Earth Sciences Commons^™

Mammoth Cave In Poetry: Davis Mccombs’ Ultima Thule, Judith Hatchett

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Davis McCombs, former Mammoth Cave park ranger, received the Yale Younger Poets Award for Ultima Thule, his collection of poems based on his experiences in and with Mammoth Cave, not only of his actual experiences as ranger and cave explorer, but also of the history of the cave, including poems in the voice of Stephen Bishop, cave explorer, cave guide, and also a slave. The detail of McCombs’ examination produces what poet W.S. Merwin called “a grave, attentive holding of a light.” In a sense, his poetry illuminates the cave the way ancient torches and modern lighting have done. This …

First Underground Photograph Taken In America, Wm. Gross Magee

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

The presentation covers the work of Charles Waldack in Mammoth Cave. Waldack took the first underground photographs in America. He was the pioneer of using magnesium as a light source for cave photography. It explores the who, why, when, where and how of his images in the cave. It covers the recreation of his stereo views in the cave showing the same views taken nearly 150 years apart.

Archaeological Investigations For Proposed Trail Rehabilitation Within Mammoth Cave, Steven R. Ahler, George M. Crothers

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

In 2008, staff from the University of Kentucky Program for Archaeological Research (UK-PAR) and the Illinois State Museum Society (ISMS) conducted archaeological and paleontological investigations at Mammoth Cave National Park in advance of proposed rehabilitation of 40,499 linear feet of selected trail segments within Mammoth Cave. This presentation focuses on the results of archaeological investigations conducted within Mammoth Cave and is confined to discussion of the prehistoric materials. These materials were confined to the upper and lower passages of the Historic Tour, the Lantern Tour, and Gothic Avenue trails

The History And Conservation Of Saltpeter Works In Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, George M. Crothers, Christina A. Pappas, Christian D. Mittendorf

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Remains of the saltpeter mining operation in Mammoth Cave are a significant feature of several cave tours and figure prominently in the history of cave use. We undertook a comprehensive review of existing historical descriptions and recent archaeological investigations to construct the most reasonable account of how the saltpeter operation worked and assess its current conditions. At least three types of saltpeter vats were constructed in the cave reflecting an increase in the size of the operation and efficiency of processing sediments over time. Remains of three pump towers are also found in the cave in various states of preservation. …

The Mammoth Cave Mushroom Company: A Brief History Of A Short-Lived Venture, Katie Algeo

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

The Mammoth Cave Mushroom Company was formed in August 1881 during a particularly contentious period of family struggle for control of the cave, its resources, and tourism operations. This paper documents the history of the company from original company records and family letters. It places the Mammoth Cave operation within the larger historical context of mushroom production in caves as possibly the first such operation in the United States. It traces developments at the cave during the fall of 1881 as Anthony Muzarelli oversaw preparation of mushroom beds and supporting infrastructure and identifies sources of tension between the new mushroom …

Mammoth Cave National Park's 10th Research Symposium: Celebrating Diversity Of Research In The Mammoth Cave Region, Shannon Trimboli ,Editor

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

No abstract provided.

Neotectonic Evolution Of Grand Canyon : Interaction Between Volcanism, River Incision, Epeirogenic Uplift, And Faulting, Ryan Crow

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This thesis focuses on the effects of volcanism, river incision, epeirogenic uplift, and faulting on the landscape evolution of the Grand Canyon region. In the first chapter the migration of increasingly asthenospheric basaltic volcanism is used to constrain lithospheric modification of the Colorado Plateau margins. Buoyancy modification of the upper mantle, driven by the upwelling, is a likely driver for recent uplift of the area. In the second chapter, correlation between oversteepened rivers and areas of high-velocity upper mantle is used to show that recent and ongoing mantle-driven uplift is modulating the surface along the western margin of the Colorado …

