Geology Commons^™

New Surficial Geologic Mapping In Kentucky (2021-2022), Matthew Massey, Antonia Bottoms, Max Hammond Iii, Ann Hislop, Meredith Swallom, Michele M. Mchugh

Kentucky Geological Survey Research Data

New surficial geologic mapping was performed in nine new 7.5-minute quadrangles in Hardin, Meade, Breckinridge, Grayson, Hart, and Larue Counties, Kentucky. Quadrangles include Big Clifty, Big Spring (Hardin county only), Custer (Hardin County only), Flaherty, Madrid (Hardin county only), Millerstown, Summit, Tonieville (Hardin county only), and Upton. Mapping data for each of the nine quadrangles is captured in a ZIP file that contains an ESRI geodatabase and associated FGDC-compliant metadata files (.xml). The geodatabase is a relational geodatabase of spatial and non-spatial data that conforms to "GeMS (Geologic Map Schema)--a standard format for digital publication of geologic maps", available at …

Kentucky Geological Survey Landslide Inventory [2023-03], Matthew M. Crawford

Kentucky Geological Survey Research Data

The KGS landslide inventory provides the locations of known landslides and areas susceptible to debris flows. Various types of landslides are represented including slides, flows, rockfalls, and creep. The data are available as ArcGIS geodatabase feature classes. Landslide locations and associated attributes are compiled from Kentucky Geological Survey research, published maps, state and local government agencies, the public, and media reports. A confidence ranking system assigns a value to each feature. A description of the feature classes is here: https://kgs.uky.edu/kgsmap/helpfiles/landslide_help.shtm

The inventory viewed in a GIS with geology, soils, slope or other terrain-based data can serve as a basis for …

Coral Gardens Reef, Belize: An Acropora Spp. Refugium Under Threat In A Warming World, Lisa Greer, H. Allen Curran, Karl Wirth, Robert Humston, Ginny Johnson, Lauren Mcmanus, Candice Stefanic, Tara Clark, Halard Lescinsky, Kirah Forman-Castillo

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Live coral cover has declined precipitously on Caribbean reefs in recent decades. Acropora cervicornis coral has been particularly decimated, and few Western Atlantic Acropora spp. refugia remain. Coral Gardens, Belize, was identified in 2020 as a long-term refugium for this species. This study assesses changes in live A. cervicornis coral abundance over time at Coral Gardens to monitor the stability of A. cervicornis corals, and to explore potential threats to this important refugium. Live coral cover was documented annually from 2012– 2019 along five permanent transects. In situ sea-surface temperature data were collected at Coral Gardens throughout the study period …

The Fate Of Carbonate Rocks During Hypervelocity Impacts: Case Studies From Three Impact Structures On Earth, Nicolas D. Garroni

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Approximately 28% of all hypervelocity impact structures discovered on Earth exist in a carbonate-dominated target sequence. Despite decades of research, how carbonate rocks and minerals react to shock metamorphism is still poorly understood. In this contribution, three impact structures on Earth were studied to determine the effects of shock metamorphism on carbonate minerals: Chicxulub, Crooked Creek and Jebel Waqf as Suwwan.

At Chicxulub, carbonates from the impact-melt bearing breccia of drill core, M0077A were characterized petrographically and geochemically. Calcite was the only carbonate mineral present and is abundant throughout the impact breccia in five distinct varieties: limestone clasts …

Seismic Azimuthal Anisotropy Beneath A Fast Moving Ancient Continent: Constraints From Shear Wave Splitting Analysis In Australia, Kailun Ba, Stephen S. Gao, Jianguo Song, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seismic Azimuthal Anisotropy Beneath Australia is Investigated using Splitting of the Teleseismic PKS, SKKS, and SKS Phases to Delineate Asthenospheric Flow and Lithospheric Deformation Beneath One of the Oldest and Fast-Moving Continents on Earth. in Total 511 Pairs of High-Quality Splitting Parameters Were Observed at 116 Seismic Stations. Unlike Other Stable Continental Areas in Africa, East Asia, and North America, Where Spatially Consistent Splitting Parameters Dominate, the Fast Orientations and Splitting Times Observed in Australia Show a Complex Pattern, with a Slightly Smaller Than Normal Average Splitting Time of 0.85 ± 0.33 S. on the North Australian Craton, the Fast …

Abdoo, Mary, 1913-1990 (Sc 3668), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3668. “The Elk Horn Coal Corporation,” by Mary Abdoo. The 1935 report examines Elkhorn coal as well as the corporation’s history, officers, and financial status. Includes a letter from the author outlining the company’s approval of the report.

