Geology Commons^™

The Paleoecology And Geomorphology Of Holocene Deposits Of The Southern Malad River, Box Elder County, Utah, Ann Schaffer Elder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Widespread Lake Bonneville sediments have been modified by river aggradation and degradation associated with Holocene fluctuations in the Great Salt Lake. Exposures of exceptionally abundant and well-preserved molluscan deposits in the Bear River Valley, Utah, allow detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene environments. The exposed basal unit consists of largely unfossiliferous deltaic silts and clays deposited during Lake Bonneville time (roughly 11,000 - 13,000 yr B. P.). An unconformity representing at least 2000 yr separates the deltaic material from overlying highly fossiliferous stream sands. Eight species of molluscs, comprising a single community, occupied this low energy stream environment at 7690 ± …

Sedimentology And Community Structure Of Reefs Of The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Matthew J. Novak

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Holocene carbonate sediments from Mexican reefs in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico display variations in constituent composition, texture and mineralogy which are related to their locations on the reefs. Samples were collected at barrier reef environments at Akumal and Chemuyil, on the northeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula; at the oceanic atoll of Chinchorro, off the southeast coast of the peninsula; and at the shelf atoll of Alacranes, in the Gulf of Mexico. Samples were collected through a depth range of 0-40 m, which encompasses back reef, shallow fore reef, and deeper fore reef environments.

Constituent-particle analysis of reef …

Quaternary Geology And Neotectonics Of Southern Star Valley And The Southwest Flank Of The Salt River Range, Western Wyoming, Gregory A. Warren

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Southern Star Valley is a structural and physiographic basin bounded on the east by the southern Star Valley fault, an active normal fault associated with Basin and Range extension. The southern Star Valley fault separates southern Star Valley from the Salt River Range and forms a dramatic north-south trending topographic escarpment. Statistical analysis of relative-age dating (RD) parameters taken from glacial deposits in the Salt River Range defined distinctive age groups for the deposits, and comparison of RD data allowed correlations with late Pleistocene and Holocene glacial deposits elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains. However, the sedimentary lithologies in the glacial …

Spatial And Temporal Variations Of The Pilot Valley Playa Interpreted From Remotely Sensed Images, Llyn Doremus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the Basin and Range Province, the geologic regime of the Pilot Valley, linear trending block faults have isolated many valleys both topographically and hydrologically. Discharge from these arid, closed basins occurs only as evaporation. Minerals dissolved in discharging fluid are precipitated at the valley floor as the liquid evaporates. The resulting salt flats and high density brines are known as playas.

The Pilot Valley Playa surface was sampled concurrently with the recording of a Thematic Mapper remotely sensed image to define the surface conditions that correspond to image data. An association was found between the band 7 (infrared wavelength …

Calcite Cementation Of Pleistocene Glacial Deposits In Southwest Michigan, Robert Lee Tolliver

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Hydrogeologic Characterization Of A Multi-Aquifer System At Station 11 In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Linda G. Jones

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the hydraulic connection between the upper and lower confined glacial drift aquifers. The results of this study are based primarily upon the geologic profiles, a comparison of the head differences within each aquifer, potentiometric surfaces and different lag times for precipitation to reach each aquifer.

Results of the aquifer test showed that the upper confining layer pinches out in the western part of the well field. This area also provided significant recharge to the well field during the aquifer test. Data collected during the aquifer test and the increases in water levels …

The Application Of A Statistical Trend Analysis Program To Ground-Water Quality Monitoring Data From Eight Western Michigan Solid Waste Landfills, Amy Decosta Lachance

Masters Theses

A statistical analysis and interpretation of ground-water chemistry data from eight landfills in Western Michigan was performed. Data were collected over approximately the past ten years, pursuant to the requirements of Michigan's Solid Waste Management Act. A statistical regression model was used to reduce the data to identifiable trends and estimated magnitudes. These results were analyzed with respect to each landfill's characteristics and hydrogeological setting. Comparisons were made concerning the landfills' relative potential for environmental harm. Also, the effectiveness and applicability of this model to the analysis of ground-water monitoring data was assessed.

