Geology Commons^™

Cycle Symmetry And Its Causes, Cisco Group (Virgilian And Wolfcampian), Texas, Wan Yang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

181 transgressive-regressive cycles composed of nonmarine and marine carbonate and siliciclastic rocks of the Cisco Group on the Eastern Shelf, Texas, display complex characteristics at both hemicycle and full-cycle scales. They are delineated on the basis of successive changes of depositional environments, stratal boundary relations, and stratigraphic position. Transgressive and regressive stratigraphic environment gradients are defined as the magnitude of environmental shift divided by thickness for each hemicycle. They indicate the rates of lateral environmental shifts during transgression and regression. Cycle symmetry index is defined as the ratio between transgressive and regressive stratigraphic environment gradients. It provides a measure of …

Depositional Environment And Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation Of Miocene St. Marys Formation, Calvert County, Maryland, John J. Blandin

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Miocene St. Marys Formation at Calvert Cliffs, Maryland is divided into four depositional packages made up of marine fades representing shallow shelf through intertidal conditions. These depositional packages are separated by five laterally persistent surfaces and were defined based on detailed depositional fades analysis of 24 measured sections, averaging 17 meters thick. These four packages make up two marine sequences, stratigraphic units bound above and below by surfaces of sea level fall. The lower sequence is composed of a single depositional package, while the upper sequence is composed of three upward-shallowing depositional packages (i.e. para-sequences). A fifth depositional package …

Localized Amplification Of Seismic Waves And Correlation With Damage Due To The Northridge Earthquake: Evidence For Focusing In Santa Monica, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Paul M. Davis, Leon Knopoff

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The analysis of seismograms from 32 aftershocks recorded by 98 seismic stations installed after the Northridge earthquake in the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Monica Mountains, and Santa Monica, California, indicates that the enhanced damage in Santa Monica is explained in the main by focusing due to a lens structure at a depth of several kilometers beneath the surface and having a finite lateral extent. The diagnosis was made from the observation of late-arriving S phases with large amplitudes, localized in the zones of large damage. The azimuths and angles of incidence of the seismic rays that give rise to …

The Effects Of The Kalamazoo Station No. 4 On The Nearby Kleinstuck Nature Preserve, Robert J. Buechler

Masters Theses

This was a 15 month study that studied the effects of Kalamazoos' Municipal Pumping Station No. 4 on the Kleinstuck Nature Preserve. The preserve is about a quarter of a mile in the up gradient direction of Station No. 4. This study demonstrates that there is a direct correlation between the pumping and the water levels at the preserve. Pumping records show that there is no correlation between precipitation and the water levels at the preserve.

There are other factors which exaggerate this effect. It has been found that the drain field at the Y.M.C.A. parking lot, the breaching of …

Spatial And Temporal Variability In The Distribution Of Nitrate In An Agriculturally-Impacted Aquifer, Cass County, Michigan, Caroline Lovetere

Masters Theses

Ground-water sampling in a shallow unconfined aquifer within a predominantly agricultural area in southwestern Michigan indicated spatial and temporal variability in the distribution of nitrate. The unconfined aquifer, which is about 40 feet thick, consists of glacially-deposited sand and gravel with interbedded clay lenses and is separated from a lower semi-confined aquifer by a 3-to 26-feet-thick till layer.

The site of the study was a 47-acre agricultural field, characterized by corn and alfalfa hay production, to which hog manure and commercial fertilizers were frequently applied. The shallow water table and relatively permeable glacial sands in the vadose zone combined to …

Hydrostratigraphy And Allostratigraphy Of The Cenozoic Alluvium In The Northwestern Part Of Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada, David J. Donovan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This investigation was conducted to determine the location, nature, and boundaries of the most permeable unit within the alluvial aquifer material in Las Vegas Valley. It was prompted by declines in specific capacity of about 90% at the Las Vegas Valley Water District's West Central Well Field. It was hypothesized that the decline in specific capacity resulted from dewatering of the most permeable interval of the alluvium. Lithologic descriptions from wells and aquifer test information were analyzed for geologic and hydrogeologic variability. New information, in the form of detailed unpublished lithologic and hydrologic information, was available from twenty water wells …

