Geology Commons^™

Using A Case Study Approach To Teach Invasive Species And Climate Change, Amanda Hoover, Bradley Blaha, Jacob Englin, Madhav P. Nepal, Larry B. Browning, Matt L. Miller, P. Troy White

iLEARN Teaching Resources

In this teaching module, students will explore emerald ash borer (EAB), its impacts on the ash trees, and how warming temperatures could affect EAB populations. The emerald ash borer is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that causes devastating disease in ash trees.

Northeastern China 4.2ka Database, Louis A. Scuderi, Xiaoping Yamg, Samantha Ascoli, Hongwei Li

Paleoclimate Datasets

The Hunshandake Sandy Lands of northeastern China, currently a semiarid lightly vegetated region, were characterized by perennial lakes and forest stands in the early and middle Holocene. Well-developed dark grassland-type paleosols (mollisols) at the southern edge of the Hunshandake OSL-dated to between 6.93 +0.61 and 4.27 +0.38 ka along with lacustrine sands at higher elevations that date to between 5.7 +0.3 and 5.2 +0.2 ka and thick gray lacustrine sediments suggest a wetter climate. Between 4.2 and 3.8 ka, the region experienced extreme drying that was exacerbated by lake overflow drainage and sapping that depleted the groundwater table. The region …

The Molluscan Taphofacies Of And Influence Of Callianassid Shrimp On A Carbonate Lagoon (St. Croix, Us Virgin Islands), Rowan Lee

Honors Papers

Sediments collect in reef lagoons, and the shells within these can record changes in the environment as they accumulate. Smuggler’s Cove (St. Croix, USVI) has been accumulating a sediment package for at least 5,000 years based on radiocarbon ages. Callianassid shrimp severely bioturbate this lagoon’s sediment package by moving shell material into shelly, subsurface lags that have a high chance of becoming fossilized. Shell condition (taphonomy) was compared between surface and lag to see whether the lag is an accurate representation of the living surface fauna. Guild membership, taxon, and mollusk size between surface and lag assemblages were analyzed. It …

Meteorological Comparison Of Three Cave Systems, Matthew Wine

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Cave systems are home to delicate underground ecosystems that can be affected by changes in surface atmospheric conditions which in turn affect underground meteorology. Modern human use of caves is typically for tourism, so understanding surface-underground weather-climate interactions is important when caves carry streams that are prone to flooding in response to surface precipitation. The purpose of this research is to document the effects of surface weather conditions on cave meteorology in three different cave system types located in different geographic locations including an island, the central USA, and at high elevations in British Columbia. The study caves include Kaumana …

Ua84 Sigma Chi, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the WKU chapter of Sigma Xi.

Ua66/8/2 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Centers & Institutes, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Centers and Institutes administered by the Geography & Geology Department. Including:

• Center for Cave & Karst Studies
• Center for Local Government Services
• Hoffman Environmental Research Institute
• Kentucky Climate Center
• Resources Management Institute
• Small Public Water System Technology Center

Ua66/8/1 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Events, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created for Geography & Geology department events.

Ua66/8/5 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Student Organizations, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about student organizations associated with the Geography & Geology department, including the Geography & Geology Club aka Semple Geographic Society.

The Bear River's Diversion And The Cutting Of Oneida Narrows At ~55-50 Ka And Relations To The Lake Bonneville Record, Joel L. Pederson, Tammy M. Rittenour, Susanne U. Jänecke, Robert Q. Oaks Jr.

Geosciences Presentations

The Bear River’s course has shifted over Quaternary time, and its late Pleistocene integration into the Bonneville basin long has been recognized as a possible explanation for why Lake Bonneville was apparently larger than the preceding lakes in its basin, and the only one to overflow its topographic threshold.

