Earth Sciences Commons^™

Investigating The Anisotropy Of Magnetic Susceptibility And Other Rock Magnetic Properties Of The Beaver River Diabase In Northeastern Minnesota, Samer H. Hariri

Wayne State University Theses

The Beaver River Diabase (BRD) is a series of mafic dikes and sills within the Beaver Bay Complex (BBC) of northern Minnesota, which formed during the development of the ~1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift (MCR). The BRD is one of the youngest and most extensive intrusive phases of the BBC. The BRD dikes and sills were emplaced into the medial levels of the 6-10 kilometer-thick North Shore Volcanic Group and occur over an arcuate area extending 120 by 20 kilometers. The BRD is composed of fine- to medium-grained ophitic olivine gabbro and does not display obvious foliation or lineation features and …

Shallow Groundwater Monitoring Associated With The Deep Saline Reservoir Co2 Storage Test In Hancock County, Kentucky, E. Glynn Beck

Report of Investigations--KGS

A carbon dioxide injection test well was drilled in 2009 to a depth of 8,126 ft below ground surface in Hancock County, Kentucky. Six hundred ninety tons of CO₂ was successfully injected into Knox Group saline aquifers. Two domestic wells (MB and GB) and two domestic springs (CA and RC) were sampled to monitor any potential changes in groundwater quality associated with possible migration of CO₂ from deeper saline aquifers into shallow freshwater aquifers. The four sites were sampled for pH, bicarbonate, total dissolved solids, turbidity, anions, total dissolved metals, dissolved inorganic carbon, total CO₂, and …

Using Time-Lapse Three Dimensional Vertical Seismic Profiling To Monitor Injected Fluids During Geologic Carbon Sequestration, John B. Hickman

Report of Investigations--KGS

Two three-dimensional vertical seismic profiles (3D-VSP) were acquired at the KGS Marvin Blan No. 1 CO₂ sequestration research well outside of Cloverport in Hancock County, Ky. The initial (preinjection) survey was performed September 15-16, 2010, and was followed by the injection of 361.2 metric tons of supercritical CO₂ and then 584 m³ of 2 percent potassium chloride water (to displace the remaining CO₂ in the wellbore) on September 22, 2010. After injection, the well was shut in with a downhole pressure of 17.5 MPa at the injected reservoir depth of 1,545.3 m. A second 3D-VSP was …

Geotechnical Engineering: Optimum Moisture Content For Compaction Of In Situ Soil At A Residential Construction Site On Five Mile Prairie, Wa., Natasha Garland Clark, Carly Sorensen, Camie Bearup

2014 Symposium

The residential construction site is located at 9117 Scarlet Sky Drive on the southwest margin of Five Mile Prairie, WA. The footprint of the proposed structure overlaps two soils. Near the road is fill material brought in to form the extended roadbed. Further from the access road is the extant soil that formed in place on the prairie. This site is approximately 2,400 feet in elevation, atop basalt. Over time loess and the Glacial Lake Missoula floods shaped the landscape. Grassy, small rolling hills cover the in-situ soil. There is a natural drainage basin below the site that features basalt …

Integrating People And Place: A Density-Based Measure For Assessing Accessibility To Opportunities, Mark Horner, Joni A. Downs

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Mobile object analysis is a well-studied area of transportation and geographic information science (GIScience). Mobile objects may include people, animals, or vehicles. Time geography remains a key theoretical framework for understanding mobile objects' movement possibilities. Recent efforts have sought to develop probabilistic methods of time geography by exploring questions of data uncertainty, spatial representation, and other limitations of classical approaches. Along these lines, work has blended time geography and kernel density estimation in order to delineate the probable locations of mobile objects in both continuous and discrete network space. This suite of techniques is known as time geographic density estimation …

Searching For Cold-Adapted Microorganisms In The Underground Glacier Of Scarisoara Ice Cave, Romania, Alexandra Maria Hillebrand-Voiculescu, Corina Itcus, Ioan Ardelean, Denisa Pascu, Aurel Persoiu, Andreea Rusu, Traian Brad, Elena Popa, Bogdan P. Onac, Christina Purcarea

