Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Introduction To Using Modflow The Usgs Modular Finite-Difference Ground-Water Computer Modeling System, Jessica N. Pfundt

Geology Graduate and Undergraduate Student Scholarship

MODFLOW is the U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) Modular Finite-Difference Ground-Water computer modeling system. This program incorporates basic concepts derived from previous computer groundwater modeling programs. MODFLOW improves upon these programs because it is easy to modify, simple to use and maintain, can be executed on a variety of computers with minimal changes, and is relatively efficient with respect to computer memory and execution time (McDonald and Harbaugh, 1988).

Spatial Variation Of Naticid Gastropod Predation In The Eocene Of North-America, Thor A. Hansen, Patricia H. Kelley

Geology Faculty Publications

Although, the fossil record of naticid gastropod drilling has played an important role in the controversy over predator-prey evolution, little is known about variation of drilling frequencies within single horizons or how predation patterns are influenced by environmental variables. Without an understanding of spatial variation in drilling, temporal patterns in drilling are difficult to interpret. We surveyed 27,554 specimens of molluscs from the Cook Mountain interval (upper middle Eocene) and Jackson Group (late Eocene) of the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain to document spatial variation in naticid drilling frequencies. The Jackson Group assemblages from the Moodys Branch and Yazoo …

The Operator (Sgn X) D²/Dx² Is Similar To A Selfadjoint Operator In L² (R), Branko Ćurgus, Branko Najman

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Krein space operator-theoretic methods are used to prove that the operator (sgn x) d²/dx² is similar to a selfadjoint operator in the Hilbert space L²(R).

The Planet, 1995, Spring, Darren Nienaber, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Huxley College Alumni News, 1995, April, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

Historical Collection of Huxley Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Huxley Hotline, 1995, March 29, Traci Edge, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

Historical Collection of Huxley Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project 1993/1994 Report, Robin A. Matthews, Geoffrey B. Matthews

Lake Whatcom Annual Reports

This report is part of an on-going series of annual reports and special project reports that document the Lake Whatcom monitoring program.

This work is conducted by the Institute for Watershed Studies and other departments at Western Washington University. The major objective of this program is to provide long-term baseline water quality monitoring in Lake Whatcom and selected tributaries. Each section contains brief explanations about the water quality data, along with discussions of patterns observed in Lake Whatcom.

Lazutkin Coordinates And Invariant Curves For Outer Billiards, Edoh Y. Amiran

Mathematics Faculty Publications

The outer billiard ball map (OBM) is defined from and to the exterior of a domain, Ω, in the plane as taking a point, q, to another point, q ₁, when the line segment with endpoints q and q ₁ is tangent to the boundary, ∂Ω (with a chosen orientation), and the point of tangency with the boundary divides the segment in half. Let C be an invariant circle for the OBM on Ω, with ∂Ω smooth with positive curvature. After computing the loss of derivatives between ∂Ω and C, it is shown via KAM theory that …

Historical Development Of The Newton-Raphson Method, Tjalling Ypma

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This expository paper traces the development of the Newton-Raphson method for solving nonlinear algebraic equations through the extant notes, letters, and publications of Isaac Newton, Joseph Raphson, and Thomas Simpson. It is shown how Newton's formulation differed from the iterative process of Raphson, and that Simpson was the first to give a general formulation, in terms of fluxional calculus, applicable to nonpolynomial equations. Simpson's extension of the method to systems of equations is exhibited.

The Planet, 1995, Winter, Darren Nienaber, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Magnetic Anisotropy Fabrics From The Cascadia Accretionary Prism, Bernard A. Housen, Takaharu Sato

Geology Faculty Publications

Magnetic anisotropy fabrics were measured in 495 specimens collected from the Cascadia accretionary prism to characterize the development of mineral preferred orientation fabrics during deformation. Comparison of high-field and low-field susceptibilities was used to determine the relative contributions of the paramagnetic clay minerals and the ferrimagnetic trace minerals (magnetite, greigite, pyrrhotite) to the magnetic susceptibility fabrics. Sites 888 and 891 have anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) fabrics that are controlled primarily by the ferrimagnetic minerals. Sites 889/890 and 892 have AMS fab­rics that are controlled, to varying degrees, by both paramagnetic clays and the ferrimagnetic minerals. Rock magnetic experi­ments indicate …

Sediment Production And Delivery In The Upper South Fork Nooksack River, Northwest Washington, 1940-1991, Jeffrey A. Kirtland

WWU Graduate School Collection

Identifying sources and timing of sediment production and delivery provides information useful to understanding the geomorphology of a forested mountainous watershed in the western Cascade Range of Washington State. Sediment production and delivery is studied by constructing a partial sediment budget for the upper South Fork of the Nooksack River drainage (South Fork drainage). The period of the partial sediment budget extends from 1940 through 1991 and encompasses the pre- and post-management history of the watershed.

