Geology Commons^™

Bedrock Mapping Of The Winchendon (1:25,000) Quadrangle (Ma-Nh): Evidence For Discontinous Deformation Along The Bronson Hill-Central Maine Boundary Zone, Timothy M. O'Brien

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Bedrock geology of the Winchendon quadrangle is divided into two zones based on structures and lithology. The eastern zone consists of tightly folded Silurian Rangeley and Paxton metasediments and pegmatites. Planar, NNE-SSW striking, W dipping foliations are characterized by alternating phyllosilicate-rich and leucosome layers. Fold axes of tight to isoclinal upright and recumbent folding are parallel to SSW-NNE shallowly plunging sillimanite, quartz and muscovite lineations. In the western zone Rangeley schists were intruded by Devonian Hardwick and Coys Hill and Fitzwilliam plutons. Planar NNE-SSW striking foliations dip shallowly to steeply west. Fold axes of tight-to-isoclinal asymmetric to recumbent folds plunge …

Structural Geology Of The Transylvania Fault Zone In Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Lauren Dodson

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Transverse zones cross strike of thrust-belt structures as large-scale alignments of cross-strike structures. The Transylvania fault zone is a set of discontinuous right-lateral transverse faults striking at about 270º across Appalachian thrust-belt structures along 40º N latitude in Pennsylvania. Near Everett, Pennsylvania, the Breezewood fault terminates with the Ashcom thrust fault. The Everett Gap fault terminates westward with the Hartley thrust fault. Farther west, the Bedford fault extends westward to terminate against the Wills Mountain thrust fault. The rocks, deformed during the Alleghanian orogeny, are semi-independently deformed on opposite sides of the transverse fault, indicating fault movement during folding and …

Paleogeographic Reconstructuion Of The St. Lawrence Promontory, Western Newfoundland, John Stefan Allen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian continental rifting related to the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia framed the continental margin of eastern Laurentia and the departing cratons around the opening Iapetus Ocean. The result of continental extension was the production of a zig-zag set of promontories and embayments on the eastern Laurentian margin defined by northeast-trending rift segments offset by northwesttrending transform faults.

The St. Lawrence promontory defines the Laurentian margin in western Newfoundland. There, Neoproterozoic-Carboniferous clastic, volcanic, and carbonate successions record protracted continental rifting and passive-margin thermal subsidence followed by destruction of the margin during the early, middle, and late Paleozoic Appalachian orogenic …

Geobiology: Evidence For Early Life On Earth And The Search For Life On Other Planets, Sherry L. Cady, Nora Noffke

OES Faculty Publications

Extensive research efforts in the subdisciplinary field of geobiology have focused on the interactions between Earth and life through time. As a consequence, gaps in our knowledge of Earth’s history are closing, and the search for life beyond Earth is expanding. A few examples of geobiology studies designed to advance our understanding of life on early Earth and to improve the chances of finding life on other planets are provided to highlight recent developments and research areas that are on the verge of new discoveries.

A Robust, Multisite Holocene History Of Drift Ice Off Northern Iceland: Implications For North Atlantic Climate, John T. Andrews, Dennis A. Darby, Dennis Eberle, Anne E. Jennings, Matthias Moros, Astrid Ogilvie

OES Faculty Publications

An important indicator of Holocene climate change is provided by evidence for variations in the extent of drift ice. A proxy for drift ice in Iceland waters is provided by the presence of quartz. Quantitative xray diffraction analysis of the < 2 mm sediment fraction was undertaken on 16 cores from around Iceland. The quartz weight (wt.)% estimates from each core were integrated into 250-yr intervals between −0.05 and 11.7 cal. ka BP. Median quartz wt.% varied between 0.2 and 3.4 and maximum values ranged between 2.8 and 11.8 wt.%. High values were attained in the early Holocene and minimum values were reached 6–7 cal. ka BP. Quartz wt.% then rose steadily during the late Holocene. Our data exhibit no correlation with counts on haematite-stained quartz (HSQ) grains from VM129-191 west of Ireland casting doubt on the ice-transport origin. A pilot study on the provenance of Fe oxide grains in two cores that cover the last 1.3 and 6.1 cal. ka BP indicated a large fraction of the grains between 1 and 6 cal. ka BP were from either Icelandic or presently unsampled sources. However, there was a dramatic increase in Canadian and Russian sources from the Arctic Ocean ~1 cal. ka BP. These data may indicate the beginning of an Arctic Oscillation-like climate mode.

