Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Assessing Ecotoxicity Of Surface Water And Sediment In The Little Scioto River, Leah Suzanne Morgan

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Aquatic toxicology evaluates the impact of pollution on freshwater and marine biota. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one class of chemicals prevalent in the environment that impair aquatic organisms. This study examined the effect of contaminated surface water and sediments from a former wood treatment facility on four aquatic species: Pimephales promelas (fathead minnow), Ceriodaphnia dubia (water flea), Chironomus dilutus (midge), and Daphnia magna (water flea). The findings showed that sediment contamination had no significant effect on survival and growth of C. dilutus or on survival of D. magna. Surface water contamination began to have a significant effect on …

Characterizing The Vegetation And Effects Of Climate Change On Parris Island, A Sea Island Ecosystem, Cody Hart Goodson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Coastal habitats provide many ecosystem services, protecting coastlines from storm surges and erosion, diminishing the effects of eutrophication, sequestering large amounts of carbon, and acting as vital wildlife habitat. Sea-level rise and increased storm surge intensity associated with climate change are increasingly disrupting coastal habitats. These disturbances can shift environmental gradients that drive the zonation of coastal vegetation types, driving habitat conversion. Monitoring coastal habitat conversion can improve our understanding of the dynamic effects of climate change on these landscapes. Therefore, our objectives for chapter 1 were to identify and describe the distributions of vegetation types present on Marine Corps …

An Exceptionally Small New Polycotylid Plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) With Raptorial Eyes From The Western Interior Seaway Of North America, Robert O’Brien Clark

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Polycotylidae is a family of plesiosaurian marine reptiles that evolved during the Early Cretaceous and radiated into multiple genera during the Late Cretaceous, achieving a worldwide distribution. Derived polycotylids of the subclade Polycotylinae have a gracile and elongated rostrum, homodont dentition, an extended mandibular symphysis, and foreshortened temporal fenestrae. In this thesis, I describe a small and highly derived new polycotylid taxon based on three specimens from the Campanian of the Western Interior Seaway in North America. A high number of maxillary teeth, fused neural arches, propodials with well-defined facets, and heavily remodeled cortical bone indicate the specimens are adults, …

Revision Of The Genus Styxosaurus And Relationships Of The Late Cretaceous Elasmosaurids (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) Of The Western Interior Seaway, Elliott Armour Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Growing evidence indicates that elasmosaurid plesiosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway are members of a single clade, the Styxosaurinae. The styxosaurines are reported to be mostly Campanian in age, and taxa within the clade obtain the longest necks, by number of cervical vertebrae, of any known vertebrate. The styxosaurines are morphologically diverse and include taxa that exhibit a secondary reduction in neck length. Given the evolutionary plasticity of postcranial characters in plesiosaurs in general, and neck length in elasmosaurs, scrutiny of cranial osteology is pertinent to advancing understanding of Western Interior Seaway elasmosaurids. This study finds that an …

Large Rotations Of Crustal Blocks In The Tjörnes Fracture Zone Of Northern Iceland, Andrew J. Horst, J. A. Carson, R. J. Varga

Natural Resources and Earth Sciences Faculty Research

The interpretation of uppermost crustal deformation near oceanic transform faults is based on bathymetric lineaments and earthquake focal mechanisms, and relatively little is known about the detailed kinematics within the transform tectonized zone. The Tjörnes Fracture Zone is a broad zone of deformation produced by right‐lateral transform shearing in north Iceland and is partly exposed on land providing the opportunity to study shallow‐level crustal structure of mid‐Miocene, thick, oceanic‐like crust formed by subaerial spreading. A pronounced structural curvature of lava and dike orientations near the Húsavík‐Flatey Fault within the transform zone is well documented, yet of controversial origin. In order …

Revision Of Polycotylid Plesioaur Systematics (Sauropterygia Plesiosauria) And Description Of The Axial Osteology Of A Juvenile Polycotylid, Donald Joseph Morgan Iii

