Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Geochemistry And Geochronology Of The Steens And Monument Dike Swarm: Implications And Relationships To Magmatic Storage And To Lava Flows Of The Picture Gorge And Steens Basalt, Rachel Anne Sweeten

Dissertations and Theses

The Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) is the youngest and best-preserved example of a continental flood basalt province. Vents and dikes for the four main eruptive units (Steens, Imnaha, Grande Ronde, and Picture Gorge Basalt) are the Monument, Steens and Chief Joseph Dike Swarms located in eastern Oregon, southeastern Washington, and northern Nevada.

Here we report on the compositions and timing of the dikes and sills of the Monument Dike Swarm (MDS), as well as their relationship to the subaerial lava flows of the Picture Gorge Basalt (PGB) with implications for crustal storage of these magmas. We evaluate data from …

Theory Of An Automatic Seepage Meter And Ramifications For Applications, V. A. Zlotnik, D. K. Solomon, D. P. Genereux, T. E. Gilmore, C. E. Humphrey, A. R. Mittelstet, A. V. Zlotnik

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Data From: Interweaving Recurring Slope Lineae On Mars: Do They Support A Wet Hypothesis?, Daniel P. Mason, Louis A. Scuderi

Earth and Planetary Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

This is a metadata only access point for the referenced dataset hosted in the Dryad data repository. The following abstract relates to the dataset that is available through Dryad.

Included in these supplementary materials is a manuscript citation and manuscript keywords for the manuscript “Interweaving Recurring Slope Lineae on Mars: Do They Support a Wet Hypothesis?”, as submitted to the scientific journal Icarus. Also included are two JP2 image files, a digital terrain model (DTM) file, two shapefiles, and forty-eight CSV files that all collectively detail data relating to channel counts and sinuosity measurements for Martian hillslope features known as …

Engineering And Geological Zoning Of The Distribution Areas Of The Eocene Clays Of Northern Tamdytau, Mirabbas Mirsaatovich Zakirov, Inobat Abduvaxidovna Agzamova, Dilshod Kalandarovich Begimkulov, Golibjon Ernazar Ogli Ochilov, Temur Makhmarajabovich Khudoyberdiyev, Dastan Jamal Uli Madiyarov

Technical science and innovation

The article discusses scientific research on the integrated assessment of the problem of ensuring the sustainability of buildings and structures for industrial and civil purposes. The relevance is due to the development of various zoning methods to establish territories with reliable results on the spread of special soils. Especially in cases where swelling clays are common in the territory, characterized by high sensitivity to weather and climatic conditions. Based on the above, the purpose of engineering and geological zoning of the areas of distribution of Eocene clays of Northern Tamdytau was to identify areas of new construction, to ensure the …

Generating Channel Morphology Data Through Arcgis Pro, Ethan Manigbas

Symposium of Student Scholars

River cross-sections are often extracted using field surveys at measured intervals. This field-oriented approach allows for a tangible relationship between the data and its collector but at the expense of finance, time, labor, and potentially the environment. With the advancement of geospatial tools, such data can be found online, extracted, and even analyzed with contemporary Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a completely virtual setting, transcending the need for fieldwork in select project topics. We tested this approach with the help of ArcGIS Pro software on the Vishnu Springs headwater stream located in the Western Illinois region of the Upper Mississippi …

Using Geochemical Tracers To Determine Seasonal Inputs Of Freshwater To A Coastal Estuary: Biscayne Bay, Fl, Melaney Lara, Rene M. Price

FIU Undergraduate Research Journal

Biscayne Bay is a coastal estuary that historically relied on rainfall and groundwater inputs from the karst Biscayne aquifer. The construction of major canals along the coastline has released point-source freshwater inputs into the bay, detrimentally affecting the Bay’s ecosystem balance. This project investigates the proportional inputs of freshwater between the wet and dry seasons in Deering Estate, adjacent to Biscayne Bay. The objective of this project was accomplished by analyzing the water chemistry of the bay using naturally occurring geochemical tracers. Water sampling occurred from May to August (wet season 2022) and January to March (dry season 2023); at …

Burning Calories, Burning Ocean: Metabolic Rate In Bivalves As A Predictor Of Extinction Selectivity Through Time And During Rapid Global Warming, Siddharth Gavirneni

