Earth Sciences Commons^™

Bacterial Migration Through Low-Permeability Fault Zones In Compartmentalised Aquifer Systems: A Case Study In Southern Italy, Antonio Bucci, Emma Petrella, Gino Naclerio, Sabrina Gambatese, Fulvio Celico

International Journal of Speleology

The aim of this study was to experimentally verify the significance of microbial transport through low-permeability fault zones in a compartmentalised carbonate aquifer system in Southern Italy.

The temporal variability of microbial communities in two springs fed by the same aquifer system, but discharging up- and down-gradient of two low-permeability fault zones, was analysed using a 16S rDNA polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE)-based approach. At both springs, a remarkable temporal variation in PCR-DGGE profiles was detected throughout the observation period. When comparing the PCR-DGGE profiles of the two springs, a synchronous evolution over time was observed. Moreover, the …

Linking Mineral Deposits To Speleogenetic Processes In Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Mallorca, Spain), Bogdan P. Onac, Joan J. Fornós, Antoni Merino, Joaquín Ginés, Jacqueline Diehl

International Journal of Speleology

Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (CPV) is the premier cave of the Balearic Archipelago. Over 74 km of passages develop within two carbonate lithofacies (reef front and back reef), which ultimately control the patterns of the cave and to some degree its mineral infilling. The diversity of speleothem-forming minerals is four times greater around or within hypogene-related features (vents, rims, cupolas), compared to any other vadose passages in the cave. The mineralogy of speleothems (crusts, nodules, crystals, earthy masses) associated with hypogene features in the seaward upper maze of Sector F is characterized by the presence of aragonite, ankerite, huntite, …

Speleothems In Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera: Their Distribution And Characteristics Within An Extensive Coastal Cave From The Eogenetic Karst Of Southern Mallorca (Western Mediterranean), Antoni Merino, Joaquín Ginés, Paola Tuccimei, Michele Soligo, Joan J. Fornós

International Journal of Speleology

The abundance and variety of speleothems are undoubtedly among the remarkable features of Cova des Pas de Vallgornera, the longest cave system in Mallorca Island developed in the eogenetic karst of its southern coast. Due to the monotonous carbonate lithology of the area, most of the speleothems are composed of calcite and in a few cases aragonite, although other minerals are also represented (e.g., gypsum, celestine, barite.). However, in spite of the rather common mineralogy of the speleothems, its distribution results strongly mediated by the lithologic and textural variability linked to the architecture of the Upper Miocene reefal rocks. Apart …

Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera, (Mallorca, Spain): History Of Exploration And Cave Description, Antoni Merino, Antoni Mulet, Guiem Mulet, Antoni Croix, Anders Kristofersson, Francesc Gràcia, Miquel A. Perelló

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera lies in the Llucmajor municipality, in southern Mallorca, and is the longest cave in the Balearic Islands. Currently its surveyed length is over 74,000 metres, including more than 17,000 of underwater extensions. The cave was discovered accidentally in 1968, but it was in 2004 when a major breakthrough shed light on its real extension and importance. The cave roughly shows two tiers of passages, apart from the underwater extensions, the first one is between 7 and 11 m above the mean sea level, the second one is about at the water table level. The …

Geologic Constraints And Speleogenesis Of Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera, A Complex Coastal Cave From Mallorca Island (Western Mediterranean), Joaquín Ginés, Joan J. Fornós, Angel Ginés, Antoni Merino, Francesc Gràcia

International Journal of Speleology

The flat areas of eastern and southern Mallorca host a remarkable coastal karst, where Cova des Pas de Vallgornera stands out due to its length (more than 74 km) and its special morphological suite. The pattern of the cave is quite heterogeneous showing sharp differences produced by the architecture of the Upper Miocene reef: spongework mazes and collapse chambers dominate in the reef front facies, whereas joint-guided conduits are the rule in the back reef carbonates. Regarding the speleogenesis of the system, a complex situation is envisaged involving three main agents: coastal mixing dissolution, drainage of meteoric diffuse recharge, and …

Cave Deposits And Sedimentary Processes In Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean), Joan J. Fornós, Joaquin Ginés, Francesc Gràcia, Antoni Merino Juncadella, Lluís Gómez-Pujol, Pere Bover

