Digital Commons Network^™

Global Deforestation Prediction: Summer Internship At Clark Labs, Tianze Li, Yahsee Joshi

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper is a description of our internship with Clark Labs in the summer of 2016. We worked as research assistants in the Deforestation Risk Prediction project for Ecosystem Services team. This goal of the project was to predict deforestation at global, continental and national level. Our responsibilities were to choose the variables that may influence the deforestation and to use Land Change Modeler in TerrSet to test the variables and create the deforestation prediction maps. We highly recommend this internship with Clark Labs to other GISDE students who are interested in land change analysis.

Geoscientists-In-The-Park Summer Internship Mapping Shoreline Change With The National Park Service, Michael P. Endicott

Sustainability and Social Justice

This project paper details the activities carried out as a Geologist/GIS Specialist in the Gateway National Recreation Area as a part of the Geoscientists-In-The-Park internship program. The focus of this position was on supporting the geomorphological monitoring efforts of the National Park Service. This was accomplished through a combination of field data collection, GIS analysis, report writing, and project work. By the end of the internship, substantial progress was made to the formation of Gateway’s Annual 1D and 2D report for 2015-2016, field data were collected for the 2016 summer season, changes in geomorphology were explored and summarized for the …

Targeting Sav Restoration At Lake Mattamuskeet Using Gis And Landsat 8 Data, Lindsey Shanks

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Lake Mattamuskeet, a large, shallow lake on the coast of North Carolina, has undergone water quality degradation and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) decline over recent years. Water depth and water clarity have been established as key drivers of SAV loss. To target locations for the restoration of SAV in the lake, an analysis that focuses on water clarity, water depth, and current SAV presence was developed. Two separate methodologies were conducted and compared to analyze water clarity in the lake. The first applied four years (2013-2016) of Landsat 8 imagery to a previously developed model that predicts water clarity from …

Provenance Tracing Of Glacial Sediment From The Foundation, Academy, And Recovery Ice Streams, Weddell Sea, Antarctica, Ashley Marie Cirone

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This project seeks to advance our understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics and to gain insight into the bedrock composition beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet by “fingerprinting” ice streams that drain into the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf. The Ronne- Filchner Ice Shelf is the second largest ice shelf in Antarctica and receives ice drained from both the West and East Antarctic Ice Sheets through a series of ice streams. In response to global warming, this sector has the potential to contribute dramatically to sea level rise, especially from the Recovery Catchment. Till samples were collected from lateral moraines adjacent to the …

Determining Late Pleistocene To Early Holocene Deglaciation Of The Baltic Ice Lake Through Sedimentological And Geochemical Analysis Of Iodp Site M0064, April Lynn Kelly

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

IODP Site M0064 within the Baltic Sea’s Hanô Bay was drilled to investigate the déglaciation history of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. This research aims to better understand how déglaciation speed, SIS drainage patterns, and changes in relative sea level influences sediment deposition within the Baltic Ice Lake (BIL) on a high-resolution timescale. Site M0064 contains diamicton at -47 - 9 mbsf, followed by an upward transition to cm-scale grey thinly laminated rhythmites at -8 mbsf, and a sharp 2.5 cm thick dark brown organic layer at -7.87 msbf, transitioning to reddish-brown thinly …

Concentration Of Metals Associated With The Native Copper Deposits Of Northern Michigan, Daniel R. Blakemore, C. Renee Sparks, Nathaniel H. Bos

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

The Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan is home to the largest accumulation of native copper in the world. Native copper deposits are hosted in the 1.1 billion-year old midcontinent rift which extends from Kansas, up through Lake Superior, around into lower Michigan, but is only exposed in the Keweenaw region. Native copper is found in the vesicular and brecciated flow tops of the volcanism associated with this rift, within the interflow conglomerate that developed in-between individual flows, and also minor native copper deposits are found with the copper sulfide deposits in the Nonesuch Shale. The purpose of this study was …

Actively Forming Kuroko-Type Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulfide (Vhms) Mineralization At Iheya North, Okinawa Trough, Japan, Christopher J. Yeats, Steven P. Hollis, Angela Halfpenny, Juan-Carlos Corona, Crystal Laflamme, Gordon Southam, Marco Fiorentini, Richard J. Herrington, John Spratt

