Other Earth Sciences Commons^™

Lead In Birds, J. Christian Franson, Deborah J. Pain

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that acts as a nonspecific poison affecting all body systems and has no known biological requirement. Absorption of low concentrations may result in a wide range of sublethal effects in animals, and higher concentrations may result in mortality (Demayo et al. 1982).

Lead has been mined and smelted by humans for centuries, but the use of lead-based products increased greatly following the Industrial Revolution. Consequently, lead today is ubiquitous in air, water, and soil, in both urban and rural environments (Eisler 2000). Vertebrates are exposed to lead mainly via inhalation and ingestion. A …

Spatial Patch Occupancy Patterns Of The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit, Mitchell J. Eaton, Phillip T. Hughes, James D. Nichols, Anne Morkill, Chad Anderson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Reliable estimates of presence or absence of a species can provide substantial information on management questions related to distribution and habitat use but should incorporate the probability of detection to reduce bias. We surveyed for the endangered Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) in habitat patches on 5 Florida Key islands, USA, to estimate occupancy and detection probabilities. We derived detection probabilities using spatial replication of plots and evaluated hypotheses that patch location (coastal or interior) and patch size influence occupancy and detection. Results demonstrate that detection probability, given rabbits were present, was <0.5 and suggest that naı¨ve estimates (i.e., estimates without consideration of imperfect detection) of patch occupancy are negatively biased. We found that patch size and location influenced probability of occupancy but not detection. Our findings will be used by Refuge managers to evaluate population trends of Lower Keys marsh rabbits from historical data and to guide management decisions for species recovery. The sampling and analytical methods we used may be useful for researchers and managers of other endangered lagomorphs and cryptic or fossorial animals occupying diverse habitats.

Estimating Age From Recapture Data: Integrating Incremental Growth Measures With Ancillary Data To Infer Age-At-Length, Mitchell J. Eaton, William A. Link

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Estimating the age of individuals in wild populations can be of fundamental importance for answering ecological questions, modeling population demographics, and managing exploited or threatened species. Significant effort has been devoted to determining age through the use of growth annuli, secondary physical characteristics related to age, and growth models. Many species, however, either do not exhibit physical characteristics useful for independent age validation or are too rare to justify sacrificing a large number of individuals to establish the relationship between size and age. Length-at-age models are well represented in the fisheries and other wildlife management literature. Many of these models …

Spatial Patch Occupancy Patterns Of The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit, Mitchell J. Eaton, Phillip T. Hughes, James D. Nichols, Anne Morkill, Chad Anderson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Reliable estimates of presence or absence of a species can provide substantial information on management questions related to distribution and habitat use but should incorporate the probability of detection to reduce bias. We surveyed for the endangered Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) in habitat patches on 5 Florida Key islands, USA, to estimate occupancy and detection probabilities. We derived detection probabilities using spatial replication of plots and evaluated hypotheses that patch location (coastal or interior) and patch size influence occupancy and detection. Results demonstrate that detection probability, given rabbits were present, was <0.5 and suggest that naı¨ve estimates (i.e., estimates without consideration of imperfect detection) of patch occupancy are negatively biased. We found that patch size and location influenced probability of occupancy but not detection. Our findings will be used by Refuge managers to evaluate population trends of Lower Keys marsh rabbits from historical data and to guide management decisions for species recovery. The sampling and analytical methods we used may be useful for researchers and managers of other endangered lagomorphs and cryptic or fossorial animals occupying diverse habitats.

Rapid Wetland Expansion During European Settlement And Its Implication For Marsh Survival Under Modern Sediment Delivery Rates, Matthew L. Kirwan, A. Brad Murray, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, D. Reide Corbett

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Fluctuations in sea-level rise rates are thought to dominate the formation and evolution of coastal wetlands. Here we demonstrate a contrasting scenario in which land-use–related changes in sediment delivery rates drive the formation of expansive marshland, and vegetation feedbacks maintain their morphology despite recent sediment supply reduction. Stratigraphic analysis and radiocarbon dating in the Plum Island Estuary (Massachusetts, United States) suggest that salt marshes expanded rapidly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries due to increased rates of sediment delivery following deforestation associated with European settlement. Numerical modeling coupled with the stratigraphic observations suggests that existing marshland could survive, but not …

Adaptive Resource Management And The Value Of Information, Byron K. Williams, Mitchell J. Eaton, David R. Breininger

