Sedimentology Commons^™

Circum-Arctic Mineralogy & Pan-Arctic Chronostratigraphy Of Late Pleistocene Sediments: Developing A Comprehensive Age Model For The Western Arctic Ocean Using Unique Ice-Rafted Signals, Wesley Blake Myers

OES Theses and Dissertations

To improve understanding of geographic mineral distribution from the circum-Arctic Ocean, samples from the Arctic periphery were collected and analyzed for (semi-) quantitative mineral composition. Most samples were collected from the North American region of the Arctic Ocean, a region which has had limited mineral investigation. In addition, more than 1000 published clay mineral data points were gathered to provide the most comprehensive clay mineral distribution map to date. The identification of a smectite source within the Canadian Arctic may reduce the usefulness of this mineral as a unique provenance signal for the Eurasian region. Smectite speciation may be useful …

Improving Thorium-230 Determination In Marine Sediment, Katherine Mateos

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Our oceans are intimately related to the climate of our planet. Paleoceanographic approaches aim to study oceans through geologic time to improve models of future climate. Radioisotopes provide us with chemical tracers that help us understand change through time. The uraniumseries decay chain contains thorium-230, a decay product of uranium-234. This isotope is useful to paleoceanographers in its disequilibrium to its parent isotope and in determining the flux of sediment falling to the ocean floor. In order to use 230Th to study oceans, we must be able to accurately measure the amount of thorium in sediment samples. Thorium is found …

Coupled Landscape And Channel Dynamics Across The Ganges-Brahmaputra Tidal-Fluvial Continuum, Southwest Bangladesh, Edwin Jefferson Bomer Iv

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Ganges-Brahmaputra (G-B) Delta of Bangladesh and India is widely considered to be one of the most vulnerable coastal systems in the world, owing to locally-accelerated sea level rise and landscape modification by human activities. Recent research efforts have identified pronounced elevation differences between natural and embanked areas in the G-B tidal delta plain, suggesting that natural landscapes are keeping pace with sea-level rise while anthropogenic locations are actively subsiding. However, this observation represents a singular point in time, and longitudinal trends of surface elevation in these regions are presently unknown. For communities residing in upstream regions of G-B delta …

An Engineering Geological Anatomy Of The Padma River Bank Failure And Erosion, 2018: A Case Study Of Naria Bank Section, Bangladesh, Mir Fazlul Karim, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Shahidul Haque, M. Zillur Rahman, Muhammad Qumrul Hassan, Asm Maksud Kamal, Masud Ahmed, Belal A. Sayeed

Publications and Research

The Naria town of Bangladesh is developed on the right bank of the Padma River. The bank is an old natural levee of Meghna River. The Holocene-Recent geology of Naria is actively dominated by the fluvial processes of Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River system where the deltaic sediments are characterized as unconsolidated fine sand and silt, covered by thin veneer of clayey silt and loam. The annual volume of water discharge and flow dynamics are dependent on the intensity of the rainfall, runoff and the length of dry winter. Excessive river bank erosion, channel avulsion, renewed submergence of floodplains, and formation of natural …

Utilizing Dplot, Sedlog, And Arcgis Pro To Enhance Geologic Field Skills: Rosendale, Ulster County New York, Malek Shami, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Zarine Ali, Leonardo Sanchez, Gugu Ginindza, Tyn Tyn Nai

Publications and Research

Capstone geologic field mapping courses in undergraduate geoscience programs aim to compliment the academic knowledge with technical field skills. As a pilot study, these tools were used to collect field data using folded lower Paleozoic to mid-Paleozoic sedimentary outcrops consisting of clastic, non-clastic and occasional mixed siliciclastics in Rosendale, Ulster County, New York. Rosendale is known for its classic geological outcrops with variable structural, stratigraphic, paleontological and sedimentological complexities – ideal for a field mapping course. Traditionally, students’ data acquisition in the field and its subsequent laboratory analysis to produce a final geologic field report utilized acetate overlays to produce …

Positive Outcomes Of Involving Undergraduate And High School Students In Broader Aspect Of Earth System Science Through Peer Mentoring And Research Activities, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Shuayb Siddique, Matthew Khargie, Juanpablo Rodriguez, Adacia Teemal, Krishna Mahabir, Michael Robinson, Ality Aghedo, Zachary A. Sanichar, Sol De Leon, Tamzid Mubin, Elton Selby

Publications and Research

The importance of involving undergraduates and high school students in field-and-laboratory research investigations at an early stage through peer mentoring has been clearly demonstrated as a critical tool for essential training to fully comprehend academic content and a deeper understanding of the various STEM, geoscience-and- environmental science related topics. As far as we are concerned, student presenters/participants (over 1000) in our topical sessions since 2004 have always found face-to-face presentation through poster sessions to be an ideal scientific venue where exchange of knowledge and discussion are fruitful, constructive and encouraging. It is quite revealing to note that among the student …

Paleoenvironment Of The Devonian Fossiliferous Glenerie Limestone, Rosendale, Upstate New York, Gugu Ginindza, B'Jorn K. Forde, Sebastian R. Agustin, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Malek Shami, Stanley Schleifer

