Digital Commons Network^™

Transplanted Appalachians’ Perspectives Of Culturally Relevant Topics/Texts And How These Topics/Texts Aid In Their Reading Comprehension, Kathryn E. H. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this research study was to understand Transplanted Appalachians’ perspectives of culturally relevant topics/texts and how these topics/texts aid in their reading comprehension. This culturally relevant study was framed using Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory, Barton and Hamilton’s (1998) literacy as a social practice, and Rosenblatt’s (1994) transactional theory. Research participants included five transplanted Appalachian adults from the Central Appalachian Region. The research methods included one introductory interview, four think-alouds, four post think-aloud interviews, and four Cultural Relevance Rubrics. Results from the data sources revealed the participants strongly related to six cultural themes including: community, authentic Appalachian experiences (e.g., …

Syn- To Post-Orogenic Evolution Of Collisional Mountain Systems: Investigating The Potential For Crustal Flow Using Thermochronology And Numerical Models, Brandon Spencer

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

This dissertation is composed of three distinct manuscripts which collectively investigate processes that contribute to the late evolution of collisional mountain systems —specifically, the ancient Appalachian-Caledonian system. In the first paper, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronological data are used to constrain the timing of exhumation of the Scandian orogenic wedge of northern Scotland. Muscovite and amphibole samples yield dates of ca. 420-411 Ma, consistent with cooling after peak orogenesis. During this cooling phase, dates from both systems in individual thrust sheets show an increase in cooling rate in the later stage of exhumation; in the orogenic core, the cooling rate …

Geology Of The Jacksonville 7.5 Minute Quadrangle And U–Pb And (U–Th)/He Reveal Sediment Routing And Uplift In The Southern Appalachian Valley And Ridge Province, Derek L. Spurgeon

MSU Graduate Theses

The southern Appalachian Mountains have experienced multiple deformation events having undergone two full Wilson cycles. The foreland Valley and Ridge province is composed of sedimentary Paleozoic rock that range in age from earliest Cambrian to Middle Pennsylvanian. This sedimentary basin was intensely folded and faulted during the collision of Gondwana during the Middle to Late Carboniferous Period. From previous geologic structural mapping that has taken place, some large-scale structures in the Valley and Ridge Province seem to be out of sequence. To better understand the relationships in these structures, geologic mapping in high detail at the 1:24,000 scale coupled with …

Assessing The Prevalance Of Joint-Controlled Mass Wasting In The Southern Appalachian Mountains, U.S.A., Madeline Konopinski

MSU Graduate Theses

Landslides are common hazards that produce devastating effects worldwide. Within the United States, the Appalachian Mountains are identified as an area of moderate to high susceptibility and incidence for landslides (Mirus et al., 2020; Wieczorek and Morgan, 2008). Given the presence of active seismic zones (eastern Tennessee and Giles County seismic zones) and variable rainfall due to seasonal storms (hurricanes) throughout the Appalachians, ancient earthquake activity or intense rainfall may trigger mass wasting events. Regional bedrock joints may further control the susceptibility of landslides to develop in specific locations during trigger events by providing a pre-existing weakness in the substrate. …

Evaluation Of Private Landowner Intention To Create Early Successional Habitat In Virginia's Appalachian Region, Hannah M. Coovert

Theses and Dissertations

As human land uses continue to expand rapidly across the landscape, the management practices of private landowners are an essential part of effective conservation of biodiversity. Conservation of early successional habitats (ESH) and the species that depend on them is a priority in the eastern United States, and efforts to create more ESH on private lands has primarily focused on forest landowners and the harvesting of timber. Private lands with significant pasture cover in a forested landscape present an additional opportunity to create and maintain ESH, yet our understanding of landowner values and attitudes about management strategies in pastures (i.e., …

Population Health Of Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma Maculatum) In Created Vernal Pools: An Integrative Approach, Alice R. Millikin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Habitat creation is an important tool for conservation to counteract habitat loss and degradation. Vernal pools are susceptible to destruction due to limited detection, protection, and regulation. These wetlands provide fishless breeding habitat for many amphibian species including spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) in eastern North America. Determining whether created vernal pool habitat is successful is often determined by demographic data of colonizing populations. I suggest that hormone levels, population genetics, and disease prevalence can improve our understanding of population health in created habitat. The goal of this dissertation was to assess the health of spotted salamander larvae in …

Influence Of Exurban Neighborhoods On Riparian Vegetation And Stream Salamanders In The Southern Appalachian Mountains, Nathaniel Weaver

