Geology Commons^™

366— Mineralogical Analysis Of Iron Slag From Standish, Ny, Rachel Kelk, Dori Farthing

GREAT Day Posters

In the mid 1800’s and into the early 1900’s, Standish, NY was the site of a blast furnace, which extracted iron from the local Adirondack ores. Over the course of 100 years of industrial activity, this forge left behind a large 60 ft tall pile of slag, a byproduct of the smelting processes. This research aimed to better understand the variety of phases present at the site as well as products associated with weathering. Though there are a variety of slag types found in the Standish slag pile, all are chemically dominated by CaO and SiO₂. Powder X-ray …

279— Magnetic Susceptibility Of Kettle Point Formation, Ontario, Canada, Abigale O'Connor

GREAT Day Posters

The Kettle Point Formation is an Upper Devonian black shale that preserves the Frasnian-Famennian boundary, which marks the most extreme of the three extinction events that comprise the Late Devonian mass extinction. The purpose of this study is to determine a high resolution location of the boundary within the Gore of Chatham core from Ontario, Canada. This determination will improve the understanding of the environmental conditions leading up to the Kellwasser event of the Late Devonian mass extinction. The specific location of the boundary will also improve the ability to correlate this rock unit to others that were deposited during …

411— Analysis Of Hillslope Stability, Harriman, Tennessee, Walter Hennings, Anthony Wagman

GREAT Day Posters

We seek to conduct a hillslope safety analysis of a hill located in Roane County, Tennessee, composed of the Gilpin-Petros soils. This unit is composed primarily of residuum from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. The stability of the hill was assessed using a one-dimensional infinite slope-stability model. This model was used to calculate the factor of safety under both dry and wet conditions based on a set of assumptions derived from soil lithology and hydrologic parameters. Simulations in ArcGIS show that under dry conditions, the slope is unconditionally stable at all locations. Under conditions of sufficiently heavy rainfall (>9 inches …

226— Analysis Of Soil At A Flooding Site In Avon, Ny, Katie Meerdink, Maddy Waldock

GREAT Day Posters

A residential area in East Avon frequently floods in response to rainfall or snowmelt events and the water remains pooled in place long afterwards. This study seeks to determine the cause of the flooding. Soil samples were collected from several locations at the site and analyzed to determine the array of grain sizes present. It was determined that approximately 47% of the sediment at the site is smaller than 63 microns, which is the threshold for silts and clays (mud), meaning that approximately 53% of the sediment is sand sized or larger. The large amount of smaller grain sizes, combined …

253— The Impact Of Physical And Chemical Weathering On Iron Slag From Standish, Ny, Maria Leonard

GREAT Day Posters

From 1883 to 1907, magnetite ore was smelted Standish, NY. During this time, a large amount of slag, a byproduct of smelting, was created. The slag is now in a pile that covers ~13 acres in the northeastern region of the Adirondacks. The impact of weathering is evident through a comparison of samples collected ~15 years ago to partner samples still out in the field which are more fractured and have calcitic weathering rinds. For more quantitative data, we carried out a field experiment and a leaching test. In the field experiment we exposed different slag samples (glassy, chalky, and …

Analysis Of Cryptotephra At Whitney Mesa Nature Preserve, Henderson, Nevada, Alex Newsom

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Advanced Undergraduate Winner

Cryptotephra (small volcanic shards ranging 20-80 microns in size) were discovered within Unit X of the Las Vegas Formation at Whitney Mesa Nature Preserve, Henderson, Nevada. Cryptotephra are deposited soon after a volcanic eruption and can be used as a dating tool to create narrow time constraints for surrounding sediments. Cryptotephra have many applications but are mainly useful as a dating tool. Their study has important implications for the understanding of the timing of palaeoclimatological and paleoenvironmental events as well as for archaeological studies to date important events in human history.

