Earth Sciences Commons^™

Applications Of Observational Seismology: Insights Into Volcanic And Near Surface Processes, Justin T. Wilgus

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The field of observational seismology has made tremendous progress in the past two decades. This progress has been multi-faceted in form, but significant contributions emanated from 1) increases in both the quality and the quantity of seismic data 2) advances in computational power 3) advances in algorithmic capability, including machine learning. In this dissertation I report on three distinctly different seismic applications made possible by the aforementioned progress and discuss the insights these applications have provided in understanding volcanic and near surface processes of the Earth.

In the first chapter titled, “Shear Velocity Evidence of Upper Crustal Magma Storage Beneath …

Sustainable Grazing On Saline Land In Western Australia - Multidisciplinary Research Linking Producers And Scientists, Hayley C. Norman, D. G. Masters, M. G. Wilmot, A. J. Rintoul, R. Silberstein, E. Lefroy, T. York

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dryland salinity is one of the most critical environmental issues challenging Western Australian farmers. Currently 10% of the cropping zone (1.8 million ha) is salt-affected and this is predicted to increase dramatically in the next 50 years (NLWRA, 2001). Animals grazing saline pasture systems represent the most likely large-scale opportunity for economic return from saline land in the short to medium term. To date, few farmers have invested in large-scale revegetation of saline land as the economic return from grazing has not been perceived to cover costs. Furthermore other benefits of saltland pasture systems, such as biodiversity, water use and …

A Predictive Flood Model For Urban Karst Groundwater Systems, Trayson Lawler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Urban karst environments are often plagued by groundwater flooding, which occurs when water rises from the subsurface to the surface through the underlying caves and other karst features. The heterogeneity and interconnectedness of karst systems often makes them very unpredictable, especially during intense storm events; urbanization exacerbates the problem with the addition of many impervious surfaces. Residents in such areas are frequently disturbed and financially burdened by the effects of karst groundwater flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers limited protection to citizens living near flood-prone areas as they primarily focus on the areas near surface bodies of water. …

Hydrology Data For Fern Cave, Alabama (2020-2022), Benjamin Tobin, Benjamin V. Miller, Matthew Niemiller, Andrea Erhardt

Research Data--KGS

Dataset includes water level from four sites within Fern Cave in Jackson County Alabama. Additionally, it includes chemistry of water, sediments and cave-adapted isopods.

Snow Distribution And Influence In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Using Remote Sensing, Katherine Mcnulty, Peter Doran, Mark Salvatore, Suniti Karunatillake

LSU Master's Theses

The McMurdo Dry Valleys is the largest ice-free area in Antarctica, but seasonal snow covers the valley floors sporadically throughout the year. In this study, a model to estimate areal snow coverage from satellite imagery was created. An area-volume model was created to estimate the amount of snow water equivalent (SWE) from the snow area extracted from the imagery. Snow cover influences the total albedo, the hydrologic budget, and the soil moisture and soil temperature in Taylor Valley (TV). Quantifying snow precipitation in TV is challenging because snow redistributes with winds, sublimates, or melts within a short period. Previous estimates …

Delineating A Stream Network At Gale Crater, Mars, On Arcgis Pro: A Geographic Information Systems Approach, Elpidio Guzman De La Cruz

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The northwestern region of the Gale crater experienced flooding in the past. Delineation of stream networks for the northwestern region of Gale Crater, Mars employing geographic information systems (GIS) techniques is applied. The stream network produced by the algorithm in the study traverses the clay unit in Gediz Vallis, and visual HiRISE imagery analysis correlates with a topologic cross section of an inverted river channel of 750 meters wide and 90 meters deep. HiRISE imagery analysis further confirms a sulfate and clay stratigraphic unit in a stream 125 meters wide and 25 meters deep. Lastly, data smoothing procedures in the …

