Geology Commons^™

A Multi-Year Analysis From 2014 To 2017 Of Snowfall Types In Marquette, Michigan: A Differentiation Between Synoptic Snow Events And Lake Effect Snow Events Impacted By The Presence Of Lake Superior, Roberto Piemontese

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The present study analyzes four winter seasons of data from 2014 to 2017 collected from the National Weather Service in Marquette, Michigan. The two main instruments installed are the MRR, which provides a vertical reflectivity profile from ground level to 3 km, and the PIP, a horizontal camera pointing towards a light source, which measures the physical characteristics of each particle. The observations show that LES events are shallow, with heights of up to 1500 m, meanwhile synoptic events are deep, with vertical profile of 3000 m or beyond. The shallow events have bigger and low-density particles and synoptic events …

Assessing The Accuracy Of A Uav Snow Depth Survey: Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska Calm Grid, Ian Nichols

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Active layer depth and snow depth are annually collected across the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) Network to observe the response of the active layer and near-surface permafrost to climate change over decadal-time scales. Snow depth is typically measured using a graduated steel probe at each grid node but, in this paper, we explore the viability of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (drone) technology to collect snow depth measurements at the 1 km² Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska CALM grid. This is achieved by comparing estimated UAV snow depths to measured snow depths collected using a MagnaProbe (MP) at each of …

Fluid Inclusion Study Of Selected Calcite Associated With Native Copper, Quincy Mine, Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, David Kelly

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Keweenaw Peninsula is famous for hosting the largest accumulation of native copper anywhere in the world. Previous studies have looked for the fluids responsible for creating the native copper deposits but were unable to conclusively demonstrate that fluid inclusions can provide valuable insight into the hydrothermal/metamorphogenic fluids responsible for these unique deposits.

This report focused on fluid inclusions from calcite precipitated during the native copper mineralizing event. Calcite crystals with inclusions of native copper growing into vugs from a single location, the Quincy Mine, were hypothesized to have a higher chance to be undisturbed by seismic events that would …

Quantifying Water Recharge And Water Use In Hand Dug Wells: A Case Study Of Thiawor, Senegal, West Africa, Celine Carus

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For many rural communities in Senegal, water is an essential life-giving need received only through a network of hand dug wells. Increasing rainfall variability in the Sahel has driven greater water insecurity for those communities that rely on rain-irrigated systems for agriculture. This study investigates the retrieval, purposes, and quantities of seasonal water usage on a small domestic scale, as well as an analysis of perceived water availability in the wells during the rainy season. Additionally, using a combination of interview data and pumping test data obtained from the village wells, water usage and estimated daily needs are calculated and …

Landslides Across The Usa: Occurrence, Susceptibility, And Data Limitations, Benjamin B. Mirus, Eric S. Jones, Rex L. Baum, Jonathan W. Godt, Stephen Slaughter, Matthew M. Crawford, Jeremy Lancaster, Thomas Stanley, Dalia B. Kirschbaum, William J. Burns, Robert G. Schmitt, Kassandra O. Lindsey, Kevin M. Mccoy

Faculty, Staff, and Affiliated Publications--KGS

Detailed information about landslide occurrence is the foundation for advancing process understanding, susceptibility mapping, and risk reduction. Despite the recent revolution in digital elevation data and remote sensing technologies, landslide mapping remains resource intensive. Consequently, a modern, comprehensive map of landslide occurrence across the United States (USA) has not been compiled. As a first step toward this goal, we present a national-scale compilation of existing, publicly available landslide inventories. This geodatabase can be downloaded in its entirety or viewed through an online, searchable map, with parsimonious attributes and direct links to the contributing sources with additional details. The mapped spatial …

Old And Deer: A Study Of Neoarchean Peridotites In Michigan’S Upper Peninsula, Rachel Merz

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The Deer Lake Peridotite and the Presque Isle Periodotite are two ultramafic formations of Neoarchean age within the Ishpeming Greenstone Belt of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and are found only fifteen miles apart. The Deer Lake Peridotite was deformed in processes indicative of the broader, regional-scale tectonics of the region, but little study has been done on the mineralogy and extent and style of alteration. This research aims to better classify the mineralogy of the formation, with particular focus on textural variations observed in thin-section, as well as chemical analysis of samples taken from the formation. In addition, this research seeks …

Geochemical Flux Analysis Of Glacial River Runoff For Sólheimajökull, Iceland, Jessica Garrison

