Earth Sciences Commons^™

Impacts Of 4r Nitrogen Management And Water Optimization On Soil Health, Kamaldeep Kamaldeep

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Farmers in Utah and Idaho are facing growing challenges due to high fertilizer costs, limited irrigation water, and pressure to improve long-term soil health. To better understand current practices and grower attitudes, a survey was conducted in 2020 targeting 5,000 producers of small grains, corn, and potatoes. Although the response rate was low, 146 growers representing over 25,000 hectares of cropland participated. Survey results showed that most growers are open to improving nitrogen and irrigation practices and care about their soil health, even if not all are fully using 4R or precision agriculture methods.

This thesis includes two field studies …

Wildfire And Water Security: Post-Fire Erosion And Sedimentation Threaten Utah's Reservoirs, Quinn Olpin, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling, Aish Chandrasekaran, Patrick Belmont

All Current Publications

As an arid state with limited water, Utah relies heavily on reservoir storage to maintain its water supply throughout the year. This vital water storage, however, is increasingly at risk due to contemporary wildfires. Wildfires pose a risk to water storage because after vegetation burns, erosion typically increases. Eroded soil can be carried by rivers and deposited into reservoirs where it accumulates as sediment, reduces water storage capacity, clogs dam outlets, and degrades water quality. Identifying which watersheds are most vital to maintaining Utah’s water supply, are most threatened by wildfires, and are most prone to high levels of post-fire …

Post-Wildfire Erosion And Sedimentation: An Escalating Threat For Utah Fisheries, Colton James, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling, Aish Chandrasekaran, Alex Fiedler, Timothy E. Walsworth, Patrick Belmont

All Current Publications

Wildfires are a natural part of the western U.S. landscape and provide numerous benefits, including enhanced nutrient cycling and habitat rejuvenation. Utah’s fish populations evolved with wildfire as a common disturbance. However, the increasing size and severity of wildfires, combined with Utah’s heavily engineered and fragmented stream networks, pose a contemporary risk to fish populations. This fact sheet reviews wildfire impacts on erosion and Utah's watersheds and fisheries. It outlines measures we can take to prevent post-wildfire fish die-offs.

Usu Luminescence Lab Project 356: Durango Colorado Glacial And Fluvial Deposit Luminescence Age Results, Tammy M. Rittenour

Browse all Datasets

Luminescence dating of outwash terraces and glacial moraines. Project investigated the age of older (Bull Lake?) glacial advance sequences near Durango Colorado. Project was supervised by Dr. Jon Harvey at Fort Lewis College. Research was part of an undergraduate research project conducted by Josh Lingbloom.

Reevaluating The Drumian Carbon Isotope Excursion (Dice) In Western-Central Utah, Michelle M. Norman

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Drumian Stage of the Cambrian Period is defined by the First Appearance Datum (FAD) of the cosmopolitan trilobite Ptychagnostus atavus in 504.5 Ma strata deposited on the slope and shelf of the Laurentia margin. The Drumian Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), showing the best preserved example of P. atavus compared to global outcrops, is defined in the Drum Mountains of west-central Utah. Due to the inconsistent nature of fossil preservation, researchers have sought secondary proxies to identify Drumian-aged strata in the absence of age-diagnostic fauna. One key proxy is the Drumian Carbon Isotope Excursion (DICE), an ~-2.5‰ carbon …

Laboratory Earthquakes In Heterogeneous, Meter-Scale Faults: Collaborative Research With Utah State University, And University Of Texas At Austin, Srisharan Shreedharan

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Rapid Flips Between Warm And Cold Extremes In A Warming World, Sijia Wu, Ming Luo, Gabriel Ngar-Cheung Lau, Wei Zhang, Lin Wang, Zhen Liu, Lijie Lin, Yijing Wang, Erjia Ge, Jianfeng Li, Yuanchao Fan, Yimin Chen, Weilin Liao, Xiaoyu Wang, Xiaocong Xu, Zhixin Qi, Ziwei Huang, Faith Ka Shun Chan, David Yongqin Chen, Xiaoping Liu, Tao Pei

