Geology Commons^™

Mg-Rich Metabasalts From The Southern Musoma –Mara Greenstone Belt: Possible Evidence For Mantle Plume Activity In The Tanzania Craton?, S Manya

Tanzania Journal of Science

Mg-rich metabasalts from the Simba Sirori to Majimoto segment of the southern Musoma-Mara greenstone belt are the most magnesian lavas reported in the Archaean Tanzania Craton. The lavas yielded a Sm-Nd isochron age of 2768 ± 38 Ma (MSWD = 1.2) and corresponding !Nd(2.7 Ga) values in the range of + 0.66 to + 2.81. The lavas exhibit high MgO contents of up to 16 wt %, Cr (140 – 1590 ppm), Ni (80 – 510 ppm), values which are higher than those of primitive NMORB, but are comparable with those of Archaean komatiitic basalts and modern oceanic plateau basalts. …

Feeding Habitats Of The Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi, In The Suwannee And Yellow Rivers, Florida, As Identified By Multiple Stable Isotope Analyses, Kenneth J. Sulak, J. J. Berg, M. Randall

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Stable ¹³C, ¹⁵N, and ³⁴S isotopes were analyzed to define the feeding habitats of Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi in the Suwannee and Yellow River populations. For the majority (93.9%) of Suwannee sub adults and adults, 13C and 34S signatures indicate use of nearshore marine waters as primary winter feeding habitat, probably due to the limiting size of the Suwannee Sound estuary. In the Yellow River population, 13C isotope signatures indicate that adults remain primarily within Pensacola Bay estuary to feed in winter, rather than immigrating to the open Gulf of Mexico. A minor Suwannee River subset (6% of …

Heterogeneous Detection Probabilities For Imperiled Missouri River Fishes: Implications For Large-River Monitoring Programs, Joshua T. Schloesser, Craig P. Paukert, Wyatt J. Doyle, Tracy D. Hill, Kirk D. Steffensen, Vince H. Travnichek

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Occupancy modeling was used to determine (1) if detection probabilities (p) for 7 regionally imperiled Missouri River fishes (Scaphirhynchus albus, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, Cycleptus elongatus, Sander canadensis, Macrhybopsis aestivalis, Macrhybopsis gelida, and Macrhybopsis meeki) differed among gear types (i.e. stationary gill nets, drifted trammel nets, and otter trawls), and (2) how detection probabilities were affected by habitat (i.e. pool, bar, and open water), longitudinal position (five 189 to 367 rkm long segments), sampling year (2003 to 2006), and season (July 1 to October 30 and October 31 to June 30). Adult, large-bodied fishes were …

Habitat And Prey Availability Attributes Associated With Juvenile And Early Adult Pallid Sturgeon Occurrence In The Missouri River, Usa, Bryan D. Spindler, Steven R. Chipps, Robert A. Klumb, Brian D. S. Graeb, Michael C. Wimberly

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus is a federally endangered species native to the Missouri and lower Mississippi Rivers, USA. As part of recovery efforts, over 360 000 pallid sturgeon have been stocked into the Missouri River since 1994, and a standardized, long-term monitoring program was initiated in 2003. Understanding the distribution and habitat requirements of juvenile and early adult pallid sturgeon (fork length <720 mm, age <10 yr) is an important goal of the monitoring and recovery programs. In this study, we collected information on habitat characteristics and prey availability from the upper Missouri River along the Nebraska-South Dakota border and compared these attributes between capture (present) and non-capture (absent) locations (N = 59). To evaluate the relative influence of habitat and prey availability on pallid sturgeon occurrence, we examined several candidate models using an informationtheoretic approach. A prey availability model had the most support and included site-specific information on Diptera and Ephemeroptera abundance. A habitat-based model showed that juveniles and early adults were found in relatively deeper water and avoided areas where bottom velocities were greater than 1.2 m s−1. Although not as well supported as the prey-effects model (evidence ratio = 6.4), habitat features also provided a plausible model for predicting occurrence. The models developed here could be used to evaluate pallid sturgeon habitat potential in the Missouri River basin and help guide future monitoring and conservation management of this endangered species.