On The Interpretation Of Caribbean Paleo-Temperature Reconstructions During The Younger Dryas, Xiuquan Wan, Ping Chang, R. Saravanan, Rong Zhang, Matthew W. Schmidt

OES Faculty Publications

A conundrum exists regarding whether the sea-surface temperatures decreased or increased over the southern Caribbean and the western Tropical Atlantic region during the Younger Dryas when the North Atlantic cooled substantially and the Atlantic thermohaline circulation was weakened significantly. Despite the proximity of core locations, some proxy reconstructions record a surface cooling, while others indicate a warming. We suggest that this seemingly paradoxical finding may, at least partially, be attributed to the competing physical processes that result in opposing signs of temperature change in the region in response to weakened North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Our coupled ocean-atmosphere model experiments …

Crustal Modification By Tectonic Events And Upper Mantle Anisotropy Beneath The Midcontinent Rift And New Madrid Seismic Zone: Insights From Receiver Function Studies And Teleseismic Shear Wave Splitting, Moikwathai Moidaki

Doctoral Dissertations

"The earth's crust and upper mantle have been continually modified by tectonic processes such as rifting, earthquake activity. In this dissertation, shear wave splitting and receiver function techniques were employed to study the extent of crustal and upper mantle modifications beneath the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) and the Midcontinent Rift (MCR). Shear wave splitting analysis in the MCR reveals the presence of fossilised anisotropy along the rift axis...In the NMSZ, anticipated rift-parallel fast directions associated with vertical magmatic dikes or along-rift flow, rift-orthogonal fast directions from small-scale convection, or reduction in splitting times as a result of vertical asthenospheric …

The Cretaceous-Paleogene Transition In The Northern Mississippi Embayment, S.E. Missouri: Palynology, Micropaleontology, And Evidence Of A Mega-Tsunami Deposit, Tambra L. Eifert

Doctoral Dissertations

"Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleogene sedimentary rocks in Southeastern Missouri record the northwest extension of the Mississippi Embayment, yet very little information exists about them due to lack of exposures. Access to borehole and trench material and well logs provided an opportunity to study the sedimentology, palynology and micropaleontology of the three formations spanning the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary interval: Owl Creek (Cretaceous) and Clayton and Porters Creek (Paleocene). Lithologic features, palynomorphs (mainly spores, pollen, dinoflagellate cysts), dispersed organic matter, and foraminifera were used to interpret biostratigraphy, paleovegetation, paleoclimatic and depositional conditions, thereby creating a framework upon which further questions involving …

Formation Of Iron-Rimmed Sandstone Nodules On Earth; Terrestrial Analogue For The Formation Of Martian Blueberries?, Katherine Charlotte Muller

Masters Theses

"NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Spirit and Opportunity, have identified numerous geologic features that hint at a watery past on Mars noted in Malik, 2004. Prominent among these features are the "Martian Blueberries" that occur as spherical hematite (Fe₂O₃) nodules. Hematite formation is facilitated by the presence of water, although there are presently no known sources of free liquid water on Mars. Chan et al., 2004 states that these "blueberries" are also similar to nodules found in the Jurassic aged Navajo Sandstone in Utah. An understanding of the processes controlling the formation of the Utah nodules may thus be …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 37, 2008-2009, Department Of Geography-Geology