Rain-Induced Hazards In Remote, Low-Resource Communities: A Case Study Of Flash Flooding In The Usulután Department, El Salvador, Natalea Cohen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Rain-induced natural hazards can lead to devastating and potentially life-threatening impacts. Understanding areas susceptible to flash flooding and characterizing the intensity of flash flood events is critical in improving the mitigation and emergency preparedness of vulnerable communities. Flash floods occur on small spatial scales and for short durations making it challenging to classify flash flood susceptibility and forecast events. Modeling flash flooding becomes even more difficult when focusing on data-poor regions. This study is based in California, El Salvador, an agricultural community located in the Central American Dry Corridor (CADC), a region experiencing the impacts of climate change and associated …

Effects Of Velocity And Substrate Size On The Formation Of Zebra Mussel Druses, Ian Mott

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Zebra Mussels Dreissena polymorpha are an invasive bivalve species that are highly successful at dominating new environments. These invaders have been known to colonize substrate so thoroughly that all they have to attach to are members of their own species. When large mats of interconnected mussels completely cover a riverbed, it can have a drastic effect on the surrounding environment. This study serves to create a better understanding of the hydrologic parameters needed for Zebra Mussels to create these ecosystem-transforming colonies known as druses. Data was collected on a small stretch of the Upper Mississippi River in Northern Minnesota, previously …

Evaluating The Sensitivity Of Crustal Deformation To Bedrock Hydrology In A Mountain Watershed, Brett J. Oliver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

We evaluate the sensitivity of Earth's elastic deformation to groundwater hydraulic diffusivity using coupled groundwater and elastic deformation models. Seasonal changes in terrestrial water storage cause deformation to the Earth’s crust and deeper interior that is within the observational capacity of GPS instruments. We couple finite difference groundwater simulations with geodetic forward models of crustal displacement to investigate the ability of geodetic deformation to constrain bedrock hydrologic properties. We use MODFLOW-2005 to simulate seasonal changes in groundwater flow and storage, and then use the LoadDef elastic deformation model to forward model surface displacement caused by the change in terrestrial water …

Spatial And Temporal Characteristics Of Historical Surface Climate Over The Northwest Territories, Canada, Bhaleka D. Persaud

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change is putting many of the Northwest Territories (NWT) ecosystems, its people and animal populations at risk due to accelerated warming, permafrost thaw, and changing precipitation regimes. As the NWT continues to warm, at disproportionately higher rates when compared to the rest of Canada, threats to the stability of NWT’s ecosystems are expected to increase. Consequently, understanding how climate warming has changed historically and its implications on natural ecosystems requires point-to-region-specific, long-term climatic data to elucidate important drivers of observed changes relevant to decision makers at community, Indigenous, Territorial and Federal government levels. However, in situ climate data are …

Effects Of Salix Psammophila On Groundwater Recharge In A Semiarid Area Of North China, Lizhu Hou, Jingdong Gao, Bill X. Hu, Xixi Wang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Study region: The semiarid Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) was selected for this study. It is in the farming-pastoral ecotone of north China and functions as an eco-environmental barrier.

Study focus: Afforestation can mitigate desertification and soil erosion by improving hydrologic condition, which is particularly true for semiarid and arid regions. However, little is known about the quantitative response of hydrologic improvement to afforestation level that can be measured by leaf area index (LAI). The objective was to setup and use a physically-based model to quantitatively assess the dynamics of water fluxes from Salix psammophila afforestation in the MUSL.

New …

Sediment Delivery To Sustain The Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta Under Climate Change And Anthropogenic Impacts, Jessica L. Raff, Steven L. Goodbred Jr., Jennifer L. Pickering, Ryan S. Sincavage, John C. Ayers, Md. Saddam Hossain, Carol A. Wilson, Chris Paola, Michael S. Steckler, Dhiman R. Mondal, Jean-Louis Grimaud, Celine Jo Grall, Kimberly G. Rogers, Kazi Matin Ahmed, Syed Jo Grall, Kimberly G. Rogers, Kazi Matin Ahmed, Syed Humayun Akhter, Brandee N. Carlson, Elizabeth L. Chamberlain, Meagan Dejter, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Richard P. Hale, Mahfuzur R. Khan, Md. Golam Muktadir, Md. Munsur Rahman, Lauren A. Williams

