The southeastern United States endures environmental change from human population increase, climate change, and land-use alterations creating the need to understand baseline conditions and ...environmental patterns prior to human impacts. While paleoenvironmental data can be reconstructed from a variety of archives (e.g., lake sediments, tree rings, speleothems), some geographic areas contain fewer such records. One archive capable of recording moisture regimes and other paleoenvironmental changes over millennia but has received little attention relative to other climate proxies is bat guano deposits in cave systems. Bat guano deposits are found in many cave environments in the southeastern United States and can be used as an archive of paleoenvironmental data including precipitation, vegetation, and aspects associated with the ecology of bats. Here, we present a 12,000-year record of paleoenvironmental change based on
δ
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H stable isotopes in a guano core collected from Cave Springs Cave in Alabama, USA. Results suggest distinct shifts in moisture with dryer conditions during the early Holocene/late Pleistocene (12,200–9500 cal year BP) (
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H values − 86.82 to −-77.70), wetter conditions during the middle Holocene (9300–3900 cal year BP) (
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H values − 125.74 to − 80.63), roughly coinciding with the Holocene Climatic Optimum event time interval (9000–5000 cal year BP). During the last 4000 years, conditions in the region shifted in the southeastern United States region becoming dryer once again. Climate inferences based on guano
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H are consistent with the role of atmospheric moisture on regional vegetation changes suggested by previous pollen records obtained from lake sediment cores. This study suggests bat guano
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H may be a reliable method to provide a long-term paleoclimate record.
The Cretaceous outcrop belt of the Mississippi Embayment in the Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) spans the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary. A detailed reconstruction of this time interval is critical ...for understanding the nature of biotic and environmental changes preceding the end-Cretaceous Mass Extinction event and for deciphering the likely extinction mechanism (i.e., bolide impact versus volcanism). Eight sections encompassing the K/Pg succession across the Mississippi Embayment were analyzed using biostratigraphic sampling of ammonites, dinoflagellates, and nannofossils. An upper Maastrichtian ammonite zonation is proposed as follows, from oldest to youngest: Discoscaphites conradi Zone, D. minardi Zone, and D. iris Zone. Our study documents that the ammonite zonation established in the Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) extends to the GCP. This zonation is integrated with nannofossil and dinoflagellate biostratigraphy to provide a framework to more accurately determine the age relationships in this region. We demonstrate that ammonites and dinoflagellates are more reliable stratigraphic indicators in this area than nannofossils because age-diagnostic nannofossils are not consistently present within the upper Maastrichtian in the GCP. This biostratigraphic framework has the potential to become a useful tool for correlation of strata both within the GCP and between the GCP, Western Interior, and ACP. The presence of the uppermost Maastrichtian ammonite D. iris, calcareous nannofossil Micula prinsii, and dinoflagellates Palynodinium grallator and Disphaerogena carposphaeropsis suggests that the K/Pg succession in the GCP is nearly complete. Consequently, the GCP is an excellent setting for investigating fine scale temporal changes across the K/Pg boundary and ultimately elucidating the mechanisms causing extinction.
This first comprehensive biography of Thomas Goode Jones records the life of a man whose political career reflects the fascinating and unsettled history of Alabama and the Deep South at the turn of ...the twentieth century.
Often overshadowed by the pharaonic antebellum period, the Civil War, and the luminous heights of the civil rights movement, the deceptively placid decades at the turn of the century were, in fact, a period when southerners fiercely debated the course of the South’s future. In tracing Jones’s career, Brent J. Aucoin offers vivid accounts of the great events and trends of that pivotal period: Reconstruction, the birth of the “Solid South,” the Populist Revolt, and the establishment of racial disenfranchisement and segregation.
Born in 1844, Jones served in the Confederate army and after the war identified as a conservative “Bourbon” Democrat. He served as Alabama's governor from 1890 to 1894 and as a federal judge from 1901 until his death in 1914. As a veteran, politician, and judge, Jones embodied numerous roles in the shifting political landscape of the South.
