Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing Potential Of Dual Use Solar Development In New Jersey Preserved Farmlands, Gary Ryan Chapman

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The dual use of farmland and the incorporation of solar energy has the potential to maximize the net returns per acre and utilization capabilities. Land is one of the most vital and nonrenewable resources that is often solely used for one purpose. This study focuses on analyzing three objectives: 1) To explore the potential of Agrivoltaic Farming (dual use) on preserved farmland in New Jersey. 2) To estimate the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of New Jersey’s dual use potential. 3) To generate sensitivity analyses of dual use solar and farm production in New Jersey. This study analyzed New Jersey’s …

New Black Carbon Isotopes From The Eastern Tethys And Earth System Modeling During The Petm, Maurizia De Palma

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ca. 56Ma) is a time when global temperatures greatly increased due to rapid carbon emissions. The event is marked by a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) that is observed in both marine and terrestrial records. However, the amount, rate, and source of the emitted carbon remains highly debated. This study investigates the response of the eastern Tethys, an understudied subtropical shallow marine environment, and assesses the climatic impacts during the PETM. An Earth system model of intermediate complexity (cGENIE) ran six “double-inversion” experiments with δ¹¹B and δ¹³C_carb forced onto the …

Arsenic : Risk, Exposure, Policy And Management, Nadia Binte Jamil

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Arsenic (As) contamination in drinking water is a global concern. About 150 million people from 70 countries in the world are at risk to health hazards associated with As contamination. In this study, we compared four As mitigation approaches practiced in Bangladesh and their costs. Our results show that intervention that is associated with the lowest cost of exposure reduction is testing and switching ($3/person), followed by intermediate wells ($28/person), deep tube wells ($143/person), and piped water supply system ($158/person). We then prioritized affected villages to reduce exposure and facilitate mitigation using three criteria: weighted exposure (mean As concentration x …

A Study On Wind Farms In New Jersey : Life Cycle Assessment And Acceptance Of Wind Farms By The Tourists, Nawal Shoaib

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

New Jersey has taken steps to and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. In order to achieve that a part of its Energy Master Plan focuses on building the wind energy sector. First part of this thesis presents a life cycle assessment on a hypothetical offshore wind farm 15 miles from the coast of New Jersey and compares the benefits of recycling the offshore wind farm at the end of its 20-year life cycle. The results indicated that 1) floating turbines cause less emissions than fixed turbines 2) recycling rotor will have a negative impact of 17% on the …

Changes In Demographic Factors’ Influence On Regional Productivity Growth: Empirical Evidence From China, 2000–2010, Xiaoxi Wang, Yaojun Zhang, Danlin Yu, Xiwei Wu, Ding Li

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Improving total factor productivity is an important way for China’s economy to avoid the middle income trap. Demographic changes are believed to have significant impacts on productivity growth. Using the census and socioeconomic data of 358 prefecture cities in mainland China, this paper analyzes the changes in the global and local spatial dependence of total factor productivity. We then employ spatial regression methods to investigate the role of changes in population factors in productivity growth in 2000 and 2010. We draw three observations from the analysis. First, population density plays an important role in both years. There is an inverted …

Suitability Of Flood Hazard Assessment Methods For Tanzania: A Case Of Little Ruaha And Upper Ngerengere Catchment, Kashimbi J. Kihara, Patrick Valimba, Joel Nobert

Tanzania Journal of Science

Understanding the applicability of flood quantile estimation methods in flood hazard assessment is fundamental for planning, prevention, and management of flood risks. Therefore, this study evaluates and compares three hydrological methods, namely Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV), Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN), and regional regression equation (RRE), to estimate flood quantiles embedded in the existing flood damage assessment framework by applying them to two different river catchments, Little Ruaha (LR) and Upper Ngerengere (UN), Tanzania. The evaluation of method performance was carried out using three standard statistical measures for data from 1954 to 2010 and the 1971–1988 period in LR and …

Assessment Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons And Heavy Metal Pollutants In Soil Around Semi Urban Petrol Stations And Automobile Mechanic Workshops, Gregory Udie Sikakwe, Andrew Aondoaver Tyopine, God'swill Abam Eyong

