Earth Sciences Commons^™

Plastic Faulting In Saltwater Ice, Narayana Golding, Scott A. Snyder, Erland M. Schulson, Carl E. Renshaw

Dartmouth Scholarship

Compression experiments on laboratory-grown columnar S2 saltwater ice loaded triaxially through proportional loading at T = –20°C at applied strain rates of ε = 10–5–10–1 s–1 demonstrate that plastic (P) faulting is a mode of failure in saltwater ice when rapidly loaded under a high degree of confinement. In terms of microstructure, mechanical behavior and strength, saltwater ice that fails via P-faulting is almost indistinguishable from columnar S2 freshwater ice that fails via P-faulting loaded under the same conditions. The results also demonstrate that saltwater ice loaded rapidly may exhibit yet another mode of failure, in addition to P-faulting, through …

The West Tidewater Earthflow, Northern Oregon Coast Range, Barry A. Sanford

Dissertations and Theses

The West Tidewater earthflow, one of the largest in Oregon's history, occurred in December of 1994. The earthflow is located approximately 15 km north of Jewel, Oregon near the summit ofthe Northern Oregon Coast Range Mountains. The earthflow is 900 m long and 250 m wide, giving it a surface area of 9 ha, or 22 acres. Volume is 3.5 million m³. The earthflow occurred in low strength, well-bedded, tuffaceous, carbonaceous, micaceous, clay-rich mudstone, and very fine-grained, feldspathic, clay-rich siltstone of the lower Miocene age Northrup Creek Formation. The soil clay fractions contain up to 90% smectite with …

A Review Of Air–Ice Chemical And Physical Interactions (Aici): Liquids, Quasi-Liquids, And Solids In Snow, T. Bartels-Rausch, H-W Jacobi, T. F. Kahan, J. L. Thomas, E. S. Thomson, J. P. D. Abbatt, M. Ammann, J. R. Blackford, H. Bluhm, Chris Boxe, F. Domine, M. M. Frey, I. Gladich, M. I. Guzmán, D. Heger, Th. Huthwelker, P. Klán, W. F. Kuhs, M. H. Kuo, S. Maus, S. G. Moussa, V. F. Mcneill, J. T. Newberg, J. B. C. Pettersson, M. Roeselová, J. R. Sodeau

Publications and Research

Snow in the environment acts as a host to rich chemistry and provides a matrix for physical exchange of contaminants within the ecosystem. The goal of this review is to summarise the current state of knowledge of physical processes and chemical reactivity in surface snow with relevance to polar regions. It focuses on a description of impurities in distinct compartments present in surface snow, such as snow crystals, grain boundaries, crystal surfaces, and liquid parts. It emphasises the microscopic description of the ice surface and its link with the environment. Distinct differences between the disordered air–ice interface, often termed quasi-liquid …

Computer Model For Characterization Of Crystal Fragments Within Volcanic Ash Deposits, Garret L. Hart

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For decades, geologists have used crystals fragments to characterize volcanic ash deposits. This requires identification and analysis of the mineral crystals and fragments contained in the ash. It is known that ash deposits can have two basic types of crystal fragments-those that are broken by impact in the explosive ejecta from the volcanic vent and those that are separated from larger crystal aggregates in the magma chamber. Crystals that have been broken are typically euhedral, while those have been separated from larger crystal conglomerates tend to be anhedral in shape. Characterization of ash deposits utilizing the differences in the two …

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 11, 2014, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 11, 2014 (2/11/14) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 4, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 4, 2014 (2/4/14) 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.

Application Of A Hillslope-Scale Soil Moisture Data Assimilation System To Military Trafficability Assessment, Alejandro N. Flores, Dara Entekhabi, Rafael L. Bras

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil moisture is an important environmental variable that impacts military operations and weapons systems. Accurate and timely forecasts of soil moisture at appropriate spatial scales, therefore, are important for mission planning. We present an application of a soil moisture data assimilation system to military trafficability assessment. The data assimilation system combines hillslope-scale (e.g., 10s to 100s of m) estimates of soil moisture from a hydrologic model with synthetic L-band microwave radar observations broadly consistent with the planned NASA Soil Moisture Active–Passive (SMAP) mission. Soil moisture outputs from the data assimilation system are input to a simple index-based model for vehicle …

