Geomorphology Commons^™

Coupled Sediment Yield And Sediment Transport Model To Support Navigation Planning In Northeast Brazil, Calvin Trebor Creech

Wayne State University Dissertations

Deposition of sediment (shoaling) in commercial waterways is a major obstacle to maintaining sustainable riverine transportation of bulk goods (primarily agricultural and mining commodities). The rate of aggradation of sediment in a waterway is directly related to both the rate of sediment erosion from upland and river bank sources (sediment yield) and the energy in the river to effectively transport the sediment through the waterway system (sediment transport). Historically, methods used for waterway development have included trial and error or rules of thumb associated with river training structures and chute cut-off canals or engineering of navigation locks and dams. More …

Architecture, Heterogeneity, And Origin Of Late Miocene Fluvial Deposits Hosting The Most Important Aquifer In The Great Plains, Usa, R. Matthew Joeckel, Steve R. Wooden Jr., Jesse T. Korus, Jon Garbisch

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Ash Hollow Formation (AHF) of the Ogallala Group is an important sedimentary archive of the emergence of the Great Plains and it contains major groundwater resources. Stratal patterns of constituent alluvial lithofacies demonstrate that the AHF is much more heterogeneous than is commonly assumed. Very fine- to fine-grained sandstone dominate overall, chiefly lithofacies Sm (massive to locally stratified sandstone). Stacked, thin sheets of Sm with accretionary macroform surfaces are common, indicating that many sandstone architectural elements originated as compound-bar deposits in dominantly sand-bed streams. Channel forms are difficult to identify and steep cutbanks are absent. Multiple units of lithofacies …

Wave Transformation At A Saltmarsh Edge And Resulting Marsh Edge Erosion: Observations And Modeling, Kevin J. Trosclair

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study examines wind generated waves during winter storms, their transformation/attenuation near the marsh edge, and the resulting saltmarsh edge erosion. A simple numerical model for wave generation, transmission and marsh edge erosion was developed and validated against observations from Lake Borgne, Louisiana. Results suggest that meteorological conditions modify the local water depth via wind or wave setup and atmospheric pressure, thus exerting a first order control on the location of wave attack, which in turn determines the type of wave forces (shear vs. impact) that dominate the erosion process. Scarp failure follows, at a location determined by water level, …

Surficial Geologic Map Of Kings Canyon: Implications For Relatively Slow Stream Incision Rates, Andrew Farris

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Most of the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California has responded to regional uplift with rapid incision, creating the deepest canyon in the United States. However, Kings Canyon near Cedar Grove is still a mountainous relict landscape with little evidence of fluvial incision. Mapping took place in the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon to assess factors and/or processes causing relatively low stream incision rates in the region during Holocene time. A surficial geologic map was created in the field, along with visual observations of the South Fork of the Kings River and characterization of geologic map …

Sources Of Co2 Controlling The Carbonate Chemistry Of The Logsdon River, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Bruce Elliott Hatcher

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Logsdon River is a major, base-level stream within the Turnhole Bend Drainage basin of the Mammoth Cave System. The Logsdon River system has provided a unique opportunity to examine the geochemical evolution of a stream flowing through a major karst conduit that can be traversed for 10 km. This study examines CO₂ inputs at the upstream portion of the river, which provide major control for the river’s hydrochemistry. Samples were collected from the upstream portion of Logsdon River at what is referred to as the S-188 sump and also nearby at Crowbar Dome over the course of 44 weeks …

Glacier Slip And Seismicity Induced By Surface Melt, Peter L. Moore, J. Paul Winberry, Neal R. Iverson, Knut A. Christianson, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Miriam Jackson, Mark E. Mathison, Denis Cohen

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Many of the key processes governing fast glacier flow involve interaction between a glacier and its basal hydrological system, which is hidden from direct observation. Passive seismic monitoring has shown promise as a tool for remotely monitoring basal processes, but lack of glacier-bed access prevents clear understanding of the relationships between subglacial processes and corresponding seismic emissions. Here we describe direct measurements of basal hydrology, sliding, and broadband seismicity made in a unique subglacial facility in Norway during the onset of two summer melt seasons. In the most pronounced of these episodes, rapid delivery of surface meltwater to the bed …