OES Faculty Publications

The principal nature-based solution for offsetting relative sea-level rise in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta is the unabated delivery, dispersal, and deposition of the rivers’ ~1 billion-tonne annual sediment load. Recent hydrological transport modeling suggests that strengthening monsoon precipitation in the 21st century could increase this sediment delivery 34-60%; yet other studies demonstrate that sediment could decline 15-80% if planned dams and river diversions are fully implemented. We validate these modeled ranges by developing a comprehensive field-based sediment budget that quantifies the supply of Ganges-Brahmaputra river sediment under varying Holocene climate conditions. Our data reveal natural responses in sediment supply comparable to …

Controls On Thermokarst Lake Water Balances In The Inuvik - Tuktoyaktuk Region, Evan J. Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There are tens of thousands of thermokarst lakes in the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk region, located in the northwest corner of the Northwest Territories, Canada. These lakes formed following the last glacial period in areas where ice-rich permafrost thawed and created depressions in the landscape. The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk region is one of the fastest warming regions in the world, leading to changing precipitation patterns, permafrost thaw and deciduous shrub expansion, all of which are affecting the water balance of thermokarst lakes. During the past several decades, lake expansion and contraction have been observed in response to fluctuations in precipitation. While these changes in lake …

Hydrologic Outcomes For Ecological Meadow Restoration In The Northern Sierra Nevada, Emma Sevier

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Ecologically functioning meadows provide critical ecosystem services including improving a catchment’s water yield, flood dispersion and attenuation, fostering groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and creating natural fire breaks (Loheide and Booth 2011). Degradation from past and current land use has resulted in incised channels that change the magnitude and timing of watershed and meadow fluxes and cause water table decline. Process-based restoration (PBR) is an approach which leverages fluvial processes to increase restoration efficiency. Though PBR is a promising tool to restore degraded meadow ecosystems, more studies are needed to understand its hydrologic outcomes and whether hydrodynamic modeling can be used as a …

Future Colorado River Basin Drought And Surplus, Rama Bedri, Thomas Piechota

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Historical and future drought and surplus periods in the Colorado River basin are evaluated based on eight climate scenarios. Unimpaired streamflow from 17 stations in the Colorado River are evaluated based on U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, and Coupled Modeled Intercomparison Projection 5 downscaled data from 1950–2099. Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios are considered for four climate models (HadGEM2-ES, CNRM-CM5, CanESM2, MI-ROC5). Drought (surplus) quantities, magnitudes, severities, and water year flows are compared for the historical and future periods. Results indicate that there is a significant difference between the historical record and future projections. The …

Human And Hydrologic Influences On Nebraska's Endangered Rainwater Basin Wetlands, Sarah Thompson

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

Over half of wetlands in North America have been lost or degraded. Rainwater Basin (RWB) wetlands, located in south-central Nebraska, are a primary example of such loss; an estimated 90% have been destroyed by land conversion for agriculture. Remaining RWB wetlands are often embedded in row-crop fields, where they are threatened by altered surface water runoff flow, drainage features, and excess sediment inputs. Efforts at the state and federal level have been made to preserve this wetland complex due to the critical stopover habitat these wetlands provide for migratory birds. Land managers work to maintain sufficient water levels during migratory …

Comparing Past And Future Drought And Surplus Periods In The Colorado River Basin, Rama Bedri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The Colorado River Basin is crucial to the Western United States, providing water for seven states and Mexico. Historical and future periods of drought and surplus are analyzed in 17 Colorado River stations. Unimpaired streamflow data are evaluated from the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, and Coupled Modeled Intercomparison Projection 5 from 1950-2099. Future projections are based on eight climate scenarios. Four climate models (HadGEM2-ES, CNRM-CM5, CanESM2, MI-ROC5) are observed at Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios. Furthermore, the ensemble water year means of the four models are analyzed. The durations of drought or surplus, magnitudes, …

Fine Colloids ‘Carry’ Diffuse Water Contaminants From Grasslands, P. M. Haygarth, A. L. Heathwaite

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The transport of diffuse pollutants from grassland has traditionally been described by the operationally defined threshold of greater, or smaller than a nominated membrane filter size. Most commonly this has been a 0.45 μm threshold to define ‘solute’ and ‘particulate’ transport. In this paper we shall use phosphorus (P) to help provide an example of the importance of colloid-facilitated transport.

