Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Beryllium In Granulite-Facies Pegmatites In Archean Napier Complex, Antarctica, Edward S. Grew

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This award, provided by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation, supports participation of a researcher from the University of Maine in an expedition of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) to study beryllium enriched minerals in Enderby Land. Beryllium is a rare element in crustal rocks and enrichments are especially unusual in granulite-facies (high temperature and pressure, and relatively dry conditions) metamorphic rocks. This project focuses on unique beryllium-enriched pegmatites in the Archean ultra-high temperature (up to 1000 degrees C) granulite-facies Napier Complex in eastern Casey Bay, Enderby Land, East Antarctica. The primary objective is to …

Powre: High-Resolution Chronology Of Millennial-Scale Lake-Level Fluctuations In The Dry Valleys (Antarctica) From Uranium-Thorium And Radiocarbon Dating, Brenda L. Hall

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Engineering (POWRE) program affords new research and educational enhancement opportunities for women scientists. This project, which addresses the fundamental problem of the cause of millennial-scale climate change, contains components specifically designed to increase the educational and research skills of the principal investigator. She will learn the following new information/skills: 1) thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) uranium/thorium (U/TH) dating with Dr. G. Henderson at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and Oxford University, 2) millennial-scale climate change with Drs. W. Broecker and G. Bond, LDEO, and with Drs. D. Oppo and L. Keigwin, Woods Hole …

Comparisons Of Gravity Anomalies At Pseudofaults, Fracture Zones, And Nontransform Discontinuities From Fast To Slow Spreading Areas, Sarah E. Kruse, Sarah F. Tebbens, David F. Naar, Qingyuan Y. Lou, Robert T. Bird

Geology Faculty Publications

Published mechanisms for rift tip propagation at spreading centers include extensional deformation and an initial period of slow spreading. We investigate whether the gravity signal and inferred crustal structure at pseudofaults formed in medium to superfast spreading environments resemble the gravity signal at fracture zones or nontransform discontinuities formed in slow spreading environments. We find that altimetry-based gravity anomalies on the Mathematician, Bauer, Easter, Juan Fernandez, and northern Chile Ridge pseudofaults, located in 75–150 mm/yr (full rate) seafloor spreading environments, are similar in amplitude and form to Atlantic fracture zones with 20–30 mm/yr spreading rates. A 5–15 mGal positive mantle …

New Kinematic Models For Pacific‐North America Motion From 3 Ma To Present, Ii: Evidence For A “Baja California Shear Zone”, Timothy Dixon, Fred Farina, Charles Demets, Francisco Suarez-Vidal, John Fletcher, Bertha Marquez-Azua, M. Meghan Miller, Osvaldo Sanchez, Paul Umhoefer

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We use new models for present‐day Pacific‐North America motion to evaluate the tectonics of offshore regions west of the Californias. Vandenburg in coastal Alta California moves at the Pacific plate velocity within uncertainties (∼1 mm/yr) after correcting for strain accumulation on the San Andreas and San Gregorio‐Hosgri faults with a model that includes a viscoelastic lower crust. Modeled and measured velocities at coastal sites in Baja California south of the Agua Blanca fault, a region that most previous models consider Pacific plate, differ by 3–8 mm/yr, with coastal sites moving slower that the Pacific plate. We interpret these discrepancies in …

Improving Water Quality Through Bmps For Crop Production Systems Whole Farm Soil And Water Management, J. T. Gilmour, L. R. Frye, N. A. Slaton

Technical Reports

The major objective of this demonstration project was to assess the usefulness of Global Positioning Systems/Geographic Information Systems (GPS/GIS), water testing, soil testing and yield monitoring in a whole farm water and soil management plan. An important part of this objective was to make recommendations to increase crop productivity and decrease the potential for surface water degradation through erosion and runoff at the farm. The farm was located on 2400 acres in the Bayou de View watershed in Monroe County, Arkansas. The farm lies approximately five miles southwest of the town of Brinkley straddling Highway 17 just south of its …

Predicted Land Use Changes In Agricultural Areas Of Wa And Resulting Impact On The Extent Of Dryland Salinity, C E. Mcconnell

Resource management technical reports

An assessment of current and possible future land use in Western Australia was undertaken as part of the National Land and Water Resources Audit. This data was used to assess the impact of land use change on the future extent of salinity. It was found that in some areas there is real capacity for changing land use to impact on recharge to the watertable.