Four major sediment production and delivery sources - landsliding, streambank erosion, sheet and rill erosion and road-related erosion - were identified in the South …

Kinematic Implications Of Paleomagnetic Data From Lago Verde And Northern Isla Chiloe, Southern Chile, Brian C. (Brian Christopher) Steele

WWU Graduate School Collection

Paleomagnetic techniques were used to determine crustal rotations at two locations along the Liquine Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ) in southern Chile, South America. East of the fault zone, near the town of Lago Verde, twelve sites drilled in intermediate volcanic rocks and diorite yielded a paleomagnetic pole at 82°S, 210.8°E (A₉₅=8.3°), which, when compared to a Late Cretaceous reference pole (the mean of Butler et al. (1991) and Somoza (1994) poles) implies 17.7° ± 11.1° of in situ, clockwise rotation. At Cocotue Beach, west of the fault zone on Isla Chiloe, seven sites drilled in middle Tertiary …

Net Shore-Drift And Artificial Structures Within Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, And Mouth Of The Columbia River, Washington, B. Patrice (Berenthine Patrice) Thomas

WWU Graduate School Collection

Net shore-drift, the overall result of sediment transport in the littoral zone, was studied along the shore within Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and mouth of the Columbia River, Washington. The length and direction of drift cells, which are discrete sediment compartments, was delineated using geomorphologic and sedimentologic indicators. Eight drift cells were identified in Grays Harbor, seven within Willapa Bay, and three along the section of the Columbia River shore studied. Drift cell lengths range from 200 m to approximately 6 km with an average of 1.5 km. Net shore-drift directions vary considerably with maximum fetch identified as the most …

The Planet, 1994, Fall, Darren Nienaber, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

A Positive Answer To The Busemann-Petty Problem In 3 Dimensions, Richard J. Gardner

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We prove that in E³ the Busemann-Petty problem, concerning central sections of centrally symmetric convex bodies, has a positive answer. Together with other results, this settles the problem in each dimension.

Landscape Pattern Response To Changes In The Pattern Generation Rules: Land-Use Legacies In Forestry, David O. Wallin, Frederick J. (Frederick John) Swanson, Barbara J. Marks

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The Pacific Northwest of the United States is currently embroiled in an acrimonious debate over the management of federal forest lands. Constructive resolution of this debate will require better information on a broad range of forest management issues. This study focuses on one such issue: the development of landscape pattern in response to alternative forest cutting plans and the degree to which established landscape patterns can be changed. Dispersed cutting has been conducted on federal lands in the western United States for >40 yr, but alternative cutting plans are now being considered. To assess the effects of different disturbance processes …

Convex-Bodies With Similar Projections, Richard J. Gardner, Aljoša VolčIč

Mathematics Faculty Publications

By examining an example constructed by Petty and McKinney, we show that there are pairs of centered and coaxial bodies of revolution in E^d, d ≥ 3, whose projections onto each two-dimensional subspace are similar, but which are not themselves even affinely equivalent.

On The Busemann-Petty Problem Concerning Central Sections Of Centrally Symmetric Convex-Bodies, Richard J. Gardner

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We present a method which shows that in E³ the Busemann-Petty problem, concerning central sections of centrally symmetric convex bodies, has a positive answer. Together with other results, this settles the problem in each dimension.

The Planet, 1994, Spring, Richard Law, Derek Martin, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Intersection Bodies And The Busemann-Petty Problem, Richard J. Gardner

Mathematics Faculty Publications

It is proved that the answer to the Busemann-Petty problem concerning central sections of centrally symmetric convex bodies in d-dimensional Euclidean space E^d is negative for a given d if and only if certain centrally symmetric convex bodies exist in E^d which are not intersection bodies. It is also shown that a cylinder in E^d is an intersection body if and only if d ≤ 4, and that suitably smooth axis-convex bodies of revolution are intersection bodies when d ≤ 4. These results show that the Busemann-Petty problem has a negative answer for d ≥ 5 …

A Tale Of 2 Continents – Some Tectonic Contrasts Between The Central Andes And The North American Cordillera, As Illustrated By The Paelomagnetic Signatures, Myrl E. Beck Jr., Russ R. Burmester, Robert E. Drake, Paul D. Riley

Geology Faculty Publications

Comparison of patterns of paleomagnetic poles from orogenic belts with appropriate reference poles for the craton can help to delineate important large-scale tectonic processes. Comparison of the paleomagnetic signatures of the western Cordillera of North America and the central Andes shows that the western edges of these belts have had profoundly different Mesozoic and Cenozoic histories. Specifically, the North American Cordilleran pattern shows strong evidence of post-middle Cretaceous relative northward displacement of outboard crustal blocks, but there is almost no comparable evidence of margin-parallel displacement in the Andes. We speculate that this may largely be a consequence of a simple …

Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project 1992/1993 Report, Robin A. Matthews, Geoffrey B. Matthews

Lake Whatcom Annual Reports

This report is part of an on-going series of annual reports and special project reports that document the Lake Whatcom monitoring program.