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Rapid temperature flips are sudden shifts from extreme warm to cold or vice versa–both challenge humans and ecosystems by leaving a very short time to mitigate two contrasting extremes, but are yet to be understood. Here, we provide a global assessment of rapid temperature flips from 1961 to 2100. Warm-to-cold flips favorably follow wetter and cloudier conditions, while cold-to-warm flips exhibit an opposite feature. Of the global areas defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, over 60% have experienced more frequent, intense, and rapid flips since 1961, and this trend will expand to most areas in the future. During …

Inconsistencies With The Drumian Carbon Isotope Excursion (Dice) In West-Central Utah, Michelle Norman

Student Research Symposium

Geologic Setting

• During the Cambrian Period (539-485.4Ma), the western US was submerged by a shallow ocean
• Carbon cycle fluctuations in stable carbon were preserved in marine sediments
• One such period of geologic time, the Drumian Age (500Ma), is defined by the first appearance of a deepwater trilobite, P. atavus, in west-central Utah
• Researchers have hypothesized we can find Drumian-aged rocks without the fossils using carbon cycle fluctuations preserved in limestone
• the Drumian Carbon Isotope Excursion (DICE) is defined as a -2.5‰ fluctuation in global carbon-bearing rocks

Earthquakes In Creeping Fault Zones? Mineralogic And Grain Size Controls On Frictional Behavior, Ainsley Macdonald

Student Research Symposium

1. Motivation

• Faults can creep or be locked to produce earthquakes.

• This behavior may be influenced by minerology and grain size

• Serpentine minerals and clay are known to promote creep along faults

• Does mineralogy promote creep along the Bartlett Springs Fault, CA?

Exploring Biostimulant Efficacy Under Limited Fertilizer And Water In Utah's Watermelon Production, Evan Christensen, Milena Maria Tomaz De Oliveira, Prakriti Nepal, Youping Sun

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The western U.S. has recently experienced some of the driest conditions on record, and Utah has been in a multi-year drought (2019-2023) that affected the agricultural sector, including vegetable producers. While vegetables are not a primary agricultural crop in Utah, they are still an important part of the horticultural economy with 763 farms growing 6,138 acres. As the fourth largest acreage vegetable crop in Utah (almost 10% of the acreage) watermelon and related crops in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae (nearly 36% of total vegetable acreage) are important to vegetable growers. Watermelon is a water-intensive crop and requires an adequate supply …

Bear Lake Water Quality And Chemistry: 114 Years Of Water Management, Connely Baldwin

Spring Runoff Conference

Motivation: Fall 2024 Bear Lake Sediment-Nutrient Reduction Workshop (Bear Lake Watch) motivated deeper dive into water quality and chemistry status and trends

Development Of A Low-Cost Stem Dendrometer For Irrigation Scheduling In Fruit Trees, Anderson Luiz Dos Santos Safre, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Brent Black

Spring Runoff Conference

Motivation 

• Irrigation scheduling in water scarce regions. 
• Water stress evaluation in tart cherry orchards.
• Plant-based methods more suitable for tree crops. 
• Elevated cost of commercial dendrometers (> 1,000 USD). 

Parrotfeather (Myriophyllum Aquaticum): Biology And Management Options In Utah, Francielli S. De Oliveira

Spring Runoff Conference

Parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)

• Invasive weed from South America.
• Heterophilic perennial dioecious plant (female in the US).
• Forms dense mats, blocks waterways, and outcompetes native species
• Spreads via rhizomes, stolons, and stem fragments.

Comparing Two Methods To Monitor Singlet Oxygen Production In Aquatic Systems: Chemical Probe Vs. Time Resolved Phosphorescence., Monika Madhiyan

Spring Runoff Conference

What’s in water?

