Geology Commons^™

Carbonate Microfacies Of The Middle To Upper Pennsylvanian Cache Creek Group At Meadow Lake, British Columbia, Canada, Brennen Leidy

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Seepage Fluid Flow And Pressure Detection Beneath Flood Protection Levees In The Lower Mississippi River Valley Using Non-Invasive Geophysical Methods, Daniel Locci

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the use of shear-wave seismic reflection and electrical resistivity techniques to complement our understanding of seepage pore pressure variations and soil type estimation beneath earthen levees in the Mississippi River floodplain. The seasonal variations of water level in the river create changes in pore pressure in the adjacent aquifer, which can be detected using time-lapse shear-wave velocity analysis. The seismic reflection patterns during these pressure variations show changes in velocity that can be translated into changes in effective pressure, allowing us to distinguish between confined and leaky aquifers.

In addition, the integration of geophysical methods such as …

Evaluating Fungal Population Response To The Miocene Climatic Optimum: High-Resolution Palynological Insights From The South China Sea And Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica, Mallory Pilie

LSU Master's Theses

Fungi play key and specific roles in ecosystems, specifically as many have restricted geographic distributions, known host/substrate preferences, and are important local environmental indicators due to their short dispersal distances. This study of fossil fungi from a time interval of pronounced global warming, the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO), allows analysis of fungal response to an analogue for future climate change scenarios. The research presented herein is part of a larger project, Fungi in a Warmer World (FiaWW), which is using globally-distributed sediment samples to provide foundational information on fungal community distribution patterns and will provide the first fungi-based climatological reconstructions …

Geophysical Characterization Of Underground Storage In Salt Domes During The Clean Energy Transition, Joses B. Omojola

LSU Master's Theses

Safely transforming geological formations into cost-effective underground storage is critical for the US energy security and global energy transition. Seasonal energy demand requires relatively cheap, impermeable, non-reactive materials for storing vast amounts of natural gas and hydrogen. Due to their low risk of fracturing and leakage, salt formations are ideal for these purposes however, pressure variations during drawdown, differential salt creep, and reactivation of pre-existing fractures along boundary shear zone(s) (BSZ) can be detrimental to salt cavern safety and long-term cavern operations. Several environmental disasters at storage facilities in the US and Europe, have created a need to understand how …

Snow Distribution And Influence In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Using Remote Sensing, Katherine Mcnulty, Peter Doran, Mark Salvatore, Suniti Karunatillake

LSU Master's Theses

The McMurdo Dry Valleys is the largest ice-free area in Antarctica, but seasonal snow covers the valley floors sporadically throughout the year. In this study, a model to estimate areal snow coverage from satellite imagery was created. An area-volume model was created to estimate the amount of snow water equivalent (SWE) from the snow area extracted from the imagery. Snow cover influences the total albedo, the hydrologic budget, and the soil moisture and soil temperature in Taylor Valley (TV). Quantifying snow precipitation in TV is challenging because snow redistributes with winds, sublimates, or melts within a short period. Previous estimates …

Evaluation Of Fluvial Package Amalgamation In Medial Dfs Deposits, Angel Peak Area, Nacimineto Formation, Sarah R. Rysanek

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Fluvial packages are the hypothetical groupings of facies that make up the fluvial succession consisting of channel belt sandstones and associated levee, floodplain, and avulsion deposits. This study attempted to describe a single fluvial package laterally using the new technologies of UAV imaging and 3D photogrammetry; however, amalgamation of channel belts and erosion from this amalgamation made long-distance lateral correlation difficult. This analysis of medial deposits in the Nacimiento Formation in the Angel Peak Area, Northwestern New Mexico evaluates the degree of amalgamation of fluvial packages across the study area while identifying facies associated with the hypothetical fluvial package. This …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 25. Wallace And The 'Physical Environment'., Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace’s natural selection essay of 1858 has been held to frame a greater role for the physical environment in forcing selection regimes than we find in Darwin’s writings, but here that verdict is challenged by a re-examination of both the essay itself, and period usage of the term ‘physical.’