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera is an important and protected coastal cave, located in the southern part of the island of Mallorca, that outstands due to its length and the complex processes involved in its speleogenesis. Although sediments are not the main topic of interest, their presence as well as their paleontological contents are valuable evidence for paleoclimatic and chronological reconstructions of the cave morphogenesis. The sedimentary infilling is characterized by a scarce presence of clastic sedimentation, mainly composed of silts and clays, which can only be found at some minor passages in the innermost parts of the cave. …

Groundwater Geochemistry Observations In Littoral Caves Of Mallorca (Western Mediterranean): Implications For Deposition Of Phreatic Overgrowths On Speleothems, Liana M. Boop, Bogdan P. Onac, Jonathan G. Wynn, Joan J. Fornós, Marta Rodríguez-Homar, Antoni Merino

International Journal of Speleology

Phreatic overgrowths on speleothems (POS) precipitate at the air-water interface in the littoral caves of Mallorca, Spain. Mainly composed of calcite, aragonite POS are also observed in specific locations. To characterize the geochemical environment of the brackish upper water column, water samples and salinity values were collected from water profiles (0-2.9 m) in April 2012 and March 2013 near aragonite POS in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera and calcite POS in Coves del Drac (hereafter, Vallgornera and Drac). Degassing of CO₂ from the water was evidenced by the existence of lower dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration and enriched δ …

The Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Llucmajor, Mallorca): A Singular Deposit Bearing An Exceptional Well Preserved Early Pleistocene Vertebrate Fauna, Pere Bover, Alex Valenzuela, Carmen Guerra, Juan Rofes, Josep A. Alcover, Joaquin Gines, Joan J. Fornos, Gloria Cuenca-Bescós, Antoni Merino

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera is the longest cave of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean) and one of the 30 longest caves in the world. The exploration of one of the galleries allowed the discovery of a fossiliferous deposit of vertebrate remains in a remarkable preservation state. The fossil faunal complex found in this gallery is composed of up to 5 mammalian species (Myotragus aff. kopperi, Hypnomys onicensis, Nesiotites aff. ponsi, Rhinolophus aff. mehelyi and Pipistrellus sp.), at least 14 bird species (among them two Mallorcan endemic taxa: Pica mourerae and Athene vallgornerensis), one …

Molecular Analyses Of Microbial Abundance And Diversity In The Water Column Of Anchialine Caves In Mallorca, Spain, Damian Menning, Liana M. Boop, Elaina D. Graham, James R. Garey

International Journal of Speleology

Water column samples from the island of Mallorca, Spain were collected from one site in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Vallgornera) and three sites (Llac Martel, Llac Negre, and Llac de les Delícies) in Coves del Drac (Drac). Vallgornera is located on the southern coast of Mallorca approximately 57 km southwest of Coves del Drac. Drac is Europe's most visited tourist cave, whereas Vallgornera is closed to the public. Water samples were analyzed for water chemistry using spectrophotometric methods, by quantitative PCR for estimated total abundance of microbial communities, and by length heterogeneity PCR for species richness and relative species …

Fossil Vertebrate Database From Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Llucmajor, Mallorca), Anna Díaz, Pere Bover, Josep Antoni Alcover

International Journal of Speleology

The data set presented in this paper includes the fossil fauna collected in the cave named Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (CPV), located on the southern coast of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). It holds 1481 catalogued items, 97.5% identified at species level. Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, and Amphibia are represented in the Database. The fauna collected in the cave includes the three endemic mammals present on Mallorca during the Early Pleistocene (Myotragus aff. kopperi, Hypnomys onicensis, and Nesiotites aff. ponsi). There are also represented two taxa of Chiroptera (Rhinolophus aff. mehelyi and Pipistrellus sp.), 16 taxa …

Computer Model Inversion And Uncertainty Quantification In The Geosciences, Jeremy White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The subject of this dissertation is use of computer models as data analysis tools in several different geoscience settings, including integrated surface water/groundwater modeling, tephra fallout modeling, geophysical inversion, and hydrothermal groundwater modeling. The dissertation is organized into three chapters, which correspond to three individual publication manuscripts.

In the first chapter, a linear framework is developed to identify and estimate the potential predictive consequences of using a simple computer model as a data analysis tool. The framework is applied to a complex integrated surface-water/groundwater numerical model with thousands of parameters. Several types of predictions are evaluated, including particle travel time …

Response Of Benthic Foraminifera To Ocean Acidification And Impact On Florida's Carbonate Sediment Production, Paul O. Knorr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are in dynamic equilibrium with the oceans. The absorption of CO2 by seawater causes a decrease in seawater pH and calcite saturation state (SS). This process, termed ocean acidification, exerts deleterious effects on marine calcifiers. Studies of symbiont-bearing large benthic foraminifera (LBF) have reported a generally unfavorable response to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide ([CO2]).

