Earth Sciences Commons^™

Foreword And Kfgc Award Winners [2013], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Paleostress And Deformation Analysis Of The Backlimb Of The Miners Mountain Uplift, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, Samuel Sorber

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Measurement of fracture sets and small-scale folds along the backlimb of the Miners Mountain uplift in the northern portion of Capitol Reef National Park reveal a paleostress direction of approximately 20° azimuth, nearly 45° counterclockwise from the principle stress observed by Bump and Davis (2003). Slickenlines along the plane of a major fault across the hinge of the Miners Mountain uplift reveal right-lateral oblique-normal movement along the fault. This information has potential significance in modeling basement involvement as well as the kinematic development of this uplift.

A Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Cedar Mountain Formation, Brent Greenhalgh, Dr. Brooks Britt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Cedar Mountain Formation (CMF) contains an abundance of Early Cretaceous dinosaur bone accumulations unrivaled in North America. The CMF also records the propagation of mountain building into western Utah tied to the Sevier fold and thrust belt. The fluvial nature of the CMF and its similarities to the underlying Morrison formation have made the details of its depositional history difficult to discern. Currently there is a great deal of controversy over the stratigraphic relationship between the members of the formation. The goal of my research was to better understand the complex sequence stratigraphy of the CMF.

Utah Valley Stream Study, Elizabeth Adele Outdoor Hunter, Dr. Allan R. Mayo

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Aquifers in Utah provide water to over 84% of our population. The aquifer system beneath Utah Valley is the main provider for agricultural, municipal, industrial, and domestic use. A better understanding of the flow paths and recharge rates of this aquifer system is needed. A recent thesis from a geology student Barnhurst (2003) evaluated this Utah Valley groundwater flow system using stable and radio isotopic techniques. However, he only had limited data analysis regarding recharge waters i.e. stream flow in constructing his model. The purpose of this study was to synoptically collect and analyze these potential recharge waters. This analysis …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 8, 2013, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 8, 2013 (10/8/13) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Ichnogenic Megaporosity And Permeability In Carbonate Aquifers And Reservoirs: Definitions And Examples, H. Allen Curran, Kevin J. Cunningham

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Biogenic megaporosity in sedimentary deposits (readily visible without magnification) typically has body-fossil moldic or ichnogenic origin. We consider ichnogenic megaporosity as pores greater than 4 mm associated with either burrow- or rhizolith-dominated ichnofabrics. Dominant bioturbators in shallow-marine environments typically include thalassinidean crustaceans and polychaetes. Callianassid shrimp commonly dominate the deep-tier fauna in carbonate and siliciclastic, sandy, shallow-marine settings; when fossilized their thickly lined, pelleted burrows (cm-scale outside diameters) are assigned to the ichnogenus Ophiomorpha. In the mostly Pleistocene carbonate rocks of the Biscayne aquifer of south Florida, Ophiomorpha is well lithified and burrows form a rigid framework, with interburrow macroporosity …

Environmental Factors Influencing Diatom Communities In Antarctic Cryoconite Holes, Lee F. Stanish, Elizabeth A. Bagshaw, Diane M. Mcknight, Andrew G. Fountain, Martyn Tranter

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cryoconite holes are ice-bound habitats that can act as refuges for aquatic and terrestrial microorganisms on glacier surfaces. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, these holes are often capped by an ice lid that prevents the exchange of material and gases with the surrounding atmosphere and aquatic environment. Diatoms have been documented in cryoconite holes, and recent findings suggest that these habitats may harbour a distinctive diatom flora compared to the surrounding aquatic environments. In this study, we examined diatom community composition in cryoconite holes and environmental correlates across three glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. The diatom communities were …

A Source Of Terrestrial Organic Carbon To Investigate The Browning Of Aquatic Ecosystems, Jay T. Lennon, Stephen K. Hamilton, Mario E. Muscarella, A. Stuart Grandy, Kyle Wickings, Stuart E. Jones

Faculty Publications

There is growing evidence that terrestrial ecosystems are exporting more dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to aquatic ecosystems than they did just a few decades ago. This “browning” phenomenon will alter the chemistry, physics, and biology of inland water bodies in complex and difficult-to-predict ways. Experiments provide an opportunity to elucidate how browning will affect the stability and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. However, it is challenging to obtain sources of DOC that can be used for manipulations at ecologically relevant scales. In this study, we evaluated a commercially available source of humic substances (“Super Hume”) as an analog for natural sources …

