Geology Commons^™

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Northeastern Nebraska Geology, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Raymond R. Burchett, Duane A. Eversoll, Rodney J. Tremblay

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Field trip guide, for the Nebraska Well Drillers Association, covering northeastern Nebraska geology from September 1997.

Geology Of The Ponca Creek And Keya Paha River Drainage Basins In Nebraska, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

The geology of the study area has been investigated many times over more than a century. Interested readers are directed to the report by Diffendal and Voorhies (1994), which gives a more detailed overview of the results of the investigations and lists most of the more important reports about the area’s geology.

The names of the sedimentary rock strata and unlithified sediments exposed in and underlying all or parts of the study area are shown in Table V.I. These formations range in age from more than 85 million years to sediments being deposited today by winds, water, and downslope movements …

Geologic Evidence Of Historic And Prehistoric Tsunami Inundation At Seaside, Oregon, Brooke K. Fiedorowicz

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past decade, research conducted along the Cascadia subduction zone coast established evidence for coseismic subsidence, liquefaction, and nearfield tsunami deposition. Seaside is a low lying northern Oregon coastal city potentially at risk for nearfield tsunami inundation from a Cascadia earthquake. The 1964 Alaskan farfield tsunami impacted Seaside, and deposits from that event serve as a model for interpreting prehistoric tsunami deposits in the Seaside area. A reconnaissance subsurface study of potential tsunami inundation sites was performed by trenching and gouge coring in the coastal wetlands along the Necanicum River, Neacoxie Creek, drainage to the east of Neacoxie Creek, …

Geology Of Niobrara State Park, Knox County, Nebraska, And Adjacent Areas, With A Brief History Of The Park, Gavins Point Dam, And Lewis And Clark Lake, Charles A. Flowerday, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., R. L. Skelly, F. G. Ethridge, D. A. Eversoll, David K. Watkins, B. E. Bailey

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Location

Niobrara State Park is located in northwestern Knox County, Nebraska, just west of the town of Niobrara and on the west side of the Niobrara River. The present park was opened in the summer of 1987. Mostly north of Nebraska Highway 12, the site is hilly with bluffs overlooking the Missouri and Niobrara rivers. Excellent facilities include paved roads, cabins, an outdoor swimming pooi, hiking trails, picnic and camping sites, horseback riding trails, playgrounds, restrooms, a group lodge, and an interpretive shelter. Many vantage points in the park have beautiful views of the lower Niobrara Valley and the middle …

Geophysical Characterization Of A Jp-4 (Lnapl) Contaminated Site At The Wurtsmith, Air Force Base, Oscoda, Michigan, Kristina C. Sprietzer

Masters Theses

The detection of hydrocarbon contamination in the subsurface using geophysical techniques has been based on the known physical properties of high electrical resistivities (ρa) (low conductivities). However, geophysical field investigations at uncontrolled spill sites yield measurements of low resistivity (high conductivity). The purpose of this study is to test that in the natural environment some hydrocarbon spills (in the case of LNAPLs), can exhibit changes with time due to biodegradation, from electrically resistive to conductive. Since time is an important factor, this hypothesis was tested at a site where the time when a hydrocarbon release occurred is known and where …

Reservoir Characterization Of Crystal Field And Analysis Of The Tow#1-3 Hd-1 Well, Montcalm County, Michigan, Heidi Wines

Masters Theses

The goal of this project was to characterize the Dundee reservoir of Crystal oil field using the newly drilled Tow #1-3 well data in conjunction with historical well records to evaluate heterogeneity of facies and their controls on oil production.

From the Tow# 1-3 HD-1 well, three major facies were identified in the reservoir. A non-fractured intertidal grainstone facies provides storage of fluids with its uniform permeability and excellent intercrystalline porosity. The supratidal fractured micrites and open marine fractured biomicrites are interbedded with the grainstone facies providing conduits for fluid migration between the facies. Facies are important controls on oil …

Systematics Of Stable Isotopes And Radionuclides In Precipitation At Kalamazoo, Michigan, Usa, Madhav V. Machavaram

Dissertations

Precipitation samples were collected at Kalamazoo from June 1992 to March 1995. The samples were analyzed for their 8D and 8lgO values. The 5D - 5I80 relationship is comparable to that of Meteoric Water Line (MWL). The monthly mean isotopic values in precipitation exhibited strong seasonality, being higher in summer and lower in winter months. This behavior is apparently a direct consequence of the temperature effect on isotope fractionation.

