Geology Commons^™

The Quaternary Stratigraphy Of The Henrys Fork And Western Browns Park, Northeastern Uinta Mountains, Utah And Wyoming, Ronald C. Counts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The landscape evolution of the northeastern Uinta Mountains and the manner in which climatic and tectonic forcing have influenced it are not well constrained. Surficial deposits covering ~325 km² below the glacial termini in the Henrys Fork and ~50 km² along the Green River in western Browns Park were mapped at 1:24,000 scale to develop a Quaternary stratigraphic framework for the northeastern Uinta Mountains.

The Henrys Fork mapping area spans from late Wisconsinan moraines to Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The Henrys Fork stratigraphy contains 10 mainstem gravels, six piedmont gravels, and landslide deposits. Terraces preserved along the Henrys Fork …

Establising A High-Frequency Standard Reference Sequence Stratigraphy, Sea-Level Curve, And Biostratigraphy For Morrowan Strata Of The Lower Absaroka I Time Slice Based Upon The Bird Spring Formation, Arrow Canyon, Nevada, Kristen Phelps Briggs

Theses and Dissertations

For the same reasons which prompted its ratification in 1990 as the Global Stratotype Section and Point for the Mid-Carboniferous boundary, namely, section completeness, abundant fossils, and excellent exposure, the Morrowan Arrow Canyon Bird Spring strata is recommended as a candidate standard sequence stratigraphic reference for the Morrowan portion of the Lower Absaroka I supersequence. The stratigraphic architecture of Morrowan strata in Arrow Canyon was largely controlled by high-amplitude (100-m), high-frequency sea-level changes. Outcrop data and facies stacking patterns define 59 fifth-order fundamental cycles. These fundamental cycles stack into ten third-order sequences with an average duration of 320 ka. Changes …

Patterns Of Fish Use And Piscivore Abundance Within A Reconnected Saltmarsh Impoundment In The Northern Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Philip W. Stevens, Clay L. Montague, Kenneth J. Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Nearly all saltmarshes in east-central, Florida were impounded for mosquito control during the 1960s. The majority of these marshes have since been reconnected to the estuary by culverts, providing an opportunity to effectively measure exchange of aquatic organisms. A multi-gear approach was used monthly to simultaneously estimate fish standing stock (cast net), fish exchange with the estuary (culvert traps), and piscivore abundance (gill nets and bird counts) to document patterns of fish use in a reconnected saltmarsh impoundment. Changes in saltmarsh fish abundance, and exchange of fish with the estuary reflected the seasonal pattern of marsh flooding in the northern …

Geochemistry Of Serpentinized Peridotites From The Mariana Forearc Conical Seamount, Odp Leg 125: Implications For The Elemental Recycling At Subduction Zones, Ivan P. Savov, Jeffrey G. Ryan, Massimo D'Antonio, Katherine Kelley, Patrick Mattie

Geology Faculty Publications

Recent examinations of the chemical fluxes through convergent plate margins suggest the existence of significant mass imbalances for many key species: only 20–30% of the to-the-trench inventory of large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) can be accounted for by the magmatic outputs of volcanic arcs. Active serpentinite mud volcanism in the shallow forearc region of the Mariana convergent margin presents a unique opportunity to study a new outflux: the products of shallow-level exchanges between the upper mantle and slab-derived fluids. ODP Leg 125 recovered serpentinized harzburgites and dunites from three sites on the crests and flanks of the active Conical Seamount. These …

What Is Co2 Sequestration?, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about the CO₂ sequestration and the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership. Defines CO₂ sequestration and lists project partners. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Seasonal Variability In Trace Metal Speciation And Vertical Redox Stratification Of Freshwater Lake And Marsh Sediments In The Kalamzoo River Watershed (Mi, Usa), Noah Tumusiime Ndenga

Masters Theses

This research was aimed at: 1) quantifying redox-sensitive parameters in order to study redox stratification of the upper freshwater sediments at Asylum Lake and Kleinstuck Marsh, 2) quantifying the speciation of metals (e.g., Pb, Mn, Fe, Cr, Cu, Zn, Co and Cd), particularly with respect to their association with Fe and Mn (hydr)oxide phases, and 3) assessing changes in redox stratification and metal speciation as a function of season in the sediments. Both the solid phase and sediment pore waters were collected to a depth of ~50cm. Pore waters were analyzed for redox-sensitive species and the sediment solid phase was …

Use Of Tracers And Isotopes To Evaluate Vulnerability Of Water In Domestic Wells To Septic Waste, Ingrid M. Verstraeten, Gregory S. Fetterman, Michael T. Meyer, Thomas D. Bullen, Sonja Sebree

