Black Hills Research Articles

Occurrence of the Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) on the margins of a disjunct range

The Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) can be found throughout much of eastern North America, though two notable disjunct populations exist in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota and the Central Platte River Valley in southcentral Nebraska, west of the species’ core range. While literature continues to be added on the Red-bellied Snake and its natural history, it remains largely understudied in Nebraska. Throughout much of this species’ range, it is considered associated with woodland and wetland habitat features. On 28 September 2021, we detected one Red-bellied Snake near a treeless playa wetland in the Rainwater Basins ecoregion of southcentral Nebraska. Using a Grubbs Test to determine significant outliers, we found that this record was further from the Platte River than other previous accounts of this species in the state. This observation suggests this species may be found in other portions of the Rainwater Basins and considerably further from the Platte River than previously believed. Our observation along with other recent work indicates that Red-bellied Snakes may persist in herbaceous habitats lacking established woodland that include sufficient wetland features to support their primary food sources, including gastropods and other soft-bodied invertebrates. Due to the fragmentation of suitable habitats in the Rainwater Basins, coupled with the low dispersal of Red-bellied Snakes, populations persisting in the region are likely to be isolated.

On the Plains, and Among the Peaks: or, How Mrs. Maxwell Made Her Natural History Collection by Mary Dartt

Reviewed by: On the Plains, and Among the Peaks: or, How Mrs. Maxwell Made Her Natural History Collection by Mary Dartt Carrie Gray-Wood On the Plains, and Among the Peaks: or, How Mrs. Maxwell Made Her Natural History Collection. By Mary Dartt. Edited by Julie McCown. Louisville: University Press of Colorado. ix + 233 pp. Figures, appendixes, index. $27.95 paper. Long overlooked despite her contributions to natural history and taxidermy, Martha Maxwell's biography has languished for over 100 years. Julie McCown's faithful revision of the original provides an exciting new source on the history of naturalist studies and explorations of Victorian gender norms in Colorado and the Great Plains. Dartt's biography remains one of the few resources on Ms. Maxwell. Exploring the Colorado plains and mountains from 1857 to 1877, she was particularly interested in the region's fauna. She pioneered behavioral observation, measurements, and drawings to ensure realism in the preserved animal. Her lifelike poses in native habitats were cutting-edge ideas. She developed new tanning mixtures for more effective hide preservation. She had a reputation as one of the most skilled taxidermists of her era. Sadly, her voluminous specimen collection has not survived. While growing her reputation as a scientist, Martha Maxwell enlisted her sister to craft a socially appropriate image. Dartt's biography of Maxwell risked censure for describing her grisly tasks and the dangers of her expeditions. It dared suggest a woman was as capable as a man, provided she conducted herself as a scientist without discarding all gender norms. Dartt emphasizes situations underscoring feminine attributes. There are a startling number of encounters with animals caring for [End Page 64] babies. While the mother is quickly dispatched, Maxwell expresses strong emotions for the young despite eventually eliminating and preserving all in a familial grouping. Thus, Maxwell demonstrates the gentle emotions of a proper Victorian woman who models the role of the warm, nurturing mother. Additionally, McCown observes reporters who described Maxwell's socially appropriate attributes: ladylike refinement, small stature, blue eyes, and gentle behavior. She was not the brutish, loud, crude, and uncultured "Amazonian" whom reporters assumed they would encounter. A gun-toting pioneer woman (at odds with the feminine ideal) is excused in the primal world of the frontier West. These expectations and ideals, as well as the sisters' clear attempts to skirt and subvert Victorian gender norms, provide rich data on Victorian social constructs and regional variation. Unfortunately, one area McCown fails to address is the impact Maxwell had on crafting America's sense of place in the American West. Lifelike mounts, engaged in accurate behaviors embedded in realistic environments, gave viewers a visceral view of the Plains unlike anything previously seen. This was reinforced by the book's accounts of exotic tales of danger, wilderness, hunting, and wildlife. Maxwell provided tangible vignettes of the American prairie viewers could reach out and touch, surely a galvanizing experience for eastern Americans. McCown unearthed exciting material for environmental historians and social scientists of the Great Plains. While she fails to address the impact Maxwell and Dartt had on constructing place in the American West, the invaluable biography she has assisted in bringing back into circulation is now widely available. [End Page 65] Carrie Gray-Wood Department of Geography Black Hills State University Copyright © 2023 Center for Great Plains Studies

Trace element geochemistry of spodumene megacrystals: A combined portable-XRF and micro-XRF study

