Earth Sciences Commons^™

Towards Sociobiogeochemistry: Critical Perspectives On Anthropogenic Alterations To Soil Nitrogen Chemistry Via U.S. Urban And Suburban Development, Christopher D. Ryan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ecological impacts of changes to land use are relevant to concerns about climate change, eutrophication of waterbodies, and reductions in biodiversity. As a foundational component of ecosystem functioning, changes to soil biogeochemistry have significant effects on overall ecosystem health. With cities continuing to grow and develop in extent, the impacts of urbanization and suburbanization on soils are of particular concern. Despite a wide range of natural climatic and geologic conditions, several factors have driven similar patterns of land transformation and management across the United States. In particular, federal initiatives including the Home Owners Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 29. Extraterrestrial Entertainment: Are We Being Monitored By Alien Beings?, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823−1913) was an early advocate for the rational assessment of likelihood of extraterrestrial life. Current efforts to evaluate the situation have ranged from the heavily self-indulgent to the more objective, and it is still often difficult to decide just how much of the information we are receiving on the subject is dependable. An attempt is made here to cut through the haze and reduce the matter to elementals.

Geologists As Colonial Scouts: The Rogers Expedition To Otavi And Tsumeb, Namibia, 1892–1895, Selby Hearth

Geology Faculty Research and Scholarship

From 1892 to 1895, the South West Africa Company (SWACO) expedition led by geologist Matthew Rogers conducted the first geologic mapping in Namibia’s Otavi Mountains, including the now world-famous Tsumeb Mine. This paper uses archival documents from the Rogers expedition to trace his geologic contributions and to illustrate important themes in the relationships between 19th century colonial geologists, Western colonizing governments, Indigenous communities, resource extraction, and corporations. To carry out his mapping, Rogers performed a continuous balancing act between British and German colonial powers and local African leaders. The local leaders and communities he interacted with variously resisted his incursions, …

Stage And Discharge Prediction From Documentary Time-Lapse Imagery, Kenneth W. Chapman, Troy E. Gilmore, Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Christian D. Chapman, Aaron R. Mittelstet, John E. Stranzl Jr.

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Imagery from fixed, ground-based cameras is rich in qualitative and quantitative information that can improve stream discharge monitoring. For instance, time-lapse imagery may be valuable for filling data gaps when sensors fail and/or during lapses in funding for monitoring programs. In this study, we used a large image archive (> 40,000 images from 2012 to 2019) from a fixed, ground-based camera that is part of a documentary watershed imaging project (https://plattebasintimelapse.com/). Scalar image features were extracted from daylight images taken at one-hour intervals. The image features were fused with United States Geological Survey stage and discharge data as …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Studi Alimentari Italiani E Geologia: Vino E Vulcani Da Diverse Prospettive, Maria Varriale Gomez

Italian Renaissance Foodways

Nel mio progetto di integrazione avanzata, mi impegnerò in un'esplorazione interdisciplinare del vino. Analizzerò il vino utilizzando gli studi alimentari italiani e la geologia, concentrandomi in particolare sugli effetti che i vulcani hanno avuto sul vino in Italia sin dal Medioevo e dal Rinascimento. Nel corso della storia, il vino è stato una parte cruciale della cultura italiana e i vulcani del paese hanno influenzato la produzione della bevanda in modi diversi come la varietà delle uve coltivate e il suo sapore basato sulla composizione del terreno vulcanico. Le numerose regioni in Italia producono vino diverso in gran parte a …

Genealogical Vs Phylogenetic Mutation Rates: Answering A Challenge, Robert Carter

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

There is a discrepancy between the mutation rate we can measure today and the rate at which evolution is supposed to have proceeded. The former is sometimes called the genealogical mutation rate, for it is obtained by comparing individuals whom we know to be related. The latter is sometimes called the phylogenetic mutation rate. It is calculated by counting the fixed differences between two species and dividing by the estimated time since their common ancestor. Genealogical mutation rates are generally several orders of magnitude faster than phylogenetic estimates. This causes problems for the evolutionary model. For example, using the genealogical …

