Geology Commons^™

Late Cretaceous Foraminifera As Indicators Of Sequence Boundaries, Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A., Kimberly A. Smith

OES Theses and Dissertations

Foraminiferal assemblages were described from three different depositional settings within the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Blackhawk Formation of Utah (known marginal marine environments, known marine environments, and along a suspected sequence boundary). Assemblages from the known marginal marine setting (as defined by sedimentologic-stratigraphic criteria) consisted of entirely agglutinated taxa dominated by Textularia sp. A. Assemblages from the known marine environment consisted of a mix of calcareous and agglutinated species, dominated by calcareous species (e.g., Gavelinella talaria). The foraminiferal assemblages from these known environments provide independent evidence that these sampled areas are characterized by marginal marine and fully marine deposits.

The foraminiferal …

Geophysical Investigation At The Mouth Of The St. Joseph River Valley And Adjacent Lake Michigan Shoreline In St. Joseph And Benton Harbor, Michigan, David L. Seng

Masters Theses

A combination of geophysical methods were employed in an attempt to characterize a small section of the shoreline of the St. Joseph, Michigan, region of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Electrical resistivity and Ground Penetrating Radar profiles conducted along the shoreline and within the nearshore environment reveal a buried valley of the ancestral St. Joseph river. This valley represents incision of the channel during lowered lake levels at the end of the Pleistocene.

Lakeward dipping radar reflectors are identified throughout the study site. Within the buried valley the reflectors are not glacial till as is the case outside the inferred valley …

Vertical Resolution Of A Seismic Survey In Stratigraphic Sequences Less Than 100 M Deep In Southeastern Kansas, Richard Daniel J. Miller, Neil Lennart Anderson, Howard Randall Feldman, Evan K. Franseen

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A 400-m long, 12-fold high-resolution common depth point (CDP) reflection seismic profile was acquired across shallow converging Pennsylvanian strata in the Independence area of southeastern Kansas. One of the principal objectives was to determine practical vertical resolution limits in an excellent shallow seismic-data area with borehole control. The dominant frequency of the CDP stacked data is in excess of 150 Hz based on peak-to-peak measurements. Interference phenomena observed on stacked seismic data incorporated with models derived from log and drill-hole information suggest a practical vertical resolution limit of about 7 m, or one-third of the dominant wavelength. The data suggest …

Sks Splitting Beneath Southern California, Kelly H. Liu, Paul M. Davis, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Measurements of SKS phase splitting were obtained from nineteen seismic stations in southern California. The fast polarization directions are 53° at the southern end of the Great Valley, 82 ± 8° in the western Transverse Ranges and northern Peninsular Ranges, 95 ± 4° in Mojave Desert, and 70° on San Clemente Island. The splitting time ranges from 0.8 to 1.8 seconds, which is consistent with an anisotropic layer of 100 to 200 km thick for 4% anisotropy.

Task Ii Completion Report: Independent Groundwater Characterization And Monitoring Program In Boyd County

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

A Search For The Seasonal Variability On The Depositional Fluxes Of 7Be And 210Pb, M. Baskaran

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Investigations of the atmospheric fallout of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb in many places around the globe indicate that there are seasonal variations on the depositional fluxes of these nuclides: high in winter in a few places, while in most places the high occurs in spring. However, these earlier studies did not address quantitatively the corresponding seasonal variations of the amount of precipitation during these periods. Data on the depositional fluxes of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb in Galveston, Texas, during the years 1989–1991 indicate that the seasonal variation is not uniform from year to year, and the amount of …

1995, Spatial And Temporal Variability Of Late Neogene Equatorial Pacific Carbonate, T. K. Hagelberg, Nicklas G. Pisias, Larry A. Mayer, N. J. Shackleton, Alan C. Mix

Affiliate Scholarship

High-resolution, continuous records of GRAPE wet bulk density (a carbonate proxy) from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 138 provide one the opportunity for a detailed study of eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean carbonate sedimentation during the last 6 m.y. The transect of sites drilled spans both latitude and longitude in the eastern equatorial Pacific from 90° to 110°W and from 5°S to 10°N. Two modes of variability are resolved through the use of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis. In the presence of large tectonic and climatic boundary condition changes over the last 6 m.y., the dominant mode of spatial variability in carbonate …

Seismic Stratigraphy Of The Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean: Paleoceanographic Implications, Stephen F. Bloomer, Larry A. Mayer, Ted C. Moore Jr

