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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Beach Erosion And Recovery Since Hurricane Ivan In 2004 Along A Headland-Bay Coast In Treasure Beach, Jamaica, Elandé Engelbrecht Jan 2024

Beach Erosion And Recovery Since Hurricane Ivan In 2004 Along A Headland-Bay Coast In Treasure Beach, Jamaica, Elandé Engelbrecht

MSU Graduate Theses

Anthropogenic climate change is causing sea-level rise and shoreline changes that threaten the environment and economy of coastal communities in Caribbean Island nations. To assess this risk, this study quantifies shoreline changes at Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth Parish on the south coast of Jamaica from 2001 to 2023. The effects of storm events on erosion were also assessed. Over 10 km of shoreline are assessed with about half being sandy pocket beaches ranging from 300 to 900 m in length, separated by rocky headlands and beach rock outcrops. Sand beach erosion trends since 2001 are assessed for seven sandy …


Investigation Into Bacterial Impairment Of Greene And Polk County Water Systems, John C. Kincaid Aug 2021

Investigation Into Bacterial Impairment Of Greene And Polk County Water Systems, John C. Kincaid

MSU Graduate Theses

Bacterial impairment of water systems is a major issue facing mankind. Bacteria that are introduced into a system have the potential to cause harmful diseases to wildlife and humans. In Greene and Polk counties, many water systems have become bacterially impaired over the years. Despite this, little is known about the contamination of known harmful bacteria in this region. To address this issue, I investigated the presence of known human pathogens across water systems in these two counties, many of which have displayed high levels of E. coli and fecal indicator microorganisms over many years. I used a high-throughput sequencing …


The Legacy Of Contamination By Lead Smelters In Missouri, Robert S. Armstrong Dec 2020

The Legacy Of Contamination By Lead Smelters In Missouri, Robert S. Armstrong

MSU Graduate Theses

Missouri has a rich history of lead mining. In the smelting process lead particles are emitted, which may be toxic to plants and animals. This study focuses on two primary lead smelters, Herculaneum and Glover, in Missouri. Smelting operations have ceased at these two sites, and unlike Herculaneum, Glover has no reported lead concentrations. Findings from air and sediments of these two sites were compared to background conditions and to each other. Thirty-three samples were collected from Herculaneum and Glover (thirty samples and three replicates) and eleven samples (ten samples and one replicate) for background. For Herculaneum sediment, lead levels …


A Geochemical And Statistical Investigation Of The Big Four Springs Region In Southern Missouri, Jordan Jasso Vega Aug 2020

A Geochemical And Statistical Investigation Of The Big Four Springs Region In Southern Missouri, Jordan Jasso Vega

MSU Graduate Theses

The Big Four Springs region hosts four major first-order magnitude springs in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. These springs are Big Spring (Carter County, MO), Greer Spring (Oregon County, MO), Mammoth Spring (Fulton County, AR), and Hodgson Mill Spring (Ozark County, MO). Based on historic dye traces and hydrogeological investigations, these springs drain an area of approximately 1500 square miles and collectively discharge an average of 780 million gallons of water per day. The rocks from youngest to oldest that are found in Big Four Springs region are the Cotter and Jefferson City Dolomite (Ordovician), Roubidoux Formation (Ordovician), Gasconade Dolomite …


Field Measurements Of Bed-Load Transport Distances Using Painted Sediment Tracers In An Urban Stream In The Missouri Ozarks, Kristen E. Breckenridge Aug 2020

Field Measurements Of Bed-Load Transport Distances Using Painted Sediment Tracers In An Urban Stream In The Missouri Ozarks, Kristen E. Breckenridge

MSU Graduate Theses

Predictions of bed-load mobility and transport in stream channels are useful for restoration and management purposes. This study uses native gravel tracers to determine transport distances for bed-load in an urban stream in the Ozark Highlands. The objectives of this project are to: (i) determine downstream transport distances of painted tracers of different sizes over a range of flow conditions; (ii) evaluate the influence of channel morphology and thalweg location on transport; and (iii) compare field results to those predicted by mobility equations. The study site is located on South Creek, which drains Springfield, Missouri. The study reach is 132 …


The Legacy Of Mining In Southwest Missouri: Past And Present Conditions Of The Tri-State Mining District, Anastasia M C Mcclanahan Aug 2020

The Legacy Of Mining In Southwest Missouri: Past And Present Conditions Of The Tri-State Mining District, Anastasia M C Mcclanahan

MSU Graduate Theses

The historic Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma has a history of lead and zinc mining that extended over a hundred years. During the district’s peak production period, the TSMD was one of the world’s largest producers of lead and zinc. The mining activities in the TSMD produced economic growth that supported the local communities and were essential to the victory of the Allied Forces during World War I and World War II. Beginning in the 1920s, the mining activities in the district slowly began to cease due to depletion of metal ores and …


Historical Floodplain Sedimentation Rates Using Mining Contaminant Profiles, Cesium-137, And Sediment Source Indicators Along The Lower Big River, Jefferson County, Missouri, Miranda M. Jordan Aug 2019

