Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Testing The Limits Of Hyperspectral Airborne Remote Sensing By Mapping Eelgrass In Elkhorn Slough, Kelley J. Bostrom

Master's Theses

Seagrass ecosystems are a valuable resource, but vulnerable to changing conditions in the coastal ocean. Quantification of seagrass density and distribution from aerial imagery can be applied as a tool in resource management and ecosystem health and stability monitoring. This study investigates analytical methods for mapping eelgrass beds in an optically complex shallow, turbid estuary. Hyperspectral imagery (HSI) of Elkhorn Slough, CA was collected by the Spectroscopic Aerial Mapper with Onboard Navigation (SAMSON) instrument. In-situ data of water column and benthic optical properties and Hydrolight Radiative Transfer model were used to create a spectral library describing the reflectance of Elkhorn …

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 …

Circulation Of The Western Antarctic Peninsula: Implications For Biological Production, Maria Andrea Piñones Valenzuela

OES Theses and Dissertations

The western Antarctic Peninsula (wAP) continental shelf is characterized by large persistent populations of Antarctic krill ( Enphausia superba) and by regions of enhanced concentrations of marine mammals and other predators (hot spots). This study focused on understanding the role of ocean circulation in providing retention/connectivity of wAP Antarctic krill populations and in maintaining biological hot spot regions. Numerical Lagrangian particle tracking simulations obtained from the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) configured for the wAP region provided quantitative estimates of retention, immigration and emigration from the wAP continental shelf. Additional simulations with a one-dimensional temperature-dependent growth model for krill …

Effect Of Reworking And Bioturbation On Sedimentary Reactive Iron Within A Microtidal Estuary, Amy Kathleen Pitts

OES Theses and Dissertations

Mixed redox conditions in sediments due to physical reworking may allow for enhanced remineralization of refractory organic matter due to Fe(III) redox cycling. In part this may occur because easily reducible iron oxides can be used by heterotrophic bacteria to remineralize the organic carbon. This phenomena has been observed in bioturbated sediments and in areas where physical factors (such as strong bottom currents) constantly rework the sediments. To specifically determine the effects of physical reworking and bioturbation on concentrations of easily reducible iron oxides, reactive iron concentrations were measured in surface sediments taken from two contrasting sites in the York …

Quantification Of Nitrate Sources And Sinks Using A Water Quality Network In Morro Bay Estuary, California, Johanna Nadia Jean Weston

Master's Theses

Using an instrumented water quality network in Morro Bay Estuary, California from 2007 to 2010 (15 min sampling frequency), this study addressed the two objectives of constructing a nitrate budget and assessing the influence of sampling frequency on water quality parameters. These two objectives led to the submission of an original report of research (Appendix A) and a note (Appendix B) to peer-reviewed journals.

The first objective was to characterize the high spatial and temporal variation in physical parameters and nitrate concentrations and to construct a nitrate budget quantifying sources and sinks of nitrate from the ocean, streams, and groundwater, …

Sustainability Series: Creating Student Sustainable Practices Within Sfs And Beyond, Staci Hagen

Capstone Collection

The School for Field Studies (SFS) is a non-profit environmental research based study abroad program that integrates academic, research, social and community activities in a holistic education model. One of the six SFS centers is the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. At CCS, students take courses that explore local and regional environmental, social and economic problems and they have the opportunity to design their own research project. Even though students study these problems and come up with sustainable solutions, it does not mean that they make personal choices with the least impact on the environment. …

Controls On The Formation Of Algal Blooms In The Lower Chesapeake Bay And Its Tributaries, Ryan Eric Morse

OES Theses and Dissertations

Algal blooms occur seasonally in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and while the consequences of algal blooms have been qualitatively and quantitatively assessed, the causes of algal blooms and mechanisms of bloom initiation are still not well understood despite decades of research. In order to understand nutrient dynamics and other factors that promote the initiation of algal blooms, the Lafayette River, a tidal sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay that experiences seasonal algal blooms, was sampled daily in the fall of 2005. Three phytoplankton blooms (Chlorophyll a concentrations exceeding twice the average of monthly measurements from 2000-2009) occurred during this period, …

Model-Based Analyses Of Nitrogen On The Mid-Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf, Tian Tian

OES Theses and Dissertations

The biogeochemistry of continental shelf systems is an important, but poorly quantified, component of the global cycling of nitrogen and carbon. In this study, simulations obtained from a one-dimensional (ID) biogeochemical model developed for the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) portion of the U.S. eastern continental shelf were analyzed to investigate nitrogen cycling processes. The 1D model included lower trophic level interactions and was forced by advective fields obtained from a corresponding three-dimensional biogeochemical model. Taylor and target diagram analyses, which compared in situ measurements of sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity, and chlorophyll and particulate organic carbon (POC) derived from …