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography-Geology

Motion On Upper-Plate Faults During Subduction Zone Earthquakes: Case Of The Atacama Fault System, Northern Chile, John P. Loveless, Matthew E. Pritchard

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Motion on the Atacama Fault System (AFS) in northern Chile is driven by Andean subduction zone processes. We use two approaches, observational and theoretical, to evaluate how the AFS and other forearc faults responded to coseismic stress induced by one well-studied megathrust earthquake, the 1995 Mw = 8.1 Antofagasta event. We use synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) to search for small-scale coseismic and postseismic deformation on individual faults. The InSAR data are ambiguous: some images show offset consistent with coseismic faulting on the Paposo segment of the AFS and others lack such signal. The fact that we do not …

Using Geoscience Education Graduate Students To Help Faculty Transform Teaching Practice, Teagan L. Tomlin

Theses and Dissertations

Universities make claims about student learning that graduates don't often achieve and are under pressure to show improvement in teaching and learning in their undergraduate programs. This has been the constant focus of university-level professional development programs, but most teachers are still not using the most effective teaching methods. Individual departments need to find ways to help their instructors overcome three main challenges associated with adopting more effective student-centered teaching methods. No matter what strategy is adopted, instructors need considerable support to 1) change their beliefs about what constitutes effective teaching and learning, 2) learn to effectively implement new strategies, …

The Application Of Electrical Resistivity And Microgravity To Locate Tunnels Along The U.S.-Mexico Border At Calexico, Gina Lee Cesin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

No abstract provided.

Atrazine Contamination And Suspended Sediment Transport Within Logsdon River, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Julie Eileen Schenck Brown

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Understanding the potential for karst aquifer contamination by sediment-sorbed pesticides is important for cave conservation efforts in agricultural landscapes. Flow rate, water quality parameters and suspended sediment concentrations were measured in Logsdon River, a ~10km karst conduit within the Turnhole Spring Groundwater Basin of Mammoth Cave National Park to determine characteristics of storm-period transport of sediment-sorbed atrazine through a conduit-flow karst aquifer.

Analysis of two independent precipitation events occurring in the Spring of 2008 from May 2-4 and May 27-29 demonstrated the rapid response of the Logsdon River to precipitation events with detections of atrazine increasing during the initial turbidity …

Watershed Condition Assessment For Little River Canyon National Preserve, Alabama, Nathan Demille Rinehart

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

No abstract provided.

Simulation Modeling Of Karst Aquifer Conduit Evolution And Relations To Climate, John D. Broome

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

ABSTRACT Karst regions of the world that receive relatively similar amounts of precipitation display a wide variety of landscapes. It has been suggested (Groves and Meiman, 2005) that climates exhibiting larger discrete storm events have more dissolving power and consequently higher rates of conduit growth than climates with more uniform precipitation distributions. To study this concept, a computer program “Cave Growth” was developed that modeled the growth of a cross-section of a cave passage under dynamic flow and chemical conditions. A series of 46 simulation datasets were created to represent different climatic conditions. These simulations had the same total annual …

Insights Into Biogeophysical Signatures Using Polarization Force Microscopy, Elizabeth Bartosik

All Theses

The success of bioremediation strategies is dependent upon effective monitoring of microorganisms in the subsurface. Induced polarization (IP) may represent a cost-effective, complementary technique to existing borehole-based microbe detection schemes. Recent studies show a significant, yet poorly understood IP effect associated with the presence of bacteria in aqueous and porous media. This effect is believed to be rooted in the physicochemical surface interactions between cells and minerals which we probe using polarization force microscopy. Polarization force experiments were conducted on a hydrated mica surface using the gram positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the gram negative bacterium Escherichia coli. On all …

Decadal-Scale Changes On Coral Reefs In Quintana Roo, Mexico, Thaddeus Allen Nicholls

