Stratigraphy Commons^™

Hydrogeologic Framework And Water Balance Investigation Of Land Near The Gothenburg Canal System, Douglas R. Hallum

Conservation and Survey Division

The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) requested that Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) develop a local hydrogeologic framework and conceptual water budget for a parcel of land near a segment of canal in the Gothenburg Canal System to determine likely sources of ponded surface water that are ephemerally present on the parcel. The study seeks to assess the parcel scale water budget and to better understand the parcel-scale hydrology and hydrogeology. The object of this project is to provide reliable information to NPPD and its customers along a small portion of the canal. Information from this report may influence, or …

Mapping The Base Of The High Plains Aquifer Using Borehole Geophysical Logs And Airborne Electromagnetic Surveys In Western Nebraska, Steven S. Sibray, Douglas R. Hallum, Joseph Reedy, Jason Yuill, Thadeus Kuntz

Conservation and Survey Division

The project scanned and reviewed data from 15,421 oil and gas well geophysical logs in 13 counties to delineate the base of aquifer and thickness of the High Plains Aquifer (HPA). The data and interpretations from this study can be used in a regional groundwater modeling effort that includes the Western Water Use Management Modeling (WWUMM) and the and the Cooperative Hydrology Study (COHYST) model. The area studied is in the Upper Platte River Basin. The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NeDNR) has designated most of the area as either overappropriated or fully appropriated, where groundwater is managed jointly

by …

Cenozoic Vertebrate Biostratigraphy Of South Carolina, Usa, And Additions To The Fauna, L. Barry Albright Dr., Albert Sanders Dr., Robert Weems, David Cicimurri, James Knight

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

Although South Carolina has not typically been considered a state yielding a wealth of vertebrate paleontological resources, study of its fossils, particularly those from the famous “Ashley River phosphate beds” near Charleston, played a significant role in the early history of vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline in North America. Long overshadowed by the exceptionally rich Cenozoic record from Florida, renewed efforts in South Carolina over the last three decades have resulted in a wealth of new data from sites that rival, and in some cases surpass, any others along the US Atlantic Coastal Plain. With increasing study of these …

Sedimentological, Architectural, And Paleoenvironmental Analysis Of The Fluvial Upper Devonian Catskill Formation, North-Central Pennsylvania, Usa, Matylda Zaklicki

Honors Theses

During the Late Devonian time period, sediments eroded from the Acadian mountains were transported westward and deposited in fluvial environments, but the morphology of the rivers, avulsion style, and controls on basin infilling remain unclear. This study assesses the sedimentology, channel geometry, stratigraphic architecture, and avulsion style of the paleochannels and floodplains of the uppermost 80 meters of the Catskill Formation near Blossburg, Pennsylvania, using field-based lithofacies observations, high-resolution panoramic photographs, and terrestrial lidar scanning.

Upper Catskill Formation strata at Blossburg Middle consist of sandy channel and muddy floodplain deposits. Floodplain deposits were categorized into either proximal floodplain deposits or …

Tidal-Groundwater Study Of The Slaughter Beach Salt Marsh In Slaughter Beach, De, Michael Powers

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Seasonal and decadal monitoring of salt marsh at Slaughter Beach, DE documented long-term and short-term variations in number and sizes of salt ponds. Over 400 salt ponds ranging in size between 0.5 m² to 0.11 km² were identified on 5.5 km² salt marsh platform. The purpose of this study is to quantify hydrologic conditions and measure groundwater discharge of a salt marsh, particularly the impact of tidal forces on groundwater fluctuation.

Four wells with nests of mini-piezometers with ONSET Pressure Transducers were installed along a transect crossing the largest salt pond (0.11 km²) in the …

Interpretive Geologic Maps And Cross Sections For Phelps, Kearney, And Adams Counties In Nebraska, Dana Divine, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division

Data from thousands of test-hole and well logs were interpreted to improve understanding and management of the High Plains aquifer in a three-county study area adjacent to the Big Bend reach of the Platte River. Five principal conclusions resulted from these interpretations: (1) the extent of Neogene Ogallala deposits beneath the study area is different than previously mapped; (2) a large paleovalley incised into Cretaceous bedrock probably cuts across Kearney and Adams counties and may be the course of the ancestral Platte River prior to formation of the Big Bend; (3) a groundwater mound created by irrigation canals artificially raises …

2019 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy Final Report, M.E. Burbach, R.M. Joeckel, G.S. Matkin

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Paleofloods And Landform Development Influence Carbon Storage In A Humid-Subtropical River Valley, Christopher Lance Stewart

