Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-42). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Southern California, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-229).

Alluvial fan construction within British Columbia was dependant upon temporary conditions resulting from deglaciation; there is no significant fan aggradation at present. Five study areas were selected from the semi-arid sections of the Fraser, Thompson, Bonaparte, South Thompson and Similkameen valleys. The Tertiary and Quaternary geo-morphic histories of these areas are similar in many respects--most significantly, one or more phases of Pleistocene glaciation were followed by fluvial and lacustrine aggradation--but vary regarding the amount of subsequent downcutting by major rivers. This ranges from several hundred feet in the Fraser and Thompson valleys to a few feet or none in the Similkameen and Bonaparte valleys. Stratigraphic evidence from the Fraser Valley indicates that fan building commenced soon after the valley floor became ice-free, probably whilst glacial conditions persisted in tributary basins. It continued during aggradation by major rivers and for sometime afterwards. In the Thompson and South Thompson valleys fans were most recently built upon degradational river terraces. The occurrence of Mazama volcanic ash within fans indicates that construction continued until after 6,600 years B.P. Fans were built during a phase of landscape readjustment from predominantly glacial to predominantly fluvial conditions. They resulted from the secondary deposition of glacial drift and locally weathered material by streams and mudflows. Fan composition was dependant upon the nature of the available material and upon the character of the parent basin. For example, the widespread occurrence of glacio-lacustrine silt in the Thompson Valley gave rise to fans composed of silty mudflow gravels. Generally, small, steep basins produced mudflows whereas larger basins had more constantly flowing streams which deposited fluvial gravels. Fan aggradation declined as the drift supply was exhausted; deposition of material derived by current weathering was insufficient to maintain the growth of the fans. After deposition ceased many fans were dissected as a result of local base-level lowering controlled by degradation of major rivers and/or fan-head trenching initiated as the debris supply declined. Fan-head trenching is best developed in the South Thompson Valley; base-level dissection predominates in the Fraser and Thompson Valleys. Where fan building persisted during degradation, multilevel fans were constructed. Statistical correlations among morphometric parameters describing fans and related basins indicate that basin characteristics exerted an influence upon fan geometry through the nature of the fan building stream. There relationships vary regionally, possibly reflecting lithologic, climatic and geomorphic contrasts. British Columbia fans are steeper and display a greater variation of morphometric relationships than fans of the arid American Southwest. Fans resulting from deglaciation are distinguished by use of the prefix "para-glacial". / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Debris-flows pose serious hazards to communities in mountainous regions of the world and are often responsible for loss of life and damages to infrastructure. Characterised by high flow velocity, large impact forces and long runout, debris-flows have potential discharges several times greater than clear water flood discharges and possess much greater erosive and destructive potential. In combination with poor temporal predictability, they present a significant hazard to settlements, transport routes and other infrastructure located at the drainage points (fan-heads) of watersheds. Thus, it is important that areas vulnerable to debris-flows are identified in order to aid decisions on appropriate land-uses for alluvial fans. This research has developed and tested a new GIS-based procedure for identifying areas prone to debris-flow hazards in the Coromandel/Kaimai region, North Island, New Zealand. The procedure was developed using ESRI Arc View software, utilising the NZ 25 x 25 m DEM as the primary input. When run, it enabled watersheds and their associated morphometric parameters to be derived for selected streams in the study area. Two specific parameters, Melton ratio (R) and watershed length were then correlated against field evidence for debris-flows, debris-floods and fluvial processes at stream watershed locations in the study area. Overall, strong relationships were observed to exist between the evidence observed for these phenomena and the parameters, thus confirming the utility of the GIS procedure for the preliminary identification of hydrogeomorphic hazards such as debris-flow in the Coromandel/Kaimai region study area. In consideration of the results, the procedure could prove a useful tool for regional councils and CDEM groups in regional debris-flow hazard assessment for the identification of existing developments at risk of debris-flow disaster. Furthermore, the procedure could be used to provide justification for subsequent, more intensive local investigations to fully quantify the risk to people and property at stream fan and watershed locations in such areas.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006. / "May 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-42). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Designing monitoring networks that can discriminate among competing conceptual models is a key challenge for hydrologists. This issue is examined by considering the impact of network design on the utility of measurements for constraining hydrologic prediction uncertainty. Specifically, a three-staged approach was developed and is presented as a set of modeling case studies. The first case study presents a sensitivity analysis that examines conditions under which the proposed measurement method is likely to detect observations associated with the hydrologic process and properties of interest. This application is focused on the use of geomorphic information to estimate infiltration on arid alluvial fans.The second stage is an assessment of the likely utility of the measurement method to determine whether proposed measurements are likely to be useful for identifying hydraulic properties or hydrologic processes. This objective screening approach could reduce the number of unsuccessful uses of geophysical and other indirect measurement methods. A hypothetical site assessment examines whether the measurement method, temporal gravity change, is likely to detect signals associated with drawdown in an unconfined aquifer that occurs in response to pumping. Also, the utility of these measurements for identifying hydraulic conductivity and specific yield was considered.The third stage, an analysis of optimal network design, compares the projected measurement costs with the expected benefits of constraining hydrologic prediction uncertainty. The final case study presents a network design approach for a feasibility assessment of a proposed artificial recharge site. Predefined sets of proposed measurements of temporal gravity change were considered for various measurement times. An ensemble approach was used to assess the likely impact of measurement error on prediction error and uncertainty for different combinations of measurement sets. The ensemble of prediction errors was translated to probability-weighted performance costs for each measurement set using a cost function. Total cost was calculated as the sum of the performance and measurement costs. The optimal measurement set, defined as the set with the lowest total cost, depends on the prediction of interest, the per measurement cost, the maximum risk-based cost associated with the hydrologic prediction, and the treatment of uncertainty in defining performance costs.

