Geology Commons^™

Assessing The Use Of Tsunami Simulations As A Tool To Predict Source Magnitudes And Locations Of Paleoearthquakes In Chile, Rebeca Isabel Becerra

All Master's Theses

A long-term goal of paleotsunami studies is the ability to predict paleoearthquake parameters based on tsunami deposits found on land. Chile provides an exemplary location for testing methods of making these predictions because the historical record includes 41 major earthquakes as far back as 1562 AD, and there are many known paleotsunami deposits throughout the region. Using these records as a comparison tool, I evaluated simulated tsunami wave heights and inundation extent with the tsunami model GeoClaw for nine hypothetical tsunamigenic large earthquakes (M_w 8.6, 8.8, and 9.0) in south-central Chile with epicenters at -35.1º, -38.8º, and -42.9º. As …

Internal Composition, Structure, And Hydrological Significance Of Rock Glaciers In The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Adam Riffle

All Master's Theses

Low summer river base flow places a strain on natural and economic resources of the Eastern Cascades. A major contributor to stream flow in this region is snow pack which has declined over the past few decades because of a warming climate. In addition, glacial runoff, which contributes significantly to base flow in summer dry periods, will diminish from glacial recession. However, rock glaciers, because their internal ice (i.e., permafrost) is insulated by an outer debris layer, react slowly to climate change, thus acting as sinks for ice and liquid water storage in mountain environments. This study utilized ground penetrating …

Stream Water And Soil Water Chemistry After The Table Mountain Wildfire, Washington, Usa, Vincent J. Roccanova

All Master's Theses

Analyses of major and trace elements, major ions, and nutrient concentrations were made to investigate how stream water and soil water chemistry changed over 16 months following the Table Mountain wildfire. Sites with different burn severity were also compared. The fire occurred in 2012 in Kittitas County, north of Ellensburg, Washington. Samples were collected at severely burned, moderately burned, and unburned field sites from within and adjacent to the wildfire perimeter. Total nitrogen concentrations increased in the second year after the fire in both the severely and moderately burned sites. In contrast, total phosphorus was variable at all three sites …

Occupational Seasonality And Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction At Quebrada Jaguay 280, Stephanie Melissa Gruver

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Quebrada Jaguay 280 (QJ-280) is one of the oldest maritime archaeological sites in the New World. Previous excavations of the southern Peruvian coastal site have dated occupation from ~13,000-8,000 cal yr BP. These excavations also determined that the occupants of the site used preferential maritime resource procurement strategies and had an interzonal connection to the highlands. In 2017 a new excavation was conducted at QJ-280 and the remains of the marine mollusk Mesodesma donacium were recovered. Geochemical examinations on the shell remains informed on the occupational seasonality of the site and reconstructed sea surface temperatures experienced off the coast of …

Hydrogen, Carbon, And Oxygen Isotopes In Prosopis Sp. Trees: A New Climate Proxy For Holocene Paleoclimate In The Atacama Desert, Chile, Elizabeth Joy Olson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The spatial ubiquity of trees in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide facilitates the use of stable isotope research in tree-rings to address a wide-range of interdisciplinary questions related to climate, ecology, archaeology, and hydrology. This dissertation focuses on the development and application of Prosopis tamarugo tree-ring stable isotope records as a paleoclimate proxy for the Atacama Desert, Chile. Current paleoclimate proxies from this region lack the spatial and temporal resolution to quantify a causal mechanism for observed Holocene hydroclimate variability. P. tamarugo tree-ring isotopes provide a high-resolution proxy that facilitates the reconstruction of hydroclimate variability at a regional scale. In order to …

Investigating The Effect Of Magma Viscosity Changes On The Eruption Style Of Masaya Caldera Complex, Nicaragua, Garima Lohani

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The Masaya caldera complex is a basaltic shield volcano that has produced rare basaltic Plinian eruptions (BPE) but is characterized by effusive activity in the last 6000 years. More than two million people live within a 20 km radius of the caldera. Magma viscosity plays an important role in determining the eruption style of a volcano. In this thesis, I provide the first viscosity measurements on an erupted magma composition and examine the role of magma viscosity in determining eruptive style at Masaya and in promoting BPE’s.

Viscosity experiments were conducted for a Masaya lava sample at superliquidus, subliquidus and …

Lithospheric Layering And Thickness Beneath The Contiguous United States, Lin Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Upper Mississippi Embayment (UME), where the seismically active New Madrid Seismic Zone resides, experienced two phases of subsidence commencing in the Late Precambrian and Cretaceous, respectively. To provide new constraints on models proposed for the mechanisms responsible for the subsidence, we computed and stacked P-to-S receiver functions recorded by 49 USArray and other seismic stations located in the UME and the adjacent Ozark Uplift and modeled Bouguer gravity anomaly data. The inferred thickness, density, and Vp/Vs of the upper and lower crustal layers suggest that the UME is characterized by a mafic and high-density upper crustal layer of ∼30 …

Crustal Structure Beneath The Eastern Margin Of The Tibetan Plateau And Adjacent Areas From Receiver Function Stacking And Gravity Modeling, Yunxin Peng

