Earth Sciences Commons^™

Measuring The Applicability Of The Seville Strategy To The Mammoth Cave Area Biosphere Reserve, Debra Kreitzer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The dominant paradigms of the past decade involve the preservation of biodiversity through the use of landscape corridors and buffer zones, as well as the integration of economic growth through sustainable use. The International Biosphere Reserve (IBR) program, as defined in the Seville Strategy, encourages locations already involved in conservation to continue to protect biodiversity and foster harmonious relationships between humans and their environment through sustainable development. An excellent example of an IBR is the Mammoth Cave Area Biosphere Reserve (MCABR) in south-central Kentucky. In order to measure the significance of the implementation of the Seville Strategy in the MCABR, …

Landowner And Tourist Attitudes Toward Elk Management In The Pine Ridge Region Of Northwestern Nebraska, R. Daniel Crank

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Dielectric Properties Of Earth Materials At Low Frequencies, Tarrah Dawn Henrie

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Sharma and de Lima (1992) have proposed a model based on Fixman's theoretical development of charged macromolecules in external fields (1980). There are three types of charges considered: the fixed surface charges that are covalently bonded, the layer of bound counterions, and the diffuse layer (Fixman, 1980, Lyklema, 1983 ). Figure (1) shows these different layers. Other common theories, such as Schurr's only consider the bound counterions and the diffuse layer. Schurr assumes that the diffuse layer ions can exchange with the electrolyte. A consequence of this assumption is the lack of polarization of the diffuse layer. This leads to …

Utilization Of Spatially Distributed Soil Resources By Several Species Common To The Great Basin, Sarah Duke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Heterogeneous spatial and temporal distributions of soil resources important to plant growth have been documented in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem. There can exist as much variability in soil resources within the root zone of individual plants as exists across an entire field. The objective of this dissertation research was to evaluate how plants respond to, utilize and influence the spatial heterogeneity of soil resources. The three specific sets of questions addressed are outlined in the three main chapters of this dissertation.

My first study addressed how the number and concentration of phosphorus (P) patches in the root zone of an …

Influence Of Buffer Strip Width And Composition In Reduction Of Agricultural Non-Point Source Contaminants, Tim Schmitt

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Report On Degradation In The Southern River / Wungong Catchment. Perth, Western Australia, Brian Lloyd

Natural resources published reports

A five day field survey of degradation in the Southern River/Wungong Catchment revealed several areas of concern. Key concerns are:

- Erosion and Sedimentation

Various forms of water erosion were present that cumulatively, would probably have a significant effect on the water quality of the Canning (and Swan) River. Much of the water erosion results from the installation and maintenance of infrastructure and developments, e.g. roads, subdivisions, stormwater drains etc. Reviewing standard practices, raising of awareness of consequences of erosion and training in urban erosion and sediment control techniques is recommended. Wind erosion is also an issue on the sands …

Groundwater Trends In The Agricultural Area Of Western Australia, R A. Nulsen

Resource management technical reports

In 1994 it was estimated that salinity affected more than 1.8 million ha of agricultural land in Western Australia (Ferdowsian et al. 1996). This area was predicted to expand to over three million ha by about 2020 and, if nothing is done to stem the expansion, to eventually affect some six million ha, or 30% of the agricultural land in the state. Damaging levels of salt accumulation in the root zone of both native and introduced plants can generally only occur when the groundwater levels are relatively cl te the variability of responses. Several depict episodic recharge (recharge as a …

How To Reduce Drought Risk, Cody Knutson, Mike Hayes, Tom Phillips

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

This guide describes a practical step-by-step process for identifying actions that can be taken to reduce potential drought-related impacts before a drought occurs. Step 1 begins with making sure that the right people are brought together and supplied with adequate data to make informed and equitable decisions during the process. Steps 2 and 3 narrow the focus of the study by identifying high priority drought-related impacts that are relevant to the user’s location or activity. Step 4 demonstrates that in order to reduce the potential for the identified impacts to occur in the future, it is necessary to understand the …

Major Faults And The Development Of Dryland Salinity In The Western Wheatbelt Of Western Australia, C J. Clarke, Richard J. George, R W. Bell, Richard J. Hobbs

Natural Resources Research Articles

Dryland salinity poses a major threat to agricultural production in the wheatbelt of Western Australia and much time and effort is expended on understanding the mechanisms which cause it and on developing techniques to halt or reverse its development. Whilst the location of much dryland salinity can be explained by its topographic position, a significant proportion of it cannot. This study investigated the hypothesis that major faults in the Yilgarn Craton represented in aeromagnetic data by intense curvilinear lows explained the location of areas of dryland salinity not explained by topography. Moreover, the causal mechanisms that might underpin a spatial …

