Public perception of carbon capture and storage in relation to hydraulic fracturing: content analyses, survey results, and policy proposals

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can contribute significantly to addressing the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions problem. Despite widespread political support, CCS remains unknown to the general public. Public perception researchers have found that, when asked, the public is relatively unfamiliar with CCS yet many individuals voice specific safety concerns regarding the technology. We believe this leads many stakeholders conflate CCS with the better-known and more visible technology hydraulic fracturing (fracking). We support this with content analysis of media coverage, web analytics, and public lobbying records. Furthermore, we present results from a survey of United States residents. This first-of-its-kind survey assessed participants’ knowledge, opinions and support of CCS and fracking technologies. The survey showed that participants had more knowledge of fracking than CCS, and that knowledge of fracking made participants less willing to support CCS projects. Additionally, it showed that participants viewed the two technologies as having similar risks and similar risk intensities. In the CCS stakeholder literature, judgment and decision-making (JDM) frameworks are noticeably absent, and public perception is not discussed using any cognitive biases as a way of understanding or explaining irrational decisions, yet these survey results show evidence of both anchoring bias and the ambiguity effect. Public acceptance of CCS is essential for a national low-carbon future plan. In conclusion, we propose changes in communications and incentives as programs to increase support of CCS.

Ammonite biostratigraphy, lithofacies variations, and paleoceanographic implications for Barremian-Aptian sequences of northeastern Mexico

Two Barremian-Aptian sequences studied in Durango and Nuevo Leon States, northeastern Mexico include three lithic units which have been described as the Cupido Formation of Barremian-early Early Aptian age, its lateral equivalent, the Lower Tamaulipas Formation, and the La Peña Formation extending through the early Albian. ^ The present work improves the existing ammonite Aptian biozonation by considering constraints associated with a discontinuous spatial and temporal record of the different taxa within the La Peña Formation. ^ Four ammonite biozones are established: (1) The Dufrenoyia justinae Zone for the late Early Aptian, (2) The Burckhardtites nazasensis/Rhytidoplites robertsi Zone for the middle Aptian, (3) The Cheloniceras inconstans Zone for the early Late Aptian, and (4) The Hypacanthoplites cf. leanzae Zone for the late late Aptian. ^ Also, a detailed sedimentological analysis of the sections shed further light on the possible causes that controlled intermittent occurrences of the ammonites in relation to the prevailing paleoceanographic and paleoecologic conditions in northeastern Mexico during the late Barremian-Aptian. ^ Microfacies analyses show that the upper part of the Cupido facies are represented by biocalcirudite with rudists, biocalcarenites with oolites and algae, and rich benthonic foraminifera assemblages with ostracods. These facies are related to paleoceanographic conditions of sedimentation within a shallow-marine carbonate platform. Its lateral equivalent, deep-water facies extended to the southeast and it is represented by the Lower Tamaulipas Formation, which includes planktonic foraminifera, ostracods, and mollusk and echinoid fragments. The beginning of deposition of the La Peña Formation in the late Early Aptian is characterized by an increase in terrigenous materials and significant decrease in the abundance of benthic fauna. The La Peña Formation is recognized by an alternation of marls and shale limestones containing ammonites, planktonic foraminifera, ostracods, and radiolaria toward the top. Accumulation of the La Peña continued throughout the end of the Aptian and records changes in conditions of sedimentation and productivity in the water column, which abruptly terminated the carbonate deposition in the Cupido Platform. ^ Results of carbon/carbonate content analyses show that changes from the Cupido to the La Peña facies are also characterized by an increase of organic carbon, which indicate the onset of enhanced dysoxic/anoxic conditions in the lower water column. ^