The middle-Pleistocene Bear River joined the Snake River to the north, likely via the Portneuf River drainage. Then an episode of volcanism in the Blackfoot-Gem Valley volcanic field ~100–50 ka diverted the Bear River southward into Gem Valley. Previous chronostratigraphic and isotopic work on the Main Canyon Formation in southern Gem …

Stable Isotopes Of Clay Minerals From Autoclave Tests Of Oil Sands: Implications For Clay Formation During Steaming Of Alberta Clearwater Oil Sands, Shaoneng He, Fred J. Longstaffe, Zhihong Zhou

Earth Sciences Publications

In an effort to evaluate mineral-water isotopic exchange during cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), solutions and<2 μm berthierine-dominated solids from the Clearwater Formation oil sands of Alberta, Canada were analyzed for stable isotope compositions before and after reaction in autoclaves for 1008 h at 250 °C. There was no significant change in solution δ¹⁸O and δ²H, which is consistent with the high water/mineral ratio used in the experiments. The solids showed a marked decrease in both δ¹⁸O and δ²H following the experiments. Pre-run solids have δ¹⁸O of +9.5 to +12.9‰and …

Fluid-Present Anatexis Of Neoarchean Tonalite And Amphibolite In The Western Shandong Province, Chris Yakymchuk, Wenran Zhao, Yusheng Wan, Shoufa Lin, Fred Longstaffe

Earth Sciences Publications

Metatonalite and amphibolite from the Taishan region of the Western Shandong Province in the North China Craton record c. 2.60 Ga fluid-present partial melting via the breakdown of biotite, plagioclase and quartz to produce peritectic hornblende and anatectic melt. Eight paired leucosome–melanosome samples from metatonalite and three paired samples from amphibolite were investigated to evaluate the composition of the melt. Hornblende, biotite and plagioclase in the leucosomes and hornblende and plagioclase in melanosomes from both rock types have similar compositions. Two leucosome samples from the metatonalite were influenced by the removal of heavy rare earth element-rich hornblende and the accumulation …

Stable Isotopic Characterization Of A Coastal Floodplain Forest Community: A Case Study For Isotopic Reconstruction Of Mesozoic Vertebrate Assemblages, Thomas M. Cullen, Fred Longstaffe, Ulrich G. Wortmann, Mark B. Goodwin, Li Huang, David C. Evans

Earth Sciences Publications

Stable isotopes are powerful tools for elucidating ecological trends in extant vertebrate communities, though their application to Mesozoic ecosystems is complicated by a lack of extant isotope data from comparable environments/ecosystems (e.g. coastal floodplain forest environments, lacking significant C₄ plant components). We sampled 20 taxa across a broad phylogenetic, body size, and physiological scope from the Atchafalaya River Basin of Louisiana as an environmental analogue to the Late Cretaceous coastal floodplains of North America. Samples were analysed for stable carbon, oxygen and nitrogen isotope compositions from bioapatite and keratin tissues to test the degree of ecological resolution that can …

Prehistoric Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: Importation Of Meat And Mmaize, Larry V. Benson, Deanna Grimstead, John R. Stein, David A. Rith, Terry L. Plowman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In a recent paper, Benson and Grimstead (2019) determined that only minimal amounts of maize could have been grown in Chaco Canyon due to its aridity, short growing season, and frequent summer flooding of the valley floor. In this paper it is shown that deer and rabbit densities within semiarid regions such as the Canyon are such that 2300 Canyon residents would eliminate essentially all small and large mammals within a year. This implies that food (meat and maize) must have been imported from one or more outlying areas to feed the Canyon's residential population. This would have entailed ~18,000 …

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: A Caretaker City And A Pilgrimage Destination, Larry Benson, Deanna N. Grimstead, John R. Stein, David A. Roth, Terry I. Plowman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Some Southwestern archaeologists continue to ascribe to the hypothesis that Chaco was agriculturally productive to the point that it could support at least a few thousand full-time residents. This paper suggests an alternative hypothesis; i.e., Chaco was marginally productive and could only support a few hundred permanent residents. Isotopic analysis of mammal teeth found in trenches cut through platform mounds fronting Pueblo Bonito indicate the possibility that much of the meat consumed by Chacoan residents and visitors came from higher elevation sites bordering the San Juan Basin. We suggest that resident population estimates based on great house room numbers and …