Debris-flows pose serious hazards to communities in mountainous regions of the world and are often responsible for loss of life and damages to infrastructure. Characterised by high flow velocity, large impact forces and long runout, debris-flows have potential discharges several times greater than clear water flood discharges and possess much greater erosive and destructive potential. In combination with poor temporal predictability, they present a significant hazard to settlements, transport routes and other infrastructure located at the drainage points (fan-heads) of watersheds. Thus, it is important that areas vulnerable to debris-flows are identified in order to aid decisions on appropriate land-uses for alluvial fans. This research has developed and tested a new GIS-based procedure for identifying areas prone to debris-flow hazards in the Coromandel/Kaimai region, North Island, New Zealand. The procedure was developed using ESRI Arc View software, utilising the NZ 25 x 25 m DEM as the primary input. When run, it enabled watersheds and their associated morphometric parameters to be derived for selected streams in the study area. Two specific parameters, Melton ratio (R) and watershed length were then correlated against field evidence for debris-flows, debris-floods and fluvial processes at stream watershed locations in the study area. Overall, strong relationships were observed to exist between the evidence observed for these phenomena and the parameters, thus confirming the utility of the GIS procedure for the preliminary identification of hydrogeomorphic hazards such as debris-flow in the Coromandel/Kaimai region study area. In consideration of the results, the procedure could prove a useful tool for regional councils and CDEM groups in regional debris-flow hazard assessment for the identification of existing developments at risk of debris-flow disaster. Furthermore, the procedure could be used to provide justification for subsequent, more intensive local investigations to fully quantify the risk to people and property at stream fan and watershed locations in such areas.

Thesis (M.S. - Geosciences)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-45).

Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Washington, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [191]-203).

The role of water and volatiles in the solar system is of critical interest in planetary science. Evidence for the past action of water or direct observation of water on a planetary body can indicate the potential to harbor life and is critical to human exploration of the solar system. We study two very different remote sensing techniques that address the issue of identifying water-related processes on the surface of other planetary bodies, and in particular, Mars. The first technique, combined thermal infrared and visible imaging, has been used extensively on Mars for determining the thermal inertia of surface materials. In the second part of this dissertation, we develop a technique that combines remote thermophysical and visible data sets with ground-based field investigations for the identification of sedimentary features at the surfaces of alluvial fans. Several methods for remotely identifying sedimentary features will be explored using thermal and visible images. We combine results from pre-existing ground-based studies with thermal images and ground-based field investigations to develop a robust technique to be used on a variety of alluvial fans. In the third part, we characterize the remote thermophysical and visible properties of specific classes of sedimentary features on alluvial fans using the technique developed in part two. The second remote sensing technique, neutron spectroscopy, has been used on many planetary spacecraft missions for the identification of hydrogen on planetary surfaces. The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument on the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory rover mission represents a new type of neutron detector for planetary spacecraft, with the neutron detectors mounted to a rover on the Martian surface (as opposed to in orbit around the planetary body) and neutron counts that are binned by time, energy, and location (as opposed to just by energy and location). In chapter four, we model expected neutron energies and arrival times for geologic settings where water has altered the chemistry of the near surface using available geochemical data from the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Particle transport models are used to determine the sensitivity of neutron detection techniques to the variations in hydrogen abundance, hydrogen layering and chemical composition measured by MER.