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Articles 61 - 90 of 123

Full-Text Articles in Oceanography

Groundwater And Tidal Controls On Wetland Hydrology, Julie J. Metz Wetland Mitigation Bank, Woodbridge, Virginia, Benjamin Stuart Hiza Apr 2017

Groundwater And Tidal Controls On Wetland Hydrology, Julie J. Metz Wetland Mitigation Bank, Woodbridge, Virginia, Benjamin Stuart Hiza

OES Theses and Dissertations

Julie J. Metz Wetlands Mitigation Bank, a 92-hectare freshwater wetland located in Woodbridge, Virginia, borders the tidally-influenced Neabsco Creek. Seven pods separated by earthen berms were built by Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. (WSSI) in 1995 and 1997 by removing the toe of small sandy alluvial fans and covering the underlying coarse gravel bed with a low permeability cap. The basal Quaternary gravels were deposited in a creek valley incised into a thick sand-and-clay Cretaceous delta. The alluvial-fan apron developed at the base of steep slopes along the sides of the valley. Pressure transducer data from five monitoring wells along …


Upper Water Structure And Mixed Layer Depth In Tropical Waters: The Seats Station In The Northern South China Sea, Jen-Hua Tai, George T. F. Wong, Xiaoju Pan Jan 2017

Upper Water Structure And Mixed Layer Depth In Tropical Waters: The Seats Station In The Northern South China Sea, Jen-Hua Tai, George T. F. Wong, Xiaoju Pan

OES Faculty Publications

The variability of the upper water hydrographic structure, the efficacy of the different schemes for estimating the mixed layer depth (MLD), the inter-comparability estimation of the MLDs and diurnal and intra-annual MLD climatology in the tropical waters in the northern South China Sea were accessed in 702 depth-profiles of potential temperature (θ) and salinity collected in 64 cruises between 17.5 and 18.5°N and 115.3 and 116.3°E from 1997 to 2013. The hydrographic structure may be subdivided into three principal types: the classical type, with quasi-isopycnal surface mixed layer followed by an abrupt increase in the depth-gradient in θ and potential …


Modern Fair-Weather And Storm Sediment Transport Around Ship Island, Mississippi: Implications For Coastal Habitats And Restoration Efforts, Eve Rettew Eisemann Dec 2016

Modern Fair-Weather And Storm Sediment Transport Around Ship Island, Mississippi: Implications For Coastal Habitats And Restoration Efforts, Eve Rettew Eisemann

Master's Theses

The Mississippi – Alabama barrier island chain is experiencing accelerated sea level rise, decreased sediment supply, and frequent hurricane impacts. These three factors drive unprecedented rates of morphology change and ecosystem reduction. All islands in the chain have experienced land loss on the order of hectares per year since records began in the 1840s. In 1969, Hurricane Camille impacted as a Category 5, breaching Ship Island, and significantly reduced viable seagrass habitat. Hurricane Katrina impacted as a Category 3 in 2005, further widening Camille Cut. To better understand the sustainability of these important islands and the ecosystems they support, sediment …


Holocene Glacial Activity In Barilari Bay, West Antarctic Peninsula, Tracked By Magnetic Mineral Assemblages: Linking Ice, Ocean, And Atmosphere, Brendan Reilly, Carl Natter, Stefanie A. Brachfeld Nov 2016

Holocene Glacial Activity In Barilari Bay, West Antarctic Peninsula, Tracked By Magnetic Mineral Assemblages: Linking Ice, Ocean, And Atmosphere, Brendan Reilly, Carl Natter, Stefanie A. Brachfeld

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We investigate the origin and fate of lithogenic sediments using magnetic mineral assemblages in Barilari Bay, west Antarctic Peninsula (AP) from sediment cores recovered during the Larsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica (LARISSA) NBP10-01 cruise. To quantify and reconstruct Holocene changes in covarying magnetic mineral assemblages, we adopt an unsupervised mathematical unmixing strategy and apply it to measurements of magnetic susceptibility as a function of increasing temperature. Comparisons of the unmixed end-members with magnetic observations of northwestern AP bedrock and the spatial distribution of magnetic mineral assemblages within the fjord, allow us to identify source regions, including signatures for ‘‘inner bay,’’ …


