Earth Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Framing In Two Environmental Conflicts, Alexander M. Iannone

Theses and Dissertations

Frames can be perspectives about people, objects, events, or settings that guide action based on past experiences and values. Conflicts are created by different stakeholders “holding conflicting frames.” Researchers in the past have used framing analysis to try and better understand environmental conflicts that tend to perpetuate for extended periods of time. A set of researchers have relied on specific framing categories and typologies as a framework for analysis. They have found that the strong presence or lack thereof certain frames can tell us a lot about conflict dynamics and shed light into the undercurrents driving the complexity of the …

Do Some Deep‐Sea, Sediment‐Dwelling Species Of Harpacticoid Copepods Have 1000‐Km‐Scale Range Sizes?, Erin E. Easton, David Thistle

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The range sizes of sediment‐dwelling deep‐sea species are largely unknown. Such knowledge is important because a deep sea composed in large part of species with 100‐km‐scale ranges would be very different from one composed predominantly of species with 1000‐km‐scale ranges. For example, the total species richness would be much greater in the first case than in the second. As a step towards the determination of the distribution of species’ range sizes in the deep sea, we asked whether harpacticoid copepods (Crustacea) on the continental rise in the northeastern Pacific had 1000‐km‐scale range sizes. We chose harpacticoids because they occur widely …

From Near And Far: Utilization Of In-Situ And Remotely Sensed Satellite Data From Nasa And Noaa, Jessica Rochelle Price Sutton

Theses and Dissertations

Satellite remote sensing observations have been used for numerous studies to better understand physical and biological properties over varying spatial and temporal scales. Depending on the satellite and sensor, the satellite-derived observations can provide high spatial and temporal resolution for many important physical and biological variables. While there are many limitations in utilizing satellite remote sensing products, there are also many advantages. This dissertation investigates three different applications for satellite remote sensing products to address climatological and ecological concerns. This dissertation is motivated by two overall research questions: (1) How can satellite remote sensing products be used to address important …

Platinum Decoupling From Pge In Peridotitic Sulfides From The St. Elena Ophiolite In Costa Rica, Jessica A. Holm

Theses and Dissertations

The platinum group elements (Os, Ir, Ru, Rh, Pt, Pd) are important petrogenetic tracers of mantle processes and the Re-Os isotope system an important tool for tracing ancient depletion and refertilization processes in the mantle. A key characteristic of these elements is that they are siderophile and chalcophile, and their abundance in the Earth’s mantle is thought to be controlled by sulfides. Existing thermodynamic data suggests that at reducing conditions similar to those found at the early stages of serpentinization, PGE may exist as alloys in the mantle. While numerous studies report on the bulk peridotite PGE and sulfide PGE …

Behavior Of Rare Earth Elements And High-Field Strength Elements During Peridotite - Seawater Interaction, Carl Pasquale Frisby

Theses and Dissertations

Serpentinized abyssal peridotites are evidence for active communication between the Earth’s hydrosphere and the upper mantle, where exchange and retention of both major and trace elements occur. Rare earth elements (REE) and high-field strength elements (HFSE: Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta) are generally thought of as immobile during serpentinization. In partially serpentinized abyssal peridotites, clinopyroxenes typically retain radiogenic Nd and Hf isotopic signatures that have been used to infer the composition and high temperature processes in the upper mantle. However, bulk rock Nd isotopes in some serpentinized abyssal peridotites less radiogenic values that approach that of seawater, which has been …

North American Butterfly Association Counts At Congaree National Park: A Case Study For Connecting Citizen Science To Management, Austin Clarridge

Theses and Dissertations

Citizen science is becoming an ever more popular way for scientists and resource managers to deal with needs for large temporal and spatial scale datasets. It provides a free or low cost means for collection of extensive amounts of data across time and space while acting as a public education and outreach tool, empowering communities to be involved in the management decisions being made in their back yard. Though large, well-known citizen science programs such as the Christmas Bird Counts are being used extensively for peer reviewed literature and management decisions, there are numerous smaller, local counts that have the …

An Integrated Structural Analysis On Seismic Of A Paleo Mound Development (Woolsey Mound, Northern Gulf Of Mexico), Ricardo Tomas Troco Kabila

Theses and Dissertations

Woolsey Mound is ~1 km diameter thermogenic gas hydrate and cold seep (GHCS) complex system. It is located at ~900 m water depth in the Mississippi Canyon Lease Block 118 (MC–118) on the upper continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Due to its complex geology, widespread hydrate seepage activity and presence of benthic habitat, the mound serves as a permanent research site for a multidisciplinary seafloor observatory, thus providing insights into the dynamics of shallow fluid expulsion, their spatial and time variations and possible geological forcing mechanisms.

