Geology Commons^™

A Geophysical Study Of The Castle Mountain Fault System And Matanuska-Susitna Valley Near Anchorage, Alaska, Shane Michael Schinagel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Castle Mountain Fault (CMF) is the closest (~50 km) active fault to Anchorage, Alaska. Located within the Matanuska and Susitna (Matsu) Valleys, the CMF shows repeated, unmistakable evidence for Holocene motion. Recent geologic studies estimate that this fault is capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 - 7.1. The Anchorage metropolitan area (which includes the Matsu Valley) contains most of Alaska's population as well as vital shipping and transportation facilities that serve much of inland Alaska. Expected magnitude >7 earthquakes pose seismic hazards to the expanding Anchorage area.

While several mapping and trenching studies have been conducted along the …

North-Central Nebraska Geology: Niobrara River Valley In Brown, Cherry, And Keya Paha Counties, R. M. Joeckel, L. M. Howard, S T. Tucker

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2015, A. R. Young, M. E. Burbach, L. M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Spatial Incidence Of Adult Obesity In The State Of Alabama, Mary G. Odhiambo

Theses

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Relative Mobility Of Submarine Landslides From Deposit Morphology And Physical Properties: An Example From Kumano Basin, Nankai Trough, Offshore Japan, Zachary T. Moore

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

A prominent landslide deposit in the Slope Basin seaward of the Megasplay Fault in the Nankai Trough was emplaced by a high-mobility landslide based on analysis of physical properties and seismic geomorphology. Slide acceleration is a critical variable that determines amplitude of slide-generated tsunami but is many times a variable with large uncertainty. In recent controlled laboratory experiments, the ratio of the shear stress to yield strength (defined as the Flow Factor) controls a wide spectrum of mass movement styles from slow, retrogressive failure to rapid, liquefied flows. Here, we apply this laboratory Flow Factor approach to a natural landslide …

Dynamic Surface Water-Groundwater Exchange In Tidal Freshwater Zones: Insights From The Christina River Basin (Delaware, Usa), Cole T. Musial

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

In coastal rivers, tides can propagate for tens to hundreds of kilometers inland beyond the saltwater line. Yet the influence of tides on river-aquifer connectivity and solute transport in tidal freshwater zones (TFZs) is largely unknown. We estimate that along the TFZ of White Clay Creek (Delaware, USA), more than 17% of river water exchanges through hyporheic and riparian storage zones due to tidal pumping alone. Additional hyporheic processes such as flow through bedforms likely contribute even more exchange. The turnover length associated with the tidal pumping process is 39 km, similar to turnover lengths for all hyporheic exchange processes …

The Environmental Effects Of Coal Fires, Trent Garrison

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

There are thousands of subterranean coal fires in the world that, because of incomplete combustion, emit a wide variety of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds to the atmosphere, water, and soil at concentrations that could pose health risks to humans and wildlife. The main goals of this study were to (1) review methods that are used to characterize physical and chemical characteristics of coal-fire sites, (2) determine relationships between gas emissions and physical and chemical characteristics of coal-fire sites, using a combination of regression and multivariate statistical methods, and (3) determine the concentrations of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds in …

Bedrock Geologic Mapping And Structural Analysis Of The Western Half Of The Petersham Quadrangle, Central Massachusetts: Further Tests Of The Model For Middle To Late Paleozoic Ductile Transpression, Vertical Extrusion, And Lateral Escape In The Northern Appalachians, Lucas P. Rohrer

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Bedrock mapping, structural analysis, and geochronology reveal the distribution of lithologies and timing of metamorphism and deformation in the western half of the Petersham 7.5’ quadrangle, western Massachusetts. Underlying lithologies are: (from west to east) the Ordovician Monson granitic orthogneiss, Silurian Rangeley migmatitic paragneiss, and Late Devonian (357 Ma) Hardwick tonalitic orthogneiss. Their tightly folded contacts strike north to south. The 361 Ma, unfoliated, strike-parallel Nichewaug quartz-diorite (10-100 m wide) intrusion spans the map area within the Rangeley. Evidence for vertical and lateral extrusion/escape of the Monson orthogneiss, as observed in the Palmer MA area, is absent. Instead, petrofabrics (foliations …

Fluvial Responses To Growth Faulting In The West Pearl River, Louisiana, Stephen A. Prosser