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The value of information is a general and broadly applicable concept that has been used for several decades to aid in making decisions in the face of uncertainty. Yet there are relatively few examples of its use in ecology and natural resources management, and almost none that are framed in terms of the future impacts of management decisions. In this paper we discuss the value of information in a context of adaptive management, in which actions are taken sequentially over a timeframe and both future resource conditions and residual uncertainties about resource responses are taken into account. Our objective is …

A Loess–Paleosol Record Of Climate And Glacial History Over The Past Two Glacial–Interglacial Cycles (~150 Ka), Southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Kenneth L. Pierce, Daniel R. Muhs, Maynard A. Fosberg, Shannon A. Mahan, Joseph G. Rosenbaum, Joseph M. Licciardi, Milan J. Pavich

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Loess accumulated on a Bull Lake outwash terrace of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6) age in southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The 9 m section displays eight intervals of loess deposition (Loess 1 to Loess 8, oldest), each followed by soil development. Our age-depth model is constrained by thermoluminescence, meteoric ¹⁰Be accumulation in soils, and cosmogenic ¹⁰Be surface exposure ages. We use particle size, geochemical, mineral-magnetic, and clay mineralogical data to interpret loess sources and pedogenesis. Deposition of MIS 6 loess was followed by a tripartite soil/thin loess complex (Soils 8, 7, and 6) apparently re!ecting the …

Mineralogy Of Iza Cave (Rodnei Mountains, N. Romania), Tudor Tămaş, Ferenc Kristály, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

International Journal of Speleology

The secondary minerals from Iza Cave result from the interactions of karst water and/or cave atmosphere over a variety of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The cave passages expose at various extents Eocene limestones and conglomerates, Oligocene black shales, Upper Precambrian micaschists, marble and dolomitic marble and associated ore deposits.

Twelve secondary minerals identified in the cave (carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, oxides and hydroxides, and silicates) are presented in this study. Calcite, aragonite, gypsum, brushite and hydroxylapatite are the components of common speleothems in the limestone, dolomite and conglomerate areas of the cave. Ankerite crusts are related to areas with pyrite mineralization …

Urbanization And Land Surface Temperature In Pinellas County, Florida, Bruce Coffyn Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 1800's, many studies have recognized increased heat in urban areas, known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect, as one of the results of human modification to the natural landscape. UHI is related to differences in land surface temperature (LST) between rural areas and urban areas where factors of the built environment such as the thermodynamic capacities of materials, structural geometry, and heat generating activities cause increased storage and re-radiation of heat to the atmosphere. This thesis examines the correlation between factors of urbanization and differences in land surface temperature (LST) in the subtropical climate of Pinellas …

The Influence Of Sediment Bays On Reducing Incoming Sediment In Holmes Lake, Lincoln, Nebraska, Alex Fischer

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Lakes in the urban environment are often challenged with issues of water quality. Holmes Lake, located in Lincoln, Nebraska, has experienced such problems. In an effort to improve water quality in Holmes Lake, the city installed several control devices. One of the devices installed were sediment bays. This study evaluated the effectiveness of those sediment bays by measuring turbidity and suspended sediment after rain events at different locations in and out of the bays. The study found that the bays helped to reduce sediment in some cases, but in other cases no reduction was shown.

The Effect Of Enso On Nebraska Winter Snowfall, Jonathan Burnham

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

No abstract provided.

Policy And Science Of Geothermal Heat Use At Mcmurdo Station, Antarctica, Joe Alvine

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

My thesis research project deals with the use of geothermal heat in Antarctica. Currently it is not allowed due to article 7 of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection that placed a 50 moratorium on the exploitation of mineral resources. The US main base in Antarctica, McMurdo Station is currently powered by diesel generators that are inefficient, cause environmental damage, and is expensive to run. By exploring alternative energy options, McMurdo Station can reduce its dependence on non-renewable energy sources. By determining the geothermal potential of McMurdo Station, this project explores the possibilities and benefits that would occur with the …

The Interaction Of Rock And Water During Shock Decompression: A Hybrid Model For Fluidized Ejecta Formation, Audrey Hughes Rager

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Crater and ejecta morphology provide insight into the composition and structure of the target material. Martian rampart craters, with their unusual single-layered (SLE), double-layered (DLE), and multi-layered ejecta (MLE), are the subject of particular interest among planetary geologists because these morphologies are thought to result from the presence of water in the target. Also of interest are radial lines extending from the crater rim to the distal rampart of DLE craters. Exactly how these layered ejecta morphologies and radial lines form is not known, but they are generally thought to result from interaction of the ejecta with the atmosphere, subsurface …