Exploring The Current Training Of Undergraduate Geology Students And Teaching Spatial Skills To Improve Student Outcomes, Ann Marie Klyce

Theses and Dissertations

Spatial skills, which represent the ability to mentally manipulate objects (Schneider & McGrew, 2012; Atit et al., 2020) have been shown to be correlated with entrance, persistence and success in STEM (Shea et al., 2001; Wai et al., 2009). Specifically, these skills have been shown to be necessary to geologists and geoscientists (Hegarty, 2014; Gagnier et al., 2016). While we recognize the importance of these skills, explicit training in them is rarely offered (NRC 2006). Consequently, cognitive scientists and discipline based education researchers have begun concerted efforts to offer training in spatial skills to improve student outcomes (e.g. Uttal et …

Dust Production And Transport In A Long-Lived Fluvial-Eolian System In The Pampas Of South America, Blake Marcus Stubbins

Theses and Dissertations

Wind-blown dust from southern South America links the terrestrial, marine, atmospheric, and biologic components of Earth’s climate system. The Pampas of central Argentina (~33-40° S) contain an extensive upper Miocene to Holocene eolian record that spans the relatively warm conditions of the Late Miocene to cooler climates of the Plio-Pleistocene and Holocene. We collected 13 loess, paleosol, and fluvial samples from the upper Miocene Cerro Azul and Rio Negro Formations which resulted in n = 5129 new detrital zircon U-Pb ages. Late Miocene rivers conveyed sediment from northern Patagonia, the Andes adjacent to the Pampas, and the Sierras Pampeanas to …

A Seismic Investigation Of Uturuncu Volcano And The Lazufre Volcanic Complex, Heather L. Mcfarlin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation is a study of three seismological techniques used to determine the geophysical properties of two large, inflating magma bodies in the upper crust in South America: one under Uturuncu volcano and one beneath Lastarria and Cordon del Azufre volcanoes. First, I use the method of teleseismic receiver functions to image the top and bottom of the magma body beneath Uturuncu volcano. Depths to the top of this body vary between 6 and 12 km below sea level, while depths to the bottom vary between 13 and 22 km below sea level, with the thickness ranging from 6 …

Potential Of Kaolin Clay On Formulation Of Water Based Drilling Mud Reinforced With Biopolymer, Surfactant, And Limestone, Paul M. Omary, Emanuel X. Ricky, Naswibu A. Kasimu, Makungu M. Madirisha, Kessy F. Kilulya, Esther H. J. Lugwisha

Tanzania Journal of Science

Drilling the wellbore into subsurface formations is the earliest stage in the life of a well that requires a suitable drilling fluid with good rheological and filtration control characteristics to achieve a successful drilling operation. This paper reports on the formulation of water-based drilling mud using kaolin clay reinforced with biopolymer, surfactant, and limestone from Tanzania. The raw materials used for the formulation were characterized using XRD, XRF, FTIR, and TGA techniques. The rheological properties, filtration loss, pH, and density of the formulated mud were measured using a viscometer, filter press, pH meter, and mud balance, respectively. The XRD results …

Effects Of Climate Change, Land Use And Land Cover Variability On Green And Blue Water In Wami/Ruvu Basin, Tanzania, Benson Hm Lazaro, Martine M Hagai, Rubhera Ram Mato

Tanzania Journal of Science

Water basins are the primary food sources, giving green water and blue water worldwide. Despite the basins’ potential, information on the periodical variations in blue water and green water is sparse, particularly in developing countries. The study specifically evaluated the changes in land use and land cover variability (LULCV), effects of land use and land cover variability on green water and blue water variations, and effects of climatic changes on green water and blue water. The evaluation involved the Enhanced Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager satellite images of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020. Image processing utilized the Soil and …

Measurement Of Solar Irradiance For Determining The Optimal Tilt Angle For Photovoltaic Panels, Gbadebo I. Olatona, Tolulope J. Fadairo