The summer precipitation at Kalamazoo is derived predominantly from the water vapor originated in the Gulf of Mexico. A box model calculation showed that a Rayleigh type distillation with Gulf moisture …

A Bayesian Nonlinear Inversion Of Seismic Body-Wave Attenuation Factors, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It is a well-known fact that the uncertainties in measuring relative attenuation factors within a local or regional seismic network are usually high, due to noise of different kinds and unrealistic assumptions. Numerical experiments using nine synthetic seismograms, created using t* values ranging from 0.1 to 0.9 sec, reveal that the commonly used spectral ratio method is strongly affected by the selection of data processing parameters such as width of the spectral smoothing window, reference station, and so on. The numerical experiments demonstrate that a Bayesian nonlinear inversion approach that directly matches the spectra is better at finding the correct …

Long Dormancy, Low Slip Rate, And Similar Slip‐Per‐Event For The Emerson Fault, Eastern California Shear Zone, Charles M. Rubin, Kerry Sieh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Excavations in a playa along the 1992 rupture of the Emerson fault reveal evidence of two paleoseismic events, with only one large prehistoric rupture in the past 15 millennia. Accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon ages of charcoal from playa sediments and from fault‐scarp colluvium directly beneath the playa beds indicate that the last large prehistoric slip event occurred about 9000 ka. Trench‐wall exposures revealed clear evidence of at least one pre‐9 ka rupture at the playa site. The event horizon of this earthquake is between two pedogenic carbonate layers that have radiocarbon ages of 14.8 ka and 24.1 ka, implying that …

Detection Of Volcanic Ash Clouds From Nimbus 7/Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, C. J. Seftor, N. C. Hsu, J. R. Herman, P. K. Bhartia, O. Torres, William I. Rose, David J. Schneider, N. Krotkov

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Measured radiances from the Version 7 reprocessing of the Nimbus 7/total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) 340- and 380-nm channels are used to detect absorbing particulates injected into the atmosphere after the El Chichon eruption on April 4, 1982. It is shown that while the single-channel reflectivity determined from the 380-nm channel is able to detect clouds and haze composed of nonabsorbing aerosols, the spectral contrast between the 340- and 380-nm channels is sensitive to absorbing particulates such as volcanic ash, desert dust, or smoke from biomass burning. In this paper the spectral contrast between these two channels is used to …

Researchers Pool Knowledge About Antarctic Dry Valleys, Andrew G. Fountain, Sarah Spaulding

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most of us think of ice when we think of the Antarctic, and rightly so, considering that only 5% of it is ice-free. Dry valleys--the ice-free areas--have sandy, rocky valley floors, ice-covered lakes, and streams that flow only two months of the year. The McMurdo Dry Valleys (78øS 163øE) are the largest of these regions.

Microanalytical Investigations Of Gold-Bearing Rocks From The An Najadi Region In Saudi Arabia, Nazrul I. Khandaker, M. Ahmed, M. M. Hariri, M. A. Garwan, K. R. Khan, M. M. Al-Ohali

Publications and Research

The Proton Induced X-ray Emission technique with a scanning microbeam (micro-PIXE) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were employed to study gold-bearing rocks from the An Najadi and adjacent regions situated within the exposed northeastern part of the Arabian Shield. These microanalytical investigations, together with routine petrological and ore microscopic studies, demonstrated the presence of important partitioning of major minerals and trace elements in several samples. These measurements also revealed microstructural features including brecciation within quartz grains and metal concentrations within these fracture-controlled micro-conduits. Results showed promise in terms of using distinctive geochemical signatures for ore body recognition. Of particular interest …

Oil And Gas Map Of The Tompkinsville 30 X 60 Minute Quadrangle, Kentucky, Brandon C. Nuttall

Map and Chart--KGS

No abstract provided.