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Geochemical fluxes in aqueous studies are an essential component of research to understand weathering and changes in a hydrologic system. These data can indicate any discrepancies, outliers, or gradual changes in a water environment to gain information on pollutants, carbon cycles, biological input, etc. Glacial melt is the majority of the surface water present throughout the country. The melting amount is increasing with the temperatures, which can be monitored by the changes in geochemical flux during increased discharge in glacial rivers. A high-resolution data set of Sόlheimajökull Glacier in Iceland was used to determine how changing climatic conditions for the …

Ecosystem Health In Guánica Bay And La Parguera, Puerto Rico: Remote Sensing Of Ocean Color And Metal Analysis Of Coral Tissue And Surficial Sediments, Jahnelle Howe

Dissertations and Theses

Guánica Bay is an estuary located in southwest Puerto Rico, with a coral reef ecosystem at its periphery. This ecosystem is affected by sediments, nutrients, and contaminants from the watershed through the Bay and into the offshore water. This project evaluates Guánica Bay and La Parguera coastal areas through remote sensing and chemical analysis to assess coastal ecosystem health. The concentration of metals in two coral species and their associated surface sediments was were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Direct Mercury Analyzer (DMA- 80). Ocean color remote sensing was used to estimate nutrient inputs and phytoplankton biomass through chlorophyll- …

An Integrated Feasibility Study Of Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (Rtes) In Portland, Or, Usa, John Bershaw, Alison E. Horst, Ashley Streig, Darby Patrick Scanlon, Ellen Elizabeth Svadlenak, Jenny Liu, Peter Hulseman, Ray E. Wells, Multiple Additional Authors

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In regions with long cold overcast winters and sunny summers, Deep Direct-Use (DDU) can be coupled with Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) technology to take advantage of pre-existing subsurface permeability to save summer heat for later use during cold seasons. Many aquifers worldwide are underlain by permeable regions (reservoirs) containing brackish or saline groundwater that has limited beneficial use due to poor water quality. We investigate the utility of these relatively deep, slow flowing reservoirs for RTES by conducting an integrated feasibility study in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA, developing methods and obtaining results that can be widely applied to …

Geologic Map Of The Greater Portland Metropolitan Area And Surrounding Region, Oregon And Washington, Ray E. Wells, Ralph Haugerud, Alan Niem, Wendy A. Niem, Russell Evarts, J. E. O’Connor, Ian Madin, Marvin Beeson, Multiple Additional Authors

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This geologic map encompasses the greater Portland metropolitan area (the metro area), an urbanized region astride the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers in Oregon and Washington. The metro area includes the Portland-VancouverHillsboro metropolitan area, defined by the U.S. Census as the 23rd largest such area in the U.S., having a population of more than 2.2 million people (https://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/026/508.php). The map area extends beyond the urbanized core to include outlying towns and cities and the bounding fault zones that separate the metro area from the adjacent Coast Range and Cascade Range (or Cascades; figs. 1, 2, and 3). The …

Deuterium Excess And 17o-Excess Variability In Meteoric Water Across The Pacific Northwest, Usa, John Bershaw, Dougal Hansen, Andrew Schauer

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

High-precision triple oxygen isotope analysis of water has given rise to a novel second-order parameter, ¹⁷O-excess (often denoted as δ¹⁷O), which describes the deviation from a reference relationship between δ¹⁸O and δ¹⁷O. This tracer, like deuterium excess (d-excess), is affected by kinetic fractionation (diffusion) during phase changes within the hydrologic cycle. However, unlike d-excess, ¹⁷O-excess is present in paleowater proxy minerals and is not thought to vary significantly with temperature. This makes it a promising tool in paleoclimate research, particularly in relatively arid continental regions where traditional approaches have produced equivocal results. …

The Role Of Warm, Dry Summers And Variation In Snowpack On Phytoplankton Dynamics In Mountain Lakes, Isabella A. Olesky, Whitney S. Beck, Roderick W. Lammers, Cara E. Steger, Codie Wilson, Kyle R. Christianson, Kim Vincent, Gunnar Forrest Johnson, Pieter T.J. Johnson, Jill S. Baron

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is altering biogeochemical, metabolic, and ecological functions in lakes across the globe. Historically, mountain lakes in temperate regions have been unproductive because of brief ice-free seasons, a snowmelt-driven hydrograph, cold temperatures, and steep topography with low vegetation and soil cover. We tested the relative importance of winter and summer weather, watershed characteristics, and water chemistry as drivers of phytoplankton dynamics. Using boosted regression tree models for 28 mountain lakes in Colorado, we examined regional, intraseasonal, and interannual drivers of variability in chlorophyll a as a proxy for lake phytoplankton. Phytoplankton biomass was inversely related to the maximum snow …

