A framework for addressing the lack of diversity in the Geosciences through evaluating the current structure of institutional efforts

How can universities build institutional partnerships through supporting community geography projects? This paper details the case of university members seeking to achieve a community goal of expanding Geosciences education opportunities, while also targeting a long-range goal of improving diversity within the university Geosciences. Over the course of one year, two Ph.D students collaborated with community members affiliated with a local middle school to design and organize the School of Earth, Society, and Environment (SESE) Geosciences Camp for Middle School Girls, held in August 2019. This paper deconstructs and critiques the camp organizing process and its outcomes. The conclusion addresses what worked and what did not as a model for future attempts at more sustainable institutional partnerships serving community geography projects.

     

Geomorphological,stratigraphic and geochronological evidence of fast Pleistocene coastal uplift in the westernmost part of the Corinth Gulf Rift (Greece)

Rapid extension and active normal faulting in the western extremity of the Corinth Gulf are accompanied by fast coastal uplift. We investigate Pleistocene uplift west of Aigion, by attempting to date remains of marine terraces and sedimentary sequences by calcareous nannoplankton and U‐series analyses. Net uplift initiated recently, due to abandonment of an older rift‐bounding fault zone and increase in activity on the presently active, coastal fault zone. This change apparently coincides with an abrupt slow down (or, termination) of secondary fault block tilting within the broader hangingwall block of the older zone, indicated by an angular unconformity that dates in the early part of MIS10 (∼390–350 ka BP, preferably, in the earlier part of this period). Net uplift driven by the coastal zone resulted in the formation of MIS9c (330 ka) and younger terraces. The formation of the unconformity and the initiation of net uplift coincide temporally with a ∼300–400 ka unconformity recognized by recent studies in a wide area offshore Aigion i.e. they could be part of an evolutionary event that affected the entire western part of the Corinth Rift or, a large area therein. Uplift rate estimates at four locations are discussed with reference to the morphotectonic context of differential uplift of secondary fault blocks, and the context of possible increase in uplift rate with time. The most reliable and most useful estimate for uplift rate at the longitude of the studied transect is 1.74–1.85 mm/year (time‐averaged estimate for the last ∼240 ka, based on calcareous nannoplankton and sequence‐stratigraphic interpretation). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparison of estimated and calculated effective porosity

 Effective porosity in solute-transport analyses is usually estimated rather than calculated from tracer tests in the field or laboratory. Calculated values of effective porosity in the laboratory on three different textured samples were compared to estimates derived from particle-size distributions and soil–water characteristic curves. The agreement was poor and it seems that no clear relationships exist between effective porosity calculated from laboratory tracer tests and effective porosity estimated from particle-size distributions and soil–water characteristic curves. A field tracer test in a sand-and-gravel aquifer produced a calculated effective porosity of approximately 0.17. By comparison, estimates of effective porosity from textural data, moisture retention, and published values were approximately 50–90% greater than the field calibrated value. Thus, estimation of effective porosity for chemical transport is highly dependent on the chosen transport model and is best obtained by laboratory or field tracer tests. Received, March 1997 · Revised, August 1997 · Accepted, August 1997     

Late Holocene Neoglacial conditions from the Lesotho highlands, southern Africa: phytolith and stable carbon isotope evidence from the archaeological site of Likoaeng

The late Holocene environmental history of the Lesotho highlands, southern Africa, is poorly understood with few detailed studies to date. At Likoaeng, Senqu Valley, Lesotho, a 3 m stratified sedimentary sequence from an open-air archaeological site records vegetation development for the period 3400-1070 cal. BP. Phytolith analyses and bulk sediment organic matter δ¹³C indicate that C₄ grassland dominated the lower part of the sequence until approximately 2960 cal. BP when there was a switch to C₃ Pooid grassland (2960-2160 cal. BP). Also noted was a change from hunting mainly bovids to a dominance of fishing at the site. The change in grassland type and archaeological subsistence strategies corresponds with an episode of neoglacial cooling and the expansion of Alpine sourgrasses into lower altitudes. From 2160 to 1600 cal. BP grassland became a mix of C₃ and C₄ types and by 1600-1070 cal. BP there was a return to C₄ dominated grassland. During this latter phase there was a reversal from fishing to hunting again (and eventually some keeping of domestic livestock) at the site. These data outline the vegetation response to latitudinal shifts of frontal systems, and relatively strong atmospheric circulation variability, perhaps underpinned by variations of polar water into the Benguela Current during the late Holocene.     

