Earth Sciences Commons^™

Historical Vegetation Of Central Southwest Oregon, Based On Glo Survey Notes : Final Report To Usdi Bureau Of Land Management, Medford District, O. Eugene Hickman, John A. Christy

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Historical vegetation at the time of European settlement is of great interest to both the public and land managers, but is poorly documented. One source of data are the earliest land survey records of the General Land Office (GLO). Rectangular township surveys in Southwest Oregon were initiated in the mid 1850’s as settlers began to claim homesteads in the Bear Creek Valley surrounding what is now Medford. We examined GLO land survey field notes and plats (maps) accompanying the surveys, transcribed GLO landscape data into an Access database, and classified the data set into very general vegetation types for mapping. …

Linkages Between East Antarctic Ice Sheet Extent And Southern Ocean Temperatures Based On A Pliocene High‐Resolution Record Of Ice‐Rafted Debris Off Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, Sandra Passchier

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

[1] Ice‐rafted debris mass accumulation rates (IRD MAR) at a drill site on the Antarctic continental margin are investigated to evaluate the linkages between East Antarctic Ice Sheet extent and Southern Ocean temperatures in the early to mid‐Pliocene. ODP Site 1165 is within 400 km of the Antarctic coastline and in the direct pathway of icebergs released by the Amery Ice Shelf. The Amery Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in East Antarctica and it buttresses the Lambert Glacier drainage system, which accounts for 14% of the outflow from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. IRD MAR were low during …

A Simplified Approach For Estimating Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Stocks In Semi-Arid Complex Terrain, Melvin L. Kunkel, Alejandro N. Flores, Toni J. Smith, James P. Mcnamara, Shawn G. Benner

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigated soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) distribution and developed a model, using readily available geospatial data, to predict that distribution across a mountainous, semi-arid, watershed in southwestern Idaho (USA). Soil core samples were collected and analyzed from 133 locations at 6 depths (n=798), revealing that aspect dramatically influences the distribution of C and N, with north-facing slopes exhibiting up to 5 times more C and N than adjacent southfacing aspects. These differences are superimposed upon an elevation (precipitation) gradient, with soil C and N contents increasing by nearly a factor of 10 from the bottom (1100 m elevation) …

Taking “Grazing” To The Next Level, Edward N. Ballard

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Since the late 1980’s, producer awareness of pasture management has been increasing. A number of factors have brought this about. Mainly, economic conditions have forced producers to look at their bottom line and this has reflected the low returns from mismanagement of forages and pastures. Also, advancements in the technology of pasture management and improvement have made more intensive utilization of the forage resource more economically viable. Advances in equipment, especially fencing and water equipment, have also helped bring about the increased interest in better grassland management.

My Grazing Experience: Reflections And Observations, Russell C. Hackley

Kentucky Grazing Conference

My pastures are utilized by a beef operation consisting primarily of a small cow/calf herd (30 cows), and a stocker operation numbering from 300-350 head annually, which are grazed only, from spring until fall. These stockers are purchased, continental breed calves, weighing from 500-550 pounds. In the fall, they are sold to Laura’s Lean Beef, usually at a forward contracted price after adding 300 pounds of gain. Occasionally, the stocking includes calves not eligible for Laura’s Lean which are then sold in truckload lots through internet sales.

Options For Getting Water In Every Paddock, Kevin Laurent

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Whether you call it rotational grazing, intensive grazing or management intensive grazing, the economic benefits of controlling how and where your cattle graze are well documented. Increased forage utilization, greater stocking rates, greater legume persistence, reduced hay feeding and more uniform nutrient recycling are just some of the many benefits producers can take advantage of when practicing some form of controlled grazing. However, one of the greatest challenges to implementing a controlled grazing system is the delivery of stock water to the grazing animal.

Stockpiling Tall Fescue: Cost & Return, Greg S. Halich

Kentucky Grazing Conference

An opportunity that Kentucky cattle farmers have in reducing their hay requirements is to apply nitrogen on select pastures to stockpile for fall and winter grazing. By increasing the total pasture production during this time period, the grazing season can be extended and the amount of hay required can be reduced.

Ryzup Smartgrass: Growth Promotion For Forages, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Whenever we discuss grazing management we emphasize how proper grazing will produce the maximum amount of plant growth. Giving forage plants an adequate rest period after each grazing event is essential to allow growth and storage of carbohydrates for the next growth cycle. With grasses, leaving leaf area after grazing allows the plant to maintain photosynthesis and regrow faster. On a more basic level though, all plants regulate growth with hormones. These hormones are termed “plant growth regulators.” Auxin controls cell division and the direction of plant growth. Gibberellic acid (abbrev. GA) has three main functions in plants: 1) stimulate …

Benefits Of "Improved" Grazing--More Important Now Than Ever!, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Grazing Conference

At this Conference twelve years ago I talked about the “Benefits of Improved Grazing”. We have had aspects of that theme at every Kentucky Grazing Conference since and also emphasized that message at 10 Heart of America Grazing Conferences and three National Grazing Conferences. With all that emphasis, why do I bring this up again and even have the nerve to say “More Important Now than Ever”? Well, the short answer is “things are different now!”

