Digital Commons Network^™

Microbial Bioassay Techniques For Assessing Acid Mine Spoil Amendments For Revegetation, Michael A. Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The revegetation of sterile acid mine spoils is a costly and lengthy process due to the many factors (pH, toxic materials, low nutrients, poor soil structure, temperature, moisture, length of growing season, etc.) which impede the establishment of stable plant communities. A microbial bioassay technique applied to soil systems has been developed to allow a rapid (four weeks) and integrated (with respect to nutrients and toxicants) determination of the best amendments for stabilizing mine spoils by revegetation. Using mine spoil from the Blackbird Mine, Cobalt (near Salmon), Idaho, various comb illations of nitrogen, phosphorus, chelators, trace elements, potassium, manure and …

Assessment Of Possible Carcinogenic Hazards Created In Surrounding Ecosystems By Oil Shale Developments, Gerald L. Dassler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One of the purposes of an environmental assessment is to foresee potential problems created by the introduction of contaminants into an ecosystem and to suggest appropriate control devices to mitigate the effects of such inputs. In the case of the oil shale industry, very little is known about the potential hazards, especially those related to the emission of organic compounds with carcinogenic potency. The hazards will probably be due to chronic exposures to the emitted compounds and the effects of such exposures are likely to take years to manifest themselves, as is the case with many carcinogenic substances. A precise …

Development Of A Water Quality Model Applicable To Great Salt Lake, Utah, Craig T. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The development of a model capable of predicting the long term (seasonal) distribution of water quality constituents within Great Salt Lake was undertaken as a portion of the ongoing Great Salt Lake project at Utah State University. The overall goal of the project is the development of a modeling framework to assist the relevant decision making bodies in the comprehensive management of the Great Salt Lake system. Phase I of the project provided the overall structural framework for management of the Great Salt Lake system, identified data needs, and established priorities for the development of submodels for incorporation into the …

Effects Of Heavy Metals (Cadmium, Copper, And Mercury) On Reproduction, Growth, And Survival Of Brine Shrimp (Artemia Salina) From The Great Salt Lake, Karl A. Gebhardt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper is to report findings concerning the effects of cadmium, copper, and mercury on the brine shrimp Artemia Salina, of the Great Salt Lake. Metal toxicity was observed in relation to acute susceptibility, growth, reproduction, and hatching of the brine shrimp.

Heavy metal concentrations such as cadmium, copper, and mercury are known to be considerably higher in the Great Salt Lake than those in both freshwater and seawater. No published study has been concerned with heavy metal effects on organisms in salinities greater than seawater (35 grams per liter total dissolved solids). The experiments reported …

A Rationale For Furrow Irrigation System Design And Management, Safa Noori Hamad

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mathematical and computerized models are developed to design and optimize furrow irrigation systems. The optimization process starts with land grading design, if any is needed, followed by a prediction of maximum non-erosive furrow stream size allowed on a given soil and the associated furrow-advance function. An average depth of application per irrigation is then assumed from which the wetting pattern along the furrow and the amounts of runoff water are predicted. A design of an Irrigation Runoff Recovery System, IRRS, is then executed, if desired, and system cost is determined. Using the predicted wetting pattern and the appropriate Crop Production …