Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Recent Global Warming: A New Approach To Interpreting Some Of The Data, Stanley Schleifer, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Samuel Borenstein, Che-Tsao Huang, Thakur Chaturgan, Feng Chan Liang, Mario Jo-Ramirez, Dorean J. Flores, Poonraj Persaud, Selwyn N. Lebourne

Publications and Research

The authors have done an analysis of meteorological data which may add to the growing body of information addressing the cause or causes of recent global warming. If an augmented greenhouse effect, due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, has been a significant factor producing global warming, then this should be indicated by an increase in the interval of time between the time of maximum insolation, and the time of maximum surface temperature, as well as a decrease in the interval of time between the time of minimum insolation and the time of minimum surface temperature, in the mid latitudes. …

Morphological And Phylogenetic Description Of An Unusual Amphidinium (Dinophyceae) Species, Tyler Cyronak, Isaac R. Santos

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Amphidinium carterae, an important harmful algal species that produces powerful antifungal and hemolytic compounds (amphidinols) and cytotoxic macrolides (amphidinolides) is ubiquitous in coastal waters. Samples from coral rubble contained an unusual and previously unreported Amphidinium (D2) with a circular outline. Genetic analysis of clone D2 of this species, involving the sequencing of large subunit (LSU) rDNA, revealed a relationship between Amphidinium sp. D2 and both A. carterae and A. massartii. However, morphological and genetic differences suggest that Amphidinium sp. D2 is not conspecific with A. carterae or A. massartii. Further studies to describe this species are presently …

Self-Positioning Smart Buoys, The 'Un-Buoy' Solution: Logistic Considerations Using Autonomous Surface Craft Technology And Improved Communications Infrastructure, Joseph A. Curcio, Philip A. Mcgillivary, Kevin Fall, Andrew Maffei, Kurt Schwehr, Bob Twiggs, Chris Kitts, Phil Ballou

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Moored buoys have long served national interests, but incur high development, construction, installation, and maintenance costs. Buoys which drift off-location can pose hazards to mariners, and in coastal waters may cause environmental damage. Moreover, retrieval, repair and replacement of drifting buoys may be delayed when data would be most useful. Such gaps in coastal buoy data can pose a threat to national security by reducing maritime domain awareness. The concept of self-positioning buoys has been advanced to reduce installation cost by eliminating mooring hardware. We here describe technology for operation of reduced cost self-positioning buoys which can be used in …

Experiments For Multibeam Backscatter Adjustments On The Noaa Ship Fairweather, Luciano E. Fonseca, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

A series of experiments were conducted to adjust and normalize the acoustic backscatter acquired by Reson 8111 and 8160 systems. The dependency of the backscatter on the receiver gain, transmit power, pulse width and acquisition mode was analyzed. Empirical beam patterns are calculated as the difference between the backscatter measured by the sonars and the expected backscatter. Expected acoustic backscatter is estimated based on a mathematical model.

The Karst Of West-Central Florida, Lee J. Florea

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

Caves, the cornerstone feature of karst aquifers, are little understood in Florida. This dissertation, which analyzes the morphology, elevation, lithologic setting, and hydrology of caves in west-central Florida, demonstrates that the karst of the unconfined Floridan aquifer differs from the paradigm view of karst presented in modern geology textbooks. The differences reflect setting: eogenetic (west-central Florida) vs. telogenetic (conventional).

Marine Investigations Of Greece's Santorini Volcanic Field, Haraldur Sigurdsson, Steven Carey, Matina Alexandri, Georges Vougioukalakis, Katherine Croff, Chris Roman, Dimitris Sakellariou, Christos Anagnostou, Grigoris Rousakis, Chrysanti Ioakim, Aleka Goguo, Dionysis Ballas, Thanassis Misaridis, Paraskevi Nomikou