Foreword And Kfgc Award Winners [2011], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Sediment Mineralogy To High-Iron Content In The Groundwater Of Rrogozhina Aquifer (Western Albania), Arjan Beqiraj, Enkeleida Beqiraj

Studia UBB Geologia

The groundwater of Rrogozhina aquifer (western Albania) is generally characterized by high iron contents. Its water-bearing medium consists of soft to hard sandstone and conglomerate with intercalations of impermeable clay layers. The groundwater of Rrogozhina aquifer, that extends over a surface of 2100 km² in the pre-Adriatic depression of Albania, occurs under typically artesian conditions. The iron content in ground water ranges from 0.2% up to 2.5%, but most of them fall within the interval 0.5-1.0 %. In groundwater iron occurs as reduced divalent ferrous iron (Fe⁺²) which is conditioned by the lack of water exposure to …

Quasi 3-Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Mapping Of Air-Filled Karst Conduits And Policy Implications, Charles W. Mccrackin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses the capability and practical applications of quasi 3-Dimensional (3D) electrical resistivity surveying (ER) for mapping air-filled karst conduits. Vadose zone caves within the Brooksville Ridge of West Central Florida are relatively similar in architecture, with N-S elongation, and do not consist of an interconnected network of conduits. A high resolution quasi-3D ER survey was performed over two mapped cave systems on the Brooksville Ridge. The resultant survey verified the general effectiveness of quasi-3D ER in locating the two known near-surface cave features. Several other locations in the survey show similar or stronger resistivity anomalies trending in a …

Dissemination Of Geological Information In Avoiding Geotechnical Risks Associated With Tunnel Construction: Lessons Learned From Deep Voids In Marble In Lower Manhattan, New York City, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Masud Ahmed, Leah Scott

Publications and Research

Test boring associated with the recently accomplished City Water Tunnel # 3 in Manhattan, New York City revealed moderately to highly weathered marble with insoluble silicate residues composed mostly of phlogopite, chlorite, and tremolite. Apparent control on the weatherability of the marble was in response to original mineral constituents dominating this lithology. Encountered marble samples ranged between pure calcitic to mixed dolomitic/siliceous types. Fresh marble samples collected from adjacent boring locations revealed characteristic geochemical data: Lime (25-45%), Silica (4-7%), Alumina (1-3%), MgO (5-20%), and LOI (35-42%); compressive strength of unweathered marble varied between 2000-3000 Kg/cm². Relict foliations with …

Experimental Techniques For Cement Hydration Studies, Andreas Luttge

Studia UBB Geologia

Cement hydration kinetics is a complex problem of dissolution, nucleation and growth that is still not well understood, particularly in a quantitative way. While cement systems are unique in certain aspects they are also comparable to natural mineral systems. Therefore, geochemistry and particularly the study of mineral dissolution and growth may be able to provide insight and methods that can be utilized in cement hydration research. Here, we review mainly what is not known or what is currently used and applied in a problematic way. Examples are the typical Avrami approach, the application of Transition State Theory (TST) to overall …

Effects Of Climate Change On Spring Ecosystem Hydroecology As A Guide To Developing Alternative Water Policies, Scott Mensing, Saxon E. Sharpe, Scott Bassett, Don Sada, Jim Thomas

Climate Change Seminar Series (NNE)

Hydroecology: the interface of ecological systems and water which combines the scientific disciplines of hydrology and ecology

Goal: evaluate the hydrologic and climate history using pollen, loss on ignition, total inorganic carbon, and invertebrates from spring sediments in Spring Valley, Eastern Nevada and Snake Valley, Western Utah

Insight Into Volatile Behavior At Nyamuragira Volcano (D.R. Congo, Africa) Through Olivine-Hosted Melt Inclusions, Elisabet M. Head, Alison M. Shaw, Paul J. Wallace, Kenneth W. W. Sims, Simon A. Carn

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

[1] We present new olivine-hosted melt inclusion volatile (H20, C02, S, Cl, F) and major element data from five historic eruptions ofNyamuragira volcano (1912, 1938, 1948, 1986, 2006). Host-olivine Mg#'s range from 71 to 84, with the exception of the 1912 sample (Mg# = 90}.lnclusion compositions extend from alkali basalts to basanite-tephritcs. Our results indicate inclusion entrapment over depths ranging from 3 to 5 km, which agree with independent estimates of magma storage depths (3-7 km) based on geophysical methods. Melt compositions derived from the 1986 and 2006 Nyamuragira tephra samples best represent pre-eruptive volatile compositions because these samples contain …

