The status of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a foundation and keystone species and a pioneer establisher at alpine treeline, is threatened by the invasive and exotic fungal pathogen (Cronartium ribicola) that causes white pine blister rust in five-needled pines. Originally thought to be limited to moderate environments, the disease is now found extensively throughout colder and dryer regions east of the Continental Divide, including alpine treeline. My research objective was to determine how blister rust infection of treeline whitebark pine varies across Glacier National Park. I present findings from field sampling conducted in July 2008 in Glacier National Park, Montana. Thirty plots were randomly placed at 6 different treeline study sites on the eastern slopes of the Continental Divide. Vegetative and geomorphic characteristics, along with presence/absence and level of blister rust intensity, were detailed within each plot. Vegetation measurements included conifer composition, tree island dimensions and windward growth patterns, evidence and intensity of blister rust, as well as shelter type. Field-measured topographic characteristics included elevation, aspect, and slope. In addition, high resolution GPS-derived DEMs were created at each plot in order to model the land surface and calculate detailed environmental variables in a GIS. Environmental and blister rust intensity variables were used to determine spatial correlates of blister rust infection at treeline. The resulting blister rust prediction model (P < 0.001, F(4,25) = 6.79, R2 = 0.52, Adjusted R2 = 0.44) suggests that areas exhibiting increased wind speed, northwest facing slopes, high flow accumulation rates, and close proximity to perennial streams have a higher likelihood of blister rust intensity, specifically total canker density. Results of this research may contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of this disease, and prove useful in whitebark ecosystem management and conservation. / Master of Science

No / Purpose The purpose of the article was to study melt sonocrystallization (MSC) for a drug forming a viscous melt when processed below its glass transition temperature. Methods A molten mass of drug was poured in a vessel containing deionized water, maintained at 40°C using cryostatic bath, and sonicated for 1 min using probe ultrasonicator at an amplitude of 80% and a cycle of 0.8 per second. The product obtained after solidification of dispersed droplets was separated by filtration and dried at room temperature. MSC celecoxib was characterized by solubility determination, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, and stability study. Results The MSC technique was designed for celecoxib, which undergoes fast solidification. The particles obtained by MSC were porous, irregular in shape, and amorphous in nature. An increase in the apparent solubility was observed for the MSC particles. These amorphous particles also exhibited a higher stability in the amorphous state as compared with particles obtained by melt quenching. Conclusions The reported MSC technique for celecoxib demonstrates advantages over other approaches and can be exploited in area of particle design for the amorphization of drugs.

Submarine topographic features of the channels, sounds, fiords, and bays can best be explained as the products of extensive glacial excavation of a pre-existing drainage system. Troughs, hanging troughs, strings of deeps or basins, terminal sills, linear rises and depressions, and oversteepened deltas are considered direct or indirect evidence of glacial scour. Following glaciation, a negative movement of the Sverdrup Basin was accompanied by flooding of the northern part of the Archipelago. Only the upper portions of former interfluvial areas remained above sea level. These topographic highs are the present-day islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Statistical analyses of beach, fluvial, deltaic, and offshore marine sediments reveal characteristics that may be unique to polar deserts and ice-covered seas. Textures of beach and fluvial sediments are a function of associated relief and parent material. The deltaic environment is defined as that portion of the sea floor extending from the mouth of a river to approximately 3,200 feet from shore. Deltaic sediments show a progressive decrease in grain size seaward. Size distribution is related to the settling velocities of particles of different diameters. Offshore sediments have uniform textural properties. They are a combination of silt and clay (settled from suspension), and a minor but significant portion of sand- to granule-sized sediment (ice-rafted). An increase in mean grain size on the crests of submarine topographic highs suggests that winnowing by currents is taking place over these features. Two large areas of the sea floor lack a cover of Recent sediment. Organic carbon constitutes 0.84 to 2.14% of the offshore sediments. A dual source, terrigenous and phytoplanktonic, may explain the relatively high percentage of organic carbon. There is a positive correlation between percent organic carbon and amount of clay in the samples. Results of semiquantitative clay-mineral analyses of source rock, fluvial, deltaic, and offshore marine sediments indicate that montmorillonite, kaolinite, and illite are the dominant clay minerals. In this northern region, there is no change in clay mineralogy during weathering and transport. It is suggested that this may be characteristic of weathering under polar desert conditions. The mineralogy of parent materials on the islands controls the clay mineral distribution in offshore areas. In Louise Fiord, well-crystallized kaolinite is differentially flocculated close to shore. A study of the roundness of quartz grains of sand, silt, and clay size reveals that the distribution of this property is bimodal. Coarse and medium sands are well rounded, fine sands through coarse silts are angular, and fine silt and clay-sized particles are well rounded. High roundness of grains in the medium to coarse sand grades is attributed to abrasion. Well rounded quartz in the silt-clay size range is considered to be a product of solution. / text