This study utilizes a set of high resolution 2D autonomous …

Small Mud And Sand Filled Paleochannels Offshore Charleston, Sc, Erin Smoak

Theses and Dissertations

The spatial variations of Quaternary sediments on the continental shelf record the progression of depositional environments during the latest sea-level rise, and are fundamental controls on submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) flow. SGD on continental shelves is an important but poorly constrained process. Spatial variations of lithologies on continental shelves, such as sand-filled paleochannels, are assumed to play a fundamental role in controlling where SGD occurs but coincident seismic mapping and sedimentological data are rare. Here we combine seismic mapping of paleochannel locations with sediment cores to examine the sedimentary characteristics of paleochannel fill and interfluvial deposits. To establish paleochannel locations …

Ecohydrology And Groundwater Dynamics In A Salt Marsh Island, Andrea L. H. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Tidal salt marshes are extraordinarily productive and valuable ecosystems that provide via groundwater a not insignificant portion of coastal solute and nutrient budgets. Among the many goods and services they provide are habitat for diverse wildlife, protection for coastal communities during storms, and protection for coastal surface waters by filtering anthropogenic pollutants. One threat to the health of tidal salt marshes along the East Coast have been episodes of Acute Marsh Dieback (AMD) from 1999 to 2001. Dieback was observed at North Inlet salt marsh from 2000 to 2001. Since salt marsh hydrology is dominated by the local tidal regime, …

Satellite-Assisted Assessment Of The Effects Of Human Development On Coral Reefs, Roatan Honduras, Clayton A. Helm

Theses and Dissertations

Human intervention is degrading coastal marine environments on a global scale. Coral reefs are one of the most valuable ecosystems occupying coastal areas that provide a vast majority of consumable fish, recreational activities, and protection from extreme events, such as tropical cyclones. Unfortunately, as human development activities such as the construction of buildings, road infrastructure, and agriculture increase in coastal areas, so do the detrimental impacts on the health of coral reefs. Consequences of coastal development such as pollution, sedimentation, eutrophication, overfishing, and recreational activities have been linked to diminished coral health. A degraded coral ecosystem can often be identified …

U.S. Drought Monitor, June 28, 2016, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for June 28, 2016 (6/28/16) 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.

An Association Between A Cusk Eel (Bassozetus Sp.) And A Black Coral (Schizopathes Sp.) In The Deep Western Indian Ocean, Andrew R. Gates, Kirsty J. Morris, Daniel O. Jones, Kenneth J. Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Detailed observations in the deep sea can reveal previously unknown behaviour, species interactions and fine-scale habitat heterogeneity. Here, the first in situ images of the black coral Schizopathes sp. (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) in the deep western Indian Ocean have been obtained from remotely operated vehicle video footage and time-lapse photography. In these images, there appears to be an association with the cusk eel Bassozetus (Family: Ophidiidae). In the primary observation, chance encounters revealed the fish interacted with the anitpatharian on multiple occasions over several days. Subsequent time-lapse camera footage showed the fish remained almost exclusively underneath the antipatharian for the duration …

Deep Time Evidence For Climate Sensitivity Increase With Warming, Gary Shaffer, Matthew Huber, Roberto Rondanelli, Jens Olaf Pepke Pedersen

Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Influences Of Drought And Land-Cover Conversion On Inter-Annual Variation Of Npp In The Three-North Shelterbelt Program Zone Of China Based On Modis Data, Dailiang Peng, Chaoyang Wu, Bing Zhang, Alfredo Huete, Xiaoyang Zhang, Rui Sun, Liping Lei, Wenjing Huang, Liangyun Liu, Xinjie Liu, Jun Li, Shezhou Luo, Bin Fang

GSCE Faculty Publications

Terrestrial ecosystems greatly contribute to carbon (C) emission reduction targets through photosynthetic C uptake.Net primary production (NPP) represents the amount of atmospheric C fixed by plants and accumulated as biomass. The Three-North Shelterbelt Program (TNSP) zone accounts for more than 40% of China’s landmass. This zone has been the scene of several large-scale ecological restoration efforts since the late 1990s, and has witnessed significant changes in climate and human activities.Assessing the relative roles of different causal factors on NPP variability in TNSP zone is very important for establishing reasonable local policies to realize the emission reduction targets for central government. …

Mineralogical Transformations And Soil Development In Shale Across A Latitudinal Climosequence, Ashlee L.D. Dere, Timothy S. White, Richard H. April, Susan L. Brantley

