The response of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) to fertilization and weed control at stand establishment, using various formulations of conventional and controlled release N fertilizers was evaluated in a greenhouse study and at two field trials in the Virginia Piedmont, in 2002 and 2003. The greenhouse study evaluated five fertilizer treatments; 1) check with no fertilizer; 2) granular ammonium nitrate (10-10-10 + micro-nutrients) applied to the soil surface; 3) granular methylene urea (40-0-0) applied to the soil surface; 4) methylene urea (20-10-5) in tablet form applied in the planting hole; and 5) isobutylidenediurea (IBDU) (9-9-4) in tablet form applied in the planting hole. Equal amounts of N and P were applied. Fertilization significantly increased seedling root collar diameter and volume at the end of the first growing season in the greenhouse study. Differences in diameter and volume were still significantly different late in the second growing season, however at the last measurement the differences were no longer significant. An analysis of transformed growth curves for 2003 indicated that the ammonium nitrate treated seedlings had a significantly steeper slope than all other treatments. In field trials, at an old-field site and a cut-over site, the same fertilizer products were tested, except granular diammonium phosphate (18-46-0) was used substituted for the ammonium nitrate. Higher rates of N and P were used in the field trials. Complete weed control increased seedling volume by over 700 % after two growing seasons at the reforested old-field site, however fertilizer effects were not significant. At the reforested cut-over site an interaction between weed control and fertilizer treatments was observed. The MU and DAP granular, and the IBDU tablet treatments each had significantly greater seedling volume than the check and the other tablet controlled release fertilizer. IBDU tablets appear to have high fertilizer efficiency, due to the slow release nature and are safe to place in close proximity to the seedling root system. / Master of Science

Site preparation is fundamental for establishing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations, but long-term sustainability of plantations established using mechanical treatments is in question because of concerns regarding soil tillage and the removal of harvest residue and soil organic matter. A study was installed in 1981 on 12 locations in northeastern Georgia and west-central South Carolina to evaluate pine plantation response to mechanical site preparation. Site preparation treatments induced gradients of organic matter manipulation and soil tillage. The treatments included: Control, Chop/Burn, Shear/Disc, Shear/V-Blade, Shear/Rake, and Shear/Rake/Pile. Research was conducted to address the following objectives: (i) compare rotation-age forest response to several intensive site preparation treatments used to establish pine plantations in the Piedmont of the southeastern United States; (ii) correlate growth response with the gradients of soil organic matter removal, soil tillage, and hardwood control; (iii) determine the influence of intensive management on the amount of carbon contained in pine plantations. All site preparation treatments increased year-18 volume accumulation compared to the control treatment. Chop/Burn and Shear/Disc treatments, with pine volumes of 214 m3 ha-1 and 232 m3 ha-1, respectively, conserved harvest residue and out-performed the Shear/Rake treatment (191 m3 ha-1), which completely removed harvest residue. Treatments that included tillage provided growth benefits that lasted throughout the rotation even when tillage was accompanied by complete organic matter removal. Hardwood competition had the greatest influence on pine volume accumulation, explaining over 54% of the variation in pine growth at age 18. Treatments that included tillage most effectively controlled hardwood competition. At year 18, site preparation treatments significantly affected soil organic matter (SOM) content; however, soil nitrogen, foliar nitrogen, bulk density, and macroporosity were not affected by site preparation. All treatments were equally deficient in foliar nitrogen. The Shear/Disc and Shear/Rake/Disc treatments had a significantly positive relationship between foliar nitrogen and pine volume. These treatments had lower hardwood basal areas (below 15%), indicating that once hardwoods were controlled, nitrogen became limiting to pine growth. Using pre-harvest characterization data, carbon accumulation during old-field succession increased fourfold compared to agricultural sites on the nearby Calhoun Experimental Forest. Carbon accumulation on these old-field loblolly pine sites reached quasi-equilibrium after 40 years as shown by uncut reference stands. Site preparation significantly affected the amount of soil C in the upper 20 cm of the soil. Those site preparation treatments that removed harvest residue and accelerated SOM decomposition through tillage had the lowest soil carbon levels. The Shear/Rake/Disc treatment had 10% lower soil carbon content than the Control and Shear/V-Blade treatments. / Master of Science