Determining The Viability Of Recent Storms As Modern Analogues For North-Central Gulf Of Mexico Paleotempestology Through Sedimentary Analysis And Storm Surge Reconstruction, Joshua Caleb Bregy Aug 2016

Determining The Viability Of Recent Storms As Modern Analogues For North-Central Gulf Of Mexico Paleotempestology Through Sedimentary Analysis And Storm Surge Reconstruction, Joshua Caleb Bregy

Master's Theses

The northern Gulf of Mexico has been devastated by recent intense storms. Camille (1969) and Katrina (2005) are two notable hurricanes that made landfall in virtually the same location in Mississippi. However, fully understanding the risks and processes associated with hurricane impacts is impeded by a short and fragmented instrumental record. Paleotempestology could potentially use modern analogues from intense storms in this region to extend the hurricane record back to pre-observational time. Existing empirically based models can back-calculate surge heights over coastal systems as a function of transport distance, particle settling velocity, and gravitational acceleration. We collected cores in a …


Developing Priority Variables (“Ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables” — Eeovs) For Observing Dynamics And Change In Southern Ocean Ecosystems, Andrew J. Constable, Daniel P. Costa, Oscar Schofield, Louise Newman, Edward R. Urban Jr., Elizabeth A. Fulton, Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, Tosca Ballerini, Philip W. Boyd, Angelika Brandt, Eileen E. Hofmann Jan 2016

Developing Priority Variables (“Ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables” — Eeovs) For Observing Dynamics And Change In Southern Ocean Ecosystems, Andrew J. Constable, Daniel P. Costa, Oscar Schofield, Louise Newman, Edward R. Urban Jr., Elizabeth A. Fulton, Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, Tosca Ballerini, Philip W. Boyd, Angelika Brandt, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Reliable statements about variability and change in marine ecosystems and their underlying causes are needed to report on their status and to guide management. Here we use the Framework on Ocean Observing (FOO) to begin developing ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables (eEOVs) for the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS). An eEOV is a defined biological or ecological quantity, which is derived from field observations, and which contributes significantly to assessments of Southern Ocean ecosystems. Here, assessments are concerned with estimating status and trends in ecosystem properties, attribution of trends to causes, and predicting future trajectories. eEOVs should be feasible to collect …


Dissolved Fe And Al In The Upper 1000 M Of The Eastern Indian Ocean: A High‐Resolution Transect Along 95°E From The Antarctic Margin To The Bay Of Bengal, Maxime Grand, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, William Landing, Peter Morton, Clifton Buck, Pamela Barrett, Joseph Resing Mar 2015

Dissolved Fe And Al In The Upper 1000 M Of The Eastern Indian Ocean: A High‐Resolution Transect Along 95°E From The Antarctic Margin To The Bay Of Bengal, Maxime Grand, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, William Landing, Peter Morton, Clifton Buck, Pamela Barrett, Joseph Resing