Theses - ALL

Organismal metabolic rate is linked to environmental temperature and oxygen consumption, and as such, may be a useful predictor of extinction risk during major climate- driven crises. However, metabolic attributes can be quantified in many ways, highlighting differing aspects of organisms’ ecology. Here, we estimate resting whole-body and mass-specific metabolic rates in post-Carboniferous bivalve taxa using body size and seawater paleotemperature to assess how metabolic rate determines survival both during and outside of intervals of rapid climate warming, or ‘hyperthermals’. Accounting for the effects of geographic range size, we find a pattern of preferential extinction of bivalves with lower total …

Investigating The Formation Of The Zirconium-Rich Lithologies Of The Grenville Province Using Zircon Thermometry Of Granitoids From The Adirondack Mountains, John St. Denny

Theses - ALL

The Grenville Province (1200-980 Ma) is known to consist of many rocks which are abundant in zircon. This is seen by the large size of Grenville-age zircons and their abundance in the detrital record. A possible explanation for this is the temperature at which these rocks formed. This hypothesis states that the melts which formed the zircon-rich Grenville lithologies were exceptionally high temperature, enabling them to incorporate a significant amount of zirconium. As it is believed that most zirconium in a melt is incorporated into zircon, a high concentration of zirconium in a magma would crystallize an abundance of zircon. …

Fire Reconstructions In The Far North: Late Holocene Ecological Responses To Fire In Northern Alaska, Lee Frank-Depue

Theses - ALL

Palaeoecological reconstruction can characterize regional fire-regimes and reveal how drivers such as anthropogenic warming and vegetation change influence the fire system. This thesis adds to our knowledge of millennial-scale tundra fire-regimes by creating four new charcoal-based paleoecological records from lake sediment cores on the Alaskan North Slope. Statistical analyses of charcoal accumulation rate (CHAR # particles cm-2 yr-1) at three different size fractions were used to identify centennial-scale variability in biomass burned through time and identify individual fire events. These analyses were coupled with morphological identification and classification of charcoal particles to link charcoal production to hypothesized fuel source. The …

Deformation Mapping And Modeling Of The Aleutian Volcanoes With Insar And Numerical Models, Jiahui Wang

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Surface deformation mapping is an essential component for comprehensive monitoring of volcanic activities, serving as a vital tool for discerning crucial insights into magma dynamics, storage, and migration for accurate hazard forecasting, assessment, and mitigation. However, monitoring of the volcanic deformation across the Aleutian volcanic arc is usually limited by the lack of terrestrial sensors deployed due to their remote locations and hostile environmental conditions, necessitating alternative methodologies for data acquisition and analysis.

My PhD study aims at precisely mapping the crustal deformation for the Aleutian volcanoes and tracking the evolution of the magmatic system with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar …

The Geology And Geochemistry Of The Western Iron Ore Group Greenstone Belt, Singhbhum Craton, Eastern India, Jordan Wright

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents new data on the origin of the Western Iron Ore Group (W-IOG), a Paleoarchean succession deposited on sialic rocks of the Singhbhum Craton. U-Pb ages from zircons from a tuff overlying the Lower Shales just below a banded iron formation (BIF) pin the age of the section to 3.39 Ga. Unconformably overlying the whole IOG section is the Darjing Group, which contains the Birtola Sandstone (on the basis of this work, now estimated to be 2.35 Ga). The lack of penetrative deformation and low-grade metamorphism makes these rocks excellent subjects for combined radiogenic and stable isotope studies. …

Investigating The Effects Of Suspended Algal Content, Dissolved Oxygen, And Temperature On A High-Frequency Acoustic Attenuation System In A Controlled Laboratory Environment, Noah Watson

Honors Theses

The Single Frequency Acoustic Attenuation System (SFAAS) has been developed at the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA). This system uses acoustic methods to monitor fine suspended sediment concentration in streams. Site-specific calibrations are necessary for this system, and previous research has indicated that algal concentration or dissolved oxygen concentration of water may affect collected data. Temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, and fluorescence, used as a proxy for algal concentration, were monitored during this system’s use, and calibrations were derived to account for the effect of each of these variables on acoustic measurements. It has been shown that temperature has a …

Climate Change In Mississippi: A Journalistic Exploration Of Education And Activism, Kala Nance

