Geology Commons^™

Sediment Resuspension In A Microtidal Estuary: Causative Forces And Links With Algal Blooms, Samantha C. Mcgill

OES Theses and Dissertations

After years of efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay, bacterial levels are down and species diversity has increased, however, algal blooms (primarily dinoflagellates) persist, occurring nearly every summer. Dinoflagellates produce resting cysts that accumulate in the bottom sediments and are thought to provide seed populations for future algal blooms when they are resuspended. When estuarine sediments are advected from a bed, other materials, such as pollutants, nutrients, and organic matter are also released into the water column. Thus, resuspended sediments can contribute to the degradation of water quality, habitat, and aquatic life, and impart negative impacts on local ecosystems and …

Circum-Arctic Mineralogy & Pan-Arctic Chronostratigraphy Of Late Pleistocene Sediments: Developing A Comprehensive Age Model For The Western Arctic Ocean Using Unique Ice-Rafted Signals, Wesley Blake Myers

OES Theses and Dissertations

To improve understanding of geographic mineral distribution from the circum-Arctic Ocean, samples from the Arctic periphery were collected and analyzed for (semi-) quantitative mineral composition. Most samples were collected from the North American region of the Arctic Ocean, a region which has had limited mineral investigation. In addition, more than 1000 published clay mineral data points were gathered to provide the most comprehensive clay mineral distribution map to date. The identification of a smectite source within the Canadian Arctic may reduce the usefulness of this mineral as a unique provenance signal for the Eurasian region. Smectite speciation may be useful …

Pacts 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard For Paleoclimate Data, D. Khider, J. Emile-Geay, N. P. Mckay, Y. Gil, D. Garijo, V. Ratnakar, M. Alonso-Garcia, S. Bertrand, O. Bothe, P. Brewer, A. Bunn, M. Chevalier, L. Comas-Bru, J. Hertzberg, Y. Zhou

OES Faculty Publications

The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on the data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of …

Nature Of The Crust In The Northern Gulf Of California And Salton Trough, Patricia Persaud

Faculty Publications

In the southern Gulf of California, the generation of new oceanic crust has resulted in linear magnetic anomalies and seafloor bathymetry that are characteristic of active seafloor-spreading systems. In the northern Gulf of California and the onshore (southeastern California, USA) Salton Trough region, a thick sedimentary package overlies the crystalline crust, masking its nature, and linear magnetic anomalies are absent. We use potential-field data and a geotherm analysis to constrain the composition of the crust (oceanic or continental) and develop a conceptual model for rifting. Gravity anomalies in the northern Gulf of California and Salton Trough are best fit with …

The Role Of Introductory Geoscience Courses In Preparing Teachers—And All Students—For The Future: Are We Making The Grade?, Anne E. Egger

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Introductory geoscience courses enroll hundreds of thousands of students a year, most of whom do not major in the geosciences. For many, including future K–12 teachers, an introductory course is the only place they will encounter Earth science at the college level. New standards for K–12 science education have profound implications for teacher preparation, particularly in Earth science. The new standards call for taking a systems approach, highlighting how humans interact with Earth, making use of science and engineering practices, and engaging students in discourse. Analysis of responses to the National Geoscience Faculty Survey (n = 813 in 2004; …

Fault Deformation At The Base Of And Within The Crescent Formation Along The Dosewallips River, Olympic Mountains Peninsula, Washington, Usa, Christine Meryl Maher

Dissertations and Theses

The Olympic Mountains, in the cost ranges of northwest Washington, expose a Cenozoic accretionary complex east of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Accreted material consists of metasedimentary deposits thrust eastward beneath a basaltic terrane (i.e., the basaltic Crescent Formation and the basal Blue Mountain Unit [BMU] turbidite) along a major fault, the Hurricane Ridge Fault (HRF). Recent isotopic dating of zircons from the BMU indicate that it is about 8 my younger than the basalt, implying another major fault may exist east of the HRF, between the BMU and the Crescent Fm. Field observations, data, and samples for microstructural analysis were …

Coupled Landscape And Channel Dynamics Across The Ganges-Brahmaputra Tidal-Fluvial Continuum, Southwest Bangladesh, Edwin Jefferson Bomer Iv