Post-Fire Near-Surface Runoff From Small-Scale Rainfall Simulations, Santa Cruz Mountains, Michael Founds

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The influence of environmental variables on the runoff response to a fire is poorly understood. Small-scale rainfall simulation was used to study the factors impacting near-surface runoff following the Lockheed Fire, which occurred on August 12, 2009. A variable speed rainfall simulator was used to rain on 15 different test plots at an average rate of 50mmh^-1. Variables of burn severity, time following the fire, soil parent material, vegetation type, and presence of a duff layer were all analyzed using the ratio of runoff to rainfall. The difference in-between burned sites and similar control sites were 19±6%. Only …

Soil Organic Carbon Maintenance Requirements And Mineralizatyion Rate Constants: Site Specific Calculations, David Clay, Gregg Carlson, Sharon Clay

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Over the past 100 years numerous studies have been conducted with the goal of quantifying the impact of management on carbon turnover. It is difficult to conduct a mechanistic evaluation of these studies because each study was conducted under unique soil, climatic, and management conditions. Techniques for directly comparing data from unique studies are needed. This paper: 1) demonstrates an approach for calculating SOC maintenance requirements and mineralization rate constants at different landscape positions; and 2) discusses techniques for conducting site- specific experiments and determining site-specific C sequestration potentials.

Geogram 2011, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Paleomagnetism And Investigation Of 40 Ma Lavas, Liverpool Range, New South Whales, Australia, Nathan M. Padilla

Physics

The main focus of this project is the continued study of a reversal of the earth’s magnetic field recorded from lavas in the Liverpool Range of New South Whales, Australia. This reverse-to-normal transition, recently dated at ~40 Ma, was first reported in Nature in 1986. [2] In March 2011 some 200+ cores were drilled from several sections about the volcanic range—Jemmy’s Creek, Bald Hill, Rock Creek, Yarraman, and Coolah Tops Road. Here we focus on paleomagnetic findings from samples drilled from the most extensive section, that being along the trail near Jemmy’s Creek. Results from alternating field demagnetization show the …

Droughtscape, Fall 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Drought Preparedness Community Options

Drought Likely to Persist, Intensify Across South

Database Will Help Planners Find Options

Impacts: Ag Losses, Fire, Water Restrictions

NDMC Welcomes International Visitors

New Drought Impact Reporter Online

Sim-Drought, Available Now at Select Agencies

Ecoregional Differences In Late-20th-Century Land-Use And Land-Cover Change In The U.S. Northern Great Plains, Roger F. Auch, Kristi Sayler, Darrell E. Napton, Janis L. Taylor, Mark S. Brooks

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Land-cover and land-use change usually results from a combination of anthropogenic drivers and biophysical conditions found across multiple scales, ranging from parcel to regional levels. A group of four Level III ecoregions located in the u.s. northern Great Plains is used to demonstrate the similarities and differences in land change during nearly a 30-year period (1973-2000) using results from the U.S. Geological Survey's Land Cover Trends project. There were changes to major suites of land-cover; the transitions between agriculture and grassland/shrubland and the transitions among wetland, water, agriculture, and grassland/shrubland were affected by different factors. Anthropogenic drivers affected the land-use …

Quantification Of Nitrate Sources And Sinks Using A Water Quality Network In Morro Bay Estuary, California, Johanna Nadia Jean Weston

Master's Theses

Using an instrumented water quality network in Morro Bay Estuary, California from 2007 to 2010 (15 min sampling frequency), this study addressed the two objectives of constructing a nitrate budget and assessing the influence of sampling frequency on water quality parameters. These two objectives led to the submission of an original report of research (Appendix A) and a note (Appendix B) to peer-reviewed journals.

The first objective was to characterize the high spatial and temporal variation in physical parameters and nitrate concentrations and to construct a nitrate budget quantifying sources and sinks of nitrate from the ocean, streams, and groundwater, …

Reply To "Comment On 'Counterintuitive Consequence Of Heating In Strongly-Driven Intrinsic Junctions Of Bi₂Sr₂Cacu₂O 8+Δ Mesas'", Cihan Kurter, Lutfi Ozyuzer, Thomas Proslier, John F. Zasadzinski, David G. Hinks, Kenneth E. Gray