Formation mechanisms of spodumene (LiAlSi2O6) megacrystals, such as those historically mined in the Black Hills of South Dakota or recently discovered in the Plumbago North deposit, Newry, Maine, remain puzzling, despite decades of observations and speculations. In-situ trace element geochemistry and zoning patterns in spodumene could provide insights into the primary growth mechanisms and optimize the extraction of lithium, but the size of these giant crystals greatly exceeds the chamber size of conventional compositional-mapping techniques. Here we propose a novel two-step approach for documenting the distribution of trace elements in sliced crystals, several decimeters in size, using 2D compositional mapping via 1) portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) collected across a square grid with a step size of 0.5 to 1 cm and 2) benchtop micro-X-ray Fluorescence (μXRF) at step-size ≥ 25 μm using crystals or portions of crystals that were pre-screened via pXRF. Mineral-specific analytical optimization included specific filters and/or detector settings in order to avoid the Bragg peaks interfering with the Ka lines of Mn, Fe, Ge, Ga, ± Sn in spodumene when using a Bruker TRACER 5i pXRF unit, an M4 TORNADO μXRF instrument, or an M4 TORNADOPlus instrument.Two subhedral spodumene samples analyzed along crystallographically-oriented sections have a relatively homogenous, several decimeter-wide core (Zone 1) postdated by a strongly zoned, several centimeter-thin rim (Zone 2). With the increase in spatial resolution by three orders of magnitude, extraordinary oscillatory ± sector growth zoning, 0.1 mm to >1 cm wide, was revealed using μXRF in selected areas of Zone 2, that were pre-screened by pXRF. Typically, both Zones 1 and 2 are characterized by coupling of Fe with Ga ± Ti and decoupling from Mn, Sn, and Ge. An exception is Sn that decouples from Mn and couples with Fe,Ti, and Ga in Zone 2. This consistent zoning in crystals from distinct localities suggests two distinct growth episodes, marked by a sudden change in the crystallization mechanism, possibly from an undersaturated magma to fluid-saturated system. This integrated pXRF-μXRF method may assist with compositional and alteration characterization of lithium ore to optimize the processing and extraction methods. Additionally, the integrated techniques open a new venue of investigation of chemical heterogeneities and zoning patterns within coarse to megacrystic minerals and may serve as an excellent sample pre-screening prior to other microanalytical techniques.

Mount Rushmore's Rock-Block Monitoring System

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, 3 miles southwest of the town of Keystone. The Memorial is home to the famous sculpture that bears the same name. After several years of planning and funding work, in 1927 the artist and sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his crew began carving the sculpture. Featuring the likenesses of four U.S. presidents — Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson — the sculpture has become one of the most famous and iconic monuments in the United States. It's estimated that over 2 million people travel each year to visit the Memorial.

Resource Selection and Herbaceous Biomass at Foraging Sites of Translocated Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) historically inhabited the Black Hills region of South Dakota, but the species was extirpated from the area in the early 1900s. We translocated 26 bighorn sheep from Alberta, Canada to the northern Black Hills. We predicted that translocated bighorn sheep would exhibit similar resource use and selection as populations native to comparable habitats, specifically steep slopes with low overstory cover and high visibility. We used resource selection functions to estimate habitat selection by bighorn sheep and Robel pole and hand-clipped biomass to investigate the correlation between forage estimate methods. Bighorn sheep selected habitat types at varying levels, but were most strongly associated with barren and grassland landscapes while negatively associated with forest landscapes. Bighorn sheep had a positive association with slope and selected for fire-disturbed landscapes and elevation seasonally. Visual obstruction readings and herbaceous biomass at foraging sites (n = 78) were positively associated (r2 = 0.62). Herbaceous biomass ranged from 302.07 to 2,487.43 kg·ha−1. Foraging sites were typically located in areas with little overstory tree canopy cover (mean = 8.41%, standard error [SE] = 1.85), shorter distances to escape terrain (mean = 24.00 m, SE = 3.21), and low amounts of woody debris (mean = 0.25 kg·ha−1, SE = 0.07). The study area (Deadwood region of South Dakota) provided sufficient landscape attributes and herbaceous biomass to support the newly established bighorn sheep herd. Post-translocation assessments of resource use are crucial for evaluating conservation actions and potential success of future large mammal translocations.

