Herb- or shrub-chronology, a technique adapted from dendrochronology, is the study of the annual growth rings in roots of certain perennial dicotyledonous plants. The presence of annual growth increments in high-elevation plants is significant as it highlights the applicability of herbchronology for climatic, ecological and geomorphologic applications in alpine and other extra-arboreal regions. For alpine sites along the eastern crest of the Sierra Nevada range I present the first shrub-ring chronologies of the species Linanthus pungens (Torr.) J.M. Porter & L.A. Johnson. L. pungens individuals were collected at, and are especially ubiquitous at rock glacier sites in north-east trending glacial-cirque valleys. Rock glaciers are an increasingly recognized and studied feature on the alpine landscape, supporting floristically diverse plant populations, distinct thermal regimes decoupled from the external air and perennial water sources fed by interstitial ice. These landforms are expected to be refugia for alpine flora and fauna in some regions for projected warmer and drier climates. To evaluate plant growth on rock glaciers as compared to adjacent talus slopes in the central Sierra Nevada range of California, USA, a series of five cirque basins were selected as sites for paired rock glacier- talus slope vegetation comparisons. Vegetation cover, species richness, diversity measures and plant functional traits were recorded at ten sites (five rock glaciers, five talus slopes) along a 100-kilometer latitudinal span of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to evaluate general patterns in cover, diversity and functional traits for the 10 sites and inform subsequent statistical analyses. Both vegetation cover and species richness were significantly greater on rock glacier sites than on adjacent talus slopes even though mean slope values for the rock glacier sites were higher. Significantly, for the present study, rock glaciers support a higher number of the species Linanthus pungens, a climatically sensitive, long-lived alpine sub-shrub, showing that these periglacial landforms are not only floristically distinct but are also habitats containing natural climate archives useful to the field of herbchronology. L. pungens shrub-ring chronologies are determined to be distinct from Pinus albicaulis chronologies growing at the same five sets of sites in the Sierra Nevada study location. P. albicaulis (PIAL) tree-ring chronologies and L. pungens (LIPU) shrub-ring chronologies were constructed for four cirque basin sites. Comparisons were made between chronologies based on growth form (shrub or tree) and site, and on chronology response to average monthly temperature, total monthly precipitation and April 1 snowpack values. Chronologies are significantly more similar to other chronologies of the same growth form (PIAL-PIAL or LIPU-LIPU) than are same-site chronologies of different growth form (i.e. PIAL-LIPU chronologies) (p < 0.05). This holds true for comparisons based on Pearson’s correlation coefficients or Gleichläufigkeit (GLK) values. Growth response to monthly temperature and precipitation values is highly variable for same-site chronologies and also for same growth form chronologies. Topographical position and proximity to treeline was held constant at all sites so differences in climate-growth response within sites and within species may be attributed to factors that are unrealized in the sampling design. Based on composite climate anomaly maps, wide ring widths in PIAL chronologies occur after average winter and spring precipitation and with warm growing seasons while narrow PIAL rings fall after wet springs and with average summer temperatures. Years in which all LIPU rings are wide are found to occur during warm dry springs and growing seasons while years in which all LIPU rings are narrow occur in conjunction with wet winters and springs. Investigation into the longest and most replicated chronology at the Barney Lake (BL) site allowed a climate-growth comparison over a longer period of time (the BL chronology is 112 years in length with sufficient sample replication (EPS > 0.85) to capture a robust common signal from 1952 through 2007). Marker years in the BL chronology correspond to drought (wide rings) and persistent snowpack (narrow rings). Response function analysis indicates significant correlations with July minimum temperatures and the previous year's November precipitation. Increase in the radial growth of the taproot of L. pungens at BL has not decreased over the past century and is more highly correlated to temperature (positively) and snowpack and precipitation (negatively) during the latter half of the chronology period. Predictions of decreasing snowpack and warming temperatures for the alpine Sierra Nevada could indicate increased shrub growth over the next century and possible shrub range expansion if unprecedented drought does not prove to limit growth in the future. Work at BL and the other four alpine L. pungens chronology locations demonstrate a potential for additional research on climate-shrub growth interactions and in particular for investigations into climate controls on upper shrubline growth and movement in the Sierra Nevada range in California.