The Whitney Mesa cryptotephra were correlated …

Insight On Thermal Stability Of Magnetite Magnetosomes: Implications For The Fossil Record And Biotechnology, Jefferson Cypriano, Mounib Bahri, Kassioge Dembele, Walid Baaziz, Pedro Leao, Dennis A. Bazylinski, Fernanda Abreu, Ovidiu Ersen, Marcos Farina, Jacques Werckmann

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Magnetosomes are intracellular magnetic nanocrystals composed of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4), enveloped by a lipid bilayer membrane, produced by magnetotactic bacteria. Because of the stability of these structures in certain environments after cell death and lysis, magnetosome magnetite crystals contribute to the magnetization of sediments as well as providing a fossil record of ancient microbial ecosystems. The persistence or changes of the chemical and magnetic features of magnetosomes under certain conditions in different environments are important factors in biotechnology and paleomagnetism. Here we evaluated the thermal stability of magnetosomes in a temperature range between 150 and 500 °C subjected …

An Analysis Of The Reactivation Potential Of A Deep-Seated Landslide In The Oregon Coast Range Under Varying Hydrologic Conditions With Seismic Triggering, Emily E. Smoot

Anthós

Landslides can occur in many locations across the world and have the potential to be extremely destructive if failures occur near populated areas. Failures are most likely to occur on slopes that have already experienced numerous failures. This means they are a considerable hazard, and the risk involved with building in areas that have previously experienced landslides should be adequately understood. This study examines the reactivation potential of a deep-seated landslide located in the Oregon Coast Range. The analysis of this landslide included creating a map of the surface morphology and computing the factor of safety for the deposit using …

Using Remote Sensing To Monitor Ecohydrological Changes In Great Lakes Interdunal Wetlands/Slacks, Rene Aerts, Katherine Kay

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Interdunal wetlands/slacks develop in the Great Lakes coastal dunes when the wind scours the sand to the water table within a dune. Our previous review of historic aerial photograph/satellite imagery of Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore shows slacks expand in times of higher water levels and contract, sometimes disappearing, with lower water levels, suggesting a link between the slacks’ water tables and those of Lake Michigan-Huron (MH). We extended these studies to Warren Dunes and Ludington State Parks, Leelanau Peninsula, Crystal Lake and Point Betsie using images from 1952–2018. Using QGIS, we drew polygons around three …

Ecohydrological Changes In Interdunal Wetlands/ Slacks As A Response To Rising Lake Levels In An Evolving Eolian Landscape Along Lake Michigan’S Eastern Coast, Katherine Kay, Rene Aerts

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

We are conducting ecohydrological studies in mature and incipient interdunal wetlands/slacks in a coastal dune complex on Lake Michigan’s eastern coast. The slacks are located in the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area, ~200m inland of Lake Michigan within a large parabolic dune (main slack) and smaller blowouts on its arms (incipient slacks). Rising Lake Michigan water levels have increased groundwater levels, monitored at twelve locations, >1m, rewetting the main slack from its previous dry state, expanding its extent, and deepening pools. Adjacent blowouts now have incipient slacks with pools up to .5m deep. The main slack is dominated by Cladium mariscoides …

Reconstructing Deep-Ocean Circulation During Cenozoic Climate Transitions From The Marine Sediment Record, Brian Romans

Sustainability Seminar Series

Ocean circulation plays a critical role in the Earth’s climate system through the storage and transfer of heat and carbon dioxide. The North Atlantic and Southern Ocean are of particular interest because these are regions where deep-water components of global circulation develop. Dr. Romans uses the deep-sea sedimentary record to reconstruct past ocean circulation and its relationship to past climatic and tectonic conditions. He integrates information from a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, from seismic-reflection data that reveals regional sedimentation patterns to high resolution records based on quantitative grain-size analysis from cores. Dr. Romans will present research from …

Testing A Drone-Based Magnetic Field Surveying System, Erik Jacobson, Irina Filina