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Scarisoara Ice Cave (Romania) hosts one of world’s largest and oldest underground glacier. While no studies were carried out on the existence of microorganisms in this cave’s ice block, our interest is to investigate the presence of microorganisms and their chronological distribution in the cave’s subterranean ice in relationship with past climatic changes. Samples were collected from ice layers of different age (from present to ~900 cal. yrs. BP), and the diversity of embedded microbial communities was assessed by classical cultivation and molecular techniques. The microorganisms from icesediments were cultivated at 4 °C and 15 °C, in the presence and …

City Of Tampa Urban Forest Management, Monitoring And Policy, Shawn M. Landry, Robert J. Northrop, Michael G. Andreu, Kathy Beck

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Direct Stratospheric Injection Of Biomass Burning Emissions: A Case Study Of The 2009 Australian Bushfires Using The Nasa Giss Modele2 Composition-Climate Model, Robert Field, Mike From, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Drew Shindell, Mike Flannigan, Peter Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Direct stratospheric injection (DSI) of forest fire smoke represents a direct biogeochemical link between the land surface and stratosphere. DSI events occur regularly in the northern and southern extratropics, and have been observed across a wide range of measurements, but their fate and effects are not well understood.

DSIs result from explosive, short-lived fires, and their plumes stand out from the background concentrations immediately. This makes it easier to associate detected DSIs to individual fires and their estimated emissions. Because the emissions pulses are brief, chemical decay can be more clearly assessed, and because the emissions pulses are so large, …

A Coupled Geochemical And Biogeochemical Approach To Characterize The Bioreactivity Of Dissolved Organic Matter From A Headwater Stream, Rachel L. Sleighter, Rose M. Cory, Louis A. Kaplan, Hussain A.N. Abdulla, Patrick G. Hatcher

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The bioreactivity or susceptibility of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to microbial degradation in streams and rivers is of critical importance to global change studies, but a comprehensive understanding of DOM bioreactivity has been elusive due, in part, to the stunningly diverse assemblages of organic molecules within DOM. We approach this problem by employing a range of techniques to characterize DOM as it flows through biofilm reactors: dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations, excitation emission matrix spectroscopy (EEMs), and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry. The EEMs and mass spectral data were analyzed using a combination of multivariate statistical approaches. We found that 45% …

Compositions And Constituents Of Freshwater Dissolved Organic Matter Isolated By Reverse Osmosis, Yulong Zhang, Wen Huang, Jingdong Mao

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from riverine and lacustrine water was isolated using a reverse osmosis (RO) system. Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C NMR) was used to quantitatively evaluate the compositions and constituents of DOM, which are compared with previous investigations on marine DOM. Results indicated that concentration factor (CF) was a key metric controlling yield and sorption of DOM on the RO system. The sorption was likely non-selective, based on the ¹³C NMR and δ¹³C analyses. Carbohydrates and lipids accounted for 25.0–41.5% and 30.2–46.3% of the identifiable DOM, followed by proteins (18.2–19.8%) and …

Wavelength And Temperature-Dependent Apparent Quantum Yields For Photochemical Formation Of Hydrogen Peroxide In Seawater, David J. Kieber, Gary W. Miller, Patrick J. Neale, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Wavelength and temperature-dependent apparent quantum yields (AQYs) were determined for the photochemical production of hydrogen peroxide using seawater obtained from coastal and oligotrophic stations in Antarctica, the Pacific Ocean at Station ALOHA, the Gulf of Mexico, and at several sites along the East Coast of the United States. For all samples, AQYs decreased exponentially with increasing wavelength at 25 °C, ranging from 4.6 × 10−4 to 10.4 × 10−4 at 290 nm to 0.17 × 10−4 to 0.97 × 10−4 at 400 nm. AQYs for different seawater samples were remarkably similar irrespective of expected differences in the composition and concentrations …

Evolution Of The Freshwater Sardinella, Sardinella Tawilis (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae), In Taal Lake, Philippines And Identification Of Iits Marine Sister-Species, Sardinella Hualiensis, Demian Willette, Kent E. Carpenter, Mudjekeewis Santos

