Earth Sciences Commons^™

Bulletin 4278 - How To Use Wide Furrow Sowing For Improved Crop Production On Water Repellent Sand, Paul Blackwell, Grant Morrow, Tony Webster

Bulletins 4000 -

Wide furrow sowing is a method for successfully establishing crops of lupins or cereals on non-wetting sands, and improving crop establishment on non-repellent sands. The same principles can be used to assist establishment of fodder shrubs and long-term pasture (e.g. tagasaste and Rhodes grass).

Geochemical Evidence Of Saharan Dust Parent Material For Soils Developed On Quaternary Limestones Of Caribbean And Western Atlantic Islands, Daniel R. Muhs, Charles A. Bush, Kathleen C. Stewart, Tracy R. Rowland, Russell C. Crittenden

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Most previous workers have regarded the insoluble residues of high-purity Quatemary limestones (coral reefs and oolites) as the most important parent material for well-developed, clay-rich soils on Caribbean and western Atlantic islands, but this genetic mechanism requires unreasonable amounts of limestone solution in Quatemary time. Other possible parent materials from external sources are volcanic ash from the Lesser Antilles island arc and Saharan dust carried across the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast trade winds. Soils on Quatemary coral terraces and carbonate eolianites on Barbados, Jamaica, the Florida Keys (United States), and New Providence Island (Bahamas) were studied to determine which, …

Invariant Manifolds Of A Toy Climate Model, Michael Toner

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

According to astronomical theory, ice ages are caused by variations in the Earth's orbit. However, ice core data shows strong fluctuations in ice volume at a low frequency not significantly present in orbital variations. To understand how this might occur, the dynamics of a two dimensional nonlinear differential equation representing glacier/temperature interaction of an idealized climate was studied. Self sustained oscillation of the autonomous equation was used to model the internal mechanisms that could produce these fluctuations. Periodic parametric modulation of a damped internal oscillation was used to model periodic climate response at double the external modulation period. Both phenomena …

Stable Isotopes Of Oxygen And Hydrogen In The Truckee River-Pyramid Lake Surface-Water System, 3: Source Of Water Vapor Overlying Pyramid Lake, Larry Benson, J. W. C. White

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

During 1988 and 1989, a series of water-vapor extractions were conducted in the Pyramid Lake basin to determine the source of moisture that overlies the lake. Calculations of the isotopic and water-vapor balances were made from isotopic and meteorological data from the Pyramid Lake and Reno, Nevada, areas. The results indicate that in the warm season, most of the moisture that overlies the lake is derived from evaporation as opposed to advected moisture. Isotopic fluxes at the lake surface can be approximated by climatic data from the lake site, which simplifies the calculation of this input in numerical simulations of …

The Biogeochemistry Of Hydrogen Sulfide: Phytoplankton Production In The Surface Ocean, Russell S. Walsh, Gregory A. Cutter, William M. Dunstan, Joel Radford-Knoery, Jennifer T. Elder

OES Faculty Publications

Hydrogen sulfide can exist in oxic waters in the form of a dissolved gas, dissociated ions, dissolved metal sulfide complexes, and particulate metal sulfides. The sum of the dissolved species is termed total dissolved sulfide (TDS). In addition to the hydrolysis of carbonyl sulfide, it has been speculated that phytoplankton may produce TDS. We present results from preliminary culture studies which demonstrate that phytoplankton produce TDS and particulate acid-volatile sulfide (pAVS). The phylogenetic order of TDS + pAVS production (per unit cell volume) for the oceanic species examined is Synechococcus sp. > Emiliania huxleyi ≈ Pyramimonas obovata > Thalassiosira oceanica. Moreover, …

Biogeochemical Control Of Phosphorus Cycling And Primary Production In Lake Michigan, R. S. Walsh, Gregory A. Cutter, W. M. Dunstan, J. Radford-Knoery, J. T. Elder

OES Faculty Publications

A 3-yr study in Lake Michigan has shown a 27 mmol P m^-2 increase in the mass of total P (TP) in the water during spring when the lake is mixed from surface to sediment. This value is an order of magnitude greater than the annual P input from external sources. TP changed in concert with increases in chlorophyll a and organic N and decreases in nitrate and soluble Si. The concentration of soluble reactive PO_4^-3 (SRP) remained relatively constant throughout the study. We hypothesize that the SRP concentration is maintained by a chemical equilibrium with calcium-phosphate …

Periodic And Homoclinic Orbits In A Toy Climate Model, M. Toner, A. D. Kirwan Jr.