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

To investigate factors controlling soil formation, we established a climosequence as part of the Susquehanna-Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSHCZO) in central Pennsylvania, USA. Sites were located on organic matter-poor, iron-rich Silurian-aged shale in Wales, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Puerto Rico, although this last site is underlain by a younger shale. Across the climosequence, mean annual temperature (MAT) increases from 7 to 24°C and mean annual precipitation (MAP) ranges from 100 to 250 cm. Variations in soil characteristics along the climosequence, including depth, morphology, particle-size distribution, geochemistry, and bulk and clay mineralogy, were characterized to investigate the role of …

Uwrl Director, Mac Mckee, Named A 2015 Friend Of Ucowr, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Mac McKee, UWRL Director, was recently named a Friend of UCOWR at the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) Annual Conference awards ceremony held this year in Pensacola Beach, Florida. UCOWR recognizes no more than three individuals each year who have “made substantial contributions in time and effort toward the goals of UCOWR.” Mac held the office of UCOWR President twice and served on the board of directors for nearly a decade.

The Influence Of Floodplain Restoration On Flow And Sediment Dynamics In An Urban River, Sangaralingam Ahilan, Mingfu Guan, Andrew Sleigh, Nigel G. Wright, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

A study of floodplain sedimentation on a recently restored floodplain is presented. This study uses a two-dimensional hydro-morphodynamic model for predicting flow and suspended-sediment dynamics in the downstream of Johnson Creek, the East Lents reach, where the bank of the river has been reconfigured to reconnect to a restored floodplain on a 0.26 km² (26-ha) site. The simulation scenarios include 10-, 50-, 100- and 500-year event-based deposition modelling of flood events and long-term modelling using the 64 historical flood events between 1941 and 2014. Simulation results showed that the restored floodplain significantly attenuates the upstream flood peak by up …

Optimizing Methods For Extraction Of Organic Compounds From Molluscan Shells, Kaydee Jo West

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mollusk shells contain proteins within and between the crystals of calcium carbonate. These organic molecules play an important role in biomineralization and shell function, and their stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen are also thought to record important ecological information about the animal's diet and nutrient sources. These proteins can be preserved for millions of years, offering potential insight into pre-anthropogenic ecological conditions. However, shell organics in older shells are typically recovered in reduced abundances due to leaching and remaining organics are often converted from insoluble proteins to soluble, free amino acids, making them difficult to detect and recover. …

A Spatio-Temporal Comparison Of Avian Migration Phenology Using Citizen Science Data, Ali Arab, Jason R. Courter, Jessica Zelt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The effects of climate change have wide-ranging impacts on wildlife species and recent studies indicate that birds’ spring arrival dates are advancing in response to changes in global climates. In this paper, we propose a spatio-temporal approach for comparing avian first arrival data for multiple species. As an example, we analyze spring arrival data for two long-distance migrants (Rubythroated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris; and Purple Martin Progne subis) in eastern North America from 2001–2010 using Citizen Science data. The proposed approach provides researchers with a tool to compare mean arrival dates while accounting for spatial and temporal variability. Our results show …

Species Diversification In Eriogonum Umbellatum Var. Aureum, Majus, And Umbellatum In The Colorado Rocky Mountains, Erica Arcibal

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

No abstract provided.

U.S. Drought Monitor, June 21, 2016, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for June 21, 2016 (6/21/16) 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.

Modeling The Sediment Fill Of The Upper Troy Pre-Glacial Bedrock Valley, Mchenry County, Illinois, Usa, Jodi Lau, Jason F. Thomason, David H. Malone, Eric W. Peterson

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

The Troy Bedrock Valley (TBV) and its tributary valleys are the principal pre-glacial drainage in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, USA. This study focused on the headwaters of a tributary that occurs in McHenry County, IL. Drilling, geophysical surveys, and the analysis of existing geologic and water well data were used to determine the lithologic and geometric characteristics of the sediments that fill the paleovalley. A 3D geologic model of these sediments was then developed in Petrel. More than 65 m of Quaternary sediments filled the paleovalley. The model domain covers approximately 30 km2. The valley drains to the west …

Trajectory Analysis Of Black Carbon In The Arctic Region, Kimberly Gottschalk

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Black carbon (BC) is a troubling particulate. Commonly known as soot, BC forms through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels, and biomass. It has a very low albedo compared to natural particulates making it a very efficient absorber of solar radiation. As BC is deposited on snow and ice, albedo is decreased - enhancing solar heating and increasing meltwater production. With rising air temperatures, melting rates of polar ice are increasing and are being enhanced by BC, leading to accelerated global sea level rise.

