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S. A. Mahan

Publications and source records attributed to S. A. Mahan.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1997

Holocene eolian activity in the Minot dune field, North Dakota

Stabilized eolian sand is common over much of the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada, including a subhumid area of ~1500 km 2 near Minot, North Dakota. Eolian landforms consist of sand sheets and northwest-trending parabolic dunes. Dunes and sand sheets in the Minot field are presently stabilized by a cover of prairie grasses or oak woodland. Stratigraphic studies and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of paleosols indicate at least two periods of eolian sand movement in the late Holocene. Pedologic data suggest that all of the dune field has experienced late Holocene dune activity, though not all parts of the dune field may have been active simultaneously. Similar immobile element (Ti, Zr, La, Ce) concentrations support the interpretation that eolian sands are derived from local glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sediments. However, glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial source sediments have high Ca concentrations from carbonate minerals, whereas dune sands are depleted in Ca. Because noneolian-derived soils in the area are calcareous, these data indicate that the Minot dune field may have had extended periods of activity in the Holocene, such that eolian abrasion removed soft carbonate minerals. The southwest-facing parts of some presently stabilized dunes were active during the 1930s drought, but were revegetated during the wetter years of the 1940s. These observations indicate that severe droughts accompanied by high temperatures are the most likely cause of Holocene eolian activity.

North Dakota↗
USGS1996

Origin of the late quaternary dune fields of northeastern Colorado

Stabilized eolian deposits, mostly parabolic dunes and sand sheets, cover much of the landscape of northeastern Colorado and adjacent parts of southwestern Nebraska in four geographically distinct dune fields. Stratigraphic and soil-geomorphic relations and accelerator radiocarbon dating indicate that at least three episodes of eolian sand movement occurred between 27 ka and 11 ka, possibly between 11 ka and 4 ka, and within the past 1.5 ka. Thus, eolian sand deposition took place under both glacial and interglacial climatic conditions. In the youngest episodes of eolian sand movement, Holocene parabolic dunes partially buried Pleistocene sand sheet deposits. Late Holocene sands in the Fort Morgan and Wray dune fields, to the south of the South Platte River, have trace element ratios that are indistinguishable from modern South Platte River sands, but different from Ogallala Formation bedrock, which has previously been cited as the main source of dune sand on the Great Plains. Sands in the Greeley dune field, to the north of the South Platte River, have trace element concentrations that indicate a probable Laramie Formation source. Measurements of parabolic dunes indicate paleowinds from the northwest in all dune fields, in good agreement with resultant drift directions calculated for nearby weather stations. Thus, paleowinds were probably not significantly different from present-day winds, and are consistent with a South Platte River source for the Fort Morgan and Wray dune fields, and a Laramie Formation source for the Greeley dune field. Sand accumulated downwind of the South Platte River to form the Fort Morgan duen field. In addition, sand was also transported farther downwind over the upland formed by the calcrete caprock of the Ogallala Formation, and deposited in the lee of the upland on the southeast side. Because of high wind energy, the upland itself served as a zone of sand transport, but little or no sand accumulation took place on this surface. These studies, which demonstrate the importance of fluvial-source sediments for dune fields in Colorado, may be applicable to other dune fields in North America. Because modern drift potentials in northeastern Colorado are among the highest in the world, the present stability of dunes in the region may be in part a function of the dunes being supply-limited rather than solely transport-limited. Extensive (∼ 7700 km 2 ) late Holocene dunes document that eolian sand in northeastern Colorado is very sensitive to small changes in climate or fluvial source conditions.

Geomorphology↗
USGS1994

Isotopic tracers of gold deposition in Paleozoic limestones, southern Nevada

Strontium isotopic analyses of barren and mineralized Paleozoic carbonate rocks show that hydrothermal fluids added radiogenic strontium (87Sr) to the mineralized zones. At Bare Mountain, samples collected from mineralized areas have ??87Srt values (per mil deviation from primary marine values) ranging from +3.0 to +23.0 (mean of this log-normal distribution is +7.0), whereas unmineralized carbonate rocks have ??87Srt values of -0.6 to +2.9 (mean of +1.07??1.03). In other ranges (Striped Hills, Spring Mountains, and ranges in the vicinity of Indian Springs Valley), ??87Srt values of the unmineralized carbonate rocks are even lower and virtually indistinguishable from primary marine values. This correlation of elevated ??87Srt values with mineralized zones provided a useful technique for assessing the mineral potential of the Paleozoic basement beneath Yucca Mountain, and may find broader use in mineral exploration in the Basin and Range province as a whole.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1990

Origin of carbonate deposits in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Preliminary results of strontium-isotope analyses

As part of the paleohydrology study of the Yucca Mountain Project, strontium-isotope analyses of carbonate deposits, ground water, and major rock reservoirs of strontium are in progress. This paper presents a summary of the strontium-isotope data obtained through 1989. Calcium carbonate is ubiquitous in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, where it occurs as pedogenic horizons and rhizoliths, small veins and fracture fillings in Tertiary volcanic rocks, large veins and masses along faults, and freshwater and marine limestones. With the exception of marine limestones, which are Paleozoic, the calcium carbonate has been precipitated directly from water during the past 107 years. This paper reports strontium-isotope compositions of the following carbonate groups: 1) limestones of the Paleozoic basement, 2) calcite-silica veins, 3) small calcite veins, 4) pedogenic carbonate deposits, and 5) spring deposits (i.e., tufa). The authors have also analyzed the strontium from samples of Tertiary volcanic rocks and from ground water.

Conference Paper↗