We map the regional physiography and surficial lithology (Surficial Geologic Habitat or
SGH) over the continental margin of Oregon. This thesis develops, describes, and
implements an iterative interpretive method to map seafloor habitat types from disparate
geological and geophysical datasets including: bathymetric images, sidescan sonar
images, seismic reflection profiles, sediment...
Based on the principle that the history of a discipline is important to the discipline itself, this thesis devotes two chapters to ROBERT HOOKE AND THE FOUNDATION OF GEOLOGY and two chapters to modern geology, viz. THE TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE OREGON CONTINENTAL MARGIN. The first part of this abstract...
The effects of alongshore variability in topography (banks and capes) and spatial variability in the wind forcing, including the wind-stress curl, on coastal ocean circulation are studied using a combination of observations and model simulations. Satellite sea surface temperature observations are used to describe the seasonal evolution of temperature fronts...
Gravity, magnetic and seismic data indicate that the oceanic
crust is 9.7 km thick west of the Continental Borderland. The top
of the mantle is about 12 km deep under the Borderland, and deepens
to 27 km beneath the Peninsular Ranges of Baja California. The
mantle is about 20 km...
Data collected by personnel of the Geophysics Group at Oregon State
University and the Instituto Oceanografico of the Direccion General dé
Oceanografia are used to construct a free-air anomaly map for the central
part of the Pacific continental margin of Mexico, which shows the gravity
expression of major structural features...
The Tertiary geologic evolution of the Oregon and Washington continental margin was molded by episodic periods of convergence between the Pacific oceanic plates and the North American plate. This margin is the site of a deep basin that is floored by Paleocene to lower Eocene oceanic crust and contains more...
The overall objective of this study is to address questions concerning the long-term
mechanical strength of the lithosphere across the equatorial margin of Brazil. The
approach used in this study consists of calculating the frequency response function
estimates, also called admittance, using gravity and bathymetry data. These
experimental estimates are...
The continental margin off the coast of Pakistan between the
Murray ridge and the Gulf of Cambay has been studied in this
work using gravity, magnetic and bathymetric data. Two dimensional
gravity and magnetic models based on free-air
gravity and residual magnetic data are developed along a north-south
profile off...
Recently obtained airgun-sonobuoy wide-angle refraction and
reflection profiles provide data to study crustal velocities and
structures along the continental margin of northern California and
Southern Oregon.
In the thick sedimentary wedge at the base of the continental
slope, as many as five distinct layers can be seismically observed,
which range...
The R/V WECOMA cruise leg 6 emphasized the field work of the marine geology research program on "Patterns and processes of continental margin sedimentation." This program constitutes a mesoscale study of processes controlling hemipelagic sediment distribution and composition beneath the coastal upwelling, non-upwelling and pelagic regimes of the equatorial East...
This study examined the foraminifera and the ecologic conditions
of the benthic environment of the Oregon shelf and the uppermost slope
(75-550 m depth) between 143°45' N and 144°40' N. Seasonal collections
monitored the near-bottom marine environment and the sedimentary
substrate at 16 stations. The foraminiferal benthic fauna was
examined...
Understanding continental crust formation and modification is a fundamental and longstanding geologic problem. Influx of mantle-derived basaltic magma and partial melting of the crust are two ways to drive crustal differentiation. This process results in a low density upper crust and denser, more refractory lower crust, creating significant and vastly...
The distribution of surface sediments on the northern Oregon
continental shell is characterized by a nearshore sandy facies and an
outer shelf muddy facies, separated by a mid-shelf zone of mixed
sand and mud. Currents which have been measured at 130 centimeters
above the bottom indicate that the distribution of...