Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Trophic Ecology Of Oxygen Minimum Zone Zooplankton Revealed By Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotopes, Rebecca Williams

Open Access Dissertations

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are areas in which midwater oxygen concentration can be significantly lower than in non OMZ areas at comparable depths. OMZs are of great interest because of the limits oxygen availability places on life. The potential for OMZ expansion with warming of the oceans has refocused attention on the importance of these areas and their potential impacts on the global carbon cycle. The large open ocean OMZs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific and Arabian Sea are notable for their size, thickness, and the intensity of oxygen depletion (

Here, I use measurements of natural abundance carbon and …

Cave Ventilation Is Influenced By Variations In The Co2-Dependent Virtual Temperature, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Francisco Domingo, Andrew S. Kowalski

International Journal of Speleology

Dynamics and drivers of ventilation in caves are of growing interest for different fields of science. Accumulated CO₂ in caves can be exchanged with the atmosphere, modifying the internal CO₂ content, affecting stalagmite growth rates, deteriorating rupestrian paintings or creating new minerals. Current estimates of cave ventilation neglect the role of high CO₂ concentrations in determining air density – approximated via the virtual temperature (T_v) –, affecting buoyancy and therefore the release or storage of CO₂. Here we try to improve knowledge and understanding of cave ventilation through the use of T …

Spatial And Temporal Trends Of Snowfall In Central New York - A Lake Effect Dominated Region, Justin Joseph Hartnett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Central New York is located in one of the snowiest regions in the United States, with the city of Syracuse, New York the snowiest metropolis in the nation. Snowfall in the region generally begins in mid-November and lasts until late-March. Snow accumulation occurs from a multitude of conditions: frontal systems, mid-latitude cyclones, Nor'easters, and most notably lake-effect storms. Lake effect snowfall (LES) is a difficult parameter to forecast due to the isolated and highly variable nature of the storm. Consequently, studies have attempted to determine changes in snowfall for lake-effect dominated regions. Annual snowfall patterns are of particular concern as …

Biochemical Aspects Of The Thermal Sensitivity And Energy Balance Of Polar, Tropical And Subtropical Teleosts, Eloy Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The maintenance of a functional energy balance in ectothermic fauna could be challenging in a thermally disparate environment. Biochemical adaptations at the enzyme and membrane levels allows for a set compensatory mechanism that allow the individual to maintain an energetic surplus, thus allocating energy for growth and reproduction. The present work describes how the energetic machinery in the cell, particularly the mitochondrion, could be affected by temperature changes. More specifically, this work aimed to determine how environmental temperature affects the mitochondria energetic performance of fishes from disparate thermal regimes.

Mitochondrial ATP production efficiency was evaluated in fishes from polar, tropical …

Gradients In Season, Latitude, And Sea Ice: Their Effect On Metabolism And Stable Isotopic Composition Of Antarctic Micronekton, Erica H. Ombres

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Respiration, metabolic enzyme assays, and body composition parameters were measured in the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba during the summer, fall and winter on the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). E. superba of all sizes decrease their metabolism from the summer to the winter. These same parameters were also measured along the WAP during the austral fall 2010. E. superba's enzyme activity indicated that there was a latitudinal gradient to the decline in metabolism along the WAP with the more northerly sites having significantly higher metabolic enzyme activities than the sites to the south.

Carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ^{15 …}

Light-Environment Controls And Basal Resource Use Of Planktonic And Benthic Primary Production, Kara Radabaugh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Consumers in marine and estuarine environments have a strong reliance on planktonic and benthic primary production. These two basal resources form the foundation of aquatic food webs, yet the abundance of phytoplankton and benthic algae are frequently inversely related due to competition for light and nutrients. As a result, optimal habitats for benthic and planktonic consumers vary spatially and temporally. To investigate these trends, three studies were conducted focusing on light attenuation and basal resources in a bay, river, and on a continental shelf.

δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotopes can be used as endogenous tracers to …

Investigations For Utilizing Pteropods As Bioindicators Of Environmental Change Along The Western Antarctic Peninsula, Paul Mark Suprenand

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pteropods are holoplanktonic gastropod molluscs found globally. Although species diversity is greater at lower latitudes, species abundance is greater at temperate and polar latitudes. Declines in pteropod populations have not only been correlated to declines of their major predators, but pteropods have also been used as bioindicators of global environmental changes such as ocean acidification. With high latitude abundances, pteropods provide significant sustenance for species such as the Atlantic salmon in the Atlantic Ocean and Pleuragramma antarcticum in the Southern Ocean. Because pteropods eat phytoplankton and other pteropods, factors that affect pteropod abundance influence many trophic levels. This dissertation explores …

Flexible Urban Water Distribution Systems, Seneshaw Amare Tsegaye

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing global change pressures such as urbanization and climate change, cities of the future will experience difficulties in efficiently managing scarcer and less reliable water resources. However, projections of future global change pressures are plagued with uncertainties. This increases the difficulty in developing urban water systems that are adaptable to future uncertainty.

A major component of an urban water system is the distribution system, which constitutes approximately 80-85% of the total cost of the water supply system (Swamee and Sharma, 2008). Traditionally, water distribution systems (WDS) are designed using deterministic assumptions of main model input variables such as water …

Statistical Topics Applied To Pressure And Temperature Readings In The Gulf Of Mexico, Malena Kathleen Allison

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The field of statistical research in weather allows for the application of old and new methods, some of which may describe relationships between certain variables better such as temperatures and pressure. The objective of this study was to apply a variety of traditional and novel statistical methods to analyze data from the National Data Buoy Center, which records among other variables barometric pressure, atmospheric temperature, water temperature and dew point temperature. The analysis included attempts to better describe and model the data as well as to make estimations for certain variables. The following statistical methods were utilized: linear regression, non-response …

The Spectrophotometric Analysis Of Lead Carbonate Complexation And Carbonate Saturation States In Seawater, Regina Anita Easley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The carbon dioxide (CO₂) system is the primary buffer in seawater which controls oceanic pH. Changes in the marine CO₂ system affect a number of processes such as metal speciation, mineral saturation states, auditory responses in fish, and primary productivity rates. Increased atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ from human activities (e.g. burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and cement production) has led to a global decrease in surface ocean pH termed anthropogenic ocean acidification. One particular concern in response to increased oceanic CO₂ is a substantial decrease in the calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) saturation states, Ω …

Hearing And Echolocation In Stranded And Captive Odontocete Cetaceans, Danielle Greenhow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Odontocetes use echolocation to detect, track, and discriminate their prey, as well as negotiate their environment. Their hearing abilities match the frequency of greatest sensitivity to the higher frequencies used for foraging and navigation. Hearing and echolocation together provide odontocetes with a highly developed biosonar system. This dissertation examines the hearing ability of several odontocete species to understand what signals they can perceive during echolocation. The variability in hearing ranges between species is examined in the context of phylogenetic and ecological differences among taxa. An autonomous hydrophone array is also developed that could be used in an expanded form in …

Structure And Function Of Pinniped Vibrissae, Christin Taylor Murphy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The vibrissal system of pinnipeds relies on sturdy, specialized vibrissae and supporting neural architecture apparently designed for the reception of waterborne disturbances. Although it is known that pinnipeds can use their vibrissae for fine-scale tactile discrimination and hydrodynamic detection, many aspects of vibrissal function remain poorly understood. The present work examined the adaptive significance of vibrissal structure, the sensitivity of the vibrissal system, and the signals received by this system. All of these points were considered with respect to their function in hydrodynamic reception. Four methods of study: laser vibrometry, computed tomography (CT) scanning, psychophysical testing and animal-borne tagging were …

Impacts Of The Anomalous Mississippi River Discharge And Diversions On Phytoplankton Blooming In Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Brendan O'Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