Vhub: A Knowledge Management System To Facilitate Online Collaborative Volcano Modeling And Research, José L. Palma, Leah Courtland, Sylvain J. Charbonnier, Riccardo Tortini, Greg A. Valentine

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Knowledge of volcanic systems and the hazards they produce is rapidly advancing as internet resources become more readily accessible, new and more sensitive field techniques are developed, and ever greater amounts of data are collected. Such rapid advances drive the need for an online collaborative knowledge management system that enables the sharing of volcanological information, and modeling and analysis tools. Vhub (http://vhub.org) is a community cyberinfrastructure platform designed for collaboration in volcanology research, education, outreach, and discovery that complements existing volcano databases and other cyberinfrastructure projects. Vhub is unique in its functionality as a nucleus for the creation …

Changes To Snowpack Energy State From Spring Storm Events, Columbia River Headwaters, Montana, Zachary M. Seligman, Joel T. Harper, Marco P. Maneta

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The generation and release of meltwater during the spring snowmelt season can be delayed because of spring storm episodes with snow accumulation and/or sustained subfreezing temperatures. The delayed release of snowmelt often extends beyond the particular storm event because of changes to the internal state of energy in the snowpack that prevents transmission of meltwater. Following a storm, two energy deficits internal to the snowpack must be overcome before surface melt can drain and exit the snowpack: 1) cold content created by heat lost during the episode must be removed and 2) dry pore space must be filled with liquid …

Simulation Of Meteorological Fields For Icing Applications At The Summit Of Mount Washington, Sandra L. Jones

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

Hazards related to in-cloud icing on aircraft and ground structures are important considerations for structural design, risk mitigation and operations. A variety of robust ice accretion algorithms exist for application dependent purposes; however, these algorithms are often dependent on reliable meteorological input data to be of use. This study investigates the potential for predicting meteorological parameters relevant to in-cloud icing episodes at ground level using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Model performance with regards to explicit simulation of super-cooled cloud liquid water content, cloud droplet diameter, temperature, and wind speed is evaluated against measurements collected at the summit …

Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2013, Nathan A. Slaton

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Spectral Induced Polarization (Sip) Response Of Biodegraded Oil In Porous Media, Gamal Z. Abdel Aal, Estella A. Atekwana

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of different oil saturation (0.2- 0.8), wetting conditions (water-wet and oil-wet), and the addition of asphaltene on the spectral induced polarization (SIP) response of biodegraded and fresh crude oil in sand columns. In the water-wet case, no significant differences were observed for both the fresh and biodegraded oil and both displayed an increase in the magnitude of the phase (φ) and decrease in the magnitudes of the real (σ′) and imaginary (σ″) conductivity components with increasing oil saturation. In this instance the SIP response is most likely controlled by the conduction and …

Melt Water Input From The Bering Glacier Watershed Into The Gulf Of Alaska, Edward G. Josberger, Robert Shuchman, Liza K. Jenkins, K. A. Endsley

Michigan Tech Research Institute Publications

The annual runoff from the melting of large glaciers and snow fields along the northern perimeter of the Gulf of Alaska is a critical component of marine physical and biological systems; yet, most of this freshwater is not measured. Here we show estimates of melt for the watershed that contains the largest and longest glacier in North America, the Bering Glacier. The procedure combines in situ observations of snow and ice melt acquired by a long-term monitoring program, multispectral satellite observations, and nearby temperature measurements. The estimated melt is 40 km3 per melt season, ± 3.0 km3, observed over the …

Reconnaissance Evaluation Of The Groundwater Systems Of Skull Valley, Utah, Rachel Henderson, Dr. Alan Mayo

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The proposal, by Private Fuel Storage, a Limited Liability Company representing several utilities, to store solid, spent nuclear fuel in Skull Valley requires that many variables be taken into consideration, one of which is groundwater. Groundwater contamination is not anticipated in the proposed short term storage of the waste. However, it is uncertain how long the waste will be stored in Skull Valley. The purpose of this research is to conduct a reconnaissance investigation to evaluate the nature and interaction of various surface and groundwater systems in Skull Valley, and consequently, the likelihood of groundwater contamination from nuclear waste storage.