The importance of marine subsidies for terrestrial consumers in coastal Peru

The Peruvian coast is one the best examples of cross-ecosystem food web exchanges, in which resources from one of the richest marine ecosystems subsidize consumers in one of the driest deserts on Earth. Marine subsidies are resources that originate in the marine ecosystem, and that contribute to increase the density of consumers in the recipient ecosystem. I examined the effects of marine subsidies on animal populations in the Peruvian coastal desert. ^ I combined several approaches to study the linkages between marine resources and terrestrial consumers, such as surveying the spatial distribution and estimating the relative abundance of terrestrial consumers, studying the diet of geckos and lizards through stomach content analyses, and examining the desert food web with carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses. ^ I found that the distribution and diet of desert consumers were tightly coupled to the availability of marine subsidies. I revealed linkages along two pathways of nutrient fluxes: tidal action that washes ashore macroalgae and cadavers of marine organisms, and animal transport in places where pinnipeds and seabirds congregate for reproduction. In the first pathway, intertidal algivivores made marine resources available to terrestrial consumers by moving between the intertidal and supratidal zone. The relative contribution of terrestrial and algal carbon sources varied among terrestrial consumers, because scorpions assimilated a lower proportion of energy from macroalgae than did geckos and solifuges. In the second pathway, I found that pinniped colonies influenced the diet of desert consumers, and contributed to support large populations of lizards and geckos. By combining field observations, and stomach and stable isotope analyses, I constructed a simplified food web for a large sea lion colony, showing the number of trophic levels that originate from pinniped-derived nutrients. ^ My study demonstrates the enormous importance of marine resources for the diet of desert consumers. The near absence of rainfall along the Peruvian coast promotes an extreme dependence of terrestrial consumers on marine resources, and causes permanent food web effects that are affected by temporal variability in marine productivity, rather then temporal patterns of desert plant growth. ^

Ammonite biostratigraphy, lithofacies variations, and paleoceanographic implications for barremian-aptian sequences of northeastern Mexico

Two Barremian-Aptian sequences studied in Durango and Nuevo Leon States, northeastern Mexico include three lithic units which have been described as the Cupido Formation of Barremian-early Early Aptian age, its lateral equivalent, the Lower Tamaulipas Formation, and the La Pena Formation extending through the early Albian. The present work improves the existing ammonite Aptian biozonation by considering constraints associated with a discontinuous spatial and temporal record of the different taxa within the La Pena Formation. Four ammonite biozones are established: 1) The Dufrenoyia justinae Zone for the late Early Aptian, 2) The Burckhardtites nazasensis/Rhytidoplites robertsi Zone for the middle Aptian, 3) The Cheloniceras inconstans Zone for the early Late Aptian, and 4) The Hypacanthoplites cf. leanzae Zone for the late late Aptian. Also, a detailed sedimentological analysis of the sections shed further light on the possible causes that controlled intermittent occurrences of the ammonites in relation to the prevailing paleoceanographic and paleoecologic conditions in northeastern Mexico during the late Barremian-Aptian. Microfacies analyses show that the upper part of the Cupido facies are represented by biocalcirudite with rudists, biocalcarenites with oolites and algae, and rich benthonic foraminifera assemblages with ostracods. These facies are related to paleoceanographic conditions of sedimentation within a shallow-marine carbonate platform. Its lateral equivalent, deep-water facies extended to the southeast and it is represented by the Lower Tamaulipas Formation, which includes planktonic foraminifera, ostracods, and mollusk and echinoid fragments. The beginning of deposition of the La Pena Formation in the late Early Aptian is characterized by an increase in terrigenous materials and significant decrease in the abundance of benthic fauna. The La Pena Formation is recognized by an alternation of marls and shale limestones containing ammonites, planktonic foraminifera, ostracods, and radiolaria toward the top. Accumulation of the La Pena continued throughout the end of the Aptian and records changes in conditions of sedimentation and productivity in the water column, which abruptly terminated the carbonate deposition in the Cupido Platform. Results of carbon/carbonate content analyses show that changes from the Cupido to the La Pena facies are also characterized by an increase of organic carbon, which indicate the onset of enhanced dysoxic/anoxic conditions in the lower water column.

