I would like to thank the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the generous loan of basement cores, thin sections, and data it provided for this project. In addition, I would especially like to thank Cheryl Seeger of the DNR for her invaluable help in locating resources, as well as Mike Roberson of the University of Missouri-Rolla for the time he took in teaching me to make thin sections. And, finally, I would like to thank my thesis committee for their continued support and assistance, without which this research could not have been carried out.