The effect of ice damage on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in the Piedmont region of Virginia was examined to discover if management decisions can minimize net present value losses. A simulation approach was used for the analysis. Loblolly pine plantations were simulated using the growth and yield model, Trulob. Ice damage was factored into the model using prediction equations from a previous study. A decision tree framework was used to determine which management plans resulted in the highest net present value. The results show that ice storms can cause significant losses to the net present value of loblolly plantations. In most instances changing management plans could not minimize losses. In situations where altering management plans can result in higher net present values if ice occurs, landowners should also be aware of the suboptimal net present value they will be returned if these plans are followed and no ice storms occur. / Master of Science

The map area in the south central Virginia Piedmont is primarily in the Charlotte belt, but includes a portion of the adjacent Carolina slate belt. Both the Charlotte belt and the Carolina slate belt are major components of the volcanic arc, Carolinia, that collided with Laurentia during the Late Cambrian to Late Ordovician Taconic orogeny. Both belts consist primarily of volcanic rocks, the major difference being that the Charlotte belt is amphibolite grade gneisses, whereas the slate belt is at greenschist grade. The major results of the study are as follows: (1) The Carolina slate belt units, the Hyco Formation and the Aaron Formation, are present in the Charlotte belt, and a correlation between the two belts has been made. (2) The Charlotte belt has a calc-alkalic index of 64, has a calc-alkaline differentiation trend, is metaluminous to peraluminous, and major and trace element discriminant analyses show that the basalts are predominantly low-K tholeiites with lesser calc-alkaline basalts. These results indicate that the Charlotte belt, like the more well-known Carolina slate belt, originated in a volcanic arc tectonic setting. (3) The Charlotte belt has undergone four deformational events, a D₁ (Virgilina Deformation?) folding and cleavage-forming event, a D₂ (Taconic) recumbent fold nappe forming event caused by the northwest thrusting of the infrastructural Charlotte belt sequence beneath a Carolina slate belt suprastructure, a D₃ dextral shearing event (Acadian?-Alleghanian) forming the Brookneal and Clover shear zones bounding the Charlotte belt on the northwest and southeast, respectively, and a D₄ event (Alleghanian) that produced regional-scale northeast-trending open folds across the area. (4) The Charlotte belt has experienced two metamorphic events, an M, metamorphism (Virgilina?-Taconic) up to upper amphibolite grade, and an M, metamorphism (Acadian?-Alleghanian) that shows effects only in the Brookneal (amphibolite) and Clover (greenschist) shear zones. / Ph. D.

This thesis examines the effect regionalism had upon North Carolina and Virginia during the 1847-1862 legislative battles over the Danville, Virginia, to Greensboro, North Carolina, railroad connection. The first chapter examines the rivalry between eastern and western North Carolina for internal improvement legislation, namely westerners’ wish to connect with Virginia and easterners’ desire to remain economically relevant. The second chapter investigates the Tidewater region of Virginia and its battle against the Southside to create a rail connection with North Carolina. The third chapter examines the legislation for the Danville Connection during the American Civil War in the Virginia, North Carolina, and Confederate legislatures. Through an examination of voting patterns and public opinion, this thesis finds that, despite Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s designation of the Danville connection as a military necessity, regionalism overcame Confederate nationalism during this instance.

In 1655 and again in 1686-1689, the Waldensians of Piedmont were massacred by the Duke of Savoy after he issued edicts forbidding the practice of their religion. The Waldensians were later followers of the medieval religious movement of the Poor of Lyons, declared heretical in 1215. The Waldensians associated with the Reformation in 1532, and thus formed a link with diverse groups of Protestants across Europe. In the periods immediately surrounding both massacres, an outpouring of publications dedicated to their plight, their history, and their religious identity appeared, a large number of which emerged in London. On both occasions, the propaganda gave rise to international sympathy and encouraged international intervention, eventually provoking the Duke to rescind the edicts that had instigated the massacres. While most contemporary scholars consider the Waldensians to have been fully absorbed into Protestantism after 1532, it is clear from the writings of both the Waldensians and their sympathizers that they considered themselves a separate entity: the inheritors of a long tradition of dissent from the Catholic Church based on their own belief in the purity of the Gospel. The Waldensian identity was based on a history of exclusion and persecution, and also on a belief that they had transmitted the true embodiment of Christianity through the centuries. The documents that were published surrounding the massacres address the legitimacy of the Waldensian identity based on centuries of practice. English and continental Protestants identified with the Waldensians, who provided ancient ties and legitimacy to their ‘new’ religion, and the Waldensians adopted that identity proudly, all the while claiming continuity. Protestants also used the Waldensians in propagandist documents, most often to justify political or religious actions and ideologies. The continuity of Waldensianism through the Reformation became crucially important for the wider umbrella of Protestantism as a legitimizing factor for the movement. This thesis investigates the claims of continuity and finds that while the Waldensians underwent a dramatic change in religious doctrine to conform to the Reformation, their belief in the continuity of their religious identity can be validated by examining religion from a socio-cultural perspective that takes aspects other than theology into consideration.