It was concluded that this analysis and …

Hydrogeology Of Parts Of The Twin Platte And Middle Republican Natural Resources Districts, Southwestern Nebraska, J. W. Goeke, J. M. Peckenpaugh, R. E. Cady, J. T. Dugan, R. A. Engberg

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Late Mesozoic And Cenozoic Tectonism: Atlantic Inner Coastal Plain Margin Near Richmond, Virginia, Andrew A. Gremos

OES Theses and Dissertations

A combined geologic, geophysical, and geomorphic analysis of the Virginia Inner Coastal Plain margin near Richmond was conducted to investigate the presence of basement structures and to evaluate their influence on the overlying sedimentary package and present-day landscape. Basement structures identified included north-northeast and northwest oriented faults that appear to bound and transect a north-northeast trending early Mesozoic basin or basins and other pre-existing zones of weakness. Observed offsets are propagated upward through the pre-Miocene strata in the form of reverse faults and flexuring. Fracture sets measured in the Petersburg Granite and overlying Coastal Plain units, stream drainage lines, and …

Relation Of Groundwater Fluoride Concentrations To Sediment Mineralogy, Potomac Formation (Cretaceous), Southeastern Virginia, Paul Anthony Maciuika

OES Theses and Dissertations

Thirty-seven Early cretaceous sediment samples of the Potomac Formation were obtained from four cores to determine if fluoride bearing minerals are responsible for elevated fluoride concentrations in Potomac Formation groundwaters of southeastern Virginia. Investigative methods included total sediment fluoride and particle size analysis, semiquantitative mineralogical analysis (achieved by X-Ray Diffraction) and statistical methods (cluster, canonical and regression analysis). The sediments showed wide variation in textures, ranging from clean sands and gravels to silty clays. Sediment mineralogies were dependent on the prevailing size fraction, with quartz and feldspar dominating the sand and silt fractions, muscovite primarily being found in the silt …

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Roebourne Plains And Surrounds, Western Australia, A L. Payne, Peter J. Tille

Technical Bulletins

The survey area is located in the North-West Division of Western Australis. It covers part of the Dampier-Barrow Island, Pyramid, Roebourne and Ysrraloola 1: 250,000 scale map sheets and all of the Karatha, Mallina, Pyrsmid, Sherlock, Mt Welcome and Warambie pastoral leases.

The Paleontology And Paleoenvironments Of The Kanawha Black Flint Member And Related Facies, Kanawha Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian), Northwest Boone County And Vicinity, West Virginia, Matthew B. Watson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Kanawha Black Flint member of the Kanawha Formation was deposited in a shallow marine coastal setting with low sand supply and low wave energy. The Kanawha Black Flint member and adjacent coal zones are divisible into five sedimentary facies based on lithology, body and trace fossils and sedimentary structures. Coastal swamps and lakes are represented by thinly laminated carbonaceous shales and coals containing rooted seat rocks and crevasse sandstones with root traces and vertical Calamites trunks.

The offshore facies consists of a gray laminated sideritic shale. Phosphatic and calcareous brachiopods and shallow burrowing bivalves predominate in the offshore assemblage. …

Marine Sediment Classification Using The Chirp Sonar, Lester R. Leblanc, Larry A. Mayer, Manuel Rufino, Steven G. Schock, John King

Affiliate Scholarship

The chirpsonar is a calibrated wideband digital FMsonar that provides quantitative, high‐resolution, low‐noise subbottom data. In addition, it generates an acoustic pulse with special frequency domain weighting that provides nearly constant resolution with depth. The chirpsonar was developed with the objective of remote acoustic classification of seafloor sediments. In addition to producing high‐resolution images, the calibrated digitally recorded data are processed to estimate surficial reflection coefficients as well as a complete sediment acoustic impulse profile. In this paper, surficial sediments in Narragansett Bay, RI are used to provide ground truth for an acoustic model. Quantitative acoustic returns from the chirpsonar …

Seabeam And Seismic Reflection Surveys On The Ontong Java Plateau, Larry A. Mayer, Tom H. Shipley, Edward L. Winterer, David Mosher, Rick A. Hagen

Affiliate Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Water Quality In The Kentucky River Basin, Daniel I. Carey

Information Circular--KGS

Data gathered up to 1990 suggest that water pollution problems existed throughout the Kentucky River Basin. Fecal coliform bacteria in streams was a widespread problem because of the inadequate treatment of municipal wastes, failing septic systems, and agricultural runoff. Iron, lead, manganese, mercury, and silver exceeded State standards and Federal guidelines for drinking water and aquatic life at most of the sample sites for a majority of samples. Aquatic life in many smaller streams in the Knobs region was reduced by chloride discharges from oil and gas operations, according to the Kentucky Division of Water. Organic enrichment and high nutrient …

