Tracing the Provenance of Modern Galveston Sediments Using Strontium and Neodymium Isotopes and Major and Trace Elemental Abundances

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dc.contributorBrandon, Alan
dc.contributorRobinson, Alexander
dc.contributorHanke, Marc
dc.contributor.authorSchmitt, Audrey P.
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-10T17:43:46Z
dc.date.available2021-09-10T17:43:46Z
dc.date.issued2020-12
dc.description.abstractGalveston Bay is a semi-enclosed coastal embayment, located on the southeastern shore of Texas adjacent to the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area. The Houston Ship Channel (HSC) through Galveston Bay provides many industries access to the Gulf of Mexico. The project provides the first strontium (Sr) and neodymium (Nd) isotope ratios for Galveston Bay, as well as updated major and trace element concentrations for Galveston Bay sediments. Procedures and methods used in this study include leaching and acid digestions of sediments for sample residues, aliquot separations, dilution of major and trace element aliquots in ~2% HNO3 solution for ICP-MS and ICP-OES analyses, and column chemistry (2) extraction of Sr and Nd isotope aliquots for TIMS analyses. The range of εNd values, -14.21 to -10.15, in this dataset suggests recycled crustal material and/or an older source (McCulloch and Wasserburg, 1978). Rare earth element (REE) contents of Galveston Bay residues resemble quartz arenites from the North American midcontinent region, which have REE contents 10–100 times lower than bulk igneous rocks from Archean and Proterozoic source (Johnson and Winter, 1999). The Trinity Bay contribution, of fine-grained, clay- and silt-size fractions, of suspended sediments entering the bay, is greatest in Galveston Bay, and is the most prevalent pattern seen in spatial variation maps of fRb/Sr values and high field strength elements (HFSE).
dc.description.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
dc.description.departmentHonors College
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/8191
dc.language.isoen
dc.relation.ispartofSenior Honors Theses
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectGalveston Bay
dc.subjectStrontium
dc.subjectNeodymium
dc.subjectProvenance
dc.subjectGeochemistry
dc.titleTracing the Provenance of Modern Galveston Sediments Using Strontium and Neodymium Isotopes and Major and Trace Elemental Abundances
dc.typeHonors Thesis
dc.type.dcmiText
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
thesis.degree.levelBachelors
thesis.degree.nameBachelor of Science

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