Sedimentology Commons^™

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction Of Marine Clay Nano- And Microstructure By Transmission Electron Microscopy: Analysis Of Fabric And Pore Network, Jessica Rae Gardner Douglas

Master's Theses

Three-dimensional reconstructions of marine fine-grained sediment open a new dimension for studying nano- and microscale organo-clay fabric important to improving and advancing organic matter (OM) sequestration and fluid flow dynamics modeling. I created 3-D reconstructions of clay fabric and pore pathways from serial sections and photographic mosaics obtained using transmission electron microscopy. These reconstructions show aggregations of clay domains, surrounding OM, and pore networks. I examined a Model sample (laboratory consolidated) with 1% OM and a Natural sample (polychaete fecal pellet) with high levels of OM. Three-dimensional reconstructions were segmented into 300 nm cube subsamples to make highly localized qualitative …

Cave Deposits And Sedimentary Processes In Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean), Joan J. Fornós, Joaquin Ginés, Francesc Gràcia, Antoni Merino Juncadella, Lluís Gómez-Pujol, Pere Bover

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera is an important and protected coastal cave, located in the southern part of the island of Mallorca, that outstands due to its length and the complex processes involved in its speleogenesis. Although sediments are not the main topic of interest, their presence as well as their paleontological contents are valuable evidence for paleoclimatic and chronological reconstructions of the cave morphogenesis. The sedimentary infilling is characterized by a scarce presence of clastic sedimentation, mainly composed of silts and clays, which can only be found at some minor passages in the innermost parts of the cave. …

Application Of Detrital Zircon Geochronology To Determine The Sedimentary Provenance Of The Middle Bloyd Sandstone, Arkoma Shelf, Northern Arkansas, Greg Michael Buratowski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The sedimentary provenance of the middle Bloyd sandstone and subsequent sediment transport and dispersal patterns of the Early Pennsylvanian were interpreted by utilizing U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology. Eight middle Bloyd sandstone samples were analyzed. A total of 855 concordant analyses resulted. Peaks occurred at 350-500 Ma, 950-1200 Ma, 1300-1500 Ma, 1800-2300 Ma, and >2500 Ma. These peaks were determined to represent crystalline source rocks on the Laurentian craton from Acadian-Taconic, Grenville, Midcontinent Granite-Rhyolite, Yavapai-Mazatzal, Paleoproterozoic, and Archean Superior Provinces respectively. Grenville age zircons were the most common zircons identified in the middle Bloyd sandstone samples. The Appalachian Mountain region is …

Relational Database Analysis Of Dated Prehistoric Shorelines To Establish Sand Partitioning In Late Holocene Barriers And Beach Plains Of The Columbia River Littoral Cell, Washington And Oregon, Usa, Tamara Causer Linde

Dissertations and Theses

Studies of episodic shoreline accretion of the Columbia River Littoral Cell (CRLC) have been ongoing since 1964. In this study, the sediment volumes in the late Holocene barriers and beach plains are compiled and formatted in GIS compatible databases for the four sub-cells of the CRLC.

Initial evaluation involved the creation of a geodatabase of 160 dated retreat scarp positions, that were identified on across-shore GPR and borehole profiles. Ten primary timelines were identified throughout the CRLC (0-4700 ybp) and those were used to develop polygon cells. Elevation, distance measurements, and position information were all linked to the polygon through …

Cretaceous-Paleogene Dinoflagellate Biostratigraphy And The Age Of The Clayton Formation, Southeastern Missouri, Usa, Natalie R. Dastas, John A. Chamberlain Jr., Matthew P. Garb

Publications and Research

Sedimentary deposits in Stoddard County, southeastern Missouri, reveal a K-Pg transition sequence represented by the uppermost Maastrichtian Owl Creek Formation and the Paleocene Clayton Formation. The Clayton Formation is characterized by a basal fossiliferous coquinite that contains reworked late Maastrichtian macrofossils. Dinoflagellate biostratigraphy is used to determine the age of the coquinite layer and specifically whether or not it is an end-K tsunamite deposit resulting from the Chicxulub impact event. Results indicate a mixed assemblage of late Maastrichtian and early Danian dinocysts within the basal coquinite of the Clayton Formation. Maastrichtian dinocyst taxa identified are Riculacysta amplexa, Pierceites pentagonus, Phelodinium …