Algorithms For Remote Estimation Of Chlorophyll-[Alpha] In Coastal And Inland Waters Using Red And Near Infrared Bands, Alexander A. Gilerson, Anatoly Gitelson, Jing Zhou, Daniela Gurlin, Wesley Moses, Ioannis Ioannou, Samir A. Ahmed

Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies: Publications

Remote sensing algorithms that use red and NIR bands for the estimation of chlorophyll-a concentration [Chl] can be more effective in inland and coastal waters than algorithms that use blue and green bands. We tested such two-band and three-band red-NIR algorithms using comprehensive synthetic data sets of reflectance spectra and inherent optical properties related to various water parameters and a very consistent in situ data set from several lakes in Nebraska, USA. The two-band algorithms tested with MERIS bands were R_rs(708)/R_rs(665) and R_rs(753)/R_rs(665). The three-band algorithm with MERIS bands was in the …

Geogram 2010, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Droughtscape, Fall 2010, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

CDC Issues Drought Guidance for Public Health

La Niña May Intensify Drought in South

Recent Workshops and Meetings

East Feels Impacts as Heat Intensifies Drought

New Products

Nicole Wall Co-Facilitates Republican River Basin Task Force

NDMC Climatologist on Ethiopia Team

2,2′,5,5′-Tetra­Chloro­Benzidine, Onome Ugono, Marcel Douglas, Nigam Rath, Alicia Beatty

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C12H8Cl4N2, mol­ecules lie on crystallographic twofold axes at the centre of the C-C bonds linking the benzene rings, such that the asymmetric unit consists of a half-mol­ecule. The individual mol­ecules participate in inter­molecular N-H...N, N-H...Cl, C-H...Cl and Cl...Cl [3.4503 (3) Å] inter­actions.

The Toll Of Toxics: Investigating Environmental Contaminants, Donald Sparling, Barnett A. Rattner, John S. Barclay

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Two recent events [the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Asarco settlement] bring to the fore the work of wildlife toxicologists. Focusing on amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, wildlife toxicology is a component of ecotoxicology--the study of toxic effects caused by natural or synthetic pollutants on living organisms and other constituents of ecosystems (Truhaut 1977). Now a distinct discipline within the wildlife profession-practiced by members of The Wildlife Society's own Wildlife Toxicology Working Group, among others-wildlife toxicology has become increasingly important as human populations and industry have spread, causing contaminants to multiply.

Emerging Environmental Contaminants (EECs) include an array of …

Droughtscape, Summer 2010, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Upcoming Workshops

Mild Drought Season Likely to Persist

Drought Impacts Intensify in Upper Midwest

Visiting Scientists

North Carolina Takes Drought Monitor Seriously

International Work- Murcia, Spain, June

Evaluating Efficacy Of Restoration Techniques, Keys View Road Reconstruction, Joshua Tree National Park, California, U.S.A, Scott R. Abella, E. Cayenne Engel

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Keys View Road in Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR) was recently repaved, resulting in a buffer of vegetation and soil disturbance along the road corridor. In order to mitigate the effects of the repaving, JOTR designed an experimental framework to test various revegetation strategies. They outplanted salvaged and nursery grown native plant species in conjunction with vertical mulch in a fully crossed design (outplanting only, vertical mulch only, outplanting + vertical mulch, bare ground) to examine if any of the treatments most efficiently establish native plant communities.

Soil Infiltration Study: Measuring The Difference In Leachate Quality Between Surface Compost Application And Incorporated Compost Application, Christopher Gallo, Kristin Roberts

Earth and Soil Sciences

No abstract provided.