Spatial Conservation Planning Under Uncertainty: Adapting To Climate Change Risks Using Modern Portfolio Theory, Mitchell J. Eaton, Simeon Yurek, Zulqarnain Haider, Julien Martin, Fred Johnson, Bradley J. Udell, Hadi Charkhgard, Changhyun Kwon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Climate change and urban growth impact habitats, species, and ecosystem services. To buffer against global change, an established adaptation strategy is designing protected areas to increase representation and complementarity of biodiversity features. Uncertainty regarding the scale and magnitude of landscape change complicates reserve planning and exposes decision makers to the risk of failing to meet conservation goals. Conservation planning tends to treat risk as an absolute measure, ignoring the context of the management problem and risk preferences of stakeholders. Application of risk management theory to conservation emphasizes the diversification of a portfolio of assets, with the goal of reducing the …

Flood-Inundation Maps For The North Platte River At Scottsbluff And Gering, Nebraska, 2018, Kellan R. Strauch

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Digital flood-inundation maps for an 8.8-mile reach of the North Platte River, from 1.5 miles upstream from the Highway 92 bridge to 3 miles downstream from the Highway 71 bridge in Scottsbluff County, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Cities of Scottsbluff and Gering, Nebraska. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the Flood Inundation Mapping (FIM) Program website at https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/flood-inundation-mapping-fim-program?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects, depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgage on the North Platte River at Scottsbluff, Nebr. (station number 06680500). Near-real-time …

Tectonics Of The Incipient Continental Rifting, Youqiang Yu, Cory Reed, Kelly H. Liu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Reprocessing And Comparison Of The 2 Hz And 10 Hz Vertical Component Seismic Data Of The Blackfoot 3c-2d Survey, Mete Sarikaya

Masters Theses

"The Blackfoot seismic 3C-2D data were obtained from the Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology (CREWES) Project in 1995. The seismic data acquisition was performed in the Blackfoot Field, which is around 15 km southeast of Strathmore, Alberta. The 4 Hz and 10 Hz vertical component data are reprocessed to increase the quality and resolution of the seismic images. The Glauconitic sand reservoir at approximately 1.1 s, and a strong reflection about at 1.5 s are the focuses of the study.

The processing procedure includes different parameters and methods to obtain the best seismic sections of 2 Hz …

U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology Of Paleozoic Clastics Of The Ozark Plateau: Implication For Sea-Level Fluctuations And Far-Field Tectonics, Chen Zhao

Masters Theses

"The Ozark Plateau of south-central Missouri is underlain by Ordovician to Pennsylvanian carbonate and clastic strata. Enigmatic, presumably Pennsylvanian 'filled sink' structures are common on the Ozark Plateau and remain a source of controversy. We present results for U-Pb ages of detrital zircons for 13 samples from the OP. We use U-Pb ages from other Paleozoic clastics and 'filled sinks' on the OP, to suggest: 1) FSS record a period of Middle Ordovician erosion and sedimentation and 2) document significant shifts in sediment provenance that reflect regional tectonic events affecting the North American Craton.

The KDE plots of normalized detrital …

Experimental Preservation Of Muscle Tissue In Quartz Sand And Kaolinite: Supplemental Information, Sharon A. Newman, Mirna Daye, Sirine C. Fakra, Matthew A. Marcus, Mihkel Pajusalu, Sara B. Pruss, Emily F. Smith, Tanja Bosak

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Siliciclastic sediments of the Ediacaran Period contain exceptionally preserved fossils of macroscopic organisms, including three-dimensional casts and molds commonly found in sandstones and siltstones and some two-dimensional compressions reported in shales. The sporadic and variable associations of these exceptionally preserved macroscopic fossils with pyrite, clay minerals, and microbial fossils and textures complicate our understanding of fossilization processes. This hinders inferences about the evolutionary histories, tissue types, original morphologies, and lifestyles of the enigmatic Ediacara biota. Here, we investigate the delayed decay of scallop muscles buried in quartz sand or kaolinite for 45 days. This process occurs in the presence of …

