Earth Sciences Commons^™

Larger-Scale Ocean-Atmospheric Patterns Drive Synergistic Variability And World-Wide Volatility Of Wheat Yields, Ehsan Najafi, Indrani Pal, Reza Khanbilvardi

Advanced Science Research Center

Diagnosing potential predictability of global crop yields in the near term is of utmost importance for ensuring food supply and preventing socio-economic consequences. Previous studies suggest that a substantial proportion of global wheat yield variability depends on local climate and larger-scale ocean-atmospheric patterns. The science is however at its infancy to address whether synergistic variability and volatility (major departure from the normal) of multi-national crop yields can be potentially predicted by larger-scale climate drivers. Here, using observed data on wheat yields for 85 producing countries and climate variability from 1961–2013, we diagnose that wheat yields vary synergistically across key producing …

The Role Of Warm, Dry Summers And Variation In Snowpack On Phytoplankton Dynamics In Mountain Lakes, Isabella A. Olesky, Whitney S. Beck, Roderick W. Lammers, Cara E. Steger, Codie Wilson, Kyle R. Christianson, Kim Vincent, Gunnar Forrest Johnson, Pieter T.J. Johnson, Jill S. Baron

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is altering biogeochemical, metabolic, and ecological functions in lakes across the globe. Historically, mountain lakes in temperate regions have been unproductive because of brief ice-free seasons, a snowmelt-driven hydrograph, cold temperatures, and steep topography with low vegetation and soil cover. We tested the relative importance of winter and summer weather, watershed characteristics, and water chemistry as drivers of phytoplankton dynamics. Using boosted regression tree models for 28 mountain lakes in Colorado, we examined regional, intraseasonal, and interannual drivers of variability in chlorophyll a as a proxy for lake phytoplankton. Phytoplankton biomass was inversely related to the maximum snow …

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Forestry, Abdul Salam

Computer Information Technology Faculty Publications

Forests and grasslands play an important role in water and air purification, prevention of the soil erosion, and in provision of habitat to wildlife. Internet of Things has a tremendous potential to play a vital role in the forest ecosystem management and stability. The conservation of species and habitats, timber production, prevention of forest soil degradation, forest fire prediction, mitigation, and control can be attained through forest management using Internet of Things. The use and adoption of IoT in forest ecosystem management is challenging due to many factors. Vast geographical areas and limited resources in terms of budget and equipment …

Paleohydrology And Machine-Assisted Estimation Of Paleogeomorphology Of Fluvial Channels Of The Lower Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation, Birch River, Wv, Oluwasegun O. Abatan, Amy Weislogel

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Rivers transport sediments in a source to sink system while responding to allogenic controls of the depositional system. Stacked fluvial sandstones of the Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian Stage, ∼310–306 Ma) Allegheny Formation (MPAF) exposed at Birch River, West Virginia exhibit change in sedimentary structure and depositional style, reflecting changes in allogenic behavior. Paleohydrologic and numerical analysis were used to quantify geomorphological and paleohydrologic variations reflected by MPAF fluvial deposits with the goal of understanding the controls on resulting fluvial sandstone architecture in these different systems. Channel body geometry, sedimentary structures, and sandstone grain size distribution were used to reconstruct the paleoslope …

The Transition From Planar To En Echelon Morphology In A Single Vein In Shale: Insights From X-Ray Computed Tomography Scanning, Graham Dm Andrews, Sarah R. Brown, Johnathan Moore, Dustin Crandall, Paige Mackey

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

En echelon fractures and veins are among the most common and distinctive geological structures, yet their three-dimensional forms and relationships to surrounding structures are commonly unclear. X-ray computed tomography (CT) offers an unrivaled ability to examine structures within rocks in three dimensions, and it is applied here to a sample of drill core from the Marcellus Shale of southwestern Pennsylvania (USA). CT images yield qualitative and quantitative data on the transition from a pyrite-rich planar vein to an en echelon veinlet array, and on the heterogeneity of veinlets within the array. Using a combination of three- and two-dimensional images, geometric …

Analysis Of Deformation Mechanisms That Formed The Shear Zones Found In The Scituate Granite, Rhode Island, Usa, Jacob Waller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The rheology of the ductile middle and lower crust affects the rate and intensity of aftershocks following major seismic events. This ductile deformation in the middle crust is commonly localized in narrow shear zones, which requires a process that causes strain weakening to operate in order to form these shear zones. In order to determine the mechanisms that cause strain localization in a common crustal rock, microstructures were analyzed in and around a shear zone found in a granite, Scituate, RI, deformed during the Alleghenian orogeny. Evolution of shear zone growth was observed through optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) …

