Earth Sciences Commons^™

Incorporating Geophysical Data In Slope Stability Modeling For Two Slopes In Arkansas, Vanessa Lebow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Slope failures in the United States alone cause millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure, threaten national monuments, create environmental hazards, and take an average of 25-50 lives a year. With the inevitable construction that occurs on slopes, it is imperative that the slopes be properly designed which requires a thorough understanding of slope grade, subsurface soil conditions, soil strength parameters, water table locations, and depth to bedrock across the entire site. The preferred method of data collection would be to use borings and other in-situ methods; however, sometimes due to cost constraints or site accessibility only a very limited …

Small Ruminant Health Intervention Calendar In Ethiopia, Mesfin Mekonnen, Ayalew Assefa, Tesfalem Nane, Firdawok Ayele, Asrat Arke, Belay Elias, Barbara Wieland

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Contents

1 Background................................................................................................... 3
2 Developing the health intervention calendar............................................................ 4
The treatment calendar ......................................................... 4 Applying the calendar..................................................................... 5 4 References................................................................... 8

Nano-Petrophysical Study Of The Dean, Wolfcamp, And Canyon Formations Of The Midland Basin, Texas, Usa., Benton M. Mowrey

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

The prolific levels of oil and gas production from the shale revolution have been plagued by steep initial production decline and inefficiencies in recovering the total hydrocarbons in place. Even the widespread practice of using multi-well sites with closely spaced wellbores has failed to yield a moderate fraction of the potential resources. It is hypothesized that the constraints of shale production arise from its nano-pore structure. Slow, diffuse hydrocarbon transport from the shale matrix to the stimulated fracture network is a likely production bottleneck. Understanding transport phenomena from this tight, porous matrix to the fracture via nanometer-scale pathways is essential …

Estimation Of Evapotranspiration And Other Water Budget Factors At Glacier Creek Preserve, Kian Paul Mcintosh

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

A water budget of a watershed consists of the inputs and outputs of water to and from it, including precipitation, change in water storage, surface water flow, and evapotranspiration. Water budget estimates are of high importance as a result of increasing demand due to population growth and other factors. Improving estimate accuracy and precision of evapotranspiration and runoff to streams allows scientists to better determine the true availability of water for human and conservation use. At Glacier Creek Preserve, 6.5% of the incoming precipitation left the preserve as discharge from the stream and 95.9% of the incoming precipitation was lost …

Evolution Of The Book Cliffs Dryland Escarpment In Central Utah - Establishing Rates And Testing Models Of Escarpment Retreat, Nicholas R. Mccarroll

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the earliest explorations of the Colorado Plateau, geologists have suspected that cliffs are retreating back laterally. Clarence Dutton envisioned “the beds thus dissolving edge wise until after the lapse of millions of centuries their terminal cliffs stand a hundred miles or more back from their original position” when he wrote about the landscape in 1882. While many geologic studies have determined how fast rivers cut down through the Plateau, only a few studies have calculated how quickly cliffs retreat laterally, and geologists have been arguing since the 1940’s what exactly drives cliffs to retreat in the first place. We …

Assessing Amendment Treatments For Sodic Soil Reclamation In Arid Land Environments, Sandra Udy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Plugged and abandoned well pads throughout the Uintah Basin face reclamation challenges due to factors including a harsh climate, invasive species, and high salt loads. Finding ways to alleviate soil sodicity could improve soil reclamation success. Gypsum, sulfur, activated carbon, and Biochar are being applied to improve soil parameters negatively impacted by sodicity, but the direct impact of these amendments on Uintah Basin soils is still largely unknown. The aim of this study was two-fold. (1) Evaluate the effectiveness of gypsum, sulfuric acid, Biochar, activated carbon, and combinations of these amendments in reducing the impact of soil sodicity of the …

Quantifying The Effectiveness Of Cedar Revetment In Mitigating Bank Erosion In Riceford Creek, Minnesota, Talia A. Klein