Projecting Changes In Extreme Precipitation In The Midwestern United States Using North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (Narccap) Regional Climate Models, Shuang-Ye Wu

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Based on the physics of global circulation, many expect an enhanced greenhouse effect to lead to a more active hydrological cycle with more precipitation on average (Hennessy et al. 1997). This expected increase has been found in observations (Zhang et al. 2007) and has also been suggested by climate models, although these models are not consistent with respect to the spatial and temporal variability about this change. An increase in mean precipitation depth, assuming no change in the shape of the frequency distribution, would imply an increased frequency of heavy-precipitation events. However, some studies (Hennessy et al. 1997, Allen and …

Mafic Alkaline Magmatism In The East Tintic Mountains, West-Central Utah: Implications For A Late Oligocene Transition From Subduction To Extension, Tara Laine Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Voluminous Eocene to Oligocene intermediate to silicic volcanic rocks related to subduction erupted throughout the Great Basin and were supplanted by bimodal eruptions of basalt and rhyolite related to extension in the Miocene. Locally, in the northern East Tintic Mountains of central Utah, this important transition is marked by a distinctive package of mafic alkaline magmas that reveal important details about the nature of this fundamental change. A late Oligocene anorthoclase-bearing shoshonite lava in the Boulter Peak quadrangle contains megacrysts of anorthoclase, with phenocrysts of olivine, clinopyroxene, magnesiohastingsite, magnetite, and apatite. The anorthoclase grains occur as glomerocrysts with irregular, resorbed …

Geodetic Constraints On San Francisco Bay Area Fault Slip Rates And Potential Seismogenic Asperities On The Partially Creeping Hayward Fault, Eileen L. Evans, John P. Loveless, Brendan J. Meade

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The Hayward fault in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) is sometimes considered unusual among continental faults for exhibiting significant aseismic creep during the interseismic phase of the seismic cycle while also generating sufficient elastic strain to produce major earthquakes. Imaging the spatial variation in interseismic fault creep on the Hayward fault is complicated because of the interseismic strain accumulation associated with nearby faults in the SFBA, where the relative motion between the Pacific plate and the Sierra block is partitioned across closely spaced subparallel faults. To estimate spatially variable creep on the Hayward fault, we interpret geodetic observations with …

Response Of A Carbonate Platform To The Cenomanian-Turonian Drowning And Oae 2: A Case Study From The Adriatic Platform (Dalmatia, Croatia), Tvrtko Korbar, B. Glumac, Blanka Cvetko Tesovic, Sarah B. Cadieux

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Global perturbations during the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary (CTB) interval and the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2) represent one of the most extensively studied past environmental changes. To explore the response of various carbonate-platform depositional systems to such major environmental perturbations, strata of the intra-Tethyan Adriatic carbonate platform (sensu stricto) from the island of Bracˇ (Adriatic Sea, Croatia) provide excellent exposures and a previously well-established Upper Cretaceous lithostratigraphic framework. Within this context, this study integrated lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy to describe a drowned-platform succession underlain and overlain by peritidal carbonates. Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of this succession revealed a shift towards positive d13C …

Real-Time Change And Damage Detection Of Landslides And Other Earth Movements Threatening Public Infrastructure, Michael J. Olsen, Shawn Butcher, Evon P. Silvia

TREC Final Reports

Geologic hazards such as coastal erosion, landslides, seismic loading, etc. constantly threaten public highway construction and maintenance. Repeat surveys using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS, ground-based LiDAR) enable rapid 3D data acquisition to map, see, analyze, and understand the processes generating such problems. Previously, change detection and analysis between scan surveys was conducted during post-processing upon return to the office, instead of while collecting data in the field. Change detection in the field improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the field investigation. We have developed a new algorithm that quickly geo-references scans upon field acquisition and simultaneously performs change detection by …

Particle Transport Over Rough Hillslope Surfaces By Dry Ravel: Experiments And Simulations With Implications For Nonlocal Sediment Flux, Emmanuel Gabet, Morgan Mendoza

Faculty Publications

Past studies of hillslope evolution have typically assumed that soil creep processes are governed by a linear relationship between local hillslope angle and transport distance. The assumption of “linear diffusion” has fallen out of favor because, when coupled with an expression of mass continuity, it yields unrealistic hillslope profiles. As a consequence, a better understanding of the mechanics of sediment transport is needed. Here we report results from a series of flume experiments performed to investigate sediment transport by dry ravel, a common soil creep process in arid and semiarid environments. We find that, at gentle slopes, transport distances follow …

Mapview And Cross Section Animations, Jason Luke

Faculty Publications

Movie 1: A series of time slices animated through the amplitude volume. Movie 2: A series of time slices animated through the semblance volume. Movie 3: Cross section animation from SW-NE through the amplitude volume. Movie 4: Cross section animation from SW-NE through the semblance volume.

