Geochemistry Commons^™

Five Year Carbon Storage Analysis In The Gordon Natural Area, Joy Fritschle, Chad Hudson, Catherine Spahr, Andy Tamez

Forest Carbon Storage Study Documents

The Gordon Natural Area (GNA) serves as a natural laboratory for a range of class research projects. In a Geography Field Methods course led by Dr. Fritschle, students established five permanent carbon-study plots in 2008. Since then, students have returned to these plots to measure the carbon stock of standing trees in five plots located along a topographic gradient: floodplain, ridge-top, lower mid-slope, mid-slope and upper mid-slope. Using U.S. Forest Service established guidelines, all trees greater than 5 cm and up to 73 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) were measured and identified within each 40 m circular plot. …

Geo402/585: Field Methods; Labs 4-5 Gordon Natural Area Carbon Stock Pilot Study, Joy Fritschle

Gordon Natural Area-related Curricula Documents

No abstract provided.

Stromatolites And Miss—Differences Between Relatives, N. Noffke, S. M. Awramik

OES Faculty Publications

Benthic microorganisms form highly organized communities called “biofilms.” A biofilm consists of the individual cells plus their extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). In marine and non-marine environments, benthic microbial communities interact with the physical sediment dynamics and other factors in the environment in order to survive. This interaction can produce distinctive sedimentary structures called microbialites. Binding, biostabilization, baffling, and trapping of sediment particles by microorganisms result in the formation of microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS); however, if carbonate precipitation occurs in EPS, and these processes happen in a repetitive manner, a multilayered build-up can form—stromatolites. Stromatolites and MISS are first found …

The Relative Contribution Of Methanotrophs To Microbial Communities And Carbon Cycling In Soil Overlying A Coal-Bed Methane Seep, Christopher T. Mills, Gregpry F. Slater, Robert F. Dias, Stephanie A. Carr, Christopher M. Reddy, Raleigh Schmidt, Kevin W. Mandernack

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Seepage of coal-bed methane (CBM) through soils is a potential source of atmospheric CH₄ and also a likely source of ancient (i.e. ¹⁴C-dead) carbon to soil microbial communities. Natural abundance ¹³C and ¹⁴C compositions of bacterial membrane phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and soil gas CO₂ and CH₄ were used to assess the incorporation of CBM-derived carbon into methanotrophs and other members of the soil microbial community. Concentrations of type I and type II methanotroph PLFA biomarkers (16:1ω8c and 18:1ω8c, respectively) were elevated in CBM-impacted soils compared with a control site. Comparison …

A Five-Year Analysis Of Carbon Stock Plots In The Gordon Natural Area’S Big Woods, Cathy Spahr, Chad Hudson, Andy Tamez

Forest Carbon Storage Study Documents

No abstract provided.

Stable Isotope Analysis Of Busycon Sinistrum To Determine Fort Walton-Period Seasonality At St. Joseph Bay, Northwest Florida, Ryan Michael Harke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Recent archaeological investigations indicate that coastal Fort Walton cultures in the St. Joseph Bay region of northwest Florida emphasized marine and estuarine foraging. These late prehistoric (A.D. 1000-1500) peoples collected fish, shellfish, and other aquatic resources. At the Richardson's Hammock site (8Gu10), radiocarbon-dated to about A.D. 1300, as at dozens of other shell middens around this salty bay, large gastropods were a major subsistence component. This adaptation is in sharp contrast with that of contemporaneous inland Fort Walton societies, who relied on maize agriculture. It is unknown whether coastal groups represent separate hunter-gatherer-fisher populations or seasonal migrations by inland …

Iron Oxide And Calcite Associated With Leptothrix Sp. Biofilms Within An Estavelle In The Upper Floridan Aquifer, Lee J. Florea, Chasity L. Stinson, Josh Brewer, Rick Fowler, B Joe Kearns, Anthony M. Greco

International Journal of Speleology

In Thornton’s Cave, an estavelle in west-central Florida, SEM, EDS, and XRD data reveal biofilms that are predominantly comprised of FeOOH-encrusted hollow sheaths that are overgrown and intercalated with calcite. Fragments of this crystalline biofilm adhere to the walls and ceiling as water levels vary within the cave. Those on the wall have a ‘cornflake’ appearance and those affixed to the ceiling hang as fibrous membranes. PCR of DNA in the active biofilm, combined with morphologic data from the tubes in SEM micrographs, point to Leptothrix sp., a common Fe-oxidizing bacteria, as the primary organism in the biofilm. Recent discoveries …

Comparison Of Carbon Stocks & Importance Values In Correlation With Past Land Use In The Gordon Natural Area, Timothy Hoffer, Steffen Lubbe

Forest Carbon Storage Study Documents

No abstract provided.