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Ganges-Brahmaputra (G-B) Delta of Bangladesh and India is widely considered to be one of the most vulnerable coastal systems in the world, owing to locally-accelerated sea level rise and landscape modification by human activities. Recent research efforts have identified pronounced elevation differences between natural and embanked areas in the G-B tidal delta plain, suggesting that natural landscapes are keeping pace with sea-level rise while anthropogenic locations are actively subsiding. However, this observation represents a singular point in time, and longitudinal trends of surface elevation in these regions are presently unknown. For communities residing in upstream regions of G-B delta …

An Engineering Geological Anatomy Of The Padma River Bank Failure And Erosion, 2018: A Case Study Of Naria Bank Section, Bangladesh, Mir Fazlul Karim, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Shahidul Haque, M. Zillur Rahman, Muhammad Qumrul Hassan, Asm Maksud Kamal, Masud Ahmed, Belal A. Sayeed

Publications and Research

The Naria town of Bangladesh is developed on the right bank of the Padma River. The bank is an old natural levee of Meghna River. The Holocene-Recent geology of Naria is actively dominated by the fluvial processes of Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River system where the deltaic sediments are characterized as unconsolidated fine sand and silt, covered by thin veneer of clayey silt and loam. The annual volume of water discharge and flow dynamics are dependent on the intensity of the rainfall, runoff and the length of dry winter. Excessive river bank erosion, channel avulsion, renewed submergence of floodplains, and formation of natural …

Coccidioidomycosis: Medical And Spatio-Temporal Perspectives, Nikias Sarafoglou, Rafael Laniado-Laborin, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a disease of major public health importance due to the challenges in its diagnosis and treatment. To understand CM requires the attributes of a multidisciplinary network analysis to appreciate the complexity of the medical, the environmental and the social issues involved: public health, public policy, geology, atmospheric science, agronomy, social sciences and finally humanities, all which provide insight into this population transformation.

In section 1 of this paper, we describe the CM-epidemiology, the clinical features, the diagnosis and finally the treatment.

In section 2, we highlight the most important contributions and controversies in the history of the …

Utilizing Dplot, Sedlog, And Arcgis Pro To Enhance Geologic Field Skills: Rosendale, Ulster County New York, Malek Shami, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Zarine Ali, Leonardo Sanchez, Gugu Ginindza, Tyn Tyn Nai

Publications and Research

Capstone geologic field mapping courses in undergraduate geoscience programs aim to compliment the academic knowledge with technical field skills. As a pilot study, these tools were used to collect field data using folded lower Paleozoic to mid-Paleozoic sedimentary outcrops consisting of clastic, non-clastic and occasional mixed siliciclastics in Rosendale, Ulster County, New York. Rosendale is known for its classic geological outcrops with variable structural, stratigraphic, paleontological and sedimentological complexities – ideal for a field mapping course. Traditionally, students’ data acquisition in the field and its subsequent laboratory analysis to produce a final geologic field report utilized acetate overlays to produce …

Using Water Quality Index To Assess Groundwater Suitability At Gazipur District, Bangladesh, Muhammad Qumrul Hassan, Jowaher Raza, Mir F. Karim, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

This study targeted to the suitability of groundwater for drinking purpose at Gazipur District undergoing rapid urbanization and increasing industrialization. The District has an area of 1741.53 km², located in between 23°53' and 24°21' north latitudes and in between 90°09' and 92°39' east longitudes. From six Upazilas in Gazipur District, a total of 130 groundwater samples were collected, which are, Gazipur Sadar Upazila, Sreepur Upazila, Kaliakoir Upazila, Kapasia Upazila, and Kaligonj Upazila. A recent field observation review of industrial sludge found that heavy metal concentration was above the acceptable limit for agricultural soil. Gazipur being adjacent to Dhaka …

Positive Outcomes Of Involving Undergraduate And High School Students In Broader Aspect Of Earth System Science Through Peer Mentoring And Research Activities, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Shuayb Siddique, Matthew Khargie, Juanpablo Rodriguez, Adacia Teemal, Krishna Mahabir, Michael Robinson, Ality Aghedo, Zachary A. Sanichar, Sol De Leon, Tamzid Mubin, Elton Selby

Publications and Research

The importance of involving undergraduates and high school students in field-and-laboratory research investigations at an early stage through peer mentoring has been clearly demonstrated as a critical tool for essential training to fully comprehend academic content and a deeper understanding of the various STEM, geoscience-and- environmental science related topics. As far as we are concerned, student presenters/participants (over 1000) in our topical sessions since 2004 have always found face-to-face presentation through poster sessions to be an ideal scientific venue where exchange of knowledge and discussion are fruitful, constructive and encouraging. It is quite revealing to note that among the student …