Honors Theses

Climate Change in Mississippi: A Journalistic Exploration of Education and Activism takes an investigative, journalistic approach toward climate change in Mississippi. Specifically, how education and awareness have a direct impact on Mississippi industries, people and legislation. The project explored the level of acknowledgement of climate change across the state, and how certain individuals used advocacy to encourage education about climate change to raise awareness of the severity of the situation. This project includes interviews with university professors and researchers, non-profit organizations, educational groups and working individuals in some of Mississippi’s largest areas of employment. Additionally, this project draws on research …

Online Temporal Data Mining And Learning: Pursuing Enhanced Efficiency And Robust Algorithms, Sheng Zhong

Computer Science ETDs

Time series data mining and learning serve as a cornerstone across various domains, including finance, healthcare, and science. Recent advancements in network and sensor technologies have ignited an increasing interest in real-time temporal data mining and learning techniques. Various tasks benefit from these techniques, such as environmental monitoring, event detection, anomaly identification, and forecasting. However, these techniques still face significant challenges in the online environment settings, encompassing aspects like efficiency, accuracy, robustness, and scarcity of labeled data. This dissertation presents four innovative solutions: FilCorr, DCT-MASS, FewSig, and BitLINK to overcome these challenges. We evaluate each method and showcase their practical …

Unboxing The Complicated Near Term Climatic And Geomorphic History Of Mars, Joshua Matthew Williams

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

It has long been thought that glacial processes were unlikely within the tropical regions of Mars. However, growing evidence, including this work has identified and quantified relic glacial forms within the equatorial regions. These findings have major implications for understanding Martian climate history and its sensitivity to changes in insolation. As well, the presence of ice in the equatorial region of Mars has significant implications for the past global redistribution of the water ice in the Martian cryosphere. In this manuscript, I clarify and refine our understanding of the morphology of glacial features in the equatorial zone by applying novel …

Paleoecology Of The Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway And Gulf Coastal Plain, Ceara Kathleen Quinn Purcell

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation presents research into the paleobiogeography and paleoecology of the Western Interior Seaway (WIS) and Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) during the Late Cretaceous. The dataset utilized here includes an extensive record of marine invertebrates from over 200 years of fossil collecting and sedimentary data collated from over 45 different literature sources, representing approximately 17 million years of deposition. The high-resolution of this dataset, and its extensive geographic distribution and temporal duration, make it ideal for exploring various ecological questions. Using these data, I have attempted to reconstruct paleobiogeographic provinces as published in prior works, explore functional diversity patterns, and …

Depositional Facies Analysis Of The Cotton Valley Group Sandstones Of The Blackburn Field, Northern Louisiana Using Well Logs And Cores; Implications For Carbon Sequestration, Frederick Owusu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Cotton Valley Group (CVG) consists of tight sandstones with heterogeneous reservoir properties due to variations in depositional environments and diagenesis, spanning across eastern Texas through the Florida panhandle. It has served as a hydrocarbon target since the 1940s, and with recent technological advances, there is renewed exploration of the tight reservoirs within the group. Across northern Louisiana, the CVG has moderate to good reservoir properties, whereas those south extending westward across the Sabine uplift into east Texas decrease in porosity and permeability. With reservoir depletion coupled with its relatively simple mineralogy, these sandstone units may serve as good, localized …

Investigation Of Residual Mineral Content Of Bauxite Stockpiles, Saline Mining District, Arkansas, U.S.A., Melanie L. Ertons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The former mining town of Bauxite is in the Saline County Mining District, in central Arkansas. Bauxite is located approximately 40 km (25 mi) southwest of Little Rock just east of Benton, Arkansas. This area contains extensive deposits of bauxite ore and nepheline syenite previously mined by Aluminum Company of America using open pit and subsurface mining techniques. This study incorporates five bauxite stockpiles (SP1, Clay, SP2, SP3, SP4) with varying amounts of alumina content situated on approximately 10 acres of land within an area of the former mine recognized as Section 20. Over the past several years, there has …

Evaluation Of Changes In Evaporative Losses From Lake Powell Reservoir Contributions In The Colorado River Basin, Maria Mlinarcik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Colorado River Basin (CRB) is one of the most critical water sources for the western United States (U.S.) and Mexico. For over a century, numerous policies and regulations have been implemented in attempts to manage the Colorado River Basin to address the concern of overuse, collectively referred to as the “Law of the River.” The USGS hydrologist E.C. LaRue warned that the optimistic estimates used in negotiating the Colorado River Compact did not align with the actual water availability in the river. His analysis in 1925 revealed a potential deficit if all allocated water was utilized, exacerbated by overallocation …

The Use Of Repurposed Whole Textiles To Modify The Mechanical And Hydrogeological Properties Of Green Roof Media And Granular Soils, Angelis Almanzar-Chevalie, Yehya Elfgeeh, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

This study investigates using repurposed whole textiles to modify the mechanical and hydrogeological properties of lightweight Green Roof media and granular pavement soils.