Development Of A Synthesis Method For O2-Releasing Compound For Microbiological Experiments, Danae Greco

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Many celestial bodies within our solar system may have habitable environments due to the presence of liquid water. Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, may be habitable because of its liquid ocean and other potentially biologically favorable conditions. The ocean on Europa is hypothesized to contain large amounts of oxidants and low pH due to the radiolytically processed icy ocean shell. This suspected environment on Europa is similar to the composition of acid mine drainage on Earth, which can house microbial communities in environments of extreme acidity. Similar chemical reactions in Europa’s ocean may occur to produce the appropriate reduction-oxidation gradients …

Modeling Hydrologic Impacts Of Tribal Water Rights Quantification And Settlement On The Flathead Indian Irrigation Project, Jordan Andrew Jimmie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation are a federally-recognized group of tribes (Kootenai, Salish, and Pend d’Oreille) located in western Montana. On the reservation lies the expansive Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (FIIP), which supplies irrigation water to approximately 127,000 acres of tribal and non-tribal agricultural land. The 1904 Flathead Allotment Act opened “surplus” land to non-native homesteaders without tribal consent, initiating the land ownership fragmentation observed on the reservation today. This legacy, combined with historically unquantified tribal reserved water rights and the antiquated state of the FIIP infrastructure, including water losses from unlined earthen canals, …

A Spatially Distributed Investigation Of Stream Water Temperature In A Contemporary Mixed-Land-Use Watershed, Jason P. Horne

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Stream water temperature is an important physical variable that influences many biological and abiotic water quality processes. The land-use/land-cover (LULC) types and corresponding variability in stream water temperature (Tw) processes in contemporary mixed-land-use watersheds necessitate research to advance management and policy decisions. Water temperature was analyzed from 21 gauging sites using a nested-scale experimental watershed study design. Results showed that forested land use was significantly negatively correlated (α = 0.05) with mean and maximum Tw. Agricultural land use was significantly positively correlated (α = 0.05) with maximum Tw except during the spring season. Mixed development and Tw were significantly correlated …

Geology And Aquifer Sensitivity Of Quaternary Glacial Deposits Overlying A Portion Of The Mahomet Buried Bedrock Valley Aquifer System, Andrew Watson, Eric W. Peterson, Dave Malone, Lisa Tranel

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

To characterize the distribution of Holocene and Late Quaternary deposits and to assess the contamination potential of the Mahomet Aquifer, surficial geologic and aquifer sensitivity maps of the Gibson City East 7.5-Minute Quadrangle were created. Geologic data, extent, and thickness of the geologic materials were coupled with LiDAR topographic data and analyzed using ESRI’s ArcGIS 10.6.1. Aquifer sensitivity to contamination was calculated based on the depth to the first aquifer unit, aquifer thickness, and the lithology of the aquifer materials. The surficial geologic mapping identified five lithostratigraphic units: the Cahokia Formation, the Equality Formation, the Henry Formation, and the Yorkville …

Supra-Salt Syndepositional Folding Within The Jurassic Morrison Formation, Big Gypsum Valley, Colorado, Alondra Soltero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Paradox Basin, along the Utah and Colorado border, exposes salt diapirs that form elongate "salt walls". Most exposures of sediments that were deposited during salt movement are hundreds of meters from the contacts. However, in the southeastern part of the Gypsum Valley diapir, a set of tight folds within the Jurassic Morrison Formation are preserved along the diapir margins where they overlie salt. These are best exposed at the southeastern end of Big Gypsum Valley. Previous interpretations suggested that the Morrison Formation folding and faulting occurred during dissolution of the diapir. However, field mapping reported here reveals that the …

Comparison Of Fe(Iii) Reduction Rates By Iron-Reducing Bacteria Within Sub Muros Samples From Quadrilátero Ferrífero Iron-Ore Caves, Brazil, Summer Ellis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Previous research investigating the speleogenesis of iron-ore caves (IOC) in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, or “Iron Quadrangle,” of Brazil suggests that microbial iron reduction and subsequent dissolution of the surrounding Fe(III) rich rocks is responsible for cave formation. A soft intra-wall substance (sub muros) containing iron-reducing bacteria (FeRB) was discovered underneath the durable crusts of cave walls. The goal of the study was to determine if reduction rates were comparable between sub muros samples, while additionally observing how different electron donors affect microbial iron reduction. To do this, I compared Fe(III) reduction rates between sub muros samples collected from …