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The most recent major explosive eruption of the Santorini volcano in Greece—around 3600 years before present (B.P.), often referred to as the Minoan eruption—is one of the largest volcanic events known in historical time and has been the subject of intense volcanological and archeological studies [Druitt et al., 1999]. The submarine volcano Kolumbo, located seven kilometers northeast of Santorini and associated with Santorini's tectonic system, erupted explosively in 1650 A.D., resulting in fatalities on the island of Thera [Fouqué, 1879]. A large fraction of the erupted products from the Minoan eruption has been deposited in the …

Perchlorate And Nitrate Remediation Efficiency And Microbial Diversity In A Containerized Wetland Bioreactor, Paula Krauter, Bill Daily Jr., Valerie Dibley, Holly Pinkart, Tina Legler

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We have developed a method to remove perchlorate (14–27 μg/L) and nitrate (48 mg/L) from contaminated groundwater using a wetland bioreactor. The bioreactor has operated continuously in a remote field location for more than 2 yr with a stable ecosystem of indigenous organisms. This study assesses the bioreactor for long-term perchlorate and nitrate remediation by evaluating influent and effluent groundwater for oxidation-reduction conditions and nitrate and perchlorate concentrations. Total community DNA was extracted and purified from 10-g sediment samples retrieved from vertical coring of the bioreactor during winter. Analysis by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of short, 16S rDNA, polymerase-chain-reaction products …

Maximum A Posteriori Resampling Of Noisy, Spatially Correlated Data, John A. Goff, Chris Jenkins, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

In any geologic application, noisy data are sources of consternation for researchers, inhibiting interpretability and marring images with unsightly and unrealistic artifacts. Filtering is the typical solution to dealing with noisy data. However, filtering commonly suffers from ad hoc (i.e., uncalibrated, ungoverned) application. We present here an alternative to filtering: a newly developed method for correcting noise in data by finding the “best” value given available information. The motivating rationale is that data points that are close to each other in space cannot differ by “too much,” where “too much” is governed by the field covariance. Data with large uncertainties …

Some Preservation Techniques For (Deep Water) Coral Samples For Subsequent Molecular Studies: A Special Supplement From Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Jose V. Lopez

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Around the time that the thirteen original Atlantic colonies were fighting for independence from Britain, there existed little agreement among naturalists as to the nature of corals. Were they inanimate (stones), plants, animals, or intermediate between the latter two (zoophytes)? This diversity of definition and opinions undoubtedly produced considerable confusion and disagreement among naturalists interested in such things. The symbiotic nature of algal cells in the tissues of some corals was also not well understood. It was not until the Darwinian period in the nineteenth century that little doubt remained, and therefore it was generally agreed, that corals were actually …

Architecture Of Air-Filled Caves Within The Karst Of The Brooksville Ridge, West-Central Florida, Lee J. Florea

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

Air-filled caves surveyed in the Brooksville Ridge of west-central Florida provide insight into the organization of karstic permeability within the unconfined portions of the Upper Floridan Aquifer. The morphology of the passages that compose these caves in geologically young, high-permeability limestones is strikingly different from caves found in ancient carbonates far from the influence of the coast. Cave passages in west-central Florida are laterally extensive and tiered. Principal horizons of cave development occur between +3 m and +5 m, +12 m and +15 m, and +20 m and +22 m above modern sea level. The primary guide of cave passage …

“Late Cretaceous Terrestrial Vertebrates From Madagascar: Implications For Latin American Biogeography.”, Raymond Rogers, D.W. Krause, P.M. O’Connor, K. Curry Rogers, S.D. Sampson, G.A. Buckley

Raymond Rogers

No abstract provided.

Augusta Me: The New Bridge Begets A New Planned Neighborhood, Molly Pulsifer, Richard Barringer

Planning

Construction of a new Third Bridge over the Kennebec River in Augusta offered the prospect of a new and handsome gateway to the city. Further, the resulting change in traffic patterns offered the City the chance to plan for a pattern of development quite different from what the city had experienced for the past half-century. The case study describes the planning and construction of the new bridge and corridors that re-routed traffic out of Augusta’s downtown and older neighborhoods, and created the opportunity for planned development adjacent to the corridor created by the new bridge. It goes on to describe …