A Simple Surface Temperature Assimilation Scheme For Use In Land Surface Models, Venkataraman Lakshmi

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the utilization of surface temperature as a variable which can be assimilated in off-line land surface hydrological models. The connection between the surface temperature and evapotranspiration is utilized in making adjustments to the model-computed surface soil moisture. This adjustment is a function of the difference between the model-computed and the observed surface temperature. Comparisons between the model-computed and satellite-observed surface temperatures have been carried out. The assimilation of surface temperature is carried out twice a day (corresponding to the A.M. and P.M. overpass of the NOAA 10) over the Red-Arkansas basin in the southwestern United States (31°50′N-36°N, …

Ely Disrict Managed Natural And Prescribed Fire Plan, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

No abstract provided.

Chemical And Biological Trends During Lake Evolution In Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Daniel R. Engstrom, Sherilyn C. Fritz, James E. Almendinger, Stephen Juggins

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

As newly formed landscapes evolve, physical and biological changes occur that are collectively known as primary succession. Although succession is a fundamental concept in ecology, it is poorly understood in the context of aquatic environments. The prevailing view is that lakes become more enriched in nutrients as they age, leading to increased biological production. Here we report the opposite pattern of lake development, observed from the water chemistry of lakes that formed at various times within the past 10,000 years during glacial retreat at Glacier Bay, Alaska. The lakes have grown more dilute and acidic with time, accumulated dissolved organic …

Proceedings Of The Arkansas Water Resources Center Annual Conference: Environmental Hydrology, Kenneth F. Steele

Technical Reports

The papers and abstracts in these proceedings are the result of a joint conference of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (A WRC) with the SouthCentral Section of the Geological Society of America. The joint conference was a success with about 250 participants. A WRC sponsored two sessions on Environmental Hydrology and a short course titled "Hydrogeology and Geochemistry of Salt Water Contamination." The Environmental Hydrology presentations covered wide-ranging topics that reflect the diversity of the environmental settings across Arkansas. Topics ranged from salt water and critical ground water issues in the Delta to endangered species and interbasin ground-water recharge in …

Geosciences Newsletter - 2000, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol.1, No. 25

• Greetings All
• Faculty News
• Groundwater Education in Michigan News
• Graduate Student News
• Alumni News
• Advisory Council News

Alternative Principal Components Regression Procedures For Dendrohydrologic Reconstructions, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Thomas C. Piechota, John A. Dracup

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Streamflow reconstruction using tree ring information (dendrohydrology) has traditionally used principal components analysis (PCA) and stepwise regression to form a transfer function. However, PCA has several procedural choices that may result in very different reconstructions. This study assesses the different procedures in PCA-based regression and suggests alternative procedures for selection of variables and principal components. Cross-validation statistics are presented as an alternative for independently testing and identifying the optimal model. The objective is to use these statistics as a measure of the model's performance to find a conceptually acceptable model with a low prediction error and the fewest number of …

Modeling Distinct Vertical Biogeochemical Structure Of The Black Sea: Dynamical Coupling Of The Oxic, Suboxic, And Anoxic Layers, T Oguz, Hw Ducklow, P Malanotte-Rizzoli

VIMS Articles

A one-dimensional, vertically resolved, physical-biogeochemical model is used to provide a unified representation of the dynamically coupled oxic-suboxic-anoxic system for the interior Black Sea. The model relates the annual cycle of plankton production in the form of a series of successive phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, and higher consumer blooms to organic matter generation and to the remineralization-ammonification-nitrification-dentrification chain of the nitrogen cycle as well as to anaerobic sulfide oxidation in the suboxic-anoxic interface zone. The simulations indicate that oxygen consumption during remineralixation and nitrification, together with a lack of ventilation of subsurface waters due to the presence of strong stratification, are the …