All Theses

The southern Appalachian Mountains have experienced large population growth and a change in land use in the past 30 years. The majority of development has been low density, suburban land, known as exurban development. Lotic Systems and riparian areas are severely degraded by conversion from urban to rural land uses. The long-term effects of exurbanization on riparian vegetative communities and stream salamanders in the southern Appalachian Mountains are not well known. We sought to determine if vegetative community composition and structure change with time since neighborhood development or with the amount of impervious surface within the watershed. In order to …

Late Tertiary Tectonic Uplift In The Southern And Central Appalachians, Mary Sheela Biswal

Masters Theses

The exposed Appalachian Mountains extend about 2500 km from Newfoundland to Alabama with the highest peaks >2000 m above sea level. The last orogeny that affected Appalachian crust was the 325-260 Ma Alleghanian. Even with minimal erosion rates, it is highly unlikely that the Appalachians could have sustained such elevations for over 200 m.y., suggesting that recent tectonic uplift has produced today’s mountainous topography. The multiple phases of Tertiary uplift are related to poorly understood processes, but a large amount of data from today’s mountain chain and the adjacent Coastal Plain indicate the present high topography is anomalous and clearly …

A New, Low-Elevation Appalachian Saxifrage (Hydatica Necker Ex. Gray 1821) In South Carolina, Laary Cushman

All Theses

In 2002 a unique population of Hydatica Necker ex Gray 1821 (Appalachian Saxifrage) was discovered by Patrick McMillan in the upper Piedmont of Pickens County, SC, growing on a low-elevation granite dome within the Nature Conservancy’s Nine Times nature preserve. The plants appeared to be similar to the widespread Hydatica petiolaris (Raf.) Small populations of the Blue Ridge Escarpment (BRE). However, the Pickens County population displays an annual life form and flowers during the late winter and early spring, in contrast to the perennial life forms and late spring through early fall flowerings of the BRE population. A study was …

A Microhabitat Assessment Of Five Species Of Invasive Plants In The Ozarks And Appalachians, Eric Hearth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species present a threat to native communities and their introduction and expansion can alter community structure and dynamics. Multiple approaches can be employed for invasive species management including prevention and detection. In this study, microhabitat assessments were conducted on colonies of five species of invasive plants, Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.) Cavara & Grande, Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don, Lonicera japonica Thunb., Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus, and Rosa multiflora Thunb. in the Ozark Plateau and Appalachians. Elevation, soil moisture, soil pH, light ratio, slope, aspect, distance to disturbance, as well as soil nutrient levels were recorded for each …

Metamorphism, Kinematic Evolution, And Timing Constraints Of The Greenbrier Fault Around The Ela And Bryson City Domes, North Carolina, Remington M. Leger

Masters Theses

Field mapping, microstructural analysis, and electron microprobe analysis were performed on rocks from the Bryson City and Ela domes, North Carolina, to help constrain the tectonic history of the region. The domes are en echelon northeast-trending antiformal structures formed by two perpendicular sets of folds. They are bounded by the Greenbrier fault, which forms a ductile shear zone that juxtaposes the Great Smoky Group in the hanging wall with Grenville basement in the footwall. Isoclinal folds (F2) and axial planar foliation (S2) characterize the regional deformation (D2). Inter- to syn-kinematic porphyroblasts (relative to D2) of kyanite, staurolite, and garnet grew …

Investigating The Utility Of Detrital Mineral Microchemistry And Radiogenic Isotope Compositions As Provenance Discriminators, Jack Hietpas

Earth & Environmental Sciences - Dissertations

The provenance of clastic sediments remains one of the key tools for understanding the complex dynamic history of the Earth. Detritus shed from ancient orogens may be the only evidence available for determining the timing, evolution, paleogeography, and existence of tectonic events active over the 4.56 Ga of Earth history. The focus of this dissertation research is to assess the strengths and limitations of existing, as well as novel, tools for determining the provenance of siliciclastic sediments.

The utility of detrital monazite crystallization ages was investigated as a provenance indicator in both modern and ancient sedimentary systems. The results from …

Paradoxes In The Deformational And Metamorphic History Of The Eastern Blue Ridge: Evidence From The Lake Toxaway And Eastern Big Ridge Quadrangles, North Carolina, Mary Grace Varnell Jubb

Masters Theses

The Tugaloo terrane in the eastern Blue Ridge, located in the high-grade southern Appalachian crystalline core,contains small internal basement massifs, the Neoproterozoic Tallulah Falls Formation, and Paleozoic granitoid plutons. Detailed geologic mapping in the Lake Toxaway and eastern Big Ridge quadrangles was done to better understand the regional tectonic history.

Whole-rock geochemistry was used to determine similarities between the augen phase of the 1.15 Ga Toxaway Gneiss and the 1.15 Ga Wiley Gneiss of northeastern Georgia. The study found that all eastern Blue Ridge orthogneisses are similar and probably share a source.

The previously identified Whiteside, Looking Glass, and Pink …