Tectonics and Structure Commons^™

Earthquake-Resistant Design And Base Isolation Techniques, Christian George, Jacob Sweeten, Gabriela Cotto, Savion Stewart

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Earthquake-resistant design has become a critical feature in construction near active fault lines, where seismic activity is most frequent and potentially destructive. In recent years, technological advancements have significantly improved methods for protecting buildings from earthquake damage. Among these innovations, base isolation systems have appeared as one of the most effective solutions. By decoupling a building from ground motion, base isolators reduce the transmission of seismic forces, helping to prevent structural damage and support building stability during earthquakes. In addition to improving safety, base isolation systems can also reduce long-term costs associated with earthquake-related repairs and maintenance. Base-isolated structures are …

Evolution Of Propagator Wakes On The Kolbeinsey Ridge From An Integrated Geophysical Perspective, Ethan Stowell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Oceanic lithosphere is formed following the extension and rifting of a continent, with new material generated at mid-ocean ridges. While ridges generally spread in the direction of extension, individual spreading centers are offset by perpendicular transform faults that break the ridges into individual segments. Ridge propagation, in which one ridge segment grows at the expense of another’s shortening, has been identified in global investigations as a poorly understood component of axial reorganization. This process leaves propagator wake structures composed of faults and pseudofaults visible as lows in Earth’s gravitational field, and transferred lithosphere with a distorted magnetic signature. This study …

Mapping Along-Strike Changes In Shallow Subduction Zone Geometry At The Alaska Subduction Zone Using Seismic Reflection And Tectono-Geomorphic Analysis, Madelyn K. Hurd

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Alaska subduction zone, where the oceanic Pacific plate subducts beneath the continental North American plate at a rate of 60-66 mm/yr, has hosted more >M8 earthquakes over the last century than any other subduction zone globally. The largest of these, the 1964 M9.2 Alaska earthquake, ruptured 800 km of the margin, including a high slip patch near the trench offshore Kodiak Island. The 1964 rupture area may have overlapped with the 1938 M8.3 Semidi earthquake rupture zone that lies to the west. Slip propagation near the subduction trench during large earthquakes can control tsunamigenesis, and differences in wedge geometry …

Minerals Rock!: Improving Audience Engagement And Interest In Stem Through Enhancement Of The In-Person And Online Mineral Collection At Ursinus College, Juliette Lyons

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

Museums are a vital source of educational resources for the general public. They provide information on a variety of topics and disciplines and encourage visitors to be excited about and engaged in learning something new. As we work to comprehend key topics such as climate change, it is especially important for the broader public to better understand science, including geology. While the geological collection at Ursinus, Pieces of Earth’s History, is not in a museum, implementing methods that museums use can improve the reception of the collection. Through the application of research gathered through articles, journals, books, and talking with …

Crustal Structure Of The Vøring Plateau And Vøring Spur From Joint Refraction And Reflection Travel-Time Tomography, Anika Nawar Mayeesha

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Crustal architecture of the Vøring Plateau and Vøring Spur in the mid-Norwegian continental margin remains debated because the geophysical data in the area do not uniquely constrain whether the crust is continental, oceanic, or transitional. This study reanalyzes wide-angle ocean-bottom seismometer data from Profile 11-03 across the Vøring passive continental margin using joint travel-time tomography of crustal refractions and Moho reflections. A total of 6,760 first-arrival picks and 542 PmP picks from sixteen instruments were inverted for P-wave velocity and reflector depth. Three starting models were inverted independently to test sensitivity to the initial crustal configuration. The first two used …

Tectonics: Supporting Information For Deformation Rates And Patterns Of The Emerging Banda Ranges Revealed By Uplifted Coral Terraces In Timor-Leste, Ron Harris, Nicole Cox, Megan Flexhaug, Dorothy Merritts, Chua-Chou Shen, Frederico Santos

ScholarsArchive Data

The supplementary information provided consist primarily of figures detailing coral terrace profiles and terrace inner margin elevation to MIS highstand correlations.

• a general overview of the kind of data files;
• a general description of processing steps used;
• any known imperfections or anomalies in the data.

