Earth Sciences Commons^™

Unlv Magazine, Cate Weeks, Erin O'Donnell, Shane Bevell, Barbara Cloud, Joy Drohan, Adam Baer, Holly Ivy De Vore, Gian Galassi, Eric Leake

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Drainage Diversion Patterns And Landform Morphology As An Indicator Of Deformation Style: Examples From The Zagros Simply Folded Belt, Islamic Republic Of Iran (Abstract), Caroline M. Burberry, John W. Cosgrove, J.-G. Liu

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

First paragraph of abstract: In the NW-SE trending Zagros Simply Folded Belt, landform organisation is shown to be a straightforward response to tectonic forcing processes using remote sensing. Two end-member fold types (detachment folds and fault-bend folds) interact with streams flowing into the Persian Gulf. Using drainage network analysis and geomorphologic methods, the organisation of emergent landform morphologies is mapped and the distribution of different fold types is inferred.

Earth News, V31, Fall 2007, Department Of Earth Science, University Of Northern Iowa.

Earth News

Inside this issue:

--- Earth Science Staff Activities
--- Emeritus Faculty/Staff
--- Earth Science Open House
--- Earth Science Advisory Board
--- Fall 2006 Quarry Open House Features Dedication
--- Sigma Gamma Epsilon 40th Biennial Convention Held at UNI
--- Sigma Gamma Epsilon - Gamma Sigma Chapter
--- Spring Break 2007 Field Course: Geology and Natural History of Big Bend National Park
--- Earth Science Seminar Series
--- Majors in the Earth Science Department
--- Scholarship and Award Recipients
--- Student Internships
--- Student Research Presentations
--- 2007 Earth Science Graduates
--- CF Native Spends Three Years Sailing South Pacific …

Seismicity In The Vicinity Of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, For The Period October 1, 2003, To September 30, 2004, David Von Seggern, Ken Smith, John G. Anderson, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

This report describes the seismicity and earthquake monitoring activities within the Yucca Mountain region during fiscal year 2004 (FY2004 - October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004) based on operation of the Southern Great Basin Digital Seismic Network (SGBDSN). Network practices and earthquake monitoring conducted at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) under DOE directives for prior fiscal years are covered in similar yearly reports (see references). Real-time systems, including regional data telemetry and data management at NSL, provide for the automatic determination of earthquake locations and magnitudes and notification of important earthquakes in the region to UNR staff and DOE …

Pend Oreille River Model: Model Scenario Simulations, Robert Leslie Annear, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is interested in developing a temperature and water quality Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocation for the Pend Oreille River between the Long Bridge near the historical Lake Pend Oreille outlet and Albeni Falls Dam (U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s reservoir) as shown in Figure 1.

This management scenario report is an update of a prior report. The management scenarios had to be rerun because of a modeling error made with the outflows rate of Albeni Falls Dam. The new calibration error statistics were compared with the old statistics in Appendix B: Model Calibration …

Soil Survey Of The Bettink Dairy Farm, Riverway Road, Northcliffe, Peter J. Tille, Tilwin Westrup

Resource management technical reports

This soil survey of the Bettink dairy farm in Northcliffe, Western Australia aimed to: provide detailed soil descriptions to add to information associated with the environment in which the dairy industry in Western Australia is located; collect soil samples at predetermined standard depths from documented farm locations for nutrient analysis; map soils with similar characteristics based on description and analysis.

A Simple Array Platform For Microrna Analysis And Its Application In Mouse Tissues, Xiaoqing Tang, Jozsef Gal, Xun Zhuang, Wang-Xia Wang, Haining Zhu, Guiliang Tang

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and play a critical role in many important biological processes. Most miRNAs are conserved between humans and mice, which makes it possible to analyze their expressions with a set of selected array probes. Here, we report a simple array platform that can detect 553 nonredundant miRNAs encompassing the entire set of miRNAs for humans and mice. The platform features carefully selected and designed probes with optimized hybridization parameters. Potential cross-reaction between mature miRNAs and their precursors was investigated. The array platform was …

Hydrological Monitoring With Hybrid Sensor Networks, Thomas V. Freiberger, Sahra Sedigh, Estella A. Atekwana

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Existing hydrological monitoring systems suffer from short- comings in accuracy, resolution, and scalability. Their fragility, high power consumption, and lack of autonomy necessitate frequent site visits. Cabling requirements and large size limit their scalability and make them prohibitively expensive. The research described in this paper proposes to alleviate these problems by pairing high-resolution in situ measure- ment with remote data collection and software maintenance. A hybrid sensor network composed of wired and wireless connections autonomously measures various attributes of the soil, including moisture, temperature, and resistivity. The mea- surements are communicated to a processing server over the existing GSM cellular …

