Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Groundwater Lowering And Stream Incision Rates In The Central Appalachian Mountains Of West Virginia, Usa, Gregory S. Springer, Holly A. Poston, Ben Hardt, Harold D. Rowe

International Journal of Speleology

Surface channel incision rates are of broad geomorphological interest because they set the boundary conditions for landscape change by affecting changes in local relief and hillslope angles. We report groundwater table lowering rates associated with subsurface Buckeye Creek and the surface channel of Spring Creek in southeastern West Virginia, USA. The mountainous watersheds have drainage areas of 14 km² and 171 km², respectively. The lowering rates are derived from U/Th-dating of stalagmites and the paleomagnetostratigraphy of clastic sediments in Buckeye Creek Cave. The oldest stalagmites have a minimum age of 0.54 Ma and we use a minimum …

Kirkland D.W., 2014 - Role Of Hydrogen Sulfide In The Formation Of Cave And Karst Phenomena In The Guadalupe Mountains And Western Delaware Basin, New Mexico And Texas, Leslie A. Melim

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Radiaxial-Fibrous And Fascicular-Optic Mg-Calcitic Cave Cements: A Characterization Using Electron Backscattered Diffraction (Ebsd), Detlev K. Richter, Adrian Immenhauser, Rolf Dieter Neuser, Augusto Mangini

International Journal of Speleology

Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) applied to crystal fabric research in speleothems aids in our understanding of the origin of those fabrics. A significant advantage of this approach is the three dimensional data set of crystal c-axes. Here, we show a rare case of both convergent (radiaxial-fibrous) and divergent (fascicular-optic) orientations of the c-axes in pool calcites. The seemingly defective structure of the calcite lattice resulting in radiaxial-fibrous crystal orientations is probably caused by differential incorporation of Mg during crystal growth. The observation that radiaxial-fibrous and fascicular-optic fabrics co-exist in the same pool environment is remarkable and documents the complexity of …

Structural And Hydrological Controls On The Development Of A River Cave In Marble (Tapagem Cave - Se Brazil), William Sallun Filho, Bruna Medeiros Cordeiro, Ivo Karmann

International Journal of Speleology

Tapagem Cave (or Devil’s Cave) is a river cave developed in the dolomite marble karst of the Serra do André Lopes (State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil). Although this region is a plateau with significant variation in elevation and a humid subtropical climate, the cave is an anomalous feature in the André Lopes karst because there are few other caves. The marble, which is in a synclinal structure with subjacent phyllites, is a karst aquifer perched above the regional base level (Ribeira River) and has little allogenic recharge. The cave developed on a secondary anticline on the northwest flank of …

Speleoclimate Dynamics In Santana Cave (Petar, São Paulo State, Brazil): General Characterization And Implications For Tourist Management, Heros Augusto Santos Lobo, Paulo Cesar Boggiani, José Alexandre De Jesus Perinotto

International Journal of Speleology

Show caves provide tourists with the opportunity to have close contact with natural underground spaces. However, visitation to these places also creates a need for management measures, mainly the definition of tourist carrying capacity. The present work describes the results of climate monitoring and atmospheric profiling performed in Santana Cave (Alto Ribeira State and Tourist Park – PETAR, Brazil) between 2008 and 2011. Based on the results, distinct preliminary zones with different levels of thermal variation were identified, which classify Santana Cave as a warm trap. Two critical points along the tourist route (Cristo and Encontro Halls) were identified where …

A Study Of Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticle Rf Heating In Gellan Gum Polymer Under Various Experimental Conditions For Potential Application In Drug Delivery, Gabriel Marcus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have found use in a wide variety of biomedical applications including hyperthermia, imaging and drug delivery. Certain physical properties, such as the ability to generate heat in response to an alternating magnetic field, make these structures ideal for such purposes. This study's objective was to elucidate the mechanisms primarily responsible for RF MNP heating and determine how such processes affect polymer solutions that might be useful in drug delivery. 15-20 nm magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles at 0.2% and 0.5% concentrations were heated with RF fields of different strengths (200 Oe, 400 Oe and 600 …

