Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Earth Sciences

Committee Chair

Daniel Larsen

Committee Member

Youngsang Kwon

Committee Member

Scott Schoefernacker

Abstract

This study examined Pleistocene and Pliocene fluvial-terrace and alluvial deposits in Shelby County, Tennessee, with a focus on understanding the relationships between these deposits and subsurface water flow. The Pliocene Upland Complex was identified as a high-level terrace associated with the ancestral Mississippi-Ohio River system that caps the interfluves areas throughout Shelby County. Three Pleistocene terraces were identified - the Intermediate, Hatchie, and Finley, which are found at progressively higher elevations above the modern floodplains of West Tennessee Tributaries (WTT). The Intermediate terrace shows limited distribution, mainly as paleochannels, which do not follow the current east-to-west following WTT. The Hatchie and Finley terrace deposits follow the major WTT and their major tributaries. Gradual changes in water-table elevation contour lines are observed, but no evident intra-aquifer communication exists along the identified near-surface faults. Our sedimentological analysis and subsurface cross-sections revealed a heterogeneous and locally disconnected shallow aquifer.

Comments

Data is provided by the student

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Embargoed until 6/15/2024

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