This work is conducted by the Institute for Watershed Studies and other departments at Western Washington University. The major objective of this program is to provide long-term baseline water quality monitoring in Lake Whatcom and selected tributaries. Each section contains brief explanations about the water quality data, along with discussions of patterns observed in Lake Whatcom.

The Planet, 1994, Winter, Derek Martin, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution Of The Tiefort Mountains, Ne Mojave Desert, Ca, Kirk A. Stephens

WWU Graduate School Collection

Detailed geologic mapping, petrologic and structural analyses, and U-Pb dating in the Tiefort Mountains, northern Mojave Desert, California, provide constraints on Paleozoic paleogeography and Mesozoic intra-arc tectonics. Geologic mapping in the Tiefort Mountains was used to identify metasedimentary, metaplutonic, and undeformed plutonic rocks. The metasedimentary rocks consist primarily of quartzose schists and gneisses that are correlated with the late-Precambrian Cordilleran miogeoclinal-cratonal sequence of the Johnnie Formation, Stirling Quartzite, and Wood Canyon Formation. Recognition of Precambrian augen gneiss and metasedimentary rocks with miogeoclinal protoliths provides new data on the location of the cratonal-miogeoclinal and miogeoclinal/eugeoclinal paleogeographic boundaries in the Mojave Desert. …

Downstream Fining In A Mountain Stream Channel Affected By Debris Flow, Craig Emerson Cooper

WWU Graduate School Collection

Grain size of particles tend to become smaller in the downstream direction. Abrasion and selective transport are two sets of processes commonly accepted as explanations for observed trends in fining of sediment. Most recent studies have emphasized the effectiveness of selective transport in producing downstream fining in streams with abundant sediment supply. The contribution of abrasion to particle fining of the coarsest class of particles was investigated in Finney Creek, a high gradient mountain stream in northwest Washington that has a high incidence of sedimentation from debris slides and debris flows. Two dominant rock types comprise the coarsest bed material …

The Planet, 1993, Fall, Derek Martin, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Odp Leg 146 Examines Fluid Flow In Cascadia Margin, Bernard A. Housen

Geology Faculty Publications

For the better part of 2 decades, it has been known that dewatering of sediments accreted to or subducted beneath accretionary wedges is a fundamental aspect of the subduction-accretion process. Yet, evidence for fluid flow in modern accretionary wedges is largely secondary and based on the presence of geochemical and/or thermal anomalies [e.g., Vrolijk et al., 1991]; the analysis of seismic velocity as an indicator of porosity, which suggests a progressive loss of pore volume in a landward direction [e.g., Bray and Karig, 1985]; and the occurrence of secondary sediment microstructures characteristic of fluid movement [e.g., Maltman et …

Evolution Of The Naticid Gastropod Predator-Prey System: An Evaluation Of The Hypothesis Of Escalation, Patricia H. Kelley, Thor A. Hansen

Geology Faculty Publications

Previous work has suggested that escalation may have characterized the history of the naticid gastropod predator-prey system, based on apparent increases in drilling frequencies and the occurrence of antipredatory aptations among prey. We evaluate this hypothesis based on a comprehensive survey (over 40,000 specimens) of predation on molluscs from the Upper Cretaceous through lower Oligocene formations within the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain. Patterns in drilling of both bivalve and gastropod prey are complex. Drilling frequencies were relatively low in the Cretaceous but increased sharply above the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, remaining high until the late Eocene. Following a significant decline …

Paleomagnetism And Tectonics Of The Crescent Formation, North Olympic Mountains, Washington, Andrew C. Warnock, Russ R. Burmester, David C. Engebretson

Geology Faculty Publications

A stable prefolding magnetization has been discovered in pillow basalts of the Eocene lower Crescent For­mation of the northem Olympic Mountains. The curved outcrop pattern of the Crescent Formation has been the target of several unsuccessful studies to test for oroclinal bending. The success of this study is due, in part, to the development of a small-diameter electric core drill for sampling the fractured rims of basalt pillows. Thermal demagnetization produced stable endpoints by 580°C in 12 of the 34 sites sampled (large within-site scatter was common in the remaining sites). Among the accepted sites, within-site scatter was small and …