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We identify the sister species of the world's only freshwater sardinella, Sardinella tawilis (Herre, 1927) of Taal Lake, Philippines as the morphologically-similar marine Taiwanese sardinella Sardinella hualiensis (Chu and Tsai, 1958). Evidence of incomplete lineage sorting and a species tree derived from three mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene indicate that S. tawilis diverged from S. hualiensis in the late Pleistocene. Neutrality tests, mismatch distribution analysis, sequence diversity indices, and species tree analysis indicate populations of both species have long been stable and that the divergence between these two lineages occurred prior to the putative 18th century formation of Taal …

Estimating Hydroxyl Radical Photochemical Formation Rates In Natural Waters During Long-Term Laboratory Irradiation Experiments, Luni Sun, Hongmei Chen, Hussain A. Abdulla, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In this study it was observed that, during long-term irradiations (>1 day) of natural waters, the methods for measuring hydroxyl radical (˙OH) formation rates based upon sequentially determined cumulative concentrations of photoproducts from probes significantly underestimate actual ˙OH formation rates. Performing a correction using the photodegradation rates of the probe products improves the ˙OH estimation for short term irradiations (<1 day), but not long term irradiations. Only the ‘instantaneous’ formation rates, which were obtained by adding probes to aliquots at each time point and irradiating these sub-samples for a short time (≤2 h), were found appropriate for accurately estimating ˙OH photochemical formation rates during long-term laboratory irradiation experiments. Our results also showed that in iron- and dissolved organic matter (DOM)-rich water samples, ˙OH appears to be mainly produced from the Fenton reaction initially, but subsequently from other sources possibly from DOM photoreactions. Pathways of ˙OH formation in long-term irradiations in relation to H2O2 and iron concentrations are discussed.

Heavy Metal Xrf Analysis Of Ultramafic-Derived Serpentine Soils Located On Serpentine Barrens In Pennsylvania, Zachary Schagrin

Earth & Space Sciences Student Work

No abstract provided.

Examining Student Severe Weather Behavior During A Hypothetical Tornado Scenario, C Martin Leavitt

Theses

No abstract provided.

Brownfield Action: Dissemination Of A Sencer Model Curriculum And The Creation Of A Collaborative Stem Education Network, Peter Bower, Ryan Kelsey, Joseph Liddicoat, Doug M. Thompson, Angelo Lampousis, Bret Bennington, Bess Greenbaum Seewald, Arthur D. Kney, Saugata Datta, Lawrence D. Lemke, Briane Sorice Miccio, Tamara Graham

Publications and Research

Brownfield Action (BA) is a web-based environmental site assessment (ESA) simulation in which students form geotechnical consulting companies and work together to solve problems in environmental forensics. Developed at Barnard College with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, BA has been disseminated to ten colleges, universities, and high schools, resulting in a collaborative network of educators. The experiences of current users are presented describing how they have incorporated the BA curriculum into their courses, as well as how BA affected teaching and learning. The experiences demonstrate that BA can be used in whole or in part, is …

Determining Hillslope Diffusion Rates In A Boreal Forest: Quaternary Fluvial Terraces In The Nenana River Valley, Central Alaska Range, Laurel Anne Walker

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The subarctic boreal forest biome is predicted to experience higher magnitudes of warming than other biomes due to climate change. The effects of this warming will be pronounced in areas underlain by discontinuous permafrost where melting permafrost and distinct changes in vegetation patterns are expected. To better understand rates of hillslope diffusion in the boreal forest I have used a geomorphic process modeling approach, using data from a sequence of Quaternary fluvial terraces located in the Nenana River valley of central Alaska. I hypothesized that diffusion rates here would be slower when compared to the mid-latitudes, and faster on north …

Holocene Sedimentary Responses To Growth Faulting In A Back-Barrier Setting: East Matagorda Peninsula, Texas, Phillip Wolfe

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The structural framework of the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal zone is characterized by numerous growth fault systems. Neotectonic processes in coastal marshes in this region have been shown to be important drivers of relative sea-level rise as well as having significant influence on marsh accretion processes. One active growth fault has been identified at East Matagorda Peninsula, Texas. To characterize the Holocene behavior of this fault and the consequent sedimentary responses, a suite of fallout radionuclides (⁷Be, ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb) and radiocarbon, supplemented by sediment physical property data have been used to determine sediment mixing depths, …

Temporal And Spatial Characterization Of Macondo 252 Signatures In Gulf Of Mexico Shelf And Slope Sediments, Olivia P. Woodruff

