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Sigma Gamma Epsilon Quality Chapter Awards, James C. Walters

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

The Quality Chapter Award for Sigma Gamma Epsilon was established to recognize chapters for achieving excellence by providing a quality program to its members. Qualifying criteria for the award are provided, and chapters receiving this award for the 2012-2013 academic year are profiled.

Origin And Provenance Of Spherules And Magnetic Grains At The Younger Dryas Boundary, Yingzhe Wu, Mukul Sharma, Malcom A. Lecompte, Mark N. Demitroff, Joshua D. Landis

Dartmouth Scholarship

One or more bolide impacts are hypothesized to have triggered the Younger Dryas cooling at ∼12.9 ka. In support of this hypothesis, varying peak abundances of magnetic grains with iridium and magnetic microspherules have been reported at the Younger Dryas boundary (YDB). We show that bulk sediment and/or magnetic grains/microspherules collected from the YDB sites in Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Ohio have (187)Os/(188)Os ratios ≥1.0, similar to average upper continental crust (= 1.3), indicating a terrestrial origin of osmium (Os) in these samples. In contrast, bulk sediments from YDB sites in Belgium and Pennsylvania exhibit (187)Os/(188)Os ratios <<1.0 and at face value suggest mixing with extraterrestrial Os with (187)Os/(188)Os of ∼0.13. However, the Os concentration in bulk sample and magnetic grains from Belgium is 2.8 pg/g and 15 pg/g, respectively, much lower than that in average upper continental crust (=31 pg/g), indicating no meteoritic contribution. The YDB site in Pennsylvania is remarkable in yielding 2- to 5-mm diameter spherules containing minerals such as suessite (Fe-Ni silicide) that form at temperatures in excess of 2000 °C. Gross texture, mineralogy, and age of the spherules appear consistent with their formation as ejecta from an impact 12.9 ka ago. The (187)Os/(188)Os ratios of the spherules and their leachates are often low, but Os in these objects is likely terrestrially derived. The rare earth element patterns and Sr and Nd isotopes of the spherules indicate that their source lies in 1.5-Ga Quebecia terrain in the Grenville Province of northeastern North America.

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Hypogenic Origin Of Provalata Cave, Republic Of Macedonia: A Distinct Case Of Successive Thermal Carbonic And Sulfuric Acid Speleogenesis, Marjan Temovski, Philippe Audra, Andrej Mihevc, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Victor Polyak, William Mcintosh, Jean-Yves Bigot

International Journal of Speleology

Provalata Cave (Republic of Macedonia) is a small but remarkable hypogenic cave, developed in Cambrian marbles by successive thermal carbonic and sulfuric acid speleogenesis. The cave has a thick partly corroded calcite crust, abundant gypsum deposits, with cupolas, ceiling and wall channels, feeders and replacement pockets as some of the most characteristic morphological features. Distribution of morphology and deposits suggest a hypogenic origin in two distinct speleogenetic phases: the first by thermal CO₂ rich waters, the second by sulfuric acid dissolution, which were separated by complete infilling of cave passages with pyroclastic-derived clays. In the first phase of speleogenesis, …

Carbon And Oxygen Isotope Study Of Carbonates From Watling's Blue Hole And Blue Hole Five, San Salvador, Bahamas, Elaine D. Flynn

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Carbonate platforms, such as the Bahamas, formed through deposition and sea level fluctuations. These platforms contain records of rapid interglacial climate change and are useful in studying the impacts of climate change on similar tropical carbonate environments. Blue holes are dissolution lakes that may be beneficial for understanding climate change and anthropogenic impact. A δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O study was conducted on lake sediment core samples from Watling’s Blue Hole and Blue Hole Five on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. These lakes are located in a failed housing development and Watling’s Blue Hole was once part of an …

Faulty Measurements And Shaky Tools: An Exploration Into Hazus And The Seismic Vulnerabilities Of Portland, Or, Brittany Ann Brannon

