Characterization Of Landslide Processes From Radar Remote Sensing And Hydromechanical Modeling,
2021
Southern Methodist University
Characterization Of Landslide Processes From Radar Remote Sensing And Hydromechanical Modeling, Yuankun Xu
Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations
Landsides are a natural geomorphic process yet a dangerous hazard which annually causes thousands of casualties and billions of property loss in a global scale. Understanding landslide motion kinematics from early initiation to final deposition is critical for monitoring, assessing, and forecasting landslide movement in order to mitigate their hazards. Landslides occur under diverse environmental settings and appear in variable types; however, all types of landslides can be mechanically attributed to shearing failure at the basal surface due to stress regime shift contributed by internal and/or external forcing. Typical internal factors include soil/rock weathering, whereas typical external triggering forces encompass …
Late Amazonian Wind Regimes And Landscape Evolution In Northern Meridiani Planum, Mars,
2021
Augustana College
Late Amazonian Wind Regimes And Landscape Evolution In Northern Meridiani Planum, Mars, Thomas Stritch
Geology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works
Aeolian process have dominated the lower latitudes of Mars for billions of years. Aeolian landforms can act as records of current and past climates and landscape evolution processes. The etched deposits of Meridiani Planum, a vast suite of layered bedrock extending from southwest Arabia Terra to Schiaparelli crater, have long been noted to have been eroded by aeolian processes. However, little detailed work on the aeolian landforms of Meridiani Planum beyond the Opportunity rover landing site has been done. In this study, I examine wind streaks, aeolian bedforms (including dunes and large ripples), and yardangs in a valley about 370 …
Linking Human Activities To Water Quality In Coastal New England: Past And Present,
2021
University of Connecticut
Linking Human Activities To Water Quality In Coastal New England: Past And Present, Amelia Hurst
University Scholar Projects
This project examines the timing and effect of direct and indirect anthropogenic and natural influences on the marine environment in embayments in southern New England over the past decades to century timescale. We investigated the effects of human land use from colonial through post-industrial times, determined baseline conditions and natural climatic variability, and analyzed the response of marine ecosystems to specific local management actions aimed to improve water quality. A coastal sediment core was taken in Mumford Cove, CT and was analyzed downcore for eutrophication markers (C: N, %C, %N, d15N, d13C) and metals (Hg, Pb, …
The Role Of Elevation As A Control On Salt Marsh-Upland Ecotones Along The Mississippi Gulf Coast,
2021
University of Southern Mississippi
The Role Of Elevation As A Control On Salt Marsh-Upland Ecotones Along The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Carlton P. Anderson
Dissertations
Salt marshes are critical ecological gems that serve as habitat for many specialized species of flora and fauna, while providing a natural buffer to human populations from tropical cyclone impacts. However, rises growth of coastal populations has led to greater strain on the natural services these ecosystems provide. To better understand and project the future of coastal evolution, the physical, mechanical, and biological feedbacks between the natural and human coupled systems need to be more defined and thoroughly understood. Human encroachment towards naturally retreating shorelines will lead to coastal communities being more susceptible to nuisance tidal flooding and minor tropical …
Effects Of The Triassic-Jurassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Event Recorded In Continental Strata In Western Pangea: The Δ13c Record Of Warner Valley & Zion National Park,
2021
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Effects Of The Triassic-Jurassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Event Recorded In Continental Strata In Western Pangea: The Δ13c Record Of Warner Valley & Zion National Park, Dennis Mmasa
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The Triassic is a period of abrupt climate change bracketed by mass extinctions including one driven by the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) in the Late Triassic. The Moenave Formation (MF) of Utah and Arizona is ideal to investigate effects of the CAMP on continental strata distal to the eruptive center. This study focuses on the C-isotopic composition of bulk carbonate C from two localities, Blacks Canyon, Zion National Park, UT and Olsen Canyon within Warner Valley, UT. The data collected was used to document a chemostratigraphic record to compare to globally established records and bulk organic …
Assessing Soil-Related Terroir Factors In Sunnyslope District Vineyards Of Southwest Idaho,
2021
Boise State University
Assessing Soil-Related Terroir Factors In Sunnyslope District Vineyards Of Southwest Idaho, Rachael Nicole Haggen