The Petrogenesis Of Andesites Produced During Regional Extension: Examples From The Northern Mccullough Range, Nv And Xitle Volcano, Mexico, Kelly Ann Boland

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Andesite dominated volcanic systems produced during regional crustal extension remain a relatively unexplored aspect of andesite petrogenesis. In the southern Basin and Range province, thick sections of andesite and basaltic andesite have been documented in areas including the Piute Range, California, the Eldorado Range, Nevada, and the McCullough Range, Nevada. The northern McCullough Range, located 20 miles south-southeast of Las Vegas, is an ideal place to study the petrogenesis of an andesite dominated system. This area contains a mid-Miocene stratocone composed mainly of a 1200 m thick section of andesite flows that formed synchronous with regional extension.

The northern McCullough …

Quantification Of Extraterrestrial Lava Flow Effusion Rates Through Laboratory Simulations, Tracy K.P. Gregg, Jonathan H. Fink

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have used carefully controlled laboratory simulations to develop a model which relates lava flow morphology to effusion rate and rheology. Through comparisons with measured and estimated eruption rates on Earth, this approach allows us to constrain eruptive styles and compositions of extraterrestrial lava flows. By applying this model to lava flows on the Moon, Mars and Venus, we have determined that all the common flow morphologies (domes, folds and levees) on these planets could have been produced by basalt-like or andesite-like lavas through either continuous or episodic emplacement. The presence of more evolved magma compositions on other planets is …

Correlation Of The Upper Ellensburg Formation With The Old Scab Mountain Eruptive Center, East-Central Cascade Range, Washington, Christopher Charles Humphrey

Dissertations and Theses

The Ellensburg Formation, preserved in the Nile basin 50 km northwest of Yakima, Washington, consists of a series of middle to late Miocene epiclastic and pyroclastic rock assemblages rich in porphyritic hornblende-biotite dacite. Geochemical, petrographic, and stratigraphic correlations indicate that Old Scab Mountain, a dacite porphyry intrusion, located at the western margin of the basin (lat. 46°53'30", long. 121°13'00"), is the probable source for much of the upper Ellensburg volcaniclastic material in the basin. The dacite intrusion exposed at Old Scab Mountain was emplaced at depths of 1 to 3 km and underlaid a now eroded volcanic edifice. This volcanic …

Swath Mapping On The Continental Shelf And Slope: The Eel River Basin, Northern California, John A. Goff, Larry A. Mayer, John E. Hughes Clarke, Lincoln F. Pratson

Affiliate Scholarship

First Paragraph

The STRATAFORM program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (Nittrouer and Kravitz, 1996, this issue) seeks to understand how sedimentary processes lead to the formation of the stratigraphic sequences on continental margins. A central challenge facing this effort is to understand the transport of sediments in shore-parallel as well as shore-perpendicular directions• Multidimensionality is necessary to describe, for example, the accumulation of sediments from river inputs, the distribution of gullies and canyons on the slope, the meandering of channels, and the structure of slumps and slides.

Ua66/8/3 Annual Report, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Administration Documents

Annual report created by and about WKU Geography & Geology.

Marine Pore-Water Sulfate Profiles Indicate In Situ Methane Flux From Underlying Gas Hydrate, Walter S. Borowski, Charles K. Paull, William Ussler Iii

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Marine pore-water sulfate profiles measured in piston cores are used to estimate methane flux toward the sea floor and to detect anomalous methane gradients within sediments overlying a major gas hydrate deposit at the Carolina Rise and Blake Ridge (U.S. Atlantic continental margin). Here, sulfate gradients are linear, implying that sulfate depletion is driven by methane flux from below, rather than by the flux of sedimentary organic matter from above. Thus, these linear sulfate gradients can be used to quantify and assess in situ methane flux, which is a function of the methane inventory below.

