Geology Commons^™

Mapped Karst Groundwater Basins In The Tell City And Part Of The Jasper 30 X 60 Minute Quadrangles, Joseph A. Ray, Jack R. Moody, Robert J. Blair, James C. Currens, Randall L. Paylor

Map and Chart--KGS

No abstract provided.

Green/Tradewater River Basin In Kentucky, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

The total area of the Green/Tradewater River Basin is 11,500 square miles, including 410 square miles in Tennessee. More than one-fouth of Kentucky lies in the basin, including all or parts of 35 Kentucky counties. The basin contains nearly 23,600 miles of streams, including 1,580 miles in Tennessee. The Green River Basin contains over 9,230 square miles, including 410 square miles in Tennessee.

From an elevation of 1,384 feet on a ridge in Lincoln County, water flows west 385 miles down the Green River to its confluence with the Ohio River east of Henderson at an elevation of 342 feet. …

Licking River Basin, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

Nearly 9,600 miles of streams flow through the Licking River Basin's 3,700 square miles in 22 counties. From a hill in southern Magoffin County 1,600 feet above sea level, the Licking River runs northwest down to the Ohio River at 448 feet above sea level.

The underlying rocks in the basin are, in general, dominated by shale. This creates a large number of perennial streams in the basin and provides a foundation for ponds and lakes, but also limits the potential for water wells. There are 29,000 acres of wetland in the basin.

Residents draw about 24 million gallons of …

A Robust, Multisite Holocene History Of Drift Ice Off Northern Iceland: Implications For North Atlantic Climate, John T. Andrews, Dennis A. Darby, Dennis Eberle, Anne E. Jennings, Matthias Moros, Astrid Ogilvie

OES Faculty Publications

An important indicator of Holocene climate change is provided by evidence for variations in the extent of drift ice. A proxy for drift ice in Iceland waters is provided by the presence of quartz. Quantitative xray diffraction analysis of the < 2 mm sediment fraction was undertaken on 16 cores from around Iceland. The quartz weight (wt.)% estimates from each core were integrated into 250-yr intervals between −0.05 and 11.7 cal. ka BP. Median quartz wt.% varied between 0.2 and 3.4 and maximum values ranged between 2.8 and 11.8 wt.%. High values were attained in the early Holocene and minimum values were reached 6–7 cal. ka BP. Quartz wt.% then rose steadily during the late Holocene. Our data exhibit no correlation with counts on haematite-stained quartz (HSQ) grains from VM129-191 west of Ireland casting doubt on the ice-transport origin. A pilot study on the provenance of Fe oxide grains in two cores that cover the last 1.3 and 6.1 cal. ka BP indicated a large fraction of the grains between 1 and 6 cal. ka BP were from either Icelandic or presently unsampled sources. However, there was a dramatic increase in Canadian and Russian sources from the Arctic Ocean ~1 cal. ka BP. These data may indicate the beginning of an Arctic Oscillation-like climate mode.

Geobiology: Evidence For Early Life On Earth And The Search For Life On Other Planets, Sherry L. Cady, Nora Noffke

OES Faculty Publications

Extensive research efforts in the subdisciplinary field of geobiology have focused on the interactions between Earth and life through time. As a consequence, gaps in our knowledge of Earth’s history are closing, and the search for life beyond Earth is expanding. A few examples of geobiology studies designed to advance our understanding of life on early Earth and to improve the chances of finding life on other planets are provided to highlight recent developments and research areas that are on the verge of new discoveries.

On The Interpretation Of Caribbean Paleo-Temperature Reconstructions During The Younger Dryas, Xiuquan Wan, Ping Chang, R. Saravanan, Rong Zhang, Matthew W. Schmidt

OES Faculty Publications

A conundrum exists regarding whether the sea-surface temperatures decreased or increased over the southern Caribbean and the western Tropical Atlantic region during the Younger Dryas when the North Atlantic cooled substantially and the Atlantic thermohaline circulation was weakened significantly. Despite the proximity of core locations, some proxy reconstructions record a surface cooling, while others indicate a warming. We suggest that this seemingly paradoxical finding may, at least partially, be attributed to the competing physical processes that result in opposing signs of temperature change in the region in response to weakened North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Our coupled ocean-atmosphere model experiments …

