Geology Commons^™

Kinematics And Timing Of Orogen-Parallel Flow, Grouse Creek Mountains, Utah, Tonia Gail Arriola

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Alternating contractional and extensional events in orogenic belts play a significant role in dynamically adjusting crustal thickness during regional contraction. Distinguishing between these two contrasting kinematic regimes is not only important for understanding the tectonic setting but also provides insights into the dynamics of evolving orogenic wedges. The earliest pervasive fabric, D ₁ , in the Grouse Creek Mountains of northwest Utah is interpreted to have played an integral role in accommodating such a dynamic adjustment. It is interpreted that focused crustal thickening led to differences in gravitational potential energy along strike, facilitating an episode of mid-Cretaceous synconvergent orogen-parallel extension. …

Remote Sensing Studies For The Assessment Of Geohazards: Toxic Algal Blooms In The Lower Great Lakes, And The Land Subsidence In The Nile Delta, Richard H. Becker

Dissertations

Remote sensing techniques provide valuable tools for assessing a wide variety of environmental phenomena. They have been used for monitoring and assessment of various types of geologic and environmental hazards occurring on land, in the air, or in oceans. I present results from two studies, the first of which examines the spatial and temporal distribution of algal blooms in the Great Lakes; the second measures subsidence in the Nile Delta.

In the first study, methodologies to investigate the extent and distribution (temporally and spatially) of algal blooms in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are studied. Millions of people in the …

Dendrochronological Analysis Of Noucomb Tavern In Southwestern Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in southwest 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: Fetters, Caitlin; Krivicich, Mike; Lehmann, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Dendrochronological Analysis Of Gebhart Tavern In Southwestern Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in southwest 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: Fetters, Caitlin; Krivicich, Mike; Lehmann, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Dendrochronological Analysis Of Five Historical Structures In Southwestern Ohio Franklin

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Franklin, 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: Fetters, Caitlin; Krivicich, Mike; Lehmann, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Dendrochronological Analysis Of Naftzger Cabin Wayne County Historical Society Wooster, Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Wayne County. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the resoult of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Lehman, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Epigene And Hypogene Karst Manifestations Of The Castile Formation: Eddy County, New Mexico And Culberson County, Texas, Usa, Kevin W. Stafford, Raymond Nance, Laura Rosales-Lagarde, Penelope J. Boston

Faculty Publications

Permian evaporites of the Castile Formation crop out over ~1,800 km2 in the western Delaware Basin (Eddy County, New Mexico and Culberson County, Texas, USA) with abundant and diverse karst manifestations. Epigene karst occurs as well-developed karren on exposed bedrock, while sinkholes dominate the erosional landscape, including both solutional and collapse forms. Sinkhole analyses suggest that more than half of all sinks are the result of upward stoping of subsurface voids, while many solutional sinks are commonly the result of overprinting of collapsed forms. Epigene caves are laterally limited with rapid aperture decreases away from insurgence, with passages developed along …

The Economic Impact Of The Kentucky Green River Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (Crep), Lorie B. Owen

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study examines the impact of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) on fourteen Kentucky counties. The CREP program is an advancement of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which began nationally in 1985. The primary intention of both programs is to improve water quality and reduce soil erosion. Thus, in order to stimulate conservation efforts, farmers are given an opportunity to remove land from current production and still reap financial benefits. When CREP was introduced to Kentucky in 2002, the program provided far more lucrative incentives than the parent program. In 2007 CREP underwent an amendment process that broadened the …

Gsi: Geo Scene Investigation! On-Site Programming, Support Materials (Grade 7), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

What happened geologically to produce the landscape we see today? What was the stage like that ultimately produced the Colorado River? What are the processes that are still at work today?

To begin exploring and discovering the answers to these questions, we can look at what’s happened in the past and also examine the clues that are evident on today’s landscape. Lake Mead’s geologic past can be organized like acts in a play. These geologic “acts” represent the area’s significant geologic events. The acts are not equal in terms of time (millions of years), nor is all geologic time accounted …

Microtextures Of Cyanobacterial Mats In Siliciclastic Sedimentary Environments (Modern & Ancient): Applications To The Search For Life On Mars, Dina M. Bower

