Earthquakes a . tsunamis pose significant threats to port and harbor
communities in the Pacific Northwest. Developing effective mitigation and
preparedness plans requires a comprehensive understanding of community
vulnerability. Research presented here focuses on the vulnerability of ports and
harbors to earthquake and tsunami hazards and includes a regional study...
Many studies have looked at human settlements around individual volcanoes for
volcanic risk analyses, but few have done a comparative study to identify possible global
patterns. With the use of Landsat ETM+ data, this study identifies and compares urban
proximity to the Decade Volcanoes to identify volcanic settlement patterns. These...
Mitchell Marsh, a tidal salt marsh in the Salmon River Estuary, was diked in the
early 1960s. Restoration of the marsh, which began in late 1978, consisted of partial dike
removal. Several studies have been conducted in the marsh, addressing the status of the
developing salt marsh plant communities. Species...
The Geographic Information System (GIS) is an invaluable tool in manipulating and
interpreting world scale datasets. In recent years it has become the standard link between
water resource study and the ever-increasing numbers of high quality data sets. This
paper describes the use of Geographic Information Systems for gathering and...
The net mass balance fluctuations of Arctic and Sub-Arctic glaciers, north of 47.5°
North latitude, are described over a 45-year period from 1957 to 2002 using two
parameters derived from a gridded climatology reanalysis. Variability among 185
measured glaciers was represented according to two main components. The first
component represents...
The field of geography has been transformed in recent years through the use of spatial tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) satellite and acoustic remote sensing, the global positioning system (GPS), Internet mapping and more. Studying geography and earth science in the digital age now requires a sophisticated and...
Nearest-neighbor resampling is a common procedure used by cartographers to
reproject raster data sets. This type of resampling is useful because it retains the data
from the original raster data set. However, during nearest-neighbor resampling some of
the original data will be lost as it is reprojected, while other data...
An Internet Map Server (IMS) web site was constructed with the goal of
helping middle- through high-school students learn about ocean processes. This IMS was
developed in conjunction with the activities of the Science & Math Investigative
Learning Experience (SMILE) program, and for eventual use with the Oregon Coastal
Atlas,...
An Internet Map Server (IMS) web site was constructed with the goal of
helping middle- through high-school students learn about ocean processes. This IMS was
developed in conjunction with the activities of the Science & Math Investigative
Learning Experience (SMILE) program, and for eventual use with the Oregon Coastal
Atlas,...
The prehistory of Central Oregon is explored through the examination of six archaeological sites and two isolated finds from the Upper Deschutes River Basin. Inquiry focuses on the land use, mobility, technological organization, and raw material procurement of the aboriginal inhabitants of the area. Archaeological data presented here are augmented...
Shifting climate patterns in the Columbia River basin are affecting snow pack, and, as a result, stream flow throughout the region. In the Oregon Cascades, ever growing populations, and their associated activities, place increasing stress on an already over allocated hydrologic system. Political pressures, including the possibility of renegotiation or...
Floods are the most frequent and damaging of all types of natural disasters and annually affect the lives of millions all over the globe. However, researchers seem to have overlooked the fact that floods do not recognize national boundaries. Therefore, the phenomena of shared, or transboundary floods occurring in international...
Despite their significance, physical interactions between surface and
groundwater have largely been ignored in international water law. While surface water
has been given considerable attention as a transboundary natural resource, groundwater
has not received the same recognition. International legal doctrines regarding water, such
as the 1997 United Nations Convention on...
With 97% of the world’s freshwater resources stored underground, the connection between groundwater resources to the metrics of space, scale and time common to the geographic study of natural resources has not been extensively investigated by geographers. While nearly 240 transboundary aquifers are mapped across the world, a potential “tragedy”...
A healthy river ecosystem is the definitive mark of success in international water quality
planning and management, but until the world's international river basins achieve this kind of success,
there must be other means to assess progress. In this paper, a theoretical background establishes the
complexities inherent in water quality...
This study examined patterns and controls on 35-years of forest succession following logging in the 236 ha South Umpqua Experimental Forest within the Umpqua National Forest in southwestern Oregon. Prior to logging, the overstory in all three watersheds (~50% cover) was composed of Douglas-fir (30-40% cover), grand fir (2 to...
This dissertation uses a new methodological approach for an in-depth analysis of three cartographic works. Studies within the discipline of the history of cartography have followed various methodologies throughout the past century. This dissertation argues that in order to come to a more complete understanding of how maps were produced...
Increasing population and land use decisions have had a negative effect on the aquatic ecosystems in the Willamette River Basin. One result is elevated temperatures in many of the Basin’s streams, which adversely affect the fish that live in these streams. There are several regulatory mechanisms in place to improve...
The geologic processes at work in American Samoa have long been a point of scientific debate. Of its numerous volcanic formations, few breach sea level, leaving an enormous proportion of their mass unavailable to traditional observation. This study aims to describe the deep sea geomorphology of American Samoa through compilation,...
This dissertation had three main objectives: 1) investigate the role of macro and micro geomorphology in determining lizard distributions in the Southern California Mojave Desert; 2) develop a spatially explicit lizard habitat model based upon geomorphology; and, 3) determine the interactive effects of geomorphology, roads, and land use in defining...