Predicting The Effect Of Wetland Restoration On Phosphorus Retention, Northwest Minnesota, Ryan J. Whittaker

Theses and Dissertations

Water quality in the Red River Valley and downstream in Lake Winnipeg has been diminishing due to excess nutrients from agriculture. One method to reduce nutrient loading to surface water is to create or restore wetlands in agricultural areas that drain cropped fields. It is commonly believed that wetlands improve water quality, but research has shown that restoring wetlands can actually release phosphorus (P) into solution. Reducing conditions caused by soil flooding can release Fe-bound P, since ferrous Fe is more soluble than ferric Fe. Little is known concerning how the soils in the Red River Valley will be affected …

Geochemical Fingerprinting Of Volcanic Airfall Deposits : A Tool In Stratigraphic Correlation, Soumava Adhya

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Chemical fingerprints of volcanic airfall deposits obtained from high-precision electron microprobe analysis of glass and phenocrysts phases provide geochemical correlations with temporal precision unattainable by other methods. In this research electron microprobe analysis (EMA) techniques, to fingerprint chemically and correlate fresh and altered volcanic airfall deposits, have been utilized to test the value of this tool for future research on stratigraphic correlation. The following samples were chosen from within a variety of sedimentary rocks widely separated spatially and temporally:

Metal Concentrations In Native Yupik Foodstuffs From St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, Judith Kricheff

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska have a traditional subsistence lifestyle with the majority of their diet consisting of local birds, fish, seal, walrus, and whale. Diets based on fish and marine mammals, such as the Yupik diet, are potential pathways for exposure to mercury and other toxic metals. At St. Lawrence Island, metal contaminants may come from local sources such as weathered rock or two abandoned U.S. military bases or remote sources through atmospheric deposition or seasonal migration of animals to the island.
The main goals of this study are to determine the total concentrations of copper …

Mercury Uptake By Aquatic Macrophytes In Urban And Rural Watersheds, Albany County, Ny, Bernd G. Neumann

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Plants growing in metalliferous soils may restrict metal uptake and transport depending on metal concentration, sediment characteristics, and plant species. As native plants are replaced by invasives, different patterns of metal cycling can occur, making continued study of this process important. Sediments and tissues of four aquatic plant species/genera: Phragmites australis (common reed); Iris versicolor (blueflag iris); Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail); and genera Cyperus sp. (sedge) from three urban and two rural sites in Albany County, NY were analyzed for total mercury (Hg_­T) by cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy. Sediments were also measured for organic carbon (OC) by …

The Effect Of Vegetated Roofs On Acid Precipitation Runoff, Jennifer Gillen

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Vegetated, or “green” roofs are used in urban architecture and sustainable building to capture stormwater and enhance urban wildlife. Most research to date has focused on their water retention capabilities, but green roofs also have the potential to treat anthropogenic acid precipitation in urban environments. More specifically, green roofs could reduce sulfate, nitrate and hydrogen ion concentrations in runoff. One previous study has demonstrated that nitrate was reduced in water draining from a green roof (Berndtsson, et al. 2006), but this unpublished thesis appears to be the first comprehensive study of the effects of vegetated roof materials on major ions …

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: Geologic Resources Inventory Report, John Graham

United States National Park Service: Publications

This report accompanies the digital geologic map for Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska, which the Geologic Resources Division produced in collaboration with its partners. It contains information relevant to resource management and scientific research. This document incorporates preexisting geologic information and does not include new data or additional fieldwork.