OES Theses and Dissertations

The current Mars Exploration Rover Program (MER) is one of NASA's most successful missions. The aim of the MER is to explore for possible life on the surface of Mars. My thesis developed new methods of how to detect and to identify microbial mats in siliciclastic sediments (modern and ancient), and to make recommendations on the applicability of MISS as biosignatures. Predominantly, I employed instrumentation portable by future rovers. To search for life on other planets, we need to have information on how this life might look. Most astrobiological studies therefore focus on Earthly analogues of life and its habitats. …

Geochemistry, Structure, And Tectonic Evolution Of The Eldivan Ophiolite, Ankara Melange, Central Turkey, Anne Dangerfield

Theses and Dissertations

The Eldivan ophiolite, in the Ankara Mélange, represents the remnant of an ocean basin that developed in the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan Ocean and collapsed the form the İzmir -Ankara-Erzincan suture zone (İAESZ) through continental block collision. Whole-rock and mineral geochemical evidence show supra-subduction zone tectonomagmatic affinity for the ophiolite, revealing this basin formed in the upper plate of an intra-oceanic subduction zone. Detrital zircon from the ophiolitic mélange sandstone and the overlying Karadağ Formation suggest the ophiolites maximum age is 143.2 (±2) Ma, and the overlying Karadağ Formation is 105.2 (±5) Ma. The angular unconformity between the ophiolite and Karadağ formation reveal …

Dendrochronological Analysis Of The University Of Akron, Wayne College Barnet-Hoover Farmhouse, Wayne County, Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in 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: Lehmann, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Analysis Of Pore Architecture And Correlation To Sonic Velocity Values In Silurian (Niagaran) Reefs Of The Michigan Basin, Amy Kathryn Noack

Masters Theses

Recent work has shown that there is a complex relationship among porosity, permeability, and rock fabric in carbonate rocks. Porosity/permeability transforms are of limited value when evaluating carbonate reservoirs because permeability is controlled by pore type. Vuggy, moldic, or fenestral pore types have high porosity but poor permeability; in contrast, intergranular and intercrystalline pore networks have high porosity and high permeability. Visible pore types of key facies in five Middle Silurian (Niagaran) Reef reservoirs of the Michigan Basin were evaluated to better understand related permeability. Image analysis was performed on key facies to understand pore geometries and pore connectivity. Facies …

Remote Sensing Solutions For Estimating Runoff And Recharge In Arid Environments, Adam M. Milewski

Dissertations

Efforts to understand and to quantify the interplay between precipitation, runoff, and recharge are often hampered by the paucity of appropriate monitoring systems. We developed methodologies for rainfall-runoff and groundwater recharge computations that heavily rely on observations extracted from a wide-range of global remote sensing data sets (TRMM, SSM/I, AVHRR, and AMSR-E,) using the arid Sinai Peninsula (SP; area: 61,000 km²) and the Eastern Desert (ED; area: 220,000 km²) of Egypt as our test sites. A two-fold exercise was conducted. Temporal remote sensing data (TRMM, AVHRR and AMSR-E) were extracted from global data sets over the …

Geotechnical Investigation Of The New Site Of The American University In Cairo, Yehia Abdel Maksoud Abdallah Eissa

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fault Growth And Propagation During Incipient Continental Rifting: Insights From A Combined Aeromagnetic And Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model Investigation Of The Okavango Rift Zone, Northwest Botswana, Baraka D. Kinabo, John Patrick Hogan, Eliot A. Atekwana, Mohamed G. Abdel Salam, Motsoptse P. Modisi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Digital Elevation Models (DEM) extracted from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data and high-resolution aeromagnetic data are used to characterize the growth and propagation of faults associated with the early stages of continental extension in the Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ), northwest Botswana. Significant differences in the height of fault scarps and the throws across the faults in the basement indicate extended fault histories accompanied by sediment accumulation within the rift graben. Faults in the center of the rift either lack topographic expressions or are interpreted to have become inactive, or have large throws and small scarp heights indicating waning …

A New Global Model For P Wave Speed Variations In Earth's Mantle, Chang Li, Robert D. Van Der Hilst, E. Robert Engdahl, Scott Burdick

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

We document our tomographic method and present a new global model of three-dimensional (3-D) variations in mantle P wave velocity. The model is parameterized by means of rectangular cells in latitude, longitude, and radius, the size of which adapts to sampling density by short-period (1 Hz) data. The largest single data source is ISC/NEIC data reprocessed by Engdahl and coworkers, from which we use routinely picked, short-period P, Pg, Pn, pP, and pwP data (for earthquakes during the period 1964∼2007). To improve the resolution in the lowermost and uppermost mantle, we use differential times of core phases (PKPAB − PKPDF, …