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

A two dimensional system of autonomous nonlinear ordinary differential equations models glacier growth and temperature changes on an idealized planet. We apply standard perturbative techniques from dynamical systems theory to study small amplitude periodic orbits about a constant equilibrium. The equations are put in cononical form and the local phase space topology is examined. Maximum and minimum periods of oscillation are obtained and related to the radius of the orbit. An adjacent equilibrium is shown to have saddle character and the inflowing and outflowing manifolds of this saddle are studied using numerical integration. The inflowing manifolds show the region of …

Stable Isotopes Of Oxygen And Hydrogen In The Truckee River-Pyramid Lake Surface-Water System, 2. A Predictive Model Of Δ18O And Δ2H In Pyramid Lake, S. W. Hostetler, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A physically based model of variations in δ¹⁸O and δ²H in Pyramid Lake is presented. For inputs, the model uses measurements of liquid water inflows and outflows and their associated isotopic compositions and a set of meteorological data (radiative fluxes, air temperature, relative humidity, and windspced). The model simulates change of lake volume, thermal and isotopic stratification, evaporation, and the isotopic composition of evaporation. A validation of the model for 1987-1989 and 1991 indicates that it can reproduce measured intra- and interannual variations of δ¹⁸O and δ²H. Three applications of the model …

Stable Isotopes Of Oxygen And Hydrogen In The Truckee River-Pyramid Lake Surface-Water System. 1. Data Analysis And Extraction Of Paleoclimatic Information, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The δ¹⁸O content of streamflow discharge entering Pyramid Lake is a simple mixture of isotopically enriched Lake Tahoe discharge and isotopically depleted snowmelt. The δ¹⁸O value of Pyramid Lake water varies continuously, as isotopically depleted water evaporates from the epilimnion and isotopically depicted water enters the lake as streamflow discharge and on-lake precipitation. In a normal water year, the δ¹⁸O of Pyramid Lake surface water varies seasonally because the components of the hydrologic balance in the Pyramid Lake system are seasonally shifted. The problem of isotopic and thermal heterogeneity can be minimized by analyzing …

The Dinoflagellate Flora Of The Late Oligocene - Early Miocene Old Church Formation Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Alan P. Hoffmeister

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Old Church Formation contains the only presently known exposed Oligocene sediments in the North American mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Some ambiguity concerning the exact age of the Old Church Formation exists because it may include both Oligocene and Miocene sediments. Two outcrops and four cores containing the Old Church Formation were examined for dinoflagellates to determine the composition of the dinoflagellate flora in the Old Church Formation, the age of the Old Church Formation as indicated by this flora, general depositional environment of the Old Church Formation and correlative relationships of the Old Church Formation with other Coastal Plain units. …

A Comparison Of No And N20 Production By The Autophic Nitrifier Nitrosomonas Europaea And The Heterotrophic Nitrifier Alcaligenes Faecalis, Iris C. Anderson, Mark Poth, Julie Homstead, David J. Burdige

OES Faculty Publications

Soil microorganisms are important sources of the nitrogen trace gases NO and N₂O for the atmosphere. Present evidence suggests that autotrophic nitrifiers such as Nitrosomonas europaea are the primary producers of NO and N₂O in aerobic soils, whereas denitrifiers such as Pseudomonas spp. or Alcaligenes spp. are responsible for most of the NO and N₂O emissions from anaerobic soils. It has been shown that Alcaligenes faecalis, a bacterium common in both soil and water, is capable of concomitant heterotrophic nitrification and denitrification. This study was undertaken to determine whether heterotrophic nitrification might be …

Probable Glacial Climatic Conditions In Source Areas During Deposition Of Parts Of The Ash Hollow Formation, Ogallala Group (Late Tertiary), Of Western Nebraska, Patricia E. Helland, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

Evidence of the climatic conditions in the mountain sediment source areas for the late Tertiary Ash Hollow Formation of the Ogallala Group in western Nebraska has been sought in an SEM (scanning electron microscope) study of surface features on detrital quartz grains from these deposits. The following lines of indirect evidence raised the possibility of glacial conditions: uplift of up to 3500 m in the source areas, paleohydrologic parameters indicative of a transport system analogous to the modern North Saskatchewan River, and possible cold climate surface features on cobbles from the deposits. SEM analysis shows that five of the nine …

Identification And Quantitation Of Volatile Amines In Chesapeake Bay Sediments, Neeraja Y. Krishna