The Inner Piedmont (IP) is the Neoacadian migmatitic orogenic core of the southern Appalachians, exhibiting the widest area of high-grade metamorphism; regional upper amphibolite facies with isolated pods of granulite grade metamorphism. Peak P-T conditions in central GA reached 4.0-7.6 kbars and 630-715 ̊ C. The Brindle Creek fault (BCf) separates high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Tugaloo terrane (Tt) and Cat Square terrane (CSt). The Tt consists of the Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic(?) Tallulah Falls Formation, Chauga River Formation, and the Mid-Ordovician Poor Mountain Formation, intruded by Early to Middle Ordovician granitoids. The CSt consists of Siluro-Devonian metasedimentary rocks, such as sillimanite-schist, biotite gneiss, amphibolite, and minor calc-silicate, intruded by Acadian-Neoacadian plutons. Original termination of the CSt was mapped by the USGS just south of Athens, GA, against the central Piedmont suture; however, new evidence from aeromagnetic anomalies and detailed geologic mapping revealed that the CSt and BCf extend into central GA. The BCf truncates a suite of curved magnetic anomalies on the aeromagnetic map. The curved anomalies that truncate against the linear feature may represent the Neoacadian deflection of the IP southwestward along the crustally weak Brevard fault zone. Another prominent lineament was identified southeast of the BCf; detailed geologic mapping revealed an additional thrust sheet in the CSt. Mesozoic brittle reactivation of the late Paleozoic dextral Towaliga fault was also identified striking NE-SW through the field area. Multiple episodes of movement were observed in outcrop and at the micro-scale, defined by crosscutting fracture sets. Low temperature quartz mylonite (350-450 ̊ C) may signify continued shearing of the IP into the late Alleghanian orogeny. A felsic plutonic suite extends the length of the field area, consisting of three distinct granitoids: (1) an older biotite-rich megacrystic granite with megacrysts of K-feldspar; (2) a weakly foliated medium to coarse grained inequigranular granodiorite; and (3) a younger non-foliated fine-grained granodiorite. Analysis revealed that granitoids from central GA are similar texturally and petrographically with granitoids from NC’s CSt. Further whole-rock geochemical analysis revealed that these rocks share similar REE, trace element, and tectonic discriminate patterns. The most important point garnered from the trace element and REE patterns in spider diagrams, such as similarities in peaks and troughs, is that they must share either a common parent, process, or contaminant.

In 1655 and again in 1686-1689, the Waldensians of Piedmont were massacred by the Duke of Savoy after he issued edicts forbidding the practice of their religion. The Waldensians were later followers of the medieval religious movement of the Poor of Lyons, declared heretical in 1215. The Waldensians associated with the Reformation in 1532, and thus formed a link with diverse groups of Protestants across Europe. In the periods immediately surrounding both massacres, an outpouring of publications dedicated to their plight, their history, and their religious identity appeared, a large number of which emerged in London. On both occasions, the propaganda gave rise to international sympathy and encouraged international intervention, eventually provoking the Duke to rescind the edicts that had instigated the massacres. While most contemporary scholars consider the Waldensians to have been fully absorbed into Protestantism after 1532, it is clear from the writings of both the Waldensians and their sympathizers that they considered themselves a separate entity: the inheritors of a long tradition of dissent from the Catholic Church based on their own belief in the purity of the Gospel. The Waldensian identity was based on a history of exclusion and persecution, and also on a belief that they had transmitted the true embodiment of Christianity through the centuries. The documents that were published surrounding the massacres address the legitimacy of the Waldensian identity based on centuries of practice. English and continental Protestants identified with the Waldensians, who provided ancient ties and legitimacy to their ‘new’ religion, and the Waldensians adopted that identity proudly, all the while claiming continuity. Protestants also used the Waldensians in propagandist documents, most often to justify political or religious actions and ideologies. The continuity of Waldensianism through the Reformation became crucially important for the wider umbrella of Protestantism as a legitimizing factor for the movement. This thesis investigates the claims of continuity and finds that while the Waldensians underwent a dramatic change in religious doctrine to conform to the Reformation, their belief in the continuity of their religious identity can be validated by examining religion from a socio-cultural perspective that takes aspects other than theology into consideration.

