Geology Commons^™

Influences Of Hurricanes, Floods, And Organic Production On River-Delta Evolution Over Decadal To Centennial Time-Scales, Crawford M. White

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Episodic overbank flooding and sediment resuspension events (such as cold front passages or tropical cyclones) are recognized as important natural components for wetlands maintaining vertical equilibrium with sea-level. However, the relative importance of these components to an anthropogenically unmodified delta complex remains unclear. This study uses sediment cores to describe the relative importance of these vertical accretion components the Lafourche and Balize Deltas of the Mississippi River. Existing wetlands of the abandoned lower Lafourche receive no direct fluvial sediment, but instead are supported by sediment resuspended by tropical cyclones and cold fronts that pass over them. Wetlands of the modern …

Investigating Core Shale Depositional Environments Of Late Pennsylvanian Cyclothems Utilizing Geochemical Proxies To Test The Superestuarine Model, Bryce A. Mathis

LSU Master's Theses

The Late Paleozoic Midcontinent Sea (LPMS) inundated vast areas of the North American interior during glacio-eustatic transgressions, depositing widespread black shales facies within the core shale intervals of major cyclothems. These black shale deposits are unique because no modern analogs can adequately explain the depositional environments and model for organic matter preservation across such vast ancient epicontinental settings. One possible explanation is that a superestuarine circulation system developed across the LPMS during humid interglacial phases, which promoted strong water column stratification and benthic anoxia.

The goal of this research was to test the validity of the superestuarine estuarine model and …

Soputan Volcano, Indonesia: Petrological Systematics Of Volatiles And Magmas And Their Bearing On Explosive Eruptions Of A Basalt Volcano, Syegi Lenarahmi Kunrat

Dissertations and Theses

Soputan volcano is one of the few basaltic volcanoes among 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia. It is part of the Sempu-Soputan volcanic complex located south of Tondano Caldera, North Sulawesi and commonly produces both explosive eruptions with VEI 2-3 and effusive lava dome and flow eruptions. Over the last two decades, Soputan had thirteen eruptions, the most recent in 2016. Most eruptions started explosively, followed by dome growth and in some cases pyroclastic flows. Our study focuses on understanding the magmatic system of Soputan and what processes are responsible for its highly explosive eruptions, which are typically uncommon for a …

Seismic Facies Classification Of An Intraslope Minibasin In The Keathley Canyon, Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Lamine Meroudj

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This work examines several volume attributes extracted from 3D seismic data with the goal of seismic facies classification and lithology prediction in intraslope minibasins. The study area is in the Keathley Canyon protraction (KC), within the middle slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). It lays within the tabular salt and minibasins province downdip of the main Pliocene and Pleistocene deltaic depocenters. Interaction between sedimentation and mobile salt substrate lead to the emergence of many stratigraphic patterns in the intraslope minibasins. Interest in subsalt formations left above salt formations poorly logged. Facies classification using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was …

Single-Grain Optically Stimulated Luminescence Ages Of Brownware Pottery In The Central Rocky Mountains And The Spread Of Numic Ceramic Technology, Judson Byrd Finley, Carlie J. Ideker, Tammy M. Rittenour

Geosciences Faculty Publications

This study presents the results of a single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (SG-OSL) analysis of brownware pottery from four Late Prehistoric-period sites in the Middle Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, USA. SG-OSL of quartz ceramic temper provides improved age control for sites where radiocarbon dating has proven problematic due to old wood, recent wildfires, and calibration uncertainties. SG-OSL results are compared to fine-grain infrared stimulated luminescence (FG-IRSL) results from the same sherds and associated radiocarbon ages. We find that the single-grain technique applied to quartz sand temper provides improved accuracy and precision over both FG-IRSL and radiocarbon. We compare our results to directly …