Paleoenvironment Of The Devonian Fossiliferous Glenerie Limestone, Rosendale, Upstate New York, Gugu Ginindza, B'Jorn K. Forde, Sebastian R. Agustin, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Malek Shami, Stanley Schleifer

Publications and Research

The Devonian Glenerie limestone outcrops throughout the Hudson Valley and is believed to correlate with the glauconite-rich Oriskany sandstone elsewhere in upstate New York. Field inspection of well-preserved outcrops in Rosendale, upstate New York, indicated the Glenerie formation to be composed of both thin and thickly-bedded chert, interbedded shale, and both calcareous to arenaceous limestone. The Glenerie formation is dominated by spirifer arenosis fossil, which is the index fossil for this formation. The goal of this research is to determine the conditions of the paleoenvironment prevalent to the deposition of the Glenerie formation. Within the arenaceous layers are the spirifer …

Genesis Of Iron And Manganese Sediments In Zoloushka Cave (Ukraine/Moldova) As Revealed By Δ13C Organic Carbon, Piotr Kotula, Viacheslav Andreychouk, Jacek Pawlyta, Leszek Marynowski, Izabela Jendrzejewska

International Journal of Speleology

Zoloushka Cave is one of the largest maze gypsum caves in the world. Mining of the gypsum bedrock and lowering of the water level due to the pumping of groundwater led to exposure of the cave passages to vadose conditions and changed the hydrochemistry of the karst water. As a result, large quantities of Fe and Mn hydroxides were deposited in the passages. It was found that at least two groups of various organisms were involved in depositing ferrous and manganese sediments. In order to establish the mechanism of deposition, we conducted chemical analyses of the sediments and isotopic analyses …

Seismic Source Characterization Of Faults In The Portland And Tualatin Basins And A Paleoseismic Study Of The Gales Creek Fault, Or, Alison Elizabeth Horst

Dissertations and Theses

Portland, OR lies within the tectonically active forearc of the Cascadia subduction zone. Several, potentially hazardous, northwest striking faults in and around the Portland Basin are classified as Quaternary active by the USGS, but little is known about their Holocene activity. Geologic and geodetic studies in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) document ongoing clockwise rotation of the region since at least 16 Ma. Models for crustal deformation in the PNW suggest northwest trending faults accommodate dextral shear inferred from increasing clockwise rotation rates west of Portland. I compiled structural information to improve the seismic source characterization of these faults, and using …

Little Islands Recording Global Events: Late Quaternary Sea Level History And Paleozoogeography Of Santa Barbara And Anacapa Islands, Channel Islands National Park, California, Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Marine terraces are common on the Pacific Coast of North America and record interglacial high-sea stands superimposed on either stable or tectonically rising crustal blocks. Despite many years of study of these landforms in southern California, little work on terraces has been conducted on the two smallest of the California Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Island (SBI) and Anacapa Island (ANA). Presented here are new field and laboratory data on the ages, paleontology, and sea level history of marine terraces of these two islands. On both islands, the lowest marine terraces have shoreline angle elevations of ~11 m above sea level. …

Evaluation Of The Geothermal Potential Of The Western Snake River Plain Based On A Deep Corehole On The Mountain Home Afb Near Mountain Home, Idaho, Thomas E. Lachmar, Thomas G. Freeman, James Andrew Kessler, Joseph F. Batir, James P. Evans, Dennis L. Nielson, John W. Shervais, Xiwei Chen, Douglas R. Schmitt, David D. Blackwell

Geosciences Faculty Publications

A geothermal exploration corehole was drilled to a total depth of 1821.5 m on the Mountain Home Air Force Base near Mountain Home, Idaho. The corehole was used to collect an unusually large amount of data, including uniaxial compressive stress (UCS) experiments on core samples, to evaluate the geothermal potential of the western Snake River Plain. In addition, unlike many exploration holes in this region, a fluid entry was encountered at 1745.3 m and flowed artesian to the surface. A maximum temperature of 149.4 °C was calculated for the entry. A temperature log run on the corehole from 3 to …

Intelligent Identification For Rock-Mineral Microscopic Images Using Ensemble Machine Learning Algorithms, Jonathan Shi