Uptake Of Spartina-Derived Humic Nitrogen By Estuarine Phytoplankton In Nonaxenic And Axenic Culture, Jh See, Da Bronk, Aj Lewitus

VIMS Articles

Humic substances are a collection of colored organic acids characterized by high molecular weight and low nitrogen (N) content that are thought to be biologically recalcitrant. We examined a suite of nonaxenic estuarine phytoplankton isolates to determine their ability to take up N-15-labeled humic substances formed in the laboratory and supplied as the sole N source. All 17 estuarine and coastal strains took up the added humic N, but the one polar isolate did not. Two of the coastal isolates (Heterosigma akashiwo and Fibrocapsa japonica) could take up the humic N in nonaxenic culture but not in axenic culture, suggesting …

Summer 2006, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Seaside, Oregon, Tsunami Pilot Study : Modernization Of Fema Flood Hazard Maps, Frank I. González, Eric L. Geist, Costas Synolakis, Diego Rodriguez Arcas, Douglas Bellomo, David Carlton, Thomas Horning, Bruce Jaffe, Jeff Johnson, Utku Kânoğlu, Harold O. Mofjeld, Jean Newman, Thomas Parsons, Robert Peters, Curt D. Peterson, George Priest, Vasily V. Titov, Angie J. Venturato, Joseph Weber, Florence L. Wong, Ahmet Yalçıner

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) guidelines do not currently exist for conducting and incorporating tsunami hazard assessments that reflect the substantial advances in tsunami research achieved in the last two decades; this conclusion is the result of two FEMA-sponsored workshops and the associated Tsunami Focused Study (Chowdhury et al., 2005). Therefore, as part of FEMA's Map Modernization Program, a Tsunami Pilot Study was carried out in the Seaside/Gearhart, Oregon, area to develop an improved Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) methodology and to provide recommendations for improved tsunami hazard assessment guidelines. The Seaside area was chosen because it is typical …

Modeling Large Whale Entanglement Injuries: An Experimental Analysis Of The Influence Of Tissue Compliance, Line Tension, And Draw-Length On Epidermal Abrasion Resistance, Jeremy Paul Winn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two test systems were developed to evaluate the influence of draw-length and tissue compliance on entanglement-induced epidermal abrasion in humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) tissue samples. Under straight pull abrasion tests an adult right whale fluke required 3.7 times the load and 15 times the draw-length of a right whale calf flipper to induce epidermal failure while a humpback fluke was intermediate between these extremes. Epidermal thickness did not appear to be the cause of this difference in abrasion resistance. Epidermal thickness averaged 8.0k0.2 mm for the calf flipper, 4.9k0.4 rnrn for the humpback fluke, and 5.1k0.1 …

Evidence Of An Active Enso And Pdq During The Mid-Holocene From A Costa Rican Speleothem, April D. Azouz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most important source of inter-annual climate variability in the tropics, its Holocene history is poorly understood, particularly in Central America. A high resolution (-3.8 years/sample) paleoclimate record of Central American rainfall variability has been reconstructed from a U /Th-dated stalagmite (7890 to 6490 yrs B.P.) from Costa Rica to constrain the onset and variability of ENSO throughout the Holocene, and to determine its role in generating regional climate anomalies. I suggest drier conditions, forced by El Nino, are represented by higher 5180 values, and are correlative with higher 513C values, indicating that …

Collaborative Research: Agulhas-South Atlantic Thermohaline Transport Experiment (Asttex), Deirdre A. Byrne

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

A field experiment is proposed, which will provide multi-year time series of salt, heat, and mass transports from the Agulhas retroflection region into the South Atlantic subtropical gyre. The program will deploy inverted echo sounders, both with and without pressure sensors and near-bottom current meters. The in situ data will be complemented with satellite data, both SST and altimetry. Historical data will also be included in the data analysis. The success of the program is based substantially on a new technique, GEM-ETTA, for analyzing IES (inverted echo sounder) and PIES (pressure and inverted echo sounder) data. Analysis of the field …