Makara Journal of Science

This study assessed the heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollutant in soil around petrol filling stations and automobile mechanic workshops. Samples of soil were acquired from the depth range of 0–15 cm. Toxic heavy metals were analyzed with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The PAHs were analyzed using phytochemical chromatographic analysis by the Soxhlet extraction method. The soil tested was weakly acidic (6.12–6.81). The trend of the heavy metals’ mean levels in soil followed the order: lead (Pb) > nickel (Ni) > vanadium (V) > cadmium (Cd). The mean levels of PAHs were in the order: 1,2-benzanthracene pyrene > anthracene > fluorene > benzo(b)fluoranthene > 1,1,2-benzopyrelene (BghiP) …

Sustainable Management Of Rangelands: An Assessment Of Invasion Cover Trajectories And Their Contribution To Invasion Management In Marigat Sub-County, Kenya, Beatrice Adoyo, Albrecht Ehrensperger, Mikalitsa S. Mukhovi, Boniface Kiteme, Purity Mbaabu Rima, Sandra Eckert, Simon Choge, Urs Schaffner

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Invasive alien species have complex spatiotemporal patterns of spread beyond geographical and jurisdictional boundaries. This calls for a coordinated management approach that is spatially explicit, extends beyond individual plot levels, and incorporates land users’ perceptions and decisions. This study, therefore, aims at assessing spatiotemporal invasion trajectories of the invasive tree Prosopis juliflora in Baringo County, Kenya, and evaluating their possible relation to land users’ management decisions. Pre-classified land cover data over a seven-year time period (1988–2016) were reclassified based on the presence or absence of P. juliflora and integrated into ArcGIS to produce P. juliflora cover trajectories for analysis. The …

Reykjanes Mantle Convection And Climate: Crustal Objectives, Ross E. Parnell-Turner, Anne R. Briais, Leah J. Levay, Ying Cui, Anita Di Chiara, Justin P. Dodd, Deborah E. Eason, Sarah A. Friedman, Katharina E. Hochmuth, Boris T. Karatsolis, Danielle E. Leblanc, Melody R. Lindsay, David D. Mcnamara, Sevasti E. Modestou, Bramley Murton, Suzanne B. O’Connell, Gabriel T. Pasquet, Paul N. Pearson, Sheng Ping Qian, Yair Rosenthal, Sara Satolli, Jose M. Cuevas, Jamie L. Shamrock, Takuma Suzuki, Saalim M. Syed, Nicholas J. White, Alexandra Yang Yang

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The five primary sites proposed for International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 395, which was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, were cored during IODP Expedition 395C. The Expedition 395C operations, shipboard measurements, and sampling were adjusted to account for the absence of a sailing science party. The Expedition 395/395C objectives are (1) to investigate temporal variations in ocean crust generation at the Reykjanes Ridge and test hypotheses for the influence of Iceland mantle plume fluctuations on these processes, (2) to analyze sedimentation rates at the Björn and Gardar contourite drifts, as proxies for Cenozoic variations of North Atlantic deepwater …

A History Of Wright State University's Department Of Geological Science, Paul J. Wolfe

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

A history of Wright State University's disbanded and reintegrated Department of Geological Sciences written by department faculty member Paul J. Wolfe. Wolfe describes the development of the program, the faculty throughout the years, and the programs offered through the department.

Baseflow And Water Resilience Variability In Two Water Management Units In Southeastern Brazil, Lucas Vituri Santarosa, Didier Gastmans, Troy E. Gilmore, Jan Boll, Sebastian Balbin Betancur, Vitor Fidelis Monteiro Gonçalves

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Changes in climate and water demand in densely populated regions increasingly affect hydrological systems, and, in turn, impact socioeconomic conditions. In this case study, we identify how the hydrogeological frameworks of two water resource management units, Tietê-Jacaré (TJ) and Piracicaba-Capivari-Jundiaí (PCJ) in Sao Paulo state (Brazil), control the baseflow processes and resilience in the face of streamflow fluctuations in response to anthropogenic activities and climate variation. The results reveal between 40% and 75% contributions of baseflow to total streamflow in basins overlying crystalline and sedimentary aquifers. The basins in PCJ which mostly overly crystalline aquifers, have shorter water residence times …

