Geology Commons^™

The Bear River's History And Diversion: Constraints, Unsolved Problems, And Implications For The Lake Bonneville Record, Joel L. Pederson, Susanne U. Jänecke, M. C. Reheis, D. S. Kaufman, Robert Q. Oaks Jr.

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The shifting course of the Bear River has influenced the hydrologic balance of the Bonneville basin through time, including the magnitude of Lake Bonneville. This was first recognized by G.K. Gilbert and addressed in the early work of Robert Bright, who focused on the southeastern Idaho region of Gem Valley and Oneida Narrows. In this chapter, we summarize and evaluate existing knowledge from this region, present updated and new chronostratigraphic evidence for the Bear River's drainage history, and discuss implications for the Bonneville record as well as future research needs.

The Bear River in Plio-Pleistocene time joined the Snake River …

Calcium Carbonate Formation In Energy-Related Subsurface Environments And Engineered Systems, Qingyun Li

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Geologic CO2 sequestration (GCS) in subsurface saline aquifers is a promising strategy to mitigate climate change caused by increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions from energy production. At GCS sites, interactions between fluids and geomedia are important because they can affect CO2 trapping efficiency and the safety of CO2 storage. These interactions include the dissolution and precipitation of minerals. One of the most important minerals is calcium carbonate, because it can permanently trap CO2.

In this work, Portland cement was used as a model geomedium to investigate the chemical reactions, mechanical alterations, transport of reactive fluids, and the interplay of all these …

Silicic Volcanism At The Northern And Western Extent Of The Columbia River Basalt Rhyolite Flare-Up: Rhyolites Of Buchanan Volcanic Complex And Dooley Mountain Volcanic Complex, Oregon, Adam M. Large

Dissertations and Theses

Two mid-Miocene (16.5-15 Ma) rhyolite volcanic centers in eastern Oregon, the Buchanan rhyolite complex and Dooley Mountain rhyolite complex, were investigated to characterize eruptive units through field and laboratory analysis. Results of petrographic and geochemical analysis add to field observations to differentiate and discriminate the eruptive units. Additionally, new geochemical data are used to correlate stratigraphically younger and older basalt and ash-flow tuff units with regional eruptive units to constrain the eruptive periods with modern Ar-Ar age dates.

Previous work at the Buchanan rhyolite complex was limited to regional mapping (Piper et al., 1939; Greene et al., 1972) and brief …

Tube Coalescence In The Jingfudong Lava Tube And Implications For Lava Flow Hazard Of Tengchong Volcanism, Zhengquan Chen, Yongshun Liu, Haiquan Wei, Jiandong Xu, Wenfeng Guo

International Journal of Speleology

Tube-fed structure occurs as a general phenomenon in Tengchong basic lavas, such as lava tubes, lava plugs and tube-related collapse depressions. We deduced the development of Laoguipo lava flows, which is the longest lava tube (Jingfudong lava tube) evolved in Tengchong volcanic area. Following the detailed documentation of the tube morphology of the Jingfudong lava tube, we propose that the Jingfudong lava tube was formed through vertical coalescence of at least three tubes. The coalescence and bifurcation process are re-constructed by interpretation of tube floor continuity, the distribution of remnant tubes and the scales of lava tube branches (shapes of …

Bulletin No. 42: The Mamacoke Conservation Area, Glenn Dreyer, Robert Askins, Scott Peterson

Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Development And Curation Of The Sample Data Library For The Astrobiogeochemistry Laboratory, Meika R. Nwaomah, Lorenia Jimenez, Michael Tuite

STAR Program Research Presentations

In 2011, the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated EarthCube, an integrated cyber infrastructure initiative, to tackle challenges within geoscience research. EarthCube’s goal is to improve public access and collaboration within the geoscience community. During the summer of 2015, the Astrobiogeochemistry Laboratory (abcLab) joined the collective efforts of EarthCube by developing the Sample Data Library (SDL) for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The main focus of the SDL concentrates on effectively curating the samples collected by researchers within the Planetary Chemistry and Astrobiology section at JPL. The goal of this summer internship was to assimilate field notes, images, and from data …

Fort Nelson Ccs Feasibility Project, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about a 2009–2012 Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership collaboration with Spectra Energy Transmission (Spectra) to determine the feasibility of a commercial-scale geology storage project near the Fort Nelson Gas Plant. Describes the project, its goals, and key results. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Stratigraphy Of The Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Michigan Basin: Review And Revision With An Emphasis On The Ellsworth Petroleum System, Bryan J. Currie

Masters Theses

Compression associated with the formation of the Transcontinental Arch and the Acadian Mountains initiated subsidence in the Michigan Basin and lead to a depositional switch in the Michigan Basin from an oxic shallow-water carbonate platform (Traverse Group and Squaw Bay Limestone) to a deep anaerobic sea floor and the beginning of Upper Devonian Antrim Shale. The vertical distribution of the different Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian formations and members demonstrates large scale cycles of anaerobic-dysaerobic transitions attributed fluctuations in sea-level, different rates of subsidence and sediment influx triggered by different orogenic events to.