Nature Of Calcium Carbonate Precipitate And Chemical Composition Of Water At Blue Lake Warm Spring, Utah, Benjamin R. Jordan, Dr. Eric H. Christiansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Blue Lake is located in a remote area of Western Utah, about 25 km south of Wendover, Utah. The lake has a year-round temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. This is due to the lake being fed by warm springs located at a depth of 15 m within the lake. The bottom of the lake is covered with a fine carbonate mud. The multiple inflows, however, are filled with fine sand, predominately quartz, much of which is kept in constant motion by the inflowing groundwater. Contained within this sand, and located directly within the inflows, sometimes actually suspended in them, are …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 28, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 28, 2014 (1/28/14) 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.

Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) And Multispectral Scanner (Mss) Studies Examine Coastal Environments Influenced By Mining, W. Charles Kerfoot, Martin M. Hobmeier, Foad Yousef, Sarah A. Green, Robert Regis, Colin N. Brooks, Robert Shuchman, Jamey Anderson, Molly Reif

Michigan Tech Research Institute Publications

There are numerous examples of past and present mine disposal into freshwater and marine coastal bays and riverine environments. Due to its high spatial resolution and extended water penetration, coastal light detection and ranging (LiDAR), coupled with multispectral scanning (MSS), has great promise for resolving disturbed shoreline features in low turbidity environments. Migrating mine tailings present serious issues for Lake Superior and coastal marine environments. Previous investigations in Lake Superior uncovered a metal-rich “halo” around the Keweenaw Peninsula, related to past copper mining practices. For over a century, waste rock migrating from shoreline tailing piles has moved along extensive stretches …

Interrelation Of Faultng, Karsting And Calcite Veining Near The South Flank Fault Zone Of The Uinta Mountains, Utah, Erin T. Duerichen, Dr. Jeffrey D. Keith

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the Uinta Mountains, south of the South Flank Fault Zone, a thick sequence of Mississippian limestone is exposed. In the Blind Stream area, this limestone is transected by a series of north-south trending faults and fractures, with associated karsting (ie: large, collapsed cavities resulting from underground fluid migration, dissolving the carbonate rock) and calcite veining.

Ä13c Isotope Analysis Of Pennsylvanian Carbonates In Arrow Canyon, Nevada, Julia Kahmann, Dr. Scott Ritter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Carbonate rocks, when sampled and analyzed for their carbon isotopes, carry an isotopic signature that may be used as a correlation tool. When other tools do not suffice, or the present correlation needs to be enhanced, isotope analysis is an appropriate alternative. Arrow Canyon Nevada has extensive, continuous, cyclical packages of pristine limestone making the location a prime candidate for isotopic analysis. As an isotopic signal for the limestone cycles is established, the resulting isotope carbon curve may be used as a correlative to91 for other basins along the Pennsylvanian paleo-margin.

A Review Of Urban Water Body Challenges And Approaches: (1) Rehabilitation And Remediation, Robert M. Hughes, Susie Dunham, Kathleen G. Maas-Hebner, J. Alan Yeakley, Carl B. Schreck, Michael Harte, Nancy Molina, Clinton C. Shock, Victor W. Kaczynski, Jeff Schaeffer

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We review how urbanization alters aquatic ecosystems, as well as actions that managers can take to remediate urban waters. Urbanization affects streams by fundamentally altering longitudinal and lateral processes that in turn alter hydrology, habitat, and water chemistry; these effects create physical and chemical stressors that in turn affect the biota. Urban streams often suffer from multiple stressor effects that have collectively been termed an “urban stream syndrome,” in which no single factor dominates degraded conditions. Resource managers have multiple ways of combating the urban stream syndrome. These approaches range from whole-watershed protection to reach-scale habitat rehabilitation, but the prescription …

Revisiting Volcanology And Composition Of Rhyolites And Associated Ree Rich Mafic Clasts Of The Three Fingers Caldera, Se Oregon, Phillip Ira Marcy

Dissertations and Theses

Two adjacent caldera systems, the Mahogany Mountain and the Three Fingers caldera constitute voluminous rhyolitic volcanic deposits on the eastern margin of the Oregon-Idaho graben during the middle-Miocene. Both calderas are part of the Lake Owyhee volcanic field that in turn is part of widespread rhyolite deposits associated with the Columbia River Basalt province. We focus on establishing relationships between intracaldera units of Three Fingers caldera and caldera-forming tuff of Spring Creek and surveying the distribution of entrained mafic clasts which often display anomalous concentrations of rare earth elements.

