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The shallow waters west of Scotland feature strong variability in water properties on a variety of temporal scales. While the region is known to be subject to both coastal and oceanic influences, the causes of variability are poorly understood. The limited characterisation of changes in coastal waters impacts our ability to explain the behaviour of coastal ecosystems, and predict their resilience to future climate scenarios. This thesis uses historical data in conjunction with recent cruises and a coastal mooring to investigate the causes of variability in the waters west of Scotland. Two new inter-annual salinity time series on the European shelf are developed. The spatial variability in salinity in shallow waters is greatest during winter and increases by a factor of four between the shelf edge and the coastline. At the shelf edge, new observations of the along-slope current suggest that it is stronger but less stable during winter, leading to a greater availability of oceanic water on the outer Malin Shelf. However unlike other documented shelf regions, shelf edge processes do not directly influence Scottish coastal water properties. A baroclinic current originating in the Irish Sea is the main influence near the Scottish coast during quiescent periods, but wind forcing dominates shelf processes during most winters, with prevailing winds tending to drive oceanic water towards the coast. While salinity in the Sea of the Hebrides is moderately correlated to wind, coastal salinity is sensitive to both advective processes and freshwater runoff. On inter-annual time-scales, salinity on the Malin Shelf is higher when the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is positive, whereas the northern Irish Sea is fresher during a positive NAO state. Salinity and flow pathways in Scottish coastal waters appear to be resilient both to changes in the Rockall Trough and a warming climate on decadal time-scales.

Distributions of water transit times (TTDs), and related storage-selection (SAS) distributions, are spatially integrated metrics of hydrological transport within landscapes. Recent works confirm that the form of TTDs and SAS distributions should be considered time variant-possibly depending, in predictable ways, on the dynamic storage of water within the landscape. We report on a 28 day periodic-steady-state-tracer experiment performed on a model hillslope contained within a 1 m3 sloping lysimeter. Using experimental data, we calibrate physically based, spatially distributed flow and transport models, and use the calibrated models to generate time-variable SAS distributions, which are subsequently compared to those directly observed from the actual experiment. The objective is to use the spatially distributed estimates of storage and flux from the model to characterize how temporal variation in water storage influences temporal variation in flow path configurations, and resulting SAS distributions. The simulated SAS distributions mimicked well the shape of observed distributions, once the model domain reflected the spatial heterogeneity of the lysimeter soil. The spatially distributed flux vectors illustrate how the magnitude and directionality of water flux changes as the water table surface rises and falls, yielding greater contributions of younger water when the water table surface rises nearer to the soil surface. The illustrated mechanism is compliant with conclusions drawn from other recent studies and supports the notion of an inverse-storage effect, whereby the probability of younger water exiting the system increases with storage. This mechanism may be prevalent in hillslopes and headwater catchments where discharge dynamics are controlled by vertical fluctuations in the water table surface of an unconfined aquifer. Plain Language Summary Volumes of water reside within landscapes for varying amounts of time before they are discharged to a stream. That length of time determines how long the water has to interact chemically with soil and rock, and therefore influences the chemistry of water that ends up in stream channels. Quantifying the full range and variability of those travel times remains a challenge. We built an experimental hillslope, which allows us to keep track of all the water that enters and exits the soilsomething that is difficult to accomplish in open environmental systems. We introduced chemically distinct water into the hillslope at specific points in time and followed the movement of that water within, and upon exit from the soil. We discovered that the water being discharged from the hillslope tends to have resided in the landscape for shorter lengths of time when the hillslope is very wet (like a wetted sponge) than when it is very dry (like a dry sponge). This insight helps us understand how different rainfall regimes, and the associated wetness of the landscape, can potentially influence water transit times through the landscape, and their relationship with stream chemistry.