The regional understanding and the distribution of the different …

The Role Of The Picuris Orogeny In The Tectonic Evolution Of Proterozoic North America, Ruth Frances Aronoff

Open Access Dissertations

North America is a continent that has grown over time by horizontal attachment of material onto its margins. Studying the process of continental growth in the geologic past gives insight into fundamental components of plate tectonics, and sheds light onto processes at work at modern plate boundaries, in which mid- and lower-crustal rocks are generally hidden from view.

This study focuses on the growth of North America during the Proterozoic. Researchers have debated the role of three orogenies in shaping the southwestern margin of North America: the ∼1.80-1.60 Ga Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies, and the newly recognized ∼1.40 Ga Picuris …

Topographic Constraints On Magma Accumulations Below The Actively Uuplifting Uturuncu And Lazufre Volcanic Centers In The Central Andes, Jonathan P. Perkins, Noah J. Finnegan, Scott T. Henderson, Tammy M. Rittenour

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Geodetic surveys of Volcán Uturuncu and the Lazufre volcanic complex in the Central Andes of South America reveal sustained surface uplift from magmatic intrusion at depth. However, the decadal timescales of geodetic surveys are short relative to the timescales of magma chamber growth. Thus, from geodesy alone, it is difficult to infer the deformation and hence magma accumulation history of these volcanoes. Here we combine data from InSAR, long-wavelength topography, GPS and high-resolution topographic surveys of lake shorelines and rivers, and lava flow morphology to constrain the spatial and temporal evolution of magmatism at Uturuncu and Lazufre. Near Uturuncu, dated …

Geologic, Geochemical, And Geophysical Characterization Of The Gold Deposits Of The Horseshoe Bend Mining District, Idaho: Building A Four Dimensional Model For Ore Exploration, Joshua Ekhoff

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Eocene aged Trans-Challis Fault System of central Idaho provides the tectonic and magmatic framework for a series of Au-Ag and Cu-Mo ore deposits. From its northernmost extension near Butte, Montana to its southwestern terminus in the Boise Basin of south-central Idaho the Trans-Challis Fault System is associated with some of the richest precious metal deposits found in Idaho. However, the southernmost tip of the Trans-Challis Fault System, composed of the Horseshoe Bend and Pearl mining districts, remains understudied, receiving little economic or academic attention. As a result, how the Pearl to Horseshoe Bend mining districts fit within the established …

Protracted Thrusting Followed By Late Rapid Cooling Of The Greater Himalayan Sequence, Annapurna Himalaya, Central Nepal: Insights From Titanite Petrochronology, Jesse Bennett Walters

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Temperature-time (T-t) paths derived from coupled Zr-in-titanite thermometry and U-Pb geochronology are useful for examining middle-crustal tectonic processes. T-t data collected from the titanite-bearing calcsilicates of the upper Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) along the Marsyandi River, Annapurna Himalaya, illustrate a significantly different metamorphic history than previously recorded in central Nepal. Combined with traditional thermobarometry, textural relationships, and field mapping, titanite T-t data reveal a protracted history of mid-crustal tectonics. Peak Zr-in-titanite temperatures are 750-850 °C at 10-14 kbar. T-t paths are divided into two groups, which are separated by the Chame Shear Zone (CSZ). Group I (upper) rocks show cooling …

Determining The Viability Of Recent Storms As Modern Analogues For North-Central Gulf Of Mexico Paleotempestology Through Sedimentary Analysis And Storm Surge Reconstruction, Joshua Caleb Bregy

Master's Theses

The northern Gulf of Mexico has been devastated by recent intense storms. Camille (1969) and Katrina (2005) are two notable hurricanes that made landfall in virtually the same location in Mississippi. However, fully understanding the risks and processes associated with hurricane impacts is impeded by a short and fragmented instrumental record. Paleotempestology could potentially use modern analogues from intense storms in this region to extend the hurricane record back to pre-observational time. Existing empirically based models can back-calculate surge heights over coastal systems as a function of transport distance, particle settling velocity, and gravitational acceleration. We collected cores in a …

Do Limestone Quarries Act As “Engineered Sinkholes”? Analysis Of Exfiltration Of Groundwater From Limestone Quarries In The Boone Formation, Ozark Physiographic Province, Arkansas, Usa, Noel Turner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Limestone quarries are a source of construction materials that are utilized in our everyday lives. Karst landscapes cover up to 15 percent of the Earth’s surface, and limestone quarries are found in these environmentally sensitive regions where groundwater and surface-water interactions are dynamic and complex. Several studies have provided conceptual models of groundwater flow to and out of quarries. The goal of this research was to describe the geochemistry of water exfiltration from limestone quarries in karst regions via joints, fractures, faulting, or karst features and to determine if limestone quarries are “engineered sinkholes”; that is to say: did quarries, …