Field Guide To Big Bone Lick, Kentucky: Birthplace Of American Vertebrate Paleontology, Glenn W. Storrs, H Gregory Mcdonald, Eric Scott, Robert A. Genheimer, Stanley E. Hedeen, Cameron E. Schwalbach

Special Publication--KGS

Big Bone Lick is the birthplace of vertebrate paleontology in the Western Hemisphere and has a long and celebrated history in the exploration of the American colonial frontier and of the early United States. Notable European scientists of the 18th century such as Buffon, Cuvier, and Hunter discussed the fossils found there. Prominent Americans of the time, such as Boone, Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson are also part of the site’s history. It is the type locality for several extinct late Pleistocene megafaunal mammals, most notably the iconic American Mastodon, who were attracted to the area by salt licks dictated by …

Approaches To Assessing Nutrient Coupling In Open Ocean Datasets, James M. Moore, Claire P. Till

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Nutrient coupling describes a process where the biogeochemical cycles of two elements are linked by being incorporated similarly into biomass. This paper uses data from the GEOTRACES GP16 cruise (Eastern Pacific Zonal Transect) to investigate the relationship between certain macronutrients generally coupled to trace elements in terms of their oceanic distributions with the notable exception of in an oxygen minimum zone: cadmium-phosphate and zinc-silicate. There are many methods applied to oceanographic data to correlate analyte concentrations; while they are often presented independently in literature, here we attempt to use them in conjunction for a more thorough interpretation. By compiling 1) …

Unearthing Complexity: Tangible Histories Of Water And Earth, Alexis Violet

Masters Theses

Unearthing Complexity investigates conceptions of time and surface through geological stories of the water and earth. Building on theories of deep time, hydrofeminism, critical zones, and grounding, I hope to foster a deeper awareness of time scales other than our own and a more tangible understanding of the embodied experience of matter in the universe. Working toward a new literacy of the water and earth in which they are recognized as living, changing bodies to which we are inherently tied at a molecular level, the site of this multiscalar inquiry occurs in the coastal zones of the Narragansett Bay where …

Reintroducing Hemp (Rongony) In The Material Palette Of Madagascar: A Study On The Potential Of Hemp Clay Components And Its Impact On Social And Ecological Communities., Henintsoa Thierry Andrianambinina

Masters Theses

When mentioning the word hemp, especially in the local language of Madagascar, the literal translation does not set it apart from marijuana, as they are both called “rongony” - creating the stigma around hemp as the negative stereotype of marijuana. However, the material has been used by the ancestors of Madagascar, as well as across cultures, in its fibrous form to produce fabrication like textile goods and packaging. During colonization, the prohibition of hemp intensified, and since then, any activity related to either of these plants is prohibited and will end in severe punitive measures. This thesis explores the strengths …

A Typological And Chemical Analysis Of Roman Oil Lamps From Poggio Del Molino, Brandon Tejo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Terracotta lamps, known to the Romans as lucernae, are small, handheld, often decorated objects which provided ancient people light. To modern researchers, they serve as tools for dating stratigraphy and iconographic studies. Beyond their immediately apparent aesthetic and symbolic value, the chemical compositions of the clay of these lamps reflect their origin. This study complements archaeological typologies with chemometric analyses to describe 16 Late Republican and Imperial Roman lamps recovered from the villa at Poggio del Molino (PdM), Tuscany. These finds were recovered from the 2021 and 2022 PdM excavations. The combined approach of typology with X-ray Diffraction (XRD) …

Entangled Conquest: A Study Of Cultural Hybridization And Change In Norman Ireland, Sean Mcconnel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employs entanglement theory and new geophysical macro-analytical methods to

examine the spread of Norman culture in late medieval Ireland. The traditional theories of

Anglo-Norman conquest by mass migration, by military conquest, and by political conquest are

reviewed and compared to a more nuanced theory of Normanization, which suggests that

genetically Irish people, who spoke Irish, practiced Irish law, and pursued Irish interests were

primarily responsible for what is considered "Norman" material culture on the Island. This

dissertation presents the idea that adherence to the English king was a necessary and expedient

action on the part of Irish lords …

Glass: The Material That Defines Us, Madisyn Rex

Honors Projects

This Honors Project is an exploration of the intersections between glass science, geology, glass art, and my own personal experience with glass.