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Floodplains can store large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) despite covering a small fraction of the global land area. Since these valley-bottom landforms build through the action of flooding, the century to millennial-scale record of overbank deposition could be important in understanding controls on deep (>30 cm) SOC storage. Yet, the influence of flood history and landform development on carbon content is surprisingly not well known. I use a combined geological and pedological approach to characterize the sedimentation, soil development, and SOC of fluvial terraces along an impounded reach of the humid-subtropical Tennessee River valley, U.S.A. The standardized …

Late Holocene Paleoflood Hydrology Of The Snake River In The Lower Hells Canyon, Idaho, Kent C. Allen

All Master's Theses

The Snake River watershed spans a large geographic region from the Rocky Mountains to the inland Pacific Northwest, and a comprehensive paleoflood chronology on the mainstem of the river is key to identifying the frequency and magnitude of large prehistoric floods within the region. We examined and compared four sites of slackwater deposits along a 20-km reach of the Lower Hells Canyon on the Snake River, Idaho. The sites contain evidence of up to 34 paleofloods within the last 1700 years. Stratigraphic breaks, soils, and in-situ plant or archaeological materials demarcate distinct layers that represent discrete paleoflood events. Radiocarbon dates …

Process Based Analysis Of Fluvial Stratigraphic Record: Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation, North-Central Wv, Oluwasegun O. Abatan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Fluvial deposits represent some of the best hydrocarbon reservoirs, but the quality of fluvial reservoirs varies depending on the reservoir architecture, which is controlled by allogenic and autogenic processes. Allogenic controls, including paleoclimate, tectonics, and glacio-eustasy, have long been debated as dominant controls in the deposition of fluvial strata. However, recent research has questioned the validity of this cyclicity and may indicate major influence from autogenic controls. To further investigate allogenic controls on stratal order, I analyzed the facies architecture, geomorphology, paleohydrology, and the stratigraphic framework of the Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation (MPAF), a fluvial depositional system in the Appalachian …

Documenting The Earthquake History Of The Thousand Springs Fault In Summer Lake Basin, Oregon, Usa, Elizabeth Curtiss

All Master's Theses

Defining seismic hazards in low-strain-rate regions such as the northwestern Basin and Range can be difficult due to the infrequency of earthquakes. Revealing the earthquake records of low-strain-rate regions can refine our understanding of the variability of earthquake sizes and recurrence intervals, however, which can ultimately improve hazard analysis. Four active normal faults form the Summer Lake basin, in the northwestern Basin and Range: The Thousand Springs (TSF), Ana River (ARF), Slide Mountain, and Winter Ridge faults. Other than the TSF, the faults in the Summer Lake basin have documented histories that include surface-rupturing (>M6) earthquakes. Scarps along the …

Hydrogeology And Geology Of The Lower North And South Platte Rivers Of Nebraska: Nebraska Geological Society Field Trip 2020, Douglas R. Hallum, Paul R. Hanson, Shane Tucker, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

The 2020 Nebraska Geological Society field trip will visit central Nebraska, and explore the geology and hydrogeology of the upper Platte, Lower South Platte and Lower North Platte rivers. The field trip area consists of a roughly east-west strip of land, approximately 100 kilometers long, and generally less than 10 kilometers north and south of the Platte, North Platte and South Platte rivers’ channels over most of the reach; from Brady, NE, upstream to Big Springs on the South Platte River and Lewellen on the North Platte River (Map 1). In addition to the river valleys, participants will observe alluvial …

Paleoecological Successions From Shallow-Marine Depositional Environments In Upper Silurian Carbonate Rocks Of Blair County, Pennsylvania, Shadya El-Ashkar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Studies of paleoenvironment and paleoecology are important for investigating relationships between the different environmental and biological variables that influenced biodiversification patterns during the Silurian Period. The mixed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks of the Bloomsburg and Mifflintown Formations in central Pennsylvania represent transitions between carbonate ramp and deltaic settings. The goal of this study was to assess changes in depositional environment and paleoecology of an undescribed Bloomsburg/Mifflintown locality in Bellwood, Pennsylvania. In central Pennsylvania, the interfingered relationship of mixed carbonate and siliciclastic mudstones of the Mifflintown Formation with red fine-grained sandstones and shales of the Bloomsburg Formation presented challenges for deciphering …

Alluvial Fans, Loess Plains, Lakes, And Distributive Fluvial Systems: Depositional Systems Of The Permian-Triassic Red Beds And Evaporites Of Wyoming (Usa), Jonathan Knapp

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The end-Permian ecological crisis was a period of warming and aridity reaching extreme levels by the end Permian and not recovering before the Middle Triassic. The Permian Goose Egg Formation and the Chugwater Group’s Early Triassic Red Peak Formation and Middle Triassic Alcova Limestone are a continuous or nearly continuous succession of rocks deposited during this warm, arid time in Wyoming. Comprised of red beds, evaporites, and rare carbonates, these rocks have not been subjected to detailed sedimentological investigations in the modern era. Previous interpretations of marine and marginal marine deposition have largely been based on the laterally extensive nature …

