This research had two main objectives: quantify surface-water and groundwater interactions along a stream reach, and determine the hydraulic conductivity at the site where two reservoirs are proposed. The objectives of this research aim to help maintain stream ecology and increase surface water storage for recreational and industrial purposes. The stream reach, located in the Pascagoula River Basin of southeast Mississippi, begins at Lake Okatibbee and terminates at Pascagoula into the Gulf of Mexico. Four USGS continuous gauging stations provided more than forty years of stream discharge data for a hydrograph baselow-recession analysis, which determined the baseflow component within the stream. The analysis showed that baseflow decreases along the stream reach and increases again before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Thirteen borehole samples were collected at the sites of the proposed reservoirs in George County, Mississippi to determine the hydraulic conductivity of the sediments, which showed high a hydraulic conductivity.

A method to incorporate grain size effects into crystal plasticity is presented. The classical Hall-Petch equation inaccurately predicts the macroscopic yield strength for materials with non-equiaxed grains or materials that contain unequal grain size distributions. These deficiencies can be overcome by incorporating both grain size and orientation characteristics into crystal plasticity theory. Homogenization relationships based on a viscoplastic Taylor-like approach are introduced along with a new function, the grain size and orientation distribution function (GSODF). Estimates of the GSODF for high purity α-titanium are recovered through orientation imaging microscopy coupled with the chord length distribution. A comparison between the new method and the traditional viscoplastic Taylor approach is made by evaluating yield surface plots.

This research paper was submitted to the Department of Geography in fulfillment of the requirements of Geography 4C6. / This study reports on the relationship between the foreshore slopes, grain size characteristics and the wave height on the Hamilton-Burlington Beach. This beach is a non-tidal, low-energy beach. At five stations along the beach, profiles were taken, sediment samples were collected and the average wave heights determined. The slopes were plotted against the mean grain size, the median grain size and the wave heights. There was no clear relationship between the variables tested. It was determined, however, that there existed three areas along this beach. The first area was he one affected only by the wave energy, the second are was affected by both the wave energy and the grain size characteristics, and the third region was affected by the grain size characteristics. / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

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Mechanical alloying, compaction by cold isostatic pressing, and pressureless sintering were used to study the potential for W â 3 wt% Ni â 1 wt% Fe to be processed into the bulk nanocrystalline form as a replacement material for depleted uranium in kinetic energy penetrators. Milling time and sintering temperature were varied from 15 to 100 hours and 1000 to 1300°C respectively. Particle size analysis and SEM showed a bimodal particle size distribution with most of the particles below 10 µm in size. XRD peak broadening analysis showed crystallite size to be reduced to below 50 nm, while peak shifting indicated a reduction in W lattice parameter due to dissolution of Ni and Fe atoms into the W BCC lattice. Post-sintering bulk characterization showed density increasing strongly with increasing sintering temperature to above 90% of theoretical density at 1200°C. Apparent activation energy for sintering decreased strongly with increasing milling time. SEM micrographs showed a bimodal grain size distribution with some areas of smaller submicron grains and others with larger grains on the order of 1 – 4 µm, likely connected to the bimodal particle size distribution from milling. XRD and SEM also showed the precipitation of two secondary phases during sintering: (Fe, Ni)6W6C incorporating carbon from the grinding media and an FCC solid solution of Ni, Fe, and W. The intermetallic carbide phase will increase strength but reduce ductility of the bulk material, which is not desirable. Micro and macrohardness testing show similar trends as density with a strong correlation with sintering temperature. / Master of Science

Thesis advisor: Douglas A. Edmonds / Delta morphology is traditionally explained by differences in fluvial energy and wave and tidal energy. However, deltas influenced by similar ratios of river to marine energy can display strikingly different morphologies. Other variables, such as grain size of the sediment load delivered to the delta, influence delta morphology, but these models are largely qualitative leaving many questions unanswered. To better understand how grain size modifies deltaic processes and morphologies I conducted 33 numerical modeling experiments and quantified the effects produced by different grain sizes. In these 33 runs I change the median (0.01 - 1 mm), standard deviation (0.1 - 3 φ), and skewness (-0.7 - 0.7) of the incoming grain-size distribution. The model setup includes a river carrying constant discharge entering a standing body of water devoid of tides, waves, and sea-level change. The results show that delta morphology undergoes a transition as median grain size and standard deviation increase while changing skewness has little effect. At small median grain size and standard deviation, deltas have elongate planform morphologies with sinuous shorelines characterized by shallow topset gradients ranging from 1 x 10<super>-4</super> to 3 x 10<super>-4</super>, and by 1 - 8 stable active channels. At large median grain size and standard deviation, deltas transition to semi-circular planform morphologies with smooth shorelines characterized by steeper topset gradients ranging from 1 x 10<super>-3</super> to 2 x 10<super>-3</super>, and by 14 - 16 mobile channels. The change in delta morphology can be morphodynamically linked to changes in grain size. As grain size increases delta morphology transitions from elongate to semi-circular because the average topset gradient increases. For a given set of flow conditions, larger grain sizes require a steeper topset gradient to mobilize and transport. The average topset gradient reaches a dynamic equilibrium through time. This requires that, per unit length of seaward progradation, deltas with steeper gradients have higher vertical sedimentation rates. Higher sedimentation rates, in turn, perch the channel above the surrounding floodplain (so-called `super-elevation'), resulting in unstable channels that frequently avulse and create periods of overbank flow. The overbank flow is more erosive because the steeper gradient causes higher shear stresses on the floodplain, which creates more channels. More channels reduce the average water and sediment discharge at a given channel mouth, which creates time scales for mouth bar formation in coarse-grained deltas that are longer than the avulsion time scale. This effectively suppresses the process of bifurcation around river mouth bars in coarse-grained deltas, which in turn creates semi-circular morphologies with smooth shorelines as channels avulse across the topset. On the other hand, the finest-grained (i.e. mud) deltas have low topset gradients and fewer channels. The high water and sediment discharge per channel, coupled with the slow settling velocity of mud, advects the sediment far from channel mouths, which in turn creates mouth bar growth and avulsion time scales that are longer than the delta life. This creates an elongate delta as stable channels prograde basinward. Deltas with intermediate grain sizes have nearly equal avulsion and bifurcation time scales, creating roughly semi-circular shapes but with significant shoreline roughness where mouth bars form. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.