Publications and Research

The Devonian Glenerie limestone outcrops throughout the Hudson Valley and is believed to correlate with the glauconite-rich Oriskany sandstone elsewhere in upstate New York. Field inspection of well-preserved outcrops in Rosendale, upstate New York, indicated the Glenerie formation to be composed of both thin and thickly-bedded chert, interbedded shale, and both calcareous to arenaceous limestone. The Glenerie formation is dominated by spirifer arenosis fossil, which is the index fossil for this formation. The goal of this research is to determine the conditions of the paleoenvironment prevalent to the deposition of the Glenerie formation. Within the arenaceous layers are the spirifer …

Orientation Of Paleostress Of Raplee Ridge Anticline, Loren Randall Holyoak, John S. Maclean

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

During the Laramide Orogeny several major folds were formed in Southern Utah, one of those being the Raplee Ridge anticline. Raplee Ridge is approximately eight miles from Mexican Hat, Utah. The San Juan River cuts through the anticline, exposing the Honaker Trail Formation’s beds of shale and limestone with chert nodules. Accompanying the mountain-scale ductile deformation of the Raplee Ridge anticline are decimeter-scale brittle conjugate fractures in the limestone’s chert nodules. The objective of this study is to compare the orientation of paleostress that formed the Raplee Ridge anticline with the conjugate fractures within the chert nodules to see if …

Petrography And Provenance Of Floor Sediments From The Loutra Almopias Cave (Pella, Macedonia, Greece), Ioannis Georgiadis, Katerina Chatzopoulou, Nikolaos Kantiranis, Ioakeim Ioakeimidis, Ananias Tsirambides

International Journal of Speleology

Thirty seven floor sediment samples of Upper Pleistocene age from the Loutra Almopias Cave were collected from different beds and stratigraphic columns on the basis of their induration grade, grain distribution, and paleontological findings. Channel facies make up the bulk of the clastic sediments found in the cave passages. Slackwater facies compose the final layer of all the stratigraphic sections of the examined cave. The floor sediments are mineralogically immature, since they contain many ferromagnesian minerals, feldspars (especially plagioclase) and quartz. The extensive presence of silicate minerals means that the phyllites, gneisses, schists, ophiolitic rocks and the clastic Mariam Formation …

Historical Floodplain Sedimentation Rates Using Mining Contaminant Profiles, Cesium-137, And Sediment Source Indicators Along The Lower Big River, Jefferson County, Missouri, Miranda M. Jordan

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Floodplain sedimentology and geochemistry can indicate the age of sediment layers to evaluate the history of human-caused sedimentation in a watershed. While the Ozark Highlands of Missouri has had a long history of settlement and land disturbance beginning in the early 1800s, there are few studies that have investigated the effects of these anthropogenic activities on river form and legacy sedimentation. The goal of this study is to characterize the sediment properties and geochemical trends in post-settlement floodplain deposits along lower Big River in Jefferson County, Missouri. This study evaluated trends of sediment properties at 3 cm intervals in a …

The Paleozoic Sedimentary Rocks Of The Ouachita Mountains And Their Genetic Relationship To The Mississippi Valley-Type Mineralization In The Southern Ozark Region: Insights From Radiogenic Pb Isotopes And Trace Elements Studies, Christophe Wakamya Simbo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cluster of Pb and/or Zn deposits of the well-known Tri-State and Northern Arkansas Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) districts located north of the Arkoma basin and the Ouachita fold-thrust belt in north America are genetically connected to the Pennsylvanian-Permian Ouachita orogeny which triggered a South-North topographic gradient flow of basinal brines, leaching metal rich sediments en route. The objective of the research is twofold. First, to ascertain whether the organic-rich shales and sandstones from the study area provided metals during the mineralization event, which was coeval with the Ouachita orogeny. Second, to assess the depositional environment of the potential source rocks, …

The Structure And Dynamics Of A River Delta Are Related Through Its Nourishment Area, Suggesting Optimality, Christopher A. Cathcart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scaling relations in tributary network geomorphology are well understood with respect to optimality. However, the scaling relations between structure and dynamics in distributary network geomorphology are less well understood. This is primarily due to the fact that nourishment area boundaries are difficult to map compared to tributary network catchment area boundaries. Furthermore, most previous work has focused either on the distributary channel networks or the delta’s partitioning of discharge. Here we show that, on the Wax Lake Delta (WLD) in Louisiana, the asymmetry in nourishment areas and downstream nourishment boundary width (∏) at a channel bifurcation, acts as a control …

Provenance And Maximum Depositional Age Analysis Of The Moenave Formation Using Detrital Zircon U-Pb Geochronology And Sandstone Petrography, Asher Rea Boudreaux