Narrow Hybrid Zone Between Two Subspecies Of Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata: Aeteraceae). V. Soil Properties, Han Wang, David W. Byrd, Jeffrey L. Howard, E. Durant Mcarthur, John H. Graham, D. Carl Freeman

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

We studied soils of the big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) hybrid zone at two locations in Utah. The elemental composition, depth, and pH of soil in the basin and mountain big sagebrush habitats differed significantly from each other and from the hybrid zone soil. The hybrid zone soil is not just a simple blend of the two parental habitat soils. Rather, it possesses novel characteristics found in neither parental habitat and is more variable than the parental habitat soils. Correspondence analyses show that the sites occupied by each parental taxon are chemically distinct. Moreover, the principal axes from the two study …

The Physical And Hydrological Characteristics Of A South Coast Sandplain Site : East Howick Site Survey, Robert Anthony Sudmeyer

Resource management technical reports

This Technical Report documents the physical and hydrological characteristics of a farmland site on the Esperance Sandplain. The site was located on 'Belalie Farm East' 110 km east of the town of Esperance in the locality of Howick (AMG 488900, 6277500) The site was typical of the sandplain landsystem which covers 35% (0.72 million ha) of the Esperance Agricultural Region. The farm was cleared over a number of years beginning in the 1970's and an extensive network of windbreaks established.

Results Of Investigations Into The Groundwater Response And Productivity Of High Water Use Agricultural Systems 1990-1997 3 Hunts' Catchment (Frankland), A D. Smith, Richard J. George Dr, P R. Scott, D L. Bennett, R J. Rippon, G J. Orr

Resource management technical reports

High water use vegetation systems for salinity control were trialed on an 80 ha catchment located 12 km east of Frankland, Western Australia. The catchment receives about 510 mm annual rainfall and 1525 mm annual evaporation. Development of salinity in the catchment is concentrated in the valley floor. Here the groundwater is extremely saline (3000-4000 mS/m) and piezometric levels are between 1 m below and 1 m above the surface.

Inventory Of Sub-Catchments Within The Wilson Inlet Catchment, B Radys

Resource management technical reports

The release of the "Salinity Action Plan for Western Australia' in December 996 highlighted the need for catchment scale planning and coordinated actions to reverse salinity trends.

A separate report has been produced for each major catchment area. Each report contains and inventory of all sub-catchments. with information on area, degradation risks and group activities with each catchment.

Chapter 2 Climate, Donald A. Wilhite, Kenneth G. Hubbard

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The broad climatic patterns of the Sand Hills region are also characteristic of the central Great Plains environment. The spatial and temporal patterns of these climatic variables have a significant effect on the natural resources of the region.

Results Of Investigations Into The Groundwater Response And Productivity Of High Water Use Agricultural Systems 1990-1997 5 White/Beattys' Catchment (Dinninup), A D. Smith, Richard J. George Dr, P R. Scott, D L. Bennett, R J. Rippon, G J. Orr

Resource management technical reports

High water use vegetation systems for salinity control were trialed on a 250 ha catchment located three km north-west of Dinninup, Western Australia. The catchment receives about 620 mm annual rainfall and 1500 mm annual evaporation. The catchment is characterised by slopes with gradients in excess of 5%, deep weathering (15-25 m to bedrock), active seepage in the valley (piezometric heads 204 m above ground surface) and high recharge (water table fluctuations of 1-4 m).

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Sandstone-Yalgoo-Paynes Find Area, Western Australia, A L. Payne, A M E Van Vreeswyk, K A. Leighton, H J. Pringle, P Hennig

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the Sandstone-Yalgoo-Paynes Find area, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) between 1992 and 1993, describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the area’s natural resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The area surveyed covers about …

Inventory Of Sub-Catchments Within The Oyster Harbour Catchment, B Radys

Resource management technical reports

The release of the "Salinity Action Plan for Western Australia' in December 996 highlighted the need for catchment scale planning and coordinated actions to reverse salinity trends.

A separate report has been produced for each major catchment area. Each report contains and inventory of all sub-catchments, with information on area, degradation risks and group activities with each catchment.