Modifications Of The C37 Alkenone And Alkenoate Composition In The Water Column And Sediment: Possible Implications For Sea Surface Temperature Estimates In Paleoceanography, Joan O. Grimalt, Jürgen Rullkötter, Marie-Alexandrine Sicre, Roger Summons, John Farrington, H. Rodger Harvey, Miguel Goñi, Ken Sawada

OES Faculty Publications

The literature pertaining to C37 alkenone and C37 and C38 alkenoate production and diagenesis has been reviewed and evaluated for issues that might jeopardize their usefulness in paleotemperature estimation. We also examined the use of the C37 alkenones as paleoproductivity indicators, the stability of their δ13C isotopic compositions, and their incorporation into the nonsolvent extractable organic matter fraction. Biological transformation of organic matter by bacteria and zooplankton does not appear to cause significant changes to the ratio of C37:2 and C37:3 alkenones, but there are major alterations in the relative composition of alkenoates. Studies of water column processes and postdepositional …

Biogeochemistry And Contaminant Geochemistry Of Marine And Estuarine Sediments, New Haven, Connecticut (Usa), Michael A. Kruge, Gaboury Benoit

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The urbanized shore areas of Long Island Sound in the vicinity of New Haven, Connecticut (USA) have a long history of exposure to point and non-point sources of pollution, New Haven having been one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution. As an unintended consequence of such activities, the region's sedimentary systems have incorporated a complex mixture of organic and inorganic contaminants. With its long and varied pollution history and the multiplicity of sedimentary environments (fluvial, estuarine, intertidal, marsh, etc.) present in a compact geographical area, the region is ideal natural laboratory for field testing new contamination assessment techniques. The …

Basaltic Lava Domes, Lava Lakes, And Volcanic Segmentation On The Southern East Pacific Rise, Scott M. White, Ken C. Macdonald, Rachel M. Haymon

Faculty Publications

Meter-scale DSL-120 sonar mapping and coregistered Argo II photographic observations reveal changes in eruptive style that closely follow the third-order structural segmentation of the ridge axis on the southern East Pacific Rise, 17^o11'-18^o37'S. Near segment ends we observe abundant basaltic lava domes which average 20 rn in height and 200 rn in basal diameter and have pillow lava as the dominant lava morphology. The ubiquity of pillow lava suggests low effusion rate eruptions. The abundance of lava domes suggests that the fissure eruptions were of sufficient duration to focus and produce a line of volcanic edifices. …

Lava And Ice Interaction At Stratovolcanoes: Use Of Characteristic Features To Determine Past Glacial Extents And Future Volcanic Hazards, David T. Lescinsky, Jonathan H. Fink

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Structures resulting from lava and ice interaction are common at glaciated stratovolcanoes. During summit eruptions at stratovolcanoes, meltwater is produced and travels freely down steep slopes and thin permeable valley glaciers, eroding the ice and enlarging preexisting glacial drainages. As a result, in this environment have produced few catastrophic floods. Lava flowing into the open channels and voids in the glaciers becomes confined and grows thicker, filling the available space and producing steep-sided bodies with smooth, bulbous contact surfaces. Quenching of lava against ice or by water forms small-scale features such as tensional fractures and glass. As the amount of …

Evolution Of The Kangmar Dome, Southern Tibet: Structural, Petrologic, And Thermochronologic Constraints, Jeffrey Lee, Bradley R. Hacker, William S. Dinklage, Yu Wang, Phillip Gans, Andrew Calvert, Jinglin Wan, Wenji Chen, Ann E. Blythe, William Mcclelland

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Structural, thermobarometric, and thermochronologic investigations of the Kangmar Dome, southern Tibet, suggest that both extensional and contractional deformational histories are preserved within the dome. The dome is cored by an orthogneiss which is mantled by staurolite + kyanite zone metasedimentary rocks; metamorphic grade dies out up section and is defined by a series of concentric kyanite-in, staurolite-in, garnet-in, and chloritoid-in isograds. Three major deformational events, two older penetrative events and a younger doming event, are preserved. The oldest event, D1, resulted in approximately E-W trending tight to isoclinal folds of bedding with an associated moderately to steeply north dipping axial …