A Classification Framework To Assess Ecological, Biogeochemical, And Hydrologic Synchrony And Asynchrony, Kendra E. Kaiser

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ecosystems in the Anthropocene face pressures from multiple, interacting forms of environmental change. These pressures, resulting from land use change, altered hydrologic regimes, and climate change, will likely change the synchrony of ecosystem processes as distinct components of ecosystems are impacted in different ways. However, discipline-specific definitions and ad hoc methods for identifying synchrony and asynchrony have limited broader synthesis of this concept among studies and across disciplines. Drawing on concepts from ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, and biogeochemistry, we offer a unifying definition of synchrony for ecosystem science and propose a classification framework for synchrony and asynchrony of ecosystem processes. This …

From River Channel To Cloud Tops: Evaluation And Applications Of Regional Climate Models In Mountain Watersheds, William J. Rudisill

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Mountain ranges are vital ”water towers” of the world and are uniquely threatened by anthropogenic climate change. At the same time, the paucity of observing networks limits our understanding of hydrometeorological processes in water-resource critical regions, including the Western United States. In the past decade, non-hydrostatic, convection permitting ( 1-4km horizontal resolution) regional climate models (RCMs) have emerged as a promising tool for both reconstructing regional scale mountain hydroclimates, and for forecasting the impacts of climate perturbations on watersheds and water-resources. Still, challenges remain. To-date, computational and data storage limitations have generally precluded many RCM studies to a handful of …

Water Sourcing Strategies Of Desert Vegetation In Varying Soil Textures With Vegetation Competition: A Stable Isotope Analysis, Martha Elizabeth Gardea

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recent studies have suggested an ecohydrological separation of water exists in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, where vegetation types, rainfall regimes, and location in the terrain seem to determine the type of water (e.g. isotopically depleted or enriched in 18O and 2H) plants are able to source and use throughout their growing cycle. That work found evidence of creosote (Larrea tridentata) and mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) using tightly bound soil water at both a site on an ephemeral channel and a site in higher elevated flat area because the isotopic signature of plant water at the beginning of the study did not …

Development And Evaluation Of Seasonal, Continental-Scale Streamflow Forecasts, Elissa Marie Yeates

Theses and Dissertations

Methods of forecasting streamflow using atmospheric ensembles and hydrologic routing have greatly improved over the past decades. These forecasts anticipate the timing and magnitude of streamflow peaks, enabling early warning of floods. Recent advances in atmospheric modeling have enabled production of forecasts months ahead, which are less precise but give a useful sense of trends.

The purpose of this study is to produce and evaluate a seasonal streamflow forecast model using a Muskingum routing hydrologic model coupled with runoff from a land surface model, and atmospheric input from a medium-term atmospheric and precipitation model. To evaluate the skill of the …

Discussion Of “Guiding Principles For Hydrologists Conducting Interdisciplinary Research And Fieldwork With Participants”, Melissa Haeffner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rangecroft et al. (2021) offer a set of principles for conducting interdisciplinary research and fieldwork with participants from a hydrologist perspective. In this invited paper, I present some thoughts from a social scientist’s perspective, not to disagree with their points but to add to them. Specifically, I use my sociology background and interdisciplinary experiences to reflect on qualitative evaluative criteria, power dynamics in the scientific community, barriers to interdisciplinary research, and approaches to overcome obstacles. Individual researchers can educate themselves about other disciplines, and there are also opportunities for institutional change on the part of universities, funders, and …

The Effect Of Changing Land Use On Streamflow Statistics And Flood Flows Across Select Gages In Northwest Arkansas, Timothy Mcmullen

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since 1901, heavy rainfall events have increased in the United States in both intensity and frequency, and population in the United States has increased, resulting in significant land use changes. Both of these trends could explain an increase in observed flood magnitude and frequency. In order to determine if a relationship exists between land use/land cover and changing stream flows in northwest Arkansas, this study analyzed temporal changes in various flow statistics for fourteen stream gages and compared the rates of change in flow statistics from gages on streams with watersheds that have varying land uses, i.e. urban, agricultural, and …

Geo 100: Environmental Geology Oer Curation, Chealsye Bowley

Curated OER Collections

This OER curation is an annotated bibliography of prospective OER for the GVSU course GEO 100: Environmental Geology.

