abstract: Education through field exploration is fundamental in geoscience. But not all students enjoy equal access to field-based learning because of time, cost, distance, ability, and safety constraints. At the same time, technological advances afford ever more immersive, rich, and student-centered virtual field experiences. Virtual field trips may be the only practical options for most students to explore pedagogically rich but inaccessible places. A mixed-methods research project was conducted on an introductory and an advanced geology class to explore the implications of learning outcomes of in-person and virtual field-based instruction at Grand Canyon National Park. The study incorporated the Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon, a 1.2 billion year break in the rock record; the Trail of Time, an interpretive walking timeline; and two immersive, interactive virtual field trips (iVFTs). The in-person field trip (ipFT) groups collectively explored the canyon and took an instructor-guided inquiry hike along the interpretive Trail of Time from rim level, while iVFT students individually explored the canyon and took a guided-inquiry virtual tour of Grand Canyon geology from river level. High-resolution 360° spherical images anchor the iVFTs and serve as a framework for programmed overlays that enable interactivity and allow the iVFT to provide feedback in response to student actions. Students in both modalities received pre- and post-trip Positive and Negative Affect Schedules (PANAS). The iVFT students recorded pre- to post-trip increases in positive affect (PA) scores and decreases in negative (NA) affect scores, representing an affective state conducive to learning. Pre- to post-trip mean scores on concept sketches used to assess visualization and geological knowledge increased for both classes and modalities. However, the iVFT pre- to post-trip increases were three times greater (statistically significant) than the ipFT gains. Both iVFT and ipFT students scored 92-98% on guided-inquiry worksheets completed during the trips, signifying both met learning outcomes. Virtual field trips do not trump traditional in-person field work, but they can meet and/or exceed similar learning objectives and may replace an inaccessible or impractical in-person field trip. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Geological Sciences 2018

This work examines several volume attributes extracted from 3D seismic data with the goal of seismic facies classification and lithology prediction in intraslope minibasins. The study area is in the Keathley Canyon protraction (KC), within the middle slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). It lays within the tabular salt and minibasins province downdip of the main Pliocene and Pleistocene deltaic depocenters. Interaction between sedimentation and mobile salt substrate lead to the emergence of many stratigraphic patterns in the intraslope minibasins. Interest in subsalt formations left above salt formations poorly logged. Facies classification using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was applied in those poorly logged areas. The resultant facies classes were calibrated and used to predict the lithology of the recognized facies patterns in an intraslope minibasin, away from well control. Three types of facies classes were identified: Convergent thinning, convergent baselaping and bypassing. The convergent baselaping are found to be the most sand rich among all other facies.

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After successfully avoiding of the destructive scenario with the demolition of reservoirs and replacing them with parking house, the second question arises. How to stimulate the people's interest in these underground jewels, the interest that would confirm the decision to save reservoirs. One of the possible ways, in which I see a purpose and the one that I decided to chose is to make the reservoirs accessible alongside the pathway and let the natural curiosity of human to do the rest.

The chapters of this thesis focus on the history and stories of the people who built and traveled down the highways--Highway 89A, Highway 89, and Highway 67--that branch out from the junction in front of Jacob Lake Inn, the Bowman/Rich family's 87-year-old lodge. The family's role in building roads, supporting and encouraging the growing tourist industry in Kanab and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and the converging effects of these choices have created the unique family culture and contributed to the history of the Grand Canyon region over time. Ultimately this thesis is about relationships, about the connections, influences, and choices of individuals, businesses, and government organizations that have created the myriad levels of local and national memory and unique distinctions between the tourist industry on the North and South Rims of the Grand Canyon that have framed my family's lifestyle at the junction to the National Park and surrounding scenic areas.

After successfully avoiding of the destructive scenario with the demolition of reservoirs and replacing them with parking house, the second question arises. How to stimulate the people's interest in these underground jewels, the interest that would confirm the decision to save reservoirs. One of the possible ways, in which I see a purpose and the one that I decided to chose is to make the reservoirs accessible alongside the pathway and let the natural curiosity of human to do the rest.