The Kanarra Fold-Thrust Structure - The Leading Edge Of The Sevier Fold-Thrust Belt, Southwestern Utah: Geology Of The Intermountain West, William J. Chandonia, John P. Hogan

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The multiple origins proposed for the Kanarra anticline in southwestern Utah as a drag-fold along the Hurricane fault, a Laramide monocline, a Sevier fault-propagation fold, or a combination of these process­es, serve to muddy its tectonic significance. This in part reflects the structural complexity of the exposed eastern half of the fold. The fold evolved from open and up-right to overturned and tight, is cross-cut by multiple faults, and was subsequently dismembered by the Hurricane fault. The western half of the fold is obscured because of burial, along with the hanging wall of the Hurricane fault, beneath Neogene and younger …

Reconnaissance Of Landslides And Debris Flows Associated With The July 2022 Flooding In Eastern Kentucky, Matt M. Crawford, Zhenming Wang, Seth Carpenter, Jonathan Schmidt, Hudson J. Koch, Jason M. Dortch

Kentucky Geological Survey Report of Investigations

Between July 25 and July 30, 2022, a series of convective storms generated approximately 14–16 inches of rainfall across parts of eastern Kentucky, predominately in Clay, Leslie, Perry, Breathitt, Knott, and Letcher Counties. The peak rainfall occurred on the evening of July 27 and the morning of July 28, with the hardest-hit areas experiencing more than 10 inches in a 24-hour period. The historic rainfall led to catastrophic flooding along many rivers and streams, but also triggered widespread landslides and debris flows that damaged roads, homes, property, and other infrastructure. Once initial relief and recovery efforts were established, the Kentucky …

Visual Analytics And Modeling Of Materials Property Data, Diwas Bhattarai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Due to significant advancements in experimental and computational techniques, materials data are abundant. To facilitate data-driven research, it calls for a system for managing and sharing data and supporting a set of tools for effective data analysis and modeling. Generally, a given material property M can be considered as a multivariate data problem. The dimensions of M are the values of the property itself, the conditions (pressure P, temperature T, and multi-component composition X) that control the concerned property, and relevant metadata I (source, date).

Here we present a comprehensive database considering both experimental and computational sources …

Dust And Loess As Archives And Agents Of Climate And Climate Change In The Late Paleozoic Earth System, Gerilyn S. Soreghan, Nicholas G. Heavens, Lily Pfeifer, Michael J. Soreghan

School of Earth & Environment Faculty Scholarship

Palaeo-loess and silty aeolian-marine strata are well recognized across the Carboniferous–Permian of equatorial Pangaea. Aeolian-transported dust and loess appear in the Late Devonian in the west, are common by the Late Carboniferous, and predominate across equatorial Pangaea by the Permian. The thickest loess deposits in Earth history – in excess of 1000 m – date from this time, and archive unusually dusty equatorial conditions, especially compared to the dearth of equatorial dust in the Cenozoic. Loess archives a confluence of silt generation, aeolian emission and transport, and ultimate accumulation in dust traps that included ephemerally wet surfaces and epeiric seas. …

Hypogene Speleogenesis In The Grand Canyon; Observational, Mineralogical, And Geochemical Investigations From The Bopper Cave System, Sierra Heimel

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

One of the most prominent features of the Grand Canyon is the iron-stained Redwall Limestone, which has been documented to contain extensive cave systems with significant storage potential in the karstic Redwall-Muav (R-M) aquifer. The hydrogeologic relationships between the R-M aquifer and cave formation in the Grand Canyon via descending (epigenic) surface waters have been well documented. However; the potentially large role of deeply sourced (hypogenic) waters rising from depth in relation to cave formation is poorly understood. The Bopper Cave System (BCS) is a relict feature of the ancient abandoned hydrologic system at Grand Canyon and displays unique network …

Magnetic Anomaly Data Products Of The Central And Eastern United States, Dhananjay Ravat

Earth and Environmental Sciences Research Data

This data set contains Central and Eastern U.S. Magnetic Anomaly, DRTP, Tilt Derivative, and Analytic Signal Amplitude Products ultimately derived from Ravat, D., Finn, C., Hill, P., Kucks, R., Phillips, J., Blakely, R., Bouligand, C., Sabaka, T., Elshayat, A., Aref, A., and Elawadi, E., 2009, A preliminary, full spectrum, magnetic anomaly grid of the United States with improved long wavelengths for studying continental dynamics--A website for distribution of data: U.S. Geological Survey Open- File Report 2009–1258, 2 p.

Mid-20th Century Land-Use Change Greatly Reduced Flood Intensity In The Southeastern Us Dataset, Zhixiong Shen, Nicholas William Conway

Marine Science Faculty Publications

This dataset presents laser-diffraction grain-size distribution data of the sediment core, SBL2, taken from an oxbow lake in the Pee Dee River floodplain South Carolina, USA (33.8453 °N, 79.3507°W).