The importance of marine subsidies for terrestrial consumers in coastal Peru

The Peruvian coast is one the best examples of cross-ecosystem food web exchanges, in which resources from one of the richest marine ecosystems subsidize consumers in one of the driest deserts on Earth. Marine subsidies are resources that originate in the marine ecosystem, and that contribute to increase the density of consumers in the recipient ecosystem. I examined the effects of marine subsidies on animal populations in the Peruvian coastal desert. I combined several approaches to study the linkages between marine resources and terrestrial consumers, such as surveying the spatial distribution and estimating the relative abundance of terrestrial consumers, studying the diet of geckos and lizards through stomach content analyses, and examining the desert food web with carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses. I found that the distribution and diet of desert consumers were tightly coupled to the availability of marine subsidies. I revealed linkages along two pathways of nutrient fluxes: tidal action that washes ashore macroalgae and cadavers of marine organisms, and animal transport in places where pinnipeds and seabirds congregate for reproduction. In the first pathway, intertidal algivivores made marine resources available to terrestrial consumers by moving between the intertidal and supratidal zone. The relative contribution of terrestrial and algal carbon sources varied among terrestrial consumers, because scorpions assimilated a lower proportion of energy from macroalgae than did geckos and solifuges. In the second pathway, I found that pinniped colonies influenced the diet of desert consumers, and contributed to support large populations of lizards and geckos. By combining field observations, and stomach and stable isotope analyses, I constructed a simplified food web for a large sea lion colony, showing the number of trophic levels that originate from pinniped-derived nutrients. My study demonstrates the enormous importance of marine resources for the diet of desert consumers. The near absence of rainfall along the Peruvian coast promotes an extreme dependence of terrestrial consumers on marine resources, and causes permanent food web effects that are affected by temporal variability in marine productivity, rather then temporal patterns of desert plant growth.

The Effect of Authentic Literacy Experiences as Book Buddies with Hispanic Fourth Graders on Preservice Teachers’ Literacy Content Knowledge and Reading Maturity

From a sociocultural perspective, individuals learn best from contextualized experiences. In preservice teacher education, contextualized experiences include authentic literacy experiences, which include a real reader and writer and replicate real life communication. To be prepared to teach well, preservice teachers need to gain literacy content knowledge and possess reading maturity. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of authentic literacy experiences as Book Buddies with Hispanic fourth graders on preservice teachers’ literacy content knowledge and reading maturity. The study was a pretest/posttest design conducted over 12 weeks. Preservice teacher participants, the focus of the study, were elementary education majors taking the third of four required reading courses in non-probabilistic convenience groups, 43 (n = 33 experimental, n = 10 comparison) Elementary Education majors. The Survey of Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching and Technology (SPTKTT), specifically designed for preservice teachers majoring in elementary or early childhood education and the Reading Maturity Survey (RMS) were used in this study. Preservice teachers chose either the experimental or comparison group based on the opportunity to earn extra credit points (experimental = 30 points, comparison = 15). After exchanging introductory letters preservice teachers and Hispanic fourth graders each read four books. After reading each book preservice teachers wrote letters to their student asking higher order thinking questions. Preservice teachers received scanned copies of their student’s unedited letters via email which enabled them to see their student’s authentic answers and writing levels. A series of analyses of covariance were used to determine whether there were significant differences in the dependent variables between the experimental and comparison groups. This quasi-experimental study tested two hypotheses. Using the appropriate pretest scores as covariates for adjusting the posttest means of the subcategory Literacy Content Knowledge (LCK), of the SPTKTT and the RMS, the mean adjusted posttest scores from the experimental group and comparison group were compared. No significant differences were found on the LCK dependent variable using the .05 level of significance, which may be due to Type II error caused by the small sample size. Significant differences were found on RMS using the .05 level of significance.