Geology Commons^™

Sedimentological Controls On Fracture Distribution And The Network Development Within Meseverde Group Lithofacies, Uinta Basin, Utah, Ryan Christopher Sonntag

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Mesaverde Group, within the Uinta Basin, Utah, is a source of current significant production and contains several trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas resources. Due to the low permeability of the matrix rock, understanding the geometry and properties of natural fractures is critical to the development of effective ways of finding and producing natural gas. In order to evaluate and model the potential connectivity of hydraulically induced fractures to natural fractures at depth, we examine the nature of the natural fracture network using scanline sampling, imagery analyses, core analyses, and microstructural analyses. Regional fracture sets identified include: N-S …

Molecular Organic Geochemistry Of The Oil And Source Rocks In Railroad Valley, Eastern Great Basin, Nevada, United States, Laode Ahdyar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A comprehensive geochemical study of oils from Railroad Valley, Nevada and two candidate source rock intervals from the nearby Egan Range, was conducted in order to establish oil-oil and oil-source rock correlations. Analyses consisted of total organic carbon, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and vitrinite reflectance for source rock samples, as well as biomarker, diamondoids, and stable carbon isotope analyses on source rock extracts and oil samples.

Total organic carbon analyses showed high organic content in the Mississippian Chainman Shale. However, outcrop samples of the Paleogene Sheep Pass Formation Member B are organically lean. Strata in both of these units are immature to …

Lateral Variability Of Facies And Cycles In The Furongian (Late Cambrian) Carbonate Platform: An Example From The Big Horse Member Of The Orr Formation In Western Utah, U.S.A., Ratna Widiarti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Carbonate depositional cycles and sequences have been proposed to be formed by glacioeustatic sea-level changes. This mechanism would be questionable during times of high atmospheric CO2 and negligible continental ice sheets such as the supergreenhouse time in the Furongian (late Cambrian), during which limited glacioeustatic sea-level changes would be expected. A detailed sedimentological study of the Furongian Orr Formation in western Utah is aimed at testing the hypothesis that, under supergreenhouse climate conditions, most meter-scale carbonate cycles may have been formed through autocyclic processes and thus they should be laterally variable. The research was conducted in a small area ( …

Vertebrate Taxonomic Composition, Species Diversity, And Paleoecology Of Two Pliocene Mid-Latitude, Inland-Basin Fossil Assemblages: Panaca Local Fauna (Lincoln County, Nevada) And Hagerman Local Fauna (Twin Falls County, Idaho), Vicki Lynn Meyers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

I studied the sedimentology, species diversity, relative abundance, paleoenvironment, and paleoecology of the vertebrate fauna of the early Pliocene (Blancan Land Mammal Age) Panaca Formation of southeastern Nevada, and I compared these data with the slightly younger Hagerman fauna of south-central Idaho. The purpose of this study is to characterize the paleoecology and species diversity of mid-latitude inland basins during the Blancan Land Mammal Age, a time of climate change and immigrating taxa from Asia and South America. This study involved surface collecting and screenwashing of the Panaca Formation sediment in Meadow Valley, as well as a compilation of data …

Mesozoic Burial, Mesozoic And Cenozoic Exhumation Of The Funeral Mountains Core Complex, Death Valley, Southeastern California, Mengesha Assefa Beyene

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Funeral Mountains of Death Valley National Park, CA, provide an opportunity to date metamorphism resulting from crustal shortening and subsequent episodic extensional events in the Sevier hinterland. It was not clear whether crustal shortening and thus peak temperature metamorphism in the hinterland of the Sevier-Laramide orogenic wedge have occurred whether in Late Jurassic, Early Cretaceous , Late Cretaceous or somewhere between. Particularly ambiguous is the timing of crustal shortening in the deep levels of the hinterland of the Sevier belt, now manifest in the metamorphic core complexes, and how and when these middle-to-lower crustal rocks were exhumed. A 6-point …

Salt Contamination Of Ground And Surface Water In Connecticut: A Compilation And Synthesis Of Historic Data And Local Scale Testing, James P. Cassanelli