In 1935 I first visited the Kings Canyon area. Since then I have spent many hours wandering through the woods and over the mountains in the area around the old General Grant National Park and the country which is now included in the Kings Canyon National Park. To my knowledge, no complete flora has been made for this vicinity. I consider the following pages to be the beginning of a fascinating work. It is the beginning because this paper includes only plants with woody stems.

This work is comprised of two parts: The Inspiration and The Institution. The Inspiration concerns what originated the work—the conception of the idea. It lies within the realm of those things which are timeless. Therefore, it is what gives character to the building of the place or the institution. The inspiration is the beginning. The Institution is the formulation of the work--the "building" of the idea. It is a place crafted with the methods of its time. ln this sense, the institution is circumstantial, and therefore representing the end. However, in its completion there is the reflection of its beginning, its inspiration. What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.¹ What inspires this work is the architecture of the ancient communities of the Anasazi. More specifically and fundamentally, the inspiration for this work lies in the phenomenon of geometry and material in these ruins. Further, it is seated in such ideas as concentricity or nestedness and the opening of a wall. These are the ideas which are timeless. This is the beginning and the end. What formulates the work is a school. As an institution of learning, it already constitutes fertile ground for teaching. Therefore, with architecture as the medium, the building can teach about the play of geometry and the use of material. The function of the school is purely circumstantial, and it has little to do with the inspiration. Still, the geometry and material of the place made are founded in the inspiration. Hence, the architecture will continue to be a place for learning regardless of the functions of its past or future. The aspiration of the work is the development of a work of architecture as a place which nurtures the position of learning and as an institution which becomes a revelation of its inspiration. / Master of Architecture