A Detailed Seabed Signature From Hurricane Sandy Revealed In Bedforms And Scour, Arthur Trembanis, Carter Duval, Jonathan Beaudoin, Val E. Schmidt, Doug Miller, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

On 30 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Brigantine New Jersey bringing widespread erosion and damage to the coastline. We have obtained a unique set of high-resolution before and after storm measurements of seabed morphology and in situhydrodynamic conditions (waves and currents) capturing the impact of the storm at an inner continental shelf field site known as the “Redbird reef”. Understanding the signature of this storm event is important for identifying the impacts of such events and for understanding the role that such events have in the transport of sediment and marine debris on the inner continental shelf. …

Imls Place Grant: Press Release Abstract 1, Place Project Group

PLACE Project

Early press release describing the PLACE (Position-based Location Archive Coordinate Explorer) project that is funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) library partnered with the UNH Earth Systems Research Center to develop a geospatial interface that is searchable by geospatial coordinates.

Geogram 2013, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Observation-Based Algorithm Development For Subsurface Hydrology In Northern Temperate Wetlands, Chun-Mei Chiu

Open Access Dissertations

This study investigates wetland subsurface hydrology, as well as biogeochemistry - which is strongly influenced by water and temperature dynamics - as these interactions are expected to be highly significant, yet remain poorly represented in current ecosystem and climate models.

Northern wetlands have received widespread public attention due to steadily increasing summer mean global temperatures, extreme precipitation events and higher rates of natural greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the significant impacts on them due to human activities. The goal of my graduate research has been to improve quantification of the role of subsurface hydrology in northern wetlands by using …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 1, 2013, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 1, 2013 (10/1/13) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Limits Of Luminescence Dating: An Update Regarding Quartz Of The Southern Alps Of New Zealand And The Olympic Mountains, Washington, Usa, Cianna E. Wyshnytzky, Tammy M. Rittenour

Graduate Student Posters

Late Pleistocene glacial sediments from the South Fork Hoh River valley in the Olympic Mountains, Washington, USA and the Lake Hawea valley in the Southern Alps, New Zealand were dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) on quartz and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) on feldspar sand from 2011-2013. High sediment supply (typical of glacial environments), short transport distances, and sediment newly eroded from bedrock sources were expected to pose problems for luminescence dating in these locations. Samples were collected from a variety of depositional environments and inferred distances from the ice-front to assess how luminescence signals may vary due to these …

Droughtscape, Fall 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report

Kansas community drought planning workshop November 5

Drought impacts webinars

Drought outlook and summary

Late summer drought brings more agricultural impacts

Plans help ranchers weather drought

NDMC contributions to U2U project

Drought Management Database archives strategies

QuickDRI will help spot flash droughts

NDMC Co-Hosts NASA workshop

Wilhite leads Integrated Drought Management Program work

Speaking of drought

Managing #Drought tweet chat transcript

Updated USDM website

Single And Multi-Date Landsat Classifications Of Basalt To Support Soil Survey Efforts, Jessica J. Mitchell, Rupesh Shrestha, Carol A. Moore-Ellison, Nancy F. Glenn

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Basalt outcrops are significant features in the Western United States and consistently present challenges to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil mapping efforts. Current soil survey methods to estimate basalt outcrops involve field transects and are impractical for mapping regionally extensive areas. The purpose of this research was to investigate remote sensing methods to effectively determine the presence of basalt rock outcrops. Five Landsat 5 TM scenes (path 39, row 29) over the year 2007 growing season were processed and analyzed to detect and quantify basalt outcrops across the Clark Area Soil Survey, ID, USA (4,570 km²). The …

Characterization Of Fractures Subjected To Normal And Shear Stress, Min-Kwang Choi

Open Access Dissertations

Results from a series of laboratory experiments to determine fracture specific stiffness, for a fracture subjected to shear and normal stress, are presented and analyzed. The experimental work focuses on the determination of relations between normal and shear fracture specific stiffness and between spatial distribution of fracture specific stiffness and fluid flow through the fracture

The ratio of shear to normal fracture specific stiffness is experimentally investigated on a fracture subjected to shear as well as normal stress. Synthetic fractures made of gypsum and lucite were prepared with different fracture surface conditions: either well-mated or non-mated. For well-mated fracture surfaces, …