Formerly a working ranch in sparsely populated northwestern Nebraska, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the most important paleontological sites in the world for studying Miocene-age mammals and the evolving Miocene world which existed around 20 million years ago. The main bonebeds at Carnegie Hill and University …

Toxicity Of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (De-71) In Chicken (Gallus Gallus), Mallard (Anas Platyrhynchos), And American Kestrel (Falco Sparverius) Embryos And Hatchlings, Moira A. Mckernan, Barnett A. Rattner, Robert C. Hales, Mary Ann Ottinger

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Embryonic survival, pipping and hatching success, and sublethal biochemical, endocrine, and histological endpoints were examined in hatchling chickens (Gallus gallus), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), and American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following air cell administration of a pentabrominated diphenyl ether (penta-BDE; DE-71) mixture (0.01–20 µg/g egg) or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener 126 (3,3’,4,4’,5-pentachlorobiphenyl; 0.002 µg/g egg). The penta-BDE decreased pipping and hatching success at concentrations of 10 and 20 µg/g egg in kestrels but had no effect on survival endpoints in chickens or mallards. Sublethal effects in hatchling chickens included ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (EROD) induction and histological …

Salt River Basin, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

The Salt River Basin and adjacent Ohio River drainages include over 4,150 square miles in all or parts of 19 counties. The basin contains more than 9,600 miles of streams.

Over 660 miles of streams assessed in the basin by the Kentucky Division of Water do not support designated uses for warm-water aquatic habitat, fish consumption, or primary contact recreation (swimming). Not all streams have been assessed. The percentage of assessed streams not supporting uses was: warm-water aquatic habitat (38 percent); fish consumption (36 percent); primary contact recreation (86 percent). Over 100 miles of streams have been declared special use …

Big Sandy/Little Sandy And Tygarts Creek Basins, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

Nearly 7,600 miles of streams flow through the basin's 3,440 square miles in 14 counties to the Tug Fork, Big Sandy River, and Ohio River. The Tygarts Creek–Little Sandy River Basin includes 1,160 square miles. The Big Sandy River Basin has 2,285 square miles in Kentucky and 1,950 square miles in West Virginia and Virginia. There are nearly 17,000 acres of wetlands, including water bodies.

Residents draw about 27 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from streams and reservoirs in the basin. About three in five residents are on public water; other households rely primarily on domestic wells. Only …

Kentucky River Basin, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

The Kentucky River Basin's nearly 7,000 square miles in 42 counties contain 16,000 miles of streams. From a hill in Letcher County 3,250 feet above sea level, and the Kentucky River runs down the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field, Knobs, and Bluegrass Regions to the Ohio River at 420 feet above sea level.

Along the way the river washes rocks laid down as sediments over a period of 150 million years—past the 300-million-year-old sandstone, siltstone, shale, and Camp Nelson limestones at the base of the Kentucky River Palisades in central Kentucky.

Residents draw about 100 million gallons of water per day …

Characterizing The Deformation Of Reservoirs Using Interferometry, Gravity, And Seismic Analyses, Cara Schiek

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this Dissertation, I characterize how reservoirs deform using surface and subsurface techniques. The surface technique I employ is radar interferometry, also known as InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar). The subsurface analyses I explore include gravity modeling and seismic techniques consisting of determining earthquake locations from a small-temporary seismic network of six seismometers. These techniques were used in two different projects to determine how reservoirs deform in the subsurface and how this deformation relates to its remotely sensed surface deformation.

The first project uses InSAR to determine land subsidence in the Mimbres basin near Deming, NM. The land subsidence measurements …

Suswa Volcano, Kenya Rift: Evidence Of Magma Mixing, Na-F Complexing And Eruptions Triggered By Recharge, Vanessa Veronica Espejel Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Cenozoic East African rift system (EARS) is a sequence of grabens, intraplate transforms, accommodation zones, and abundant magmatism. The Central Kenya Peralkaline Province (CKPP) includes a variety of volcanic rocks -trachyte, pantellerite, comendite, phonolite, trachy-basalt, basaltic trachy-andesite, and basalt- which erupted from volcanoes including: Mount Kenya; Eburru and the Greater Olkaria volcanic complexes; Longonot, Menengai, and Suswa volcanoes; and Ndabibi, Elmenteita, and Tandamara mafic volcanic fields. Only two of the volcanoes, Mount Kenya (on the flank of the central graben) and Suswa (the southernmost of the CKPP volcanoes), have phonolites as part of their assemblage.