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Geologic Mapping Of Exhumed, Mid-Cretaceous Paleochannel Complexes Near Castle Dale, Emery County, Utah: On The Correlative Relationship Between The Dakota Sandstone And The Mussentuchit Member Of The Cedar Mountain Formation, Amanda Elizabeth Mackay Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous well-preserved, exhumed paleochannels in the Morrison, Cedar Mountain and Dakota Sandstone formations are exposed east of Castle Dale, Utah. These channels consist primarily of point bar complexes and scattered, low sinuosity channels. To determine the vertical and lateral relationships of these channels within the Cedar Mountain and Dakota Sandstone formations, a 1:24,000 scale geologic map covering ~140 km2 was created showing the fluvial sandstones. In the study area the Cedar Mountain Formation consists, from bottom to top, of 2.5-10 m of Buckhorn Conglomerate Member equivalent units, ~80 m of the Ruby Ranch Member, and ~30 m of the Mussentuchit …

Serpentinite Weathering And Implications For Mars, Valerie Tu, Julie Baumeister, Rodney Metcalf, A. Olsen, Elisabeth Hausrath

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

In the search for life on Mars near-surface soil environments may be important habitats for life accessible to future missions. Serpentinite rocks have been documented on Mars, as well as other clay minerals including smectite and kaolinites. Previous studies of soils formed on serpentinites on Earth have documented the formation of extensive clays. Serpentinites are additionally of interest as habitats for life such as methanogens. Here we examine weathering of serpentinites from bedrock to soil surface, as a potential route for the formation of clay minerals on Mars from abundant ultramafic minerals. We additionally test for the presence of Fe-oxidizing …

Effects Of Rodent Species, Seed Species, And Predator Cues On Seed Fate, Kelly J. Sivy, Steven M. Ostoja, Eugene W. Schupp, Susan Durham

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Seed selection, removal and subsequent management by granivorous animals is thought to be a complex interaction of factors including qualities of the seeds themselves (e.g., seed size, nutritional quality) and features of the local habitat (e.g. perceived predator risk). At the same time, differential seed selection and dispersal is thought to have profound effects on seed fate and potentially vegetation dynamics. In a feeding arena, we tested whether rodent species, seed species, and indirect and direct predation cues influence seed selection and handling behaviors (e.g., scatter hoarding versus larder hoarding) of two heteromyid rodents, Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) and …

Conservation In Conflict: Reconciling Resource Management Perspectives In A "Geographical Mosaic", Kate Wright '11

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Historic And Contemporary Trends Of The Conservation Reserve Program And Ring-Necked Pheasants In South Dakota, Chris Laingen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Over the past century, the interactions between agricultural land use and government cropland retirement programs have affected pheasant population change. Two government land retirement programs that returned croplands to grasslands, Soil Bank in the 1960s and the current Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), help to illustrate these connections. From 2007 to 2010, South Dakota lost 41% of its CRP lands and experienced an 18% decline in pheasants per mile. However, because of where CRP expirations have occurred and where pheasant populations are found , some regional variability is seen. Western South Dakota (Region 1) had an 80% increase in pheasants per …

Spring Hydrology Of Colorado Bend State Park, Central Texas, Kevin W. Stafford, Melinda G. Shaw-Faulkner, Jessica L. Deleon

Faculty Publications

Karst development in Ellenburger carbonates near Colorado Bend State Park in central Texas exhibits complex polygenetic origins, with porosity development dominated by an early hypogene phase that has subsequently been overprinted to varying degrees by epigene processes. Quarterly physicochemical and continuous thermal monitoring analyses of eight springs in the study area indicate that modern groundwater flow paths are highly variable. Springs exhibit patterns that range from shallow, distributed recharge into diffuse-flow dominated systems, to focused recharge into well-connected conduit systems, to deep-circulation systems that equilibrate with bedrock. All springs, except Sulphur Spring, exhibit physicochemical characteristics indicative of proximal epigenic groundwater …

High Resolution Depositional Analysis Of The Black River Group (Ordovician), Michigan Basin, Jennifer Elaine Schulz

Masters Theses

The Ordovician Trenton and Black River carbonates of the Michigan Basin are significant hydrocarbon reservoirs that are characterized by hydrothermal dolomitization. Production has exceeded 132 million barrels of oil with forty new discoveries made in the past three years. The giant Albion-Scipio Trend is often used as a model for other prolific hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs around the world with current models focused on the structural control of reservoir quality dolomite.

