Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Stratigraphic Continuity In 400 Mhz Short-Pulse Radar Profiles Of Firn In West Antarctica, Steven A. Arcone, Vandy Blue Spikes, Gordon S. Hamilton, Paul Andrew Mayewski

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

We track dated firn horizons within 400 MHz short-pulse radar profiles to find the continuous extent over which they can be used as historical benchmarks to study past accumulation rates in West Antarctica. The 30-40 cm pulse resolution compares with the accumulation rates of most areas. We tracked a particular set that varied from 30 to 90 m in depth over a distance of 600 km. The main limitations to continuity are fading at depth, pinching associated with accumulation rate differences within hills and valleys, and artificial fading caused by stacking along dips. The latter two may be overcome through …

Topographic Control Of Regional Accumulation Rate Variability At South Pole And Implications For Ice-Core Interpretation, Gordon S. Hamilton

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Snow-accumulation rates are known to be sensitive to local changes in ice-sheet surface slope because of the effect of katabatic winds. These topographic effects can be preserved in ice cores that are collected at non-ice-divide locations. The trajectory of an ice-core site at South Pole is reconstructed using measurements of ice-sheet motion to show that snow was probably deposited at places of different surface slope during the past 1000 years. Recent accumulation rates, derived from shallow firn cores, vary along this trajectory according to surface topography, so that on a relatively steep flank mean annual accumulation is similar to 18% …

Sulfur Isotopic Measurements From A West Antarctic Ice Core: Implications For Sulfate Source And Transport, Lee E. Pruett, Karl J. Kreutz, Moire Wadleigh, Paul Andrew Mayewski, Andrei V. Kurbatov

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Measurements of delta(34)S covering the years 1935-76 and including the 1963 Agung (Indonesia) eruption were made on a West Antarctic firn core, RIDSA (78.73 degrees S, 116.33 degrees W; 1740m a.s.l.), and results are used to unravel potential source functions in the sulfur cycle over West Antarctica. The delta(34)S values Of SO42- range from 3.1 parts per thousand to 9.9 parts per thousand. These values are lower than those reported for central Antarctica, from near South Pole station, of 9.3-18.1 parts per thousand (Patris and others, 2000). While the Agung period is isotopically distinct at South Pole, it is not …

Variability In Accumulation Rates From Gpr Profiling On The West Antarctic Plateau, Vandy Blue Spikes, Gordon S. Hamilton, Steven A. Arcone, Susan Kaspari, Paul Andrew Mayewski

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

lsochronal layers in firn detected with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and dated using results from ice-core analyses are used to calculate accumulation rates along a 100 km across-flow profile in West Antarctica. Accumulation rates are shown to be highly variable over short distances. Elevation measurements from global positioning system surveys show that accumulation rates derived from shallow horizons correlate well with surface undulations, which implies that wind redistribution of snow is the leading cause of this variability. Temporal changes in accumulation rate over 25-185 year intervals are smoothed to along-track length scales comparable to surface undulations in order to identify trends …

El Niño Suppresses Antarctic Warming, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Peter J. Barrett, Paul Andrew Mayewski, Ryan L. Fogt, Karl J. Kreutz, James Shulmeister

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Here we present new isotope records derived from snow samples from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica and re-analysis data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-40) to explain the connection between the warming of the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean [Jacka and Budd, 1998; Jacobs et al., 2002] and the current cooling of the terrestrial Ross Sea region [Doran et al., 2002a]. Our analysis confirms previous findings that the warming is linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) [Kwok and Comiso, 2002a, 2002b; Carleton, 2003; Ribera and Mann …

Variability In Accumulation Rates From Gpr Profiling On The West Antarctic Plateau, Vandy B. Spikes, Gordon S. Hamilton, Steven A. Arcone, Susan Kaspari, Paul Andrew Mayewski

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Isochronal layers in firn detected with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and dated using results from ice-core analyses are used to calculate accumulation rates along a 100 km across-flow profile in West Antarctica. Accumulation rates are shown to be highly variable over short distances. Elevation measurements from global positioning system surveys show that accumulation rates derived from shallow horizons correlate well with surface undulations, which implies that wind redistribution of snow is the leading cause of this variability. Temporal changes in accumulation rate over 25-185 year intervals are smoothed to along-track length scales comparable to surface undulations in order to identify trends …

The Deglaciation Of Maine, Usa, Harold W. Borns Jr., Lisa A. Doner, Christopher C. Dorion, George L. Jacobson Jr., Michael R. Kaplan, Karl J. Kreutz, Thomas V. Lowell, Woodrow B. Thompson, Thomas K. Weddle

