Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Waldo Lake Research In 2003, Mark D. Sytsma, John Rueter, Richard Petersen, Roy Koch, Scott A. Wells, Rich Miller, Laura Johnson, Robert Leslie Annear

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes the first year of an effort to develop a more complete understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that drive the ecological processes of Waldo Lake. Modern limnology recognizes the importance of watershed processes as well as in- lake processes in lake ecosystem functioning. Therefore, the approach included consideration of watershed hydrology and forcing functions that determine hydrodynamics of the system as well physical and chemical factors that may be important in regulating primary production in the lake. Data collected since 1998 was summarized and bathymetry of the basin was mapped using state-of-the-art digital depth sounding …

Feasibility Of Mapping Benthic Biotopes In The Hudson River, Nicole P. Maher, Robert M. Cerrato

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Successful management of aquatic resources requires comprehensive maps that identify the spatial distribution and extent of potentially vulnerable habitats and their resident biota (e.g., essential fish habitat). We illustrate a technique that describes submerged landscapes not only in terms of geophysical properties, but also in terms of the resident biotic communities. Biological community distribution was highly correlated with the geophysical provinces initially identified by Bell et al. (2000). However, fewer groups of stations (created mainly by combining provinces) explained almost as much of the variation in benthic community structure and was a better description of the major biotopes in this …

Hydrogen Sulfide In Farmington Bay And The Great Salt Lake: A Potential Odor-Causing Agent, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Amy M. Marcarelli

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Odors from Farmington Bay and/or the Great Salt Lake frequently impact residents of Salt Lake and Davis counties, but the agent causing the problem and the origin of the odor is uncertain. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas is produced in the deeper layers of water in Farmington Bay and Gilbert Bay in the Great Salt Lake, but these deeper waters are generally part of high salinity deep-brine layers that are resistant to wind mixing. Hydrogen sulfide has a "rotten-egg" odor and is a likely component contributing to the "lake stink." The goals of this study were to determine (1) whether wind …

Ogallala Aquifer, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Ogallala Aquifer, or High Plains Aquifer, is a porous body of complex sediments and sedimentary rock formations that conducts groundwater and yields significant quantities of water to wells and springs. The principal sediments and rocks of the aquifer range in age from 33 million years old to sediments being deposited today, but the majority is less than 12 million-years old. Much of the aquifer is composed of the Ogallala Group or Formation. The dominant sediments in the Ogallala and the other hydrogeologic units in the aquifer are riverand wind-deposited sands. The aquifer underlies about 174,000 square miles of the …

Light & Dark: The Hidden Wonders Of Buck Creek, Lee J. Florea

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

As early morning mists rise from the banks of its supple waters, beams of light penetrate the Buck Creek valley illuminating its beauty. While light illuminates most of the land, there are secret places, nestled within the forest where darkness reigns supreme. Places beyond the touch of the sun, beyond the influence of seasons. Here time is measured not in cycles of light but by the flow of water and fall of rock. These are the caves, conduits for water past and present. Nestled in the hills of south-central Kentucky the caves along Buck Creek provide the lifeblood for a …

Nitrogen Transport Through Linked Stream-Lake Systems Measured With N Tracer, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Koren Nydick, Michelle A. Baker, Bob Hall

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Simulated Long-Term Soil Moisture Data For Three Land Uses Under Contrasting Hydroclimatic Conditions In The Northern Great Plains, Rezaul Mamood, Kenneth G. Hubbard

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Soil moisture (SM) plays an important role in land surface and atmosphere interactions. It modifies energy balance near the surface and the rate of water cycling between land and atmosphere. The lack of observed SM data prohibits understanding of SM variations at climate scales under varying land uses. However, with simulation models it is possible to develop a long-term SM dataset and study these issues. In this paper a water balance model is used to provide a quantitative assessment of SM climatologies for three land uses, namely, irrigated corn, rain-fed corn, and grass, grown under three hydroclimatic regimes in Nebraska. …

An Agricultural Drought Risk-Assessment Model For Corn And Soybeans, Hong Wu, Kenneth G. Hubbard, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society. Published by Wiley InterScience. Used by permis-sion.