Comprehensive Conjunctive-Use Management Of Connected Surface Water Groundwater Systems Using Stochastic Inputs And Uncertainties, Seshadri Suryanarayana

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A comprehensive conjunctive-use management model is developed. The dynamics of flow and solute transport processes in connected surface water groundwater systems are integrated by a dual programming management model. The governing aquifer flow parameters and streamflows are treated as stochastic random processes. Multiple realizations of the random field are generated and are explicitly incorporated in a non-linear optimization model along with other system, environmental, and management constraints. To facilitate management of large aquifer systems, a linked simulation-optimization approach is used. The simulation program generates the response matrices for flow and transport processes. The management model then determines optimal well discharges …

Beach Response To Subsidence Following A Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake Along The Washington-Oregon Coast, Debra Lee Doyle

Dissertations and Theses

Beach shoreline retreat induced by coseismic subsidence in the Cascadia subduction zone is an important post-earthquake hazard. Sand on a beach acts as a buffer to wave attack, protecting dunes, bluffs and terraces. The loss of sand from a beach could promote critical erosion of the shoreline. This study was initiated in order to estimate the potential amount of post subsidence shoreline retreat on a regional scale in the Central Cascadia Margin. The study area is a 331 km stretch of coastline from Copalis, Washington to Florence, Oregon. Several erosion models were evaluated, and the Bruun model was selected as …

Modeling Transport Of Colloid-Bound Herbicides And Heavy Metals To Groundwater, Anastasios D. Karathanasis, R. E. Phillips, A. K. Seta

KWRRI Research Reports

Recent studies have suggested that contaminant transport to groundwater may be enhanced by association with colloidal particles. This study evaluated the role of water dispersible colloids with diverse mineralogical composition in co-transporting selected herbicides and heavy metals through intact soil columns. Colloid recovery in the eluents ranged from 45-90% for the herbicides and 10-60% for the heavy metals. The presence of colloids enhanced the transport of atrazine by 2-18%, and metolachlor by 8-30%. The corresponding increase for Cu and Zn was 2-150 and 5-30 times, respectively. For Pb, there was essentially no elution in the absence of colloids, suggesting nearly …

Mapped Karst Ground-Water Basins In The Lexington 30 X 60 Minute Quadrangle, James C. Currens, Joseph A. Ray

Map and Chart--KGS

No abstract provided.

Wear Due To The Physical And Petrographic Properties Of Rocks And Their Dynamic Interactions With Mining Equipment, Christian Poppeliers

Dissertations and Theses

Wear to mining equipment reduces operational efficiency. If wear rates can be predicted, appropriate matching of alloys to the mine' s geologic conditions can aid in improving the operational efficiency. This study addresses rock characteristics which lead to wear. Macroscopic rock tools which lead to wear include sharp edges and comers on rocks. During a rock/equipment interaction, these rock tools cause high point pressures on the surface of the equipment which leads to ductile cutting and gouging of the surface and subsequent removal of metal. Hard mineral grains, or grain tools, produce abrasion as the grains move across equipment surfaces. …

Prolonged History Of Silicic Peralkaline Volcanism In The Eastern Pacific Ocean, Wendy A. Bohrson, Mary R. Reid, Anita L. Grunder, Matthew Heizler, T. Mark Harrison, Jeffrey Lee

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Socorro Island, Mexico, is an alkaline and peralkaline volcanic island located in the eastern Pacific Ocean on a mid-ocean ridge spreading center that was abandoned at ∼3.5 Ma. Silicic peralkaline rocks comprise up to 80% of the surface of the island, rendering Socorro virtually unique in the Pacific Ocean. Precise, replicate ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 21 peralkaline trachytes and rhyolites reveal a history of episodic volcanic activity from ∼540 to 370 ka that may have culminated with caldera formation; repose periods between these episodes may have had maximum duration of ∼30 kyr. After up to 200 kyr of …

Remote Sensing Of Volcanic Ash Clouds Using Special Sensor Microwave Imager Data, David J. Delene, William I. Rose, Norman C. Grody