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Terroir is the set of factors including climate, soil, and management practices that influence the character of a wine. Of these factors, soil texture and chemistry is a major determinant in wine grape quality (van Leeuwen et al., 2009). Understanding the characteristics of the soil is key to making decisions that support the production of the highest possible quality grapes from the resources available. Few studies have been conducted in the Snake River Valley AVA (SRVAVA). This study seeks to build upon the data already available and provide analysis of vineyard-scale terroir in a leading grape growing district of the …
Joint Spacing In The Caples Lake Granodiorite Of The Sierra Nevada Batholith In Eldorado National Forest, California: A Comparative Analysis Of Joint Sets And Data Resolution,
2021
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Joint Spacing In The Caples Lake Granodiorite Of The Sierra Nevada Batholith In Eldorado National Forest, California: A Comparative Analysis Of Joint Sets And Data Resolution, Jimmy Wood
Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects
Joints are the most common deformation structure in the Earth’s upper crust and exert a significant influence on structural stability, landscape morphology, and fluid flow . Therefore, a greater understanding of fracture parameters (e.g., length, aperture, etc.) allows us to more accurately predict their presence, persistence, and prevalence, in the subsurface . We study the fracture spacing of two sub-orthogonal joint sets—66 NE-246 SW and 330 NW-150 SE—in the Caples Lake granodiorite of the Sierra Nevada Batholith, California. Specifically, we investigate 1) their spacing distributions with a keen interest in power-law (fractal) spacing, 2) distribution comparisons between master and cross …
Small-Scale Resuspension And Redistribution Of Surface Sediments In The Northeast Gulf Of Mexico,
2021
The University of Southern Mississippi
Small-Scale Resuspension And Redistribution Of Surface Sediments In The Northeast Gulf Of Mexico, Austin Harris
Master's Theses
Following the release of ~4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo wellhead, a vast area of the seafloor contained recently deposited marine sediments contaminated by the oil spill. The initial deposition of these contaminated marine sediments was likely not the end of the journey for the particles. Downslope gravitational processes and events of increased current speed in the deep ocean setting can result in recently deposited sediments to resuspend and be moved laterally with the current flow, increasing the area effected by the oil spill. Erosion experiments performed in a closed-loop resuspension flume were …
Biis: The Last British Ice Sheet, A Review Of The Most Recent Major Glaciation Of Great Britain And Ireland,
2021
Wayne State University
Biis: The Last British Ice Sheet, A Review Of The Most Recent Major Glaciation Of Great Britain And Ireland, Benediktas Gaskevicius
Honors College Theses
The British Irish Ice Sheet was a substantial ice mass covering the British Isles during the most recent glaciation that ended around 11,700 years ago. Oftentimes referred to as the BIIS, it is subdivided into two sections, a western and eastern side that covered Great Britain and Ireland, with the Irish basin in the middle. Some notable areas of study around Great Britain and Ireland include the ’Bizzle’ in Northern England, which was transformed by the effects of the eastern margin of the BIIS, the Carstair Kames in Scotland, a locality known internationally for its esker system, The Minch region …
069— Geomorphic Characteristics Of Canadice Lake, Ny, Watersheds And The Anthropogenic Effects On Watershed Output And Sensitivity,
2021
SUNY Geneseo
069— Geomorphic Characteristics Of Canadice Lake, Ny, Watersheds And The Anthropogenic Effects On Watershed Output And Sensitivity, Carla Crampton
GREAT Day Posters
Land use and size of watershed catchment areas affects the overall health and water quality of Canadice Lake. Methods in ArcGIS Pro were used for high resolution imagery and topography data to analyze the geomorphology of watersheds at Canadice Lake. Watersheds were mapped using ArcGIS Hydrology tools by constructing flow direction and accumulation grids. In each individual watershed, total area of the watershed, area of residential and agricultural land use, and total length of roads was determined to evaluate which watersheds are most sensitive to human impact and which watersheds are likely to contribute the highest flow discharge and sediment …
205— Revisiting The Geologic History Of The Pathfinder Landing Site At Ares Vallis, Mars,
2021
SUNY Geneseo
205— Revisiting The Geologic History Of The Pathfinder Landing Site At Ares Vallis, Mars, Andrew Agent
GREAT Day Posters
Before NASA sent the Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover to the mouth of Ares Vallis in 1997, they anticipated the discovery of Hesperian-age (3.6 Ga-3.0 Ga) sediments deposited from catastrophic outflows. When pictures came back, the rocks they discovered were large, boulder-size, angular, and were largely inconsistent with transport by large floods. The origin of the deposits at the Pathfinder landing site remains controversial. This study aims to constrain the surface geology of the Pathfinder landing site using new high-resolution imagery and crater statistics. Context Camera (CTX) images along with High-Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) images were used to map surface …