An Intercomparison Of Drought Indicators Based On Thermal Remote Sensing And Nldas-2 Simulations With U.S. Drought Monitor Classifications, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher Hain, Jason Otkin, Xiwu Zhan, Kingtse Mo, Mark Svoboda, Brian Wardlow, Agustin Pimstein

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Comparison of multiple hydrologic indicators, derived from independent data sources and modeling approaches, may improve confidence in signals of emerging drought, particularly during periods of rapid onset. This paper compares the evaporative stress index (ESI)—a diagnostic fast-response indicator describing evapotranspiration (ET) deficits derived within a thermal remote sensing energy balance framework—with prognostic estimates of soil moisture (SM), ET, and runoff anomalies generated with the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS). Widely used empirical indices based on thermal remote sensing [vegetation health index (VHI)] and precipitation percentiles [standardized precipitation index (SPI)] were also included to assess relative performance. Spatial and …

Influence Of Management And Precipitation On Carbon Fluxes In Great Plains Grasslands, Matthew Rigge, Bruce K. Wylie, Li Zhang, Stephen P. Boyte

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Suitable management and sufficient precipitation on grasslands can provide carbon sinks. The net carbon accumulation of a site from the atmosphere, modeled as the Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP), is a useful means to gauge carbon balance. Previous research has developed methods to integrate flux tower data with satellite biophysical datasets to estimate NEP across large regions. A related method uses the Ecosystem Performance Anomaly (EPA) as a satellite-derived indicator of disturbance intensity (e.g., livestock stocking rate, fire, and insect damage). To better understand the interactions among management, climate, and carbon dynamics, we evaluated the relationship between EPA and NEP data …

Assessment Of Coal Geology, Resources, And Reserve Base In The Powder River Basin, Wyoming And Montana, James A. Luppens, David C. Scott, Lee M. Osmonson, Jon E. Haacke, Paul E. Pierce

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated in-place resources of 1.07 trillion short tons of coal in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana. Of that total, with a maximum stripping ratio of 10:1, recoverable coal was 162 billion tons. The estimate of economically recoverable resources was 25 billion tons.

Modeling Rain-Fed Maize Vulnerability To Droughts Using The Standardized Precipitation Index From Satellite Estimated Rainfall-Southern Malawi Case Study, Harikishan Jayanthi, Gregory J. Husak, Chris Funk, Tamuka Magadzire, Adams Chavula, James P. Verdin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

During 1990s, disaster risk reduction emerged as a novel, proactive approach to managing risks from natural hazards. The World Bank, USAlD, and other international donor agencies began making efforts to mainstream disaster risk reduction in countries whose population and economies were heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture. This approach has more significance in light of the increasing climatic hazard patterns and the climate scenarios projected for different hazard prone countries in the world. The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) has been monitoring the food security issues in the sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and in Haiti. FEWS NET monitors the rainfall …

Characterizing Ledaps Surface Reflectance Products By Comparisons With Aeronet, Field Spectrometer, And Modis Data, T.K. Maiersperger, P.L. Scaramuzza, L. Leigh, S. Shrestha, K.P. Gallo, C.B. Jenkerson, J.L. Dwyer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This study provides a baseline quality check on provisional Landsat Surface Reflectance (SR) products as generated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center using Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS) software. Characterization of the Landsat SR products leveraged comparisons between aerosol optical thickness derived from LEDAPS and measured by Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), as well as reflectance correlations with field spectrometer and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. Results consistently indicated similarity between LEDAPS and alternative data products in longer wavelengths over vegetated areas with no adjacent water, while less reliable performance was …

Droughtscape, Winter 2013, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Climatological overview of drought in 2012

Climatological overview of drought, October-December 2012

Impacts of drought in 2012

Drought planning webinars scheduled for ranch advisors

UNL honors NDMC for exceptional service

Report from the emerging community of drought planners

Feb. 6 webinar on drought simulations

Climate Masters course starting

Climate Change in the Midwest book includes drought

Video highlights from coverage of drought of 2012

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum 2013

UN’s High Level Meeting on National Drought Policy

NDMC collaboration with India, Czech Republic

Improving Model Performance For Invasive Plant Species Distribution Using Global-Scale Presence-Only Data: Parameterization And Data Quality, Feng Yu