On April 20, 2010 a tragic explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drilling rig marked the beginning of one of the worst environmental disasters in history. For 87 days oil and gas were released into the Gulf of Mexico. In August 2010, anomalous phytoplankton activity was identified in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, using the Fluorescence Line Height (FLH) ocean color product. The FLH anomaly was bound by approximately 30-28 degrees North and 90 and 86 degrees West and there was a suggestion that this anomaly may have occurred due to the presence of oil. This study was designed to …

Harmful Algal Blooms Of The West Florida Shelf And Campeche Bank: Visualization And Quantification Using Remote Sensing Methods, Inia Mariel Soto Ramos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) are natural phenomena that can have negative impacts on marine ecosystems on which human health and the economy of some Gulf States depends. Many of the HABs in the GOM are dominated by the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. Non-toxic phytoplankton taxa such as Scrippsiella sp. also form intense blooms off the Mexican coast that result in massive fish mortality and economic losses, particularly as they may lead to anoxia.

The main objectives of this dissertation were to (1) evaluate and improve the techniques developed for detection of Karenia spp. blooms …

A Modeling Investigation Of Human Exposure To Select Traffic-Related Air Pollutants In The Tampa Area: Spatiotemporal Distributions Of Concentrations, Social Distributions Of Exposures, And Impacts Of Urban Design On Both, Haofei Yu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing vehicle dependence in the United States has resulted in substantial emissions of traffic-related air pollutants that contribute to the deterioration of urban air quality. Exposure to urban air pollutants trigger a number of public health concerns, including the potential of inequality of exposures and health effects among population subgroups. To better understand the impact of traffic-related pollutants on air quality, exposure, and exposure inequality, modeling methods that can appropriately characterize the spatiotemporally resolved concentration distributions of traffic-related pollutants need to be improved. These modeling methods can then be used to investigate the impacts of urban design and transportation management …

Investigation Of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (Cdom) Optical Properties, Nutrients, And Salinity In Coastal Florida: Springshed To Estuaries, Ana Rosa Arellano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Optical parameters measured via absorption spectroscopy and high-resolution fluorescence spectroscopy were used to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the springshed of Kings Bay, a spring-fed estuary located on Florida's Springs Coast. Over the past 40 years, springs supplying groundwater to Kings Bay have shown an increase in nitrate concentration. The overall goal of this project was to fingerprint wells and spring sites with elevated nitrogen concentrations using CDOM optical properties and establish relationships between nutrient and optical parameters. Samples were obtained from various sites: springs, Kings Bay surface (KBS), wells, coastal waters in and at the mouth of Crystal …

The Combined Effects Of Light And Temperature On Coral Bleaching: A Case Study Of The Florida Reef Tract Using Satellite Data, Brian Burnel Barnes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral reefs are greatly impacted by the physical characteristics of the water surrounding them. Incidence and severity of mass coral bleaching and mortality events are increasing worldwide due primarily to increased water temperature, but also in response to other stressors. This decline in reef health demands clearer understanding of the compounding effects of multiple stressors, as well as widespread assessment of coral reef health in near-real time.

Satellites offer a means by which some of the physical stressors on coral reefs can be measured. The synoptic spatial coverage and high repeat sampling frequency of such instruments allow for a quantity …

Metabolism In Corals From Antarctica, The Deep-Sea, And The Shallow Subtropics: Contrasts In Temperature, Depth, And Light, Lara Henry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral habitats span the range from tropical to polar, extremely shallow to thousands of meters deep. The differences in light and temperature experienced in these varied habitats likely affect the metabolic rates of the corals residing there. The metabolism of three coral species from different habitats have been examined to elucidate the effects of these environmental parameters on metabolism, an under-studied aspect of coral biology. For all three species, measurements of oxygen uptake, ammonium excretion, and activity of the enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), and citrate synthase (CS) were used to characterize their metabolism. Off Florida's Gulf coast, …

A Thermodynamic Analysis Of An Intense North American Arctic Air Mass, Jessica K. Turner, John Gyakum, Shawn M. Milrad

Publications

Northwestern Canada is a genesis region of arctic air masses often considered to be formed primarily through radiative processes. However, the details of their life cycle are poorly understood. This paper examines the formation, maintenance, and dissipation of an intense and long-lived arctic air mass, using a thermodynamic budget analysis.