Quantifying Contributions To The Variance Of Permeability And Porosity Within The Western Belt Sandstones Of The Cypress Formation, Illinois Basin, Nathaniel Frederick Dulaney

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

One of the strategies for reducing the emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) and mitigating its accumulation into the Earth’s atmosphere is geologic sequestration (GSCO2). This process might be paired with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) within depleted oil reservoirs to provide an economic incentive for GSCO2. Heterogeneity within reservoirs (e.g. spatial differences in entry pressure, permeability, and porosity) can exert significant influence on the dynamics of fluid flow during EOR and GSCO2, and thus on the ultimate success of GSCO2-EOR. The Western Belt sandstones of the Cypress Formation in the Illinois Basin are candidate reservoirs for GSCO2-EOR. Heterogeneity …

Degradation Of Trichloroethene By Radicals Produced By Oxygenation Of Various Reduced Iron Minerals, Jonathon Michael Deeter

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Fe(II)-containing minerals (often as oxides and sulfides) are commonly present in the shallow subsurface and aquifers. Recent studies have shown that Fe(II) can generate reactive oxygen species upon oxygenation. This bench-scale investigation examined the generation of radical species from [Fe(II)]-containing mineral phases when exposed to oxygen. The Fe(II)-minerals in this study were chemically-reduced hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) and goethite, magnetite, and mackinawite (FeS). This research demonstrated that trichloroethene (TCE) can rapidly degrade by radicals produced from Fe(II)-containing oxides if gaseous oxygen is introduced in reactors. In contrast, there was little or no TCE degradation from oxygenation of freshly-prepared ferrous sulfide …

The Impacts Of Accessibility On Vulnerability Of Place In Comfort Castle, Jamaica, Heather Thole

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Jamaica experiences meteorological, hydrological, and geological natural hazards that can produce island-wide impacts. The island’s exposure to multiple hazard types requires effective and sustainable mitigation and disaster risk management to lessen potential impacts, especially for vulnerable populations and communities. Comfort Castle, a small rural farming community, sits in the upper Rio Grande Valley of Portland parish and experiences earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes, heavy rainfall, and floods. Steep terrain and remoteness due to geographic location affect the community’s geophysical vulnerability. Their social vulnerability results from a lack of employment, health, educational, and livelihood resources within the community. Together, geophysical, and social factors …

Rain Generated Lahars Prior To The 2018 Catastrophic Eruption Of Fuego Volcano, Guatemala, Claudia Buondonno

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Fuego volcano is one of the most active and hazardous volcanoes in the world. It is located in the northern part of the Central American Volcanic Arc in Guatemala and its activity can be characterized by long term, low-level background activity, and sporadic larger explosive eruptions. Its historical observations of eruptions date back to 1531, but it has been erupting vigorously since 2002 with major activity throughout 2018, producing three main eruptions in February, June and November. Its almost persistent activity generates major ashfalls, pyroclastic flows, lava flows; when heavy rains mobilize its deposits, they can form damaging lahars. Phenomena, …

Late Eocene To Early Oligocene Palynostratigraphy Of The Western Black Sea, Easternparatethys, Recep Hayretti̇n Sancay, Zühtü Bati

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Eastern Thrace and Western Black Sea basins provide unique perspectives on the palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Paratethys. Although very thick and extensive Oligocene outcrops and well sections exist in the Thrace Basin, only a few comparable sections are available in the Black Sea onshore areas. In this study, five measured stratigraphic sections of Eocene to Oligocene age from the margins of the Western Black Sea were studied and palynomorph assemblages were identified quantitatively. Index dinoflagellate cyst events and a palynological biozonation as established in the Mediterranean were applied successfully. Priabonian units contain the Aal biozone, whereas Rupelian successions were …

Seismic Identification Of Gas Hydrates: A Case Study From Sakarya Canyon,Western Black Sea, Aslihan Nasif, Fai̇k Erdeni̇z Özel, Derman Dondurur

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Multichannel seismic, 3.5-kHz Chirp subbottom profiler and multibeam bathymetric data were collected along the western Black Sea margin, offshore Sakarya River, to investigate the bottom-simulating reflections (BSRs), free gas accumulations, and mud volcanoes. Geometries from the seismic data indicate widespread BSRs along the continental rise between 750 and 1950 m water depths, 70 to 350 ms below the seafloor. Seismic attribute analyses have been applied to the seismic data to reveal the acoustic properties of the gas hydrates. According to the results from such analyses, we conclude that there are acoustically transparent zones beneath most of the BSRs in the …