Evaluation Of Simple Geochemical Indicators Of Aeolian Sand Provenance: Late Quaternary Dune Fields Of North America Revisited, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Dune fields of Quaternary age occupy large areas of the world's arid and semiarid regions. Despite this, there has been surprisingly little work done on understanding dune sediment provenance, in part because many techniques are time-consuming, prone to operator error, experimental, highly specialized, expensive, or require sophisticated instrumentation. Provenance of dune sand using K/Rb and K/Ba values in K-feldspar in aeolian sands of the arid and semiarid regions of North America is tested here. Results indicate that K/Rb and K/Ba can distinguish different river sands that are sediment sources for dunes and dune fields themselves have distinctive K/Rb and K/Ba …

Cytonuclear Discordance In The Florida Everglades Invasive Burmese Python (Python Bivittatus) Population Reveals Possible Hybridization With The Indian Python (P. Molurus), Margaret E. Hunter, Nathan A. Johnson, Brian J. Smith, Michelle C. Davis, John S.S. Butterfield, Ray W. Snow, Kristen M. Hart

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The invasive Burmese python (Python bivittatus) has been reproducing in the Florida Everglades since the 1980s. These giant constrictor snakes have caused a precipitous decline in small mammal populations in southern Florida following escapes or releases from the commercial pet trade. To better understand the invasion pathway and genetic composition of the population, two mitochondrial (mtDNA) loci across 1,398 base pairs were sequenced on 426 snakes and 22 microsatellites were assessed on 389 snakes. Concatenated mtDNA sequences produced six haplotypes with an average nucleotide and haplotype diversity of π = 0.002 and h = 0.097, respectively. Samples collected …

On The Pursuit Of Relevance In Standards-Based Curriculum Development: The Ccny Approach, Angelo Lampousis

Publications and Research

The Society for Standards Professionals (SES) has a significant history of documenting the use of standards in research and academia. For instance, during the 62nd Annual SES Conference in 2013 in Savannah, Georgia, the author participated in such a session highlighting examples of relationships between academic institutions, government, and standards developing organizations. In this article, we attempt to capture the current advances made from similar relationships specific to our home institution, the City College of New York (CCNY) of the City University of New York (CUNY.) These advances have become possible through a grant issued under the Standards Services Curricula …

Sedimentary Characteristics And Nutrient Sequestration Of Embanked Floodplains Along The Lower Mississippi River, Mississippi And Louisiana, R M Malitha Rathnayake

Master's Theses

The Mississippi River Basin is the largest river basin in North America and the third largest river basin in the world. Most of the corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, and hogs harvested in the United States come from the Mississippi River Basin and about 58% of the entire drainage basin is croplands. Runoff from these lands carries sediments and nutrients, and the Mississippi River transports these downstream and ultimately deposits them in the Gulf of Mexico. The northern Gulf of Mexico is one of largest human-caused hypoxic zones in the world. Hypoxia is the phenomena where the dissolved oxygen level decreases …

Stratigraphy Of The Middle Cambrian Lincoln Peak Formation And Evolution Of The House Range Embayment, Eastern Nevada, Ibrahim Zallum

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This study examined the Middle Cambrian (c. 500 MA) Lincoln Peak Formation and Patterson Pass Shale. The initial goal was to create a stratigraphic model for these units. This model was then compared to those from already studied units in western Utah, which combined with the Nevada units form the rock record of an ancient feature known as the House Range Embayment, which was an area of greater water depth superimposed on the continental shelf. This study found that the Nevada units exhibit a series of depositional sequences similar to those in western Utah, but at a lower resolution. This …

Geology And Paleontology Along Part Of The Niobrara River In Northern Nebraska, Robert Matthew Joeckel, S. T. Tucker, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Dynamic Relationship Between The Bear River, Quaternary Basaltic Center, Normal Faults, And The Resulting Rearrangement Of Rivers In The Northeast Edge Of The Great Basin, Southeast Idaho, Brady Utley

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The objective of this research project in Gem Valley graben, southeast Idaho is to identify the location, age and history of the Quaternary diversion of the Bear River into paleo-Lake Thatcher, and then into the Lake Bonneville basin from the Columbia River basin. Mapping, geochemical analysis, cross-cutting relationships, and five new age determinations, together with prior published research, shed new light on the complex history of interaction between the volcanic rocks, rivers, lakes, and faults in Gem Valley. Research goals were to test the hypothesis that local faulting and volcanism drove the diversion of the Bear River and controlled the …

