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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / With the goal of determining ice sheet history in the central Ross Sea since the late Miocene, the provenance of glacial till from IODP expedition 374 site U1522 was assessed using a suite of three analyses. A total of 3,869 zircons, between 250-63 microns in size, from sixteen different cores were measured for U-Pb isotopes via LA-ICP-MS. Zircon data was compared to neodymium isotope and clast lithology datasets from collaborators. Site U1522 shows three distinct provenance shifts from the late Miocene to the Pleistocene, two of which are coincident with Ross Sea Unconformities three and two. Late Miocene samples have abundant Cretaceous zircon populations, radiogenic neodymium values, and clasts interpreted as having a West Antarctic provenance. In latest Miocene samples, zircons are mostly Ross Orogeny age (c. 470 615 Ma) and Cretaceous zircon grains are almost absent, neodymium values are relatively un radiogenic, and dolerite clasts are present signaling a shift to East Antarctic derived ice. Above Ross Sea Unconformity 3, early to mid Pliocene samples show a shift back to West Antarctic provenance with abundant Cretaceous zircons and more radiogenic neodymium values. Late Pliocene to Pleistocene samples, deposited above Ross Sea Unconformity 2, reflect dominant East Antarctic provenance with few Cretaceous zircon dates, relatively un radiogenic neodymium values, and the presence of dolerite clasts. These data are broadly in agreement with ice sheet interpretations suggested by clast analysis from ANDRILL site AND-1B. Permo-Triassic zircon dates suggest the presence of unexposed bedrock of this age beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet based on their association with Cretaceous dates that have not been reported from East Antarctica. The zircon dataset also reveals two late Miocene intervals with a previously undocumented Eocene Oligocene magmatic event ~30 40 Ma. The coexistence of Cretaceous dates in these intervals suggests a likely West Antarctic source. The absence of Eocene Oligocene zircons in subsequent Plio Pleistocene sediments may be explained by substantial erosion and offshore deposition of the West Antarctic interior, including volcanic edifices following the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition.

This thesis presents a study of two basic modes of deformation of a thin sheet: wrinkling and crumpling, viewed primarily in the context of an elastic sheet confined by capillary forces on a drop of liquid. First, it provides a brief conceptual background in the relevant physics of thin sheet mechanics and capillarity and introduces the general principles of wrinkling and crumpling. The problem of confining a circular sheet on an increasingly curved spherical drop is presented as a vehicle to explore these principles. At finite curvature, the sheet is seen to wrinkle around its outer edge. At large confinement, characteristic features of crumpling gradually dominate the pattern. The experimental observations in both regimes are analyzed separately. Analysis of images of the sheet in the wrinkled regime yield data for the number and length of the wrinkled zone, as a function of the experimental control parameter, the pressure. The length of the wrinkles is correctly described by a far-from-threshold theory, which describes a limiting regime in thin-sheet mechanics, distinguished by high 'bendability'. The validity of this theory is verified by the data for highly bendable, ultrathin sheets for the first time. The theory is based on the assumption that the wrinkles completely relax compressive stresses and therefore preserve the cylindrical symmetry of the stress field. The emergence of crumpling from the wrinkled shape is explored via evolution of visible features in the sheet as well as gaussian curvature measurements obtained by analyzing height maps from optical profilometry. The emergence of several length scales, increasing asymmetry in curvature distribution, the failure of wrinkle extent prediction and formation of d-cones associated with crumpling are all measured to locate the transition to a crumpled state. The value of gaussian curvature at the center of the sheet appears to follow the cylindrically symmetric prediction over the whole range of the experiment, suggesting that the onset of crumpling events does not affect the global shape of the sheet. Finally, analogous wrinkling and crumpling behavior of particle-laden interfaces is discussed. The spontaneous formation of conical defects in a curved 2D crystal is compared to the crumpling of a sheet on a drop, and insight from thin sheet mechanics is applied to the mysterious wrinkling of particle rafts. Some future directions for measuring wrinkling of sheets on negative curvature surfaces and deformations of fluid interfaces are proposed.

