Earth Sciences Commons^™

Puccinellia (Puccinellia Ciliata) For Dryland Salinity Management, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Puccinellia (Puccinellia ciliata) is a potentially valuable fodder on waterlogged saline land. Puccinellia, Distichlis and marine couch are the most salt tolerant of the commercially available grasses. It is best suited to areas with more than 400mm annual rainfall and where the watertable is shallow over summer.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that any dryland salinity management is part of a whole farm, and preferably a whole catchment, water management plan.

Shallow Relief Drains In Western Australia, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Shallow relief drains are easy to construct and a cost-effective way to:

• remove accumulated surface water from depressions and low-lying land
• divert run-off from land that is prone to inundation or flooding
• remove surface water to a safe disposal area, to reduce the length of time the land is inundated or flooded
• reduce the potential for localised recharge and the development of secondary salinity
• improve the continuity of flow within the catchment along the valley floor.

Measuring Soil Salinity, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

To make sound decisions on managing saline sites, you need to know the source of salt, how salinisation is occurring, the landscape context, and most importantly, the actual salt concentration of the soil.

The most common 'measures' of salt concentration are actually estimates based on electrical conductivity of a soil and water solution. Soil salt content can be measured in a laboratory by measuring the total dissolved solids in a sample. In the field, salt concentration can also be estimated using electromagnetic induction-based soil sensors.

Topography And Wildfire Jointly Mediate Postfire Ecosystem Multifunctionality In A Chinese Boreal Forest, Jianjian Kong, Zifan Ding, Wenhua Cai, Jiaxing Zu, Bo Liu, Jian Yang

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Both topography and wildfire can exert significant influences on ecosystem processes and functions during boreal forest successions. However, their impacts on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remain unclear. A mega-fire burned an area of 8700 hectares in the Great Xing’an Mountains in 2000, creating a wide range of fire severity levels across various topographic positions. This provided a unique opportunity to explore the impacts of mixed-severity fire disturbance in boreal forests. We evaluated the effect pathways of wildfire and topography on aboveground multifunctionality (AEMF), soil multifunctionality (SEMF), and overall multifunctionality (OEMF). We found that high-severity burning resulted in lower AEMF, SEMF, and …

Excavated Tanks (Farm Dams), Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Guidelines and information for planning, legal requirements, design, construction and management of excavated tanks for water storage on farm.

Excavated tanks (farm dams) provide effective water storage wherever surface water run-off can be harvested for livestock, crop spraying, irrigation and domestic use on rural properties.

Excavated tanks for rainfall storage are common in the southern agricultural areas of WA.

Well-designed and constructed dams are farm assets, safe and require little maintenance.

Poor design and construction can lead to poor water harvesting and storage, excessive costs, downstream erosion and risks to property and people.

DPIRD recommends that excavated tanks should be …

Pumping Groundwater For Salinity Control In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

DPIRD recommends that groundwater pumping is used as part of an integrated water and salinity management program.

Groundwater pumping can lower local water tables, recover land for production and reduce the spread of local salinity or to protect high value assets at risk, such as townsites, roads or railway lines. Pump water can be discharged to safe disposal points or used on farm for desalination.

Roaded Catchments In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Roaded catchments are earthwork structures designed to increase the amount of run-off from the catchment above a receiving farm dam.

Roaded catchments are lined with clay and compacted to make a smooth surface that reduces infiltration and increases run-off. Roaded catchments should discharge into a silt trap and then into a dam (excavated earth tank). This combined structure should be fenced to exclude livestock.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that roaded catchments are part of an integrated water and salinity management program.

The information in this page is only a guide – seek expert advice before …

Natural Revegetation And No Grazing, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

The department recommends that any dryland salinity management is part of a whole farm, and preferably a whole catchment, water management plan.

Natural revegetation and no grazing are only recommended for sites that are too saline, waterlogged and/or inundated for other treatments to succeed in the south-west of Western Australia. It is also the preferred option for the lowest possible cost.

Saltland Pastures In Western Australia, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Saltland pastures are associations of salt and waterlogging-tolerant plants that produce fodder for grazing animals from saline and waterlogged soils. Saltland pastures can improve production from saltland sites, reduce salt movement from the site, and improve soil structure.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that saltland management is part of a whole-farm, and preferably whole-catchment, plan.

Managing Subsurface Water In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) recommends that subsurface water management is part of an integrated water and salinity program. An integrated program can help to lower water tables and alleviate problems with waterlogging, rising salinity, and infrastructure damage.