Forest Analysis Of The Gordon Natural Area Focusing On Carbon Stock, Forest Structure, And Forest Composition, R. Dicce, D. Drake, D. Mackey, P. Avery

Forest Carbon Storage Study Documents

No abstract provided.

A Seasonal Study Of Dissolved Cobalt In The Ross Sea, Antarctica: Micronutrient Behavior, Absence Of Scavenging, And Relationships With Zd, Cd, And P., M. A. Saito, T. J. Goepfert, A. E. Noble, E. M. Bertrand, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio

OES Faculty Publications

We report the distribution of cobalt (Co) in the Ross Sea polynya during austral summer 2005-2006 and the following austral spring 2006. The vertical distribution of total dissolved Co (dCo) was similar to soluble reactive phosphate (PO(4)(3-)), with dCo and PO(4)(3-) showing a significant correlation throughout the water column (r(2) = 0.87, 164 samples). A strong seasonal signal for dCo was observed, with most spring samples having concentrations ranging from similar to ~ 45-85 pM, whereas summer dCo values were depleted below these levels by biological activity. Surface transect data from the summer cruise revealed concentrations at the low range …

Copper Isotope Fractionation During Surface Adsorption And Intracellular Incorporation By Bacteria, Jesica Urbina Navarrete

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Copper isotopes may prove to be a useful tool for investigating bacteria-metal interactions recorded in natural waters, soils, and rocks. However, experimental data that constrain Cu isotope fractionation in biologic systems are limited and unclear. In this study we utilized Cu isotopes (65Cu) as a tool to investigate Cu-bacteria interactions, including surface adsorption and intracellular incorporation. Experiments were conducted with individual Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial species as well as with bacterial consortia from several natural environments. Adsorption experiments were conducted with live or dead cells over the pH range 2.5 to 6. Surface adsorption of Cu …

Turbulent Lifestyle: Microbial Mats On Earth’S Sandy Beaches—Today And 3 Billion Years Ago, Nora Noffke

OES Faculty Publications

Archean Earth history is very difficult to reconstruct. Until recently, only bacterial cells preserved in chert, microborings, and stromatolites provided the few clues to ancient life. Now, siliciclastic “microbially induced sedimentary structures” (MISS) are adding to our knowledge of both past life and paleoenvironments. MISS rise from the interaction of photoautotrophic microbial mats with physical sediment dynamics in siliciclastic, shallow-marine settings. Archean MISS can be understood through observations of living microbial mats and modern biotic-physical sedimentary processes. Such geobiological studies are key to the interpretation of the early evolution of prokaryotes. For example, the 2.9 Ga Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, …

Comparison Of Total Mercury And Methylmercury Cycling At Five Sites Using The Small Watershed Approach, James B. Shanley, M. Alisa Mast, Donald H. Campbell, George R. Aiken, David P. Krabbenhoft, Randall J. Hunt, John F. Walker, Paul F. Schuster, Ann Chalmers, Brent T. Aulenbach, Norman E. Peters, Mark Marvin-Dipasquale, David W. Clow, Martin M. Shafer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The small watershed approach is well-suited but underutilized in mercury research. We applied the small watershed approach to investigate total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) dynamics in streamwater at the five diverse forested headwater catchments of the US Geological Survey Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program. At all sites, baseflow THg was generally less than 1 ng L^-1 and MeHg was less than 0.2 ng L^-1. THg and MeHg concentrations increased with streamflow, so export was primarily episodic. At three sites, THg and MeHg concentration and export were dominated by the particulate fraction in association with …

The Impact Of Acid Mine Drainage On West Little Sugar Creek, Vigo Co., In, Jodie L. Gibson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluates the degree and extent of contamination in West Little Sugar Creek by analyzing water chemistry in the stream during low and moderate flow conditions. West Little Sugar Creek is located in Vigo County, Indiana and has been severely impacted by AMD discharging from the abandoned Green Valley Mine site. Stream water is commonly acidic (as low as pH 2.4) with elevated concentrations of Fe and Al and elevated trace elements including Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, Co, and others, many of which exceed local and/or national surface water quality standards. Amorphous Fe and Al precipitates also form …

Geochemistry Of Benthic Foraminifera As An Environmental Indicator: A Study From Multiple Hydrographic Regimes, Chandranath Basak

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The geochemistry (stable isotopes and Lracc clements) or living (sLaincd) calcareous benthic foraminifera was compared with ambient botlom water stable isotope values to provide modern analog conditions and calibrations for environmental and paleoenvironmental assessments. Stable isotope values of live (stained) bcnthic foraminifera were investigated from push core and multicorer samples from the North Pacific (on the Aleutian margin, water depth 1988m) and the South Australian Bight (water depth 2476m and 1634m). Living benthic foraminifera specimens collected from contaminated sites in the Venice Lagoon were analyzed for trace elements. Both the isotopic and the trace element study involved interpretation of modern …

