Abstract

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and support given to this author during the course of this project: To my advisors, Steve Colman and Nigel Wattrus for their guidance, instruction, advice, and patience. I joined you almost directly from the battlefields of Iraq, with no geology education to speak of, yet you still gave me this incredible opportunity. You helped to make a potentially difficult transition into something both exciting and unforgettable. A special thanks to Jim Teller, Mike Lewis, Carrie Jennings, Andy Breckenridge, Harvey Thorleifson, and John Swenson for taking the time to share your experience with me and for providing me all the resources, advice, animated discussion, and food for thought I could have asked for. Thank you to my fellow graduate students for your warm welcomes and unconditional support. Good luck to all of you in your future pursuits. A special wish of luck to Emily Voytek, the graduate student to whom I pass the baton on this project. Have fun with those lines outside Thunder Bay.