Changes In Channel Morphology And Flood-Plain Ecosystems Of The Green River Between The Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah And The Gates Of Lodore, Colorado, Gloria Christine Celeste Britton

Masters Theses

Closure of Flaming Gorge Dam in 1962 reduced the flow rate and variability of discharge on the Green River below this dam. These changes, coupled with the decreased sediment load due to stilling and sporadic peaking in response to demand for hydroelectric power and controlled releases of up to 4500 cfs to cope with snowmelt have impacted the channel morphology and ecosystems of the main stem Green River between the Dam and the Gates of Lodore. Detailed comparative analysis of channel shape and riparian ecosystems or pre-dam and post-dam aerial photographs revealed that significant changes occurred after closure. Channel width …

Groundwater-Kalamazoo River Interaction Near The Parchment City Wellfield, Parchment, Michigan, W. Richard Laton

Dissertations

A detailed hydrogeologic study of the Kalamazoo River and its interaction with the groundwater was completed near Parchment, Michigan. The Kalamazoo River between Portage Creek and Allegan Dam is a Federal superfund site due to PCB contamination trapped in its sediments. The City of Parchment pumps all of its drinking water from a glacial aquifer 850 feet from the Kalamazoo River. This study focused on the hydrogeology and groundwater/surface interaction of the area through the use of surface and downhole geophysics, installation of monitoring wells and peizometers, seepage meters and chemical sampling. It was determined that the Kalamazoo River is …

Geophysical Investigation Of Anomalous Conductivity Associated With A Hydrocarbon Contamination Site, Mike S. Nash

Masters Theses

The high electrical conductivity measured from chemical analyses from ground water below a hydrocarbon contaminated site was the focus of this study. Most theoretical studies have indicated that the electrical conductivity of hydrocarbon contamination is lower than that of the surrounding medium. Geochemical studies at other sites have shown that areas of dissolved fuel oil plume have a higher electrical conductivity. Six methods: Self Potential, Mise-a-la-Masse, Vertical Electrical Sounding, Dipole-Dipole Resistivity Profiling, Electromagnetic Induction, and Ground Penetrating Radar were all used in an attempt to see which method( s) could identify regions of high conductivity.

The findings of this study …

Concentrations And Isotope Ratios Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon In Denitrifying Environments, C. Nascimento, Eliot A. Atekwana, R. V. Krishnamurthy

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We measured the concentration and isotope ratio of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in groundwater associated with denitrification (C_org + NO₃^- = CO₂ + N₂) in an agriculturally impacted site in southwestern Michigan. Samples with the lowest nitrate levels also had low dissolved oxygen content and were more depleted in δ¹³C than background groundwater. All the samples had DIC concentrations in excess of titratable alkalinity. The magnitude of this DIC in excess of alkalinity correlated with a decreasing δ¹³C attesting to the presence of CO₂ derived from organic carbon. Carbon …

Geochemistry, Stratigraphy And Provenance Of The Portland Hills Silt In The Tualatin Mountains, Portland, Oregon, John L. Lawes Iii

Dissertations and Theses

Soil morphology and geochemistry of loess were investigated at nine sites in the Tualatin Mountains west of Portland and at additional sites in The Dalles, eastern Washington and Puget Sound. A total of forty samples were examined using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA).

Stratigraphic relationships and soil development suggest that the PHS ages of Lentz (1977) be revised. The age of the Portland Hills Silt (PHS) ranges from 12,000 to at least 960,000 years before present.