Uplift Of Anatolia, Aral I. Okay, Massimiliano Zattin, Ercan Özcan, Gürsel Sunal

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Cenozoic history of the Anatolian Plateau is investigated using the distribution of the last Cenozoic marine strata, the ages of Neogene continental sediments and magmatic rocks, and thermochronology. In central and northern Anatolia, the youngest marine sediments are of Middle Eocene age and show that the region has been above the sea level since ca. 41 Ma. The preservation of marine Eocene sequences over large regions and widespread distribution of Neogene continental sediments point to minor erosion or subsidence, except in the Miocene core complexes, and indicate average surface uplift or subsidence rates of less than 0.05 km/Myr since …

3d Surface Modeling Of Late Pleistocene Glaciers In The Munzur Mountains(Eastern Turkey) And Its Paleoclimatic Implications, Zeynel Çilğin

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Located in the Eastern Anatolian Region in Turkey, the Munzur Mountains (Munzurs; 3463 m above sea level) are one of the most important glacial landscapes in Turkey, with evidence for extensive glaciations in the past and small-scale glaciation at present. As Turkey's second-largest glaciated region, these mountains include various glacial landforms, primarily glacial valleys, hanging valleys, cirques, and moraines. However, only limited data are available on the extent and chronology of former glaciations in the Munzur Mountains. This study produced data on the extent of paleoglaciers, calculated their equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs), revealed paleoclimate conditions, and modeled paleo temperatures during …

Soil Carbon Dynamics And Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Conservation Tillage Systems At Multiple Scales, Yawen Huang

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Conservation tillage practices like no-tillage and reduced tillage have been widely implemented worldwide, with expectations they would provide multiple benefits (e.g., yield enhancement and soil carbon sequestration) for food security and climate adaptation and mitigation. However, the adoption of conservation tillage faces both opportunities and challenges. A knowledge gap still exists regarding the effects of conservation tillage on the carbon cycle in agroecosystems. This dissertation reflects a comprehensive evaluation of conservation tillage at multiple scales using an integrated systems approach, a combination of data synthesis, the agriculture ecosystem model, and field observations and measurements. I first conducted a meta-analysis to …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

Surficial Fractures In The Navajo Sandstone, South-Western Usa: The Roles Of Thermal Cycles, Rainstorms, Granular Disintegration, And Iterative Cracking, David Loope, Garrison R. Loope, Caroline M. Burberry, Clinton Rowe, Gerald C. Bryant

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Deep (> 5 m) sheeting fractures in the Navajo sandstone are evident at numerous sites in southern Utah and derive from tectonic stresses. Strong diurnal thermal cycles are, however, the likely triggers for shallow (< 0.3 m) sheeting fractures. Data from subsurface thermal sensors reveal that large temperature differences between sensors at 2 and 15 cm depth on clear summer afternoons are as great as those that trigger sheeting fractures in exposed California granite. Extensive polygonal patterns in the Navajo sandstone are composed of surface-perpendicular fractures and were produced by contractile stresses. Numerous studies have shown that porewater diminishes the tensile strength of sandstone. Based on our thermal records, we propose that cooling during monsoonal rainstorms triggers polygonal fracturing of temporarily weakened rock. On steep outcrops, polygonal patterns are rectilinear and orthogonal, with T-vertices. Lower-angle slopes host hexagonal patterns (defined by the dominance of Y-vertices). Intermediate patterns with rectangles and hexagons of similar scale are common. We posit that outcropping fractures are advancing downward by iterative steps, and that hexagons on sandstone surfaces (like prismatic columns of basalt) have evolved from ancestral orthogonal polygons of similar scale. In lava flows, fractures elongate intermittently as they follow a steep thermal gradient (the source of stress) as it rapidly moves through the rock mass. In our model, a steep, surficial thermal gradient descends through unfractured sandstone, but at the slow pace of granular disintegration. Through time, as the friable rock on stable slopes erodes, iterative cracking advances into new space. Hexagonal patterns form as new fractures, imperfectly guided by the older ones, propagate in new directions, and vertices drift into a configuration that minimizes the ratio of fracture length to polygon area.