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The long-term fate of hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico (GOMx) following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has yet to be fully characterized. Elemental (% C and % N), stable isotopes (δ¹³C_organic), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecular signatures were investigated in shelf and slope sediments collected in October 2010 and 2011 to gain insight into processes affecting the distribution and fate of spilled Macondo oil. Particulate organic carbon (POC) ranged between 1.55 and 2.22 wt. % in 2010 and 0.55 and 2.06 % in 2011 while the corresponding δ¹³C_organic ranges were …

A Petrographic Characterization Of The Leatherwood Coal Bed In Eastern Kentucky, Michelle N. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Eastern Kentucky Coal Field is located in the central portion of the Appalachian Basin. The Pennsylvanian Breathitt Formation in this region is characterized by numerous sequences of bituminous coal-bearing sedimentary rocks. These coals have distinct maceral compositions due to variations in depositional environments. Coal characterization is an important method for determining conditions that influenced peat accumulation and overall depositional settings of mires.

This study focuses on the characterization of the maceral composition of the Middle Pennsylvanian-age Leatherwood coal bed. It utilizes petrographical, palynological, and geochemical analyses to describe specific depositional environments and associated peat accumulation conditions.

Petrographic analyses indicate …

Age Of The Walden Creek Group, Western Blue Ridge Province: Resolving A Decades-Old Controversy Via Detrital Mineral Geochronology And Sedimentary Provenance Analysis, Evan A. Kelly

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Originally mapped as Precambrian and uppermost Ocoee Supergroup (OS), recent discoveries of Paleozoic microfossils have placed the Walden Creek Group (WCG), eastern Tennessee, into a younger depositional framework (Silurian or younger). In this study, monazite geochronology using SIMs, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology determined by LA-ICP-MS, feldspar compositions determined by microprobe, zircon-tourmaline-rutile (ZTR) indices, and framework mineral modes were used to characterize provenance of sandstones of the WCG. Monazite ages cluster at 450 and 1050 Ma. All Ordovician ages are from grains that, in BSE images, have inclusion-rich microtextures interpreted as diagenetic and/or metamorphic, thus requiring that the WCG was deposited …

The Nature And Origin Of Cyclicity In The Cleveland Member Of The Ohio Shale (Upper Devonian), Northeastern Kentucky, U.S.A., Alice C. O'Bryan

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Cleveland Shale displays a characteristic and distinctive pattern of promontories and recessed intervals on weathered outcrops, which appears to represent cyclicity. This weathering pattern can be observed in other shales, both within and outside the Appalachian Basin; so determining the nature of these cycles may be critical for understanding the origin of, not only the Cleveland Shale, but also of black shales in general. Cyclicity in the Cleveland was examined on a decimeter-to-meter scale using lithologic characterization, gamma-ray stratigraphy and x-ray fluorescence, and on a millimeter-to-centimeter scale using organic petrography. Lithologic characterization and gamma-ray stratigraphy revealed Milankovitch-band fourth- and …

Paleoseismic And Structural Characterization Of The Hines Creek Fault: Denali National Park And Preserve, Alaska, Sara E. Federschmidt

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Hines Creek fault (HCF) is a Holocene-active fault in central Alaska. Its trace has been mapped several times, but data on the history of fault displacement is scarce. As a major crustal-scale geologic boundary with uncertain Quaternary tectonic activity, it is a priority for more to be known about the activity of this fault to better understand the hazards it presents to the Denali National Park and Preserve and Alaskan infrastructure. This study characterizes the late Quaternary activity of the HCF through surficial geologic mapping and paleoseismic investigations. Mapping revealed a very steep (~84°-88° apparent dip), north dipping fault …

Late Quaternary Crustal Deformation At The Apex Of The Mount Mckinley Restraining Bend Of The Denali Fault, Alaska, Corey A. Burkett

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The tallest mountain in North America, Mount McKinley is situated inside a sharp bend in the right‐lateral Denali fault. This anomalous topography is clearly associated with the complex geometry of the Denali fault, but how this topography evolves in conjunction with the adjacent strike‐slip fault is unknown. To constrain how this fault bend is deforming, the Quaternary fault‐related deformation on the opposite side of the Denali fault from Mount McKinley were documented through combined geologic mapping, active fault characterization, and analysis of background seismicity. My mapping illustrates an east‐west change in faulting style where normal faults occur east of the …

