Digital Commons Network^™

Causes And Effects Of Shisper Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Event In Karakoram In 2022, Sandeep Kumar Mondal, Vatsal D. Patel, Rishikesh Bharti, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Karakoram Himalayas are vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which cause catastrophic floods in the surrounding areas. The increasing natural and anthropogenic activities, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plains at the southern flank of the towering Himalayas, could be the cause of climate change affecting the frequency of the natural hazards in the Himalayas. In the present study, a detailed analysis of the Shisper Lake breach of 7 May 2022 is carried out using satellite remote sensing. A decreasing trend in the glacial mass balance is observed between 2017 and 2021; in this period, frequent GLOF episodes occurred. A pronounced …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, September - October 2023, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 New Faculty an Staff for the Fall 2023 Semester
Page 3 Awards
Page 4 Student Ambassadors in CNS
Page 5 Meet our Jacks
Page 6-8 Events
Page 9-11 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 12-13 Spring 2023 Dean's List
Page 14 Open PRAIRIE Data

Poor Water Quality Persists In Diverse Urban Communities, Rae Cade, Danlin Yu, Kyle Whyte, Pankaj Lal, Cortni Borgerson

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

While humans need water to survive, water can also efficiently transmit microbial diseases and heavy metals to consumers. Over 50,000 water violations occurred in 2020 and such burdens were not borne equally amongst consumers. Yet, the factors that drive such variation remain unclear. We examined the interactions between water quality and inherited equity gaps in one of the most diverse urban areas in the United States. We used publicly available drinking water datasets to determine which contaminant was most prevalent between 2010–2020 and who was significantly more likely to be affected by this contamination. We found that a lack of …

A Review Of The Geothermal System Evolution And Distribution In The Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex (Türkiye), Mehmet Furkan Şener, Muhammed Zeynel Öztürk, Alper Baba

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Türkiye is located in the Mediterranean sector of the Alpine-Himalayan tectonic belt and is among the foremost seven countries in the world having an abundance of geothermal resources. The Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex (CACC) is one of the most important geothermal regions in Türkiye. This study aims to evaluate the geothermal system of CACC using the geological, structural, and hydrogeochemical properties that were obtained from previous studies. The present study investigated and evaluated the hydrogeochemical and isotopic properties of 762 water samples belonging to 45 different localities from 41 scientific studies. The result shows that CACC has different heat sources …

Dynamics Of A Giant Slow Landslide Complex Along The Coast Of The Aral Sea, Central Asia, Gökhan Aslan, Marcello De Michele, Daniel Raucoules, François Renard, John Dehls, Ivanna Penna, Reginald Hermanns, Zi̇yadi̇n Çakir

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

We report here a slow-moving landslide complex of the lateral spreading type revealed by Sentinel-1 interferometric timeseries analysis. Located along the western coast of the Aral Sea, with a >150-km length and 3-km width, a giant active landslide complex, slides with a constant velocity of up to 60 mm/year. Systematic subsidence up to 5 mm/year is also observed along narrow strips of terraces that appear to result from rotations of fault-bounded blocks. The landslide deformation velocity does not correlate with the annual variations of the water level in the southwestern lake of the Aral Sea during the observation period of …

Application Of Model-Based Time Series Prediction Of Infrared Long-Wave Radiation Data For Exploring The Precursory Patterns Associated With The 2021 Madoi Earthquake, Jingye Zhang, Ke Sun, Junqing Zhu, Ning Mao, Dimitar Ouzounov

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Taking the Madoi M_S 7.4 earthquake of 21 May 2021 as an example, this paper proposes using time series prediction models to predict the outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) anomalies and study short-term pre-earthquake signals. Five time series prediction models, including autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and long short-term memory (LSTM), were trained with the OLR time series data of the aseismic moments in the 5° × 5° spatial range around the epicenter. The model with the highest prediction accuracy was selected to retrospectively predict the OLR values during the aseismic period and before the earthquake in the area. It …

Seasonal Dynamics Of Karst Surface Dissolution Based On A Limestone Tables Experiment (Slovak Karst), Alena Gessert, Zdenko Hochmuth

International Journal of Speleology

Chemical denudation in karst is the basic process of karst relief formation. However, it is influenced by many factors of varying intensity that depend on the climatic conditions and characteristics of each given location. Based on measurable results of weight loss of limestone tablets, we monitored the intensity of chemical denudation in two areas of the Slovak Karst, Silica Plateau and Jasov Plateau that are situated in the most developed karst plateau region of Slovakia. Both experimental sites are similar in terms of geographical conditions, thus comparable between them. In each locality, we placed three sets of standardized tablets at …