Faculty Publications

A high‐resolution section of dissolved iron (dFe) and aluminum (dAl) was obtained along ~95°E in the upper 1000 m of the eastern Indian Ocean from the Antarctic margin (66°S) to the Bay of Bengal (18°N) during the U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) CO2 Repeat Hydrography I08S and I09N sections (February–April 2007). In the Southern Ocean, low concentrations of dAl (<1 n M) reflect the negligible dust inputs impacting the water masses subducted in the circumpolar domain. The low dAl concentrations characterizing the Southern Ocean terminate near 45°S, probably because of the advection of subtropical water masses that received dust and sedimentary inputs in their formation region. Our subsurface dFe data near the southern Kerguelen Plateau were significantly higher than historical observations in other Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean. We surmise that the offshore advection of dFe‐rich waters along the western flank of the southern Kerguelen plateau and enhanced vertical mixing could contribute to this elevated subsurface dFe inventory. Elevated subsurface particulate and dFe levels downstream of the northern Kerguelen Plateau may reflect long‐range lateral transport from the plateau's sediments and/or remineralization inputs. At the northern edge of the south Indian subtropical gyre, the deposition of Australian dust, possibly combined with the advection of dAl‐enriched waters from the Indonesian Throughflow, creates a region of elevated dAl in the upper 400 m but without a corresponding enrichment in dFe. In the northern Indian Ocean, the South Equatorial Current constitutes a remarkable biogeochemical front separating the oxygen‐rich and dFe‐poor subtropical gyre waters from the dFe‐rich and oxygen‐depleted waters of the northern Indian Ocean. By tracing the accumulation of macronutrients and dFe along the advective pathway of Indian Central Water, we show that the central waters of the northern Indian Ocean receive excess dFe in addition to that produced by remineralization inputs. The resuspension of shelf sediments and release of pore waters probably contribute to the elevated dFe and dAl levels observed below the highly stratified upper layers of the Bay of Bengal.


Dust Deposition In The Eastern Indian Ocean: The Ocean Perspective From Antarctica To The Bay Of Bengal, Maxime Grand, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, Clifton Buck, William Landing Mar 2015

Dust Deposition In The Eastern Indian Ocean: The Ocean Perspective From Antarctica To The Bay Of Bengal, Maxime Grand, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, Clifton Buck, William Landing

Faculty Publications

Atmospheric deposition is an important but still poorly constrained source of trace micronutrients to the open ocean because of the dearth of in situ measurements of total deposition (i.e., wet + dry deposition) in remote regions. In this work, we discuss the upper ocean distribution of dissolved Fe and Al in the eastern Indian Ocean along a 95°E meridional transect spanning the Antarctic margin to the Bay of Bengal. We use the mixed layer concentration of dissolved Al in conjunction with empirical data in a simple steady state model to produce 75 estimates of total dust deposition that we compare …


Tropical North Atlantic Subsurface Warming Events As A Fingerprint For Amoc Variability During Marine Isotope Stage 3, Andrew O. Parker, Matthew W. Schmidt, Ping Chang Jan 2015

Tropical North Atlantic Subsurface Warming Events As A Fingerprint For Amoc Variability During Marine Isotope Stage 3, Andrew O. Parker, Matthew W. Schmidt, Ping Chang

OES Faculty Publications

The role of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) as the driver of Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) variability that characterized Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) has long been hypothesized. Although there is ample proxy evidence suggesting that DO events were robust features of glacial climate, there is little data supporting a link with AMOC. Recently, modeling studies and subsurface temperature reconstructions have suggested that subsurface warming across the tropical North Atlantic can be used to fingerprint a weakened AMOC during the deglacial because a reduction in the strength of the western boundary current allows warm salinity maximum water of the subtropical gyre …


Theoretical Foundation Of Cyclostationary Eof Analysis For Geophysical And Climatic Variables: Concepts And Examples, Kwang-Yul Kim, Benjamin Hamlington, Hanna Na Jan 2015

Theoretical Foundation Of Cyclostationary Eof Analysis For Geophysical And Climatic Variables: Concepts And Examples, Kwang-Yul Kim, Benjamin Hamlington, Hanna Na

CCPO Publications

Natural variability is an essential component of observations of all geophysical and climate variables. In principal component analysis (PCA), also called empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, a set of orthogonal eigenfunctions is found from a spatial covariance function. These empirical basis functions often lend useful insights into physical processes in the data and serve as a useful tool for developing statistical methods. The underlying assumption in PCA is the stationarity of the data analyzed; that is, the covariance function does not depend on the origin of time. The stationarity assumption is often not justifiable for geophysical and climate variables even …


