Microbial consortia of gorgonian corals from the Aleutian islands
Michael A. Gray, Robert P. Stone, Molly R. McLaughlin, Christina A. Kellogg
2011, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (76) 109-120
Gorgonians make up the majority of corals in the Aleutian archipelago and provide critical fish habitat in areas of economically important fisheries. The microbial ecology of the deep-sea gorgonian corals Paragorgea arborea, Plumarella superba, and Cryogorgia koolsae was examined with culture-based and 16S rRNA gene-based techniques. Six coral colonies (two per species) were...
SPECTRAL data-based estimation of soil heat flux
Ramesh K. Singh, A. Irmak, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, S.B. Verma, A.E. Suyker
2011, Transactions of the ASABE (54) 1589-1597
Numerous existing spectral-based soil heat flux (G) models have shown wide variation in performance for maize and soybean cropping systems in Nebraska, indicating the need for localized calibration and model development. The objectives of this article are to develop a semi-empirical model to estimate G from a normalized difference vegetation...
Microbial community structure of hydrothermal deposits from geochemically different vent fields along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Gilberto E. Flores, James H. Campbell, Julie D. Kirshtein, Jennifer Meneghin, Mircea Podar, Joshua I. Steinberg, Jeffrey S. Seewald, Margaret Kingston Tivey, Mary A. Voytek, Zamin K. Yang, Anna-Louise Reysenbach
2011, Environmental Microbiology (13) 2158-2171
To evaluate the effects of local fluid geochemistry on microbial communities associated with active hydrothermal vent deposits, we examined the archaeal and bacterial communities of 12 samples collected from two very different vent fields: the basalt-hosted Lucky Strike (37°17'N, 32°16.3'W, depth 1600-1750m) and the ultramafic-hosted Rainbow (36°13'N, 33°54.1'W, depth 2270-2330m)...
Spatial connectivity in a highly heterogeneous aquifer: From cores to preferential flow paths
M. Bianchi, C. Zheng, C. Wilson, G.R. Tick, Gaisheng Liu, S.M. Gorelick
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
This study investigates connectivity in a small portion of the extremely heterogeneous aquifer at the Macrodispersion Experiment (MADE) site in Columbus, Mississippi. A total of 19 fully penetrating soil cores were collected from a rectangular grid of 4 m by 4 m. Detailed grain size analysis was performed on 5...
Fire frequency, area burned, and severity: A quantitative approach to defining a normal fire year
J.A. Lutz, Carl H. Key, C.A. Kolden, J.T. Kane, Jan W. Van Wagtendonk
2011, Fire Ecology (7) 51-65
Fire frequency, area burned, and fire severity are important attributes of a fire regime, but few studies have quantified the interrelationships among them in evaluating a fire year. Although area burned is often used to summarize a fire season, burned area may not be well correlated with either the number...
Examination of core samples from the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope: Effects of retrieval and preservation
T.J. Kneafsey, H. Lu, W. Winters, R. Boswell, R. Hunter, T. S. Collett
2011, Marine and Petroleum Geology (28) 381-393
Collecting and preserving undamaged core samples containing gas hydrates from depth is difficult because of the pressure and temperature changes encountered upon retrieval. Hydrate-bearing core samples were collected at the BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well in February 2007. Coring was performed while using a custom oil-based drilling...
Coherence of river and ocean conditions along the US West Coast during storms
T. A. Kniskern, Jonathan A. Warrick, K.L. Farnsworth, R. A. Wheatcroft, M.A. Goni
2011, Continental Shelf Research (31) 789-805
The majority of water and sediment discharge from the small, mountainous watersheds of the US West Coast occurs during and immediately following winter storms. The physical conditions (waves, currents, and winds) within and acting upon the proximal coastal ocean during these winter storms strongly influence dispersal patterns. We examined this...
Using Lagrangian sampling to study water quality during downstream transport in the San Luis Drain, California, USA
E.C. Volkmar, R.A. Dahlgren, W.T. Stringfellow, S.S. Henson, S.E. Borglin, C. Kendall, E. E. Van Nieuwenhuyse
2011, Chemical Geology (283) 68-77
To investigate the mechanism for diel (24h) changes commonly observed at fixed sampling locations and how these diel changes relate to downstream transport in hypereutrophic surface waters, we studied a parcel of agricultural drainage water as it traveled for 84h in a concrete-lined channel having no additional water inputs or...