Tanzania Journal of Science

The challenge of solar panel installers in determining the tilt angle needed to obtain optimal performance from the photovoltaic panels was the focus of this paper. The performances of two 150 W panels under varied conditions of temperature and solar irradiance on a plane at two different heights (1 m and 11.5 m) from the ground surface were determined to find the effects of tilt angle and altitude on their performances. Measurements of solar irradiance, temperature, open-circuit voltage, and short circuit current were made at various tilt angles and compared to one another based on the measured irradiance. The optimal …

Short-Term Energy Load Forecasting Model With Sample Filtering, Ruthbetha Kateule, Lucas A. Sakala, Mahadia Tunga

Tanzania Journal of Science

Short-term energy load forecasting is a crucial task in the power smart grid, which enables the power utilities to understand the future energy demands and plans to attain the demand and supply equilibrium, thereby optimizing power deployment and reducing power losses. Several techniques have been implemented to enhance energy load forecasting. However, the nonlinear nature of the data collected in the smart grid makes it difficult to attain 100% energy load forecasting accuracy. For instance, the Deep Feedforward Neural Networks model based on Input Attention Mechanism and Hidden Connection Mechanism has a mean absolute percentage error of 3.17%; model based …

New Surficial Geologic Mapping In Kentucky (2021-2022), Matthew Massey, Antonia Bottoms, Max Hammond Iii, Ann Hislop, Meredith Swallom, Michele M. Mchugh

Research Data--KGS

New surficial geologic mapping was performed in nine new 7.5-minute quadrangles in Hardin, Meade, Breckinridge, Grayson, Hart, and Larue Counties, Kentucky.

Quadrangles include Big Clifty, Big Spring (Hardin county only), Custer (Hardin County only), Flaherty, Madrid (Hardin county only), Millerstown, Summit, Tonieville (Hardin county only), and Upton.

Mapping data for each of the nine quadrangles is captured in a ZIP file that contains an ESRI geodatabase and associated FGDC-compliant metadata files (.xml).

The geodatabase is a relational geodatabase of spatial and non-spatial data that conforms to "GeMS (Geologic Map Schema)--a standard format for digital publication of geologic maps", available at …

Tectonic Evolution Of The Northern Margin Of North America, Karol Faehnrich

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The northern margin of North America records a protracted history of Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic rifting and passive margin development, followed by the middle Paleozoic accretion of continental fragments. Contrasting tectonic models have been proposed for the history of continent separation, the role of strike-slip displacement during terrane accretion, and the Mesozoic opening of the Arctic Ocean. Here, I explore several of these models by investigating Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks across the northern margin of North American, as well as the main faulted boundaries between displaced terranes and autochthonous rocks of North America. First, I present a new tectonic model …

Are Natural Fractures In Sandstone Reservoir: Water Wet – Mixed Wet – Or Oil Wet?, Salah Almudhhi, Laila Abdullah, Waleed Al-Bazzaz, Saleh Alsayegh, Hussien Alajaj, Ralph E. Flori

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study accurately measures the wettability contact angle of native Kuwaiti sandstone reservoir that hosts mixed pore size distributions in both the tight sandstone matrix as well as the natural fracture (NF) embedded in it. Also, this study, effectively, investigates the geometrical size and shape of natural available voids whether matrix voids or NF voids captured in the rock 2D image frame system. Correspondingly, this study is, successfully, measure tight matrix, NF Pore wall, and NF pore opening wettability performance and recovery efficiency contributions inside the sandstone reservoir. A model pore/ grain contact angle wettability is generated. Therefore, this study …

Measuring Ground Surface Elevation Changes In A Slow-Moving Colluvial Landslide Using Combinations Of Regional Airborne Lidar, Uav Lidar And Uav Photogrammetric Surveys, Sarah E. Johnson, William C. Haneberg, L. Sebastian Bryson, Matthew M. Crawford

UK CARES Faculty Publications

Slow-moving, chronically destructive landslides are projected to grow in number globally in response to precipitation increases from climate change, and land disturbances from wildfire, mining and construction. In the Cincinnati and northern Kentucky metropolitan area, USA, landslides develop in colluvium that covers the steep slopes along the Ohio River and its tributaries. Here we quantify elevation changes in a slow-moving colluvial landslide over 14 years using county- wide lidar, uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) structure-from-motion (SfM) surveys and a UAV lidar survey. Because the technology and quality differ between surveys, the challenge was to calculate a threshold of detectable change for …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2022, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Jeffrey Westrop