Ice Nucleation And Overseeding Of Ice In Volcanic Clouds, Adam J. Durant, R. A. Shaw, William I. Rose, Y. Mi, G. G. J. Ernst

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Water is the dominant component of volcanic gas emissions, and water phase transformations, including the formation of ice, can be significant in the dynamics of volcanic clouds. The effectiveness of volcanic ash particles as ice-forming nuclei (IN) is poorly understood and the sparse data that exist for volcanic ash IN have been interpreted in the context of meteorological, rather than volcanic clouds. In this study, single-particle freezing experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of ash particle composition and surface area on water drop freezing temperature. Measured freezing temperatures show only weak correlations with ash IN composition and surface …

Evaluation Of A Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment System For Ash Basin Water, Lane Dorman

All Theses

This investigation examined the feasibility of using surface-flow constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) to decrease the concentration and bioavailability of targeted constituents of concern (COC) in ash basin water. Ash basin water results from hydraulic transport (sluicing) of coal ash produced during thermoelectric power production. During the sluicing process, potentially toxic trace elements contained within coal ash may be transferred to the aqueous phase and subsequently introduced to aquatic receiving systems. COC in ash basin water were identified by a risk quotient method in order to determine biogeochemical conditions needed within wetland reactors for reducing the aqueous concentration and bioavailability …

Refining Models Of Crustal Growth And Evolution In Southwestern Laurentia With Paired U-Pb And Lu-Hf Analyses Of Igneous And Detrital Zircon, Mark E. Holland

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The origin and evolution of continental crust is a fundamental and debated topic in geoscience. For over thirty years, Proterozoic crust of the southwestern United States has been a field laboratory for studying orogenic processes in the middle crust, and the growth of continental lithosphere via accretionary orogenesis. Three distinct crustal provinces are delineated based on differences in isotopic, structural, and geochronologic characteristics. To address questions about the origin of each province, this dissertation is composed of three chapters that present new U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope analysis of plutonic, volcanic, and detrital zircon from the oldest known rocks in each …

Regional Co2 Sequestration Potential – Field Validation Tests, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about the four field validation tests conducted by the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership to test the efficacy of CO₂ sequestration. The project was included in Phase II of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Initiative. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Assessing The Impact Of Water Harvesting On Water Resources, Jennifer Oblinger

All Theses

Clean water supplies, like all natural resources, are becoming scarce all over the world, but especially in developing countries where special interest groups (such as city governments, commercial farmers, other villages downstream, etc.) fight over water rights. The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) is a non-government organization in India whose mission is to restore degraded lands through cooperation with rural villages. In order to increase the water supply to the ecosystem, FES constructs water harvesting structures (WHS) which impound rainfall, water that would have otherwise runoff and contributed to erosion, in surface storage. This study was conducted to assess the …

Imaging The Southern Trace Of The Black Hills Fault, Clark County, Nevada, Shelley A. Zaragoza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Black Hills fault (BHF) is a SE-dipping normal fault forming the northwestern structural boundary of the Eldorado basin, ∼20 km southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada (Langenheim and Schmidt, 1996). The fault offsets Holocene strata and is thus considered to be active (Fossett, 2005). Therefore, the BHF poses a significant seismic hazard to the greater Las Vegas area.

Fossett (2005) estimated that the BHF is capable of producing a M _W 6.4 to 6.8 earthquake. However, this suggests a subsurface rupture length greater than the scarp length (Fossett, 2005). To test this hypothesis, remote sensing, geologic mapping, and high-resolution seismic …

A Post-Project Assessment Of The Provo River Restoration Project: Channel Design, Reconfiguration, And The Re-Establishment Of Critical Physical Processes, Randy Ray Goetz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A physical assessment of the Provo River Restoration Project was undertaken in order to determine how alterations to the channel were designed, the nature of as-built channel morphology, and the performance of the reconfigured channel in terms of achieving frequent (2-year recurrence) bankfull discharge and increasing transient storage. Measures of channelized and reconfigured channel morphology were obtained using total station survey, digital aerial photography, and pebble counts. Results of geomorphic analysis were compared with similar measurements made by a regional consulting company, and stream channel design data, in order to determine that intended mitigation included reducing channel capacity, increasing sinuosity, …