Mapping Surficial Geology In The New River Gorge National River And Bluestone National Scenic River, West Virginia, Using Lidar-Derived Digital Elevation Data, Marla K. Denicola

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this thesis was to determine if the surficial geology of Bluestone National Scenic River (BLUE) and New River Gorge National River (NERI), two areas of similar geology, can be mapped using visual interpretation methods applied to digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. Surficial geology in BLUE was field mapped using GPS, following definitions and characterizations for surficial geology units established with the guidance of Dr. J. Steven Kite. A 2m x 2m LiDAR-derived DEM was used for BLUE and most of NERI using US Army Corps of Engineers (USCOE) LiDAR data, …

Sampling The Local Fare: Fishes At The Sam Israel House Pit (45gr76), Soap Lake, Washington, Adam Fruge

All Master's Theses

The Sam Israel site is a precontact archaeological complex with numerous fish bones at the north end of Soap Lake, Washington. Excavated in 1976, the fish remains recovered from there were never fully analyzed prior to this research. Since this inland Columbia Plateau site had thousands of fish bones, it contained untapped potential for our understanding of ancient local fish procurement. As such, I conducted a detailed analysis of 2,862 fish bone specimens from the Sam Israel House Pit locus to: study a larger sample of fish bones in greater detail than was done before; compare the distribution of fishes …

Documenting The Earthquake History Of The Thousand Springs Fault In Summer Lake Basin, Oregon, Usa, Elizabeth Curtiss

All Master's Theses

Defining seismic hazards in low-strain-rate regions such as the northwestern Basin and Range can be difficult due to the infrequency of earthquakes. Revealing the earthquake records of low-strain-rate regions can refine our understanding of the variability of earthquake sizes and recurrence intervals, however, which can ultimately improve hazard analysis. Four active normal faults form the Summer Lake basin, in the northwestern Basin and Range: The Thousand Springs (TSF), Ana River (ARF), Slide Mountain, and Winter Ridge faults. Other than the TSF, the faults in the Summer Lake basin have documented histories that include surface-rupturing (>M6) earthquakes. Scarps along the …

Modeling Cle Elum Reservoir Shoreline Erosion: Gis Analysis To Support Cultural And Environmental Resource Management, Yakima Basin, Washington, Michael H. Horner

All Master's Theses

In the Yakima Basin, managers are expanding reservoirs including Cle Elum Lake to increase the availability of water. The objective of this study was to examine areas prone to further shoreline erosion to inform resource management. This research included the use of airphotos and fieldwork to identify erosional shorelines. Erosion was verified in the field using a video survey as well as indicators such as shoreline slope, sediment size, and nearshore width. Near-term erosional segments were identified by more rapidly receding bluffs while long-term erosional segments included both bedrock cliffs and bluffs. Although most of the shoreline is depositional, near-term …

Mapping And Modeling The Seattle Fault Tsunami Inundation In Puget Sound, David Bruce

All Master's Theses

Coastal communities of Puget Sound are susceptible to tsunami inundation from multiple sources. Two sources of potential tsunami hazard that threaten the region are earthquakes on crustal faults in the Puget Lowlands, or earthquakes originating on the Cascadia subduction zone. This study investigated two coastal marshes in Puget Sound, Deer Lagoon and Doe-Kag-Wats, for evidence of a paleotsunami record to combine with tsunami modeling, in order to predict how future events could inundate Puget Sound. A deposit, interpreted as a paleotsunami, is traceable thought the marsh stratigraphy near the modern day tidal inlet of Deer Lagoon, a site that has …

Applying Garnet And Zircon Ree Linkages To Determine Timing Of P-T Conditions And Tectonic Implications For Uhp Eclogites And Hp Granulites, Dulan Uhp Terrane, China, Wesley Weisberg

All Master's Theses

The Dulan ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane in western China hosts rocks that record continental collision, however; the timing of peak P-T conditions in UHP eclogites and HP granulites, and the tectonic significance of their spatial relationship within the Dulan UHP terrane are not well understood. This study, (1) evaluates rare earth element (REE) equilibrium between garnet and zircon, to assess coeval growth; (2) links timing (from zircon) to the P-T history (from garnet) to constrain the P-T-t path of the Dulan UHP terrane and interpret implications for zircon growth; (3) refines P-T conditions for HP granulite; and (4) evaluates the tectonic …

Recovering Lost Information From Avocational Projectile Point Collections, Mackenzie Hughes