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The main criticism raised in the preceding Comment concerns our suggestion that sharp conduction peaks in Bi2Sr₂CaCu₂O _8+δ mesas, along with absent dip-hump features, may, in general, be a result of self-heating. The author points to the variety of experimental configurations, matrix-element effects, and doping dependencies that might allow a diversity of conductance spectra. We argue that numerous mesa studies (with fixed matrix elements) firmly establish the systematic development of sharp conductance peaks with increased self-heating, and thus, the issue of nonuniversality of tunneling characteristics is not relevant. The author mentions a number of studies that …

Reconsidering Accountability For Environmental Inspectors: Trading 'Compliance By Computer' For Relationship Building, Michelle C. Pautz

Political Science Faculty Publications

Demands for government accountability extend into all the aspects of government service and the environmental realm is no different. Environmental inspectors — the front-line workers in environmental protection agencies — are among the many civil servants who face demands for accountability. Unfortunately, although accountability is desirable normatively speaking, in practice it is not so simple. Accountability for environmental inspectors frequently involves measures such as the number of inspections completed, the efficiency of data entry in agency databases, and the turnaround time on inspection reports. Such measures leave environmental inspectors, who ideally want — and practically need — to be in …

Earth News, V35, Fall 2011, Department Of Earth Science, University Of Northern Iowa.

Earth News

Inside this issue:

--- Faculty & Staff News
--- Emeritus News
--- Sunday at the Quarry
--- STORM 2011
--- Grant Activities in Hydrologic Sciences
--- Geology for Iowa Teachers
--- Award Recipient: Sherman Lundy
--- Award Recipient: De Anna Tibben
--- Award Recipient: Aaron Spurr
--- Student Award Recipient: Matt Even
--- Student Research Presentations
--- Internships & Seminars
--- Earth Science Graduates
--- Sigma Gamma Epsilon
--- Making a Difference
--- Alumni News
--- Gifts from Alumni & Friends

Estimation Of The Depth Of Anisotropy Using Spatial Coherency Of Shear-Wave Splitting Parameters, Kelly H. Liu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Shear-wave splitting (SWS) analyses are essential in understanding the structure and dynamics of the Earth's deep interior. While splitting measurements have excellent horizontal resolution relative to other anisotropy-measuring techniques, their vertical resolution is low due to the steep incidence angle of the seismic phases used by the analyses. Here, using synthetic and real data, we present and test a simple approach to estimate the optimal depth of anisotropy by measuring the spatial coherency of the splitting parameters. The approach searches for the optimal depth by computing a spatial variation factor. Tests using synthetic SWS data produced with varying number of …

Effect Of Reworking And Bioturbation On Sedimentary Reactive Iron Within A Microtidal Estuary, Amy Kathleen Pitts

OES Theses and Dissertations

Mixed redox conditions in sediments due to physical reworking may allow for enhanced remineralization of refractory organic matter due to Fe(III) redox cycling. In part this may occur because easily reducible iron oxides can be used by heterotrophic bacteria to remineralize the organic carbon. This phenomena has been observed in bioturbated sediments and in areas where physical factors (such as strong bottom currents) constantly rework the sediments. To specifically determine the effects of physical reworking and bioturbation on concentrations of easily reducible iron oxides, reactive iron concentrations were measured in surface sediments taken from two contrasting sites in the York …

Above The Mukpa: The Shifting Ground Of Khumbu's Sacred Geography, Noah Brautigam

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Himalayan region is suffering from global warming,2 and the effects are felt at all scales, from the local to the global. Himalayan glaciers feed ten major Asian rivers, and 1.3 billion people in southern and southeast Asia reside in those river basins (Eriksson, et al. 2009:1). Global warming is melting these glaciers at a rapid rate, with retreat ranging from 10 to 60 meters per year on average, and many smaller glaciers already disappearing (Mool, Bajracharya and Shrestha 2008:1). This research is a study of local perceptions of global warming and glacial melt among the Sherpas of Khumbu, Nepal. …

Depositional Fluxes And Concentrations Of 7Be And 210Pb In Bulk Precipitation And Aerosols At The Interface Of Atlantic And Mediterranean Coasts In Spain, R. L. Lozano, E. G. San Miguel, J. P. Bolívar, M. Baskaran

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Bulk depositional fluxes of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb in precipitation measured over a period of 16 months (April 2009–July 2010) in Huelva, Spain varied between 5.6 and 186 Bq m⁻² month⁻¹ (annual mean: 834 Bq m⁻² year⁻¹) and 0.8 and 8.1 Bq m⁻² month⁻¹ (annual mean: 59 Bq m⁻² year⁻¹), respectively, with the lowest depositional fluxes occurring during dry summer months. Quantitative evaluation of the precipitation-normalized seasonal depositional fluxes of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb indicates that the enrichment factor in winter is < 1.0 while in 2010 spring, it is significantly higher than 1, possibly indicating input of air from the stratosphere-troposphere exchange (for ⁷Be). The specific activities of …