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Measurements from the satellite-based special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I) were used to collect passive microwave radiation (19–85 GHz) for the August 19, 1992 (UT date), Crater Peak/Spurr volcanic cloud. This eruption was also imaged by a ground-based C-band radar system at Kenai, Alaska, 80 km away, and by the thermal infrared channels of the polar-orbiting advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR). The SSM/I sensor detects scattering of Earth-emitted radiation by millimeter size volcanic ash particles. The size of ash particles in a volcanic ash cloud can be estimated by comparing the scattering at different microwave frequencies. The mass of particles …

Trace Element Analysis Of Selected Springs In The Virgin River Basin, Mary A. Yelken

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Spring water from 23 springs in and near the Virgin River Basin (southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and southeastern Nevada) was collected and analyzed for chemical concentrations. Trace elements and major ion chemistry was used to determine the potential for utilizing water chemistry to provide information on spring water source and flow pathways. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), rare earth element (REE) normalization patterns, and mineral equilibrium modeling (PHREEQE) techniques were used to analyze the data set. Four major spring water groups were displayed by the PCA, based on similarities in water chemistry. The analyses suggest that spring water chemistry is a …

Aminostratigraphy Of Thatcher Basin, Se Idaho: Reassessment Of Pleistocene Lakes, Amy Hochberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Quaternary geologic history of Lake Thatcher, southeastern Idaho, is pivotal in determining when the Bear River carved its through-flowing channel into the Bonneville Basin. Bright's reconstruction of the history of Lake Thatcher was based on ¹⁴C dates that are now known to be inaccurate. Lava Creek B ash found interbedded with lacustrine sediment suggests that Thatcher Basin contained a lake well before Bright's original estimate of 34 ka.

D/L ratios, which measure the extent of racemization in fossil gastropods, in conjunction with paleosols and tephra, were used to correlate between four localities across Thatcher Basin to reassess lake-level …

Pre-Late-Wisconsin Glacial History Of The Naknek River Valley, Southwestern Alaska, Caleb H. Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The lower Naknek River in southwestern Alaska dissects thick (~20m) exposures of Pleistocene glaciogenic sediments. The stratigraphy of the deposits and their physical, geochemical, mineralogical, and geochronological properties were studies to determine the number and timing of glacial advances represented. Multivariate data reduction methods (cluster and principal component analyses) were applied to the data to differentiate diamicton beds. The results show a clear separation of drift of the lower Naknek River valley from drift of northern Bristol Bay and from younger, moraine-comprising drift up valley. Within the Naknek River valley, however, there is no stratigraphic trend to the clusterings. The …

Paleoenvironmental And Stratigraphic Interpretation Of The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation, Northern Utah, Keith E. Eagan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation includes some 200 m of cyclically alternating carbonates and mud rocks. These are arranged in eight to nine, meter-scale, shallowing-upwards packages, representing deposition under predominantly subtidal conditions. The packages consist of vertical sequences of shale, silty limestone, oncolitic packstone, and oolitic grainstone that exhibit little variance in this general pattern. Small-scale unconformities separate the packages. The inferred depositional environment consists of an intrashelf basin that has a peritidal platform near its margins. The craton, which supplied most of the terrigenous sediment, was situated to the south (Cambrian orientation), and located near the equator. One cycle …

Structural Analysis Of The Mitten Park Reverse Fault And Related Deformation In Dinosaur National Monument, Northwestern Colorado And Northeastern Utah, Clint M. Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An integrated field and structural analysis of the Mitten Park fault-fold structure, northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah, examines its structural origin. The Mitten Park structure is a modified fault-propagation-fold. This new model incorporates faulting, folding, and fracturing in one deformational event to produce the Mitten Park fault and associated monocline.