Stratigraphy, Petrology, And Paleontology Of The Late Cretaceous Campanian Mesaverde Group In Northeastern Utah, Christopher Ward

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project examines a poorly studied sandstone ridge called Snake John Reef located 22 miles southeast of Vernal, in northeastern Utah. Previously this ridge was mapped as exposures of late Cretaceous, undifferentiated Mesaverde Group, and recently unidentified dinosaur fossils have been found along the ridge by the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. Stratigraphic sections, petrographic thin sections, and collection and study of fossils from Snake John Reef were undertaken to understand the stratigraphic relationship as well as to reconstruct the depositional environment of the dinosaur bearing units. Snake John Reef represents exposures of three late Cretaceous …

Characterizing The Fate And Mobility Of Phosphorus In Utah Lake Sediments, Matthew Chambers Randall

Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of lakes worldwide are impacted by eutrophication and harmful algal blooms due to nutrient inputs. Utah Lake is a unique eutrophic freshwater lake that is naturally shallow, turbid, and alkaline with high dissolved oxygen levels. Recently, the Utah Division of Water Quality has proposed a new limitation of phosphorus (P) loading to Utah Lake from wastewater treatment plants in an effort to mitigate eutrophication. However, reducing external P loads may not lead to immediate improvements in water quality due to the legacy pool of nutrients in lake sediments. The purpose of this study was to characterize the …

Groundwater Flow Tracing In Carter Saltpeter Cave And Toll Branch, Carter County, Tn, Aaron G. Doyka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater tracing studies have shown a well-developed conduit system in the karst aquifer beneath the Buffalo Creek Watershed of Carter County, TN. Groundwater can quickly travel beneath topographic divides, transporting contaminants. Using GIS and field reconnaissance, two sites were selected for a two phase dye trace study. In May-June 2016 groundwater resurgences were located using activated carbon samplers, and in October-December 2016 flow velocities were measured using ISCO automatic water samplers. In study 1, a stream sinking in the back of Carter Saltpeter Cave was traced to its resurgence at Cave Springs Cave. In study 2, the dye mass centroid …

Geology And Geochemistry Of The Uvas Volcanic Field And Rubio Peak Formation Of South-Central New Mexico, Usa, Max Logan Hoffman

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

South-central New Mexico is characterized by many Cenozoic volcanic and tectonic events that produced a complex system of magma sources. These mechanisms are responsible for the diverse volcanic activity and magmatic evolution in New Mexico. To understand the growth and development of the mantle sources associated with these events, geochemical, petrographic, structural and spatial distribution data were collected from the Uvas volcanic field (UVF) and the Rubio Peak Formation of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field (MDVF). Volcanic rocks from these volcanic fields were chosen based on their importance to relative timing of magmatic and tectonic transitioning events. The structural and spatial …

Analysis Of The Hite Fault Group, Southeast Utah: Insights Into Fluid Flow Properties In A Reservoir Analog, Daniel J. Curtis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the subsurface faults can act as both barriers and conduits for fluids or gases such as CO₂, hydrocarbons, or water. It is often thought that faults in porous rocks such as sandstone are barriers to fluid flow. In this study we show that this is not always the case. In sandstones like the Cedar Mesa Sandstone it is very important to understand the relationships between this history of fault slip and fluid flow. Better understanding of how fluids migrate through faults and the damaged areas surrounding these faults has strong significance to the oil and gas industry. …

Characterizing The Low Net-To-Gross, Fluviodeltaic Dry Hollow Member Of The Frontier Formation, Western Green River Basin, Wyoming, Scott Romney Meek