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In southwestern Utah and northeastern Arizona, Moenave Formation (latest Triassic(?)-Jurassic) is bracketed by well-studied Mesozoic units extensively sampled for detrital zircon geochronology and is poorly documented in regard to provenance, representing an important gap in knowledge. The Moenave Formation provides a unique opportunity to employ detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and sandstone petrography relevant to completing the paleogeographic, evolutionary, and climatic story of the region. This study aims to characterize the sedimentary provenance of the Moenave Formation and to identify, or at least improve constraints on, the stratigraphic position of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (TJB) and placement of the end-Triassic extinction (ETE), …

Response And Recovery Of Horn And Petit Bois Islands, Mississippi, Usa To Tropical Cyclone Impacts: 2004 – 2016, Shara Gremillion

Master's Theses

Horn and Petit Bois islands are two of five Mississippi (MS) barrier islands that provide physical protection from tropical cyclones threatening the MS Gulf Coast, in addition to critical habitat for the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan removed a large volume of sediment from the eastern ends of Horn and Petit Bois islands with its 1-2 m storm surge and ~194 kph wind speeds. Then, in August 2005 Hurricane Katrina severely impacted the two islands again with its 3.5-5.5 m storm surge on Horn and Petit Bois islands, and up to 204 kph wind speeds …

Eutherian Biogeography During The Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (Paleocene, Earliest Danian): Problems And Potential Solutions, Jason Sterling Silviria

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) is the earliest major North American terrestrial biochron of the Cenozoic era, spanning roughly the first one million years of the Paleogene period (Paleocene epoch, Danian stage; ~66.04-65.12 Ma). It is typified by the explosive ecomorphological diversification of the mammalian clade Eutheria (particularly our subclade, Placentalia), following the annihilation of non-avian dinosaurs and “archaic” mammal groups during the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. The spatiotemporal mode and tempo of Puercan eutherian diversification has long been the subject of debate, with disagreements over biogeographic zonation. The traditional model – based largely on well-sampled, …

Fault Slip And Exhumation History Of The Willard Thrust Sheet, Sevier Fold‐Thrust Belt, Utah: Relations To Wedge Propagation, Hinterland Uplift, And Foreland Basin Sedimentation, W. A. Yonkee, Bryan Eleogram, Michael L. Wells, Daniel F. Stockli, Shari Kelley, D. E. Barber

Geoscience Faculty Research

Zircon (U‐Th)/He (ZHe) and zircon fission track thermochronometric data for 47 samples spanning the areally extensive Willard thrust sheet within the western part of the Sevier fold‐thrust belt record enhanced cooling and exhumation during major thrust slip spanning approximately 125–90 Ma. ZHe and zircon fission track age‐paleodepth patterns along structural transects and age‐distance relations along stratigraphic‐parallel traverses, combined with thermo‐kinematic modeling, constrain the fault slip history, with estimated slip rates of ~1 km/Myr from 125 to 105 Ma, increasing to ~3 km/Myr from 105 to 92 Ma, and then decreasing as major slip was transferred onto eastern thrusts. Exhumation was …

Gage County Preliminary Ground Water Study (Gm-20): Reed, E.C. Conservation And Survey Division , Size 8.5" X 11"., E.C. Reed

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Lithological Character And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Ste. Genevieve Limestone In Western Kentucky, Zachary Dalton Creech

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Ste. Genevieve Limestone is a Mississippian-aged, carbonate-dominated stratigraphic unit that is a prominent hydrocarbon producer in the Illinois Basin, and is widely distributed in states such as Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. There has been relatively limited study focused on characterizing the Ste. Genevieve Limestone in terms of lithofacies, stacking patterns, and sequence stratigraphic context via analysis of roadcut exposures of the unit in western Kentucky.

The focus of this study is to use lithologic data collected from roadcuts and draft these data into cross sections for presentation of detailed stratigraphic columns that are locally correlative. Seven roadcuts were …

Detrital Zircon Geochronology Of Paleoproterozoic Sedimentary Rocks From The Upper Huronian Supergroup, Canada, Carolyn M. Hill, Don W. Davis, Patricia L. Corcoran

Western Research Forum

The Huronian Supergroup is a well-known succession of primarily sedimentary rocks exposed north of Lake Huron. Deposition of the succession is constrained between 2450 and 2220 Ma (million years), which corresponds with Earth’s rise of atmospheric oxygen, however the depositional timing of the uppermost formations cannot be refined further due to a lack of interbedded volcanic rocks. A geochronological study of detrital zircon grains from sandstone and claystone beds from the two youngest Huronian formations, the Gordon Lake and Bar River formations, was completed in order to confine the maximum age of deposition.

Zircon is a mineral that commonly forms …

Understanding The Relationship Between Sedimentation, Vegetation And Topography In The Tijuana River Estuary, San Diego, Ca., Darbi Berry

Theses

The aim of this study is to identify and characterize key geomorphic properties and relationships within the study site, the Tijuana River Estuary. This is a first step in contributing data to and assisting current and future restoration projects in employing a holistic management approach. The study identifies specific physical parameters, grain size and metal concentrations, within the estuary whose relationship to one another is not mutually exclusive and therefore should be addressed in tandem. This study also tests a remote sensing method for use as a tool for monitoring habitat changes in the estuary.