Surface Water/Groundwater Interactions And Hydrogeochemical Characterization Of The Elkhorn Mine And Mill, Beaverhead County, Montana, Tyler Kamp

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The formation of acid mine drainage (AMD) and the contaminants associated with it have been described by some as the largest environmental problem facing the U.S. mining industry. Heavy metals associated with the drainage, such as copper, cadmium, and zinc affect the water quality of streams and can cause acute or chronic toxicity to invertebrates and fish (Martin, 1992& Padrillah et al., 2018). Elkhorn Creek in the Pioneer Mountains of southwest Montana is one of these impacted creeks. The historic Elkhorn Mine and Mill complex has historically attributed to the creek’s contamination and has undergone remediation. However, the problem has …

Safe Water For All: A Multi-Modal Approach To North Alabama's Water Resources, Elijah Walker

Theses

Environmental degradation is a destructive force produced by the human disturbance of pollution. It is a phenomenon that gradually evolves landscapes over time resulting in irreversible outcomes. Environmental degradation physically affects spaces’ resources, objects, and inhabiting humans. This study observes the impacts of pollution beyond physical boundaries and how it affects human identity/sense of place through the utilization of geographic information systems. Specifically, it examines cultural identity developed through human experiences and connections to landscapes containing water resources. Following, pollution contaminates water resources disrupting experiences and connections thus causing the cultural identity to disappear. The case study applied to this …

High-Tide Floods And Storm Surges During Atmospheric Rivers On The Us West Coast, Christopher G. Piecuch, Sloan Coats, Sönke Dangendorf, Felix W. Landerer, J. T. Reager, Philip R. Thompson, Thomas Wahl

CCPO Publications

Amospheric rivers (ARs) effect inland hydrological impacts related to extreme precipitation. However, little is known about the possible coastal hazards associated with these storms. Here we elucidate high-tide floods (HTFs) and storm surges during ARs through a statistical analysis of data from the US West Coast during 1980-2016. HTFs and landfalling ARs co-occur more often than expected from random chance. Between 10%-63% of HTFs coincide with landfalling ARs, depending on location. However, only 2%-15% of ARs coincide with HTFs, suggesting that ARs typically must co-occur with anomalously high tides or mean sea levels to cause HTFs. Storm surges during ARs …

Dye Tracing And The Effects Of Infrastructure In Hidden River Cave, Horse Cave, Ky, Alexa G. Franks

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Hidden River Cave is a stream cave system found in Horse Cave, KY with continuous water flow of its two branches, Wheet River and East River. The infrastructure of the city of Hose Cave, KY was originally designed to utilize natural sinkholes for drainage of all wastewaters. The city uses many of these, now modified, sinkholes for wastewater disposal and storm water drainage. Historically, Hidden River Cave has been severely impacted by unmonitored dumping of contamination. To better understand and identify specific flow paths from sinkholes and infrastructure into Hidden River Cave, this study documented various sinkholes and other infrastructure, …

Has Winter Weather In Southwest Ohio Been Affected By The El Niño Southern Oscillation, The North Atlantic Oscillation, The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, And The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation?, John A. Blue

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Winter temperature and precipitation in Southwest Ohio over the last century were examined for anomalies attributable to teleconnections with large-scale atmospheric perturbations caused by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The record of temperature gives evidence of a teleconnection with the NAO, ENSO, and PDO, with the strongest link being for phases of the NAO. Most winters during positive NAO phases had mean monthly temperature warmer than the century long mean, and the majority of negative NAO phase winters had colder temperatures. The difference …