Exploring The Link Between Otolith Growth And Function Along The Biological Continuum In The Context Of Ocean Acidification, Eric D. Wilcox Freeburg Jun 2014

Exploring The Link Between Otolith Growth And Function Along The Biological Continuum In The Context Of Ocean Acidification, Eric D. Wilcox Freeburg

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Oceans are acidifying as atmospheric CO2 is drawn down. This process, known as ocean acidification (OA), is well known and documented. Over the next 100 years, pH of the surface ocean is projected to decrease by up to 0.35 units. This CO2 draw down has a direct effect on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) balance in the ocean. OA is expected to impact calcifying organisms that rely on constituencies of the DIC system, specifically carbonate ion [CO32-]. It is clear that externally calcified structures, such as coral skeletons, bivalve shells, etc., will be significantly affected as pH, …


Quantifying The Impact Of Atmospheric Deposition On The Biogeochemistry Of Fe And Al In The Upper Ocean: A Decade Of Collaboration With The Us Clivar-Co2 Repeat Hydrography Program, Maxime Grand, Clifton Buck, William Landing, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, Matthew Brown, Joseph Resing Mar 2014

Quantifying The Impact Of Atmospheric Deposition On The Biogeochemistry Of Fe And Al In The Upper Ocean: A Decade Of Collaboration With The Us Clivar-Co2 Repeat Hydrography Program, Maxime Grand, Clifton Buck, William Landing, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, Matthew Brown, Joseph Resing

Faculty Publications

The aerosol deposition of continental material and its partial dissolution in the surface ocean exerts an important control on the distribution of iron and other potentially limiting trace metal (TM) micronutrients in the open ocean. This dust deposition has implications for the regulation of global climate through the coupling of biolimiting TM cycles, marine productivity, and the global carbon cycle. Thus, it is important to determine the locations of dust deposition in the open ocean and to quantify the magnitude and subsequent dissolution of the dust. At present, there are too few dust deposition estimates and solubility measurements in the …


Kenyan Climate Variation Assessment Through Rainfall Anomalies And Sea Surface Temperature (Sst) Correlations, Kimberly E. Lykens Jan 2014

Kenyan Climate Variation Assessment Through Rainfall Anomalies And Sea Surface Temperature (Sst) Correlations, Kimberly E. Lykens

STAR Program Research Presentations

The diverse and varied climate of Eastern Africa’s Kenya is home to an agriculturally dependent populace, in which farmers and other related economic sectors make up the majority of livelihoods and gross domestic product. Recurring droughts and severe flooding are major concerns for local farmers and governmental entities. The purpose of this study is to identify and categorize differences in rainfall trends over Kenya and to examine relationships between seasonal rainfall anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST), with an ultimate goal to improve predictions of wet season rainfall amounts. The analysis began with data from 27 national and cooperative weather …


Did A Submarine Landslide Contribute To The 2011 Tohoku Tsunami?, David R. Tappin, Stephan T. Grilli, Jeffrey C. Harris, Robert J. Geller, Timothy Masterlark, James T. Kirby, Fengyan Shi, Gangfeng Ma, K.K.S. Thingbaijam, P. Martin Mai Jan 2014

Did A Submarine Landslide Contribute To The 2011 Tohoku Tsunami?, David R. Tappin, Stephan T. Grilli, Jeffrey C. Harris, Robert J. Geller, Timothy Masterlark, James T. Kirby, Fengyan Shi, Gangfeng Ma, K.K.S. Thingbaijam, P. Martin Mai

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Many studies have modeled the Tohoku tsunami of March 11, 2011 as being due entirely to slip on an earthquake fault, but the following discrepancies suggest that further research is warranted. (1) Published models of tsunami propagation and coastal impact underpredict the observed runup heights of up to 40. m measured along the coast of the Sanriku district in the northeast part of Honshu Island. (2) Published models cannot reproduce the timing and high-frequency content of tsunami waves recorded at three nearshore buoys off Sanriku, nor the timing and dispersion properties of the waveforms at offshore DART buoy #21418. (3) …