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Southeastern Minnesota has incised streams that are susceptible to bank erosion. Previously, efforts have been made to identify sections of Riceford Creek that have high erosion susceptibility using the Bank Erosion Hazard Index (BEHI). Locally harvested cedars were then used as a revetment strategy to mitigate erosion of the stream banks prioritized by the BEHI analysis. This study aims to 1) determine if cedar revetment effectively mitigates bank erosion in Riceford Creek and 2) determine if the BEHI method is an effective way of quantifying erosion hazard in Riceford Creek. This study focuses on two sections in Riceford Creek where …

Factors Associated With Adult Asthma Related Emergency Room Discharges In North Central Texas In 2010 - 2014, Nguyen Cao

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

Asthma is a common chronic disease of the airways characterized by recurrent reversible airway obstruction. More than 25 million Americans have asthma. In this study, factors associated with adult asthma related emergency room discharges in North Central Texas during the period 2010 – 2014 were investigated. This study involved a total of 78,444 cases of adult asthma hospital discharges obtained from the Dallas-Fort-Worth-Hospital Council Foundation, socioeconomic indicators from the U.S. Bureau of Census databases, and air pollution and meteorological data obtained from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). A number of important relationships underpinning asthma hospital visits in NCT …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Asthma Hospitalizations And Associated Factors In Eastern Texas, 2005-2012, Sadananda Silwal

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

The prevalence of asthma is increasing for both adult and children in eastern Texas. This study examines the spatial and temporal differences in asthma hospital discharge rates and its association with socioeconomic risk indicators, air pollutants (ozone and NO2) and meteorological variables (temperature, wind speed, and wind direction to an extent). Socioeconomic risk indicators were subjected to principal component analysis to create socioeconomic deprivation index for each county. Annual and diurnal temporal distribution of ozone, NO2, temperature and wind speed were analyzed to understand their characteristics during a wet year (2007) and a dry year (2011). Hotspot analysis and Cluster …

Vegetation Classification And Mapping, Missouri National Recreational River, Tom Baldvins, Matt Ley, David Jones, Joe Stevens, Hannah Pilkington

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The vegetation inventory project at Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) classified and mapped vegetation within the park administrative boundary and estimated thematic map accuracy quantitatively. The project was conducted over a four year period from the summer of 2015 to the winter of 2019.

The project follows guidance provided by the National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory (VMI) Program. The overall process includes initial planning and scoping, imagery procurement, field data collection, data analysis, imagery interpretation and classification, and accuracy assessment. The initial planning and scoping meetings to support study plan development took place in December, 2009, …

Nanopetrophysical Characterization Of The Wolfcamp A Shale Formation In The Permian Basin Of Southeastern New Mexico, U.S.A., Ryan Z. Jones

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

The Permian Basin has been producing oil and gas for over a century, but the production has increased rapidly in recent years due to new completion methods such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The Wolfcamp Shale is a large producer of oil and gas that is found within both the Delaware and Midland sub-basins of the Permian. This study focuses on the Wolfcamp A section in the Delaware Basin which lies within southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. The most recent study performed to estimate continuous (unconventional) oil within the Delaware Basin was conducted in November 2018 by the …

Evaluating The Effects Of Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, And Calcium Concentrations On Dolomite Stoichiometry, Cation Ordering, And Reaction Rate, Hanna F. Cohen

Masters Theses

Numerous environmental factors affect dolomitization. Shallow peritidal and restricted marine environments, for example, are often associated with more abundant and more stoichiometric dolomite than deeper marine environments. Higher fluid Mg/Ca ratios resulting from gypsum precipitation are often invoked to explain this observation, even when evidence of evaporites is absent. In this study, high-temperature dolomitization experiments show that the concentrations of major cation concentrations (Na, K, Mg, and Ca) impact dolomite stoichiometry and reaction rate. Nearly 200 batch dolomitization experiments were run whereby 100 mg of natural aragonite ooids were dolomitized at 215°C in ionic solutions. Fluid [NaCl] and [KCl] correlate …

Laboratory-Scale Petrophysical Evaluation Of Lithofacies Effect On Reservoir & Source Quality And Core-Calibrated Well Log Analysis In Pennsylvanian-Permian Wolfcamp-Spraberry Intervals, Midland Basin, Texas, Usa, Samuel John Becker

