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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Desert Geomorphology'
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Smith, Brent. "An examination of desert geomorphology throughout geologic time /." Connect to resource, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1811/28576.
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Harmon, Courtney Michelle. "Desert pavement morphology and dynamics, Big Bend National Park, Texas." Thesis, [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1125.
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Rosser, Nicholas John. "The geomorphology of coarse clastic surfaces in arid environments." Thesis, Durham University, 2002. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3745/.
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This study explores the linkages between slope form and slope process in arid environments. In doing so, questions of the development of slopes in arid environments are examined. The age of many arid environment surfaces, combined with the sporadic nature of formative events, means that long-term surface and slope development remains an elusive question in geomorphology. Deserts have inspired many of the most enduring theories of landscape evolution and continue to provide a test-bed for new and emerging ideas in geomorphology. The clast-mantled surface of the northeast Jordan Badia presents an ideal opportunity to study the links between surface character and slope processes in arid environments. The northeast Badia also provides an opportunity to explore theories of slope development and the behaviour of earth surface systems. The nature of the clast covered ground surface has been assessed using a new digital aerial photography and image analysis technique. A field study of surface processes has been used to explore links between surface form and slope process. Additionally, a computer based simulation of long-term modification of the spatial distribution of surface clast has been undertaken. Given the subtle variation in earth surface form between disparate locations, a new semi-quantitative method of locating sample sites has been developed. The characterization of surface form has identified statistically significant relationships between ground surface character and two-dimensional slope form. Systematic variations in ground surface configuration, both within and between basalt flows, are found to be indicative of the action of slope processes. The first study of ground surface hydrology in the north eastern Badia has been undertaken. The results from a series of rain-storm simulation experiments show subtle but significant links between the action of surface processes and variations in ground surface form. The controls on surface process are diverse and vary in significance with position in the landscape. A combination of ground surface characterization and process studies has identified several interesting geomorphological phenomena The surfaces exhibit systematic variations in structure and organization. Homeostatic links between form and process are clearly apparent, which suggests that surface form influences and is influenced by process action via a process of positive feedbacks. Given the sporadic and infrequent recurrence of formative events in arid environments, a modelling approach has been developed to understand the long-term, spatial dynamics of the ground surface. The model has been used to simulate structure in the surface clast arrangement and the sensitivity of surface organization to physically constrained variations in model parameters. The model also allows the surfaces to be considered as self-organizing earth surface systems. The model results provide new insights into the process-form linkages in operation on clast-mantled arid surfaces. The model results provide new ways of examining and understanding the dynamics of clast mantled arid surfaces and have implications for the application of self-organization in geomorphology.
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Mowbray, Leslie Allen. "Quaternary Chronology and Stratigraphy of Mickey Springs, Oregon." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2637.
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Mickey Springs in the Alvord Desert, southeast Oregon, is analogous to other Basin and Range hydrothermal systems where the requisite conditions of heat source and permeable pathways are met through crustal thinning due to normal faulting. This study examines the morphology and lifespan of near-surface spring features through use of ground penetrating radar, thermoluminescence (TL) dating, and elevation modeling. Duration of hydrothermal activity at Mickey Springs has not previously been determined, and age determinations of sinter at the site are conflicting. The reason for and timing of this change in silica saturation in the hydrothermal fluid has not been resolved.
Three morphologies of silica sinter deposition have been identified at Mickey Springs. These are (1) well-sorted, fine-grained sandstone with ripple marks, cross beds and preserved root casts, to poorly-sorted conglomerate of primarily basalt clasts, both cemented by coeval silica deposition, (2) large depressions (12-32 m diameter) rimmed with sinter, characterized by fine silt and clay blanketing a sinter apron and infilling the central depression, and (3) quaquaversal sinter mounds identified by outcropping pool-edge sinter typically surrounding a shallow depression of loose sediment.
Silica-cemented sandstone and conglomerate were the first features formed by coeval hydrothermal processes at the site, and were emplaced prior to 30 kya as suggested by structural and stratigraphic relationships. Structure between two interacting fault tips may have constrained the extent of silica cementation. By 30 kya, a left-stepping fault oriented roughly north/south further constrained the near-surface permeable zone. TL dates from sediment stratigraphically below and above sinter aprons around mounds and depressions (former spring vents) indicate sinter deposition between 30 and 20 kya. Location of these features was dictated by development of the left-stepping fault. As pluvial Lake Alvord filled at the end of the Pleistocene, lake sediment filled most vents, which were largely inactive, with fine-grained silt and clay.
