Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Identification Of Optimal Conditions For Dry Drilling (Analytical Approach To Prediction Of The Occurrence Of Bue), Prasad Gali

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lubrication is used during the drilling of aluminum to counter the formation of a built-up-edge (BUE), among other reasons. The elimination of the use of lubricants in drilling of aluminum is important because of the associated high costs of cleaning and disassembly involved in lubrication. The optimal conditions sought in this work include the elimination of the use of lubricants along with the possible attainment of a high material removal rate, which could help in reduction of cost and increase productivity at the same time. BUE has been found to be almost always present in the process of metal cutting …

Using Geographic Information Systems And Remote Sensing To Analyze Fire Likelihood Areas At The Regional Scale In The Western United States, Russell W. Reading

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly used to examine fire activity. This study uses GIS to determine fire likelihood probabilities at an intermediate scale ( I-kilometer) on a daily basis given readily available data. Layers used for the analysis included slope, aspect, elevation, fuel type, proximity to existing fires, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, relative humidity, average vapor pressure deficit, precipitation, 1-hour fuel moisture, and 10-hour fuel moisture.

There were three objectives of this study: 1. Establish a correlation between burn perimeters and readily available topographic and environmental data, and map the spatial distribution of these as fire likelihood areas; 2. …

Determining The Factors That Control Respiration And Carbon Use Efficiency In Crop Plants, Jonathan M. Frantz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the literature on plant respiration, there are two viewpoints concerning the source of respiratory control: supply (photosynthate availability) or demand (temperature dependent) limitations. While different studies indicate the primary dependency for respiration is either the supply or demand side, the two paradigms cannot both be true. The relative importance of each paradigm may depend on a number of factors including period of time during which respiration is measured, phase of plant development, environmental conditions, and species.

Studies were performed using continuous CO₂ gas-exchange instrumentation to monitor short- and long-term changes in whole canopies of lettuce, tomato, soybean, and …

Validation Of A Radiometric Normalization Procedure For Satellite-Derived Imagery Within A Change Detection Framework, Karin E. Callahan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Detecting changes in land cover through time using remotely sensed imagery is a powerful application that has seen increased use as imagery has become more widely available and inexpensive. Before a time series of remotely sensed imagery can be used for change detection, images must first be standardized for effects outside of real surface change. This thesis established a validation protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of an automated technique for normalizing temporally separate but spatially coincident imagery. Using the concept of pseudo-invariant features between master-slave image pairs, spatially coincident dark and bright points are identified from images and a regression …

Modeling Habitat Quality For American Martens In Western Newfoundland, Canada, William A. Adair

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The "Den Mother" marten habitat quality models were created to provide insight into American marten habitat selection behavior and to promote the recovery of the Newfoundland marten (Martes americana atrata) population. Although these objectives are typical of most wildlife habitat modeling projects, the marten's idiosyncratic habitat ecology and apparently intractable conflicts associated with timber harvesting motivated a unique, process-oriented approach to appraising landscapes. The Den Mother models used optimal decision-making principles to synthesize critical resources (den sites and foraging opportunities) and constraints (adverse thermal situations and exposure to predations) into a single hierarchical framework. The resulting spatially explicit, …

Evaluation Of Chela Formation In Kambala-Livuite Area, Southern Block 0, Cabinda, Angola, Alba B. Bias Dos Santos

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The abundance of good reservoir and source rocks offshore Cabinda, Angola, makes the area an attractive and successful hydrocarbon province. Block 0, offshore Cabinda, lies in the Lower Congo basin along the western coast of Africa. The stratigraphy of Block 0 consists of two major oil-rich sequences: the rift sequence (primarily lacustrine) and the post-rift sequence (primarily marine). These are separated by a thick section of evaporites, and thus are referred to as the pre-salt sequence and post-salt sequence, respectively.

The Chela Formation, mid-Aptian in age, was deposited before the salt. It consists of sandstones and conglomerates locally interbedded with …

Quaternary Geology And Landscape Evolution Of Eastern Grand Canyon, Arizona, Matt D. Anders

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Tectonics and drainage evolution are controlling overall landscape incision in eastern Grand Canyon. Superimposed on downcutting are dynamic responses of hillslopes, tributary streams, and the Colorado River to glacial-interglacial climate cycles. Five tributary stream fill terraces have been identified, and luminescence dating indicates aggradation was occurring 50- 34 ka {S3), 12-7 ka (S2), and 5-3.5 ka (S1). Seven Colorado River fill terraces have been identified, and luminescence and U-series dating indicate deposition was occurring 343-322 ka (M5), 151-118 ka (M4), and 71-64 ka (M3).

Aggradation by the Colorado River in eastern Grand Canyon begins during glacial advances and continues into …

Mitigation, Monitoring, And Geomorphology Related To Gully Erosion Of Archaeological Sites In Grand Canyon, Paul A. Petersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gully erosion has been damaging archaeological sites in Grand Canyon during the last several decades, and there is a need to protect these features through mitigation, monitoring, and better geomorphic understanding. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of erosion-control structures, determine the accuracy and utility of aerial photogrammetry for monitoring gullies, and understand the geomorphology of the erosion. We performed total-station surveys and other data collection during February and October, 2002, at nine study sites in eastern and western Grand Canyon.

