Planet-wide sand motion on mars
N.T. Bridges, M.C. Bourke, Paul E. Geissler, M. E. Banks, C. Colon, S. Diniega, M.P. Golombek, C.J. Hansen, S. Mattson, A. S. McEwen, M. T. Mellon, N. Stantzos, B.J. Thomson
2012, Geology (40) 31-34
Prior to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data, images of Mars showed no direct evidence for dune and ripple motion. This was consistent with climate models and lander measurements indicating that winds of sufficient intensity to mobilize sand were rare in the low-density atmosphere. We show that many sand ripples and dunes...
Ocean-atmosphere dynamics during Hurricane Ida and Nor'Ida: An application of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Brandy N. Armstrong, Joseph B. Zambon, Ruoying He
2012, Ocean Modelling (43-44) 112-137
The coupled ocean–atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to investigate atmosphere–ocean–wave interactions in November 2009 during Hurricane Ida and its subsequent evolution to Nor’Ida, which was one of the most costly storm systems of the past two decades. One interesting aspect of this...
Parasite invasion following host reintroduction: a case of Yellowstone’s wolves
Paul C. Cross, Emily S. Almberg, Andrew P. Dobson, Douglas W. Smith, Peter J. Hudson
2012, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (367) 2840-2851
Wildlife reintroductions select or treat individuals for good health with the expectation that these individuals will fare better than infected animals. However, these individuals, new to their environment, may also be particularly susceptible to circulating infections and this may result in high morbidity and mortality, potentially jeopardizing the goals of...
Effects of Bromus tectorum invasion on microbial carbon and nitrogen cycling in two adjacent undisturbed arid grassland communities
Sean M. Schaeffer, Susan E. Ziegler, Jayne Belnap, R.D. Evans
2012, Biogeochemistry (111) 427-441
Soil nitrogen (N) is an important component in maintaining ecosystem stability, and the introduction of non-native plants can alter N cycling by changing litter quality and quantity, nutrient uptake patterns, and soil food webs. Our goal was to determine the effects of Bromus tectorum (C3) invasion on soil microbial N...
Old groundwater in parts of the upper Patapsco aquifer, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Maryland, USA: Evidence from radiocarbon, chlorine-36 and helium-4
Niel Plummer, John R. Eggleston, Jeff P. Raffensperger, Andrew G. Hunt, Gerolamo C. Casile, D. C. Andreasen
2012, Hydrogeology Journal (20) 1269-1294
Apparent groundwater ages along two flow paths in the upper Patapsco aquifer of the Maryland Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA, were estimated using 14C, 36Cl and 4He data. Most of the ages range from modern to about 500 ka, with one sample at 117 km downgradient from the recharge area dated by radiogenic...
Effects of roads on survival of San Clemente Island foxes
N.P. Snow, William F. Andelt, Thomas R. Stanley, J.R. Resnik, L. Munson
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 243-252
Roads generate a variety of influences on wildlife populations; however, little is known about the effects of roads on endemic wildlife on islands. Specifically, road‐kills of island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) on San Clemente Island (SCI), Channel Islands, California, USA are a concern for resource managers. To determine the effects of...
Assessment of pingo distribution and morphometry using an IfSAR derived digital surface model, western Arctic Coastal Plain, Northern Alaska
Benjamin M. Jones, G. Grosse, Kenneth M. Hinkel, C.D. Arp, S. Walker, R.A. Beck, J. P. Galloway
2012, Geomorphology (138) 1-14
Pingos are circular to elongate ice-cored mounds that form by injection and freezing of pressurized water in near-surface permafrost. Here we use a digital surface model (DSM) derived from an airborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) system to assess the distribution and morphometry of pingos within a 40,000 km2 area on the...
Multi-gauge Calibration for modeling the Semi-Arid Santa Cruz Watershed in Arizona-Mexico Border Area Using SWAT
Rewati Niraula, Laura A. Norman, Thomas Meixner, James B. Callegary
2012, Air, Soil and Water Research (2012) 41-57
In most watershed-modeling studies, flow is calibrated at one monitoring site, usually at the watershed outlet. Like many arid and semi-arid watersheds, the main reach of the Santa Cruz watershed, located on the Arizona-Mexico border, is discontinuous for most of the year except during large flood events, and therefore the...