Affiliate Scholarship

The collection of Leg 138 well-log and shipboard physical-property data, in conjunction with high-resolution seismic profiles, provides an opportunity to understand the paleoceanographic significance of seismic reflectors and to gain insight into the paleoceanographic evolution of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. A series of eight reflectors or reflector packages were traced between two transects connecting five Leg 138 sites. By generating synthetic seismograms at each of these sites and comparing these to the field records, the origin of these seismic reflectors was determined in terms of physical-property variations and other core measurements. In particular, these reflectors were usually associated with …

Paleoceanography Of The Eastern Equatorial Pacific During The Neogene: Synthesis Of Leg 138 Drilling Results, Nicklas G. Pisias, Larry A. Mayer, Alan C. Mix

Affiliate Scholarship

The primary objective of Leg 138 was to provide detailed information about the ocean's response to global climate change during the Neogene. Two north-south transects were drilled (95° and 110°W) within the region of equatorial divergence-driven upwelling (and thus high accumulation rates and resolution) and spanning the major equatorial ocean current boundaries (and thus recording a high-amplitude signal of the response of the sediment to climatically and/or tectonically driven changes in ocean circulation). The Neogene is marked by a number of well-known climatic and tectonic events (the closing of the Isthmus of Panama, the onset of North Atlantic Deep Water …

Hydrocarbons And Mineral Resources Of The Uinta Basin, Utah And Colorado, United States Department Of The Interior, Indian Affairs Bureau

Mines and Mineral Resources

The Uinta Basin holds special fascination for economic geologists because of its rich and diverse assemblage of mineral and hydrocarbon resources. Due to their presence in rocks of the basin, much effort has been put into assessing and exploiting uranium, phosphate, gold, copper, coal, and evaporite minerals. However, the basin is probably best noted for its extensive and very rich accumulations of hydrocarbons such as, oil, gas, bituminous sandstones, oil shale (shale oil), and gilsonite and other solid and semi-solid hydrocarbon species. More importantly, several of these commodities have proven to be a major source of wealth and resources for …

Bones Of Puffinus Lherminieri Lesson (Aves: Procellaridae) And Two Other Vertebrates From Cueva Del Agua, Mona Isalnd, Puerto Rico (West Indies), Angel M. Nieves-Rivera, John M. Mylroie, Donald A. Mcfarlane

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

From a dive in Cueva del Agua, Mona Island, Puerto Rico, twelve un-mineralized bones of Puffinus Lherminieri Lesson, one of Cyclura stejnegeri Stejneger, and one of Moormops blainvilii Leach were collected. The subfossil evidence confirms that P. Lherminieri was a common species on Mona Island. Cyclura stejnegeri and M. blainvilii probably became trapped and died in the pool chamber.

Geomorphic And Geochemical Evidence For The Source Of Sand In The Algodones Dunes, Colorado Desert, Southeastern California, Daniel R. Muhs, Charles A. Bush, Scott D. Cowherd, Shannon Mahan

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Algodones dunes of southeastern California comprise one of the largest active dune fields in the United States. The source of sand of the Algodones dunes is controversial, and the source of stabilized aeolian sand in the adjacent East Mesa area has not been investigated at all. We used mineralogical compositions and trace element concentrations to ascertain the most likely source of sand for these active and stabilized dunes. Results indicate that alluvium derived from the San Bernardino Mountains, which enters the Salton trough to the northwest of the dune fields, and alluvium derived from the Chocolate Mountains, which is …

Source Of The Northeastern Idaho Batholith: Isotopic Evidence For A Paleoproterozoic Terrane In The Northwestern U.S., Paul A. Mueller, Robert Duncan Shuster, K. A. D'Arcy, A. L. Heatherington, A. P. Nutman, I. S. Williams

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

The northeastern portion of the Idaho batholith (NIB) intruded Proterozoic rocks of the Belt-Purcell supergroup between SO and 90 Ma. Whole-rock Sm-Nd isotopic analyses of batholithic rocks yield depleted mantle model ages (T oM) between 1. 72 and 1.93 Ga and values of eNd between -17. 7 and - 21.2, similar to associated metamorphic rocks and within the range for Belt-Purcell sedimentary rocks. Premagmatic zircons from one sample of the NIB were analyzed individually using the SHRIMP ion microprobe and yielded a single age population at 1.74 Ga. This apparently single-aged source contrasts with the range of ages reported for …

Geologic Map Of Morrill County, Nebraska, James B. Swinehart, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

Morrill County, Nebraska, is perhaps the most geologically interesting county in the panhandle of Nebraska. Surficial deposits of alluvium, colluvium, loess, and eolian sand of Quaternary age cover large parts of the county. Holocene and latest Pleistocene(?) eolian sand as much as 150 It thick covers much of the area north of North Platte Valley and mantles Quaternary alluvial deposits to the south. A thin veneer of loess overlies bedrock in the uplands of the southern part of the county. Alluvium underlies the valley floors and caps river and stream terraces. Two units of older Quaternary alluvium are exposed in …