African climate changed considerably throughout the Pleistocene (2.588 million (Ma) to 12 thousand years ago (ka)). The timing, rate, and magnitude of past climate change across the continent impacted the evolutionary and migratory history of many mammalian species, including hominins. Investigating paleoclimatic variability through time at local and regional scales allows for an assessment of the extent to which climate change affected hominin evolution in Africa. This dissertation presents three approaches for increasing the understanding of past climate change in Africa. One method is to critically synthesize the existing literature of African climate (n=85) and hominid demography (n=64) over a restricted time frame (150 ka to 30 ka) and specific spatial scale (regional). Results from this study are two-fold: 1) climate change in Africa during this period was variable by region, responding to different climate-forcing mechanisms, and 2) changes in population and climate were asynchronous and likely created alternating opportunities for migration into adjacent regions, including hominin migrations out of Africa (~140-80 ka). The second approach is to evaluate modern ecological relationships between species and their environment to better quantify interpretations of paleoecological records. A modern distribution study of 33 ostracode species from 104 sites in the southwest arm of Lake Malawi suggest that depth-dependent variables likely define species niches. Relationships between ostracodes, fish and the green algae Botryococcus, were used to inform the paleoecological interpretations in the third study of this dissertation. Additional results suggest that macrocharcoal is likely delivered to the lake basin via river rather than wind-borne methods. The third approach involves primary analysis of climatic indicators from the sedimentary record to chronicle paleoecological and paleoenvironmental change at the basin scale through time. Results from a 380.7 meter-long sediment core recovered from Lake Malawi indicate a change of state likely caused by local tectonism, which affected ostracode assemblages, but had little effect on lake level history through time. Furthermore, the local hydroclimate of Lake Malawi alternately covaried with global glacial/interglacial cycles and local insolation maxima over the past 1.25 Ma. The magnitude and frequency of hydroclimatic variability in the watershed will be further assessed in future research.

A lingering question in Cordilleran tectonics is how high plateaus form in the absence of continental collision. The type example of an active Cordilleran high plateau is found in the Central Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Along this section of the South American Cordillera, tectonics are primarily driven by subduction of the oceanic Nazca Plate beneath the continental South American Plate. Extending over 1,800 km along the active continental margin, the Central Andean Plateau (CAP) reaches a maximum width of around 400 km with several peaks in excess of 6 km. Numerous morphotectonic subdivisions of the CAP highlight the complex along-strike variability of the Plateau providing a natural laboratory for investigating the relative contribution of tectonic processes involved in building and maintaining Cordilleran high plateaus. The scale of this problem extends far beyond the scope of any one geoscientific discipline requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Our contribution to this scientific problem and the focus of the work presented in this dissertation is to better understand the current lithospheric and uppermost mantle structure along the CAP. This is achieved by integrating recent advances in seismic imaging techniques with a growing availability of high-quality seismic data into three distinct studies across the South American continent. In the first study, we present a shear-wave velocity model for the crust below the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC). The target of this study is to constrain the crustal volume of a large magma reservoir inferred to exist below the APVC. When combined with geological and petrological constraints, the large-volume magma reservoir imaged in this study suggests a significant magmatic contribution to the growth of the Plateau in excess of one kilometer over the last ten million years. In addition to the tectonic contributions of this work, we introduce a new method of jointly inverting surface-wave dispersion data and receiver functions to generate a three-dimensional velocity model. In the second study, we combine Rayleigh-wave dispersion data from ambient noise and earthquake-generated surface waves to invert for a shear-wave velocity model of the lithosphere and uppermost mantle below the Bolivian Orocline. The target of this study is to identify any possible mantle contributions to the uplift history along the northern CAP. The highlight of this study is a high-velocity feature that extends from the base of the crust to ~120 km depth below the Altiplano basin. We interpret this feature using a simple isostatic model and suggest it is responsible for the relatively low topography of the Altiplano basin. In the third and final study, we extend the seismic model of the APVC crust to cover the entire Puna Plateau (southern CAP). The target of this study is to assess the uniqueness of the APMB and to look for additional magma reservoirs in the crust. A highlight of this work is the nearly one-to-one spatial correlation between the long-wavelength topography, ignimbrite deposits, long-wavelength Bouguer gravity anomalies, and four additional mid-crustal low-velocity zones imaged in the southern Puna Plateau. When placed in the context of existing geological and petrological constraints, we suggest the contribution of magmatic addition as an uplift mechanism in Cordilleran systems is much larger than is currently accepted.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / David R. Steward / Kansas relies on groundwater for nearly 85 percent of the total water used each year, most of which is used for irrigation. Over the last 30 years, declining groundwater levels in some areas have put pressure on agricultural industries. Ongoing research on the usage of groundwater resources will be necessary to sustain agriculture. In this study, two groundwater models were developed to investigate groundwater availability and use in western Kansas. The first model, called the Saturated Thickness Model (STM), investigated how groundwater resources will change over the next century. The second model, called the Change in Water Level Model (CWLM), was used to forecast water use trends for three agricultural districts in western Kansas by relating the change in groundwater levels over time to the volume of water pumped for irrigation. To understand how these changes would affect the agricultural industry, the research investigated historical trends in reported groundwater use, corn production and cattle in feedyards. The results showed significant decreases in the modeled saturated thickness over the next 100 years in western Kansas. Modeled groundwater use matched reported groundwater use data relatively well. The model showed significant decreases in groundwater use over the next 100 years, with the largest decrease being in the southwest district. Overall, forecast water use trends were in agreement with current outlooks for each area. The results from the correlation analysis showed a negative relationship between groundwater use and irrigated corn production, indicating improved irrigation efficiency and crop species over the past 30 years. Further correlations showed the number of cattle on feed in a particular area increased with the amount of irrigated corn production in the same area. This implies the cattle feedyards tendency toward local source of grain. As groundwater resources decline, corn production will decrease, and changes in the agricultural landscape will require adaptation. Feedyards will need to find new sources of corn grain or change to a less water dependent feed. Further research is needed to determine where corn grain will be produced in the next 100 years, and how corn grain will be transported to feedyards in southwest Kansas.

