Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Cryogenic Cave Carbonates From The Cold Wind Cave, Nízke Tatry Mountains, Slovakia: Extending The Age Range Of Cryogenic Cave Carbonate Formation To The Saalian, Karel Žák, Helena Hercman, Monika Orvošová, Ivana Jačková

International Journal of Speleology

Cold Wind Cave, located at elevations ranging between 1,600 and 1,700 m a. s. l. in the main range of the Nízke Tatry Mountains (Slovakia), is linked in origin with the adjacent Dead Bats Cave. Together, these caves form a major cave system located within a narrow tectonic slice of Triassic sediments. Both caves have undergone complex multiphase development. A system of sub-horizontal cave levels characterized by large, tunnel-like corridors was formed during the Tertiary, when elevation differences surrounding the cave were less pronounced than today. The central part of the Nízke Tatry Mountains, together with the cave systems, was …

Guanophilic Fungi In Three Caves Of Southwestern Puerto Rico, Ángel M. Nieves-Rivera, Carlos J. Santos-Flores, Frank M. Dugan, Thomas E. Miller

International Journal of Speleology

Fifty species of guanophilic (bat guano-loving) fungi were isolated from field-collected samples within three caves in southwestern Puerto Rico; most were mitosporic fungi (23 species). The caves studied were Cueva La Tuna (Cabo Rojo), Cueva de Malano (Sistema de Los Chorros, San Germán), and Cueva Viento (El Convento Cave-Spring System, Guayanilla-Peñuelas). The most conspicuous fungus by far was the zygomycete Circinella umbellata (Mucorales). Circinella umbellata dominated the bat guano incubation chambers (Petri dishes lined with sterile filter paper moistened with sterile water) at ambient laboratory conditions. Nineteen species of basidiomycetes (e.g., Ganoderma cf. resinaceum, Geastrum cf. minimum, Lepiota …

Productivity-Diversity Relationships From Chemolithoautotrophically Based Sulfidic Karst Systems, Megan L. Porter, Annette Summers Engel, Thomas C. Kane, Brian K. Kinkle

International Journal of Speleology

Although ecosystems thriving in the absence of photosynthetic processes are no longer considered unique phenomena, we have yet to understand how these ecosystems are energetically sustained via chemosynthesis. Ecosystem energetics were measured in microbial mats from active sulfidic caves (Movile Cave, Romania; Frasassi Caves, Italy; Lower Kane Cave, Wyoming, USA; and Cesspool Cave, Virginia, USA) using radiotracer techniques. We also estimated bacterial diversity using 16S rRNA sequences to relate the productivity measurements to the composition of the microbial communities. All of the microbial communities investigated were dominated by chemolithoautotrophic productivity, with the highest rates from Movile Cave at 281 g …

Sediment Flushing In Mystic Cave, West Virginia, Usa, In Response To The 1985 Potomac Valley Flood, James J. Van Gundy, William B. White

International Journal of Speleology

The great November 5, 1985 Potomac Valley flood was responsible for the release of 1800 m³ of alluvial and colluvial sediment from the walls of the entrance doline of Mystic Cave. Flood waters were sufficiently powerful to flush the entire mass of sediment not only into the cave but through the cave. Remnants of the sediment mass in the form of sand bars and a few cobbles wedged in speleothems were the only evidence in the cave that the huge mass of sediment had moved through. The sediment moved as a suspended mass in water moving at peak velocities …

Annual And Transient Signatures Of Gas Exchange And Transport In The Castañar De Ibor Cave (Spain), Angel Fernandez-Cortes, Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Soledad Cuezva, Juan Carlos Cañaveras, Rafael Abella

International Journal of Speleology

The large microclimatic stability is a basic characteristic of the subterranean karst systems and causes a high sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions. High-accuracy monitoring of Castañar de Ibor cave (Spain) determined the temporal evolution of the aerodynamic processes and ventilation rate by tracking CO₂ and ²²²Rn levels over a twelve-month period. This cave is characterized by a very stable microclimate, with high and relatively constant radon content (the mean value is 32200 Bq/m³, roughly, and the standard deviation is 7600 Bq/m³) and a moderate and quite stable CO2 concentration (the mean value is …

Microscopic Fungi Isolated From The Domica Cave System (Slovak Karst National Park, Slovakia). A Review, Alena Nováková

International Journal of Speleology

A broad spectrum, total of 195 microfungal taxa, were isolated from various cave substrates (cave air, cave sediments, bat droppings and/or guano, earthworm casts, isopods and diplopods faeces, mammalian dung, cadavers, vermiculations, insect bodies, plant material, etc.) from the cave system of the Domica Cave (Slovak Karst National Park, Slovakia) using dilution, direct and gravity settling culture plate methods and several isolation media. Penicillium glandicola, Trichoderma polysporum, Oidiodendron cerealis, Mucor spp., Talaromyces flavus and species of the genus Doratomyces were isolated frequently during our study. Estimated microfungal species diversity was compared with literature records from the same …

In Memoriam

Studia UBB Geologia

No abstract provided.

