This report summarizes field work over two summers (1976 and 1977) to relocate, monument and reinventory permanent vegetation plots in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These plots were first established by the senior author and R.H. Whittaker in 1959-62. The inventory results are discussed in terms of vegetation changes in high-altitudinal forest ecosystems, in particular the spruce-fir forests, and the factors, climate shift and biotic and abiotic agents, bringing about vegetation change. A second aspect of the report summarizes experience and offers recommendations for establishment of permanent vegetation plots for the purpose of providing a monitoring tool with which to measure long-term ecological change.

The measurement of soil properties in-situ offers the advantages of minimal disturbance, retention of the in-situ state of stress, temperature, chemical, and biological environments, and cost effectiveness relative to many types of laboratory tests for evaluation of undisturbed soil properties. This report is concerned with techniques for in-situ measurement of permeability, strength, stress-deformation properties, and volume change properties; property classes which are of interest in most geotechnical engineering problems. Emphasis is on test concepts, data analysis and interpretation, and advantages and limitations of methods, as opposed to details of apparatus and procedure.

Progress made during FY-1977 in establishing design criteria to ensure the successful operation and long-term stability of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) reservoirs in underground porous media, such as aquifers is summarized. The formulation of pertinent criteria is important since the long-term stability of air storage reservoirs is probably the item of greatest risk to the successful demonstration and commercialization of the CAES concept. The study has been divided into four phases: (1) state-of-the-art survey, (2) analytical modeling studies, (3) laboratory studies, and (4) field testing. The first of these phases, the state-of-the-art survey for air storage in porous reservoirs, has been completed on schedule and is reported in Section 2. Sections 3 and 4 are progress reports on Phases 2 and 3. No work has been done on Phase 4. It is planned that the field testing phase of this study will be carried out in conjunction with the Department of Energy/Electric Power Research Institute (DOE/EPRI) CAES Demonstration Program. This phase is not scheduled to begin until FY-1979.

The TLD-400 chips combined with the Pb-Ta field capsule provide a sensitive method of measuring penetrating ambient radiation in the environment. The method is best used for field deployments of about 1 month or less to minimize problems associated with fading. A correction factor of about 10% is necessary for the readings obtained for a 28-day field deployment and a 1-day wait before readout. Integration of reader output from 150/sup 0/C to 280/sup 0/C provides a good signal-to-noise ratio for TLD-400 chips exposed to 5 mR for the reader and planchet described herein. Visual inspection of the glow curves is recommended during startup of any new program or following any major instrument repair. The glow curves can be easily drawn with an X-Y recorder. Because of the large energy dependence of bare TLD-400 chips, an energy-flattening filter is necessary to allow a direct conversion from a reference exposure to observed field exposures. The field capsule used, consisting of 10 mil of tantalum and 2 mil of lead, provides an approximate uniform energy response above 70 keV. Below 70 keV, the response decreases rapidly because of the shielding. Experiments conducted have not shown the TLD-400 chips to be sensitive to the …

Separate abstracts were prepared for 28 papers presented at the conference. Author and subject indexes are included. (HLW)

Resource assessment and methods of direct utilization for existing and prospective food processing plants have been determined in two geothermal resource areas in Oregon. Ore-Ida Foods, Inc. and Amalgamated Sugar Company in the Snake River Basin; Western Polymer Corporation (potato starch extraction) and three prospective industries--vegetable dehydration, alfalfa drying and greenhouses--in the Klamath Basin have been analyzed for direct utilization of geothermal fluids. Existing geologic knowledge has been integrated to indicate locations, depth, quality, and estimated productivity of the geothermal reservoirs. Energy-economic needs and balances, along with cost and energy savings associated with field development, delivery systems, in-plant applications and fluid disposal have been calculated for interested industrial representatives.