Megathrust Splay Faults At The Focus Of The Prince William Sound Asperity, Alaska, Lee M. Liberty, Shaun P. Finn, Peter J. Haeussler, Thomas L. Pratt, Andrew Peterson

CGISS Publications and Presentations

[1] High-resolution sparker and crustal-scale air gun seismic reflection data, coupled with repeat bathymetric surveys, document a region of repeated coseismic uplift on the portion of the Alaska subduction zone that ruptured in 1964. This area defines the western limit of Prince William Sound. Differencing of vintage and modern bathymetric surveys shows that the region of greatest uplift related to the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake was focused along a series of subparallel faults beneath Prince William Sound and the adjacent Gulf of Alaska shelf. Bathymetric differencing indicates that 12 m of coseismic uplift occurred along two faults that reached the …

Nitrogen And Potassium Dynamics Of Selected Indiana Soils, Chun Zhao

Open Access Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) is the most limiting essential nutrient for crop growth. Numerous studies have been performed to improve N fertilizer recommendations. Accurate prediction of soil N supply has been found to be one of the most important factors that determine optimum fertilizer N rates. Seven soils collected from various locations across Indiana at four different depths were tested for N mineralization potential. Results showed that laboratory mineralizable N in the top layer (0-15 cm) of the seven soils ranged from 50 to 68 mg N kg-1 soil. In addition, more than 50% of the total mineralizable N was contributed from …

The Mechanism And Timescales Of Soil Formation In The Hyper-Arid Atacama Desert, Chile, Fan Wang

Open Access Dissertations

The planetary surfaces that evolve in the near absence of water are strikingly different from surfaces where water is abundant, but their formation is poorly documented. This research is an in-depth exemplary work in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile to understand the soil formation in hyper-arid environments, as an analog for planetary surfaces such as the Mars. In detail, the basic mechanism regarding the source material, timescale, paleo-climatic settings and the role of crypto-biotic crusts have been investigated to constrain the Atacama soil development.

The geochemical, isotopic and mineralogical composition of atmospheric dust deposited along a West-East transect in …

The Formation Of Distal Impact Ejecta, Brandon C. Johnson

Open Access Dissertations

Here we present two models for the dynamics of ejection and formation of distal impact ejecta. The first model focuses on the most highly shocked material that forms a massive expanding vapor plume or fireball. In this model molten droplets or spherules condense from the vapor. We model the expanding vapor plume using a one dimensional Lagrangian hydrocode. The condensation of droplets is treated by directly coupling the equations for homogeneous nucleation and growth with our hydrocode. The second model is focused on less energetic material ejected as part of the excavation flow. Using the iSALE hydrocode, we determine the …

Peridynamic Modeling Of Coupled Mechanical Deformations And Transient Flow In Unsaturated Soils, Rami Jabakhanji

Open Access Dissertations

A coupled peridynamic model for mechanical deformations and transient moisture flow in unsaturated soils is developed. The model is capable of simulating the emergence and evolution of cracks triggered by volumetric strains in the soil which are associated with changes in moisture content. The development of our model is motivated by the need for a tool to analyze and evaluate the impact of dessication cracks on the movement of moisture and the mechanical properties of soils at the field scale. The model is based on the peridynamic reformulation of elasticity proposed by Silling for simulating the deformation of bodies with …

Rapid River Incision Across An Inactive Fault - Implications For Patterns Of Erosion And Deformation In The Central Colorado Plateau, Joel L. Pederson, Neil Burnside, Zoe Shipton, Tammy M. Rittenour

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The Colorado Plateau presents a contrast between deep and seemingly recent erosion and apparently only mild late Cenozoic tectonic activity. Researchers have recently proposed multiple sources of epeirogenic uplift and intriguing patterns of differential incision, yet little or no quantitative constraints exist in the heart of the plateau to test these ideas. Here, we use both optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and uranium-series dating to delimit the record of fluvial strath terraces at Crystal Geyser in southeastern Utah, where the Little Grand Wash fault crosses the Green River in the broad Mancos Shale badlands of the central plateau. Results indicate there …

Late Holocene Tsunami Deposits At Salt Creek, Washington, Usa, Ian Hutchinson, Curt D. Peterson, Sarah L. Sterling

