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The impact of Hurricane Sandy (October 2012) on the Atlantic Coast of the United States resulted in massive overtopping (aggradation) of coastal barriers, along with localized overwash and breaching. A combination of high-frequency ground-penetrating radar (800 MHz GPR), low-field magnetic susceptibility (MS), and textural and mineralogical analyses was used to reconstruct the sedimentological and hydrodynamic parameters of the storm surge at two New Jersey sites immediately north of hurricane landfall: 1) Mantoloking and 2) Island Beach State Park (IBSP). Mantoloking represents a developed, scour-channelized backdune area with a 30-60 cm thick deposit consisting of 20-23 event horizons. Geophysical images reveal gently landward-dipping reflections. In contrast, IBSP site is a broad (width: 40 m) vegetated dune swale. GPR transects show landward-dipping tangential-oblique reflections as well as a conformable channel cut-and-fill structure (width: 7 m; depth: 1.5 m), producing a 0.7-1.5-m-thick deposit with 24-30 horizons. Within each sand-dominated event horizon, an upward 5-15% increase in mean grain size and 80-100% decrease in MS highlight the importance of hydrodynamic equivalency in lithological segregation within mixed-density fractions. Basal sub-layers enriched in heavy minerals (magnetite, ilmenite, garnet) yield MS of 100-350 μSI, in contrast to <40 μSI in quartz-rich upper sub-layers and pre-storm deposits. Several peaks in MS values correspond to an up to 65% increase in threshold shear stresses associated with individual unidirectional surge flows, with several most-enriched event horizons likely corresponding to waning-stage storm surge peaks recorded by offshore buoys. The sharp contact with the pre-storm surface produces distinct GPR reflections that allow accurate mapping of the thickness and extent of hurricane deposits. Together with potential correlation between lithological anomalies and high amplitude georadar signal return, the approach used in this study has applications to reconstructing event deposits in Quaternary sedimentary records. The new research findings have potential implications for reconstructing surge dynamics of recent hurricane events as well as quantitative hindcasting of hydrodynamic conditions responsible for lithologically diverse intervals in ancient tempestites. / Geology / Accompanied by two .xls files (Microsoft Excel).

The magnetic properties of ultrathin magnetic films can be investigated in situ by the temperature dependent magnetic ac susceptibility x(T) using an optical technique - the surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE). The performance of the ac susceptibility measurements depends primarily on the optical setup used to detect the Kerr effect and on the mechanical stability of the system. Modifications to the optical setup and the sample holder have significantly reduced the influence of noise due to mechanical vibrations. It has been found that the signal-to-noise ratio has been improved by at least a factor of 2.5 with respect to the previous setup, giving a detection limit of 15 nrad/Oe. This improvement makes measurements on antiferromagnetic ultrathin films feasible. Their susceptibility response has been estimated to be around 20-30 nrad/Oe. As a test study for the performance of the improved setup, transverse susceptibility measurements on 2 ML Fe/W(110) ferromagnetic ultrathin films are presented. These transverse susceptibility signals show interesting features. They have a narrow linewidth and are larger than expected from anisotropy considerations and other work. Also, it has been found that the in-plane and out-of-plane transverse susceptibilities arise from different mechanisms. Several scenarios that might explain the origin, size and shape of the observed signals are discussed. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This research was conducted to analyze the genetics of soybean mosaic virus (SMV) resistance in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and to determine allelic relationships of SMV resistance genes and their interactions with SMV strain groups. In the first part of this study, the inheritance of SMV resistance in OX670 and 'Harosoy' was studied to determine the source and identity of the resistance gene/genes in OX670. Other researchers reported that OX670 possesses a single gene at a locus independent of Rsv1 and assigned the gene symbol Rsv2. Rsv2 was presumably derived from the cultivar 'Raiden'. However, later work showed that Raiden contains a single resistance gene at the Rsv1 locus, raising the possibility that the resistance gene in OX670 was not from Raiden. Harosoy and its derivatives make up much of the remaining pedigree of OX670. Results from crosses of OX670 with susceptible cultivars indicate that it contains two independent genes for SMV resistance. One is allelic to the Rsv1 locus, expresses resistance to SMV-G1 and G7 and is derived from Raiden. The other is allelic to the Rsv3 locus, expresses resistance to SMV-G7 but susceptibility to SMV-G1 and is derived from Harosoy. Therefore the Rsv2 locus does not appear to exist in OX670 or its ancestors. The presence of Rsv1 and Rsv3 makes OX670 resistant to all SMV strains from G1 through G7. The second study was conducted to investigate the inheritance and allelomorphic relationships of resistance gene(s) in 'Tousan 140' and 'Hourei', which were reported to carry single independent resistance genes when inoculated with the Japanese SMV strain C. Both of these lines exhibit resistance to strains SMV-G1 through G7. This inheritance study shows that Tousan 140 and Hourei each possess two resistance genes. One of the genes in Hourei confers resistance to SMV-G1 and G7 strains; the other gene confers susceptibility to SMV-G1 but resistance to SMV-G7. Allelism tests indicate that one of the genes in both Hourei and Tousan 140 is allelic to Rsv1, and the other is allelic to Rsv3. The two genes in Tousan 140 were separated into individual lines, R1 and R2. R1, most probably containing Rsv1, exhibited resistance to SMV-G1 through G3 but was susceptible to SMV-G5 through G7. Line R2, most likely possesses Rsv3 gene, was susceptible to SMV-G1 through G3 but resistant to SMV-G5 through G7. Therefore, presence of these two genes makes Tousan 140 resistant to SMV-G1 through G7. The objective of the third study was to investigate inheritance and allelomorphic relationships of SMV resistance in PI88788. PI88788 exhibits resistance to SMV-G1 through G7. Genetic analysis of our data reveals that SMV resistance in PI88788 is conferred by a single gene at a locus tentatively labeled 'Rsv4'. Expression of this gene in the homozygous state decreased accumulation rate and prevented vascular movement of SMV. In the heterozygous state vascular movement of the SMV was delayed but not prevented. / Ph. D.