Crustal Structure of the Caucasus/Caspian region using gravity and receiver functions -
Jason Ricketts;
B.S. Candidate,
Advisor Dr.Rob Mellors:
The area west of the South Caspian basin is an area of complex and uncertain tectonic structure. Thick sediments within the Kura Depression mask the basement and its subsurface geology is poorly constrained. Forward modeling of receiver functions provides initial constrains. However, a good match is sometimes difficult due to the thick sediments....
Paleoenvironments, Paleoecology, and Exceptional Preservation in Burgess Shale-type Deposits -
Robert Gaines;
Department of Geology,
Pomona College:
Cambrian Burgess Shale-type (BST) deposits occur worldwide and offer a remarkable window on the initial Phanerozoic radiation of the Metazoa. However, BST deposits also represent significant deviations from the constraints that govern the typical operation of the fossil record. These deviations remain to be adequately accounted for,...
Stromatolites: Myths and Legends;
Stromatolites are classically interpreted as “organo-sedimentary structures”, where layers and doming/branching result from microbial mats. As such, they could be considered quintessential ‘astrobiologic’ structures—a stromatolite, as a macroscopic manifestation of microbial processes, would be much easier to image remotely (on Mars, for example) than a microbe. While there is no doubt that some (perhaps most) stromatolites on Earth were formed...
Utilization of Geological Techniques to Help Solve an Archaeological Puzzle: When Did People Arrive in North America?
Eleanora (Norrie) Robbins
Department of Geological Sciences
San Diego State University
Knut Fladmark hypothesized that as soon as boat technology was developed 40,000 years ago, people probably traveled the oceans. The 40,000-year-ago shoreline is now below 150-160 ft (50 m) of water and an unknown thickness of sediment. So evidence for boat transport by maritime...
A Physical Model for Widespread Near-Surface and Fault Zone Damage Induced by Earthquakes - Seismic observations indicate that material velocities at shallow depths decrease over a large area after large earthquakes. The reductions are widespread, and occur at distances of up to several source dimensions. A persistent low-velocity fault zone has also been documented extensively from seismic and geodetic observations, in which the velocity drops further after large earthquakes. Dynamic...
Tidal Bore on the Severn River - Tides progress up the Severn River in SW England as a tidal bore moving faster than 6 m/s. During spring tides, the leading edge of the bore can be up to 2 m high, taking more than an hour to travel from the lower portion of the river to past Gloucester.
This is sufficient to attract surfers from around the world. The North Atlantic amphidromic system interacts with the broad continental shelf around the U.K. to produce a complicated field of large tidal...
A discussion with Brian Dear from Eventful.com, Seth Greenberg from Intuit.com and Turbotax, and Seth Sternberg from Meebo.com on Web 2.0, online enterpreneurship, user communities, advertising, technology and communication.