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In Nebraska, a large number (>200) of shallow sand-point and cased wells completed in coarse alluvial sediments along rivers and lakes still are used to obtain drinking water for human consumption, even though construction of sand-point wells for consumptive uses has been banned since 1987. The quality of water from shallow domestic wells potentially vulnerable to seepage from septic systems was evaluated by analyzing for the presence of tracers and multiple isotopes. Samples were collected from 26 sand-point and perforated, cased domestic wells and were analyzed for bacteria, coliphages, nitrogen species, nitrogen and boron isotopes, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), …

Glacial Stratigraphy And Surficial Geology Of The Decatur, Lawrence, And Paw Paw U.S.G.S.7.5 Minute Quadrangles In Van Buren County, Michigan, Brian Bird

Masters Theses

The modern day landscape of Van Buren County Michigan was created by the advance and retreat of glaciers from about 13,000 to 20,000 years ago. The Lake Michigan Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet sculpted southwest Michigan most recently. The sediments deposited by the glacier include diamicton, outwash sediments, and lacustrine deposits. The build up of sediment by the glaciers led to the construction of particular features such as moraines, till plains, and outwash fans. The huge amount of meltwater from the glaciers led to the erosion of channels throughout the area. In the area of this investigation the Ganges …

Sulfide Mineralization In Deep-Water Marine Sediments Related To Methane Transport, Methane Consumption, And Methane Gas Hydrates, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski, Charles K. Paull, William Ussler Iii

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Patterns of sulfide sulfur concentration and sulfur isotopic composition (d³⁴ S) are perhaps related to upward methane transport, especially in sediments underlain by methane gas hydrate deposits. Increased methane delivery augments the effect of anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) occurring at the sulfate-methane interface (SMI). Sulfate and methane co-consumption results in production of dissolved sulfide at the interface that is eventually sequestered within sulfide minerals (elemental sulfur, iron monosulfide, pyrite).

We examine the sediments of two piston cores collected over the Blake Ridge gas hydrate deposits (offshore southeastern United States) by extracting total sedimentary sulfide using chromium reduction. We use …

Correlation And Causes Of Fifth Order Cycles Within The Upper Cretaceous Eagle Formation, Bighorn Basin Of Wyoming, Kimberly Ann Johnson

OES Theses and Dissertations

Cyclic stratification was examined in the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) section (Eagle Formation) within the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming. Of particular concern was the 10³ to 10⁴ year band, which in marine settings has been attributed to orbital forcing (Milankovitch cyclicity). A series of 19 sections were measured through the Virgelle Member of the Eagle Formation. Most were measured on the “J”-shaped escarpment that constitutes the nose and north flank of the Thermopolis anticline. Several others were measured at sites up to 30 km to the northwest along paleo-shoreline. In the study, detailed thickness data of all sections and …

Geology Of The Tierras Blancas Area In The Southeastern Acambay Graben, Central Mexico, Lonnie T. Mercer

Theses and Dissertations

Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments in the southeastern Acambay graben, central Mexico have yielded mammal fossils, including Equus simplicidens, cf. Rhynchotherium, ?Camelops, Mammuthus sp., Bison sp., and Antilocapra sp. The fossiliferous sediments include a period of lacustrine sedimentation in the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene that interrupted fluvial and alluvial sedimentation during the early Pliocene and Pleistocene. The sediments deposited in this late Pliocene paleolake record a history of lake level fluctuations, shown by lithologic variations in lacustrine sediments and abundance of vertebrate burrows. Volcanic and tectonic events in the Acambay graben were the major controls on sedimentation during Pliocene-Pleistocene time. …

The Benthic Community Of The Eastern Us Continental Shelf: A Literature Synopsis Of Benthic Faunal Resources, R. Allen Brooks, Carla N. Purdy, Susan S. Bell, Kenneth J. Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The existing scientific literature on offshore benthic assemblages (OBA) residing along the US East and Gulf of Mexico continental shelf was reviewed. Identification was made of any associations between the dominant OBA and particular sediment types and/or bathymetry. Of special interest was the evaluation of reported effects of sand dredge/mining activities on the dominant OBA and recognition of data deficiencies. One hundred and twenty-two references were selected and classified as to type of study with pertinent results extracted. Polychaetes were predominantly cited as the principal infaunal taxa present in studies from both the Gulf of Mexico and US Atlantic coast. …

Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone, Carboniferous, Lower Oquirrh Group, On Cascade Mountain, Utah: A Standard Morrowan Cyclostratigraphy For The Oquirrh Basin, David Joseph Shoore