Use Of Goes Thermal Infrared Imagery For Eruption Scale Measurements, Soufrière Hills, Montserrat, William I. Rose, Gari C. Mayberry

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

GOES two-band IR data are used to estimate the magnitude of small eruption clouds (ash; <∼10⁵ tonnes of fine [1–25 µm in diameter] ash, and 5–15 km asl). The method is demonstrated on clouds from Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat in 1997–99. The clouds in early 1999 were much smaller, were generally emplaced lower in the atmosphere and contained an order of magnitude less fine ash than 1997 clouds generated during the most intense phase of the eruption to date. Although GOES has an excellent capability for large eruption clouds, its use for smaller eruptions like Montserrat highlights several shortcomings, including …

Investigation Of Optimum Sample Number And Timing For Determining Pollution Loads, T. S. Soerens, Marc A. Nelson

Technical Reports

In order to determine the impacts of non point source (NPS) pollution and to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (Tr\tfDLs), accurate measurements of pollution loads in streams are critical. The objectives of this study were to accurately detemline pollutant loads at two sites by intensive storm sampling, to develop sub-sampling and other data analysis techniques, to detemline the effect of sample interval on load calculation accuracy, and to find the minimum sample interval required to determine storm loads at a required accuracy. The two stream sites used were a 1st order and a 3rd order stream in the Illinois River …

Intensification Of The Northeast Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone During The Bolling-Allerod Warm Period, Yan Zheng, Alexander Van Green, Robert F. Anderson, James V. Gardner, Walter E. Dean

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Although climate records from several locations around the world show nearly synchronous and abrupt changes, the nature of the inferred teleconnection is still poorly understood. On the basis of preserved laminations and molybdenum enrichments in open margin sediments we demonstrate that the oxygen content of northeast Pacific waters at 800 m depth during the Bolling-Allerod warm period (15-13 kyr) was greatly reduced. Existing oxygen isotopic records of benthic and planktonic foraminifera suggest that this was probably due to suppressed ventilation at higher latitudes of the North Pacific. Comparison with ventilation records for the North Atlantic indicates an antiphased pattern of …

Response Of A First-Order Stream In Maine To Short-Term In-Stream Acidification, S. A. Norton, R. Wagai, T. Navratil, J. M. Kaste, F. A. Rissberger

Dartmouth Scholarship

An experimental short-term acidification with HCl at a first-order stream in central Maine, USA was used to study processes controlling the changes in stream chemistry and to assess the ability of stream substrate to buffer pH. The streambed exerted a strong buffering capacity against pH change by ion exchange during the 6-hour acidification. Streambed substrates had substantial cation and anion exchange capacity in the pH range of 4.1 to 6.5. The ion exchange for cations and SO₄^2- were rapid and reversible. The speed of release of cations from stream substrates was Na¹⁺> Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ > Al …

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Eastern Nebraska Geology, Scott Summerside, Duane Eversoll, Mark Kuzila, Matt Joeckel

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Sulfuric Acid On The Mechanical Properties Of Ice Single Crystals, Y. L. Trickett, I. Baker, P. M.S Pradhan

Dartmouth Scholarship

Ice single crystals of various orientations containing various concentrations of H2SO4 up to 11.5 ppm were cut from large pucks of laboratory-grown ice. Constant-strain-rate compression tests were performed on the doped ice crystals both at −20°C at an axial strain rate of 1 × 10−5 s−1 and at −10°C at 1 × 106 s−1. The stress–strain curves showed a linearly rising stress with increasing strain, followed by a sharply declining stress after reaching a peak. With further strain, the sharp decline in stress slowed. The tests clearly showed, for the first time, that this naturally occurring impurity dramatically decreases both …

Response Of A First-Order Stream In Maine To Short-Term In-Stream Acidification, Stephen A. Norton, Rota Wagai, Tomas Navratil, James M. Kaste, Frederick A. Rissberger

