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Experimental Simulations Of Dark Slope Streaks On Mars, Kelly Howe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Martian slope streaks were first observed in Viking images but their formation still remains ambiguous. Martian slope streaks are currently occurring geological phenomenon on Mars, which requires any formation theory to be in agreement with Mar's current temperature and pressure conditions. Planar morphology of martian slope streaks suggest a potential fluvial formation, but current conditions on Mars are not conducive to water remaining liquid long enough to erode the surface. Debris flows, fluid stains and dry dust avalanches have all been previously cited as a potential formation mechanism for martian slope streaks. Recent experimental simulations indicate that a fluvial source …

Role Of Vegetation And Environmental Characteristics On Slope Stability In Northwest Arkansas, Michael Maguigan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Slope failure continues to pose risks to society because knowledge of environmental factors and their interactions are unclear and possibly misunderstood. This misunderstanding leads to generalizations about slope failure susceptibility mapping, despite knowing that slope failures are likely the result of an extensively complex set of interactions among a number of environmental, edaphic, and geomorphic characteristics. Therefore a series of experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of slope, soil texture, vegetation cover, bedrock permeability, and compaction,. A wooden flume with a slope face 1 m wide by 1.5 m long with a 10 cm toe was constructed to contain …

Using Landsat Thematic Mapper Satellite Imagery Assessing And Mapping Trophic State In Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, Dingnan Lu

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Eutrophication is a major inland water problem that is researched by many environmentalists and hydrologists. A eutrophic inland water body can cause many negative water problems, such as taste and odor, biotoxin, and low dissolved oxygen. Many previous studies were effective based on using remote sensing to evaluate water body trophic state. In this study, the Cheney Reservoir is selected as an object to test the performance of using remote sensing, specifically the Landsat Thematic Mapper sensor, to evaluate the trophic state of a reservoir. Based on Landsat TM imagery, the chlorophyll a concentration is estimated to be used to …

A 14,000-Year Record Of Wildfire And Alluvial Fan Deposition Reveals Relationships Among Fire, Climate, Vegetation, And Sediment Yields In The Middle Fork Salmon River, Idaho, Kerry Elizabeth Riley

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Changes in climate influence vegetation distributions and the frequency and severity of fire and post-fire erosion. While the frequency of large fires has increased on all vegetated continents over the last decade, it remains unclear whether recent large fires are extraordinary over millennial timescales. In the Middle Fork Salmon River of central Idaho, over 40% of the watershed has burned in the last 30 years and the subsequent increase in erosion from severely burned hillslopes has produced many large fire-related debris flows. Fires have burned throughout the steep topographic gradient of the watershed that encompasses high elevation sub-alpine and mixed …

From The Foreland To The Hinterland: Taphonomy Across The Cretaceous To Paleogene Sevier Retroarc Region Of Nevada, Joshua William Bonde

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Until 2004 very little paleobiology, let alone paleoecology, had been studied within exposures of the Sevier retro-arc foreland and hinterland, in the state of Nevada. This is due largely to poor and spotty exposure. This study focuses on taphonomic processes within three stratigraphic intervals in the foreland and hinterland of the Sevier retro-arc region, and what these taphonomic indicators reveal about the geography of the hinterland.

First, the Willow Tank Formation of southern Nevada was deposited in the foredeep of the Sevier retroarc foreland basin. This unit represents a multi-channel, aggradational, fluvial system that drained the Sevier highlands to the …

Analysis Of A Stormwater Pond For Stormwater Management On The Buffalo State College Campus – Year 1 Operation Conditions, Jessica Bakert

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

Under U.S.EPA Phase II stormwater regulations Buffalo State was required to develop a stormwater management plan. This plan pursues both hard‐engineering and low impact development approaches for stormwater management. As part of the plan, a detention pond came on‐line in early summer, 2010, to collect flow before it discharges to Scajaquada Creek. The objective of this study was to assess the detention pond impact on water quantity and quality prior to discharge to the creek. A meter was installed in 2007 (pre‐construction) and 2010 (post‐construction) to record stormwater discharge to Scajaquada Creek. Regression analysis between rainfall and runoff characteristics showed …

Another Geoscience Department 'Bites The Dust', Larry E. Davis

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

No abstract provided.