Dissertations and Theses

Events or forces of nature with catastrophic consequences, or "natural disasters," have increased in both frequency and force due to climate change and increased urbanization in climate-sensitive areas. To create capacity to face these dangers, an entity must first quantify the threat and translate scientific knowledge on nature into comprehensible estimates of cost and loss. These estimates equip those at risk with knowledge to enact policy, formulate mitigation plans, raise awareness, and promote preparedness in light of potential destruction. Hazards-United States, or Hazus, is one such tool created by the federal government to estimate loss from a variety of threats, …

Agenda: Arizona V. California At 50: The Legacy And Future Of Governance, Reserved Rights, And Water Transfers, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Arizona v. California at 50: The Legacy and Future of Governance, Reserved Rights, and Water Transfers (Martz Summer Conference, August 15-16)

The Colorado River is an economic, environmental and cultural lifeline of the southwestern United States, and the allocation of its scarce waters are a source of ongoing controversy. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Arizona v. California. While the case was an important landmark in the still-evolving relationship between these two Lower Basin states, it remains most relevant today by the way in which it clarified federal rights and responsibilities. This is especially true in the areas of federal (including tribal) reserved rights, the role of the Interior Secretary in Lower Basin water …

Late Holocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction In Barbados, Gilman Reno Ouellette

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Barbados is the easternmost island in the Caribbean region, and is uniquely situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Being an isolated island with a karstified aquifer providing the majority of the nation’s water resources, Barbados has found itself in water scarce situations in recent years. In order to better understand natural shifts in groundwater recharge (which is determined by shifts in precipitation), longer records of precipitation are needed than are available from modern measurements. This study presents a paleoclimate reconstruction for the late Holocene on Barbados using stable and radiogenic isotope ratios in speleothem lamina as proxies. In …

The Use Of The Ostracode Cyprideis Americana (Sharpe) As A Proxy For Salinity In Bahamian Lake Systems, Rachel E. Bowles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ostracodes, bi-valved crustaceans, are potentially excellent proxies for salinity.They are abundant, react to changes in salinity, and secrete low-magnesium calcite shells that preserve information about their host water chemistry. Changes in valve trace element concentration, stable isotope composition, and sieve pore shape values have been linked to changes in salinity. This study analyzed the response of the euryhaline ostracode, Cyprideis americana, to salinity in six lakes from two Bahamian islands across two seasons. The purpose of this work was to determine which compositional and morphological variables in C. americana are the most useful for paleosalinity reconstructions.Ostracode and water samples were …

An Embodied Perspective Of Expertise In Solving The Problem Of Making A Geologic Map, Caitlin Norah Callahan

Dissertations

The task of constructing a geologic map is a cognitively and physically demanding field-based problem. The map produced is understood to be an individual’s two-dimensional interpretation or mental model of the three-dimensional underlying geology. A popular view within the geoscience community is that teaching students how to make a geologic map is valuable for preparing them to deal with disparate and incomplete data sets, for helping them develop problem-solving skills, and for acquiring expertise in geology. Few previous studies have focused specifically on expertise in geologic mapping. Drawing from literature related to expertise, to problem solving, and to mental models, …

A Glyptosaurine Lizard From The Eocene (Late Uintan) Of San Diego, California, And Implications For Glyptosaurine Evolution And Biogeography, David Moscato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Glyptosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of lizards of the family Anguidae. Glyptosaurine lizards are known exclusively from the Paleogene of North America and Eurasia, reaching their peak of diversity and distribution in the Eocene. In North America these lizards are largely restricted to the intermontane basins along the Rocky Mountain range, with only sparse, indeterminately-identified skeletal elements known from outside of this region. Glyptosaurine lizards are split into two tribes: the monophyletic Glyptosaurini and paraphyletic “Melanosaurini”. Within Glyptosaurini, the most common and widespread genus is Glyptosaurus. In this study I describe a new specimen assignable to G. sylvestris, …

Mechanisms Of Vegetation-Induced Channel Narrowing On An Unregulated Canyon-Bound River, Rebecca Blanche Manners

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The accurate prediction of river channel width remains a fundamental area of investigation in the field of geomorphology. River managers and scientists are interested in understanding how a channel will respond to environmental perturbations such as altered runoff patterns from climate change, a new dam, or a pulse of sediment from a landslide. Increasingly, studies that focus on this question acknowledge the importance of accounting for the vegetation that lines the river banks. For this dissertation, I strove to identify some of the primary ways by which vegetation affects channel width.