Analysis Of Roms Estimated Posterior Error Utilizing 4dvar Data Assimilation, Joseph Patrick Horton

Mathematics

The appropriateness of the approximate error calculated by the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) is analyzed using Four-Dimensional Data Assimilation (4DVAR) performed on a numerical model of the San Luis Obispo Bay. An effective method of sampling data to minimize the actual error associated with the assimilated numerical model is explored by using different data sampling methods. An idealized state of the SLO bay region ("Real Run") is created to be used as the real ocean, then a numerical model of this region is created approximating this Real Run; this is known as the "Simulated State". By taking samples from …

Submerged Pressure Differential Wave Energy Converter, Christopher F. Ferguson

Physics

As supplies of fossil fuels are becoming depleted, it is necessary to look for alternative sources of energy. The ocean is a vast, largely untapped source of renewable energy. This project attempts to design a device which can cheaply and reliably convert the energy from ocean waves into usable electrical energy. Computer simulations and oceanographic knowledge are utilized to develop a working design for an entirely submerged wave energy conversion device.

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

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.

The ‘Helper’ Phenotype: A Symbiotic Interaction Between Prochlorococcus And Hydrogen Peroxide Scavenging Microorganisms, James Jeffrey Morris

Doctoral Dissertations

The unicellular cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is the numerically dominant photosynthetic organism throughout the temperate and tropical open oceans, but it is difficult to grow in pure cultures. We developed a system for rendering spontaneous streptomycin-resistant mutants of Prochlorococcus axenic by diluting them to extinction in the presence of “helper” heterotrophic bacteria, allowing them to grow to high cell concentrations, and then killing the helpers with streptomycin. Using axenic strains obtained in this fashion, we demonstrated that Prochlorococcus experiences a number of growth defects in dilute axenic culture, including reduced growth rate, inability to form colonies on solid media, and higher incidence …

Interannual Variability In American Lobster Settlement: Correlations With Sea Surface Temperature, Wind Stress And River Discharge, Mahima Jaini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recruitment to benthic marine populations is fundamentally a biophysical problem. The American Lobster Settlement Index is an annual diver-based survey of the young-of-year American lobsters (Homarus americanus) found in inshore nurseries in New England, USA and Atlantic Canada at the end of the postlarval settlement season. The considerable interannual variability in the settlement index suggests that environmental factors play an important role in regulating planktonic larval supply and transport. In this study, I focused on the longest settlement time series from three oceanographically contrasting regions: Midcoast Maine, coastal Rhode Island and the lower Bay of Fundy. Sampling in these regions …

Population Dynamics Of Sheepshead (Archosargus Probatocephalus; Walbaum 1792) In The Chesapeake Bay Region: A Comparison To Other Areas And An Assessment Of Their Current Status, Joseph Charles Ballenger

OES Theses and Dissertations

Sheepshead recently have seen an increase in fishing pressure in Virginian waters of the Chesapeake Bay. This increase in fishing pressure has led to demands to install effective management measures to protect the fishery. However, no study regarding the population dynamics, and thus potential yield, of sheepshead has been conducted north of Cape Hatteras. We addressed the need for information regarding the population dynamics of Chesapeake Bay sheepshead by investigating their age distribution, growth rate and reproductive biology. We used this information to construct yield-per-recruit models, which local management agencies may use in the formation of scientifically based management measures. …

Deep-Pelagic (0-3000m) Fish Assemblage Structure Over The Mid-Atlantic Ridge In The Area Of The Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone, April B. Cook

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Only a miniscule fraction of the world’s largest volume of living space, the ocean’s mid-water biome, has ever been sampled. As part of the International Census of Marine Life field project Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystems (MAR-ECO), a discrete-depth trawling survey was conducted in 2009 aboard the NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow to examine the pelagic faunal assemblage structure and distribution over the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ) of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This is the first MAR-ECO project aimed specifically at describing diel vertical migration as a distributional phenomenon. Discrete-depth sampling from 0-3000 m was conducted during both day and night in …