Theses and Dissertations

The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone (lowest 400 meters of the Permo-Carboniferous Oquirrh Group) is well exposed on the flanks of Cascade Mountain (Wasatch Front and adjacent mountain ranges) near Provo, Utah. Because of its excellent exposure and location in the heart of the Oquirrh depocenter, this area was selected to develop a sequence stratigraphic framework for Morrowan rocks that may be applied throughout the Oquirrh basin (NW Utah and southern Idaho) as well as the adjacent Ely and Bird Springs troughs. Eleven partial to complete sections of the Bridal Veil Falls Limestone were measured along the west and north flanks …

The Effects Of Fault-Induced Stress Anisotropy On Fracturing, Folding And Sill Emplacement: Insights From The Bowie Coal Mines, Southern Piceance Basin, Western Colorado., Eric Dean Robeck

Theses and Dissertations

The recognition of fault-perturbed stress fields is an important tool in areas of mineral or hydrocarbon exploration. The Bowie underground coal mines of western Colorado expose a reverse-reactivated growth fault that perturbed the stress field during cleat (fracture) formation, rotating cleat orientations up to 500 m on both sides of the fault. Two unusual fracture types are found only in coal adjacent to the fault: (1) concentric cleats, highly curved fractures that form blocks resembling balls or eggs and (2) horsetail cleats, striated surfaces that superficially resemble shattercones and result from shear failure in coal. Numerical models created with the …

Probabilistic Modeling Of Tephra Dispersal: Hazard Assessment Of A Multiphase Rhyolitic Eruption At Tarawera, New Zealand, Costanza Bonadonna, Charles B. Connor, B. F. Houghton, Laura Connor, Marc A. Byrne, A. Laing, T. K. Hincks

Geology Faculty Publications

The Tarawera Volcanic Complex comprises 11 rhyolite domes formed during five major eruptions between 17,000 B.C. and A.D. 1886, the first four of which were predominantly rhyolitic. The only historical event erupted about 2 km³ of basaltic tephra fall (A.D. 1886). The youngest rhyolitic event erupted a tephra fall volume more than 2 times larger and covered a wider area northwest and southeast of the volcano (∼A.D. 1315 Kaharoa eruption). We have used the Kaharoa scenario to assess the tephra fall hazard from a future rhyolitic eruption at Tarawera of a similar scale. The Plinian phase of this eruption …

A Uintan (Late Middle Eocene) Flora And Fauna From The Uinta Basin, Utah, Stephen Dee Sandau

Theses and Dissertations

Late Middle Eocene time marks one of the most dynamic periods of the Paleogene in the western interior of North America. Analysis of an extensive, new collection of plant, invertebrate, and vertebrae fossils from the Uinta Formation in the Uinta Basin, south of Myton, Utah, USA, provides evidence of environmental change. Paleobotanical specimens are preserved in late stage Uinta Lake sediments and coarse-grained fluvial sediments which are stratigraphically 650 to 660 m above the Green River Formation. Deposition rates estimates of 18 to 55 cm/kyr, for Uinta Lake sediments in the Uinta Basin suggest a period of 1.18 Ma to …

A Conceptual Model Of Groundwater Flow At The Midway, Utah Fish Hatchery As Constrained By Geochemical, Physical Hydrogeological, And Geophysical Methods, Camille Durrant

Theses and Dissertations

In addition to a loss of potential revenues from Utah's $393 million sport fishing industry, the state expends millions of dollars every year on costs associated with whirling disease mitigation and prevention. A state fish hatchery at Midway, Utah was closed when the shallow unconfined aquifer being used for fish culture by spring discharge was deemed to be contaminated by whirling disease. An alternative water source may exist in a confined aquifer below this contaminated unconfined aquifer. However, the complex hydrostratigraphy presents a challenge in determining if this source is a viable resource for fish culture. Geological, physical, chemical, geophysical, …

Prevailing Weather Conditions During Summer Seasons Around Gangotri Glacier, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya, K. S. Ramasastri, Naresh Kumar

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Meteorological data collected near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier suggest that the study area receives less rainfall. The average seasonal rainfall is observed to be about 260 mm. The rainfall distribution does not show any monsoon impact. Amount of seasonal rainfall is highly variable (131.4-368.8 mm) from year to year, but, in general, August had the maximum rainfall. A verage daily maximum and minimum temperatures were 14.7 and 4.1°C respectively, whereas average mean temperature was 9.4°C. July was recorded as the warmest month. During daytime, wind speed was four times higher than that at night-time. The average daytime and …

