Earth Sciences Commons^™

Seismcity In The Vicinity Of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, For The Period October 1, 2000 To September 30, 2001, David H. Von Seggern, Kenneth Smith, James N. Brune, Richard Quittmeyer, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

Starting on October 1, 1995, the monitoring of seismicity within the southern Great Basin near Yucca Mountain was performed with a new digital network. This network features three-component recording with 24-bit A/D conversion in the field. Continuous data are collected at 20 sps, and event triggered windows are collected at 100 sps. A seismic bulletin of events is made by automatically associating triggers among stations, classifying the local earthquake events, and locating the earthquakes and computing their magnitudes with conventional methods. This report covers the operational and seismic results of the sixth full year (FY01) of the improved, digitally based, …

A Stochastic Sediment Delivery Model For A Steep Mediterranean Landscape, Emmanuel Gabet, Thomas Dunne

Faculty Publications

It is a truism in geomorphology that climatic events operate on a landscape to drive sediment transport processes, yet few investigations have formally linked climate and terrain characteristics with geomorphological processes. In this study, we incorporate sediment transport equations derived from fieldwork into a computer model that predicts the delivery of sediment from hillslopes in a steep Mediterranean landscape near Santa Barbara, California. The sediment transport equations are driven by rainstorms and fires that are stochastically generated from probability distributions. The model is used to compare the rates and processes of sediment delivery under two vegetation types: coastal sage scrub …

Blackwood Catchment : Beaufort Zone (Zone 4) : Catchment Appraisal 2002, Henry Brockman, Blackwood Rapid Catchment Appraisal Team (Wa ), Natural Heritage Trust (Australia)

Resource management technical reports

Using the Rapid Catchment Appraisal process, this report summarises current information for the Beaufort zone, located in the mid to southern part of the Blackwood basin, including parts of the shires of Kojonup, West Arthur, Woodanilling, Katanning, Broomehill, Wagin and Boyup Brook, Western Australia. Assesses the condition of, and future risks to agricultural and natural resources, provides information for reducing those risks and identifies the most suitable options to manage the risk.

Predicting The Effectiveness Of Farm Planning At The Byenup Hill Catchment Using A Groundwater Model, Gregory Paul Raper, L M. Guppy

Resource management technical reports

A catchment model was constructed for the Byenup Hill catchment based on detailed hydrogeological mapping, information on land mapping units and land use collected from landholders. The aim of this work was to assess the likely impact of proposed land management changes to soil salinisation and recharge in the Byenup Hill Catchment.

Successful Field Pea Harvesting, Glen Riethmuller, Ian Pritchard

Bulletins 4000 -

Many thousands of hectares of field peas are harvested trouble free each year. Growers experience together with recent machinery innovations and modifications have solved the majority of harvesting difficulties. Optimum harvesting conditions are in a crop of uniform density on a level soil surface with the machine either working into or across the direction that the crop has been laid by the wind.

To make harvest easier the receival standard for moisture in pulses has been lifted to 14 per cent, which allows harvest to begin sooner when the crop is the range of 14 to 15 per cent moisture. …

The Status Of Women In The Geosciences, Mary Anne Holmes, Connie Frey, Suzanne O'Connell, Lois K. Ongley

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Most geoscientists agree that gender equity is a worthy goal for our field, but there is disagreement as to how to measure gender equity and what it actually means. Will the geosciences achieve gender equity when the proportion of women on our faculty and in professional positions accurately reflects the proportion in our undergraduate classes? Or is gender equity 50 percent of all positions in all fields, including undergraduate enrollment? By any of these measures, we are not yet there. Women earned 40 percent of the undergraduate degrees in geoscience (geology, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, geophysics) in 2001, and 38 percent …

Spatial And Temporal Variability In The Amount And Source Of Dissolved Organic Carbon: Implications For Ultraviolet Exposure In Amphibian Habitats, Paul D. Brooks, Catherine M. O'Reilly, Stephen A. Diamond, Don H. Campbell, Roland Knapp, David Bradford, Paul Stephen Corn, Blake Hossack, Kathy Tonnessen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The amount, chemical composition, and source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), together with in situ ultraviolet (UV-B) attenuation, were measured at 1–2 week intervals throughout the summers of 1999, 2000, and 2001 at four sites in Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado). Eight additional sites, four in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park/John Muir Wilderness (California) and four in Glacier National Park (Montana), were sampled during the summer of 2000. Attenuation of UV-B was significantly related to DOC concentrations over the three years in Rocky Mountain (R² = 0.39, F = 25.71, P < 0.0001) and across all parks in 2000 (R² = 0.44, F = 38.25, P …