Earthquake And Tsunami Forecasts: Relation Of Slow Slip Events To Subsequent Earthquake Rupture, Timothy H. Dixon, Yan Jiang, Rocco Malservisi, Robert Mccaffrey, Nicholas Voss, Marino Protti, Victor Gonzalez

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The 5 September 2012 Mw 7.6 earthquake on the Costa Rica subduction plate boundary followed a 62-y interseismic period. High-precision GPS recorded numerous slow slip events (SSEs) in the decade leading up to the earthquake, both up-dip and down-dip of seismic rupture. Deeper SSEs were larger than shallower ones and, if characteristic of the interseismic period, release most locking down-dip of the earthquake, limiting down-dip rupture and earthquake magnitude. Shallower SSEs were smaller, accounting for some but not all interseismic locking. One SSE occurred several months before the earthquake, but changes in Mohr–Coulomb failure stress were probably too small to …

Range Of Horizontal Transport And Residence Time Of Nitrate In A Mature Karst Vadose Zone, Jiri Kamas, Jiri Bruthans, Helena Vysoka, Miroslav Kovařík

International Journal of Speleology

Nitrate concentrations in drips in Amaterska, Spolecnak, and Holstejnska caves situated below a 25 to 120 m thick vadose zone in the Moravian Karst, Central Europe were studied during several periods from 1992. Each cave runs below a land-use boundary between fertilized lands and forest, which enabled study of the range of horizontal components of nitrate transport in the vadose zone. Parts of the fertilized land were turned into grassland in 1998 and 2003, and the cave drips were sampled both prior and after the changes in land use. The mean residence time of nitrate is - 30 m thick …

Hairy Stalagmites, A New Biogenic Root Speleothem From Botswana, Gerhard C. Du Preez, Paolo Forti, Gerhard Jacobs, Anine Jordaan, Louwrens Tiedt

International Journal of Speleology

Ngamiland in northwestern Botswana hosts the Gcwihaba Caves which present unique subterranean environments and host speleothems never before recorded. Cave atmospheric conditions can be extreme with temperatures as high as 28°C and relative humidity nearing 99.9%. Within Dimapo and Diviner’s Caves peculiar root speleothems that we named ‘Hairy Stalagmites’ were found. These stalagmites are closely associated with the roots of Namaqua fig (Ficus cordata) trees that enter the cave environment in search of water. Pieces of broken stalagmites were sampled from Dimapo Cave for further investigations. Stereo and electron microscopy revealed that the Hairy Stalagmites consist of multiple …

High-Resolution Digital 3d Models Of Algar Do Penico Chamber: Limitations, Challenges, And Potential, Ivo Silvestre M.Sc., José I. Rodrigues Phd, Mauro Figueiredo Phd, Cristina Veiga-Pires Phd

International Journal of Speleology

The study of karst and its geomorphological structures is important for understanding the relationships between hydrology and climate over geological time. In that context, we conducted a terrestrial laser-scan survey to map geomorphological structures in the karst cave of Algar do Penico in southern Portugal. The point cloud data set obtained was used to generate 3D meshes with different levels of detail, allowing the limitations of mapping capabilities to be explored.

In addition to cave mapping, the study focuses on 3D-mesh analysis, including the development of two algorithms for determination of stalactite extremities and contour lines, and on the interactive …

Chemistry Graduate Teaching Assistants' Experiences In Academic Laboratories And Development Of A Teaching Self-Image, Todd Adam Gatlin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play a prominent role in chemistry laboratory instruction at research based universities. They teach almost all undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses. However, their role in laboratory instruction has often been overlooked in educational research. Interest in chemistry GTAs has been placed on training and their perceived expectations, but less attention has been paid to their experiences or their potential benefits from teaching.