Today, hydrothermal activity persists in two modes: (1) The current high-temperature springs, steam vents and mudpots concentrated in a 50 x 50 m area south of the sinter mounds and depressions, and (2) scattered springs and steam vents that exploit previous permeable pathways that once provided the hydrothermal fluid which precipitated the sinter aprons. Currently there is no active silica sinter deposition at Mickey Springs.
Structures and stratigraphic relationships identified through this study favor a transport-limited and structurally controlled model of fluid transport. Sinter deposition is determined to have occurred before the most recent highstand of pluvial Lake Alvord. A climate driven model, where groundwater recharge from pluvial Lake Alvord circulates to a deep heat source and enhances spring discharge, is not supported by these findings, as no evidence was found for sinter precipitation after the drying of the lake. Future studies of other hydrothermal systems in the Basin and Range may reveal that permeable pathways along local structures are the primary drivers in this region.
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Bishop, Mark A. "The spatial and temporal geomorphology and surficial sedimentology of the Gurra Gurra crescentic dunes, Strzelecki Desert, South Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1997. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phb6223.pdf.
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Asplund, Kenneth K., and Michael T. Gooch. "Geomorphology and the Distributional Ecology of Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii) in a Desert Riparian Canyon." University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/609103.
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DBH data were taken from Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii) in a desert riparian canyon in west -central Arizona. Recruitment was found to depend on geomorphologic features and flood "refugia" rather than on the absence of grazing. Populus fremontii is specifically a "strandline," streamside species, particularly of braided aggradations and their associated secondary channels, a microhabitat that ultimately depends on upstream and upslope erosion. The concept of flood -subclimax succession explains virtually nothing of the ecology of obligate riparian trees. Riparian classification based upon geomorphology and hydrology are apt to have significant meaning for biogeography and management.
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Workman, Terry W. "PALEOWETLANDS AND FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF QUEBRADA MANI: RECONSTRUCTING PALEO-ENVIRONMENTS AND HUMAN OCCUPATION IN THE NORTHERN ATACAMA DESERT." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1345055481.
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Cesta, Jason M. "Timing of alluvial fan development along the Chajnantor Plateau, Atacama Desert, northern Chile: Insights from cosmogenic 36Cl." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439301115.
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Goodall, Timothy Martin. "The geology and geomorphology of the Sabkhat Matti region (United Arab Emirates) : a modern analogue for ancient desert sediments from north-west Europe." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1995. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=165774.
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Sabkhat Matti forms a wide depression that extends from the coastline of western Abu Dhabi, in the north, approximately 125km south. The area has been studied with a view to investigating the impact that Quaternary climatic changes have had on the geology and geomorphology of modern desert sediments. The depression was formed by (?Pliocene) fluvial erosion followed by deflation which was localised in the region by the presence of underlying N-S fractures and lineaments. Sabkhat Matti and the deserts of the United Arab Emirates form the upwind, north-eastern margin of the interior desert of SE Arabia. The desert geomorphology of the Emirates is dominated by four main depositional processes: coastal accretion of marine carbonates, the formation of salt flats in low-lying areas, aeolian deflation and deposition to the south and alluvial deposition adjacent to the Oman Mountains in the west. Some of the desert landforms that are present in the U.A.E. were generated during earlier, glacially influenced climatic conditions. These landforms have been influential in affecting the subsequent geomorphological development of the deserts of the U.A.E. Two ancient desert sequences which form hydrocarbon reservoirs have been studied from NW Europe, the Lower Triassic, Ormskirk Sandstone of the Irish Sea Basin and the Lower Permian, Upper Slochteren Sandstone of the Southern North Sea (offshore Netherlands). The sedimentological interpretations of these ancient desert sequences has benefitted from a thorough understanding of the modern depositional processes. This knowledge has also assisted in the development of a method for modelling the theoretical accumulation of desert sediments. The idealised facies cycles that have been produced using this technique have closely resembled those observed in the ancient desert sequences from NW Europe.
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Leighton, Carly L. "Desert dune system response to Late Quaternary environmental change in the northeastern Rub’ al Khali : advances in the application of optically stimulated luminescence datasets." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b4821755-1971-4244-a2dd-d7ceee4fec5d.
