Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

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THE BLUE MOUND CHERT INVESTIGATING A TOPOGRAPHIC ANOMALY IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

Description
Blue Mound State Park, located in the state of Wisconsin (USA), is host to a topographic anomaly known as Blue Mound. This mound is the western of the two mounds that make up the park, and it marks the highest elevation in southern Wisconsin. Unlike its eastern sibling, Blue Mound…

Blue Mound State Park, located in the state of Wisconsin (USA), is host to a topographic anomaly known as Blue Mound. This mound is the western of the two mounds that make up the park, and it marks the highest elevation in southern Wisconsin. Unlike its eastern sibling, Blue Mound possesses an unusual chert cap that may have protected it from erosion, thus preserving its stratigraphic integrity. Although Blue Mound's unique chert armor was noted in 1927 by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, no published work has satisfactorily explained its origin. As little was known about the formation of cherts until the mid-to-late 1900s, the Blue Mound cap was classified merely as a Silurian dolostone into which chert had somehow become integrated (Steidtmann). However, the published observations of the Blue Mound chert do not necessarily match with the classification granted by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, nor were any convincing interpretations offered regarding the presence of the chert. Since 1927, significant progress in the field of sedimentology has been achieved. There now exists knowledge that may fill the gaps between observation and interpretation in the Blue Mound survey. The observations in the 1927 bulletin correspond with modern notions of a paleokarst chert breccia, which forms a chert rubble or residuum. A chert breccia is formed when existing clasts, or pieces, of chert become cemented together by further chert deposition (Kolodny, Chaussidon and Katz). This can form large boulders of chert rubble that resist erosion. Accumulation of chert rubble has been documented to form along old weathering surfaces as an insoluble residue in environments similar to Blue Mound (Kolodny, Chaussidon and Katz). The purpose of this investigation was to verify the observations within the 1927 survey of the Blue Mound chert, and determine through field observations and sample study if the Blue Mound chert fits the model of a paleokarst chert breccia.
ContributorsGalarowicz, Calley (Author) / Knauth, Paul (Thesis director) / Semken, Steven (Committee member) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor)
Created2013-05
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Of Locality, Causality, and the Unseen: Delving Into J.S. Bell's Inequality

Description

This research endeavor explores the 1964 reasoning of Irish physicist John Bell and how it pertains to the provoking Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox. It is necessary to establish the machinations of formalisms ranging from conservation laws to quantum mechanical principles. The notion that locality is unable to be reconciled with the quantum…

This research endeavor explores the 1964 reasoning of Irish physicist John Bell and how it pertains to the provoking Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox. It is necessary to establish the machinations of formalisms ranging from conservation laws to quantum mechanical principles. The notion that locality is unable to be reconciled with the quantum paradigm is upheld through analysis and the subsequent Aspect experiments in the years 1980-1982. No matter the complexity, any local hidden variable theory is incompatible with the formulation of standard quantum mechanics. A number of strikingly ambiguous and abstract concepts are addressed in this pursuit to deduce quantum's validity, including separability and reality. `Elements of reality' characteristic of unique spaces are defined using basis terminology and logic from EPR. The discussion draws directly from Bell's succinct 1964 Physics 1 paper as well as numerous other useful sources. The fundamental principle and insight gleaned is that quantum physics is indeed nonlocal; the door into its metaphysical and philosophical implications has long since been opened. Yet the nexus of information pertaining to Bell's inequality and EPR logic does nothing but assert the impeccable success of quantum physics' ability to describe nature.
ContributorsRapp, Sean R (Author) / Foy, Joseph (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05