L'hétérogénéité spatiale est un trait caractéristique des aquifères calcaires. Conditionnée par le karst et ses morphologies, cette hétérogénéité explique la fréquente sous-exploitation des réserves de ces hydrosystèmes mais également le degré lacunaire de connaissance de leurs fonctionnements. Nous avons voulu, dans cette recherche, approfondir cette connaissance en scrutant le fonctionnement des aquifères calcaires qui arment les bas plateaux du Nord-Est de la France. Trois de ces bas plateaux ont été retenus, ceux du Dogger et de l'Oxfordien (Jurassique) et celui du Muschelkalk (Trias). Afin de comprendre comment s'organisent les écoulements sur et dans ces trois systèmes, notre démarche s'articule autour de deux principaux axes ; le premier concerne l'identification des modalités de l'écoulement et le second est consacré à leur quantification. En pratique, la connaissance des modalités de circulation a été recherchée à travers l'étude des différents paramètres structurels (géologique, tectonique, karstique) et conjoncturels (précipitation, évapotranspiration) qui interagissent dans le cycle de l'eau. Nous montrons que la variété de fonctionnements hydrologiques observés, à l'échelle du domaine d'étude, est conditionnée principalement par les paramètres structurels ; l'hétérogénéité lithologique, notamment, apparaît comme une clef fonctionnelle déterminante, d'une part, par l'existence d'une multiplicité de nappes d'eau et d'autre part, par son rôle dans la karstogenèse. Les morphologies du karst s'observent principalement sur les secteurs de contact lithostratigraphique et nous avons pu établir, à travers une répartition spatiale des phénomènes du karst (en surface et en souterrain), que ces trois plateaux sont majoritairement déconnectés du karst et dominés par des processus de circulation lents, de l'infiltration à la vidange aquifère. Afin d'apporter des éléments de quantification sur les circulations, une analyse hydroclimatique et géochimique d'exutoires de petites dimensions a été ensuite menée. C'est ainsi qu'une petite dizaine de sources et de bassins versants, localisés dans des contextes physiographiques variés, ont fait l'objet de suivis sur plusieurs cycles hydrologiques. L'analyse nous a permis de préciser les caractères hydrodynamiques de deux grands types de comportement observés au sein des bas plateaux étudiés : le comportement fissural et le comportement karstique. Le comportement fissural se manifeste, à l'échelle annuelle, par un filtrage important des précipitations par les systèmes (forte inertie des valeurs de débits et de conductivités électriques) et également par de lents processus de mise en charge à l'échelle des évènements de crue. Le comportement karstique, quant à lui, est attesté, à l'échelle annuelle, par des pluies moyennement filtrées par les systèmes mais aussi par des variations hydrogéochimiques accusées lors des sollicitations pluviométriques majeures, en lien avec la transmissivité importante de ces milieux / The spatial heterogeneity is a feature of limestone aquifers. Conditioned by the karst and its morphologies, this heterogeneity explains the frequent under-exploitation of these hydrosystem reserves but it also explains the incomplete degree of knowledge of their functionings. In this research we wanted to deepen this knowledge by scrutinizing the functioning of the limestone aquifers which arm the low plateaus of the North-East of France. Three of these low plateaus held our attention, those of Dogger and Oxfordian (Jurassic) and the one of Muschelkalk (Triassic). In order to understand how the flows on and into these three systems are organized, our approach focuses on two main axes ; the first one concerns the identification of the modes of flow and the second one is devoted to quantification. In practice, the knowledge of the flow modes was investigated through the study of various structural parameters (geology, tectonics, karst) and conjunctural parameters (precipitation, evapotranspiration) interacting the water cycle. We show that the variety of hydrological functionings which are observed, on the scale of the study area, is mainly dependent on the structural parameters ; the lithological heterogeneity, in particular, appears as a determining functional key, on the one hand, by the existence of a multiplicity of groundwater and on the other hand, by its role in the karstogenesis. The morphologies of the karst are primarily obvious on the areas of lithostratigraphic contact and we were able to establish, through a spatial distribution of karst phenomena (on and underground), that these three plateaus are mainly disconnected from the karst and run by slow-flow processes, from infiltration to ground water discharge. In order to provide some quantifications of the circulations, a hydroclimatic and geochemical analysis of small outlets was then conducted. Thus a dozen springs and catchments, located in various physiographic settings have been surveyed for several water years. The analysis allowed us to specify the hydrodynamic characteristics of two types of behavior observed in the low plateaus we studied: the fissural behavior and the karstic behavior. The fissural behavior appears, on an annual scale, through a significant rainfall filtering of the systems (high inertia of the values of discharges and electrical conductivities) and also by slow charging processes when flood events occur. The karst behavior, meanwhile, is evidenced on an annual scale, by a moderately rainy filtering of the systems but also by hydrogeochemical variations accused during major rainfall solicitations in connection with the important transmissivity of these environments

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Student Number : 9202936M - PhD thesis - School of Geoscience - Faculty of Science / Kannemeyeria simocephalus is probably the best known Middle Triassic dicynodont from South Africa and has been the standard against which other Triassic dicynodonts are compared. In the past studies have concentrated on the cranial morphology of K. simocephalus and how this affected Triassic dicynodont taxonomy and phylogeny. There has been little work on the postcranial anatomy of K. simocephalus, which remains poorly understood. This current study undertook a detailed descriptive analysis of the postcranial anatomy of K. simocephalus that lead to the identification of diagnostic characters of the postcranial skeleton. During the course of the analysis of the postcranial anatomy of K. simocephalus it was noted that material previously assigned to this taxon was significantly different from that recognised as K. simocephalus. Unfortunately, this material consists only of postcranial material and it is therefore referred to as Morphotype B rather than a new species of Kannemeyeria or as a new taxon from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (subzone B). A phylogenetic analysis was performed which included K. simocephalus and Morphotype B, and used cranial and postcranial characters. The preliminary phylogenetic results show that there are possibly two taxa of medium to large dicynodonts in the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (subzone B); one a kannemeyeriid and the second a stahleckeriid. It has also evident that more attention needs to be paid to the study of the postcranial anatomy of Triassic dicynodonts, especially those from Africa and Asia.

Thesis advisor: John Ebel / The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) is well known for producing some of the largest intra-cratonic earthquakes within the North American Plate. The common hypothesis for the geological structure within the NMSZ is that stress is released across three major faults: the Cottonwood Grove Fault, the New Madrid North Fault, and the Reelfoot Thrust Fault. Evidence exists that would suggest an alternative model of geologic deformation in the area: that stress is being released across more than these three faults. A geologic and geophysical investigation was done to investigate a hypothetical fault west of Dyersburg, TN to test the alternative multi-fault hypothesis. A seismically created sand blow was logged in close proximity to the fault projection. Weathering of the sand blow indicated that the age of the sand blow came from a seismic event prior to the 1811-1812 earthquakes. There was no evidence to confirm this sand blow was created by a hypothetical fault in close proximity. A seismic exploration of the area was done across four seismic lines, primarily mapping Quaternary-age Mississippi River flood plain deposits. These seismic surveys yielded no evidence to suggest the presence of an additional fault. Across all surveys no evidence was found to conclusively support any existing theory on fault movement in the NMSZ. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.