Title: Correspondence Between Inherent Optical Properties and Net Oxygen Production
Mentor: Dr. Joseph Salisbury
Abstract
Data was collected onboard a Lagrangian cruise in order to find correlations and relationships between a biological oxygen stock and inherent optical properties in the Gulf of Maine. A buoy drifting at 12 meters was tracked during a two and a half week process. Using a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth) profiler along with an IOP (Inherent Optical Property) profiler, were able to take profiles of the Gulf of Maine according to the location of the buoy.
Upon completion of the cruise, we went into the data processing stage. We used MatLab as a platform to read the data from our profiling machines, and manipulate it to search for relationships. We wanted to integrate our variables down the euphotic zone, which is where light is equal to 1% of the surface light. The importance of the euphotic zone is that this is where oxygen production and consumption happens due to biology (Photosynthesis and Respiration). Using a MatLab formula we were able to derive integrated stocks of each of the variables and developed plots.
Our graphs consisted of concentrations, inventories, and rates of change. The IOP profiling machine produced hundreds of variables, however we only viewed a few such as absorption, attenuation and particle backscattering at different wavelengths, chlorophyll fluorescence, and a couple more. Of the variables viewed, particle backscattering at 555 nanometers gave us the best relationship to oxygen. We developed temporal differencing plots in order to see whether or not this relationship remained consistent throughout the day, and we found that as the oxygen stock changed, so did the particle backscattering stock.

Title: The Effects of Sea Surface Temperature on the Wind Speeds of Major Hurricanes of the 2005 Atlantic Region, a Reexamination of Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Research.

Team Members: Cedric Hall, Jean Bevins, Nicolas Tabron, Ashley Basnight
Team Mentor: Dr. Jinchun Yuan
Key Terms: Sea Surface Temperatue, Wind Speed

Abstract: The primary focus of this research was to study the effects of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) on the Wind Speeds of Major Hurricanes of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season. By this, reexaminations of Satellite Remote Sensing Data and previously recorded research had to be considered. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided a precise account of Physical Oceanography Data, taken by remotely sensed instruments during Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, and Depressions of the 2005 Atlantic region. The Oceanography team reviewed publications, in which similar research was conducted to empathize with the controversial debate to which scientist have argued over what actually causes Hurricane intensity. Several theoretical notions were produced from the data and research reviewed.
Thus, we conducted our own research and analysis on Sea Surface Temperature in regards to Wind Speed.We expected to either disprove or prove the ongoing contentious arguments by seeking precise results. We used Microsoft Excel to find correlations between Sea Surface Temperature and Wind Speed to accumulate our final results.

Title: Survey and analysis of Post-LGM Environment.
Team Members: Cedric Hall, Laesha Barnes
Mentors: Dr. Malcolm LeCompte and Dr. Dewayne Branch

Abstract
North America’s Laurentide Ice Sheet reached its maximum extent approximately 20,000 years ago when its south-easternmost margin reached present day New Brunswick in central New Jersey. There is no evidence that successive glaciations preceding the most recent episode penetrated much further south than the Mason-Dixon demarcation in the eastern United States. However, topographical changes attributed to the harsh weather during glacial intervals are purported to remain visible far to the South. Prominent among these features are numerous elliptically shaped, shallow depressions called collectively Carolina Bays, hypothesized to have been formed by “blow outs” of loose sediment by the strong, sustained winds characteristic of glacial epochs.
Approximately13,000 years ago, the Laurentide Ice Sheet’s retreat was interrupted by a return to glacial climatic conditions that persisted for over 1,000 years. The events precipitating the dramatic, millennial long climatic cooling known as the Younger Dryas remain both a mystery and the subject of debate. Some proposed mechanisms for initiating the YD hypothesize that Carolina Bay formation might be have occurred as a consequence of an extraterrestrial impact although evidence has been reported indicative of an earlier genesis.
While some research has indicated the bays were formed during prior glacial epochs, there are also indications the bays may be more recent features formed during the Younger Dryas.
If earlier, the bays would have experienced successive periods of post formation modification due to alternating cold, dry and warm, moist climatic conditions. In this event, Carolina Bays would episodically be filled with wind blown sediment or water. During the more clement periods, archeological evidence reveals the bays frequently became shallow ponds whose micro-ecosystems supported transient paleo-indian populations, camped on bay rims.
Core samples and carbon 14 dating indicates Rockyhock Carolina Bay, north of Edenton, NC is far older than YD onset. Its proximity to ECSU makes it a candidate for application of Ground penetrating RADAR to determine if its physical structure is consistent with an pre-YD formation date. Therefore, to obtain a clearer understanding of the processes that shaped the coastal topography of North Carolina during the Younger Dryas or previous glaciations will be carried out using a combination of Ground Penetrating RADAR (GPR) and coring to extract subsurface samples to probe the subsurface deposits of selected depressions.