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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Characterization Of Novel Ichnofossils In Meteorite Impact Glass From The Ries Impact Structure, Germany, Haley M. Sapers Nov 2012

Characterization Of Novel Ichnofossils In Meteorite Impact Glass From The Ries Impact Structure, Germany, Haley M. Sapers

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The initial catastrophic biological effects of hypervelocity impacts are well established. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that meteorite impact events have beneficial effects for microbial life. This, in turn, has led many to suggest that impact craters may have been important habitats for life on early Earth. Any large meteorite impact into a water-rich target on a solid planetary body has the potential to generate hydrothermal systems. Impact-generated hydrothermal systems expand the potential environments for microbial colonization to environments without endogenous volcanic heat sources to drive hydrothermal activity. Examination of impact glass from the Ries impact structure, Germany, …


Using Emerging Methods To Investigate Stream And Groundwater Interaction At Multiple Spatial Scales, Martin Ashley Briggs May 2012

Using Emerging Methods To Investigate Stream And Groundwater Interaction At Multiple Spatial Scales, Martin Ashley Briggs

Earth & Environmental Sciences - Dissertations

Fundamentally, streams represent physical conduits of water across gradients, yet a more holistic definition reveals stream corridors support a mosaic of living communities in a blend of surface and ground waters. The physical and biogeochemical patterns these dynamic systems support affect natural habitat and water quality, directly impacting the human experience. Our understanding of stream and groundwater interactions is at a time of rapid expansion due to an increase in environmental awareness, accountability, and emerging techniques which can be used to decipher underlying controls and develop predictive relationships. Water temperature has been used as a qualitative environmental tracer during the …


Evaluating Holocene Climate Change In Northern Norway Using Sediment Records From Two Contrasting Lake Systems., Nicholas L. Balascio, Raymond S. Bradley Jan 2012

Evaluating Holocene Climate Change In Northern Norway Using Sediment Records From Two Contrasting Lake Systems., Nicholas L. Balascio, Raymond S. Bradley

Raymond S Bradley

We analyzed Holocene sedimentary records from two lakes in the Lofoten Islands, northern Norway to evaluate environmental changes during the Holocene related to northern North Atlantic climate dynamics. The lakes are located in different geomorphological settings, and thus provide a contrast in their response to regional climate change. Environmental changes at both lakes were interpreted based on magnetic susceptibility, organic-matter flux, C/N, d13 Corg , Ti concentrations, and mass accumulation rates. Chronologies were established using 16 AMS radiocarbon dates, and average deposition rates in both environments are higher than 0.2 mm/year throughout the Holocene. At Vikjordvatnet, sedimentary geochemical properties define …


Biogeochemical Evidence For Prehistoric Human Impacts On The Environment In Northwestern Norway, Raymond S. Bradley, Robert D'Anjou, Nicholas L. Balascio, David B. Finkelstein Jan 2012

Biogeochemical Evidence For Prehistoric Human Impacts On The Environment In Northwestern Norway, Raymond S. Bradley, Robert D'Anjou, Nicholas L. Balascio, David B. Finkelstein

Raymond S Bradley

Disentangling the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the environment is a major challenge in paleoenvironmental research. Here, we used fecal sterols and other biogeochemical compounds in lake sediments from northern Norway to identify both natural and anthropogenic signals of environmental change during the late Holocene. The area was first occupied by humans and their grazing animals at ∼2,250 ± 75 calendar years before 1950 AD (calendar years before present). The arrival of humans is indicated by an abrupt increase in coprostanol (and its epimer epicoprostanol) in the sediments and an associated increase in 5β-stigmastanol (and 5β-epistigmastanol), which …


The Biogeochemistry Of Carbon Isotopes In Local Lakes, Stephen Edward Sadurski Jan 2012

The Biogeochemistry Of Carbon Isotopes In Local Lakes, Stephen Edward Sadurski

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Photosynthesis, respiration, and decay of organic matter all involve the transfer of carbon among the carbon-bearing species in the systems. These biogeochemical processes also fractionate the carbon isotope composition, which results in changes to the carbon isotope composition of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) pool. This thesis presents two separate, but related studies regarding the influence of biogeochemical processes on carbon isotopes in local lakes. Crystal Lake is a small but deep glacial lake (12.5 acres, 11.9 meters). The study shows that during thermal stratification, the heaviest carbon can be found in the epilimnion near the surface, where photosynthesis dominates …


Landscape-Level Controls On Dissolved Carbon Flux From Diverse Catchments Of The Circumboreal, Suzanne E. Tank, Karen E. Frey, Robert G. Striegl, Peter A. Raymond, Robert M. Holmes, James W. Mcclelland, Bruce J. Peterson Jan 2012

Landscape-Level Controls On Dissolved Carbon Flux From Diverse Catchments Of The Circumboreal, Suzanne E. Tank, Karen E. Frey, Robert G. Striegl, Peter A. Raymond, Robert M. Holmes, James W. Mcclelland, Bruce J. Peterson

Geography

While much of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) within rivers is destined for mineralization to CO2, a substantial fraction of riverine bicarbonate (HCO3-) flux represents a CO2 sink, as a result of weathering processes that sequester CO2 as HCO 3-. We explored landscape-level controls on DOC and HCO3- flux in subcatchments of the boreal, with a specific focus on the effect of permafrost on riverine dissolved C flux. To do this, we undertook a multivariate analysis that partitioned the variance attributable to known, key regulators of dissolved C flux (runoff, lithology, and vegetation) prior to examining the effect of permafrost, …


H2/Ch4 Ratios Cannot Reliably Distinguish Abiotic Vs. Biotic Methane In Natural Hydrothermal Systems, Susan Q. Lang, G. L. Früh-Green, D. S. Kelley, M. D. Lilley, G. Proskurowski, E. P. Reeves Jan 2012

H2/Ch4 Ratios Cannot Reliably Distinguish Abiotic Vs. Biotic Methane In Natural Hydrothermal Systems, Susan Q. Lang, G. L. Früh-Green, D. S. Kelley, M. D. Lilley, G. Proskurowski, E. P. Reeves

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.