Who Will Put America Back Together Again?, David J. Keeling

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Shallow Slab Fluid Release Across And Along The Mariana Arc-Basin System: Insights From Geochemistry Of Serpentinized Peridotites From The Mariana Fore Arc, Ivan P. Savov, Jeffrey G. Ryan, Massimo D'Antonio, Patricia Fryer

Geology Faculty Publications

Shallow slab devolatilization is not only witnessed through fluid expulsion at accretionary prisms, but is also evidenced by active serpentinite seamounts in the shallow fore-arc region of the Mariana convergent margin. Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 195 recovered serpentinized peridotites that present a unique opportunity to study the products of shallow level exchanges between the upper mantle and slab-derived fluids. Similar to samples recovered during ODP Leg 125, the protoliths of these fore-arc serpentinized peridotites are mantle harzburgites that have suffered large volume melt extraction (up to 25%) prior to interactions with fluids released from the downgoing Pacific Plate. Samples …

Contact Metamorphism In The Malashan Dome, North Himalayan Gneiss Domes, Southern Tibet: An Example Of Shallow Extensional Tectonics In The Tethys Himalaya, Tetsuo Kawakami, Mutsuki Aoya, Simon Wallis, Jeffrey Lee, Kentaro Terada, Yu Wang, Matt Heizler

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Combined petrographic, structural and geochronological study of the Malashan dome, one of the North Himalayan gneiss domes, reveals that it is cored by a Miocene granite, the Malashan granite, that intruded into the Jurassic sedimentary rocks of Tethys Himalaya. Two other granites in the area are referred to as the Paiku and Cuobu granites. New zircon SHRIMP U-Pb and muscovite and biotite ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar dating show that the Paiku granite was emplaced during 22.2–16.2 Ma (average 19.3 ± 3.9 Ma) and cooled rapidly to 350–400 °C at around 15.9 Ma. Whole-rock granite chemistry suggests the original granitic magma …

Tree Windbreaks In The Wheatbelt, Robert Sudmeyer, David Bicknell, Neil Coles

Bulletins 4000 -

Windbreaks comprising trees, or tree and shrub combinations, can offer many benefits on wheatbelt farms, particularly for protection of soil, stock, crops and pastures from damaging winds and erosion. Additional benefits include reduced evaporation from farm dams, reduced groundwater recharge, their use as nature conservation corridors and habitats, increased biodiversity including predators of crop and pasture pests, fire control, tree products and improved lifestyle and aesthetics.

In other areas and farming systems such as intensive horticulture, man-made windbreaks may be used, but their higher cost makes them unsuited for broadscale agriculture. Man-made windbreaks can be effective in reducing evaporative losses …

Organic Geochemical Investigation Of A Highly Contaminated Urban Waterway: The Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, New York, Usa, Michael A. Kruge, Kevin K. Olsen, Eric A. Stern

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Gowanus Canal is an industrial waterway constructed in the mid-19^th century by widening and deepening a natural tidal channel. It is ca. 3 km in length and empties into Gowanus Bay, an arm of New York Harbor. Its banks, reinforced by bulkheads and piers, became the site of intensive industrial activity, including oil refining, coal gasification, soap making and tanning. Even though much of the industrial activity along the canal has ceased, its sediments remain highly enriched in organic and inorganic contaminants, with combined sewer outfalls continuing to transport pollutants into the canal. The canal area remains densely …

Environmental Controls On The Landscape-Scale Biogeography Of Stream Bacterial Communities, Noah Fierer, Jennifer L. Morse, Sean T. Berthrong, Emily S. Bernhardt, Robert B. Jackson

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We determined the biogeographical distributions of stream bacteria and the biogeochemical factors that best explained heterogeneity for 23 locations within the Hubbard Brook watershed, a 3000-ha forested watershed in New Hampshire, USA. Our goal was to assess the factor, or set of factors, responsible for generating the biogeographical patterns exhibited by microorganisms at the landscape scale. We used DNA fingerprinting to characterize bacteria inhabiting fine benthic organic matter (FBOM) because of their important influence on stream nutrient dynamics. Across the watershed, streams of similar pH had similar FBOM bacterial communities. Streamwater pH was the single variable most strongly correlated with …

Variable Intensity Of Teleconnections During The Late Holocene In Subtropical North America From An Isotopic Study Of Speleothem From Florida, Philip E. Van Beynen, Yemane Asmerom, Victor J. Polyak, Limaris R. Soto, Jason S. Polk