Open Access Theses

Invasive species have significant ecological and economic impacts. To control species' invasion, risk assessment provides the most essential information for identification and evaluation of the potential risk of the invasive species, especially in their early invasion stages. Species distribution models (SDMs) is the foundation for risk assessment, in terms of both the practical and theoretical interest in our understanding of species invasion process. SDMs contribute to the proactive invasion management and the test of ecological or biogeographical hypotheses about species distributions in relation to their environment.

However, modeling of invasive species at large spatial scale (i.e., cross-continental) is rarely discussed. …

Effects Of Chiloquin Dam On Spawning Distribution And Larval Emigration Of Lost River, Shortnose, And Klamath Largescale Suckers In The Williamson And Sprague Rivers, Oregon, Barbara A. Martin, David A. Hewitt, Craig M. Ellsworth

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Chiloquin Dam was constructed in 1914 on the Sprague River near the town of Chiloquin, Oregon. The dam was identified as a barrier that potentially inhibited or prevented the upstream spawning migrations and other movements of endangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) suckers, as well as other fish species. In 2002, the Bureau of Reclamation led a working group that examined several alternatives to improve fish passage at Chiloquin Dam. Ultimately it was decided that dam removal was the best alternative and the dam was removed in the summer of 2008. The U.S. …

The Mineral Industry Of Nebraska

United States Geological Survey: Publications

In 2013, the value of the nonfuel mineral production1 in the State of Nebraska was $166 million,2 0.2% of the total U.S. nonfuel mineral production, ranking it 39th in the country. In 2012, the corresponding value was $160 million,2 0.2% of the Nation’s total nonfuel mineral production, ranking it 36th among the 50 States. In 2013, on a per capita basis, nonfuel mineral production in Nebraska in 2013 had a value of $89 compared with the national average of $238. In 2012, the per capita value was $86 compared with the national average of $241. The value of nonfuel mineral …

Impacts Of Migratory Sandhill Cranes (Grus Canadensis) On Microbial Water Quality In The Central Platte River, Nebraska, Usa, Jason R. Vogel, Dale W. Griffin, Hon S. Ip, Nicholas J. Ashbolt, Matthew T. Moser, Jingrang Lu, Mary K. Beitz, Hodon Ryu, Jorge W. Santo Domingo

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Wild birds have been shown to be significant sources of numerous types of pathogens that are relevant to humans and agriculture. The presence of large numbers of migratory birds in such a sensitive and important ecosystem as the Platte River in central Nebraska, USA, could potentially serve a significant source of birdderived pathogens in the water/sediment and riverine environment. In 2009 and 2010, a study was completed to investigate the potential water-quality impacts of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese on the microbial water quality of the central Platte River during their spring migration period. Fecal material, river-bottom sediment, and water …

Using Gis To Delineate Headwater Stream Origins In The Appalachian Coal-Belt Region Of Kentucky, Jonathan A. Villines

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Human activity such as surface mining can have substantial impacts on the natural environment. Performing a Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessment (CHIA) of such impacts on surface water systems requires knowing the location and extent of these impacted streams. The Jurisdictional Determination (JD) of a stream’s protected status under the Clean Water Act (CWA) involves locating and classifying streams according to their flow regime: ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial. Due to their often remote locations and small size, taking a field inventory of headwater streams for surface mining permit applications or permit reviews is challenging. A means of estimating headwater stream location …