Marine Diatom Assemblage Variation Across Pleistocene Glacial–Interglacial Transitions And Neogene Diatom Biostratigraphy Of Site C9001, Nw Pacific Ocean, Marcella K. Purkey Dec 2013

Marine Diatom Assemblage Variation Across Pleistocene Glacial–Interglacial Transitions And Neogene Diatom Biostratigraphy Of Site C9001, Nw Pacific Ocean, Marcella K. Purkey

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

In 2006, D/V-Chikyu cruise CK06-06 drilled Hole C9001C at Site C9001 in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, 80 km east of the Shimokita Peninsula, Japan. An existing chronostratigraphic framework provides a continuous glacial-interglacial (GI) climate record from which a diatom record of paleoenvironmental changes was developed across several GI cycles. Species counts, diatom temperature values, calculated sea-surface temperatures (SST) and factor analysis were produced for each sample and calibrated to prior diatom studies in this region. These features were used to characterize and compare interglacial maxima of Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1, 5e, 9 and 11 and transitions from the preceding …


Scavenging, Cycling And Removal Fluxes Of 210Po And 210Pb At The Bermuda Time-Series Study Site, G. H. Hong, M. Baskaran, T. M. Church, M. Conte Sep 2013

Scavenging, Cycling And Removal Fluxes Of 210Po And 210Pb At The Bermuda Time-Series Study Site, G. H. Hong, M. Baskaran, T. M. Church, M. Conte

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Quantifying relative affinities of Po and Pb in different populations of marine particulate matter is of great importance in utilizing 210Po as a tracer for carbon cycling. We collected and analyzed water samples for the concentrations of dissolved and total 210Po and 210Pb from the upper 600 m of the water column at Bermuda Time-series Study site (September 1999 to September 2000) to investigate their seasonality of concentrations and their ac-tivity ratio (210Po/210Pb activity ratio, AR). Sinking particles collected in sediment traps at depths of 500 m, 1500 m, and 3200 m from …


Effects Of Flow Rates And Composition Of The Filter, And Decay/Ingrowth Correction Factors Involved With The Determination Of In Situ Particulate 210Po And 210Pb In Seawater, Mark Baskaran, Thomas Church, Gi Hong, Anupam Kumar, Ma Qiang, Hui Choi, Sylvain Rigaud, Kanchan Maiti Mar 2013

Effects Of Flow Rates And Composition Of The Filter, And Decay/Ingrowth Correction Factors Involved With The Determination Of In Situ Particulate 210Po And 210Pb In Seawater, Mark Baskaran, Thomas Church, Gi Hong, Anupam Kumar, Ma Qiang, Hui Choi, Sylvain Rigaud, Kanchan Maiti

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Accurate measurements of particulate 210Po (210Pop) and 210Pb (210Pbp) are required in the investigation of (i) partitioning of Po and Pb between particulate and dissolved phases and (ii) export estimates of carbon and other key trace metals from the euphotic zone via sinking particulate matter. Based on the intercomparison of different composition of the filter material (QMA, Supor, Millipore, and Pall GN6) and flow rates (2 to 8 L min), we show how these factors affect the measured concentrations of 210Pop and 210Pbp and their activity …


Bioactive Trace Metal Distributions And Biogeochemical Controls In The Southern Ocean, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, Maxime Grand Sep 2012

Bioactive Trace Metal Distributions And Biogeochemical Controls In The Southern Ocean, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, Maxime Grand

Faculty Publications

Extensive sampling in many regions of the Southern Ocean has demonstrated that surface water concentrations of dissolved Fe are low enough to limit phytoplankton growth. In contrast, there is currently no evidence that other bioactive elements (e.g., Mn, Zn, Co) are similarly limiting. Although atmospheric input of dissolved Fe to Southern Ocean surface waters appears to be low, resuspension of sediments from shallow regions around islands and the Antarctic coastline can inject significant amounts of Fe into the surrounding waters, stimulating primary production and providing a natural laboratory for studying the response of biological systems to natural Fe fertilization processes. …


