Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Does Invasion Science Encompass The Invaded Range? A Comparison Of The Geographies Of Invasion Science Versus Management In The U.S., Lara Munro

Masters Theses

Biases in invasion science lead to a taxonomic focus on plants, particularly a subset of well-studied plants, and a geographic focus on invasions in Europe and North America. Geographic biases could also cause some branches of invasion science to focus on a subset of environmental conditions in the invaded range, potentially leading to an incomplete understanding of the ecology and management of plant invasions. While broader, country-level geographic biases are well known, it is unclear whether these biases extend to a finer scale and thus affect research within the invaded range. This study assessed whether research sites for ten well-studied …

Crustal Evolution Of The New England Appalachians: The Rise And Fall Of A Long-Lived Orogenic Plateau, Ian Hillenbrand

Masters Theses

The rise and demise of mountain belts, caused by growth, modification, or removal of the continental lithosphere are fundamental processes that influence almost all Earth systems. Understanding the nature, timing, and significance of active processes in the creation and evolution of modern mountain belts is challenged by a lack of middle crustal and lower crustal exposures. Analogues can be found in ancient orogens, whose deeply eroded roots offer a window into deeper processes, yet this record is complicated by overprinting events and complex deformational histories. Research presented herein constrains the tectonic history of multistage Appalachian Orogen, type locality of the …

Magnetite Mineralization Of The Hammondville Pluton: Poly-Phase Kiruna Type Iocg Magnetite-Apatite Deposits In The Lyon Mountain Granite, Phillip Geer

Masters Theses

Recent mapping of the Eagle Lake Quadrangle, NY, coupled with whole-rock geochemistry and microscopy has offered insight into the petrogenesis of the magnetite-apatite deposits of the Hammondville mining district in the eastern Adirondack Mountains. This study provides insight into the magmatic history of the ca. 1060-1050 Ma Lyon Mountain Granite (Hammondville Pluton) which is intimately related to, and hosts the deposits in this area. Magnetite seams are commonly surrounded by well layered magnetite gneiss, which typically parallel the seams, although in some outcrops appear to be slightly truncated by them. Mineralization is generally concordant with the weak layering found throughout …

Enforcing Higher Standards For Flood Hazard Mitigation In Vermont, Tamsin Flanders

Masters Theses

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals.

To encourage municipalities to …

Implications And Significance Of Partial Melting On The Tectonic History Of The Eastern Adirondack Mountains, Claire Rose Pless

Doctoral Dissertations

The eastern Adirondack Mountains contain abundant exposures of high-grade metamorphic rocks. These exposures are interpreted to be a window into the mid/deep crust of an ancient, large, hot, long-duration orogen, allowing the Adirondack Mountains to be used as an analogue to the deep processes of modern orogens. Currently interpreted thermo-tectonic events in the eastern Adirondack Mountains include the ca. 1245-1220 Ma Elzevirian orogeny, the ca. 1190-1150 Ma Shawinigan orogeny, emplacement of the ca. 1150 Ma AMCG igneous suite, the ca. 1090-1050 Ma Ottawan orogeny, and a ca. 1050-1020 Ma extensional collapse phase. This dissertation focuses on six migmatite domains within …

Massachusetts Beach Grain Size And Slope Data, Jonathan Woodruff, Nicholas Venti, Stephen Mabee, Alycia Ditroia, Douglas Beach

Data and Datasets

This data repository contains grain size and beach face slope data from approximately 100 paired summer and winter transects collected along 18 separate beaches in southern New England. The study is focused to beaches of Massachusetts, which represents a particularly unique section of the Northeastern US coast in that it: 1) lies at the interface between New England’s paraglacial lowlands and Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, 2) spans both micro- and meso- tidal regimes, 3) encompasses a wide range of seasonally varying wave conditions, and 4) contains a diverse array of geomorphic and grain size characteristics. Between 2 and 10 intertidal transects …

3-D Shear Wave Velocity Structures Of The Crust And Upper Mantle Beneath Cascadia And New Zealand From Full-Wave Ambient Noise Tomography, Sampath Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage

Doctoral Dissertations

The (de)hydration process and the amount of hydrated sediment carried by the downgoing oceanic plate play a key role in the subduction dynamics. The deformation and (de)hydration of the downgoing tectonic plates, as well as the seismic, tsunami, volcanic hazards, in Cascadia and the New Zealand regions are not fully understood, partly due to a lack of combined studies of onshore and offshore data. In order to address these questions, we developed a 3-D high-resolution shear wave velocity model beneath Cascadia, the North and the South Islands of New Zealand, extending from offshore to onshore, with the use of full-wave …

Plio-Pleistocene Paleoceonography Of The Ross Sea, Antarctica Based On Foraminifera From Iodp Sites U1523, U1522, And U1521, Julia Seidenstein

Masters Theses

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is currently thinning and retreating because shifting oceanic currents are transporting warmer waters to the ice margin, which could lead to a collapse of the ice sheet and global sea level rise. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 374 sailed to the Ross Sea in 2018 to study the history of the WAIS over the last 20 million years. Previous geologic drilling projects into Ross Sea sediments that record the history of the WAIS (DSDP Leg 28, RISP, MSSTS, Cape Roberts Drilling Project, ANDRILL), as well as modeling studies, show considerable variability of ice-sheet …

Processes, Patterns, And Predictions Of Soil Moisture Variation In Upland And Peatland Cranberry Farms In Massachusetts, Rebecca Brennan