An Evaluation Of Methods For Identifying And Interpreting Buried Soils In Late Quaternary Loess In Alaska, Daniel R. Muhs, Thomas A. Ager, Josh M. Been, Joseph G. Rosenbaum, Richard L. Reynolds

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The presence of buried soils in Alaskan loess is controversial, and therefore criteria for identifying buried soils in these deposits need to be evaluated. In this paper, morphologic and chemical criteria for identifying buried soils are evaluated by studying modern soils developed mostly in Holocene loess under tundra, boreal forest, and transitional coastal-boreal forest vegetation in different parts of Alaska. Data from modern Alaskan soils that developed under vegetation similar to that of the present indicate that soil morphology, organic-matter concentrations, and P concentrations can be useful diagnostic tools for identifying buried soils. Soil morphologic criteria, particularly horizon colors and …

Environmental And Botanical Controls On Peatification - A Comparative Study Of Two New Zealand Restiad Bogs Using Py-Gc/Ms, Petrography And Fungal Analysis, Tomasz K. Kuder, Michael A. Kruge, J C. Shearer, S L. Miller

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study shows that chemical properties of two restiad species, Empodisma minus and Sporadanthus traversii, may contribute to their success as peat-formers in a climate of the North Island of New Zealand which is not conducive to raised mire development. Unlike Sphagnum, the equivalent northern hemisphere peat-former, restiads possess lignin in their tissues. In addition, the presence of non-lignin polyphenols (including tannins and phenolic acids) in restiads may be an important factor in peat formation due to the allelopathic decay retardation. Patterns of degradation of plant biopolymers have been examined and the pathway of degradation of monocotyledons (loss …

A Molecular Evaluation Of Contaminants And Natural Organic Matter In Surface Sediments From Western Lake Ontario, Michael A. Kruge, Prasanta K. Mukhopadhyay, C.F. Michael Lewis

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) analysis of bottom sediment from Lake Ontario was shown to be effective in assessing organic contaminants, especially attractive as it is a rapid technique requiring little sample preparation. Pyrolyzates of samples richer in organic matter (OM) were relatively enriched in aliphatic hydrocarbons and pyrrolic nitrogen compounds, while leaner samples were more aromatic and pyridinic. Alkylbenzene and alkylphenol distributions in the pyrolyzates were most compatible with derivation from aquatic (algal, bacterial) OM. The organonitrogen compounds indicated the presence of degraded proteinaceous material from aquatic sources and/or sewage. Normal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon distributions indicate, at least in …

Filtration Modeling Of A Plate-And-Frame Press, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The porosity distribution and filtrate production during cake filtration in a plate-and-frame filter press were simulated mathematically. The model considered filtration that occurs after the filling process, not filtration that occurs as the suspension fills the cell. Governing equations for the temporal porosity distribution were developed for a plateand- frame press. The governing equations were solved numerically using an alternating-direction-implicit scheme. Appropriate initial and boundary conditions were determined based on characteristics of the plate-and-frame press and of the suspension properties. Predicted porosity and velocity distributions were calculated for assumed constitutive parameters.

Gravity Drainage Prior To Cake Filtration, Scott A. Wells, Gregory K. Savage

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the initial stages of a Buchner funnel or specific resistance test, gravity drainage occurs prior to application of the pressure differential. Some allow time for a small cake to form by gravity drainage. Filtrate data from the gravity drainage period can be used to determine constitutive properties of the cake under a hydrostatic pressure gradient. The constitutive properties that define the structure of the cake include the permeability and porosity as functions of the applied stress. Equations governing the drainage rate during a gravity filtration experiment assuming a constant and a non-constant average cake permeability and cake porosity were …

Modeling Density Currents In Circular Clarifiers, Scott A. Wells, David M. Laliberte

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Design of sedimentation tanks for solid-liquid separation is often dependent on assuming ideal flow conditions. But the geometry of the tank and density currents as a result of temperature and suspended solids influences the fluid mechanics of the tank and can result in significant deviations from ideal flow.

A two-dimensional radial flow model was proposed which incorporated the effect of density currents resulting from temperature and suspended solids differentials within the tank. The numerical model predicted the steady-state, layer-averaged radial flow and layer depth.

The model solution and field data showed that the momentum and suspended solids of the inflow …

Quartzite Fabric Transition In A Cordilleran Metamorphic Core Complex, Allen J. Mcgrew, Martin Casey

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Photomicrographs 143A-143F record fabric variations in quartzite with increasing structural depth in a > 1 km thick, amphibolite-facies, normal-sense shear zone in the East Humboldt metamorphic core complex, Nevada (Figure 143.1). This shear zone and the overlying detachment system unroofed an infrastructure of high-grade, migmatitic gneiss during Oligocene to early Miocene extension (Dallmeyer and others, 1986; Wright and Snoke, 1993; McGrew and Snee, 1994). Thermobarometric constraints from near the base of the mylonitic zone record deformation conditions of 550°- 620°C and 300-400 MPa (Hurlow and others, 1991). Sample WBC6 (l43A and 143B) characterizes the mylonitic zone, whereas sample 8706-1 (143C and …