Great Plains Workshop Held To Prepare For Usarray Deployment, Mary S. Hubbard, S. S. Gao, K. H. Liu, K. E. Nicolaysen, C. G. Oviatt

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Relative to most parts of North America, the Great Plains region, which is bordered by the Rocky Mountain Front on the west and the Mississippi River on the east, has been understudied in terms of the structure, formation, and evolution of the underlying crust, mantle, and core. The anticipated arrival of the USArray portable seismic stations, which will cover the entire United States regardless of surface geology and tectonic activities, and the deployment of the accompanying flexible array stations and the permanent seismic stations in this area, will fill this gap and address numerous problems related to the structure and …

Seismicity In The Vicinity Of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, For The Period October 1, 2001 To September 30, 2002, David H. Von Seggern, Kenneth Smith, James N. Brune, Richard Quittmeyer, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

Starting on October 1, 1995, the monitoring of seismicity within the southern Great Basin near Yucca Mountain was performed with a new digital network. This network features three-component recording with 24-bit A/D conversion in the field. Continuous data are collected at 20 sps, and event triggered windows are collected at 100 sps. A seismic bulletin of events is made by automatically associating triggers among stations, classifying the local earthquake events, and locating the earthquakes and computing their magnitudes with conventional methods. This report covers the operational and seismic results of the seventh year (FY02) of the digital network monitoring. The …

Day 3. Wednesday, August 13, 2003: Oil Shale, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

8 pages.

Contains references.

Day 3. Wednesday, August 13, 2003: Travel To Grand Junction, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

5 pages (includes color illustration and map).

Contains references.

Day 3. Wednesday, August 13, 2003: Clifford Duncan, Ute Tribe, Clifford Duncan

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

4 pages.

Contains references.

Day 3. Wednesday, August 13, 2003: Lighthawk Flyover, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

11 pages (includes some color illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

Day 3. Wednesday, August 13, 2003: Coalbed Methane Development, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

10 pages (includes color illustrations and maps).

Day 2. Tuesday, August 12, 2003: Delta Montrose Energy, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

1 page.

Contains references.

Sheep Updates 2003 - Pastures, Ed Barrett-Lennard, Hayley Norman, Robyn Dynes, David Masters, David Henry, Stephen Gherardi, Graham Donald, Asoka Edirisinghe, Chris Oldham, Richard Smith, Joanne Sneddon, Mike Hyder, Andrew Thompson, Kazue Tanaka, Roy Latta, Chris Matthews, Brad Nutt, Angela Loi, Tim Wiley

Sheep Updates

This session covers seven papers from different authors: 1. Pastures for saline land, Ed Barrett-Lennard 1Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Hayley Norman, Robyn Dynes and David Masters CSIRO Livestock Industries, Centre for Mediterranean Agricultural Research, Floreat Park, 2. Feeding value - the essential link between pastures and animals CSIRO Livestock Industries, Centre for Environmental and Life Sciences 3. ‘Pastures from space’ - how do we do it, how well do we do it and what do producers think about it? Stephen Gherardi Department of Agriculture Western Australia Graham Donald Asoka Edirisinghe Dave Henry CSIRO Livestock Industries Chris Oldham Department of …

Agenda: Energy Field Tour 2003, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

Congressional staff tour held August 11-16, 2003

Summary: Binder of assorted articles, maps, brochures and other materials prepared for participants of the tour

Contents:

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2003: BLUE SPRUCE PEAKER PLANT: University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center : congressional staff tour of Blue Spruce Energy Center / Peggy Duxbury -- 'Power Struggle', National Journal, June 27, 2003 / Margaret Kritz -- 'Calpine's Blue Spruce Energy Center begins commercial operation', Calpine press release, April 17, 2003 -- NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LAB: NREL at a glance -- NREL technologies -- SHOSHONE HYDROELECTRIC PLANT: 'River District Board supports spring Shoshone call …

Day 1. Monday, August 11, 2003: Shoshone Hydroelectric Plant, Glenwood Canyon, Shoshone Hydroelectric Plant

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

3 pages.