UCARE: Research Products

Aeromagnetic surveys are conducted by geoscientists to study subsurface geologic structures, such as faults. This type of survey uses a magnetometer mounted upon an airborne vehicle to collect magnetic field data. Magnetic anomalies are caused by variations in subsurface geology, namely in magnetic properties of subsurface rocks. Jacobson and Filina (2019) reported on the development of a new low cost drone, based magnetic field surveying system by the UNL Geophysics Team. This drone-based magnetic system is capable of collecting high resolution data at low speeds and low altitudes. The current study focuses on testing this system by conducting two flights …

The Long-Term Outlook Of The Mississippi-Atchafalaya Bifurcation: A Convergence Of Engineering, Economics, And Deltaic Evolution, Thomas Mitchell Andrus

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The most recent and currently active delta lobe of the Mississippi River (MR) is the Atchafalaya-Wax Lake lobe, which was initiated approximately 400 years ago as a result of MR stream capture by the Atchafalaya River (AR). This capture process accelerated in the early to mid-1900s but further progress was prevented by construction and operation of the Old River Control Structure (ORCS) Complex. Many recent studies indicate that MR system below the ORCS is on a retreating geologic trajectory due to contributing factors such as sea level rise, subsidence, faulting, and declining hydraulic stream power. Diversions along the Lower MR …

Scatterable Landmine Detection Project Dataset 9, Gabriel Steinberg, Jasper Baur, Alex Nikulin, Timothy De Smet

Earth Sciences Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Aeromagnetic Surveys To Detect Mbrl Unexploded Ordnance Dataset 1, Alex Nikulin, Timothy De Smet

Earth Sciences Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Aeromagnetic Surveys To Detect Mbrl Unexploded Ordnance Dataset 2, Alex Nikulin, Timothy De Smet

Earth Sciences Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Scatterable Landmine Detection Project Dataset 8, Gabriel Steinberg, Jasper Baur, Alex Nikulin, Timothy De Smet

Earth Sciences Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Detrital Zircons And Sediment Dispersal In The Eastern Midcontinent Of North America, William A. Thomas, George E. Gehrels, Kurt E. Sundell, Stephen F. Greb, David H. Malone

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Results of detrital-zircon analyses (U-Pb ages and initial Hf values, εHf_t) of Mississippian–Pennsylvanian sandstones in the Michigan, Illinois, and Forest City basins are remarkably similar to data for coeval sandstones in the Appalachian basin, indicating dispersal of sediment from the Appalachian orogen through the Appalachian basin to the eastern Midcontinent during the late Paleozoic. The similarities of results include matches of the two most prominent age groups (1300–950 Ma and 490–350 Ma), as well as matches of the less abundant age groups. Comparisons of the data are from observations of probability density plots and multidimensional scaling of U-Pb …

Cave Airflow Mechanism Of A Crevice-Type Cave: A Case Study From Czechia, Martin Kašing, Jan Lenart

International Journal of Speleology

At present, crevice-type caves are investigated mainly by means of geomorphic and geophysical methods. Microclimatic research of this type of caves is underrepresented and is often limited to temperature and humidity measurement only. Yet, microclimatic research of such caves can significantly help in the management and conservation of caves, speleological exploration or analysis of speleothems. Being the first ever research of ventilation within a crevice-type cave, a complex analysis of cave ventilation was performed within the Velká Ondrášova Cave, a crevice-type cave in the Outer Western Carpathians, Czechia. Long-term temperature recording, airflow tracing within the cave, and a total of …

Field Relations, Geochemistry, And Geochronology Of The Rocks At Perkins Point, Castine, Maine, Robert Knowles, Douglas Reusch

Individual Projects

Northwest of Castine, Maine is the coastline known as Perkins Point, which is home to about 500 meters of bedrock exposure. Previous mapping projects of Penobscot Bay indicate a discrepancy in rock type for this area, and therefore the origin of the rocks is unclear. Preliminary observations suggest that these rocks are mostly volcanic. The goal of this project is to determine the field relations, geochronology, and geochemistry to conclude the true nature of these rocks and ultimately create a geological map.