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Thesis. 1977. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography : leaves 189-202. / Ph.D.

Thesis. 1975. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Bibliography : leaves 137-144. / M.S.

Thesis. 1977. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Bibliography : leaves 315-344. / by Carlē Pieters. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Science, 1979. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 67-68. / by Margaret Riggs Sneeringer. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Science, 1982. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 265-290. / by Mark David Kurz. / Ph.D.

Recent studies suggest that continental flood basalts may be suitable for geologic carbon sequestration due to fluid-rock reactions that mineralize injected CO₂ on relatively short time-scales. Flood basalts also possess a permeability structure favorable for injection, with alternating high-permeability (flow margin) and low-permeability (flow interior) layers. However, little information exists on the behavior of CO₂ as it leaks through fractures characteristic of the flow interior, particularly at conditions near the critical point for CO₂. In this study, a two-dimensional 5 × 5 m model of a fracture network is built based on high-resolution LiDAR scans of a Columbia River Basalt flow interior taken near Starbuck, WA. Three-phase CO₂ flow is simulated using TOUGH3 (beta) with equation of state ECO2M for 10 years simulation time. Initial conditions comprise a hydrostatic pressure profile corresponding to 750-755 m below ground surface and a constant temperature of 32° C. Under these conditions, the critical point for CO₂ occurs 1.5 meters above the bottom of the domain. Matrix permeability is assumed to be constant, based on literature values for the Columbia River Basalt. Fracture permeability is assigned based on a lognormal distribution of random values with mean and standard deviation based on measured fracture aperture values and in situ permeability values from literature. In order to account for fracture permeability uncertainty, CO₂ leakage is simulated in 50 equally probable realizations of the same fracture network with spatially random permeability constrained by the lognormal permeability distribution. Results suggest that fracture permeability uncertainty has some effect on the distribution of CO₂ within the fractures, but network geometry is the primary control in determining flow paths. Fracture permeability uncertainty has a larger influence on fluid pressure, and can affect the location of the critical point within ~1.5 m. Uncertainty in fluid pressure was found to be highest along major flow paths below channel constrictions, indicating permeability at a few key points can have a large influence on fluid pressure distribution. / Master of Science

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew Brueseke / The Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen (SOA) produced more than 250,000 km[superscript]3 of Cambrian mafic to silicic magmatism, associated with the opening of the Iapetus Ocean. In the Arbuckle Mountains, oil and gas exploration showed mafic to intermediate volcanic rock interbedded with rhyolite lavas. The first description of these lavas was a result of the 1982 drilling of the Hamilton Brothers Turner Falls well. Cuttings have been collected from this well and five others, and whole rock major and trace element analysis, Sr and Nd isotope analysis, and rare earth element analysis has been completed on these samples. These samples plot primarily as tholeiitic to transitional basalts to andesites. Trace element ratios show Zr/Nb values ranging from 8-10, K/Nb values ranging from 300-600, and Ba/Nb values ranging from 10-20, which overlap with known EM1 OIB values. Applying a conservative age of 535 Ma for these rocks yields [superscript]87Sr/[superscript]86Sr[subscript]i values of 0.703970 to 0.706403 and epsilon Nd values of 1.67 to 3.22, which also fall within the accepted range of EMI values. [superscript]87Sr/[superscript]86Sr[subscript]i increases with wt. % SiO[subscript]2 and K/P, consistent with the generation of evolved compositions via open-system processes. The sample with the least radiogenic Sr isotope ratio, combined with its trace element ratios is most consistent with an EM1-type source. These results, coupled with existing isotope and trace element constraints from regionally exposed dikes and plutonic rocks that crop out in the Wichita Mts., give better insight into understanding what tectonic model (lower-mantle derived hotspot or extension of the lithosphere) drove the magmatic production of the SOA. The results are more consistent with a lower-mantle origin for SOA mafic-intermediate magmatism, and indicate the potential for flood basalt volcanism.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.