Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mylanodon Rosei, A New Metacheiromyid (Mammalia: Palaeanodonta) From The Late Tiffanian (Late Paleocene) Of Northwestern Wyoming, Ross Secord, Philip D. Gingerich, Jonathan I. Bloch

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Mylanodon rosei is a new genus and species of late Paleocene metacheiromyid palaeanodont from a new late Tiffanian locality, Y2K Quarry, in the Clarks Fork Basin, Wyoming. The type is an adult dentary with P₄ and a molariform double-rooted M₁. This provides the first evidence that molariform teeth were retained in early Metacheiromyidae. A second specimen is a juvenile dentary with a partial P₃ and an unerupted P₄. This is the first juvenile dentition known for a Paleocene metacheiromyid. The new specimens enable determination of dental homologies. Reduction of teeth in early metacheiromyids took …

Energy‐Constrained Open‐System Magmatic Processes 3. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, And Fractional Crystallization (Ec‐Rafc), Frank J. Spera, Wendy A. Bohrson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Geochemical data for igneous rock suites provide conclusive evidence for the occurrence of open‐system processes within thermally and compositionally evolving magma bodies. The most significant processes include magma Recharge (with possible enclave formation and magma mixing), Assimilation of anatectic melt derived from wallrock partial melting and formation of cumulates by Fractional Crystallization (RAFC). In this study, we extend the Energetically Constrained Assimilation and Fractional Crystallization (EC‐AFC) model [Spera and Bohrson, 2001; Bohrson and Spera, 2001] to include the addition of compositionally and thermally distinct recharge melt during simultaneous assimilation and fractional crystallization. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, and Fractional …

Lake-Catchment Interactions With Climate In The Low Arctic Of Southern West Greenland, N. John Anderson, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Christopher E. Gibson, Bent Hasholt, Melanie J. Leng

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Arctic hydrology plays a central role in the earth’s heat balance and ocean circulation (Vörösmarty et al. 2001). Future changes associated with human influence on the climate system are also predicted to cause major changes in the energy and hydrologic mass balance of Arctic catchments. Climate change will likely affect permafrost and snowmelt, which dominate Arctic hydrology and control the chemistry of surface runoff (and hence streams and lakes) as water percolates through the active layer. However, the controls and dynamic impact of snowmelt are poorly understood, because this critical timeframe is often missed by sampling programs. In the Søndre …

Depth-Varying Constitutive Properties Observed In An Isothermal Glacier, H. P. Marshall, Joel T. Harper, W. Tad Pfeffer, Neil Humphrey

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Detailed three-dimensional in-situ measurements of deformation at depth are used to examine the rheology of a 6 x 10⁶ m³ block of temperate glacier ice. Assuming that the viscosity of this ice is primarily dependent on stress, the relationship between inferred stress and measurements of strain-rate above about 115 m depth suggest a constitutive relationship with a stress exponent n about 1. Deformation below 115 m is described by a non-linear flow law with a power exponent of approximately 3-4. A sharp transition between the two flow regimes is likely caused by a change in the dominant mechanism …

Interactive Learning Tools: Animating Statics, Nancy Hubing, David B. Oglesby, Timothy A. Philpot, Vikas Yellamraju, Richard H. Hall, Ralph E. Flori

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer-Based Modules for Engineering Instruction Must Be Concise, Flexible, Educational and Engaging in Order to Effectively Supplement Traditional Classroom Teaching Tools. a Computer Example that Takes More Time Than a Chalkboard Presentation is Not Likely to Be Useful in Today's Engineering Classroom. Flexible Navigation is Necessary So that the Instructor Can Quickly and Easily Respond to Student Questions. Useful Modules Must Also Improve Problem-Solving Skills or Clarify Troublesome Concepts in Order to Be Considered Worthy of Inclusion in the Limited Class Time Available. Finally, and Perhaps Most Importantly, Effective Computer-Based Modules Must Meet the Challenge of Holding the Student's Attention. …

