Sediments from two cores, JPC31 and JPC46, were analyzed to better understand the relationship between climate and sediment deposition on the continental slope of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. These two cores were selected from a suite of cores collected from the slope of the Gulf of Mexico after examining how bulk density varied with depth in the cores. The presence/absence of Globoratalia menardii, down-core variations of the 18O of Globigerinoides ruber, tephrochronology, and radiocarbon dating of G. ruber were used to determine the chronologies of the sediments in the cores. Globorotalia menardii were present until a depth of 100 cm in JPC31. The entrance of G. menardii in the Gulf of Mexico was dated at 8 kyr. Analysis of an ash layer found in both JPC31 and 46 yielded a date of 84 kyr, at depths of 700 cm and 1440 cm, respectively. Radiocarbon dating yielded four ages in JPC31. In sediment core JPC31, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 1-5 were recorded. In sediment core JPC46, MIS 2-4 and a portion of MIS 5 were recorded. These results provide a framework for determining general sedimentation rates from the northwestern slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Events in the density profiles in JPC31 and JPC46 were correlated to corresponding events in the rest of the slope cores, allowing the chronologies of JPC31 and JPC46 to be transferred to the suite of the slope cores. Sedimentation rates along different portions of the slope were then calculated, and variations in these sedimentation rates were used to better understand slope sedimentary processes. Sedimentation rates on the northwestern slope of the Gulf of Mexico were calculated for the most recent 120,000 years and compared with climate to deduce trends. Sedimentation rates for MIS 1-5 ranged from 7 cm/kyr to 28 cm/kyr. The sedimentation rate for the last glaciation (MIS 2, 3, and 4) were the highest for the time interval studied. The lowered sea level during glacial advances brings sediments farther out onto the slope; therefore, a higher sedimentation rate is expected during this time. These rates varied from 22 cm/kyr near the coast to 7 cm/kyr toward the abyssal plains. Of the 12 cores analyzed along the slope, JPC23 and JPC24 had the lowest sedimentation rates. This is likely due to high density bottom currents and turbidity currents which carry sediments farther out on the slope. Therefore, the lowest sedimentation rates would be expected a great distance from the land mass and some distance from the abyssal plains.

This study focuses on reconstructing the dynamics within the Pliocene San Joaquin Basin (SJB) molluscan fauna. This was accomplished by 'binning' the data within a constrained chronostratigraphic framework into: 1) 484 individual stratigraphically-ordered locality collections; 2.) 116 stratigraphically-sequential compiled ten-meter sample intervals; 3.) 15 intervals compiled by 4th-order eustatic cycles; 4.) three formation-level compiled samples; and 5.) the Etchegoin group fauna (informal San Joaquin Basin nomenclature) overall. These datasets were analyzed by inferential, multivariate, and descriptive statistics to examine local and regional environmental controls on faunal composition, community associations and distributions; cross-scale faunal structure; and large-scale environmental controls on immigration, diversity, and extinction. Primary environmental controls on community composition and spatial distribution were substrate type and water paleo-depth. Consequently, the Pliocene SJB record is one of a temporal succession of complexly distributed habitats and species. Regional habitat patchiness controlled individual locality-level (a1) diversity and contributed 62% of regional sample-level (a2) diversity. Endemic species comprise 30% of the fauna but account for 42% of a2 diversity, indicative of their environmental sensitivity. Partitioning a2 diversity between non-endemic and endemic species reveals habitats segmented as shared or available solely to endemic species. At the level of 4th-order eustatic variations, diversity between temporal samples (b1) accounts for ~80% of total (y) diversity consistent with eustatic control of faunal structure. During eustatic fluctuations, endemic habitats expanded and contracted at rates greater than shared habitats. Invading species quickly filled shared habitat during transgression and displaced endemic species during regression. Therefore, climatic- and regression-driven hydrologic change and productivity collapse in the Pliocene SJB led to seven extinctions of >40% species. Peak faunal diversity corresponded to periods of highest sea-levels whereas low-diversity faunas characterized low to rising sea levels. Thus, speciation events following extinctions suggest diversification of surviving faunas into habitats newly-created by changed environmental conditions.The broader implication of this study is that during current global sea level rise depleted endemic faunas of shallow-coastal and ocean-marginal environments will be displaced into the shared-habitat with consequent extinction likely if adaptation does not keep pace with environmental change.