New Source-To-Sink Approach In An Arctic Catchment Based On Hyperspectral Core-Logging (Lake Linné, Svalbard), Antonin Van Exem, Maxime Debret, Yoann Copard, Charles Verpoorter, Gregory De Wet, Nicolas Lecoq, Philippe Sorrel, Alan Werner, Steven Roof, Benoit Laignel, Michael Retelle

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Spatial Conservation Planning Under Uncertainty: Adapting To Climate Change Risks Using Modern Portfolio Theory, Mitchell J. Eaton, Simeon Yurek, Zulqarnain Haider, Julien Martin, Fred A. Johnson, Bradley J. Udell, Hadi Charkhgard, Changhyun Kwon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Climate change and urban growth impact habitats, species, and ecosystem services. To buffer against global change, an established adaptation strategy is designing protected areas to increase representation and complementarity of biodiversity features. Uncertainty regarding the scale and magnitude of landscape change complicates reserve planning and exposes decision makers to the risk of failing to meet conservation goals. Conservation planning tends to treat risk as an absolute measure, ignoring the context of the management problem and risk preferences of stakeholders. Application of risk management theory to conservation emphasizes the diversification of a portfolio of assets, with the goal of reducing the …

Maps Showing The Physical Hydrogeology And Changes In Saturated Thickness (Predevelopment To Spring 2016 And Spring 2011 To Spring 2016) In The Middle Republican Natural Resources District, Southwestern Nebraska., Jesse T. Korus Dr., Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

This report accompanies fourteen new maps summarizing the hydrogeology and changes in saturated thickness in the Middle Republican Natural Resources District (MRNRD). The purpose of these maps is to assist the MRNRD in their groundwater management programs and in planning and installing an observation well network. Maps include:

• base of the principal aquifer;

• water table surfaces for predevelopment, Spring 2011, and Spring 2016;

• saturated thicknesses for predevelopment, Spring 2011, and Spring 2016;

• changes in saturated thickness (both in absolute magnitude and in percent) from predevelopment to Spring 2016 and from Spring 2011 to Spring 2016;

• …

A Critical Review Of Using High Viscosity Friction Reducers As Fracturing Fluids For Hydraulic Fracturing Applications, Mohammed Ba Geri, Abdulmohsin Imqam, Ralph E. Flori

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The primary purpose of using traditional friction reducers in stimulation treatments is to overcome the tubular drag while pumping at high flow rates. Hydraulic fracturing is the main technology used to produce hydrocarbon from extremely low permeability rock. Even though slickwater (water fracturing with few chemical additives) used to be one of the most common fracturing fluids, several concerns are still associated with its use, including usage of freshwater, high-cost operation, and environmental issues. Therefore, current practice in hydraulic fracturing is to use alternative fluid systems that are cost effective and have less environmental impact, such as fluids which utilize …

A Record Of The Precambrian-Cambrian Transition In Sw Montana: A Late Neoproterozoic To Early Cambrian Stratigraphic Window, Fortunian Biostratigraphic Assemblage And Treptichnus Pedum, R. Reid Trippe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study documents a Late Neoproterozoic through Early Cambrian stratigraphic record in the Humbolt anticline of southwestern Montana. The Precambrian-Cambrian transition includes a Fortunian-aged biostratigraphic trace-fossil assemblage with the ichnofossil Treptichnus pedum. The Humbolt anticline represents an inverted paleo-graben that exposes a stratigraphic window interpreted to be a record of rifting along the Cordilleran miogeoclinal margin, linked with the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. The graben subsided and captured sediment during late-stage rifting and final-stage dissociation along the rift margin. Its structural axis paralleled the rift margin. Sevier/Laramide orogenic thrusting inverted the graben into the Humbolt anticline. The Late …