My research focuses on reconstructing past climate in southern Arizona using cave deposits called speleothems. However, this necessitates a broader perspective than simply a geochemical time series, and therefore, I also investigate modern cave systems using a combination of modeling and observational datasets. Finally, cave deposits are fundamentally non-renewable resources, and sampling for past climate reconstruction can be destructive, unlike other cave uses. My last investigation is focused on developing possible best practice recommendations for paleoclimate scientists and other cave stakeholders moving forward. We developed two new stalagmite records of past climate variability in southern Arizona over the past 7000 years. Past climate reconstruction from two caves (Cave of the Bells and Fort Huachuca Cave) highlights insolation control of southern Arizona hydroclimate from 7000-2000 years before present. Additionally, comparison between two stalagmites with different seasonal sensitivities uncovers a few eras of multi-decade long droughts in southern Arizona, which align with other regional reconstructions of past climates and elucidate forcings on Southwest paleoclimate as emergent from both external (insolation) and internal climate variability in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Although the oxygen isotopic signal of cave calcite in speleothems is complex, agreement with these other records indicates that the speleothem records from these caves primarily record a climate signal.Modeling and monitoring of modern caves both helps us interpret paleoclimate records and enhances our understanding of cave systems in their own right. Modeling of Cave of the Bells dripwaters demonstrates the effect of storage and mixing on the dripwater oxygen isotope signal; non-climate processes can imprint on dripwater variability on multidecadal timescales. Monitoring shows that on very small spatial scales, every cave is different, and even sites within the same cave respond uniquely to surface climate. Most notably, calcite oxygen isotopic composition, used to reconstruct past climate, shows seasonal variability unrelated to dripwater and surface rainfall oxygen isotope variability. Substantial oxygen isotope disequilibrium is identified at numerous caves sites in southern Arizona, and this understanding aligns with a growing number of cave studies that demonstrate the long-held assumption of isotopic equilibrium in cave systems may not always be valid or that the way in which we define isotopic equilibrium insufficiently captures the variety of processes controlling the oxygen isotopic composition of speleothems. Overall, however, monitoring can identify stalagmites that are more sensitive to surface climate and less sensitive to these in-cave processes by identifying sites with dripwater variability responses to surface rainfall variability and sites that precipitate close to oxygen isotopic equilibrium. Finally, a major missing component in speleothem research is the fact that speleothems take thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of years to form. They are non-renewable resources on human timescales, and habitat for myriad microbes that have yet to be identified. Removal of speleothems for paleoclimate research is one of the only destructive uses of these deposits. With that in mind, I also analyze current methods of collecting speleothems and develop a framework based on two surveys of scientists and stakeholders to assist scientists and managers when evaluating potential methods of incorporating cave conservation into the speleothem sampling process. Thus, I approach caves from a variety of angles and timescales, from the past through the present to the future, illuminating caves as complex scientific and social systems.