Mémoire (M. Sc. A.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1986. / "Mémoire présenté en vue de l'obtention de la maîtrise en sciences appliquées en géologie" CaQCU Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Detailed mapping (1:24,000), measured sections, and clast counts in conglomerates of the Duchesne River Formation and Bishop Conglomerate in the Vernal NW quadrangle in northeastern Utah reveal the middle Cenozoic stratigraphic geometry, the uplift and unroofing history of the eastern Uinta Mountains, and give evidence for the pulsed termination of Laramide uplift. The Unita Mountains are an EW-trending reverse fault bounded and basement-cored, Laramide uplift. The oldest unit of the Duchesne River Formation, the Eocene Brennan Basin Member, contains 80-90% Paleozoic clasts and <20% Precambrian clasts. Proximal to the Uinta uplift the conglomerates of this member are dominated by Paleozoic Madison Limestone clasts (70-90% of all clasts). Farther out into the basin, Paleozoic clasts still dominate in Brennan Basin Member conglomerates, but chert clasts are more abundant (up to 43%) showing the efficiency of erosion of the carbonate clasts over a short distance (~5 km). Conglomerates in the progressively younger Dry Gulch Creek, Lapoint, and Starr Flat members show a significant upward increase in Precambrian clasts with 34-73% Uinta Mountain Group and 8-63% Madison Limestone. Duchesne River Formation has a significant increase in coarse-grained deposits from the southern parts of the quadrangle (20-50% coarse) to the northern parts (75% coarse) nearer the Uinta uplift. The lower part of the Duchesne River Formation exhibits a fining upward sequence representing a tectonic lull. Clast count patterns show that pebbly channel deposits in the south maintain similar compositions to their alluvial fan counterparts. To the north, the fine-grained Lapoint and Dry Gulch Creek members of the Duchesne River Formation appear to pinch out completely. This can be explained by erosion of these fine-grained deposits or by lateral facies shifts before deposition of the next unit. Starr Flat Member conglomerates were deposited above Lapoint Member siltstones and represent southward progradation of alluvial fans away from the uplifting mountain front. Similarities in composition and sedimentary structures have caused confusion surrounding the contact between the Starr Flat Member and the overlying Bishop Conglomerate. Within the Vernal NW quadrangle, we interpret this contact as an angular unconformity (the Gilbert Peak Erosion Surface) developed on the uppermost tilted red siltstone of the Starr Flat Member sometime after 37.9 Ma. Stratigraphic and structural relationships reveal important details about the development of a Laramide mountain range: 1) sequential unroofing sequences in the Duchesne River Formation, 2) progradation of alluvial fans to form the Starr Flat Member, 3) and the unconformable nature of the Gilbert Peak Erosion Surface lead to the conclusion that there were at least 3 distinct episodes of uplift during the deposition of these formations. The last uplift episode upwarped the Starr Flat Member constraining the termination of Laramide uplift in the Uinta Mountains to be after deposition of the Starr Flat Member and prior to deposition of the horizontal Bishop Conglomerate starting at about 34 Ma. This, combined with 40Ar/39Ar ages of 39.4 Ma from the Dry Gulch Creek and Lapoint member, show that slab rollback related volcanism was occurring to the west while the Uinta Mountains were being uplifted on Laramide faults. These new 40Ar/39Ar ages constrain the timing of deposition and clarify stratigraphic relationships within the Duchesne River Formation; they suggest a significant unconformity of as much as 4 m.y. between the Duchesne River Formation and the overlying Bishop Conglomerate, which is 34-30 Ma in age, and show that Laramide uplift continued after 40 Ma in this region.