This work was designed to investigate GTAs' experiences in and benefits from laboratory instructional environments. This dissertation includes three related studies on GTAs' experiences teaching in general chemistry laboratories. Qualitative methods were used for each …

Can Xrf Scanning Of Speleothems Be Used As A Non-Destructive Method To Identify Paleoflood Events In Caves?, Martin Finné, Malin Kylander, Meighan Boyd, Hanna S. Sundqvist, Ludvig Löwemark

International Journal of Speleology

We have developed a novel, quick and non-destructive method for tracing flood events in caves through the analysis of a stalagmite thick section with an XRF core scanner. The analyzed stalagmite has multiple horizons of fine sediments from past flood events intercalated with areas of cleaner calcite. Flood events detected from the elemental XRF core scanning data show good agreement with the position of flood horizons identified in petrographic thin sections. The geochemical composition of the individual flood layers shows that in certain cases the clay horizons had a distinct geochemical fingerprint suggesting that it may be possible to distinguish …

Microstratigraphic Logging Of Calcite Fabrics In Speleothems As Tool For Palaeoclimate Studies, Silvia Frisia

International Journal of Speleology

The systematic documentation of calcite fabrics in stalagmites and flowstones provides robustness to palaeoclimate interpretation based on geochemical proxies, but it has been neglected because it is difficult to transform crystal morphologies into numerical values, and construct fabric time series. Here, general criteria that allow for coding fabrics of calcite composing stalagmites and flowstones is provided. Being based on known models of fabric development, the coding ascribes sequential numbers to each fabric, which reflect climate-related parameters, such as changes in drip rate variability, bio-mediation or diagenetic modifications. Acronyms are proposed for Columnar types, Dendritic, Micrite, Microsparite and Mosaic fabrics, whose …

Exploring Variability In Population Dynamics And The Influence Of Environmental Factors On Recruitment Of An Estuarine Fish, Elizabeth Herdter Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation was to explore variability in population dynamics and environmental factors influential to recruitment of spotted seatrout in Florida with the end goal of testing the incorporation of select environmental variables into the current regional stock assessment models for spotted seatrout. In Chapter 2, I compared the age and size structure of six estuary populations of this species and determined whether there was significant spatial covariation in recruitment. The results of this chapter indicated that the dynamics of each local estuary population are governed more likely by environmental factors than genetic similarities. Further, they suggest that …

High Dimensional Non-Linear Optimization Of Molecular Models, Joseph C. Fogarty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Molecular models allow computer simulations to predict the microscopic properties of macroscopic systems. Molecular modeling can also provide a fully understood test system for the application of theoretical methods. The power of a model lies in the accuracy of the parameter values which govern its mathematical behavior. In this work, a new software, called ParOpt, for general high dimensional non-linear optimization will be presented. The software provides a very general framework for the optimization of a wide variety of parameter sets. The software is especially powerful when applied to the difficult task of molecular model parameter optimization. Three applications of …

Evaluation And Application Of Instruments Measuring Spatial Ability And Attitude For College Chemistry Students, Xiaoying Xu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student performance in college chemistry courses remains a concern for educators seeking to help improve the future STEM workforce. Besides math ability and prior chemistry knowledge, spatial ability and attitude toward chemistry have been considered as important factors influencing college chemistry performance. This work includes five studies and uses data collected from instruments to examine the relationships of these two factors - spatial ability and attitude - with student chemistry performance, and provides psychometric evidence for using the Purdue Visualization of Rotations test (ROT) and Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory (ASCIv2) to measure these two factors, respectively, in …

Co(Ii) Based Metalloradical Catalysis: Carbene And Nitrene Transfer Reactions, Joseph B. Gill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Radical chemistry has attracted a large amount of research interest over the last few decades and radical reactions have recently been recognized as powerful tools for organic synthesis. The synthetic applications of radicals have been demonstrated in many fields, including in the synthesis of complex natural products. Radical reactions have a number of inherent synthetic advantages over their ionic counterparts. For example, they typically proceed at fast reaction rates under mild and neutral conditions in a broad spectrum of solvents and show significantly greater functional group tolerance. Furthermore, radical processes have the capability of performing in a cascade fashion, allowing …

Metallopeptides From Design To Catalysis: Structure, Oxidative Activities, And Inhibition Studies Of Designed And Naturally Occurring Metallopeptides, Alaa Hassan Hashim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Structural and mechanistic complexities of copper-dioxygen systems have attracted much attention in the field of bioinorganic chemistry, both in model systems and trapped protein intermediates. The research presented herein is focused on model and naturally occurring metallopeptide systems, from its design to catalysis. Copper is used as the coordinating metal ion, with cobalt and zinc as probes for metal binding. The bioinorganic chemistry of copper proteins and its coordination and spectroscopic properties are briefly discussed in chapter 1. The next two chapters are centered on the de novo design of a minimalistic metallopeptide system with an amino acid sequence of …