Lithologic Influences On Groundwater Recharge Through Incised Glacial Till From Profile To Regional Scales: Evidence From Glaciated Eastern Nebraska, John L. Gates, Gregory V. Steele, Paolo Nasta, Jozsef Szilagyi

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

[1] Variability in sediment hydraulic properties associated with landscape depositional and erosional features can influence groundwater recharge processes by affecting soil-water storage and transmission. This study considers recharge to aquifers underlying river-incised glaciated terrain where the distribution of clay-rich till is largely intact in upland locations but has been removed by alluvial erosion in stream valleys. In a stream-dissected glacial region in eastern Nebraska (Great Plains region of the United States), recharge estimates were developed for nested profile, aquifer, and regional scales using unsaturated zone profile measurements (matric potentials, Cl⁻ and ³H), groundwater tracers (CFC-12 and SF_{6 …}

Rollover, Drowning, And Discontinuous Retreat: Distinct Modes Of Barrier Response To Sea-Level Rise Arising From A Simple Morphodynamic Model, Jorge Lorenzo Trueba, Andrew Dale Ashton

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We construct a simple morphodynamic model to investigate the long-term dynamic evolution of a coastal barrier system experiencing sea-level rise. Using a simplified barrier geometry, the model includes a dynamic shoreface profile that can be out of equilibrium and explicitly treats barrier sediment overwash as a flux. With barrier behavior primarily controlled by the maximum potential overwash flux and the rate of shoreface response, the modeled barrier system demonstrates four primary behaviors: height drowning, width drowning, constant landward retreat, and a periodic retreat. Height drowning occurs when overwash fluxes are insufficient to maintain the landward migration rate required to keep …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2014, A. R. Young, M. E. Burbach, L. M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Depositional Environment Of The St. Mary River Formation In Western Montana, Stacia M. Martineau

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

In May 2013, the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center (TMDC) began excavation on a dinosaur bonebed in the St. Mary River Formation on Carey Butte, Montana. Since excavation started, four additional bonebeds have been discovered in the surrounding area. They display different depositional environments; two are in sandstone and the other three are in siltstone. The purpose of this study is to provide a depositional setting for the area that links all five sites together comprehensively by examining the sedimentology of the area. A stratigraphic analysis of the St. Mary River Formation of Carey Butte revealed four distinct facies associations. Facies …

Depositional And Sequence Stratigraphic Framework Of An Exposed Neoproterozoic Suprasalt Minibasin At Patawarta Diapir, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, Cora Evelyn Gannaway

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Outcrops of mixed carbonate/siliciclastic strata comprise the Neoproterozoic (Marinoan) Wilpena Group at Patawarta diapir in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Patawarta diapir is a ramping allochthonous salt sheet flanked by suprasalt and subsalt minibasin strata. The stratal and structural attributes of the coeval minibasin fills afford a unique perspective on lateral and vertical salt migration and the impacts of salt-modified bathymetry in shallow marine depositional environments. This study documents the depositional and diagenetic facies, stratal thickness trends, and structural style and stratal geometries of the suprasalt minibasin fill and correlates it to the previously studied subsalt minibasin fill. The goal …

Analysis Of Vesicular Porosity In Soils Using High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomograpy, Judith K. Turk, Robert C. Graham

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Vesicular horizons are common at the surface of arid and semiarid soils and play a critical role in regulating infiltration. Most methods for examining pore morphology in the vesicular horizon involve physical sectioning of the sample and individual measurement of pores, which is time-consuming and provides an incomplete view of the pores. The objectives of this study were to (i) develop methods for the classification and characterization of pores in the vesicular horizon using high resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) and (ii) use these methods to examine the distribution of pores within vesic-ular peds. Three intact peds were scanned by …

The Groundwater Atlas Of Lancaster County, Dana Divine

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Determining Hillslope Diffusion Rates In A Boreal Forest: Quaternary Fluvial Terraces In The Nenana River Valley, Central Alaska Range, Laurel Anne Walker