Comparison Of Soil Organic Matter Fractions In Non-Grazed And Prescribed Sheep-Grazed Managed Land In Southwest Michigan, Julia M. Shreve, Katelyn Smith, Lauren Burns

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

The impact of prescribed sheep grazing on soil organic carbon (SOC) was investigated by comparing a 2-acre grazed and a 2-acre non-grazed (control) portion of redeveloped land previously seeded with pasture mix in Southwest Michigan. This study aimed to measure changes in SOC resulting from prescribed sheep grazing by examining two key soil organic matter (SOM) fractions: particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) along with soil physical and chemical properties (e.g., bulk density, infiltration rate, moisture content, pH, conductivity). Soil cores were collected from 5 locations within each of the 2-acre plots using a diagonal random sampling …

Rabbit Control: Warren And Harbourage Destruction, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

If correctly and appropriately undertaken, the destruction of rabbit warrens, or modification of the habitat so it becomes less favourable to rabbits, can be an important and effective part of reducing the impacts of rabbits.

Destruction of warrens can improve the overall effectiveness of rabbit control programs, even though many rabbits live and shelter above-ground under bushes, and in scrub). If undertaken properly, the ripping of rabbit warrens can often provide a relatively permanent and long-term benefit. Similarly, removing or modifying other forms of rabbit-harbourage (for example, removing rock piles) can help, particularly in semi-urban areas or on smallholdings.

Argentine Ants, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are small, brown, and notorious worldwide for being one of the most difficult and costly ants to control, as it can involve ongoing and repetitive use of residual, contact insecticides. The ants are established in Western Australia (WA).

Electric Ant (Little Fire Ant), Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

The electric ant (Wasmannia auropunctata), also known as little fire ant, is a tiny, gold-brown coloured ant, and one of the world's most invasive pests. Electric ants prey on and compete with other insects and can displace large numbers of native animals, ants, and other insects.

They affect human health and lifestyle, can inflict painful stings on humans and wild and domestic animals, can blind pets, damage the environment, and have the potential to severely affect agricultural industries.

The electric ant is native to Central and South America and was first detected in Australia in 2006 in Queensland, where there …

Rabbit Fencing To Protect Crops And Pastures, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

This factsheet outlines the use of fencing to protect crops and pasture from rabbits.

Rabbits cause an estimated loss of $217 million each year to Australian agricultural production and cause significant environmental damage. In Western Australia (WA), areas of native vegetation, particularly on sandy ridges that would otherwise be subject to wind erosion, have been retained on farms. Bush remnants are a major refuge habitat for rabbits, which can cause considerable damage to nearby pastures and crops. A measure of rabbit control can be achieved by poisoning around bush remnants in late summer or autumn, prior to seeding. To be …

Evaluation Of Dual Purpose Canola And Cereals Grazed With Cattle, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock factsheets

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development conducted research to investigate and demonstrate the importance of dual-purpose crops (canola, wheat and barley) to improve the feed availability for cattle (in late autumn to early winter) in mixed farming systems of the high rainfall environment of Western Australia (WA).

The grain yield of a wide range of canola and cereal varieties sown in mid-April were unaffected by the grazing of cattle at a stocking rate of 20 to 22 dry sheep equivalent (DSE) per hectare (ha) for up to 4 weeks at Esperance in 2011.

The grazed crops yielded the …

Using Convolutional Neural Network To Determine Time Window For Analyzing Local Shear-Wave Splitting Measurements, Yanwei Zhang, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The time window for analyzing local shear-wave splitting (SWS) phases significantly affects the quality of measurements, revealing a noteworthy domain influence. In this study, an approach using convolutional neural network (CNN) is applied to determine the end of time window (e), which has a similar idea of the phase-picking CNNs. The start of time window is 0.5 s before e. Our data set contains 803 human-labeled measurements, recorded from three stations located in Ridgecrest, California. These measurements are foreshocks and aftershocks of an M 7.1 earthquake on 6 July 2019. After 21 times shifting on each measurement, 90% of the …

On Spatiotemporal Trends In Meter-Scale Gris Surface Roughness And The Development Of An On-Ice Laser Distance Meter, Jamie C. Good

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Surface roughness is a critical component of the energy and mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). However, roughness is often oversimplified in predictive models due to its inherent scale dependency. Accurate quantification of roughness, including its recent changes and driving factors, is critically important for understanding and predicting GrIS surface dynamics. Using multi- and single-scale methods of roughness analysis, I assess spatiotemporal trends in GrIS meter-scale surface roughness from 2009 to 2019 with Operation IceBridge’s Airborne Topographic Mapper ILATM2 product. Additionally, with data from on-ice automated weather stations, I employ machine learning techniques to identify primary climatic controls …