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 1988 data on coral reef community composition were collected from two areas, Akumal and Chemuyil, Quintana Roo, Mexico, ranging from 5-35m depth. These areas were revisited in 2005 and data were collected by the same methods and at the same depths as in 1988. Data from 1988 and 2005 were compared to determine if the coral reefs had undergone significant changes, and what specific changes had occurred. Chi-square analysis determined that community composition data collected in 1988 are significantly different from data collected in 2005 at all sites and depths within the categories of corals, gorgonians, sponges, and macroalgae. …

Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, And Organic Geochemistry Of The Red Pine Shale, Uinta Mountains, Utah: A Prograding Deltaic System In A Mid-Neoproterozoic Interior Seaway, Caroline Amelia Myer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Red Pine Shale (RPS; ~1120m thick), uppermost formation of the Neoproterozoic Uinta Mountain Group, Utah, is an organic-rich sedimentary succession interpreted as a marine deltaic system that delivered immature sediment from the north that mixed with mature sediment from the east. Multiple data sets suggest regional climate and sea-level changes associated with changing organic-carbon burial rates.

Six facies were identified and represent wave-, tidal-, and river-influenced parts of the distal prodelta to delta front in a marine system. These include the shale facies and associated concretion facies (distal prodelta), the shale-sandstone facies (proximal prodelta to delta front), the slump …

Occurrence Of Digenean Larvae In Freshwater Snails In The Ruvu Basin, Tanzania, G. Nkwengulila, E. S. P. Kigadye

Tanzania Journal of Science

A survey was carried out on digenean larvae infecting freshwater snails in five habitats in Dar es Salaam, Ruvu and Morogoro. 9424 snails belonging to 12 species from five families were examined for digenean infection from July 1996 – June 1997. 20 morphologically distinguishable cercariae were recovered. Multiple infections were not recorded. While the general prevalence of digeneans in snails was low (3.5%), variations occurred between seasons, among habitats and snail host species. Prevalence was high during the dry season but low in the rain season. Among habitats, highest prevalence was recorded at Kinondoni pond and lowest at Ruvu ponds, …

Geochemistry And Nd - Isotopic Composition Of High Silica Rhyolites In The Neoarchaean Musoma-Mara Greenstone Belt, Northern Tanzania: Evidence For The Presence Of Older Continental Crust, S Manya

Tanzania Journal of Science

The high silica rhyolites of the Kibasuka Hill, although volumetrically minor, constitute a part of the greenstone sequence in the northern Musoma-Mara Greenstone Belt (MMGB). They are characterized by high silica contents (63.38 – 81.65 wt %), very low CaO (! 0.05 wt %), variable to unusually high K2O (2.24 – 13.43 wt %) most likely attributed to strong sericite alteration, and their major element composition are similar to those of melts derived from partial melting of metapelites. The samples have very low concentration of the transition elements, Sr (3.13 – 48.4 ppm) and very large negative Europium anomalies (Eu/Eu* …

Absolute Migration Of Pacific Basin Mid-Ocean Ridges Since 85 Ma And Their Tectonic Implications For The Pacific Plate, Dcp Masalu

Tanzania Journal of Science

Mid-ocean ridges are major physiographic features that dominate the world seafloor. Their absolute motion and tectonics are recorded in magnetic lineations they created. The absolute migration of mid-ocean ridges in the Pacific basin since 85 Ma and their tectonic implications was investigated in this work and the results indicates that at about anomaly 21 (47 Ma) theEast Pacific Rise (EPR) and Juan de Fuca ridge experienced an abrupt change in their migration direction that persisted until about anomaly 6 (20 Ma), probably due to changes in subductionzone configuration in the northern Pacific. This may represent a period of tectonic instability …

Air Compression As A Mechanism For The Underdamped Slug Test Response In Fractured Glacier Ice, Toby W. Meierbachtol, Joel T. Harper, Neil Humphrey, Jeremy Shaha, John Bradford