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The subarctic boreal forest biome is predicted to experience higher magnitudes of warming than other biomes due to climate change. The effects of this warming will be pronounced in areas underlain by discontinuous permafrost where melting permafrost and distinct changes in vegetation patterns are expected. To better understand rates of hillslope diffusion in the boreal forest I have used a geomorphic process modeling approach, using data from a sequence of Quaternary fluvial terraces located in the Nenana River valley of central Alaska. I hypothesized that diffusion rates here would be slower when compared to the mid-latitudes, and faster on north …

Holocene Sedimentary Responses To Growth Faulting In A Back-Barrier Setting: East Matagorda Peninsula, Texas, Phillip Wolfe

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The structural framework of the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal zone is characterized by numerous growth fault systems. Neotectonic processes in coastal marshes in this region have been shown to be important drivers of relative sea-level rise as well as having significant influence on marsh accretion processes. One active growth fault has been identified at East Matagorda Peninsula, Texas. To characterize the Holocene behavior of this fault and the consequent sedimentary responses, a suite of fallout radionuclides (⁷Be, ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb) and radiocarbon, supplemented by sediment physical property data have been used to determine sediment mixing depths, …

Reconstruction Of The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) Palaeotopography In The Upper Yangtze Region, Linna Zhang, Junxuan Fan, Qing Chen, Shuang-Ye Wu

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Reconstruction of the Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) palaeotopography in South China is important for understanding the distribution pattern of the Hirnantian marine depositional environment. In this study, we reconstructed the Hirnantian palaeotopography in the Upper Yangtze region based on the rankings of the palaeo-water depths, which were inferred according to the lithofacies and biofacies characteristics of the sections. Data from 374 Hirnantian sections were collected and standardized through the online Geobiodiversity Database. The Ordinary Kriging interpolation method in the ArcGIS software was applied to create the continuous surface of the palaeo-water depths, i.e. the Hirnantian palaeotopography. Meanwhile, the line transect analysis …

Sedimentologic, Stratigraphic, And Diagenetic Analysis Of Microbialite-Bearing Lacustrine Rift Sequence Within The Lower Cretaceous Yucca Formation, Indio Mountains, West Texas, Xiaowei Li

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study sedimentologically, stratigraphically, and diagenetically analyzed strata of the upper member of the Lower Cretaceous Yucca Formation in the Indio Mountains, West Texas in order to develop an outcrop-based analog model for similar facies that form major hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Pre-salt rift basins of the South Atlantic margin. The lower Cretaceous strata of the Indio Mountains were deposited in rift basins that formed along the eastern margin of the Chihuahua Trough under similar greenhouse climate conditions as the South Atlantic basins.

Eleven lithofacies are recognized from the upper member of the Yucca Formation to the base of the …

4d Evolution Of Fluvial System And Channel-Fill Architecture Of The Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, Wasatch Plateau, Utah: An Integrated Fluvial Rock Record Analysis, Hiranya Sahoo

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Using an integrated dataset comprising outcrop, core, GPR and LiDAR data, this study targets a high-quality outcrop "window" of the upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation in the eastern Wasatch Plateau in central Utah, spanning a fairly large spatial (~30 km² area comprising eight contiguous, and vertical cliff faces) and temporal (~4 my) range. This research provides field-validation and -calibration of a wider range of fluvial heterogeneity: 1) large-scale heterogeneity (10’s of m vertically and 100’s of m laterally), 2) intermediate-scale heterogeneity (1’s of m vertically and 10’s of m laterally), and 3) small-scale heterogeneity (10’s of cm vertically and 1’s …

Sedimentary Provenance Of The Wedington Member, Fayetteville Shale, From Age Relations Of Detrital Zircons, William Tyson Cains

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons collected from the Chesterian Wedington Sandstone allows interpretation of sediment provenance and dispersal patterns in the southern midcontinent during the Late Mississippian. Detrital zircons analyzed from six samples of Wedington Sandstone yielded a final result of 565 concordant analyses used for interpretation. Results are plotted as Probability-Density Plots to interpret the spectrum of ages. Significant peaks occurred at 350-500 Ma, 950-1250 Ma, 1300-1500 Ma, 1600-1800 Ma, 1800-2300 Ma, and >2500 Ma. These peaks are interpreted as sourced by crystalline rocks within the Laurentian craton from Taconic-Acadian, Grenville, Midcontinent Granite-Rhyolite, Yavapai-Mazatzal, Paleoproterozoic, and Superior Provinces. The …