Contains references.

Movements And Habitat Use By Shovelnose And Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Benjamin D. Swigle

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Self-Potential, Soil Co2 Flux, And Temperature On Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua, J. L. Lewicki, Charles B. Connor, K. St-Armand, J. Stix, W. Spinner

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

We investigate the spatial relationship between self-potential (SP), soil CO₂ flux, and temperature and the mechanisms that produce SP anomalies on the flanks of Masaya volcano, Nicaragua. We measured SP, soil CO₂ fluxes (× 10⁴ g m⁻² d⁻¹), and temperatures (26 to 80°C) within an area surrounding a normal fault, adjacent to Comalito cinder cone (2002–2003). These variables are well spatially correlated. Wavelengths of SP anomalies are ≤100 m, and high horizontal SP gradients flank the region of elevated flux and temperature. Carbon isotopic compositions of soil CO₂ (δ¹³C = −3.3 …

Application Of Geochemical Fingerprinting And Isotopes To Identity Landfill Gas Impacts To Groundwater, Eric E. Wallis

Masters Theses

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are detected in two groundwater monitoring wells (MW-60 and MW-62S) located along the northern, downgradient property line of the McGill Road Landfill (MRL) in Jackson, Michigan. Potential on-site sources for groundwater impact are two distinct landfill units at the MRL. Leachate chemistry suggested that landfill leachate was not the source of VOCs detected in groundwater. A potential source for VOCs was landfill gas. Sources of landfill gas in the vicinity of the impacted wells included the distinct MRL landfill units as well as the old Jackson County Landfill (JCL), located hydraulically downgradient from the impacted wells. …

Lithofacies Control In Detrital Zircon Provenance Studies: Insights From The Cretaceous Methow Basin, Southern Canadian Cordillera, Kathleen D. Surpless, J. B. Mahoney, J. L. Wooden, M. O. Mcwilliams

Earth and Environmental Geosciences Faculty Research

High-frequency sampling for detrital zircon analysis can provide a detailed record of fine-scale basin evolution by revealing the temporal and spatial variability of detrital zircon ages within clastic sedimentary successions. This investigation employed detailed sampling of two sedimentary successions in the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin of the southern Canadian Cordillera to characterize the heterogeneity of detrital zircon signatures within single lithofacies and assess the applicability of detrital zircon analysis in distinguishing fine-scale provenance changes not apparent in lithologic analysis of the strata. The Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin contains two distinct stratigraphic sequences of middle Albian to Santonian clastic sedimentary rocks: submarine-fan deposits of the …

Are Veterinary Medicines Causing Environmental Risks?, Alistair Boxall, Dana Kolpin, Bent Holling-Sorensen, Johannes Tolls

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Recently, low levels of veterinary medicines have been detected worldwide in soils, surface waters, and groundwaters (1,2). Although the impacts of selected compounds – most notably anthelmintics and selected antibacterial compounds – have been extensively investigated (3,4), many other substances found int the environment are less publicly well understood. As a result, researches have raised questions about the impact of veterinary medicines on organisms in the environment and on human health. Several key questions will be addressed in this article. What other veterinary medicines might be in the environment, and should we be concerned about these? How do these substances …

Landscape Change In The Southern Piedmont: Challenges, Solutions, And Uncertainty Across Scales, Michael J. Conroy, Craig R. Allen, James T. Peterson, Lowell Pritchard, Clinton T. Moore

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The southern Piedmont of the southeastern United States epitomizes the complex and seemingly intractable problems and hard decisions that result from uncontrolled urban and suburban sprawl. Here we consider three recurrent themes in complicated problems involving complex systems: (1) scale dependencies and cross-scale, often nonlinear relationships; (2) resilience, in particular the potential for complex systems to move to alternate stable states with decreased ecological and/or economic value; and (3) uncertainty in the ability to understand and predict outcomes, perhaps particularly those that occur as a result of human impacts. We consider these issues in the context of landscape-level decision making, …

Levels Of Pesticide Residues In Water, Soil And Sediments From Southern Lake Victoria And Its Basin, Leonia Henry, Michale A Kishimba