Fluvial Sedimentology And Architecture Of Two Latest Devonian Lower Huntley Mountain Formation Outcrops, North-Central Pennsylvania, Usa, Evan W. Filion

Honors Theses

Thick successions of river deposits accumulated in the north-central Pennsylvania region of the Appalachian foreland basin during Late Devonian time (~380-360 Ma). The properties and morphologies of these paleorivers are not well characterized. Latest Devonian tectonic, climatic, and eustatic controls on river dynamics and basin infilling also remain unclear. This study assesses the sedimentology, facies architecture, paleochannel depths, and grain size of a 133 m thick section of fluvial strata exposed across two outcrops, Blossburg South (older) and Blossburg West (younger), mapped as lower Huntley Mountain Formation near Blossburg, Pennsylvania. Field-based lithofacies observations, high-resolution panoramic photography, terrestrial lidar scanning, and …

Evolution Of Extreme Continental Saline Environments: A Sedimentological Investigation Of Permo-Triassic Redbeds And Evaporites In Northern Ireland And Kansas, Anna Sofia S. Andeskie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Permo-Triassic was a time of extreme environments, unusually warm and arid climates, and biotic crises. This study investigates Pangean environments and climate leading to extreme acid saline lake systems represented by the Permian Nippewalla Group of Kansas and the Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group of Northern Ireland. Sedimentological observations of the underlying rocks, the Permian Hutchinson Salt Member of Kansas and the Permian Belfast Harbour Evaporite Formation of Northern Ireland, help to understand trends in environmental and climatic conditions leading to these extreme environments. This dissertation also refines the geographic extent of extreme acid saline lake and groundwater systems through …

Mapping And Modeling The Seattle Fault Tsunami Inundation In Puget Sound, David Bruce

All Master's Theses

Coastal communities of Puget Sound are susceptible to tsunami inundation from multiple sources. Two sources of potential tsunami hazard that threaten the region are earthquakes on crustal faults in the Puget Lowlands, or earthquakes originating on the Cascadia subduction zone. This study investigated two coastal marshes in Puget Sound, Deer Lagoon and Doe-Kag-Wats, for evidence of a paleotsunami record to combine with tsunami modeling, in order to predict how future events could inundate Puget Sound. A deposit, interpreted as a paleotsunami, is traceable thought the marsh stratigraphy near the modern day tidal inlet of Deer Lagoon, a site that has …

Evolution And Stratigraphic Architecture Of Tidal Point Bars With And Without Fluvial Input: Influence Of Variable Flow Regimes On Sediment And Facies Distribution, And Lateral Accretion, Pricilla Souza

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Tide-influenced point bars represent a significant proportion of shallow-marine deposits, commonly developed along meandering channels in most backbarrier and estuarine systems. However, sedimentological studies to characterize this type of deposit are still emerging. They often present very heterogeneous internal architectures which development is controlled by the complex flow patterns operating in tidal environments. The study of the sedimentological and morphological characteristics of these features provides better understanding of the hydrodynamic processes that shape coastal systems and control their evolution as well as it contributes to better reservoir potential prediction and production strategy optimization, as tidal point bars may represent hydrocarbon …

Major Lower Paleozoic Horizons Of The Southern Illinois Basin, John B. Hickman

Report of Investigations--KGS

The geology exposed at the surface in the southern Illinois Basin has been mapped in great detail by countless workers over the past century. With the exception of limited and scattered exposures in incised river valleys, the oldest rocks exposed outside of the Jessamine, Nashville, and Ozark Domes surrounding the Illinois Basin are Mississippian in age. Extensive deposits of Cambrian–Devonian sediments occur in the subsurface above crystalline basement in this region, however. All available data for the region were analyzed to produce a single, comprehensive set of interpretations. The data used in this study include 1:24,000-scale geologic quadrangle maps, oil …

Improving Aquifer Characterization Through Integration Of Airborne Electromagnetics (Aem) And Well Hydrographs, Jacqueline Polashek

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this study is to evaluate methods of hydrostratigraphic modeling using geophysics and well hydrographs at the eastern edge of the High Plains aquifer (HPA) in Platte and Colfax counties within Nebraska, USA. The HPA is very heterogeneous in the study area, being hosted by architecturally complex glacial sediments and having many irregular hydraulic boundaries. Further, the HPA exhibits local variations between unconfined and confined conditions. Pumping in such bounded aquifers can be unsustainable because of cost increases and lost agricultural productivity. Moreover, the large drawdowns typical of confined aquifers can contribute to well interference during heavy pumping. …