Stratigraphy Commons^™

Analysis Of Cryptotephra At Whitney Mesa Nature Preserve, Henderson, Nevada, Alex Newsom

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Advanced Undergraduate Winner

Cryptotephra (small volcanic shards ranging 20-80 microns in size) were discovered within Unit X of the Las Vegas Formation at Whitney Mesa Nature Preserve, Henderson, Nevada. Cryptotephra are deposited soon after a volcanic eruption and can be used as a dating tool to create narrow time constraints for surrounding sediments. Cryptotephra have many applications but are mainly useful as a dating tool. Their study has important implications for the understanding of the timing of palaeoclimatological and paleoenvironmental events as well as for archaeological studies to date important events in human history.

The Whitney Mesa cryptotephra were correlated …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2019, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Leslie M. Howard, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The term “groundwater” has come to be all but synonymous with Nebraska. Nearly three-quarters of the total volume of the High Plains Aquifer lies beneath the State. Groundwater maintains our streams, our ecosystems, our people, and our vitally important agricultural economy. Nebraska’s total groundwater resource is vast, yet it is also vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic changes, necessitating a long-term commitment to wise management through informed decision making. Monitoring, studying, and reporting form the essential basis for such management and, ultimately, for meeting the myriad challenges presented by change.

The personnel of the Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) are proud …

Rockhounding, Seafaring, And Other Material Tales For The End Of The World, Noemie Fortin

The Goose

In the face of accelerated environmental degradation and climate instability, the future of the Earth and of all life on earth is difficult to visualize. Therefore, the different mediums through which we consider environmental issues are just as important as the actions we take to address them. Focusing on three projects combining art, science, and activism, this article suggests a compilation of material tales. They tell stories of plastic rocks and aluminum nuggets where the protagonists are partly finely crafted objects, partly waste materials, and sometimes both at once. Artists Kelly Jazvac, Yesenia Thibeault-Picazo, and the collective Studio Swine collaborate …

Late Cretaceous Stratigraphy And Paleoceanographic Evolution In The Great Australian Bight Basin Based On Results From Iodp Site U1512, K. G. Macleod, Lloyd T. White, Carmine C. Wainman, Mathieu Martinez, Matthew M. Jones, Sietske J. Batenburg, Laurent Riquier, Shannon J. Haynes, David K. Watkins, K. A. Bogus, H.-J. Brumsack, R. Do Monte Guerra, Kirsty M. Edgar, Trine Edvardsen, Dennis Harry, Takashi Hasegawa, R. W. Hobbs, Brian T. Huber, T. Jiang, J. Kuroda, E. Y. Lee, Yong-Xiang Li, Alessandro Maritatai, Lauren K. O'Connor, Maria Rose Petrizzo, Tracy M. Quan, C. Richter, Maria Luisa Garcia Tejada, G. Tagliaro, Erik Wolfgring, Zhaokai Xu

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Upper Cretaceous sedimentary sequence at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1512 in the Ceduna Sub-basin of the Great Australian Bight represents a continuous, N 690 m thick interval of black silty clay and claystone spanning the lower Turonian through Lower Campanian (~10 million years). Sediments were deposited in an elongate, ~E-W oriented, ~2500 km long rift system that developed between Australia and Antarctica with an open-ocean connection to the west and a continental bridge to the east. Site U1512 cores provide a unique, continuous record of Late Cretaceous deposition in the Ceduna Sub-basin on the hanging wall of the …

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

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

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: Faculty and Staff Publications

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 …

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 …

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 …

Correlating The Plant Height Of Wheat With Above-Ground Biomass And Crop Yield Using Drone Imagery And Crop Surface Model, A Case Study From Nepal, U. S. Panday, Nawaraj Shrestha, S. Maharjan, A. K. Pratihast, Shahnawaz, K. L. Shrestha, J. Aryal

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

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

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

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 …

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 …

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 (ETD)

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 …

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 (ETD)

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 …