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Sediments from different parts of the Chesapeake Bay were analyzed to determine the presence of volatile amines. A HF-HCl extraction method was used to extract both exchangeable and fixed amines from the sediments and a purge-and-trap technique was used to concentrate the amines. Following derivatization with heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFBA), the HFBA-amines were analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection and with mass spectrometric detection. One primary amine, i-amylamine with a concentration ranging from 0. 78 nmoles/g dry weight to < 0.05 nmoles/g dry weight was found in a total of twenty seven samples collected on three different dates in 1993. Another primary amine, 2-methylbutylamine with a concentration ranging from 0.18 nmoles/g dry weight to < 0.05 nmoles/g dry weight was found in a total of twenty three samples collected on three different dates in 1993. A secondary amine, diethylamine was detected but could not be quantified in a total of seven samples collected in September 1993. The concentrations of these amines varied with location in the Bay, depth in the sediment, and time of year the sediments were collected. The origin of i-amylamine and 2-methylbutylamine might be from the biological decarboxylation of amino acids leucine and isoleucine, respectively. The origin of diethylamine is unknown.

The Biogeochemistry Of Iodine In Seawater, Lingsu Zhang

OES Theses and Dissertations

Iodate and iodide are the two major species of iodine in seawater. In comparison to iodate, iodide is thermodynamically unstable in oxic seawater. The conversion (or reduction) of iodate to iodide may be mediated via biological activities. Since biological activities vary with the season, the conversion of iodate to iodide may also vary seasonally. The conversion (or oxidation) of iodide to iodate is thermodynamically feasible, but the mechanism is poorly known. Hydrogen peroxide, which is ubiquitous in surface seawater, may oxidize iodide to iodate.

Water samples were collected in the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay in different seasons between 1990 …

Nutrient Content Of Runoff Water From Rice Fields, C. E. Wilson Jr., P. A. Moore Jr., R. J. Norman, B. R. Wells

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Current perception is that nutrient runoff from croplands is a significant contributor to poor water quality in some areas. While extensive research has been conducted to survey and ameliorate this problem for several upland crops, little work has been done to evaluate the problem with flooded rice (Oryza sativa, L.) soils. Since rice production utilizes a major portion of the total irrigation water usage for certain areas, it is important to understand the contribution of rice production to non-point source N and P in surface water. Several production fields were selected to evaluate the concentrations of nutrients in the floodwater …

The Influence Of Reservoir Basin Morphometry On Phytoplankton Community Structure, Richard L. Meyer, G. Keith Trost

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The research protocol was designed to compare three reservoirs with similar physical environments but different morphometry. Three reservoirs on the western edge of the Ozark uplift were selected because of their similar substrate and climatic condition. The reservoirs primarily differed in morphometry. Two of the reservoirs were of identical size, Bob Kidd and Prairie Groves Lakes, but of different configuration, semicircular and linear, respectively. The bifurcated lake, Lincoln Lake, was of smaller size. Each lake is dimictic. Each of the lakes were nitrate-N limited while soluble reactive phosphorus-P is available and not restricting the growth of phytoplankton. Although the pattern …

Prediction And Management Of Sediments Load And Phosporus In The Beaver Reservoir Watershed Using A Geographic Information System, J. M. Mckimmey, H. D. Scott

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

A study was conducted to compile a GIS database for the Beaver Reservoir Watershed and then use the database to run the Universal Soil Loss Equation and the Phosphorus Index Model on the War Eagle Creek Watershed, a portion of the Beaver Reservoir Watershed database. Characterization of the spat i a 1 properties of the primary attributes compiled for the watershed were reported. In addition, water quality samples taken from War Eagle Creek were analyzed for relationships across the watershed. Erosion in the watershed was lower than expected with well vegetated and fertilized pastures contributing to the reduction of annual …

Acoustic Properties Of Fine‐Grained Sediments From Emerald Basin: Toward An Inversion For Physical Properties Using The Biot–Stoll Model, Robert C. Courtney, Larry A. Mayer

Affiliate Scholarship

Acoustic data from two long cores, comprising marine clays and silts taken from Emerald Basin off Nova Scotia, are presented. High‐resolution measurements of compressional wavevelocity,attenuation, and power law exponent are made using ultrasonic frequencies between 100 to 1000 kHz. The observed values of the frequency dependence of attenuation suggest that a nonconstant Q mechanism is needed to explain these data, and Biot–Stoll theory is used to model the experimental results. An inversion scheme is used to constrain physical parameters in the Biot–Stoll dispersion relation. The inversion shows that there is a restricted range of permeability and grain size. By assigning …

Effect Of Drying On Cyromazine Loss From Surface-Applied Caged-Layer Manure, T. C. Daniel, D. H. Pote, D. R. Edwards