Experiments and analyses were undertaken to examine the effect of increased [CO2] on the growth rate, ultrastructure, stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen, as well as Mg/Ca of the high-Mg miliolid Archaias angulatus and the low-Mg rotalid Amphistegina gibbosa. A …

Organizing A Study Abroad Trip—A Faculty Perspective, Jennifer Collins

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Digital Dissection – Using Contrast‐Enhanced Computed Tomography Scanning To Elucidate Hard‐ And Soft‐Tissue Anatomy In The Common Buzzard Buteo Buteo, Stephan Lautenschlager, Jen A. Bright, Emily J. Rayfield

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Gross dissection has a long history as a tool for the study of human or animal soft‐ and hard‐tissue anatomy. However, apart from being a time‐consuming and invasive method, dissection is often unsuitable for very small specimens and often cannot capture spatial relationships of the individual soft‐tissue structures. The handful of comprehensive studies on avian anatomy using traditional dissection techniques focus nearly exclusively on domestic birds, whereas raptorial birds, and in particular their cranial soft tissues, are essentially absent from the literature. Here, we digitally dissect, identify, and document the soft‐tissue anatomy of the Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) …

Monitoring Powdery Mildew Of Winter Wheat By Using Moderate Resolution Multi-Temporal Satellite Imagery, Jingcheng Zhang, Ruiliang Pu, Lin Yuan, Jihua Wang, Wenjiang Huang, Guijun Yang

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Powdery mildew is one of the most serious diseases that have a significant impact on the production of winter wheat. As an effective alternative to traditional sampling methods, remote sensing can be a useful tool in disease detection. This study attempted to use multi-temporal moderate resolution satellite-based data of surface reflectances in blue (B), green (G), red (R) and near infrared (NIR) bands from HJ-CCD (CCD sensor on Huanjing satellite) to monitor disease at a regional scale. In a suburban area in Beijing, China, an extensive field campaign for disease intensity survey was conducted at key growth stages of winter …

Influence Of Diet On Element Incorporation In The Shells Of Two Bivalve Molluscs: Argopecten Irradians Concentricus And Mercenaria Mercenaria, William Noland Elsaesser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently, biogenic carbonates have received much attention as potential proxies of environmental change; however, a major pathway of elemental incorporation is often overlooked when making interpretations or designing experiments. This research experimentally examines the influence of diet on elemental composition in juvenile shells of the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians concentricus, and the northern quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria.

Exploratory trials were conducted using Argopecten irradians concentricus juveniles fed different algal diets: Isochrysis, Chaetoceros, Pavlova, Tetraselmis, or a mix of all four in a 2:1:2:2 ratio. No differences between the left and right valves were revealed, thus, subsequent analysis of the dietary influence …

National Cave And Karst Research Institute Special Paper 2: Role Of Hydrogen Sulfide In The Formation Of Cave And Karst Phenomena In The Guadalupe Mountains And Western Delaware Basin, New Mexico And Texas, Douglas W. Kirkland

Environmental Sustainability Books

The National Cave and Karst Research Institute is pleased to publish Dr. Doug Kirkland’s monograph on the role of hydrogen sulfide on speleogenesis in the Guadalupe Mountains and western Delaware Basin. Dr. Kirkland’s work builds on his many years of research in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, and provides the most comprehensive overview of cave and karst phenomena in the greater Delaware Basin region in almost 20 years. His work incorporates and summarizes decades of research by previous workers, combined with new ideas he has developed on speleogenesis in the Guadalupe Mountains. We feel confident that this publication will …

Probabilistic Modeling Of Lava Flows: A Hazard Assessment For The San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona, Aleeza Harburger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study serves as a first step towards a comprehensive hazard assessment for the San Francisco volcanic field in northern Arizona, which can be applied to local response plans and educational initiatives. The primary goal of this thesis is to resolve the conditional probability that, given a lava flow effusing from a new vent in the San Francisco volcanic field, it will inundate the city limits of Flagstaff. The spatial distribution of vents within the San Francisco volcanic field was analyzed in order to execute a lava flow simulation to determine the inundation hazard to Flagstaff. The Gaussian kernel function …

