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 2010
Longitudinal Profile Analysis of the Shenandoah River: Evidence for Disequilibrium, Kyle Grimsley
Petrology of a Possible Trondhjemitic Pluton in the Roanoke Rapids Terrane, Virginia, Steven P. Hess
3D Restoration of the Sugar Hallow Rift Basin, Blue Ridge, Virginia, Andrew K. Laskowski
The Kinematics and History of Brittle Deformation in the Petersburg Granite, Richmond, Virginia, James McCulla
Spatially variable erodibility in bedrock channels produced by weathering, Brendan P. Murphy
How Accurate is Your ADV? An Investigative Analysis on the Effect of Grain Size on Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter Backscatter, Donte Deron Newbill
The Effective Entrapment of Contaminants in Riparian Buffers: A Question of Thickness, Eric Newman
Changes in Global Diversity and Geographic Distribution of Venericardia Bivalvia in Association with Paleogene Climate Change, Alexandra Olaya
Quantification of biofouling community structure on oyster shell exposed in the York River, Chesapeake Bay, USA, Amy E. Rarig
Dicussion of Sediment Density Measurement by X-Radiography and Gamma Ray Attenuation, Rachael Reeves
The Influence of Bedrock Lithology on Sand Composition in the James River Watershed, Virginia Piedmont, Nicholas J. Schacht
The effects of sexual dimorphism on surivorship in fossil ammonoids: A role for sexual selection in extinction, Claire E. L. Still
Using 137Cs to Test the Effectiveness of Agricultural Riparian Buffers on the James and York River Watersheds, VA, Morgan Stumb
Sediment Analysis of Calcite Precipitation in Lake Matoaka: A Southeastern Virginia Hypereutrophic Water Body, Robert H. Varno
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Metamorphosed Ultramafic Rocks in the Paleigh Terrane, Piedmont Province, Virginia, John Zerolis
Geology Senior Theses from 2009
Structural History and Geometry of the Northern Fish Lake Plateau, Central Utah, Trevor R. Buckely
Cretaceous and Palogene Sedimentary Units of the Northern Fish Lake Plateau, Central Utah, Joyce E. Carbaugh
An Evaluation of the Areal Extent of the Andalusite-Bearing Rocks and the Timing of Low-Pressure Contact Metamorphism in the Hollister Shear Zone, Virginia, Kristie M. Dorfler
Benthic Regeneration as a Source of Nutrients in the York River, Morgan E. Gelinas
Geochemical Constraints on the Nature and Tectonic Setting of Metavolcanic Rocks in the Roanoke Rapids Terrane, Eastern Piedmont, Virginia, Tessa M. Hanger
A Study of the Relationship Between Shoreline Migration and Cross-shore and Alonshore Sediment Transfer, Deadre R. Henderson
Geochemistry of the Arvonia Formation, VA: Implications for Source-Area Weathering, Tectonic Setting, and Provenance, Sarah E. King
A Field and Petrological Study of a Metagabbro Occurrence in the Chopawamsic Terrane, Piedmont Province, Virginia, Brian J. Kneiser
Geology and Structural Hisoy of the Blue Ridge Basement Complex, Albemarle County, Virginia, Graham William Lederer
Controls on Suspended Sediment Particle Size in the York River Estuary, Benjamin D. Lewis
A Comparison of Composition and Size Distribution of Clasts between the Yorktown and Bacons Castle Formation Sediments, Richmond, Virginia, Melissa E. MacIntyre
The Effects of the Pitch and Tarr Swamp on the Hydrogeology and Geochemistry of the Jamestown Aquifer, Lydia Murray
Shifts in Diversity, Geographic Range, and Body Size in Venericardia during the Paleogene of the Gulf Coastal Plain, Karin A. Ohman
Groundwater Hydrology and Contamination on Jamestown Island, VA: A Study of the Geochemistry and Microbiology of Groundwater, Heather R. Pasley
A Comparison of Clast Composition and Size Between Sediments of the Aquia and Potomac Formations, Todd Reyher
Alongshore Variations in Foreshore Morphology, Grain Size, and Wave Dissipation at a Shoreline Erosional Hotspot, Ethan John Theuerkauf
Morphometric Analysis of DrainageBasins in the Blue Ridge province, Virginia: A Case for Underfit Streams, Rhyanne E. Wheat
Bare Bedrock Summit Erosion Rates in the Central Appalachians, Virginia, Jennifer Whitten
Coastline Changes and Evolution of the Guadiana Estuary, Iberian Peninsula: Sediment Studies Since the Installment of the Alqueva Dam, Sofia B. Wicker
Geology Senior Theses from 2008
How Well do Tree-Rings Reflect the Phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation?, Marley B. Bice
The Effects of Suburbanization and Stormwater Management in the Kensington Woods Subdivision, Ryan Bonnette
Combining Field Data and Computer Modeling to Improve Designs for Two Wet Retention Ponds in James City County, VA, Nathan A. Burgess
Suburbanization and Stormwater Management in NewTown, Stavros Calos
The Wet Retention as a Stormwater Mitigation Technique: A theorectical and performance based comparison in James City County, VA, Paige Flanigan
An Evaluation of the Areal Extent and Significance of Kyanite- and K-feldspar-Bearing Metapelitic Rocks in the Maidens Gneiss, Goochland Terrane, Virginia, Portia E. Formento
Tectonic Significance of the Late Neoproterozic Swift Run Formation and Basement-Cover Unconformity in the Virginia Blue Ridge, Adam Gattuso
Newly Discovered Mesozoic Rift Basins in the Virginia Blue Ridge: Sedimentology, Provenance, Structure, and TEctonics, Ari Hartman
3-Dimensional Strain Analysis of Quartz Arenite in the Antietam Formation, Blue Ridge province, Virginia, USA, Freidrich Alexander Knuth
Lithologic and structural control on the evolution of a knickzone on the James River, central Virginia Piedmont, Karl A. Lang
Evidence for Knickzone Generation and Landscape Disequilibrium through Surficial Studies of the James River, Central Virginia, Piedmont, Lauren Beth Parker