U.S. Presidents And Their Geological Thinking, Dan Merriam

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

A number of United States presidents had some experience in geological thought and investigations and keen interests in the environment. The first U.S. president, George Washington, was a land surveyor. Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd U.S. president, was a keen supporter of science and maintained an interest in paleontology, and played a key role in the development of American paleontology. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president, was a strong supporter of the national park service and was an influential naturalist.

Herbert Hoover, the 31st U.S. president, was a Stanford University graduate with a degree in geology and mining – a true …

Droughtscape, Spring 2012, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report.

Climate Masters 1

Ranch plan workshop . 3

Winter climate summary 4

Winter impacts summary . 6

Zhao research.

Getachew research 0

Other international news

Wardlow move 13

IPCC disaster report .

Surficial Redistribution Of Fallout 131iodine In A Small Temperate Catchment, Joshua D. Landis, Nathan T. Hamm, Carl E. Renshaw, W. Brian Dade, Francis J. Magilligan, John D. Gartner

Dartmouth Scholarship

Isotopes of iodine play significant environmental roles, including a limiting micronutrient (¹²⁷I), an acute radiotoxin (¹³¹I), and a geochemical tracer (¹²⁹I). But the cycling of iodine through terrestrial ecosystems is poorly understood, due to its complex environmental chemistry and low natural abundance. To better understand iodine transport and fate in a terrestrial ecosystem, we traced fallout ¹³¹iodine throughout a small temperate catchment following contamination by the 11 March 2011 failure of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. We find that radioiodine fallout is actively and efficiently scavenged by the soil system, where it …

New Data On The Western Transylvanides Along The Ampoi Valley (Southern Apuseni Mts., Romania), Erika Suciu-Krausz, Ramona BăLc, Florin Borbei

Studia UBB Geologia

In order to clarify some of the issues regarding the mineralogical content and the source area of the Cretaceous deposits from Ampoi Valley basin (Southern Apuseni Mountains) fourteen lithologic logs were drawn from the Ampoi Valley both side tributaries (Slatinii, Ruzi, Vâltori, Valea lui Paul, Feneş, Călineasa, Fierului Brook, Bobului, Satului, Tăuţi, Galaţi, Presaca Ampoiului, Valea Mică and Valea Mare brooks). The main sedimentary rock types were identified (conglomerates, wacke and lithic sandstones, clays, and marls). The sandstones were classified according to the ternary diagrams. Their petrographic features revealed both a magmatic and a metamorphic source area for them.

A Novel Morphological Type Of Siderite In The Jamesonite Paragenesis From Herja (Maramures County, Romania), Virgil Ghiurcă, Dana Pop

Studia UBB Geologia

The loose jamesonite felted masses found in several vein-type Miocene ore deposits in Romania, at Herja in particular, host a very rich and peculiar mineral assemblage. This study concerns a novel morphological type of loose siderite crystals identified in this paragenesis. Additional to their macroscopic and microscopic investigation, powder X-ray diffraction (XRPD) analysis was carried out. Based on XRPD patterns, some pseudoxehagonal prisms, up to 10 mm in size, black to dark brown in color, with rugged surfaces and microscopic mosaic-like structures, were proved to be siderite. The described morphological type of siderite represents a novelty for Herja ore deposits, …

The Impact Of Human Activities In The Gutaiului Mountains, Romania, Angelica Feurdean, Ciprian Astalos

Studia UBB Geologia

The examination of pollen and charcoal from the Gutâiului Mountains in northwestern Romania and the archaeological evidence from surroundings provides some information on how past human activities have changed the vegetation in this region. The first evidence of potential human influence upon the woodlands is manifested by fire clearance recorded at approximately 7900 cal. yr BP coinciding with the Early Neolithic. The charcoal peaks at ca. 5750, 3300, 2700, 1500, 1000 cal. yr BP, and during the last 300 years are associated with episodes of decline of main woodland constituents (Ulmus, Tilia, Fraxinus, and Corylus), and the expansion of fire-precursors …