Relative Concentration Of Solid-Phase Sulfide Species In Marine Sediments Overlying Gas Hydrate Deposits: Recognition Of The Role Of Anaerobic Methane Oxidation In Authigenic Sulfide Formation, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski, Charles K. Paull, William Ussler Iii

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Sulfide mineralization in marine sediments occurs when dissolved sulfide, produced by sulfate reduction processes, combines with dissolved iron to form iron sulfide minerals. Sulfide can be produced by oxidation of organic matter or by anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO), which involves the co-consumption of sulfate and methane. The latter process seems especially important within gas hydrate terrains like that of theBlakeRidge(offshore southeasternUnited States), where appreciable amounts of methane diffuse upward to the base of the sulfate reduction zone, or sulfate-methane interface (SMI).

We examine the sediments of two piston cores collected over the Blake Ridge gas hydrate deposits by sequentially extracting …

Hydrogeophysical Investigation At Luxor, Southern Egypt, Ahmed Ismail, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Over the past 35 years, the exposed stone foundations of the ancient Egyptian monuments at Luxor have deteriorated at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Accelerated deterioration is attributable to three principal factors: 1) excavation and exposure of foundation stone; 2) construction of the Aswan High Dam; and 3) changes in the regional groundwater regime. In an effort to better elucidate the hydrostratigraphy in the Luxor study area that extends from the River Nile to the boundaries of the Nile Valley and covers about 70 km², a geophysical/hydrological investigation was conducted. Forty Schlumberger vertical electrical soundings (VES), two approximately 6 …

Evidence For Static Stress Changes Triggering The 1999 Eruption Of Cerro Negro Volcano, Nicaragua And Regional Aftershock Sequences, M. Diez, P. C. La Femina, Charles B. Connor, W. Strauch, Tenorio V. Tenorio

Geology Faculty Publications

Remarkable evidence of coupling between tectonic and magmatic events emerges from investigation of three tectonic earthquakes, aftershock sequences and eruption of Cerro Negro volcano, Nicaragua in 1999. Here, we explain this coupling through static stress changes following three Mw 5.2 earthquakes. We use focal mechanism solutions to estimate fault system geometry and magnitude of slip from these events, which are then used to calculate the change in minimum horizontal principal stress (σ₃) for the region and the change in Coulomb failure stress on optimally oriented fault planes. Results of these simulations indicate that σ₃ was reduced by …

Extent And Duration Of The 2003 Cascadia Slow Earthquake, Walter Szeliga, Timothy I. Melbourne, M. Meghan Miller, Victor Marcelo Santillan

Faculty Scholarship for the Cascadia Hazards Institute

Inversion of continuous GPS measurements from the Pacific Northwest show the 2003 Cascadia slow earthquake to be among the largest of ten transients recognized here. Twelve stations bracketing slow slip indicate transient slip propagated bi-directionally from initiation in the southern Puget basin, reaching 300 km along-strike over a period of seven weeks. This event produced, for the first time, resolvable vertical subsidence, and horizontal displacement reaching six mm in southern Washington State. Inverted for non-negative thrust slip, a maximum of 3.8 cm of slip is inferred, centered at 28 km depth near the sharp arch in the subducting Juan de …

Sulfide Mineralization Within Modern, Deep-Sea Marine Sediments And Oxygenation Of The Early Earth, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The Earth’s atmosphere and oceans have not always been oxygenated. The exact pathway and timing of the oxygenation of the Earth’s early oceans is poorly constrained, although it appears that oxygenation was essentially complete by the beginning of the Cambrian (545 million years ago). Indeed, the appearance and diversification of the first animals may have been dependent on threshold levels of oxygen. Eventually we intend to use the sulfur isotopic composition of sulfide minerals (iron monosulfides and pyrite) present in sedimentary rocks to reconstruct the oxygenation of Proterozoic oceans, but first must strive to understand sulfide mineral formation in the …

Advantageous Goes Ir Results For Ash Mapping At High Latitudes: Cleveland Eruptions 2001, Yingxin Gu, William I. Rose, David J. Schneider, Gregg J. S. Bluth, M. I. Watson

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

The February 2001 eruption of Cleveland Volcano, Alaska allowed for comparisons of volcanic ash detection using two-band thermal infrared (10–12 μm) remote sensing from MODIS, AVHRR, and GOES 10. Results show that high latitude GOES volcanic cloud sensing the range of about 50 to 65°N is significantly enhanced. For the Cleveland volcanic clouds the MODIS and AVHRR data have zenith angles 6–65 degrees and the GOES has zenith angles that are around 70 degrees. The enhancements are explained by distortion in the satellite view of the cloud's lateral extent because the satellite zenith angles result in a “side-looking” aspect and …