Drought Monitoring Using Data Mining Techniques: A Case Study For Nebraska, Usa, Tsegaye Tadesse, Donald A. Wilhite, Sherri K. Harms, Michael J. Hayes, Steve Goddard

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought has an impact on many aspects of society. To help decision makers reduce the impacts of drought, it is important to improve our understanding of the characteristics and relationships of atmospheric and oceanic parameters that cause drought. In this study, the use of data mining techniques is introduced to find associations between drought and several oceanic and climatic indices that could help users in making knowledgeable decisions about drought responses before the drought actually occurs. Data mining techniques enable users to search for hidden patterns and find association rules for target data sets such as drought episodes. These techniques …

An Association Of Benthic Foraminifera And Gypsum In Holocene Sediments Of Estuarine Chesapeake Bay, Usa, John Cann, Thomas Cronin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Two cores of Holocene sediments recovered from the Cape Charles Channel of Chesapeake Bay yielded radiocarbon ages of about 6.8 to 5.8 ka for the lower intervals. Fossil foraminifera preserved in these lower sediments are dominated by species of Elphidium, which make up about 90% of the assemblage throughout, and probably signify deposition in hypersaline waters. Buccella frigida and Ammonia beccarii are the only other species commonly present. Hypersalinity of bottom waters seems to have been maintained by water-density stratification in a basin-like section of the channel. In core PTXT -4-P-I transition to modem Chesapeake conditions, in which numbers …

Grassland Vegetation And Bird Communities In The Southern Great Plains Of North America, Robert N. Chapman, David M. Engle, Ronald E. Masters, David M. Leslie Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Structure and composition of vegetation and abundance of breeding birds in grasslands seeded to Old World bluestem (Bothriochloa ischmaeum) were compared to native mixed prairie in the southern Great Plains of North America. Abundance of birds was determined using fixed-radius point counts. Detrended correspondence analysis was used to compare plant community composition and canonical correspondence analysis was used to examine the relationships between plant species composition and vegetation structure with the bird community. Plant species composition differed distinctly between seeded grassland and native mixed prairie, but the differences were not reflected in habitat structure, bird community composition, or …

Water Quality Assessment: A Hands-On Approach To Environmental Education, Tracy Lynn Royse

All Graduate Projects

A water quality assessment lab manual has been created to assist secondary educators using the HACH water quality testing kits. It consists of ten chemical tests, a geological survey and a biological assessment largely based upon Washington State University's lab format and the Walla Walla County Conservation District's water study protocol. The lab manual also contains safety guidelines, a scoring rubric and an action plan research project. The environmental approach to science education used in the lab manual meets the Essential Academic Learning Requirements adopted by the Washington State Commission on Student Learning as well as the National Science Education …

Mudfish On The Menu? Rise Of The Much-Maligned Bowfin, Ken Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Cajuns call it “choupique” (say “shoe-pick”), from its Choctaw name. Elsewhere, it’s the dogfish, blackfish, grindle, cottonfish, or cypress trout. Its official common name is “Bowfin” (Amia calva)1. But to most anglers, this is the “mudfish,” a strange, unusual, and much-maligned fish, most everywhere considered a useless trash fish. One look and the words relict, prehistoric, primitive, and living fossil come to mind. Indeed, the bowfin is the last of its line, the sole-surviving species of a very ancient group of fishes. Its predecessors flourished in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods during the Mesozoic (= Middle-Animal) Era, a …

Estimation Of Primary Production And Carbon Flux In Antarctic Coastal Waters: A Modeling Study, Hae-Cheol Kim

OES Theses and Dissertations

This study presents results from models that are designed to simulate the underwater light field, to simulate phytoplankton primary production, and to estimate the fate of phytoplankton carbon in continental shelf waters of the west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) and Ross Sea. Simulation of the underwater light field required derivation of new coefficient sets for power function-type cloud cover correction algorithms, which were found to be influenced by multiple reflections between the bottom of clouds and the surface. The coefficient sets indicate that the spectral effect of clouds on the properties of the surface irradiance was spectrally-neutral for wavelengths greater than …

Light Dependence Of Selenium Uptake By Phytoplankton And Implications For Predicting Selenium Incorporation Into Food Webs, Stephen B. Baines, Nicholas S. Fisher, Martina A. Doblin, Gregory A. Cutter, Lynda S. Cutter, Brian Cole

OES Faculty Publications

The potentially toxic element selenium is first concentrated from solution to a large but highly variable degree by algae and bacteria before being passed on to consumers. The large loads of abiotic and detrital suspended particles often present in rivers and estuaries may obscure spatial and temporal patterns in Se concentrations at the base of the food web. We used radiotracers to estimate uptake of both selenite (Se(IV)) and C by intact plankton communities at two sites in the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta. Our goals were to determine (1) whether C and Se(IV) uptake were coupled, (2) the role of …

Black Carbon In Estuarine And Coastal Ocean Dissolved Organic Matter, Antonio Mannino, H. Rodger Harvey