Relating Water And Otolith Chemistry In Chesapeake Bay, And Their Potential To Identify Essential Seagrass Habitats For Juveniles Of An Estuarine-Dependent Fish, Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus), Emmanis Dorval

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A quantitative understanding of habitat use of estuarine-dependent fishes is critical to the conservation of their most essential habitats. Because recruitment and fitness may be influenced by the quality of juvenile habitats, developing methods to quantify habitat-specific survivorship is pivotal to such understanding. An initial step to quantify survivorship is to validate the habitat-specific natural tags contained in otoliths. To this aim I investigated the variability in the chemistry of surface waters and otoliths of juvenile spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, in five seagrass habitats of Chesapeake Bay, namely: Potomac, Rappahannock, York, Island, and Eastern Shore. I measured Mg, Ca, …

An Environmental Geochemical Study Of Connecticut Marsh Sediments, Nicole A. Heller, Michael A. Kruge, Johan C. Varekamp, Tabitha Zierzow

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Core material from Spartina-dominated Housatonic and Connecticut River estuarine sites (ranging from low to high marsh) were investigated in order to test the hypothesis that organic and inorganic pollutants preferentially accumulate in the low marsh environment. Radiometric data indicate that the low marsh setting experienced sedimentation rates an order of magnitude greater than that of the mid to high marsh. The low marsh sediments from the Housatonic tend to have significantly higher concentrations of trace metals (e.g., Cu and Zn, likely contributed by brass mills formerly active upstream). Petrographic examination of the samples under reflected white and blue light …

A Biogeochemical Comparison Of Fossil (Carboniferous) And Modern Crustose Red Algae, Michael A. Kruge, John E. Utgaard, William Ferry

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The nature of the contribution of the various types of algae to sedimentary organic matter continues to be a topic of research interest. Crustose red algae have however received less attention than other types. The fossil calcareous red algae (Rhodophyta) analyzed in this study are two relatively unrecrystallized specimens of Parachaetetes (Family Solenoporacea) from the lower part of the Ste. Genevieve Formation (Carboniferous, Visean) in Union County, Illinois, USA. They occurred in the patch reef phase of a small carbonate mudmound-patchreef. The three modern specimens (collected and identified by F. Collier) are the crustose algae Lithothamnion, Clathromorphum and Phymatolithon …

Environmental And Botanical Controls On Peatification - A Comparative Study Of Two New Zealand Restiad Bogs Using Py-Gc/Ms, Petrography And Fungal Analysis, Tomasz K. Kuder, Michael A. Kruge, J C. Shearer, S L. Miller

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study shows that chemical properties of two restiad species, Empodisma minus and Sporadanthus traversii, may contribute to their success as peat-formers in a climate of the North Island of New Zealand which is not conducive to raised mire development. Unlike Sphagnum, the equivalent northern hemisphere peat-former, restiads possess lignin in their tissues. In addition, the presence of non-lignin polyphenols (including tannins and phenolic acids) in restiads may be an important factor in peat formation due to the allelopathic decay retardation. Patterns of degradation of plant biopolymers have been examined and the pathway of degradation of monocotyledons (loss …

The Effects Of Organic Matter Rich Topsoil On The Germination Growth And Metal Uptake Of Corn (Zea Mays) Grown In Flue Dust Contaminated Soil, Christopher Allen Impellitteri

OES Theses and Dissertations

The large biomass of corn (Zea mays) and promising results from a previous experiment (Chlopecka and Adriano, 1995) concerning metal uptake by corn indicate that corn may be a good candidate for phytoremediation of trace metal contaminated soil. Appling soil (acid, thermic, typic paleudult) was treated with increasing levels of a metal rich flue dust based on Zn concentration (0, 150, 300, 600, 1200, and 2400 mg/kg). Four replicates at each Zn treatment level were either limed to pH 6.3-6.5 and covered with a two inch thick layer of organic matter rich topsoil (OM), unlimed and covered with …

Geochemistry Of Selected Maine Peat Deposits, Stephen A. Norton

Maine Collection

Geochemistry of Selected Maine Peat Deposits

by Steven Allen Norton

Maine Geological Survey, Department of Conservation, Augusta, Maine, 1990.

