Earth Sciences Commons^™

Radioisotope Constraints Of Arctic Deep Water Export To The North Atlantic, Lauren Kipp, Jerry F. Manus, Markus Kienast

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

The export of deep water from the Arctic to the Atlantic contributes to the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water, a crucial component of global ocean circulation. Records of protactinium-231 (231Pa) and thorium-230 (230Th) in Arctic sediments can provide a measure of this export, but well-constrained sedimentary budgets of these isotopes have been difficult to achieve in the Arctic Ocean. Previous studies revealed a deficit of 231Pa in central Arctic sediments, implying that some 231Pa is either transported to the margins, where it may be removed in areas of higher particle flux, or exported from the Arctic via deep water …

Development Of A Flash Drought Intensity Index, Jason A. Otkin, Yafang Zhong, Eric D. Hunt, Jordan I. Christian, Jeffrey B. Basara, Hanh Nguyen, Matthew C. Wheeler, Trent W. Ford, Andrew Hoell, Mark Svoboda, Martha C. Anderson

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Flash droughts are characterized by a period of rapid intensification over sub-seasonal time scales that culminates in the rapid emergence of new or worsening drought impacts. This study presents a new flash drought intensity index (FDII) that accounts for both the unusually rapid rate of drought intensification and its resultant severity. The FDII framework advances our ability to characterize flash drought because it provides a more complete measure of flash drought intensity than existing classification methods that only consider the rate of intensification. The FDII is computed using two terms measuring the maximum rate of intensification (FD_INT) and average drought …

Water Quality Threats, Perceptions Of Climate Change And Behavioral Responses Among Farmers In The Ethiopian Rift Valley, Tewodros R. Godebo, Marc A. Jeuland, Christopher J. Paul, Dagnachew L. Belachew, Peter G. Mccornick

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

This work aims to assess water quality for irrigated agriculture, alongside perceptions and adaptations of farmers to climate change in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). Climate change is expected to cause a rise in temperature and variability in rainfall in the region, reducing surface water availability and raising dependence on groundwater. The study data come from surveys with 147 farmers living in the Ziway–Shala basin and water quality assessments of 162 samples from groundwater wells and surface water. Most groundwater samples were found to be unsuitable for long term agricultural use due to their high salinity and sodium adsorption ratio, …

Biotransformation Of Doxycycline By Brevundimonas Naejangsanensis And Sphingobacterium Mizutaii Strains, Ting He, Jianguo Bao, Yifei Leng, Daniel D. Snow, Shuqiong Kong, Tong Wang, Xu Li

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The fate of doxycycline (DC), a second generation tetracycline antibiotic, in the environment has drawn increasing attention in recent years due to its wide usage. Little is known about the biodegradability of DC in the environment. The objective of this study was to characterize the biotransformation of DC by pure bacterial strains with respect to reaction kinetics under different environmental conditions and biotransformation products. Two bacterial strains, Brevundimonas naejangsanensis DD1 and Sphingobacterium mizutaii DD2, were isolated from chicken litter and characterized for their biotransformation capability of DC. Results show both strains rely on cometabolism to biotransform DC with tryptone as …

Drone-Based Magnetic Surveying In Eastern Nebraska, Sulaiman Albadi

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A magnetic survey is one of the methods used by scientists to detect subsurface features. Magnetic surveys can be carried out by walking on the surface of the earth with a magnetic field reading device called a magnetometer. Alternatively, a magnetometer can be installed on a moving platform (aircraft, boat, drone, bicycle) to conduct a more efficient magnetic survey. The geophysics team at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln assembled a drone-based magnetic survey system in 2019 (Jacobson and Filina, 2019) that has proven effective in magnetic readings over the Northern Bounding Fault (NBF) in eastern Nebraska (Jacobson and Filina, …

Past Ice-Ocean Interactions On The Sabrina Coast Shelf, East Antarctica: Deglacial To Recent Paleoenvironmental Insights From Marine Sediments, Kara J. Vadman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) contains ~53 meters of sea level equivalent (SLE) ice, and observations suggest it is sensitive to ongoing and past climate change. The EAIS has traditionally been considered insensitive to climate perturbations because it is largely grounded above sea level. However, aerogeophysical surveys, oceanographic observations, and models indicate that large areas of the EAIS are grounded below sea level and contain 19.2 m SLE. Marine-based parts of the EAIS are thought to be located on inland-sloping beds that drain through marine terminating outlet glaciers, indicating large areas of the EAIS may be more sensitive to …