The airmass formation is characterized by a deep-layer, multistage process that begins with snow falling into a nascent air mass. Radiative cooling from cloud tops begins the process. After the snow abates and clear skies are observed, the surface temperature drops rapidly, aided by the high emissivity of fresh snow …

Final Coastal Lakes Aquatic Plant Survey Report, Mary Pfauth, Mark Sytsma

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Invasive, non-indigenous plants can degrade water quality and fish habitat when they invade lakes, ponds, and streams. Changes in plant community architecture in lakes due to invasion by canopy-forming invasive aquatic plants can result in loss of native plant biodiversity and reduction of the structural complexity of the underwater habitat.

Osmb Ais Funds Final Report: Task 1 Boat Ramp Monitoring For New Zealand Mud Snails, Valance Brenneis, Samuel Cimino, Angela L. Strecker

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

The New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum; NZMS) is an invasive species found in a variety of ecosystems in Oregon, including brackish estuaries, heavily used recreational rivers, and highly trafficked coastal freshwater lakes. NZMS are an invasive species of concern because once established, they may out-compete native invertebrate grazers, such as native insect larvae that provide important food resources for fish, and NZMS themselves provide little nutritional value. Monitoring for the presence and population density of NZMS was performed at boat ramps located along several water bodies in 2006 – 2007. These water bodies were then re-sampled during the summer …

Toward A Phen(Omen)Ology Of The Seasons: The Emergence Of The Indigenous Weather Knowledge Project (Iwkp), John Charles Ryan

Research outputs 2013

Since European settlement, the Western calendar has insufficiently accounted for the seasonal nuances and multiple temporalities of Australia. Beginning with Tim Entwistle’s recent proposal to revise the four-season Australian norm, this article traces the emergence of the Western calendar in Europe and its institutionalization ‘Down Under.’ With its emphasis on land-based calendars, the Indigenous Weather Knowledge Project (IWKP) is a partnership between Aboriginal communities and the Bureau of Meteorology aimed at preserving and promoting knowledge of the endemic seasons of Australian regions. As the most recent addition to the IWKP, the six-season Nyoongar calendar of the South-West of Western Australia …

Millennial Scale Impact On The Marine Biogeochemical Cycle Of Mercury From Early Mining On The Iberian Peninsula, Oscar Serrano Gras, A. Martinez-Cortizas, M. A. Mateo, H. Biester, R. Bindler

Research outputs 2013

The high-resolution mercury record of a Posidonia oceanica mat in the northwest Mediterranean provides an unprecedented testimony of changes in environmental mercury (Hg) loading to the coastal marine environment over the past 4315 yr BP. The period reconstructed made it possible to establish tentative preanthropogenic background Hg levels for the area (6.8!1.5 ng g–1 in bulk sediments). A small, but significant, anthropogenic Hg increase was identifiable by ~2500 yr BP, in agreement with the beginning of intense mining in Spain. Changes in the record suggest four major periods of anthropogenic Hg pollution inputs to the Mediterranean: first, during the Roman …

Meta-Analysis Reveals Complex Marine Biological Responses To The Interactive Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Warming, Ben P. Harvey, Dylan Gwynn-Jones, Philippa J. Moore

Research outputs 2013

Ocean acidification and warming are considered two of the greatest threats to marine biodiversity, yet the combined effect of these stressors on marine organisms remains largely unclear. Using a meta-analytical approach, we assessed the biological responses of marine organisms to the effects of ocean acidification and warming in isolation and combination. As expected biological responses varied across taxonomic groups, life-history stages, and trophic levels, but importantly, combining stressors generally exhibited a stronger biological (either positive or negative) effect. Using a subset of orthogonal studies, we show that four of five of the biological responses measured (calcification, photosynthesis, reproduction, and survival, …

Understanding Transport Variability Of The Antarctic Circumpolar Current Using Ocean Bottom Pressure, Jessica Makowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have suggested that ocean bottom pressure (OBP) can be used to measure the transport variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). The OBP observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) are used to calculate transport along the choke point between Antarctica and Australia. Statistical analysis will be conducted to determine the uncertainty of the GRACE observations using a simulated data set.

