The main topic of this thesis focuses on geomagnetic excursions. The exact definition of an excursion is problematic and over time a number of conventions have been used. The traditional excursion is defined by VGPs that travel more than 40° to 45° aw . . .

A stratigraphic and structural study from the late Miocene to the present at Wheeler Ridge oil field, Kern County, CA gives new insight into the formation of the Wheeler Ridge anticline and refines previous interpretations. Well log correlations of th . . .

Geochemical and geophysical proxy data from the TL05-4A lake plain cores of Tulare Lake, California extends the previously published record for this lake back to 19,000 cal yr B.P. The new Tulare Lake record principally consists of carbon/nitrogen rat . . .

Depleted oil and gas reservoirs in the petroliferous San Joaquin Basin are attractive starting points for geologic carbon storage efforts in the southern San Joaquin Valley of California. An added benefit of such carbon storage is that, in addition to . . .

Analyses of recently collected geochemical and petrophysical proxy data derived from 18.5 meters of core material obtained from the North Soda Lake of Carrizo Plain, California has allowed for the extension of the paleoclimate record for Carrizo Plai . . .

The purpose of this project is to determine the amount of knowledge that high school coaches and college athletes have of steroid use among high school athletes. There has been a problem with athletes using steroids, especially professionals. High sch . . .

The Coso Volcanic Field in California contains at least 38 high-silica rhyolite domes, many of which contain workable obsidian (Bacon and Duffield, 1981). The area was quarried by the indigenous population for over 12,000 years (Gilreath and Hildebran . . .

The Middle to Late Eocene Point of Rocks Sandstone serves as an important petroleum reservoir in at least a dozen fields on the west side of the San Joaquin basin. The Point of Rocks Sandstone in the McKittrick oil field consists of moderately sorted, . . .

Welding is the plastic deformation of pyroclastic material in response to high post-emplacement temperatures, load stresses, and to a lesser extent, retained volatile content. There are few field studies pertaining to the use of physical properties in . . .

Shallower/deeper lake levels at Summer Lake, OR, coincide with colder/warmer air temperatures at millennial time scales throughout the northern hemisphere between the end of Heinrich Event 4 (~38 ka) and the end of the intensity low associated with th . . .

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) of carbon dioxide (CO2) from high emission point-source sites such as power plants is one strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mobilize residual hydrocarbon in reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery. Thi . . .

Two competing hypotheses suggest different directions of fluvial transport during deposition of the late Miocene Kern River Formation. The first proposes that the Kern River Formation was deposited by west-flowing channels of the Kern River and the se . . .

Depleting oil and gas fields are ideal storage sites for atmospheric carbon dioxide because of their large capacities and proven ability to retain fluids for millions of years. In addition, the CO2, when injected at depths greater than 3000 feet, can . . .

The Vedder Formation (Oligocene) and Eocene sands at the Greeley oil field consist of arkosic to subarkosic arenites and graywackes. Grain size ranges from fine to coarse sand and the sands vary from poorly to well sorted. Burial depths of the Vedder . . .

Palynological, geophysical, and geochemical proxy data from TL05-4A/B core and TL12-1B trench localities of Tulare Lake, California provide a record of regional paleoclimate and paleolake-levels for most of the past 19,000 years. Hydrologic balance mo . . .

Lake sediments are often associated with high deposition rates, thus offering a detailed repository of lake level, climate, and the terrestrial environment surrounding the lake. Prior to diversion of stream flow for the purpose of irrigation, Tulare L . . .

With California suffering from one of the worst droughts on record, accurate models for paleohydrology are in high demand. Understanding the lake level histories of terminal lakes and their connection to Sierran runoff is an important step toward such . . .

The lake-level record from Tulare Lake, CA has been shown to provide valuable constraints on late Pleistocene and Holocene channelized runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountain range into the San Joaquin Valley of California, one of the world’s most prol . . .

Deformation band shear zones play an important role in the migration of hydrocarbons and hydrothermal fluids through permeable sandstone reservoirs, acting as either conduits or barriers. Formed as planar zones of shear accommodation in porous materia . . .

The Antelope shale consists of fine-grained, deep-marine, organic-rich, diagenetic, biosiliceous shales, and clastic turbiditic sandstones in the San Joaquin basin. This heterogeneity in lithology is challenging when characterizing and correlating the . . .

Holocene-aged, high resolution lacustrine stratigraphy from the Tulare Lake basin in the San Joaquin Valley paired with oceanic surface temperature data form the components necessary to inform models that forecast regional precipitation in this import . . .

A high-resolution paleomagnetic record of the 34-31 ka Mono Lake excursion was acquired from sediments of Summer Lake, Oregon. In order to fully understand and trust the magnetic-field behavior recorded in these cores, it is necessary to determine . . .

Grain size, lithology, and sedimentary structures of the Miocene/Pliocene basal Etchegoin Formation were described from cores within the southeastern edge of the San Joaquin Basin, north of Bakersfield, CA for depositional environment analysis. Lithol . . .