To study the history of processes that shape the Earth’s surface, geologists look for markers in the landscape that they can date and use to measure change. Rivers leave such markers in their deposits and terrace landforms and in the overall shape of their elevation profile from head to toe. This thesis uses luminescence and cosmogenic methods to date the sediment in terraces to determine when the river deposited it. Field mapping and global positioning system (GPS) surveying are also used to measure the distance between terrace levels to quantify how much change has occurred. This study seeks to answer questions about when, how quickly, and why streams near Moab in Utah’s Canyonlands region have incised into bedrock. It seeks also to determine the history, rates, and patterns of the active and incremental sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys. The results from this work show that the incision of canyons along Mill and Pack creeks upstream from Moab accelerated around 200,000 years ago to between 0.44 and 0.62 millimeters per year (mm/yr). The sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys also appears to have quickened around the same time and has occurred at up to 1.35 mm/yr in Moab Valley and around 0.45 mm/yr in Spanish Valley over the last 100,000 years. The Kayenta Heights fault zone (KHFZ) accommodates part of the sinking of Moab Valley and has slipped at an average rate of 0.44 mm/yr in the last 100,000 years. This study’s mapping of the length and width of individual fault strands supports prior interpretations that the KHFZ does not pose an earthquake hazard, though it can still be expected to produce active rock fall and rupture the ground surface locally. That the sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys and the down-cutting of the upstream canyons has occurred at similar rates, and may indeed have sped up at a similar time in the past, indicates a linkage of the two processes. This is consistent with an existing hypothesis that Moab and Spanish valleys are sinking because groundwater is dissolving the buried salt deposits and transporting them out through the Colorado River. This process is able to continue because as the Colorado River and its tributaries incise lower into the landscape, groundwater follows and can reach greater depths in the salt deposits. The results of this study paint a picture of the recent and accelerated sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys, which has occurred jointly with incision of the regional drainage network. This acceleration of incision, which has been documented throughout the Canyonlands region, may relate to the Colorado River’s carving of Grand Canyon around 6 million years ago or may have come from a more recent and unknown downstream source.

Understanding the nature of Colorado River deposits in Grand Canyon helps reveal how the river responds to changes in its Colorado Plateau tributaries and Rocky Mountain headwaters. This study focused on Holocene alluvial deposits associated with archaeological sites excavated near Ninemile Draw in Glen Canyon and at Tanner Bar in eastern Grand Canyon. Two previously-developed conceptual models of deposition were tested based on previous work. Previous researchers have suggested that Holocene alluvial deposits in Grand Canyon are a series of inset aggradational packages that correlate to valley fills and arroyo-cutting cycles in Colorado Plateau tributaries and are laterally consistent throughout the river corridor. An alternate hypothesis is that alluvial packages record paleoflood sequences along the Colorado River with no Holocene change in river grade. In this model, deposits are preserved more variably as a function of local hydrologic geometry, and they should be less correlatable. Detailed stratigraphic columns of terrace deposits and several stratigraphic panels of archaeological trenches, combined with facies interpretations, were used to reconstruct a high-resolution alluvial history at two locations. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating methods were used at both locations with consistent results. At both sites, the sediment includes multiple depositional facies of mainstem and local-source material, and it consists of stratal packages bound by unconformities. These stratigraphic relations, combined with geochronology, lead to the interpretation that the alluvium is composed of six correlatable alluvial packages at overlapping heights above river level throughout the canyon. The four older packages include facies that imply aggradation throughout the river corridor, suggesting oscillations in river grade. The youngest two packages consist only of mainstem flood deposits. These packages suggest that preservation of deposits over the past ~1 ky has not been driven by aggradation, although incision since ~1 ky is possible. Comparison of the interpreted chronostratigraphy to climate records suggests that this large river's grade has not responded visibly to smaller century to millennial-scale climate oscillations. This work is the first to document that the alluvial record in Grand Canyon spans the entire Holocene, and conclusions support to both previous conceptual models of deposition.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-08-31Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:42:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_lgf_dr_rcla.pdf: 2551069 bytes, checksum: acd81b14b612f8d3d79d2b7529438352 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / O trabalho apresenta uma revisão dos conchostráceos da Formação Rio do Rasto (Bacia do Paraná, Permiano) e discussões substanciadas, em parte, pelos resultados dos experimentos realizados com representantes viventes cultivados em aquários. Concluiu-se que diversas características das carapaças normalmente usadas para a classificação dos conchostráceos fósseis não são diagnósticas para a distinção de táxons porque variam de acordo com fatores tafonômicos, ecológicos e ontogenéticos. Os conchostráceos vivem em águas continentais, são extremamente esteno-halinos e, ao contrário de alguns paradigmas da literatura, não vivem obrigatoriamente em corpos d'água efêmeros, toleram a presença de peixes predadores em seu habitat e duas espécies do mesmo gênero num único corpo d'água. Tais observações coadunam com o registro litológico e paleontológico da parte inferior da Formação Rio do Rasto, depositada em condições lacustres. A parte superior, onde há mais fácies eólicas e evidências de aumento de aridez, apresenta diversidade maior de conchostráceos, incluindo Hemicycloleaia mitchelli, uma espécie que permite realizar correlações cronoestratigráficos com a Austrália e Rússia. Sua idade provavelmente é neotatariana (=wuchiapingiana). Outros táxons, como Monoleiolophus unicostatus, também foram considerados nas correlações, estimando-se que a Formação Rio do Rasto esteja compreendida no Permiano médio-superior. / Conchostracans of the Rio do Rasto Formation (Paraná Basin, Permian) are revised and discussions based on experiments with living conchostracans are presented. One conclusion is that many carapace characteristics frequently used for classification change according to taphonomic, ecologic and ontogenetic factors. The conchostracans live in continental fresh waters and, on the contrary of some paradigms of the literature, the organisms are not restricted to ephemeral water bodies and tolerate the presence of predatory fishes and two species of one single genus. These observations combine well with the lithological and paleontological record of the lower Rio do Rasto Formation deposited under lacustrine conditions. The upper part, formed under more arid conditions, presents bigger conchostracan diversity and includes Hemicycloleaia mitchelli. This species may be used for wide correlations with Australia and Russia, and its age probably is Late Tatarian (= Wuchiapingian). Other taxa, as Monoleiolophus unicostatus, were also used for correlations and the age of the formation may be interpreted as mid to late Permian.