Erosion-control structures are more prone to be damaged by flow when they are placed in …

From The Rim To The River: The Geomorphology Of Debris Flows In The Green River Canyons Of Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado And Utah, Isaac J. Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Green River canyons of the eastern Uinta Mountains have experienced a 5-year period of high debris flow activity. Catchment factors were studied in watersheds and on debris fans with recent debris flows, leading to the development of a conceptual framework of the hillslope and debris flow processes that deliver sediment to the Green River. Two recent fan deposits were monitored to determine the magnitude and processes of reworking that occur during mainstem floods of varying magnitude.

The dominant debris flow initiation mechanism, termed the firehose effect, occurs when overland flow generated on bedrock slopes cascades down steep cliffs and …

The Middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation: Sequence Stratigraphy And Geochemistry Across A Ramp-To-Basin Transition, Elizabeth S. Langenburg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation is interpreted as having been deposited in the shallow ramp and deeper basin environments of the House Range embayment (HRE), presumably, during a single third-order sequence. In the Drum Mountains, the Wheeler Formation (295 m thick) is dominated by proximal and distal ramp deposits; at Marjum Pass, the Wheeler Formation (190m thick) is dominated by basinal shale deposits. The Wheeler Formation contains only one biozone marker; the first appearance of Ptyhagnostus atavus. Lack of other chronostratigraphic markers and distinctive stratal patterns in the basinal facies makes correlation along this ramp-to-basin transect difficult. Therefore, carbon-isotope …

Bootstrap Unit Root Tests For Heavy-Tailed Observations, Andrejus Parfionovas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We explore the application of the bootstrap unit root test to time series with heavy-tailed errors. The size and power of the tests are estimated for two different autoregressive models (AR(1)) using computer simulated data. Real-data examples are also presented. Two different bootstrap methods and the subsampling approach are compared. Conclusions on the optimal bootstrap parameters, the range of applicability, and the performance of the tests are made.

Breeding Bird Communities Of Major Mainland Rivers Of Southeastern Alaska, Jim A. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Because of the scarcity of information for bird communities at the major mainland rivers of southeastern Alaska, the main objective of this study was to provide baseline information including distribution, status, and habitat associations of breeding birds.

I conducted a meta-analysis of all known reports (including the current study) conducted at major mainland rivers during the breeding season. I described bird species composition, distribution, abundance estimates, status, habitat associations, and guild membership for all birds recorded at 11 major mainland rivers. Based on incidental observations, 170 species were recorded by all studies. Of these, 134 species were known or suspected …

Geology Of The Deseret Peak East 7.5' Quadrangle, Tooele County, Utah, And Impacts For Hydrology Of The Region, Torrey J. Copfer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Detailed geologic mapping of the Deseret Peak East 7.5' Quadrangle yields new interpretations regarding the stratigraphy of the Oquirrh Basin, fault and fold geometry, and structural evolution of the region. The Stansbury Range consists of the north-south-trending Deseret anticline. Basal Mississippian units rest unconformably on Cambrian beds in the central part of the range. Paleozoic uplift, Mesozoic contraction, and Cenozoic extension have created a series of broad folds, large thrust faults, and several normal faults.

The area is dominated by bedrock springs, with the presence of abundant and thick Quaternary deposits unrelated to Pleistocene glaciation, burying drainages, and mantling hillslopes. …

Simulation Of Groundwater Flow In Cache Valley, Utah And Idaho, Barry Myers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A groundwater model of Cache Valley was created using MODFLOW. Steady-state calibration of the model demonstrated that recharge to the lower confined aquifer may occur along the margin of the valley that borders the Wellsville Mountains and the Bear River Range. Steady-state calibration also showed that discharge from the unconfined aquifer may occur along the eastern and western margins of the valley in both the Utah and the Idaho portions of the valley.

Two simulations were run with increased pumping of 3 5 cubic feet per second (1 cubic meter per second) from the principal aquifer. The first simulation was …

One-Dimensional Modeling Of Bromide Tracer And Trichloroethylene Transport Based On Laboratory Experiments In Vertical Soil Columns, Keri L. Murch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Enhanced biodegradation using carbon donor and microbial addition is being considered as a possible remediation technique for a trichloroethylene (TCE) contaminated area in Sunset, Utah, west of the source area on Hill Air Force Base. As a precursor to any in situ remediation attempts, several laboratory treatability experiments are being conducted, including the construction of microcosms and flow-through columns. Nine large-scale flow-through columns were built using site groundwater and aquifer material. Bromide tracer tests were conducted to establish and understand the hydraulic conditions within the columns prior to the commencement of the TCE biodegradation experiments. Four predictive models were created …

Characteristics, Evolution, And Lateral Variation Of Lower Cretaceous Supradetachment Basins In The Daqing Shan, Inner Mongolia, China, Adrian K. Berry

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lower Cretaceous basins associated with the Hohhot detachment in the Daqing Shan of Inner Mongolia, China, allow us to better understand the tectonic evolution of extensional basins formed in association with detachment faulting and metamorphic core complex formation. The six basins, informally named N1, N2, S1, S2, S3, and S4, are located in different structural settings, or depozones, throughout the detachment-metamorphic core complex setting, and although all basins are consistent with previously proposed models for supradetachment basin sedimentation, second-order variability in sedimentary style is exerted by these distinct structural settings. The basins are composed of coarse, predominantly footwall derived, conglomerate …