Magnetic susceptibility as a proxy for investigating microbially mediated iron reduction
F.M. Mewafy, E.A. Atekwana, D.D. Werkema, L.D. Slater, D. Ntarlagiannis, A. Revil, M. Skold, Geoffrey N. Delin
2011, Geophysical Research Letters (38)
We investigated magnetic susceptibility (MS) variations in hydrocarbon contaminated sediments. Our objective was to determine if MS can be used as an intrinsic bioremediation indicator due to the activity of iron-reducing bacteria. A contaminated and an uncontaminated core were retrieved from a site contaminated with crude oil near Bemidji, Minnesota...
Projecting avian response to linked changes in groundwater and riparian floodplain vegetation along a dryland river: A scenario analysis
Brand L. Arriana, J.C. Stromberg, D.C. Goodrich, M.D. Dixon, K. Lansey, D. Kang, D.S. Brookshire, D.J. Cerasale
2011, Ecohydrology (4) 130-142
Groundwater is a key driver of riparian condition on dryland rivers but is in high demand for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses. Approaches are needed to guide decisions that balance human water needs while conserving riparian ecosystems. We developed a space‐for‐time substitution model that links groundwater change scenarios implemented within...
Columnar jointing in vapor-phase-altered, non-welded Cerro Galán Ignimbrite, Paycuqui, Argentina
Heather M. Wright, Chiara Lesti, Ray A.F. Cas, Massimiliano Porreca, Jose G. Viramonte, Christopher B. Folkes, Guido Giordano
2011, Bulletin of Volcanology (73) 1567-1582
Columnar jointing is thought to occur primarily in lavas and welded pyroclastic flow deposits. However, the non-welded Cerro Galán Ignimbrite at Paycuqui, Argentina, contains well-developed columnar joints that are instead due to high-temperature vapor-phase alteration of the deposit, where devitrification and vapor-phase crystallization have increased the density and cohesion of...
Retesting of liquefaction and nonliquefaction case histories from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake
R.E.S. Moss, R. E. Kayen, L.-Y. Tong, S.-Y. Liu, G.-J. Cai, J. Wu
2011, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (137) 334-343
A field investigation was performed to retest liquefaction and nonliquefaction sites from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China. These sites were carefully investigated in 1978 and 1979 by using standard penetration test (SPT) and cone penetration test (CPT) equipment; however, the CPT measurements are obsolete because of the now nonstandard...
Methane oxidation in a crude oil contaminated aquifer: Delineation of aerobic reactions at the plume fringes
R.T. Amos, Barbara A. Bekins, Geoffrey N. Delin, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, D.W. Blowes, J. D. Kirshtein
2011, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (125) 13-25
High resolution direct-push profiling over short vertical distances was used to investigate CH4 attenuation in a petroleum contaminated aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota. The contaminant plume was delineated using dissolved gases, redox sensitive components, major ions, carbon isotope ratios in CH4 and CO2, and the presence of methanotrophic bacteria. Sharp redox gradients were observed near the...
Emergence of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus in the North American Great Lakes region is associated with low viral genetic diversity
T.M. Thompson, W.N. Batts, M. Faisal, P. Bowser, J.W. Casey, K. Phillips, K.A. Garver, J. Winton, Gael Kurath
2011, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (96) 29-43
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a fish rhabdovirus that causes disease in a broad range of marine and freshwater hosts. The known geographic range includes the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and recently it has invaded the Great Lakes region of North America. The goal of this work was...
Attitudes and intentions of off-highway vehicle riders toward trail use: Implications for forest managers
Diane Kuehn, P. D. D’Luhosch, Valerie Luzadis, R. W. Malmsheimer, Rudy Schuster
2011, Journal of Forestry (109) 281-287
Management of off-highway vehicles (OHV) in public forest areas requires up-to-date information about the attitudes and intentions of OHV riders toward trail use. A survey of 811 members of the New England Trail Riders Association was conducted in fall 2007; 380 questionnaires were completed and returned. Descriptive statistics and regressions...
Depositional and diagenetic variability within the Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone: Implications for carbon dioxide sequestration
B.B. Bowen, R.I. Ochoa, N.D. Wilkens, J. Brophy, T.R. Lovell, N. Fischietto, C.R. Medina, J.A. Rupp
2011, Environmental Geosciences (18) 69-89
The Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone is the major target reservoir for ongoing geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration demonstrations throughout the midwest United States. The potential CO2 reservoir capacity, reactivity, and ultimate fate of injected CO2 depend on textural and compositional properties determined by depositional and diagenetic histories that vary vertically and laterally...