Influence of dissolution/reprecipitation reactions on metamorphic greenschist to amphibolite facies mica 40Ar/39Ar ages in the Longmen Shan (eastern Tibet)

Linking ages to metamorphic stages in rocks that have experienced low‐ to medium‐grade metamorphism can be particularly tricky due to the rarity of index minerals and the preservation of mineral or compositional relicts. The timing of metamorphism and the Mesozoic exhumation of the metasedimentary units and crystalline basement that form the internal part of the Longmen Shan (eastern Tibet, Sichuan, China), are, for these reasons, still largely unconstrained, but crucial for understanding the regional tectonic evolution of eastern Tibet. In situ core‐rim ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite and U–Th/Pb allanite data show that amphibolite facies conditions (~10–11 kbar, 530°C to 6–7 kbar, 580°C) were reached at 210–180 Ma and that biotite records crystallization, rather than cooling, ages. These conditions are mainly recorded in the metasedimentary cover. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages obtained from matrix muscovite that partially re‐equilibrated during the post peak‐P metamorphic history comprise a mixture of ages between that of early prograde muscovite relicts and the timing of late muscovite recrystallization at c. 140–120 Ma. This event marks a previously poorly documented greenschist facies metamorphic overprint. This latest stage is also recorded in the crystalline basement, and defines the timing of the greenschist overprint (7 ± 1 kbar, 370 ± 35°C). Numerical models of Ar diffusion show that the difference between ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite and muscovite ages cannot be explained by a slow and protracted cooling in an open system. The model and petrological results rather suggest that biotite and muscovite experienced different Ar retention and resetting histories. The Ar record in mica of the studied low‐ to medium‐grade rocks seems to be mainly controlled by dissolution–reprecipitation processes rather than by diffusive loss, and by different microstructural positions in the sample. Together, our data show that the metasedimentary cover was thickened and cooled independently from the basement prior to c. 140 Ma (with a relatively fast cooling at 4.5 ± 0.5°C/Ma between 185 and 140 Ma). Since the Lower Cretaceous, the metasedimentary cover and the crystalline basement experienced a coherent history during which both were partially exhumed. The Mesozoic history of the Eastern border of the Tibetan plateau is therefore complex and polyphase, and the basement was actively involved at least since the Early Cretaceous, changing our perspective on the contribution of the Cenozoic geology.     

Contaminants in sediments from the central Gulf of Mexico

Surface sediment samples at 89 locations and 300-cm cores from 43 sites in the Mississippi Sound were examined for evidence of pollutant impact upon this coastal environment. Chemical variables determined were total organic carbon, Kjeldahl nitrogen, phenols, and hydrocarbons. Values of these pollutant indicators were about the same or lower in Gulf of Mexico samples compared to Missippi Sound sediments and considerably lower than those from rivers and bays emptying into the sound, indicating limited impact from sites of pollutant sources into the sound. Concentrations of sedimentary pollutants peaked in the Pascagoula River where levels of total organic carbon (TOC), Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), phenols, and hydrocarbons exceeded sound values by one to three orders of magnitude. Analysis of cores shows pollutant intrusion to sediment strata predating industrial development. The level of pollution varies from site to site but fortunately is only serious at localized sites within the sound.     

Bayesian active learning for parameter calibration of landslide run-out models

Landslides - Landslide run-out modeling is a powerful model-based decision support tool for landslide hazard assessment and mitigation. Most landslide run-out models contain parameters that cannot...     

Influence of Weathering on Pore Size Distribution of Soft Rocks

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Soft rocks can weather and lose their structure within a short time due to drying out and rewetting. Thus they are very sensitive to weathering. Since...