Instrument Correction And Dynamic Site Profile Validation At The Central United States Seismic Observatory, New Madrid Seismic Zone, Clayton M.J. Brengman

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Central United States Seismic Observatory (CUSSO), is a fifteen-element array of three-component accelerometers and seismometers in the New Madrid seismic zone, within the upper Mississippi embayment. Its location within the thick (up to 1 km) sequences of unlithified sediment comprising the embayment, make CUSSO a unique array in its ability to directly measure seismic wave propagation, including ground motion site effect; however, before the observational data can be used for analysis, the orientation and instrument response of the CUSSO array must be defined. This study used cross-correlation and direct comparisons to filter out the instrument response and determine the …

Application Of The Kalman Filter On Full Tensor Gravity Gradiometry Data Around The Vinton Salt Dome, Louisiana, Mahnaz Sepehrmanesh

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Full tensor gravity (FTG) data are known for their high resolution but also for higher noise in its components due to the dynamic nature of the platform used for data acquisition. Although a review of the literature suggests steady increase in the success of gravity gradiometry, we still cannot take advantage of the full potential of the method, mostly because of the noise with the same amplitude and wavenumber characteristics as the signal that affects these data. Smoothing from common low pass filters removes small wavelength features and makes it difficult to detect structural features and other density variations of …

Geology Of The West Half Of The Cove Creek Gap Quadrangle And Adjacent Areas, Western North Carolina: Insights Into Eastern Great Smoky Mountains Tectonometamorphism, Daniel F. Spaulding

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Three outstanding problems related to the tectonic evolution of the Western Blue Ridge in the eastern Great Smoky Mtns. (GSM) include: (1) the nature of the Greenbrier Fault, previously interpreted as a younger over older pre-Taconic thrust fault with ~24 km of displacement between the Snowbird and Great Smoky Groups; (2) the relationship of regional metamorphism, expressed by the growth of porphyroblastic index minerals, to folding and foliation development in pelitic metasediments; (3) the relation of deformation to regional Taconian metamorphism. These problems were addressed in previous studies that did not have detailed mapping and petrography as a context. By …

Biomechanical Effects Of Trees And Soil Thickness In The Cumberland Plateau, Michael Shouse

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Previous research in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas suggests that, on relatively thin soils overlying bedrock, individual trees locally thicken the regolith by root penetration into bedrock. However, that work was conducted mainly in areas of strongly dipping and contorted rock, where joints and bedding planes susceptible to root penetration are more common and accessible. This project extended this concept to the Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, with flat, level-bedded sedimentary rocks. Spatial variability of soil thickness was quantified at three nested spatial scales, and statistical relationships with other potential influences of thickness were examined. In addition, soil depth beneath trees was compared …

Associating Severe Thunderstorm Warnings With Demographic And Landscape Variables: A Geographically Weighted Regression-Based Mapping Of Forecast Bias, Megan L. White

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Severe thunderstorm warnings (SVTs) are released by meteorologists in the local forecast offices of the National Weather Service (NWS). These warnings are issued with the intent of alerting areas in the path of severe thunderstorms that human and property risk are elevated, and that appropriate precautionary measures should be taken. However, studies have shown that the spatial distribution of severe storm warnings demonstrates bias. Greater numbers of severe thunderstorm warnings sometimes are issued where population is denser. By contrast, less populated areas may be underwarned. To investigate the spatial patterns of these biases for the central and southeastern United States, …

Natural Phenomena As Potential Influence On Social And Political Behavior: The Earth’S Magnetic Field, Jackie R. East

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Researchers use natural phenomena in a number of disciplines to help explain human behavioral outcomes. Research regarding the potential effects of magnetic fields on animal and human behavior indicates that fields could influence outcomes of interest to social scientists. Tests so far have been limited in scope. This work is a preliminary evaluation of whether the earth’s magnetic field influences human behavior it examines the baseline relationship exhibited between geomagnetic readings and a host of social and political outcomes. The emphasis on breadth of topical coverage in these statistical trials, rather than on depth of development for any one model, …