Doctoral Dissertations

"To provide constraints on the mechanisms responsible for the uplift and crustal thickening of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, the thickness and Vp/Vs values of the Moho beneath 153 seismic stations are obtained by stacking P-to-S converted phases from the Moho and gravity modeling. The resulting crustal thickness generally decreases from the northwest to the south-east, from about 60 km in the Bayan Har Block to 30 km in the Sichuan Basin. The crustal Vp/Vs measurements in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, Bayan Har Block, Chuxiong Basin, and Yangtze Platform indicate an overall intermediate to felsic crustal composition. With a relatively thick …

Tuhualite In A Peralkaline Rhyolitic Ignimbrite From Pantelleria, Italy, Boguslaw Baginski, Ray Macdonald, John C. White, Lidia Jezak

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

An occurrence of the rare mineral tuhualite (NaFe3+Fe2+Si6O15) is reported in a peralkaline rhyolitic ignimbrite from the 11 island of Pantelleria, Italy. The mineral formed during devitrification of glassy fiamme and varies in form from anhedral plates to 12 perfect euhedral in open vesicles. There is significant replacement of Fe2+ by Mn (FMQ in the presence of a 14 hydrous fluid.

The Sedimentary Record Of Eocene Deformation In The Interior Of The Southern Canadian Cordillera, Erica May Rubino

Theses and Dissertations

Eocene sedimentary strata exposed in the interior of the southern Canadian Cordillera (SCC) in British Columbia (BC) and northernmost Washington (WA) record a poorly understood history of extension-related deformation in the hinterland of the orogen. Today these strata are exposed in isolated, distinct outcrop belts, although the nature of the original basin(s) is unknown. We examined 650 m of Eocene strata, analyzed 2,995 detrital zircons for uranium-lead (U-Pb) ages, and measured 67 detrital zircons for Hf isotope systematics in an effort to better understand the physiography of the SCC during this time period. Eocene strata consist of clast- and matrix-supported …

Re-Evaluation Of The Extent And Tectonic History Of The Helena Banks Fault Zone, Offshore South Carolina, Ahmet Postaagasi

Theses and Dissertations

The Helena Banks Fault Zone (HBFZ), first identified in the early 1980’s offshore Charleston, S.C., was originally interpreted to be a major, high-angle, basin-bounding normal fault associated with Mesozoic rifting. Subsequent work suggests that (1) Mesozoic rift basins are not present on the continental shelf of South Carolina, (2) the HBFZ originated as a strike-slip fault within Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Suwannee Basin sequence, (3) a mafic intrusion inferred from aeromagnetic data is coincident with a broadly circular zone of highly-complex faulting along the north-eastward continuation of the HBFZ where (4) up to 300 m of local relief can …

Organic Acids And Amino Acids In Serpentinization Related Fluids From The Atlantis Massif, Nicholas Camper

Theses and Dissertations

Serpentinization is a low temperature, low pressure process that occurs when water reacts with ultramafic rocks. Fluids that have interacted with serpentinites have elevated concentrations of hydrogen and reduced carbon species that can fuel chemolithoautotrophy. International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 357 drilled a series of boreholes into the Atlantis Massif with the goal of investigating how serpentinization impacts carbon cycling and sustains life in the subseafloor. Bottom water samples (CTD), fluids flushed from the boreholes during drilling (Rock Drill), and fluids that were trapped in the liners of the cores (Liner fluids) were collected. The changes and distributions of organic …

Assessment Of Upper Cretaceous Strata For Offshore Co2 Storage: Southeastern United States, Khaled F. Almutairi

Theses and Dissertations

This is the first assessment of Upper Cretaceous strata for offshore CO2 storage resources in the southeastern United States outer continental shelf. This research focuses on Upper Cretaceous geological units using legacy industry 2-D seismic reflection and well data. It provides an integrated description and reliable subsurface evaluation of Upper Cretaceous potential storage reservoirs. In addition, it provides a detailed evaluation on how rock porosities and permeabilities are distributed across the Upper Cretaceous strata restricted to the South Georgia Embayment (SGE). Structure and thickness (isochore) maps were generated for the main potential reservoirs and seals on a regional and local …

Encrusting Sclerobiont Paleoecology And Bioerosion Of Oysters In The Type Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Of Southwestern France, Macy A. Conrad

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Campanian Stage of the Upper Cretaceous was established by Henri Coquand in 1857 based on a sequence of richly fossiliferous shallow water carbonates in the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments of southwestern France. One of the most common macrofossils is the gryphaeid oyster Pycnodonte vesicularis (Lamarck, 1806), which often forms extensive shell beds. This bivalve lived primarily on soft marly substrates, forming hard substrate islands. They frequently supported sclerobiont communities comprising encrusters (diverse cheilostome and cyclostome bryozoans, foraminiferans, oysters, bivalves, sabellid and serpulid polychaetes, calcareous sponges), borers (the sponge borings Entobia, the worm borings Maeandropolydora and Caulostrepsis, the barnacle borings …