Green Roof Media Green roofs aim to bring the advantages of suburban agriculture to urban environments while improving energy efficiency and enhancing stormwater management in public, commercial, and residential buildings. Previous studies by City Tech undergraduate research assistants demonstrated significant modification in hydrogeological properties when incorporating textile fabric up to 3% textile by weight (%Tex) at an aspect ratio of 1:1. The effects of mixing repurposed whole textile fiber with Green Roof media is evaluated with regards …

The Influence Of Soil Composition On Stormwater Retention And Runoff In Green Roofs At Portland State, Manuel Edrozo, Lily Green, Mitchell Mcdonald, Nicholas Olmos

Student Research Symposium

The purpose of this study is to determine what soil composition is best for green roofs at Portland State; we aim to compare the current soil to the original substrate, to measure which composition retains the most water, and which filters out the most pollutants in stormwater runoff. Five different soil compositions were tested — original, current, layered mixed, solid mixed, and potting soils — and 1,000mL of high and low intensity rainfall (in/hr) was simulated for each of the mixtures. Water was allowed to filter through the soils for a predetermined time (10min for a high application rate and …

Textural Investigation Into Rapid Welding Transitions In The Tuff Of Leslie Gulch Along Succor Creek At The Mahogany Mountain-Three Fingers Rhyolite Field, Southeastern Oregon, Alicia J. Martinez-Garling, Martin J. Streck

Student Research Symposium

The Mahogany Mountain-Three Fingers Rhyolite Field (MM-TFrf) in southeastern Oregon, associated with mid-Miocene rhyolite activity and Columbia River flood basalts, has been the subject of geological scrutiny. Previous studies proposed separate origins for the tuff of Leslie Gulch (LGT) and Spring Creek, but Benson and Mahood (2006) suggested a single ignimbrite event at 15.8 Ma, prompting a reassessment of MM-TFrf's history. This research focuses on LGT, investigating textural disparities between welded and non-welded tuff formations. Petrographic examinations delve into the transformation stages of pyroclastic tuff deposition, revealing the dynamic influences of volcanological and magmatic processes on welded and non-welded tuff …

Analyzing Intensifying Storm Events Correlation To Landslide Frequency In Portland’S West Hills, Aurora Villa Juan

Student Research Symposium

As the Pacific Northwest climate changes, extreme weather, such as intensifying storms, and a shift in the type of precipitation experienced with warmer winters causing more precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow, may lead to an increased frequency of landslides. There have been several recent landslides in Portland, noticeable to the public, particularly in areas of high elevation such as Council Crest, which stands at 1,073 feet. Additionally, residents of neighboring homes have observed changes in the landscape, including those on private properties. To better safeguard both public and private property, comprehensive research and mitigation efforts are required. …

Controls On Soft Tissue And Cellular Preservation In Late Eocene And Oligocene Vertebrate Fossils From The White River And Arikaree Groups Of Nebraska, South Dakota, And Wyoming, John E. Gallucci, Grace Woolslayer, Kelsey Barker, Brian Kibelstis, Allison R Tumarkin-Deratzian, Paul V. Ullmann, David E. Grandstaff, Dennis O. Terry

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

Previous studies on microtaphonomy have identified multiple types of organic microstructures in fossil vertebrates from a variety of time periods and past environmental settings. This study investigates potential taphonomic, paleoenvironmental, and paleoclimatic controls on soft tissue and cellular preservation in fossil bone. To this end, fifteen vertebrate fossils were studied: eight fossils collected from the Oligocene Sharps Formation of the Arikaree Group in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, and seven fossils from formations in the underlying White River Group, including the Oligocene Brule Formation of Badlands National Park, and the Eocene Chadron Formation of Flagstaff Rim, Wyoming; Toadstool Geologic Park, …