Vhub: A Knowledge Management System To Facilitate Online Collaborative Volcano Modeling And Research, José L. Palma, Leah Courtland, Sylvain J. Charbonnier, Riccardo Tortini, Greg A. Valentine

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Knowledge of volcanic systems and the hazards they produce is rapidly advancing as internet resources become more readily accessible, new and more sensitive field techniques are developed, and ever greater amounts of data are collected. Such rapid advances drive the need for an online collaborative knowledge management system that enables the sharing of volcanological information, and modeling and analysis tools. Vhub (http://vhub.org) is a community cyberinfrastructure platform designed for collaboration in volcanology research, education, outreach, and discovery that complements existing volcano databases and other cyberinfrastructure projects. Vhub is unique in its functionality as a nucleus for the creation …

Integrating People And Place: A Density-Based Measure For Assessing Accessibility To Opportunities, Mark Horner, Joni A. Downs

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Mobile object analysis is a well-studied area of transportation and geographic information science (GIScience). Mobile objects may include people, animals, or vehicles. Time geography remains a key theoretical framework for understanding mobile objects' movement possibilities. Recent efforts have sought to develop probabilistic methods of time geography by exploring questions of data uncertainty, spatial representation, and other limitations of classical approaches. Along these lines, work has blended time geography and kernel density estimation in order to delineate the probable locations of mobile objects in both continuous and discrete network space. This suite of techniques is known as time geographic density estimation …

Searching For Cold-Adapted Microorganisms In The Underground Glacier Of Scarisoara Ice Cave, Romania, Alexandra Maria Hillebrand-Voiculescu, Corina Itcus, Ioan Ardelean, Denisa Pascu, Aurel Persoiu, Andreea Rusu, Traian Brad, Elena Popa, Bogdan P. Onac, Christina Purcarea

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Scarisoara Ice Cave (Romania) hosts one of world’s largest and oldest underground glacier. While no studies were carried out on the existence of microorganisms in this cave’s ice block, our interest is to investigate the presence of microorganisms and their chronological distribution in the cave’s subterranean ice in relationship with past climatic changes. Samples were collected from ice layers of different age (from present to ~900 cal. yrs. BP), and the diversity of embedded microbial communities was assessed by classical cultivation and molecular techniques. The microorganisms from icesediments were cultivated at 4 °C and 15 °C, in the presence and …

City Of Tampa Urban Forest Management, Monitoring And Policy, Shawn M. Landry, Robert J. Northrop, Michael G. Andreu, Kathy Beck

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

A Method For Estimating Ice Mass Loss From Relative Insar Observations: Application To The Vatnajökull Ice Cap, Iceland, Wenliang Zhao, Falk Amelung, Timothy H. Dixon, Shimon Wdowinski, Rocco Malservisi

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

We present a new method for estimating ice mass loss from glaciers and ice sheets using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time‐series data. We use a linear inversion method based on observations of nearby bedrock uplift and a solution for surface loading of an elastic half‐space. The method assumes that mass loss is focused on lower elevation terminal regions of the glacier or ice sheet, and that there is an exponential decrease in thinning rate toward the higher elevation interior. We apply the method to uplift rates between 1995 and 2009 near Vatnajökull, Iceland. The data reveal up to 13 …

Upper Pleistocene And Holocene Palaeoenvironmental Records In Cueva Mayor Karst (Atapuerca, Spain) From Different Proxies: Speleothem Crystal Fabrics, Palynology And Archaeology., Virginia Martínez-Pillado, Arantza Aranburu, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Blanca Ruiz-Zapata, Maria José Gil-García, Heather Stoll, Iñaki Yusta, Eneko Iriarte, José Miguel Carretero, R. Lawrence Edwards, Hai Cheng

International Journal of Speleology

The Cueva Mayor karst system of Atapuerca, in Northern Spain, hosts a highly significant record of human occupation from the Pleistocene. The climatic context of the human activities during the Pleistocene-Holocene for this inland site has not been well constrained, since existing records of the palaeoclimatic evolution of the Northern Iberian Peninsula are from more distal coastal and high-elevation sites. In this study, we interpret the palaeoenvironmental information recorded on the petrography of a stalagmite and the pollen spectra of the Sierra de Atapuerca karst system during the last 20 kyr. The integration of both types of records has allowed …