A New Phase Speciation Leaching Procedure For The Determination Of Metals In Oxic And Anoxic Sediments, Brandon R. Gipson Jan 2012

A New Phase Speciation Leaching Procedure For The Determination Of Metals In Oxic And Anoxic Sediments, Brandon R. Gipson

OES Theses and Dissertations

Toxic trace elements such as cadmium, lead, chromium, and arsenic released by human activities can accumulate in marine and estuarine sediments, where these metals are often sequestered until local environmental changes (e.g., redox, salinity, and/or pH) allow these elements to be reintroduced into the food web. In order to assess the extent of toxic trace element contamination in sediment, numerous leaching schemes have been developed that separate sediment-bound trace metals into operationally defined geochemical phases. These "phase speciation" leaching schemes are typically designed with the purpose of being used on either oxic or anoxic sediments. However, natural sediments often contain …


Impact Of Abrupt Deglacial Climate Change On Tropical Atlantic Subsurface Temperatures, Matthew W. Schmidt, Ping Chang, Jennifer E. Hertzberg, Theodore R. Them Ii, Link Li, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner Jan 2012

Impact Of Abrupt Deglacial Climate Change On Tropical Atlantic Subsurface Temperatures, Matthew W. Schmidt, Ping Chang, Jennifer E. Hertzberg, Theodore R. Them Ii, Link Li, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner

OES Faculty Publications

Both instrumental data analyses and coupled ocean-atmosphere models indicate that Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variability is tightly linked to abrupt tropical North Atlantic (TNA) climate change through both atmospheric and oceanic processes. Although a slowdown of AMOC results in an atmospheric-induced surface cooling in the entire TNA, the subsurface experiences an even larger warming because of rapid reorganizations of ocean circulation patterns at intermediate water depths. Here, we reconstruct high-resolution temperature records using oxygen isotope values and Mg/Ca ratios in both surface- and sub-thermocline-dwelling planktonic foraminifera from a sediment core located in the TNA over the last 22 ky. …


Deglacial Variability Of Antarctic Intermediate Water Penetration Into The North Atlantic From Authigenic Neodymium Isotope Ratios, Ruifang C. Xie, Franco Marcantonio, Matthew W. Schmidt Jan 2012

Deglacial Variability Of Antarctic Intermediate Water Penetration Into The North Atlantic From Authigenic Neodymium Isotope Ratios, Ruifang C. Xie, Franco Marcantonio, Matthew W. Schmidt

OES Faculty Publications

Understanding intermediate water circulation across the last deglacial is critical in assessing the role of oceanic heat transport associated with Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation variability across abrupt climate events. However, the links between intermediate water circulation and abrupt climate events such as the Younger Dryas (YD) and Heinrich Event 1 (H1) are still poorly constrained. Here, we reconstruct changes in Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic over the past 25 kyr by measuring authigenic neodymium isotope ratios in sediments from two sites in the Florida Straits. Our authigenic Nd isotope records suggest that there was little …


Solar Forcing Of Florida Straits Surface Salinity During The Early Holocene, Matthew W. Schmidt, William A. Weinlein, Franco Marcantonio, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz Jan 2012

Solar Forcing Of Florida Straits Surface Salinity During The Early Holocene, Matthew W. Schmidt, William A. Weinlein, Franco Marcantonio, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz

OES Faculty Publications

Previous studies showed that sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Florida Straits as well as Florida Current transport covaried with changes in North Atlantic climate over the past two millennia. However, little is known about earlier Holocene hydrographic variability in the Florida Straits. Here, we combine Mg/Ca-paleothermometry and stable oxygen isotope measurements on the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white variety) from Florida Straits sediment core KNR166-2 JPC 51 (24° 24.70' N, 83° 13.14' W, 198 m deep) to reconstruct a high-resolution (~25 yr/sample) early to mid Holocene record of sea surface temperature and δ18OSW)(a …