Paleohydrology And The Origin Of Jewel Cave, Mike Wiles

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

With more than 267 m (166 miles) of mapped cave passages, Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world. The passages are beneath an area of 775 ha (3 mi²), located almost entirely within the Hell Canyon drainage basin. The canyon itself is situated in the bottom of a south-plunging syncline and most of the cave passages are located within the east limb. A down-dip cross section shows the cave passages assuming the shape of an elongate lens, located just below the Pahasapa/Minnelusa contact. The lower boundary is a maximum of 75 m (250 feet) below …

An Apparent Angular Unconformity In Western Connecticut, Stanley Schleifer, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Adisa Charles, Hernando Martinez, Shirley Jackson, Chiemeka Ihebom

Publications and Research

The recent extension, to the north, of the U. S. Route 7 ‘superhighway’ in the town of Brookfield, Connecticut has involved the excavation of crystalline bedrock of lower Paleozoic to upper Proterozoic age in the area. The road cuts produced by this excavation have exposed some interesting features of structure and lithology. An outcrop, observed by the authors off the east side of route 7, at grid coordinates 41.482444 N, 73.415307 W is of particular interest. It appears, to the casual observer to be an angular unconformity. Maps and publications regarding this area of Western Connecticut support the likelihood of …

Geogram 2013, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Accommodation Space Controls On The Latest Pleistocene And Holocene (16–0 Ka) Sediment Size And Bypassing In The Lower Columbia River Valley: A Large Fluvial–Tidal System In Oregon And Washington, Usa, Curt D. Peterson

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we establish the roles that increasing basin accommodation space have on sediment size and bypassing in the transgressive fill (16–0 ka) in the submerged Lower Columbia River Valley (LCRV). The antecedent forearc valley (225 km in length, 4–8 km in width, and 60–115 m in axial valley depth) is characterized by high sediment supply rates (10–15 million t y-1) but no delta at its mouth to the Pacific Ocean. Core sample sediment textures (N ¼ 1600) are analyzed from 3000 m of borehole sections in 58 representative boreholes to characterize the ancestral valley fill: 57% sand, 17% …

Hypogenic Origin Of Provalata Cave, Republic Of Macedonia: A Distinct Case Of Successive Thermal Carbonic And Sulfuric Acid Speleogenesis, Marjan Temovski, Philippe Audra, Andrej Mihevc, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Victor Polyak, William Mcintosh, Jean-Yves Bigot

International Journal of Speleology

Provalata Cave (Republic of Macedonia) is a small but remarkable hypogenic cave, developed in Cambrian marbles by successive thermal carbonic and sulfuric acid speleogenesis. The cave has a thick partly corroded calcite crust, abundant gypsum deposits, with cupolas, ceiling and wall channels, feeders and replacement pockets as some of the most characteristic morphological features. Distribution of morphology and deposits suggest a hypogenic origin in two distinct speleogenetic phases: the first by thermal CO₂ rich waters, the second by sulfuric acid dissolution, which were separated by complete infilling of cave passages with pyroclastic-derived clays. In the first phase of speleogenesis, …

Geomorphic Evolution Of Caminada Pass In Southeast Louisiana., Jordyn A. Spizale

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Tidal inlets play a significant role in barrier island sustainability along the barrier islands of southern Louisiana. With increasing tidal prism, major changes are taking place within and adjacent to the inlets. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Caminada Pass, a tidal inlet along the Caminada-Moreau headland, has evolved through time. Fundamental to this effort is evaluating which processes have contributed toward inlet evolution and what is the response of the inlet-bordering barrier island shorelines of Grand Isle and Elmer’s Island. This effort summarizes previous results and utilizes published bathymetric data, aerial photographs, vector shorelines, satellite images, …

Lithic Analysis Of Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site Sediments, Kaitlin M. Hill, George V. Last

STAR Program Research Presentations

The landforms and geologic layers of Southeastern Washington record fascinating, unique geologic events, including repeated catastrophic flooding that occurred during the last Ice Age. These floods left behind many distinctive features, and a variety of fossils. After discovery of mammoth-sized bones in 1999, and confirmation that more bones were still in place in 2008, the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site near Kennewick, Washington was secured for research, and formal excavation began in 2010.