There has been some evidence to suggest that Southern Hemisphere winds and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) or the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) play a significant role in accelerating/decelerating ACC transport, along with some contribution from …

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers In Sediments Within The Hillsborough Bay Watershed, Candice Simmons

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a widely used class of flame retardants that are important sources for contamination in the marine environment. Sediments serve as a large reservoir for PBDEs due to their large sorption capacity. This research assessed the presence and distribution of PBDEs in Hillsborough Bay, a subdivision of Tampa Bay, FL, by determining levels in surface sediment samples, creating a historical profile of the contaminant in a sediment core taken from within the bay, and investigating sediment characteristics that control their distribution. Compositional patterns and temporal distributions of 8 of the 209 congeners of PBDEs (BDE-28, -47, …

Chlorophyll Fluorescence And Thermal Stress In Archaias Angulatus (Class Foraminifera), Heidi M. Toomey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Benthic foraminifers that host algal symbionts are similar to corals in that they rely on their algal endosymbionts for their energy needs, calcify prolifically, and are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions. They are abundant in the benthos of coastal coral-reef areas and are found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions. Pulse Amplitude Modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorometry and chlorophyll a extraction techniques were used to quantify and compare the photosynthetic responses of the benthic foraminiferal, Archaias angulatus and their isolated endosymbionts, Chlamydomonas hedleyi, to short-term changes in temperature. Maximum quantum efficiency (F_v/F_m) and rapid …

Synoptic To Interannual Variability In Volumetric Flushing In Tampa Bay, Fl Using Observational Data And A Numerical Model, Monica Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research provides insight into changes in volumetric flushing of the Tampa Bay estuary caused by synoptic scale wind events. The two main studies of this dissertation involve 1) using wavelet analysis to investigate the link between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the frequency and strength of volumetric flushing driven by synoptic variability and 2) using a multi-decadal model simulation to examine how extratropical/winter storms and hurricanes affect the overall flushing rates for Tampa Bay, FL.

In the first study, two analyses are performed on 55 years of observational data to investigate the effect of multiple small wind events …

Multi-Instrument Comparisons Of D-Region Plasma Measurements, M. Friedrich, K. M. Torkar, U. P. Hoppe, T. A. Bekkeng, A. Barjatya, M. Rapp

Publications

The ECOMA (Existence and Charge state Of Meteoric dust grains in the middle Atmosphere) series of sounding rocket flights consisted of nine flights with almost identical payload design and flight characteristics. All flights carried a radio wave propagation experiment together with a variety of plasma probes. Three of these measured electron densities, two ion densities. The rockets were all launched from the Andøya Rocket Range, Norway, in four campaigns between 2006 and 2010. Emphasis is on the final three flights from 2010 where the payloads were equipped with four instruments capable of measuring plasma densities in situ, among them a …

Elevated Electron Temperatures Around Twin Sporadic E Layers At Low Latitude: Observations And The Case For A Plausible Link To Currents Parallel To The Geomagnetic Field, A. Barjatya, J. P. St. Maurice, C. M. Swenson

Publications

We present data from nighttime sounding rocket flights in the low latitude E region. The payloads carried a sweeping Langmuir probe, a plasma impedance probe, and electric field probes. A detailed examination of the plasma density, temperature, and electric field measurements show two strong sporadic E (Es) layers with very high electron temperatures (∼1000 K) on each side of the upper layer. The lower layer was consistent with the presence of a strong zonal neutral wind shear. The upper layer was strongly influenced by the presence of a strongly negative vertical electric field, with zonal winds and …