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Picture Gorge Basalt: Internal Stratigraphy, Eruptive Patterns, And Its Importance For Understanding Columbia River Basalt Group Magmatism, Emily Bogdan Cahoon, Martin J. Streck, Anthony A.P. Koppers

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Picture Gorge Basalt (PGB) of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) has been previously thought to be limited in its eruptive volume (<3000 >km³) and thought to not extend far from its type locality. At present, PGB represents only 1.1 vol% of the CRBG with a relatively limited spatial distribution of ~10,000 km². New age data illustrate that the PGB is the earliest and longest eruptive unit compared to other main-phase CRBG formations and that some dated basaltic flows reach far (~100 km) beyond the previously mapped extent. This study focuses on extensive outcrops of …

Coral Gardens Reef, Belize: An Acropora Spp. Refugium Under Threat In A Warming World, Lisa Greer, H. Allen Curran, Karl Wirth, Robert Humston, Ginny Johnson, Lauren Mcmanus, Candice Stefanic, Tara Clark, Halard Lescinsky, Kirah Forman-Castillo

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Live coral cover has declined precipitously on Caribbean reefs in recent decades. Acropora cervicornis coral has been particularly decimated, and few Western Atlantic Acropora spp. refugia remain. Coral Gardens, Belize, was identified in 2020 as a long-term refugium for this species. This study assesses changes in live A. cervicornis coral abundance over time at Coral Gardens to monitor the stability of A. cervicornis corals, and to explore potential threats to this important refugium. Live coral cover was documented annually from 2012– 2019 along five permanent transects. In situ sea-surface temperature data were collected at Coral Gardens throughout the study period …

A Systematic Design Approach For Bulk Gel Treatments Based On Gel Volume-Concentration Ratio In Field Projects, Munqith Aldhaheri, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Controlling excessive water production in mature oil fields has always been a desired objective of the oil and gas industry. This objective calls for planning of more effective water-control gel treatments with optimized designs to obtain more attractive outcomes. Unfortunately, planning such effective treatments remains a dilemma for reservoir engineers due to the lack of methodical design tools in the industry. This paper presents a novel systematic design approach for polyacrylamide-Based bulk gel treatments by classifying their field projects according to the gel volume-concentration ratio (VCR) into three design types. in terms of one another, the approach estimates either the …

Seismic Azimuthal Anisotropy Beneath A Fast Moving Ancient Continent: Constraints From Shear Wave Splitting Analysis In Australia, Kailun Ba, Stephen S. Gao, Jianguo Song, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seismic Azimuthal Anisotropy Beneath Australia is Investigated using Splitting of the Teleseismic PKS, SKKS, and SKS Phases to Delineate Asthenospheric Flow and Lithospheric Deformation Beneath One of the Oldest and Fast-Moving Continents on Earth. in Total 511 Pairs of High-Quality Splitting Parameters Were Observed at 116 Seismic Stations. Unlike Other Stable Continental Areas in Africa, East Asia, and North America, Where Spatially Consistent Splitting Parameters Dominate, the Fast Orientations and Splitting Times Observed in Australia Show a Complex Pattern, with a Slightly Smaller Than Normal Average Splitting Time of 0.85 ± 0.33 S. on the North Australian Craton, the Fast …

The Use And Challenges Of Spatial Data In Archaeology, Carla Klehm

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spatial data, under the broader umbrella of digital data, is becoming increasingly integral to all stages of archaeological research design and dissemination. As archaeologists lean toward reuse and interoperability, with ethics on their minds, how to treat spatial data is of particular importance. This is because of the complexities involved at every life-cycle stage, from collection to publication, including black box issues that may be taken for granted, and because the size of spatial data can lead to archiving difficulties. Here, the “DIY” momentum of increasingly accessible spatial methods such as photogrammetry and handheld lidar is examined alongside forthcoming changes …