The largest structure in the study area is the Mitten Park fault and associated monocline. The Mitten Park fault has approximately 127 meters (415 feet) of net slip, strikes S28°W and dips 55°WNW. In the footwall, net shortening was accommodated by reverse and normal faulting. Faulting was the result of …

Hydrochemical Definition Of Ground Water And Surface Water, With An Emphasis On The Origin Of The Ground-Water Salinity In Southern Juab Valley, Juab County, Utah, Heidi K. Hadley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As part of a U.S. Geological Survey study in Juab Valley in central Utah from 1991 to 1994, the chemistry of ground - and surface -water samples was determined. Total dissolved solids in the ground water of southern Juab Valley have historically been higher, in general, than ground water in other areas of Utah. Total dissolved solids for ground-water samples from this study ranged from 623 to 3,980 milligrams/liter. High-sulfate chemical data of previous studies suggested that the major source of ground-water salinity is the dissolution of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate ) from the Arapien Shale. Sulfur-34 to sulfur-32 isotopic …

Measurements Of The Complex Dielectric Constant Of Volcanic Ash From 4 To 19 Ghz, R. J. Adams, Warren F. Perger, William I. Rose, A. Kostinski

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Dielectric data in volcanic ash at weather radar wavelengths (centimeter range) are extremely sparse and are crucial for radar sensing of ash clouds and for imaging of volcanic terrains. This study extends previous data to include a wavelength range of 1.5–7.5 cm and volcanic ash compositions of 50–75% silica. The real part of the complex permittivity, ε′, of volcanic ash is 6 ± 0.5 (1σ) for all wavelengths. The imaginary part, ε″, ranges from 0.08 to 0.27. Both ε′ and ε″ show higher values at lower SiO2 concentration. It is safe to assume in any weather radar applications that the …

Study Of Volcanic Sediments By Microbeam-Pixe Technique, Nazrul I. Khandaker, M. Ahmed, M. A. Garwan

Publications and Research

Single mineral grains in a suite of Cretaceous (85–90 Ma) volcanic sedimentary rocks were analyzed using the microbeam-PIXE technique to understand fundamental geological processes responsible for micro-scale variation in elemental composition across mineral zones, twinning, cleavage planes, fractures and grain boundaries. Distributions of major and trace elements show distinct geochemical features indicative of a specific geological setting and a subsequent diagenetic process in these volcanic sediments. Examples of mineral zoning, microstructures of variable chemistry and post-depositional fluid flow are discussed using the data on feldspar group of minerals.

Ground Water Movement Through The Highly-Fractured Crystalline Core Of A Large-Scale, Foreland Uplift, Roy Al Gorge Arch, South-Central Colorado, Timothy L. Clarey

Dissertations

The objectives of this study were twofold: ( 1) to examine the well-exposed, basement core of the Royal Gorge arch as a large-scale, field test of ground water flow through a fractured, crystalline, aquifer system; and (2) to devise a method to more accurately determine the direction of maximum aperture of a fractured aquifer through structural and hydrogeologic analysis.

The recognition of a preferred direction of maximum aperture in a fractured aquifer remains an important hydrogeologic consideration because flow through a fracture is proportional to the cube of the aperture width. Previous studies of hydraulic directions using fracture orientation techniques …

A Study Of The Chemical And Physical Interactions Between A Wetland And A Shallow Aquifer In Cass County, Michigan, Lisa Marie Anderson

Masters Theses

A study of the ground-water chemistry and flow direction adjacent to a wetland was performed in a major hog producing area. Nested piezometers, consisting of wells 7 to 18 feet deep, were installed around the wetland to determine the vertical distribution of hydraulic head and water-quality parameters. Piezometer elevations were surveyed to determine precise ground-water elevations to delineate the ground-water flow regime around the wetland. Water samples were taken at three different times to analyze water quality and seasonal variations. Analytical parameters included major ions, redox sensitive parameters (DO, nitrate-N, ammonia, iron, and sulfate), and total organic carbon.

Water level …

An Evaluation Of Methods To Determine The Thickness Of Free Product In A Shallow Water Table Aquifer, Ross B. Wagner

Masters Theses

Estimates of the volume of recoverable free phase petroleum product in soils are frequently based on poorly understood empirical methods. These methods, in the form of field tests and/or equations, require simplifying assumptions and apparent product thickness to calculate the thickness or specific volume of free phase product. The purpose of this study was to compare the available methods against each other to cross validate them.

The field methods evaluated at a well with an apparent product thickness of 1.69 feet were: Yaniga's bailer test, split-spoon soil sampling, a test pit excavation and a new tool developed for direct measurement …