The Olenekian Carbonates Of The Bucovinian Nappe (The Central Sector Of The Haghimas Syncline, Eastern Carpathians). Lithology And Microfacies, Daniela Alexandra Popescu, Liviu Gheorghe Popescu

Studia UBB Geologia

Early Triassic carbonate outcrops were studied in the central sector of the Hăghimaş Syncline with regard to stratigraphy, microfacies and facies interpretation.This is the first microfacies study of these deposits. Early Triassic carbonates in the Hăghimaş Syncline are represented by two stratified successions: limestones and dolomites. The limestones overlie very rarely the detritic basal deposits (Induan) which marks the beginning of the alpine transgression. The stratified dolomites underlie frequently the Early Anisian massive dolomites. The contact between the stratified limestones and stratified dolomites is only exposed on Calu brook outcrop (the western flank of the Hăghimaş Syncline). The age of …

The Post-Late Pontian Paleogeographic Evolution Of The South Harghita Mountains Area And The Adjacent Basins, Attila László

Studia UBB Geologia

The paper concerns the stages of evolution of the South Harghita area and of the adjacent mountainous basins. The focus is set on specific geological events and on their consequences upon the paleogeographical modeling. Based on field observations and on previous studies, the Pliocene-Pleistocene geological events from the Baraolt and Lower Ciuc basins, the Tuşnad – Malnaş Channel and Sfântu Gheorghe gulf were synchronised with those from the South Harghita volcanic area.

Tracking Lateglacial And Early Holocene Environmental Change: A Palaeolimnological Study Of Sediment At Preluca Tiganului, Nw Romania, Angelica Feurdean

Studia UBB Geologia

Palaeoecological, palaeohydrological, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Glacial and the early Holocene have been performed from sediment accumulated in a small former crater lake, in the GutâI Mountains, NW Romania. Pollen, lithology, mineral magnetic, and loss-on-ignition analyses in conjunction to radiocarbon dating have been use for this purpose. The data indicates that during the Late Glacial period, vegetation dynamics were likely driven by climatic fluctuations. The climate events during the Late Glacial are well mirrored in local vegetation assemblage development, and past lake level fluctuations. These climatic events recorded in south-eastern Europe, are well correlated with the climate events …

Lower Cretaceous Limestones From The Northern Part Of Padurea Craiului (Osoiu Hill And Subpiatra Sections): Biostratigraphy And Preliminary Data On Microbial Structures, Hyam Daoud, Ioan I. Bucur, Emanoil SăSăRan, Ioan Cociuba

Studia UBB Geologia

Two sections have been measured within the Lower Cretaceous deposits from the northern part of Pădurea Craiului: Osoiu Hill section and Subpiatră section. Thin sections representing more than 180 samples allowed us to present some results on the biostratigraphy, facies succession and the role of microbial structures in the genesis of these limestones. The Osoiu Hill section is dominated by fenestral limestones formed in the intertidal or in the shallow subtidal zone. Their formation is dominantly related to microbial mats. Based on foraminiferal assemblages we attribute a Lower Barremian age to these limestones. The succession in the Subpiatra section is …

Secondary Sulfates Found In An Old Adit From Rosia Montana, Romania, Bogdan P. Onac, Daniel Vereș, Joe Kearns, Mirona Chirienco, Adrian Minuț, Radu Breban

Studia UBB Geologia

Recent investigation on several secondary minerals formed in old mining galleries in the Cârnic district (Roşia Montană, Romania) enabled us to characterize ten minerals. Out of these ten identified minerals, the discovery of jokokuite is the first reported occurrence in the Carpathians. A second mineral identified as apjohnite represents a new occurrence in Romania. Along with these two rare minerals, some other species of the halotrichite group (pickeringite, halotrichite, apjohnite, and dietrichite), iron sulfates, and K-Al sulfates were identified. Minerals were identified using light microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared, and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The chemical composition of …

A Revision Of The Rona Member, Vlad A. Codrea, Emanoil SăSăRan

Studia UBB Geologia

Lacustrine deposits occurring in the Jibou Formation (Late Maastrichtian – Lutetian) were mentioned in the Rona village area since the first half of the 19th century. Hungarian and Romanian geologists also carried out several researches in the last century, referring to the so-call “Rona Limestone” or “Rona Member”. In the last years, new outcrops resulted as a consequence of works made for the Botanical Garden at Jibou, adding details concerning mainly the base of the lacustrine succession. The new geological section from Jibou Botanical Garden should complete the old stratotype of the "Rona Limestone”, as a hypostratotype.