Long-Range, Passive Wireless Monitoring Using Energy-Efficient, Electrically-Small Sensor Nodes And Harmonic Radar Interrogator, Ibrahim Nassar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the use of the harmonic radar technique for passive wireless sensing applications. Issues of DC power consumption, high RF activation power, large node size, and short communication range associated with the existing passive wireless sensing technologies are addressed by the development of novel, completely passive, high efficiency, compact 3-D harmonic sensor nodes. The node transceiver employs a passive frequency doubler to return the second harmonic of the interrogation signal, and electrically-small 3-D antennas to achieve the compactness and high efficiency. The developed nodes fit inside a sphere with a diameter < 3 cm and achieve communication range > 60 m using a 43 dBm EIRP …

Harmful Algal Blooms Of The West Florida Shelf And Campeche Bank: Visualization And Quantification Using Remote Sensing Methods, Inia Mariel Soto Ramos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) are natural phenomena that can have negative impacts on marine ecosystems on which human health and the economy of some Gulf States depends. Many of the HABs in the GOM are dominated by the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. Non-toxic phytoplankton taxa such as Scrippsiella sp. also form intense blooms off the Mexican coast that result in massive fish mortality and economic losses, particularly as they may lead to anoxia.

The main objectives of this dissertation were to (1) evaluate and improve the techniques developed for detection of Karenia spp. blooms …

Applications Of Satellite Remote Sensing In Archeology, Kel Markert

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

The Floodplain Food Web Mosaic: A Study Of Its Importance To Salmon And Steelhead With Implications For Their Recovery, J. Ryan Bellmore, Colden V. Baxter, Kyle Martens, Patrick J. Connolly

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Although numerous studies have attempted to place species of interest within the context of food webs, such efforts have generally occurred at small scales or disregard potentially important spatial heterogeneity. If food web approaches are to be employed to manage species, studies are needed that evaluate the multiple habitats and associated webs of interactions in which these species participate. Here, we quantify the food webs that sustain rearing salmon and steelhead within a floodplain landscape of the Methow River, Washington, USA, a location where restoration has been proposed to restore side channels in an attempt to recover anadromous fishes. We …

Predictive Models For Escherichia Coli Concentrations At Inland Lake Beaches And Relationship Of Model Variables To Pathogen Detection, Donna S. Francy, Erin A. Stelzer, Joseph W. Duris, Amie M. G. Brady, John H. Harrison, Heather E. Johnson, Michael W. Ware

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Predictive models, based on environmental and water quality variables, have been used to improve the timeliness and accuracy of recreational water quality assessments, but their effectiveness has not been studied in inland waters. Sampling at eight inland recreational lakes in Ohio was done in order to investigate using predictive models for Escherichia coli and to understand the links between E. coli concentrations, predictive variables, and pathogens. Based upon results from 21 beach sites, models were developed for 13 sites, and the most predictive variables were rainfall, wind direction and speed, turbidity, and water temperature. Models were not developed at sites …

The Malthusian–Darwinian Dynamic And The Trajectory Of Civilization, Jeffrey C. Nekola, Craig D. Allen, James H. Brown, Joseph R. Burger, Ana D. Davidson, Trevor S. Fristoe, Marcus J. Hamilton, Sean T. Hammond, Astrid Kodric-Brown, Norman Mercado-Silva, Jordan G. Okie

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Two interacting forces influence all populations: the Malthusian dynamic of exponential growth until resource limits are reached, and the Darwinian dynamic of innovation and adaptation to circumvent these limits through biological and/or cultural evolution. The specific manifestations of these forces in modern human society provide an important context for determining how humans can establish a sustainable relationship with the finite Earth.