Drilling Core Identification Based On Natural Image, Gao Hui, Wu Zhenkun, Ke Yu, Tan Songcheng, He Siqi, Duan Longchen

Coal Geology & Exploration

The traditional on-site core identification and recording mainly rely on the experience of technicians, and there are many uncertain factors. Limited by the site conditions, using mobile phones or cameras to capture the natural images is the most convenient way to collect the core information. Therefore, it is necessary to study the feature information extraction technology of core image and apply it to the identification and prediction of core type and other information. Specifically, a large number of core samples were collected, the thin-section identification method was employed to determine the core types and names, and then the core images …

Climate Change Impacts And Adaptation To Permafrost Change In High Mountain Asia: A Comprehensive Review, Prashant Baral, Simon Allen, Jakob F. Steiner, Tika R. Gurung, Graham Mcdowell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Changing climatic conditions in High Mountain Asia (HMA), especially regional warming and changing precipitation patterns, have led to notable effects on mountain permafrost. Comprehensive knowledge of mountain permafrost in HMA is mostly limited to the mountains of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, with a strong cluster of research activity related to critical infrastructure providing a basis for related climate adaptation measures. Insights related to the extent and changing characteristics of permafrost in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), are much more limited. This study provides the first comprehensive review of peer-reviewed journal articles, focused on hydrological, ecological, and geomorphic impacts associated with thawing …

Structure-From-Motion Derived Snow Cover In Burned Forests Of The Western Oregon Cascades, Siobhan Ciafone

Dissertations and Theses

Forest fire occurrence in the western US has increased rapidly since the 1980s, and most western US fires occur in the seasonal snow zone. Burned forests influence snow accumulation and melt patterns for years following fire, and understanding drivers of variability in snow cover across a burned landscape at the basin-scale is necessary for accurate hazard prediction and water resource forecasting. Basin-scale surveys of snowpack are possible with remote sensing, but accurate sensing methods such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) are often cost-prohibitive. In the last decade, structure-from-motion (SfM), an optical remote sensing technique, has emerged as an affordable …

Is Macroporosity Controlled By Complexed Clay And Soil Organic Carbon?, Aaron N. Koop, Daniel R. Hirmas, Sharon A. Billings, Li Li, Alejandro Cueva, Xi Zhang, Hang Wen, Attila Nemes, Lígia F. T. Souza, Hoori Ajami, Alejandro N. Flores, Aoesta K. Rudick, Annalise Guthrie, Lola M. Klamm, Micah Unruh, Pamela L. Sullivan

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Multi-scale evidence of rapid, climate-induced soil structural changes occurring at yearly to decadal timescales is mounting. As a result, it has become increasingly important to identify the properties and mechanisms controlling the development and maintenance of soil structure and associated macroporosity. This is especially relevant since macroporosity has disproportionate effects on saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sat) which strongly influences water storage and flux, thus, affecting the water cycle. In this study, we use decision trees and piecewise linear regression to assess the influence of soil and climate properties on effective porosity (EP; a proxy of macroporosity) in both …

U-Pb Zircon Dates From North American And British Avalonia Bracket The Lower–Middle Cambrian Boundary Interval, With Evaluation Of The Miaolingian Series As A Global Unit, Ed Landing, Mark D. Schmitz, Stephen R. Westrop, Gerd Geyer

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

High-precision U-Pb zircon ages on SE Newfoundland tuffs now bracket the Avalonian Lower–Middle Cambrian boundary. Upper Lower Cambrian Brigus Formation tuffs yield depositional ages of 507.91 ± 0.07 Ma (Callavia broeggeri Zone) and 507.67 ± 0.08 Ma and 507.21 ± 0.13 Ma (Morocconus-Condylopyge eli Assemblage interval). Lower Middle Cambrian Chamberlain’s Brook Formation tuffs have depositional ages of 506.34 ± 0.21 Ma (Kiskinella cristata Zone) and 506.25 ± 0.07 Ma (Eccaparadoxides bennetti Zone). The composite unconformity separating the Brigus and Chamberlain’s Brook formations is constrained between these ages. An Avalonian Lower–Middle Cambrian boundary between 507.2 ± 0.1 …

Factors Affecting California Grassland Biodiversity: Two Case Studies, Nora Bales

Master's Theses

Biodiversity loss over the last century has been significant and is projected to increase. Biodiversity loss is accelerating due to climate change and habitat loss and degradation. Biodiversity supports key ecosystem services including pollination services, climate regulation, and water filtration. Biodiversity conservation is a top priority for land managers and researchers, however many ecological studies with practical applications lack a thorough understanding of the soil environment in their study system. We conducted two case studies integrating soil and plant data to answer management questions. The first case study investigated the relationship between a threatened plant, Hooveria purpurea var. purpurea and …

Reply To: Contribution Of Carbon Inputs To Soil Carbon Accumulation Cannot Be Neglected, Feng Tao, Benjamin Z. Houlton, Serita D. Frey, Johannes Lehmann, Stefano Manzoni, Yuanyuan Huang, Lifen Jiang, Umakant Mishra, Bruce A. Hungate, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Markus Reichstein, Nuno Carvalhais, Philippe Ciais, Ying-Ping Wang, Bernhard Ahrens, Gustaf Hugelius, Toby D. Hocking, Xingjie Lu, Zheng Shi, Kostiantyn Viatkin, Ronald Vargas, Yusuf Yigini, Christian Omuto, Ashish A. Malik, Guillermo Peralta, Rosa Cuevas-Corona, Luciano E. Di Paolo, Isabel Luotto, Cuijuan Liao, Yi-Shuang Liang, Vinisa S. Saynes, Xiaomeng Huang, Yiqi Luo

Faculty Publications

In the accompanying Comment1, He et al. argue that the determinant role of microbial carbon use efficiency in global soil organic carbon (SOC) storage shown in Tao et al. (2023)2 was overestimated because carbon inputs were neglected in our data analysis while they suggest that our model-based analysis could be biased and model-dependent. Their argument is based on a different choice of independent variables in the data analysis and a sensitivity analysis of two process-based models other than that used in our study. We agree that both carbon inputs and outputs (as mediated by microbial processes) matter when predicting SOC …

The Patchwork Governance Of Ecologically Available Water: A Case Study In The Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States, Amanda E. Cravens, Julia B. Goolsby, Theresa Jedd, Deborah J. Bathke, Shelley Crausbay, Ashley E. Cooper, Jason Dunham, Tonya Haigh, Kimberly R. Hall, Michael J. Hayes, Jamie Mcevoy, Rebecca L. Nelson, Markéta Poděbradská, Aaron Ramirez, Elliot Wickham, Dionne Zoanni

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Institutional authority and responsibility for allocating water to ecosystems (“ecologically available water” [EAW]) is spread across local, state, and federal agencies, which operate under a range of statutes, mandates, and planning processes. We use a case study of the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin in southwestern Montana, United States, to illustrate this fragmented institutional landscape. Our goals are to (a) describe the patchwork of agencies and institutional actors whose intersecting authorities and actions influence the EAW in the study basin; (b) describe the range of governance mechanisms these agencies use, including laws, policies, administrative programs, and planning processes; and (c) assess …

Insar Time Series Analysis To Evaluate Subsidence Risk Of Monumental Chandigarh City (India) And Surroundings, Jungrack Kim, Shih-Yuan Lin, Tejpal Singh, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Groundwater depletion is one of the serious geo-environmental issues causing ground subsidence, which damage buildings, infrastructures and causes loss of life. The quantitative and qualitative evaluation of groundwater variability requires multiple approaches to measure hydraulic head level and geodetic deformation. In this study, we have made efforts to integrate multiple hierarchical space-borne data, including Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), geological and hydrological data, to quantify subsidence in Chandigarh city and its surroundings. First, we conducted New-Small BAseline Subsets (NSBAS) and pointwise persistent scatterer (PS) InSAR techniques in parallel, using three-years Sentinel-1 data showing …

Adoption Of Participatory Rural Appraisal: A Case Study From China, A. Chu, A. D. Meister, P. Guo, J. Reid, B. Nowak, S. Morris, John Hodgson, P. N. P. Matthews, P. Gregg, K. Cai, J. Xie, X. Y. Li

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are many models of technology transfer. They vary from the linear "scientist-extension worker-farmers" model to the integrative "natural resource management" model (Jiggins, 1993). International experience has shown that for small holding farmers in developing countries a farmer driven model based on participatory approaches (the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Model) is more effective and efficient.

Using Landsat Imagery To Analyse Land Cover Change In The Njoro Watershed, Kenya, T. J. Baldyga, S. N. Miller, K. L. Driese, C. Maina-Gichaba

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In developing nations where resources are scarce and increased population pressures create stress on available resources, methods are needed to examine effects of human migration and resultant changes in land cover. Widespread availability and low cost of remotely sensed imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are making such methods a reality to develop quantitative resource mapping and land cover change detection in developing nations (Sheng et al., 1997). However, difficulties arise in tropical regions when trying to analyse traditional vegetation bands (Bands 3 and 4), or indices such as NDVI because saturated pixels limit spectral distinction.

Urban Vulnerability Analysis Based On Micro-Geographic Unit With Multi-Source Data—Case Study In Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, Jianghua Zheng, Danlin Yu, Chuqiao Han, Zhe Wang

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study introduces a novel approach to urban public safety analysis inspired by a streetscape analysis commonly applied in urban criminology, leveraging the concept of micro-geographical units to account for urban spatial heterogeneity. Recognizing the intrinsic uniformity within these smaller, distinct environments of a city, the methodology represents a shift from large-scale regional studies to a more localized and precise exploration of urban vulnerability. The research objectives focus on three key aspects: first, establishing a framework for identifying and dividing cities into micro-geographical units; second, determining the type and nature of data that effectively illustrate the potential vulnerability of these …

Whitewater Sound Dependence On Discharge And Wave Configuration At An Adjustable Wave Feature, Taylor A. Tatum, Jacob F. Anderson, Timothy J. Ronan

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stream acoustics has been proposed as a means of monitoring discharge and wave hazards from outside the stream channel. To better understand the dependence of sound on discharge and wave characteristics, this study analyzes discharge and infrasound data from an artificial wave feature which is adjusted to accommodate daily changes in recreational use and seasonal changes in irrigation demand. Monitorable sound is only observed when discharge exceeds ∼35 m³/s, and even above that threshold the sound-discharge relationship is non-linear and inconsistent. When sound is observed, it shows consistent dependence on wave type within a given year, but the …

Testing The Niche Center Hypothesis In The Fossil Record Of Atlantic Bivalves, Rhiannon Z. Nolan

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Paleoecological analyses of six shallow marine bivalves were conducted to test the Abundant Center Hypothesis using data from the fossil record of the Pleistocene through modern day. This hypothesis predicts the highest abundance of a species is at the center of the geographic or environmental range, decreasing toward the edges. In geographic space, distances to a centerline within a geographic range were variably correlated with population abundances, and some species displayed a sharp drop-off in abundance as distance increased. In environmental space, bivalve species showed moderate correlations between abundance and centrality when measured using cumulative data across the last 2.8 …

Weathering, Erosion, And Dust Accumulation At Stoneman Lake, Arizona, Usa: Timescales And Drivers Of Geomorphic Activity Across The Southwest, Spencer Staley, Peter J. Fawcett, R. Scott Anderson, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Vera Markgraf, Erik T. Brown, Matthew E. Kirby

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Lengthy and well-dated terrestrial records of the Quaternary Period with the appropriate proxies show how the critical zone responds to environmental change. In southwestern North America, resolving the many effects of aridity through time provides crucial context for addressing contemporary climate issues. However, arid conditions are generally non-conducive to paleo-record preservation, causing knowledge gaps during relevant climatic episodes. An ~80 m-long sediment core (STL14) from Stoneman Lake contains a continuous archive of conditions from local to regional scale since the early Pleistocene (~1.3 Ma) and is, therefore, a unique and immensely valuable scientific resource. STL is situated in a montane …

Water Quality Land Cover Change And Water Quality In Wetlands At The City Of Gresham, Or, Evelyn Barajas, Michael Gonzalez

altREU Projects

The City of Gresham, Oregon has implemented constructed wetlands around the area as an attempt to collect, filter, and purify water from different sources such as rain, agricultural waste, and domestic waste. We focused our research on three different facilities: Columbia Slough Water Quality Facility (CSWQF), Fairview Creek Water Quality Facility, and Brookside Water Quality Facility. For each of these, we conducted tests and looked at the concentration levels for nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients such as NH3-N (ammonium), NO3-N (nitrate), TKN (total Kjeldahl nitrogen), O-PO4 (phosphate), and Total P (total phosphorus), as well as heavy metals like Total Cu (total …

Understanding The Factors Affecting Nebraskan Farmers’ And Landowners' Decision To Adopt Precision Agricultural Technologies And Programs, Corrin C. Winter

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Advisors: Andrew Little, Christopher Chizinski

To gain insights into the challenges faced by Nebraska farmers and landowners when adopting precision agriculture technologies, I analyzed data collected from a 2022 survey involving 7,503 participants, consisting of producers and farmland owners from across the state of Nebraska. The primary objective was to provide valuable insights for agencies seeking to improve their precision agriculture and conservation outreach efforts for the benefit of conservation and Nebraskan farmers and landowners. This study aimed to understand key factors influencing adoption behaviors by evaluating the constraints to precision agriculture adoption, assessing the impact of producer and landowner …

Englacial Drainage Drives Positive Feedback Depression Growth On The Debris-Covered Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, R. M. Strickland, M. D. Covington, J. D. Gulley, R. B. Kayastha, J. M. Blackstock