Masters Theses

The American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) represents a vital sector of the economy of southeastern Massachusetts. Due to the hydrogeological and edaphic characteristics of peatlands, variations in soil drainage and soil moisture represent major management challenges for growers in Massachusetts. An emerging trend of upland (mineral soil) cranberry farms planted with new hybrid cultivars has the potential to enhance the profitability and long-term viability of cranberry production in Massachusetts. However, sparse data exist on soil moisture characteristics of peatland and upland cranberry farms. The purpose of this research was to elucidate the differences in soil moisture between upland and …

Seeing Through The Ottawan Overprint, Adirondack Mtns., Ny: Integrating Microstructural Analysis, Geothermobarometry, And In-Situ Monazite Petrochronology, Justin Mistikawy

Masters Theses

Integrating field observation with petrochronology is critical for understanding the tectonometamorphic evolution of the North American Grenville Province. Despite methodological advances in geothermobarometry and geochronology, incorporating these data into larger models of the Adirondack Mountains remains particularly challenging due to the presence of multiple generations of deformation, primarily related to the ca. 1190 – 1140 Ma Shawinigan and ca. 1090 – 1020 Ma Ottawan Orogenies (McLelland et al.,2013). The Rock and Bear Ponds area is a dome of tight-to-isoclinally folded metapelites in structural contact with orthogneiss. Fold generations are orthogonal and partitioned such that the northern area is dominated by …

Threshold Processes And Stream Temperature Distribution In A Small New England Headwater Stream Catchment., Mitchell Isaacson

Masters Theses

Rising air temperature and decreasing stream flow trends are predicted to result in corresponding increases in stream temperatures. As a result, the future of ectothermic stream fishes, which rely on seasonal and spatial distributions of stream temperature for growth and survival, could be in jeopardy. Fortunately, contradicting stream temperature trends in forested headwater catchments suggest that non-climatic variables, such as baseflow indices and catchment geologic structure, may have an important confounding influence on the future of stream temperature. Most significantly, the annual stability of groundwater temperature has long been recognized as an important buffer between air and stream temperature. The …

Nanoindentation Characterization Of Elastic Properties Of Shales And Swelling Clay Minerals, Shengmin Luo

Doctoral Dissertations

Oil and gas shales are a class of multiscale, multiphase, hybrid inorganic-organic sedimentary rocks that consist of a generally uniform, preferentially oriented clay matrix with randomly embedded silt and sand particles as solid inclusions. A thorough understanding of the mechanical properties of shales is crucial for the exploration and production of oil and gas in the unconventional shale reservoirs, but it can be a challenging task due to their nature of compositional heterogeneity and microstructural anisotropy. In efforts to better characterize the mechanical properties of shales across different length scales and to fundamentally understand the laws of upscaling from individual …

Modeling The Pleistocene History Of The Greenland Ice Sheet, Benjamin Andrew Keisling

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the most profound and immediate consequences of anthropogenic climate change is sea level rise, which in large part is driven by the melting of polar ice sheets. The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) contains enough ice to raise global sea level by ~7 meters. Fluctuations of the GrIS in response to past climate change provide an opportunity to better understanding the stability of the ice sheet during periods of climatic change. In this thesis, we use numerical ice-sheet models to understand the causes and consequences of past fluctuations of the Greenland ice sheet. In Chapters 3 and 4, we …

Results From "Impact Of Hydrostratigraphic Continuity In Heterogeneity On Brine-To-Freshwater Interface Dynamics; Implications From A 2-D Parametric Study In An Arid And Endorheic Basin", Sarah Mcknight, David F. Boutt, Lee Ann Munk

Data and Datasets

No abstract provided.

Data For "Hydrogeologic And Geochemical Distinctions Within Freshwater Brine Systems In Salar Environments", Lee Ann Munk, David F. Boutt, Brendan Moran, Sarah Mcknight, Jordan Jenckes

Data and Datasets

All chemistry and striontium isotope data for the study, "Hydrogeologic and Geochemical Distinctions within Freshwater Brine Systems in Salar Environments".

Hudson River Estuary Tidal Marsh Sediment Data, Brian Yellen, Jonathan Woodruff

Data and Datasets

This repository contains data from sediment cores collected at six tidal wetland complexes that are located within the Hudson River Estuary. The sites include Stockport Marsh, Esopus Delta, Tivoli North Bay, Tivoli South Bay, Vanderburgh Cove, and Iona Island Marsh. A variety of core collection tools and methods were used to collect uncompacted records, including gouge coring, Russian peat coring, and piston push coring, with the method determined by coring environment. The general workflow for cores included (1) splitting; (2) Itrax XRF scanning; (3) subsampling cores ~10 cm spacing; (4) drying and burning samples for percent water, organic, and mineral …

Dam Impoundments Sediment Mass – Tributaries To The Hudson River, Brian Yellen, Jonathan Woodruff

Data and Datasets

This repository contains data from sediment cores collected during 2017-2018 from 17 impoundments that are located on tributaries to the tidal portion of the Hudson River as part of a larger NERRs collaborative project entitled Dams and Sediment on the Hudson (DaSH). A companion dataset that contains sediment core data from Hudson tidal marshes is archived at UMass Scholarworks data repository. Sediment cores collected from impoundments behind dams were recovered via piston push coring, which tends to minimize compaction and be representative of true sediment thicknesses. The general workflow for cores included (1) splitting; (2) Itrax XRF scanning; (3) subsampling …