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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Chemistry

A Study Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Ecology In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico And The Effect Of Variable River Outflow Using Stable Isotope Analysis Of The Food Web And Eye Lenses, Caitlin C. Slife Aug 2022

A Study Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Ecology In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico And The Effect Of Variable River Outflow Using Stable Isotope Analysis Of The Food Web And Eye Lenses, Caitlin C. Slife

Dissertations

In the Mississippi Bight and surrounding waters, river outflow impacts the basal resources of the Red Snapper food web, altering carbon sources and impacting prey and predator isotopes. In this study, the impact of riverine outflow on nutrients, particulate organic matter (POM), and physical water parameters on Red Snapper and their food web was analyzed using stable isotope and stomach content analysis over 5 years. The Mississippi, Pearl, Pascagoula, and Mobile rivers were included in the analysis of river impact. The Mississippi and Mobile rivers were found to significantly impact nutrients and POM in the region. River outflow was also …


Application Of A 14c-Assay To Assess Methanotrophic Biodegradation Of Tce In Low Ph Groundwater, Evan Groome Aug 2022

Application Of A 14c-Assay To Assess Methanotrophic Biodegradation Of Tce In Low Ph Groundwater, Evan Groome

All Theses

Current biological strategies for remediating trichloroethylene (TCE) in low pH aquifers (i.e., pH14C-TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first-order rate constants for the degradation of TCE in microcosms containing soil and groundwater from the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) superfund site, where the pH ranges from 4.1 to 4.9. The 14C-TCE assay was also adapted to calculate soil-normalized rate constants for data from this site, as well as data that Szwast21 collected from the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). In addition to natural attenuation, biostimulation through amendments of methane and nutrients were also assessed. This treatment …


Polychlorinated Organic Contaminants In Baleen From North Pacific Ocean Whales, Briana R. Coulter Jun 2022

Polychlorinated Organic Contaminants In Baleen From North Pacific Ocean Whales, Briana R. Coulter

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Persistent organic pollutants (POP) have been detected and analyzed in various baleen whale tissues (blubber, muscles, liver, etc.) This study concentrated on detecting 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and 14 organochlorine pesticides from baleen, a baleen whale tissue never before analyzed for POPs. These data were used to investigate temporal and geographic trends by sampling at every 1 cm interval along the length of the baleen plate. Four species of baleen whales stranded in the North Pacific Ocean were included in this study: gray (n=2), humpback (n=2), minke (n=1), and blue (n=1) whales. Organic contaminant concentrations were analyzed with respect to …


Honey As A Biomonitor For Air Pollutant Deposition In The Eastern United States Using Ion Chromatography And Scanning Electron Microscopy, Cole Cochran Apr 2022

Honey As A Biomonitor For Air Pollutant Deposition In The Eastern United States Using Ion Chromatography And Scanning Electron Microscopy, Cole Cochran

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Anthropogenic activities generate metal, acid, and particulate air pollutants which negatively impact human and ecological health. In the United States, power plant, industrial, and vehicle emissions are leading causes of air pollution, however, the measurement of air pollution at high-resolution spatial regimes remains a challenge. Honey has emerged as a powerful biomonitoring tool to effectively quantify contaminants without the need for a large array of monitoring instruments. I hypothesized that honey could be used to effectively measure and map modern air pollutant spatiotemporal relationships over the Eastern U.S. Using ion chromatography with sulfate as an indicator for air pollution and …


The Photo-Transformation Of Free Methionine In The Presence Of Surrogate And Standard Isolate Dissolved Organic Matter Under Sunlit Irradiation, Benjamin J. Mohrhardt Jan 2022

The Photo-Transformation Of Free Methionine In The Presence Of Surrogate And Standard Isolate Dissolved Organic Matter Under Sunlit Irradiation, Benjamin J. Mohrhardt

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sulfur (S)-containing amino acids are key sources of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur involved in protein synthesis, protein function, and providing energy for microbial growth. Dissolved free and combined methionine is one of two S-containing amino acids incorporated into proteins and has been attributed to their stability and function. The oxidation of methionine has received considerable attention given its ubiquitous presence in most biological systems and has been associated with losses in protein function and pathological disorders. In natural waters, methionine is rapidly and selectively taken up by microorganisms to achieve cellular requirements of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. The abiotic transformation …


Spatial Geochemical Changes In Central And East Texas Soils Over Time Resulting From Human Decomposition, Isabela Marisol Overturf Jan 2022

Spatial Geochemical Changes In Central And East Texas Soils Over Time Resulting From Human Decomposition, Isabela Marisol Overturf

CMC Senior Theses

Human decomposition is studied to aid forensic investigations and better understand the impact of cemeteries on urban resources like soil and groundwater. The purpose of this study was to identify changes in soil geochemistry at and around a human grave to search for lateral nutrient movement and possibly identify new patterns in elemental concentrations that could be used in estimating post-mortem intervals (PMIs). At the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF) at Texas State San Marcos, soil samples were collected from a shallow grave over the course of 54 days to conduct analysis for organic matter content, texture, pH, and bulk …


The Influence Of Hydrogen Peroxide On The Enrichment Of Fe(Iii) Reducing Bacteria From Acid Mine Drainage, Susami Seth Jan 2022

The Influence Of Hydrogen Peroxide On The Enrichment Of Fe(Iii) Reducing Bacteria From Acid Mine Drainage, Susami Seth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is hypothesized that the ocean of Europa, a Jupiter moon, hosts bacteria on its oceanic floor. Understanding how Fe(III) reducing bacteria (FeRB) from AMD utilize organic materials within its surrounding environment outlines how FeRB could thrive and tolerate extreme conditions. FeRB are known to tolerate metals and highly reactive oxidants species (ROS), but in this experiment, H2O2 was the experimental factor to further test FeRB tolerance. H2O2 is a common ROS and is damaging to living material such as proteins, DNA, and RNA. A range of H2O2 concentrations were fed …