All Master's Theses

Human prehistory in North America has sparked the interest of private citizens for decades, sometimes leading to an accumulation of avocational artifact collections that lack site-level provenience. The Wild/Clymer artifacts (n = 1,371) are one such collection where precise site provenience was lost. The analysis aims to recover regional provenience by using morphology, raw material sourcing, and typology to create a data set. The avocational collection data set was analyzed by comparing it to the professionally recorded archaeological data sets from within 100 miles of Frenchglen, Oregon. A paradigmatic classification approach identified 606 typeable points in the avocational collection, in …

Modeling Of Potential Historical Tsunamis From Large Earthquakes In The Izu-Bonin Mariana Subduction Zone, Rachelle Reisinger

All Master's Theses

The Izu-Bonin Mariana (IBM) subduction zone is an over 3000-km long oceanic-oceanic convergence zone with no instrumental record of great subduction-zone earthquakes (M_w > 8.0). Due to the lack of great earthquakes and the oceanic-oceanic subduction style, previous researchers have speculated that the IBM does not produce great earthquakes. The same behavior was also proposed for the northern Japan and Cascadia subduction zones, which has since been proven false. We use the tsunami model GeoClaw (v5.6.0) with adjoint-guided refinement level flagging to simulate IBM earthquakes in three separate segments to produce estimates of wave heights at locations around the Pacific …

Late Holocene Paleoflood Hydrology Of The Snake River In The Lower Hells Canyon, Idaho, Kent C. Allen

All Master's Theses

The Snake River watershed spans a large geographic region from the Rocky Mountains to the inland Pacific Northwest, and a comprehensive paleoflood chronology on the mainstem of the river is key to identifying the frequency and magnitude of large prehistoric floods within the region. We examined and compared four sites of slackwater deposits along a 20-km reach of the Lower Hells Canyon on the Snake River, Idaho. The sites contain evidence of up to 34 paleofloods within the last 1700 years. Stratigraphic breaks, soils, and in-situ plant or archaeological materials demarcate distinct layers that represent discrete paleoflood events. Radiocarbon dates …

Crystalline Architecture And Stratigraphy Of Coral Skeletal Density Banding: A Geobiological Record Of Changing Coral Reef Ecology, Kyle Fouke

Honors Theses

Coral skeletal density banding (CSDB), composed of alternating high density band (HDB) and low density band (LDB) layers that comprise the CaCO₃ (aragonite) skeleton of scleractinian corals, are used as chronometers for global paleoclimatic reconstructions of sea surface temperature (SST). Scleractinian coral skeletons have been intensively studied for centuries with detail analysis of the macro- and microscale skeletal structure to establish taxonomic and evolutionary relationships of coral species, mechanisms of biomineralization, and seafloor physical, chemical and biological alteration (diagenesis) of the skeleton. This study is the first to determine the crystalline architecture of HDBs and CSDB stratigraphic …

Fluvial Sedimentology And Architecture Of Two Latest Devonian Lower Huntley Mountain Formation Outcrops, North-Central Pennsylvania, Usa, Evan W. Filion

Honors Theses

Thick successions of river deposits accumulated in the north-central Pennsylvania region of the Appalachian foreland basin during Late Devonian time (~380-360 Ma). The properties and morphologies of these paleorivers are not well characterized. Latest Devonian tectonic, climatic, and eustatic controls on river dynamics and basin infilling also remain unclear. This study assesses the sedimentology, facies architecture, paleochannel depths, and grain size of a 133 m thick section of fluvial strata exposed across two outcrops, Blossburg South (older) and Blossburg West (younger), mapped as lower Huntley Mountain Formation near Blossburg, Pennsylvania. Field-based lithofacies observations, high-resolution panoramic photography, terrestrial lidar scanning, and …

Glaciernet: A Deep-Learning Approach For Debris-Covered Glacier Mapping, Zhiyuan Xie, Umesh K. Haritashya, Vijayan K. Asari, Brennan W. Young, Michael P. Bishop, Jeffrey S. Kargel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Rising global temperatures over the past decades is directly affecting glacier dynamics. To understand glacier fluctuations and document regional glacier-state trends, glacier-boundary detection is necessary. Debris-covered glacier (DCG) mapping, however, is notoriously difficult using conventional geospatial technology methods. Therefore, in this research for automated DCG mapping, we evaluate the utility of a convolutional neural network (CNN), which is a deep learning feed-forward neural network. The CNN inputs include Landsat satellite images, an Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) digital elevation model (DEM) and DEM-derived land-surface parameters. Our CNN based deep-learning approach named GlacierNet was designed by appropriately choosing the type, number …