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southeastern Louisiana is an actively deforming deltaic complex displaying surface and near-surface evidence of growth faulting. Active growth faults in these environments are rarely identified at the surface, in part because the downthrown blocks often experience increased rates of sediment deposition leading to an obscured and low-relief, or entirely absent, surface expression. Faulting can be expressed in fluvial systems as changes in channel gradient, which often result in coincident changes in channel sinuosity, migration rates, planform deflections, and/or ponding features within the deformed zone. The study area is focused on a meander bend of …

Katian Gssp And Carbonates Of The Simpson And Arbuckle Groups In Oklahoma, Jesse R. Carlucci, Daniel Goldman, Carlton E. Brett, Stephen R. Westrop, Stephen A. Leslie

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

This guidebook was written for the 2015 International Symposium on the Ordovician System (ISOS) as a synopsis of the recent work (e.g., Goldman et al. 2007; Carlucci et al. 2014, forthcoming work for the ISOS meeting) on Ordovician-Silurian rocks of south-central and south-eastern Oklahoma. This new research and past studies (e.g., Harris 1957; Longman 1976; Longman 1982a, b; Fay et al. 1982a; Fay et al. 1982b) underscore the scientific importance of this region. The global stratotype section and point for the Katian Stage of the Upper Ordovician Series is examined on this trip. The first appearances of important graptolites, conodonts …

Geologic Map Of The Welcome Quadrangle And An Adjacent Part Of The Wells Quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada, Allen J. Mcgrew, Arthur W. Snoke

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Located in central Elko County, the Welcome and adjacent part of the Wells quadrangles expose a remarkable array of critical relationships for understanding the geologic history of the State of Nevada and the interior of the southwestern U.S. Cordillera. Covering the northern end of the East Humboldt Range and adjacent Clover Valley and Clover Hill, this map includes the northern terminus of the Ruby Mountains-East Humboldt Range metamorphic core complex. The oldest rocks in the State of Nevada (the gneiss complex of Angel Lake), and Nevada’s only exposures of Archean rock, form the core of a multikilometer scale, southward-closing recumbent …

Stream Bank Erosion Trends And Sediment Contributions In A Southwestern Missouri River, Ezekiel Allen Kuehn

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Bank erosion can be a significant source of in-stream sediment that negatively affects water quality and aquatic habitat. However, assessments of the role that eroding banks play in suspended and bed sediment supply are rarely available to managers. The purpose of this study was to quantify bank erosion rates for a 7 km conservation easement the James River in southwest Missouri to evaluate the annual contributions of bank sediment to the channel. The objectives were to: (1) monitor an eroding 260 m bank to better understand short-term, reach scale bank erosion rates; (2) determine historical rates of bank erosion for …

Patterns And Processes Of Salt Efflorescences In The Mcmurdo Region, Antarctica, Kelsey M. Bisson, Kathleen A. Welch, Susan A. Welch, Julia Meyer Sheets, W. Berry Lyons, Joseph S. Levy, Andrew G. Fountain

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Evaporite salts are abundant around the McMurdo region, Antarctica (~78°S) due to very low precipitation, low relative humidity, and limited overland flow. Hygroscopic salts in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) are preferentially formed in locations where liquid water is present in the austral summer, including along ephemeral streams, ice-covered lake boundaries, or shallow groundwater tracks. In this study, we collected salts from the Miers, Garwood, and Taylor Valleys on the Antarctic continent, as well as around McMurdo Station on Ross Island in close proximity to water sources with the goal of understanding salt geochemistry in relationship to the hydrology of …

Theoretical Foundation Of Cyclostationary Eof Analysis For Geophysical And Climatic Variables: Concepts And Examples, Kwang-Yul Kim, Benjamin Hamlington, Hanna Na

CCPO Publications

Natural variability is an essential component of observations of all geophysical and climate variables. In principal component analysis (PCA), also called empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, a set of orthogonal eigenfunctions is found from a spatial covariance function. These empirical basis functions often lend useful insights into physical processes in the data and serve as a useful tool for developing statistical methods. The underlying assumption in PCA is the stationarity of the data analyzed; that is, the covariance function does not depend on the origin of time. The stationarity assumption is often not justifiable for geophysical and climate variables even …