Spatial pattern formation of coastal vegetation in response to external gradients and positive feedbacks affecting soil porewater salinity: A model study
J. Jiang, Donald L. DeAngelis, T. J. Smith III, S.Y. Teh, H. L. Koh
2012, Landscape Ecology (27) 109-119
Coastal vegetation of South Florida typically comprises salinity-tolerant mangroves bordering salinity-intolerant hardwood hammocks and fresh water marshes. Two primary ecological factors appear to influence the maintenance of mangrove/hammock ecotones against changes that might occur due to disturbances. One of these is a gradient in one or more environmental factors. The...
KINEROS2/AGWA: Model use, calibration and validation
D.C. Goodrich, I.S. Burns, C.L. Unkrich, Darius J. Semmens, D.P. Guertin, M. Hernandez, S. Yatheendradas, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Lainie R. Levick
2012, Transactions of the ASABE (55) 1561-1574
KINEROS (KINematic runoff and EROSion) originated in the 1960s as a distributed event-based model that conceptualizes a watershed as a cascade of overland flow model elements that flow into trapezoidal channel model elements. KINEROS was one of the first widely available watershed models that interactively coupled a finite difference approximation...
Building on crossvalidation for increasing the quality of geostatistical modeling
Ricardo A. Olea
2012, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (26) 73-82
The random function is a mathematical model commonly used in the assessment of uncertainty associated with a spatially correlated attribute that has been partially sampled. There are multiple algorithms for modeling such random functions, all sharing the requirement of specifying various parameters that have critical influence on the results. The...
Isotopically modified nanoparticles for enhanced detection in bioaccumulation studies
S.K. Misra, A. Dybowska, D. Berhanu, Marie Noele Croteau, Samuel N. Luoma, A.R. Boccaccini, E. Valsami-Jones
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 1216-1222
This work presents results on synthesis of isotopically enriched (99% 65Cu) copper oxide nanoparticles and its application in ecotoxicological studies. 65CuO nanoparticles were synthesized as spheres (7 nm) and rods (7 × 40 nm). Significant differences were observed between the reactivity and dissolution of spherical and rod shaped nanoparticles. The extreme sensitivity...
The influence of wave energy and sediment transport on seagrass distribution
Andrew W. Stevens, Jessica R. Lacy
2012, Estuaries and Coasts (35) 92-108
A coupled hydrodynamic and sediment transport model (Delft3D) was used to simulate the water levels, waves, and currents associated with a seagrass (Zostera marina) landscape along a 4-km stretch of coast in Puget Sound, WA, USA. A hydroacoustic survey of seagrass percent cover and nearshore bathymetry was conducted, and...
Hydrological effects of the increased CO2 and climate change in the Upper Mississippi River Basin using a modified SWAT
Y. Wu, S. Liu, O. I. Abdul-Aziz
2012, Climatic Change (110) 977-1003
Increased atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate change may significantly impact the hydrological and meteorological processes of a watershed system. Quantifying and understanding hydrological responses to elevated ambient CO2 and climate change is, therefore, critical for formulating adaptive strategies for an appropriate management of water resources. In this study, the Soil...
Climate model simulations of the mid-Pliocene: Earth's last great interval of global warmth
A.M. Dolan, A.M. Haywood, H.J. Dowsett
2012, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (93) 18-18
Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Workshop; Reston, Virginia, 2–4 August 2011 The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP), supported by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) project and Powell Center, is an integral part of a third iteration of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3). PlioMIP's...
Can arsenic occurrence rate in bedrock aquifers be predicted?
Qiang Yang, Hun Bok Jung, Robert G. Marvinney, Charles W. Culbertson, Yan Zheng
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 2080-2087
A high percentage (31%) of groundwater samples from bedrock aquifers in the greater Augusta area, Maine was found to contain greater than 10 μg L–1 of arsenic. Elevated arsenic concentrations are associated with bedrock geology, and more frequently observed in samples with high pH, low dissolved oxygen, and low nitrate. These...
Climate change and human health: Spatial modeling of water availability, malnutrition, and livelihoods in Mali, Africa
Marta M. Jankowska, David Lopez-Carr, Chris Funk, Gregory J. Husak, Z.A. Chafe
2012, Applied Geography (33) 4-15
This study develops a novel approach for projecting climate trends in the Sahel in relation to shifting livelihood zones and health outcomes. Focusing on Mali, we explore baseline relationships between temperature, precipitation, livelihood, and malnutrition in 407 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) clusters with a total of 14,238 children, resulting...