Faculty Publications

It is significant to identify rock-mineral microscopic images in geological engineering. The task of microscopic mineral image identification, which is often conducted in the lab, is tedious and time-consuming. Deep learning and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) provide a method to analyze mineral microscopic images efficiently and smartly. In this research, the transfer learning model of mineral microscopic images is established based on Inception-v3 architecture. The four mineral image features, including K-feldspar (Kf), perthite (Pe), plagioclase (Pl), and quartz (Qz or Q), are extracted using Inception-v3. Based on the features, the machine learning methods, logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), …

Understanding The Behavior Of Sulfidic Colloids In The Presence Of Metals, Daniel Zamudio, Alex Quyenvo, Vincent Noël, John Bargar

STAR Program Research Presentations

Riverton, Wyoming was host to a former uranium and vanadium ore processing plant, which operated from 1958 to 1963. The milling operations at the site contaminated the surface and shallow groundwater. The area became a Department of Energy (DOE) legacy site, where the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the DOE’s natural flushing compliance strategy. Up until the flooding in 2010, the natural flushing compliance strategy was going underway as expected. Sampling after the flood revealed a significant increase in contaminant concentration.

New updated models need to be developed to help understand the situation at Riverton, for which this laboratory experiment …

Promoting Change In Common Tern (Sterna Hirundo) Nest Site Selection To Minimize Construction Related Disturbance., Peter C. Mcgowan, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Carl R. Callahan, William Schultz, Jennifer L. Wall, Diann J. Prosser

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Due to the many challenges facing waterbird populations (Jia et al. 2018, Wetlands International 2018), it has become common practice to limit disturbance to breeding colonies whenever possible to maximize reproductive success. While this may require often unpopular management techniques including beach closures (Jorgensen et al. 2015, Mayo et al. 2015) and predator removal (Neuman et al. 2004, Stocking et al. 2017), such actions are sometimes necessary for the success of the colony. However, there are instances when eliminating disturbance is not possible and birds must be attracted to a new site. A common method for attracting waterbirds to a …

Joint Geodetic And Seismic Analysis Of Surface Crevassing Near A Seasonal Glacier-Dammed Lake At Gornergletscher, Switzerland, Louis Garcia, Karen M. Luttrell

Faculty Publications

Seasonal lake Gornersee forms at the confluence of Gornergletscher and Grenzgletscher, Switzerland, and experiences outburst floods annually in midsummer. To study the interplay between lake drainage, glacier movement and crevasse activity, high-frequency seismometers and GPS receivers were deployed in networks near Gornersee during the summer ablation seasons of 2004, 2006 and 2007. We use a Rayleigh wave coherence method to locate 3289, 7939 and 4087 icequakes, respectively, primarily along well-defined surface crevasses. We calculate two-dimensional strains from triads of GPS stations and find mean differential strain rates of similar to 300 x 10(-6) d(-1) with diurnal variations up to 800 …

Oldowan Tool Behaviors Through Time On The Homa Peninsula, Kenya, Emma M. Finestone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The adaptive significance of tool use to genus Homo is a central theme in human origins. However, what we know from the early Oldowan sites suggests that persistent technology may have begun as an opportunistic behavior with minimal investment, rather than a habitual and widespread adaptive revolution. This dissertation seeks to investigate investment in Oldowan tool production on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya, considering raw material selection, transport, and lithic production at two newly discovered Oldowan localities: Nyayanga (ca. 2.6 Ma) and Sare River (ca. 1.7 Ma).

The first section of this dissertation outlines a method that enables the comparison of …

Measuring Streambank Erosion: A Comparison Of Erosion Pins, Total Station, And Terrestrial Laser Scanner, Daniel T. L. Myers, Richard R. Rediske, James N. Mcnair

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Streambank erosion is diffcult to quantify; models and field methods are needed to assess this important sediment source to streams. Our objectives were to (1) evaluate and compare three techniques for quantifying streambank erosion: erosion pins, total station, and laser scanning, (2) spatially assess streambank erosion rates in the Indian Mill Creek watershed of Michigan, USA, and (3) relate results with modeling of nonpoint source pollution. We found large absolute and relative errors between the different measurement techniques. However, we were unable to determine any statistically significant differences between techniques and only observed a correlation between total station and laser …

The Role Of Fluids In Ore Remobilization At The Balmat Zinc Deposit, Ny, Peter D. Matt