Effects Of Foliar Application Of Zno Nanoparticles On Lentil Production, Stress Level And Nutritional Seed Quality Under Field Conditions, Marek Kolenčík, Dávid Ernst, Matej Komár, Martin Urík, Martin Šebesta, Ľuba Ďurišová, Marek Bujdoš, Ivan Černý, Juraj Chlpík, Martin Juriga, Ramakanth Illa, Yu Qian, Huan Feng, Gabriela Kratošová, Karla Čech Barabaszová, Ladislav Ducsay, Elena Aydın

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nanotechnology offers new opportunities for the development of novel materials and strategies that improve technology and industry. This applies especially to agriculture, and our previous field studies have indicated that zinc oxide nanoparticles provide promising nano-fertilizer dispersion in sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the precise ZnO-NP effects on legumes. Herein, 1 mg·L⁻¹ ZnO-NP spray was dispersed on lentil plants to establish the direct NP effects on lentil production, seed nutritional quality, and stress response under field conditions. Although ZnO-NP exposure positively affected yield, thousand-seed weight and the number of pods per plant, there was no statistically significant …

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. …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Andes And The Himalayas: How Climate Change Effects The Health Of Glaciers And The Social Impacts This Has On Surrounding Communities, Jacqueline Mountford

Environmental Studies Honors Papers

The glacial ice in both the Andean and Himalayan Mountain ranges act as water towers for the billions of people that live within their watersheds. Throughout the year, these communities rely on the glacial meltwater to increase the flow of rivers, but this meltwater is the most impactful during the dry season when there is less precipitation. Communities in both the Andes and Himalayas use this glacial meltwater for human and animal consumption, agricultural purposes, and harnessing hydroelectric power as a clean energy source. One of the biggest worries for scientists and people around the world is how climate change …

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Phytoplankton Identification & Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Kyle F. Maurelli

CERCOM Reports

Phytoplankton Collection Methodologies: 80 micron Plankton Tow Net with sample bottle attachment

Phytoplankton Protocol: 1.Gather Samples 2.Make one slide per sample 3.View slides using microscope connected with computer 4. Record findings using “ Row # “ and “ Column letter “ 5. Record using “ Tallies “ per species found within sample 6. Capture anything interesting “ Take Picture “ 7.Duplicate pictures taken 8.Make sure measurement of species found is taken 9. Email Jennifer Maucher at [email protected] , include pictures, questions and names of the species you “guess” you found.

Detecting Impacts Of Historic And Undocumented Landslide Tsunamis At High Latitude Sites Using Ndvi, Trent Adams

All Master's Theses

In the last century most of the largest landslide tsunamis on record have occurred in remote regions of the world, which has led to a limited understanding of their impacts on landscapes. The goal of this work is to present a methodology to identify impacts of landslide tsunamis with a technique that does not require field work in extremely remote locations. Although landslide tsunamis have occurred that were not directly witnessed by anyone, evidence of landslide tsunamis can still be observed via satellite. Using multispectral satellite images, we calculated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to identify tsunami-impacted sites, estimate tsunami …

Sedimentary Records Of Trace Elements Contamination In Sediment Core From The Gulf Of Gemlik, Marmara Sea, Turkey: History, Contamination Degree, And Sources, Tuğçe Nagi̇han Arslan Kaya, Erol Sari, Mehmet Ali̇ Kurt

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The pollution history of aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and mercury (Hg) were evaluated using geochemical and sedimentological properties of two sediment cores. The MD22A contained a mass-flow unit and two coccolith units. The upper coccolith was characterized by high organic matter, but it was relatively depleted in terms of all studied elements, suggesting dilution by high inorganic carbon. In the mass-flow unit, the relatively high Cr, Co, Zn, and Hg levels suggested additional contamination sources from the Kocadere Stream and Kocasu River. The ranges of Al, Cr, Co, Cu, Hg, Pb, and …

Assessing Machine Learning Utility In Predicting Hydrologic And Nitrate Dynamics In Karst Agroecosystems, Timothy Mcgill