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We interpret two thin sand layers in the estuarine marsh at Salt Creek, on the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as the products of tsunamis propagated by earthquakes at the Cascadia subduction zone. The sand layers extend for about 60 m along the left bank of the creek about 800 m from the mouth, and can be traced to the base of a nearby upland area. One layer is exposed in the creek bank about 400 m further upstream, but they are only patchily distributed in the rest of the central area of the marsh. Both …

Making Reliable Shear-Wave Splitting Measurements, Kelly H. Liu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Shear-wave splitting (SWS) analysis using SKS, SKKS, and PKS (hereafter collectively called XKS) phases is one of the most commonly used techniques in structural seismology. In spite of the apparent simplicity in performing SWS measurements, large discrepancies in published SWS parameters (fast direction and splitting time) suggest that a significant portion of splitting parameters has been incorrectly determined. Here, based on the popularly used minimization of transverse energy technique, we present a procedure that combines automatic data processing and careful manual screening, which includes adjusting the XKS window used for splitting analysis, modifying band-pass filtering corner frequencies, and verifying and …

The 5 September 2012 Nicoya, Costa Rica Mw 7.6 Earthquake Rupture Process From Joint Inversion Of High‐Rate Gps, Strong‐Motion, And Teleseismic P Wave Data And Its Relationship To Adjacent Plate Boundary Interface Properties, Han Yue, Thorne Lay, Susan Y. Schwartz, Luis Rivera, Marino Protti, Timothy H. Dixon, Susan Owen, Andrew V. Newman

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

On 5 September 2012, a large thrust earthquake (Mw 7.6) ruptured a densely instrumented seismic gap on the shallow‐dipping plate boundary beneath the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. Ground motion recordings directly above the rupture zone provide a unique opportunity to study the detailed source process of a large shallow megathrust earthquake using very nearby land observations. Hypocenter relocation using local seismic network data indicates that the event initiated with small emergent seismic waves from a hypocenter ~10 km offshore, 13 km deep on the megathrust. A joint finite‐fault inversion using high‐rate GPS, strong‐motion ground velocity recordings, GPS static offsets, …

Investigating Risk Factors Of Underground Power Cables In Iceland, Ingunn Gunnarsdottir

Earth and Environmental Sciences Presentations

In designing, installing and managing an underground electric power cable system in Iceland, efficient thermal dissipation in the soil surrounding the cable is critical in preventing thermal breakdown due to high temperatures at cable jackets. Two underground power cables extend from the Nesjavellir geothermal plant to Reykjavik. Previous work has shown that the thermal conductivity of soil is dependent on soil water content. There are various environmental factors that may affect soil water content, causing the soil to dry up. This study identified the various factors that should be considered when dealing with underground power cables, particularly with regard to …

Women And Power In The United States: A Geographic Analysis Of Government, Work, And Economic Status, Kylie Stackis

Earth and Environmental Sciences Presentations

This geographic analysis investigates the different ways that women hold power across the United States, primarily through government, work, and economic status. Political power is in this case represented through government representation at the national and state level. Economic power considers employment, income, occupation (specifically traditionally male fields of business and science), hours worked, and Forbes lists of the richest 400 people in the United States as well as the 500 CEOs of influential companies. Education was a third variable in the analysis since it exemplifies the power of knowledge and lends itself to the potential for political and economic …

Usct 33rd Regiment: Their Journey, Grant Strauss

Earth and Environmental Sciences Presentations

This study conducts an exploratory analysis of the travel patterns of troops in the 33rd United States Colored Troop (USCT) during the Civil War using flowlines created via Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Doing so creates a visual representation of the routes the colored troops of the 33rd regiment took from their birthplaces to where they were enlisted into the Union army. Information on seventy records of individual soldiers were documented into an excel file, which included their age, occupation, birthplace, place of enlistment, term of service, date of enlistment, and any other additional notes on them. By visualizing the …

A Multi-Scale Analysis Of The Effects Of Local- And Landscape-Level Variables On Nuthatch Occupancy And Distribution, Jesse Wood

Earth and Environmental Sciences Presentations

The objectives of this study are to conduct a multi-scale analysis of the effects of habitat variables on Brownheaded Nuthatch (S. pusilla) occupancy and spatial distribution in the greater Greenville area of South Carolina. By understanding the local- and landscape-drivers of an ecologically sensitive species, we can build a predictive model of species occurrence and contribute to regional conservation efforts of both habitat and biodiversity.