Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Selective Solid Phase Extraction Of Uranium Using An Aminophosphonic Acid Functionalized Composite Material, Ranalda Tsosie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Uranium is an element of interest because it is an abundant source of concentrated energy. In 1948 the US offered money for uranium ore mined in the US, which created a mining boom in the southwest that included the Navajo Reservation. During the late 1960s the demand for uranium decreased and many mining operations shutdown and left behind a legacy of contamination. As a result many Navajo communities have numerous water sources that exceed established maximum contamination levels for uranium and other toxic metals. These contaminations are a direct result of abandoned Cold War uranium mines and mill waste sites …

The Role Of Funding Programs In Promotion Of Best Management Practices For Effective Stream Restoration, Tracy R. Wendt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Large amounts of money are spent on stream restoration projects across the United States every year. Restoration researchers and professionals commonly recommend a suite of Best Management Practices (BMPs), including project goals, objectives, monitoring, consideration of future conditions, adaptive management, and public reporting of results, which are widely recognized as contributing to effective projects. Studies over the last two decades demonstrated that these BMPs were not consistently incorporated into restoration projects, which highlighted the need to improve practices and for funding programs to incorporate BMPs into funding requirements. I reviewed 28 programs that fund stream restoration in the Rocky Mountain …

Facies, Architecture, And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Devonian-Mississippian Sappington Formation, Bridger Range, Montana, Anna S. Phelps

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Sappington Formation in Montana is a marine unit comprised of lower and upper organic-rich shale members and a middle calcareous siltstone member. The Sappington Formation was deposited during a period of complex paleogeography in Montana, characterized by deposition in sub-basins and onlap onto structural highs, and eustatically- and tectonically-driven transgressive-regressive cycles. Detailed outcrop analysis was conducted on the Sappington Formation across the Bridger Range in southwestern Montana to better understand the Sappington Formation depositional system and changing regional paleogeography. The Sappington Formation is further interpreted in a stratigraphic architectural framework to improve the ability to predict …

Proterozoic Tectonometamorphic Evolution Of The Ruby Range, Sw Montana, Usa: Insights From Phase Equilibria Modeling And In Situ Monazite Petrochronology, Martin Cramer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Phase equilibria modeling and monazite petrochronology reveal a complex history for the Ruby Range, SW Montana, which provides insights into the reactivation and growth of the northwestern Wyoming craton. Metapelites and orthoamphibolites from three areas were investigated. Stone Creek, the structurally highest area along the western flank, records a clockwise P–T path with peak conditions of ~6.5 kbar and ~760 °C and post-peak conditions of ~6.0 kbar and ~680 °C. Monazite growth in this area occurred at 1790–1723 Ma, with monazite inclusions in garnet at 1757 ± 8 Ma. Structurally deeper rocks at Elk Gulch in the south-central part …

Cows And Plows: Science-Based Conservation For Grassland Songbirds In Agricultural Landscapes, Marisa K. Lipsey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Temperate grasslands are among earth’s most imperiled ecosystems. In North America, steep declines of endemic songbird populations indicate that grassland loss and degradation may be approaching critical levels. Grasslands are agricultural landscapes largely (~85%) under private ownership with little formal protection status. Remaining bird populations depend on grazing lands that have not been converted to cropland. We combine regional data from a hotspot for grassland bird diversity (northeast Montana, USA; 26,500-km2) with continental data spanning the northern Great Plains (1,000,000-km2) to evaluate how land use and management influence bird distribution and abundance. Regionally, habitat used by seven grassland specialists spanned …

The Effect Of Spatial Patterns Of Soil Hydraulic Conductivity And Depth On Local And Hillslope Scale Shallow Water Table Dynamics, Casey E. Ryan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Much research in forested headwater catchments has focused on the role of topography for organizing subsurface flow and the hydrologic connectivity of upland flow paths to stream networks. However, little work has been conducted to evaluate how localized and hillslope scale patterns of hydraulic conductivity and soil depth contribute to spatial patterns of water table duration, magnitude, and connectivity. I monitored shallow groundwater dynamics in wells distributed across a 1st order hillslope in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, Montana. Additionally, I collected in-situ measurements of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil depth at 10m intervals across the study hillslope and compared …

A Model For Determining Drivers Of Phenology In Western United States Rangelands, Joseph R. St. Peter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Plant phenology has long been used as an indicator of climate. Recent changes in plant phenology are evidence of the influence of climate change. Modeling plant phenology has become an effective tool to understand the impacts of climate change. Using machine learning techniques I developed a modeling process for accurately predicting phenology across a diverse landscape. This model uses individual site data to set site specific climate thresholds for plant phenology. This model also identifies the limiting factors to vegetation phenology for rangelands in the western United States. NDVI remotely sensed data was used to quantify land surface phenology and …

Characterization Of Pm2.5 From Residential Woodstove Use For Source Apportionment Application, Virginia M. Porden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Results are presented for the comparative analysis of the PM_2.5 (Particulate Matter <2.5 µm) emissions from an EPA certified and a Traditional style wood stove using western larch. A total of 92 Quartz QMA 47mm filters were collected using a BGI PM_2.5 SSC (Sharp Cut Cyclone) sampler from each stove type and analyzed on a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer against blank and deuterated internal standards. The results were analyzed using a Welch’s t-test (α > 0.05) to statistically differentiate between stove designs for temperature, mass, levoglucosan, resin acids (abietic and dehydroabietic), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAH] (acenaphthene, anthracene, benz(a)anthracene, pyrene, and retene). There was no statistical difference in levoglucosan PM_2.5 mass fraction between the stove types, yielding a mean levoglucosan fraction of 9.25% and 95% confidence interval of 8.43% …

