin James Sullivan

Masters Theses

The Richfield Member of the lower Middle Devonian Lucas Formation is represented in the subsurface of northeast Isabella County, Michigan as a 180-foot-thick sequence of Interbedded limestone, dolomite and anhydrite. Richfield lithofacies within the study area reflect deposition in a complex patchwork mosaic of evaporative supratidal, in tertid al, shoal, and subtidal environments.

The present variations in Richfield porosities were caused almost entirely by post-depositlonal diagenetic changes. The carbonate units have undergone pervasive dolomltlzation of mud matrix, leaching of allochems, and extensive anhydrite void -fillin g . The best porosity developments are associated with partial to complete dolomitizatlon of the …

An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Bentonite As A Soil Additive For The Cover Material On The Kl Avenue Sanitary Landfill, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Neal J. Carey

Masters Theses

A principle objective of using bentonite as a soil additive is to reduce the permeability of a cover material, thus, inhibiting the infiltration of surface waters at landfill sites.

Twenty-two cores of the KL landfill were taken to obtain in-situ soil columns for testing. Coefficients of permeability were calculated for each soil column using the falling-head permeameter. Mechanical and hydrometer analyses were used for the grain size analysis. The methylene-blue test was employed to determine the actual percentages of bentonite present in each soil column. X-ray diffraction work was done on the clay fraction of each soil column to verify …

The Provenance Of The Jacobsville Formation Of The Upper Peninsula Of Michigan Through A Petrographic Study, David Walter Lindsay

Masters Theses

The Upper Keweenawan Jacobsville Formation source areas were mixed source terranes with dominant terrane types changing regionally in relative abundances of sediment contribution. Dominant source terranes were older sediments, including a weathered soil zone, Upper Keweenawan Freda Sandstone and other recycled sandstones; plutonic Precambrian basement rocks;. Middle Keweenawan Portage Lake Volcanics; and the chlorite to staurolite grade metamorphic rocks and iron ranges of Michigan’s upper peninsula.

Depositional environments of the formation's four facies types range from fluvial to deltaic/lacustrine. Sediments were in transport for a short distance, resulting in grain freshness and angularity, moderate sorting and preservation of unstable sediments. …

Facies Development And Porosity Relationships In The Dundee Limestone Of Gladwin County, Michigan, Eric Lee Montgomery

Masters Theses

The Devonian of the Michigan Basin was a time of transgressive seas and extensive carbonate deposition including coral and stromatoporoid buildups. Deposited during the Middle Devonian, the Dundee Limestone represents deposition in subtidal, intertidal, and restricted environments. The Buckeye Oil Field, located in south-central Gladwin County, is a combined stratigraphic and structural carbonate trap which produces from a series of intertonguing patch reefs, fringing sand bodies, and "intertidal island" fenestral zones. The major reef building organisms include stromatoporoids, corals, calcareous algae, brachiopods, and crinoids, with the stromatoporoids providing the major framework. The patch reef facies is composed of massive stromatoporoid …

Geology Newsletter- 1985, Department Of Geology

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol 1 No. 10

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Geology Development Fund
• Advisory Council
• Faculty News
• W. David Kuenzi Scholarship Fund
• Awards and Scholarships
• Geology and Earth Science Club

Lithofacies And Geochemistry Of Interreef Carbonates, Middle Silurian, Michigan Basin, Eric N. Porcher

Masters Theses

The Niagara Group of the Michigan Basin is composed of reef, interreef, and basinal carbonates. The Niagara Group interreef has herein been divided into several litho facies: algal-laminated dolomicrite, bioturbated dolomicrite, intraclastic dolomicrite, wispy-laminated dolomicrite, crinoidal micrite, and nodular micrite. These interreef carbonates show a shallowing upward sequence.

The geochemistry of the Niagara Group interreef was examined in an attempt to delineate any geochemical gradients with respect to reefs. The geochemistry of the inter reef was determined by Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) analysis. No significant geochemical gradients were found to be associated with reefs. Reasons for this may include: …

The Response Of The Kentucky River Drainage Basin To A Lowering Of Base Level Control, David B. Warwick

Masters Theses

The Kentucky River has responded to a lowering of base level control by: 1) deepening the course of its channel; 2) cutting off meanders as incision proceeded; 3) developing knickpoints on tributaries; 4) widening its valley; and 5) dissecting the upland surface.