O uso de geotecnologias pode contribuir de forma muito significativa para os estudos em geomorfologia. Considerando os principais componentes desta ciência, morfografia, morfometria, morfogênese e morfocronologia, os modelos digitais para a representação da superfície da Terra podem ser amplamente utilizados na aquisição de muitas destas informações. O uso de Modelos Digitais de Elevação (MDE) há alguns anos, já é uma realidade em estudos envolvendo geomorfologia. A sua utilização permite a aquisição de variáveis e parâmetros objetivos que podem servir à definição de critérios para o agrupamento de unidades geomorfológicas. Podendo, portanto, ser um instrumento valioso para mapeamento de áreas amplas em escalas de 1:50.000 e 1:100.000. Para tanto, é necessário definir os critérios coerentes e os algoritmos de segmentação que oferecem os melhores resultados para as diversas áreas de estudo. Os MDE gerados pela missão Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) são de vasta abrangência e contemplam todo o território nacional brasileiro. Portanto, os dados gerados pela missão podem ser uma importante fonte de informação para mapeamentos com metodologia única. O alcance deste objetivo não garante avanços metodológicos na cartografia geomorfológica, tendo em vista que a possibilidade de comparação entre diferentes cartas geomorfológicas de detalhe ainda é restrita. / Geotechnologies can contribute significantly to geomorphology studies. Whereas the main principles of this science, mophography, morphometry, morphogenesis and morphochronology, the digital models used to represent the Earth surface can be widely utilized in a bunch of these data. Lately, the use of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) can be considered a reality in geomorphology studies. The utilization allows the acquisition of objective variables and parameters that can be suitable for definition of geomorphological units. Hence, can be a valuable tool for wide area mapping using 1:50.000 and 1:100.000 scales. For that reason, it is necessary to define coherent criteria and the proper segmentation algorithm in order to reach better results for different study cases. DEM provided by Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) are wide range and cover the whole national territory. Therefore, data provided by this mission can be an important information for a single methodology mapping project.