Could Satellite Altimetry Have Improved Early Detection And Warning Of The 2011 Tohoku Tsunami?, B. D. Hamlington, R. R. Leben, O. A. Godin, E. Gica, V. V. Titov, B. J. Haines, S. D. Desai Jan 2012

Could Satellite Altimetry Have Improved Early Detection And Warning Of The 2011 Tohoku Tsunami?, B. D. Hamlington, R. R. Leben, O. A. Godin, E. Gica, V. V. Titov, B. J. Haines, S. D. Desai

CCPO Publications

The 2011 Tohoku tsunami devastated Japan and affected coastal populations all around the Pacific Ocean. Accurate early warning of an impending tsunami requires the detection of the tsunami in the open ocean. While the lead-time was not sufficient for use in warning coastal populations in Japan, satellite altimetry observations of the tsunami could have been used to improve predictions and warnings for other affected areas. By comparing to both model results and historical satellite altimeter data, we use near-real-time satellite altimeter measurements to demonstrate the potential for detecting the 2011 Tohoku tsunami within a few hours of the tsunami being …


Florida Straits Deglacial Temperature And Salinity Change: Implications For Tropical Hydrologic Cycle Variability During The Younger Dryas, Matthew W. Schmidt, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz Jan 2011

Florida Straits Deglacial Temperature And Salinity Change: Implications For Tropical Hydrologic Cycle Variability During The Younger Dryas, Matthew W. Schmidt, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz

OES Faculty Publications

The prevailing paradigm of abrupt climate change holds that rapid shifts associated with the most extreme climate swings of the last glacial cycle were forced by changes in the strength and northward extension of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), resulting in an abrupt reorganization of atmospheric circulation patterns with global teleconnections. To determine the timing of tropical Atlantic atmospheric circulation changes over the past 21 ka BP, we reconstruct high resolution sea surface temperature and δ18OSW (a proxy for surface salinity) records based on Mg/Ca ratios and oxygen isotope measurements in the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber from …


Meridional Shifts In The Marine Itcz And The Tropical Hydrologic Cycle Over The Last Three Glacial Cycles, Matthew W. Schmidt, Howard J. Spero Jan 2011

Meridional Shifts In The Marine Itcz And The Tropical Hydrologic Cycle Over The Last Three Glacial Cycles, Matthew W. Schmidt, Howard J. Spero

OES Faculty Publications

Paleoproxy studies show a strong correlation between tropical climate and high-latitude temperature variability recorded in the Greenland ice cores over the last glacial cycle. In particular, abrupt cooling events in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project II δ18O ice record appear synchronous with a southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the Atlantic, a weakening of the Indian and East Asian monsoon systems, and a strengthening of the South American monsoon system. Because this high-to-low-latitude climate teleconnection significantly alters the tropical hydrologic cycle around the globe, it plays a critical role in regulating global climate on glacial-interglacial …


Evidence From The Florida Straits For Younger Dryas Ocean Circulation Changes, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Matthew W. Schmidt, William B. Curry Jan 2011

Evidence From The Florida Straits For Younger Dryas Ocean Circulation Changes, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Matthew W. Schmidt, William B. Curry

OES Faculty Publications

The waters passing through the Florida Straits today reflect both the western portion of the wind-driven subtropical gyre and the northward flow of the upper waters which cross the equator, compensating North Atlantic Deep Water export as part of the large-scale Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. It has been postulated from various lines of evidence that the overturning circulation was weaker during the Younger Dryas cold event of the last deglaciation. We show here that the contrast in the oxygen isotopic composition of benthic foraminiferal tests across the Florida Current is reduced during the Younger Dryas. This most likely reflects a …