Contents: Introduction / Purpose of Study / Location of Study Sites / Methods / Acknowledgements / Results / Water Chemistry / Dating of Short Cores / Chemistry of Short Cores / Core Interpretations / Summary / References Cited

A Bacteriological And Chemical Analysis Of Nonpoint Source Pollution In A Karst Aquifer Bowling Green, Kentucky, Wayne Green

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Monthly water samples collected from four sites in the Lost River Groundwater Basin, a shallow karst aquifer in the Bowling Green-Warren County area of Kentucky, represented samples from sites receiving conduit and diffuse flow. All sites were severely contaminated with bacteria, and on some occasions the surface water criteria for some heavy metals were exceeded.

Of the total 334 bacterial colonies identified 92.1% were verified as Escherichia coli by the API20E system. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus var. anitratum accounted for 2.10% of colonies; Citrobacter freundii for 0.30% Klebsiella pneumoniae for 0.90%; Klebsiella oxytoca, 0.90%; Citrobacter amalonaticus 0.30%; Enterobacter cloacae, 1.20%; …

An Ecological Analysis Of Relic Diatoms In Sediments Of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, David Ross Hetzel

Publications (WR)

Relic diatoms in sediments of the inner Las Vegas Bay, near the Las Vegas Wash sewage inflow, were examined in order to assess historic trophic conditions in this area of Lake Mead. Diatom sedimentation rates and ratios of Araphidineae/Centrales (A/C) diatom groups were determined from sediment cores collected in the old wash channel 1.5 km from the sewage inflow (station 2), in a small cove 1.5 km further downstream (station 3) and in an adjacent embayment off Gypsum Wash (station 4). Diatom sedimentation rates generally increased from the bottom to the top of each core, but pronounced minima existed at …

The Effects Of Elevated Calcium Chloride And Magnesium Chloride Levels On Larval Growth And Survival Of Macrobrachium Rosenbergii (De Man) (Decapoda Palaemonidae) Reared In The Laboratory, James Thomas Michaels Ii

OES Theses and Dissertations

The effects of elevated CaCl₂ , MgCl₂ , combination CaCl₂ and MgCl₂ concentrations and their associated ionic strengths on larval growth and survival of the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii were investigated in the laboratory. Larvae were reared in diluted seawater of 15 parts per thousand salinity with elevated calcium concentrations of 330 parts per million and elevated magnesium concentrations of 1275 parts per million. Control larvae were also reared with elevated NaCl concentrations to duplicate the ionic strength increases of the combination CaCl₂ - MgCl₂ test solution which had the highest ionic strength. A …

Influence Of Las Vegas Wash Density Current On Nutrient Availability And Phytoplankton Growth In Lake Mead, John R. Baker, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Density currents are commonly formed in reservoirs because of temperature or salinity induced density differences between inflowing and receiving waters. Anderson and Pritchard (1951) were among the first to demonstrate this in their investigations of density currents in Lake Mead. They found that the Colorado River formed an underflow in Lake Mead during the winter, an overflow in the spring and an interflow in the summer and fall. Wunderlich and Elder (1973) have since described the hydromechanics of these types of flow patterns, and density currents have been reported for several other large reservoirs (Carmack et al. 1979, Johnson and …

A Geochemical Study Of A Marsh Environment, Thomas F. Lytle, Julia Sever Lytle, Patrick L. Parker

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The goal of this study was twofold: 1) chemically to characterize a specific salt marsh, the sediments and associated biota and 2) to establish clear relationships between the chemical substances residing in the sediments and similar or identical substances occurring in the biological specimens. In this particular study it was felt that the hydrocarbons would yield the most significant organic geochemical information. These compounds are ubiquitous but minor components of all organisms. Though their function is not entirely understood, it is known that they are concentrated in the waxy coatings of plants and most likely aid in the protective mechanisms …

History Of Sedimentation In Montsweag Bay, Detmar Schnitker

Maine Collection

History of Sedimentation In Montsweag Bay

by Setmar Schnitker

Bulletin #25, Department of Forestry, Augusta, Maine, 1972.

Contents: Abstract / Introduction / Geographic Setting / Seismic Profiling / Pleistocene Sediments / Holocene Sediments / Actual Sedimentation /. Suspended Sediments / Recent Changes / Outlook / Acknowledgements / References

Water Chemistry Survey Of Boulder Basin, Lake Mead, P. R. Tramutt, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

The survey results indicate that the impoundment of water behind Hoover Dam has not adversely affected the dissolved oxygen (DO) content and that water quality and DO content were uniform regardless of depth. The study made in April-May 1964 will provide water quality data of Lake Mead prior to releases from Lake Powell as a basis for evaluating Lake Powell's effect on water quality and limnology of Lake Mead. The performance of a DO analyzer was tested and found unsatisfactory at depths below 150 ft. Parameters tested by standard chemical analyses of water samples in the Denver Laboratory and by …