Abdoo, Mary, 1913-1990 (Sc 3668), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3668. “The Elk Horn Coal Corporation,” by Mary Abdoo. The 1935 report examines Elkhorn coal as well as the corporation’s history, officers, and financial status. Includes a letter from the author outlining the company’s approval of the report.

Breakwater: Anti-Blackness In Geoscience Lessons From Long Beach, Ca, Christina Marsh

Pomona Senior Theses

Breakwaters are more than just physical structures that protect against storm surges and in the context of Long Beach, CA, my hometown, they are actualizations of economic, social, environmental, geologic, and policy challenges. Inspired by Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy, and Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks, I use an extended metaphor and autoethnographic approach to connect a chronology of my educational life to the physical structure of a breakwater. Where the breakwater also acts as a signifier of my personal experiences of seeing it, questioning its purpose, and not always finding an answer. …

Middle Savannah River: An A/R/Tographic Ecopedagogical Ethnography Experimenting With Rhizomatic Perspectives, Lisa Augustine-Chizmar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is an experiment in perspective. Using the four commonplaces (Schwab, 1978), I practiced letting the Savannah River teach me what there is to know about the water, the land, the people, and the other entities that depend on ki through artistic, ethnographic, and ecopedagogical lenses. The ethnographic findings describe the social actors that depend on ki and give a voice to the River. The a/r/tographic findings display the River on a canvas map through two hundred years using paint, clay, photography, video, abstract acrylics, and fabric. Together, these methods contribute to a unique ecopedagogical journey. This word cloud …

A 14,100 Cal B. P. Rocky Mountain Locust Cache From Winnemucca Lake, Pershing County, Nevada, Evan J. Pellegrini, Eugene M. Hattori, Larry Benson, John Southon, Hojun Song, Derek A. Woller

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The remains of approximately 1000 (MNI) Rocky Mountain locusts (Melanoplus spretus) from an archaeological cache pit in Crypt Cave, Winnemucca (dry) Lake, Nevada, date to between 14,305–14,067 calendar years before present (95.4 % confidence; 12,238 ± 18 ¹⁴C yrs. B.P.). The age of this western Great Basin occupation along the shoreline of Lake Lahontan is consistent with occupation of several other Western North American terminal Pleistocene sites dating prior to 14,000 cal. B.P., including distinctive petroglyphs on the western shore of Winnemucca Lake dating as early as 14,800–13,200 cal. B.P.

A Field Guide To Jezero Crater, Mars, Lee Adair

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This project aims to blend art, creative writing, and scientific inquiry to explore the possibilities of geology research on our neighboring planet, Mars. This exploratory field guide combines journals, notes, and images to inform the reader of what they can expect to see on the Martian surface.

Mapping Narrations, Narrating Maps: Concepts Of The World In The Middle Ages And The Early Modern Period, Ingrid Baumgartner, Daniel Gneckow, Anna Hollenbach, Phillip Landgrebe

Research in Medieval and Early Modern Culture

This volume offers the author's central articles on the medieval and early modern history of cartography for the first time in English translation. A first group of essays gives an overview of medieval cartography and illustrates the methods of cartographers. Another analyzes world maps and travel accounts in relation to mapped spaces. A third examines land surveying, cartographical practices of exploration and the production of Portolan atlases.

Fossils On The Floor Mosaics In The Rotunda Of The Nebraska State Capitol Second Edition, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

The idea for this project arose during a field trip to the Nebraska State Capitol led by my long-time friend and colleague, Joe Hannibal, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, during the Geological Society of America’s North-Central Section Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 26, 2014. One of Joe’s interests is historical buildings and their building stones. He put together a very useful guidebook to the building and its decorative stones (Hannibal, 2014) that we used on our tour.