Historical Floodplain Sedimentation Rates Using Mining Contaminant Profiles, Cesium-137, And Sediment Source Indicators Along The Lower Big River, Jefferson County, Missouri, Miranda M. Jordan

MSU Graduate Theses

Floodplain sedimentology and geochemistry can indicate the age of sediment layers to evaluate the history of human-caused sedimentation in a watershed. While the Ozark Highlands of Missouri has had a long history of settlement and land disturbance beginning in the early 1800s, there are few studies that have investigated the effects of these anthropogenic activities on river form and legacy sedimentation. The goal of this study is to characterize the sediment properties and geochemical trends in post-settlement floodplain deposits along lower Big River in Jefferson County, Missouri. This study evaluated trends of sediment properties at 3 cm intervals in a …


Stream Channel Morphology And Riparian Forest Response To A 500-Year Flood In The Missouri Ozarks, Joshua William Hess Aug 2019

Stream Channel Morphology And Riparian Forest Response To A 500-Year Flood In The Missouri Ozarks, Joshua William Hess

MSU Graduate Theses

Climate change has increased the frequency of large floods in rivers draining the Ozark Highlands resulting in higher rates of channel sedimentation, bank erosion, and damage to infrastructure. This study assesses the effects of a large flood (>500-year RI) during April-May 2017 on riparian forests along six tributary streams in the North Fork of the White River watershed, Missouri. High-resolution (<8 >cm) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery collected after the flood was used to identify riparian forest flood damage. Measurements of riparian forest flood damage calculated from the UAV imagery were verified through field surveys of damaged riparian trees. …


An In-Situ Study Of The Aqueous Speciation Of Uranium (Vi) Under Hydrothermal Conditions, Diwash Dhakal May 2019

An In-Situ Study Of The Aqueous Speciation Of Uranium (Vi) Under Hydrothermal Conditions, Diwash Dhakal

MSU Graduate Theses

Rigorous study of the speciation distribution of uranyl-chloride bearing solutions under hydrothermal conditions is important to understand the transport mechanism of uranium underground, which is of uttermost interest to parties studying the geological uranium deposits and those studying the possibilities of geological repositories for spent nuclear waste. I report an in-situ Raman spectroscopic study of the speciation distribution of aqueous uranyl-chloride complexes upto 500°C conducted using a HDAC as the high PT spectroscopic cell. The samples studied contained the species UO22+, UO2Cl+, UO2Cl20 and UO2Cl3- …


Modeling The Response Of Black Walnut -Dominant Mixed Hardwoods To Seasonal Climate Effects With Uav-Based Hyperspectral Sensor And Aerial Photogrammetry, Tyler G. Bradford Dec 2018

Modeling The Response Of Black Walnut -Dominant Mixed Hardwoods To Seasonal Climate Effects With Uav-Based Hyperspectral Sensor And Aerial Photogrammetry, Tyler G. Bradford

MSU Graduate Theses

The development of compact sensors in recent years has inspired the use of UAS-based hyperspectral and aerial imaging techniques for small-scale remote sensing applications. With increasing concerns about climate change, spectrally-derived vegetation indices (VIs) have proven useful for quantifying stress-induced vegetation response. The goal of this study was to develop predictive models and assess methodology for modeling the biological response of a black walnut -dominant mixed hardwood stand to seasonal climate events using UAV-based hyperspectral remote-sensing. The derived VIs were evaluated against the means of four seasonal measures of climate calculated for a two-week period prior to the flight date. …


Nutrient Transport And Storage In A Karst Spring-Reservoir System During Baseflow, Missouri Ozarks, Heather A. Moule Aug 2018

Nutrient Transport And Storage In A Karst Spring-Reservoir System During Baseflow, Missouri Ozarks, Heather A. Moule

MSU Graduate Theses

Urban and agricultural land uses are important sources of nitrogen and phosphorus which, if in excess, can cause eutrophication in lakes and rivers. There have been few studies of nutrient transport and storage in karst spring and reservoir connected stream systems draining the Missouri Ozarks. This study aims to link the baseflow nutrient contributions of Sanders Spring to downstream reservoir outflow and the Headwaters South Dry Sac River Watershed in Springfield, Missouri. Water samples were collected seasonally and analyzed for total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and several other water quality parameters. Discharge was also monitored to calculate water and …


Deposition Patterns And Rates Of Mining-Contaminated Sediment Within A Sedimentation Basin System, S.E. Missouri, Joshua Carl Voss May 2017

Deposition Patterns And Rates Of Mining-Contaminated Sediment Within A Sedimentation Basin System, S.E. Missouri, Joshua Carl Voss

MSU Graduate Theses

Flooding events exert a dominant control over the deposition and formation of floodplains. The rate at which floodplains form depends on flood magnitude, frequency, and duration, and associated sediment transport capacity and supply. While it is known that sediment in the Big River is contaminated from historical mining, little is known about the patterns and rates of deposition on floodplains, especially those that have been modified for remediation purposes. The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of flood characteristics and topography on contemporary deposition patterns and rates in a sedimentation basin system located within a floodplain along …