Thesis advisor: Jeremy Shakun / Thesis advisor: Tony Wang / To better understand ice sheet and nutrient cycling dynamics in the North Atlantic, three geochemical paleo-proxies have been analyzed in Pleistocene marine sediments: cosmogenic nuclides (10Be and 26Al) in ice-rafted debris (IRD), 40Ar/39Ar in IRD, and foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes (FB-δ15N). For Chapter 1, we analyzed 10Be and 26Al concentrations in quartz separates of IRD from last-glacial North Atlantic sediments and used these data to constrain the history of Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) cover over Canada during the Pleistocene. While LIS history is well constrained since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (~20,000 years ago), there is little evidence available from earlier times. 26Al/10Be ratios are depressed in these samples, the result of long-term decay under cover, which we suggest is best explained by a persistent LIS over much of the last million years. This finding implies that the LIS did not fully disappear during many Pleistocene interglacials, making the current ice-free Holocene interglacial relatively unique. For Chapter 2, we synthesized 3,762 40Ar/39Ar ages from North Atlantic IRD, including 670 new analyses. 595 of these single-grain analyses come from some of the same sample intervals as Chapter 1. These 40Ar/39Ar ages in IRD, a tracer of IRD provenance, clarify changes in North Atlantic ice sheet extent during the past few glacial cycles. Comparison of 40Ar/39Ar ages with hypothesized ice margins and cosmogenic nuclide data (from Chapter 1) aid in our interpretations. For last-glacial samples, results suggest ice sheets around the basin may have been in a retracted state during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (~29-57 ka), an interval of debated ice extent for the LIS. Our synthesis also allows us to present the first complete records 40Ar/39Ar ages in IRD during Heinrich intervals – times when the LIS exhibited iceberg discharge events. These results support the suggestion made by previous work that Heinrich events 3 and 6 are anomalous relative to other intervals. 40Ar/39Ar analyses from earlier glacial periods – the first yet published – highlight that IRD provenance data may be reflecting iceberg survivability in addition to changes in ice extent. Lastly, analyzing cosmogenic nuclides and 40Ar/39Ar ages in IRD from the same sample intervals indicates that both proxies may be used to infer changes in ice sheet provenance; this is the first time cosmogenic nuclides in IRD have been considered in this way. For Chapter 3, we analyzed FB-δ15N at Site U1313 in North Atlantic samples during the Plio-Pleistocene to reconstruct marine nutrient cycling. In the North Atlantic, nutrient cycling is known to play an important role in regulating surface ocean productivity and CO2 drawdown via photosynthesis. We nevertheless lack a complete understanding of nutrient cycling evolution for the Plio-Pleistocene, during which Northern Hemisphere ice sheets and climate exhibited dramatic fluctuations. We find increasing FB-δ15N values at the transition from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene. Additionally, FB-δ15N values are generally higher during glacials compared to interglacials. We suggest these observations can best be explained by an expansion or increase of N2 fixation in the North Atlantic during warmer intervals (interglacials, Pliocene) and a retraction or decrease of N2 fixation during cold intervals (Pleistocene glacials). Considered alongside previously published paleo-proxy data from Site U1313 we suggest these changes in nutrient cycling reflect climate-driven migrations of the North Atlantic Current. In Chapter 4, I reflect upon how I have worked to integrate broader impacts into my Ph.D. work. Using a combined approach, I focused on fostering an inclusive environment within paleoclimate research spaces as well as engaging non-scientists in paleoclimate-and Earth science-related activities. These approaches ranged from K-12 partnership activities to mentoring students to more experimental avenues, such as a collaborative art project. I have evaluated the success of this work using a combination of quantitative metrics and subjective assessments. Participating in these efforts was also crucial for reminding me of the importance of making science accessible to everyone as well as for helping me hone my mentorship and science communication skills. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-108).

