Earth Sciences Commons^™

Where Did The Water Go?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

•To predict what will happen to the water sprayed on the surface after setting for a short time.
•To predict the effect of moving air on evaporation

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

Weather Maps And Fronts, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will use symbol knowledge learned from previous lessons to read and understand warm and cold fronts on a weather map.

National Science Education Standards:
All students should develop an understanding of:
properties of earth materials and changes in earth
and sky.

Highs, Lows And Patterns In The Wind, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:
1. Students will learn that H is the symbol for high pressure and L is symbol for low pressure on weather maps.
2. Students will properly identify areas of high pressure and areas of low pressure on current U.S.A. surface maps.
3. Students will begin to develop an understanding of weather associated with high pressure and low pressure areas.

National Science Education Standards: All students should develop an understanding of: properties of objects and materials, properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

Do The Dewpoint!, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:
1.Students will observe examples of condensation and deposition.
2. Students will observe, record, and analyze data.

National Science Education Standards: All students should develop: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties of earth materials,and changes in earth and sky.

Reading Universal Time, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding about science and technology, and science and technology in society.

Air Masses, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:
• Students will learn and become familiar with the four air masses: cold and dry; cold and humid; hot and dry; and hot and humid.
• Students will learn that air masses have specific characteristics: temperature and humidity, the leading edge of the air mass is called the front, a front is the boundary between two air masses, and movement of air masses brings certain weather conditions with it.

National Science Education Standards: All students should develop: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

Structure Of The Atmosphere, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties and changes of properties in matter, understandings about science and technology, and structure of the earth system.

Winds Around Highs And Lows, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of motions and forces, structure of the earth system, and understandings about science and technology.

Fronts, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should be able to develop an understanding about scientific inquiry, structure of earth system, and understandings about science and technology.

Precipitation Patterns, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will demonstrate the relationship between precipitation types and surface temperatures.They will use forecast maps to predict where snow or rain will fall over the next several days.

National Science Education Standards – As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an
understanding of structure of the earth system.

Upper Air Plots, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives: Students will study air patterns at three different levels of the troposphere.

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties and changes of properties in matter, understandings about science and technology, and structure of the earth system.

Air Pressure And Weather, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will learn about relationships between air pressure and weather changes.

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop: understandings about scientific inquiry, structure of the earth system, and understanding about science and technology.

Decoding Metar Data, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives: Students will decode a METAR report and convert the decoded METAR data to a station model plot.

National Science Education Standard: All students should develop an understanding of: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties and changes of properties in matter, understandings about science and technology, and structure of the earth system.

Reading And Using Meteograms, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:Students learn how hourly weather data is plotted on a meteogram, and how to interpret the data. They will relate meteogram data to surface weather maps.

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties and changes of properties in matter, understandings about science and technology, and structure of the earth system.

As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of Energy in the earth System: The sun is the major external source of energy; Heating …

Sails: A New Gypsum Speleothem From Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico, Tullio Bernabei, Paolo Forti, Roberto Villasuso

International Journal of Speleology

The caves of Naica (Chihuahua, Mexico) are perhaps the most famous mine caves of the world due to the presence of gigantic gypsum crystals. Nevertheless, very little research has been carried out on this karst area until now. A multidisciplinary investigation started in 2006 with the aim not only to define the genesis and the age of the Naica gypsum crystals, but also on other scientific aspects of these caves. This paper describes a completely new type of gypsum speleothem: the “sails”, observed only inside the Cueva de las Velas, one of the caves of the Naica system. This speleothem …

Ichnogenic Porosity, High-Frequency Cyclostratigraphy, And Groundwater Flow In The Karst Biscayne Aquifer, Se Florida, Usa, Kevin Cunningham, H. Allen Curran

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Paleosalinity History Of Middle Holocene Lagoonal And Lacustrine Deposits In The Enriquillo Valley, Dominican Republic Based On Pore Morphometrics And Isotope Geochemistry Of Ostracoda, Pamela Medley, Neil E. Tibert, William P. Patterson, H. Allen Curran, Lisa Greer, Jean-Paul Colin