Theses and Dissertations

The Frontier Formation in the Green River Basin of southwestern Wyoming consists of Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) marine and non-marine sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and coals deposited on the western margin of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway. Tight gas reservoirs exist in subsurface fluviodeltaic sandstones in the upper Frontier Formation (Dry Hollow Member) on the north-south trending Moxa Arch within the basin. These strata crop out in hogback ridges of the Utah-Idaho-Wyoming Thrust Belt approximately 40 km west of the crest of the Moxa Arch. Detailed, quantitative outcrop descriptions were constructed using emerging photogrammetric techniques along with field observations and measured sections at …

Geologic Mapping Of The Vernal Nw Quadrangle, Uintah County, Ut, And Stratigraphic Relationships Of The Duchesne River Formation And Bishop Conglomerate, Casey Andrew Webb

Theses and Dissertations

Detailed mapping (1:24,000), measured sections, and clast counts in conglomerates of the Duchesne River Formation and Bishop Conglomerate in the Vernal NW quadrangle in northeastern Utah reveal the middle Cenozoic stratigraphic geometry, the uplift and unroofing history of the eastern Uinta Mountains, and give evidence for the pulsed termination of Laramide uplift. The Unita Mountains are an EW-trending reverse fault bounded and basement-cored, Laramide uplift. The oldest unit of the Duchesne River Formation, the Eocene Brennan Basin Member, contains 80-90% Paleozoic clasts and <20% Precambrian clasts. Proximal to the Uinta uplift the conglomerates of this member are dominated by Paleozoic Madison Limestone clasts (70-90% of all clasts). Farther out into the basin, Paleozoic clasts still dominate in Brennan Basin Member conglomerates, but chert clasts are more abundant (up to 43%) showing the efficiency of erosion of the carbonate clasts over a short distance (~5 km). Conglomerates in the progressively younger Dry Gulch Creek, Lapoint, and Starr Flat members show a significant upward increase in Precambrian clasts with 34-73% Uinta Mountain Group and 8-63% Madison Limestone. Duchesne River Formation has a significant increase in coarse-grained deposits from the southern parts of the quadrangle (20-50% coarse) to the northern parts (75% coarse) nearer the Uinta uplift. The lower part of the Duchesne River Formation exhibits a fining upward sequence representing a tectonic lull. Clast count patterns show that pebbly channel deposits in the south maintain similar compositions to their alluvial fan counterparts. To the north, the fine-grained Lapoint and Dry Gulch Creek members of the Duchesne River Formation appear to pinch out completely. This can be explained by erosion of these fine-grained deposits or by lateral facies shifts before deposition of the next unit. Starr Flat Member conglomerates were deposited above Lapoint Member siltstones and represent southward progradation of alluvial fans away from the uplifting mountain front. Similarities in composition and sedimentary structures have caused confusion surrounding the contact between the Starr Flat Member and the overlying Bishop Conglomerate. Within the Vernal NW quadrangle, we interpret this contact as an angular unconformity (the Gilbert Peak Erosion Surface) developed on the uppermost tilted red siltstone of the Starr Flat Member sometime after 37.9 Ma. Stratigraphic and structural relationships reveal important details about the development of a Laramide mountain range: 1) sequential unroofing sequences in the Duchesne River Formation, 2) progradation of alluvial fans to form the Starr Flat Member, 3) and the unconformable nature of the Gilbert Peak Erosion Surface lead to the conclusion that there were at least 3 distinct episodes of uplift during the deposition of these formations. The last uplift episode upwarped the Starr Flat Member constraining the termination of Laramide uplift in the Uinta Mountains to be after deposition of the Starr Flat Member and prior to deposition of the horizontal Bishop Conglomerate starting at about 34 Ma. This, combined with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 39.4 Ma from the Dry Gulch Creek and Lapoint member, show …

Using Stable Isotope Geochemistry To Determine Changing Paleohydrology And Diagenetic Alteration In The Late Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation, Ut Usa, Daigo Yamamura

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Western Interior Basin of the North America preserves one of the best sedimentary and paleontological records of the Cretaceous in the world. The Upper Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation is a rapidly deposited fluvial sequence and preserves one of the most complete terrestrial fossil record of the North America. Such a unique deposit provides an opportunity to investigate the interaction between the physical environment and ecology. In an effort to decipher such interaction, stable isotope composition of cements in sedimentary rocks, concretions and vertebrate fossils were analyzed.

