Geology Commons^™

The Effects Of Air Sparging On Aquifer Hydraulic Conductivity, Hans Neve

Masters Theses

Air sparging is a relatively new technology used to remove organic contaminants from aquifers. This remediation technique involves injecting into contaminated portions of water table aquifers. Theoretically air sparging will reduce aquifer hydraulic conductivity. Injected air fills some of the available sediment pores, thus restricting the flow of water to the remaining water-filled pore spaces.

The purpose of this study was to measure the reduction in hydraulic conductivity due to air sparging. This was assessed using both laboratory and field techniques. The hydraulic conductivities of several different sediments were determined in the laboratory using a large constant head permeameter modified …

Evaluation Of Bail-Down Test Methods For Characterizing Free Product Recoverability From An Aquifer, Laura L. Krol

Masters Theses

Determination of the occurrence and recoverability of free product impacting the subsurface environment has been an on-going challenge in the environmental industry. A simple and relatively inexpensive test to perform in the field is the free product bail-down test. Many authors have proposed various analysis methods using these data for the determination of different free product characteristics.

The purpose of this project was to determine the comparability and possible validity of bail-down test interpretation methods for predicting hydrocarbon hydraulic conductivity/transmissivity and true free product thickness. Bail-down test data collected from two sites were analyzed and interpreted using methods from the …

The Variability Of Carbon Dioxide In The Vadose Zone, John J. Ring

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to observe and attempt to explain the variations of carbon dioxide in the vadose zone of a nature area in southwestern Michigan. Well nests, consisting of discrete soil gas sampling points and temperature probes set at depths ranging from 3 to 53 feet, were constructed in a sandy, glacial outwash plain. Soil samples were collected for analysis of organic carbon content during installation. Soil gas samples were collected periodically from June, 1992 to March, 1993 and analyzed for CO₂ and O₂ concentrations. Occasionally, samples were collected and analyzed for isotopic C^{13 …}

Mafic Volcanism In The Colorado Plateau: Basin And Range Transition Zone, Hurricane, Utah, Alexander Sanchez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Hurricane volcanic field (HVF) is a small-volume (0.48 km³) mafic volcanic field in the Colorado Plateau/Basin & Range Transition Zone located in the eastern part of the St. George basin in southwestern Utah. Strombolian-Hawaiian style eruptions produced thin (10 m) a'a lava flows and cinder (scoria) cones composed of vesicular basalt, bombs and agglutinate. Radiometric dating and geologic relationships demonstrate that the HVF formed over a period of at least 100,000 years. In the upper crust, magma probably rose along joints in sedimentary rocks because chains of volcanic vents follow joint orientation maxima in sedimentary rocks.

Three …

Geochemical Evolution Of A Mid-Miocene Synextensional Volcanic Complex: The Dolan Springs Volcanic Field, Northwestern Arizona, Scott Michael Mcdaniel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Dolan Springs volcanic field (DSV), of northwestern Arizona, is dominated by andesite and basaltic-andesite flows and breccias, with minor amounts of basalt, rhyolite, and ash-flow tuff. Geochemistry is used here as a tool to evaluate the roles and contributions of the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantles to magmatism related to Miocene extension in the Colorado River extension corridor (CREC). The majority of synextensional volcanic rocks in the DSV are geochemically similar to regional trends, but rare tholeiitic basalts erupted near the end of extension. The tholeiites have trace element signatures similar to ocean island basalt (OIB), but have isotopic values …

Soil Acidity. A Reference Manual., Linda Leonard, Mike D. Bolland

Natural resources published reports

This publication is intended as a guide for consultants, development officers and field representatives for the extension of soil acidity in Western Australia.

Most Western Australian soils are naturally acidic. Acid peaty sands in the high rainfall area of the South West are the only W.A. soils in which natural acidity has been treated routinely before productive agriculture was introduced. There are approximately 100, 000 hectares of acid, peaty sands scattered through coastal districts between Pemberton and Rocky Gully districts.

Geology And Geochemistry Of Tertiary Volcanic Rocks In The Northern Reveille And Southern Pancake Ranges, Nye County, Nevada, Kelly Brian Rash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The northern Reveille and southern Pancake Ranges, located in the south-central Great Basin, experienced a prolonged history of Tertiary volcanism. Volcanic activity in this area began with the eruption of large-volumes of ash-flow tuffs from calderas of the central Nevada caldera complex. The Reveille Range and the southernmost portion of the Pancake Range are the site of two calderas that are the sources for the tuff of Goblin Knobs and tuff of northern Reveille Range. The tuff of Goblin Knobs (70.4-75.3 wt.% SiO₂) erupted from the caldera of Goblin Knobs (25.6 Ma) and is the thickest (~1700 m) …