At a fundamental level, vegetation influences the size of …

A Geomechanical Study Of The Mississippian Boone Formation, Karen Nicole Mason Buckland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Boone Formation in northwest Arkansas is a chert-limestone sequence analogous to the subsurface Mississippi Lime reservoir in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. It has low permeability and produces via horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The response to stimulation by fracturing is dependent on the quantity of chert in the area. Chert nodules and laterally extensive chert layers in the sequence are variable. Locally, cm- to dm-scale chert bedding is continuous and comprises up to 50% of the outcrop. Elsewhere, the chert is nodular and intermittent.

Samples collected from representative outcrops spanning the thickness and aerial extent of the formation …

The Application Of Geographic Information Technology And Ground-Penetrating Radar In The Study Of The Evolution Of The Charles River Basin, Lars E. Anderas

Graduate Masters Theses

A two-part study was conducted on the evolution of the shoreline of the Charles River basin on a city-wide scale as well as in finer detail in Magazine Beach Park, along the Cambridge shore of the river. Both parts of the study utilized geographic information technology (GIT) to integrate and analyze data from modern and historical sources, including maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), and orthographic and oblique photography. The city-scale portion of the study produced estimates of the total area of new land made within the study area since Boston's founding in 1630, 14.3 km², of which 6.5 …

Paleoecology Of Late Pleistocene Megaherbivores: Stable Isotope Reconstruction Of Environment, Climate, And Response, Aubrey Mae Bonde

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Late Pleistocene megaherbivore communities of the Pacific and Mountain West states of California and Nevada are under-analyzed in regard to ecological function (diet, mobility, niche partitioning, and range of ecological tolerance). Stable isotope analysis is a powerful tool that is known to recover primary paleodiet and paleoenvironmental information from biogenic materials, such as enamel and dentin. This dissertation explores the use of carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in Late Pleistocene (40-10 Ka) megaherbivore teeth to gain a better understanding of inter- and intra-specific behavior and reconstruct Late Pleistocene ecosystems of California and Nevada. Radiocarbon dates exist for most of the …

Accelerated Thermokarst Formation In The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Joseph S. Levy, Andrew G. Fountain, James L. Dickson, James W. Head, Marianne Okal, David R. Marchant, Jaclyn Watters

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Thermokarst is a land surface lowered and disrupted by melting ground ice. Thermokarst is a major driver of landscape change in the Arctic, but has been considered to be a minor process in Antarctica. Here, we use ground-based and airborne LiDAR coupled with timelapse imaging and meteorological data to show that 1) thermokarst formation has accelerated in Garwood Valley, Antarctica; 2) the rate of thermokarst erosion is presently,10 times the average Holocene rate; and 3) the increased rate of thermokarst formation is driven most strongly by increasing insolation and sediment/albedo feedbacks. This suggests that sediment enhancement of insolation-driven melting may …

Hydrogeologic Characterization Of Dutch Canyon, Scappoose, Oregon, Derrick Lee Wagner

Dissertations and Theses

Dutch Canyon is located directly west of the City of Scappoose in Columbia County Oregon. This area is proximate to Highway 30, a major access corridor to downtown Portland, and is experiencing a population increase, which is expected to continue and likely accelerate. As a result, there is growing pressure on water resources. Individual and community efforts to utilize groundwater resources have been hampered by generally poor groundwater yields and water quality concerns outside of the Columbia River corridor and a lack of published hydrogeologic information for the region.