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The application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to desert sand dunes has allowed accumulation histories to be used as tools to infer past environmental change. In response to issues facing the interpretation of these records, two research questions are addressed in this thesis. (i) Are dune chronologies representative of dune stratigraphies? And (ii) how can we most appropriately interpret dune chronologies as records of Quaternary environmental conditions? Five dune profiles were sampled for OSL dating at two sites in the northeastern Rub’ al Khali in the southern Arabian Peninsula. The visible stratigraphy was used to guide sampling for three of the profiles and the effectiveness of this approach is assessed. A key finding is that bounding surfaces are not always identifiable as chronological hiatuses by OSL dating, given the level of precision that can be achieved. Using hierarchical relationships visible in two-dimensional exposures is therefore not guaranteed to identify the depositional units necessary to reconstruct dune histories. Comparison of the depositional records from three sampled profiles shows that there is significant variability in chronologies at both the dune and dunefield scales. In light of these findings, the use of ‘range-finder’ OSL dating was investigated as a method of increasing sample throughput in the laboratory. It is concluded that the use of partially prepared samples and shortened measurement techniques can be used to rapidly assess the chronological context of samples and target those units most useful in constructing dune profiles. A new method of presenting dunefield OSL datasets as net accumulation rates, incorporating accumulation thickness rather than relying on the frequency of ages, is presented. Within the last 30 ka, regional accumulation and preservation occurred at ~30-26, 22.5-18, 16-9, 6-2.7, 2.1-1.6, 1.1 and 0.7 ka. In conjunction with numerical model results and a review of other palaeoenvironmental archives, the regional aeolian record is interpreted as a response to changing forcing factors. High rates of net accumulation between ~16-9 ka are attributed to coeval increases in sediment supply and transport capacity. A hiatus in accumulation between ~9-6 ka is interpreted as a result of reduced sediment availability due to high moisture levels. The importance of both external forcing factors and local controls on dune accumulation processes is recognised, and therefore the importance of sampling at multiple locations to distinguish these factors is emphasised.
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Lehmann, Sophie Butler. "Climatic and Tectonic Implications of a mid-Miocene Landscape: examination of the Tarapaca Pediplain, Atacama Desert, Chile." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1375486991.
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Burger, William. "Spatial Analysis of Post-Fire Sediment Redistribution Using Rare Earth Element Tracers." Master's thesis, Temple University Libraries, 2019. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/589658.
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GeologyM.S.
Many grasslands in arid and semi-arid regions are undergoing rapid changes in vegetation, including encroachment of woody plants and invasive grasses, which can alter the rates and patterns of fire and sediment transport in these landscapes. We investigated the spatial distribution of sediments at the scale of vegetated microsites for three years following a prescribed fire using a multiple rare earth element (REE) tracer-based approach in a shrub-grass transition zone in the northern Chihuahuan desert (New Mexico, USA). To this end, we applied REE tracers – holmium, europium, and ytterbium on shrub, grass, and bare microsites, respectively in March 2016. Soil samples were collected from both burned and control (not burned) sites before (March) and after (June) the annual windy season, from 2016 through 2018. Results indicate that although the horizontal mass flux (HMF) of wind-borne sediment increased approximately threefold in the first windy season following the fire, and the HMF of both plots were not significantly different after three windy seasons. Comparing REE concentrations in sediments from both plots over the three years and three annual windy seasons, we observed a post-fire shift in source and sink dynamics of sediments. The tracer analysis of wind-borne sediments indicated that the source of the HMF in the burned site was mostly derived from shrub microsites following the fire, whereas the bare microsites were the major contributors for aeolian sediment in control areas. The shift in sources and sinks, and the spatial homogenization of REEs indicate that the removal of shrub vegetation resulted in sediment redistribution to the bare microsites even three years after the prescribed fire. The findings of this study will improve our understanding of post-fire geomorphic processes at a microsite scale in a grassland ecosystem undergoing land degradation induced by shrub encroachment.
Temple University--Theses
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Fossati, Jacques. "Caractéristiques du système oued en milieu hyperaride, végétation des oueds du désert oriental septentrional (Egypte) et phytoécologique d'un secteur de l'oued Sannur." Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble), 1995. http://www.theses.fr/1995GRE10138.