Comparison Of Two-Dimensional And Three-Dimensional Simulations Of Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (Dnapls): Migration And Entrapment Of A Nonuniform Permeability Field, John A. Christ, Lawrence D. Lemke, Linda M. Abriola

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

The influence of reduced dimensionality (two-dimensional (2-D) versus 3-D) on predictions of dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) infiltration and entrapment in statistically homogeneous, nonuniform permeability fields was investigated using the University of Texas Chemical Compositional Simulator (UTCHEM), a 3-D numerical multiphase simulator. Hysteretic capillary pressure–saturation and relative permeability relationships implemented in UTCHEM were benchmarked against those of another lab-tested simulator, the Michigan-Vertical and Lateral Organic Redistribution (M-VALOR). Simulation of a tetrachloroethene spill in 16 field-scale aquifer realizations generated DNAPL saturation distributions with approximately equivalent distribution metrics in two and three dimensions, with 2-D simulations generally resulting in slightly higher maximum …

Geologic Framework And Groundwater Occurrence (Kimball County, Nebraska), Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

Geologic Framework

All of Kimball County is part of the Cheyenne Tablelands, a largely constructional part of the High Plains underlain primarily by sediments transported from the Rocky Mountains and deposited on the developing tablelands. Quaternary fluvial erosion cut away parts of the tablelands producing the valleys of Lodgepole Creek and its tributaries. The oldest rocks exposed in Kimball County belong to the upper part of the Brule Formation, youngest formation of the White River Group of rocks. The Brule Formation is Oligocene in age and was deposited from about 35 to 29 million years ago. The Brule Formation underlies …

Auditory Brainstem Responses In The Eastern Screech Owl: An Estimate Of Auditory Thresholds, Elizabeth F. Brittan-Powell, Bernard Lohr, Dana L. Hahn, Robert J. Dooling

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The auditory brainstem response (ABR), a measure of neural synchrony, was used to estimate auditory sensitivity in the eastern screech owl (Megascops asio). The typical screech owl ABR waveform showed two to three prominent peaks occurring within 5 ms of stimulus onset. As sound pressure levels increased, the ABR peak amplitude increased and latency decreased. With an increasing stimulus presentation rate, ABR peak amplitude decreased and latency increased. Generally, changes in the ABR waveform to stimulus intensity and repetition rate are consistent with the pattern found in several avian families. The ABR audiogram shows that screech owls hear best between …

Generalized Geologic Map For Land-Use Planning: Logan County, Kentucky, E. Glynn Beck, David A. Williams, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

This map is not intended to be used for selecting individual sites. Its purpose if to inform land-use planners, government officials, and the public in a general way about geologic bedrock conditions that affect the selection of sites for various purposes. The properties of thick soils may supercede those of the underlying bedrock and should be considered on a site-to-site basis. At any site, it is important to understand the characteristics of both the soils and the underlying rock.

Structure And Isopach Maps Of The Mississippian "Big Lime" (Newman Limestone/Slade Formation), Eastern Kentucky, David C. Harris, Thomas N. Sparks

Map and Chart--KGS

The maps included in this publication were made using stratigraphic data collected by us from almost 8,000 wells as part of a regional stratigraphic study of the Mississippian Slade Formation in eastern Kentucky. The data extend from the Mississippian outcrop belt along the northwestern edge of the map area to the state borders on the northeast. The southeastern border of the map area is marked by the Pine Mountain Fault.

Formation tops data for these wells were collected from geophysical (electric) logs and drillers' logs, and are available in electronic format from the Kentucky Geological Survey (Harris and Sparks, 1997). …

New Approaches To Understanding The Mechanics Of Burgess Shale-Type Deposits: From The Micron Scale To The Global Picture, Robert Gaines, Mary L. Droser

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

Cambrian Burgess Shale-type (BST) deposits are among the most significant deposits for understanding the “Cambrian explosion” because they contain the fossilized tissues of nonmineralized organisms and provide a substantially different window on the radiation of the Metazoa than is afforded by the more “typical” fossil record of skeletal parts of biomineralized organisms. Despite nearly a century of research, BST deposits remain poorly investigated as sedimentologic entities largely because they comprise fine-grained mudrocks. Here,we describe a new, integrative approach to understanding a single BST deposit, the middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation of Utah, which reveals a dynamic interplay of paleoenvironmental, paleoecologic, and …