Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 1968. / "December 1968." Includes bibliographical references (p. 59).

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The Eastern Antarctic Dry Valley region is a polar desert, where conditions of extreme aridity, high temperature fluctuations and high irradiation levels make it one of the most extreme environments on earth. Despite the harsh environment, the soils in this region yield a wide range of bacterial and eukaryotic phylotypes in greater abundance than previously believed. In the Dry Valleys, highly localized niche communities colonise the underside of translucent quartz rocks and present macroscopic growth. / South Africa

An area of about 900 square miles (2300 km² ) at the junction of the Kenya and Kavirondo Rift Valleys was studied and a map of it on a scale of 1 : 50,000 is presented. The fonmations present are alkaline lavas and tuffs ranging in age from 12 m.y. b.p. to recent and can be divided into a basanite to phonolite series older than 7 m.y. and a basalt to trachyte series younger than 7 m.y. The fonna.tions are grouped into four assemblages, each .consisting of rocks derived fr.om sources in about the same area. A series of trachytio ash flows about 4m.y. old, the Eldama Ravine Tuff; and two trachyte volcanoes, Londiani of 3 m.y. b.p. and Kilornbe of 2 m.y. b.p., together with their associated syenite bombs are described in detail. The structure of the area is dominated by the Equator and Mau Monoclines which form the western margin of the Kenya Rift Valley. Faults are relatively unimportant but show three distinct trends which can be related to structures in the basement. Chemical analysis was carried out on about 200 rocks, particularly concentrating on the Eldama Ravine Tuff and the Londiani and Kilambe Trachytes. This, with the petrography, showed that the. rocks within the ba.sa·ni te to phonolite series and the basalt to trachyte series are related in general but not in detail by fractional crystallisation. It is also shown that in the trachytic rocks Na, Fe, Y and the Lanthanides are very mobile.

The Arumbera Sandstone consists of mappable informal units which are repeated in a vertical, cyclic succession. Sandstones of fluvial origin form resistant strike ridges separated by strike valleys, which consist of recessive sandstones and mudrocks of marine origin. Lithofacies 1a, 2b, and 3a are probably of marine origin in intertidal environments. Trace fossil assemblages in lithofacies 3a suggest Skolithos and Cruziana inchnofacies were present. Lithofacies 1e, 2a, 2c, 3b, and 4a are probably of fluvial origin, as the result of coalescing braided stream deposits. The Arumbera Sandstone probably was deposited in a deltaic environment characterized by low wave energy, a micro tidal range, and high input of sand-sized sediment br braided streams. In the western MacDonnell Ranges, the Arumbera overlies the Julie or Pertatataka formations along a sharp but conformable contact. The present upper contact is a low-angle regional unconformity which contains paleotopographic elements that resemble pediments, stripped structural plains, and steep erosional scarps. These paleotopographic surfaces are overlain from east to west by the Chandler, hugh River, and Cleland formations in an onlap relationship. The Arumbera Sandstone is considered part of a molasse sequence associated with the Late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian Petermann Ranges orogeny, which occurred along the present southern and southwestern margin of the Amadeus Basin. The uplifted Petermann Ranges shed detritus from metamorphic, sedimentary, and minor amounts of plutonic rocks. Paleocurrents suggest most terrigenous material was derived from the southwestern margin of the basin. The composition of detrital grains and lack of weathering features in labile detrital grains suggest a hot, semiarid to arid climate in the source area and in the basin of deposition. Sandstone samples examined petrographically primarily are subphyllarenites, subarkoses, arkoses, feldspathic litharenites, and lithic arkoses. The inferred paragenetic sequence is: Eogenetic: (1) mechanical compaction, (2) "dust rims" of hematite, illite, and chlorite, and (3) hematite cement; Mesogenetic: (4) syntaxial feldspar overgrowths, (5) syntaxial quartz overgrowths, (6) hematite cement, (7) carbonate cement, (8) kaolinite replacement, (9) formation of secondary porosity; Telogenetic: (10) chert cement and (11) gibbsite or hematite cement.

No description available.

No description available.