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Modern seafloor hydrothermal systems provide important insights into the formation and discovery of ancient volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits. In 2010, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 331 drilled five sites in the Iheya North hydrothermal field in the middle Okinawa Trough back-arc basin, Japan. Hydrothermal alteration and sulfide mineralization is hosted in a geologically complex, mixed sequence of coarse pumiceous volcaniclastic and fine hemipelagic sediments, overlying a dacitic to rhyolitic volcanic substrate. At site C0016, located adjacent to the foot of the actively venting North Big Chimney massive sulfide mound, massive sphalerite-(pyrite-chalcopyrite ± galena)-rich sulfides were intersected (to 30.2% …

Gravity And Passive Seismic Methods Used Jointly For Understanding The Subsurface In A Glaciated Terrain: Dowling And Maple Grove Quadrangles, Barry County, Michigan, Scott A. Feldpausch

Masters Theses

The Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) passive, single sensor seismic technique has been used together with gravimetry to study the topography hidden below the glacial drift of two 7.5’ quadrangles in Barry Co., MI. 265 stations were observed with both instruments along roads at nominal spacings of about 0.4 to 0.8 km. Occasional water wells and oil wells with documented penetrations of the base of glacial were used to calibrate the local power law regression calibration. This was also compared with the statewide calibration curve previously established. Results are presented as maps of Simple Bouguer Anomaly, Residual Bouguer Anomaly, …

An Antarctic Stratigraphic Record Of Stepwise Ice Growth Through The Eocene-Oligocene Transition, Sandra Passchier, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Triantafilo E. Miriagos, Peter K. Bijl, Steven M. Bohaty

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Earth’s current icehouse phase began ∼34 m.y. ago with the onset of major Antarctic glaciation at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Changes in ocean circulation and a decline in atmospheric greenhouse gas levels were associated with stepwise cooling and ice growth at southern high latitudes. The Antarctic cryosphere plays a critical role in the ocean-atmosphere system, but its early evolution is still poorly known. With a near-field record from Prydz Bay, Antarctica, we demonstrate that Antarctic ice growth was stepwise and had an earlier onset than previously suggested. Prydz Bay lies downstream of a major East Antarctic Ice Sheet drainage system, and …

Determining Annual Cryosphere Storage Contributions To Stream Flow Using Historical Hydrometric Records, Janice Brahney, Brian Menounos, Xiaohua Wei, Paul Jefferson Curtis

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Alpine glaciers and perennial snow fields are important hydrologic elements in many mountain environments providing runoff during the late summer and during periods of drought. Because relatively long records of glacier mass–balance data are absent from many glacierized catchments, it remains unclear to what extent shrinking perennial snow and glaciers have affected runoff trends from these watersheds. Here, we employ a hydrograph separation technique that uses a double mass curve in an attempt to isolate changes in runoff due to glacier retreat and disappearance of perennial snow. The method is tested using hydrometric data from 20 glacierized and 16 nonglacierized …

Contemporary And Future Characteristics Of Precipitation Indices In The Kentucky River Basin, Somsubhra Chattopadhyay, Dwayne R. Edwards, Yao Yu

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Climatic variability can lead to large-scale alterations in the hydrologic cycle, some of which can be characterized in terms of indices involving precipitation depth, duration and frequency. This study evaluated the spatiotemporal behavior of precipitation indices over the Kentucky River watershed for both the baseline period of 1986–2015 and late-century time frame of 2070–2099. Historical precipitation data were collected from 16 weather stations in the watershed, while future rainfall time-series were obtained from an ensemble of 10 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) global circulation models under two future emission pathways: Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5. Annual …

Impact Of Urbanization On Temperature Variation In Big Cities: Measuring Health Risk While Targeting Vulnerable Population, Maryam E. Karimi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Densely populated cities are experiencing Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects and localized hotspots. Cities, such as New York can form heat islands all year round. This is primarily due to land surface modifications, radiative trapping in urban canyons and lack of cooling through evapotranspiration caused by displaced trees and vegetation. UHI refers to an increase in air and surface temperature in cities compared to surrounding suburban and rural areas. Large scale environmental forcing can cause subdivisions of UHI throughout a city. The combined of environmental forcing effects lead to the formation of hot pockets within the cities at micro-scale. The …

