<p> Deposits of coal silt are significant because they provide archaeologists a baseline for investigating changes in pre-industrial and post-industrial landscapes in Pennsylvania. Beginning in the 1790s, miners extracted coal from seams near the surface with a pick and shovel. Over the next 120 years, coal mining evolved into a booming industry. In 1917, production peaked at over 100 million tons. By 1950, geologists discovered reserves of crude oil and natural gas, leading to the overall decline of the anthracite coal industry. Today, coal is no longer a dominant part of the local economy. Coal mining generated enormous quantities of waste, including small pieces of unburnt coal and other non-economic materials. Waste from mines entered the Susquehanna River, mixed with naturally occurring sediments, and formed deposits of coal silt along the banks and mid-channel islands of the river. To understand the effect of coal silt on the river, I use processual archaeology to characterize and examine the Anthropocene - an informal geologic era defined by human induced changes to Earth's ecosystems. What led to unburnt coal in the Susquehanna River? When did unburnt coal enter the Susquehanna River? I use data collected during a ten-week internship to answer these questions and define the occurrence and chronology of deposits of coal silt along the river. Archaeologists generally agree deposits of coal silt date to the late nineteenth century, but fine-tuning the date of deposition is not easy (Stinchcomb et al. 2013). To help solve the problem, I investigated two archaeological sites along the river - Fort Halifax and Calver Island. This thesis highlights reasons why archaeologists should take deposits of coal silt seriously. Considering the importance of energy to human economic and social life and the urgency of addressing contemporary energy problems, this thesis draws on evidence from the stratigraphic record to incorporate anthropological and archaeological perspectives for studying the past, present, and future of energy development and industrialization. </p>

The role of ice blocks in the creation of distinctive proglacial landscapes during and following glacier outburst floods (jökulhlaups) In recent years, it has been recognised that ice blocks form a major component of jökulhlaups. There are, however, very few published hypotheses of ice-block impact during and following jökulhlaups. The November 1996 jökulhlaup in southern Iceland, which transported ice blocks as large as 55 metres in diameter on to Skeioarärsandur, provided an opportunity to study ice-block impact produced during a high-magnitude flood. This thesis aims to (i) determine the impact of ice blocks on the morphology and sedimentology of proglacial river channels during and following a jökuihlaup, and (ii) provide a model which links distinctive landscapes created by ice blocks with specific controls on ice-block impact. A range of ice-block related features are produced during and following a jökulhlaup reflecting glacial and topographical constraints, ice-block characteristics and jökulhlaup hydraulics. In locations where sediment flux remains high throughout a flood, large ice blocks form kettle-scours. Rapid sediment deposition around ice blocks results in the formation and preservation of antidune stoss sides, entirely aggradational ice block obstacle shadows and hummocky topography. The grounding of ice blocks in flows of low sediment concentration or total exhumation of buried ice blocks results in the formation of classic U-shaped obstacle marks. Where channel geometry abruptly expands ice-block berms form. On outwash fans kettle holes and obstacle marks occur in distinct clusters. 11 Kettle holes form post-flood by the in situ melt of (1) progressively buried ice blocks and (2) small ice blocks incorporated into flow deposits. Ice block debris is superimposed onto obstacle marks and kettle holes and deposited on the post-flood streambed to form rimmed kettle holes and obstacle marks and ice-block till mounds respectively. Knowledge of associations between ice blocks and the bedforms and facies produced during and following a jökulhlaup will aid jökulhlaup identification and reconstruction in modern and ancient proglacial environments.

No description available.

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Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-246). / Electronic reproduction. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xiv, 246 leaves, bound ill. (chiefly col.), maps 29 cm

4 fold. maps in end pocket of v.2 / 2 v. : ill., photos., maps, diags. (some fold) ; 26 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Mineralogy, 1975

The Lake Heron basin is an intermontane basin located approximately 30 kms west of Mount Hutt. Sediments within the basin are derived from a glacier that passed through the Lake Stream Valley from the upper Rakaia Valley. The lack of major drainage in the south part of the basin has increased the preservation potential of glacial phenomena. The area provides opportunities for detailed glacial geomorphology, sedimentology and micropaleontogical work, from which a very high-resolution study on climate change spanning the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) through to the present was able to be reconstructed. The geomorphology reveals a complex glacial history spanning multiple glaciations. The Pyramid and Dogs Hill Advance are undated but possibly relate to the Waimaungan and Waimean glaciations. The Emily Formation (EM), previously thought to be MIS 4 (Mabin, 1984), was dated using Be10 to c. 25 ka B.P. The EM was largest advance of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Ice during the LGM was at least 150m thicker than previously thought, as indicated by relatively young ages of high elevation moraines. Numerous moraine ridges and kame terraces show a continuous recession from LGM limits, and, supported by decreasing Be10 ages for other LGM moraines, it seems ice retreat was punctuated by minor glacial readvances and still-stands. These may be associated with decadal-scale climate variations, such as the PDO or early ENSO-like systems. There are relatively little sedimentological exposures in the area other than those on the shores of Lake Heron. The sediment at this location demonstrates the nature of glacial and paraglacial sedimentation during the later stages of ice retreat. They show that ice fronts oscillated across several hundred metres before retreating into Lake Heron proper. Vegetation change at Staces Tarn (1200m asl) indicates climate amelioration in the early Holocene. The late glacial vegetation cover of herb and small shrubs was replaced by a low, montane forest about 7,000 yrs B.P, approximately at the time of the regional thermal maxima. From 7,000 and 1,400 yrs B.P, temperatures slowly declined, and grasses slowly moved back onto the site, although the montane forest was still the dominant vegetation. Fires were frequent in the area extending back at least 6,000 years B.P. The largest fire, about 5,300 yrs B.P, caused major forest disruption. But full recovered occurred within about 500 years. Beech forest appears at the site about 3,300 yrs B.P and becomes the dominant forest cover about 1,400 yrs B.P. Cooler, cloudier winters and disturbance by fire promoted the expansion of beech forest at the expense of the previous low, montane forest. Both the increased frequency of fire events and late Holocene beech spread may be linked to ENSO-related variations in rainfall. The youngest zone is characterised by both a dramatic decline in beech forest and an increase in grasses, possibly representing human activity in the area.

Thesis (Ph. D. - Geosciences) - University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-241).

Thesis (M.S. - Hydrology and Water Resources)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-246).

Thesis (M.S. - Geosciences) - University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-130).