Preliminary Data On The Mineralogy Of Limestone And Skarn-Hosted Caves From Baita (Bihor County, Romania), Bogdan P. Onac, Paul Damm

Studia UBB Geologia

This paper presents the mineralization of five medium-size limestone-caves and eleven skarn-hosted caves from the upper part of Cri¿ul B¾ißei River (Bihor Mountains). Apart from berlinite – AlPO4, the other minerals reported from the limestone caves are common carbonates, phosphates or oxy-hydroxides. In turn, the skarn-hosted caves contain a diversity of minerals, including wittichenite, luzonite, natrolite, norsethite, rosasite, glaukosphaerite, aurichalcite, azurite, malachite and chalcanthite. Five of these minerals have never before been identified in a cave environment and moreover, three are new occurrences in Romania. Some of these minerals are hydrothermal in origin, whereas alteration and/or hydration of primary hydrothermal …

Late Quaternary Palaeoclimate Reconstruction Based On Clay Minerals Assemblage From Preluca Tiganului (Gutai Mountains, Romania), Lucreția Ghergari, Bogdan P. Onac

Studia UBB Geologia

Several core samples were extracted from the overgrown crater lake of Preluca Tiganului, NW Romania. The overall lithology and the mineral assemblages (mostly clay) described from different levels within these cores, suggest three main periods having humid or dry conditions. Based on these findings, palaeoclimate conditions can be reconstructed the over the time period spanning 15,000 to 13,500 cal. years BP.

06 Climatology Of The U.S. Inter-Mountain West, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert R. Gillies

Modern Climatology

The Inter-Mountain West (IMW) of North America is a region that lies between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the west (Fig. 1). The climate of the IMW is generally semi-arid but this varies by location and elevation. An estimated 50- 80% of the IMW’s streams and rivers are fed by mountain snowpack (Marks and Winstral 2001), while the majority of the streams and rivers flow into desert sinks or closed-basin lakes such as the Great Salt Lake (Fig. 1). These streams and rivers create some agriculturally productive areas in the otherwise dry …

Nutrient And Fecal Microbe Assessment Of The Water Quality Of Tates Creek, Madison County, Kentucky, Walter S. Borowski, Kristopher H. Carroll

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Tates Creek is a significant tributary to the Kentucky River that has shown high levels of microbial and nutrient pollution in the past (Kentucky River Watershed Watch). We sampled the waters of Tates Creek more comprehensively by collecting stream water at 25 stations along its 13-mile length from its headwaters to the Kentucky River. Most samples were collected at the confluence of major tributaries to also access the water quality of tributary streams. Samples were collected four times between May and August 2011 during dry periods as well as immediately after a rainfall event. We measured ammonium (NH₄^{+ …}

Global Monthly Water Scarcity: Blue Water Footprints Versus Blue Water Availability, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Mesfin Mekonnen, Ashok K. Chapagain, Ruth E. Mathews, Brian D. Richter

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by considering monthly rather than annual values. We analyzed 405 river basins for the period 1996–2005. In 201 basins with 2.67 billion inhabitants there was severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. The ecological and economic consequences of increasing …

The Ecology Of Pulse Events: Insights From An Extreme Climatic Event In A Polar Desert Ecosystem, U. N. Nielsen, D. H. Wall, B. J. Adams, R. A. Virginia

Dartmouth Scholarship

Climate change is occurring globally, with wide ranging impacts on organisms and ecosystems alike. While most studies focus on increases in mean temperatures and changes in precipitation, there is growing evidence that an increase in extreme events may be particularly important to altering ecosystem structure and function. During extreme events organisms encounter environmental conditions well beyond the range normally experienced. Such conditions may cause rapid changes in community composition and ecosystem states. We present the impact of an extreme pulse event (a flood) on soil communities in an Antarctic polar desert. Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, is dominated by large …