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Seasonal hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and harmful algal blooms experienced in many inland freshwater bodies is partially driven due to excessive nitrogen loading seen from agricultural watersheds. Within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, many areas are underlain with karst features, and efforts to reduce nitrogen contributions from these areas have had varying success, due to lacking a complete understanding of nutrient dynamics in karst agricultural systems. To improve the understanding of nitrogen cycling in these systems, 35 months of high resolution in situ water quality and atmospheric data were collected and fed into a two-hidden layer extreme learning machine …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 47, 2022, Department Of Geography, Geology, And The Environment

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Data Fusion And Synergy Of Active And Passive Remote Sensing; An Application For Freeze Thaw Detections, Zahra Sharifnezhadazizi

Dissertations and Theses

There has been a recent evolvement in the field of remote sensing after increase of number satellites and sensors data which could be fused to produce new data and products. These efforts are mainly focused on using of simultaneous observations from different platforms with different spatial and temporal resolutions. The research dissertation aims to enhance the synergy use of active and passive microwave observations and examine the results in detection land freeze and thaw (FT) predictions. Freeze thaw cycles particularly in high-latitude regions have a crucial role in many applications such as agriculture, biogeochemical transitions, hydrology and ecosystem studies. The …

Impact Of Prairie Restoration On Geochemistry And Microbial Communities In Groundwater, Kayla Koenig

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Prairie restoration is important for reversing the loss of biodiversity and repairing ecosystem functions humanity is dependent on diverse ecosystems. This study looks at the impact of the beginning phases of prairie restoration on groundwater geochemistry and microbial communities the relationship between them. This research project studied the geochemistry and microbial communities in five wells before, during, and after the beginning phases of the first year of a prairie restoration on the Northern Illinois University campus. Water samples were collected bimonthly for a year and analyzed on an Ion Chromatograph. Microbial samples were collected monthly and underwent DNA extraction, amplification, …

The Effect Of Climate Change, Human Activity, And Water Management Interventions On Environmental And Socio-Economic Outcomes In The Mekong Delta Region, Huynh Truong Gia Nguyen

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The Vietnam Mekong Delta (VMD) is the southernmost part of the Mekong River watershed basin and plays a critical role in Vietnam’s socio-economic and ecological wellbeing. Because of both climate change and anthropogenic activities, such as hydropower dam construction and overwhelming water extraction, the area has recently experienced severe droughts, changing rainfall patterns, and decreasing water resources, collectively heightening disaster risks. Understanding the interactions among these evolving factors is key to preserving resources in the VMD and similarly afflicted regions. Therefore, this dissertation included three objectives. The first objective was to estimate potential impacts of changes in the available water …

Distributed Energy Resources : An Assessment Of New Jersey’S Clean Energy Future, Mary Elizabeth Kenny

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The demand for renewable energy in New Jersey will continue to grow as economic opportunities and community support drive development. The effective integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) will transform energy production, storage, and use. To achieve sustainable energy production, the current reliance on fossil fuels must be reduced and replaced with less carbon-intensive energy sources that optimize the electric grid. DERs help pioneer the path to a clean energy transition where the implementation of new renewable energy projects will diversify New Jersey’s energy portfolio and provide a more resilient, equitable, and independent energy source. This thesis investigates different perspectives …

Changing Snowmelt Conditions In The Western Canadian Arctic, Matthew Y. T. Tsui

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Multidecadal Changes in Spring Snowmelt in the Western Canadian Arctic

This study investigates the changes in key aspects of snowmelt in the western Canadian Arctic. Specifically, we will look at changes in the onset of snowmelt and the duration of snowmelt between 1999 and 2019, and extended air temperature between 1957 and 2019. In addition, we will look at changes in eight meteorological variables during the melt period. It was found that the onset of snowmelt occurred 14 days earlier, while the melt period ends 20 days earlier than 20 years ago. As a result, the duration of melt period …

Lake Huron Shoreline Analysis, Shubham Satish Nandanwar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lake Huron is a popular tourist destination and is home to several businesses and residents. Since the shoreline is dynamic and is subject to change over the years due to several factors such as a change in water level, soil type, human encroachment, etc., these locations tend to encounter floods due to increased water levels and wind speed. This causes erosion and loss to the properties along the shoreline.