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Artificial perturbations of borehole water levels, known as slug tests, are a useful means of characterizing the glacier hydrologic system. Slug tests were performed on Bench Glacier, Alaska, in 21 boreholes over three field seasons during the transition from a winter to a summer drainage mode. Fifty-four slug tests were conducted, with water level monitoring in up to five boreholes adjacent to the slugged borehole. Seven of the slug tests were performed in conjunction with dye dispersion tests to identify water pathways within the slugged borehole following perturbation. Nearly 60% of monitored adjacent boreholes showed a hydraulic connection to the …

Investigating The Margins Of Pleistocene Lake Deposits With High-Resolution Seismic Reflection In Pilot Valley, Utah, John V. South

Theses and Dissertations

A vast area of the northeastern Great Basin of the western USA was inundated by a succession of Plio-Pleistocene lakes, including Lake Bonneville (28 ka to 12 ka). The Pilot Valley playa, located just east of the Utah-Nevada border near Wendover, Utah, within the eastern Basin and Range Province, represents an 8 to 16 km wide and ~50 km long remnant of these lakes. The playa corresponds to the upper surface of a closed basin that is delimited by two mountain ranges, which are mantled by recent alluvial fans over which the playa sediments have prograded. In order to investigate …

Wolfcampian Development Of The Nose Of The Eastern Shelf Of The Midland Basin, Glasscock, Sterling, And Reagan Counties, Texas, Douglas S. Flamm

Theses and Dissertations

The nose of the Eastern shelf of the Midland Basin is a prominent structural and depositional feature present in Glasscock, Sterling, and Howard counties, Texas. This feature has been expressed in many regional maps and mentioned in some literature, but has not otherwise been studied significantly. This study looks at the viability of using an acoustic impedance seismic inversion to interpret the 2nd and 3rd order sequence stratigraphy of the southern portion of the nose of the Eastern shelf along with its shelf to basin transition in Glasscock, Sterling, and Reagan counties during the Wolfcampian (Asselian-Sakmarian) time (Early Permian). The …

What Is Ccs?, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership. Outlines the three phases of U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership program. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Tree Ring Dating Of The Kline Barn, Fredericksburg, Oh

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Holmes County, Ohio using dendrochronology. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the result of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Climate Change Class; Wiles, Greg

Kamper Re-Visited Concert (Program), Klaus Kamper, Janet Bass Smith

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

One hundred years ago, a young German engineer named Max Kämper, came as a visitor to Mammoth Cave. He became so enchanted with the cavern he obtained permission to map the vast system. For the next eight months Max, along with assistance from cave guide Ed Bishop, meticulously put together a highly detailed and accurate map revealing more of the cave than ever before. He probably never realized his work would be admired by generations to follow. Some admire its artistic expression of the cave. Others see beauty in its precision. Ultimately, it has become the iconic map for generations …

Slave Guide Legacy At Mammoth Cave, Joy Medley Lyons

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Serving as guides and explorers at Mammoth Cave partially rescued four men from the obscurity of enslavement. Stephen Bishop, Materson Bransford, Nicholas Bransford and a young man named Alfred all had their very existence documented in the written journals and diaries of various nineteenth century Mammoth Cave visitors. They were physically described, their personalities contemplated, their intelligence gauged, their dialects imitated. At least one abolitionist characterized Stephen Bishop as a charismatic natural leader who could govern the citizenry of freed men in Liberia, should he choose to relocate there.

Max Kämper’S Introduction To The New World, Stanley D. Sides, M.D.

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Twenty-seven year old engineer Max Eduard Kämper arrived in America at 4:00 pm on May 16, 1907 and was greeted by a thunderstorm. His presumed goals were to study American manufacturing methods, learn English, and enrich himself musically. New York had so many German immigrants at the time that German was the second most common language spoken in the city. He stayed at the Belvedere House at the corner of 4th Avenue and 18th Street, and the next day visited acquaintances in Newark. He visited New York landmarks and May 20 visited the famed Hippodrome theater. He moved on May …