Resource Use In The Trinational Sangha River Region Of Equatorial Africa: Histories, Knowledge Forms, And Institutions, Heather E. Eves, Rebecca Hardin, Stephanie Rupp

Yale School of the Environment Bulletin Series

This volume is based on an international conference, “Natural Resource Use Relations in the Trinational Sangha River Region of the Northwest Congo Basin,” held at Yale University in September 1997. In recognition of the bilingual context in which conservation occurs in the three countries of the Sangha region — Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Congo — all sessions of the conference were conducted simultaneously in French and English. This publication, which is a complete rendering of the conference papers and discussion sessions, is available in its entirety in both French and English.

Soil Moisture Gradients And Controls On A Southern Appalachian Hillslope From Drought Through Recharge, J. Alan Yeakley, W. T. Swank, L. W. Swift, G. M. Hornberger, H. H. Shugart

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil moisture gradients along hillslopes in humid watersheds, although indicated by vegetation gradients and by studies using models, have been difficult to confirm empirically. While soil properties and topographic features are the two general physio-graphic factors controlling soil moisture on hillslopes, studies have shown conflicting results regarding which factor is more important. The relative importance of topographic and soil property controls was examined in an upland forested watershed at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in the southern Appalachian mountains. Soil moisture was measured along a hillslope transect with a mesic-to-xeric forest vegetation gradient over a period spanning precipitation extremes. The hillslope …

Results Of Investigations Into The Groundwater Response And Productivity Of High Water Use Agricultural Systems 1990-1997 4. Tkk Engineering's Catchment (Williams), A D. Smith, Richard J. George Dr, P R. Scott, D L. Bennett, R J. Rippon, G J. Orr

Resource management technical reports

High water use vegetation systems for salinity control were trialed on a 70 ha catchment located about 15 km north of Williams, Western Australia. The catchment receives about 545 mm annual rainfall and 1870 mm annual evaporation. Development of salinity is characterised by passive discharge upslope from a dolerite dyke. Because recharge exceeds the discharge capacity of current seeps, there is potential for new seeps to develop in the mid to lower slopes.

Results Of Investigations Into The Groundwater Response And Productivity Of High Water Use Agricultural Systems 1990-1997 : 6. Summary Of All Sites, A D. Smith, Richard J. George Dr, P R. Scott, D L. Bennett, R J. Rippon, G J. Orr, Peter J. Tille

Resource management technical reports

The south-western Woolbelt receives annual rainfall between 500-700 mm with long dry summers and cool wet winters. The dominant land use is grazing of Merino sheep for wool productiion, with smaller areas (5-15%) of cropping. All of the catchments selected were affected by salinity, but the extent and severity varied. In all catchments the location of the major expression of salinity was the valley floor.

Continuous Lake-Sediment Records Of Glaciation In The Sierra Nevada Between 52,600 And 12,500 14c Yr B.P., Larry Benson, Howard M. May, Ronald C. Antweiler, Terry I. Brinton, Michaele Kashgarian, Joseph P. Smoot, Steve P. Lund

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The chemistry of the carbonate-free clay-size fraction of Owens Lake sediments supports the use of total organic carbon and magnetic susceptibility as indicators of stadial-interstadial oscillations, Owens Lake records of total organic carbon, magnetic susceptibility, and chemical composition of the carbonate-free, clay-size fraction indicate that Tioga glaciation began ~24,500 and ended by ~13,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Many of the components of glacial rock flour (e.g., TiO₂ , MnO, BaO) found in Owens Lake sediments achieved maximum values during the Tioga glaciation when valley glaciers reached their greatest extent. Total organic carbon and Si02 (amorphous) concentrations reached minimum values …

Early Life History Stages Of Gulf Sturgeon In The Suwannee River, Florida, Kenneth J. Sulak, James P. Clugston

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Egg sampling confirmed that Suwannee River Gulf sturgeon Acipenser ozyrinchus desotoi, a subspecies of Atlantic sturgeon A. o. oxyrinchus use the same spawning site at river kilometer (rkm) 215 from the mouth of the river each year. Forty-nine eggs were recorded in 1995, and 368 were recorded in 1996. Spawning began 4-7 d after the March new moon in both years and lasted 10-11 d; in 1996, a second 10-d spawning round began on the April new moon. Developmental synchrony among eggs recovered suggested serval discrete spawning events in both years. Total eggs deposited for three 1996 sampling days …