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

The glacial geology of Maine records the northward recession of the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet, followed by development of a residual ice cap in the Maine-Québec border region due to marine transgression of the St. Lawrence Lowland in Canada. The pattern of deglaciation across southern Maine has been reconstructed from numerous end moraines, deltas and submarine fans deposited during marine transgression of the coastal lowland. Inland from the marine limit, a less-detailed sequence of deglaciation is recorded by striation patterns, meltwater channels, scattered moraines and waterlain deposits that constrain the trend of the ice margin. There is no evidence …

Remediating Rdx-Contaminated Ground Water With Permanganate: Laboratory Investigations For The Pantex Perched Aquifer, M. L. Adam, Steven Comfort, Matthew C. Morley, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Ground water beneath the U.S. Department of Energy Pantex Plant is contaminated with the high explosive RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5- trinitro-1,3,5 triazine). The USDOE Innovative Treatment and Remediation Demonstration (ITRD) program identified in situ oxidation by permanganate as a technology fit for further investigation. We evaluated the efficacy of KMnO₄ to transform and mineralize RDX by determining degradation kinetics and carbon mass balances using ¹⁴C-RDX. Aqueous RDX solutions (2–5 mg L^–1) and RDX-contaminated slurries (50% solids, w/v) were treated with KMnO₄ at 1000, 2000, 4000, and 20,000 mg L^–1. Treating an aqueous RDX solution of …

Federal Listing Of Prairie Grouse: Lessons From The Attwater’S Prairie Chicken, Michael Morrow, Terry A. Rossignol, Nova J. Silvy

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Considerable controversy has often surrounded proposals to confer official status (i.e., list) species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 as amended or its precursors. Recent proposals to list the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), the western sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus phaios), and the Gunnison sage grouse (C. minimus) were met with strong opposition by those concerned with prospects of an increased regulatory environment associated with such an action. The Attwater's prairie-chicken (T. cupido attwateri) was one of the first species listed under The Endangered Species Conservation Act of …

Hazardous Waste Site Sampling Basics, Pamela S. Innis

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for addressing releases of hazardous substances on public lands under their jurisdiction. This technical note provides technical guidance to those responsible for overseeing or conducting environmental sampling activities; provides information and references to assist field personnel in implementing technically consistent and responsive analytical sampling programs at hazardous waste sites; introduces the concepts and issues related to analytical sampling at hazardous waste sites; and provides a quick reference to websites and documents that can assist field personnel in implementing a site characterization plan.

Helium Resources Of The United States - 2003, B. D. Gage, D. L. Driskill

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

This report deviates from previous reports in defining helium reserves. It includes only the estimated helium contained in fields and formations from which helium is currently being recovered. The Cliffside Gasfield is expected to continue to be used to deliver the helium needed to meet worldwide demand. Figure 6 shows the possible demand, using set criteria, for the helium stored in the Cliffside Gasfield to meet helium sales.
The identified helium resources of the United States are estimated at 449 Bcf as of December 31, 2002. This includes 131 Bcf of demonstrated reserves, 132 Bcf of demonstrated marginal reserves, and …

Distribution Of North Pacific Right Whales (Eubalaena Japonica) As Shown By 19th And 20th Century Whaling Catch And Sighting Records, Phillip J. Clapham, Caroline Good, Sara E. Quinn, Randall R. Reeves, James E. Scarff, Robert L. Brownell Jr.

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

North Pacific right whales (Eubalaena japonica) were extensively exploited in the 19th century, and their recovery was further retarded (severely so in the eastern population) by illegal Soviet catches in the 20th century, primarily in the 1960s. Monthly plots of right whale sightings and catches from both the 19th and 20th centuries are provided, using data summarized by Scarff (1991, from the whale charts of Matthew Fontaine Maury) and Brownell et al. (2001), respectively. Right whales had an extensive offshore distribution in the 19th century, and were common in areas (such as the Gulf of Alaska and Sea …

Hydrologic Variation During The Last 170,000 Years In The Southern Hemisphere Tropics Of South America, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Paul A. Baker, Tim K. Lowenstein, Geoffrey O. Seltzer, Catherine A. Rigsby, Gary S. Dwyer, Pedro M. Tapia, Kimberly K. Arnold, Teh-Lung Ku, Shangde Luo

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Despite the hypothesized importance of the tropics in the global climate system, few tropical paleoclimatic records extend to periods earlier than the last glacial maximum (LGM), about 20,000 years before present. We present a well-dated 170,000-year time series of hydrologic variation from the southern hemisphere tropics of South America that extends from modern times through most of the penultimate glacial period. Alternating mud and salt units in a core from Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia reflect alternations between wet and dry periods. The most striking feature of the sequence is that the duration of paleolakes increased in the late Quaternary. This …

Approximating First-Order Logic Programs By Feedforward Networks, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

We want to apply Funahashi's theorem in order to approximate the T_P operator for first-order (normal) logic programs P via 3-layer feedforward networks. I.e. we need to understand T_P as a continuous function on the reals.