Despite the difference in facies and sedimentary architecture, the isotope composition does not change …

Near Surface Geophysics For Lithostratigraphic Interpretation At Pedro, Benton County, Arkansas, Matthew David Ruggeri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The roadcut on highway 412 near Pedro, Benton County, Arkansas (MArkUP site L15), has been of geological interest since its excavation in the 1980s. The roadcut is located within the Springfield Plateau and displays formations of Lower Mississippian age. The roadcut contains three mound-like features believed to be olistoliths. This thesis research work adds geophysical evidence to the geological exposure at the site. The purpose of this research is to answer the question of whether near surface seismic methods can be used to extend information at the Pedro outcrop below the ground surface. Specifically, can the top of the Middle …

A Geologic Study To Determine The Potential To Create An Appalachian Storage Hub For Natural Gas Liquids, Kristin M. Carter, Douglas G. Patchen, Jessica P. Moore, Mohammad Fakhari, Gary W. Daft Jr, Michael Solis, Brian J. Dunst, Robin V. Anthony, Katherine W. Schmid, Kyle Metz, Philip Dinterman, Julie M. Bloxson, Erica N. Schubert, John Saucer

Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium

The Marcellus and Utica shale plays continue to lead the way in an ever-expanding shale revolution with average daily production, growing from about 3 billion cubic feet (BCF) in 2010 to more than 24 BCF today. Forecasts suggest that this could grow to as much as 40 BCF in the next 5 years. Fortunately, sweet spots in the Utica in eastern Ohio and in the Marcellus in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania are areas of wet gas production, downdip from oil production and updip from dry gas. Production in these regions represents about 40 percent of the total from …

Geochemistry Of Volatiles Released By Incipient Continental Rifting And Subduction Processes, Hyunwoo Lee

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Volatiles (N2, CO2, and He) are released by volcanism and hydrothermal activity during continental rifting and subduction processes. Analyses of volatile components have been conducted to obtain gas contents (CO2, SO2, H2S, N2, Ar, He, and so on), stable isotope compositions (δ13C, δ15N, and so on), and noble gas isotopes (3He/4He, 40Ar/36Ar, and so on). This dissertation includes four chapters to report new nitrogen isotope fractionation factors of bubbling gases during gas-water transfer at various water temperatures (Chapter 1), first measurements of massive amounts of CO2 released by incipient continental rifting in the Magadi and Natron Basin, East African Rift …

Origin Of Primitive Ocean Island Basalts By Crustal Gabbro Assimilation And Multiple Recharge Of Plume-Derived Melts, Anastassia Y. Borisova, Wendy A. Bohrson, Michel Grégoire

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Chemical Geodynamics relies on a paradigm that the isotopic composition of ocean island basalt (OIB) represents equilibrium with its primary mantle sources. However, the discovery of huge isotopic heterogeneity within olivine‐hosted melt inclusions in primitive basalts from Kerguelen, Iceland, Hawaii and South Pacific Polynesia islands implies open‐system behavior of OIBs, where during magma residence and transport, basaltic melts are contaminated by surrounding lithosphere. To constrain the processes of crustal assimilation by OIBs, we employed the Magma Chamber Simulator (MCS), an energy‐constrained thermodynamic model of recharge, assimilation and fractional crystallization. For a case study of the 21–19 Ma basaltic series, the …

Moving From Generalisations To Specificity About Mangrove –Saltmarsh Dynamics, Kerrylee Rogers, Ken W. Krauss

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Spatial and temporal variability in factors influencing mangrove establishment and survival affects the distribution of mangrove, particularly near their latitudinal limit, where mangrove expansion into saltmarsh is conspicuous. In this paper the spatial variability in mangrove distribution and variability in factors influencing mangrove establishment and survival during the Quaternary period are reviewed, focusing on research at latitudinal limits in Australia and mainland USA. Despite similarities in the response of mangrove to some drivers, the expression of these drivers is both spatially and temporally variable, demonstrating the need for analyses of mangrove-saltmarsh dynamics to move beyond generalizations and incorporate regional and …

