Jeffery Valenza and Dr. Tom Morris, Geological Sciences Tempestites are sedimentary deposits traditionally thought to be formed by high-energy storm events. Typically, water depth for tempestites has been interpreted to be between fair weather and storm wave base. Tempestites are primarily identified in the rock record by hummocky cross-stratification (HCS). HCS is a typical indicator […]
Functional Anatomy of the Forelimb of a New Drepanosaur: Testing Behavioral Models for Extinct Species
Austin Andrus, Dr. Brooks Britt, Department of Geological Sciences Introduction: I recently discovered a new genus of reptile from the Triassic period (roughly 225 million years ago). Reptiles like it are called “drepanosaurs,” and share many unique features such as large claws, unusual, humped shoulder blades, opposable fingers, and prehensile tails. Many of these structures […]
Calculating Groundwater Recharge: The Navajo Sandstone of Southern Utah
Matthew Olson and Dr. Greg Carling, Department of Geological Sciences Southern Utah is world renowned for its beautiful canyons and red rock features. The Navajo Sandstone, an Early Jurassic formation created by 2000 feet of petrified sand dunes, is one of the primary features of this unique landscape. Groundwater in the Navajo Sandstone is important […]
An Improved Temperature Index Model for Alpine Glaciers using Derived Degree-day Factors from Climatic Inputs
Durban G Keeler and Dr. Summer Rupper, Geological Sciences Glaciers represent one of the most climatically sensitive and dynamic systems under study, and therefore have diverse implications for nations around the world. For example, Switzerland generates 56% of its power from hydroelectric facilities, many of them fed by glacial meltwater (SFOE, 2012). Many nations in […]
Major Earthquakes in Tsunamic of the Banda Arc Region, Indonesia: The Past 400 Years
Tsz Man Fisher (Lau) and Dr. Ronald Harris, Department of Geological Science The original project was titled, “Journey to the Center of the Earth: Investigating Subduction Channel Processes in Southern Tibet.” Complications came up when we began to work on this project last summer. With the permission of the ORCA committee, we changed the project […]
Glacier Sensitivity in the Bhutanese Himalaya: Present and Future
Summer Rupper The primary scientific goal of this 2011 MEG grant was to determine the current melt-rates for glaciers in the monsoonal Himalayas and how these rates will affect the size of glaciated areas and water resources in the next few decades. The target region was the Kingdom of Bhutan. The primary mentoring purpose of […]
Web Browser For The Visually Impaired
Corey Wride and Dr. Parris Egbert, Computer Science The original purpose of this project was to make the incredible resource of the Internet available to the visually impaired. The main contribution, however, has been a human-realistic text reader. My first idea was to create a simple Internet browser that would download web pages in a […]
COMPUTER MODEL FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF CRYSTAL FRAGMENTS WITHIN VOLCANIC ASH DEPOSITS
Garret L. Hart, Department of Geology Introduction For decades, geologists have used crystals fragments to characterize volcanic ash deposits. This requires identification and analysis of the mineral crystals and fragments contained in the ash. It is known that ash deposits can have two basic types of crystal fragments-those that are broken by impact in the […]
Reconnaissance Evaluation of the Groundwater Systems of Skull Valley, Utah
Rachel Henderson and Dr. Alan Mayo, Geology The proposal, by Private Fuel Storage, a Limited Liability Company representing several utilities, to store solid, spent nuclear fuel in Skull Valley requires that many variables be taken into consideration, one of which is groundwater. Groundwater contamination is not anticipated in the proposed short term storage of the […]
Nature of Calcium Carbonate Precipitate and Chemical Composition of Water at Blue Lake Warm Spring, Utah
Benjamin R. Jordan and Dr. Eric H. Christiansen, Geology Blue Lake is located in a remote area of Western Utah, about 25 km south of Wendover, Utah. The lake has a year-round temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. This is due to the lake being fed by warm springs located at a depth of 15 m […]