Paleoenvironmental Analysis Of Three Subfossil Coleopteran Faunas From The Toklat River Drainage, Central Alaska, Lisa L. Churchill

Senior Scholar Papers

Three sediment samples were collected from exposures along the Tok lat River. Central Alaska and analyzed for subfossil Coleopteran remains. Two samples arc Holocene in age (650 ± b.p .. and submodem) and the other is believed to be laic Pleistocene in age, based on stratigraphic interpretations. The Pleistocene fauna was representative of a tundra environment adjacent to a fluvial system. The older Holocene sample was indicative of a point bar deposit wi rh sl ightly moister conditions. although rhe occurrence of several tundra species was also noted. These tundra species were evidently able to make the transition from their …

Resource News-May/June 1992

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Aminostratigraphy And Oxygen Isotope Stratigraphy Of Marine Terrace Deposits Palos Verdes Hills And San Pedro Areas Los Angeles County California, Daniel R. Muhs, Gifford H. Miller, Joseph F. Whelean, George L. Kennedy

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Amino acid and oxygen isotope data for fossils from terraces of the Palos Verdes Hills and San Pedro areas in Los Angeles County California shed new light on the ages of terraces sea level history marine paleotemperatures and late Quaternary tectonics in this region Low terraces on the Palos Verdes peninsula correlate with the 80 ka and 125 ka sea level highstands that are also recorded as terraces on other coasts In San Pedro the Palos Verdes sand the deposit on what is mapped as the first terrace by Woodring and others 1946 was previously thought to be a single …

Solid Waste Management In Seismic Impact Zones, Raymond R. Burchett

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Petrology Of The High-Alumina Hoosac Schist From The Chloritoid+Garnet Through The Kyanite+Biotite Zones In Western Massachusetts, John T. Cheney, John B. Brady

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The eastern limb of the Berkshire anticlinorium of western Massachusetts (Figure 1) is a complex, multiplydeformed, polymetamorphic, Taconian/Acadian orogenic terrane. The geologic framework of this area is well established, originally by the mapping of B.K. Emerson (1892, 1898, 1899) and Pumpelly et al. (1894), as summarized on the Massachusetts geologic map of Emerson (1917), and more recently by the mapping of L.M. Hall, N.L. Hatch, S.A. Norton, P.H. Osberg, N.M. Ratcliffe, and R.S. Stanley, as summarized on the Massachusetts geologic map of Zen et al. (1983). The summary reports of USGS Professional Paper 1366 in 1988 as well as the …

Nebraska Mineral Operations Review, 1991, R. R. Burchett, Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Natural And Technological Disasters: Causes, Effects And Preventive Measures, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Geology And Stratigraphy Of The Western Kentucky Coal Field, Stephen F. Greb, David A. Williams, Allen D. Williamson

Bulletin--KGS

The Pennsylvanian rocks of the Western Kentucky Coal Field produce between 40 and 55 million tons of coal a year from as many as 45 coal seams; however, three seams produce more than 75 percent of the total. In addition, Pennsylvanian strata contain numerous oil and natural gas reservoirs, tar-sand reservoirs, and industrial minerals. Pennsylvanian sandstones are also some of the most important bedrock aquifers in the coal field. Because of the economic importance of the Pennsylvanian strata to the region and the Commonwealth as a whole, a better understanding of these rocks is needed. This description of the nomenclature …

Low-Silica And High-Calcium Stone In The Newman Limestone (Mississippian) On Pine Mountain, Letcher County, Southeastern Kentucky, Garland R. Dever Jr., Thomas L. Robl, Jack R. Moody, Frank H. Walker, George W. Ellsworth Jr., Lance S. Barron

Information Circular--KGS

The coal industry of Kentucky is an important market for limestone. Coal producers use limestone as rock dust for explosion abatement in underground coal mines and as a neutralizing agent in surface-mine reclamation and acid-drainage control. Haulage-road construction and maintenance require crushed stone.