Mantle-Crust Interaction In Granite Petrogenesis In Post-Collisional Settings: Insights From The Danubian Variscan Plutons Of The Romanian Southern Carpathians, Ciprian Cosmin Stremtan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The issue of granite petrogenesis plays a key role in our overall understanding of the growth and differentiation of continents, as well as in our ability to unravel the tectonic histories of orogenic belts. Granites are ubiquitous magmatic products found in almost all tectonic settings: oceanic and continental rifts (i.e., plagiogranites - extreme basalt differentiates), active continental margins (e.g,. the granitic batholiths of central and southern Andes), continent-continent collision zones (e.g., the orogenic batholiths of the Himalayas, Western Anatolia), post-collisional settings (e.g., the Variscan provinces of Europe), complex within-plates settings (e.g., Limmo massif, Afar, Ethiopia). Furthermore, granitoids are characterized by …

Magneto-Optical Kerr Eect Study Of Magnetic Anisotropy In Soft Ferromagnets, Tatiana Marie Eggers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The continued progress of modern information technology relies on understanding the influence of magnetic anisotropy on magnetic thin films. In this work, two sources of magnetic anisotropy are examined in two different soft ferromagnets: a uniaxial anisotropy induced during the fabrication of Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ and exchange anisotropy, or exchange bias, which occurs at the interface of Ni₇₇Fe₁₄Cu₅Mo₄/Fe₅₀Mn₅₀ bilayer. A home-built Magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometer is used to measure the magnetic response of the soft ferromagnetic films and details of its construction are also discussed. A simple model …

Short- And Long-Term Trends In Ecological Interactions: From Predator-Prey Interactions To Phanerozoic Diversification, Subhronil Mondal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the last two decades, a broad spectrum of short- and long-term studies on different taxonomic groups has enriched our understanding about how dynamics of taxonomic and ecological diversification have changed through geologic time. There are two major issues that have impacted these studies: the quality and quantity of data used are often insufficient in various ways and the methods used may produce results that are more equivocal than supposed. To investigate these issues more fully, this dissertation focuses on studies on two major aspects: 1) short-term studies examining the nature of successful and unsuccessful predatory attacks on Plio-Pleistocene bivalves; …

Growth Rates In Gulf Of Mexico Red Snapper, Lutjanus Campechanus, Before And After The Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Elizabeth Shea Herdter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Deepwater Horizon blowout occurred on April 20^th, 2010 and released nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico causing pollution of the water and sediment inhabited by many fishes for at least 87 days while the wellhead went uncapped. Populations of the Gulf of Mexico Red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, an important fish to the ecology and economy in the region, exhibit affinity to shallow water oil infrastructure such as the Deepwater Horizon making them especially vulnerable to crude oil contamination. The objective of this study is to determine growth of Red …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites As A Biomarker Of Exposure To Oil In Demersal Fishes Following The Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Susan Susan Snyder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Deepwater Horizon blowout occurred on April 20th, 2010, releasing 4.9 million barrels of Louisiana crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Subsequent to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, sediment cores revealed oil on the northern GoM seafloor and abnormal skin lesions were seen in GoM fishes. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a component of crude oil, in fish has been associated with many sublethal effects, including cancer and population-level effects. Using a biomarker of exposure to PAHs, this thesis evaluates inter-species, temporal and spatial differences in exposure to hydrocarbon contamination between three species of fish with varying levels …

Verification And Comparison Of Two Commonly Used Numerical Modeling Systems In Hydrodynamic Simulation At A Dual-Inlet System, West-Central Florida, Ming Xie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerical modeling systems are very important tools to study tidal inlets. In order to test its capability and accuracy of solving multi-inlet system problems, this study selected two widely used numerical modeling systems: Coastal Modeling System (CMS) and Delft3D Modeling Package. The hydrodynamics modules of the two modeling systems were tested at John's Pass and Blind Pass, Florida, a dual-inlets system, based on a similar modeling scheme. Detailed bathymetric surveys and hydraulic measurements were conducted to collect water depths, tide conditions, wave and current velocities as the input data as well as verification data for the models.