Previous mapping identified two intra-caldera facies and one outflow facies of …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 21, 2014, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 21, 2014 (1/21/14) 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.

Imls Place Grant: Press Release Abstract 3, Place Project Group

PLACE Project

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.

Includes IMLS Logo and Statement.

Multi-Scale Neotectonic Study Of The Clear Lake Fault Zone In The Sevier Desert Basin (Central Utah), Brandon D. Heiner

Theses and Dissertations

A multi-scale high-resolution geophysical and geological study was conducted in the Sevier Desert, central Utah, found within the Colorado Plateau-Basin and Range Transition Zone. The region is marked by with Quaternary volcanics and faulting as young as 660 yr B.P., with many fault scarps thought to have the potential for 7+ magnitude earthquakes. Three locations within the Sevier Desert which represent three different tectonic expressions of possible faulting at the surface were selected. These include a location found within surface sedimentation, a location with surface sedimentation and sub-surface basalts and a location with basalts, at the surface with very limited …

Seismotectonics Of The Northeastern Margin Of The Arabian Plate In Iraq, Wathiq Gh. Abdulnaby

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to study the seismotectonics of the Bitlis-Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt in northern Iraq and surrounding regions. This was accomplished through studying the crustal seismic velocity structure, focal mechanism solutions, and stress pattern of the study area. The joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion, the moment tensor inversion, and formal stress inversion of moment stress axes are among the methods used to study the seismotectonic patterns of the study area. Another goal of this study is to provide a regional velocity model and pre-computed Green's functions that can be used accurately …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 14, 2014, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 14, 2014 (1/14/14) 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: Cattle, Winter wheat.

Impact Of Physical Properties And Accumulation Rate On Pore Close-Off In Layered Firn, S. A. Gregory, M. R. Albert, I. Baker

Dartmouth Scholarship

Investigations into the physical characteristics of deep firn near the lock-in zone through pore close-off are needed to improve understanding of ice core records of past atmospheric composition. Specifically, the permeability and microstructure profiles of the firn through the diffusive column influence the entrapment of air into bubbles and thus the ice age–gas age difference. The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of pore closure processes at two polar sites with very different local temperatures and accumulation rates. Density, permeability, and microstructure measurements were made on firn cores from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide, a …

Influence Of Constant And Periodic Experimental Hypoxic Stress On Atlantic Croaker Otolith Chemistry, John Mohan, Md. Saydur Rahman, Peter Thomas, Benjamin Walther

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The chemical composition of fish otoliths may provide information on the environmental exposure histories of fishes if ‘vital effects’ on element incorporation are minimal. In order to use redox-sensitive geochemical proxies, such as manganese, in otoliths to quantify sublethal exposure to hypoxia, the relative influence of endogenous and exogenous controls on otolith composition must first be validated. Controlled laboratory experiments were conducted on Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus to examine the response of otolith Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, Mg:Ca, Mn:Ca, and Na:Ca ratios to either constant or periodic hypoxia treatments for 4 and 10 wk, respectively. Although fish somatic growth and condition were …

Warming, Soil Moisture, And Loss Of Snow Increase Bromus Tectorum’S Population Growth Rate, Aldo Compagnoni, Peter B. Adler

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

Climate change threatens to exacerbate the impacts of invasive species. In temperate ecosystems, direct effects of warming may be compounded by dramatic reductions in winter snow cover. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is arguably the most destructive biological invader in basins of the North American Intermountain West, and warming could increase its performance through direct effects on demographic rates or through indirect effects mediated by loss of snow. We conducted a two-year experimental manipulation of temperature and snow pack to test whether 1) warming increases cheatgrass population growth rate and 2) reduced snow cover contributes to cheatgrass’ positive response to …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 7, 2014, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 7, 2014 (1/7/14) 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.