Three-dimensional gravity analysis is the process of removing the predictable components from the free-air gravity anomalies and has proven to be useful for interpreting the subsurface structures and active processes at mid-ocean ridges. The three-dimensional effects of the seafloor and Moho topography, assuming a constant crustal thickness and constant crust and upper mantle densities, are subtracted from the free-air anomalies, yielding the mantle Bouguer anomalies. Mantle Bouguer anomalies at mid-ocean ridges are believed to be largely due to the three-dimensional thermal structure, which can be predicted using a simple passive flow model. When the gravity contribution from the predicted thermal structure is removed from the mantle Bouguer anomalies, the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies are created, which represent lateral variations in the crustal thickness and/or density variations from the assumed model. Three-dimensional gravity analysis has been carried out over three areas along the Pacific-Antarctic East Pacific Rise (EPR): (1) the eastern intersection of the Menard transform with the EPR, (2) the overlapping spreading center (OSC) at 36.5°S and, (3) the western intersection of the Raitt transform with the EPR. This geophysical analysis provides an essential tool for understanding the subsurface crustal/upper mantle structure of the fast spreading EPR, and more specifically at transform and nontransform offsets along the EPR. Several interesting features were observed at the eastern intersection between the Menard transform and the EPR. The continuous nature of the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies along the ridge axis suggests that the 60 km of ridge axis surveyed here has a fairly uniform crustal/upper mantle structure. Significant features are not observed in the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies at the ridge-transform intersection or along the eastern 75 km of the Menard transform. At the ridge-transform intersection, fresh lavas from the observed overshot ridge have filled in the transform valley and have subsequently thickened the crust, eliminating any crustal thinning that is occurring there. The large OSC at 36.5°S has a left-stepping offset of approximately 34 km. The most significant feature in the gravity data from this study area is the observed low in the mantle Bouguer anomalies which extends from the northern ridge segment, eastward to the "inactive" rift and continued along the southern ridge segment. This gravity low suggests that this region is underlain by thicker crust and/or hotter, less dense material. No significant features are observed in the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies associated with the overlap basin or the two smaller basins that border the "inactive" rift. The western ridge-transform intersection (RTI) between the Raitt transform and the EPR significantly differs from the Menard transform study area. A transform valley is not observed at this RYE and neither is an overshot ridge. Instead, a transformparallel median ridge is observed east of the RTI, and a fossil transform valley is observed north of the RTI. A low in the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies is associated with the fossil transform valley and the median ridge, suggesting that these areas are underlain by thicker crust and/or less dense material. Positive residual mantle Bouguer anomalies observed at the inside corner of the RYE suggest that this area is underlain by thinner crust and/or colder, more dense material; while at the outside corner of the ridge-transform intersection, a residual anomaly low is observed which suggests that the outside corner is underlain with thicker crust and/or hotter, less dense material. / Graduation date: 1995 / Figures in original document are black and white photocopies. Best scan available.

Soil landscape characterization into landform elements for precision agriculture has become an important issue. As soil properties and crop yields change over the landscape, delineating landform elements as a basis for site-specific application of crop inputs has become a reality. Two different methods of delineating landform elements from agricultural fields were tested and compared. The first method delineated landform elements from digital elevation maps with the use of the LandMapR(tm) software, the second method delineated classes from IKONOS high resolution panchromatic images using an unsupervised classification algorithm. The LandMapR(tm) model delineated landform elements from true elevation data collected in the field and was considered the reference dataset to which the image classification maps were compared to. The IKONOS imagery was processed using a combination of one filtering algorithm and one unsupervised classification method prior to being compared to the classified DEM. A total of 20 filtering algorithms and two unsupervised methods were used for each of the five study sites. The study sites consisted of four agricultural fields covered with crop stubble and one field in summer fallow. Image classification accuracy assessment was reported as overall, producer’s and user’s accuracy as well as Kappa statistic. Results showed that filtering algorithms and classification methods had no effects on image classification accuracies. Highest classification accuracy of image map to landform element map comparison achieved for all study sites was 17.9 %. Classification accuracy was affected by the heterogeneity of the ground surface cover found in each field. However, the classification accuracy of the fallow field was not superior to the stubble fields. / May 2006