This study aimed to document sources and deposition areas of BC in the Arctic. Utilizing …

Modeling Of Soybean Under Present And Future Climates In Mozambique, Manuel António Dina Talacuece, Flávio Barbosa Justino, Rafael De Ávila Rodrigues, Milton Edgar Pereira Flores, Jéssica Garcia Nascimento, Eduardo Eduardo Santos

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This study aims to calibrate and validate the generic crop model (CROPGRO-Soybean) and estimate the soybean yield, considering simulations with different sowing times for the current period (1990–2013) and future climate scenario (2014–2030). The database used came from observed data, nine climate models of CORDEX (Coordinated Regional climate Downscaling Experiment)-Africa framework and MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications) reanalysis. The calibration and validation data for the model were acquired in field experiments, carried out in the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 growing seasons in the experimental area of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Angónia, Mozambique. The yield …

Development And Validation Of A Remote Sensing Model To Identify Anthropogenic Boreholes That Provide Dry Season, Refuge Habitat For Anopheles Vector Mosquitoes In Sub-Saharan Africa, James Pkemoi Kukat

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A lack of surveillance systems is an impediment to public health intervention for perennial vector-borne disease transmission in northern tropical savanna region of Kenya. The population in this area are mostly poor nomadic pastoralists with little acquired functional immunity to Plasmodium falciparum, due to infrequent challenges with the parasite. A common characteristic in tropical savanna climatic zone is the availability of riverbeds that have anthropogenic boreholes that provide malaria vector mosquitoes, such as Anopheles gambiae s.l and Anopheles funestus, with aquatic refuge habitats for proliferation and endemic transmission to proximity human households during the dry-season. Unfortunately, currently there …

Randy Martin's Ozone Study Featured On Ksl News, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Ground-level ozone is common pollutant in the air along the Wasatch Front in both summer and winter, and it can be damaging to both human health and plant ecosystems. One challenge to improving these pollution levels is the fact that ozone is not emitted but created through chemical ractions in the air. The EPA has set lower limits on allowable ozone levels, and the air along the Wasatch Front will likely exceed those limits many times in the months to come. UWRL faculty member Dr. Randy Martin is one of several researchers from three Utah universities and the Utah Department …

High-Resolution Surface Circulation Of The Bay Of Bengal Derived From Satellite Observation Data, Mridula Kuttyattu Rayaroth, Benny Neettumkara, Mohd Razali Mahmud

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

High-resolution surface circulation and its variability of the Bay of Bengal are derived by combining surface drifter and satellite observation data. The satellite altimetry data, satellitetracked surface drifter data and ocean surface winds from satellite scatterometers during 1993-2012 are used. The estimated velocities show good agreement with in-situ acoustic Doppler current profiler observations. The estimated velocity components are significantly correlated with monthly mean velocity components from Research Moored Array for AfricanAsian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction buoy data. The mean circulation exhibits the strong western boundary current, zonal currents and weak eastern boundary flow. Large spatial and temporal variations are found …

Proportions Of Convective And Stratiform Precipitation Revealed In Water Isotope Ratios, Pradeep K. Aggarwal, Ulrike Romatschke, Luis Araguas-Araguas, Dagnachew Belachew, Fred J. Longstaffe, Peter Berg, Courtney Schumacher, Aaron Funk

Earth Sciences Publications

Tropical and midlatitude precipitation is fundamentally of two types, spatially-limited and high-intensity convective or widespread and lower-intensity stratiform, owing to differences in vertical air motions and microphysical processes governing rain formation. These processes are difficult to observe or model and precipitation partitioning into rain types is critical for understanding how the water cycle responds to climate changes. Here, we combine two independent data sets – convective and stratiform precipitation fractions, derived from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite or synoptic cloud observations, and stable isotope and tritium compositions of surface precipitation, derived from a global network – to show that …

Concentration Trends For Lead And Calcium-Normalized Lead In Fish Fillets From The Big River, A Mining-Contaminated Stream In Southeastern Missouri Usa, Christopher J. Schmitt, Michael J. Mckee

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Lead (Pb) and calcium (Ca) concentrations were measured in fillet samples of longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) and redhorse suckers (Moxostoma spp.) collected in 2005–2012 from the Big River, which drains a historical mining area in southeastern Missouri and where a consumption advisory is in effect due to elevated Pb concentrations in fish. Lead tends to accumulated in Ca-rich tissues such as bone and scale. Concentrations of Pb in fish muscle are typically low, but can become elevated in fillets from Pb-contaminated sites depending in part on how much bone, scale, and skin is included in the sample. We used analysis-of-covariance …

Slides: The Colorado And Murray-Darling Panel Discussion, Brad Udall

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Brad Udall, Senior Scientist/Scholar, Colorado State University

12 slides