Field work involved surveying streams to obtain profiles. Twenty streams covering 125 miles of river from Carrollton to Camp Nelson, Kentucky were surveyed. Knickpoints were defined from these profiles. Data from stream profiles showed knickpoint distances decreasing with increasing distance up river. Map work involved obtaining data for hypsometric curves. Hypsometric integrals were determined from these curves. Data …

Subsurface Stratigrapy And Sedimentologic Control On The Productive Middle Devonian Age Richfield Member Of The Lucas Formation In The Michigan Basin, Sukru Nail Apak

Masters Theses

The depositional system of the Middle Devonian Richfield Member of Lucas Formation in the Michigan Basin was delineated using well logs, cores, drillers' records, and the literature. The Richfield Member was deposited in Sabkha and lagoonal environments characterized by cycles of anhydrite, dolomite, and limestone. Seven significant productive dolomitic zones, interbedded with anhydrite and limestone can be correlated throughout the study area. These zones change laterally to anhydrite towards the west flank and to dense limestone towards the east flank of the basin. Post-depositional diagenetic history of the Richfield was established with the aid of scanning electron microscopy and electron …

A Seismic Study Of An Impact Feature In Cass County, Michigan, Mancheol Suh

Masters Theses

A geophysical investigation, including a seismic study, of the subsurface structure of the Calvin-28 oil field, Cass County, Michigan, indicates that the structure's origin may be related to an impact event. The structural closures in the time structure maps and drilling results both show a central uplift. The fault system in the Trempealeau Formation shows a structure similar to other proven astroblemes. Undisturbed layers just beneath the central uplift also provide evidence of an impact structure. The result of mathematical modeling of the central uplift under the assumption that the structure is an impact structure corresponds well with the drilling …

A Gravity Investigation Of Mountain Flank Thrusting And Normal Faulting, Madison And Tobacco Root Ranges, Montana, Stephen Thomas Wigger

Masters Theses

Gravity modeling of west-dipping, Laramide mountain flank thrusts which involve Archean metamorphic rocks in the western Tobacco Root and northern Madison Ranges supports the idea that these thrusts are gently dipping.

The thrusts provided a favorable location for normal faulting during Neogene extension. The Neogene faults on the eastern portions of the Madison and Jefferson Basins are interpreted to be listric, and merge with the Laramide thrusts. Basin development occurred along a series of such faults, which dropped hanging wall blocks of the thrust sheets to progressively greater depths. The maximum depth of the Madison basin, near Ennis, was found …

The Depositional History Of The Point Pleasant Member Of The Cynthiana Formation In Northern Kentucky, Gary J. Stefaniak

Masters Theses

Bioclastic limestones, siltstones, and shales of the Point Pleasant Member were deposited in a shallow marine environment immediately below normal effective wave base. High-energy conditions produced by storms lowered the effective wave base and stirred the bottom sediments and redistributed them into bedforms. The different types of contacts, distribution of the faunal groups, and fabrics permit inferences regarding energy levels and assignment of samples to a mode of deposition. Vertical and lateral trends were then deduced. High-energy conditions are believed to have occurred during Early and Late Point Pleasant time, whereas, low-energy conditions prevailed during deposition of the middle Point …

Geology Of A Section Of The Northwest Tobacco Root Mountains, Madison County, Southwest Montana, Kiff James Samuelson

Masters Theses

The northwest Tobacco Root Mountains are located on the boundary between two major tectonic provinces: the fold and thrust belt and the Rocky Mountain foreland. Deformation typical of the Rocky Mountain foreland is present in the form of two major northwest trending faults with associated folds. Paleozoic rocks were passively draped over at least one of the elevated Precambrian blocks. Foliation of the Precambrian rocks also appears to have been gently folded in the process.

Folds and thrusts occur within the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks, on the westernmost flank of the range, appearing to follow the general trend of the …

Hydrogeologic And Geochemical Factors Influencing The Impact Of A Chromium-Arsenic-Copper Wastewater Discharge On A Glacial Outwash Aquifer, Michael J. Gallagher

Masters Theses

A discharge of chromium-arsenic-copper laden wastewater occurred periodically from 1970 to 1980 at a wood preserving company located in southwestern Kalamazoo County, Michigan. As a result of this discharge, soils at the company site became contaminated with chromium, arsenic, and copper, and a local glacial outwash aquifer became contaminated with hexavalent chromium.

