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Streamflow Calibration Of Two Sub-Basins In The Lake Whatcom Watershed, Washington Using A Distributed Hydrology Model, Katherine D. (Katherine Delia) Kelleher

WWU Graduate School Collection

Lake Whatcom provides drinking water to the City of Bellingham and portions of Whatcom County. Therefore, quantifying streamflow into the lake is important to establish the contribution of ground water and surface water runoff in the Lake Whatcom water budget. Runoff is nearly 74% of the total inputs to the lake, thus the runoff provides the most water and nutrients to the lake. The primary goal of this study was to determine the ability of the Distributed Hydrology-Soils-Vegetation Model (DHSVM) to simulate the hydrologic processes in two sub-basins of the Lake Whatcom watershed.

DHSVM is a physically based model that …

The Nature And Transport Of The Fine-Grained Component Of Swift Creek Landslide, Northwest Washington, Tovah M. (Tovah Michelle) Bayer

WWU Graduate School Collection

Extreme sedimentation in Swift Creek, located in the Cascades foothills in NW Washington (48°55’N, 122°16’W), results from erosion of the oversteepened, unvegetated toe of a large (0.55 km²) active earthflow. The amount of bedload in the creek has necessitated several mitigation projects in the channel including annual dredging and temporary sediment traps in an attempt to reduce the risk of flooding and damage to manmade structures downstream.

The bedload and suspended sediment in the creek are a direct result of the weathering process of the serpentinitic bedrock, in which the landslide is rooted. The serpentinite weathers to asbestiform …

Regional Correlations Of Late Pleistocene Climatic Changes Based On Cosmogenic Nuclide Exposure Dating Of Moraines In Idaho, Cody Sherard

WWU Graduate School Collection

Multiple post-last glacial maximum (LGM) moraines occur in the Sawtooth Range of the Rocky Mountains in central Idaho. Although relative ages of the moraines have been studied, few numerical ages exist for these moraine sequences. In this study, the ages of LGM and late glacial (Younger Dryas) moraines in the Redfish Lake drainage of Idaho are constrained with 23 new, cosmogenic, ¹⁰Be dates. Results of this study include developing a new chronology for the Redfish Lake late Pleistocene moraines that are consistent with regional morainal ages.

New cosmogenic ¹⁰Be data from boulders on Bull Lake moraines at Redfish …

Environmental Records In A High-Altitude Low-Latitude Glacier, Sierra Nevada, California, Alison J. (Alison Jane) Gillespie

WWU Graduate School Collection

Glaciers are sensitive and detailed recorders of changes in local, regional, and global climate. Stable isotope variations reflect seasonal temperature changes, physical stratigraphy relates to net precipitation, and trace element concentrations mark seasonal surfaces in the ice. Previous studies have largely focused on polar ice cores because cold, dry conditions in such locations are ideal for preserving ice stratigraphy. Conversely, low-latitude alpine glaciers have been generally ignored because warmer, wetter conditions in them have been presumed to destroy or obscure the original stable isotope stratigraphy. Here, I evaluate the potential to obtain viable environmental records from an ice core of …

A Contemporary Review Of 1975-1976 Elevated Activity Levels At The Mount Baker Complex, Washington, And Current Community Awareness Of Volcanic Hazards, Janna Juday

WWU Graduate School Collection

This investigation seeks to understand the changes in the associated volcanic and human systems during and after the 1975-1976 sudden thermal events at Mount Baker volcano. Included are reviews of some of the conclusions made by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and universities around the U.S. during that event. A questionnaire was also presented to people in communities around the volcano to outline current understanding of volcanic activity and hazards associated with Mount Baker.

The source of the Mount Baker thermal activity in 1975-1976 was never conclusively identified at the time. There appears to have been a small decrease …