Geology Commons^™

Using Gis To Create Hazard Maps And Assess Evacuation Routes Around “The Gate To Hell”; Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua, Rebecca Hedges, Stevie Mcdermaid, Jason Kaiser, David Maxwell, Kathy Matthews

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Volcán Masaya in Nicaragua is made of a series of calderas and craters that lies 7 km from the city of Masaya with a population of over 100,000. Masaya is part of the Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA) which contains hundreds of volcanoes. While many of the volcanoes of the arc produce small, quiescent eruptions, some are capable of large explosive events. The recent cycle of volcanism at Masaya began 7000 years ago. Initial eruptions were primarily lava, small ash flows, ashfalls, and degassing events which eventually gave way to climactic Vulcanian eruptions. The hazards presented from this system affect …

Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Tracks From The Iron Springs Formation, Iron County, Utah, Jennifer K. Crowell, Grant T. Shimer

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Located in Iron County, Utah, the Parowan Gap dinosaur track site contains over one hundred natural casts of non-avian dinosaur tracks preserved in sandstones and siltstones of the Late Cretaceous (≈83 Ma) Iron Springs Formation. For this study, the authors returned to the area to survey for and describe previously unidentified tracks. Many tracks from this new study occur as in situ casts found on the basal surfaces of sandstones deposited by braided and meandering rivers on the coastal plain of the Western Interior Seaway, with some specimens from fallen talus blocks. Over the course of two years, the research …

Resolving A One-Year Ecesis Interval For Alaska Paper Birch: Dating A Rockfall Event, Wishbone Hill, Southcentral Alaska, Riley E. Whitney, Alexander K. Stewart, Trent D. Hubbard, Anabella S. Kowalski, Oscar A. Wilkerson

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Numerous large boulders at the base of Wishbone Hill, northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, suggest a historic rockfall event and potential for future surface instability, putting lives and property at risk. The source of the rockfall-boulders is an exposed syncline with a cliff face composed of conglomerate. The age of trees growing atop boulders provides a minimum exposure-age of those boulders and, thus, the rockfall event. To determine when the rockfall occurred, we dated trees growing atop the boulders using tree-ring samples collected from 30 Alaska paper birch trees. After mounting and polishing, each tree-ring sample was dot-counted, and tree-ring widths …

Past Ice-Ocean Interactions On The Sabrina Coast Shelf, East Antarctica: Deglacial To Recent Paleoenvironmental Insights From Marine Sediments, Kara J. Vadman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) contains ~53 meters of sea level equivalent (SLE) ice, and observations suggest it is sensitive to ongoing and past climate change. The EAIS has traditionally been considered insensitive to climate perturbations because it is largely grounded above sea level. However, aerogeophysical surveys, oceanographic observations, and models indicate that large areas of the EAIS are grounded below sea level and contain 19.2 m SLE. Marine-based parts of the EAIS are thought to be located on inland-sloping beds that drain through marine terminating outlet glaciers, indicating large areas of the EAIS may be more sensitive to …

Mesoproterozoic Basement From The Central And Southern Appalachians Reveal High-Temperature Magmatic Conditions And Non-Laurentian Origin Of Earth's Most Zircon Fertile Magmas, Kyle Makovsky

Dissertations - ALL

The Mesoproterozoic (1.4-0.9 Ga) Grenville Orogeny led to the formation of the supercontinent Rodinia. One unique characteristic of the Grenville Orogeny is that it produced a volumetrically significant amount of zirconium- (Zr) enriched granitoids, evidently more than any period both prior to and after the Grenville. To investigate this further, Mesoproterozoic basement rocks were sampled along the axis of the current Appalachian Mountains from western North Carolina north to southern New York, as well as from the northern Andes in southern Colombia. Zircon was extracted from these rocks to exploit its propensity to incorporate several isotopic tracers useful in determining …

Mesoproterozoic Basement From The Central And Southern Appalachians Reveal High-Temperature Magmatic Conditions And Non-Laurentian Origin Of Earth’S Most Zircon Fertile Magmas, Kyle Makovsky

Dissertations - ALL

The Mesoproterozoic (1.4-0.9 Ga) Grenville Orogeny led to the formation of the supercontinent Rodinia. One unique characteristic of the Grenville Orogeny is that it produced a volumetrically significant amount of zirconium- (Zr) enriched granitoids, evidently more than any period both prior to and after the Grenville. To investigate this further, Mesoproterozoic basement rocks were sampled along the axis of the current Appalachian Mountains from western North Carolina north to southern New York, as well as from the northern Andes in southern Colombia. Zircon was extracted from these rocks to exploit its propensity to incorporate several isotopic tracers useful in determining …

Digital Appendix Of Masters Thesis "Constraining Deformation Mechanisms Of Damage Zones: A Case Study Of The Shallow San Andreas Fault At Elizabeth Lake, Southern California, James P. Evans, Caroline Studnicky