Events, Bogdan P. Onac, Corina Ionescu

Studia UBB Geologia

No abstract provided.

Thermo-Mineral Waters From The Cerna Valley Basin (Romania), Ioan Povara, Georgel Simion, Constantin Marin

Studia UBB Geologia

In the south-west of the Southern Carpathians, upstream from the confluence of Cerna with Belareca, an aquifer complex has developed, strongly influenced by hydrogeothermal phenomena, acting within two major geological structures, the Cerna Syncline and the Cerna Graben. The complex consists mainly in Jurassic and Cretaceous carbonate rocks, as well as in the upper part of the Cerna Granite, highly fractured, tectonically sunken into the graben. As a result of the tectonic processes which occurred after the end of the Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentation cycle, limestones may be encountered at 1100 m altitude in the Mehedinţi Mountains, at 150 ¬¬600 m in …

Examples Of Weathering And Deterioration Of Tertiary Building Stones At St. Michaels Cathedral In Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Roman Koch, Paul Calin Racataianu, Ioan I. Bucur

Studia UBB Geologia

St. Michaels Cathedral is one of the oldest Gothic architectural monuments in Cluj. It is built predominantly of Cenozoic (Eocene) limestones which were deposited on a shallow carbonate platform. They are composed of different facies and microfacies types with varying amounts of particles, matrix and cement. Limestones from the Baci quarry (Cluj Limestone), which is situated about 3 km from the centre of Cluj, were commonly used. The weathering features correspond to the microfacies types, to the position of the stones in the walls and to the exposure (east, south, west, and north), which controls the moisture/dry cycles. This interrelationship …

Microfacies Analysis Of Upper Eocene Shallow-Water Carbonates From The Rodnei Mountains (N Romania), Diana Sahy, Emanoil Sasaran, Tudor Tamas

Studia UBB Geologia

A Priabonian carbonate ramp developed in the NW Rodnei Mountains as a part of a Paleogene sedimentary cover which overlies the metamorphic basement of the Eastern Carpathians. Two sections were sampled at different locations along the carbonate ramp. The deposits accumulated in a shallow environment, in which relative sea level change is seen as the main controlling factor of facies distribution. A shoreface → middle ramp → inner ramp transition was recorded in both sections. Associations of large benthic foraminifers and high siliciclastic input are the dominant features in the northern part of the ramp, while in the south corals …

Lower Cretaceous Calcareous Nannofossils From The Southern Apuseni Mountains, Romania, Ana-Maria Vulc

Studia UBB Geologia

We investigated Lower Cretaceous calcareous nannofossils from Southern Apuseni Mts. The studied section from Bucium Cerbu quarry is characterized by flysch deposits (rhythmical interbedded marls and sandstones), which were assigned to the Căbeşti Formation. The studied nannofossil assemblages yielded a high diversity. The Early Aptian age of the studied deposits was assigned based on both the Tethyan and Boreal calcareous nannofossil zonations. Several reworked Valanginian nannofossils were also observed in the Early Aptian in situ nannofloras. The nannofloras are dominated by tethyan and cosmopolitan species. Besides Boreal species are also present. The presence of boreal taxa (e.g. Kokia borealis, K. …

In Memoriam

Studia UBB Geologia

No abstract provided.

Events, Sorin Filipescu, Dana Pop

Studia UBB Geologia

No abstract provided.

Geochemical Sediments & Landscape; Cave Geology; Karst Hydrogeology And Geomorphology, Bogdan P. Onac

Studia UBB Geologia

No abstract provided.