328— Watershed Analysis Of The Eberswalde Delta (Early Hesperian), Mars,
2021
SUNY Geneseo
328— Watershed Analysis Of The Eberswalde Delta (Early Hesperian), Mars, Jason Mueller
GREAT Day Posters
The Eberswalde Delta is an impressive Martian fluvial-deltaic system. It is fed by an Earth-like dendritic river system that indicates past precipitation. This study is designed to quantify controls on network morphometry and its past extent using Esri ArcMap. Upstream contributing area (km2), elevation (m), depth (m), width (m), W/D ratio, and slope (-m/m), were calculated and graphed by stream order and long profiles. Width/depth increased with distance downstream but fluctuated in the fifth-order channel that was convex with knickpoints. This implied the system was youthful. The fourth-order stream was concave and in a sedimentary sub-basin. This sub-basin may have …
Climatic Controls On The Kinematics Of The Hooskanaden Landslide, Curry County, Oregon,
2021
Portland State University
Climatic Controls On The Kinematics Of The Hooskanaden Landslide, Curry County, Oregon, Kara Kingen
Dissertations and Theses
Slow-moving earthflows represent major sources of sediment transport and erosion and are problematic for the management of critical infrastructure. The Hooskanaden Landslide -- a slow-moving earthflow on the southwest coast of Oregon -- crosses US Highway 101 and has been a site of continued interest to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) due to the weak lithology, erosive environment, and recurrent surge behavior (every ~15 years). Past surges, including the most recent (2019), have occurred during the winter, suggesting that velocity changes are predominantly controlled by climatic inputs. To examine the response of the Hooskanaden Landslide to seasonal and other …
Serial Interaction Of Primitive Magmas With Felsic And Mafic Crust Recorded By Gabbroic Dikes From The Antarctic Extension Of The Karoo Large Igneous Province,
2021
University of Helsinki
Serial Interaction Of Primitive Magmas With Felsic And Mafic Crust Recorded By Gabbroic Dikes From The Antarctic Extension Of The Karoo Large Igneous Province, Jussi S. Heinonen, Arto V. Luttinen, Frank J. Spera, Saku K. Vuori, Wendy A. Bohrson
Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship
Two subvertical gabbroic dikes with widths of ~ 350 m (East-Muren) and ≥ 500 m (West-Muren) crosscut continental flood basalts in the Antarctic extension of the ~ 180 Ma Karoo large igneous province (LIP) in Vestfjella, western Dronning Maud Land. The dikes exhibit unusual geochemical profiles; most significantly, initial (at 180 Ma) εNd values increase from the dike interiors towards the hornfelsed wallrock basalts (from − 15.3 to − 7.8 in East-Muren and more gradually from − 9.0 to − 5.5 in West-Muren). In this study, we utilize models of partial melting and energy-constrained assimilation‒fractional crystallization in deciphering the …
Hydro-Morphodynamics Of Sandy Coastal Embayments,
2021
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Hydro-Morphodynamics Of Sandy Coastal Embayments, Shamim Murshid
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation investigates the hydro-morphodynamics of two major components of a sandy coastal environment: tidal inlets and embayment shorelines. In the first study, I focused on the evolution of inlet geometry by compiling and analyzing a database with 226 inlets worldwide with a special attention given to their width to depth ratio (or aspect ratio). I found that the aspect ratio has a weak dependency on tidal range and wave height, and they lie in different ranges for three types of tidal inlets: engineered, natural single-thread, and natural compound. I also developed a 2D hydro-morphodynamic model of an idealized barrier-inlet …
Evaluation Of Manual And Semi-Automated Deep-Seated Landslide Inventory Processes: Willapa Hills, Washington,
2021
Portland State University
Evaluation Of Manual And Semi-Automated Deep-Seated Landslide Inventory Processes: Willapa Hills, Washington, Tiffany E. Justice
Dissertations and Theses
Recent advances in remote sensing data and technology have allowed for computational models to be designed that successfully extract landforms from the landscape. The goal of this work is to create one such semi-automated model to extract deep-seated landslides located in complex geomorphic terrain. This is accomplished using geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) techniques, considered by leaders in the field of image analysis to have an advantage over traditional automated classification methods. GEOBIA methods can mimic human visual interpretation by including more characteristic features used to assess the relationship between image data and the ground surface such as color reflectance …
Rock Glen Wildlife Area: A Landscape History,
2021
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Rock Glen Wildlife Area: A Landscape History, Gerry Steinauer, Robert Diffendal Jr.
Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications
Nestled in the hills of southern Jefferson County, Rock Glen Wildlife Management Area, as its name implies, is a rocky land shaped by ancient geological forces, among them, meandering tropical rivers and grinding glacial ice. Euro-American settlers in the region arrived to a picturesque scene: rolling hills cloaked in tallgrass prairie fingered by glens, narrow valleys and canyons, filled with sprawling bur oaks. Too rocky to plow, southern Jefferson County has survived as an island of prairie amidst a sea of cropland. Settlement was not kind to the land. Fire suppression allowed eastern red cedars and other trees to spread, …
Boulders As A Lithologic Control On River And Landscape Response To Tectonic Forcing At The Mendocino Triple Junction,
2021
West Virginia University
Boulders As A Lithologic Control On River And Landscape Response To Tectonic Forcing At The Mendocino Triple Junction, Charles Shobe, Georgina Bennett, Gregory Tucker, Kevin Roback, Scott Miller, Joshua Roering
Faculty & Staff Scholarship
Constraining Earth’s sediment mass balance over geologic time requires a quantitative understanding of how landscapes respond to transient tectonic perturbations. However, the mechanisms by which bedrock lithology governs landscape response remain poorly understood. Rock type influences the size of sediment delivered to river channels, which controls how efficiently rivers respond to tectonic forcing. The Mendocino triple junction region of northern California, USA, is one landscape in which large boulders, delivered by hillslope failures to channels, may alter the pace of landscape response to a pulse of rock uplift. Boulders frequently delivered by earthflows in one lithology, the Franciscan mélange, have …
On The Genesis Of Aluminum-Rich Speleothems In A Granite Cave Of Nw Spain,
2021
University of A Coruña, Spain
On The Genesis Of Aluminum-Rich Speleothems In A Granite Cave Of Nw Spain, Jorge Sanjurjo-Sanchez, Carlos Arce Chamorro, Juan Ramón Vidal Romaní, Marcos Vaqueiro-Rodríguez, Victor Barrientos, Joeri Kaal
International Journal of Speleology
Granite massifs often contain caves, with dimensions ranging from a few meters up to 1,000 m, also referred to as pseudokarst. The speleothems in such caves are mostly composed of either Si-rich (commonly opal-A) or Al-rich authigenic mineraloids. Whereas the formation and geochemical composition of opal-A biospeleothems have been studied and are fairly well understood, knowledge on the Al-rich analogues is scarce. This work reports for the first time a study on the composition, accretion process, age and growth rate of an Al-rich speleothem type flowstone from the A Trapa Cave System (Galicia, NW Spain), developed in a granite cave. …
Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2020,
2021
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2020, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Leslie M. Howard, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel
Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications
The term “groundwater” has come to be all but synonymous with Nebraska. Nearly three-quarters of the total volume of the High Plains Aquifer lies beneath the state. Groundwater maintains our streams, our ecosystems, our people, and our vitally important agricultural economy. Nebraska’s total groundwater resource is vast, yet it is also vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic changes, necessitating a long-term commitment to wise management through informed decision-making. Monitoring, studying, and reporting form the essential basis for such management and, ultimately, for meeting the myriad challenges presented by change.