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The persistence and influence of both tropical and extra‐tropical teleconnections on the hydrology of subtropical North America are little understood. Major atmospheric‐oceanic controls on the isotopic composition of the precipitation reconstructed from a 1,000 year old stalagmite are the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). These teleconnections create decadal‐ to centennial‐scale changes in the seasonal distribution of precipitation. An increase in the winter proportion of annual precipitation coincides with negative phase NAO conditions and a positive phase PDO. However, the PDO's influence appears to be weakened when it is out of phase with the El Niño …

A Diatom Record Of Late Holocene Climate Variation In The Northern Range Of Yellowstone National Park, Usa, Brandi B. Bracht, Jeffery R. Stone, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The changes in diatom species composition in a sediment core from Crevice Lake, Yellowstone National Park, spanning the past 2550 yr, were used to reconstruct long-term limnological and ecological conditions that may be related to late Holocene climate variability. Planktic forms dominate the fossil diatom assemblages throughout this record, but changes in species dominance indicate varying nutrient levels over time, particularly phosphorus. The changes in the nutrient concentrations in the lake were probably driven by changes in temperature and wind strength that affected the duration of watercolumn mixing and thus the extent of nutrient recycling from deep waters. Prior to …

Blue Nile Incision On The Ethiopian Plateau: Pulsed Plateau Growth, Pliocene Uplift, And Hominin Evolution, Nahid D.S. Gani, M. Royhan Gani, Mohamed G. Abdel Salam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The 1.6-km-deep Gorge of the Nile, a rival of the Grand Canyon, resulted from the deep incision of the Blue Nile drainage into the uplifted Ethiopian Plateau. Understanding the incision history of the plateau is crucial to unraveling the Cenozoic tectonoclimatic evolution of the region, particularly because the region has long been used as a natural laboratory to understand the geodynamics of continental rifting and the evolution of hominins. We undertake a quantitative geomorphologic approach integrating field, geographic information system (GIS), and digital elevation model (DEM) data to analyze incision (volume, long-term rates, and spatiotemporal variability) and river longitudinal profiles …

Microbial Nanowires: Is The Subsurface "Hardwired"?, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Estella A. Atekwana, Eric A. Hill, Yuri A. Gorby

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Earth's shallow subsurface results from integrated biological, geochemical, and physical processes. Methods are sought to remotely assess these interactive processes, especially those catalysed by micro-organisms. Using saturated sand columns and the metal reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, we show that electrically conductive appendages called bacterial nanowires are directly associated with electrical potentials. No significant electrical potentials were detectable in columns inoculated with mutant strains that produced non-conductive appendages. Scanning electron microscopy imaging revealed a network of nanowires linking cells-cells and cells to mineral surfaces, "hardwiring" the entire length of the column. We hypothesize that the nanowires serve as conduits …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 2, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 1, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Estimating Business And Residential Water Supply Interruption Losses From Catastrophic Events, Nicholas Brozovic, David L. Sunding, David Zilberman

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Following man-made or natural catastrophes, widespread and long-lasting disruption of lifelines can lead to economic impacts for both business and residential lifeline users. As a result, the total economic losses caused by infrastructure damage may be much higher than the value of damage to infrastructure itself. In this paper, we consider the estimation of economic impacts on businesses and residential consumers resulting from water supply disruption. The methodology we present for estimating business interruption losses assumes that marginal losses are increasing in the severity of disruption and that there may be a critical water availability cutoff below which business activity …

Comparative Analysis Of Environmental Kuznets Curve In Central And Eastern Europe And South And East Asia, Yu-Chin Pang

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Environmental deterioration has frequently been viewed as a problem that inevitably accompanies economic development and industrialization. However, different economic backgrounds might experience different kinds and levels of environmental deterioration. This study investigated environmental deterioration in two groups of countries with comparable income levels but different economic backgrounds-transitional Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and non-transitional South and East Asian (SEA) countries.

This research utilized the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis to explain the relationships among macroeconomic indicators, country categories, and atmospheric concentrations in the CEE and SEA regions. Three research questions and six hypotheses and related sub-hypotheses were answered and tested …

Significance Of Trends Toward Earlier Snowmelt Runoff, Columbia And Missouri Basin Headwaters, Western United States, Johnnie N. Moore, Joel T. Harper, Mark C. Greenwood

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We assess changes in runoff timing over the last 55 years at 21 gages unaffected by human influences, in the headwaters of the Columbia-Missouri Rivers. Linear regression models and tests for significance that control for ‘‘false discoveries’’ of many tests, combined with a conceptual runoff response model, were used to examine the detailed structure of spring runoff timing. We conclude that only about one third of the gages exhibit significant trends with time but over half of the gages tested show significant relationships with discharge. Therefore, runoff timing is more significantly correlated with annual discharge than with time. This result …