Em função da rapidez e precisão na obtenção de coordenadas, o Global Positioning System (GPS) revolucionou o posicionamento espacial. Entretanto, a maior necessidade em aplicações nas áreas de Geodésia, Geofísica e Engenharia, em termos de altitude, é voltada para a altitude ortométrica e não para a elipsoidal (determinada por GPS). Um modelo de ondulação geoidal mais acurado possibilitaria tranformar altitudes elipsoidais em ortométricas, mantendo o mesmo nível de precisão da determinação GPS. Neste trabalho foram gerados modelos geoidais gravimétricos para o Brasil, GEOIDE2005 e STOKES2005, por meio da técnica 'remover-calcular-repor' em conjunto com a modificação do núcleo da integral de Stokes proposta por Featherstone, no caso do cálculo por FFT, e a proposta por Vanicek e Kleusberg, para o cálculo por integração numérica. As informações gravimétricas utilizadas no cálculo, provenientes de diversas instituições brasileiras e sul-americanas, foram compiladas, validadas e homogeneizadas de modo a gerar uma malha de 10' x 10' de anomalias médias de gravidade de Helmert, em continente, e ar-livre, nas áreas oceânicas. A contribuição dos longos comprimentos de onda do geóide, relativa à área externa à calota de integração, é fornecida por um modelo de geopotencial. A escolha desse modelo foi feita a partir de comparações de diferentes modelos de geopotencial para identificar o que melhor se ajusta ao país. O modelo digital de terreno foi selecionado a partir de estudos detalhados e foi utilizado para gerar valores de altitudes médias, reconstituir anomalias Bouguer em Helmert, calcular correção de terreno e efeito indireto. Foram organizadas e analisadas informações sobre estações que possuíam altitude elipsoidal, determinada por levantamentos GPS, e altitude ortométrica, obtidas por meio de nivelamento geométrico. A diferença entre essas duas altitudes forneceu as ondulações geoidais utilizadas para avaliação dos modelos de geopotencial e dos modelos geoidais aqui apresentados. Ao final, são relacionados os resultados das comparações, relatadas conclusões, levantadas as perspectivas futuras e sugeridas recomendações para futuros trabalhos. / The Global Positoning System (GPS) generated a revolutionon on coordinates acquisition, considering quickness and precision. However, the major need in Geodesy, Geophysics and Engineering areas, regarding heights, is directed to orthometric height, not to ellipsoidal (determined by GPS). A more accurate geoid undulation model would allow the transformation of ellipsoidal to orthometric heights, keeping the same precision level of GPS determinations. This work generated gravity geoid models to Brasil, GEOIDE2005 and STOKES2005, using the “remove-restore" technique together with the modification of Stokes integral kernel proposed by Featherstone, in FFT computation, and the Vanicek and Kleusberg proposal, in numerical integration computation. The gravimetric informations used in the computations, from several Brazilian and South American organizations, were compiled, validated and homogenized to generate a 10’x 10’Helmert mean gravity grid, on terrestrial areas, and free-air, on ocean. The geoid long wavelength contribution, related to integration cap’s external area, is provided by a geopotential model. The choice of this model was done from comparisons of different geopotential models in order to identify the one that best fits to the country. The digital terrain model was selected from detailed studies and was used to generate mean height values, reconstitute Helmert anomalies from Bouguer, compute terrain correction and indirect effect. Informations about stations with ellipsoidal height, determined by GPS surveys, and orthometric height, obtained by spirit levelling,, were organized and analyzed. The differences between these two heights provided the geoid undulations used to evaluate geopotential models and geoid models presented here. At the end, the results from comparisons and conclusions are informed, future perspectives are raised and recommendations are suggested.

https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1097/thumbnail.jpg

Large investments in sparsely populated areas have the reputation to increase the attractiveness of these areas. This is said to lead to more investments, followed by growths in population, unemployment rates and tax revenues. Usually, city officials in Sweden trust in this formula and have the tendency to provide financial and other incentives for companies to start large investment projects in their towns (Hrelja, Isaksson, and Richardson, 2012). This thesis investigates the actual impact of such projects by the example of the large retail chain IKEA in Sweden. The development of three medium-sized cities in sparsely populated areas in Sweden which recently opened IKEA stores are compared to close-by cities and benchmark cities of a comparable size with respect to their unemployment rates, income, population, retail sales and trade indexes. The results will be used to predict the impact of the new IKEA store planned in Umeå.