Remaking Nature In Montana: Topophilic Considerations Of Wolves And Wolf Trapping, Andrew Myers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2011, after nearly forty years of federal protection, the gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species List in Montana and its management entrusted to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The implementation of public trapping seasons in 2012 as a method to control wolf populations has further inflamed an already embroiled debate. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the presence of wolves and wolf trapping impacts human attachments to landscapes of “nature” in Montana by focusing on the following questions: What are the public’s social constructions of wolves? What are the public’s social constructions of …

Linking The Effects Of Risk Factors On Annual Calf Survival To Elk Population Dynamics In The Bitterroot Valley, Montana, Daniel R. Eacker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The recolonization of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in multiple carnivore systems has been correlated with declining recruitment of juvenile ungulates, but the importance of wolves relative to other established carnivores is uncertain. The realized effect of carnivores may depend on compensation from forage and winter weather severity, which may mediate juvenile vulnerability to predation. Also, in high predation systems, the importance of juvenile recruitment may be reduced for ungulate population dynamics. We first tested for the effects of risk factors on annual elk (Cervus elaphus) calf survival and estimated cause-specific mortality rates. Secondly, we investigated the …

Sediment Routing Through Channel Confluences: Particle Tracing In A Gravel-Bed River Headwaters, Kurt Imhoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sediment routing in gravel-bed rivers refers to the intermittent transport and storage of bedload particles, where short-duration steps are separated by periods of inactivity. Channel morphology governs sediment routing, but morphologic effects on routing in headwater systems are not well understood compared to lowland systems. RFID tracers are a valuable tool that can be employed to characterize routing processes in headwater channels through individual particle tracking. I present research on coarse sediment transport and dispersion through confluences using sediment tracers in the East Fork Bitterroot River basin, MT. I investigate the following questions: (1) How do sediment routing patterns through …

A Gis Assessment Of Ecoregion Representation In Chile's Existing And Proposed Integrated Network Of Protected Areas, Jessica Schutz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chile's state designated protected areas are reported to show representation bias and to be unable to meet conservation goals. Private protected areas are considered an important tool to resolve these issues, which has led to support for increasing the role of private protected areas in Chile and creating an integrated public-private protected area network. But the validity of the capacity of private protected areas to fix Chile's state protected area network bias, and the advantage of creating an integrated protected area network, have not been assessed. This study uses the most recent data on Chile's state, private, and international protected …

Temporal Evolution Of Basal Water Pressure And Ice Velocity Along A 50 Km Flow Line Transect Of Western Greenland, Patrick Wright

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The gradient in hydraulic potential at the ice-bedrock interface beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) dictates the routing and energetics of subglacial water, thereby influencing drainage system characteristics and sliding dynamics. In the ablation zone of the GrIS, a high relief bed and gradients in water pressure in an active subglacial drainage system potentially play a complex role in dictating the hydraulic potential field. Here we present a suite of water pressure measurements collected within thirteen boreholes along a 46 km transect on the western GrIS in order to investigate the sensitivity of the potential gradient field to seasonal evolution …

Economic Efficiency Of Fuel Reduction Treatments In The Home Ignition Zone To Mitigate Wildfire Risk In Montana, Usa, Howard L. Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildland-urban interface growth and factors increasing the probability of wildfire suggest that annual spending on wildfire risk mitigation and suppression will continue to increase. With limited information about the benefits and costs of risk mitigation, land managers and homeowners may under- or over-invest in risk mitigation, where costs are disproportionate to the expected benefits of the strategy. This study accounted for expected increases in wildfire risk (due to growth of the WUI, climate change and vegetation growth) over time in Flathead County, Montana, and estimated the expected avoided loss in structure values associated with three treatment levels that would require …

Capturing The Benefits Of Restoration: Local Business Utilization And Opportunities For Growth In Northwestern Montana, Chelsea P. Mciver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Restoration and maintenance of forests and watersheds is increasingly a focus of management on public lands and, in addition to traditional forest management activities, has the potential to contribute to the economic vitality of local, forest-dependent communities. However, research has shown that the extent to which local communities benefit from restoration and management activities is highly variable. This study seeks to understand whether local communities in northwestern Montana are capturing the benefits of these activities on public lands by analyzing federal contracting trends. Specifically, this study 1) characterizes the value and type of federal contracts along with the spatial distribution …

The Biogeochemistry Of Elemental Sulfur Contaminated Soils: Insights Into Effective Remediation, Michael Ryan Mctee

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Soil contamination that results from elemental sulfur (S⁰) deposition is a new occurrence. Elemental sulfur is stockpiled as a byproduct from the oil and gas industry and is deposited by biodegradable trap and skeet targets at shooting ranges. Chemolithotrophs and mixotrophs can oxidize S⁰ to H₂SO₄. Consequently, in areas where excess S⁰ is deposited or stockpiled, soils can acidify to pH values observed with acid mine drainage.

I studied S⁰ contamination at a former sporting clay range. For seven years, the range used biodegradable trap and skeet targets that contained S …