The evolution of Suswa …

Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (Enwra): Introduction To A Hydrogeological Study, Dana Divine, R. Matthew Joeckel, Jesse T. Korus, P.R. Hanson, Sue Olafsen Lackey

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

What Is Diplograptus?, Charles Mitchell, Jörg Maletz, Daniel Goldman

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Diplograptus pristis (Hisinger, 1837) is the type species of the genus Diplograptus and name bearer for suborder Diplograptina. This species is primarily known from the Dalarne region of Sweden, where it occurs in the P. linearis Zone. D. pristis exhibits a suite of features (particularly the shape of the proximal end, the configuration of proximal spines, and the gradient in thecal form) that is uniquely shared with a number of other late Katian and earliest Hirnantian species including Glyptograptus nicholsoni Toghill, 1970; Glyptograptus posterus Koren’ & Tzai (in Apollonov et al. 1980); Orthograptus maximus Mu, 1945; and Orthograptus truncatus rarithecatus …

Atmospheric Soluble Dust Records From A Tibetan Ice Core: Possible Climate Proxies And Teleconnection With The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, B. Grigholm, P. A. Mayewski, S. Kang, Y. Zhang, Susan Kaspari, S. B. Sneed, Q. Zhang

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

In autumn 2005, a joint expedition between the University of Maine and the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research recovered three ice cores from Guoqu Glacier (33°34′37.8″N, 91°10′35.3″E, 5720 m above sea level) on the northern side of Mt. Geladaindong, central Tibetan Plateau. Isotopes (δ¹⁸O), major soluble ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻), and radionuclide (β‐activity) measurements from one of the cores revealed a 70‐year record (1935–2005). Statistical analysis of major ion time series suggests that atmospheric soluble …

The ‘Benchmark Glacier’ Concept – Does It Work? Lessons From The North Cascade Range, Usa, Andrew G. Fountain, Matthew J. Hoffman, Frank Granshaw, Jon L. Riedel

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Benchmark glaciers were established in many alpine areas during the 1960s as part of the International Hydrological Decade to represent ‘typical’ mass and energy processes on glaciers in different climatic regions around the world. These glaciers have received new interest in the past decade because they are used to infer the contribution of alpine glacier wastage to global sea-level rise. We compare South Cascade Glacier, the benchmark glacier for the northwest contiguous USA, and four other secondary glaciers, against the topographic, area and mass changes of 321 glaciers in the surrounding region. Results show that South Cascade Glacier is unusually …

Formation Of Iron-Rimmed Sandstone Nodules On Earth; Terrestrial Analogue For The Formation Of Martian Blueberries?, Katherine Charlotte Muller

Masters Theses

"NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Spirit and Opportunity, have identified numerous geologic features that hint at a watery past on Mars noted in Malik, 2004. Prominent among these features are the "Martian Blueberries" that occur as spherical hematite (Fe₂O₃) nodules. Hematite formation is facilitated by the presence of water, although there are presently no known sources of free liquid water on Mars. Chan et al., 2004 states that these "blueberries" are also similar to nodules found in the Jurassic aged Navajo Sandstone in Utah. An understanding of the processes controlling the formation of the Utah nodules may thus be …

Environmental Geochemistry Of Metal Contaminated Sediments From The Big River System Of Southeastern Missouri, Helen Carrie Bender

Masters Theses

"Geochemical analysis of stream sediments from the Big River Watershed of southeastern Missouri indicates that they contain elevated concentrations of contaminant metals such as Pb. Zn, Cu. Co, Ni and Cd. The elevated concentrations are derived from natural exposures of metal enriched strata and the numerous mine tailings piles and water seeps created as a result of about 300 years of lead-zinc mining in the “Old Lead Belt”. Galena (PbS), sphalerite (ZnS), and pyrite (FeS₂) are the primary sulfides found in the tailings piles and Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis of individual metallic sediment particles collected at intervals downstream …

Insight Into The Physics Of Rupture: Dynamic Triggering Seismicity, Hector Gonzalez-Huizar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Seismic waves can trigger earthquakes and tremor at large distances from the causable event. Dynamic triggering occurs when the surface waves from large earthquakes change the stresses conditions on previously overstressed faults, promoting failure. To understand the causative stresses and environments behind dynamic triggering, we model the change in the stress field that the passing of Rayleigh and Love waves cause on a fault plane of arbitrary orientation relative to the direction of propagation of the waves, and apply a Coulomb failure criterion to calculate the potential of these stress changes to trigger seismicity. We apply our model to three …