Biomass and diversity of dry alpine plant communities along altitudinal gradients in the Himalayas
Tsewang Namgail, G.S. Rawat, C. Mishra, van Wieren, H.H.T. Prins
2012, Journal of Plant Research (125) 93-101
A non-linear relationship between phytodiversity and altitude has widely been reported, but the relationship between phytomass and altitude remains little understood. We examined the phytomass and diversity of vascular plants along altitudinal gradients on the dry alpine rangelands of Ladakh, western Himalaya. We used generalized linear and generalized additive models...
A generalized model for estimating the energy density of invertebrates
Daniel A. James, Isak J. Csargo, Aaron Von Eschen, Megan D. Thul, James M. Baker, Cari-Ann Hayer, Jessica Howell, Jacob Krause, Alex Letvin, Steven R. Chipps
2012, Freshwater Science (31) 69-77
Invertebrate energy density (ED) values are traditionally measured using bomb calorimetry. However, many researchers rely on a few published literature sources to obtain ED values because of time and sampling constraints on measuring ED with bomb calorimetry. Literature values often do not account for spatial or temporal variability associated with...
Wolf population dynamics in the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountains are affected by recruitment and human-caused mortality
J.A. Gude, M.S. Mitchell, Robin E. Russell, C.A. Sime, E.E. Bangs, L.D. Mech, R.R. Ream
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 108-118
Reliable analyses can help wildlife managers make good decisions, which are particularly critical for controversial decisions such as wolf (Canis lupus) harvest. Creel and Rotella (2010) recently predicted substantial population declines in Montana wolf populations due to harvest, in contrast to predictions made by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP)....
Photodissolution of soil organic matter
L.M. Mayer, K.R. Thornton, L.L. Schick, J.D. Jastrow, Jennifer W. Harden
2012, Geoderma (170) 314-321
Sunlight has been shown to enhance loss of organic matter from aquatic sediments and terrestrial plant litter, so we tested for similar reactions in mineral soil horizons. Losses of up to a third of particulate organic carbon occurred after continuous exposure to full-strength sunlight for dozens of hours, with similar...
Ordovician of the Sauk megasequence in the Ozark region of northern Arkansas and parts of Missouri and adjacent states
Raymond L. Ethington, John E. Repetski, James R. Derby
2012, AAPG Memoir (98) 275-300
Exposures of Ordovician rocks of the Sauk megasequence in Missouri and northern Arkansas comprise Ibexian and lower Whiterockian carbonates with interspersed sandstones. Subjacent Cambrian strata are exposed in Missouri but confined to the subsurface in Arkansas. The Sauk-Tippecanoe boundary in this region is at the base of the St. Peter...
Evidence for earthquake triggering of large landslides in coastal Oregon, USA
W.H. Schulz, S.L. Galloway, J.D. Higgins
2012, Geomorphology (141-142) 88-98
Landslides are ubiquitous along the Oregon coast. Many are large, deep slides in sedimentary rock and are dormant or active only during the rainy season. Morphology, observed movement rates, and total movement suggest that many are at least several hundreds of years old. The offshore Cascadia subduction zone produces great...
Digital outcrop model of stratigraphy and breccias of the southern Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas
Jerome A. Bellian, Charles Kerans, John E. Repetski
James R. Derby, R.D. Fritz, S.A. Longacre, W.A. Morgan, C.A. Sternbach, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, The great American carbonate bank: The geology and economic resources of the Cambrian-Ordovician Sauk megasequence of Laurentia
This chapter reviews and synthesizes the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy, and breccia types of the southwestern part of the great American carbonate bank in the southern Franklin Mountains (SFM), El Paso, Texas. Primary stratigraphic units of focus are the Lower Ordovician El Paso and Upper Ordovician Montoya Groups. These groups preserve...
Expert knowledge as a foundation for the management of secretive species and their habitat
C. Ashton Drew, Jaime Collazo
2012, Book chapter, Expert knowledge and its application in landscape ecology
In this chapter, we share lessons learned during the elicitation and application of expert knowledge in the form of a belief network model for the habitat of a waterbird, the King Rail (Rallus elegans). A belief network is a statistical framework used to graphically represent and evaluate hypothesized...