Accumulation Of Road Salt In A Calcareous Fen: Kampoosa Bog, Western Massachusetts, Wayne Ndlovu, Andrew J. Guswa, Amy L. Rhodes

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Road salt poses a threat to the quality of soils and water resources. Wetlands located in salt contaminated areas are at risk of experiencing lower plant and animal species diversity. Therefore, it is critical to understand how modifications to salt application rates and hydrological events impact wetland water quality. Here, we use chloride mass flux, discharge, groundwater chloride concentration, meteorological, and salt application data from 2012– 2020 to estimate chloride accumulation and outflux rates in the Kampoosa Bog subwatersheds, located in Stockbridge and Lee, Massachusetts, and bordered by major highways (Interstate-90 and U.S. Route 7). We also investigate the correlation …

Effects Of Longitudinal Training Walls On Two-Dimensional Flow Structure, Sediment Transport, And Bed Aggredation Using Numerical Methods And Sediment Core Analyses In Grand River, Michigan, Sumaiya Tul Siddique

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Longitudinal training walls (LTWs) are structures oriented parallelly with the main flow and separate the channel into two sub-channels. One channel acts as the main navigational channel and the other is considered a secondary side channel. The long-term effects of the LTWs on morphodynamics and deposition remain poorly understood. This study investigated the long-term effects of the LTWs on flow, sediment transport and long-term deposition of the Grand River using numerical approaches and sediment core analysis. The effects of LTWs on 2D flow dynamics and sediment transport were investigated by using numerical approaches. The long-term deposition under the influence of …

Revealing Grounding Zone And Subglacial Processes At Cosgrove Ice Shelf: Seafloor Analogs For The Modern Antarctic Ice Sheet, Rosemary E. Burkhalter-Castro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The future loss of ice in West Antarctica is one of the biggest uncertainties in projections of global sea level rise. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), home to Cosgrove Ice Shelf (CIS), contains enough ice to raise global sea level by more than three meters if it collapsed completely. Accurately predicting how much sea level change may occur from a future collapse of WAIS is of particular interest to low-lying, heavily populated coastal areas such as Florida. For this reason, it is important to understand the processes underpinning rapid changes and retreat at marine-terminating glaciers in the Amundsen Sea. …

Modern Lakeshore Processes And Historic Lake And Glacial Changes In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Michael Stanley Stone

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Taylor Valley, which opens to the Ross Sea, is one of several ice-free valleys comprising the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. The valley is home to several close-basin, perennially ice-covered lakes, whose lake levels largely reflect a balance between meltwater inputs and lake ice ablation; both being driven by climate. A dynamic environment exists where the lake ice covers meet the lakeshore, with the ice grounding to the substrate throughout the cold and dark of winter, and melting to form a perimeter of thin-to-no ice around the lake during the summer. These marginal freeze-thaw regions are known as moats. Here, physical, …

Evaluating Indoor Air Quality In Residential Environments: A Study Of Pm2.5 And Co2 Dynamics Using Low-Cost Sensors, Kabir Bahadur Shah, Dylan Kim, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Mkhitar A. Hobosyan, Armando Montes, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Indoor air quality (IAQ) poses a significant public health concern, and exposures to high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon dioxide (CO2) could have detrimental health impacts. This study focused on assessing the indoor air pollutants in a residential house located in the town of Mission, Hidalgo County, South Texas, USA. The PM2.5 and CO2 were monitored indoors: the kitchen and the bedroom. This investigation also aimed to elucidate the effects of household activities such as cooking and human occupancy on these pollutants. Low-cost sensors (LCSs) from TSI AirAssure™ were used in this study. They were deployed within …

A Dynamic Damage Rate-Based Constitutive Model For Rock Damage, Meng Xiangzhen, Zhang Huimei, Li Yugen, Yuan Chao, Chen Shiguan

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective A constitutive model is identified as the most effective method for describing the deformations and failure characteristics of rocks and characterizing their mechanical behavior. Developing the equation and constitutive model for the dynamic damage evolution of rocks based on changes in their damage rates under loading is an important part of rock mechanics. Methods To further investigate the whole process of rock deformations and failure under loading, rocks were divided into the damaged and undamaged parts via abstraction, with the latter bearing effective stress and the former bearing residual stress. This study established the equation and constitutive model based …

Mechanisms And Control Of Rock Bursts In Goaf-Side Roadways Under The Condition Of Thick And Hard Roofs In The Xinjie Mining Area, Inner Mongolia, Liu Wenchao, Zhao Yixin, Guo Jihong