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Shear zone-hosted orebodies at the Balmat, NY, zinc deposit were remobilized at the kilometer scale during amphibolite facies regional metamorphism ca. 1180 Ma. Despite there being little evidence for interaction of hydrous fluids and ores during deformation, such translocation distances are considered unlikely without the assistance of fluids. Two independent research methods, SEM-EDS micro-petrography and zinc isotope geochemical analysis, demonstrate that anatectic sulfide and silicate melts were generated during metamorphism. Micro-petrography of the Fowler ore body reveals low melting-temperature micro-inclusions of sulfosalt and sulfide assemblages which occur predominantly in Qtz-Py and Kfs-Py domains that cross-cut peak metamorphic assemblages. These results …

Environmental Assessment Of Arsenic And Mercury Levels At The Garfield Mill Site, Calico, California, Steven Gregory Thorp

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Environmental impacts of mining at Calico, California, are poorly understood in comparison to the details of its history of silver production. Human health risks associated with arsenic from the lode rock, as well as mercury from the silver milling process, include central nervous system damage, organ failure, and death. To quantify the potential human health risk and manage remediation of this site, tailings from the Garfield Mill site were digitally mapped and chemically analyzed by portable x-ray fluorescence, which permitted volumetric estimates of total mill tailings and the arsenic and mercury budget, as well as identification of anomalies in the …

Collaborative Research: Development And Application Of A Framework For Integrated Geodynamic Earth Models, Anthony Lowry

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Multicomponent Model Of Crustal Stress At Cajon Pass, Southern California With Implications For Stress Field Heterogeneity, Elliott Conley Helgans

LSU Master's Theses

Earthquake processes in plate boundary settings are chiefly controlled by the in situ crustal stress field. Knowledge of the relative importance of various active processes acting on a fault system is necessary to understand the mechanics of faulting. This is of extreme importance to the Cajon Pass region of southern California, which may function as an earthquake gate, imposing control on large multifault ruptures. We model the in situ stress field at seismogenic depth in Cajon Pass by balancing the orientation of the modern stress field inferred from earthquake focal mechanisms against the superposition of the far field tectonic driving …

Innovations In (U–Th)/He, Fission Track, And Trapped Charge Thermochronometry With Applications To Earthquakes, Weathering, Surface‐Mantle Connections, And The Growth And Decay Of Mountains, Alexis K. Ault, Cécile Gautheron, Georgina E. King

Geosciences Faculty Publications

A transformative advance in Earth science is the development of low‐temperature thermochronometry to date Earth surface processes or quantify the thermal evolution of rocks through time. Grand challenges and new directions in low‐temperature thermochronometry involve pushing the boundaries of these techniques to decipher thermal histories operative over seconds to hundreds of millions of years, in recent or deep geologic time and from the perspective of atoms to mountain belts. Here we highlight innovation in bedrock and detrital fission track, (U–Th)/He, and trapped charge thermochronometry, as well as thermal history modeling that enable fresh perspectives on Earth science problems. These developments …

Multi-Phased Hypogene Speleogenesis In A Marginal Horst Structure Of The Malé Karpaty Mountains, Slovakia, Pavel Bella, Pavel Bosák, Petr Mikysek, Juraj Littva, Helena Hercman, Jacek Pawlak

International Journal of Speleology

The Plavecká jaskyňa Cave on the western fault edge of the Malé Karpaty Mountains (western Slovakia) is a result of multi-phased hypogene speleogenesis. It formed in fractured Triassic carbonates by waters ascending along the Vienna Basin Transform Fault between Malé Karpaty Mountains and Záhorská nížina Lowland (the north-eastern part of the Vienna Basin) and/or the N–S-trending faults that intersect it in the cave vicinity. Morphologically, the cave is featured by (1) phreatic chimneys, cupolas, ceiling pockets, enlarged fissures with spongework cavities, upward wall channels and upward oriented large scallops, (2) epiphreatic flat corrosion bedrock floors, feeding fissures and wall water-table …

Modeling Surface Roughness As An Indicator Of Age And Landslide Susceptibility, And The Spatial Inventory Of Prehistoric Landslides: Green River Valley, Washington, Rebecca Naomi Garriss

Dissertations and Theses

Developing detailed landslide inventory maps of prehistoric landslides is essential to interpret the frequency and conditions under which slopes have failed. When coupled with age estimates, landslide inventories can yield better predictions for future slope failures, thereby improving hazard assessments and increasing chances for mitigation. Developing proxies for landslide age is an important area of research, but age dating prehistoric landslides can be challenging due to sparse datable organic material within landslide deposits, and to time or access constraints. In this thesis, surface roughness of the landslide deposit is used to construct a best-fit age-roughness model that quantitatively assigns age …