Browse all Datasets

We performed macroscopic, optical petrographic, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analyses on rock core acquired across the San Andreas Fault at Elizabeth Lake, California, in order to understand the distribution and accommodation of fault-related slip and energy within the shallow damage zone of this continental scale strike-slip fault. We characterized the deformation structures, alteration textures, and elemental variabilities to constrain the properties of the uppermost ~2 km fault-related damage zone at this site. We identified evidence for coseismic slip in the form of pulverized rocks, injection veins, clay-clast aggregates, and pseudotachylyte, and aseismic slip through calcite twins, dilatant vein fills, …

Mineralogy Of Aeolian Deposits In Gale Crater, Mars: The Bagnold Dunes To Glen Torridon, Eleanor Moreland

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

We select four sand deposits along the traverse of the Curiosity rover to evaluate the spatial distribution of mineralogy and grain size. While extensive work has focused on characterizing the Bagnold Dunes in-situ and from orbit, less attention has been given to deposits south of the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR). Overall, our results illustrate a compositional dichotomy among aeolian deposits, separated by the VRR. Initial investigations of hyperspectral data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) show differences in the long wavelength spectral features and absolute reflectance measurements for the deposit south of the Bagnold Dunes. The southern …

Comparison Of Methods For Estimating Carbon Evasion And Export Associated With A Coal Mine Discharge, Kyle Lee, Dorothy J. Vesper

Presentations

The evasion of CO2 from terrestrial waters plays a role in the global cycling of carbon but there are few datasets that have an accurate accounting of the flux. It has been shown that discharges from coal mines can have elevated concentrations of CO2 due to sulfuric acid-driven dissolution of carbonate rock. In this study, we compared three methods for calculating the export dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and the evaluation of CO2 from an abandoned-mine discharge in West Virginia. In Method #1, the source flux is calculated from the discharge and the concentrations at the portal. In Method #2, the …

Relating Recharge Mechanisms To Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Dynamics In An Updip Appalachian Coal Mine Discharge, Matthew L. Bell

Presentations

Impaired drainage from active and abandoned mines degrades the water quality of receiving streams and aquifers. Coal mine drainage (CMD) has been studied for decades in Appalachia, but unknowns and uncertainties are still present, including the influence of mine hydrogeology on the outflow chemistry of above-drainage mines. To evaluate the influence of recharge type on above-drainage mine dissolved inorganic carbon chemistry, samples were collected every two weeks at a CMD outflow treatment system in Harrison County, West Virginia. Samples were collected to measure geochemical changes taking place in the mine workings and along the flowpath of the passive treatment system. …

Quantifying The Contribution Of Solid Precipitates To The Total Alkalinity In A Coal-Mine Discharge, Lili Lei, Dorothy Vesper

Presentations

Flocculates and precipitates from coal mine drainage (CMD) are an integral part of the geochemical setting in mining-impacted streams. The precipitates may be very small, amorphous, and, depending on their chemistry, play a role in the storage and release of alkalinity. To evaluate the potential impact of CMD-solids on alkalinity, we conducted various tests using model and natural solids. Laboratory measurements of alkalinity are operationally defined by a titration to a fixed pH. When the solid-solution mixtures were tested using the standard alkalinity measurement method, no alkalinity could be detected; however, a possible reason for that was that the standard …

Incorporating Universal Design Into Tsunami Modeling Results For Cascadia Subduction Zone Faults To Create An Inundation Map And Universally Designed Evacuation Map For Port Angeles, Wa, Hannah Rose Spero, Breanyn Macinnes, Naomi J. Petersen

Student Published Works

Current tsunami hazard inundation and evacuation maps in the Puget Sound are based primarily on Cascadia and Seattle fault tsunamis. The standard evaluation process for tsunami impacts focuses on elevation and hypothetical fault rupture of known and predicted earthquakes. However, there are several known tsunami deposits in the Puget Sound that are not from Cascadia or Seattle fault tsunamis, potentially from other faults within the region, that could affect tsunami mitigation. Work to understand newly discovered crustal deformation and faults in Puget Sound is ongoing, therefore evacuation and inundation maps need to be updated to include these new faults and …

Local- And Regional-Scale Forcing Of Glacier Mass Balance Changes In The Swiss Alps, Saeideh Gharehchahi, Thomas J. Ballinger, Jennifer L.R. Jensen, Anshuman Bhardwaj, Lydia Sam, Russell C. Weaver, David R. Butler

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Glacier mass variations are climate indicators. Therefore, it is essential to examine both winter and summer mass balance variability over a long period of time to address climate-related ice mass fluctuations. In this study, we analyze glacier mass balance components and hypsometric characteristics with respect to their interactions with local meteorological variables and remote large-scale atmospheric and oceanic patterns. The results show that all selected glaciers have lost their equilibrium condition in recent decades, with persistent negative annual mass balance trends and decreasing accumulation area ratios (AARs), accompanied by increasing air temperatures of +0.45 C decade 1. The controlling factor …

Characterization Of Landslide Processes From Radar Remote Sensing And Hydromechanical Modeling, Yuankun Xu