Planetary Exploration Via Fully Automatic Topological Structure Extraction Using Adaptive Resonance, Jonathan Kissi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Renewed interest in Solar System exploration, along with ongoing improvements in computing, robotics and instrumentation technologies, have reinforced the case for remote science acquisition systems development in space exploration. Testing systems and procedures that allow for autonomously collected science has been the focus of analogue field deployments and mission planning for some time, with such systems becoming more relevant as missions increase in complexity and ambition. The introduction of lidar and laser scanning-type instruments into the geological and planetary sciences has proven popular, and, just as with the established image and photogrammetric methods, has found widespread use in several research …

Anthropogenic Problems Threatening Major Cities: Largest Surface Deformations Observed In Hatay, Türkiye Based On Sbas-Insar, Şükrü Onur Karaca, Gültekin Erten, Semih Ergi̇ntav, Shuhab D. Khan

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

The surface deformation caused by tectonic activities and anthropogenic factors poses a great threat to cities worldwide. The investigation and monitoring of these deformations are crucial in order to create risk analysis for the future. The problem in this case is to investigate the surface deformations and their negative effects caused by groundwater use and to identify possible landslide areas. In this study, the surface deformations in Hatay province were analyzed using SBAS-InSAR. The results from these analyses were evaluated by field observations. Sentinel-1 descending (183 datasets) and ascending (147 datasets) track geometries were selected to determine the surface deformation …

Evaluation Of Radioactive Properties And Microfaunal Evidence In The Bosphorus And The Dardanelles Straits And Golden Horn Sediments, İpek F. Barut, Engin Meri̇ç, Mustafa Eryilmaz, Atike Nazi̇k, Feyza Di̇nçer, Erol Kam

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

The aim of this study is to investigate radioactive pollutants from pollution loads transported from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea by the Turkish Straits System and their effects on microfauna (benthic foraminifer and ostracod) assemblages. In the study, the effects of gross alpha and beta activity on the species number, species diversity, dominant species and species richness of benthic foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages were investigated in 16 bottom sediments taken from different depths in the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. In the studied sediment samples examined 61 genera and 64 species of benthic foraminifera, 23 genera and …

A Simple And Practical Tool For Indirect Determination Of The Unconfined Compressive Strength Of Most Common Construction Materials, Kamil Kayabali, Turgay Beyaz, İlknur Karaaslan Özdemi̇r, Deniz Yilmaz

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

Determination of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of construction materials in the laboratory is tedious and time-consuming. There have been many attempts to indirectly predict UCS using simpler tools and techniques. One of them is the nail gun. The scope of this investigation is to design a nailer which can be applied all construction materials whose UCS range from 1-100 MPa. In the research, rocks, bricks, and concretes prepared in different cement/sand ratios with different strength ranges were used as materials. The unconfined compressive strength of the materials used in the experiments was first determined by conventional compression tests. The …

Time-Lapse Ground Penetrating Radar (Gpr) Imaging Of Used Engine Oil Contamination, Hafiz Mohammed Nazi̇fi̇, Ertan Pekşen, Ertuğrul Gürbüz, Levent Gülen

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

Time-Lapse Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was employed to study used engine oil (UEO) contamination of sandy environment in laboratory setting. GPR is a near-surface geophysical method that uses electromagnetic field to provide image of the dielectric properties of earth materials to detect structures and changes in material properties within the subsurface. This research aimed to detect, monitor and map the migration of UEO contaminant in sand. The results of this study revealed that the migration of the UEO contamination in homogeneously laid sand is non-uniform. UEO plumes were identified as high amplitude signals with enhanced reflectivity. There was a progressive …

Active Tectonics Of Western Kosovo: Insights From Geomorphic And Structural Analyses, Alper Gürbüz, Astrit Shala, Shemsi Mustafa, Aytekin Erten

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

Kosovo is located in a key position in the central-west part of the Balkans providing an opportunity to understand the far-field effects of distributed intracontinental deformation caused by the Aegean extension in the south and Adriatic compression in the west. It is also situated along the NE-SW trending Shkodër-Pejë transverse zone, where the Dinarides and Albanides-Hellenides orogenic belts are juxtaposed. While the instrumental seismicity of Kosovo indicates the activity of this fault zone and many others, the active faults in the country were not discussed in detail in the current literature. In this study, we analyzed both the geomorphic and …