Coal-bearing rocks of Pennsylvanian age in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field generally do not contain limestones that are sufficiently thick to quarry or mine economically, but in the southeastern part of the coal field, fault movement has brought the Newman Limestone to the surface along Pine Mountain. The Newman was sampled at three sites in Letcher County …

Geologic Highway Cross Sections: Interstate Highway 75 Conway, Kentucky, To Jellico, Tennessee, Donald R. Chesnut Jr.

Map and Chart--KGS

Highway roadcuts along Interstate Highway 75 from Conway, Kentucky, to Jellico, Tennessee, expose Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks in south-central Kentucky (Fig. 1). The roadcut exposures offer easy access and stratigraphic variety for educational purposes, and are ideal for high school, university, and professional geology field trips. Several national and international field trips, and many out-of-State university field trips have examined these exposures. In addition, scientific studies involving elastic and carbonate sedimentology, coal geology, paleontology, biostratigraphy, and karst (cave) development have been undertaken along this road.

Design, Construction, And Monitoring Of The Ground-Water Resources Of A Large Mine-Spoil Area: Star Fire Tract, Eastern Kentucky, David R. Wunsch, James S. Dinger, Page B. Taylor

Report of Investigations--KGS

By the year 2010, the Star Fire mining operation in Knott, Breathitt, and Perry Counties in eastern Kentucky, which uses mountaintop-removal and hollow-fill mining techniques, will have created approximately 5,000 acres of gently rolling terrain that could support alternative land uses. The present research is centered on approximately 1,000 acres of spoil created since mining began in 1981. An aquifer fed by both ground and surface water will be created within the spoil. Spoil-handling techniques such as cast blasting, dragline placement, end dumping by trucks, and surface grading have created porous coarse-rock zones within the spoil through which ground water …

Denitrification In The Elk Valley Aquifer, Northeastern North Dakota, Gale G. Mayer

Theses and Dissertations

Biological denitrification controls nitrate distribution in the Elk Valley aquifer, which underlies approximately 725 square kilometres of northeastern North Dakota and provides drinking water for farms and rural communities in the area. Increased irrigation has raised concerns over potential contamination from agricultural practices. The purpose of this study was to establish the role of biological denitrification in minimizing concentration and distribution of nitrate and to determine the effect irrigation practices have on groundwater flow and nitrate distribution in the saturated zone.

The aquifer is unconfined and consists of up to 20 metres of glacial outwash and deltaic shale-rich sand deposits. …

The Stratigraphy And Sedimentology Of The Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene) In South-Central Williams County, North Dakota, Wesley D. Peck

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 163 meters (535 feet) of the Paleocene Sentinel Butte Formation crop out in southcentral Williams county, North Dakota. To determine their mode of deposition and stratigraphic position within the formation, twelve stratigraphic sections were measured. These strata were deposited in alternating fluvial and lacustrine environments as determined by sedimentary structures, lithology, lithologic sequences, and fossil occurrences. A fining upward trend in grain size of the tabular sandstones, and the identification of epsilon cross-stratification in the tabular sandstones support a fluvial origin for some of the strata. The strongest evidence for the interpretation of lacustrine deposition is the presence of …

The Origin Of Metalliferous Argillites In The Shoal Arm Formation Of North-Central Newfoundland, Volker Brüchert

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Middle Ordovician Shoal Arm Formation, which is located in the central volcanic belt of north-central Newfoundland, is a tripartite assemblage of hematitic argillites, grey cherts, and black shales directly underlying a flysch sequence. The hematitic argillites are enriched in Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Co. Factor analysis and principal component analysis indicate the presence of a hydrothermal component, presumably derived from hydrothermal activity in the coeval Lawrence Head volcanics. Unusual, (?) calcareous Mn-Fe-oxide nodules are present in the top parts of turbidites in the hematitic argillites. Electron microprobe analysis of a color transition from a red to a green …

Thermal-Mechanical Response To An Intruding Magma Chamber, Christoph Arz

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The thermal-mechanical response of rock at shallow to medium depth beneath the earth's surface has been modeled as a magma body ascends toward it. The overall stress field is calculated by considering the country rock as a viscous fluid, a thermal-elastic material, or as an elasto-plastic material that fractures when its strength is overcome.
The stress field within and around a spherical magma body surrounded by a homogeneous, Newtonian fluid has been evaluated and can be used at deeper levels in the earth's crust where the viscosity of the country rock is relatively low. With decreasing depth wall rock material …