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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)

Gradient echo (GRE) imaging, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that is sensitive to changes in the magnetic susceptibility property of tissues, has recently revealed significant signal heterogeneity in white matter (WM) at high magnetic field B0 ≥ 3T. Various aspects of the underlying white matter microstructure have been linked to the observed contrast between white matter regions. This thesis investigates the origins of the observed differences in GRE signal behaviour. We proposed an explicit multi-compartmental model of WM that incorporates realistic representation of the geometry and magnetic susceptibility of the underlying microstructure that can be used to study the effects of WM microstructural changes on GRE signal characteristics. In particular, we looked at the apparent transverse relaxation rate (R2*) and the resonance frequency, as well as their respective deviations from mono-exponential decay and linear phase evolution. Next, we investigated the effect of WM fiber orientation on GRE signal using healthy human volunteers at 3T by correlating the GRE signal from different WM regions with WM fiber orientation information. Using literature-based parameters, we demonstrated that the geometric model predicted similar trends. Lastly, we studied the effect of myelin on GRE signal using a cuprizone mouse model at 7T . An ex vivo study was used to correlate GRE signal in fixed mouse brain with normalized myelin stain intensity. Simulated GRE signal from hypothetical scenarios of demyelination were then compared with the experimental results. R2* and resonance frequency were then used in an in vivo longitudinal study to track myelin changes during demyelination and subsequent remyelination.

Berry curvature appears in the semi-classical theory of Bloch electrons already to first order in electromagnetic fields, resulting in profound modification of the carrier velocity and phase space density of states. Here we derive the equations of motion for the physical position and crystal momentum to second order in the fields. The dynamics still has a Hamiltonian structure, albeit with noncanonical Poisson brackets between the physical variables. We are able to expand both the carrier energy and the Poisson brackets to second order in the fields with terms of clear physical meaning. To demonstrate the utility of our theory, we obtain with much ease the electromagnetic response and orbital magnetic susceptibility. / text

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