Previous research suggests that the remains are buried in Ice Age flood deposits, which are overlain by eolian sediments, and those in turn overlain by slope wash. We …

Landslides Of Nebraska, Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Application Of Geographic Information Technology And Ground-Penetrating Radar In The Study Of The Evolution Of The Charles River Basin, Lars E. Anderas

Graduate Masters Theses

A two-part study was conducted on the evolution of the shoreline of the Charles River basin on a city-wide scale as well as in finer detail in Magazine Beach Park, along the Cambridge shore of the river. Both parts of the study utilized geographic information technology (GIT) to integrate and analyze data from modern and historical sources, including maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), and orthographic and oblique photography. The city-scale portion of the study produced estimates of the total area of new land made within the study area since Boston's founding in 1630, 14.3 km², of which 6.5 …

Formation, Deformation, And Incision Of Colorado River Terraces Upstream Of Moab, Utah, Andrew P. Jochems

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The history of rivers is laid down as sediment in all landscapes, typically as a function of climate, geologic structures, and/or changes in sea level. When a river abandons its floodplain, this sediment collectively constitutes a landform called a fluvial terrace. Terraces are used to unlock prior characteristics of a river flowing through a given area at both local and regional scales. Dating terrace sediment allows comparison to known changes in climate and geologic deformation, two significant controls on the hydraulics of rivers and the deposition of their sediment loads.

The importance of terraces lies in their utility as markers …

Mechanisms Of Vegetation-Induced Channel Narrowing On An Unregulated Canyon-Bound River, Rebecca Blanche Manners

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The accurate prediction of river channel width remains a fundamental area of investigation in the field of geomorphology. River managers and scientists are interested in understanding how a channel will respond to environmental perturbations such as altered runoff patterns from climate change, a new dam, or a pulse of sediment from a landslide. Increasingly, studies that focus on this question acknowledge the importance of accounting for the vegetation that lines the river banks. For this dissertation, I strove to identify some of the primary ways by which vegetation affects channel width.

At a fundamental level, vegetation influences the size of …

Incision History Of Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, Usa, From The Uranium-Series Analyses Of Water-Table Speleothems, Victor J. Polyak, Harvey R. Duchene, Donald G. Davis, Arthur N. Palmer, Margaret V. Palmer, Yemane Asmerom

International Journal of Speleology

Uranium-series analyses of water-table-type speleothems from Glenwood Cavern and “cavelets” near the town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA, yield incision rates of the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon for the last ~1.4 My. The incision rates, calculated from dating cave mammillary and cave folia calcite situated 65 and 90 m above the Colorado River, are 174 ± 30 m/My for the last 0.46 My and 144 ± 30 m/My for the last 0.62 My, respectively. These are consistent with incision rates determined from nearby volcanic deposits. In contrast, δ²³⁴U model ages (1.39 ± 0.25 My; 1.36 ± 0.25 …

Late-Quaternary Channel Migration In Red Rock Canyon State Park, California; Implications For Regional Tectonics, Kirk Forrest Townsend

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The Iron Canyon Valley, located at the southern end of the eastern Sierra Nevada at the boundary between the Mojave and Basin and Range tectonic provinces, exhibits clear evidence, over graded timescales, of development through monoclinal shifting, which is the tendency of streams flowing parallel to strike over sedimentary rocks to shift down-dip. Although the character of the valley and bedrock dip indicates development through monoclinal shifting, the current stream network is located up-dip on the east side of the valley. Mapping the surficial geology of the valley revealed the presence of dissected alluvial surfaces approximately 85 meters above modern …

A Study Of Knickpoint Formation: Geomorphic Analysis Of San Simeon Creek, Keith Moffatt

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The highest point of orogeny in the Santa Lucia range occurs 50-60km from the nearest active faulting. This orogeny is believed to have occurred hear due to relatively weak Franciscan Mélange versus the granitic material at the fault boundary. This paper studies the development of a knickpoint in San Simeon creek to identify the role of relatively recent (graded time) tectonic activity in orogeny of the Santa Lucia range.
The 2003 earth quake is evidence of recent base level change with the occurrence of orogeny supporting the theory of continuous orogeny in recent and graded time scale. Although the knickpoint …