Geology Underfoot - An Investigation of Jurassic Lacustrine Stratigraphy in the Lower Half of the Portland Formation on the Campus of Mount Holyoke College

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dc.contributorMcMenimen, Mark
dc.contributorNussbaum, Amy
dc.contributorOlsen, Paul
dc.contributor.advisorWerner, Alan
dc.contributor.authorGeraldes Vega, Monica Margarita
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-01T20:06:27Z
dc.date.available2022-07-01T20:06:27Z
dc.date.gradyear2022en_US
dc.date.issued2022-07-01en
dc.description.abstractDuring the summer of 2020, Mount Holyoke College commissioned a geothermal company to drill a 6-inch diameter, 800-foot-deep borehole on campus grounds to measure the geothermal potential of the underlying geology. Professor Al Werner took advantage of this opportunity and collected cuttings during the well drilling operation. These samples were collected every 5 ft and document the detailed stratigraphy of the lower half of Portland formation, a Mesozoic lacustrine shale deposit of the Hartford basin. Geophysical data and imaging provide cm-scale stratigraphic changes and drill cuttings provide samples of the various units. These rocks record environmental conditions during the Early Jurassic. The record is made up of shales and siltstones that alternate in color (red, gray, and dark gray), suggesting changing environmental conditions. This has been confirmed by the existing literature of the Northeast American rift basins. By gathering physical and chemical proxies and finding significant relationships between them and Milankovitch cycles, this study supports previous interpretations that orbital changes explain the borehole stratigraphy. Using these proxies, I describe the changing, lacustrine paleoenvironment of the South Hadley area during the early Jurassic period.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipGeologyen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/6382
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rights.restrictedpublicen_US
dc.subjectStratigraphyen_US
dc.subjectJurassicen_US
dc.subjectHartford Basinen_US
dc.subjectMilankovitch Cyclesen_US
dc.titleGeology Underfoot - An Investigation of Jurassic Lacustrine Stratigraphy in the Lower Half of the Portland Formation on the Campus of Mount Holyoke Collegeen_US
dc.typeThesis
mhc.degreeUndergraduateen_US
mhc.institutionMount Holyoke College

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