Marine Geophysical Studies Of Coupled Tectonic And Sedimentary Processes At Active Plate Boundaries, Sarah R. Rysanek

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Deep-sea and convergent margin sedimentary systems preserve critical records of tectonic and climatic processes that shape Earth’s surface. This dissertation investigates source-to-sink sediment routing and forearc deformation to better constrain the interplay between sedimentary and tectonic processes, through investigations of a deep-sea fan system, and the forearc geomorphology offshore Nicaragua. In the Gulf of Alaska, we integrate ultra-long-offset and regional multi-channel seismic reflection data, multi-resolution bathymetry, and plate reconstructions to remap the Baranof Fan system. Results show that the fan is larger than previously recognized and constructed by two primary depocenters linked to distinct glacial sediment pathways, with accommodation space …

Mapping Of Petroleum-Prospective Structures In The Jurassic Complex Of The Western Aral Uplift Based On Seismic Attributes, Yuliya Leonidovna Salaydinova, Marina Georgievna Yuldasheva

Technical science and innovation

To solve the problems of identifying and mapping prospective structures, comprehensive analysis of 3D seismic attributes is widely used at the present stage of geological research; it was applied to assess the petroleum potential of the Jurassic rock complex in the Aral Sea offshore area of the Ustyurt region. The study integrates structural mapping on the tops of Permo-Triassic and Jurassic horizons, attribute volumes (Variance/Coherence, Sweetness, root-mean-square (RMS) amplitude, Envelope) and generalized spectral decomposition (GSD, 19-41 Hz), combined with well-log and well-test data from the Western Aral, Meros, Dengiz and Karakum areas. Variance attributes were used to delineate fault zones …

Effect Of Light Elements On The Melting Behavior Of Liquid Iron Alloys Under Earth’S Inner Core Boundary Conditions, Olaniyi Anisere

LSU Master's Theses

The temperature at Earth’s inner core boundary (ICB) is set by the melting temperature of the iron-rich outer core at core pressures, yet this remains uncertain because melting depends strongly on composition and pressure. Light elements are required to explain the core’s density deficit, but the identity, abundance, and combined influence of these elements on melting under ICB conditions are still debated. This thesis quantifies how candidate light elements modify the melting behavior of iron alloys at ICB-relevant pressures and uses these composition-dependent melting relations to constrain ICB temperature.

Melting relations were determined using molecular dynamics simulations in VASP accelerated …

Exploring Mesoproterozoic Marine Redox States In A Young Banded Iron Formation From The Needle Mountains, Jaya Sharma, Brenhin Keller

Wetterhahn Science Symposium Posters

Banded iron formations (BIF), as redox-dependent chemical sedimentary rocks, have served as proxies for marine and atmospheric oxygen and iron conditions throughout Earth history. While abundant in the Archean and early Proterozoic, the widespread deposition of BIFs declined following the Great Oxidation Event, as oxygenated surface waters prevented the accumulation of ferrous iron. However, the Needle Mountains, located in southwestern Colorado, houses an anomalously young BIFs deposited between 1.786±10 - 1.801±6 Ga given existing geochronology. Here, we use rare earth element (REE) systematics, bulk chemistry, and petrographic analysis to determine the depositional conditions under which this BIF was formed. We …

Constraining The Tectono-Climatic Evolution Of The Northern Rocky Mountains: Insights From Volcanic Glass, Leaf Water, And Leaf Wax Hydrogen Isotopes, Rijumon Nandy

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations

The Eocene-Oligocene period in the North American Cordillera represents a period of great intrigue with complex interactions among tectonics, climate, and surface processes. Although this period is generally associated with synorogenic extension associated with gravitational collapse of the Cordillera, the paleotopographic history remains debated. Existing studies offer conflicting interpretations, suggesting either sustained elevations or modest uplift during this time. Notably, recent reconstructions based on volcanic glass δD values have proposed renewed uplift during the early Oligocene, which needs to be tested with a more extensive and robust dataset. Concurrently, global cooling and aridification during this interval may have been amplified …