Characterizing The Northern Hemisphere Circumpolar Vortex Through Space And Time, Nazla Bushra

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This hemispheric-scale, steering atmospheric circulation represented by the circumpolar vortices (CPVs) are the middle- and upper-tropospheric wind belts circumnavigating the poles. Variability in the CPV area, shape, and position are important topics in geoenvironmental sciences because of the many links to environmental features. However, a means of characterizing the CPV has remained elusive. The goal of this research is to (i) identify the Northern Hemisphere CPV (NHCPV) and its morphometric characteristics, (ii) understand the daily characteristics of NHCPV area and circularity over time, (iii) identify and analyze spatiotemporal variability in the NHCPV’s centroid, and (iv) analyze how CPV features relate …

Hydrometeorological Responses To Abrupt Land Surface Change Following Hurricane Michael, Shannon Alexis Nelson

LSU Master's Theses

While many of the destructive environmental conditions associated with tropical cyclones are well recognized, tropical cyclone-induced defoliation, a reduction in green leaves and mature vegetation, has been largely overlooked as a source of environmental stress following tropical cyclone passage. The land surface change associated with defoliation reduces evapotranspiration and shade, thus altering boundary layer moisture and energy fluxes that drive the local water cycle, for many months after tropical cyclone passage. Understanding the potential for any hydrometeorological impacts arising from such abrupt land surface change is important for guiding future post-hurricane preparedness and recovery planning in coastal communities.

This thesis …

Changes In Tropospheric Ozone Associated With Strong Earthquakes And Possible Mechanism, Feng Jing, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The index of ozone anomaly (IOA) has been proposed to detect changes in tropospheric ozone associated with strong earthquakes. The tropospheric ozone prior and after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake has been analyzed using IOA. Atmospheric infrared sounder ozone volume mixing ratio (O3 VMR) at different pressure levels (600, 500, 400, 300, 200 hPa) for an 18-year period 2003–2020 has been considered to identify the unique behavior associated with the strong earthquakes. Our results show distinct enhancement in tropospheric ozone occurred 5 d (7 May 2008) prior to the main event and distributed along the Longmenshan fault zone. An enhancement in …

Linking Human Activities To Water Quality In Coastal New England: Past And Present, Amelia Hurst

University Scholar Projects

This project examines the timing and effect of direct and indirect anthropogenic and natural influences on the marine environment in embayments in southern New England over the past decades to century timescale. We investigated the effects of human land use from colonial through post-industrial times, determined baseline conditions and natural climatic variability, and analyzed the response of marine ecosystems to specific local management actions aimed to improve water quality. A coastal sediment core was taken in Mumford Cove, CT and was analyzed downcore for eutrophication markers (C: N, %C, %N, d¹⁵N, d¹³C) and metals (Hg, Pb, …

Multi-Dimensional Drought Assessment In Abbay/Upper Blue Nile Basin: The Importance Of Shared Management And Regional Coordination Efforts For Mitigation, Yared Bayissa, Semu Moges, Assefa Melesse, Tsegaye Tadesse, Anteneh Z. Abiy, Abeyou Worqlul

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought is one of the least understood and complex natural hazards often characterized by a significant decrease in water availability for a prolonged period. It can be manifested in one or more forms as meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and/or socio-economic drought. The overarching objective of this study is to demonstrate and characterize the different forms of droughts and to assess the multidimensional nature of drought in the Abbay/ Upper Blue Nile River (UBN) basin and its national and regional scale implications. In this study, multiple drought indices derived from in situ and earth observation-based hydro-climatic variables were used. The meteorological drought …

Climatic And Topographic Control Of The Stable Isotope Values Of Rivers On The South Island Of New Zealand, Matthew S. Lachniet, Christopher M. Moy, Christina Riesselman, Haroon Stephen, Andrew M. Lorrey

Geoscience Faculty Research

We show that climate and topography control the spatial distribution of stable isotope values on the South Island of New Zealand, based on a spatially dense (n = 193) river isotopic survey. Our data show a δ O minimum in isotope values east of the Southern Alps that demonstrates topographically driven continentality associated with the Southern Alps, which intersect the prevailing, moisture-laden westerlies. Our data define a South Island surface water line of δ H = 8.17 (±0.26) × δ O + 10.57 (±2.04), which is identical within 95% confidence intervals to the global and New Zealand meteoric water lines …