The Petrology Of The Precambrian Roof Pendants Thompson Peak, Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho, Susan Denise Anderson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Tectonic Denudation Of Mesozoic Contractile Structures By A Low-Angle Normal Fault And Associated Faults, Southern White Pine Range, Nevada, Holly Langrock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Blackrock Canyon area in the southern White Pine Range, Nevada mostly consists of the highly extended upper plate of a low-angle normal fault, the Blackrock fault. The post-31.3 Ma Blackrock fault places upper Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and overlying Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Garret Ranch Group in its hangingwall against a 50 degrees E-dipping homocline of Cambrian through Mississippian rocks in its footwall. The 15 to 30 degrees W-dipping Blackrock fault is non-planar and consists of two fault segments and a pronounced corrugation, the Bull Spring corrugation. These geometric irregularities suggest the slip direction on the fault was east-southeast …

Stratigraphy, Chemistry And Petrogenesis Of Volcanic Rocks Of The Mid-Tertiary Boot Heel Volcanic Field, Southwestern New Mexico And Southeastern Arizona, Charles R. Bryan

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The mid-Tertiary Boot Heel volcanic field is located in the Basin and Range Province of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. The field is defined on the basis of nine regional ash-flow tuffs, which have been correlated throughout the area, and for which probable source cauldrons have been identified. These tuffs are: tuff of Woodhaul Canyon (35.3 Ma); Bluff Creek Tuff (35.1 Ma); tuff of Steins (34.4 Ma); Oak Creek Tuff (33.5 Ma), tuff of Black Bill Canyon (stratigraphically constrained to 32.7-33.5 Ma); Gillespie Tuff (32.7 Ma); tuff of Horseshoe Canyon (27.6 Ma); Park Tuff (27.4 Ma); and Rhyolite Canyon …

Palynological Characteristics Of Near-Shore Shell-Bearing Pliocene Through Holocene Sediments Of Florida, Georgia, And South Carolina, Fredrick J. Rich

Earth, Environment & Sustainability: Faculty Publications

Seventeen pollen-bearing samples· from sites in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida were analyzed for their pollen content. The samples range in age from Late Pliocene to Holocene. The initial objective of the study was to use the samples to help define the age of the physiographic feature known as Trail Ridge. All samples were marine sediments, and many were from marine mollusk-dominated strata. Pollen of Pinus and Quercus were abundant in all samples; Taxodium was abundant in about half of them. Carya, Liquidambar, Compositae, Gramineae, and ChenopodiaceaeAmaranthaceae were present as accessory taxa. Dinoflagellate cysts, microforams, and pyrite were present, or …

Groundwater Study: Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Usa Georgetown, Kentucky, Gary Felton, Lyle V. A. Sendlein, Teri Dowdy, Daryl Hines

KWRRI Research Reports

An eighteen month study of the Toyota Motor Manufacturing (TMM) plant site and the surrounding area was undertaken. The basic charge for this project was to characterize the groundwater that is potentially impacted by the TMM plant site. This included occurrence, flow direction, and, if possible, velocity. Because the area is karstified (has sinkholes, springs, caves, etc.) surface water and groundwater are intimately connected and, hence, surface water was frequently an important component of this work.

Data from TMM construction plans and monitoring work done subsequent to construction were elicited from the various repositories within the TMM infrastructure. Aerial color …

Geochemistry Of The Boring Lava Along The West Side Of The Tualatin Mountains And Of Sediments From Drill Holes In The Portland And Tualatin Basins, Portland, Oregon, Michelle Lynn Barnes

Dissertations and Theses

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) was used to identify geochemical groups in Boring Lava along the west side of the Tualatin Mountains, and in sediments of the Portland and Tualatin basins. Samples of Boring Lava were obtained from TriMet drill core collected during planning of the tunnel alignment for the Westside Light Rail line. Additional samples of Boring Lava were collected from outcrops along the west side of the Tualatin Mountains. Samples of sediment from the Tualatin and Portland basins were obtained from drill core collected during an Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) Earthquake Hazards Mapping project. …

"A Geological Interpretation Of The Stanley Fault And Other Thrust Faults In Page County, Virginia", Michael James Sarros

OES Theses and Dissertations

Paleozoic carbonate rocks flooring Page Valley (within Page County) are overthrust by Precambrian to Cambrian elastic rocks of the Blue Ridge to the east of the study area. King (1950) recognized that the Cambrian carbonate sequence of Page Valley, near Stanley, Virginia, is broken by a large transverse fault which he named the Stanley fault. King (1950) interpreted the Stanley fault as a high-angle reverse fault with oblique-slip displacement. However, detailed mapping and structural data collected in this study indicate the Stanley fault is a low angle thrust fault which cuts all pre-Alleghanian and Early Alleghanian structures.