The geochemistry of the PHS supports the Lentz (1977) hypothesis of the PHS as a loess of continental origin. Thorium/scandium ratios in the PHS …

Early To Middle Pleistocene Catastrophic Flood Deposits, The Dalles, Oregon, David Irving Cordero

Dissertations and Theses

A roadcut on Highway 197, three kilometers southeast of The Dalles, Oregon, exposes a sequence of Quaternary sediments and five buried paleosols. The sediments, paleosols, and associated tephras at this site provide evidence of a Quaternary history of catastrophic flooding in the Columbia Basin extending back at least 700 ka and of an early eruption (ca. 600 ka) of Mount Adams. Four sedimentary units are exposed in this cut: Holocene loess, late Wisconsin Missoula Flood slackwater deposits, five pre-late Wisconsin catastrophic flood slackwater deposits bearing well developed paleosols, and late Tertiary Dalles Formation volcaniclastics. All but the oldest are predominantly …

The Effects Of Hydrilla Infestation On Selected Wintering Waterfowl: Santee Copper Lake System, South Carolina, William Davis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Hydrilla is an exotic aquatic weed that was introduced into Florida in the 1950's. Since that time it has spread rapidly from lake to lake throughout the southeast and beyond. The Santee Cooper lake system in eastern South Carolina was infested with the weed in the early 1980's. Since that time lake managers have sought ways to eliminate the aquatic plant and have succeeded to a great extent through the use of sterile grass carp as a biological control agent. This paper, however, contains evidence to support the view that hydrilla is actually a beneficial habitat for many species on …

Post-Middle Miocene Geologic History Of The Tualatin Basin, Oregon With Hydrogeologic Implications, Doyle Coley Wilson

Dissertations and Theses

The geologic history and sedimentary till of the Tualatin Basin after Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) emplacement is assessed and related to groundwater characteristics. The 334 m deep HBD-1 core from the Hillsboro Airport, provides the primary information for sediment characterization and is supported by over 2400 well logs and cores, and four seismic lines. The sedimentary section above the 26 m thick paleosol on the CRBG in HBD-I is divided into two main groups: a 25 m thick section of Missoula flood sediments called the Willamette Silt overlies a 263 m thick finegrained sequence of fluvial Neogene sediments.

Pollen, …

Geochemical Characteristics And Correlations Within The Triassic-Jurassic Age Gabbs And Sunrise Formations Of West Central Nevada, Karen Elizabeth Boelling

Dissertations and Theses

Trace and minor element geochemistry was determined using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis for ninety-six (96) limestone and calcareous siltstone samples from four stratigraphic sections in the Triassic-Jurassic age Gabbs and Sunrise formations of west central Nevada. Geochemical data support lithologic and faunal interpretations of relative basin positions of the Sunrise Formation stratigraphic sections, as well as basin development (including transgressive­-regressive sequences) during deposition of the Gabbs and Sunrise formations at New York Canyon (Gabbs Valley Range). All sections show characteristics of both oceanic and continental island arc sources. Rare positive Eu anomalies relative to chondrites suggest that the Gabbs Formation …

A Hydrogeochemical Study Of The Evolution Of The Headwaters Of The Bear River In The Uinta Mountains, Utah, Michael F. Leschin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The headwaters of the Bear River in the Uinta Mountains of Utah provide a good setting in which to examine the influence of geological materials on stream chemistry. Ionic contributions to the stream-water from soils, vegetation, and the atmosphere generally are sparse enough that they do not mask the geologic contributions. Samples from 37 sites on the four major headwater streams and several minor tributaries were examined geochemically. Data derived from the samples allowed the construction of a hydrogeochemical weathering model specific to the study area. A significant feature of this model is that carbonic acid is the dominant chemical …

Quaternary Bear River Paleohydrogeography Reconstructed From The 87sr/86sr Composition Of Lacustrine Fossils, David P. Bouchard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Diverted from its former course to the Pacific Ocean by basalt flows in Gem Valley, Idaho, the Bear River presently flows south into the Bonneville Basin. Constraining the timing of the river's diversion is pivotal to understanding the hydrologic budgets, and thus the climatological implications of the Bonneville Basin lakes. This study employs strontium (Sr) isotopes in mollusc fossils as a tracer of the Bear River water that entered Lake Thatcher, a small, closed-basin lake into which the redirected river flowed en route to the Bonneville Basin. The Sr ratios, combined with the temporal control afforded by amino acid geochronology …

Cenozoic Tectonic And Paleogeographic Evolution Of The Horse Prairie Half-Graben, Southwest Montana, Colby J. Vandenburg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Horse Prairie basin (HPB) of southwestern Montana is a complex, east dipping half-graben that contains three angular unconformity-bounded sequences of Tertiary lacustrine, paludal, and fluvial sediments overlying middle Eocene volcanic rocks. The basin is near the eastern edge of the Cordilleran thrust belt, and represents the western half of a larger Paleogene rift basin. Geologic mapping within the Everson Creek and Bannock Pass 7.5 minute quadrangles indicates that five temporally and geometrically distinct episodes of extension characterize the late Mesozoic (?) to Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the upper HPB.