Three-Dimensional Seismic Study Of Pluton Emplacement, Offshore Northwestern New Zealand, Jason Allen Luke

Theses and Dissertations

Detailed 3D seismic images of a volcano-plutonic complex offshore northwestern New Zealand indicate the intrusive complex lies in a relay zone between NE-trending en echelon normal faults. A series of high angle normal faults fan out from the margin of the Southern Intrusive Complex and cut the folded strata along the margin. These faults terminate against the margins of the intrusion, extend as much as 1 pluton diameter away from the margin, and then merge with regional faults that are part of the Northern Taranaki Graben. Offset along these faults is on the order of 10s to over 100 meters. …

Projected Surface Raidiative Forcing Due To 2000-2050 Land-Cover Land-Use Albedo Change Over The Eastern United States, Christoper A. Barnes, David P. Roy, Thomas R. Loveland

GSCE Faculty Publications

Satellite-derived contemporary land-cover land-use (LCLU) and albedo data and modeled future LCLU are used to study the impact of LCLU change from 2000 to 2050 on surface albedo and radiative forcing for 19 ecoregions in the eastern United States. The modeled 2000–2050 LCLU changes indicate a future decrease in both agriculture and forested land and an increase in developed land that induces ecoregion radiative forcings ranging from −0.175 to 0.432 W m−2 driven predominately by differences in the area and type of LCLU change. At the regional scale, these projected LCLU changes induce a net negative albedo decrease (−0.001) and …

Sensitivity Analysis Of The Gems Soil Organic Carbon Model To Land Cover Land Use Classification Uncertainties Under Different Climate Scenarios In Senegal, Amadou M. Dieye, David P. Roy, N. P. Hanan, S. Lui, M. Hansen, A. Toure

GSCE Faculty Publications

Spatially explicit land cover land use (LCLU) change information is needed to drive biogeochemical models that simulate soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. Such information is increasingly being mapped using remotely sensed satellite data with classification schemes and uncertainties constrained by the sensing system, classification algorithms and land cover schemes. In this study, automated LCLU classification of multi-temporal Landsat satellite data were used to assess the sensitivity of SOC modeled by the Global Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS). The GEMS was run for an area of 1560km2 in Senegal under three climate change scenarios with LCLU maps generated using different Landsat …

Georadar-Derived Estimates Of Firn Density In The Percolation Zone, Western Greenland Ice Sheet, Joel Brown, John Bradford, Joel T. Harper, W. Tad Pfeffer, Neil Humphrey, Ellen Mosley-Thompson

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Greater understanding of variations in firn densification is needed to distinguish between dynamic and melt-driven elevation changes on the Greenland ice sheet. This is especially true in Greenland’s percolation zone, where firn density profiles are poorly documented because few ice cores are extracted in regions with surface melt.We used geoader to investigate firn density variations with depth along an about 70 km transect through a portion of the accumulation area in western Greenland that partially melts. We estimated electromagnetic wave velocity by inverting reflection travel times picked from common midpoint gathers. We followed a procedure designed to find the simplest …

Thermal Tracking Of Meltwater Retention In Greenland’S Accumulation Area, Neil F. Humphrey, Joel T. Harper, W. Tad Pfeffer

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Poorly understood processes controlling retention of meltwater in snow and firn have important implications for Greenland Ice Sheet’s mass balance and flow dynamics. Here we present results from a 3 year (2007-2009) field campaign studying firn thermal profiles and density structure along an 85 km transect of the percolation zone of west Greenland. We installed one or two thermistor strings at 14 study sites, each string having 32 sensors spaced between 0 and 10 m depth. Data from our network of over 500 sensors were collected at 15-60 min intervals for 1-2 years, thereby recording the thermal signature of meltwater …

Allen-Carlson, Dawn Elaine (Fa 34), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 34. [Dr. Joe Daugherty: collector] Oral history project completed by Dawn Elaine Allen-Carlson concerning the collections of Daugherty for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Contains data sheet, journal, 2 indices, tape summary and transcription.

