Undergraduate Research

2015-2016 Academic Year Undergraduate Research Advisees

St. Louis Ordovician Reef Project: This project has just started and is turning out to be a very interesting and exciting area of study.  South of St. Louis, near House Springs, MO there are excellent exposures of Middle Ordovician carbonate strata, specifically of the Kimmswick Formation and Decorah Group.  Within these sequences, there resides an extensive (vertically and horizontally) crinoid reef that contains a community of reef builders that are very unusual (Cystoids, Edrioblastoids, Stromatoporoids, Receptaculitids, and several reef builders of unknown taxonomic affinity).  In addition to this unique reef, the area has a complicated history of paleokarst (Pennsylvanian), tectonics (several faults and the Eureka-House Springs Anticline), and diagenesis (recrystallization and dolomitization).  Because of its complicated setting, history, and strange reef community this project is very exciting and we are only scratching the surface!!!

Project Investigators: Jacalyn M. Wittmer (primary investigator), Thomas Guensburg (Rock Valley College), Guy Darrough, Sam W. Heads (Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute), Mike Deluchia (UIUC), and Carl Brett (University of Cincinnati)

—The following projects are primarily field-based since this is a very large project, I am hoping that with more field work, funding, and data that this project can expand! —

Jaclyn Daum, Senior Thesis Research Project: The Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Kimmswick Formation (Middle Ordovician): A detailed examination of the K-Bentonites and Paleokarst

  • Jaclyn is currently conducting field work in Missouri: field mapping, stratigraphy, and data collection
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A very strange area next to the reef that contains high accumulation of shales (Jaclyn will be investigating these shales to find out when these formed)

Vanessa Gabel, Undergraduate Research Project: The Stratigraphy and Paleoecology of the Kimmswick Formation (Middle Ordovician): A detailed examination of the Reef Community (diversity and ecology) and investigation of the unknown reef builders

  • Vanessa is currently conducting field work in Missouri: field mapping, stratigraphy, and data collection
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Tyler and Vanessa observing the reef community

Tyler Robinson, Senior Thesis Research Project: The Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Kimmswick Formation (Middle Ordovician): A detailed investigation of the spatio-temporal permeability and porosity

  • Tyler is currently conducting field work in Missouri: field mapping, stratigraphy, and sample collection for thin section and CL analysis
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Tyler sitting on top of the reef

Future Projects: There are so many, but here are a few!  Paleocurrent analysis of crinoid cross-beds, Paleoecology of Decorah Group storm beds, Taphonomy of the Kimmswick reef, Isotope stratigraphy of the Kimmswick, Ichnology of the Decorah and Kimmswick, etc.

Butter Shale Project: The “Butter” shales from the Cincinnati Arch (Upper Ordovician) are bluish-green claystones that are very distinct and different from most other shales because they are not “true rocks”.  The “Butter” shales are true to their name in the sense that they have the consistency of butter and are typically described as “gooey” or “slimy” or “play-doh like” shale.  In addition to the strange appearance and formation of the “Butter” shales, they contain an interesting community of well-preserved fauna, which are commonly used as biostratigraphic markers in the region.

Project Investigators: Jacalyn M. Wittmer (primary investigator), Shane Butler (ISGS), and Carl Brett (University of Cincinnati)

—The following projects are primarily based on a combination of field work (stratigraphy, sedimentology) and laboratory experiments (geochemistry, clay mineralogy)—

Hanna Cohen, Senior Thesis Research Project: A sedimentological and geochemical approach to understanding the “Butter” shales from the Waynesville Formation (Upper Ordovician) in the Cincinnati Arch

  • Hanna is currently working on clay mineralogy and geochemistry of the “Butter” shales that she collected this summer at the Illinois State Geologic Survey with Shane Butler
  • Hanna is also presenting a poster on her field work and preliminary data the National GSA in Baltimore, MD
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Hanna Cohen collecting samples in the field near Brookville, Indiana

Jordan Young, Senior Thesis Research Project: Analysis of the geochemistry and clay mineralogy of the “Butter” shales from the Waynesville Formation (Upper Ordovician) in the Cincinnati Arch

  • Jordan is currently working on clay mineralogy and geochemistry of the “Butter” shales that he collected with Hanna this summer at the Illinois State Geologic Survey with Shane Butler
  • Jordan is also planning on using E-SEM and Mass Spectrometry on the “Butter” shales to further analyze the geochemical make up of these unique shales.
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Hanna and Jordan collecting samples from one of the strat columns

Future Projects: Paleoecology of the “Butter” shales, Taphonomy of the “Butter” Shales, Isotope stratigraphy of the “Butter” shales

 

2014 Academic Year Undergraduate Research Advisees

Willow Nguy, Senior Thesis Research Project: Curation and characterization of a Miocene rhinoceros hash from Agate Springs, Nebraska

photo courtesy of M. Jared Thomas
photo courtesy of M. Jared Thomas

See a blurb about Willow’s research on the Geology department’s website: Rhino Fossil Bed

  • Willow is now a masters student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln continuing her research and interests in vertebrate paleontology