Measurement And Interpolation Of Sea Surface Temperature And Salinity In The Tropical Pacific: A 9,000 Nautical Mile Research Odyssey, Amber Brooks

Earth and Soil Sciences

The purpose of this project was to compare spline and inverse distance weighting interpolation tools on data collected in the tropical Pacific Ocean by ship and data from a global network of CTD floats, known as Argo floats (fig.1), to provide evidence that technological advancement and integration is aiding our understanding of the ocean-atmosphere system of planet Earth. Thirty-one sea surface temperature and salinity samples were manually taken across a 9,000 nautical mile trek of the Pacific Ocean for the months of April, May and June 2008. Argo ASCII globally gridded monthly averaged sea surface temperature and salinity data, from …

Variations In Vulnerability To Climate Change In Southeast Asia, Kelsey Margaret Allard

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Two Potential Streamgage Locations On Scott Creek At Swanton Pacific Ranch, California, Matthew C. Scrudato

Master's Theses

Two locations on Scott Creek, located 12 miles north of Santa Cruz California, are being considered for the installation of a streamgage to measure discharge. Each location offers unique considerations and challenges in gage construction and discharge measurement capabilities. A detailed flood frequency analysis was completed using a direct watershed comparison, direct equations developed by Waananen and Crippen, a Log Pearson Type III Frequency Distribution, a regional analysis, and two-station comparisons. Final results indicate a 100-year recurrence interval of 6,310 ft3/s at the Upper Scott Creek location and 6,520 ft3/s at the lower location. A detailed indirect measurement revealed that …

Mississippi Canyon 252 Incident Nrda Tier 1 For Deepwater Communities, Gregory Boland, Gary Brewer, Erik Cordes, Amanda Demopoulos, Chuek Fisher, Chris German, Ken Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is geologically diverse basin, described as the most complex continental slope region in the world. Regional topography of the slope consists of basins, knolls, ridges, and mounds derived from the dynamic adjustments of salt and the introduction of large volumes of sediment over long time scales. More than 99% of the sea floor in the GOM consists of soft sediment made up of various mixtures of primarily silt and clay. These wide-spread soft bottom communities are described in reports from major MMS studies by Gallaway et al. (1998) and Rowe and Kennicutt (2009). Relative …

Establishment And Partial Characterization Of A Cell Line From Burbot Lota Lota Maculosa: Susceptibility To Ihnv, Ipnv And Vhsv, Mark P. Polinski, John D. Drennan, William N. Batts, Susan C. Ireland, Kenneth D. Cain

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This study describes the development and partial characterization of a continuous fibroblastic-like cell line (BEF-1) developed from late stage embryos of North American burbot Lota lota maculosa. This cell line has been maintained for over 5 yr and 100 passages in vitro. Cells were cultured using Eagle’s minimum essential medium with Earle’s salts (MEM) supplemented with GlutaMAX ™, and 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), pH 7.4. The addition of penicillin-streptomycinneomycin (PSN) antibiotic mixture (0.05, 0.05, 0.1 mg ml–1, respectively) did not negatively influence cell replication; however, the antimycotic Fungizone™ (2.5 μg ml–1, amphotericin B) caused cell rounding and …

A Study Of The Sustainability Of Wild Capture Salmon In The Pacific Northwest, Justin D. Hansen

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Variations In Winter Surface High Pressure In The Northern Hemisphere And Climatological Impacts Of Diminishing Arctic Sea Ice, Kristen D. Fox

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

This study explores the role Arctic sea ice plays in determining mean sea level pressure and 1000 hPa temperatures during Northern Hemisphere winters while focusing on an extended period of October to March. This is accomplished by investigating two regions of the same size and comparable climatic zones and elevations in the Northern Hemisphere. A breakdown of 29 years of reanalysis data into average monthly values, anomalies, trends, and comparisons between regions serves as current data to compare with a computer model control run. Ensuring the control run accurately models current atmospheric patterns, altering the model inputs to have no …

Droughtscape, Spring 2010, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

NDMC and NC Drought Council Team Up

Drought to Intensify in Northwest and Hawaii

International Work

Impacts Recorded in Hawaii and Western States

U.S. Drought Monitor Archives Enhanced

Low-Water Impact Surveys Completed

K-12 Drought Outreach

Minimum Riparian Buffer Width For Maintaining Water Quality And Habitat Along Stevens Creek, Sammi Bray

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

ABSTRACT Riparian buffer zones are important sites of biodiversity, sediment trapping, pollutant removal, and hydrologic regulation that have significant implications for both people and wildlife. Urbanization’s influence on and need for adequate water quality increases the need for careful planning in regards to riparian areas. Wildlife are key components in the ecosystem functions of riparian zones and require consideration in peri-urban planning as well. This study reviews relevant literature to determine the recommended minimum riparian buffer width for maintaining water quality and habitat along Stevens Creek in Lincoln, Nebraska. Only sources that listed a specific purpose related to water quality …