The dynamic mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet has prompted considerable research into the role of supraglacial lakes in causing dynamic thinning. These lakes can drain through 1000 m of ice to the bed and are thought to play an important role in connecting the surface and basal hydrologies of the ice sheet, allowing water to reach the bed and cause the ice to accelerate. Despite this apparent importance little research has been carried out on lakes outside of SVV Greenland, and no research has examined the occurrence of lake drainage over the whole of Greenland. The aim of this thesis is to discover where lakes occur for the entire Greenland ice Sheet, and how these lakes drain. New remote sensing techniques for monitoring lakes through the melt season were developed and tested. The evolution of 2600 lakes (those lakes larger than > 0.125 km2) was studied over five years (2005-2009) using 3704 MODIS images. Lakes were discovered to either drain fast to the bed, more slowly over the surface, or to freeze at the end of the melt season. There were 263 fast lake drainages per year of which 61% were in the SW region and a further 17% in the NE, both regions where mass loss is mainly due to surface mass balance. In the dynamically thinning SE region there were only three fast lake drainages per year along a 1300 km coastline. In the NW, fast lake drainage did not occur on five of the ten glaciers with the most rapid dynamic thinning. The results of this thesis show that the drainage of supraglacial lakes cannot have been responsible for dynamic mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Plasma, a gas of charged particles exhibiting collective behaviour, can be found everywhere in our vast Universe. The characteristics of plasma in very distant parts of the Universe can be similar to characteristics in our solar system and near-Earth space. We can therefore gain an understanding of what happens in astrophysical plasmas by studying processes occurring in near Earth space, an environment much easier to reach. Large volumes in space are filled with plasma and when different plasmas interact distinct boundaries are often created. Many important physical processes, for example particle acceleration, occur at these boundaries. Thus, it is very important to study and understand such boundaries. In Paper I we study magnetic nulls, regions of vanishing magnetic fields, that form inside boundaries separating plasmas with different magnetic field orientations. For the first time, a statistical study of magnetic nulls in the Earth’s nightside magnetosphere has been done by using simultaneous measurements from all four Cluster spacecraft. We find that magnetic nulls occur both in the magnetopause and the magnetotail. In addition, we introduce a method to determine the reliability of the type identification of the observed nulls. In the manuscript of Paper II we study a different boundary, the shocked solar wind plasma in the magnetosheath, using the new Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. We show that a region of strong current in the form of a current sheet is forming inside the turbulent magnetosheath behind a quasi-parallel shock. The strong current sheet can be related to the jets with extreme dynamic pressure, several times that of the undisturbed solar wind dynamic pressure. The current sheet is also associated with electron acceleration parallel to the background magnetic field. In addition, the current sheet satisfies the Walén relation suggesting that plasmas on both sides of the current region are magnetically connected. We speculate on the formation mechanisms of the current sheet and the physical processes inside and around the current sheet.

The behaviour of spot welded joints is to be studied in shear mode by using the end notched flexure (ENF) specimen. The specimen counts on several spot welds spaced with the same gap along the entire length except for the notch. Different configurations of the test specimen spacing gap and spot diameter are to be preliminary designed in software PTC-CREO 2.0 in order to obtain accurate results. The results obtained from the software are to be compared with the experimental analysis performed by means of a servo-hydraulic testing machine. Both the virtual and the experimental results will be used to extract the stress-shear displacement relation around the first spot weld which is in contact with the notch, that is, the corresponding cohesive law. In addition, a comparison between adhesive and spot weld behaviours will be carried out by means of analytical equations in order to prove an existing equalisation between each other. Despite assuming several sources of error and after facing some problems related to the experimental work, accurate convergences between experimental and theoretical results were not accomplished in any of the three tests performed in lab. Due to the plastic deformation of the specimens in lab, the cohesive law was possible to be extracted only from the theoretical analysis, but not from the experimental one. In its place, the load-shear displacement was extracted. Some alternatives to solve this issue and to improve the performance of the tests are given at the end of this paper.

The influence of seasonal influx of supraglacial meltwater on basal water pressures and consequent changes in ice surface velocity has been a focus of research spanning over three decades. With a need to better include glacial hydrology within models of ice sheet evolution, the ability to predict where and when meltwater reaches the subglacial system is paramount for understanding the dynamics of large Arctic ice masses. The response of ice velocities to melt production suggests efficient transmission of meltwater from the supraglacial to subglacial hydrologic systems, and it has been shown that build-ups of stored meltwater in supraglacial lakes can force crevasse penetration through hundreds of metres of ice. This thesis presents a new modelling routine for prediction of moulin formation and delivery of meltwater to the ice-bed interface. Temporal and spatial patterns of moulin formation and drainage of supraglacial lakes are presented, and quantitative controls on crevasse propagation are investigated through a series of sensitivity tests. _J .' . The model is applied to two glacial catchments: the Croker Bay catchment of the Devon Ice Cap in High Arctic Canada; and the Leverett glacier catchment of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Through model application to these sites, sensitivities to crevasse surface dimensions, ice tensile strength, ice fracture toughness and air temperatures are investigated. Model predictions of moulin formation and melt transfer are compared with field observations and remotely sensed data, including ice surface velocities, proglacial discharge, dynamic flow regimes, and visible surface features. The inclusion of spatially distributed points of meltwater delivery to the 'subglacial system is imperative to fully understand the behaviour of the subglacial drainage system. Furthermore, dynamic response to future climatic change and melt scenarios, and the evolution of ice masses, cannot be fully understood without first understanding the glacial hydrologic processes driving many of these changes.

A fairly general method for studying electromagnetic induction in cases where any lateral variations in conductivity are confined to the near-surface region is developed using the thin-sheet technique. The significant feature is that extended anomalies, subject only to the restriction that well-defined two-dimensional problems are approached at infinity, can be handled. The approximate boundary condition is that gradients parallel to the coordinate axes vanish at infinity. / Graduate