Soil samples collected from the discharge site were analyzed for clay-silt-sand-gravel content, organic matter, pH, clay mineralogy, and chromium, arsenic, copper, iron, and manganese content. Background soil samples were analyzed for most of the above catagories. Pearson r coefficients of correlation were calculated to determine the correlation of …

Geology Newsletter- 1984, Department Of Geology

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol.1 No.9

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Advisory Council
• Geology Development Fund
• Graduate Students
• Geology & Earth Science Club
• W. David Kuenzi Scholarship Fund
• 1983-84 Awards & Scholarships
• Faculty News
• Alumni News

Structural Geology Of The Northern Snowcrest Range, Beaverhead And Madison Counties, Montana, Mark Kenneth Sheedlo

Masters Theses

The Snowcrest Range was uplifted in Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary time as a consequence of thrusting in Precambrian basement and Phanerozoic cover rocks.

The Snowcrest-Greenhorn thrust system is associated with largescale overturned, eastward verging folds. Mean orientation of the thrust system is N.40°E., 35°N.W.. The trend of the thrust system and associated transverse faults appear to be controlled by earlier structures. Mesoscopic and microscopic analyses indicate that metamorphic basement rocks accommodated congressional strain largely by brittle faulting and cataclastic shearing. Kinematic indicators suggest that local stresses were directed east-southeastward.

Northeast-trending Neogene faults along the western flank of the range …

Geology Newsletter- 1983, Department Of Geology

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 1 No. 8

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Geology Development Fund
• Faculty News
• Geology/ Earth Science Club
• 1982-1983 Awards and Scholarships
• Alumni News
• Geology Department Graduate Students

Environment Of Deposition Of The A-1 Carbonate, Salina Group, Michigan Basin, Barbara June Leonard

Masters Theses

The lower Salina Group of the Michigan Basin is composed of a cyclic succession of carbonate and evaporite units. The lowermost Salina unit is the A-1 unit which consists of a lower A-1 evaporite and an upper A-1 carbonate. The A-1 unit is underlain by Niagara Group carbonates. The transition from Niagaran carbonates to A-1 evaporite to A-1 carbonate has not been thoroughly understood and previous models have not satisfied some of the evidence. This paper sets forth the hypothesis that the A-1 carbonate was deposited in a non-marine lake environment rather than an isolated marine environment. Findings supporting this …

The Geology Of The Southern Bull Mountain Area, Jefferson County, Montana, Michael Edward Streeter

Masters Theses

The Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary Laramide orogeny was responsible for the northward tilting of the pre-Eocene rocks of the area. The Late Cretaceous deposition of the Elkhorn Mountains Volcanics resulted in the volcanic-Madison Group unconformity. Late Cretaceous faulting took place probably in response to caldera subsidence. Laramide uplift erosion and downstream transport resulted in the deposition of the Conrow Creek conglomerate and debris flows over the Lodgepole Limestone. Block faulting took place in response to regional extension probably during Late Oligocene-Early Miocene time resulting in the formation of the St. Paul's Gulch, Golden Sunlight, and Boulder basin faults. The Oligocene Dunbar …

Sedimentation Rate Of Salt Determined By Micrometeorite Analysis, James Matthew Barnett

Masters Theses

The sedimentation rate of the A-l Evaporite of Michigan was determined by analysis of micrometeorites found as inclusions in the halite deposit. The samples were obtained from the Dow Chemical Company salt well number eight. The residue from the dissolved salt was magnetically separated and later analyzed by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), X-ray diffraction , and microprobe techniques. The amount of extraterrestrial material was determined from the quantity of nickel present.

A sedimentation rate of .01 to .4 centimeters per year was calculated for the salt based on a constant influx rate of meteoritic material of 1 x 10 …

The Geology And Geochemistry Of The Summit Creek Molybdenum Prospect, Custer County, Idaho, Thomas Murray Hanna

Masters Theses

The Summit Creek stock, a molybdenum prospect located in the Pioneer Mountains of central Idaho, is a 46.7 m.y. old medium grained, slightly porphyritic quartz monzonite, which has intruded the late Ordovician Phi Kappa formation. Trend surface analysis shows that the stock is the product of one intrusive event. Pervasive mineral alteration usually associated with such porphyry (stockwork) molybdenum deposits is not present in this pluton, and the alteration that is present is confined to local faults and fractures.