Postglacial Faunal Records From Cave Deposits In Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, Christopher N. Jass, Greg Horne, Dave Critchley

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

In 2009, we initiated an on-going, long term research project that focuses on exploration of fossil-bearing cave deposits in Jasper National Park. Specifically, we were interested in understanding patterns of mammalian re-colonization of mountainous regions following late Pleistocene deglaciation. Our work has focused on the identification of fossil-bearing cave deposits, excavation and sampling of those deposits, and radiocarbon dating of recovered remains. Examined sites have at least an age of 9600 years BP. Research at four cave sites, located in relatively close proximity to one another, is contributing to an improved understanding of the late Quaternary record of Jasper National …

An Apparent Angular Unconformity In Western Connecticut, Stanley Schleifer, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Adisa Charles, Hernando Martinez, Shirley Jackson, Chiemeka Ihebom

Publications and Research

The recent extension, to the north, of the U. S. Route 7 ‘superhighway’ in the town of Brookfield, Connecticut has involved the excavation of crystalline bedrock of lower Paleozoic to upper Proterozoic age in the area. The road cuts produced by this excavation have exposed some interesting features of structure and lithology. An outcrop, observed by the authors off the east side of route 7, at grid coordinates 41.482444 N, 73.415307 W is of particular interest. It appears, to the casual observer to be an angular unconformity. Maps and publications regarding this area of Western Connecticut support the likelihood of …

Unusual Polygenetic Void And Cave Development In Dolomitized Miocene Chalks On Barbados, West Indies, Jonathan B. Sumrall, John E. Mylroie, Hans G. Machel

International Journal of Speleology

Barbados provides an unusual case of polygenetic cave development within dolomitized chalks and marls of the Miocene Oceanics Group. These diagenetic processes are driven by a succession and interplay of tectonic uplift, fracturing, hypogene fluid injection, overprinting by mixing zone diagenesis, and mechanical and biological erosion in the current littoral zone. The significance of the voids and caves within the chalks on Barbados are: 1) these appear to be the first dissolution caves documented in dolomitized chalk, and 2) these features show a polygenetic origin documenting the diagenetic changes in lithology that allowed the development and preservation of these cave …

Scavenging, Cycling And Removal Fluxes Of 210Po And 210Pb At The Bermuda Time-Series Study Site, G. H. Hong, M. Baskaran, T. M. Church, M. Conte

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Quantifying relative affinities of Po and Pb in different populations of marine particulate matter is of great importance in utilizing ²¹⁰Po as a tracer for carbon cycling. We collected and analyzed water samples for the concentrations of dissolved and total ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb from the upper 600 m of the water column at Bermuda Time-series Study site (September 1999 to September 2000) to investigate their seasonality of concentrations and their ac-tivity ratio (²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb activity ratio, AR). Sinking particles collected in sediment traps at depths of 500 m, 1500 m, and 3200 m from …

Accommodation Space Controls On The Latest Pleistocene And Holocene (16–0 Ka) Sediment Size And Bypassing In The Lower Columbia River Valley: A Large Fluvial–Tidal System In Oregon And Washington, Usa, Curt D. Peterson

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we establish the roles that increasing basin accommodation space have on sediment size and bypassing in the transgressive fill (16–0 ka) in the submerged Lower Columbia River Valley (LCRV). The antecedent forearc valley (225 km in length, 4–8 km in width, and 60–115 m in axial valley depth) is characterized by high sediment supply rates (10–15 million t y-1) but no delta at its mouth to the Pacific Ocean. Core sample sediment textures (N ¼ 1600) are analyzed from 3000 m of borehole sections in 58 representative boreholes to characterize the ancestral valley fill: 57% sand, 17% …

Lithic Analysis Of Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site Sediments, Kaitlin M. Hill, George V. Last

STAR Program Research Presentations

The landforms and geologic layers of Southeastern Washington record fascinating, unique geologic events, including repeated catastrophic flooding that occurred during the last Ice Age. These floods left behind many distinctive features, and a variety of fossils. After discovery of mammoth-sized bones in 1999, and confirmation that more bones were still in place in 2008, the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site near Kennewick, Washington was secured for research, and formal excavation began in 2010.