A comparison study …

Use Of A Towed Camera System For Estimating Reef Fish Populations Densities On The West Florida Shelf, Sarah Elizabeth Grasty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reef fish species tend to reside over high relief habitat which makes them difficult to sample with traditional gears such as nets and trawls. Therefore, implementing and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of new approaches which incorporate acoustic and optical methods has become a priority for reef fish stock assessment. Beginning in June of 2013, a towed camera system known as the Camera-Based Assessment Survey System (C-BASS) has been used to visualize over 500 kilometers of transect and record more than 80 hours of video over several habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. Surveys have been completed on the West …

Phenyl Functionalized Sol-Gel Silica Sorbent For Capillary Microextraction And Chromia-Based Sol-Gel Ucon Stationary Phase For Capillary Gas Chromatography, Michael M. Mclean

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first chapter of this thesis presents an introduction to sol-gel methodology whose usefulness as a synthetic route will be demonstrated with two applications in chromatography. The first application involves the fabrication of a capillary micro-extraction (CME) device by coating a phenyl functionalized extracting phase on the inner surface of a fused silica capillary for analyte pre-concentration. The device was coupled on-line to a RP-HPLC system and practicality was demonstrated using allergens as target analytes. The allergens chosen as model analytes are typically found in fragrance products and food. Most of the 26 fragrance allergens that are monitored by various …

Cloning And Characterization Of Il-1Β, Il-8, Il-10, And Tnfα From Golden Tilefish (Lopholatilus Chamaeleonticeps) And Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus), Kristina L. Deak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cytokines are pleiotropic and redundant signaling molecules that govern the inflammatory response and immunity, a critical ecological parameter for organism success and population growth. Produced at the site of injury or pathogen intrusion by a variety of cell types, cytokines mediate cell-signaling in either an autocrine or paracrine manner. The type and magnitude of the cytokine milieu produced subsequently dictates the strength and form of immune response. As the most diverse vertebrate group, with a high sensitivity to contaminants, fish represent an important foci for the evaluation of immune system evolution, function, and alteration upon toxicant exposure. While many cytokines …

Analysis Of Water Quality For Lake Tarpon, Pinellas County, Florida, Kristi Nichole Savio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization has taken a major toll on the water quality of Lake Tarpon. In response, there have been management strategies and legislation put in place to help improve water quality. Our objective was to identify what management strategies and other environmental factors were driving changes in Lake Tarpons water quality from 1970 - 2010. Trends in water quality were analyzed against precipitation, land use and water quality management strategies to achieve this. Results found that two water quality management strategies, the creation of the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal and the closing of the Lake Tarpon Sink, improved water quality the …

Dynamics And Survival Of Coral And Octocoral Juveniles Following Disturbance On Patch Reefs Of The Florida Reef Tract, Lucy Bartlett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several decades, rapid decline in adult stony-coral (comprising the Orders Scleractinia and Anthomedusae, specifically Family Milleporidae) cover has occurred concurrent with an increase in adult octocoral (Octocorallia/gorgonian) cover along the Florida Reef Tract. In January 2010, the Florida Keys experienced extremely cold air and water temperatures, below the lethal threshold for many reef organisms including corals. Very high stony-coral mortality occurred on some patch reefs. The newly-available space created by this disturbance event provided the opportunity for recruitment and settlement of new coral larvae and other reef organisms.

The goal of this study was to examine post-disturbance …

Redox Chemistry In The Phosphorus Biogeochemical Cycle, Matthew A. Pasek, Jacqueline M. Sampson, Zachary Atlas

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The element phosphorus (P) controls growth in many ecosystems as the limiting nutrient, where it is broadly considered to reside as pentavalent P in phosphate minerals and organic esters. Exceptions to pentavalent P include phosphine—PH₃—a trace atmospheric gas, and phosphite and hypophosphite, P anions that have been detected recently in lightning strikes, eutrophic lakes, geothermal springs, and termite hindguts. Reduced oxidation state P compounds include the phosphonates, characterized by C−P bonds, which bear up to 25% of total organic dissolved phosphorus. Reduced P compounds have been considered to be rare; however, the microbial ability to use reduced P …