Historical environmental changes in two shallow, unstratified, estuaries in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts are compared, using three diatom paleo-production indicators: sedimentary biogenic silica (BSi), BSi flux and ratio of Centric to Penate diatoms. Both estuaries were exposed to pollution. New Bedford Harbor (NBH) has a history of intensive nutrient loading and industrial pollution, while the control site, Apponagansett Bay, has lower levels of nutrient loading. Consideration of local precipitation history and diatom parameters suggests that salinity-driven changes in diatom production are negligible. Over the past ∼350 yrs, BSi concentrations and fluxes are higher in NBH. Thus, overall diatom production is sensitive to nutrient enrichment and less responsive to industrial pollutants. The relationship between the C/P ratio and environmental conditions is not as clear, possibly due to its dependence on eelgrass abundance. The uniqueness of this study lies in its use of the parameters combined, as well as its geographic setting.

No description available.

Grotesque elements in literature are often negatively viewed as an author’s attempt to simply twist reality in an effort to shock or entertain the reader. However, as I explain in my critical introduction, this view disregards the potential of the grotesque. It often has a specific purpose within a plot. It reveals things about characters that would not otherwise be exposed. I discuss this function of the grotesque in the works of Flannery O’Connor, Edgar Allan Poe, Truman Capote, and Brad Watson, and then show how these authors’ uses of the grotesque have influenced my own writing. In my collection of short fiction, each story contains grotesque elements that reveal and emphasize my characters’ hopes and fears.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Bibliography: leaves 154-158. / Ph.D.