Metagenomic Identification Of Active Methanogens And Methanotrophs In Serpentinite Springs Of The Voltri Massif, Italy, William J. Brazelton, Christopher N. Thornton, Alex Hyer, Katrina I. Twing, August A. Longino, Susan Q. Lang, Marvin D. Lilley, Gretchen L. Früh-Green, Matthew O. Schrenk

Faculty Publications

The production of hydrogen and methane by geochemical reactions associated with the serpentinization of ultramafic rocks can potentially support subsurface microbial ecosystems independent of the photosynthetic biosphere. Methanogenic and methanotrophic microorganisms are abundant in marine hydrothermal systems heavily influenced by serpentinization, but evidence for methane-cycling archaea and bacteria in continental serpentinite springs has been limited. This report provides metagenomic and experimental evidence for active methanogenesis and methanotrophy by microbial communities in serpentinite springs of the Voltri Massif, Italy. Methanogens belonging to family Methanobacteriaceae and methanotrophic bacteria belonging to family Methylococcaceae were heavily enriched in three ultrabasic springs (pH 12). Metagenomic …

Applying Population And Community Ecology Theory To Advance Understanding Of Belowground Biogeochemistry, Robert W. Buchkowski, Mark A. Bradford, A. Stuart Grandy, Oswald J. Schmitz, William R. Wieder

Faculty Publications

Approaches to quantifying and predicting soil biogeochemical cycles mostly consider microbial biomass and community composition as products of the abiotic environment. Current numerical approaches then primarily emphasise the importance of microbe–environment interactions and physiology as controls on biogeochemical cycles. Decidedly less attention has been paid to understanding control exerted by community dynamics and biotic interactions. Yet a rich literature of theoretical and empirical contributions highlights the importance of considering how variation in microbial population ecology, especially biotic interactions, is related to variation in key biogeochemical processes like soil carbon formation. We demonstrate how a population and community ecology perspective can …

Closing The Water Budget In An Experimental Urban Watershed: A Comparative Assessment Of Methods For Measuring Evapotranspiration, Leana M. Weissberg, Gaboury Benoit

Yale Day of Data

No abstract provided.

Nanoscale Measurement Of Trace Element Distributions In Spartina Alterniflora Root Tissue During Dormancy, Huan Feng, Yu Qian, J. Kirk Cochran, Qingzhi Zhu, Wen Hu, Hanfei Yan, Li Li, Xiaojing Huang, Yong S. Chu, Houjun Liu, Shinjae Yoo, Chang Jun Liu

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper reports a nanometer-scale investigation of trace element (As, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, S and Zn) distributions in the root system Spartina alterniflora during dormancy. The sample was collected on a salt marsh island in Jamaica Bay, New York, in April 2015 and the root was cross-sectioned with 10 μm resolution. Synchrotron X-ray nanofluorescence was applied to map the trace element distributions in selected areas of the root epidermis and endodermis. The sampling resolution was 60 nm to increase the measurement accuracy and reduce the uncertainty. The results indicate that the elemental concentrations in the epidermis, outer …

Karstic Depressions On Bolkar Mountain Plateau, Central Taurus (Turkey):Distribution Characteristics And Tectonic Effect On Orientation, Muhammed Zeynel Öztürk, Mesut Şi̇mşek, Mustafa Utlu, Mehmet Furkan Şener

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

This study investigates the spatial distribution characteristics of karstic depressions that developed on a 2558 km2 plateau with gently sloping in neritic (reef) limestones in the western section of the Bolkar Mountains. The 30,132 karstic depressions identified are located at elevations between 1315 and 2525 m, while 31°/km2 slope and 5.6 km/km2 drainage density are limited to the spatial distribution of depressions. In the central section of the study area at the anticlinal surface, maximum density (99 depressions/km2) is reached between elevations of 1930 and 2080 m. The orientation of depressions is predominantly NE-SW. However, in the same area, the …

America's National Parks And The Anthropocene: Addressing The Present To Accommodate The Future In Acadia National Park, Sophie A. Swetz