Analysis Of Integrated Farming Systems In Eastern Nebraska, Lori A. Hoagland

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Agroecosystems in the U.S. are beset with social, ecological and environmental problems as large industrial farming methods are edging out small family-sized farms and replacing ecological services provided by biodiversity with synthetic inputs and practices. While many of the benefits of smaller diversified or integrated farming systems are well known, farm producers need a concrete model that shows how integration is possible and with what crops. The objective of this study was to investigate some of these supplemental farm activities, and identify and evaluate whether they were compatible given the time and resource constraints of a typical eastern Nebraska farm. …

Measuring Surface Chemical Properties Of Soil Using Flow Calorimetry, R. D. Rhue, Chip Appel, Nadine Kabengi

Earth and Soil Sciences

Flow calorimetry, which is ideally suited for measuring reactions occurring at the liquid/solid interface, has been used to study the surface chemistry of many types of solids, but little use of it has been made in the study of surface reactions of soils. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the application of flow calorimetry to the study of two fundamental soil chemical processes, namely cation exchange and phosphate sorption. Surface horizon samples of a Typic Acrorthox and a Typic Tropohumult from Puerto Rico, a strong acid cation exchange resin (Dowex 50W-8), and an amorphous Al(OH)₃ were used. …

Heats Of K/Ca And K/Pb Exchange In Two Tropical Soils As Measured By Flow Calorimetry, Chip Appel, Dean Rhue, Lena Ma, Bill Reve

Earth and Soil Sciences

Flow calorimetry can provide useful information about surface chemical reactions in soils that cannot be obtained readily by other methods. When flow calorimetry is conducted over a range of surface coverages, different sorption heats can be calculated to yield information about how binding energies vary with coverage, i.e., surface heterogeneity. The purpose of this study was to determine heats of exchange for K/Ca and K/Pb systems using flow calorimetry and to evaluate the degree of surface heterogeneity with respect to cation exchange. Surface horizon samples from a Typic Acrorthox and Typic Tropohumult from Puerto Rico were used. Lead was adsorbed …

Seafloor Characterization From Spatial Variation Of Multibeam Backscatter Vs."Best Estimated" Grazing Angle, Tianhang Hou, Larry A. Mayer, Christian De Moustier, Barbara J. Kraft

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Backscatter vs. grazing angle, which can be extracted from multibeam backscatter data, depends on characteristics of the multibeam system and the angular responses of backscatter that are characteristic of different seafloor properties, such as sediment hardness and roughness. Changes in backscatter vs. grazing angle that are contributed by the multibeam system normally remain fixed over both space and time. Therefore, they can readily be determined and removed from backscatter data. The component of backscatter vs. grazing angle due to the properties of sediments varies from location to location, as the sediment changes. The sediment component of variability can be inferred …

The Role Of Climate In Modern Water Planning And Related Decisions: Nebraska Case Study, Donna L. Woudenberg

Open Access Master's Theses (through 2010)

Climate and weather play an integral role in the planning and decision-making processes for those involved in agricultural and natural resource fields. This project was conducted to determine whether climate and weather data are being efficiently and effectively used in these processes.

A survey was mailed to those who work in water-related fields in Nebraska and post-survey interviews were conducted to obtain greater detail. Survey results were analyzed in the following three ways: as a whole; stratified by respondent’s agency; and stratified by the educational background of respondents. It was found that climate and weather data are more likely to …

Provenance Of Sand In Periglacial Sand Wedges And Sheet Sand, Northeastern Nebraska, Usa, William J. Wayne

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sand-wedge polygons on upland surfaces beneath thin loess in northeastern Nebraska record existence of permafrost around the margin of the Wisconsinan glacier at its maximum advance. Strong unidirectional wind not only kept the upland surfaces free of snow, allowing frost to penetrate deeply and thermal contraction cracks to develop, but also dessicated the surface material so that frost action and sublimation of pore ice could loosen surface material. The strong NW-SE winds deflated soils from upland surfaces, made ventifacts of the cobbles in the lag that remained and created fields of yardangs oriented NW-SE. Sand derived from the soils and …

Upper Spokane River Model: Boundary Conditions And Model Setup, 2001, Spencer Slominski, Robert Leslie Annear, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Washington Department of Ecology is interested in a water quality model for the Upper Spokane River system for use in developing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The goals of this modeling effort are to:

• Gather data to construct a computer simulation model of the Spokane River system including Long Lake Reservoir and the pools behind Nine Mile dam, Upper Falls dam and Upriver dam for 2001 based on the calibration conducted for 1991 and 2000 data sets, (Annear et al, 2001).

