Looking for some ideas for an independent study project, but not sure where to start? I am happy to guide and assist you in your investigations. SUNY Oneonta has a great program for funding undergraduate research, so if your research needs some financial support, we can try to get the funding for it. All of us in the Earth & Atmospheric Sciences department are keen to get you into research, into the field, and on the path to discovery…

 

 

Here’s a list of potential projects to work on

 

·        Collect flood runoff samples from creeks in the upper Susquehanna basin, and measure key nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) and sediment concentration. This data is important to better determine water quality and export of these pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay headwaters.

Description: ButternutCreek-suspended-load-March-9-09.jpg

 

·        Utilize new LIDAR elevation data for the Susquehanna river basin to better characterize glacial and fluvial landforms. The exquisite detail of this data set delineates many landforms that are hard to see in older data sets, and represents new territory for discovery…

·        Document evidence of the September 2011 Floods in Delaware and Otsego counties, New York

o   I have surveyed several streams with a total station several years ago, and these recent floods have made some noticeable changes to the channels. We need to document the changes with differential GPS and total station surveys, and with stereophotographs. There are several important themes in this research, including how erosive the streams were for given peak discharges, particularly in bedrock reaches of local streams.

o   Float the local streams, including the Unadilla, Butternut, Wharton, Otego, Cherry Valley, Charlotte, Schenevus, and upper Susquehanna, compile GPS paths of the current channels, and geotag scaled and oriented photos of areas of erosion and deposition. This data in many cases can be compared to recent historic data, but in addition, this survey provides a more quantitative baseline for future surveys. We’ve had several storms in the last decade that approach the flood of record, and it seems likely we are in a phase of such stormy events. We need to understand how these floods are affecting our drainages.

o   Investigate flood heights and channel bed roughness in Otsego County stream channels using a total station to map out flood surfaces.

·        Work on flood plains in Otsego County to identify signs of flooding that could persist for longer times (10s of years or longer), using tree rings and floodplain stratigraphy. We need longer flood records, and this kind of research is waiting to be done for local streams! We have soil and tree coring tools, and GPR to assist with subsurface mapping.

·        Map stream reaches in Otsego County from a kayak with a GPS and camera. This project would greatly assist with understanding the basic environmental settings at a reach scale in local streams. Grain size patterns in the channel and how grain sizes vary downstream will be characterized.

·        Map the location of cutbanks and the record of past stream activity as revealed by deposits in channel cutbanks.

Description: DSC_0169

 

·        Using GIS, investigate mountainous landscapes for evidence of migrating divides in drainage basins where fluvial and hillslope processes dominate. This project would include the use of GIS, elevation, geologic, and aerial imagery to test ideas of the controls on drainage instability in eroding landscapes.

·        Explore the relationships between rainfall and runoff in central New York.

·        Investigate changes in landscapes using data available for free from the USGS Seamless server, as well as from New York State’s GIS clearinghouse. Numerous data layers that span a few decades are now available. Comparing these data sets in a variety of settings will give us a very direct measure of process activity, and how humans could better utilize the landscape with this activity in mind. Along these same lines, aerial photographs can be combined with elevation data sets in a GIS environment to explore changes in the landscape. The projects would utilize GIS, kinematic GPS, surveying tools, as well as observational skills. It’s a great training ground for a broad spectrum disciplines!

o   Active landslides are one place to start. There are several in the area. A picture of one appears below.

o   Stream locations are a great feature to monitor, particularly in valleys with meandering rivers. A quick way to determine if the channel has changed location is to float the stream with a GPS unit, and compare the path to mapped locations of the stream in the past.

·        Establish a relationship between soil creep and tree trunk curvature.

o   This will involve field work, surveying, and establishment of field sites for long term monitoring of soil creep.

o   Several State Forests in the area provide excellent opportunities to investigate tree growth and soil movement.

·        Characterize glacial effects in the uplands of central New York

o   This could involve exploration using elevation data sets and aerial imagery in a GIS, as well as field investigations.

o   We have a GPR (ground penetrating radar), a shallow seismic tool, and a gravimeter to investigate the subsurface beneath the curious landforms in the uplands.

·        Map the bedrock gorges in our area, and begin to work out why they occur where they do…

Description: IMG_5192

 

·        Construct a miniature eroding landscape model which couples runoff erosion with uplift, and investigate drainage basin development as a function of substrate resistance. You could replicate Grand Canyon National Park!

·        Learn how to use a handheld Raman spectrometer to identify minerals, and extend our current library of mineral spectra

·        Create a shallow seismic depth meter to better characterize shallow subsurface stratigraphy. This project would be perfect for a physics-oriented person. We would like to mount this apparatus on a cart, and use focused sound waves for shallow subsurface exploration. This would be a joint project between Sunil Labroo in Physics and myself.

·        And of course, if you have some ideas, I am happy to sponsor and assist you in your efforts

 

 

 

Description: Colliersville-Landslide

 

There’s lot to work on geomorphically in this part of New York. Here’s an active hillslope near Colliersville, NY, with the Susquehanna River chewing at its toe. This landslide comprises numerous small slumps, flows, rock falls, and creep, in varying stages of activity and recency. The substrate here consists of poorly consolidated gravel and bedded sand units, whose surface forms a terrace some height above the current river. Fine-grained units in the hillside act as impermeable barriers to groundwater, and seeps are visible in many places, especially at the toe of the landslide. This is strongly suggestive that higher pore fluid pressures are acting to destabilize the landslide. Indeed, liquefaction was apparent at the toe of the hillslope. Note the student investigators for scale.

 

 

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Les is solely responsible for the content of this website
Last modified October 23, 2011