The intent of this study is to identify the water-bearing units …

Droughtscape, Summer 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

July 25 webinar: Drought management database, NIDIS update

Republican River Basin workshops July 31, August 1

Summer climate outlook, spring summary

Spring impacts: wildfire, water, agriculture and business

Data help managers assess Nebraska groundwater declines after drought of 2012

Tadesse helps Mexico with Veg-DRI concept

Visiting scholar explores remote sensing of drought in forests

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum photo recap, details online

Workshop helps New Mexico ranchers cope with drought

Alabama’s new drought plan

National Drought Forum report

Drought Impacts Community of Practice report

Microstructures And Quartz Lattice-Preferred Orientations In The Eclogite-Bearing Migmatitic Gneisses Of The D’Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua New Guinea, T. A. Little, B. R. Hacker, S. J. Brownlee, G. Seward

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Lattice preferred orientations (LPO) of quartz in gneiss domes of the D’Entrecasteaux Islands, Woodlark Rift shed insight into exhumation of the world’s youngest (~5–7Ma) eclogite-bearing terrane at cm/yr rates. We focus on deformation that affected the terrane as it transited between lower crustal depths and the surface, including: (1) grain-scale deformation mechanisms; and (2) style of flow and mode of emplacement of the domes. Electron-backscatter diffraction was used to analyze microstructure and LPOs of 37 quartzofeldspathic gneiss samples that enclose meter-scale mafic blocks preserving original eclogite-facies assemblages. During exhumation of the ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane, gneisses were retrogressed in the amphibolite …

Geology & Geography News, Georgia Southern University

Earth, Environment & Sustainability: News & Publications (2013-2021)

• Georgia Southern Professor studies debris flow in the Dolomite Alps

Glacier Change In The North Cascades, Washington: 1900-2009, Kristina Amanda Dick

Dissertations and Theses

Glaciers respond to local climate changes making them important indicators of regional climate change. The North Cascades region of Washington is the most glaciated region in the lower-48 states with approximately 25% of all glaciers and 40% of the total ice-covered area. While there are many on-going investigations of specific glaciers, little research has addressed the entire glacier cover of the region. A reference inventory of glaciers was derived from a comparison of two different inventories dating to about 1958. The different inventories agree within 93% of total number of glaciers and 94% of total ice-covered area. To quantify glacier …

Transforming The Teaching Of Geoscience And Sustainability, David Gosselin, Cathy Manduca, Timothy J. Bralower, David Mogk

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The geosciences have an important role to play in addressing whether humans can live sustainably on Earth. From water to energy, from climate change to natural hazards, geoscience is central to solving a wide range of problems.

Two projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) support faculty in incorporating aspects of sustainability in their teaching: the Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future ( InTeGrate) Center in the Geosciences and the On the Cutting Edge Faculty Development Program in the Geosciences. The former is funded by NSF’s Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Faculty Development Program, and the …

Morphodynamic Signatures Of Braiding Mechanisms As Expressed Through Change In Sediment Storage In A Gravel-Bed River, Joseph Michael Wheaton, James Brasington, Stephen Darby, Alan Kasprak, David Sear, Damiá Vericat

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

[1] Previous flume-based research on braided channels has revealed four classic mechanisms that produce braiding: central bar development, chute cutoff, lobe dissection, and transverse bar conversion. The importance of these braiding mechanisms relative to other morphodynamic mechanisms in shaping braided rivers has not yet been investigated in the field. Here we exploit repeat topographic surveys of the braided River Feshie (UK) to explore the morphodynamic signatures of different mechanisms of change in sediment storage. Our results indicate that, when combined, the four classic braiding mechanisms do indeed account for the majority of volumetric change in storage in the study reach …

The Missing Piece: Drought Impacts Monitoring Report From A Workshop In Tucson, Az March 5-6, 2013, Kirsten Lackstrom, Amanda Brennan, Daniel Ferguson, Mike Crimmins, Lisa Darby, Kirstin Dow, Keith Ingram, Alison Meadow, Henry Reges, Mark Shafer, Kelly Helm Smith