Honors Theses

In 2000, atmospheric chemist, Paul J. Crutzen, and limnologist, Eugene Stoermer, formally proposed the idea of “the Anthropocene,” a new geologic epoch in which humans are the dominant force shaping the Earth. To claim the Anthropocene's existence is to declare that human actions have altered the Earth in such a way that geologic indicators render it a distinct epoch in the stratification of geologic time. This new epoch emerges as a consequence of increased technological development employed to accommodate an anthropocentric human existence. That is, rapid advancements in technology have driven the transformation from a primarily naturally controlled planet to …

Acquisition Of Active Multichannel Analysis Of Surface Waves (Masw) Data In Karst Terrain, Ghassan Salem Alsulaimani

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study was designed to verify the effects and data reproducibility when the length of receiver array, receiver spacing, source offset and array orientation parameters are changed for data acquired using multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW), at intended target depth of 30ft (9m), and to compare the results with electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data obtained for the same study site.

The MASW data acquired for 34 sites, along four profiles for each site using variable source offsets of 10ft (3m) and 30ft (9.1m), and variable receiver spacings of 2.5ft (0.76m) and 5.0ft (0.76m), concurrently. Out of the 272 profiles …

Grain Size And Organic Geochemistry Of Kattegat Sediment To Determine Paleoenvironments Of The Last Interglacial-Glacial Cycle, Taylor Ann Krolik

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Periods of glaciation followed by deglaciation are a result of the complex processes that drive climate on Earth. To understand these processes and the types of climate that they induce, sediment cores can be analyzed to extract data to determine depositional environment and relative sea level in an area. This project will investigate the particle size and organic geochemistry from a sediment core (IODP Expedition 347, Hole M0060A) taken outside the Baltic Sea, at Anholt Loch which is located in the southern Kattegat. The objective of this study is to better understand the depositional environment and relative sea level changes …

Subsurface Transport In A North Inlet, South Carolina Salt Marsh: A Porewater Salinity Model, Carolyn Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Subsurface transport in coastal salt marshes influences the nutrient budget of coastal environments, but is not fully understood. To expand our understanding of this transport, a simple numerical model was developed. The model simulated vertical transport of salt through the surficial muds at a North Inlet marsh on the coastal plain of South Carolina. To improve the model, a tracer study was utilized to calculate the average velocity of groundwater flow through the system. The model was compared with porewater salinity measured using tension samplers and passive diffusion samplers. Each method produced different, uncorrelated results. However, accounting for macro-pores in …

Principles Of Stable Isotope Geochemistry, 2nd Edition, Zachary Sharp

Open Textbooks

Principles of Stable Isotope Geochemistry is written as a textbook to accompany a one semester course in Stable Isotope Geochemistry. There are 13 chapters, each dealing with a specific subtopic of the field. Other than Chapters 1 and 2 – introduction and definitions – most of the remaining chapters can be read without reliance on the preceding ones. It is also hoped that the book will serve as a general reference volume for researchers in the field.

Principles of Stable Isotope Geochemistry has been organized in such a way that major concepts are explained and accompanied by numerous examples. In …

Impact Of Linear Disturbances On A Discontinuous Permafrost Peatland Environment, Michael Braverman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Permafrost is ground that remains at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive years (PIWP, 2012). In the continuous permafrost zone its thickness may exceed 300 m, in lower latitudes, permafrost thickness is progressively decreasing, its occurrence becomes discontinuous and eventually sporadic (PIWP, 2012). At the southern fringe of permafrost in northwestern Canada, just about few meters. In subarctic peatlands permafrost is one of the main elements governing the hydrological processes. Being very thin and with temperature just fractions of the degree below 0^oC, it is very vulnerable to any changes in soil temperature and water content. …

Potential Field Modeling Across The Neodymium Line Defining The Paleoproterozoic-Mesoproterozoic Boundary Of The Southeastern Margin Of Laurentia, Rachel Lauren Durham

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

A zone of high magnetization along the SE margin of Paleoproterozoic Laurentia in the United States is indicated by magnetic anomaly data. The SE edge corresponds to the geochemical Neodymium mantle derivation model age (T_DM) boundary and the entire anomaly overlies the Paleoproterozoic Mazatzal Province. Two-dimensional gravity and magnetic models across the Nd boundary are created with Moho constrained from receiver functions with gravity, sedimentary thickness and the base of the crustal magnetization. Upper crustal magnetization does not show strong variation across this boundary and much of the strong magnetization appears to lie in the middle crust. Using …