Biodiversity And Distribution Of Benthic Foraminifera In Harrington Sound, Bermuda: The Effects Of Physical And Geochemical Factors On Dominant Taxa, Nam Le

Honors Theses

Harrington Sound, Bermuda, is a nearly enclosed lagoon acting as a subtropical/tropical, carbonate-rich basin in which carbonate sediments, reef patches, and carbonate-producing organisms accumulate. Here, one of the most important calcareous groups is the Foraminifera. Analyses of common benthic orders, including miliolids (Quinqueloculina and Triloculina spp.) and rotaliids (Homotrema rubrum, Elphidium spp., and Ammonia beccarii), are essential in understanding past and present environmental conditions affecting the island's coastal environment. These taxa have been studied previously; however, factors explaining their individual patterns of abundance in the Sound are not well detailed. The goal of this study is …

Neotectonics And Pale Earthquakes Along Mae Hong Son Fault, Northern Thailand, Chanista Chansom

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Mae Hong Son Fault (MHSF) is a north-south-trending active fault in Northern Thailand. Last earthquake occurred on February, 1975 with a magnitude of 5.6 at Ban Tha Song Young in Tak Province. This study aims to describe morphological characteristics of MHSF using high (12.5m) resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and to evaluate paleoearthquake magnitudes, recurrence intervals, and slip rates of MHSF by excavating paleoearthquake trenches. According to morphotectonic analysis, offset streams, linear valleys, triangular facets and scarplets were formed as a result of dextral movement within the active fault zone. There are two separate basins associated with the MHSF, which …

Petrology, Provenance, And Depositional Setting Of The Lower Tallahatta Formation (Meridian Sand) In Grenada County, Mississippi, Husamaldeen Zubi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Meridian Sand represents the lowermost member of the Middle Eocene Tallahatta Formation, which is found in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Five stratigraphic sections in Grenada County were measured and described. Twenty-one sand and sandstone samples, and 2 mud samples were collected from all sections. Textural analyses were performed on all 23 samples to determine their lithologic properties. Petrographic descriptions and modal analyses were performed on thin sections made from the 21 sand and sandstone samples, and 400 grains were point counted in each sample. Geochemical analyses were carried out on all sand, sandstone, and mud …

Generalized Radial Transport Model For Interpreting Convergent Flow Tracer Tests In Fractured Rock, Md Lal Mamud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The double-porosity Generalized Radial Transport (GRT) model is an extension of the generalized radial flow approach developed for hydraulic test interpretation. In both approaches, a flow dimension characterizes the change in flow area versus radial distance from the borehole. The GRT model collapses to a 1D, radial, and spherical advection dispersion equation (ADE) for integer flow dimensions of 1, 2, and 3, respectively. And, the model also transforms to sub-linear, sub-radial, sub-spherical and eventually transform to super-spherical transport model for non-integer flow dimension, n of 0 < n < 1, 1 < n < 2, 2 < n < 3 and n >3 respectively. Non-integer flow dimensions, especially sub-radial, are commonly reported from pumping tests in …

Detrital Zircon Provenance And Correlation Of Two Newly Discovered Ripley Formation Bentonites: Pontotoc County, Mississippi, Elizabeth Jayne Vitale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two newly discovered bentonite deposits in northern and southern Pontotoc County, Mississippi occur in the Upper Cretaceous outcrop in a banded pattern on the northeastern margin of the Mississippi Embayment (MSE). The entire Ripley Formation (Fm) consists of ~73 m of fossiliferous clay, sand, and calcareous sand beds. The bentonites are located stratigraphically within the Chiwapa Sandstone Member (CSM) at the top of the Ripley Fm and stratigraphically lie above previously mined bentonites in central Pontotoc County. Since the northern and southern bentonites differ stratigraphically from the previously mined bentonites, it is possible that there are other unknown bentonite deposits …