Seismic Characteristics Of Paleo-Pockmarks At Great South Basin, New Zealand, Arunee Karaket

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Paleo-pockmarks and present-day pockmarks are founded in several varieties both onshore and offshore worldwide. These features can be used as an indicator of fluid flow process which expulses through an unconsolidated sediment within the basin. The Great South Basin, New Zealand is one of the basins that paleo-pockmarks are observed covering the southeast offshore of South Island at around 1.5 s (TWT) depth beneath the surface. This study aims to identify seismic characteristics of paleo-pockmarks in the Great South Basin and predict the possible fluid origins and their mechanism. The numerous paleo-pockmarks are identified and imaged by using 3D seismic …

The Influence Of Geological Structure On Stratigraphic Development During Multiphase Rifting In The Songkhla Basin, Gulf Of Thailand, Jidapa Phoosongsee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The Cenozoic N-S trending Songkhla rift basin, located in the southwest Gulf of Thailand, was developed as a predominantly orthogonal extended half graben structure. The half graben is controlled by a boundary fault zone on the western side of the basin, which forms a series of N-S to NNE-SSW, east-dipping normal faults. The rift spans two phases of rifting; the Eocene-Oligocene and the Oligocene-Miocene phases, the late syn-rift to post-rift transition occurred from the late Early Miocene to Middle Miocene. The main clastic hydrocarbon reservoirs in the basin are located in the Early Miocene to Middle Miocene section. These reservoirs …

Influences Of Geologic Conditions And Anthropogenic Activities On Changes Of Geomorphology And Sediment Load Characteristics Of The Ping And Chao Phraya Rivers, Nikhom Chaiwongsaen

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The Chao Phraya River flows into the largest river basin of Thailand. The Ping River is one of its the major upstream branches flowing down slope southwardly, joining the Chao Phraya River in the central plain and ends at the Gulf of Thailand. The sand-choked is extensively observed and the flood overflow occurs frequently and rapidly at the Lower Ping River. In contrary, the Chao Phraya River, the erosion of river bank and shoreline around the river mouth has been spatially increasing in place. The Landsat imageries taken in 1987, 1997, 2007 and 2017 were used to analyze geomorphological changes …

Aftershock Analysis In The Mainland Southeast Asia, Premwadee Traitangwong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In this study, the characteristics of the aftershock in the mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) were investigated using the several seismological techniques, i.e., i) the Gutenberg-Richter relationship (G-R relationship) ii) the modified Omori's law iii) the Bath's law and iv) the fractal dimension. After declustering, 1,697 clusters during 1985-2017, which represent the aftershocks occurring after mainshock were investigated in 13 seismic source zones recognized in the MSEA. According to the Bath's law, the maximum magnitude of the aftershock depends on the magnitude of the mainshock, with the difference value between 0.4-2.5. In the intraplate zone, it is less than in the …

Mineral Inclusions In Ruby And Sapphire From Bo Welu And Bo Rai Deposits, Eastern Thailand, Supparat Promwongnan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Corundum deposits located in several places around the world which appear to have different genesis models. The origins of corundum can be distinguished by mineral inclusions. In this study, most of the rough gem corundum from Bo Rai deposit, Trat Province, and Bo Welu deposit, Chanthaburi Province, in Eastern Thailand show etched or dissolved surfaces that were resulted from dissolution by hot basaltic magma during transportation to the surface. Moreover, these gem corundums also show absorption spectral characteristics related to trace elements which typical for corundum from this area. Corundums from Bo Rai deposit in Trat Province, and from Bo …

Comparing Source Rock Maturity With Pore Size Distribution And Fluid Saturation In The Bakken-Three Forks Petroleum System, Williston Basin, North Dakota, Adedoyin Suleman Adeyilola

Theses and Dissertations

With the continuous demand for fossil fuel and advancement in technology, the unconventional petroleum resources have come into limelight. The Devonian Three Forks Formation consisting of carbonate and clastic sediments is an unconventional oil accumulation

containing about 3.73 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. However, understanding rock properties of the various lithofacies and fluid saturation is still challenging.

The petroleum prospectivity was evaluated by integrating organic maturity and hydrocarbon generation with porosity distribution and fluid saturation in the Ambrose field and adjacent fields. The organic maturity was done with a programmed pyrolysis analysis (Source

Rock Analyzer) using samples taken at …

On The Spatial Modelling Of Mixed And Constrained Geospatial Data, Hassan Talebi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Spatial uncertainty modelling and prediction of a set of regionalized dependent variables from various sample spaces (e.g. continuous and categorical) is a common challenge for geoscience modellers and many geoscience applications such as evaluation of mineral resources, characterization of oil reservoirs or hydrology of groundwater. To consider the complex statistical and spatial relationships, categorical data such as rock types, soil types, alteration units, and continental crustal blocks should be modelled jointly with other continuous attributes (e.g. porosity, permeability, seismic velocity, mineral and geochemical compositions or pollutant concentration). These multivariate geospatial data normally have complex statistical and spatial relationships which should …