Clay Mineral Cycles Identified By Diffuse Spectral Reflectance In Quaternary Sediments From The Northwind Ridge: Implications For Glacial-Interglacial Sedimentation Patterns In The Arctic Ocean, Lyanne N. Yurco, Joseph D. Ortiz, Leonid Polyak, Dennis A. Darby, Kevin A. Crawford Aug 2010

Clay Mineral Cycles Identified By Diffuse Spectral Reflectance In Quaternary Sediments From The Northwind Ridge: Implications For Glacial-Interglacial Sedimentation Patterns In The Arctic Ocean, Lyanne N. Yurco, Joseph D. Ortiz, Leonid Polyak, Dennis A. Darby, Kevin A. Crawford

OES Faculty Publications

A Quaternary record of fine-grained sediment composition is used to investigate Arctic Ocean climate variability on glacial-interglacial time scales. Diffuse spectral reflectance data from sediment core P1-92AR-P25 from the Northwind Ridge, north of Alaska, demonstrates cyclic variations in mineralogy. Varimax-rotated R-mode factor analysis of down-core data revealed three major mineralogical assemblages, which were then compared with the content of manganese, a proxy for basin ventilation, and thus glacial-interglacial cycles. Results indicate that factor 1, a smectite + chlorite clay assemblage, was delivered to the core site during interglacials, either by fluvial discharge or sea-ice drift from Siberian rivers or inflow …


Development Of A Spectral 2-D Fast Fourier Transform Analysis For Sand Ripple Morphology Interpretation, Christopher M. Englert Jan 2010

Development Of A Spectral 2-D Fast Fourier Transform Analysis For Sand Ripple Morphology Interpretation, Christopher M. Englert

Honors Theses

A MATLAB-based 2-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform spectral analysis is developed and tested for its applicability to bedform morphology and hydrodynamic data from a hydrodynamically complex field site. The aspects of the procedure tested are (1) the use of an 8 sub-region arrangement for analysis versus five other arrangements, (2) the procedure for averaging the wavelength-and-orientation outputs from each sub-region to produce a single representative value for each image, (3) methods for eliminating and/or filtering poor quality data, and (4) the procedural steps in the spectral analysis that can appropriately incorporate automation versus manual involvement and interpretation. The automated technique is …


Causes Of Tropical Atlantic Paleo-Salinity Variation During Periods Of Reduced Amoc, Xiuquan Wan, Ping Chang, Matthew W. Schmidt Jan 2010

Causes Of Tropical Atlantic Paleo-Salinity Variation During Periods Of Reduced Amoc, Xiuquan Wan, Ping Chang, Matthew W. Schmidt

OES Faculty Publications

During periods of reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) associated with a freshening of northern North Atlantic surface water, paleo proxy records indicate a corresponding surface salinity increase over the entire tropical Atlantic. Although latitudinal-shifts in the mean position of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) can explain certain features of the paleo salinity reconstructions, this mechanism does not offer an explanation for the reconstructed basin-wide paleo-salinity response to AMOC change. Here, we present new results from general circulation model simulations that suggest the sea surface salinity (SSS) increase in the tropical north Atlantic during periods of weakened AMOC is …


Constraints On The Utility Of Mno2 Cartridge Method For The Extraction Of Radionuclides: A Case Study Using 234Th, M. Baskaran, P. W. Swarzenski, B. A. Biddanda Apr 2009

Constraints On The Utility Of Mno2 Cartridge Method For The Extraction Of Radionuclides: A Case Study Using 234Th, M. Baskaran, P. W. Swarzenski, B. A. Biddanda

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Large volume (102–103 L) seawater samples are routinely processed to investigate the partitioning of particle reactive radionuclides and Ra between solution and size-fractionated suspended particulate matter. One of the most frequently used methods to preconcentrate these nuclides from such large volumes involves extraction onto three filter cartridges (a prefilter for particulate species and two MnO2-coated filters for dissolved species) connected in series. This method assumes that the extraction efficiency is uniform for both MnO2-coated cartridges, that no dissolved species are removed by the prefilter, and that any adsorbed radionuclides are not desorbed from …