Browsing Duke Dissertations by Duke Department "Earth and Ocean Sciences"

Now showing items 1-20 of 21

Amazon Climate Reconstruction Using Growth Rates and Stable Isotopes of Tree Ring Cellulose from the Madre De Dios Basin, Peru

Jenkins, Hillary Sandford (2009)

The Amazon basin is a center of deep atmospheric convection and thus acts as a major engine for global atmospheric circulation. From this basin, one fifth of the world's freshwater flux is discharged into the Atlantic ...
An Analysis of the Distribution and Economics of Oil Fields for Enhanced Oil Recovery-Carbon Capture and Storage

Hall, Kristyn Ann (2012)

The rising carbon dioxide emissions contributing to climate change has lead to the examination of potential ways to mitigate the environmental impact. One such method is through the geological sequestration of carbon ...
Beach and Sea Cliff Dynamics as a Driver of Rocky Coastline Evolution

Limber, Patrick Wayland (2012)

Rocky coastlines, with wave-battered headlands interspersed with calm sandy beaches, stir imaginations and aesthetic sensibilities the way few other landscapes do. Despite their prevalence (sea cliffs or bluffs are ...
Fractures, Faults, and Hydrothermal Systems of Puna, Hawaii, and Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Kenedi, Catherine Lewis (2010)

The focus of this work is to use geologic and geophysical methods to better understand the faults and fracture systems at Puna, in southeastern Hawaii, and southern Montserrat, in the Lesser Antilles. The particular ...
Geochemical and Isotopic Characterization of Coal Combustion Residuals: Implications for Potential Environmental Impacts

Ruhl, Laura (2012)

Coal fired power plants are ubiquitous in the United States and most developed countries around the world, providing affordable electricity to consumers. In the US, approximately six hundred power plants generate 136 ...
Glacial North Atlantic Millennial Variability over the Last 300,000 Years

Obrochta, Stephen (2008-11-26)

The hematite-stained grain (HSG) proxy method, commonly employed by the late G.C. Bond to detect the "1500-year cycle" in North Atlantic climate, is reproduced and veriﬁed for the ﬁrst time. The exact method is compiled ...
Hydro-Fractured Reservoirs: a Study Using Double-Difference Location Techniques

Kahn, Dan Scott (2008-04-10)

The mapping of induced seismicity in enhanced geothermal systems presents the best tool available for understanding the resulting hydro-fractured reservoir. In this thesis, two geothermal systems are studied; one in ...
Impacts of Geological Variability on Carbon Storage Potential

Eccles, Jordan Kaelin (2011)

The changes to the environment caused by anthropogenic climate change pose major challenges for energy production in the next century. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a group of technologies that would permit the ...
The Interior Pathway of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Gary, Stefan Francois (2011)

For decades, oceanographers have hypothesized that the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) is the dominant export pathway for the deep limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, more recent ...
Investigating Regional Patterns of Shoreline Change

Lazarus, Eli (2009)

My doctoral work stems from an original motivation to understand more closely why some areas of sandy coastlines erode and others accrete<—>an intriguing fundamental question and one of societal relevance wherever human ...
Late Quaternary Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography of the Amazon Continental Margin, Brazil

Nace, Trevor (2012)

The tropics are a significant source of heat and moisture export, which drive global circulation patterns, thus it is vital to systematically understand the land, ocean and sedimentological interactions within the ...
A Limnological Examination of the Southwestern Amazon, Madre de Dios, Peru

Belcon, Alana Urnesha (2012)

This dissertation investigates the limnology of the southwestern Peruvian Amazon centered on the Madre de Dios department by examining first the geomorphology and then the ecology and biogeochemistry of the region's ...
Numerical Modeling of Coastline Evolution in an Era of Global Change

Slott, Jordan Matthew (2008-04-16)

Scientists expect temperatures on Earth to get substantially warmer over the course of the 21st century, causing storm systems to intensify and sea-level rise to accelerate--these changes will likely have dramatic impacts ...
On the Horizontal Advection and Biogeochemical Impacts of North Atlantic Mode Waters and Boundary Currents

Palter, Jaime Beth (2007-07-26)

Using a combination of hydrographic data and the trajectories and profiles of isobaric floats, this dissertation evaluates the connections between remote regions in the North Atlantic. First, I establish that the production ...
Physical Controls on Low and Mid-Latitude Marine Primary Productivity

Dave, Apurva C. (2012)

Strengthened stratification of the upper ocean, associated with either anthropogenic warming trends or natural climate oscillations, is generally expected to inhibit marine primary productivity at low and mid latitudes, ...
Physical Oceanographic Controls on Biological Production and Ocean-Atmosphere Carbon Flux in the North Pacific

Ayers, Jennifer Marie (2011)

This dissertation identifies and quantifies the impact of processes driving two biogeochemical phenomena of interest by considering them in the context of the large-scale circulation in which they occur. Both processes ...
The Potential of Energy Storage Systems with Respect to Generation Adequacy and Economic Viability

Bradbury, Kyle Joseph (2013)

Intermittent energy resources, including wind and solar power, continue to be rapidly added to the generation fleet domestically and abroad. The variable power of these resources introduces new levels of stochasticity ...
Radium Isotope Geochemistry in Groundwater Systems: The Role of Environmental Factors

Vinson, David Stewart (2011)

Prior studies of groundwater systems have associated increasing salinity and anoxic conditions with increasing radium (Ra) activities in water due to the decreasing effectiveness of Ra removal processes. However, the ...
Radium Isotopes as Tracers of Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions in Inland Environments

Raanan Kiperwas, Hadas (2011)

Groundwater has an important role in forging the composition of surface water, supplying nutrients crucial for the development of balanced ecosystems and potentially introducing contaminants into otherwise pristine ...
A Reconstruction of Precipitation and Hydrologic Variability on the Peruvian and Bolivian Altiplano During the Late Quaternary

Nunnery, James Andrew (2012)

The Peruvian/Bolivian Altiplano is an important hydrologic system for paleoclimate reconstruction because it is unique in its ability to record climate variability associated with the near-continental scale South American ...