A Causal Examination Of The Effects Of Confounding Factors On Multimetric Indices, Donald R. Schoolmaster Jr., James B. Grace, E. William Schweiger, Brian R. Mitchell, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The development of multimetric indices (MMIs) as a means of providing integrative measures of ecosystem condition is becoming widespread. An increasingly recognized problem for the interpretability of MMIs is controlling for the potentially confounding influences of environmental covariates. Most common approaches to handling covariates are based on simple notions of statistical control, leaving the causal implications of covariates and their adjustment unstated. In this paper, we use graphical models to examine some of the potential impacts of environmental covariates on the observed signals between human disturbance and potential response metrics. Using simulations based on various causal networks, we show how …

Loess Origin, Transport, And Deposition Over The Past 10,000 Years, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, Daniel R. Muhs, James R. Budahn, John P. Mcgeehin, E. Arthur Bettis Iii, Gary Skipp, James B. Paces, Elisabeth A. Wheeler

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Contemporary glaciogenic dust has not received much attention, because most research has been on glaciogenic dust of the last glacial period or non-glaciogenic dust of the present interglacial period. Nevertheless, dust from modern glaciogenic sources may be important for Fe inputs to primary producers in the ocean. Adjacent to the subarctic Pacific Ocean, we studied a loess section near Chitina, Alaska along the Copper River in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, where dust has been accumulating over the past ~10,000 years. Mass accumulation rates for the fine-grained (<20 >µm) fraction of this loess section are among the highest reported for the …

Comparative Embryotoxicity Of A Pentabrominated Diphenyl Ether Mixture To Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo) And American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius), Barnett A. Rattner, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Gary H. Heinz, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Sandra L. Schultz, Robert C. Hale

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in Forster’s tern (Sterna forsteri) eggs from San Francisco Bay have been reported to range up to 63 µg g^-1 lipid weight. This value exceeds the lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (1.8 µg g^-1 egg wet weight; ~32 µg g^-1 lipid weight) reported in an embryotoxicity study with American kestrels (Falco sparverius). As a surrogate for Forster’s terns, common tern (Sterna hirundo) eggs were treated by air cell injection with corn oil vehicle (control) or a commercial penta-BDE formulation (DE-71) at nominal concentrations of 0.2, 2, and 20 µg g …

Use Of Nmr Logging To Obtain Estimates Of Hydraulic Conductivity In The High Plains Aquifer, Nebraska, Usa, Katherine Dlubac, Rosemary Knight, Yi-Qiao Song, Nate Bachman, Ben Grau, Jim Cannia, John Williams

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Hydraulic conductivity (K) is one of the most important parameters of interest in groundwater applications because it quantifies the ease with which water can flow through an aquifer material. Hydraulic conductivity is typically measured by conducting aquifer tests or wellbore flow (WBF) logging. Of interest in our research is the use of proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging to obtain information about water-filled porosity and pore space geometry, the combination of which can be used to estimate K. In this study, we acquired a suite of advanced geophysical logs, aquifer tests, WBF logs, and sidewall cores at the …

Impacts Of The Anomalous Mississippi River Discharge And Diversions On Phytoplankton Blooming In Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Brendan O'Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

On April 20, 2010 a tragic explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drilling rig marked the beginning of one of the worst environmental disasters in history. For 87 days oil and gas were released into the Gulf of Mexico. In August 2010, anomalous phytoplankton activity was identified in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, using the Fluorescence Line Height (FLH) ocean color product. The FLH anomaly was bound by approximately 30-28 degrees North and 90 and 86 degrees West and there was a suggestion that this anomaly may have occurred due to the presence of oil. This study was designed to …

Cave Ventilation Is Influenced By Variations In The Co2-Dependent Virtual Temperature, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Francisco Domingo, Andrew S. Kowalski

International Journal of Speleology

Dynamics and drivers of ventilation in caves are of growing interest for different fields of science. Accumulated CO₂ in caves can be exchanged with the atmosphere, modifying the internal CO₂ content, affecting stalagmite growth rates, deteriorating rupestrian paintings or creating new minerals. Current estimates of cave ventilation neglect the role of high CO₂ concentrations in determining air density – approximated via the virtual temperature (T_v) –, affecting buoyancy and therefore the release or storage of CO₂. Here we try to improve knowledge and understanding of cave ventilation through the use of T …