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The southwestern region of the Dominican Republic (Enriquillo Valley) contains exceptionally well-preserved, relict marine and saline lake deposits of mid-Holocne age. Abundant euryhaline ostracodes found in this deposit include Cyprideis salebrosa, C. mexicana, C. similis, and C. edentata. Morphometric and geochemical analyses performed on Cyprideis spp. provide high δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values that are coincident with relative abundances of irregularly shaped pores that permeate the ostracode carapace. We recognize three stratigraphic intervals with distinct ostracode pore shape and stable isotope trends: (I) a 4.5-5.0m interval that contains ostracodes with highly irregular shaped pores (multiradiate) and …

Ichnofacies, Ichnocoenoses, And Ichnofabrics Of Quaternary Shallow-Marine To Dunal Tropical Carbonates: A Model And Implications, H. Allen Curran

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

A model of five ichnocoenoses within the Skolithos and Psilonichnus ichnofacies characterizes the modern, Holocene, and Pleistocene coastal-carbonate depositional environments and limestones of the Bahamas, as well as the Miami Limestone of south Florida. The subtidal to intertidal ichnocosnoses of the Skolithos ichnofacies are dominated by trace-making activities and trace fossils of callianassid shrimp, which can create distinctive and maximum ichnofabrics. Fossil Upogebia vasquezi burrows found in intertidal calcarenites and burrows of the trace fossil Psilonichnus upsilon, most common in beach backshore beds, have excellent potential as stratigraphic markers and can be used as indicators of past sea-level positions. …

Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Of The Middle Eocene Trieste-Pazin Basin (Croatia) From Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages, Sanja ŽIvkovic, Bosiljka Glumac

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Foraminiferal assemblages from four stratigraphic sections of the Trieste-Pazin basin in central Istria, Croatia (southwestern Tethyan realm) were investigated to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions and to determine the age of these deposits. The following five Middle Eocene planktonic foraminiferal zones were identified from the range and frequency of foraminiferal species: Globigerinatheka kugleri/Morozovella aragonensis Zone (E9), Acarinina topilensis Zone (E10), Morozovelloides lehneri Zone (E11), Orbulinoides beckmanni Zone (E12), and Morozovelloides crassatus Zone (E13). A data set of benthic foraminifera relative frequency has been subjected to R- and Q-mode cluster analyses to demonstrate the linkage between taxa distribution and paleoenvironmental gradients. Benthic foraminiferal …

Resolving Terrain Effects In Borehole Temperature Profiles, Shannon M. Heinle

Theses and Dissertations

The study of borehole paleoclimatology aids scientists in determining past climate changes and in understanding current climate trends. Accurate borehole temperature logs are necessary to obtain a useful temperature profile. However, as many climate workers have discovered, borehole temperature profiles can have many causes of inaccuracy. Uncertainties associated with borehole data include errors stemming from temperature measurement, depth measurement, thermophysical property measurements, and terrain effects. Terrain effects include topography, changes in land cover over time, direct and diffused sun radiation, and groundwater flow.

This study focused on specific terrain effects influencing borehole temperature profiles in the United States borehole dataset …

Developing A Rapid Method For Assessing The Physical Stability Of Streams In Minnesota's Agassiz Beach Ridges, Abigail V. Franklund

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis assessed the physical characteristics and stability of selected western Minnesota streams that cross the eastern beach ridges of glacial Lake Agassiz. Stream and river channels in this area host unusually diverse aquatic habitat and biodiversity, but incompatible land use along channels and in watersheds impair their quality and function. Previous rapid assessment protocols have been developed for stream attributes and stability, but these methods have been developed elsewhere in the United States and are not necessarily appropriate for western Minnesota’s unique geology and landscape.