The first episode of extension occurred prior to emplacement of …

Geomorphology Of The Green River In Dinosaur National Monument, Paul E. Grams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Longitudinal profile, channel cross-section geometry, and depositional patterns of the Green River in its course through the eastern Uinta Mountains are each strongly influenced by river-level geology and tributary sediment delivery processes. We surveyed channel cross sections at 1-km intervals, mapped surficial geology, and measured size and characteristics of bed material in order to evaluate the geomorphic organization of the 70- km study reach. Canyon reaches that are of high gradient and narrow channel geometry are associated with the most resistant lithologies exposed at river level and the most frequent occurrences of tributary debris fans. Meandering reaches that are characterized …

Geochemical, Petrologic, And Structural Characterization At Multiple Scales Of Deformation Associated With The Punchbowl Fault, Southern California, Steven E. Schulz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three traverses across the exhumed trace of the Punchbowl fault zone in the Pelona Schist, southern California, were examined at the millimeter to kilometer scales to determine the morphology, deformation mechanisms, and geochemistry of the fault zone in schistose rocks. The Pelona Schist is predominantly a quartz-albite-muscovite-actinolite schist with associated minor metabasalts. The Punchbowl fault zone, which is exhumed 2-4 km, has 44 km of right lateral slip, and is composed of a fault core enveloped by a damaged zone.

The fault core is a region of extreme slip localization that records most fault displacement. Deformation in the fault core …

Stratigraphy, Geochronology, And Tectonics Of The Salt Lake Formation (Tertiary) Of Southern Cache Valley, Utah, Kristine A. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study synthesizes the deposition and tectonic evolution of the Tertiary deposits in southern Cache Valley, a narrow, north-trending valley in the northeastern Basin-and- Range Province. The surrounding mountains consist of Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Southern Cache Valley is an east-tilted half-graben. The oldest Tertiary sediments are on the west side of the basin, and the overall dip is to the east.

The Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Salt Lake Formation (Tsl) accumulated above the thin (to absent) Early to Middle Eocene Wasatch Formation (Tw) and the newly identified Fowkes and Norwood Tuff equivalents (Tfn; late Middle Eocene to …

Distribution Of Heavy Metals And Trace Elements In Soils Of Southwest Oregon, Rafiqul Alam Khandoker

Dissertations and Theses

Soil samples from 118 sites on 71 geologic units in southwest Oregon were collected and analyzed to determine the background concentrations of metals in soils of the region. Sites were chosen in areas that were relatively undisturbed by human activities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved total-recoverable method was used to recover metals from samples for analysis. The twenty six metals analyzed were: Ag, AI, As, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Tl, V and Zn.

The Klamath Mountains followed by the Coast Range contain the …

Hydrologic Budget Analysis And Numerical Simulations Of Groundwater Flow In Los Alamos Canyon Near Los Alamos, New Mexico, Robert Norman Gray

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

A hydrologic budget analysis for the Los Alamos Canyon watershed was prepared including annual budgets for the 1993, 1994, and 1995 water years and detailed budget calculations for the upper basin and middle/upper canyon areas covering nine separate stress periods from 7/10/94 to 11/2/95 corresponding to varying alluvial aquifer behaviors. Data sources included daily measurements of precipitation and snowpack depths, streamflow discharge, and latent heat energy flux from which evapotranspiration rates were determined. Average annual precipitation rates over the watershed varied from ~23 to ~31 inches during the analyzed periods. The annual evapotranspiration component was determined to represent between ~ …