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La vegetation des oueds est etudiee a deux echelles spatiale: la region du desert oriental septentrional d'egypte (3010'n a 2610'n et 3050'e a 3230'e) et un secteur de l'oued sannur (29104n ; 3128'e). A l'echelle regionale, quatre groupements s'individualisent au sein des gradients climatiques nord/sud (precipitations et temperature moyenne annuelle) et nord-ouest/sud-est (evapotranspiration). Un gradient biogeographique se surimpose a cette description, avec des especes mediterranneennes au nord et des especes soudano-angolanes au sud, le fond commun etant saharo-arabique. A l'echelle d'un secteur de l'oued sannur ou la frequence des crues est estimee a sept ans, les especes perennes s'organisent en cinq groupes. La geomorphologie et la granulometrie de surface expliquent une partie de la structure de la vegetation: les especes sont liees au chenal ou aux rives et terrasses d'une part, a une granulometrie de surface fine ou a des zones plus grossieres d'autre part. Les especes annuelles ephemerophytes constituent une synusie ombrique en relation avec les precipitations hivernales et atteignent un maximum de recouvrement au mois de mars. Leur repartition depend essentiellement de la granulometrie dominee par des particules fines. D'une echelle spatiale a l'autre, le poids des facteurs expliquant la structure de la communaute vegetale peut etre different. A l'emboitement des echelles spatiales peut correspondre un emboitement des facteurs mesologiques explicatifs, parmi eux, certains seront pertinents a une echelle donnee et d'autres a plusieurs niveaux
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Crépy, Maël. "Les Paysages du vent : géohistoire et géoarchéologie de la dépression de Kharga (désert Libyque, Égypte) du cinquième siècle avant notre ère à nos jours : 2 500 ans d'interactions entre dynamiques éoliennes et activités humaines dans un milieu hyperaride." Thesis, Lyon, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016LYSE2141.
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Dans le désert Libyque (Égypte), l'un des plus arides du monde, l'action du vent trouvant peu de limites, l'ablation et le transport éoliens sont des éléments prégnants de la morphogenèse. Au cœur de ce désert, les oasis de la dépression de Kharga, nées de l'artésianisme et des activités humaines, constituent au contraire, par la profusion de l'eau et de la végétation, des secteurs où les processus de dépôt sont renforcés. L'imbrication entre une région désertique (zone-source de sédiments) et des sites oasiens (zones de dépôt), où s'appliquent des processus opposés, maximise les dynamiques éoliennes et leur impact morphogénétique. Il en découle la formation des paysages du vent, que cette thèse vise à décrire, comprendre et expliquer. Mobilisant des méthodes de géomorphologie, de géoarchéologie, de géohistoire et de sédimentologie, ce travail rend compte de l'impact paysager des interactions entre activités humaines et dynamiques éoliennes depuis la création des oasis il y a 2 500 ans. Il présente un bilan des processus naturels et anthropiques, et aborde la question des conditions de vie des oasiens depuis l'Antiquité.Trois apports principaux résultent de cette recherche :- une typologie des formations constitutives des paysages du vent- une modélisation descriptive du système à leur origine, reposant sur des cycles asynchrones de colonisation et de déprises- un bilan des grandes tendances de l'évolution environnementale et morphogénétique sur le temps long, depuis l'implantation des oasis : les paysages du vent sont nés de la distorsion entre la dégradation environnementale régionale et l'amélioration locale et temporaire des conditions édaphiques résultant des activités humainesThe limiting features of the wind dynamics are scarce in the Western desert of Egypt, one of the most arid areas in the world: eolian ablation and transport are the prevailing factors of the morphogenesis. Born from artesian waters and human activities, the oases of Kharga basin form an area where the deposition processes are stronger thanks to the large amount of water and vegetation. Eolian dynamics, and their morphogenetic impacts, are strengthened by the nesting of oasis sites (deposition areas) in a desert region (sediment source-zone). The landscapes of the wind are thus formed by the juxtaposition of these areas where opposed processes occur. This thesis aims to describe, understand and explain their development.This work based on geomorphology, geoarchaeology, « géohistoire » and sedimentology gives an account on the impacts on the landscapes of the interactions between eolian dynamics and human activities since the creation of the oases 2 500 years ago. It consists in an overview of the natural and anthropogenic processes and an assessment of the living conditions in the oasis since the Antiquity.The three main results of this research are:- a typology of the elements forming the landscapes of the wind;- a descriptive modelisation of the system at stake in their formations, which is based on an asynchronous cycle of colonisation and abandonment of the sites;- an overview of the main patterns of the long-term environmental and morphogenetic evolution since the creation of the oases.This triple contribution shows that the landscapes of the wind are born from the distortion between the regional environmental trend towards degraded conditions and the local and temporary improvements of the edaphic conditions due to human activities
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Sitzia, Luca. "CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIE ET DISTRIBUTION SPATIALE DES DÉPÔTS ÉOLIENS QUATERNAIRES DU BASSIN AQUITAIN." Phd thesis, Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux I, 2014. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01009617.