Geochemical and petrographic evidence suggest that the pluton is a felsic differentiate from a melt which originated at a depth of …

The Geology Of Burnt Ridge Quadrangle And Vicinity Ravalli County, Montana, Randall Reichert

Masters Theses

Peltitic schist, quartzofeldspathic gneiss, and calc-silicate rocks of the Precambrian Belt Supergroup hav ebeen intruded by granatic plutons of the northeastern Idaho batholith within the vicinity of the southern Bitterroot Range, Montana. These units were mylonitized along the eastern margin of the intrusive complex, with shear surfaces presently dipping approximately 20° to the east. Rhyolitic ash flows and associated mafic to felsic dikes developed on and within the granitic-metamorphic terrance during Tertiary time. Numerous northeast- trending and northwest-trending faults and joints are present throughout the mapped region.

The following events play a major role in the geologic history: 1) amphibolite- …

Geology Newsletter- 1982, Department Of Geology

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 1 No. 7

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Capital Fund Drive
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Pennsylvanian Deltaic Sedimentation In Grand Ledge, Michigan, Jeffrey R. Martin

Masters Theses

Pennsylvanian outcrops along the Michigan Basin's southern/margin are composed of fluvial-deltaic and marine shelf sediments. Constructive deltaic facies include point-bar sandstones displaying erosional bases, channel lag, and upward decreasing grain size and sedimentary structures. Cross-stratification data indicate a unimodal, highly variant, northward-trending, paleocurrent pattern that deviates from regional paleoslope. Point-bar sandstones record delta plain deposition by meandering distributary channels. Channel margin facies include Lingula-bearing, interdistributary bay shales; overlain gradationally by laminated, flaser-bedded and rooted marsh shales and siltstones; and subbituminous swamp coal. Bay-fill facies are interrupted by lens-shaped, quartz-poor, fine-grained, crevasse-- splay sandstones.

Delta destructive facies--quartz -rich bioturbated sandstone-- suggest …

The Origin Of Carbonate Cements In Bahama Escarpment Limestones, Katharine D. Fulker

Masters Theses

Limestones recovered from Bahama Escarpment dives (DSRV Alvin, 1978) were expected to contain shallow marine, freshwater, and deep marine cementation since the limestones had been fractured, bored, and cemented at depth. Magnesium and trace element concentrations, carbon-oxygen composition, cathodoluminescence, and petrographic study indicated the presence of all three cement types.

Lithification may have proceeded by allochem deposition, major shallow marine cementation, sparse freshwater cementation leaving porosity, fracturing, and final deep marine cementation leaving minor porosity. According to this interpretation, the pore space remained open for an unlikely 75-115 million years. In an alternative interpretation, pore space is occluded after freshwater …

Nitrate Levels In The Groundwater Of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, William Robert Norman

Masters Theses

Nitrate levels from 1,978 wells were compiled and analyzed to identify areas having levels above the Federal and State Drinking Water Standards of 10 ppm, identify possible sources of nitrate in each area and determine factors that produce high concentrations of nitrate in groundwater.

Eighteen areas in which nitrate concentrations exceeded 10 ppm were identified. County-wide, 465 (23 percent) of the wells for which data were available produced water with nitrate concentrations above drinking water standards.

Septic tank effluent is thought to be the most common source of nitrate in the problem areas. Agricultural practices are also likely nitrate contrbutors; …

The Features And Significance Of Layering And Shearing Within The Zone Of Mylonitization, Northeastern Idaho Batholith, Jon Michael Hermann

Masters Theses

The northeastern border zone of the Idaho batholith contains a north-south trending zone of myionitized gneiss, schist, and granite-granodiorite. The schist and gneiss contain plagioclase augen surrounded by crushed and recrystallized biotite, quartz, feldspar, + muscovite, + hornblende. The granite grades upward from porphyritic rock into augen-bearing mylonitic rocks interlayered with schist and gneiss.

Geology Newsletter- 1981, Department Of Geology

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 1 No. 6

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Faculty News
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Petrology Of Fluvial And Shoreline Sands In A Modern Arc-Trench Gap, Guatemala, James Robert Bartel

Masters Theses

Petrographic studies of modern sands, derived from areas with known source rocks, climate, relief, environments of deposition, and tectonic setting, are essential for compiling compositional models for ancient sandstones. The Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala is terminated 25-60 km inland by the steep slopes of a row of active Quaternary volcanic and granitic rocks.

Sands being deposited on the coastal plain by the Rio Nahulate, which drains the older volcanic and granitic terrane, show significant compositional differences with those supplied by the Rio Samala, which drains an area dominated by active volcanism: Q₉F₃₅L₅₆ vs. Q …