Projected Surface Raidiative Forcing Due To 2000-2050 Land-Cover Land-Use Albedo Change Over The Eastern United States, Christoper A. Barnes, David P. Roy, Thomas R. Loveland

GSCE Faculty Publications

Satellite-derived contemporary land-cover land-use (LCLU) and albedo data and modeled future LCLU are used to study the impact of LCLU change from 2000 to 2050 on surface albedo and radiative forcing for 19 ecoregions in the eastern United States. The modeled 2000–2050 LCLU changes indicate a future decrease in both agriculture and forested land and an increase in developed land that induces ecoregion radiative forcings ranging from −0.175 to 0.432 W m−2 driven predominately by differences in the area and type of LCLU change. At the regional scale, these projected LCLU changes induce a net negative albedo decrease (−0.001) and …

Sedimentary Succesion Of The Lower Cretaceous Deposits From The North-Western Part Of Pădurea Craiului (Apuseni Mountains, Romania), Daniel F. Lazar, Ioan I. Bucur, Ioan Cociuba, Emanoil Sasaran

Studia UBB Geologia

Within the general succession of the Lower Cretaceous deposits from the Vârciorog-Dobreşti area (Pădurea Craiului Mountains), carbonate and terrigenous deposits were identified. The limestones were assigned to two distinctive lithostratigraphic units: the Valea Măgurii and Vârciorog formations. Based on the orbitolinids Palorbitolina lenticularis and Mesorbitolina texana their ages are assigned to the early Aptian, and respectively late Aptian–Albian. The terrigenous facies mainly include fine grained deposits (clays, siltites, marls) and, to a lesser extent, coarser ones (glauconitic sandstones and conglomerates), and they are attributed to the Ecleja and Vârciorog formations. The marls of the Ecleja Formation have been observed in …

Sensitivity Analysis Of The Gems Soil Organic Carbon Model To Land Cover Land Use Classification Uncertainties Under Different Climate Scenarios In Senegal, Amadou M. Dieye, David P. Roy, N. P. Hanan, S. Lui, M. Hansen, A. Toure

GSCE Faculty Publications

Spatially explicit land cover land use (LCLU) change information is needed to drive biogeochemical models that simulate soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. Such information is increasingly being mapped using remotely sensed satellite data with classification schemes and uncertainties constrained by the sensing system, classification algorithms and land cover schemes. In this study, automated LCLU classification of multi-temporal Landsat satellite data were used to assess the sensitivity of SOC modeled by the Global Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS). The GEMS was run for an area of 1560km2 in Senegal under three climate change scenarios with LCLU maps generated using different Landsat …

Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists And Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches, Charles H. Smith, Joshua Woleben, Carubie Rodgers

DLPS Faculty Publications

Each name in the following list of naturalists is linked to a corresponding capsule "chrono-biographical" sketch of that individual prepared by the authors. Coverage extends from approximately 1950 backward in time as far as the eighteenth century; figures from all over the world are included (though there is admittedly a decided Anglo-American bias). The target subject here is biogeography, but this being a broad field there are many persons on the list who are better known as climatologists, zoologists, botanists, ecologists, oceanographers, paleontologists, etc.--in other words, who made their main reputations in cognate disciplines.

This service has been set up …

Mineralogical Composition Of Diabase And Altered Dolostone From The St. Francois Mountains Near Annapolis, Missouri, Usa, Jessica K. Walter, C. Renee Rohs

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Dolostones of Cambrian and Ordovician age are found in the St. Francois Mountains on the Ozark Plateau in southeastern Missouri and often lie unconformably over Precambrian basement rocks due to the paleo-topography. In some areas, there is distinct evidence of alteration and mineralization within the dolostones. One such location is found near Annapolis, Missouri where nearly all of the original dolomitic material is replaced with quartz. A diabase dike is in close proximity to the silicified dolostone and may have provided the conduit for fluids during alteration. The purpose of this study was to examine samples from the relatively unaltered …