No description available.

No description available.

Orientador: Rosemarie Rohn Davies / Banca: Ana Luisa Brossi Garcia / Banca: Fresia Soledad Ricardi Torres Branco / Banca: Oscar Rösler / Banca: Thomas Rich Fairchild / Resumo: O trabalho apresenta uma revisão dos conchostráceos da Formação Rio do Rasto (Bacia do Paraná, Permiano) e discussões substanciadas, em parte, pelos resultados dos experimentos realizados com representantes viventes cultivados em aquários. Concluiu-se que diversas características das carapaças normalmente usadas para a classificação dos conchostráceos fósseis não são diagnósticas para a distinção de táxons porque variam de acordo com fatores tafonômicos, ecológicos e ontogenéticos. Os conchostráceos vivem em águas continentais, são extremamente esteno-halinos e, ao contrário de alguns paradigmas da literatura, não vivem obrigatoriamente em corpos d'água efêmeros, toleram a presença de peixes predadores em seu habitat e duas espécies do mesmo gênero num único corpo d'água. Tais observações coadunam com o registro litológico e paleontológico da parte inferior da Formação Rio do Rasto, depositada em condições lacustres. A parte superior, onde há mais fácies eólicas e evidências de aumento de aridez, apresenta diversidade maior de conchostráceos, incluindo Hemicycloleaia mitchelli, uma espécie que permite realizar correlações cronoestratigráficos com a Austrália e Rússia. Sua idade provavelmente é neotatariana (=wuchiapingiana). Outros táxons, como Monoleiolophus unicostatus, também foram considerados nas correlações, estimando-se que a Formação Rio do Rasto esteja compreendida no Permiano médio-superior. / Abstract: Conchostracans of the Rio do Rasto Formation (Paraná Basin, Permian) are revised and discussions based on experiments with living conchostracans are presented. One conclusion is that many carapace characteristics frequently used for classification change according to taphonomic, ecologic and ontogenetic factors. The conchostracans live in continental fresh waters and, on the contrary of some paradigms of the literature, the organisms are not restricted to ephemeral water bodies and tolerate the presence of predatory fishes and two species of one single genus. These observations combine well with the lithological and paleontological record of the lower Rio do Rasto Formation deposited under lacustrine conditions. The upper part, formed under more arid conditions, presents bigger conchostracan diversity and includes Hemicycloleaia mitchelli. This species may be used for wide correlations with Australia and Russia, and its age probably is Late Tatarian (= Wuchiapingian). Other taxa, as Monoleiolophus unicostatus, were also used for correlations and the age of the formation may be interpreted as mid to late Permian. / Doutor