Previous research suggests that the remains are buried in Ice Age flood deposits, which are overlain by eolian sediments, and those in turn overlain by slope wash. We …

Tectonosedimentologic Significance Of The Upper Cretaceous Foreland Basin Siliciclastics: Western Interior, Usa, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

The Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation exposed along the western margin of the western interior foreland basin is composed of clastic sediments that were deposited during the initial late Cretaceous transgressive-regressive phases of the Western Interior Seaway across Wyoming (Figure 1). Current study is aimed at providing attendees with the best practices associated with tectonic, lithofacies and sedimentologic interpretation of foreland basin sequences and emphasizing the need for utilizing field, structural, geochemical, and compositional data for reconstructing a viable scenario connected with foreland basin sedimentary packages. An attempt will be made to compare documented sedimentological findings with foreland basins located in …

Landslides Of Nebraska, Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Insights Into The Timing, Origin, And Deformation Of The Highland Mountains Gneiss Dome In Southwestern Montana, Usa, Lane Markes Boyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Highland Mountains of southwestern Montana offer a unique view of the Archean igneous and metamorphic rocks within the Great Falls tectonic zone (GFTZ). A Paleoproterozoic structural gneiss dome has been interpreted in the southern extent of the Highland Mountains. The ∼ 130km² of exhumed metamorphic rocks and gneiss dome exposed in the Highland Mountains are the primary focus of this research. The formation of the Highland Mountains gneiss dome is proposed to be directly related to a northwest-side down detachment (the Steels Pass shear zone) that formed during terrane collision along the GFTZ. The field investigation determined foliation …

Analysis Of Tripolitic Chert In The Boone Formation (Lower Mississippian, Osagean), Northwest Arkansas And Southwestern Missouri, Paul Marchand Minor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Boone Formation in northwest Arkansas and southwestern Missouri exposes a nearly complete sequence of Lower Mississippian chert-bearing carbonates deposited by a single 3rd order transgression and regression. An abundant amount of chert that has replaced limestone highlights the Boone, but little is understood about the timing and development of chert in Lower Mississippian carbonates. Interpretation of the diagenetic history of the chert, in particular tripolite, has significant implications beyond the outcrop. Determining the origin, timing, and extent of tripolitic chert in the Lower Mississippian System improves reservoir characterization in subsurface petroleum reservoirs in the mid-continent that are laterally equivalent …

Detrital Zircon U/Pb Age Determination: Understanding The Provenance Of The Upper Cretaceous Shumagin Formation, Alaska, Carly F. Roe

Lawrence University Honors Projects

The tectonic evolution of the Chugach-Prince William Terrane (CPW), an accretionary complex along the southern Alaskan margin, has been the subject of much debate. There are two prevailing hypotheses for the location of the CPW at the time of its intrusion by the plutons of the Sanak-Baranof belt, and both require distinctly different source regions for the sediment of the CPW flysch. Therefore, a better understanding of the provenance of these sediments will help constrain the location of the CPW at the time of the deposition of its sediments. This study presents an analysis of new U/Pb detrital zircon, mineralogical …

Subsurface Stratigraphy And Characterization Of Mississippian (Osagean To Meramecian) Carbonate Reservoirs Of The Northern Anadarko Shelf, North-Central Oklahoma, Brett Robert Wittman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mississippian carbonate strata of the midcontinent contain prolific oil and gas reservoirs. Production from these carbonates has been primarily from two reservoir types, the Mississippi "chat" and recently denser chert-rich mudstone intervals. The"chat" interval is a high porosity chert residuum associated with the both the Osagean and basal Pennsylvanian unconformity. The distribution of the "chat" reservoir is discontinuous and heterogeneous. Recent horizontal drilling successes have reinvigorated academic and industry interest in the Lower Mississippian. Much of the activity is now targeting lower porosity, cherty, mudstone intervals of the Reeds Spring and Cowley Formations, which were previously considered to be non-economic. …