Two previously unrecognized …

An Improved Method For Determining And Characterizing Alignments Of Point-Like Features And Its Implications For The Pinacate Volcanic Field, Sonora, Mexico, Tim Lutz, J T. Gutmann

Earth & Space Sciences Faculty Publications

We present an improved method for determining statistically significant alignments of pointlike features. One of the principal such methods now in use, the two-point azimuth method, depends on a homogeneous distribution of points over the region of interest. Modification of this approach by use of the relatively new statistical technique of kernel density estimation permits treatment of heterogeneous point distributions without introducing substantial dependence on choice of the grid employed in the test for significance of apparent preferred orientations. The improved method can selectively reveal alignments on different spatial scales and can suggest the locations of alignments as well as …

Comments On “Measurements Of 7Be And 210Pb In Rain, Snow, And Hall”, M. Baskaran

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

No abstract available

Constraints On Present-Day Basin And Range Deformation From Space Geodesy, Jeffrey Lee, Timothy H. Dixon, Stefano Robaudo, Marith C. Reheis

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We use new space geodetic data from very long baseline interferometry and satellite laser ranging combined with other geodetic and geologic data to study contemporary deformation in the Basin and Range province of the western United States. Northwest motion of the central Sierra Nevada block relative to stable North America, a measure of integrated Basin and Range deformation, is 12.1±1.2 mm/yr oriented N38°W±5° (one standard error), in agreement with previous geological estimates within uncertainties. This velocity reflects both east-west extension concentrated in the eastern Basin and Range and north-northwest directed right lateral shear concentrated in the western Basin and Range. …

Deep-Well Data Base For Nebraska, Duane R. Mohlam, Raymond R. Burchett

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Data From The Deep-Rock Samples On File From Wells Drilled In Nebraska, Duane R. Mohlman

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Distribution Of Naturally Occurring Soil Radionuclides And Radon Potential Of Northwest Oregon, Stuart Graham Ashbaugh

Dissertations and Theses

Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced as one of the decay products of soil/rock uranium and thorium, is considered to be a leading cause of pulmonary disease. Gamma spectrometry of 146 samples of soil were used to quantify radon source potential relative to lithology by measuring Bi²¹⁴ activity of the U²³⁸ decay series. Additional soil radio nuclide data (Th²³², Ac²²⁸, K40 and C¹³⁷ ) were used to help identify regional source provenance geochemistry and soil development. Ac²²⁸, Bi²¹⁴ and Th²³² activities in northwest Oregon soils range from five …

A Hydrologic Analysis Of Government Island, Oregon, Scott Gregory Bittinger

Dissertations and Theses

Government Island, located in the Columbia River approximately 16 km (10 mi) upstream of the confluence with the Willamette River, is a wetland mitigation site prompted by expansion of the southwest quadrant of Portland International Airport. The purpose of the study is to predict water levels in two enclosed lowland areas, Jewit Lake and Southeast Pond, based on levels of the Columbia River, precipitation, and evapotranspiration. Mitigation is intended to convert 1.13 km² (237 acres) of seasonally flooded wetland to 1.27 km² (267 acres) of semi-permanently flooded wetland and seasonally flooded wetland.

Flooding of the wetland is most …

Late Quaternary Glacial Geology, Shoreline Morphology, And Tephrochronology Of The Lliamna/Naknek/Brooks Lake Area, Southwestern Alaska, Karen B. Stilwell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study focuses on the late-Wisconsin Brooks Lake glaciation, lake-level fluctuations, and volcanic deposits in the lliamna/Naknek/Brooks Lake area on the northern Alaska Peninsula, southwestern Alaska. The Brooks Lake glaciation consists of five stades, from youngest to oldest: Kvichak, Iliamna, Newhalen, Iliuk, and Ukak. This thesis reassigns the type Mak Hill moraine to a pre-late-Wisconsin glaciation, and considers the moraine enclosing Naknek Lake an early-late-Wisconsin deposit correlative to either the Kvichak stade, lliamna stade, or both. The presence in the Iliamna Lake valley, and the absence in the Naknek Lake valley of a two-fold earliest-late-Wisconsin Kvichak/Iliamna glacial sequence suggest that …

A Petrographic And Fluid Inclusion Study Of The Purple Vein And Post/Betze Orebodies, Carlin, Nevada, Jan B. Lamb

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Purple Vein (Meikle Mine) and Post/Betze orebodies, two Carlin-type, gold deposits, display important differences in size, alteration, silicification, pyritization, and gold grade. A core hole was examined from each deposit to gather petrographic and microthermometric data to determine the mineral paragenesis, to determine fluid pressure, temperature, and composition to compare of the two orebodies, and to determine depths of formation.