A rapid reconnaissance method was developed to assess stream conditions using an integrated numerical …

The Environmental Implications Of Aggradation In Major Braided Rivers At Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, Scott Robert Beason

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to quantify the historic rate of river bed filling, and to the extent possible, evaluate the factors that control sedimentation in river channels at Mount Rainier National Park. Mount Rainier is the tallest and the most glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes, located in southwestern Washington State. Steep, glacially-fed braided rivers radiate outward from the volcano in all directions and transport materials varying from fine sediment to cobbles and large boulders. As the gradient in the channels decreases downstream, sediment is no longer entrained and accumulates in the river bed. Over time, the river bed …

Observation Of Microslip Dynamics At High-Speed Microcontacts, Brian Borovsky, Adam M. Booth, Erin Manlove

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The high-speed tribological properties of microscale contacts are studied using an indenter probe and quartz crystal microbalance. Elastic and dissipative shear forces are monitored as a function of contact radius for sapphire/gold interfaces with an adsorbed octadecanethiol monolayer. We observe shear force transitions understood as taking the interface from slipping to stuck conditions. We relate this behavior to the presence of interfacial microslip. Dynamic modeling shows that our observations are consistent with an interface that, when sliding, experiences full slip during half of each cycle. We discuss the implications for this technique as a sensitive probe of sliding friction.

Paleoceanography Of The Gulf Of Papua Using Multiple Geophysical And Micropaleontological Proxies, Lawrence A. Febo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recent marine and late Pleistocene sediments examined from the Gulf of Papua (GoP), Papua New Guinea investigate the flux and fate of detrital sediments and organic carbon over the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Based on surface sediment magnetic susceptibility (MS) and calcium carbonate concentrations, recent marine sediment is exported off the narrow shelf and into deeper regions via the Kerema Canyon of the northern Pandora Trough. Detrital clastic sediment is then dispersed deeper into the central and southern Pandora Trough. Except for pelagic deposition, very little detrital material reaches the Ashmore Trough and Eastern Plateau adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. …

A Taxonomic Survey Of Lamp Flora (Algae And Cyanobacteria) In Electrically Lit Passages Within Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, Thomas Smith, Rick Olson

International Journal of Speleology

A taxonomic survey of the lamp flora from electrically lit passages in Mammoth Cave, Mammoth Cave National Park, identified 28 species. Overall, cyanobacteria were dominant represented by 14 species (50% of the total), green algae had eight species (29%), and six diatoms species (21%) were present. There was not a correlation between species diversity and temperature, but there is a general trend of increasing diversity with warmer temperatures. There were two algal or cyanobacterial species identified in this study that overlapped with previous studies. There is a lack of continuity between previous studies only having one species identified in more …

Interactions Between Structures In The Appalachian And Ouachita Foreland Beneath The Gulf Coastal Plain, Donald Matthew Surles

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In Alabama, the Paleozoic Appalachian thrust belt plunges southwest beneath the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Gulf Coastal Plain. In Arkansas, the Paleozoic Ouachita thrust belt plunges southeast beneath the Coastal Plain. The strikes of the exposed thrust belts suggest an intersection beneath the Coastal Plain. Well data and seismic reflection profiles confirm the strike and intersection of the thrust belts, and provide information to determine the structure and general stratigraphy of each thrust belt. In east-central Mississippi, the Appalachian thrust belt curves from the regional northeast trace to westward at the intersection with the southeastern terminus of the Ouachita thrust belt, to northwest …

Climatic Differences And Similarities Between Indian And East Asian Monsoon Regions Of China Over The Last Millennium: A Perspective Based Mainly On Stalagmite Records, Ming Tan

International Journal of Speleology

Cave sediments, especially stalagmites, have been providing absolute dated climate records that can extend from the present to over 500,000 years ago. Based on the reconstructed temperature time series, a comprehensive overview of the climatic differences and similarities between the Indian and the East Asian Monsoon regions of China over the last millennium is presented. Evidence from accurately dated and high-resolution records including stalagmites, ice cores and tree rings show that there was a “Medieval Warm Period” (around 1000 to 1400 AD) in north and east China where climate is dominated by the East Asian monsoon; whilst no such interval …