In my artistic practice, I emphasize personal and pan-cultural anxieties regarding civilization and the environment as an impetus for work in sculpture, video, and drawing. By locating marginal microcosmic subject matter that tellingly exhibits macrocosmic global dread, I seek to capture and distill our overwhelming eco-socio-political anxiety into a portrait of a society at a point in its history when the specter of nameless impending disaster weighs pressingly on the collective psyche. This thesis is supplementary to my work of sculpture in the Graduate School of the Arts Thesis Exhibition at the Anderson Gallery opening on April 27th, 2007. The work was entitled Busted Butte Or the Evening Deadness in the West, and images of it are contained within the text. This document was created in Microsoft Word 2004.

Estimates of average annual precipitation (AAP) are-needed for hydrologic modeling at Yucca Mtn., Nevada, site of a proposed, high-level nuclear waste repository. Historical precipitation data and station elevation were obtained for stations in southern Nevada and southeastern California. Elevations for 1,531 additional locations were obtained from topographic maps. The sample direct-variogram for the transformed variable TAAP = ln(AAP) * 1000 was fit with an isotropic, spherical model with a small nugget and a range of 190,000 ft. The sample direct-variogram for elevation was fit with an isotropic model with four nested structures (nugget, Gaussian, spherical, and linear) with ranges between 0 and 270,000 ft. There was a significant (p = 0.05, r = 0.75) linear correlation between TAAP and station elevation. The sample cross-variogram for TAAP and elevation was fit with two nested structures (Gaussian, spherical) with ranges from 55,000 to 355,000 ft. Alternate model structures and parameters were compared using cross-validation. Isohyetal maps for average annual precipitation (AAP) were prepared from estimates obtained by kriging and cokriging using the selected models. Isohyets based on the kriging estimates were very smooth, increasing gradually from the southwest to the northeast. Isohyets based on the cokriging estimates and the spatial correlation between AAP and elevation were more irregular and displayed known orographic effects. Indirect confirmation of the cokriging estimates were obtained by comparing isohyets prepared with the cokriging estimates to the boundaries of more densely vegetated and/or forested zones. Estimates for AAP at the repository site were 145 and 165 mm for kriging and cokriging, respectively. Cokriging reduced estimation variances at the repository site by 55% relative to kriging. The effectiveness of an existing network of stations for measuring AAP is evaluated and recommendations are made for optimal locations for additional stations. / Graduation date: 1991

Ash-flow tuff (ignimbrite) is a general term indicating consolidated deposits of volcanic ash flow; a flow of a mixture of gas and pyroclastic materials as products of explosive volcano eruptions (Smith, 1960). Two different ash-flow tuffs are studied in this research: 1. Topopah Spring Tuff at Yucca Mountain, Nevada and 2. the Bandelier Tuff at Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico. Various dynamic test parameters (e.g. confining pressure, shearing strain, etc) were studied with two existing devices: (1) the combined resonant column and torsional shear (RCTS) device, and (2) the free-free, unconfined, resonant column (URC) device. The effects of these parameters are evaluated for two different types of ash-flow tuffs. In addition, a Large Resonant Column (LgRC) device was developed and used to test the some tuffs from Yucca Mountain at larger strain amplitudes than possible with the RCTS and URC devices. Relationships between the linear and nonlinear dynamic properties and lithostratigraphic features were further investigated. Finally, potential problems related to sample disturbance and specimen size are considered based on comparisons of small-strain shear wave velocity (VS) values measured in the laboratory and in the field. / text

This report outlines the legal requirements for consulting with American Indian groups and identifying their traditional cultural values that could be impacted during site characterization activities associated with the high level nuclear waste disposal facility project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. More specifically the report discusses culturally relevant methods for (a) identifying persons knowledgeable about traditional cultural resources associated with properties or sites where project site characterization activities may occur and that have value to contemporary American Indian groups, and (b) implementing consultation procedures with concerned Indian peoples as required by federal policy. The report is divided into three chapters. Chapter One discusses the two federal policies most relevant to the identification of American Indian traditional cultural values and specifies which American Indian groups should be consulted during site characterization. Chapter Two provides a Native American perspective on traditional cultural values and identifies the types of values that are most likely to be of concern to Indian people and be located in the Yucca Mountain study area. Chapter Three presents a plan for identifying traditional cultural values and for consulting with the relevant Indian groups.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Geological Sciences, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Springs in the Ash Meadows, Nevada wetland area are discharging groundwater at a high volume that cannot be sustained by local, present-day precipitation and associated recharge. Previous groundwater flow models for this region have required groundwater to flow through complex geology for long distances (160km) through fractures that, in the current stress field, should be closed in many instances in the presumed flow direction. This thesis examines several possible flow paths and evaluates each flow path using chemical and isotopic signatures in the water, as well as geologic and geophysical constraints, and determines that flow from beneath the Yucca Mountain area is the most viable source of groundwater for the springs at Ash Meadows. Isotopic signatures also indicate that recharge likely occurred during the last pluvial, a cooler, wetter period about 13,000 or more years ago, and that present-day water is discharging from storage. Geophysical investigations show the relationship of a deep-seated crustal feature (the Gravity Fault) with shallow offset faults near the Ash Meadows springs. The damage zone of the Gravity Fault appears to provide a conduit for groundwater flow; the north-south fractures should have the greatest aperture under the current stress field, and the buried tufa mounds (revealed with ground penetrating radar data) indicate localized upwelling from a deeper regional water source.

The strength of leaf fibers and the nutritional value of the edible fruit of several yucca species native to the U.S. southwest were studied to aid in the determination of species best suited for commercial cultivation by the Navajo Nation. The leaves were softened in an autoclave to facilitate the removal of the leaf matrix, conditioned in environmentally controlled chambers, and the fibers were broken using a texture analyzer. The fibers were frozen and cross sectioned and photographed to determine cross sectional area. Official methods were used to determine the nutritional content of the fruit. The mean tensile strength of Y. angustissima, Y. baccata, and Y. glauca was 484 ±79, 710±174, and 388±104 MPa, respectively. Fibers from the leaves of Y. baccata had a significantly higher tensile strength than the leaves of the other two species. Nutritional profiling of the fruit of Y. angustissima and Y. baccata indicated that the fruit of both species are good sources of vitamin C (73-119 mg/100g) and thiamin (0.20 to 0.22 mg/100g). Because of its edible fruit and superior leaf fiber tensile strength, Y. baccata is recommended as the best species for cultivation and commercialization.

No description available.

This project focuses on the impact of family preservation programs on family functioning through a qualitative follow up study of the Child Abuse Prevention Intervention and Treatment (CAPIT) program at Pacific Clinics in Yucca Valley, California. The results found that family functioning (particularly in areas of interpersonal skills and communication) had improved since completion of the program. Improvement was correlated with the service content of the program and with counselor characteristics. Due to limitations, including sample size (n=9), results cannot be generalized.