Pre-Mt. Simon Seismic Sequences Below West-Central Indiana: Local Interpretation And Regional Significance, Andrew Michael Parent

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Constraining the composition, structure, and origin of basement provinces, deep assemblages of Precambrian rocks, is largely dependent on deep boreholes and geophysical techniques. This is especially true for the eastern U.S. midcontinent. Here, I employ regional 2-D seismic reflection, Bouguer gravity, and aeromagnetic data to interpret the upper crust below west-central Indiana. Seismic reflection data were donated to Wright State University in 2015. Geopotential data are available through the USGS and affiliates. These geophysical data, together, are analyzed in a regional geologic context. Three distinct seismic stratigraphic sequences are observed on 2-D sections. The first, uppermost sequence, typified by continuous, …

Short-Term Effects Of Nutrients On A Barrier Island Grassland Community, Ashley Moulton

Theses and Dissertations

Increased nutrient availability globally has the potential to affect community functional composition of plants in nutrient limited environments, such as coastal grassland systems. Stability of these systems are threatened worldwide by urbanization, as well as effects of sea level rise and increased frequency and intensity of storms, and atmospheric N deposition, associated with climate change. Annual net primary productivity (ANPP), species composition, and functional traits (community weighted specific leaf area (CWSLA), leaf area index (LAI), growth form and photosynthetic pathway) were measured across four treatments to assess multiple resource limitation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and functional community response …

Land Use And Land Cover Change Of Chanthaburi Watershed Following 1999, 2006 And 2013 Floods, Chuti Chatewutthiprapa

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The application of remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) has become an effective tool and widely used in monitoring the environment on the earth surface. In this study, Landsat imageries were used as a data to deal with the assessment of land use and land cover changes (LULC) before and after the 3-year floods in 1999, 2006 and 2013. The images were classified by supervised classification process and it can be identified as 9 classes consisting of paddy field, field crop, para rubber, orchard, aquacultural land, forest land, mangrove forest, urban and built-up area, and water bodies. The …

Climate Change Adaptation For Southern California Groundwater Managers: A Case Study Of The Six Basins Aquifer, Frank Lyles

Pomona Senior Theses

Groundwater has been very important to the economic development of Southern California, and will continue to be a crucial resource in the 21st century. However, Climate Change threatens to disrupt many of the physical and economic processes that control the flow of water in and out of aquifers. One groundwater manager, the Six Basins Watermaster in eastern Los Angeles and western San Bernardino Counties, has developed a long-term planning document called the Strategic Plan that mostly fails to address the implications of Climate Change, especially for local water supplies. This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of the Six Basin Watermaster’s …

Lake Magadi And The Soda Lake Cycle: A Study Of The Modern Sodium Carbonates And Of Late Pleistocene And Holocene Lacustrine Core Sediments, Emma Mcnulty

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The Magadi Basin, Kenya, within the East African Rift Valley, contains two closed-basin alkaline lakes, Lake Magadi and Nasikie Engida that now precipitate trona (Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O) and nahcolite (NaHCO3). Observations of the conditions of modern trona and nahcolite deposition in the Magadi Basin form the basis of the “soda lake cycle”. This study aims to use the sedimentary structures of the modern sodium carbonates of Lake Magadi as an analogue for similar ancient deposits around the world, including the vast trona and nahcolite deposits of the Eocene Green River Formation. Lake Magadi has been evolving since 1.08 Ma within a well-known …

Developing A Hydrological Monitoring Program For Ponds In Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Using Water Isotope Tracers, Stephanie Roy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Northern lake-rich landscapes are vulnerable to increases in surface air temperatures and are changing in dynamic ways. Current meteorological records indicate that some of the greatest warming in the past century has occurred in the Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL). As the HBL is an extensive wetland consisting of hundreds of thousands of shallow lakes and ponds, it is difficult to anticipate the long-term implications that climate change will have on pond water balance. To develop and implement long-term monitoring of hydrological conditions, sampling of pond water isotope composition has occurred during the past six years in Wapusk National Park (WNP), …