OES Faculty Publications

We measured black carbon (BC) in ultrafiltered, high-molecular weight dissolved organic matter (UDOM) in surface waters of Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean (U.S.A.) to investigate the importance of riverine and estuarine dissolved organic matter (DOM) as a source of BC to the ocean. BC was 5-72% of UDOM-C (27 ± 17%), which corresponds to 8.9 ± 6.5% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), with higher values in the heavily urbanized midbay region of the Delaware Estuary and lower yields in the river and coastal ocean. The spatial and seasonal distributions of BC along the salinity gradient of …

Age And Growth Of Scotia Sea Icefish, Chaenocephalus Aceratus, From The South Shetland Islands, M. La Mesa, J. Ashford, E. Larson, M. Vacchi

OES Faculty Publications

Samples of Chaenocephalus aceratus (Lönnberg) were collected during a trawl survey carried out around the South Shetland Islands in January–February 2002. Fish were caught by commercial bottom trawl fishing down to 500 m depth, using a stratified randomized sampling design. As observed in other recent surveys within the same area, C. aceratus represented one of the predominant species. Overall, 357 specimens ranging from 13 and 67 cm (TL) were selected for the present study. Ages were estimated by counting annuli present in the sagittal otoliths, exposed by grinding and polishing along their sagittal plane. To estimate the precision of age …

Sources Of Ancient Maize Found In Chacoan Great Houses, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Between the 9th and 12th centuries A.D., Chaco Canyon, located near the middle of the high-desert San Juan Basin of north-central New Mexico (fig. 1), was the focus of an unprecedented construction effort by pre-Columbian Native Americans. It has been estimated that from 2,000 to 6,000 people occupied Chaco Canyon during its heyday (Windes, 1984; Drager, 1976). One indication of Chaco’s regional importance is a network of roads that linked Chaco Canyon with other great houses and communities spread throughout a region covering at least 60,000 km2 (fig. 2). At the height of its cultural florescence in the 11th century, …

Advection, Krill, And Antarctic Marine Ecosystems, Eileen E. Hofmann, Eugene J. Murphy

CCPO Publications

Advective processes are recognized as being important in structuring and maintaining marine ecosystems. In the Southern Ocean advective effects are perhaps most clearly observed because the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) provides a connection between most parts of the system, including open ocean and continental shelf regions. The ACC also provides a mechanism for large-scale transport of plankton, such as Antarctic krill (Euphousia superba Dana), which is an important component of the Southern Ocean food web. This overview provides a summary of recent observational and modelling results that consider the importance of advection to the Southern Ocean ecosystem and, in particular, …

Assessment And Restoration Of A Neighborhood Wetland Invaded By Exotic Plant Species, Ryan Neal, Kimberly R. Payne, Lorena Moreno, Graham Duffy, Jonathan Peck, Mary C. Savin

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The University of Arkansas Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences (CSES) Club adopted a local wetland in the spring of 2002 through the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department. This project has allowed students to interact with local community and governmental organizations as well as other academic departments within the university. Students have gained valuable laboratory and field experience through characterizing hydric soils, identifying bird and plant species, and analyzing water quality, soil nutrients, and microbial biomass. Under the main goal of restoring the wetland, the club has outlined both short and long-term objectives including soil and water assessments; removal of two …

Tailwater Recovery Systems For Irrigation: Benefit/Cost Analysis And Water Resource Conservation Technique In Northeast Arkansas, Jennifer L. Bouldin, Nate A. Bickford, H. B. Stroud, G. S. Guha

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Water, one of the earth's most vital resources, is particularly significant in the Arkansas Delta agricultural landscape. While both surface and groundwater are extremely important, 94% of the 26.9 billion L (7.1 billion gal) of water pumped daily from the Alluvial Aquifer is used for agricultural purposes. This common property is subsequently being depleted and sustainable conservation methods are being pursued. State and federal incentive programs encourage the use of a tailwater recovery system in agricultural irrigation. With the use of a complete recovery system, benefits include not only government incentives for wetland habitat, but reduced groundwater use and decreased …

Impact Of Black Shale Weathering On Sediment Quality, G. M. Ogendi, R. E. Hannigan, Jerry L. Farris, D. Smith

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Weathering of black shales leads to elevated metal concentrations in both surface water and stream sediments. In spite of the recent focus on black shales, few data exist on the ecological impacts of this process particularly on aquatic organisms. The key objective of this study was to determine the impact of trace metal concentrations in sediments upon aquatic organisms. To achieve the above objective, stream sediment samples were collected from streams draining black shale and limestone (used as a reference stream) lithologies located in central Arkansas between June 2003 and January 2004. Trace metal concentrations were measured by the dynamic …