Ancient Cataclysmic Floods In The Pacific Northwest: Ancestors To The Missoula Floods, Erica Medley

Dissertations and Theses

Ancient Cataclysmic Floods were the Ice Age Floods that left erosional and depositional features and preceded the Missoula Floods (15-18,000 ka) in the Pacific Northwest of the United States (Allen et al., 2009). All previously studied ancient sites were visited (14) and new sites (11) were found; four Missoula Flood quarries were also visited; a total of 29 sites were studied in this thesis. The use of calcrete paleosols to provide relative age dates for flood deposits was analyzed in this thesis. Missoula Flood gravel pits were sampled in order to examine the degree of calcrete development in flood deposits …

Soil Mapping On A Swanton Pacific Ranch Rangeland, Thomas N. Witman

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Knowledge of soils has become very important in most land based enterprises. The understanding of soils is necessary for all different types of land management projects. The USDA mapped all of the soils in the United States starting in the late 1950’s to provide the necessary information. However because the mappers often times had to map entire counties in short amounts of time ,did not have modern technology, and had rather a vague operating procedure, there was no way to be accurate on the small scaled. To solve this problem I evaluated Dr. Ron Taskey’s landscape hierarchy, a method that …

Investigations Into The Degassing And Eruption Mechanisms Of Nyamuragira Volcano, Democratic Republic Of The Congo (Africa) , Elisabet Marie Head

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

One of two active volcanoes in the western branch of the East African Rift, Nyamuragira (1.408ºS, 29.20ºE; 3058 m) is located in the D.R. Congo. Nyamuragira emits large amounts of SO2 (up to ~1 Mt/day) and erupts low-silica, alkalic lavas, which achieve flow rates of up to ~20 km/hr. The source of the large SO₂ emissions and pre-eruptive magma conditions were unknown prior to this study, and 1994-2010 lava volumes were only recently mapped via satellite imagery, mainly due to the region’s political instability. In this study, new olivine-hosted melt inclusion volatile (H₂O, CO₂, S, …

Comparison Of Magnetic Properties And Petrography Between Dykes And Lava Flows From La Cienega, New Mexico And Thunder Bay Area, Canada, Elise A. Desplas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Data on the evolution of geomagnetic paleointensity are crucial for understanding the geodynamo and Earth’s thermal history. Although basaltic flows are preferred for paleointensity experiments, quickly cooled mafic dykes have also been used. However, the paleointensity values obtained from the dykes are systematically lower than those from lava flows. This bias may originate from the difference in cooling histories and resultant magnetic mineralogies of extrusive and intrusive rocks. To explore this hypothesis, the magnetic mineralogy of two feeder dyke-lave flow systems, from Thunder Bay (Canada) and La Cienega (New-Mexico), has been studied using magnetic and microscopy methods. Within each system, …

Lava Discharge Rate Estimates From Thermal Infrared Satellite Data At Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala , Hilary A. Morgan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Time-averaged discharge rates (TADR) were calculated for five lava flows at Pacaya Volcano (Guatemala), using an adapted version of a previously developed satellite-based model. Imagery acquired during periods of effusive activity between the years 2000 and 2010 were obtained from two sensors of differing temporal and spatial resolutions; the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Imager. A total of 2873 MODIS and 2642 GOES images were searched manually for volcanic “hot spots”. It was found that MODIS imagery, with superior spatial resolution, produced better results than GOES imagery, so only MODIS data were used …

Remote Sensing Of Volcanic Plumes Using The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission And Reflection Radiometer (Aster)., Lorna Alison Henney

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) has been used to quantify SO₂ emissions from passively degassing volcanoes. This dissertation explores ASTER’s capability to detect SO2 with satellite validation, enhancement techniques and extensive processing of images at a variety of volcanoes. ASTER is compared to the Mini UV Spectrometer (MUSe), a ground based instrument, to determine if reasonable SO₂ fluxes can be quantified from a plume emitted from Lascar, Chile. The two sensors were in good agreement with ASTER proving to be a reliable detector of SO₂. ASTER illustrated the advantages of imaging a …

