Independent and original research is a valuable part of an undergraduate education as a Geology major, and all Geology majors complete a research project during their senior year. Senior research provides students the opportunity to explore a particular sub-discipline of geology in detail and to apply the research skills that they have mastered in their geology coursework to a specific research question they find fascinating.
Submit Your Geology Senior Thesis
Geology Senior Theses are restricted to On-Campus Access Only and not available by ILL.
Geology Senior Theses from 2015
Knickpoints and Disequilibrium in Ancient Orogen: A Study of Central Appalachian Channel Profiles around Crabtree Falls, Virginia, Michelle Hoon-Starr
Biological Aging of Oyster Shells from the York River (Virginia), Anna Jay
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Clasts in the Potomac Formation, Coastal Plain, Virginia, Michael K. Larson
A Petrologic and Structural Analysis of Metavolcanic Rocks in the Western Piedmont and Eastern Blue Ridge Provinces, Central Virginia, Ciara Morgan Mills
Evaluating Landscape Disequilibrium of the Blue Ridge in a Passive Margin Near Peaks of Otter, Virginia, Jannette Morris
Analysis of Longitudinal Profiles and Knickpoints to Determine the Causes of High Appalachian Relief, Owen Sitler
Quantifying and Modeling Mylonitization in the Hylas Fault Zone, Eastern Piedmont, Virginia, Matthew Sniff
An Investigation of Landscape Disequilibrium Using Channel Profile Analysis in the Blue Ridge of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, Elizabeth Stoeckle
Clay Mineral Characterization: An Exploration into the Swelling Tendencies of Sodium Montmorillonite as a Function of Salinity, Frank Tamakloe
Provenance of Ballast Stone Used in Early 17th Century Foundations at Jamestown, Virginia, Kelsey D. Watson
The Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Skippers Pluton, Roanoke Rapids Terrane, Va, Quan Yuan
Geology Senior Theses from 2014
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Gneisses in the Vicinity of the Lucky Lake Gem Mine, Raleigh Terrane, Virginia, Samuel Louis Adler
Tracing sources of groundwater in the shallow aquifer at Jamestown and implications for heavy metal mobility, Emily Barnett
Olfactory Ratio as a Potential Proxy for Behavior in Theropoda, William H. Brightly
Characterization and Origin of Carbonate Nodules at the Fossil Beach Outcop of the Eastover Formation, York River State Park, Virginia, Patric Callahan
Structural Analysis of the Bowen's Creek Fault, Central Virginia Piedmont, D. Parker Campell
The Field Characteristics, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Mantle Xenoliths in the Diana Mills Pluton, Buckingham County, Central Piedmont, VA, Elizabeth Sanae Carter
Investigating Water Ice in Persistently Shadowed Craters in Mercury's North Polar Region, Ariel N. Deutsch
Geology of the Rabbit Valley Salient: Wayne County, Utah, Zachariah Fleming
Structural geometry and kinematics of the Chatham Fault Zone, Virginia, WIlliam Patrick Frier
Three-dimensional strain analysis of the Antietam Formation in the western Blue Ridge, Virginia, David R. Godschalk
Tidal river-aquifer salinity communication and its implications for drinking water quality in Jamestown, Virginia, Phillip J. Goodling
Utilizing the Paleobiology Database in Undergraduate Education, Elysia R. Howe
Exfoliation and Characterization of Montmorillonite Clay via Atomic Force Microscopy, Joachim Katchinoff
Knickpoint form and migration produced by base level lowering at Great Falls, VA, Connor Kee
Study of Oil-Mineral Interactions by Atomic Force Spectroscopy, Jeffery Knox
Is Oyster Shell Geochemistry Unique Smong Tributary Basins of the Chesapeake Bay?, Erin Landis
Strain analysis of the Rockfish Conglomerate, Blue Ridge, Virginia, Augusta Maguire
Petrological and Structural Analysis of Mafic Dikes in the Central Virginia Blue RIdge, Aaron A. Marshall
Time-averaging in Chesapeake Bay Mollusks: Estimates based on Amino Acid Racemization of Holocene Mulinia, Aaron M. Martinez
Application of Gust erosion microcosm and LISST instrumentation to measure erodibility and the size distribution of suspended sediments in the York River estuary, Brandon T. McCoy
Kinematic analysis and strain partitioning in a mesoscale fold, Antietam Formation, Blue Ridge Province, Virginia, Casey McGrath
Effects of Climate Change On Epibiont Communities in the Neogene of Virginia, Angela Mullins
Using tree-ring derived PHDI values to reconstruct James River salinity during the Jamestown settlement, Shenandoah Raycroft
Linking Water Elevation and Salinity in the Pitch and Tar Swamp to the James River and the Shallow Jamestown Aquifer, Liz Saccoccia
Spatially variable rock erodibility related to the interaction between erosion rate and weathering in bedrock-floored channels, Great Falls area, Virginia, Charles M. Shobe
Thrust faulting and fault sequence in the James River Gorge and Arnold Valley region, Blue Ridge and Valley & Ridge provinces, Virginia, Eleanor M. Trott
Structural geometry and sediment thickness in the Fish Lake, Erika Wenrich
Geology Senior Theses from 2013
Ages and Growth Rates of Crassostrea virginica from Pleistocene Reefs in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Samantha I. Bonanni
Comparative Climate Analysis of Virginia During the 20th and 21st Centuries, Kirkland S. Broadwell
Detailed sediment composition of the Eastover, Calvert, Old Church and Piney Point formations, New Kent County area, Virginia Coastal Plain, Patti J. Burton
The Effects of Urban vs. Rural Land Use on Cr Concentrations in the College Creek Watershed, Katharine B. Celata
Characterizing rock erodibility and channel geometry along the longitudinal profile of a bedrock-floored river, Maxwell T. Cunningham
An Evaluation of Possible Garbenschiefer in the Chopawamsic Terrane, Central2 Piedmont Province, Virginia, Tyler Albert DeCourt
Shields Up: Can the "Mini-Magnetospheres" of Mars Protect Astronauts from Radiation Hazards?, Andrews Follett
A Structural Analysis of the Coles Hill Uranium Deposits in the Piedmont Province of Virginia, Sebastion Hancock
Analysis of Mesozoic Diabase dikes in the Scottsville Basin, Virginia, William M. Jaeger