Soil landscape characterization into landform elements for precision agriculture has become an important issue. As soil properties and crop yields change over the landscape, delineating landform elements as a basis for site-specific application of crop inputs has become a reality. Two different methods of delineating landform elements from agricultural fields were tested and compared. The first method delineated landform elements from digital elevation maps with the use of the LandMapR(tm) software, the second method delineated classes from IKONOS high resolution panchromatic images using an unsupervised classification algorithm. The LandMapR(tm) model delineated landform elements from true elevation data collected in the field and was considered the reference dataset to which the image classification maps were compared to. The IKONOS imagery was processed using a combination of one filtering algorithm and one unsupervised classification method prior to being compared to the classified DEM. A total of 20 filtering algorithms and two unsupervised methods were used for each of the five study sites. The study sites consisted of four agricultural fields covered with crop stubble and one field in summer fallow. Image classification accuracy assessment was reported as overall, producer’s and user’s accuracy as well as Kappa statistic. Results showed that filtering algorithms and classification methods had no effects on image classification accuracies. Highest classification accuracy of image map to landform element map comparison achieved for all study sites was 17.9 %. Classification accuracy was affected by the heterogeneity of the ground surface cover found in each field. However, the classification accuracy of the fallow field was not superior to the stubble fields.

Soil landscape characterization into landform elements for precision agriculture has become an important issue. As soil properties and crop yields change over the landscape, delineating landform elements as a basis for site-specific application of crop inputs has become a reality. Two different methods of delineating landform elements from agricultural fields were tested and compared. The first method delineated landform elements from digital elevation maps with the use of the LandMapR(tm) software, the second method delineated classes from IKONOS high resolution panchromatic images using an unsupervised classification algorithm. The LandMapR(tm) model delineated landform elements from true elevation data collected in the field and was considered the reference dataset to which the image classification maps were compared to. The IKONOS imagery was processed using a combination of one filtering algorithm and one unsupervised classification method prior to being compared to the classified DEM. A total of 20 filtering algorithms and two unsupervised methods were used for each of the five study sites. The study sites consisted of four agricultural fields covered with crop stubble and one field in summer fallow. Image classification accuracy assessment was reported as overall, producer’s and user’s accuracy as well as Kappa statistic. Results showed that filtering algorithms and classification methods had no effects on image classification accuracies. Highest classification accuracy of image map to landform element map comparison achieved for all study sites was 17.9 %. Classification accuracy was affected by the heterogeneity of the ground surface cover found in each field. However, the classification accuracy of the fallow field was not superior to the stubble fields.

O uso de geotecnologias pode contribuir de forma muito significativa para os estudos em geomorfologia. Considerando os principais componentes desta ciência, morfografia, morfometria, morfogênese e morfocronologia, os modelos digitais para a representação da superfície da Terra podem ser amplamente utilizados na aquisição de muitas destas informações. O uso de Modelos Digitais de Elevação (MDE) há alguns anos, já é uma realidade em estudos envolvendo geomorfologia. A sua utilização permite a aquisição de variáveis e parâmetros objetivos que podem servir à definição de critérios para o agrupamento de unidades geomorfológicas. Podendo, portanto, ser um instrumento valioso para mapeamento de áreas amplas em escalas de 1:50.000 e 1:100.000. Para tanto, é necessário definir os critérios coerentes e os algoritmos de segmentação que oferecem os melhores resultados para as diversas áreas de estudo. Os MDE gerados pela missão Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) são de vasta abrangência e contemplam todo o território nacional brasileiro. Portanto, os dados gerados pela missão podem ser uma importante fonte de informação para mapeamentos com metodologia única. O alcance deste objetivo não garante avanços metodológicos na cartografia geomorfológica, tendo em vista que a possibilidade de comparação entre diferentes cartas geomorfológicas de detalhe ainda é restrita. / Geotechnologies can contribute significantly to geomorphology studies. Whereas the main principles of this science, mophography, morphometry, morphogenesis and morphochronology, the digital models used to represent the Earth surface can be widely utilized in a bunch of these data. Lately, the use of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) can be considered a reality in geomorphology studies. The utilization allows the acquisition of objective variables and parameters that can be suitable for definition of geomorphological units. Hence, can be a valuable tool for wide area mapping using 1:50.000 and 1:100.000 scales. For that reason, it is necessary to define coherent criteria and the proper segmentation algorithm in order to reach better results for different study cases. DEM provided by Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) are wide range and cover the whole national territory. Therefore, data provided by this mission can be an important information for a single methodology mapping project.

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