Analytical model for screening potential CO2 repositories
R.T. Okwen, M.T. Stewart, J.A. Cunningham
2011, Computational Geosciences (15) 755-770
Assessing potential repositories for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide using numerical models can be complicated, costly, and time-consuming, especially when faced with the challenge of selecting a repository from a multitude of potential repositories. This paper presents a set of simple analytical equations (model), based on the work of previous...
Estimating trends in alligator populations from nightlight survey data
Ikuko Fujisaki, F.J. Mazzotti, R.M. Dorazio, Kenneth G. Rice, M. Cherkiss, B. Jeffery
2011, Wetlands (31) 147-155
Nightlight surveys are commonly used to evaluate status and trends of crocodilian populations, but imperfect detection caused by survey- and location-specific factors makes it difficult to draw population inferences accurately from uncorrected data. We used a two-stage hierarchical model comprising population abundance and detection probability to examine recent abundance trends...
Regional shoreline change and coastal erosion hazards in Arctic Alaska
Ann E. Gibbs, E. Lynne Harden, Bruce M. Richmond, Li H. Erikson
2011, Conference Paper, Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2011 - Proceedings of the 2011 Solutions to Coastal Disasters Conference
Historical shoreline positions along the mainland Beaufort Sea coast of Alaska were digitized and analyzed to determine the long-term rate of change. Average shoreline change rates and ranges from 1947 to the mid-2000s were determined every 50 meters between Barrow and Demarcation Point, at the U.S.-Canadian border. Results show that...
Long-term patterns and short-term dynamics of stream solutes and suspended sediment in a rapidly weathering tropical watershed
James B. Shanley, W. H. McDowell, Robert F. Stallard
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
The 326 ha Río Icacos watershed in the tropical wet forest of the Luquillo Mountains, northeastern Puerto Rico, is underlain by granodiorite bedrock with weathering rates among the highest in the world. We pooled stream chemistry and total suspended sediment (TSS) data sets from three discrete periods: 1983–1987, 1991–1997, and...
Specificity of DNA vaccines against the U and M genogroups of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
M.M.D. Penaranda, S. E. LaPatra, Gael Kurath
2011, Fish and Shellfish Immunology (31) 43-51
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a fish rhabdovirus that causes significant mortality in salmonid species. In North America IHNV has three major genogroups designated U, M, and L. Host-specificity of the M and U genogroups of IHNV has been established both in the field and in experimental challenges, with...
Cooling rates and the depth of detachment faulting at oceanic core complexes: Evidence from zircon Pb/U and (U-Th)/He ages
Craig B. Grimes, Michael J. Cheadle, Barbara E. John, P.W. Reiners, J. L. Wooden
2011, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (12)
Oceanic detachment faulting represents a distinct mode of seafloor spreading at slow spreading mid‐ocean ridges, but many questions persist about the thermal evolution and depth of faulting. We present new Pb/U and (U‐Th)/He zircon ages and combine them with magnetic anomaly ages to define the cooling histories of gabbroic crust...
A case study of alternative site response explanatory variables in Parkfield, California
E.M. Thompson, L.G. Baise, R. E. Kayen, E.C. Morgan, J. Kaklamanos
2011, Conference Paper, Geotechnical Special Publication
The combination of densely-spaced strong-motion stations in Parkfield, California, and spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) profiles provides an ideal dataset for assessing the accuracy of different site response explanatory variables. We judge accuracy in terms of spatial coverage and correlation with observations. The performance of the alternative models is...
College and university environmental programs as a policy problem (Part 2): Strategies for improvement
S.G. Clark, M.B. Rutherford, M.R. Auer, D.N. Cherney, R.L. Wallace, David J. Mattson, D. A. Clark, L. Foote, N. Krogman, P. Wilshusen, T. Steelman
2011, Environmental Management (47) 716-726
Environmental studies and environmental sciences programs in American and Canadian colleges and universities seek to ameliorate environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. In a companion article (Part 1) we describe the environmental program movement (EPM) and discuss factors that have hindered its performance. Here, we complete our analysis...
Electrical properties of polycrystalline methane hydrate
W. L. Du Frane, L.A. Stern, K.A. Weitemeyer, S. Constable, J.C. Pinkston, J.J. Roberts
2011, Geophysical Research Letters (38)
Electromagnetic (EM) remote-sensing techniques are demonstrated to be sensitive to gas hydrate concentration and distribution and complement other resource assessment techniques, particularly seismic methods. To fully utilize EM results requires knowledge of the electrical properties of individual phases and mixing relations, yet little is known about the electrical properties of...