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The polycotylids were a clade of plesiosaurs that proliferated during the Cretaceous period. Despite recent research efforts, evolutionary relationships among polycotylid species remain unresolved. In this study, a phylogenetic analysis incorporating a large taxon sampling from the Polycotylidae was used to parse out the evolutionary relationships among the taxa. The main focus was to assign two polycotylid specimens from the Wallace Ranch to a formal species. A study on the axial osteology of the juvenile Wallace Ranch polycotylid was also performed, as the development of the axial column of a polycotylid plesiosaur has been poorly understood and may have phylogenetic …

Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny And Sexual Dimorphism With Multivariate Allometry, Erick Charles Anderson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The relationships of pterosaurs have been previously inferred from observed traits, depositional environments, and phylogenetic associations. A great deal of research has begun to analyze pterosaur ontogeny, mass estimates, wing dynamics, and sexual dimorphism in the last two decades. The latter has received the least attention because of the large data set required for statistical analyses. Analyzing pterosaurs using osteological measurements will reveal different aspects of size and shape variation in Pterosauria (in place of character states) and sexual dimorphism when present. Some of these variations, not easily recognized visually, will be observed using multivariate allometry methods including Principle Component …

Stratigraphy, Sedimentology And Reservoir Modeling Of The Late Devonian Berea Sandstone/Siltstone In Northeastern Kentucky And Southeastern Ohio, Forrest Christopher Mattox

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Berea Sandstone is a Late Devonian unit that interfingers with and overlies the Bedford Shale. In the study area, the Bedford-Berea sequence averages 120 feet thick based on geophysical logs. The Bedford Shale makes up roughly 45 feet of the interval and the Berea Sandstone makes up the remaining 75 feet. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have caused the Berea to become one of the largest oil producing formations in Kentucky to date. Depositional models proposed for the Bedford-Berea sequence fail to explain the vertical successions of sedimentary structures observed in outcrop and thickness patterns within the subsurface. Thus, …

Shape Evolution And Sexual Dimorphism In The Mandible Of The Dire Wolf, Canis Dirus, At Rancho La Brea, Alexandria L. Brannick

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Rancho La Brea tar pits are a classic fossil lagerstätten, famous for the deposition of episodic accumulations of large numbers of fossils over short intervals in the late Pleistocene. I analyzed 157 Canis dirus (dire wolf) hemi-mandibles from Rancho La Brea through a 2D landmark-based morphometric analysis to test for size and shape changes through time. I scored 16 landmarks on each mandible gathered from four pits of different ages: 61/67 (~13-14 thousand years ago [ka]), 13 (~17-18 ka), 2051 (~26 ka), and 91 (~28 ka). Analyses indicate size does change through time, and shares a broad correlation with …

Predicting Anthropogenic Streambed Shifts In Beckley, West Virginia, Modeled Over 15 Years Using Landsat Tm And Dems, Andrew D. Reinhardt

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Anthropogenic change of streambeds in the Beckley, West Virginia watershed region was modeled using Landsat 5 TM satellite data from 1988 and 2003, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data for 1969 and 2005. Comparing the 15 year land cover changes and the 36 year elevation shifts, and using a modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), in ESRI ArcMap and ERDAS Imagine, a streambed shift model was created. The model predicted land cover and elevation changes for 2018, using inputs from geospatial differencing of 2003 and 1988 land cover as well as 2003 and 1969 DEM data. Further analysis using hydrodynamic …

P-T Conditions Of Selected Samples Across The Blue Ridge Province, Breana A. Felix

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Blue Ridge province of the Appalachian Mountains has a complex geologic history characterized by more than one metamorphic and deformational event. Mapping of the Blue Ridge has allowed for the province to be broken into the “sub” provinces western, central, and eastern Blue Ridge. The boundaries for these, however, are not well understood due to the difficulty in determining which orogenies caused each metamorphic event.

Detailed petrographic and microprobe analyses were carried out on 17 and 10 samples respectively. Outcrops from Ducktown and Marble in the western Blue Ridge (WBR), Savannah Church, Sylva, and Little Pine Garnet Mine in …

Suitability Of Low Cost Commercial Off-The-Shelf Aerial Platforms And Consumer Grade Digital Cameras For Small Format Aerial Photography, Anthony Allen Turley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Many research projects require the use of aerial images. Wetlands evaluation, crop monitoring, wildfire management, environmental change detection, and forest inventory are but a few of the applications of aerial imagery. Low altitude Small Format Aerial Photography (SFAP) is a bridge between satellite and man-carrying aircraft image acquisition and ground-based photography. The author’s project evaluates digital images acquired using low cost commercial digital cameras and standard model airplanes to determine their suitability for remote sensing applications. Images from two different sites were obtained. Several photo missions were flown over each site, acquiring images in the visible and near infrared electromagnetic …

Paleomagnetic Constraints On Deformation Of Superfast-Spread Oceanic Crust Exposed At Pito Deep Rift, Andrew J. Horst, R. J. Varga, J. S. Gee, J. A. Karson

Natural Resources and Earth Sciences Faculty Research

The uppermost oceanic crust produced at the superfast spreading (∼142 km Ma −1, full‐spreading rate) southern East Pacific Rise (EPR) during the Gauss Chron is exposed in a tectonic window along the northeastern wall of the Pito Deep Rift. Paleomagnetic analysis of fully oriented dike (62) and gabbro (5) samples from two adjacent study areas yield bootstrapped mean remanence directions of 38.9° ± 8.1°, −16.7° ± 15.6°, n = 23 (Area A) and 30.4° ± 8.0°, −25.1° ± 12.9°, n = 44 (Area B), both are significantly distinct from the Geocentric Axial Dipole expected direction at 23° S. Regional tectonics …

Tooth Chipping Can Reveal The Diet And Bite Forces Of Fossil Hominins, Paul J. Constantino, James Jin-Wu Lee, Herzl Chai, Bernhard Zipfel, Charles Ziscovici, Brian R. Lawn, Peter W. Lucas

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Mammalian tooth enamel is often chipped, providing clear evidence for localized contacts with large hard food objects. Here, we apply a simple fracture equation to estimate peak bite forces directly from chip size. Many fossil hominins exhibit antemortem chips on their posterior teeth, indicating their use of high bite forces. The inference that these species must have consumed large hard foods such as seeds is supported by the occurrence of similar chips among known modern-day seed predators such as orangutans and peccaries. The existence of tooth chip signatures also provides a way of identifying the consumption of rarely eaten foods …

Modeled Red Spruce Distribution Response To Climatic Change In Monongahela National Forest, James Michael Stanton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia, red spruce grows in high-elevation island ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to changes in climatic conditions. The ecological niche modeling application Maxent was used to project the distribution response of red spruce to climatic change for the purposes of conservation planning. Red spruce distribution data was acquired from the United States Forest Service. Three sets of nineteen bioclimatic variables, corresponding to present, 2050, and 2080 conditions, were derived from 1961-1990 monthly temperature and precipitation means and the IPCC A2 emissions scenario of HadCM3. The modeling revealed rapidly diminishing red spruce habitat suitability from …

The Influence Of Fallback Foods On Great Ape Tooth Enamel, Paul J. Constantino, Peter W. Lucas, James J.-W. Lee, Brian R. Lawn

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Lucas and colleagues recently proposed a model based on fracture and deformation concepts to describe how mammalian tooth enamel may be adapted to the mechanical demands of diet (Lucas et al.: Bioessays 30[2008] 374-385). Here we review the applicability of that model by examining existing data on the food mechanical properties and enamel morphology of great apes (Pan, Pongo, and Gorilla). Particular attention is paid to whether the consumption of fallback foods is likely to play a key role in influencing great ape enamel morphology. Our results suggest that this is indeed the case. We also consider the implications of …

Direct Evidence From Anisotropy Of Magnetic Susceptibility For Lateral Melt Migration At Superfast Spreading Centers, R. J. Varga, Andrew J. Horst, J. S. Gee, J. A. Karson

Natural Resources and Earth Sciences Faculty Research

Rare, fault‐bounded escarpments expose natural cross sections of ocean crust in several areas and provide an unparalleled opportunity to study the end products of tectonic and magmatic processes that operated at depth beneath oceanic spreading centers. We mapped the geologic structure of ocean crust produced at the East Pacific Rise (EPR) and now exposed along steep cliffs of the Pito Deep Rift near the northern edge of the Easter microplate. The upper oceanic crust in this area is typified by basaltic lavas underlain by a sheeted dike complex comprising northeast striking, moderately to steeply southeast dipping dikes. Paleomagnetic remanence of …

Mechanical Properties Of Plant Underground Storage Organs And Implications For Dietary Models Of Early Hominins, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Erin R. Vogel, Justin D. Yeakel, Paul J. Constantino, Peter W. Lucas

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The diet of early human ancestors has received renewed theoretical interest since the discovery of elevated d13C values in the enamel of Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. As a result, the hominin diet is hypothesized to have included C4 grass or the tissues of animals which themselves consumed C4 grass. On mechanical grounds, such a diet is incompatible with the dental morphology and dental microwear of early hominins. Most inferences, particularly for Paranthropus, favor a diet of hard or mechanically resistant foods. This discrepancy has invigorated the longstanding hypothesis that hominins consumed plant underground storage organs (USOs). Plant USOs are …

Not Your Father’S Border: An Examination Of The Border In Northern Ireland And Its Relevance To The Global Change In The Importance Of World Borders, Aaron Patterson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Humanity has long maintained barriers separating specific entities from others. Ranging from cultural, religious, financial, and racial differences among a few others, the reasoning behind borders has remained a purely human endeavor. But our current golden age of technology has somewhat shrunk, or at least reassessed the necessity for borders. The boundaries of today, while many remain in the same locations as in the past, are vastly different from the borders created by previous generations. Globalization, a relatively new term, has made communication simple and fast. The noticeable result has been, of course, better communication between locations, and thus easing …

The Evolution Of Zinjanthropus Boisei, Paul J. Constantino, Bernard A. Wood

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Many people assume that OH 5, the type specimen of Paranthropus boisei, collected in 1959, was the first evidence of that taxon to be found, but OH 3, recovered in 1955, predated the discovery of OH 5 by four years. Thus, Paranthropus boisei recently celebrated the equivalent of its fiftieth birthday. This review marks that milestone by examining the way our understanding of this taxon has changed during its fifty, or so, year history.

Atmospheric Smog Modeling, Using Eos Satellite Aster Image Sensor, With Feature Extraction For Pattern Recognition Techniques And Its Correlation With In-Situ Ground Sensor Data, Parthasarathi Roy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Atmospheric pollution was previously considered as a 'Brown Cloud’ phenomenon restricted to industrialized urban regions. Studies in field stations and satellite observations made since the last decade revealed that it now spans continents and ocean basins world wide. The objective of this research investigation is to assess atmospheric pollutants in the troposphere and their spectral characteristic signatures by using highspectral and spatial resolution Earth Observation System (EOS) satellite imaging sensor Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data and to find correlations with ground sensor observations. Ground sensor data are imported into a geodatabase for spatial reference. Raw ASTER …

Satellite Image Processing For Biodiversity Conservation And Environmental Modeling In Kyrgyz Republic National Park, Galina N. Fet

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

There is a need for extensive surveys of living organisms at a global scale; digital data exchange and storage is an essential part of such studies. Biodiversity inventory of fungi, which play an essential role in the health of the mountainous conifer forests of a developing country – Kyrgyz Republic, was linked to the vegetation classification produced from the high-resolution satellite imagery. Terra ASTER and SRTM90 imagery was used as a base map for the ecosystem modeling of the species and habitat distribution and for the three-dimensional representation, especially valuable for the mountainous landscapes of the Ala Archa National Park. …

Image Compression And Its Effect On Data, Khaled S. Alkharabsheh

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis is intended to define and study different image compression techniques, software programs, image formats (from early ones such as “GIF” to most recent ones such as “JPEG 2000”), compression effect on compressed data (compressed images), and its effectiveness and usefulness in reducing the file size and its transmission time, as a result.

In many GeoBioPhysical applications, some information inside any image may be the keys to solve different kinds of problems and classify features. This kind of data and information has to be handled with care; i.e. it’s not allowed to be lost during the compression process. On …

Urban Development And Effects To Transportation Systems Of Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, Wannaporn Jarupath

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Urban growth and its relationship to the transportation system of Lexington, Kentucky were investigated using temporal images of Landsat Thematic Mapper and multi-date line data. Land cover of the area was extracted using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Technologies. Change detection techniques were employed to identify areas of transformation between 1988 and 2000. Several digital image processes such as geometric registration, radiometric normalization, unsupervised classification, and accuracy assessment were applied to analyze the results. Vector analysis was utilized as well along with raster analysis to examine the effect of urban growth to the transportation system. Two datasets of line …

Paranthropus Paleobiology, Paul J. Constantino, Bernard A. Wood

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Notes On Eryx, Omega, And Ata, Victor Fet

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Observations on several Nabokov’s works (Pale Fire, Lolita) where geographic or zoological names provide sources for puns and hidden parallels.

A Gis Approach For The Abandoned Mine Inventory With Haul Roads Of The Monongahela National Forest To Provide A Comparative Analysis Of Usfs/Usace Collection Procedures And Image Basemap Selection For Cartographic Representation, John R. Ferguson Ii

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Monongahela National Forest spans 10 counties in eastern central West Virginia. It has been an area of high mining and timbering activities throughout much of the early to mid twentieth century. As a result, the United States Forest Service (USFS) has focused reclamation and remediation efforts on the abandoned mine land areas. Much of the area has been subjected to mining after effects such as acid mine drainage, structural remains, gob/spoil piles, garbage piles, mine portals, and highwalls. In 1998 the USFS contracted with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to locate these mining remains and provide a …

Feature Extraction In Geobiophysical Modeling Of Mining Activity Impacting Dewey Lake, Kentucky, Sean K. Litteral

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Surface coal mining activity has effects on watershed and lake morphology within the Appalachian Mountains that continue to be problematic. A watershed’s natural dynamic balance has been subject to the influence of various natural and anthropogenic parameters such as mining sediment transport, wind, wave effects and currents. Many techniques have been developed to improve image processing in geobiophysical modeling, which can assist scientists, government officials, and industry personal with decisions affecting environmental concerns. One of the more advanced techniques involves 3D visualization and geobiophysical modeling. This process was used in combining remotely sensed digital aerial imagery with Digital Elevation Models …

The Paleontology And Paleoenvironments Of The Kanawha Black Flint Member And Related Facies, Kanawha Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian), Northwest Boone County And Vicinity, West Virginia, Matthew B. Watson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Kanawha Black Flint member of the Kanawha Formation was deposited in a shallow marine coastal setting with low sand supply and low wave energy. The Kanawha Black Flint member and adjacent coal zones are divisible into five sedimentary facies based on lithology, body and trace fossils and sedimentary structures. Coastal swamps and lakes are represented by thinly laminated carbonaceous shales and coals containing rooted seat rocks and crevasse sandstones with root traces and vertical Calamites trunks.

The offshore facies consists of a gray laminated sideritic shale. Phosphatic and calcareous brachiopods and shallow burrowing bivalves predominate in the offshore assemblage. …