One of the many places that we visited was the State Capitol Archives, located in the basement, where the …

Echoed Sites And The Unknowable Object, Joseph Canizales

MFA in Visual Art

This thesis will discuss the expanded field of sculpture, simulacra, digital technology, and two terms I’ve devised: the unknowable object, and echoed sites. Within these two terms, I’m concerned with the complicated relationship between humans and geology and how we extract material from the ground without reflecting on the geologic history of the site. In echoed sites I create sculptures with and without a geologic site or object, by way of digital technology. These forms display two states paradoxically in balance, where what’s presented leaves more questions than answers. Thus, as part of echoed sites, exists the unknowable object. …

Using Geologic Principles And Data To Create A Symphony For Wind Ensemble, Thomas J. Davis

2022 Symposium

Geology and geologic processes have featured in many pieces of classical music such as Alan Hovhaness’ symphonic works after Mt. St. Helens and Glacier Peak but these pieces are impressionistic and only take general inspiration from the geology of their subjects. This paper describes the creation of Tectonics (2021) a piece which incorporates and describes many geologic principles and processes, such as mantle convection, through the musical form of cannon, the formation of fold and thrust belts whose cross sections are directly visually recreated in the score, and the physical dynamics of earthquake waves demonstrated through variations of pitch and …

Overlapping Scales Of Place Based Indigenous Knowledge And Hydroclimate In Australia, Rachel L. Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indigenous Peoples have been monitoring and adapting to uncertainty and change in their local regions for millennia, resulting in a holistic view of the interlinkages within the occupied complex socio-environmental systems. This research consists of investigating the overlapping scales of knowledge within Indigenous Australian seasonal calendars and colonial methods of hydroclimate assessment for improving adaptability to climate change impacts.

The analyses began with a sample of 25 Indigenous seasonal calendars providing a glimpse into interlinkages among biota, environment, and meteorology of the localised regions. Across the calendars, five themes of information and multiple categories within these themes became apparent and …

Jillson, Willard Rouse, 1890-1975 (Mss 682), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 682. Writings and supporting materials of Willard Rouse Jillson, State Geologist of Kentucky, author and historian. Includes manuscripts, page proofs, photographic negatives, and promotional pamphlets for his books.

The Territory, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Territory (2022), directed by Alex Pritz.

Serving Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games And Developing Ice And Snow Industry: Application And Extension Of Cryospheric Science, Dahe Qin, Cunde Xiao, Minghu Ding, Feiteng Wang, Zhiqiang Zhu, Shuiqing Yin, Jiawen Ren

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Cryospheric Science, as an emerging interdisciplinary research field combining natural science and humanity, aims to understand nature's law, serve human society and promote sustainable development. In recent years, by deepening the understanding of the cryosphere elements and the whole sphere, and by expanding the application research of cryospheric science, the Chinese community of cryospheric science has developed by leaps and bounds and realized the crossover from the traditional basic research to serving the major national needs, which marks the increasing maturity of the discipline. The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is a major landmark event at an important historical time …

Perceptions Of Historical Climate Change And Park Policy: The Impact On The Fremont Cottonwood In Zion National Park, Kathleen Kavarra Corr

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite its “natural” appearance and the Organic Act 1916 mandate for preservation of the natural environment in National Parks, the Virgin River as it flows through Zion National Park’s Zion Canyon was transformed through massive flood control re-engineering projects in the 1930s. The armoring of the river has had significant impacts on riparian vegetation, particularly on the stands of native Fremont Cottonwood trees that once filled the narrow valley. What was the motivation for this massive flood control project carried out in an arid region with less than 15 inches of rain per year? This dissertation explores the motivations which …

The World As We Know It: Maps And Atlases From Special Collections, Archives And Special Collections, Luke Meagher

Library Exhibits

Selections of maps and atlases from Sandor Teszler Library’s Special Collections are presented in this exhibit to show how, over time, cartographers have represented the world as we know it.

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …