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Automated System To Improve Levelness Of Reconstructed Soil, Venkata Srikiran Bodapati, Larry G. Wells

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Extraction of coal, ores, and minerals from the earth by surface mining has occurred for many years and has always presented a significant challenge with regard to restoration of productive soil to mined areas. Federal and state regulations require that land should be returned to pre-mine productivity or reclaimed as per specific standards following mining. Excessive compaction of reconstructed soil caused by traffic of heavy earth moving equipment has been an enduring challenge regarding successful restoration of soil. A mechanical system was previously designed and developed to reconstruct soil to a depth of 1.22 m (48 in.) while completely avoiding …

Effects Of Root-Zone Temperature And N, P, And K Supplies On Nutrient Uptake Of Cucumber (Cucumis Sativus L.) Seedlings In Hydroponics, Qiuyan Yan, Zengqiang Duan, Jingdong Mao, Xun Li, Fei Dong

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The nutrient uptake and allocation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings at different root-zone temperatures (RZT) and different concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) nutrients were examined. Plants were grown in a nutrient solution for 30 d at two root-zone temperatures (a diurnally fluctuating ambient 10°C-RZT and a constant 20° C-RZT) with the aerial parts of the plants maintained at ambient temperature (10°C -30°C). Based on a Hoagland nutrient solution, seven N, P, and K nutrient concentrations were supplied to the plants at each RZT. Results showed that total plant and shoot dry weights under …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 40, 2011-2012, Department Of Geography-Geology

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography-Geology

Modeling Potential Impacts Of Heavy Metals And Btex Compounds From The Former Year-A-Round Cab Company On Hiniker Pond, Jason Nolan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The Year-A-Round Cab Company (an industrial metal preparation, painting, and welding facility) in Mankato, MN has a history of numerous environmental violations. The site is located 300 yards north of Hiniker Pond, a popular swimming spot. The primary purposes of my research were to determine if BTEX (ethyl benzene, toluene, and xylenes) and heavy metals had reached Hiniker Pond, and model estimated contaminate plumes from the Year-A-Round Cab Company. Lead, cadmium, and chromium were found in sediments at levels of up to 30 times higher near the site as compared to the control lake, Hallett's Pond. Although BTEX were not …

Trap Efficiency Of A Silted Prairie Reservoir: Rapidan Reservoir, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Katherine Brosch Rassmussen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Rapidan Dam and Reservoir are located along the Blue Earth River south of Mankato, Minnesota. The dam was constructed in 1911 as a source of hydroelectric power to supplement the surroundings communities. Currently, the reservoir is heavily silted and provides little hydroelectric benefit while proving costly to maintain. This study (1) defines the sedimentary, geomorphic, stream flow and suspended load characteristics of the reservoir for 2008-2009 and (2) compares these parameters with those available from 1985 (23 years prior). Stream gauging and sediment sampling took place in 2008 and 2009 at three monitoring locations (two upstream and one downstream of …

Palaeoclimatic Estimates For The Late Pliocene Based On Leaf Physiognomy From Western Yunnan, China, Sanping Xie, Sun Bainian, Jinyu Wu, Zhicheng Lin, Defei Yan, Liang Xiao

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Based on leaf physiognomy of the Late Pliocene Tuantian megaflora from the Mangbang Formation of Tengchong County in western Yunnan, a quantitative reconstruction of palaeoclimate was performed with Leaf Margin Analysis (LMA) methodology and the Climate-Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP). The latter produced the following parameters: mean annual temperature (MAT) from 17.2 to 17.7°C; warmest month mean temperature (WMMT) from 25 to 25.5°C; coldest month mean temperature (CMMT) from 9.5 to 10.8°C; length of growing season (GRS) from 9.5 to 9.7 months; growing season precipitation (GSP) from 1834.3 to 1901.2 mm; mean monthly growing season precipitation (MMGSP) from 222.4 to …

Palaeoclimate Estimates For Selected Leaf Floras From The Late Pliocene (Reuverian) Of Central Europe Based On Different Palaeobotanical Techniques, Christine Thiel, Stefan Klotz, Dieter Uhl

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

To provide quantitative palaeoclimate estimates based on different palaeobotanical techniques for three contemporaneous Pliocene leaf floras, we applied the Coexistence Approach (CoA), leaf margin analysis (LMA), the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) and the European Leaf Physiognomic Approach (ELPA). Furthermore, we compared recently published estimates from an additional locality with our data. The leaf physiognomic techniques yield lower mean annual temperatures than the CoA, which is most likely caused by taphonomic biases. Due to these potential biases we are in favour of the CoA as the most reliable method, and its palaeotemperature estimates show similar temperatures for all localities. …

Possible Early Foraminiferans In Post-Sturtian (716-635 Ma) Cap Carbonates, Tanja Bosak, Daniel J.G. Lahr, Sara B. Pruss, Francis A. Macdonald, Andrew J. Gooday, Lilly Dalton, Emily D. Matys

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Foraminifera are an ecologically important group of modern heterotrophic amoeboid eukaryotes whose naked and testate ancestors are thought to have evolved ~1 Ga ago. However, the single-chambered agglutinated tests of these protists appear in the fossil record only after ca. 580 Ma, coinciding with the appearance of macro scopic and mineralized animals. Here we report the discovery of small, slender tubular microfossils in the Sturtian (ca. 716-635 Ma) cap carbonate of the Rasthof Formation in Namibia. The tubes are 200-1300 μm long and 20-70μm wide, and preserve apertures and variably wide lumens, folds, constrictions, and ridges. Their sometimes fl exible …

Shoreline Changes In Point Pelee, Canada: An Airphoto-Based Analysis, Abdullah Bamasoud

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Shoreline retreat has significant consequences for Point Pelee National Park’s (PPNP) ecological and economic systems. In this study, the shoreline changes of PPNP are examined in terms of their rates, their relationship to natural and anthropogenic influences, and methods for predicting shoreline positions.

The rates of shoreline change are analyzed for the period 1959-2004 using ortho-airphotos. The eastern shoreline of the Park exhibited varying recession in both rising and falling Lake Erie water level, especially in the Northeast Beach, where it averaged -3.14 m˖y-1. The western shoreline of the Park generally exhibited accretion and had an inverse relationship with Lake …

Longitudinal Assessment Of Shifting Microbial Community Composition In Sandy Beaches Following The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill And Remediation Efforts, Axita Ajaykumar Gupta

LSU Master's Theses

Sandy beaches are geological zones parallel to the shoreline where high energy, open ocean unconsolidated sediments are deposited and reworked. Sandy beaches represent critical ecosystems that support a wide variety of underappreciated biodiversity. Prior to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the diversity and function of microbial communities in supratidal beach sediments along the Gulf of Mexico coastlines were not well understood. It was unclear if possible community compositional changes would occur during and following exposure to oil, or what impact the remediation efforts, such as sand washing, would have to the microbial communities and …

Atr-Ftir Studies On The Kinetics Of Dimethylarsinic Acid (Dma) Surface Complexation With Iron(Oxyhydr)Oxides, Julia Tofan-Lazar Miss

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) is an organoarsenical compound that, along with monomethylarsonic acid, poses a health and an environmental risk, and a challenge to the energy industry. Little is known about the surface chemistry of DMA at the molecular level with materials relevant to geochemical environments and industrial sectors. The surface chemistry of phosphorus and arsenic compounds in their organic and inorganic forms is of great interest due to its role in controlling their transport, bioaccessibility and speciation. This thesis reports the first in-situ and surface-sensitive rapid kinetic studies on the adsorption and desorption of DMA to and from Fe-(oxyhydr)oxide films …

Successful Genotyping Of Microsatellites In The Woolly Mammoth, Yasuko Ishida, Alfred L. Roca, Stephen Fratpietro, Alex D. Greenwood

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Genetic analyses using ancient DNA from Pleistocene and early Holocene fossils have largely relied on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Among woolly mammoths, Mammuthus primigenius, mtDNA analyses have identified 2 distinct clades (I and II) that diverged 1-2 Ma. Here, we establish that microsatellite markers can be effective on Pleistocene samples, successfully genotyping woolly mammoth specimens at 2 loci. Although significant differentiation at the 2 microsatellite loci was not detected between 16 clade I and 4 clade II woolly mammoths, our results demonstrate that the nuclear population structure of Pleistocene species can be examined using fast-evolving nuclear microsatellite markers.

Identifying Risk Factors For Disparities In Breast Cancer Mortality Among African-American And Hispanic Women, Nancy Tian, Pierre Goovaerts, F. Benjamin Zhan, T. Edwin Chow, Jeff Gaines Wilson

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: This study evaluated the risk factors associated with racial disparities in female breast cancer mortality for African-American and Hispanic women at the census tract level in Texas from 1995 to 2005.

Methods: Data on female breast cancer cases were obtained from the Texas Cancer Registry. Socioeconomic and demographic data were collected from Census 2000. Network distance and driving times to mammography facilities were estimated using Geographic Information System techniques. Demographic, poverty and spatial accessibility factors were constructed using principal component analysis. Logistic regression models were developed to predict the census tracts with significant racial disparities in breast cancer mortality …

Extensive Reproductive Disruption, Ovarian Masculinization And Aromatase Suppression In Atlantic Croaker In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Hypoxic Zone, Peter Thomas, Md. Saydur Rahman

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The long-term impacts on marine ecosystems of the recent dramatic worldwide increase in the incidence of coastal hypoxia are unknown. Here, we show widespread reproductive disruption in Atlantic croakers collected from hypoxic sites approximately 120 km apart in the extensive northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf hypoxic zone. Gonadal growth and gamete production were impaired in croakers from hypoxic sites compared with fish from reference normoxic sites east of the Mississippi River Delta. Male germ cells were detected in approximately 19 per cent of croaker ovaries collected in the hypoxic region, but were absent in ovaries from normoxic sites. In …

Differences In Immune Defense Evasion Of Selected Inbred Lines Of Heterorhabditis Bacteriophora In Two White Grub Species, Ruisheng An, Marcio Voss, Ganpati B. Jagdale, Parwinder Grewal

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

We determined virulence of seven Heterorhabditis bacteriophora strain GPS11 inbred lines possessing superior infective juvenile longevity, and heat and ultra violet radiation tolerance against white grubs Popillia japonica and Cyclocephala borealis. At 1 and 2 weeks after treatment, inbred line A2 was significantly more virulent towards P. japonica compared to the parent strain GPS11 and inbred lines A7, A8, A12 and A21; and line A2 caused significantly higher C. borealis mortality than lines A6 and A12. Penetration, encapsulation and survival of two inbred lines, A2 and A12, that showed the highest and lowest virulence against both grub species were then …

Would Predatory Drillhole Frequency On Chione Spp. Increase Under The Suggested Climate Change Scenario? Comparing Pleistocene And Modern Rhodolith Beds, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The analysis of predatory drillholes allow paleontologists to reconstruct trophic relationships of ancient systems. To evaluate the potential effects of climate and sea level change on predation frequency by gastropods on bivalves, species of the genus Chione from the Gulf of California were selected because they are a commercially exploited resource - at least locally - and abundant in both modern and Pleistocene (sea level high stand of oxygen substage 5e) samples from rhodolith beds. The present study focused to answer a practical question: would predation on Chione spp. increase under the suggested climate - warming - change scenario? A …

Changing Land Use On Unproductive Soils, Andrew Blake, Mike Clarke, Angela Stuart-Street

Resource management technical reports

A three year study completed in 2010 examined farming systems in the north-eastern agricultural region and eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia which experienced a succession of variable seasons from 2000. This culminated in severe drought in 2006 and 2007. At that time, farmers experienced labour shortages and declining terms of trade triggered by cost inflation outpacing growth in commodity prices. As a result, farm business equity was eroded as farm debt escalated. This left many farm businesses in a highly vulnerable state. At the time of the study many farmers were facing an uncertain future.

These experiences, coupled with a …

Top-Down Estimate Of Dust Emissions Through Integration Of Modis And Misr Aerosol Retrievals With The Geos-Chem Adjoint Model, Jun Wang, Xiaoguang Xu, Daven K. Henze, Jing Zeng, Qiang Ji, Si-Chee Tsay, Jianping Huang

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Predicting the influences of dust on atmospheric composition, climate, and human health requires accurate knowledge of dust emissions, but large uncertainties persist in quantifying mineral sources. This study presents a new method for combined use of satellite-measured radiances and inverse modeling to spatially constrain the amount and location of dust emissions. The technique is illustrated with a case study in May 2008; the dust emissions in Taklimakan and Gobi deserts are spatially optimized using the GEOSChem chemical transport model and its adjoint constrained by aerosol optical depth (AOD) that are derived over the downwind dark-surface region in China from MODIS …

Implications Of Decade Time Scale Arctic Plant Community Change On Ecosystem Function, Mark Jason Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Almost half the global soil organic carbon pool is found in northern high latitudes. The majority of this soil carbon is stored in a greenhouse inert state within permafrost. As pronounced warming of high northern latitudes ensues, there is a strong likelihood that this substantial soil organic carbon pool will be mobilized to the atmosphere where it is likely to positively enhance greenhouse warming. Modeling studies suggest this positive feedback could alter future climate states of the Arctic and the globe, and affect how humans may need to adapt to climate change. Accordingly, understanding the patterns and controls and the …

The Impact Of Decadal Land Cover Change On The Global Warming Potential Of Beringian Arctic Tundra, David Hwei-Len Lin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon cycle. If arctic warming continues to rise as projected, large amounts of soil carbon stored in these ecosystems could be released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide or methane and positively enhance greenhouse warming. Thus, improving understanding of the likely future state and fate of arctic soil carbon, and the carbon uptake potential of arctic terrestrial ecosystems are well recognized research priorities.

At the pan-arctic scale, decadal increases in NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), an index of vegetation productivity, have been observed from satellite imagery, indicating a general greening …

Use Of Environmental Isotope Tracer And Gis Techniques To Estimate Basin Recharge, Abdulganiu A.A. Odunmbaku

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The extensive use of ground water only began with the advances in pumping technology at the early portion of 20th Century. Groundwater provides the majority of fresh water supply for municipal, agricultural and industrial uses, primarily because of little to no treatment it requires. Estimating the volume of groundwater available in a basin is a daunting task, and no accurate measurements can be made. Usually water budgets and simulation models are primarily used to estimate the volume of water in a basin.

Precipitation, land surface cover and subsurface geology are factors that affect recharge; these factors affect percolation which invariably …

Propagation Of Interval And Probabilistic Uncertainty In Cyberinfrastructure-Related Data Processing And Data Fusion, Christian Servin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Data uncertainty affects the results of data processing. So, it is necessary to find out how the data uncertainty propagates into the uncertainty of the results of data processing.

This problem is especially important when cyberinfrastructure enables us to process large amounts of heterogeneous data.

In the ideal world, we should have an accurate description of data

uncertainty, and well-justified efficient algorithms to propagate this uncertainty. In practice, we are often not yet in this ideal situation:

the description of uncertainty is often only approximate, and the algorithms for uncertainty propagation are often not well-justified and not very computationally efficient. …

Net Ecosystem Production (Nep) Of The Great Plains, United States, Daniel Howard, Tagir Gilmanov, Yingxin Gu, Bruce Wylie, Li Zhang

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) are the fundamental environmental characteristics that promote carbon exchanges with the atmosphere (Chapin and others, 2009), although other exchanges of carbon, such as direct oxidation (Lovett and others, 2006), can modify net ecosystem production (NEP). The accumulation of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems results in systems in which soil organic matter (SOM) carbon often exceeds biomass carbon (Post and Kwon, 2000). This SOM pool exists at a steady state between GPP and Re in ecosystems unless drivers change or the ecosystem endures environmental perturbations (for example, climatic). As indicated by Wilhelm and others …

Stability Of Rock Slopes Along Raidah Escarpment Road, Asir Area, Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed M. Youssef, Norbert H. Maerz, Abdulla A. Al-Otaibi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Raidah Escarpment road is located north west of Abha city, Asir region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This escarpment road represents an important corridor in the area which connects different villages and tourist resorts with each other. The total length of this road section is about 9 km which passes through a highly mountainous area. The road also passes through areas of different geological hazards (rock, debris flow, soil, and weathered zones). The different environmental factors (e.g. intensive rainy summer), variable geological and structural elements (weak rocks, slide debris weak soils, shear zones, and faults) difficult road characteristics (narrow roads …

Stratigraphy And Paleoenvironments Of The Soeginina Beds (Paadla Formation, Lower Ludlow, Upper Silurian) On Saaremaa Island, Estonia, Richa N. Ekka

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Soeginina Beds in the Paadla Formation on the island of Saaremaa, western Estonia, are a lower Ludlow (Upper Silurian) sequence of dolostones, marls, and stromatolites. They represent rocks just above the Wenlock/Ludlow boundary, which is distinguished by a major disconformity that can be correlated to a regional regression on the paleocontinent of Baltica. The depositional environments of the Soeginina Beds include a shelfal environment, restricted shallow marine setting, intertidal mudflat and finally a hypersaline supratidal setting. The evidence includes halite crystal molds, oscillation ripples, eurypterid fragments, stromatolites, ostracods, gastropods, Chondrites trace fossils, intraclasts and oncoids. Nautiloid conchs are common, …

Cometabolic Degradation Of Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons By Aerobic Microorganisms Naturally Associated With Wetland Plant Roots, Madelyn M. Smith

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Wetland systems provide both anaerobic (reducing) and aerobic (oxidizing) zones for the biodegradation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAH). In particular, wetland plant roots provide micro-oxidizing environments for methanotrophic bacteria from the presence of methane, which is produced in anaerobic zones, and oxygen, which is brought to the subsurface by roots of wetland plants; this shows the potential for cometabolic degradation of common organic pollutants.

This study explored the natural attenuation of CAHs by methanotrophic bacteria naturally associated with roots of the common wetland plant, Carex comosa. Root microcosms were amended with varying concentrations of methane; trichloroethene; cis 1,2-dichloroethene; 1,2-dichloroethane; or …

Why Is There Such A High Concentration Of Vertebrate Remains Within A Bone-Bed Along Clapp Creek, Williamsburg County, South Carolina?, Jennifer R. Soehner

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A phosphatic bone-bed occurs along Clapp Creek in Kingstree, South Carolina, within the east-central portion of the coastal plain. The location of the research site is within the Chicora Member of the Williamsburg Formation. The paleoenvironment of this site was most likely a complex estuary with microenvironments that included tidal channels, tidal deltas, tidal flats, marshes and subtidal bays. The high diversity and large time span in the bone-bed is explained by the transgressive environment and storm deposits. The phosphate content of the bone-bed is from the calcium phosphate occurring in the coprolites of carnivores and the higher concentration of …

Degradation Of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons In Groundwater Passing Through The Treatment Wetland At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: Analysis Of Results Collected During 2001-'06, Annamarie F. Therrien

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Constructed wetlands are an efficient and cost effective means for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon remediation, and will therefore continue to gain momentum as an accepted treatment by the US EPA (U.S. EPA, 1995; Amarante, 2000; Lien, 2001; WETPOL, 2009). The treatment options for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs), including wetlands, capitalize on aerobic/anaerobic interfaces in which bacterially mediated reduction-oxidation reactions degrade pollutants (Li, 1997; Bradley, 1998; Lorah and Voytek, 2004; Amon, 2007; Imfeld, 2008). In August 2000, researchers at Wright State University (WSU) combined efforts with the United States Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to construct a pilot-scale upward-flow treatment wetland …

Improving Student Attitudes About Learning Science And Student Scientific Reasoning Skills, Douglas K. Duncan, Leilani Arthurs

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Student attitudes about learning science and student ideas about the nature of science were compared at the end of two astronomy courses taught in Fall 2007, a course with a traditional astronomy curriculum and a transformed course, whose traditional astronomy curriculum was supplemented by an embedded curriculum that explicitly addressed the nature of science and student metacognition (i.e., thinking about one’s own thinking.) The embedded curriculum in the transformed course gave students practice at evaluating examples of valid science and pseudoscience found on the internet; it also provided students opportunities to discuss what they think about learning science. Student attitudes …

Climate-Induced Changes In Lake Ecosystem Structure Inferred From Coupled Neo- And Paleoecological Approaches, Jasmine E. Saros, Jeffery R. Stone, Gregory T. Pederson, Krista E.H. Slemmons, Trisha Spanbauer, Anna Schliep, Douglas Cahl, Craig E. Williamson, Daniel R. Engstrom

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Over the 20th century, surface water temperatures have increased in many lake ecosystems around the world, but long-term trends in the vertical thermal structure of lakes remain unclear, despite the strong control that thermal stratification exerts on the biological response of lakes to climate change. Here we used both neo- and paleoecological approaches to develop a fossil-based inference model for lake mixing depths and thereby refine understanding of lake thermal structure change. We focused on three common planktonic diatom taxa, the distributions of which previous research suggests might be affected by mixing depth. Comparative lake surveys and growth rate experiments …