Extreme Differentiation Along Multiple Liquid Lines Of Descent In Strongly Peralkaline Magma Series At Pantelleria (Italy), John C. White, Ray Macdonald, Bogusław Bagiński, Katarzyna M. Liszewska

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The liquid line of descent from trachyte to pantellerite is controlled primarily by fractional crystallization of alkali feldspar, with whole rock compositions following a fractionation path along the ‘thermal valley’ in the peralkaline haplogranite system Qz-Ab-Or-Ac-Ns and terminating at a minimum on the feldspar-quartz cotectic. Although whole-rock compositions for different pantelleritic suites follow nearly identical paths in a Qz-Ab-Or projection that terminate near the experimental minimum (Qz40.5Or34.5Ab25 at 100 MPa, projected from Ac-Ns), matrix glass from samples with near-minimum compositions record extreme differentiation and form a ‘cotectic delta’ beyond the terminus of the ‘thermal valley’. Although each glass trend shows …

Columbia River Rhyolites: Age-Distribution Patterns And Their Implications For Arrival, Location, And Dispersion Of Continental Flood Basalt Magmas In The Crust, Martin J. Streck, Vanessa M. Swenton, William C. Mcintosh, Matt Heizler

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Columbia River province magmatism is now known to include abundant and widespread rhyolite centers even though the view that the earliest rhyolites erupted from the McDermitt Caldera and other nearby volcanic fields along the Oregon–Nevada state border has persisted. Our study covers little-studied or unknown rhyolite occurrences in eastern Oregon that show a much wider distribution of older centers. With our new data on distribution of rhyolite centers and ages along with literature data, we consider rhyolites spanning from 17.5 to 14.5 Ma of eastern Oregon, northern Nevada, and western Idaho to be a direct response to flood basalts of …

Looking Backward And Forward: Volcanology In The Years 2000, 2010, 2020, And Beyond, Jonathan Fink, Katharine Cashman

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Figuring out how volcanoes work is one of the geoscience’s most complex puzzles. Clues of all sizes, shapes, and colors are scattered across every continent, the bottom of the ocean, in the atmosphere, and on the surfaces of other planets. Generations of geologists, geophysicists, geodesists, and geochemists have used field observations, laboratory measurements, and theory to fill gaps left by their predecessors. Yet critical uncertainties remain. Why do eruptions begin? What determines their intensity? What controls their frequency and style of activity? What causes them to end? These unsolved issues leave society increasingly vulnerable to volcanic disruptions. Hundreds of published …

Sediment Transport And Geomorphological Evolution In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kelli Moran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the mechanisms driving sediment transport and deposition on the continental shelf and within the bays of the northern Gulf of Mexico via a suite of geophysical methods and sediment cores on a variety of timescales. This dissertation is comprised of three main chapters, each focusing on a different location, environment, and process but tied together using geophysical survey, a thematic focus on geomorphic change and sediment transport within the deltaic cycle and deltaic plain environments, and the implications this change poses for both past and future sediment transport and environmental change in response to sea level change. …

Abdoo, Mary, 1913-1990 (Sc 3668), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3668. “The Elk Horn Coal Corporation,” by Mary Abdoo. The 1935 report examines Elkhorn coal as well as the corporation’s history, officers, and financial status. Includes a letter from the author outlining the company’s approval of the report.

The Kanarra Fold-Thrust Structure - The Leading Edge Of The Sevier Fold-Thrust Belt, Southwestern Utah: Geology Of The Intermountain West, William J. Chandonia, John P. Hogan

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The multiple origins proposed for the Kanarra anticline in southwestern Utah as a drag-fold along the Hurricane fault, a Laramide monocline, a Sevier fault-propagation fold, or a combination of these process­es, serve to muddy its tectonic significance. This in part reflects the structural complexity of the exposed eastern half of the fold. The fold evolved from open and up-right to overturned and tight, is cross-cut by multiple faults, and was subsequently dismembered by the Hurricane fault. The western half of the fold is obscured because of burial, along with the hanging wall of the Hurricane fault, beneath Neogene and younger …