The Role Of Tectonic Inheritance, Plate-Reorganization, And Magma Flare-Ups In The Evolution Of The Sevier Orogeny, J. Daniel Quick

Masters Theses

"The temporal and spatial distribution of strain associated with the Sevier Orogeny in western North America is significantly different in the southern end of the belt, at the latitude of Las Vegas, than further to the north at the latitude of Salt Lake City. Until this study, reasons for these differences were speculative as a lack of thrust kinematic data in the intervening region hindered along strike correlation across the belt. A crystallization age of 100.18 ± 14 0.04 Ma was determined for zircons extracted from a recently recognized ash fall tuff near the base of the synorogenic Iron Springs …

Mineral Compositions Of Meteorite Samples Alha 77005, Nwa 7397, Nwa 5480, And Ausson: Implications For Geodynamic Processes On Their Parent Bodies And Meteorite Reclassification, Kaylin Agnata Tunnell

Masters Theses

“This study investigates the major, minor, and trace element compositions of minerals from a series of meteorites which represent different stages of planetary evolution including two sample from Mars (ALHA 77005 and NWA 7397), one sample from Vesta (NWA 5480), and one ordinary chondrite (Ausson). The goal of this study is to investigate if petrogenetic tracers commonly employed to understand terrestrial samples can also be applied to extraterrestrial samples. The data presented here show that mineral trace element data allow for novel insight into the magmatic history of meteorite samples. For example, V/Sc and Fe/Mn ratios in olivine provide insight …

A Machine Learning And Data-Driven Prediction And Inversion Of Reservoir Brittleness From Geophysical Logs And Seismic Signals: A Case Study In Southwest Pennsylvania, Central Appalachian Basin, Tobi Micheal Ore

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In unconventional reservoir sweet-spot identification, brittleness is an important parameter that is used as an easiness measure of production from low permeability reservoirs. In shaly reservoirs, production is realized from hydraulic fracturing, which depends on how brittle the rock is–as it opens natural fractures and also creates new fractures. A measure of brittleness, brittleness index, is obtained through elastic properties of the rock. In practice, problems arise using this method to predict brittleness because of the limited availability of elastic logs.

To address this issue, machine learning techniques are adopted to predict brittleness at well locations from readily available geophysical …

Shallow Seismic Modeling Of The Hydrothermal Plumbing System Beneath Old Faithful Geyser In The Upper Geyser Basin Of Yellowstone National Park, Jordan Rigdon Caylor

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In November 2016, a 2-D and 3-D seismic survey was performed around Old Faithful Geyser in the southeastern portion of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. The survey consisted of 521 3-component seismic receiver locations including 39 receivers on a ~1km NE-SW trending line crossing Old Faithful Geyser. A 5.4kg sledgehammer striking a metal plate was our source with a dominant frequency of ~40Hz. Our 2-D line crosses Old Faithful in a NE-SW direction with station spacing at 25-30m with ~100m spacing on either side of Old Faithful and a total length of 1024m. Our 3-D seismic grid …

Structural Analysis Of Deformed Caprock Associated With A Salt Shoulder At Gypsum Valley Salt Wall, Paradox Basin, Colorado, Hanah Draper

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study documents the style and distribution of deformation present in Triassic-age gypsic and carbonate caprock associated with the Gypsum Valley Salt Wall Salt Shoulder in the Paradox Basin, Colorado in order to determine the mechanism and timing of deformation. Mapping of gypsic and carbonate capstone facies shows that the caprock layering that was generated during formation has been deformed by large-and-small-scale folding and faulting, brecciation, and boudinage. Deformation within the caprock resulted in widely variable orientations along the length of the salt shoulder, that also varies locally in intensity of deformation and with proximity to the passively rising diapir …

Utilizing Zircon (U-Th)/He And 40ar/39ar Thermochronology To Refine The Thermal History Of The Great Unconformity Within New Mexico And Colorado, Jacoup Roiz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Great Unconformity beneath Paleozoic strata represents 100-1000 m.y. of missing rock record that formed through extensive weathering and erosion. Despite its global extent, the timing of Precambrian crystalline rock exhumation prior to Phanerozoic sediment deposition remains relatively unresolved in many locations. I utilized zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) thermochronology in order to constrain the long-term thermal history of Precambrian rocks in Colorado and New Mexico, and test my hypoThesis that these units below the Great Unconformity experienced multiple cooling and reheating episodes resulting in a compound surface representing multiple unconformities. In addition to a synThesis of previously reported data in the …