Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Modeling The Impacts Of Sea Level Rise In Coastal Virginia At Multiple Scales, George Murray Mcleod Iv

OES Theses and Dissertations

Relative sea level is increasing along the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States and the rate of relative sea level rise (ΔRSL) for Coastal Virginia is approximately double the rate of global sea level rise (ΔSLRG)(1). The potential impacts posed to communities by ΔRSL are best understood by examining the spatial relationship between the upper limits of ocean-connected waters and the geographic positioning of critical natural and societal assets. This research examines this problem at three spatial scales to quantify the impacts of ΔRSL and storm flooding events on (i) structural and transportation infrastructure for the tide-influenced coastal zone of …

Reevaluating The Geologic Formations Of The Upper Coastal Plain In Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Bradley Aaron Fitzwater

OES Theses and Dissertations

Data from a new geological map of the Patrick, S.C. 7.5 minute quadrangle (1:24,000) and detailed descriptions of two cores collected nearby (Middendorf and Cheraw, S.C.) permit improved interpretation of the geology of this portion of the Carolina Sandhills. Geologic mapping incorporated analyses of outcrops with LiDAR data, soil survey maps, ground-penetrating radar transects, and hand auger borings. Micro- and macrofossil identification and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating provided age control.

Four distinct mappable units occur throughout the Patrick quadrangle. Resting unconformably on schist of the Paleozoic Persimmons Fork Formation, the Cretaceous Middendorf Formation is more than 85.3 m thick and …

Elevation As A Control Of Boulder Stream Formation In The Blue Ridge Province Of Virginia, Marc D. Zamkotowicz

OES Theses and Dissertations

Within four study areas in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, boulder streams formed by periglacial processes carpet the bottoms of most high-altitude first-order valleys. The geomorphic indicators of periglacial formation in these long, linear accumulations of bouldery colluvium - the presence of vertical clasts, gradational upper contacts with talus deposits, confinement within valleys, and hump-like cross sectional profiles - were present in all areas mapped and in most individual boulder streams. The minimum critical elevation for boulder stream formation increases from north to south across Virginia, from 150 m in elevation in northern Virginia to 1500 m in southwestern …

The Geomorphology Of Alluvial Fan Deposits On The West Flank Of The Blue Ridge, Augusta County, Virginia, Debra Lynn Duffy

OES Theses and Dissertations

Large coalescing alluvial fans mantle the carbonate and shale formations west of the Blue Ridge mountains near Stuarts Draft, Virginia. Fan sediments are predominantly boulder and cobble gravels derived from the Antietam Quartzite, The fan complex consists of three alluvial units of significantly different ages. The surface of each fan unit was mapped using relative geomorphic position, soil color, clay content and thickness of Bt horizons, clast weathering, and degree of removal of depositional surfaces by stream incision. A five-category quartzite clast weathering scale developed for this study was very effective as a measure to distinguish map units. Stratigraphic data …

The Geomorphology And Surficial Geology Of The West Flank Of The Blue Ridge, Sherando Area, Virginia, Derek Weston Ryter

OES Theses and Dissertations

The west flank of the Blue Ridge near Sherando, Virginia (Augusta County) consists of many landforms including talus slopes, bedrock cliffs, boulder streams, colluvial slopes, residual knobs, and debris fans. The purpose of this study is to describe the geomorphic history of the area by understanding the spatial and temporal relationships between landforms on the hillslopes.

Boulder streams (maximum 30 m wide, 400 m long, 6.1 m thick) exhibit a gently dipping imbricated fabric and basal shear stresses of 0.1 to 0.4 bars.

Debris fans in Group L (lower) and Group U (upper) are distinguished by topographic position, degree of …

Nutrient Cycling In Bordenstake Bay Sediments: A Backbarrier Lagoon, Mark J. Herrenkohl

OES Theses and Dissertations

Six sets of sediment cores were collected over a one year period (June 1986 to July 1987) to examine nutrient cycling in Bordenstake Bay, a back barrier lagoon on Virginia's Eastern Shore Peninsula. The sampling times were chosen to examine any seasonal effects (e.g., temperature changes) which may affect the rates of metabolism in these sediments.

The sedimentation rate in Bordenstake Bay is 0.76 ± 0.21 cm/yr, leading to the annual deposition of 7. 05 moles of carbon, 0.46 moles of nitrogen, and 0.15 moles of phosphorus, per square meter of the sediment surface. The remineralization of organic matter in …

Fourier Series Analysis Of The Relationship Of Morphologic Variations And Bathymetry In Recent Bolivina (Foraminiferida) From The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Anthony Cavedo Gary

OES Theses and Dissertations

Automated video digitization and closed-form Fourier series analysis were used to investigate the applicability of benthic foraminiferal test morphology for paleo-bathymetric/paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Sample relationships and harmonics with the greatest power for discriminating between samples were determined using canonical discriminant analysis. Samples were eleven short cores obtained from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Three species of Bolivina were analyzed, B. albatrossi, B. lowmani, and B. subspinescens.

Results show populations of Bolivina albatrossi from the upper bathyal and upper-middle bathyal zones to have more triangular tests and lobulate chambers than lower-middle and lower bathyal zone populations. Specimens of Bolivina subspinescens …

Geomorphology And Dynamics Of A Sand Wave In Lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, Gerardo Miguel Eduardo Perillo

OES Theses and Dissertations

A single, more or less isolated, sand wave in a sand wave field recently discovered in the lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, was studied intensively for morphology, sedimentology and in terms of dynamic processes. The morphologic investigation consisted of bathymetric surveys of the sand wave field and the specific sand wave. Twenty-five grab samples and four box cores were obtained from different segments of the feature studied. Textural parameters of the samples were determined, and a multivariate technique was utilized to identify subenvironments on the feature. The box cores provided information on the internal structure of the sand wave.

Observations of …

Particle Size Distribution And Small-Scale Bed-Forms On Sand Waves, Chesapeake Bay Entrance, Virginia, John T. Wells

OES Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between sediment texture and topography has been studied along five series of sand waves in Chesapeake Bay entrance, Virginia. Results indicate that two types of sand waves with reference to mean grain size are present: sand waves with coarse sediment on crests and fine in troughs, and sand waves with fine sediment on crests and coarse in troughs. Asymmetrical, migrating sand waves exhibit the first type; near-symmetrical, non-migrating sand waves exhibit the second type. In general, bimodal sediment is present on crests of migrating sand waves and in troughs of stationary sand waves. There is a progressive decrease …