Early And Middle Atokan Lithostratigraphy And Reservoir Development, Northern Arkoma Basin, Northwestern Arkansas, Matthew Alan Blaylock

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arkoma Basin is a peripheral foreland arc basin associated with the Ouachita orogenic belt. In Arkansas, the basin is bounded by the Ouachita belt to the south and the Ozark Dome to the north. Sedimentary rocks of early to middle Atokan age are present in the shallow subsurface at the northern margin of the Arkoma Basin in northwestern Arkansas. Sedimentary units of this time interval reflect basinal subsidence, and the transition of the Arkoma Basin from a passive margin shelf to a rapidly evolving foreland arc basin. Sediment sources from the north and east produced a thickened Lower and …

Maximum Depositional Age Of The Neoproterozoic Jacobsville Sandstone, Michigan: Implications For The Evolution Of The Midcontinent Rift, David H. Malone, Carol A. Stein, John P. Craddock, Jonas Kley, Seth Stein, John E. Malone

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

A crucial constraint on the evolution of the ca. 1100 Ma Midcontinent Rift (MCR) in North America comes from the Jacobsville Sandstone, Bayfield Group, and other equivalent sedimentary rocks (JBE) that overlie the volcanics and sediments deposited in the MCR basin near Lake Superior. The MCR began extending ca. 1120 Ma and failed—ceased extending—at ca. 1096 Ma, although volcanism continued for ∼10 m.y. The JBE’s age is poorly constrained, with proposed ages ranging from ca. 1100 to ca. 542 Ma (i.e., youngest Precambrian). It has been proposed that the JBE were deposited shortly prior to or during the time when …

Pore Characterizations And Distributions Within Niagaran – Lower Salina Reef Complex Reservoirs In The Silurian Northern Niagaran Pinnacle Reef Trend, Michigan Basin, Agam Arief Suhaimi

Masters Theses

The Northern Niagaran Pinnacle Reef Trend (NNPRT) has generated significant oil and gas production in Michigan. The best reservoir rock in the Reef Trend reservoirs are from porous and permeable dolomite of the Guelph Dolomite. Low-to-non reservoir limestone occurs interstratified with reservoir dolomite in many locations. This study utilizes available cores data, thin section Petrographic Image Analysis (PIA), Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure (MICP) and a newly developed Niagaran Reef depositional model (Rine, 2015) to characterize the distribution of pore geometry within each dolomitized Niagaran Reef Complex (Brown Niagaran – Lower Salina Group) reservoir facies and lithofacies. This study shows that …

Implications For The North American Lower Crustal 7.Xx Km/S Layer From An Exhumed Crustal Root, Western Canadian Shield, Calvin Everette Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies of the Thorsby magnetic low, the southern extent of the 2,800 km-long Snowbird

Tectonic Zone (STZ) in Alberta, Canada, show pronounced lower crustal seismic reflectivity and preservation of a crustal root. These features may be correlative to the well-exposed central STZ, where two lower crustal tectonic events have been identified at 2.6-2.55 Ga and 1.92-1.89 Ga. High-resolution cross-sections of the central STZ reveal the late-stage interaction of Paleoproterozoic intracontinental thrust and strike-slip shear zones responsible for juxtaposing ca. >20,000 km2 of lower continental crust (0.9-1.5 GPa) with middle continental crust (0.5 GPa) (Mahan and Williams, 2005; Dumond et al., …

Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions Near Mosier, Oregon, Cullen Brandon Jones

Dissertations and Theses

The town of Mosier, Oregon, is located near the east, dry end of the Columbia River Gorge, and the local area is known for cherry orchards that rely heavily on groundwater for irrigation. The CRBG groundwater system in Mosier has experienced groundwater declines of up to 60 meters due to over-pumping and or commingling. Declining groundwater levels have led to concerns over the sustainability of the resource, as it is the principle water source for irrigation and domestic use. Despite numerous previous studies of groundwater flow in CRBG aquifers here and elsewhere in the Columbia River basin, an aspect that …

Patterns Of Synorogenic Sedimentation Associated With The Unroofing Of The Willard-Paris-Meade Thrust Sheets, Sevier Fold-Thrust Belt, Amanda Gentry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Willard-Paris-Meade thrust is the oldest and western-most sheet to develop in the Wyoming salient of the Sevier fold-thrust belt. The 10-15 km thick thrust sheet was emplaced ~60 km eastward and included Jurassic-Triassic strata, mixed siliciclastic-carbonate upper Paleozoic strata, carbonate-rich lower Paleozoic strata, and quartzite-rich basal Cambrian to Neoproterozoic strata. Each stratigraphic interval has a distinctive detrital zircon (DZ) age signature, which can be used in provenance analysis of foreland basin fill. The thrust system had a long deformation history recorded by westward thickening and coarsening synorogenic strata. DZ U-Pb geochronology of 27 synorogenic samples collected from two transects …