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Les dépôts éoliens quaternaires du Bassin aquitain constituent un rare exemple de système éolien périglaciaire fossile loin des marges des grands inlandsis. L'étude de ce système permet d'appréhender l'expression de la dynamique éolienne dans une région située, au cours des stades gla- ciaires, à la charnière entre le domaine nord- européen sous influence du pergélisol continu et la ceinture semi-aride/aride à gel saisonnier du sud de l'Europe. L'étude de ces dépôts éoliens contribue enfin à améliorer la caractérisation des paysages auxquels les groupes paléolithiques du SO de la France ont été confrontés. Dans cette perspective, ce travail propose un bilan chronostratigraphique des accumulations sableuses plé- istocènes et holocènes dans le désert des Landes, ainsi qu'une analyse cartographique des principaux faciès éoliens du Bassin Aquitain. Le bilan est fondé sur l'étude stratigraphique détaillée (faciès sédimentaires, paléopédologie) de nombreuses coupes inédites et sur 75 dates numériques (OSL, ESR, 14C). La morphologie des édifices dunaires, l'organisation spatiale des faciès et leur origine sont abordées en combinant : 1) une étude cartographique des dunes à l'aide d'un SIG; 2) une étude géostatistique des variations d'épaisseur et des gradients granulométriques; 3) une étude géochimique (statistiques multivariées pour données compositionnelles) des dépôts loessiques et de leurs sources potentielles. L'histoire de l'erg landais qui en résulte s'avère être complexe. Cet erg s'installe dès le Pléistocène inférieur et des épandages sableux Pléistocène moyen ont été documentés, en accord avec les enregistrements en milieu loessique. Un cadre chronostratigraphique détaillé est établi pour le Pléistocène supérieur. La phase la plus ancienne (56-50 ka) correspond à des épandages sableux en contexte relativement humide, influencé par les variations du niveau de la nappe phréatique et associé à de vastes champs de rides barkhanoïdes ou transverses de faible ampleur (type zibars). Pendant cette phase, un gley tourbeux se développe et témoigne d'un épisode de diminution de la sédimentation sableuse (probablement GI-14), associé à une végétation steppique à graminées et armoises. Entre 50 et 25 ka les accumulations sableuses sont rares en réponse à l'éloignement du rivage lié à la baisse du niveau marin et/ou à cause d'une diminution de l'activité éolienne suite à l'installation d'un pergélisol. Entre 25 et 14 ka, de vastes épandages sableux se forment dans un contexte de plus en plus sec et cette phase correspond vraisemblablement à l'extension maximum du désert des Landes. Au Tardiglaciaire, la colonisation des sables par la végétation est tardive et la dynamique éolienne reste active tout au long du Bølling et jusqu'à la première partie de l'Allerød. L'installation d'une forêt boréale dans les Landes se produit à la fin de l'Allerød et se marque par le développement d'un podzosol juvénile. Au cours de la détérioration climatique du Dryas récent, des champs de dunes paraboliques s'édifient. Leur mise en place semble avoir débuté localement dès l'oscillation froide intra-Allerød. Pour le Pléistocène supérieur, les principaux facteurs qui ont contrôlé la distribution des faciès éoliens et le bilan sédimentaire ont pu être définis. D'un point de vue paléogéographique, l'erg aquitain apparait composé d'une mosaïque de dépôts éoliens d'âge différent : principalement Pléistoce ne moyen dans le Médoc, Pléniglaciaire moyen weichsélien au sud du Plateau Girondin et Pléniglaciaire supérieur dans le sud des Landes. La comparaison avec les enregistrements éoliens eu- ropéens (Pays-Bas, Angleterre, NO de la France, Espagne, Portugal) montre que le Bassin Aquitain présente de nombreuses affinités avec le SO de l'Europe. La modélisation spatiale de la granularité des dépôts éoliens et l'étude géochimique convergent vers une relation génétique entre les différents facie s éoliens. Les loess dérivent principalement de l'abrasion des sables. Seuls les loess de l'Entre-deux-Mers montrent une contribution d'origine fluviatile significative. La direction des vents nourriciers, obtenue à partir des gradients granulométriques et des morphologies dunaires, semble avoir changé au cours du temps. Celle-ci est orientée O-E au Pléniglaciaire moyen, puis NO-SE au Pléniglaciaire supérieur, tandis qu'au Dryas récent la direction est plutôt SSO-NNE. Dans ce travail, l'hypothèse d'un changement de la saison à laquelle les sables sont remobilisés est privilégiée. Ainsi, par comparaison avec la distribution azimutale actuelle des vents à l'échelle de l'année et en accord avec les reconstitutions pour le LGM, il est suggéré qu'au Pléniglaciaire supérieur la déflation éolienne était décalée vers la saison estivale, c'est-à-dire après la phase de dégel des sols et de fonte de la neige. Au contraire, les orientations établies pour le Pléniglaciaire moyen et le Dyras récent refléteraient une déflation active en période hivernale.