The Inner Piedmont (IP) is the Neoacadian migmatitic orogenic core of the southern Appalachians, exhibiting the widest area of high-grade metamorphism; regional upper amphibolite facies with isolated pods of granulite grade metamorphism. Peak P-T conditions in central GA reached 4.0-7.6 kbars and 630-715 ̊ C. The Brindle Creek fault (BCf) separates high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Tugaloo terrane (Tt) and Cat Square terrane (CSt). The Tt consists of the Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic(?) Tallulah Falls Formation, Chauga River Formation, and the Mid-Ordovician Poor Mountain Formation, intruded by Early to Middle Ordovician granitoids. The CSt consists of Siluro-Devonian metasedimentary rocks, such as sillimanite-schist, biotite gneiss, amphibolite, and minor calc-silicate, intruded by Acadian-Neoacadian plutons. Original termination of the CSt was mapped by the USGS just south of Athens, GA, against the central Piedmont suture; however, new evidence from aeromagnetic anomalies and detailed geologic mapping revealed that the CSt and BCf extend into central GA. The BCf truncates a suite of curved magnetic anomalies on the aeromagnetic map. The curved anomalies that truncate against the linear feature may represent the Neoacadian deflection of the IP southwestward along the crustally weak Brevard fault zone. Another prominent lineament was identified southeast of the BCf; detailed geologic mapping revealed an additional thrust sheet in the CSt. Mesozoic brittle reactivation of the late Paleozoic dextral Towaliga fault was also identified striking NE-SW through the field area. Multiple episodes of movement were observed in outcrop and at the micro-scale, defined by crosscutting fracture sets. Low temperature quartz mylonite (350-450 ̊ C) may signify continued shearing of the IP into the late Alleghanian orogeny.A felsic plutonic suite extends the length of the field area, consisting of three distinct granitoids: (1) an older biotite-rich megacrystic granite with megacrysts of K-feldspar; (2) a weakly foliated medium to coarse grained inequigranular granodiorite; and (3) a younger non-foliated fine-grained granodiorite. Analysis revealed that granitoids from central GA are similar texturally and petrographically with granitoids from NC’s CSt. Further whole-rock geochemical analysis revealed that these rocks share similar REE, trace element, and tectonic discriminate patterns. The most important point garnered from the trace element and REE patterns in spider diagrams, such as similarities in peaks and troughs, is that they must share either a common parent, process, or contaminant.

In 1655 and again in 1686-1689, the Waldensians of Piedmont were massacred by the Duke of Savoy after he issued edicts forbidding the practice of their religion. The Waldensians were later followers of the medieval religious movement of the Poor of Lyons, declared heretical in 1215. The Waldensians associated with the Reformation in 1532, and thus formed a link with diverse groups of Protestants across Europe. In the periods immediately surrounding both massacres, an outpouring of publications dedicated to their plight, their history, and their religious identity appeared, a large number of which emerged in London. On both occasions, the propaganda gave rise to international sympathy and encouraged international intervention, eventually provoking the Duke to rescind the edicts that had instigated the massacres. While most contemporary scholars consider the Waldensians to have been fully absorbed into Protestantism after 1532, it is clear from the writings of both the Waldensians and their sympathizers that they considered themselves a separate entity: the inheritors of a long tradition of dissent from the Catholic Church based on their own belief in the purity of the Gospel. The Waldensian identity was based on a history of exclusion and persecution, and also on a belief that they had transmitted the true embodiment of Christianity through the centuries. The documents that were published surrounding the massacres address the legitimacy of the Waldensian identity based on centuries of practice. English and continental Protestants identified with the Waldensians, who provided ancient ties and legitimacy to their ‘new’ religion, and the Waldensians adopted that identity proudly, all the while claiming continuity. Protestants also used the Waldensians in propagandist documents, most often to justify political or religious actions and ideologies. The continuity of Waldensianism through the Reformation became crucially important for the wider umbrella of Protestantism as a legitimizing factor for the movement. This thesis investigates the claims of continuity and finds that while the Waldensians underwent a dramatic change in religious doctrine to conform to the Reformation, their belief in the continuity of their religious identity can be validated by examining religion from a socio-cultural perspective that takes aspects other than theology into consideration.