Pleistocene Peccaries From Guy Wilson Cave, Sullivan County, Tennessee., April Season Nye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Descriptive and taphonomic analyses of undescribed Pleistocene Tayassuidae from Guy Wilson Cave within the East Tennessee State University and McClung Museum collections revealed a MNI of 16 Platygonus compressus and 2 Mylohyus from left femora and isolated teeth, respectively. Linkage between upper dentition and species identification is suggested by comparing Mylohyus fossilis to M. nasutus from other Pleistocene-aged sites. Long-bone NISP and age profiles show a predominance of Platygonus adults. Tayassuidae upper canines, likely Platygonus, suggest sexual dimorphism. Long bones were analyzed for carnivore damage and utilization revealing light utilization similar to that caused by modern wolves. Long bone …

Gis Aided Archaeological Research Of El Camino Real De Los Tejas With Focus On The Landscape And River Crossings Along El Camino Carretera., Jeffrey M. Williams

Faculty Publications

Many generations of indigenous pathways through the forests of eastern Texas have their origins obscured in antiquity. Utilized by early European explorers, these pathways became modified through heavy use and the expansions and improvements needed to accommodate easy passage of European horses and carts and finally the heavy wagons of Anglo-American settlers. The first road through Texas, El Camino Real de Los Tejas, utilized portions of these early trails.

El Camino Carretera (known as the cart road) is an early segment of El Camino Real de los Tejas that crossed the Sabine River at the boundary between Texas and Louisiana. …

Instantaneous Spectral Analysis: Time-Frequency Mapping Via Wavelet Matching With Application To Contaminated-Site Characterization By 3d Gpr, John H. Bradford, Yafei Wu

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Spectral decomposition, by which a time series is transformed from the 1D time/amplitude domain to the 2D time/spectrum domain, has become a popular and useful tool in seismic exploration for hydrocarbons. The windowed, or short-time Fourier transform (STFT) was one early approach to computing the time-frequency (t-f) distribution. This method relies on the user selecting a fixed time window, then computing the Fourier spectrum within the time window while sliding the window along the length of the trace. The primary limitation of the STFT is the fixed window which prevents either time localization of high frequency components (if …

The Whitehead Link On The Cubic Lattice, Elizabeth Haynes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The cubic lattice is a graph in Â3 where the vertices are points with integer coordinates and edges are unit length line segments parallel to the x-, y-, or z-axis. A step is a line segment that connects one vertex to a neighboring vertex one unit away in the x-, y-, or z-direction. This thesis will show that the Whitehead Link needs at least 34 steps to be embedded on the cubic lattice.

An Analysis Of Base-Level Conduit Sedimentation In South Central Kentucky, Ben Tobin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In karst basins, significant amounts of surface-derived sediment can enter into cave systems. The transport and deposition of these sediments in underground streams is a function of flow velocity, sediment supply and passage morphology. Changes in the surface environment can affect the water and sediment supplies to subsurface drainage systems and thus may be reflected in the sedimentary structure, texture and rates of deposition of cave sediments. Cave sediments in two south central Kentucky caves were studied to evaluate a possible, relationship between variations in deposit characteristics and variations in surface changes, including land-use. Samples were collected using coring tubes …

Modified Fenton Oxidation Of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils With Cao2: Microbial Survival And Surfactant Production, Abraham Matthew Northup

Dissertations

The efficacy of CaO₂ for use in modified Fenton's (MF) reactions was investigated in this study, with the goal of developing a CaO₂-based MF oxidation technology for use in in situ chemical oxidation. Traditionally, liquid H₂O₂ (HP) is used, and is injected into the subsurface in excess to ensure a sufficient radius of influence. CaO₂ was investigated as an alternative source of H₂O₂ for MF reactions.

First, the rate of dissolution of powdered CaO₂ and the yield of HP was investigated. Our results showed that the rate of dissolution …

West Nile Virus Monitoring In North Central Texas And A Proposed Surveillance Model, Mark Edward Dinubila

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

West Nile virus monitoring among mosquito populations in Tarrant County, Texas has been ongoing for more than 4 years. Coupled with RT-PCR Testing by the North Texas Regional Laboratory, Tarrant County and the cities that reside within its borders have been able to get an estimate of the location of the virus in their cities. As the participants select trap locations based on convenience, past experience and public interest, it should be beneficial to use geomorphological characteristics to dictate future trapping locations. This surveillance model using existing land maps of Tarrant County, past trap locations and their test results. The …