This study is based on two areas of interest named Pinery Provincial Park and Sauble Beach which are located on the shoreline of Lake Huron where Pinery Provincial Park is a …

Alpine Shrub Tundra Water Storage And Runoff Dynamics In The Mackenzie Mountains, Sahtú Territory, Nt, Geoffrey Kershaw

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Alpine regions receive large volumes of precipitation and are important to local and regional water balances, particularly during baseflow periods of winter cold and summer drought when the larger basin area is frozen and/or water limited. Alpine headwaters in western Canada are expected to warm and receive more precipitation during the coming decades, with implications for groundwater recharge and streamflow generation within these systems and the regional river networks to which they contribute. Throughout the North, thawing peat plateaus and other ice-rich permafrost features are resulting in an increased extent of thermokarst and wetland land cover. This transition places infrastructure …

Coastal Landform Change Influences On Endangered Five-Lined Skink Distribution At Northwest Beach, Point Pelee National Park, Canada, Evan Fortushniok

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As park visitation increased to Point Pelee National Park up until its peak in 1963, the installation of infrastructure for the purpose of supporting the recreational interest grew with it. At Northwest Beach, large parking lots were built into the coastal landscape and by the 1970s large areas of sand dunes continued to be heavily impacted by the installation of visitor associated infrastructure. The infrastructure resulted in the stabilization of sand on the beach side of the parking lot, resulting in an artificially stabilized and heavily vegetated dune. Over the last few decades, the park slowly reduced the size and …

Dynamic Relationship Study Between The Observed Seismicity And Spatiotemporal Pattern Of Lineament Changes In Palghar, North Maharashtra (India), Biswajit Nath, Ramesh P. Singh, Vineet K. Gahalaut, Ajay P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The Palghar region (north Maharashtra, India), located in the northwestern part of the stable continental region of India, experienced a low magnitude earthquake swarm, which was initiated in September 2018 and is continuing to date (as of October 2021). From December 2018 to December 2020, ~5000 earthquakes with magnitudes from M1.2 to M3.8 occurred in a small region of 20 × 10 km². These earthquakes were probably triggered by fluid migration during seasonal rainfall. In this study, we have used multi-temporal Landsat satellite data of the year 2000, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020, extracted lineaments, and studied the …

Soil Gypsum Content Analysis Of The Proposed Road Route Extension Of Fm 2185 In The Gypsum Plain, Culberson County, Texas, Chikaodili Ohakawa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soils serve as the underlying substrate on which foundations for most structures are built. The properties of a soil type are therefore an important consideration in building engineered structures. Gypsic soils are problematic for construction of such structures. One of the main problems with gypsic soils is dissolution. Gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O) in soils dissolves easily creating voids which can be detrimental to the integrity of engineering structures. To mitigate this, it is important to determine the amount of gypsum present in soils, before construction is initiated.

In this study, three methods were employed in the determination of …

Felsic Volcanism As A Factor Driving The End-Permian Mass Extinction, Hua Zhang, Feifei Zhang, Jiu Bin Chen, Douglas H. Erwin, Drew D. Syverson, Pei Ni, Michael Rampino, Zhe Chi, Yao Feng Cai, Lei Xiang, Wei Qiang Li, Sheng Ao Liu, Ru Cheng Wang, Xiang Dong Wang, Zhuo Feng, Hou Min Li, Ting Zhang, Hong Ming Cai, Wang Zheng, Ying Cui, Xiang Kun Zhu, Zeng Qian Hou, Fu Yuan Wu, Yi Gang Xu, Noah Planavsky, Shu Zhong Shen

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) is commonly invoked as the primary driver of global environmental changes that triggered the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME). Here, we explore the contributions of coeval felsic volcanism to end-Permian environmental changes. We report evidence of extreme Cu enrichment in the EPME interval in South China. The enrichment is associated with an increase in the light Cu isotope, melt inclusions rich in copper and sulfides, and Hg concentration spikes. The Cu and Hg elemental and isotopic signatures can be linked to S-rich vapor produced by felsic volcanism. We use these previously unknown geochemical data …