Organic Matter Spatial And Temporal Patterns In Coastal Sands Of Long Bay, South Carolina, Kayla B. Christofferson

Honors Theses

Sandy coastlines serve crucial functions to coastal economies and coastal ecology alike. In the past, organic-poor sands were considered of lower importance than organic-rich muds. Recent studies showed that sands’ low organic matter concentrations are due to high biogeochemical cycling rates, driven by rapid physical exchange, but remain infrequently studied. I present time-series of sand mass-loss-on-ignition (LOI, an organic matter proxy) profiles from February 2017 onwards at multiple sites along Long Bay, South Carolina. LOI profiles exhibit subsurface maximum values, unlike the typical decrease with depth in muddy sediments. I hypothesize that organic matter distribution with depth is affected by …

Characterization Of Problematic Red Clay Soils In Arkansas For The Purpose Of Onsite Wastewater System Placement, Bailey Darnell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distinguishing between red-clay soils that are non-expansive and can reduce and red-clay soils developing in problematic red parent material, which are expansive, but also non-reducing, is key for proper on-site wastewater system placement. The Arkansas Department of Health allows for the placement of on-site wastewater systems in certain red-clay soils that have the potential to reduce, but only in the Ozark Highlands [Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 116A], which is referred to as the red-soil exception. There is currently little scientific data to support the geographic restriction of the red-soil exception. The objectives of this study were to: i) confirm …

Isolated Point Discharges Into Coastal Swashes As Nutrient Sources To Coastal Waters, Mary E. Olsen

Honors Theses

Coastal water quality in the Grand Strand of South Carolina is directly influenced by human activities. Nutrient-rich runoff, stemming from numerous anthropogenic sources, finds its way into coastal waters through freshwater inputs often through tidal creeks, termed swashes. In order to better describe the amount of nutrient inputs into Singleton Swash and White Point Swash, we examine anthropogenic runoff from isolated identifiable point discharges and their nutrient concentrations. We report concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN, as the sum of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium) and phosphate in discharge and creek water. We hypothesize that nutrient concentrations of isolated, minor point …

Microplankton Dynamics In The River-Dominated Mississippi Bight, Adam D. Boyette

Dissertations

The Mississippi Bight (MSB) is a river-dominated continental margin influenced by multiple large river systems, including the Mississippi River, Alabama and Tombigbee rivers via Mobile Bay, and numerous smaller rivers, creeks, and bayous. This is part of a biologically-rich ecosystem that supports the second largest fishery industry by volume in the United States. Despite our understanding of the linkages between primary production with higher trophic levels, there remains limited studies quantifying these trophic interactions in this system. Microplankton (µm) community dynamics and trophic connectivity between primary producers and heterotrophic protists represent a critical nexus influencing overall biological productivity in this …

Small-Scale Resuspension And Redistribution Of Surface Sediments In The Northeast Gulf Of Mexico, Austin Harris

Master's Theses

Following the release of ~4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo wellhead, a vast area of the seafloor contained recently deposited marine sediments contaminated by the oil spill. The initial deposition of these contaminated marine sediments was likely not the end of the journey for the particles. Downslope gravitational processes and events of increased current speed in the deep ocean setting can result in recently deposited sediments to resuspend and be moved laterally with the current flow, increasing the area effected by the oil spill. Erosion experiments performed in a closed-loop resuspension flume were …

A Comparison Of The Localized Aviation Mos Program (Lamp) And Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (Taf) Accuracy For General Aviation, Douglas D. Boyd, Thomas A. Guinn

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Background. For general aviation (GA) pilots, operations in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) carry an elevated risk of a fatal accident. As to whether a general aviation flight can be safely undertaken, aerodrome-specific forecasts (TAF, LAMP) provide guidance. Although LAMP forecasts are more common for GA-frequented aerodromes, nevertheless, the FAA recommends that for such aerodromes (and for which a TAF is not issued) the airman uses the TAF generated for the geographically closest airport for pre-flight weather evaluation. Herein, for non-TAF-issuing airports, the LAMP (sLAMP) predictive accuracy for visual (VFR) and instrument (IFR) flight rules flight category was determined.