Geology Of The Southern Reveille Range, Nye County, Nevada, Matthew Alan Mckelvey

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Reveille Range in central Nevada provides a unique window into the mid-Miocene geology and volcanology of the central Great Basin during the "ignimbrite flare up." Although faulted along its margins, the interior of the range is relatively undeformed thus preserving volcanic centers. The Reveille Range contains three mid-Miocene caldera complexes. Previous studies have identified the Goblin Knobs caldera (25.6 Ma) in the central Reveille Range and the caldera of northern Reveille Range (25.3 Ma) to the north. These calderas are completely filled with intracaldera tuffs. This study has identified a younger third caldera located in the southern part of …

Contribution Of Recharge Along Regional Flow Paths To Discharge At Ash Meadows, Nevada, Michelle Bushman

Theses and Dissertations

Springs in the Ash Meadows, Nevada wetland area are discharging groundwater at a high volume that cannot be sustained by local, present-day precipitation and associated recharge. Previous groundwater flow models for this region have required groundwater to flow through complex geology for long distances (160km) through fractures that, in the current stress field, should be closed in many instances in the presumed flow direction. This thesis examines several possible flow paths and evaluates each flow path using chemical and isotopic signatures in the water, as well as geologic and geophysical constraints, and determines that flow from beneath the Yucca Mountain …

Geology Of The Phil Pico Mountain Quadrangle, Daggett County, Utah, And Sweetwater County, Wyoming, Alvin D. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Geologic mapping in the Phil Pico Mountain quadrangle and analysis of the Carter Oil Company Carson Peak Unit 1 well have provided additional constraints on the erosional and uplift history of this section of the north flank of the Uinta Mountains. Phil Pico Mountain is largely composed of the conglomeratic facies of the early Eocene Wasatch and middle to late Eocene Bridger Formations. These formations are separated by the Henrys Fork fault which has thrust Wasatch Formation next to Bridger Formation. The Wasatch Formation is clearly synorogenic and contains an unroofing succession from the adjacent Uinta Mountains. On Phil Pico …

W(H)Ither Fossils? Studying Morphological Character Evolution In The Age Of Molecular Sequences, Elizabeth J. Hermsen, Jonathan R. Hendricks

Faculty Publications

A major challenge in the post-genomics era will be to integrate molecular sequence data from extant organisms with morphological data from fossil and extant taxa into a single, coherent picture of phylogenetic relationships; only then will these phylogenetic hypotheses be effectively applied to the study of morphological character evolution. At least two analytical approaches to solving this problem have been utilized: (1) simultaneous analysis of molecular sequence and morphological data with fossil taxa included as terminals in the analysis, and (2) the molecular scaffold approach, in which morphological data are analyzed over a molecular backbone (with constraints that force extant …

Gps Constraints On 34 Slow Slip Events Within The Cascadia Subduction Zone, 1997–2005, Walter Szeliga, Timothy I. Melbourne, Marcelo Santillan, Meghan Miller

Faculty Scholarship for the Cascadia Hazards Institute

Refinements to GPS analyses in which we factor geodetic time series to better estimate both reference frames and transient deformation resolve 34 slow slip events located throughout the Cascadia subduction zone from 1997 through 2005. Timing of transient onset is determined with wavelet transformation of geodetic time series. Thirty continuous stations are included in this study, ranging from northern California to southwestern British Columbia. Our improvements in analysis better resolve the largest creep events and also identify many smaller events. At 48.5 degrees N latitude, a 14-month average recurrence interval has been observed over eight events since 1997. Farther north …

Hypogenic Speleogenesis Within Seven Rivers Evaporites: Coffee Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico, Kevin W. Stafford, Lewis Land, Alexander Klimchouk

Faculty Publications

Coffee Cave, located in the lower Pecos region of southeastern New Mexico, illustrates processes of hypogenic speleogenesis in the middle Permian Seven Rivers Formation. Coffee Cave is a rectilinear gypsum maze cave with at least four stratigraphically-distinct horizons of development. Morphological features throughout the cave provide unequivocal evidence of hypogenic ascending speleogenesis in a confined aquifer system driven by mixed (forced and free) convection. Morphologic features in individual cave levels include a complete suite that defines original rising flow paths, ranging from inlets for hypogenic fluids (feeders) through transitional forms (rising wall channels) to ceiling half-tube flow features and fluid …