We will need to study some preliminaries from set-theoretic topology first result from [HS00, HHS0_x], which extends results from [HKS99]. We close with some further considerations about the methods and results.

Integral Transforms, Convolution Products, And First Variations, Bong Jin Kim, Byoung Soo Kim, David Skough

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

We establish the various relationships that exist among the integral transform F_α,βF, the convolution product (F∗G)α, and the first variation δF for a class of functionals defined on K[0,T], the space of complex-valued continuous functions on [0,T] which vanish at zero.

Discrete Approximations And Necessary Optimality Conditions For Functional-Differential Inclusions Of Neutral Type, Boris S. Mordukhovich, Lianwen Wang

Mathematics Research Reports

This paper deals with necessary optimality conditions for optimal control systems governed by constrained functional-differential inclusions of neutral type. While some results are available for smooth control systems governed by neutral functional-differential equations, we are not familiar with any results for neutral functional-differential inclusions, even with smooth cost functionals in the absence of endpoint constraints. Developing the method of discrete approximations and employing advanced tools of generalized differentiation, we conduct a variational analysis of neutral functional-differential inclusions and obtain new necessary optimality conditions of both Euler-Lagrange and Hamiltonian types.

Norms Of Linear-Fractional Composition Operators, Paul S. Bourdon, E. E. Fry, Christopher Hammond, C. H. Spofford

Mathematics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Value Orientations And Opinions Of Recently Arrived Cubans In Miami, Andy S. Gomez, Eugenio M. Rothe

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

No abstract provided.

Grain Size Distributions And Photoelectric Heating In Ionized Media, P. A. M. Vanhoof, J. C. Weingartner, P. G. Martin, K. Volk, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Ever since the pioneering study of Spitzer, it has been widely recognized that grains play an important role in the heating and cooling of photoionized environments. This includes the diffuse interstellar medium and H II regions, planetary nebulae and photodissociation regions. A detailed code is necessary to model grains in a photoionized medium since the interactions of grains with their environment include a host of microphysical processes. In this paper we will use the spectral synthesis code CLOUDY for this purpose. A comprehensive upgrade of the grain model has been recently incorporated into CLOUDY. One of these upgrades is the …

Statistical Procedures For Evaluating Daily And Monthly Hydrologic Model Predictions, Marilyn E. Coffey, Stephen R. Workman, Joseph L. Taraba, Alex W. Fogle

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The overall study objective was to evaluate the applicability of different qualitative and quantitative methods for comparing daily and monthly SWAT computer model hydrologic streamflow predictions to observed data, and to recommend statistical methods for use in future model evaluations. Statistical methods were tested using daily streamflows and monthly equivalent runoff depths. The statistical techniques included linear regression, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, nonparametric tests, t-test, objective functions, autocorrelation, and cross-correlation. None of the methods specifically applied to the non-normal distribution and dependence between data points for the daily predicted and observed data. Of the tested methods, median objective functions, sign test, autocorrelation, …

Fixed Point Theorems For Infinite Dimensional Holomorphic Functions, Lawrence A. Harris

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This talk discusses conditions on the numerical range of a holomorphic function defined on a bounded convex domain in a complex Banach space that imply that the function has a unique fixed point. In particular, extensions of the Earle-Hamilton Theorem are given for such domains. The theorems are applied to obtain a quantitative version of the inverse function theorem for holomorphic functions and a distortion form of Cartan's uniqueness theorem.

Generalized Geologic Map For Land-Use Planning: Mccracken County, Kentucky, E. Glynn Beck, David A. Williams, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

This map is not intended to be used for selecting individual sites. Its purpose is to inform land-use planners, government officials, and the public in a general way about geologic bedrock conditions that affect the selection of sites for various purposes. The properties of thick soils may supercede those of the underlying bedrock and should be considered on a site-to-site basis. At any site, it is important to understand the characteristics of both the soils and the underlying rock.

One- And Two-Dimensional Optical Lattices On A Chip For Quantum Computing, Katharina Gillen-Christandl, Gregory P. Lafyatis, Seung-Cheol Lee, Jin-Fa Lee

Physics

We propose a way to make arrays of optical frequency dipole-force microtraps for cold atoms above a dielectric substrate. Traps are nodes in the evanescent wave fields above an optical waveguide resulting from interference of different waveguide modes. The traps have features sought in developing neutral atom based architectures for quantum computing: ∼1 mW of laser power yields very tight traps 150 nm above a waveguide with trap vibrational frequencies ∼1 MHz and vibrational ground state sizes ∼10 nm. The arrays are scalable and allow addressing of individual sites for quantum logic operations.