Ft-Raman And Ft-Infrared Investigations Of Archaeological Artefacts From Foeni Neolithic Site (Banat, Romania), Simona Cîntă Pînzaru, Dana Pop, Loredana Nemeth

Studia UBB Geologia

An impressive collection of chert artefacts from the Foeni Neolithic archaeological site (Timiş County, Banat region, Romania) is hosted by the Banat Museum in Timişoara. A representative set of seven specimens was non-destructively investigated using FT-Raman and ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy. The research was carried out for checking if these readily-available, non-destructive, fast, and cheap methods, which do not require preliminary sample preparation could provide significant information for characterizing the mineral composition of chert artefacts. Based on vibrational data, it was confirmed that the raw material was represented by microcrystalline quartz and moganite, with local concentrations of accessory minerals (calcite, dolomite, and …

New Bryozoa From The Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) Deposits Of The Cerna-Strei Depression, Romania, Kamil Zágoršek, Lóránd Silye, Botond Szabó

Studia UBB Geologia

A new species of the Sarmatian bryozoan, Crisia romanica sp. nov., is described from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) sediments of the Cerna-Strei Depression, near Răcăştia, Romania. The new species differs from all other known species of Crisia by having a frontal elongated gonozooecium with a prominent oeciopore situated on a short oeciostome. Crisia romanica sp. nov. is accompanied by Annectocyma corrugata (REUSS, 1869) occurring in a section nearby. The bryozoans found indicate normal marine conditions in the Cerna-Strei Depression during the Sarmatian.

Biostratigraphy Of The Cenomanian-Turonian Boundary In The Eastern Carpathians (Dâmboviţa Valley): Preliminary Observations, Claudia Cetean, Ramona Balc, Michael A. Kaminski, Sorin Filipescu

Studia UBB Geologia

Planktonic and benthic foraminiferal assemblages from an Upper Albian to Lower Turonian interval in the East Carpathians were investigated in a well and in an outcrop from the Stoeneşti – Cetăţeni area (Dâmboviţa Valley), Romania. The benthic foraminiferal extinction that occurred at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary and the first stage of the faunal recovery are documented here for the first time in the Romanian Carpathians. Bioevents and changes in the foraminiferal record from this area show that low oxygen conditions occured already in the Late Cenomanian, as suggested by the presence of radiolarian-rich shales. Impoverished assemblages of small, thin walled agglutinated …

Plant Macrofossils Analysis From Steregoiu Nw Romania: Taphonomy, Representation, And Comparison With Pollen Analysis, Angelica N. Feurdean, Ole Bennike

Studia UBB Geologia

This paper presents the results of macrofossil analysis from the Steregoiu sequence in the Gutaiului Mountains covering the last 8,000 cal BP. The studied peat deposit is characterized by abundant macrofossils. Their diversity is, however, low with most macrofossils coming from plants that grew on the mire and in the forest surrounding the basin (Carex spp., Cyperus sp., Urtica dioica, Potentilla erecta, Filipendula ulmaria, Rubus idaeus, Lycopus europaeus). The concentration of Picea abies macrofossils correlates partially well with its pollen percentages, and only when it has been present on the bog surface. The absence of macrofossils from deciduous trees, which …

Parts Of The Whole: Teachers And The Work They Do, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

This introductory column argues the need to study our system of education with the same care we would give any complex system, pointing out some ways in which the educational system functions differently from other managed systems, and concluding that a careful study of the forces shaping education will lead to insight into what makes educational change successful.

Review Of Quantitative Reasoning: Tools For Today's Informed Citizen By A. Sevilla And K. Somers, Aaron G. Montgomery

Numeracy

Alicia Sevilla and Kay Somers, Quantitative Reasoning: Tools for Today’s Informed Citizen. (Emeryville CA: Key College Publishing, 2007). 626 pp. Softcover with Student CD. $79.95 (USA) ISBN 1-931914-90-1. http://www.keycollege.com/catalog/titles/quantitative_reasoning.html

From charts and graphs (Topic 1) to decision making (Topic 21), Quantitative Reasoning offers a good selection of topics that students in a general education mathematics course and other individuals in our society should understand. Organizing the 21 chapters (topics) under the headings of numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, and statistical reasoning, Sevilla and Somers focus their chapters on examples and devote the last 224 pages to 21 Excel activities. Parallel graphic-calculator …

Word Problems: Reflections On Embedding Quantitative Literacy In A Calculus Course, Gizem Karaali

Numeracy

Even though Quantitative Literacy (QL) programs are currently being developed and implemented in several colleges and universities, most schools still depend on traditional mathematics courses to reach their quantitative literacy goals. This note is a case study of how a traditional mathematics course sequence intended for students majoring in social and life sciences may be modified and adapted to at least partially fulfill the need in the absence of a stand-alone QL program. In particular, we focus on a freshman-level mathematics course sequence that serves various client departments. This sequence covers the traditional content of a first-year calculus sequence along …

False Positives And Referral Bias: Content For A Quantitative Literacy Course, Stuart Boersma, Teri Willard