Silicon And Oxygen In Earth’S Core: Applications Of Machine Learning To Metal-Silicate Equilibria And Core Formation, Ruben Keane

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Within Earth’s core, light elements (Si, O, C, S, N, H) are known to make up a small fraction of the total mass of the core with respect to heavy elements. The degree to which these elements exist in the cores of terrestrial planets have geophysical and geochemical implications, most notably the presence of core convection and a geodynamo, thermal conductivity within the core, and core temperature. Comparison of the composition of chondrites to Earth’s mantle composition and the Preliminary Reference Earth Model have given an estimation of about 10 % light elements in Earth’s core. The concentrations of each …

Datasets From: Application Of Aerial Insar To Measure Glacier Elevations, Bryce Glenn, Andrew G. Fountain, Delywn Moller

Geology Faculty Datasets

In September 2016 NASA flew an interferometric synthetic aperture radar (GLISTIN) over most of the glacier-covered regions of the coterminous USA for the purpose of mapping the surface elevation of the glaciers. Where multiple passes were flown over the same ground track, the data were mosaiced together to improve data coverage and elevation accuracy. These data are to be used with elevations collected by past and future efforts to calculate volume change of glaciers.

The data were the basis for:

Glenn, Bryce Allen, "Assessing Airborne Radar to Map Glacier Elevations in Alpine Terrain Including Estimated Glacier Volume Change …

Data From: The Geography Of Glaciers And Perennial Snowfields In The American West, Andrew G. Fountain, Bryce Glenn, Hassan J. Basagic

Geology Faculty Datasets

A comprehensive mid-20th century inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields (G&PS) was compiled for the American West, west of the 100° meridian. The inventory was derived from U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographic maps based on aerial photographs acquired during 35 years,1955–1990.

Relationships Between Deformation, Magmatism, And Sedimentary Geology Along The Mongol-Okhotsk Suture Zone: Ulz Gol Region, Mongolia, Jarret William Pidgeon

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The Mongol-Okhotsk Suture Zone (MOSZ) is a continental-scale structure that signifies the closure of a Paleozoic ocean basin. Though suturing of the Siberian Craton and southern Mongolian terranes is thought to have occurred in the Mesozoic Era, the exact timing and mechanisms remain debated. This prolonged period of orogenic activity is believed to be responsible for forming much of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) that encompasses essentially all of Mongolia, part of China, Siberia, and Kazakhstan. Also permeated throughout the CAOB are intra-continental, post-suturing structures. In the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, a significant, crustal-scale extensional episode affected central and eastern …

Paleomagnetic Determination Of Vertical Axis Block Rotation Near The Doty Fault In Southwestern Washington, Charles Linneman

WWU Graduate School Collection

In this paper I present the results of paleomagnetically derived vertical axis rotations (VARs) of sites in two different flows of the Columbia River Basalt (CRB) – the 16 Ma Sentinel Bluffs member of the Grande Ronde flow and the 12 Ma Pomona Member of the Packsack Lookout – near the Doty fault in southwestern Washington. In two field seasons, I collected 99 cores from 14 sites, 11 in the Grande Ronde flow and three in the Pomona member flow. Of the 227 specimens that I demagnetized, 212 had well-defined magnetic directions. Positive fold and reversal tests results confirm the …

Berriasian–Valanginian Geochronology And Carbon-Isotope Stratigraphy Of The Yellow Cat Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Eastern Utah, Usa, Robert M. Joeckel, Celina A. Suarez, Noah M. Mclean, Andreas Möller, Gregory A. Ludvigson, Marina B. Suarez, James I. Kirkland, Joseph Andrew, Spencer Kiessling, Garrett A. Hatzell

Conservation and Survey Division

The Early Cretaceous Yellow Cat Member of the terrestrial Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah, USA. has been interpreted as a “time-rich” unit because of its dinosaur fossils, prominent paleosols, and the results of preliminary chemostratigraphic and geochronologic studies. Herein, we refine prior interpretations with: (1) a new composite C-isotope chemostratigraphic profile from the well-known Utahraptor Ridge dinosaur site, which exhibits δ¹³C features tentatively interpreted as the Valanginian double-peak carbon isotope excursion (the so-called “Weissert Event”) and some unnamed Berriasian features; and (2) a new cryptotephra zircon eruption age of 135.10 ± 0.30/0.31/0.34 Ma (2σ) derived from the CA-ID-TIMS …

Does Sediment Supply Impact The Threshold For Initial Sediment Motion In Natural, Gravel Bedded Streams?, Emily Loucks

WWU Graduate School Collection

Sediment transport in river channels control channel morphology, streamflow, and benthic ecosystems. Predicting sediment transport rates through a channel is required for sediment management for stream restoration and aquatic habitat assessment. The critical Shields stress (τ*_c), is a dimensionless parameter used in sediment transport models that characterizes the river bed surface shear stress required to initiate sediment motion. The τ*_c is typically assumed constant in transport models, yet compilations of field data have shown that τ*_c can vary wildly, causing sediment transport models to over- or under-predict fluxes by an order of magnitude or more. Understanding …