Method. sLAMP …

Diversity – Independent Factors Predict Elevated Extinction Rates, Dustin Perriguey, Corinne Myers, Jason Moore, Louis Scuderi

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationships between diversity-independent factors (i.e., abiotic, climatic) 2, 5, and 10 Myrs-prior to the most elevated Phanerozoic extinctions. We constructed five abiotic variables from Phanerozoic proxy records1–5 to compare to extinction rates: mean temperature, temperature instability, carbon cycle instability, continental weathering rates, and habitat instability. All three models were statistically significant (P < 0.05) and explained > 70% of the variation in Alroy’s6 three-timer generic extinction rates. However, the 2 Myr-prior model explained the most variance in extinction rates and had the most predictive power, based on adjusted and predictive R2 (~ 72% and 41%, respectively). Carbon …

Analysis Of Winter Weather Conditions And Their Relationship To Crashes In Nebraska, John Cecava

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adverse weather conditions: such as changes in visibility, precipitation, wind speed, temperature, and road surface conditions, substantially impact highway and interstate safety. Therefore, an investigation into the winter weather conditions during highway and interstate crashes in Nebraska was conducted. Crash data were obtained from the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) for the years 2008 to 2018. In order to separate the non-winter weather related crashes and the winter weather related crashes, six filtrations were applied to make this possible. These filters were based on a few crash parameters: road classification, alcohol, and crash severity, and weather parameters within the crash …

Removal Of Carbamazepine Onto Modified Zeolitic Tuff In Different Water Matrices: Batch And Continuous Flow Experiments, Othman A. Al-Mashaqbeh, Diya A. Alsafadi, Layal Z. Alsalhi, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is the most frequently detected pharmaceutical residues in aquatic environments effluent by wastewater treatment plants. Batch and column experiments were conducted to evaluate the removal of CBZ from ultra-pure water and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent using raw zeolitic tuff (RZT) and surfactant modified zeolite (SMZ). Point zero net charge (pHpzc), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) were investigated for adsorbents to evaluate the physiochemical changes resulted from the modification process using Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA-Br). XRD and FTIR showed that the surfactant modification of RZT has created an amorphous surface with new alkyl …

In Silico Screeing Of Natural Compounds As Novel Drug Targets For Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma, Rousselene Larson

Student Research Symposium

In Silico Screening of Natural Compounds as Novel Drug Targets for The Treatment of Multiple MyelomaRousselene Larson1 2, Naveen Duhan1, and Rakesh Kaundal1 2 *1Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate, College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences; 2Bioinformatics Facility, Center for Integrated BioSystems; Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 USA* corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected])Telephone: +1 (435) 797-4117Fax: +1 (435) 797-2766Abstract: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematological malignancy cancer characterized by excessive clonal plasma cell proliferation in the bone marrow. In the United States, MM is the second most prevalent type of cancer that affects about 4 in 100,000 Americans. Toxicity …

Drought-Induced Biomass Burning As A Source Of Black Carbon To The Central Himalaya Since 1781 Ce As Reconstructed From The Dasuopu Ice Core, Joel D. Barker, Susan Kaspari, Paulo Gabrielli, Anna Wegner, Emilie Beaudon, M. Roxana Sierra-Hernández, Lonnie Thompson

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Himalayan glaciers are melting due to atmospheric warming, with the potential to limit access to water for more than 25 % of the global population that resides in these glacier meltwater catchments. Black carbon has been implicated as a factor that is contributing to Himalayan glacier melt, but its sources and mechanisms of delivery to the Himalayas remain controversial. Here, we provide a 211-year ice core record spanning 1781–1992 CE for refractory black carbon (rBC) deposition from the Dasuopu glacier ice core that has to date provided the highest-elevation ice core record (7200 m). We report an average rBC concentration …

Day Versus Night Irrigation Loss From Sprinkler Irrigation Of Urban Crops, Samikshya Pyakurel

Student Research Symposium

Nighttime irrigation is a widespread strategy to conserve water, as it reduces wind drift and evaporation loss (WDEL). However, daytime sprinkler irrigation may also conserve water by lowering the temperature and increasing the humidity of crop microclimates, thereby reducing evapotranspiration (ET). Therefore, the objectives of this study include: 1) quantify whether a water savings exists between day and night irrigation with a water balance approach, 2) analyze the microclimate effects by irrigation timing to determine any changes to WDEL and evaporative demand, and 3) assess the quality and yield response of two urban crops. In 2019-21, we established 12 field …