• Ensure that the model accurately represents the system hydrodynamics and water quality (flow, temperature, dissolved oxygen …

A 700-Year Record Of Atmospheric Circulation Developed From The Law Dome Ice Core, East Antarctica, Joseph M. Souney Jr, Paul A. Mayewski, Ian D. Goodwin, David Meeker, Vin Morgan, Mark Aj Curran, Tas D. Van Ommen, Anne S. Palmer

Earth Systems Research Center

A 700-year, high-resolution, multivariate ice core record from Dome Summit South (DSS) (66°46′S, 112°48′E; 1370 m), Law Dome, is used to investigate sea level pressure (SLP) variability in the region of East Antarctica. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis reveals that the first EOF (LDEOF1) of the combined glaciochemical, oxygen isotope ratio, and accumulation rate record from DSS represents most of the variability in sea salt seen in the record. LDEOF1 is positively correlated (at least 95% confidence level) to instrumental June mean SLP across most of East Antarctica. Over the last 700 years, LDEOF1 levels at Law Dome were the …

Twentieth Century Increase Of Atmospheric Ammonia Recorded In Mount Everest Ice Core, Shichang Kang, Paul Andrew Mayewski, Dahe Qin, Yuping Yan, Dongqi Zhang, Shugui Hou, Jiawen Ren

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

An NH4+ record covering the period A.D. 1845-1997 was reconstructed using an 80.4 m ice core from East Rongbuk Glacier at an elevation of 6450 m on the northern slope of Mount Everest. Variations in NH4+ are characterized by a dramatic increase since the 1950s. The highest NH4+ concentrations occur in the 1980s. They are about twofold more than those in the first half of twentieth century. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis on the eight major ion (Na+,K+,Mg2+,NH4+,Ca2+,NO3-,SO42- and Cl-) series from this core indicates that NH4+ is loaded mainly on EOF3 (60% of NH4+ variance), suggesting that NH4+ has …

Selectivities Of K/Ca And K/Pb Exchange In Two Tropical Soils, C. S. Appel, L. Q. Ma, R. D. Rhue, W. Reve

Earth and Soil Sciences

Measurement of cation selectivity in soils provides important information about the affinity and binding strength of a particular cation on soil surfaces. Gaines-Thomas (KGT) selectivity coefficients were determined for a variety of K/Ca and K/Pb ratios on an Oxisol and Ultisol soil from Puerto Rico. The calculated KGT values indicated a preference for K+ over Ca2+ or Pb2+. The selectivity for Pb2+ was significantly greater than that for Ca2+ due to the larger hydrated charge density of Pb2+ relative to that of Ca2+. The patterns of selectivity were independent of metal type. The selectivity of the Oxisol for Ca2+ or …

A 700-Year Record Of Atmospheric Circulation Developed From The Law Dome Ice Core, East Antarctica, J. M. Souney, Paul Andrew Mayewski, I. D. Goodwin, L. D. Meeker, V. Morgan, M. A.J. Curran, T. D. Van Ommen, A. S. Palmer

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

A 700-year, high-resolution, multivariate ice core record from Dome Summit South (DSS) (66degrees46'S, 112degrees48'E; 1370 m), Law Dome, is used to investigate sea level pressure (SLP) variability in the region of East Antarctica. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis reveals that the first EOF (LDEOF1) of the combined glaciochemical, oxygen isotope ratio, and accumulation rate record from DSS represents most of the variability in sea salt seen in the record. LDEOF1 is positively correlated (at least 95% confidence level) to instrumental June mean SLP across most of East Antarctica. Over the last 700 years, LDEOF1 levels at Law Dome were the …