Previous studies of the Black River Group have not delimited a well-constrained depositional model. This study integrates high-resolution core interpretations, whole core analysis, and thin section evaluation to determine how …

Prediction Of Petrophysical Properties Of Trenton-Black River (Ordovician) Reservoirs By Comparing Pore Architecture And Permeability To Sonic Velocity, John E. Thornton

Masters Theses

Reservoir characterization of carbonate rocks is complicated by heterogeneous pore architecture related to primary depositional facies and subsequent diagenesis; this is especially true in diagenetically-altered and structurually-influenced Trenton-Black River reservoirs of the Michigan Basin. Accurate and reliable prediction of reservoir properties within hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs through the use of acoustic properties would aid exploration and characterization both within and outside of the Michigan Basin.

Results indicate that measures of pore architecture when integrated with measures of physical properties into multiple variable linear regression can accurately predict permeability of core plugs. However, due to the highly-heterogeneous distribution of pore architecture and …

The Role Of Underflows And Climate On Sediment Distribution In Glacial-Fed Lake Linné, Svalbard, Norway, Diana Zamora-Reyes^, Vanessa L. Lougheed, Alan Werner, Steven Roof*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

Linnévatnet (78° 2’N, 13° 49’E), is a glacial-fed lake located in Svalbard, an archipelago north of Norway. Sediments found in the lake are supplied by the Linné Glacier, 8km south of the lake, and are transported by the melt stream into the lake, creating laminations with a strong signal of seasonal deposition. Due to its immaculate environment and recent rapid increase in temperature, this site is an ideal place to study past-climate proxies and determine how the changing environment is affecting the area. The objective of this study is to determine the frequency of water underflows influencing sediment distribution and …

Investigation Of Carbon Sequestration Potential Of The Middle Devonian Sylvania Sandstone, Michigan Basin, U.S.A, Farsheed Rock

Masters Theses

The Sylvania Sandstone is an important brine reservoir in Michigan. This study investigates the geological carbon sequestration potential of this reservoir through integrated reservoir characterization using cores, thin sections, core analysis data and modern wireline log data.

Core-to-wireline-log correlation can be used to subdivide the Sylvania Sandstone into conventional reservoir sandstone, and mixed dolostone, low permeability reservoir tripolitic chert and low permeability limestone lithologies. Isolith maps and cross sections indicate that the reservoir sandstone lithology dominates in southeast Michigan and is transitional to a mixture of sandstone, dolostone, tripolitic chert and limestone lithologies toward the northwest that in turn are …

Geological Controls On Reservoir Quality And Geologic Carbon Sequestration Potential In The Upper Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone, Kyle Patterson

Masters Theses

The Upper (?) Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone is an important deep saline geological carbon sequestration (GCS) target throughout the Midwest, USA. The distribution of sedimentary facies, primary mineralogy, and diagenetic alterations and the relationship to wireline log response and reservoir quality throughout the Michigan basin are not well known. This study uses rock core, thin section point counts, x-ray diffraction, inferred spectroscopy, conventional core plug porosity and permeability and pressure fall-off test data to constrain wireline log interpretations of regional geology and reservoir quality.

Prior to the permitting of a CO₂ sequestration project, documentation of a robust transient injection …

Relation Of Recent Seismicity (1988-Present) To The 1958 Huslia, Alaska Earthquake Sequence, Abigail Monreal^, Diane I. Doser*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

We have examined how recent seismicity in the Huslia region of central Alaska is related to active faults and the 1958 earthquake sequence (with at least 3 events of magnitude >6). Most of this region is swampy lowland dominated by alluvial material deposited by the Koyukuk River, making surficial identification of active faults difficult.  This portion of Alaska is also of interest because it appears to be a region in transition between the strike-slip faulting of the Salcha-Fairbanks-Minto Flats seismic zone and normal faulting of western Alaska (Norton Sound/Seward Peninsula). Researchers have suggested this change in the nature of faulting …

Middle To Late Miocene Extremely Rapid Exhumation And Thermal Reequilibration In The Kung Co Rift, Southern Tibet, Jeffrey Lee, Christian Hager, Simon R. Wallis, Daniel F. Stockli, Martin J. Whitehouse, Mutsuki Aoya, Yu Wang

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The Kung Co rift is an approximately NNW striking, WSW dipping normal fault exposed in southern Tibet and is part of an extensive network of active approximately NS striking normal faults exposed across the Tibetan Plateau. Detailed new and published (U-Th)/He zircon and apatite thermochronometric data from the footwall of the early Miocene Kung Co granite provide constraints on the middle Miocene to present-day exhumation history of the footwall to the Kung Co fault. Inverse modeling of thermochronometric data yield age patterns that are interpreted as indicating (1) initiation of normal fault slip at ∼12–13 Ma and rapid exhumation of …

