Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Establishing The Inundation Distance And Overtopping Height Of Paleotsunami From The Late-Holocene Geologic Record At Open-Coastal Wetland Sites, Central Cascadia Margin, Robert B. Schlichting

Dissertations and Theses

Mapping and stratigraphic investigations of back barrier, open-coastal plain sites have been used to establish minimum inundation distances and wave heights of tsunami produced by great subduction zone earthquakes in the central Cascadia margin. Cascadia tsunami deposits have been reported for many coseismic subsidence events in bay marsh settings where tidal-channel features focus tsunami energy. Variable magnitude (8.5±0.5 Mw), frequency (500±300 yr recurrence), and rupture geometry produce widely varying computer model outcomes for Cascadia tsunami inundation. The results presented in this thesis provide specific quantitative data regarding tsunami inundation at the open coast.

Anomalous sand sheets that have been characterized …

A Longitudinal Assessment Of Temperament In Octopus Bimaculoides, David Loyd Sinn

Dissertations and Theses

Cephalopods, including Octopus spp., are highly intelligent molluscs that play major roles in many marine food webs, both as top-level feeders (Ambrose, 1984) as well as by constituting a major source of protein for the animals above them (Lang, Hochberg, Ambrose, & Engle, 1997). They also are fascinating organisms for behavioral studies, with elaborate repertoires of behavior based on plasticity and learning (Wells, 1962a; 1962b; 1978) which in complexity rivals that of the vertebrates. The study of individual differences in behavior is a facet of behavioral research that has recently gained attention in the literature (Gosling & John, 1999). Traditionally, …

The Long-Term Viability Of A Zero-Valent Iron Permeable Reactive Barrier, Stuart Cowburn

Dissertations and Theses

Zero-valent iron permeable reactive barriers (PRB's) hold significant potential as a tool for groundwater remediation. Uncertainties remain, however, as to the effective lifetime of Fe⁰ barrier technology under full-scale operational conditions. Potential limits on barrier lifetime include reductions in permeability due to clogging by precipitates and oxidation of all Fe⁰ prior to the exhaustion of the contaminant source.

A 46 m long, 0.6 m wide, and 7.3 m deep Fe⁰ PRB was installed at the US Coast Guard Support Center, Elizabeth City, NC, in June 1996. The barrier was designed to remediate groundwater principally contaminated with Cr(VI) …

A Determination Of Parentage, Mating System, And Genetic Diversity In A Captive Population Of The Straw-Colored Fruit Bat (Eidolon Helvum), Jan Zinck

Dissertations and Theses

Small populations tend to lose genetic variability. The magnitude of this loss is influenced by the number of founding individuals, the genetic diversity of the founders, and the species mating system. Genetic variability is the basis of adaptive evolution, and the loss of genetic variability may have harmful effects on development, growth, and survival. Therefore, a primary management goal for small, captive populations is the retention of genetic variability. Of considerable importance to conservation biology is the determination of parentage, from which mating, genetic, and demographic information can be derived. Microsatellites provide a robust molecular evolutionary tool for the study …