Here we investigate sedimentological responses to past climate change in shallow to deep marine depositional environments. Our primary study spans from the Late Pliocene to the Pleistocene (3.3 to 0.7 Ma), and features results from two International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Sites U1525 and U1524. Each of these sites is discussed in separate chapters here (Chapters 1 and 2). This interval experienced the change from the warming of the Late Pliocene, known as the Mid-Piacenzian Warming Period, to the Pleistocene cooling. This shift significantly impacted the expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, sea ice/polynya formation, and, notably, the genesis of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), a crucial component of the global thermohaline circulation. In Chapter 1, we propose that turbidite currents, arising from the formation of dense shelf water (DSW) in the Ross Sea (a precursor to AABW), leave a distinct record in the levees of Hillary Canyon. This canyon acts as a conduit, channeling DSW into the deep ocean and contributing to AABW production. By analyzing turbidite beds based on their frequency, thickness, and grain size, we gain insights into the historical occurrence and magnitude of these currents. Furthermore, we explore the influence of factors such as shelf availability and sea ice/polynya formation within the broader climate context of AABW formation. Chapter 2 shifts its focus to the sedimentological variability from shelf-to-slope along Hillary Canyon. This chapter examines the turbidite record associated with AABW formation within the shared timeframe (2.1 to 0.7 million years ago) between IODP Sites U1524 and U1525, and the impact of along slope currents and other processes in the sedimentary deposition and transport. The second study interval (Chapter 3), focuses on the regional sedimentological response proximal to a hydrothermal vent complex associated with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ca. 56 Ma), a global warming event during which thousands of Gt C was released into the ocean-atmosphere on Kyr timescales. IODP Site U1568, strategically located near the hydrothermal vent complex and part of a broader drilling transect in the Modgunn Arch, North Atlantic, is the main study subject. This site's proximity to the vent complex offers a distinctive environment for refining our understanding of stratigraphy and sedimentology within the PETM. We achieve this through a comprehensive analysis of grain size and composition, coupled with a comparison to XRF data. Our findings show that the timing between the onset of the PETM and the response of the sedimentary system to the warming, reflected in the grain size coarsening after the start of the PETM, is not synchronous. Notably, the transition from a marine to a more terrestrial composition predates this shift in grain size, aligning with the PETM onset instead. / Doctor of Philosophy / Deep-marine core records are invaluable sources of sedimentological information that provide insights into the ocean's response to past climates. These cores, extracted from the deep-ocean floor, contain layers of sediment that accumulate over time because of the different processes that occur in the ocean. Analyzing these sediments, by looking at their physical characteristics like how frequently are they deposited, the thickness of the layers, their grain size, and their composition helps to reconstruct past environmental conditions and understand how the oceans have responded to climatic changes. This dissertation focuses on studying the record of two main processes. The first one is the sedimentary record left behind by the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), one of the coldest (-1°C), deepest (> 2000 meters below sea level), and densest water masses in the ocean. AABW is a key component of the global ocean circulation system, often referred to as the "global conveyor belt" or the thermohaline circulation. This circulation pattern plays a crucial role in redistributing heat, salt, and nutrients around the world's oceans. AABW is formed near Antarctica through a process that begins with the cooling and sinking of surface waters near the continent. As these waters sink, they become denser and eventually form AABW, filling the deep ocean basins around Antarctica. The dense water flows from the surface to the bottom of the ocean forming turbidity currents. These turbidity currents, dense plumes of water and sediments, flow down submarine conduits, such as Hillary Canyon in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, leaving a sedimentary record in the levees or flanks, called turbidites. The turbidite sequences in sediment cores can reveal information about the frequency and magnitude of these currents, providing insights into the sediment transport processes in deep-marine settings, and for this work, the history of the AABW formation over the last 3.3 Ma. This study will help to understand what are the main controls for AABW formation across different climates in the past, and how we project this into the future climate scenarios. In the second part of the study (Chapter 3), we look at the sedimentary record of a warming event that happened around 56 million years ago. This event, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), involved a significant amount of carbon being released into the air and oceans over thousands of years (150,000 to 200,000). Our focus is IODP Site U1568, located near a submarine hydrothermal vent, and part of a larger drilling transect in the North Atlantic's Modgunn Arch. The vent's unique location provides a crucial perspective for understanding how the system responded to the warming during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). This warming event was triggered by the release of carbon into the atmosphere, with the vent serving as one of the conduits for this release. To understand this, we studied the grain size and content of the sediment, and compared that with XRF data. Changes in grain size serve as indicators of shifts in the energy of the environment – coarser grains signify a more energetic system. Warmer weather, for instance, can increase precipitation, leading to more erosion and sediment influx into the basin. This influx also brings in more materials from the land, as evidenced by the presence of microfossils and plant fragments. Our discoveries indicate that the sedimentary system responded gradually to the PETM, as reflected in the coarsening of grain size after the PETM's onset. Notably, the transition from a marine to a more terrestrial composition occurred before the change in grain size, aligning more closely with the initiation of the PETM itself.

The original aim of my diploma thesis was examination of fixed samples of cladocerans from the Daphnia longispina species complex from reservoirs Vír and Vranov for the presence of 4 groups of microparasites: microsporidia, oomycetes, the protozoan Caullerya mesnili, and the yeast Metschnikowia bicuspidata. The next aim was to determine the effect of parasites on Daphnia fecundity, and determination of their spatial and temporal distribution within reservoirs. From the total number 4452 of examined Daphnia females, however, only 56 individuals were infected. This number was not sufficient for the planned analyses. As I recorded for all examined individuals the clutch size, I thus dealt to a large extent with an alternative issue: the temporal and spatial variation of, and the influence of environmental factors on Daphnia fecundity. Both studied reservoirs are characteristic by canyon-shaped profile that allows formation of environmental gradients on the horizontal as well as vertical axis. The results confirm that reservoir identity, season, and location within the reservoir (or gradient of food supply) have all significant effects on fecundity. During my work I have encountered difficulties associated with determining microparazites from fixed zooplankton samples. The appendix section of my thesis...