Mapping Unmarked Graves In The Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation, Ashley Galusina Nauer^, Stephanie Chavez^, Laura Serpa*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

Citizens living on the Apache Indian Reservation in Mescalero, New Mexico have experienced difficulty in burying their dead because when they dig a new grave, they often find a body from an earlier burial. The reservation does not have rigorous rules on locating and marking graves and, thus, there are numerous unmarked burial sites within and outside of the existing cemeteries. Officials from the reservation approached the Geological Sciences Department for assistance to map grave locations in the area’s three graveyards. In this project, we will use shallow ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to find the graves and digital global positioning system …

Studies Of Seismicity Near The Active Volcano Mt. Spurr, Sarah J. Olivas^, Diane I. Doser*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

Seismicity patterns and fault orientations can indicate local stress fields related to volcanic eruptions. There have been many moderate magnitude, shallow earthquakes occurring in the Strandline Lake region about 100km from Anchorage, Alaska near the active volcano, Mt. Spurr. Previous researchers have found that the local stress under Mt. Spurr, before and after its 1992 eruption (1992-1997), differed from the regional stresses, which are related to subduction of the Pacific Plate and Yakutat micro plate. We are analyzing location and patterns of earthquakes occurring since 1998 to determine if more recent seismicity is similar to that occurring before or after …

Seismic Study Of Carlsbad, Nm, Steven M. Espinosa^, Aaron A. Velasco*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

Since January 1, 2000, there have been numerous earthquakes recorded in the vicinity of Carlsbad, NM.  Importantly, these shallow (10km) earthquakes with magnitudes < 4.3, do not have a fault or system of faults directly mapped to explain these events.  We will be relocating the largest and most recent earthquake, which occurred 25km west of Carlsbad, NM of magnitude 4.1 on March 28, 2010. Data recorded by seismic stations from the USArray, a large National Science Foundation project, and our local Kidd Observatory will be used for this analysis. The use of Standing Order of Data (SOD) allows us access seismograms, and the Seismic Analysis Code (SAC) helps in the analysis of the seismic data.   We will correlate the hypocenters of aftershocks to the main event hypocenter, allowing us to identify the fault plane.  Once a fault plane has been identified, we will begin work on relocating a second event, thereby identifying the responsible faults.  We believe that faulting in this area is related to the Rio Grande Rift extension and can be used as evidence for an active rift.

Detecting Unmarked Graves Using Gpr At The Mescalero Apache Reservation, Stephanie Y. Chavez^, Ashley G. Nauer, Laura Serpa*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

In Mescalero, New Mexico, on an Apache Indian Reservation, we were asked to survey the Mescalero Cemetery in order to locate unmarked graves. Back in the late 1800’s, proper documentation of graves was never made. As a result, what is thought to be a new potential burial site is discovered to be an old undocumented grave. Reservation officials have asked us to survey the cemetery and document exact locations of unmarked graves. To achieve this goal, we will use ground penetrating radar (GPR) and a differential global positioning system (DGPS). The collected data will be processed by using EKKO-Mapper and …

Evolution And Emergence Of The Hinterland In The Active Banda Arc-Continent Collision: Insights From The Metamorphic Rocks And Coral Terraces Of Kisar, Indonesia, Jonathan R. Major

Theses and Dissertations

Coral terrace surveys and U-series ages of coral and mollusk shells yield a surface uplift rate of ~0.6 m/ka for Kisar Island. The small island is located NE of Timor in the active Banda Arc of Indonesia. Based on this rate, Kisar first emerged from the ocean as recently as ~450 ka. Terrace surveys show warping that follows a pattern of east-west striking folds, which are along strike of thrust-related folds of similar wavelength imaged by a seismic reflection profile just offshore. This deformation shows that the emergence of Kisar can be attributed to forearc closure along the south-dipping Kisar …

Identifying Complex Fluvial Sandstone Reservoirs Using Core, Well Log, And 3d Seismic Data: Cretaceous Cedar Mountain And Dakota Formations, Southern Uinta Basin, Utah., William H. Hokanson

