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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Increasing Shipping Traffic Through The Bering Strait: Challenges Of International Policy In A Rapidly Changing Climate And Managing Impacts To Regional Cetacean Populations, Laura Morse Sep 2016

Increasing Shipping Traffic Through The Bering Strait: Challenges Of International Policy In A Rapidly Changing Climate And Managing Impacts To Regional Cetacean Populations, Laura Morse

HCNSO Student Capstones

The Arctic region is experiencing growth in marine traffic as seasonal ice conditions shift to longer periods of open water and vessel improvements that have allowed for transit in heavier ice conditions. Regionally, Russia is improving existing transportation infrastructure to support increased traffic along the Northern Sea Route. As a result of these and other factors, shipping traffic is increasing through the Bering Strait and Bering Sea. Regulating traffic in these areas is more complex than most other areas in US waters given the presence of an international strait subject to international regulation through the International Maritime Organization. The US …


Studies Of Arctic Tropospheric Ozone Depletion Events Through Buoy-Borne Observations And Laboratory Studies, John W. Halfacre Aug 2016

Studies Of Arctic Tropospheric Ozone Depletion Events Through Buoy-Borne Observations And Laboratory Studies, John W. Halfacre

Open Access Dissertations

The photochemically-induced destruction of ground-level Arctic ozone in the Arctic occurs at the onset of spring, in concert with polar sunrise. Solar radiation is believed to stimulate a series of reactions that cause the production and release of molecular halogens from frozen, salty surfaces, though this mechanism is not yet well understood. The subsequent photolysis of molecular halogens produces reactive halogen atoms that remove ozone from the atmosphere in these so-called “Ozone Depletion Events” (ODEs). Given that much of the Arctic region is sunlit, meteorologically stable, and covered by saline ice and snow, it is expected that ODEs could be …


Predicting The Water Quality Of Shallow Arctic Ponds Using Remote Sensing, Gabriela Tarin Jan 2016

Predicting The Water Quality Of Shallow Arctic Ponds Using Remote Sensing, Gabriela Tarin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Barrow, Alaska is in a region dominated by Arctic tundra of which a substantial part is covered by lakes and ponds. Despite their dominance in the landscape, freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic have been insufficiently studied. It is clear that furthering understanding of how Arctic water bodies are responding to warming will depend on the analysis of changes in the concentration of organic and inorganic constituents in the water; however, scientists are faced with the task of sampling many remote sites in a relatively hostile environment. Thus, the exploration and incorporation of remote methods for monitoring changes in water quality. …


Preservation And Sediment Cycling Beneath "Ghost Glaciers": How Cold-Based Ice Dictates Arctic Landscape Evolution, Lee Corbett Jan 2016

Preservation And Sediment Cycling Beneath "Ghost Glaciers": How Cold-Based Ice Dictates Arctic Landscape Evolution, Lee Corbett

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Constraining past episodes of climate change and glacial response is critical for understanding future impacts of climate change, especially in the high latitudes where warming is expected to be rapid and most of Earth's glaciers exist. Many studies of past glacier size utilize rare isotopes called cosmogenic nuclides to perform surface exposure dating. Since most areas of Earth's surface that were previously glaciated were covered by erosive ice, which stripped away pre-existing cosmogenic nuclides, surface exposure dating yields the timing of the most recent deglaciation. However, in some high latitude areas where glacial ice is cold-based and non-erosive (so-called 'ghost …


Modern Foraminiferal Assemblages Of The Denmark Strait, Laura Larocca Jan 2016

Modern Foraminiferal Assemblages Of The Denmark Strait, Laura Larocca

Dissertations and Theses

Foraminifera occupy a geological range from the early Cambrian to the present day. Their well preserved shells, high relative abundance, and short response time to changing environmental conditions make foraminifera ideal proxies for environmental change. Benthic foraminifera are a valuable but poorly understood paleobiological proxy for the reconstruction of environmental conditions on continental shelves occupied by arctic and subarctic waters. This study identifies, examines, and quantifies calcareous benthic foraminiferal faunas from a sediment core taken from the Denmark Strait. Our analysis of three-thousand individuals from ten discrete samples aim to provide a better understanding of the modern patterns of foraminiferal …