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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller Dec 2011

Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller

Honors Theses

An insatiable thirst for oil has led poorly coordinated, risk-prone megasystems deeper into the ocean in search of new oil reserves. Profit-driven agendas at the corporate level have a top-down effect within these megasystems. Cost-cutting and risk-downplaying leaves the field employees unprepared to handle emergencies. A series of costly mistakes led to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which caused extensive damage to an already fragile ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. The wealth and political influence of the oil industry overpowers lax regulatory agencies and legislation-even though media and research has exposed frustrating parallels between the Deepwater Horizon …


Coastal Inundation Due To Storm Surge As Sea Level Changes Along The Northern South Carolina And Southern North Carolina Coast, Justin Hartnett May 2011

Coastal Inundation Due To Storm Surge As Sea Level Changes Along The Northern South Carolina And Southern North Carolina Coast, Justin Hartnett

Honors Theses

This study made use of the storm surge model in Peng, Xie, and Pietrafesa (2004) and Xia et al. (2004), to predict coastal inundation along northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina as sea level rises. Hurricane Hazel (1954) was used as the reference hurricane in this study, which made landfall at 33.85°N, 78.57°W, as a category 4 hurricane. Data was plotted and analyzed using Matlab, to produce inundation maps for four sea level rises (0.2m, 0.6m, 1.0m, and 2.0m). The greatest net storm surge was produced during a 2m sea level rise, which in return caused the greatest amount …


A Comparison Of Fish Growth Rates In A Pristine And An Urbanized Salt Marsh Estuary, Katherine Stohl May 2011

A Comparison Of Fish Growth Rates In A Pristine And An Urbanized Salt Marsh Estuary, Katherine Stohl

Honors Theses

Fish grow as they age, but not all fish grow at the same rate. Internal and external factors such as stress and food availability can change the growth rate. This study looks to see if the growth rates vary between North Inlet and Murrell’s Inlet, SC for red drum and striped mullet. Red drum grew faster and showed a typical length-frequency graph in North Inlet. The cause of the difference in growth was not tested, but human influence on the estuaries was considered to be a possible factor.