The parageneses determined were divided into three stages. (1) The Early Mineralization Stage contains quartz, pyrobitumen, barite, sphalerite, sulfosalts, quartz, and pyrite in the Purple Vein deposit and consists of calcite in the Post/Betze deposit. High salinity basinal brines, …

An Understanding Of Factors Controlling Isotopic Ratios Of Wine As A Potential Surrogate Of Past Precipitation, Eric Alan Caldwell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Precipitation, vapor water, ground water, soil water, grape berry and grape leaf water, grape must, and vintage wines were collected from northern California for stable isotopic analysis. An understanding of factors controlling isotopic ratios of wine allows evaluation of wine as a surrogate of past precipitation. Stable isotopic compositions of grape berry waters collected at Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley. CA range from -31 to -17 per mil in 8D and +7.2 to +15.3 per mil in 8180, and plot along a transpiration line of slope 2. 7. Grape leaf waters range from -25 to +5 per mil in …

Groundwater And Surface-Water Interactions Along Lower Medano Creek, Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado, Gregg L. Hadlock

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objectives of this investigation are as follows: 1) review the existing hydrogeologic data for the San Luis Valley, the Great Sand Dunes Monument, and Medano Creek; 2) review the surface-water data that have been collected on Medano Creek; 3) collect or review previously collected water-level data obtained in the area of lower Medano Creek and correlate them with the surface-water data; 4) conduct constant-head permeameter tests on sand samples collected near the ground surface along lower Medano Creek; 5) produce a conceptual model of lower Medano Creek; and 6) produce a numerical model of lower Medano Creek that will …

Analysis Of Perched Groundwater Bodies Beneath The Radioactive Waste Management Complex At The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Alan V. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The migration of radionuclides and volatile chemicals through a thick sequence of unsaturated basalts and sedimentary interbeds has been documented in the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The three mechanisms by which this migration may have occurred are seasonal infiltration from the ground surface within the SDA; flood events in 1962, 1969, and 1982; and the lateral movement of water from the spreading areas located nearby. It is currently thought that the contaminants migrated through the unsaturated sediments and basalt flows during the three flood events.

Transducers …

The Quaternary Geology Of The Eastern Side Of The Greys River Valley And The Neotectonics Of The Greys River Fault In Western Wyoming, L. C. Allen Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Greys River fault is the easternmost active normal fault associated with Basin and Range extension in the lntermountain seismic belt. It is a north-south trending normal fault, located in the Sevier-age fold and thrust belt of western Wyoming, and bounds the west side of the Wyoming Range. The fault is at least 54 km long, and juxtaposes Permo-Pennsylvanian Wells Formation against various Triassic formations. Throw ranges from 100-1000 m. Seismic reflection data suggest that the Greys River fault is a listric normal fault that soles into the Darby thrust at depth. The fault offsets late Quaternary deposits on the …

Geology Of The Ogallala/High Plains Regional Aquifer System In Nebraska: Field Trip No. 6, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

This guide is mostly figures with a reference section containing some of the pertinent literature on the Cenozoic geology we will see over the next four days. We will make all 17 stops if the weather is reasonably good and the roads are passable. On the first day, April 29, we will try to get to stops 1–5, the more distal parts of the Ogallala and younger deposits in Nebraska. On April 30, we will try to visit stops 6–9. Stops 10–15, in areas closer to the sediment sources of the Ogallala and some of the younger units, will be …

Hydrogeochemical Delineation Of A Groundwater Flow System, Berrien County, Michigan, Patrick J. Bartnik

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the possibility of determining groundwater flow directions from natural variations in groundwater chemistry. Groundwater samples were analyzed for major cation and anion concentrations. These data were to have been contoured and then compared with groundwater flow maps generated by conventional methods. The purpose was to determine whether a correlation could be drawn between the two methods. However, the results of the study did not allow for this comparison.

The plotted major cation and anion data did not lend themselves to contouring, which suggests that greater control may be required during the selection …

A Feasibility Study For Using Computerized Water Well Records To Delineate Areas Of Recharge-Discharge Potential, Lauren D. Hughes

Masters Theses

A method for delineating areas of recharge-discharge potential has been developed utilizing computerized water well records. The methodology is based on the vertical head differences found between wells with shallow depths of submergence and those with deeper depths of submergence. The residual values generated represent the magnitude of vertical potential and can be contoured to delineate areas of recharge-discharge potential. Well data were obtained from the Kalamazoo County Groundwater Database. Well selection was based on depth of submergence and total well depth.

The methodology was tested in Texas and Schoolcraft Townships, the Donnell Lake Study Area, and Kalamazoo County. Regularly …