Orthothermographies And 3d Modeling As Potential Tools In Ice Caves Studies: The Peña Castil Ice Cave (Picos De Europa, Northern Spain), Fernando Berenguer-Sempere, Manuel Gómez-Lende, Enrique Seranno, José Juan De Sanjosé-Blasco

International Journal of Speleology

Currently there are many studies focused on the investigation of climatic and glaciological condition of ice caves. Here we present another way to address these studies, applying some methods already used in fields other than geomorphology. The versatility and accuracy provided by the use of modern topography and thermography techniques, using Terrestrial Laser Scanner and current thermographic cameras- and the creation of 3D thermographic models and orthothermographies derived from them - is shown to be a useful tool as it is difficult to obtain data from fieldwork and traditional methods used in caves. This paper presents the potential uses of …

Influence Of Soil On Groundwater Geochemistry In A Carbonate Aquifer, Southern Italy, Tiziano Boschetti, Antonio Falasca, Antonio Bucci, Vincenzo De Felice, Gino Naclerio, Fulvio Celico

International Journal of Speleology

The role of soil compositions in influencing groundwater geochemistry in carbonate aquifers is still little known. Nothing is known regarding the influence of pyroclastic soils (andisol) within the carbonate Apennines in central-southern Italy, despite their wide distribution. In this study we analyze some physical and chemical properties of pyroclastic soil at the Acqua dei Faggi experimental site (southern Italy), to assess its influence on groundwater geochemistry. Chemical analyses were carried out on saturated paste extracts and a physical analogue model was developed through two column experiments. Physico-chemical properties of rainwater and spring water, and some microbiological features of the soil …

Study Of Filled Dolines By Using 3d Stereo Image Processing And Electrical Resistivity Imaging, Mateja Breg Valjavec

International Journal of Speleology

This article deals with doline degradation due to uncontrolled waste dumping in the past in the Logatec Polje in Slovenia. It introduces a concept for determining 3D geometric characteristics (shape, depth, radius, area, and volume) of formerly concave landforms (i.e., recently filled dolines) by using a combination of two methods: (1) photogrammetric stereo processing of archival aerial photographs and (2) electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). To represent, visualize, and study the characteristics of the former surface morphology (i.e., the dolines before they were filled), a digital terrain model (DTM) for 1972 (DTM1972) was made using digital photogrammetry processing of five sequential …

Icaverns: Interpretation, There's An App For That!, Sandra Dianne Joop

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

A quarter of a century ago, cave and karst resources were declared irreplaceable with the passing of the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act. Yet, today, few understand the importance or fragility of these resources. Human interactions in karst areas make these resources highly susceptible to damage. Nonpersonal interpretation digital media products could serve as an important tool to bridge this informational gap.

Worldwide, there are hundreds of parks or parklike attractions focusing on cave, spring, or sinkhole resources. Their visitors have a built-in curiosity about these places. Engaging this audience in interpretive programming could greatly increase their speleological knowledge. Paradoxically, …

Postglacial Faunal Records From Cave Deposits In Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, Christopher N. Jass, Greg Horne, Dave Critchley

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

In 2009, we initiated an on-going, long term research project that focuses on exploration of fossil-bearing cave deposits in Jasper National Park. Specifically, we were interested in understanding patterns of mammalian re-colonization of mountainous regions following late Pleistocene deglaciation. Our work has focused on the identification of fossil-bearing cave deposits, excavation and sampling of those deposits, and radiocarbon dating of recovered remains. Examined sites have at least an age of 9600 years BP. Research at four cave sites, located in relatively close proximity to one another, is contributing to an improved understanding of the late Quaternary record of Jasper National …

Understanding A Globally Unique Nexus Of Acid Mine Drainage, Karst And World Heritage Site, Philip J. Hobbs, P.J. (Peter) Mills

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COH WHS), South Africa, is the only UNESCO-protected karst landscape in the world that is under threat from acid mine drainage (AMD). This has generated wide and considerable concern for the preservation of the fossil sites and karst ecosystems of the WHS. A recent assessment of the water resources environment and continued water resources monitoring has better informed this situation, providing support for management efforts to protect the aquatic environment and outstanding universal value of the site. Allogenic recharge of AMD (salinity >300 mS/m, pH 7, PO4-P ~4 mg/l, E. coli ~240 000 …