Numerical Study Of The Diapycnal Flow Through A Tidal Front With Passive Tracers, Chingming Dong, Robert Houghton, Hsien-Wang Ou, Dake Chen, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

A two-dimensional numerical model is used to study the diapycnal flow through a tidal front with passive tracers. In a basic numerical experiment a passive tracer is released into the bottom water at the offshore edge of a tidal front, and it subsequently moves on-bank with a velocity that decreases with time. This qualitatively agrees with a recent field experiment using a dye tracer on Georges Bank. Additional experiments are performed to investigate the sensitivity of the tracer dispersion to the tidal phase and the location of tracer release within the front. As the release point is moved on-bank across …

Simulations Of The Influence Of The West Caribbean Sea Circulation And Eddies On The Meso-American Barrier Reef System, Tal Ezer, Deeptha V. Thattai, Björn Kjerve

CCPO Publications

The Meso-American Barrier Reef System (MBRS) along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras is an ecologically and biologically sensitive region. It provides for example, major spawning aggregation sites for various species of fish; these activities may be influenced by variations of the flow near the reef and the transports between the MBRS and the Caribbean Sea circulation. Caribbean eddies, which may play an important role in flow variability, have been studied in the past by observations and models (Carton and Chao, 1999; Murphy et al., 1999; Andrade and Barton, 2000; Oey et al., 2003), but knowledge of their …

Optimal Play Of The Dice Game Pig, Todd W. Neller, Clifton G.M. Presser

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The object of the jeopardy dice game Pig is to be the first player to reach 100 points. Each player's turn consists of repeatedly rolling a die. After each roll, the player is faced with two choices: roll again, or hold (decline to roll again).

• If the player rolls a 1, the player scores nothing and it becomes the opponent's turn.
• If the player rolls a number other than 1, the number is added to the player's turn total and the player's turn continues.
• If the player holds, the turn total, the sum of the rolls during the turn, …

A Computational Model For Martensitic Thin Films With Compositional Fluctuation, Pavel Bělík, Mitchell Luskin

Faculty Authored Articles

We develop a computational model for the martensitic first-order structural phase transformation in a single crystal thin film, and we use this model to study the effect of spatial compositional fluctuation, spatial temporal noise, and the loss of stability of the metastable phase at temperatures sufficiently far from the transformation temperature.

Computational Modeling Of Softening In A Structural Phase Transformation, Pavel Bělík, Mithcell Luskin

Faculty Authored Articles

We develop a free energy density to model a structural first-order phase transformation from a high-temperature cubic phase to a low-temperature tetragonal phase. The free energy density models the softening of the elastic modulus controlling the low-energy path from the cubic to the tetragonal lattice, the loss of stability of the tetragonal phase at high temperatures and the loss of stability of the cubic phase at low temperatures, and the effect of compositional fluctuation on the transformation temperature.

Numerical experiments are given for the quasi-static cooling and heating of a single crystal thin film through the transformation. Tweed-like oscillations are …

Complexity Of Devonian K-Bentonites In The Appalachian Foreland Basin: Geochemical And Physical Evidence Supporting Multi-Layered K-Bentonite Horizons, Lucas Benedict

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Detailed analysis of Lower to Middle Devonian K-bentonites in the Appalachian Basin reveals physical and geochemical characteristics within supposed single eruptive event deposits that indicate a more complex depositional history is recorded in many of these volcanic beds. Variations in bedding showing multiple coarse and fine-grained layers within a K-bentonite layer can be seen in some Devonian K-bentonite beds. Microscopic irregularities show variations in the orientation of volcanic grains, and subtle phenocryst layers within a K-bentonite suggest changes in depositional environment where changing water and wave regimes rework and redeposit material on the sea floor. The presence of fossil layers …

Road Salt Application And Its Effects On Sodium And Chloride Ion Concentrations In An Urban Stream Patroon Creek, Albany, Ny, Elizabeth K. Erickson

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The application of road salt in an urban watershed leads to increased sodium and chloride concentrations in surface water and groundwater, which can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems, and may have consequences for soil cation exchange. This study focuses on the spatial and temporal variations in sodium and chloride concentrations in Patroon Creek, Albany County, New York, a tributary of the Hudson River. For two years, weekly surface water samples were gathered from 7 sites along Patroon Creek for major ion concentrations as measured by ion chromatography. Additionally, a USGS gage on Patroon Creek measures specific conductivity, water temperature, stage, and …