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

In Arkansas, much of the environmental concern related to water quality has focused on the high volume of poultry fecal waste spread on the surf ace of local pastures to fertilize forage grass. Cyromazine (N-cyclopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6- triamine), a feed-through larvicide used to control house flies (Musca domestica), is often a component of caged-layer manure. Cyromazine is quite soluble and stable in water, and previous research has shown that it can be readily washed from pasture plots by intense rainfall. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate increased drying time as a best management practice technique for reducing cyromazine runoff losses from …

Computer Simulation Model Calibration And Validation For Prediction Of Water Quality Impacts Of Poultry Waste Disposal, D. R. Edwards, T. C. Daniel

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Runoff and water quality data collected from two pairs of grazed fields in northwestern Arkansas were analyzed to support efforts to model runoff quality from areas receiving poultry manure and other fertilizer sources. The monitoring period described in this report was September 1, 1991 to April 30, 1993. One of each pair of fields was fertilized with inorganic fertilizer, and the other received either poultry litter or manure. Losses of fertilizer constituents were quite low from an agronomic standpoint, ranging from approximately 2-11 kg N/ha/year and 0.5-4.1 kg P04-P/ha/year. Annual losses of fertilizer constituents were dominated by only a small …

Paleobathymetric Interpretation Of Pleistocene Sediments In The South Padre Island Area, Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Using Benthic Foraminiferal Morphology, Karen Ianthe Kruebbe-Belwood

OES Theses and Dissertations

This study tested the validity of using intraspecific variation in benthic foraminifera as a means for determining Pleistocene paleobathymetry. Canonical variate analysis was used as a means for determining visually undetectable but statistically significant differences in the morphology of selected species. Two species, Cassidulina subglobosa and Uvigerina peregrina, were collected from Pleistocene well cuttings from the northwest Gulf of Mexico. The canonical analysis involved comparing the intraspecific variation of these Pleistocene species to their counterparts occurring in the modern Gulf of Mexico, where intraspecific variation was previously analyzed and found to be sufficient to allow detection of bathymetric differences …

The Biogeochemistry Of Hydrogen Sulfide In The Open Ocean, Joël Radford-Knoery

OES Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen sulfide is a poorly quantified component of the global sulfur cycle. In seawater, its dissolved species (dissolved sulfide) can react with trace metals to form dissolved complexes and insoluble compounds. Therefore, the study of dissolved° sulfide in the open ocean can yield a better understanding of the biogeochemical cycles of sulfur and trace metals.

The biogeochemical cycling of dissolved sulfide was examined using specially developed sampling and analytical methods. In the western North Atlantic and central Equatorial Pacific Oceans, total dissolved sulfide concentrations ranged from /L; they were highest, in the mixed layer and decreased with depth. The depth …

Calculation Of Acoustic Parameters By A Filter-Correlation Method, Robert C. Courtney, Larry A. Mayer

Affiliate Scholarship

This paper presents the filter correlation method, a technique for extracting consistent and accurate estimates of attenuation parameters from acoustic waveform data. The method minimizes problems associated with short time windows and multipath secondary arrivals. The method comprises two stages: a causal passband filter stage followed by a cross-correlation step. The results of the filter-correlation estimator are compared to those of the spectral difference approach for short time series with and without a secondary multipath arrival. Preliminary analyses of acoustic data collected on cored marine silts and clays show the attenuation properties of these materials cannot be described by a …

Seismic Stratigraphy Of The Ontong Java Plateau, David Mosher, Larry A. Mayer, Tom H. Shipley, Edward L. Winterer, Rick A. Hagen, Janice C. Marsters, Frank Bassinot, Roy H. Wilkens, Mitchell Lyle

Affiliate Scholarship

The Ontong Java Plateau, a large, deep-water carbonate plateau in the western equatorial Pacific, is an ideal location for studying responses of carbonate sedimentation to the effects of changing paleoceanographic conditions. These carbonate responses are often reflected in the physical properties of the sediment, which in turn control the appearance of seismic reflection profiles. Seismic stratigraphy analyses, correlating eight reflector horizons to each drill site, have been conducted in an attempt to map stratigraphic data. Accurate correlation of seismic stratigraphic data to drilling results requires conversion of traveltime to depth in meters. Synthetic seismogram models, using shipboard physical properties data, …

Laboratory And Well-Log Velocity And Density Measurements From The Ontong Java Plateau: New In-Situ Corrections To Laboratory Data For Pelagic Carbonates, Jozsef Urmos, Roy H. Wilkens, Frank Bassinot, Mitchell Lyle, Janice C. Masters, Larry A. Mayer, David Mosher