Soils Of Mississippi County, Arkansas, J. M. Mckimmey, B. Dixon, H. D. Scott, C. M. Scarlat

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Along with air and water, soil contributes essential processes to the natural order of global cycles. With the exception of edibles from the sea, virtually everything we, and most other land-based animals, eat is derived from soil. Soil is a storage medium of essential minerals and nutrients for fulfilling our agricultural and nutritional needs. Humans work the soil to provide the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. We also use the soil as a medium to store and discard our waste. Virtually everything we do is in some way connected to soil

Geosciences Newsletter- 2002, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol.1, No. 27

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Faculty News
• Department News
• Core Lab
• Geosciences Departmental History
• Graduate Student News
• Awards & Graduations
• Alumni News
• Donations

Enhancement Of Wind-Driven Upwelling And Downwelling By Alongshore Bathymetric Variability, James M. Pringle

Earth Sciences

Steady wind-driven flow along a shelf of changing width is described with a frictional barotropic model valid in the limit of small Rossby and Burger number. In these limits, an alongshore wind drives enhanced onshelf transport in a coastal ocean if the shelf widens downwind, and the change in shelf width only affects the flow in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation ("downwave'') from the change in shelf width. There is enhanced onshore transport of cold, nutrient-laden bottom water if the winds favor upwelling and the shelf narrows in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation. This enhanced transport extends a …

Tmdls: Statistical Correlations Or Mechanistic Modeling?, Scott A. Wells, Thomas M. Cole

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In developing TMDL waste-load allocations for the Snake River-Reservoir system in Western Idaho and Eastern Oregon, determinations of the assimilative capacity of the system and the impact of pollutant reduction strategies has been performed using both a statistical-correlation approach and a mechanistic modeling approach. The system included the Lower Snake River, Brownlee Reservoir, Oxbow Reservoir, and Hells Canyon Reservoir with the focus was on Brownlee Reservoir.

The statistical approach used on Brownlee Reservoir divided the system into riverine and lacustrine zones. Field data were then averaged over season and location to provide statistical correlations, such as between total phosphorus (TP) …

Rapid Postseismic Transients In Subduction Zones From Continuous Gps, Timothy I. Melbourne, Frank H. Webb, Joann M. Stock, Christoph Reigber

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Continuous GPS time series from three of four recently measured, large subduction earthquakes document triggered rapid postseismic fault creep, representing an additional moment release upward of 25% over the weeks following their main shocks. Data from two M_w = 8.0 and M_w = 8.4 events constrain the postseismic centroids to lie down dip from the lower limit of coseismic faulting, and show that afterslip along the primary coseismic asperities is significantly less important than triggered deep creep. Time series for another M_w = 7.7 event show 30% postseismic energy release, but here we cannot differentiate between afterslip …

Volcanic Mound Fields On The East Pacific Rise, 16˚-19˚S: Low Effusion Rate Eruptions At Overlapping Spreading Centers For The Past 1 Myr, Scott M. White, Ken C. Macdonald, John Sinton

Faculty Publications

Volcanic mound fields identified on SeaMARC II and HMR1 12 kHz side-scan data from the southern East Pacific Rise (SEPR) occur near overlapping spreading centers (OSCs) and migration traces of OSCs. The volcanic mound fields appear as a distinctive hummocky seafloor fabric due to side-scan backscatter reflections from clusters of moundshaped reflectors. The lack of growth of the mound fields away from the ridge axis, and their occurrence in association with OSC traces, suggests that mound fields form along the ridge crest near OSCs. Volcanic mound fields are found where 120 kHz side-scan and visual observations find fields of pillow …

18th Annual International Conference On Contaminated Soils, Sediments And Water

Annual Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water: Abstracts

Conference at a Glance Monday, October 21, 2002 Workshops Workshops # 1, 2 & 3 - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Workshops # 4 & 5 - 1:00 - 5:00 pm 1: The Indoor Air Exposure Pathway from Chlorinated Solvent Contaminated Groundwater 2: Theory and Use of Field Portable X-ray Fluorescence for Soil Analysis 3: In-Situ Chemical Oxidation Workshop 4: Workshop on Current Spectrochemical Techniques for Determining Heavy Metals in Sediments and Soils 5: Practical Remediation of Volatile Organic Compounds in Soil and Groundwater Tuesday, October 22, 2002 Platform Presentations 8:30am-Noon Session 1: Advances in In-Situ Remediation Session 2: Phytoremediation …