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Based on a shared interest to better understand the impacts of drought and the potential utility of using drought impacts reporting as a tool for monitoring conditions, researchers from the Carolinas RISA (Dow, Lackstrom, and Brennan), the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (Crimmins and Ferguson), and the Southwest Climate Science Center (Meadow) decided to convene a workshop in Tucson in March 2013. The primary goal was to assemble a small group of university and agency scientists involved with drought impacts monitoring to discuss opportunities and barriers associated with drought impacts reporting, recommend best practices for implementing a drought impacts reporting …

Were All Devonian Seeds Cupulate? A Reinvestigation Of Pseudosporogonites Hallei, Xenotheca Bertrandii, And Aglosperma Spp., Cyrille Prestianni, Jason Hilton, Walter L. Cressler

Earth & Space Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Soil-Acquifer Heat And Water Fluxes On Simulated Global Climate, Nir Krakauer, M. J. Puma, B. I. Cook

Publications and Research

Climate models have traditionally only represented heat and water fluxes within relatively shallow soil layers, but there is increasing interest in the possible role of heat and water exchanges with the deeper subsurface. Here, we integrate an idealized 50m deep aquifer into the land surface module of the GISS ModelE general circulation model to test the influence of aquifer-soil moisture and heat exchanges on climate variables. We evaluate the impact on the modeled climate of aquifer-soil heat and water fluxes separately, as well as in combination. The addition of the aquifer to ModelE has limited impact on annual-mean climate, with …

A Characterization Of Baseline Groundwater Quality In The New York Southern Tier For Project Swift, Natalie Teale

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The acquisition of quality baseline groundwater quality in the Southern Tier of New York State has been of concern due to the contention surrounding groundwater quality in areas where hydraulic fracturing for natural gas production has been developed. Little information on groundwater quality is publicly available for the Southern Tier, where natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing is feasible. This Capstone study, as a part of Project SWIFT at Syracuse University, seeks to determine the concentrations of several ionic compounds and elements in the groundwater of the New York counties which are most apt for hydraulic fracturing. Sample sites were …

Classification Of Satellite Time Series-Derived Land Surface Phenology Focused On The Northern Fertile Crescent, Brian Embree Bunker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land surface phenology describes events in a seasonal vegetation cycle and can be used in a variety of applications from predicting onset of future drought conditions, to revealing potential limits of historical dry farming, to guiding more accurate dating of archeological sites. Traditional methods of monitoring vegetation phenology use data collected in situ. However, vegetation health indices derived from satellite remote sensor data, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), have been used as proxy for vegetation phenology due to their repeated acquisition and broad area coverage. Land surface phenology is accessible in the NDVI satellite record when images …

The Extent Of Wetland Vegetation And Wetness Change At Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge From 1984-2012 Examined Using Landsat Thematic Mapper And Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus Imagery, Jeremy M. Henning

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Wetlands provide functions such as reducing flooding of surrounding areas and acting as a rest stop for migrating birds. Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama has a natural wetland and six artificial wetlands that are differentiated by how they are drained. Remote sensing derived normalized difference vegetation index and normalized difference wetness indexes were used to obtain information about vegetation and wetness at the wetlands from 1984-2011. A correlation analysis was performed to assess the degree of association between vegetation and wetness as a function of management practices. An ANOVA and agglomerative hierarchical clustering were performed to assess the degree …

Understanding A Critical Basinal Link In Cretaceous Cordilleran Paleogeography: Detailed Provenance Of The Hornbrook Formation, Oregon And California, Kathleen D. Surpless, Emily J. Beverly

Earth and Environmental Geosciences Faculty Research

The Hornbrook Formation is a Cretaceous overlap assemblage that rests unconformably on accreted terranes and plutons of the Klamath Mountains in southern Oregon and northern California. The combined results of sandstone petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotopic systematics, and whole-rock Nd analysis document an abrupt change in sediment sources for the Hornbrook Formation during the Late Cretaceous. The lower members of the Hornbrook Formation record provenance in the Klamath Mountains and the Sierran Foothills belt that is characterized by detrital zircon age distributions with large Jurassic and Early Cretaceous peaks (170-130 Ma) and positive zircon Hf and whole-rock …