Sampling Bias In Evaluating The Probability Of Seismically Induced Soil Liquefaction With Spt & Cpt Case Histories, Abhishek Jain

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Several deterministic and probabilistic methods are used to evaluate the probability of seismically induced liquefaction of a soil. The probabilistic models usually possess some uncertainty in that model and uncertainties in the parameters used to develop that model. These model uncertainties vary from one statistical model to another. Most of the model uncertainties are epistemic, and can be addressed through appropriate knowledge of the statistical model. One such epistemic model uncertainty in evaluating liquefaction potential using a probabilistic model such as logistic regression is sampling bias. Sampling bias is the difference between the class distribution in the sample used for …

Using Auto- And Cross-Correlations From Seismic Noise To Monitor Velocity Changes At Villarrica Volcano, Chile, Kathleen F. Mckee

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

We used the Green's functions from auto-correlations and cross-correlations of seismic ambient noise to monitor temporal velocity changes in the subsurface at Villarrica volcano in the Southern Andes of Chile. Campaigns were conducted from March to October 2010 and February to April 2011 with 8 broadband and 6 short-period stations, respectively. We prepared the data by removing the instrument response, normalizing with a root-mean-square method, whitening the spectra, and filtering from 1 to 10 Hz. This frequency band was chosen based on the relatively high background noise level in that range. Hour-long auto- and cross-correlations were computed and the Green's …

Modeling Regional Radicarbon Trends: A Case Study From The East Texas Woodland Period, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

The East Texas Radiocarbon Database contributes to an analysis of tempo and place for Woodland era (~500 BC–AD 800) archaeological sites within the region. The temporal and spatial distributions of calibrated ¹⁴C ages (n = 127) with a standard deviation (ΔT) of 61 from archaeological sites with Woodland components (n = 51) are useful in exploring the development and geographical continuity of the peoples in east Texas, and lead to a refinement of our current chronological understanding of the period. While analysis of summed probability distributions (SPDs) produces less than significant findings due to sample size, they are used …

Delineating The 2007 Corn Belt Region, Chris Laingen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Strategies For Wildlife Disease Surveillance, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Christopher J. Brand, Scott D. Wright

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Epidemiologic surveillance is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the "ongoing systematic and continuous collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data': The objective of surveillance is to generate data for rapid response to the detection of a disease of concern to apply prevention, control, or eradication measures as well as to evaluate such interventions. This is distinct from disease monitoring, which usually does not involve a particular response to disease detection.

Surveillance for wildlife diseases has increased in importance due to the emergence and re-emergence of wildlife diseases that are threats to human, animal, and …

P-T Conditions Of Selected Samples Across The Blue Ridge Province, Breana A. Felix

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Blue Ridge province of the Appalachian Mountains has a complex geologic history characterized by more than one metamorphic and deformational event. Mapping of the Blue Ridge has allowed for the province to be broken into the “sub” provinces western, central, and eastern Blue Ridge. The boundaries for these, however, are not well understood due to the difficulty in determining which orogenies caused each metamorphic event.

Detailed petrographic and microprobe analyses were carried out on 17 and 10 samples respectively. Outcrops from Ducktown and Marble in the western Blue Ridge (WBR), Savannah Church, Sylva, and Little Pine Garnet Mine in …

Depositional Environments And Sequence Stratigraphy Of A Breathitt Group Exposure, U.S. 25e, Flat Lick, Kentucky, Kathryn E. Hoffmeister, Eric G. Hogan, Steven M. Holland

Information Circular--KGS

The Pennsylvanian fluvial deltaic Breathitt Group is exposed along U.S. 25E near Flat Lick, Ky. This exposure is ideal for field trips because of the quality of the exposure, its accessibility, the range of facies present, and its potential for demonstrating principles of outcrop-based sequence-stratigraphic interpretation. Eight facies are present and represent deposition in fluvial, delta-plain, and delta-front environments. Several facies contain an abundance of trace fossils, and a wide range of sedimentary structures are also present. Flooding surfaces are well developed in the delta front and delta plain and are characterized by abrupt contacts with distal, deeper-water deltaic environments …