A generalized fish life-cycle population model and computer program have been prepared to evaluate the long-term effect of changes in mortality in age class 0. The general question concerns what happens to a fishery when density-independent sources of mortality are introduced that act on age class 0, particularly entrainment and impingement at power plants. This paper discusses the model formulation and computer program, including sample results. The population model consists of a system of difference equations involving age-dependent fecundity and survival. The fecundity for each age class is assumed to be a function of both the fraction of females sexually mature and the weight of females as they enter each age class. Natural mortality for age classes 1 and older is assumed to be independent of population size. Fishing mortality is assumed to vary with the number and weight of fish available to the fishery. Age class 0 is divided into six life stages. The probability of survival for age class 0 is estimated considering both density-independent mortality (natural and power plant) and density-dependent mortality for each life stage. Two types of density-dependent mortality are included. These are cannibalism of each life stage by older age classes and intra-life-stage competition.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using discriminant analysis in assessing plant niches. As a component of research by the Environmental Research Park Project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, five sites were inventoried for herbaceous species. From this inventory, four sympatric species of Galium and seventeen co-occurring herbaceous species were selected for discriminant analysis. The four species of Galium were treated as two data sets: one was composed of information collected at one site (a mesic hardwood area) and the other contained data from two cedar sites of shallow soil over limestone bedrock. The seventeen herbaceous species all occurred in the mesic hardwood area.

The purpose of this report was to estimate the cost of producing methane (natural gas) from geopressured aquifers inland from and along the coast of the Gulf of New Mexico. No other economic values of the geopressured brines were considered for exploitation. There were several component tasks of such an overall analysis which had to be completed in order to arrive at the final conclusion. (1) An estimate of the reservoir parameters of the geopressured aquifers; their areal extent, net thickness of productive sand, porosity, permeability, effective compressibility. It is these parameters which determine the production rates and the total recovery of the resource that may be expected within an economic time frame. (2) An estimate of the production rates and cumulative production of geopressured aquifers having reservoir properties falling into the range of values that may be anticipated from the results of the first task. (3) An estimate of the operating and capital costs of drilling wells and producing such geopressured aquifers, integral and significant part of the operating costs is the cost of disposing of the large quantities of produced brines following the desorption of the methane. (4) An estimate of the sales price of the recovered methane …

Daily newspaper from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The RJESTATS system of programs provides accounting information on the use of the Environmental Sciences Division Remote Job Entry (RJE) facility. Summaries can be generated to display the number and kind of users, types of jobs run through the RJE facility, and the persons (or projects) that are utilizing the facility. Sample tables are presented to show certain summaries by user name, job name initials, and types of jobs run. RJESTATS is useful for managing and determining the use of an IBM-compatible RJE facility.

An investigation has been made of the physical properties and formation conditions of cements formed in the yttria/salt/water system. Cementitious binders were of the nominal Y/sub 2/(OH)/sub 5/X.H/sub 2/O type (where X represents the Cl/sup -/ or NO/sub 3//sup -/). An ammonium nitrate-produced yttria cement was shown to be sinterable and was demonstrated to form very refractory castable concretes with zirconia or alumina aggregates.

Separate abstracts were prepared for the ten sections of this report. Appendices giving publications, professional activities, and organization charts are also included. (HLW)

In the proposed Counterstreaming Ion Torus (CIT) steady state rather than pulsed operation may be possible if all of the plasma power density is provided by neutral beam injection. After the neutral beams have penetrated the magnetic field, strong ion beam currents are produced. A major concern with the relatively strong counterstreaming ion currents is the effect of the beam self-magnetic fields on the macroscopic equilibrium of the system. Pinching and self focusing of the individual beams may occur, or the repulsive interaction of the two oppositely directed beam currents may destroy the equilibrium entirely. We investigate this macroscopic behavior of the ion beams with a guiding center plasma particle simulation model and we describe a model we have developed to simulate steady state behavior in an ideal CIT configuration.

This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to assess the environmental implications of the Department of Energy's proposal to drill, complete, and test one geopressure well located in Brazoria County on a 2 hectares (five acre) test site 64 km (40 mi) south of Houston, Abstract 107, Perry and Austin Survey, Brazoria County, TX. The test well is herein referred to as GCO-DOE Pleasant Bayou No. 1. A maximum of four disposal wells will be located within .8 km (1/2 mi) of the proposed well. The DOE and the University of Texas Center for Energy Studies propose to operate the test facility for three years to evaluate the geopressure potential of the subsurface. Tests to be conducted include flow rates, fluid composition, temperature, gas content, geologic characteristics, and the land subsidence potential for subsequent production.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Brownwood, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.