Paleogeographic Reconstructuion Of The St. Lawrence Promontory, Western Newfoundland, John Stefan Allen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian continental rifting related to the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia framed the continental margin of eastern Laurentia and the departing cratons around the opening Iapetus Ocean. The result of continental extension was the production of a zig-zag set of promontories and embayments on the eastern Laurentian margin defined by northeast-trending rift segments offset by northwesttrending transform faults.

The St. Lawrence promontory defines the Laurentian margin in western Newfoundland. There, Neoproterozoic-Carboniferous clastic, volcanic, and carbonate successions record protracted continental rifting and passive-margin thermal subsidence followed by destruction of the margin during the early, middle, and late Paleozoic Appalachian orogenic …

Variation In C/P Ratios In Devonian-Mississippian Marine Shales: Testing The Productivity-Anoxia Feedback Model, Brian T. Scott

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Carbon/phosphorus ratios for late Devonian-early Mississippian marine black shales along a transect from the Illinois Basin, across the Cumberland Saddle, and into the Appalachian Basin were evaluated to assess the role of productivity in organic carbon accumulation. Phosphorus is a key limiting nutrient for biological productivity in marine environments and may be regenerated preferentially relative to organic carbon, the amount of regeneration possibly being related to bottom-water anoxia. A positive feed-back mechanism (more specifically, productivity-anoxia feedback or PAF) has been proposed between water-column anoxia, high benthic regeneration of phosphorus, and marine productivity. This regeneration of phosphorus under anoxic conditions and …

Use Of Surface Geophysical Techniques To Locate A Karst Conduit In The Cane Run - Royal Spring Basin, Kentucky, Ganesh N. Tripathi

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Groundwater flow in karst terrains is difficult to map because it can be concentrated through conduits that do not necessarily coincide with the surface features. We applied electrical resistivity (ER) and self-potential (SP) techniques at three sites to locate an inferred trunk conduit feeding a major spring in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Royal Spring is the primary water supply for the city of Georgetown; the upper part of its basin coincides with the Cane Run watershed. ER and SP profiles were perpendicular to the inferred trunk conduit orientation. ER profiles (972 m total length) were measured using a …

Bedrock Mapping Of The Winchendon (1:25,000) Quadrangle (Ma-Nh): Evidence For Discontinous Deformation Along The Bronson Hill-Central Maine Boundary Zone, Timothy M. O'Brien

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Bedrock geology of the Winchendon quadrangle is divided into two zones based on structures and lithology. The eastern zone consists of tightly folded Silurian Rangeley and Paxton metasediments and pegmatites. Planar, NNE-SSW striking, W dipping foliations are characterized by alternating phyllosilicate-rich and leucosome layers. Fold axes of tight to isoclinal upright and recumbent folding are parallel to SSW-NNE shallowly plunging sillimanite, quartz and muscovite lineations. In the western zone Rangeley schists were intruded by Devonian Hardwick and Coys Hill and Fitzwilliam plutons. Planar NNE-SSW striking foliations dip shallowly to steeply west. Fold axes of tight-to-isoclinal asymmetric to recumbent folds plunge …

Structural Geology Of The Transylvania Fault Zone In Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Lauren Dodson

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Transverse zones cross strike of thrust-belt structures as large-scale alignments of cross-strike structures. The Transylvania fault zone is a set of discontinuous right-lateral transverse faults striking at about 270º across Appalachian thrust-belt structures along 40º N latitude in Pennsylvania. Near Everett, Pennsylvania, the Breezewood fault terminates with the Ashcom thrust fault. The Everett Gap fault terminates westward with the Hartley thrust fault. Farther west, the Bedford fault extends westward to terminate against the Wills Mountain thrust fault. The rocks, deformed during the Alleghanian orogeny, are semi-independently deformed on opposite sides of the transverse fault, indicating fault movement during folding and …