Affiliate Scholarship

During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 130, sonic velocity and bulk density/porosity well logs were measured in five separate holes drilled through the sequence of pelagic carbonate oozes, chalks, and limestones that comprise the thick, continuous sedimentary cover on the Ontong Java Plateau. An internally consistent and continuous suite of shipboard laboratory velocity and sediment physical properties measurements were made from the top of each hole down through the entire logged interval. Because of the high quality of the data, extensive overlap of 500 m or more between the log and laboratory measurements at each hole, and the homogeneous nature of …

Variations Of Porosity In Calcareous Sediments From The Ontong Java Plateau, Frank Bassinot, Janice C. Marsters, Larry A. Mayer, Roy H. Wilkens

Affiliate Scholarship

Based on index properties measurements made on board the JOIDES Resolution, we studied porosity changes with depth in the fairly homogeneous deep-sea calcareous sediments cored during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 130 on the Ontong Java Plateau. Using Leg 130 data, we present evidence that the rate of porosity decrease with burial in calcareous oozes and chalks is related to the depth of deposition and thus probably depends on the "conditioning" of calcareous sediments by winnowing or dissolution processes during the time of deposition. The ooze-to-chalk transition is not clearly reflected in porosity profiles. In the ooze-chalk sections studied (the upper …

Climatic Cyclicity At Site 806; The Grape Record, Larry A. Mayer, Eystein Jansen, Jan Backman, Toshiaki Takayama

Affiliate Scholarship

We used the continuous saturated bulk density records collected by the gamma-ray attenuation porosity evaluator (GRAPE) at Ocean Drilling Program Site 806 on the top of the Ontong Java Plateau to evaluate the continuity of the recovered cores and to splice together a complete section from the multiple holes drilled at the site (for the upper 165 m, this is equivalent to approximately 0-5 Ma). The lack of offset in core breaks (between the 9.5-m-long, successive cores) from hole to hole made splicing difficult, and the results are not unambiguous. The composite section was converted to a time series by …

Evolution Of Pliocene Climate Cyclicity At Hole 806b (5-2 Ma); Oxygen Isotope Record, Eystein Jansen, Larry A. Mayer, Jan Backman, R. Mark Leckie, Toshiaki Takayama

Affiliate Scholarship

A detailed Pliocene oxygen isotope record from the Ontong Java Plateau, based on measurements of the surface-dwelling planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides sacculifer, was produced for the period from 5 to 2 Ma. The record documents major long and short-term climate changes. The results show periods of enhanced ice volume at 4.6 to 4.3 Ma and after 2.85 Ma, a long-term warming trend from 4.1 to 3.7 Ma, and a distinct cooling trend that was initiated at 3.5 Ma and progressed through the initiation of large-scale Northern Hemisphere glaciation after 2.85 Ma (according to the time scale of Shackleton and others proposed …

Detailed Stratigraphic Correlation Of The Neogene Sedimentary Sequences On The Ontong Java Plateau By Well Logging; Odp Sites 803, 805, 806, 807, And Dsdp Site 586, Mitchell Lyle, Roy H. Wilkens, Larry A. Mayer

Affiliate Scholarship

We used well logs, in some cases combined with shipboard physical properties measurements to make more complete profiles and to correlate between sites on the Ontong Java Plateau. By comparing sediment bulk density, velocity, and resistivity logs from adjacent holes at the same site, we showed that even subtle features of the well logs are reproducible and are caused by variations in sedimentation. With only minor amounts of biostratigraphic information, we could readily correlate these sedimentary features across the entire top of the Ontong Java Plateau, demonstrating that for most of the Neogene the top of the plateau is a …

Velocity Anisotropy In Calcareous Sediments From Leg 130, Ontong Java Plateau, Frank Bassinot, Janice C. Marsters, Larry A. Mayer, Roy H. Wilkens

Affiliate Scholarship

During Leg 130, an intensive program of P-wave velocity measurements was conducted on calcareous sediments of varying induration (ranging from ooze to limestone) that cover the Ontong Java Plateau (west equatorial Pacific). The high quantity and quality of shipboard acoustical property measurements seemed to be particularly appropriate for gaining a better understanding of acoustic anisotropy in calcareous sediments. Major results can be summarized as follows: 1. In calcareous oozes, acoustic anisotropy exists even at shallow depths of burial. Values are low, ranging from -0.5% to 3.5% and averaging 1.2%. Anisotropy profiles are affected by coring disturbances, but they still roughly …