The Influence Of Isolated Thunderstorms And The Low-Level Wind Field On Nocturnally Migrating Birds In Central North America, Matthew S. Van Den Broeke, Timothy J. Gunkel

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Seasonal bird migration occurs on large spatial scales and is influenced by many factors including weather conditions. Weather can include thunderstorms, which may force migrants to land or cause them to reroute a migration path. In this study, a sample of isolated thunderstorms was analyzed from the domains of three weather radars in the central United States to test hypotheses regarding the influence of thunderstorms on the distribution of migrants. Migrating bird density was often reduced in the wake of storms, and this wake reduction was typically more pronounced for larger, more intense and faster- moving storms, particularly in eastern …

The Fluxnet2015 Dataset And The Oneflux Processing Pipeline For Eddy Covariance Data, Gilberto Pastorello, Timothy Arkebauer, Dave P. Billesbach, Anatoly Gitelson, Adam Liska, Andrew Suyker, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, More Than 200 Other

Adam Liska Papers

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as …

Acoustic Space Occupancy: Combining Ecoacoustics And Lidar To Model Biodiversity Variation And Detection Bias Across Heterogeneous Landscapes, Danielle I. Rappaport, J. Andrew Royle, Douglas C. Morton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

There is global interest in quantifying changing biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Ecoacoustics may offer a promising pathway for supporting multi-taxa monitoring, but its scalability has been hampered by the sonic complexity of biodiverse ecosystems and the imperfect detectability of animal-generated sounds. The acoustic signature of a habitat, or soundscape, contains information about multiple taxa and may circumvent species identification, but robust statistical technology for characterizing community-level attributes is lacking. Here, we present the Acoustic Space Occupancy Model, a flexible hierarchical framework designed to account for detection artifacts from acoustic surveys in order to model biologically relevant variation in acoustic space …

Human-Associated Species Dominate Passerine Communities Across The United States, Helen R. Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Aim: Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species abundance. However, how human land use patterns and species invasions intersect to shape patterns of abundance and dominance within ecological communities is poorly understood even in well-known taxa.

Location: Conterminous United States.

Time period: 2010–2012.

Major taxa studied: Passeriformes.

Methods: We analyse continental-scale monitoring data to study the proportional …

Revision Of The Eocene 'Platyrhina' Species From The Bolca Lagerstätte (Italy) Reveals The First Panray (Batomorphii: Zanobatidae) In The Fossil Record, Giuseppe Marramà, Giorgio Carnevale, Kerin M. Claeson, Gavin J P Naylor, Jürgen Kriwet

PCOM Scholarly Works

The fossil-Lagerstätte of Bolca (Italy) is well known for the diversity and exquisite preservation of its bony and cartilaginous fishes documenting tropical shallow-water marine environments associated with coral reefs in the western Tethys during the early Eocene. In this study, the taxonomic, systematic and phylogenetic position of two batoid species traditionally assigned to the living thornback ray genus Platyrhina is re-evaluated. †Platyrhina bolcensis Heckel, 1851 is recognized as a separate species of the Platyrhinidae because of its plate-like antorbital cartilage with an irregular outline and a small horn on the nasal capsules. Also, the rostral cartilage does not reach …

Characterizing The Hydrological Function Of Treed Bogs In The Zone Of Discontinuous Permafrost, Brenden Disher

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The loss of permafrost has produced a wholesale conversion from forest to wetland, and many studies have analyzed the effects of permafrost thaw-induced land cover change on the hydrology and ecology of landscapes within the Taiga Plains. The permafrost thaw driven areal shrinkage of forested plateaux and their replacement by treeless wetlands is well documented, and the co-occurrence of permafrost and black spruce forest cover is the basis for areal estimates of the former. However, field studies conducted at a peatland dominated landscape near Fort Simpson, NWT indicate that tree canopy may persist following the loss of permafrost and the …

Investigating Diel, Seasonal, And Interannual Variability Of Dissolved And Particulate Stable Carbon Isotope Values In A Eutrophic Boreal Lake, Rachel Henderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lakes are globally significant sources, sinks, and conduits of carbon. Cultural eutrophication of freshwater promotes the growth of phytoplankton blooms, which can transform, respire, and sequester large amounts of carbon. Analysis of stable carbon isotopes is a common tool to study the movement of carbon through the aquatic carbon cycle. The causes of temporal variability in δ¹³C values at different timescales are not well understood, and differ between lakes. In this study, I investigated diel, seasonal, and interannual variability in δ¹³C values of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) in Lake 227, an …