Jones was not, however, a reflexive conformist and sometimes pursued policies at odds with his party. Jones’s rhetoric and support of African American civil rights were exceptional and earned him truculent criticism from unrepentant racist factions in his party. His support was so fearless that it inspired Booker T. Washington to recommend Jones to Republican president Theodore Roosevelt as a federal judge. On the bench, Jones garnered national attention for his efforts to end peonage and lynching, and yet he also enabled the establishment of legalized segregation in Alabama, confounding attempts easily to categorize him as an odious reactionary or fearless progressive.
A man who both represented and differed from his class, Thomas Goode Jones offers contemporary readers and scholars an ideal subject of study to understand a period of southern history that still shapes American life today.
Long-term poultry litter (PL) application in pasture soil was found to enhance accumulation of certain phosphorus (P) forms in soil micro-aggregate fractions and have potential impacts on non-point ...water pollution by wind erosion or run-off. A P fractionation method was utilized to identify P forms in aggregate fractions derived from a long-term PL applied pasture soil. Enrichment of surface soil P by PL application has considerable effects on increasing specifically the labile P forms in surface soil micro-aggregates. Particular concern is of accumulation of water soluble and labile inorganic P forms in micro-aggregate particles susceptible to wind and soil erosion. Continuous application of PL to pasture fields for at least 15years at a rate of 2.3Tha−1y−1 resulted in a considerable increase in inorganic P forms including Mehlich-3, water soluble and labile bicarbonate P (NaHCO3–P) forms in most aggregate size fractions. Mehlich-3-P was highest in <0.053mm micro-aggregates (223.8mgkg−1) and relatively high amounts ranging from 145.5 to 170.4mgkg−1 were found in 0.053–1.0mm micro-aggregates. High levels of water soluble P were found in majority of micro-aggregate particles in PL applied soil, which amounts to 11–18% of total inorganic P in these particles. Bicarbonate–P or labile inorganic P forms were at elevated levels in 0.125–0.25, 0.053–0.125 and <0.053mm micro-aggregates, which amounts to approximately 11–22% of total inorganic P in these particles. The PL application also increased the NaOH extractable P (NaOH–P) or Al/Fe bound P in soil aggregate fractions (192–347mgkg−1). Notable increase in labile organic P forms in certain micro-aggregate size fractions may be of concern due to ease of P mineralization.
► Poultry litter application affects buildup of phosphorus in soil micro-aggregates. ► Poultry litter application increases the labile phosphorus forms in soil micro-aggregates. ► Phosphorus release potential can be predicted by phosphorus forms in aggregates. ► Labile phosphorus containing aggregates can enter waterways via wind/water erosion.
This study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (for both long APQ-lg and short APQ-9 forms) across age, gender, clinical status, and informant ...(i.e., parent vs. child reports). The sample was composed of adolescents (community sample: N = 1,746; clinical sample: N = 166) and parents (N = 149). The analyses were conducted in R. Measurement invariance was assessed via multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, equivalence test, and subsampling approach. The original model of APQ-lg (five factors) showed a significantly better fit than other concurrent models (five concurrent models were specified, based on prior literature). For APQ-lg, we found measurement invariance across gender and partial measurement invariance across age, clinical status, and informant. For APQ-9, we confirmed the measurement invariance across gender and clinical status, while across age and informant partial measurement invariance was attested. Overall, our study indicated that APQ-lg and APQ-9 are two valid tools for measuring parenting practices with some caveats.
The tsunami generated by the Chicxulub impact eroded the uppermost Cretaceous surface of the Gulf Coast region (U.S.A.) forming a distinctive topography that was previously interpreted as a sequence ...boundary. At more distal sites, such as Stevns Klint (Denmark), there appears to be no sequence boundary at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary but there is one within the uppermost Maastrichtian, between the Sigerslev and Højerup members, and another in the lowermost Paleocene (top of Zone P1a). Both of these surfaces are identified by distinctive, phosphatized, and incipient hardgrounds. The changes in sea level involved in the generation of uppermost Cretaceous sequences are thought to have been minimal as, in the Gulpen and Maastricht formations of the Maastricht area (Netherlands), the presence of sea grasses and their associated foraminifera would indicate that the chalk sea floor remained within the range of water depth that would allow photosynthesis (<20m), even across the postulated sequence boundaries. The assemblages of foraminifera associated with sea grasses in the uppermost Maastrichtian are comparable in morphology with those associated with modern sea grass meadows and indicate a relationship that may have existed since, at least, the latest Cretaceous.