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Landsides are a natural geomorphic process yet a dangerous hazard which annually causes thousands of casualties and billions of property loss in a global scale. Understanding landslide motion kinematics from early initiation to final deposition is critical for monitoring, assessing, and forecasting landslide movement in order to mitigate their hazards. Landslides occur under diverse environmental settings and appear in variable types; however, all types of landslides can be mechanically attributed to shearing failure at the basal surface due to stress regime shift contributed by internal and/or external forcing. Typical internal factors include soil/rock weathering, whereas typical external triggering forces encompass …

Determining Biostratigraphy And Correlation Using Color Alteration Index And Lithofacies Of Conodonts In The Edinburg Formation, Central Virginia, Lauren Showalter

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Conodont species, CAI and lithofacies analysis are used as methods of correlation to determine the relative age, depositional environment, and post depositional burial history of the Edinburg Formation in central Virginia. Samples collected for conodont microfossils yielded faunas of Baltoniodus sp. or Amorphognathus sp., Periodon grandis and Protopanderodus liripipus from a site near Luray and Drepanoistodus suberectus, Plectodina sp., Protopanderodus liripipus, Oistodus sp., Phragmodus undatus, Erismodus radicans and Panderodus gracilis from a site in Harrisonburg. The species supports a Late Ordovician (Late Sandbian age). Conodonts from both sites have a CAI of 4-5, indicating post-depositional heating of …

Late Amazonian Wind Regimes And Landscape Evolution In Northern Meridiani Planum, Mars, Thomas Stritch

Geology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Aeolian process have dominated the lower latitudes of Mars for billions of years. Aeolian landforms can act as records of current and past climates and landscape evolution processes. The etched deposits of Meridiani Planum, a vast suite of layered bedrock extending from southwest Arabia Terra to Schiaparelli crater, have long been noted to have been eroded by aeolian processes. However, little detailed work on the aeolian landforms of Meridiani Planum beyond the Opportunity rover landing site has been done. In this study, I examine wind streaks, aeolian bedforms (including dunes and large ripples), and yardangs in a valley about 370 …

Linking Human Activities To Water Quality In Coastal New England: Past And Present, Amelia Hurst

University Scholar Projects

This project examines the timing and effect of direct and indirect anthropogenic and natural influences on the marine environment in embayments in southern New England over the past decades to century timescale. We investigated the effects of human land use from colonial through post-industrial times, determined baseline conditions and natural climatic variability, and analyzed the response of marine ecosystems to specific local management actions aimed to improve water quality. A coastal sediment core was taken in Mumford Cove, CT and was analyzed downcore for eutrophication markers (C: N, %C, %N, d¹⁵N, d¹³C) and metals (Hg, Pb, …

Investigations Of Geochemical Variations With Depth At The First 15 Drill Sites On Mars Analyzed By The Chemcam Instrument Onboard The Curiosity Rover And Supported By Laboratory Studies And Analog Research At The Valle Grande Paleolake, Valles Caldera, New Mexico, Usa, Ryan S. Jackson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The ChemCam instrument collected a wealth of data during the first 15 drill campaigns and on the distribution of trace elements at Yellowknife Bay, Mars. The drill sites investigation showed that most sites were geochemically homogenous down the depth of the drill hole. Two sites in the Stimson formation contained a vertical gradient of decreasing silica down > 3 cm. This gradient may be the result of groundwater flow and is likely recent, within 2.3 Ma. The trace element research was grounded with an analog study at the Valle Grande paleolake in New Mexico. We observed progressive alteration in the minerology …

Terrestrial Soldier Crab (Coenobita Clypeatus, Fabricius 1787) And Cerion Spp. (Röding 1798) Shell Relationship On San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Harley Hunt

Biology Theses

The Caribbean terrestrial soldier crab, Coenobita clypeatus(Fabricius 1787), coexist and utilize the shells of numerous species of land and marine gastropods. Soldier crabs rely on gastropod shells for protection as the crabs have a soft abdomen, leaving them vulnerable for predation and desiccation, threatening their survival. This creates a strong pressure to obtain well-fitting shells that provide adequate protection against water loss. Cerion of Röding (1798) shells are one of the most commonly used shells among living colonies of C. clypeatuson San Salvador Island. This study is interested in the frequency of shell use by C. clypeatus crabs …

Geochemical Characterization Of The Utica Shale Play Using Xrf-Based Chemostratigraphy In Ohio, Barbara Kemeh, Julie M. Bloxson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Utica shale is an extensive gas shale play within the Appalachian Basin, expanding from Quebec through New York, into Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Currently a target for gas exploration, it is also the source rock for much of the Paleozoic reservoirs throughout the basin. However, the Utica-Point Pleasant lithology varies significantly across the Appalachian Basin which can make it challenging to characterize.

The Utica shale Play consists of the Trenton/Lexington Limestones, Point Pleasant Formation and Utica shale. The Point Pleasant Formation and Utica shale are often grouped together, especially in Ohio because they are difficult to visually distinguish …