A Joint Receiver Function And Gravity Study Of Crustal Structure Beneath The Incipient Okavango Rift, Botswana, Youqiang Yu, Kelly H. Liu, Cory A. Reed, Moikwathai Moidaki, Kevin Mickus, Estella A. Aetkwana, Stephen S. Gao

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Rifting incorporates the fundamental processes concerning the breakup of continental lithosphere and plays a significant role in the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins. In order to decipher the characteristics of rifting at its earliest stage, we conduct the first teleseismic crustal study of one of the world's youngest continental rifts, the Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ), where the magma has not yet breached the surface. Results from receiver function stacking and gravity modeling indicate that the crust/mantle boundary beneath the ORZ is uplifted by 4-5 km, and the initiation of the ORZ is closely related to lithospheric stretching. Possible decompression …

Interplay Of Porous Media And Fracture Stimulation In Sedimentary Enhanced Geothermal Systems : Red River Formation, Williston Basin, North Dakota, Caitlyn M. Hartig

Theses and Dissertations

Fracture stimulated enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) can be installed in both crystalline rocks and sedimentary basins. The Red River Formation (Ordovician), which lies between 3.6 and 4.2 km depth in the Williston Basin, is a viable site for installation of sedimentary EGS (SEGS). SEGS is possible there because temperatures in the formation surpass 140° Celsius and the permeability is 0.1-38 mD; fracture stimulation can be utilized to improve performance. The main objectives of this project were 1) to determine the spatial variation of the intrinsic properties of the Red River Formation across the study area, and 2) to understand the …

Pillars And Buttes: A Petrologic Comparison Of Modern And Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep Rock, Erica C. Morelli

Honors Papers

Purpose: Literature on the formation of authigenic rock at cold seeps focuses on the role of microbes in creating geochemically favorable environment for the precipitation of carbonate and barite minerals. Less understood is the pathway that lithified microbial patches of seafloor sediment follow to become rock formations that are identified in strata dating back to the Silurian. In this study I will compare Holocene seep rock from the Gulf of Mexico to Cretaceous carbonates that have been identified as seep rock. Through the study of rock in its early stages of formation to rock that has likely undergone multiple phases …

Facies, Architecture, And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Devonian-Mississippian Sappington Formation, Bridger Range, Montana, Anna S. Phelps

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Sappington Formation in Montana is a marine unit comprised of lower and upper organic-rich shale members and a middle calcareous siltstone member. The Sappington Formation was deposited during a period of complex paleogeography in Montana, characterized by deposition in sub-basins and onlap onto structural highs, and eustatically- and tectonically-driven transgressive-regressive cycles. Detailed outcrop analysis was conducted on the Sappington Formation across the Bridger Range in southwestern Montana to better understand the Sappington Formation depositional system and changing regional paleogeography. The Sappington Formation is further interpreted in a stratigraphic architectural framework to improve the ability to predict …

Measuring The Cost And Performance Of Lithic Industries At The Sunrise Ridge Borrow Pit Site (45pi408), Patrick Christropher Lewis

All Master's Theses

This thesis applies a theoretically informed protocol that focuses on variation in stone tool manufacture and use as measured in the 45PI408 lithic assemblage. The model used is based on the variables of stone tool cost and performance. Guided by this model, technological and functional paradigmatic classifications are employed to measure intra­site variation in lithic frequencies. This method avoids difficulties encountered by previous archaeologists by using mutually exclusive analytical units that measure subtle variation in the archaeological record. Variability in technological and functional paradigmatic classificatory dimensions such as stone tool heat treatment, raw materials, use wear, and reduction class were …

Accelerated Glacier Melt On Snow Dome, Mount Olympus, Washington, Usa, Due To Deposition Of Black Carbon And Mineral Dust From Wildfire, Susan Kaspari, S. Mckenzie Skiles, Ian Delaney, Daniel Dixon

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Assessing the potential for black carbon (BC) and dust deposition to reduce albedo and accelerate glacier melt is of interest in Washington because snow and glacier melt are an important source of water resources, and glaciers are retreating. In August 2012 on Snow Dome, Mount Olympus, Washington, we measured snow surface spectral albedo and collected surface snow samples and a 7 m ice core. The snow and ice samples were analyzed for iron (Fe, used as a dust proxy) via inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry, total impurity content gravimetrically, BC using a single-particle soot photometer (SP2), and charcoal …