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

An experimental short-term acidification with HCl at a first-order stream in central Maine, USA was used to study processes controlling the changes in stream chemistry and to assess the ability of stream substrate to buffer pH. The streambed exerted a strong buffering capacity against pH change by ion exchange during the 6-hour acidification. Streambed substrates had substantial cation and anion exchange capacity in the pH range of 4.1 to 6.5. The ion exchange for cations and SO42- were rapid and reversible. The speed of release of cations from stream substrates was Na1+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Aln+ > Be2+, perhaps relating to charge …

Ground Water In Northwest Arkansas: Minimizing Nutrient Contamination From Non-Point Sources In Karst Terrane, R. K. Davis, J. V. Brahana, J. S. Johnston

Technical Reports

The purpose of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BPMs) in preventing non-point source contamination of the ground-water resources in the karst terrane of northwestern Arkansas. Limestone and dolomite aquifers in the region are highly vulnerable to contamination. Ground-water studies performed in the region during the last two decades indicate degradation of these carbonate aquifers by nutrients and bacteria. The expeditious growth of the poultry industry during this period, in combination with the inordinate population growth of the region constitute a threat to the ground-water resources from both point sources and non-point sources of contamination. …

A >130,000-Year-Long Pollen Record From Pittsburg Basin, Illinois, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Pittsburg Basin, in south-central Illinois, contains a sediment record extending from the present back to the end of the late Illinoian glaciation, when central Illinois was covered with Picea/Pinus forest. During the last interglaciation, a temperate deciduous forest more diverse than Holocene Quercus/Carya forest replaced the Illinoian late-glacial boreal forest. Prairie pollen types and the charcoal/pollen ratio, indicating fire frequency, temporarily increased. Then forest, with high Juniperus percentages, became dominant once more, as the charcoal/pollen ratio dropped. After the last interglaciation, the charcoal/pollen ratio increased again and prairie and wetland surrounded Pittsburg Basin through the entire Wisconsinan glacial age. The …

Arthur County Test-Hole Logs: Nebraska Water Survey Test-Hole Report No. 3, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., James W. Goeke

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

In 1930, the Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) of the University of Nebraska and the United States Geological Survey began a program of cooperative groundwater studies in Nebraska. Since then test drilling by use of rotary drilling equipment has been an integral part of that program. This report contains logs of all the test holes drilled in Arthur County under the program as well as those drilled by the Conservation and Survey Division with financial assistance from other government agencies.

The maps in this report show the locations of all test holes drilled in the county since 1934.

Present techniques …

The Effect Of Spatial And Temporal Accumulation Rate Variability In West Antarctica On Soluble Ion Deposition, K. J. Kreutz, Paul Andrew Mayewski, L. D. Meeker, M. S. Twickler, S. I. Whitlow

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Annually‐dated snowpit and ice core records from two areas of West Antarctica are used to investigate spatial accumulation patterns and to evaluate temporal accumulation rate/glaciochemical concentration and flux relationships. Mean accumulation rate gradients in Marie Byrd Land (11–23 gcm⁻²yr⁻¹ over 150 km, decreasing to the south) and Siple Dome (10–18 gcm⁻²yr⁻¹ over 60 km, decreasing to the south) are consistent for at least the last several decades, and demonstrate the influence of the offshore quasi‐permanent Amundsen Sea low pressure system on moisture flux into the region. Local and regional‐scale topography in both regions appears …

Does Elevated Nitrogen And Sulfur Deposition Lead To Net Base Cation Losses In Northern New England Forest Soils?, Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton, Jeffrey Kahl, Lindsey E. Rustad

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The aims of this research are to continue treatment and monitoring of a paired watershed experiment at Bear Brook in northern Maine, with an emphasis on changes in soil base cations, particularly calcium. Base cation depletion is well-recognised as a potential problem in soils that have been subjected to acidic N deposition but few data exist from well-controlled, long-term experiments. The Bear Brook watershed has been periodically treated with ammonium sulfate since the fall of 1989 and is believed to be approaching N saturation. Since 1993 the relationship between base cations and strong acid anions has changed, such that labile …