Temperature Regulation Of Bacterial Production, Respiration, And Growth Efficiency In A Temperate Salt-Marsh Estuary, Jude K. Apple, P. A. Del Giorgio, W. Michael Kemp

Shannon Point Marine Center Faculty Publications

There is consensus that temperature plays a major role in shaping microbial activity, but there are still questions as to how temperature influences different aspects of bacterioplankton carbon metabolism under different environmental conditions. We examined the temperature dependence of bacterioplankton carbon metabolism, whether this temperature dependence changes at different temperatures, and whether the relationship between temperature and carbon metabolism varies among estuarine sub-systems differing in their degree of enrichment. Two years of intensive sampling in a temperate estuary (Monie Bay, Chesapeake Bay, USA) revealed significant differences in the temperature dependence of bacterial production (BP) and respiration (BR), which drove a …

Collaborative Research: Biogeochemical Modeling Of Carbon Partitioning In The Pacific: The Role Of Si And Fe In Regulating Production By Siliceous And Calcifying Phytoplankton, Fei Chai

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Physical and biological interactions play a complex role in the partitioning of carbon between the atmosphere, upper ocean, deep ocean and sediments. At present, interdisciplinary models offer the best means to test hypotheses about how carbon partitioning is regulated in various oceanic regions on time scales of years to centuries. A new interdisciplinary model will integrate advances in several areas to test two related hypotheses: 1) that switches in community and productivity dominance between diatoms and other phytoplankton groups (e.g. non?siliceous picoplankton and calcifying phytoplankton) significantly affect carbon partitioning, vary spatially and temporally and are regulated by a combination of …

Collaborative Research: Globec-01: Tidal Front Mixing And Exchange On Georges Bank: Controls On The Production Of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, And Larval Fishes, David W. Townsend, Robert Houghton

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Georges Bank supports a rich fishery because: (1) large portions of the bank are shallow enough that light-limitation of phytoplankton is usually not important; (2) deep waters rich in inorganic nutrients are available for mixing onto the bank; and (3) the Bank's clockwise circulation can retain the planktonic stages of important fish species. The tidally mixed front (TMF) is central to the productivity of Georges Bank through the processes of nutrient injection in the north and retention of larvae on the south flank. These two regions are connected by a circulation pathway along the front in which nutrients lead to …

Collaborative Research: A Glaciochemical Record Of Natural And Anthropengic Environmental Change In The Northwestern North American Arctic, Karl J. Kreutz

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This is a collaborative proposal between the Universities of New Hampshire and Maine and the Geological Survey of Canada. This Office of International Science and Engineering is contributing to this award. The Principal Investigators will recover two ice cores the Eclipse Icefield (3100 meters) in the St. Elias
Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada in cooperation with the Geological Survey of Canada in 2002. The core will be analyzed for stable isotopes, major ions, trace elements, rare earth elements and persistent organic pollutants. The Eclipse record will provide, for the first time, detailed depositional histories of a wide variety of pollutants during …

Patterns Of Scleractinian Health In Broward County, Florida, Melody J. White

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This study was survey of disease distribution and abundance relating to coral diseases present in Broward County. Data of the 1330 scleractinian coral individuals found, 88 showed signs of disease. 19 coral species, 3 diseases and bleaching were represented. Diseases affected 9 of the species. Bleaching was the most common disease noted in this survey, followed by dark spot, red band, and yellow band.

Disease distribution appears to be scattered on the reef system. No apparent patterns were found when grouped by reef or corridor locations. MDS cluster analysis revealed a clumping of disease, but this was not correlated with …

Anguilliform Larvae Collected Off North Carolina, Steve W. Ross, Tara L. Casazza, Andrea M. Quattrini, Kenneth J. Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The distinctive larval stage of eels (leptocephalus) facilitates dispersal through prolonged life in the open ocean. Leptocephali are abundant and diverse off North Carolina, yet data on distributions and biology are lacking. The water column (from surface to 1,293 m) was sampled in or near the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear, North Carolina during summer through fall of 1999–2005, and leptocephali were collected by neuston net, plankton net, Tucker trawl, and dip net. Additional samples were collected nearly monthly from a transect across southern Onslow Bay, North Carolina (from surface to 91 m) from April …