Bermuda Solution Pipe Soils: A Geochemical Evaluation Of Eolian Parent Materials, Stanley R. Herwitz, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Solution pipes found in the Quaternary eolian and marine carbonates of Bermuda are filled with reddish to reddish-brown soil material. The bulk of the soil is composed of clay and silt-sized quartz and aluminosilicate clay minerals. The carbonates are of high purity and, therefore, are not likely to have been the parent material. Previous workers have hypothesized that Saharan dust may have been the soil parent material. The fine-grained component of loess from the Mississippi River Valley of North America also could have contributed. Paleoclimate models indicate that both North Africa and North America could have been important source areas …

Resource News-Summer 1995

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Organic Facies And Maturation Of Jurassic/Cretaceous Rocks, And Possible Oil-Source Rock Correlation Based On Pyrolysis Of Asphaltenes, Scotian Basin, Canada, Prasanta K. Mukhopadhyay, John A. Wade, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper establishes source rock characterization and oil-oil and oil-source rock correlations of selected organic-rich shale source rocks and selected light oils and condensates from Jurassic and Cretaceous formations of the Scotian Basin. Multiple source rocks of Kerogen Types IIA (oil-prone), IIA-IIB (oil- and condensate-prone), IIB (condensate and gas prone), III (gas-prone), and IV (nonsource) are identified in various stratigraphic horizons. Vitrinite reflectance and T_max data indicate variable maturation histories, in different parts of the basin, which are related to differences in lithology-related heat conductivity and the presence of older sediments closer to areas of rifting. Multiple linear regression …

Long-Term, Storm-Dominated Sediment Dynamics Of East Beach And Sandy Point, San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Rebecca L. Beavers, H. Allen Curran, Willian T. Fox

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Reprinted from: Mark Boardman (ed.), Proceedings of the 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions: San Salvador, Bahamian Field Station

Evidence Of Active Dune Sand On The Great Plains In The 19th Century From Accounts Of Early Explorers, Daniel R. Muhs, Vance T. Holliday

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Eolian sand is extensive over the Great Plains of North America, but is at present mostly stabilized by vegetation. Accounts published by early explorers, however, indicate that at least parts of dune fields in Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas were active in the 19th century. Based on an index of dune mobility and a regional tree-ring record, the probable causes for these periods of greater eolian activity are droughts, accompanied by higher temperatures, which greatly lowered the precipitationto- evapotranspiration ratio and diminished the cover of stabilizing vegetation. In addition, observations by several explorers, and previous historical studies, indicate …

Generalized Classification Of Economic Minerals

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Bouguer Gravity Map Of Kentucky, G. Randy Keller, Donald C. Adams

Map and Chart--KGS

No abstract provided.

High-Carbonate, Low-Silica, High-Calcium Stone In The High Bridge Group (Upper Ordovician), Mason County, North-Central Kentucky, Warren H. Anderson, Lance S. Barron

Information Circular--KGS

The High Bridge Group (Middle Ordovician) of northeastern Kentucky is a major source of limestone and dolomite for construction, agricultural, and industrial stone. These industries require carbonate rocks of high chemical purity. Chemical analyses of foot-by-foot samples from a Mason County core show that three zones of high-calcium and several thick zones of high-carbonate and low-silica stone are present in the High Bridge at a mineable depth. Mason County is located in northeastern Kentucky, on the Ohio River, and offers river access to transportation to the metropolitan Covington-Cincinnati market and the northern portion of the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field for …

Depositional History, Environments Of Deposition, And Hydrocarbon Potential Of The Newcastle Formation (Lower Cretaceous) Of Eastern North Dakota, Gerald G. Mccloskey

Theses and Dissertations

The Newcastle Formation (Albian) in North Dakota is composed primarily of fine grained sandstone, mudstone and shale. This study examined the Newcastle within the eastern two thirds of North Dakota, with the goal of determining the various depositional environments, the depositional history, and the hydrocarbon potential of the unit. A total of 2191 geophysical well logs and 21 lithologic cores were examined. Isopach maps of the Newcastle Formation and the Skull Creek Shale were generated, as was a structural top map of the Mowry Shale.