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

The “Wolfberry” play, which is made up of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations, is an important resource for the exploitation of hydrocarbons with a need for additional petrophysical understanding. Although the Wolfcamp is categorized as a shale, it is a complex and heterogeneous formation composed of multiple facies. The unique lithological composition of each facies controls formation properties, which further drive reservoir/source quality. With the integrated laboratory- and field-scale analyses, this study uses mostly laboratory petrophysical evaluation to gain insight on the relationship between facies and reservoir/source quality in the Lower Spraberry and Wolfcamp intervals throughout the Midland Basin. To …

Evidence Of Limited Recruitment Of Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Missouri River, Kirk D. Steffensen, Kimberly Chojnacki, Jeffrey A. Kalie, Meredith L. Bartron, Edward J. Heist, Kyle R. Winders, Nathan C. Loecker, Wyatt J. Doyle, Timothy L. Welker

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus are endemic to the Missouri and Mississippi river basins and are rare throughout their range. The species was listed as federally endangered with little to no evidence of natural recruitment. Since population augmentation was initiated as a recovery objective in the early 1990s, thousands of hatchery-origin Pallid Sturgeon have been stocked in the lower Missouri River (Gavins Point Dam [river kilometer 1,305.1] to the confluence of the Mississippi River [river kilometer 0.0]). Efforts to discriminate natural reproduction and recruitment of wild-origin Pallid Sturgeon from hatchery-origin fish has been hampered by tag loss in hatchery-origin sturgeon, inconsistent …

Paleoseismology Of The Central Garlock Fault In Searles Valley, California, Kyle Pena

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In this study, a paleoseismic trench with limited age constraints that was previously excavated in 1990 across the central Garlock Fault near Christmas Canyon, in Searles Valley, California, was reopened to take advantage of new advances in luminescence dating techniques to investigate potential temporal variability in earthquake recurrence on the Garlock fault and to analyze previously unexposed older earthquake evidence. The trench exposed interbedded alluvial sand and pebble-gravels, with well-sorted, rounded, lacustrine sand from the most recent highstand of pluvial Lake Searles present at the base of the trench. Preliminary findings suggest at least 10 surface rupturing earthquake events occurred …

Arboretum Exchange, Fall 2019, Olivia Arias, Zinan Chi, Rudy Lawler, Emily Nelson, Ryan Rhee

Sustainability Exchange Projects

The Arboretum Project, led by Professor Stan Braude of Biology, worked to certify the WashU campus as a Level II Arboretum. Students learned to identify and catalog trees, identified creative ways to engage the public with WU campus natural resources, and worked with Buildings & Grounds and the Office of Sustainability to plan for the future of tree initiatives on campus.

Helium In Stream Water As A Volcanic Monitoring Tool, W. Payton Gardner, David D. Susong

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We show that synoptic sampling of streams can be used to characterize volcanic volatiles in groundwater over large spatial scales. Synoptic sampling of dissolved noble gases, 222Rn, major ions, and stream discharge was carried out along a 30 km reach of the Gibbon River, near Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Groundwater discharge location, volume, and composition were estimated by constrained calibration of a stream flow and solute transport model. Estimated groundwater composition from stream modeling was compared to shallow groundwater concentrations measured in nearby springs. 3He, 222Rn, and Cl− aq signatures in the Gibbon River are indicative …

Examining The Effects Of Greenland Ice Sheet Melting And Atlantic Meridional Shutdown On The Climate Of Scandinavia And The British Isles, Tyler Lemburg

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Earth’s climate has been rapidly changing over the last hundred years, and its global average temperature is rising. However, climate change is far more complicated than a simple increase in temperature. For example, it is theorized that certain regions of Earth, including Scandinavia and the British Isles, could actually become cooler through ongoing climate change processes. Two of these processes are Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) melting, and slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This research examines if climate change, through GrIS melting and AMOC slowdown, could contribute to cooler, instead of warmer, temperatures in Scandinavia and the British …

Step-Pool Channel Morphology, Forcing Effects, And Geomorphic Classification In The Ozark Highlands, Se Missouri, Triston Ralland Rice