Theses and Dissertations

The Cedar Mountain and Dakota Formations are significant gas producers in the southern Uinta Basin of Utah. To date, however, predicting the stratigraphic distribution and lateral extent of potential gas-bearing channel sandstone reservoirs in these fluvial units has proven difficult due to their complex architecture, and the limited spacing of wells in the region. A new strategy to correlate the Cedar Mountain and Dakota Formations has been developed using core, well-log, and 3D seismic data. The detailed stratigraphy and sedimentology of the interval were interpreted using descriptions of a near continuous core of the Dakota Formation from the study area. …

Facies Analysis And Reservoir Characterization Of Subtidal, Intertidal, And Supratidal Zones Of The Mudstone-Rich Entrada Sandstone, South-Central Utah, Tanner Charles Hicks

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding thickness variation and facies transitions in the mudstone-rich part of the Upper Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Entrada Sandstone depositional system is critical for constraining the paleogeography and evaluating the economic potential of Utah's Entrada Sandstone. Facies of the Entrada Sandstone in south-central Utah are dominated by mudstone-rich intertidal facies that were widespread within the Jurassic seaway. Intertidal deposits interfinger basinward with subtidal ooid-bearing shoals and bars, and landward supratidal sabkha, and erg-margin eolian deposits. Three sections were measured to improve understanding of the lateral and vertical facies transitions. Variations in thickness indicate the rate of developing accommodation space was high …

Evidence Of Tectonic Uplift Along The Oceanic Fault Near San Simeon, San Luis Obispo County, California, George Gecy

Earth and Soil Sciences

Post-Seismic satellite imagery after the 2003 earthquake near San Simeon confirmed 10s of millimeters of north-east side uplift along the Oceanic Fault. In order to determine whether or not there has been a history of tectonic uplift northeast of the Oceanic Fault zone, longitudinal profiles of Morro Creek and San Simeon were made using a digital planimeter and 1:24,000 scale maps. Utilizing the stream profiles, convexities could be observed in the streams coinciding where the streams crossed the Oceanic Fault; of the stream profiles, the convexity along San Simeon Creek could be confirmed to be caused by north-east side uplift …

Sphenothallus-Like Fossils From The Martinsburg Formation (Upper Ordovician), Tennessee, Usa, Maya Li Wei-Haas, Bosiljka Glumac, H. Allen Curran

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Tubular fossils, up to 2 mm in diameter and 60 mm in length, occur rarely in the upper Martinsburg Formation (Upper Ordovician), northeastern Tennessee Appalachians, U.S.A. The fossils are unbranched, straight or slightly bent, occasionally twisted and wrinkled, and not significantly tapered. Orientation of the fossils within shallow-marine tempestites suggests that they represent remains of organisms that were broken, transported, and deposited by storm waves and currents. The fossils are morphologically similar to many of the previously identified species belonging to the genus Sphenothallus, a relatively rare tube-dwelling Paleozoic marine invertebrate. Owing to the limited evidence for distal widening of …

Recent Increase In Black Carbon Concentrations From A Mt. Everest Ice Core Spanning 1860-2000 Ad, Susan D. Kaspari, M. Schwikowski, M. Gysel, M. G. Flanner, S. Kang, S. Hou, P. A. Mayewski

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

A Mt. Everest ice core spanning 1860–2000 AD and analyzed at high resolution for black carbon (BC) using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) demonstrates strong seasonality, with peak concentrations during the winter‐spring, and low concentrations during the summer monsoon season. BC concentrations from 1975–2000 relative to 1860–1975 have increased approximately threefold, indicating that BC from anthropogenic sources is being transported to high elevation regions of the Himalaya. The timing of the increase in BC is consistent with BC emission inventory data from South Asia and the Middle East, however since 1990 the ice core BC record does not indicate …

Partitioning Of Localized And Diffuse Deformation In The Tibetan Plateau From Joint Inversions Of Geologic And Geodetic Observations, John P. Loveless, Brendan J. Meade

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The spatial complexity of continental deformation in the greater Tibetan Plateau region can be defined as the extent to which relative motion of the Indian and Asian plates is partitioned between localized slip on major faults and distributed deformation. Potency rates provide a quantitative metric for determining the magnitudes of diffuse and on-fault crustal deformation, which are proportional to strain rates within crustal micro-plates and fault slip rates, respectively. We simultaneously estimate micro-plate rotation rates, interseismic elastic strain accumulation, fault slip rates on major structures, and strain rates within 24 tectonic micro-plates inferred from active fault maps in the greater …