Fine Sediment Dynamics In Dredge Plumes, Stanley Jarrell Smith Ii

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The research presented in this study is motivated by the need to improve predictions of transport and fate of cohesive sediments suspended during dredging operations. Two techniques are presented to quantify vertical sediment flux within dredge plumes. A mass-balance approach using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) is described and demonstrated to accurately estimate vertical mass flux and settling velocity for a suspension of fine sand from a dredged material placement operation. A new digital video settling column for simultaneous measurement of particle size and settling velocity is described and evaluated. The Particle Imaging Camera System (PICS) is a single-chambered, …

A Numerical Modeling Study Of Storm Surge And Inundation In The Chesapeake Bay During The November 2009 Mid-Atlantic Nor'easter, Jie Gao

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Method For Quantifying The Air-Sea Flux Of Volatile Organic Carbon, Emily A. Jayne

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Improvements To A Real-Time, Satellite-Derived Surface Current Product (Oscar) And Evaluation In The Intra-American Sea, Mindy Jo Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A method of creating real-time height fields using available gridded altimetry data combined with extrapolated values computed using linear predictive coding for use in the Ocean Surface Currents Analysis, Real-time (OSCAR) is developed and tested. This method is implemented by Earth and Space Research (ESR) to produce operational height fields that are in turn used to calculate the geostrophic component velocity of OSCAR. The gridded altimetry product used in OSCAR is evaluated against sea level measured by tide gauges while the operational total near-surface velocity from OSCAR (geostrophic plus Ekman component velocity) is evaluated using ocean velocities from moored and …

Evaluating The Use Of Flow-Through Larval Culture For The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, Stephanie L. Reiner

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

One system used for bivalve mollusc culture is flowthrough larval culture, which provides a continuous flow of food and seawater to the tank. Flowthrough culture enables larvae to be reared at stocking densities up to 100 larvae/mL, a characteristic that should recommend it as the culture system of choice for the East coast; however, Eastern oyster larvae have never been tested in flowthrough culture, discouraging implementation of the system. The thesis objectives are designed to address questions regarding the survival, growth, competent period, cell consumption, growth efficiency, and cell selection of oyster larvae reared in flowthrough culture. The objectives are: …

Ecological, Physiological, And Bio-Optical Characteristics Of Phaeocystis Globosa In Coastal Waters Of South Central Vietnam, Xiao Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Dynamics And Composition Of The Extracellular Polymeric Substances Produced By Benthic Microalgae: An In Situ 13c And 15n Approach, Stephanie Kara Salisbury

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The land-­‐ocean margin is characterized by a shallow water column, which allows light to reach the benthos and supports a diverse community of benthic autotrophs. One group of benthic autotrophs, consisting of benthic diatoms, cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic microorganisms living near the sediment surface (i.e., benthic microalgae) accounts for a substantial amount of this primary production. Benthic microalgae are also tightly coupled to carbon and nutrient cycling processes carried out by the sediment bacterial community. Benthic microalgae exude complex biopolymers, called extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which consist mainly of carbohydrates, but can contain proteins and nucleic acids. EPS serves multiple …

Basal Food Web Dynamics In A Natural Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) Community: Cage-Free Field Experimentation, Matthew A. Whalen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The relative strength of bottom-up and top-down processes operating within food webs is a fundamental determinant of community structure and function. In marine systems, inconspicuous but often highly abundant invertebrate herbivores (mesograzers) are implicated as strong consumers of primary production and important prey for higher-order consumers. Because of their small size, however, mesograzer abundance is not easily manipulated in the field, which limits our ability to adequately assess their grazing impacts. Seagrass systems present a pressing need for the study of food web dynamics because anthropogenic nutrient and sediment inputs decrease the amount of light reaching seagrass leaves, which limits …

Abiotic Release Of Low Molecular Weight Nitrogen From Effluent Organic Nitrogen, Carolina P. Funkey

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Seagrass Species And Trophic Interactions In Experimental Seagrass Communities, Althea F. P. Moore

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Molecular Marker Development For The Discrimination Of Atlantic And Pacific Blue Marlin (Makaira Nigricans), Laurie Sorenson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Methods For Optimizing Classification Success From Otolith Tracers For Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) In The Chesapeake Bay, Stacy Kavita Beharry

OES Theses and Dissertations

Identifying the natal sources of fish is an important step in understanding its population dynamics. Adult recruits are often sourced from multiple nursery areas, with good quality locations contributing disproportionately more fish to the adult stock. Because population persistence is strongly influenced by nursery habitat, methods that correctly identify the source of recruits are necessary for effective management. Within the last decade, otolith chemistry signatures have been increasingly used as a natural marker to delineate fish from a mixture of nursery sources. Despite the widespread use of otolith trace element and stable isotope ratios as habitat markers, the statistical approaches …