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Kent, Emiko J. "Towards defining the extent of climatic influence on alluvial fan sedimentation in semi-arid Sonoran and Mojave Deserts, southern California, USA and Baja California, northern Mexico." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1313688926.
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"Anthropocene in the Geomorphology of the Sonoran Desert." Doctoral diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.53620.
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abstract: Human endeavors move 7x more volume of earth than the world’s rivers accelerating the removal of Earth’s soil surface. Measuring anthropogenic acceleration of soil erosion requires knowledge of natural rates through the study of 10Be, but same-watershed comparisons between anthropogenically-accelerated and natural erosion rates do not exist for urbanizing watersheds. Here I show that urban sprawl from 1989 to 2013 accelerated soil erosion between 1.3x and 15x above natural rates for different urbanizing watersheds in the metropolitan Phoenix region, Sonoran Desert, USA, and that statistical modeling a century of urban sprawl indicates an acceleration of only 2.7x for the Phoenix region. Based on studies of urbanization’s erosive effects, and studies comparing other land-use changes to natural erosion rates, we expected a greater degree of urban acceleration. Given that continued urban expansion will add a new city of a million every five days until 2050, given the potential importance of urban soils for absorbing anthropogenically-released carbon, and given the role of urban-sourced pollution, quantifying urbanization’s acceleration of natural erosion in other urban settings could reveal important regional patterns. For example, a comparison of urban watersheds to nearby non-urban watersheds suggests that the Phoenix case study is on the low-end of the urban acceleration factor. This new insight into the urban acceleration of soil erosion in metropolitan Phoenix can help reduce the acute risk of flooding for many rapidly urbanizing desert cities around the globe. To reduce this risk, properly engineered Flood Control Structures must account for sediment accumulation as well as flood waters. While the Phoenix area used regional data from non-urban, non-desert watersheds to generate sediment yield rates, this research presents a new analysis of empirical data for the Phoenix metropolitan region, where two regression models provide estimates of a more realistic sediment accumulation for arid regions and also urbanization of a desert cities. The new model can be used to predict the realistic sediment accumulation for helping provide data where few data exists in parts of arid Africa, southwest Asia, and India.Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2019
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"Desert fluvial terraces and their relationship with basin development in the Sonoran Desert, Basin and Range: Case studies from south-central Arizona." Doctoral diss., 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.18142.