The Xigaze forearc basin in southern Tibet, one of the largest and best-preserved forearc basins on Earth, records upper-plate processes active prior to and following the inter-continental collision between India and Asia. However, the understanding of the timing and mechanisms of forearc development and its evolution following collision is spatially and temporally limited. Fundamental questions remain concerning how the basin formed, its paleogeography prior to collision, its subsidence history and the thermal history of the basin following the initial and ongoing continent-continent collision. Answering these questions is important to reconstructing upper plate dynamics during active subduction of oceanic and continental lithosphere. This dissertation addresses the Early Cretaceous to Pliocene history of the Xigaze forearc, using field mapping, sedimentology, sandstone modal petrography, geohistory analysis, U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology, and low-temperature thermochronology (apatite and zircon (U-Th/He)). Appendix A documents the sedimentology and stratigraphy of Lower Cretaceous to Paleocene strata to identify the relationship between the Yarlung-Tsangpo ophiolite and Xigaze forearc basin, reconstruct the sedimentary environments of the southern margin of Asia during the initial to middle stages of forearc deposition, and use the basin history to evaluate the mechanisms controlling forearc subsidence. In Appendix B, analysis of Eocene sedimentary strata, the youngest preserved in the forearc basin, constrains the timing of collision between Asia and the Tethyan Himalaya (India) to be no later than 58-54 Ma based on the similarity of the U-Pb detrital zircon age spectra and sandstone compositions between the Xigaze forearc and strata deposited atop the passive margin of the Tethyan Himalayan at that time. Apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronologic results in Appendix C constrain the maximum burial temperature of the basin following collision to ~140-200 °C, which corresponds to depths attainable by sedimentation in the forearc and a Paleogene forearc successor basin. This integrated dataset also identifies the initial stage of post-collisional exhumation during the Early Miocene (~ 20-15 Ma), followed by accelerated cooling during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene (~ 10-4 Ma). These results suggest the presence of a paleo-Yarlung River and/or intensification of the Asian monsoon during the Early to Late Miocene. The Pliocene cooling signal is the youngest reported to date along the IYSZ and likely reflects increased river incision of the Yarlung-Tsangpo driven by accelerated orogen-parallel extension across structures which cross-cut the IYSZ. Robust interpretation of thermochronologic data requires knowledge about the geologic factors and intrinsic properties of the minerals. Appendix D of this dissertation examines intragranular zonation as a source of anomalously young zircon (U-Th)/He ages from leucogranites that intrude Greater Himalayan Sequence rocks at Ronbguk Valley, north of Mt. Everest. Depth profile laser ablation ICP-MS analysis was used to quantify the U-Th concentration profiles of a series of zoned, single, whole zircon grains and to apply a grain specific zonation-dependent age correction. Zircon grains corrected for zonation yield zircon He ages of 15-17 Ma, in agreement with AFT, ZFT and mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from the region. This study highlights the importance of characterizing intragranular zonation, especially in complex, zoned zircons that are typical of crustal melts and high-grade metamorphic rocks. Appendix E synthesis the results from Appendices A-C in the context of a global comparison with other ancient and preserved forearc basins. Results from the Xigaze forearc basin are compared to general models for forearc basin formation, subsidence trends, and preservation. The results show similarities between the Xigaze forearc basin and modern forearc basins, such as the Japan forearc off Honshu Island. The mechanisms driving tectonic subsidence are addressed, but remain an area of frontier research in continental dynamics.

In the last few decades, we have been witness to unprecedented changes in precipitation and temperature. Such alterations to our climate system have important implications for terrestrial ecosystems that billions of people depend on for their livelihood. The situation is especially tenuous for those living directly off the landscape via resources from natural ecosystems or subsistence agriculture as in much of tropical Africa. Studies of past climates provide potential analogues and help validate models essential for elucidating mechanisms that link changes in climate mean and variability and how they may affect ecosystem distribution and productivity. However, despite the importance of the paleo-record for insight into the future, tropical proxy records are rare, low resolution, and too short to capture important intervals that may act as analogs, such as the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e; ~130-115ka).Long, high-resolution drill cores from Lake Malawi, southeast Africa, provide a record of tropical climate and vegetation that extends back ~1.2mya, comprising many continuous glacial-interglacial cycles. My primary research involves conducting pollen analyses on these cores. First, I analyzed a high-resolution interval of the shortest Malawi core in order to better understand abrupt vegetation transitions during the Last Deglaciation. Further analysis was conducted on the longest Malawi core, beginning with an interval covering all of the Penultimate Glacial through the Last Interglacial. The resultant pollen data has shown that abrupt, large-scale landscape transitions from forest to desert follow local insolation and lake levels at the site, with a strong dependence of forest/woodland vegetation types on mean rainfall as well as rainfall seasonality. The interpretation of paleodata requires a good understanding of modern processes, thus another project has focused on using model simulations of the Last Interglacial and modern satellite NDVI time series to highlight dynamical and statistical relationships between vegetation and climate change. This work suggests that despite suggested links between monsoon intensity and SSTs in the southern African tropics, insolation controls on atmospheric circulation are the primary drivers of vegetation reorganization. In addition, this work highlights the importance of rainfall seasonality and dry season length in addition to precipitation controls on vegetation.