Faults create a structurally weak zone within the lithosphere that can be reactivated again and again through geologic time. This reactivation can occur under varying tectonic stresses, temperatures, and pressures within the fault zone. This study foc . . .

The Wasco oil field produces mainly from the Oligocene Vedder Formation and Eocene sandstones within the Kreyenhagen Formation in the San Joaquin basin, California. The Vedder and Kreyenhagen sandstones in the Wasco oil field consist of fine-to coars . . .

The Panoche Giant Injection Complex (PGIC), Panoche Hills, CA is one of the best exposed sand injectite complexes in the world with all of the constituent units observable over a 300-400 km2 area. The PGIC offers unparalleled access to a regionally d . . .

A Holocene paleoclimate record for northern central Chile has been constructed using two lacustrine cores from the high-elevation Andes at ~30° S latitude. The 1.37-m Laguna Cerritos Blancos (LCB) core has been dated from 0-4.0 cal kyr BP using paleom . . .

The purpose of this study is to test models of millennial-scale climate response to hemispheric-scale drivers during the late Pleistocene in northwestern North America. Towards this end, a 12.5-10.5 mbgs section of the BB3-I core, spanning 38-35 ka in . . .

I present seventeen new U-Pb and eight 40Ar/39Ar ages from a previously unstudied geological traverse across the central Sierra Madre Occidental silicic large igneous province along the Chihuahua-Durango state border in Mexico. These data indicate pro . . .

Paleontological, geochemical, and geophysical data from pluvial Summer Lake, Oregon, western Great Basin are the basis for a high resolution paleoclimate record during a time interval (38-34 ka) including the Mono Lake Excursion, Dansgaard-Oeschger in . . .

Tulare Lake level predominantly fluctuates due to varying amounts of runoff from the Sierra Nevada as a result of changes in regional climate. It is important to constrain the details of such change because they allow us to capture the range of natura . . .

Recent concerns about well stimulation and oilfield disposal practices has resulted in the desire to learn more about the distribution of usable groundwater that might be impacted by these practices. Waters that require protection are classified by th . . .

The lacustrine Amnicola Clay separates the upper and lower members of the Pleistocene-aged Tulare Formation at the Elk Hills oilfield in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California. The Tulare Clay is found within the upper Tulare Formation south of t . . .

The Rio Bravo oil field is located about fifteen miles northwest of Bakersfield, California. The zone of importance is the Vedder Sandstone, which is about 1,250 ft (380 m) in thickness. The thin (<100 ft, 30 m) Miocene Rio Bravo sandstone, which unco . . .

The Rio Bravo oil field is located about fifteen miles northwest of Bakersfield, California. The zone of importance is the Vedder Sandstone, which is about 1,250 ft (380 m) in thickness. The thin (<100 ft, 30 m) Miocene Rio Bravo sandstone, which unco . . .

The McKittrick oil field is located near the western edge of the San Joaquin basin approximately 60 km west of Bakersfield and just north-east of the McKittrick thrust fault. The oil field is currently in production with over 480 producing wells. The . . .

A potential approach to lower the release of anthropogenic CO₂ into the atmosphere is carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). CCS is the process of capturing CO₂ from high-CO₂emission facilities, compressing it into a supercritical state (CO2 (sc)), a . . .

The widespread presence of Neogene and Quaternary units in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley provide evidence for the tectonic evolution of the Bakersfield Arch, an area of major oil production in California. The purpose of this study is to test two . . .

The fragmented Paleozoic passive margin of Cordilleran North America, its Precambrian basement, and its Mesozoic cover are preserved in metasedimentary and metavolcanic crustal fragments known as roof pendants within the Sierra Nevada batholith. This . . .

The bulk and clay mineralogy of sediments from Tulare Lake recovered from core TL05-4A were examined to identify sediment sources of the terrigenous lake sediments and to interpret paleoenvironmental change since the most recent glacial maximum (~25 k . . .

During the Late Eocene to Early Miocene, northern Mexico was affected by widespread silicic magmatism and extension coeval with the westward migration of the Cordilleran volcanic arc, forming the 300,000 km2 Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) plateau. The . . .

The southern Sierra Nevada Region, California is currently responding to a delaminating lithospheric root remnant. Stream profile analysis of the Kern River and feeding tributaries was used to investigate the nature and timing of the dynamic topograph . . .

The emplacement of silicic lavas is a rarely observed phenomenon and most of what is known about the processes is interpreted from ancient lavas. Recent lava emplacements in Chile have challenged existing models of lava emplacement and suggest that si . . .

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between elevated trace metal contaminants and the incorporation of these contaminants into the tests of benthic foraminifera. Lake Macquarie, north of Sydney in New South Wales, was chosen as th . . .

Tulare Lake, CA, is the terminus of several major rivers fed by Sierra Nevada stream discharge. Over the last several decades, the study of Tulare Lake sediments has established the climate history for the Pleistocene and Holocene. In this study, Late . . .