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abstract: A fundamental gap in geomorphic scholarship regards fluvial terraces in small desert drainages and those terraces associated with integrating drainages. This dissertation analyzes four field-based case studies within the Sonoran Desert, south-central Arizona, with the overriding purpose of developing a theory to explain the formative processes and spatial distribution of fluvial terraces in the region. Strath terraces are a common form (Chapters 2, 3, 4) and are created at the expense of bounding pediments that occur on the margins of constraining mountainous drainage boundaries (Chapters 1, 2, 3). Base-level fluctuations of the major drainages cause the formation of new straths at lower elevations. Dramatic pediment adjustment and subsequent regrading follows (Chapter 3), where pediments regrade to strath floodplains. This linkage between pediments and their distal straths is termed the pediment-strath relationship. Stability of the base level of the major drainage leads to lateral migration and straths are carved at the expense of bounding pediments through an erosional asymmetry facilitated by differential rock decay between the channel bank and bed. Fill terraces occur within the Salt River drainage basin as a result of the integration processes that connect formerly endorheic basins (Chapter 4). The topographic, spatial, and sedimentologic relationship of the Stewart Mountain terrace (Chapter 4) points to a different genetic origin than the lower terraces in this basin. The high Stewart Mountain fill terrace records the initial integration of this river. The strath terraces inset below the Stewart Mountain terrace are a result of the pediment-strath relationship. These case studies also reveal that the under-addressed drainage processes of piracy and overflow have significant impacts in the evolution of drainages the lead to both strath and fill terrace formation in this region.Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Geography 2013
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"Introducing a terrestrial carbon pool in desert bedrock mountains." Master's thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.18039.
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abstract: Growth of the Phoenix metropolitan area led to exposures of the internal bedrock structure of surrounding semi-arid mountain ranges as housing platforms or road cuts. Such exposures in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts reveal the presence of sedimentary calcium carbonate infilling the pre-existing fracture matrix of the bedrock. Field surveys of bedrock fractures filled with carbonate (BFFC) reveal an average of 0.079 +/- 0.024 mT C/m2 stored in the upper 2 m of analyzed bedrock exposures. Back-scattered electron microscopy images indicate the presence of carbonate at the micron scale, not included in this estimation. Analysis of the spatial extent of bedrock landforms in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide suggests that ~1485 GtC could potentially be stored in the upper 2 m horizon of BFFCs. Radiocarbon dating obtained at one of the sites indicates it is likely that some of the carbonate was flushed into the bedrock system during glacial wet pulses, and is stored on Pleistocene timescales or longer. Strontium isotope analysis at the same site suggest the potential for a substantial cation contribution from weathering of the local bedrock, indicating the potential exists for sequestration of atmospheric carbon in BFFCs. Rates of carbon release from BFFCs are tied to rates of erosion of bedrock ranges in desert climates.Dissertation/Thesis
M.A. Geography 2013
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Luo, Wei. "Computer simulation of landform evolution, Western Desert, Egypt, and paleoclimate implications." 1995. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/41182717.html.
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Bishop, Mark A. (Mark Ashley). "The spatial and temporal geomorphology and surficial sedimentology of the Gurra Gurra crescentic dunes, Strzelecki Desert, South Australia / Mark A. Bishop." 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19146.
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Bibliography: leaves 291-315.x, 315 leaves, [9] leaves of plates : ill. (chiefly col.), maps ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1998?
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"Gnamma Pit Growth and Paleowind Intensity in the Sonoran Desert: Insights from Wind Tunnel Experiments and Numerical Modeling." Master's thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29908.
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abstract: Gnamma pit is an Australian aboriginal term for weathering pit. A mix of weathering and aeolian processes controls the formation of gnamma pits. There is a potential to utilize gnamma as an indicator of paleowind intensity because gnamma growth is promoted by the removal of particles from gnamma pits by wind, a process referred to as deflation. Wind tunnel tests determining the wind velocity threshold of deflation over a range of pit dimensions and particles sizes are conducted. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling utilizing the Re-Normalisation Group (RNG) K-Epsilon turbulence closure is used to investigate the distribution of wall shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy. An empirical equation is proposed to estimate shear stress as a function of the wind velocity and pit depth dimensions. With this equation and Shields Diagram, the wind velocity threshold for evacuating particles in the pit can be estimated by measuring the pit depth ratio and particle size. It is expected that the pit would continue to grow until this threshold is reached. The wind speed deflation threshold is smaller in the wind tunnel than predicted by the CFD and Shields diagram model. This discrepancy may be explained by the large turbulent kinetic energy in the gnamma pit as predicted by the CFD model as compared to the flat bed experiments used to define the Shields diagram. An empirical regression equation of the wind tunnel data is developed to estimate paleowind maximums.Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Geography 2015
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Lasser, Jana. "Geophysical Pattern Formation of Salt Playa." Doctoral thesis, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-1735-0000-002E-E5DB-2.
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Paquette, Michel. "Le rôle des formes périglaciaires dans l’hydrologie et l’évolution des pentes d’un désert polaire dans le Haut-Arctique canadien." Thèse, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/21135.
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