The depositional history of the unit is directly linked to the regression and subsequent transgression …

Prey Selectivity By Naticid Gastropods From Tertiary Sediments Of The United States Coastal Plain, Robert N. Sickler

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have shown that naticid gastropod predators are highly selective of prey species in accordance with the Kitchell et al. (1981) cost-benefit model. In addition, earlier studies have demonstrated selectivity of drillhole siting and intraspecific prey size. This study focuses on prey selectivity by Oligocene naticid gastropods and is used to test Vermeij's (1987) hypothesis of escalation. The hypothesis of escalation states that biologic hazards have increased during the Phanerozoic and that organisms have either had to adapt to these hazards or face possible extinction (Vermeij, 1987). Naticid predation on molluscan assemblages is one of several examples used to …

Stratigraphy And Structure At The Southern End Of Lake Champlain In Benson, Vermont, Jennifer L. Granducci

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Detailed mapping and structural investigations in an area bound to the west by the Grenvillian basement of the Adirondack Mountains and to the east by the allochthonous slates of the Taconic Mountains led to the distinction of a Western Undeformed Zone and an Eastern Deformed Zone. The former is composed of the gently east-dipping shelf sequence of upper Cambrian to lower Ordovician clastics and carbonates which unconformably overlie the Precambrian basement. The latter is characterized by lower to middle Ordovician carbonates, striking roughly north-south and dipping predominantly to the east, which are overlain by well-cleaved shales and slates. The stratigraphic …

Carbonate Deposition, Pyramid Lake Subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake Levels And Polar Jet Stream Positions Reconstructed From Radiocarbon Ages And Elevations Of Carbonates (Tufas) Deposited In The Lahontan Basin, Larry Benson, Michaele Kashgarian, Meyer Rubin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Most of the tufas in the Pyramid Lake subbasin were deposited within the last 35,000 yr, including most of the mound tufas that border the existing lake. Many of the older tufas (> 21,000 yr B.P.) contained in the mounds were formed in association with ground-water discharge. The radiocarbon (¹⁴C) ages of the older tufas represent maximum estimates of the time of their formation. Lake Lahontan experienced large and abrupt rises in level at ~ 22,000, 15,000, and 11,000 yr B.P. and three abrupt recessions in level at ~ 16,000, 13,600, and 10,000 yr B.P. The lake-level rises …

Conglomerates Of The Upper Middle Eocene To Lower Miocene Sespe Formation Along The Santa Ynez Fault: Implications For The Geologic History Of The Eastern Santa Maria Basin Area, Jeffrey L. Howard

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

The depositional history of the Sespe Formation was studied using sedimentary facies analysis, clast counts, paleocurrent and clast morphological measurements, and petrographic methods. Sedimentation is interpreted to have occurred mainly as part of two depositional sequences in a coastal-braid-plain forearc-basin setting. Both sequences are present in the Santa Ynez Mountains, whereas only the upper sequence is recognized in the eastern Santa Maria basin. The lower sequence is part of a late middle to late Eocene sedimentary offlap attributed to a high input of terrigenous sediment derived mostly from the Mojave Desert region. This sequence is capped by an intraformational erosional …

Effects Of Longwall Mining On Hydrogeology, Leslie County, Kentucky Part 1: Pre-Mining Conditions, Shelley A. Minns, James A. Kipp, Daniel I. Carey, James S. Dinger, Lyle V. A. Sendlein

Report of Investigations--KGS

An investigation of the hydrologic effects of longwall coal mining is in progress in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field. The study area is located in a first-order watershed in southern Leslie County over Shamrock Coal Company's Beech Fork Mine (Edd Fork Basin on the Helton 7.5-minute quadrangle). Longwall panels approximately 700 feet wide are separated by three-entry gateways 200 feet wide. The mine is operating in the Fire Clay coal (Hazard No. 4); overburden thickness ranges from 300 to 1,000 feet. Mining in the watershed began in late summer 1993. Undermining of the instrumented panel (panel 7) is anticipated for …

Preliminary Map Of The Structure Of The Precambrian Surface In Eastern Kentucky, James A. Drahovzal, Martin C. Noger

Map and Chart--KGS

This preliminary interpretation of the Precambrian unconformity surface in eastern Kentucky is based on data available to the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) as of November 1994. In early 1995, additional data became available to the KGS. Subsequent work using the new data should result in a more complete interpretation of the area within the next several years.

The map illustrates the Rome Trough and associated structures of the Precambrian surface, and as such contributes to an understanding of the regional geology, geologic evolution, distribution of energy and mineral resources, and potential geologic hazards. While it cannot be considered a prospecting …

Distribution Of Oil And Gas Wells In Kentucky, Brandon C. Nuttall, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

This map shows the distribution of more than 109,000 wells for which location information is available in the Kentucky Geological Survey's oil and gas well record database.