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Understanding headwater streams and their morphology is inherently difficult in contrast to larger streams in downstream valleys. Geomorphic forcing can occur over short distances (<10 >m) and influence channel geometry due to geologic factors such as colluvial inputs and resistant bedrock or biologic factors such as fluvial wood inputs and tree growth in the channel. How and where these geomorphic variables effect step-pool channel characteristics is poorly understood in the Ozark Highlands. Step-pool channel form is typically controlled by gradient, substrate characteristics, and sediment supply. This study reports on a geomorphic assessment of step-pool characteristics and classifies channel form using …

Characterizing Dryland Ecosystems Using Remote Sensing And Dynamic Global Vegetation Modeling, Abdolhamid Dashtiahangar

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Drylands include all terrestrial regions where the production of crops, forage, wood and other ecosystem services are limited by water. These ecosystems cover approximately 40% of the earth terrestrial surface and accommodate more than 2 billion people (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Moreover, the interannual variability of the global carbon budget is strongly regulated by vegetation dynamics in drylands. Understanding the dynamics of such ecosystems is significant for assessing the potential for and impacts of natural or anthropogenic disturbances and mitigation planning, and a necessary step toward enhancing the economic and social well-being of dryland communities in a sustainable manner (Global …

Geomorphology And Geochronology Of Sand Ramps Adjoining The Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kane County, Utah, Kerri E. Spuller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Projected climate change is expected to have widespread impacts on arid regions of the world. Inland, continental dune fields are sensitive to changes in climate and the surrounding environment and are an important source for understanding interactions between Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and biosphere in drylands. Reconstructing past periods of aeolian activity from dune fields can provide insights into how landscapes have responded to previous changes in climate. However, the nature of aeolian systems to recycle older deposits leads to a preservation bias towards only the youngest deposits. Targeting geomorphic settings that are conducive to preserving older records is critical to …

The Spatial Distribution Of Elevated Uranium In The Treasure Valley Aquifer System, Southwest Idaho, Lloyd A. Womeldorph

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Treasure Valley Aquifer System (TVAS) in southwestern Idaho contains well-documented uranium concentrations over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level of 30 µg/L. With a population in the Treasure Valley projected to reach 1.6 million by 2065, in-depth horizontal and vertical spatial knowledge of the contaminant is needed. This study evaluates the horizontal and vertical spatial nature of uranium in the TVAS and interprets those observations to provide both a conceptual model of uranium behavior, and recommendations for water resource management. A large water quality dataset was compiled, and supplemented by data collected during a field sampling campaign, …

Informing Field Management Decisions To Enhance Alfalfa Seed Production Using Remote Sensing, Thomas V. Van Der Weide

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The development rate of alfalfa seed crop depends on both environmental conditions and management decisions. Crop management decisions, such as determining when to release pollinators to optimize pollination, can be informed by the identification of plant development stages from remote sensing data. I first identify what electromagnetic wavelengths are sensitive to alfalfa plant development stages using hyperspectral data. A Random Forest regression is used to determine the best Vegetation Index (VI) to monitor how much of the plant is covered in flower. The results indicate that Blue, Green, and Near-Infrared are the important electromagnetic wavelengths for the VI. Imagery collected …

Assessing The Impact Of 3d Printed Terrain On Teaching Topography In Introductory Earth Science Labs, Jay Alan Cockrell

Masters Theses

Learning to effectively read topographic maps is challenging for students, as these maps contain 3D representations of terrain displayed on a 2D surface map. This project assessed student learning when 3D terrain printed from a portion of the laboratory quadrangle map currently in use was introduced into an earth science course for non-science majors. Using a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent groups across two semesters, performance on the Modified Topographic Map Assessment (MTMA) administered as a pre- and posttest was used to compare learning outcomes between the traditional lab and the 3D print lab intervention. Students in the traditional (n = …

Effects Of Water Table Depth And Edaphic Characteristics On Plant Diversity In A Southern Mississippi Pitcher Plant Bog, Patrick Kirby