Comparison Of Dissolved And Acid-Extractable Metal Concentrations In Groundwater, Eastern Arkansas, Burmshik Kim, Kenneth F. Steele, Todd Fugitt

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Groundwater Trends In The Kent-Frankland Sub-Region, Arjen Ryder

Natural resources published reports

The South Coast Regional Initiative Planning Team (SCRIPT) has divided the South Coast region of Western Australia into six sub-regions. Kent-Frankland covers the catchments of the Frankland, Gordon and Kent' Rivers. Approximately two-thirds (450,000 ha) has been cleared for agriculture. This publication describes the groundwater trends, risk of shallow watertables, and technical feasibility of salinity management on agricultural land.

Soil-landscape zones are spatial units based on geology and geomorphology. Since most groundwater processes in WA are controlled by the geologic and regolith properties, these zones can be used for allocating hydrological attributes, such as groundwater characteristics and trends. The hydrological …

Groundwater Trends In The Albany Hinterland Sub-Region, Arjen Ryder

Natural resources published reports

The South Coast Regional Initiative Planning Team (SCRIPT) has divided the South Coast region of Western Australia into six sub-regions The Albany Hinterland is in the western portion (see Figure 1). It is bounded by the Pallinup River in the east. Stirling Ranges to the north and the Kent River catchment boundary in the west. Two-thirds (580.000 ha) of the sub-region has been cleared for agriculture This publication describes the groundwater trends, risk of shallow watertables, and technical feasibility of salinity management within the agricultural land

Soil-landscape zones are spatial units based on geology and geomorphology. Since most groundwater processes …

Genetic Identification Of Spotted Owls, Barred Owls, And Their Hybrids: Legal Implications Of Hybrid Identity, Susan M. Haig, Thomas D. Mullins, Eric D. Forsman, Pepper W. Trail, Liv Wennerberg

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Recent population expansion of Barred Owls (Strix varia) into western North America has led to concern that they may compete with and further harm the Northern Spotted Owl (S. occidentalis caurina), which is already listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Because they hybridize, there is a legal need under the ESA for forensic identification of both species and their hybrids. We used mitochondrial control-region DNA and amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses to assess maternal and biparental gene flow in this hybridization process. Mitochondrial DNA sequences (524 base pairs) indicated large divergence between …

Subspecific Relationships And Genetic Structure In The Spotted Owl, Susan M. Haig, Thomas D. Mullins, Eric D. Forsman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Hierarchical genetic structure was examined in the three geographically-defined subspecies of spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) to define relationships among subspecies and quantify variation within and among regional and local populations. Sequences (522 bp) from domains I and II of the mitochondrial control region were analyzed for 213 individuals from 30 local breeding areas. Results confirmed significant differences between northern spotted owls and the other traditional geographically defined subspecies but did not provide support for subspecific level differences between California and Mexican spotted owls. Divergence times among subspecies estimated with a 936 bp portion of the cytochrome b gene …

A Holocene Pollen Record Of Persistent Droughts From Pyramid Lake, Nevada, Usa, Scott A. Mensing, Larry Benson, Michaele Kashgarian, Steve Lund

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pollen and algae microfossils preserved in sediments from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, provide evidence for periods of persistent drought during the Holocene age. We analyzed one hundred nineteen 1-cm-thick samples for pollen and algae from a set of cores that span the past 7630 years. The early middle Holocene, 7600 to 6300 cal yr B.P., was found to be the driest period, although it included one short but intense wet phase. We suggest that Lake Tahoe was below its rim for most of this period, greatly reducing the volume and depth of Pyramid Lake. Middle Holocene aridity eased between 5000 and …

Quaternary Sea-Level History Of The United States, Daniel R. Muhs, John F. Wehmiller, Kathleen R. Simmons, Linda L. York

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In the past 30 years, there have been tremendous advances in our understanding of Quaternary sea-level history, due directly to developments in Quaternary dating methods, particularly uranium-series disequilibrium and amino acid racemization. Another reason for this progress is that coastline history can now be tied to the oxygen-isotope record of foraminifera in deep-sea cores. Furthermore, both records have been linked to climate change on the scale of glacial-interglacial cycles that are thought to be forced by changes in Earth-Sun geometry, or “orbital forcing” (Milankovitch, 1941).

Swine Waste Demonstration And Training Project, C. V. Maxwell, K. Vandevender, K. P. Coffey, P. A. Moore, I. Chaubey, D. R. Smith

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.