Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Adsorption Driven Regolith-Atmospheric Water Vapor Transfer On Mars: An Analysis Of Phoenix Tecp Data, Holly Nicole Farris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

NASA’s Phoenix mission allowed for investigations of Martian diurnal water vapor cycles through the collection of temperature, relative humidity, and electric conductivity data by the Thermal and Electric Conductivity Probe (TECP) instrument. Using this data and previous experimental data, we propose a regolith-driven adsorption-desorption regime at the Phoenix landing site, where parameters intrinsic to the regolith are controlling localized relative humidity at the surface. To constrain these parameters, we model adsorption as a function of temperature and relative humidity across various Mars-relevant materials, defined by two layer-based adsorption theories: Langmuir (monolayer) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller or BET (multilayer). Langmuir serves as an …

The Non-Lethal Effects Of Climate Change On The Territoriality Of Lottia Gigantea, Tracey Gunanto, Christina Chavez, Jessica Martinez, William G. Wright

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The intertidal zone has been described as ground zero for global warming. Here, the owl limpet, Lottia gigantea, adapted to the cool ocean temperatures, must withstand a few hours of baking sun during day-time low tides. This hardship is predicted to increase in frequency and severity in the future as the globe warms. Our research hypothesized that heat events compromise territorial behavior of L. gigantea. All observations and experiments were performed at Inspiration Point near Newport Beach, California. We measured the natural radiant temperature of tagged limpets during day-time low tides using a field-calibrated infrared “thermogun”. We also …

Metabolism In Corals From Antarctica, The Deep-Sea, And The Shallow Subtropics: Contrasts In Temperature, Depth, And Light, Lara Henry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral habitats span the range from tropical to polar, extremely shallow to thousands of meters deep. The differences in light and temperature experienced in these varied habitats likely affect the metabolic rates of the corals residing there. The metabolism of three coral species from different habitats have been examined to elucidate the effects of these environmental parameters on metabolism, an under-studied aspect of coral biology. For all three species, measurements of oxygen uptake, ammonium excretion, and activity of the enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), and citrate synthase (CS) were used to characterize their metabolism. Off Florida's Gulf coast, …

Biochemical Aspects Of The Thermal Sensitivity And Energy Balance Of Polar, Tropical And Subtropical Teleosts, Eloy Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The maintenance of a functional energy balance in ectothermic fauna could be challenging in a thermally disparate environment. Biochemical adaptations at the enzyme and membrane levels allows for a set compensatory mechanism that allow the individual to maintain an energetic surplus, thus allocating energy for growth and reproduction. The present work describes how the energetic machinery in the cell, particularly the mitochondrion, could be affected by temperature changes. More specifically, this work aimed to determine how environmental temperature affects the mitochondria energetic performance of fishes from disparate thermal regimes.

Mitochondrial ATP production efficiency was evaluated in fishes from polar, tropical …

A Ctd Biotag For Mid-Sized Marine Predators, Heather Broadbent

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biologging tools for investigating the study of fine-scale linkages between animal behavior and the physical microstructure of the marine habitat are technically limited by substantial size, high cost or low sensor resolution. However, recent advances in electronic technologies and process techniques present attractive alternatives to current tag designs. Motivated by the need for a low-cost, compact CTD biotag for medium-sized marine animals, the University of South Florida Center for Ocean Technology developed a multi-sensor biotag for quantitative measurements of ocean salinity. This dissertation describes the development and performance of a novel CTD biotag used for animal-borne measurements of the physical …

Thermal Determinants Of Nest Site Selection In Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Caretta Caretta, At Casey Key, Florida, Lindsey Nicole Flynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many environmental cues are thought to influence nest site selection by loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, and much debate exists over the possible influence of sand temperature. This study had two primary objectives: (1) to measure thermal differences across transects of a major nesting beach of Casey Key (28.7 N, 82.3 W), Florida and (2) to evaluate thermal pattern variation that influenced nesting patterns of adult female loggerhead sea turtles. A secondary objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of infrared thermometers to collect sand surface temperatures in the field.

Temperature data were collected from 145 nest …