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Earth Sciences

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

2011

Earth sciences

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Nitrogen Retention And Denitrification In Reservoirs, Erin Grantz Dec 2011

Nitrogen Retention And Denitrification In Reservoirs, Erin Grantz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies coupling direct measurements of micro-scale nitrogen (N) cycle processes with ecosystem-scale flux estimates are needed to determine N retention hotspots within river networks, where up to 50% of terrestrial loading to aquatic systems is retained. This study examined the role of denitrification, a microbially-mediated reactive N removal pathway, in ecosystem-scale N retention in 3 small (< 1 km2), shallow flood-control reservoirs. Annual reservoir N retention was estimated through mass balance modeling of system inputs and outputs. Annual denitrification rates were estimated by combining multiple measurements of seasonal, habitat-specific dinitrogen gas (N2) fluxes. Annual reservoir N retention ranged from 14 - 19 g m-2 in the reservoirs, while reactive N removal through denitrification was 13 - 25 g m-2. Denitrification efficiency, or the portion of the retained N load that was denitrified, was high relative to other lentic systems and was > 100% at 2 sites. Previous lentic denitrification studies may have underestimated denitrification efficiency by not considering water column denitrification, which was 50% of total denitrification at one study reservoir. However, not all potential inputs, most importantly biological N2 fixation, were included in this …


Field-Based Constraints On The Origin Of The Benton Uplift, Ouachita Mountains, Rachel Victoria Keng Dec 2011

Field-Based Constraints On The Origin Of The Benton Uplift, Ouachita Mountains, Rachel Victoria Keng

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Ouachita Mountains are an east-west trending fold-and-thrust belt exposed in west central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The Mississippian-Pennsylvanian Ouachita orogeny occurred when the Sabine arc terrane collided during south-facing subduction, during closure of the Cambrian passive margin of the North American plate. Deep-water Paleozoic strata were incorporated into an accretionary wedge as the Sabine terrane approached the North American plate. Folds and thrust faults in the Ouachita Mountains generally verge north due to tectonic transport of an accretionary wedge from south to north. Structures in the Benton and Broken Bow Uplifts (located in the core of the wedge) locally …


Assessing Ageing At Beaver Reservoir, Northwest Arkansas: Limnological, Geochemical & Paleolimnological Approach, Byron Anthony Winston Aug 2011

Assessing Ageing At Beaver Reservoir, Northwest Arkansas: Limnological, Geochemical & Paleolimnological Approach, Byron Anthony Winston

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to potable water has been arguably one of the most important requisites for the advancement of human civilization on earth. As a result, man in his infinite wisdom devised the dam and formed reservoirs, (man- made lakes), to exploit water resources at will. In all natural lakes and reservoirs changes occur in the water quality parameters as it relates to chemical nutrients, temperature and turbidity over time. These changes are collectively referred to as "Reservoir Ageing", of which sedimentation and eutrophication are primary. Reservoir Ageing has consequences which adversely affect and defeat many of the intended uses of the …


Geochemical Controls On Mercury Methylation In Backwaters Of A Gulf Coastal Plain River System, Implications For Water Column Processes, Liam N. Schenk May 2011

Geochemical Controls On Mercury Methylation In Backwaters Of A Gulf Coastal Plain River System, Implications For Water Column Processes, Liam N. Schenk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The abundance and distribution of mercury and methyl mercury were investigated at three sites in the lower Ouachita River in the summer of 2010 in an effort to provide the first characterization of the extent of mercury contamination in this river system, and to investigate the potential for mercury methylation in the water column of backwaters off of the main channel. Results showed that filtered methyl mercury was positively correlated to dissolved organic carbon (r2=0.76) for water samples taken from the bottom 1 ft of the water column at three sites, suggesting the importance of dissolved organic carbon in mercury …