Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1964. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 493-494).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1964. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 493-494).

Northwest-southeast Miocene uplift with subsequent erosion has bared rocks of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic ages in the western Skagit Delta region. Pleistocene glaciation followed by recent alluviation has buried much of the bedrock leaving rock exposures only on islands in Skagit Bay or as low hills projecting through the alluvium. A low-grade metamorphosed sequence of graywacke, conglomerate, breccia, argillite, and spilite, all of probable Paleozoic age, make up the oldest rocks of the area. Mesozoic rocks, composed of graywacke and argillite, crop out in hills northwest and southeast of the town of La Conner. The contact between Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks is not exposed but an unconformity is believed to separate the two. No fossils were found in either sequence. Because Paleozoic(?) and Mesozoic(?) rocks can not be correlated with any other known units, new names have been assigned by the writer. The Paleozoic(?) sequence is called the Goat Island Formation and the Mesozoic(?) sequence is called the La Conner Formation. Along the North Fork of the Skagit River a conglomerate sequence with interbedded sandstones and siltstones makes up disconnected, low, tree covered hills. Lithologically this sequence can be divided into two formations separated by a probable unconformity. Microfossils in the upper unit indicate a Lower Tertiary age but definite correlation with described units in other areas is not possible. The lower formation is here designated the Delta Rocks Formation while the upper is called the Ika Formation. Serpentinites make up the whole of Goat Island and adjacent parts of Fidalgo Island. On southern Fidalgo Island another serpentinite encloses an unusual hydrothermal vein containing calcite, celestite, and strontianite. These ultrabasic rocks are considered part of the Fidalgo Formation and are of probable Triassic age. A small outcrop of marine Pleistocene occurs at the east end of Goat Island and contains an assemblage of invertebrates. Vashon till and outwash cover most of Fidalgo Island and Pleasant Ridge. Pre-Tertiary deformation has been intense with both Paleozoic and Mesozoic sequences folded, sheared and faulted. Cenozoic deformation has been restricted to Miocene concentric folding. Axes of both pre-Tertiary and Tertiary folding are aligned essentially east-west. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.S. in natural resource sciences)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 19, 2010). "Department of Natural Resource Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-47).

The High Ross controversy was a problem in the management of an International river. An international river presents a special problem because the actions of a nation upstream may cause problems for a nation downstream or vice versa. A river is also a finite resource where uses for one purpose may exclude uses for other purposes. The use of a river for hydroelectric power, for example, may destroy fisheries. In the case of an international river, conflicting demands on water use may present serious problems if the nations riparian to the river fail to coordinate their planning with respect to the river. In this study, it is normatively assumed that the best system for insuring that the interests of all concerned will be heard is a democracy. In a democracy it is a principle that the decision system should respond to the preferences of its citizens. To do this it must first be able to perceive these preferences. A public hearing is one vehicle for accepting information concerning the preferences of citizens. The goal of this study is to assess certain public hearings which were held in reference to the raising of Ross Dam on the Skagit River in Washington State. The issue of whether to raise the dam has created an international controversy lasting for years and involving the energies of hundreds of persons on both sides of the border. The hearings of interest in this study are certain hearings of 1970 through 1972 held by the International Joint Commission, the Washington Ecological Commission, and the Seattle City Council. The approach taken in this thesis began with isolating two normative criteria among many which any democratic system must have: openness and efficiency. Openness is the ability of a system to perceive the preferences of its citizens. This means that there should be no arbitrary restrictions upon what the decision-makers should see. Efficiency means that the process should be simple and not limited to a select group with the most time, money, and expertise to participate. Having established these criteria, the next step was to isolate the location in the hearings system where one might expect to find evidence of openness and efficiency. To do this, a theoretical paradigm of a communication system was constructed from political communications theory. This paradigm contained the basic components of a simple communication system. Thus, it was found that any communication system will have messages (input), sources for those messages (input sources), and receptors for perceiving those messages (intake elements). In rational systems there will also be a memory process which selects relevant input from among the mass of intake (screening element). These elements were analyzed in order to assess the hearings investigated. To assemble the data necessary for assessment, a multi-method approach was used. Over four hundred articles in newspapers and periodicals were surveyed. The transcripts of the hearings and resulting reports were closely analyzed. Finally, selected participants who- had key roles in the hearings were interviewed. The information from these sources was used in tandem to examine particular aspects of the hearings process which were suggested by the communication model as relevant. The conclusions derived from this study were that with certain exceptions the procedures used in the hearings studied facilitated openness. Also, while the cost of using the hearings was very high, the participants with few exceptions felt that the expense was justified because the issue was crucial to their interests. However, the weaknesses that did exist in openness and efficiency merit attention and should be remedied to strengthen the system. The result of this strengthening would be a more responsive and democratic process for managing international rivers. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-84). / Estuarine density stratification may be controlled primarily by cross-shore processes (analogous to longitudinal control in narrow estuaries), or by both cross- and alongshore processes (typical of coastal plumes). Here field observations and numerical modeling are used to investigate stratification on the low-sloped, periodically inundated Skagit Bay tidal flats. Advection of stratification by the depth-averaged velocity, straining of the horizontal density gradient by velocity shear, and turbulent mixing are shown to be the dominant processes. On the south-central flats (near the south fork river mouth) velocities are roughly rectilinear, and the largest terms are in the major velocity direction (roughly cross-shore). However, on the north flats (near the north fork river mouth), velocity ellipses are nearly circular owing to strong alongshore tidal flows and alongshore stratification processes are important. Stratification was largest in areas where velocities and density gradients were aligned. The maximum stratification occurred during the prolonged high water of nearly diurnal tides when advection and straining with relatively weak flows increased stratification with little mixing. Simulations suggest that the dominance of straining (increasing stratification) or mixing (decreasing stratification) on ebb tides depends on the instantaneous Simpson number being above or below unity. / by Vera L. Pavel. / Ph.D.