Genomic Prediction Of Salinity Stress Tolerance In Maize (Zea Mays L.), Vishal Singh

Student Research Symposium

Maize is the largest crop in the world in terms of production. Utah, maize is a potential fodder crop. With increasing climate change, soil salinity is also increasing worldwide. Soil salinity is very detrimental to plants' growth and development and crop production. For a fodder crop, plant biomass is an important trait, and maize biomass is adversely affected by salinity stress, especially at the seedling stage. A Selection of salt-tolerant breeding material is a time-consuming process and its complexity is further increased by significant heterogeneity in soil salinity under field based evaluation. Genomic prediction is an emerging tool that can …

Transgenic Expression Of Prunus Persica Salt Overly Sensitive 2 (Ppsos2) In Atsos2 Mutant Imparts Salt Tolerance In Arabidopsis, Vishal Singh

Student Research Symposium

Salinity is one of the major environmental stresses that affect crop growth and productivity. Almond crop has a great potential for Utah as a cash crop and salinity is one of the stresses affecting its growth and yield. Although almond trees are sensitive to salt stress, salinity-tolerant rootstocks can play a significant role in sustaining crop production in semiarid areas. Salinity tolerance has a complex mechanism with many genes acting in different pathways. Understanding the role of potential candidate genes is an important aspect of genomics assisted improvement of stress tolerance. In this study, functional complementation of the Prunus persica …

Comparative Study Of The Microbiome Of The Native Plant Ceanothus Velutinus (Snowbrush) From Different Locations And Greenhouse Studies, Jyothsna Ganesh

Student Research Symposium

Climatic change is one of the biggest threats to the ecosystem and biodiversity by enhancing environmental stresses. Environmental stresses such as biotic and abiotic stresses affect plant health and reduce crop production. The rhizosphere microbiome of a plant plays a significant role in a plant's defense against various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we are investigating the microbiome diversity of bulk soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere of Ceanothus velutinus, snowbrush. Ceanothus is an evergreen native plant that is usually found in dry areas and thrives well in harsh conditions. The snowbrush samples were collected from different locations 1920m, 1950m, …

Microbial Community Of The Rhizosphere Of Ceanothus Velutinus Improves The Plant's Growth And Development Under Greenhouse Conditions, Jyothsna Ganesh

Student Research Symposium

Climatic change-induced environmental stresses affect crop production. Drought is such a stress which affect crop production and landscaping adversely. Native plants are great for low water use landscaping and can adapt to the natural environment. USU Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping has released a list of native plants that can be used for this purpose. This study focuses on a native plant Ceanothus velutinus (snowbrush) which is an evergreen plant native to western North America. It thrives well in harsh conditions and can act as ornamental plant in low water use landscaping but is difficult to propagate under landscape conditions. Here, …

Deepnec: A Novel Alignment-Free Tool For The Characterization Of Nitrification-Related Enzymes Using Deep Learning, A Step Towards Comprehensive Understanding Of The Nitrogen Cycle, Naveen Duhan

Student Research Symposium

Abstract: Nitrification is an important microbial two-step transformation in the global nitrogen cycle, as it is the only natural process that produces nitrate within a system. The functional annotation of nitrification-related enzymes has a broad range of applications in metagenomics, agriculture, industrial biotechnology, etc. The time and resources needed for determining the function of enzymes experimentally are restrictively costly. Therefore, an accurate genome-scale computational prediction of the nitrification-related enzymes has become much more important.In this study, we developed an alignment-free computational approach to determine the nitrification-related enzymes from the sequence itself. We propose deepNEC, a novel end-to-end feature selection and …

Pyseqrna: An Automated Python Package For Advanced Rna Sequencing Data Analysis And Annotation, Naveen Duhan

Student Research Symposium

Abstract: With the advent of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, numerous data is being generated every day, however, streamlined analysis remains a big hurdle to efficiently use the technology. A large number of algorithms, statistical methods, and software tools have been developed in recent years to perform the individual analysis steps of various NGS applications. Some NGS applications data analysis procedures are therefore very complex, requiring several program tools to be downloaded for their various processing steps. There is a significant room for the development of scalable computing environments that link the individual software components to automated workflows to efficiently and …