Trilobite Extinctions, Facies Changes And The Roece Carbon Isotope Excursion At The Cambrian Series 2–3 Boundary, Great Basin, Western Usa, Luke E. Faggetter, Paul B. Wignall, Sara B. Pruss, Robert J. Newton, Yadong Sun, Stephen F. Crowley

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The mass extinction of the olenellid trilobites occurred around the Cambrian Series 2–Series 3 boundary. Like many other crises, it coincided with a negative carbon isotope excursion but the associated palaeoenvironmental changes remain unclear. To investigate the causal mechanism for this event, we report facies changes, pyrite framboid petrography and carbon isotope values from Cambrian Series 2–Series 3 (traditionally Early–Middle Cambrian) boundary strata of the Carrara Formation (Death Valley region, California) and Pioche Formation (Nevada). These data reveal regionally changing water depths from high-energy, nearshore facies (oolitic grainstone) to more offshore silty marl and finer-grained carbonate mudstone. In the Carrara …

The Littlefield Rhyolite, Eastern Oregon: Distinct Flow Units And Their Constraints On Age And Storage Sites Of Grande Ronde Basalt Magmas, Brian Mcculloch Webb

Dissertations and Theses

The Littlefield Rhyolite consists of widespread, high-temperature, hotspot-related rhyolitic lavas that erupted in eastern Oregon contemporaneous to late-stage Grande Ronde Basalt lavas. The estimated total volume of erupted rhyolites is ~100 km³ covering ~850 km².

The focus of this study has been to investigate the stratigraphy and petrology of the Littlefield Rhyolite and whether field and geochemical relationships exist to help constrain the timing and storage sites of Grande Ronde Basalt magmas. Although often indistinguishable in the field, our data reveal that the Littlefield Rhyolite consists of two geochemically distinct rhyolite flow packages that are designated here …

High-Resolution Elevation Mapping Of The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, And Surrounding Regions, Andrew G. Fountain, Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz, Maciej K. Obryk, Joseph Levy, Michael N. Gooseff, David J. Van Horn, Paul Morin, Ramesh Shrestha

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present detailed surface elevation measurements for the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica derived from aerial lidar surveys flown in the austral summer of 2014–2015 as part of an effort to understand geomorphic changes over the past decade. Lidar return density varied from 2 to > 10 returns m−2with an average of about 5 returns m−2. Vertical and horizontal accuracies are estimated to be 7 and 3 cm, respectively. In addition to our intended targets, other ad hoc regions were also surveyed including the Pegasus flight facility and two regions on Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Scott Base (and surroundings), and the coastal …

Quantitative Literacy In The Affective Domain: Computational Geology Students’ Reactions To Devlin’S The Math Instinct, Victor J. Ricchezza, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

Building on suggestions from alumni from a recent interview project, students in Computational Geology at the University of South Florida were tasked with reading a popular non-fiction book on mathematics and writing about the book and their feelings about math. The book, The Math Instinct by Keith Devlin, was chosen because we believed it would give the students something interesting to write about and not because we had any expectations in particular about what it might reveal about or do for their math anxiety. The nature of the responses received from the students led to the performance of a post-hoc …

Stratigraphic Architecture And Lithofacies Of High-Frequency Deltaic Sequences: Virtual Outcrop Analysis Of The Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Ferron Sandstone Member Of The Mancos Shale, South-Central Utah, Usa, Conor J. Horton

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sequence stratigraphic models for low-accommodation settings are not well-formulated and lack documented examples illustrating lithofacies stratal stacking pattern complexities. Presented herein is a detailed stratigraphic analysis of the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale Formation; a fluvial-deltaic succession that primarily accumulated under forced-regressive, falling stage systems tracts during decreasing accommodation. The small (4 km2) study area is located at the connecting point of a 67 km long, depositional strike-oriented and a 30 km long, depositional-dip transect within the western-limb of the Henry Mountains Syncline. Detailed outcrop sections and digital Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derived Virtual …