Numeracy

An extended study of accuracy in medical screening is presented as a useful application to increase students’ quantitative reasoning skills. Two detailed examples are presented. The first explores the frequency of obtaining false positive results from a medical screening tool while the second examines the issue of referral bias and its effect on the apparent sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool. Results from student assessments indicate that the activity increases one’s ability to define terms such as “false positive” and “false negative” and increases one’s ability to read and compute with information obtained from a two-way table. Teacher assessment …

Using Local Data To Advance Quantitative Literacy, Stephen Sweet, Susanne Morgan, Danette Ifert Johnson

Numeracy

In this article we consider the application of local data as a means of advancing quantitative literacy. We illustrate the use of three different sources of local data: institutional data, Census data, and the National College Health Assessment survey. Our learning modules are applied in courses in sociology and communication, but the strategy of using local data can be integrated beyond these disciplinary boundaries. We demonstrate how these data can be used to stimulate student interests in class discussion, advance analytic skills, as well as develop capacities in written and verbal communication. We conclude by considering concerns that may influence …

Quantitative Literacy Across The Curriculum: A Case Study, Benjamin Steele, Semra Kiliç-Bahi

Numeracy

We describe a quantitative literacy (QL) program at Colby-Sawyer College, a small, residential, liberal arts college in New Hampshire. This program has grown rapidly from a traditional math curriculum to a college-wide understanding of quantitative literacy and voluntary participation by many faculty members in all departments. More than 80% of the faculty agreed that it would be useful for students to be able to use quantitative skills in their courses, but only 24 % thought students were capable of doing very well in mathematics. Twenty-three faculty members attended a summer workshop, funded by NSF, DUE # 0633133, in which they …

Quantitative Literacy On The Web Of Science, 1: The Bibliography And Its Role In The History Of This Journal, H L. Vacher, Todd Chavez

Numeracy

Prior to deciding to propose in 2006 that the National Numeracy Network (NNN) publish a new journal for quantitative literacy with their support, the University of South Florida Libraries investigated the publication environment of the field on the Web of Science®. Reproducing part of that study in this paper, we present findings from topic searches (March 2008) for “numeracy,” “quantitative literacy,” and “statistical literacy.” These updated results include a combined bibliography of 338 peer-reviewed articles amongst 210 different journals, by 748 authors from 321 institutions in 25 countries, in a total of 87 subjects (34% of the subject classes in …

Abstracts For Numeracy, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

No abstract provided.

Segmentation Of The Blanco Transform Fault Zone From Earthquake Analysis: Complex Tectonics Of An Oceanic Transform Fault, Jochen Braunmiller, John Nábělek

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The Blanco Transform Fault Zone (BTFZ) forms the ∼350 km long Pacific–Juan de Fuca plate boundary between the Gorda and Juan de Fuca ridges. Nearby broadband seismic networks provide a unique framework for a detailed, long-term seismotectonic study of an entire oceanic transform fault (OTF) system. We use regional waveforms to determine 129 earthquake source parameters; combined with 28 Harvard moment tensors, they represent the largest waveform derived OTF source parameter data set. Joint epicenter determination removes the northeasterly routine location bias. Projecting seismicity onto the BTFZ, we determine along-fault seismic slip rate variations. Earthquake source parameters and morphology indicate …

Alaska's Pavlof Volcano Ends 11-Year Repose, Christopher F. Waythomas, Stephanie G. Prejean, Stephen R. Mcnutt

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

After an 11-year period of repose, Pavlof volcano on the Alaska Peninsula (Figure 1) began an episode of Strombolian eruption lasting 31 days, from 14 August to 13 September 2007.

The eruption began abruptly on 14 August after a minor increase in seismicity the previous day. Nearly continuous lava fountaining, explosions, and lahars caused by minor disruption of the ice and snow cover on the volcano characterized the eruption. The eruption also produced diffuse ash plumes that reached 5–6 kilometers above sea level, but the plumes were too small and did not extend high enough to affect local or regional …

Tampa Bay Interagency Seagrass Monitoring Program A Synopsis Of Seagrass Trends From 1997-2006, Walt Avery, Roger Johansson

Reports

This paper presents trends in percent frequency of occurrence (PFOC) of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). PFOC is defined as the number of times a seagrass or attached alga species is found within a specific data set of meter square placements divided by the total number of meter square placements within that data set. The data sets comprised of all meter square placements grouped either by management area (MA), bay subsection, or Tampa Bay as a whole. Ancillary data of SAV species annual PFOC, abundance, short shoot density (SSDm-2), and canopy height (cm) are presented in the appendix.