•Suggests that estimates of Maastrichtian sea level changes are too high•Identifies sequence boundaries above and below the K/Pg boundary•Reports that assemblages of Maastrichtian foraminifera in Maastricht area may reflect seagrass communities•Suggests that foraminifera/seagrass linkage may have been operative since the latest Cretaceous
Knowledge of surface soil properties is used to assess past erosion and predict erodibility, determine nutrient requirements, and assess surface texture for soil survey applications. This study was ...designed to evaluate high resolution IKONOS multispectral data as a soil-mapping tool. Imagery was acquired over conventionally tilled fields in the Coastal Plain and Tennessee Valley physiographic regions of Alabama. Acquisitions were designed to assess the impact of surface crusting, roughness, and tillage on our ability to depict soil property variability. Soils consisted mostly of fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Plinthic Kandiudults at the Coastal Plain site and fine, kaolinitic, thermic Rhodic Paleudults at the Tennessee Valley site. Soils were sampled in 0.20-ha grids to a depth of 15 cm and analyzed for percentages of sand (0.05-2 mm), silt (0.002-0.05 mm), clay (<0.002 mm), citrate-dithionite extractable Fe, and total C (TC). Four methods of evaluating variability in soil attributes were evaluated: (i) kriging of soil attributes, (ii) cokriging with soil attributes and reflectance data, (iii) multivariate regression based on the relationship between reflectance and soil properties, and (iv) fuzzy c-means clustering of reflectance data. Results indicate that cokriging with remotely sensed (RS) data improved field scale estimates of surface TC and clay content compared with kriging and regression methods. Fuzzy c-means worked best using remotely sensed data acquired over freshly tilled fields, reducing soil property variability within soil zones compared with field scale soil property variability.
The story of the American Civil War is typically told with particular interest in the national players behind the war: Davis, Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and their peers. However, the truth is that ...countless Americans on both sides of the war worked in their own communities to sway public perception of abolition, secession, and government intervention. In north Alabama, David Hubbard was an ardent and influential voice for leaving the Union, spreading his increasingly radical view of states' rights and the need to rebel against what he viewed an overreaching federal government. You have likely never heard of Hubbard, the grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier who fought under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. He was much more than that stereotype of antebellum Alabama politicians, being an early speculator in lands coerced from Native Americans; a lawyer and cotton planter; a populist; an influential member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama; and a key promoter of the very first railroad built west of the Allegheny mountains. The South's Forgotten Fire-Eater is the story of Hubbard's radicalization, describing his rise to becoming the most influential and prominent secessionist in north Alabama. Despite growing historical interest in the "fire eaters" who whipped the South into a frenzy, there has been little mention until now of Hubbard's integral involvement in Alabama's relationship with the Confederacy. Now historian Chris McIlwain offers Hubbard's story as a cautionary tale of radical politics and its consequences.
The herein described inelastic neutron scattering (INS) method of measuring soil carbon was based on a new procedure for extracting the net carbon signal (NCS) from the measured γ spectra and ...determination of the average carbon weight percent in the upper ∼8-cm soil layer (AvgCw%8). The NCS extraction utilized the net-INS spectrum, which was the difference between the INS and thermal neutron capture (TNC) spectra and the net-INS system background spectrum. The proportionality between NCS and AvgCw%8 for any shape of soil carbon depth distribution was demonstrated theoretically. The theoretical model for NCS calculations accounted for carbon depth distribution and neutron and γ ray propagation laws in our analysis; previous model results were verified by comparison with a Monte Carlo simulation using Geant4. The experimental results confirmed the identified proportionality. The mobile INS system was calibrated using pits filled with synthetic soil; this calibration was used for AvgCw%8 determinations in INS field measurements. The AvgCw%8 was also determined by the dry combustion method. Benchmarking the soil carbon determination by INS demonstrated results that coincided with dry combustion technique (DCT) results (within experimental error limits). Given the agreement between these methods, the described INS measurement system can be recommended as a reliable alternative means for measuring soil carbon.
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