Bathypelagic Fish Association With The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Tracey Sutton, F. Uiblein, I. Byrkjedal, A. Dolgov, M. Heino, J. Horne, N. King, Tone Falkenhaug, O. R. Godo, Odd Aksel Bergstad

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The bathypelagic zone, Earth’s largest living space, is essentially boundless in three dimensions for most of its extent, structured only by fluid features (e.g., salinity, temperature) of the seawater itself. However, near certain topographic features this zone intersects the seafloor. The mid-ocean ridge system is by far the largest of these features. Unlike the ecosystems of the continental margins, the mid-ocean ridge systems do not receive terrigenous nutrient inputs. Thus, the deep-water fauna associated with mid-ocean ridges ultimately depend on the generally limited local surface production. Despite this limited surface production, there is evidence that near-ridge demersal fish biomass is …

Survival Of White Marlin (Tetrapturus Albidus) Released From Commercial Pelagic Longline Gear In The Western North Atlantic, David W. Kerstetter, John E. Graves

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

To estimate postrelease survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) caught incidentally in regular commercial pelagic longline fishing operations targeting swordfish and tunas, short-duration popup satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on captured animals for periods of 5-43 days. Twenty (71.4%) of 28 tags transmitted data at the preprogrammed time, including one tag that separated from the fish shortly after release and was omitted from subsequent analyses. Transmitted data from 17 of 19 tags were consistent with survival of those animals for the duration of the tag deployment. Postrelease survival estimates ranged from 63.0% (assuming all nontransmitting tags were …

Circulation, Vol. 13, No. 2, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Michael Ott

CCPO Circulation

Summer 2006 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article "Chesapeake Bay Mouth Monitoring Program" by Dr. Michael Ott

A Survey Of The Effectiveness Of Existing Marsh Toe Protection Structures In Virginia, Karen Duhring, Thomas A. Barnard, Center For Coastal Resources Managment, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Shoreline Studies Program

Reports

Using tidal marshes and other vegetated treatments for upland erosion control has been an accepted practice for years, yet the scientific understanding and established guidelines for this approach are limited. This survey was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of existing marsh toe protection structures, a particular type of erosion control treatment associated with tidal marshes on Chesapeake Bay shorelines. Field evaluations were conducted at 36 sites in 6 localities on the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck of Virginia. General dimensions of each structure were recorded and observations made of erosion evidence, structural integrity, construction access impacts, and adjacent landscape settings. …

Marine And Freshwater Cyanophages In A Laurentian Great Lake: Evidence From Infectivity Assays And Molecular Analyses Of G20 Genes, Steven W. Wilhelm, Matthew J. Carberry, Melanie L. Eldridge, Leo Poorvin, Matthew A. Saxton, Martina A. Doblin

OES Faculty Publications

While it is well established that viruses play an important role in the structure of marine microbial food webs, few studies have directly addressed their role in large lake systems. As part of an ongoing study of the microbial ecology of Lake Erie, we have examined the distribution and diversity of viruses in this system. One surprising result has been the pervasive distribution of cyanophages that infect the marine cyanobacterial isolate Synechococcus sp. strain WH7803. Viruses that lytically infect this cyanobacterium were identified throughout the western basin of Lake Erie, as well as in locations within the central and eastern …

Fortnightly Variability At The Transition Between Two Sub-Estuaries, Mayra Lorena Riveron Enzastiga

OES Theses and Dissertations

Profiles of current velocity from an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and of water salinity, temperature and density from a Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) recorder, were combined with surface salinity, temperature and density from a Conductivity-Temperature (CT) recorder to elucidate the fortnightly variability at the Lafayette River entrance. The Lafayette River connects at its mouth with the Elizabeth River, which is a tributary to the James River in the Chesapeake Bay. Data were collected in four experiments during consecutive spring and neap tides in the autumn of 2000, and in the spring of 2001. Each experiment was carried out for -25 hours …