Tanzania Journal of Science

Water, sediment and soil samples collected from Southern Lake Victoria and its basin were analysed for 76 organochlorine, organophosphorous, carbamate and pyrethroid pesticide residues. The samples were collected from sampling stations in nine districts on the Tanzanian side of the lake, namely Mwanza, Sengerema, Geita, Ngudu, Misungwi, Magu, Bunda, Tarime and Musoma Districts. DDT and HCH residues were the only detected pesticides. The concentration of total DDT was up to 1.6 mg/L in water, 600 mg/kg dry mass in sediments and 20 mg/kg dry mass in soil. The concentration of total HCHs were up to 0.2 mg/L in water, 132 …

Tectonic And Sedimentary Evolution Of The Coastal Basin Of Tanzania During The Mesozoic Times, S Kapilima

Tanzania Journal of Science

The present paper reviews and updates the stratigraphy and tectonic evolution of the coastal basin of Tanzania during the Mesozoic times based on the interpretation of existing palaeontological and stratigraphical information and supplemented by recent fieldwork investigations by the author. Tectonic events largely controlled the evolution of the coastal basin of Tanzania and the Indian Ocean. These included the Karoo rifting during Permo-Triassic, the break up of the Gondwana Supercontinent, which started with rifting in the Triassic period, the opening of the Somali basin in the Middle Jurassic, and the Cenozoic rifting along the East African rift system. The Karoo …

Eutrophication Of Kigoma Bay Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania, Fmm Chale

Tanzania Journal of Science

Studies carried out in Kigoma bay (Tanzania) and at a deep water offshore station in lakeTanganyika showed marked differences in the water characteristics at the two locations. At the pelagic station, the water was more transparent (mean 11.47 m) and poor in phosphorus (mean 6.46 mg p/1 and 2.23 p/1 total and soluble reactive p, respectively). The mean transparency value for the bay was 4.05 m, and the levels of total and soluble reactive phosphorus were 14.75 mg p/1 and 4.34 mg p/1, respectively. The high water transparency coupled with low phosphorus levels in the pelagic zone indicate that the …

Sediment Distribution And Composition On The Shallow Water Carbonate Basin Of The Zanzibar Channel, Yw Shaghude

Tanzania Journal of Science

Sediments of the shallow water carbonate basin in Zanzibar channel were investigated for composition and grain size distribution. The surface sediment composition was dominated by carbonate sands (with CaCO3 > 30%), except in the area adjacent to mainland coastline and a thin lobe which projects from Ruvu River to the middle of the channel. Mean grain size distribution closely resembles that of the carbonate content, where Tidally Dominated Reef Platform Sediments (TDRPS) located east of the Zanzibar channel were characterised by medium to coarse sands and the siliciclastic sediments adjacent to the mainland were characterised by fine sand. The TDRPS are …

Isolation And Characterization Of Thermophilic, Calcium-Precipitating Bacteria Form Calcite Deposits At Yucca Mountain, Terry Ann Else, Curtis R. Pantle, Penny S. Amy, Mark P. Buttner, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

Calcite deposits, composed of a mixture of calcium carbonate and silicon dioxide, were found in fractures and small cavities within the welded tuff of Yucca Mountain. This research investigation involves determining the presence of thermophilic, calciumprecipitating bacteria within these deposits. The possible existence of thermophilic bacteria may help to resolve the issue of whether these calcite deposits formed from precipitation of dissolved calcium carbonate in rain water transported from the overlying soil environment or as a result of upwelling of geothermally-heated waters transported from below the mountain. Evidence for microbially-influenced calcite precipitation in these deposits is indicated by the presence …

High Altitude Himalayan Climate Inferred From Glacial Ice Flux, Joel T. Harper, Neil Humphrey

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Glaciological processes are modeled to investigate precipitation patterns and the resulting mass flux of snow and ice across Himalayan topography. Our model tracks the accumulation and ablation of snow and ice and the transport of snow and ice across the topography by glacier motion. We investigate high elevation precipitation on the Annapurna Massif by comparing the existing ice cover with model-simulated glaciers produced by a suite of different precipitation scenarios. Our results suggest that precipitation reaches a maximum level well below the elevation of the highest peaks. Further, essentially no snow accumulates on the topography above an elevation of 6200–6300 …