Master's Theses

This study examined the effects that water table depth and soil characteristics have on plant species richness and species composition within pitcher plant bogs across seasons. Eight piezometers were installed at random distances to monitor long-term water table depth and pressure fluctuations along a ~710-meter line transect traversing upland and bog habitats. Vegetation sampling quadrats (n=128) were set up near each piezometer. Cover data and water table depths were collected in spring and late summer. Soil samples collected from each treatment group were used to obtain soil texture and nutrient data. The summer collection period yielded a total gdiversity of …

Fracture Analysis Of The Lower Oceanic Crust, Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian Ridge, Trent Jackson

Master's Theses

Atlantis Bank (AB) is an oceanic core complex (OCC), formed at the slow-spreading (spreading rate/yr) Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR)-Atlantis II transform junction. AB is a domal massif composed of lower crustal and upper mantle rocks exhumed along a normal-sense detachment shear zone/fault. OCCs are of high interest since oceanic crust comprises the majority of Earth’s crust and OCCs form up to 15% of the crust that is formed at slow-spreading ridges. Brittle deformation, such as faults and fractures provide pathways for fluids to interact with the crust, which increases heat and mass exchange between the crust and hydrosphere, and is …

Histological Evidence Of Annual And Lunar Reproductive Rhythms Of Atlantic Sea Urchin, Arbacia Punctulata In The Gulf Of Mexico: Changes In Nutritive Phagocytes In Relation To Gametogenesis, Eleazar Hernandez Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental phenomena such as temperature, photoperiod, tidal cycle, and lunar rhythm act as external cues that stimulate the reproductive activity of marine organisms. In this study, I report the annual and lunar reproductive cycles, and changes in nutritive phagocytes (NPs) in relation to gonadal maturation of Atlantic sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata, a primeval species). Monthly and weekly changes in gonadal development/maturation were observed histologically. In male, the testicular lobules were densely packed with sperm from June to August. In female, on the other hand, mature eggs first appeared in some ovaries in May, numerically increased from June to …

The Role Of Sediment Resuspension In Estuarine Inorganic Nutrient Cycling, Kirsten Jo Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

Time-scaling of estuarine inorganic nitrogen cycling contains many assumptions due to biogeochemical interactions. Nitrogen, often a limiting factor for primary production, is transformed and utilized by many estuarine organisms. Inorganic nitrogen is especially high in porewater. High nutrient pore water, contained within the interstitial spaces of sediment, has been assumed to influx high concentrations of inorganic nutrients into surface waters during resuspension events. These short-term resuspension events rapidly introducing high concentration of nutrients into the water column. In order to determine the internal time scale of inorganic nitrogen cycling, a box-model nutrient budget, horizontal in situ transects, and vertical nutrient …

Enabling High Quality Oxygen Measurements During Robotic Based Studies Of Ocean Ecological And Biogeochemical Processes, Brianna A. Alanis

Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved oxygen is an essential parameter necessary for understanding marine ecological and biogeochemical processes. New robotic vehicles and autonomous platforms are being applied to an even wider range of ecological and biogeochemical studies. Thus, arises the opportunity for matching the best possible oxygen sensing techniques and methods to these new platforms. In so doing, we can enable both more targeted and higher resolution oxygen measurements than previously possible and potentially use oxygen measurements for a wider range of applications, including in situ incubation experiments and primary productivity measurements. This thesis tested three different oxygen sensors in a trade study for …

Manus Descriptions Of An Undescribed Mastodon From The Latest Miocene-Earliest Pliocene Gray Fossil Site, With Comparisons To Other North American Proboscidean Taxa, Brenna Hart-Farrar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A detailed morphological description of a proboscidean manus from the Gray Fossil Site (GFS), Gray, Tennessee is provided. Manus elements from an American mastodon (Mammut americanum), a Britt’s shovel-tusker (Amebelodon britti), an undescribed small gomphothere species, and a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) are used for comparisons. Linear measurements indicate proportional differences between the GFS mastodon and other proboscidean taxa ranging from the Hemphillian to Rancholabrean land mammal ages. Possible pathologies are also described. The purpose of this study is to determine how the GFS mastodon differs in manus morphology and locomotion from different proboscidean …