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The development of hummocky topography is a poorly understood aspect of down-wasting on debris-covered glaciers that is often attributed to variable debris thickness. Thousands of enclosed depressions pit the hummocky topography. To better understand depression growth, we examined the size distribution and geometry of depressions on the Ngozumpa Glacier, in the Everest Region of Nepal. The depressions exhibited a power-law size distribution, fractal perimeters, and power-law depth-area scaling, which suggest positive feedback growth. With a simple model, we showed that positive feedback growth produces similar power-law size distributions. Based on these findings, we propose a “sinkhole” hypothesis for the development …

Lidar Monitoring Of Annual And Storm-Driven Episodic Erosion At Rainsford Island, Alan H. Bartels

Graduate Masters Theses

Boston Harbor and its thirty-four islands are subject to erosion, driven by rain, winds, and waves. Climate change threatens to increase erosion over time as sea levels rise and the frequency and intensity of storms increase. Understanding the dynamics of coastal erosion is key to guiding the design of coastal shoreline protections, the research of which a goal of Stone Living Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Boston. To better understand the impact of both annual weather and episodic severe storms, the high-resolution Riegl VZ400i LiDAR was deployed four times over 14 months from July 22, 2021 to October 19, …

Use Of Aeromagnetic Data For Structural Mapping Of The Tlemcen Mountains (Northwestern Algeria), Lahcen Rerbal, Boualem Bouyahiaoui, Abbas Marok, Abdeslam Abtout, Hassina Boukerbout, Kamar Eddine Bensefia

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

In order to refine the geological mapping and to improve our knowledge of the Tlemcen Mountains structure (northwestern Algeria), the interpretation of aeromagnetic data using several processing techniques allowed us to map the Paleozoic basement of Rhar Roubane Mountains and the sedimentary cover constituted by geological formations of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age. Structurally, the Tlemcen Mountains are formed by several structures (e.g., Sebdou Graben), separated by three major transverse faults NNE-SSW (Tafna-Magoura, Oued Chouly and Aïn Tellout transverse faults). We have also been able to highlight a set of deep and shallower structures, trending mainly in NE-SW, N-S, and E-W, …

Rift-Induced Disruption Of Cratonic Keels Drives Kimberlite Volcanism, Thomas M. Gernon, Stephen M. Jones, Sascha Brune, Thea K. Hincks, Martin Palmer, John C. Schumacher, Rebecca M. Primiceri, Matthew Field, William L. Griffin, Suzanne Y. O'Reilly, Derek Keir, Christopher J. Spencer, Andrew S. Merdith, Anne Glerum

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Kimberlites are volatile-rich, occasionally diamond-bearing magmas that have erupted explosively at Earth’s surface in the geologic past^1,2,3. These enigmatic magmas, originating from depths exceeding 150 km in Earth’s mantle¹, occur in stable cratons and in pulses broadly synchronous with supercontinent cyclicity⁴. Whether their mobilization is driven by mantle plumes⁵ or by mechanical weakening of cratonic lithosphere^4,6 remains unclear. Here we show that most kimberlites spanning the past billion years erupted about 30 million years (Myr) after continental breakup, suggesting an association with rifting processes. Our dynamical …

Disentangling Groundwater Dynamics At Oregon's Mckenzie River Headwaters, Taylor Nicole Salazar

Dissertations and Theses

Widespread mountain snowpack declines have been occurring across the western United States over the last century, and are increasing in duration and severity, with several record-breaking low-snowpack years in the last decade. In the Pacific Northwest, summer streamflow is largely a result of melting snow and groundwater discharge, as summers are typically dry and warm in this Mediterranean bioclimate, thus making spring-fed rivers critical for regional water resources. However, current trends and predictions in hydroclimate modeling indicate spring-fed rivers will experience reduced summer discharge driven by the increasingly larger impact of anthropogenic climate change (warming) on (decreased) mountain snowpack. A …

Groundwater Flow And Salt Marsh Migration: The Forest/Marsh Boundary, Camille Rossiello

Theses and Dissertations

Salt marshes migrate landward in response to sea level rise, but the rate of this migration is not constant and can be influenced by pulse disturbances. Long term observations at Sapelo Island, Georgia, show that salt marsh migration has occurred during droughts, but the mechanism for this migration is unclear. Drought is thought to influence salt marsh migration by reducing fresh groundwater discharge from the upland. Rising sea level also encroaches on the upland, which could cause movement of the freshwater lens inland. A two-dimensional numerical model was built to simulate groundwater flow and solute transport based on the Marsh …