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective and Methods Rock bursts in mining roadways in deep coal mines under the condition of thick and hard roofs severely threaten the safe coal mining of the mining face. To meet this threat, this study, focusing on the No.3^-1103 mining face auxiliary transport roadway, a goaf-side roadway, in a typical deep mine of the Xinjie mining area, Inner Mongolia, analyzed the external dominant factors and internal driving sources for frequent rock bursts in the goaf-side roadway. Assuming the mechanical characteristics of the rock beam-foundation system, this study constructed mechanical models under loading before roof fracturing based on …

Effect Of Cadmium-Free Filler Metal On Mechanical Properties And Microstructure Of Pdc Cutters, Zhang Suhui, Yao Ningping, Liu Qingxiu, Liu Huan, Wang Dechuan

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective PDC bits are critical components of geological support equipment and play a vital role in advancing technology and improving efficiency in the coal industry. Currently, PDC bits are brazed using silver filler metals containing cadmium, a toxic and polluting element. This study introduces the use of environmentally friendly, cadmium-free filler metals for brazing PDC bits. Methods The study investigates the wetting mechanism between brazing filler metals and base materials, utilizing Ag-Cu-Zn series brazing filler metals containing high silver and Sn, Mn and Ni, and only Ni for flame brazing of PDC cutters and steel. The shear strength of different …

Rock Burst Hazard Evaluation Of Coal Mining Face Based On A Gaussian Mixture Model, Cui Feng, Li Yifei, Jia Chong, Lu Changliang, He Shifeng, Zhang Suilin, Tian Mengqi

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective Deep insights into the probabilistic information contained in the energy distribution of acoustic emission (AE) or microseismic events are significant for the rock burst hazard evaluation of coal mining face. Methods This study investigated No.40111 mining face of the No.4 coal seam at the Dafosi Coal Mine in Shaanxi Province. Using physical simulation experiments with similar materials, theoretical analysis, and on-site monitoring, this study investigated the evolutionary patterns of AE monitoring data during coal mining and illustrated the physical meaning of fluctuations in the probability distribution of AE energy. Accordingly, this study proposed an index model for the rock …

Advances In Research On The Evolution Of Trans-Scale Discontinuous Structures During The Creeps Of Strongly Disturbed Coals, Zhang Liang, Wang Laigui, Ren Ting, Li Xiangchun, Gao Ke, Li Haitao, Zhao Shankun

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective and Methods Disasters associated with surrounding rocks in roadways, such as time-dependent deformation failure and creep-induced rock bursts, severely threaten deep mines in China. These disasters, coupled with the impacts of deep mining and structural changes, render it urgent to explore the evolutionary patterns of trans-scale discontinuous structures during the creeps of strongly disturbed coals. This study systematically reviews the scale effects of coals' mechanical properties, the discontinuous structures and multi-physics field effects of coals, and the long-term stability, creep evolutionary patterns, and mechanical models of coals. It highlights the close correlation between discontinuous structures (including their fractures and …

Sedimentary Environments, Mechanical Properties, And Rock Burst Risk Identification Of Overburden In Deep Mines, Qiao Wei, Cheng Xianggang, Dou Linming, He Hu, Meng Xiangsheng, Ren Yangyang, Xiao Chong, Cai Jin

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective Disaster risk identification and prediction serve as a prerequisite for disaster control. An engineering geological environment is identified as the fundamental condition inducing dynamic disasters like rock bursts in mines. Exploring the sedimentary genetic mechanisms of engineering geological environments holds great significance for predicting rock burst risks. Methods With the Gaojiapu Coal Mine in the Binchang mining area, Shaanxi Province, as a case study, this study analyzed the engineering geological characteristics of rock masses under different sedimentary microfacies. Furthermore, it explored the deformation and failure characteristics of rocks in different sedimentary environments, along with the energy release patterns of …

An Experimental Study Of The Evolutionary Patterns Of Mechanical Properties Of Coals Under Multiple Mining Disturbances, Ouyang Zhenhua, Liu Yang, Li Chunlei, Shi Qingwen, Li Wenshuai, Yi Haiyang, Qin Hongyan, Zhang Ningbo

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective In the mining process of coal mines, the cyclic loading and unloading effects caused by multiple mining disturbances can alter the mechanical properties of coals, serving as a significant cause of rock bursts. Revealing the response characteristics of crucial mechanical parameters and the damage mechanisms of coals can provide a basis for discriminating the impact-induced instability state, holding great significance for enhancing disaster prediction capabilities. Methods Quasi-static uniaxial cyclic loading and unloading experiments and the dynamic impact loading experiments on large-size coal-like specimens were combined to accurately capture the stress, strain, and acoustic emission responses during the experiments, thoroughly …