• DOM is a naturally occurring complex mixture of organic matter
• Pollutants from domestic, industrial and agricultural effluent are introduced into surface waters

Innovative Genetic Methods For Predicting Microcystin Toxin Production In Cyanobacterial Blooms: Real-Time And Pre-Bloom Public Health Monitoring, Liyuan Hou

Spring Runoff Conference

EQL emphasizes an integrated engineering and science approach to the environmental quality of land, water, and air

Chopping Up The Riverscape: Consistent Sample Frames For Assessment And Monitoring, Jordan Gilbert

Spring Runoff Conference

Background

• Riverscapes Assessment and Monitoring Lab (RAM)
• Joe Wheaton, Wally Macfarlane, Jordan Gilbert
• Founding member of Riverscapes Consortium
• Provide tools for people working in riverscapes
• Primarily planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration projects

Growing Roots: Water Conservation, Innovative Research And Public Education, Aurora Wallis Durfee

Spring Runoff Conference

Hydroponics allows for efficient, sustainable food production, using less water and space than traditional farming methods.

Water Markets In Utah? Water Manager Perspectives On Potential Uptake, Britta L. Schumacher

Spring Runoff Conference

Irrigation organizations: intermediaries that deliver water to farms, ranches, and other users, coordinate investments in conveyance infrastructure, and manage limited water supplies.

Advancing 3d Channel Representation To Support National Scale Flood Forecasting Operations, Jose Castejon Villalobos, Anzy Lee, Noelle Patterson, Belize Lane, Colin Phillips

Spring Runoff Conference

Storms and Flooding are major annual disasters.

Paired Storms Reveal Post-Fire Flood Characteristics And Drivers, Haley Canham, Belize Lane

Spring Runoff Conference

The wildfire regime is changing in the western US.

Davis Aqueduct Reach 1 - The Design And Construction Of Large Diameter Pipelines, Shane Mcfarland

Spring Runoff Conference

Designing and building a seismically resilient 72-inch pipeline.

District Overview: Weber Basin Water Conservancy District

From Vulnerabilities And Concern To Action: How Perceived Climate Vulnerabilities And Concern For The Great Salt Lake Desiccation Shape Utahns’ Migration Decision, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Jennifer E. Givens

Spring Runoff Conference

In light of the current climate crisis, how do Utahns perceive their climate or disaster vulnerabilities and concern for the Great Salt Lake desiccation? Does the perception of vulnerabilities and concern for the Great Salt Lake desiccation influence their intention to migrate from Utah?

Water And Journalism Panel, Heather May, Anastasia Hufham, Ben Winslow, Sheri Quinn

Spring Runoff Conference

Respondents’ sources of information on Great Salt Lake issues

The Practical And The Possible: How Research Informs Policy And Management For Land, Forest, And Water Management, Charlie Luce

Spring Runoff Conference

The practical and the possible: How research informs policy and management for land, forest, and water resources.

What Does Our Water Year Look Like?, Candice Hasenyager

Spring Runoff Conference

Drip Drip Drop: Water in Utah

In Utah, we are either in drought or preparing for the next one

We Shall Have A Seat At The Table, Yanna Liang

Spring Runoff Conference

Uniqueness of ESE 

• The only environmental BS program in the nation that has “Sustainable” in its title.
• Sustainability in water treatment, air pollution control, energy production, resource re-utilization 

The Once And Future Variability Of Colorado River Water Resources, Balaji Rajagopalan

Spring Runoff Conference

The Plot – “Millennium Drought” Since 2000 

• Current Water Crisis 

Impacts Of Changing Temperatures On The Water Budget In The Great Salt Lake Basin, Grace Affram, Jihad Othman, Reza Morovati, Saddy Pineda Castellanos, Sajad Khoshnoodmotlagh, Diana Dunn, Braedon Dority, Katherine Osorio Diaz, Cody Ratterman, Wei Zhang

Spring Runoff Conference

Temperature affects precipitation phases and the evolution of snowpack.

Canal Improvements: Balancing Piping And Automation, Trevor Nielson

Spring Runoff Conference

Factors to Consider 

- Piping 

• Size/Cost 
• Loss saved per mile 
• Longer Lifespan 
• Safety Benefits 

- Automation 

• On-going Cost 
• Cover Existing O&M Costs 
• More Skilled Staff 
• Higher Quality of Life for Field Employees 
• Safety Benefits 

Box Elder County - Countywide Water Master Plan, Quinn Dance

Spring Runoff Conference

Box Elder County Water Master Plan.

Project Background: 

Pre-Project Planning 

• Box Elder County General Plan Update 
• Steering Committee Organization