Seismic Cycle And Rheological Effects On Estimation Of Present-Day Slip Rates For The Agua Blanca And San Miguel-Vallecitos Faults, Northern Baja California, Mexico, Timothy H. Dixon, Julien Decaix, Fred Farina, Kevin Furlong, Rocco Malservisi, Richard Bennett, Francisco Suarez-Vidal, John Fletcher, Jeffrey Lee

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Geodesy can be used to infer long-term fault slip rates, assuming a model for crust and upper mantle rheology. We examine the sensitivity of fault slip rate estimates to assumed rheology for the Agua Blanca and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults in northern Baja California, Mexico, part of the Pacific–North America plate boundary zone. The Agua Blanca fault is seismically quiet, but offset alluvial fans indicate young activity. Current seismicity is confined to the nearby San Miguel-Vallecitos fault, a small offset fault better aligned with plate motion. GPS measurements between 1993 and 1998 suggest that both faults are active, with a combined …

Seismic Experiments Target Earthquake-Prone Region In Romania, F Hauser, C Prodehl, M Landes, A Bala, V Raileanu, J Bribach, James H. Knapp, Camelia C. Diaconescu, C Dinu, V Mocanu, W Fielitz, S Harder, G. Randy Keller, E Hegedues, R A. Stephenson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Early Deglaciation In The Tropical Andes, G. O. Seltzer, D. T. Rodbell, P. A. Baker, Sherilyn C. Fritz, P. M. Tapia, H. D. Rowe, R. B. Dunbar, Peter U. Clark

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Analysis of sediment records from lakes located beyond the glacial limit in the Andes has provided, for the first time, an independent assessment of effective moisture ( precipitation minus evaporation) and the timing of the last glaciation (1). Conditions were wet at the LGM and remained so until approximately 15,000 cal yr B.P. (2). However, deglaciation was under way from the LGM between 22,000 and 19,500 cal yr B.P., which reinforces the observation that deglaciation in the tropical Andes was primarily forced by an increase in mean annual temperature during a wet postglacial interval (3, 4).

Hierarchical Geostatistics And Multifacies Systems: Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site, Boise, Idaho, Warren Barrash, Tom Clemo

CGISS Publications and Presentations

The geostatistical structure of a heterogeneous coarse fluvial aquifer is investigated with porosity data derived from neutron logs at a research well field (Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site, or BHRS) that was designed, in part, to support three-dimensional geostatistical analysis of hydrologic and geophysical parameters. Recognizing that the coarse fluvial deposits include subdivisions (units between bounding surfaces), we adopt a hierarchical approach and examine the porosity geostatistics of the aquifer at three scales. At the BHRS, the saturated fluvial deposits as a whole (maximum interwell spacing ~80 m, thickness ~16–18 m) are at hierarchical level 1; five subhorizontal units within these …

Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Geography & Geology highlighting activities of faculty, students and alumni.

Pasture Condition Guides For The Pilbara, A L. Payne, A A. Mitchell

Agriculture reports

These pasture condition guides are relevant to about 192 000 square kilometres of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The rangeland of the Pilbara can be separated into 12 very broad pasture types. The ‘pasture type’ is not strictly a botanical classification because, in determining such a class of pastoral lands, the perennial plant species that contribute to stock production have an over-riding importance. Even so, each pasture type represents a broad group of similar vegetation associations or ‘site types’ which will have similar management requirements for pastoralism. The aim of this publication is to provide pastoralists with descriptions and …

Phillips Brook Catchment Appraisal, Paul D. Galloway

Resource management technical reports

This report describes the soils, hydrology and natural vegetation of the Phillips Brook catchment near Toodyay, Western Australia and provides information on the threats to agriculture, infrastructure and natural resources from salinity, waterlogging, erosion and other land degradation processes.