Microbial community composition plays a vital role in soil biogeochemical cycling. Information that explains the biogeography of microorganisms is consequently necessary for predicting the timing and magnitude of important ecosystem services mediated by soil biota, such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. Theory developed to explain patterns in plant and animal distributions such as the prevalent relationship between ecosystem productivity and diversity may be successfully extended to microbial systems and accelerate an emerging ecological understanding of the "unseen majority." These considerations suggest a need to define the important mechanisms which affect microbial biogeography as well as the sensitivity of community structure/function to changing climatic or environmental conditions. To this end, my dissertation covers three data chapters in which I have 1) examined patterns in bacterial biogeography using gradients of environmental severity and productivity to identify changes in community diversity (e.g. taxonomic richness) and structure (e.g. similarity); 2) detected potential bacterial ecotypes associated with distinct soil habitats such as those of high alkalinity or electrical conductivity and; 3) measured environmental controls over the function (e.g. primary production, exoenzyme activity) of soil organisms in an environment of severe environmental limitations. Sampling was performed in the polar desert of Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys, a model ecosystem which hosts microbially-dominated soil foodwebs and displays heterogeneously distributed soil properties across the landscape. Results for Chapter 2 indicate differential effects of resource availability and geochemical severity on bacterial communities, with a significant productivity-diversity relationship that plateaus near the highest observed concentrations of the limiting resource organic carbon (0.30mg C/g soil). Geochemical severity (e.g. pH, electrical conductivity) primarily affected bacterial community similarity and successfully explained the divergent structure of a subset of samples. 16S rRNA amplicon pyrosequencing further revealed in Chapter 3 the identity of specific phyla that preferentially exist within certain habitats (i.e. Acidobacteria in alkaline soils, Nitrospira in mesic soils) suggesting the presence of niche specialists and spatial heterogeneity of taxa-specific functions (i.e. nitrite oxidation). Additionally, environmental parameters had different explanatory power towards predicting bacterial richness at varying taxonomic scales, from 57% of phylum-level richness with pH to 91% of order- and genus-level richness with moisture. Finally, Chapter 4 details a simultaneous sampling of soil communities and their associated ecosystem functions (primary productivity, enzymatic decomposition) and indicates that the overall organic substrate diversity may be greater in mesic soils where bacterial diversity is also highest, thus a potentially unforeseen driver of community dynamics. I also quantified annual rates of soil production which range between 0.7 - 18.1g C/m2/yr from the more arid to productive soils, respectively. In conclusion, the extension of biogeographical theory for macroorganisms has proven successful and both environmental severity and resource availability have obvious (although different) effects on the diversity and composition of soil microbial communities. / Ph. D.

El cultivo de Chenopodium quinoa “quinua" posee un alto potencial genético para contribuir con la seguridad alimentaria en países en vías de desarrollo, por esta razón se encuentra en proceso de revalorización. No obstante, la creciente demanda del cultivo ha centrado su interés en las variedades comerciales, descuidando las variedades nativas de la región andina, lo cual podría ocasionar la pérdida de diversidad. Por tal motivo, es necesaria la investigación de los ecotipos nativos así como su conservación en los bancos de germoplasma con la finalidad de describir la diversidad genética, elucidar la estructura de la población de quinua en nuestro país y dar a conocer el valor del germoplasma. En el presente trabajo se estimó la diversidad genética de los ecotipos de quinua procedentes de valles interandinos y altiplano mediante la genotipificación con 23 marcadores microsatélites mediante un sistema de PCR-Multiplex. Se detectaron 294 alelos en total con un promedio de 12.78 alelos por locus, siendo los ecotipos de valles interandinos los que presentaron un mayor número de alelos exclusivos (60 alelos), por lo tanto esta población presentó mayor riqueza alélica. Asimismo mediante un PCoA, se identificaron dos subpoblaciones de quinua con diferenciación genética moderada (Fst=0.059), las cuales guardaron relación con la procedencia de las muestras. Finalmente, se identificaron 10 marcadores altamente polimórficos los cuales permitirán la evaluación de la diversidad genética del germoplasma de quinua.Chenopodium quinoa “quinoa” has a high genetic potential to contribute to food security in developing countries, therefore it is in a valorization process. However, the growing demand has focused his interest in the cultivation of commercial varieties, neglecting the native varieties of the Andean region, which could lead to loss of diversity. Therefore, it is necessary the research of native ecotypes and its conservation in genebanks in order to describe the genetic diversity also elucidate the structure of the population of quinoa in our country and publicize the value of its germplasm. In this study the genetic diversity andean valleys and highland quinoa ecotypes was determined by genotyping 23 microsatellite markers using a PCR-Multiplex system. A total of 294 alleles were detected with an average of 12.78 alleles per locus, where the valleys ecotypes showed a greater number of private alleles (60 alleles), i.e. a higher allelic richness. In addition, using PCoA, two subpopulations of quinoa with moderate genetic differentiation (Fst = 0.059) were observed which were related to the origin of the samples. Finally, 10 highly polymorphic loci were identified, which will allow the evaluation of the genetic diversity of quinoa germplasm.

Se ofrece aquí una primera síntesis de la historia medieval rural de Cantabria presentada desde la óptica de la organización social del espacio. La reflexión acerca de los orígenes de la organización social del espacio y su evolución en el ámbito geográfico que hoy se denomina Cantabria ha servido para proponer una original interpretación. En ella se atribuye a los “valles” el primer papel articulador del espacio, de forma tal que, sobrepasando el mero ámbito físico, constituyen una compleja unidad social, “ la comunidad de valle” que queda así perfilada como la base sobre la que se desarrolló la sociedad feudal a través de la creación de otras formas de organización como la aldea y el solar. El análisis de esta sociedad y su evolución completan y cierran este trabajo. / This work offers a first synthesis of the medieval history of rural Cantabria presented from the perspective of the social organization of space. Thinking about the origins of the social organization of space and its evolution in the geographic area now known as Cantabria has served to propose an original interpretation. It is attributed to the "valleys" the first articulating role of space in a way that goes beyond the mere physical realm, as a complex social unit, "the community of the valley", that is well shaped as the basis on which feudal society developed through the creation of other forms of organization such as the solar and the village. The analysis of this society and its evolution complete and close this paper.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 20, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.