Narrating the Silences of History: Mamang Dai’s The Black Hill

Mamang Dai’s The Black Hill (2014) is based on recorded historical events of the journey of two French missionaries Nicholas-Michel Krick and Augustin-Etienne Bourry, who were engaged in a mission to set up a church in Tibet, but in the 1800s the only way to reach there was through northeast India—present day Arunachal Pradesh. While they were on the final leg of their journey, they were killed by Kaisha, a village chief of the Mishmi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh on August 2, 1854 at Somme village, near the Tibetan border. The Mishmee chief was later captured and sentenced to death by hanging in Dibrugar (Assam) jail. It is this historical event that goes into the making of Dai’s novel. Mamang Dai dexterously interweaves Gimur- Kajinsha love story into this historical narrative. The arrival of Father Krick at the Village of Mebo as part of Southern Tibet Mission and later his journey to Mishmee hills coincides with Gimur’s elopement with Kajinsha from her native village Mebo to Kajinsha’s Mishmee hills. Dai imagines it was inevitable that their pathways must have crossed. While the priest and Kajinsha are characters from history, Gimur is a fictional character created by Dai to explore the gaps and silences of history. Where the story encoded in history ends, or gets enshrouded in enigmatic silence, Dai makes Gimur articulate those silences and proclaim the innocence of Kajinsha, thus subverting a historical narrative.

Spotted Tail: Renaissance Man of the Lakota ed. by James A. Hanson (review)

Reviewed by: Spotted Tail: Renaissance Man of the Lakota ed. by James A. Hanson Tim Trudell Spotted Tail: Renaissance Man of the Lakota. Edited by James A. Hanson. Chadron, NE: Museum of the Fur Trade, 2020. viii + 209 pp. Illustrations, maps, contributors, index. $30.00 cloth. Lakota chief Spotted Tail is painted as a pragmatic leader seeking to extend the freedom of his Brulé Lakota citizens against the expansion of Euro-American settlers in the Great Plains, as told by multiple writers in Spotted Tail: Renaissance Man of the Lakota. The book's contributors tell the Lakota chief's story factually, avoiding the often-clichéd view of Native Americans. Spotted Tail's Sicangu Lakota moved around the Great Plains, from central South Dakota to south of the North Platte River in western Nebraska. The book, a collection of essays from academicians and historians, follows Spotted Tail's rise as he transitions from a soldier to the leader of the Brulé, acquiring an acumen for the art of negotiation over fighting. While some may look at Spotted Tail as a person who catered to the white man in hopes of carving out a small parcel of the expansive Lakota territory for his tribe, Spotted Tail: Renaissance Man of the Lakota portrays him instead as a leader who, according to the authors, realized the survival of his people depended on a working relationship with the federal government, because westward movement was only going to grow and the Brulé were not going to win wars. The authors note that not all Spotted Tail's ideas worked, such as his failed negotiations for mineral rights for the Blacks Hills (Paha Sapa), considered sacred among Lakota and other Indigenous nations, which backfired when the government ignored his request of $60 million, instead allowing miners access to the region. Despite his reputation as a pragmatist, Spotted Tail did enter battle, primarily fueled by actions of Euro-Americans, such as avenging the massacre of Cheyenne and Arapahoe people at Sand Creek and when the army attempted to relocate the Brulé from Fort Laramie to Fort Kearny. The book documents Spotted Tail's rise, from one not born to a ruling family to one who became chief of the Lower Brulé (Sicangu). Given credit for securing reservation land near the Missouri River, not all Lakota were enamored with him. Crow Dog, a subchief who Spotted Tail removed as leader of the tribal police force, accused the chief of stealing tribal land-lease funds for his personal use. The two struggled, with Crow Dog killing the Brulé chief. Authors view Crow Dog's action as self-defense. Reparations made to Spotted Tail's family, however, considered acknowledgment of wrongdoing. In sharing the life and legacy of Chief Spotted Tail, possibly the most pragmatic of the Great Plains Indigenous leaders, the book's authors use well-documented sources. [End Page 105] Tim Trudell Freelance Writer and Online Content Creator Omaha, Nebraska Copyright © 2023 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Dissipation of Tungsten-182 Anomalies in the Archean Upper Mantle: Evidence from the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA

Most Eoarchean rocks are characterized by positive μ182W anomalies averaging ∼ +13 ppm (where μ182W values are the part per million difference in 182W/184W between a sample and a laboratory reference material presumed to be representative of the bulk silicate Earth, BSE). Prior studies have concluded that the positive 182W anomalies in the upper mantle disappeared by the end of the Archean, yet the timing, nature, and causes of the inferred transition remain poorly understood. In this study, we obtained SmNd mantle extraction model ages (TDM) and μ182W values for Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic granitic and metasedimentary rocks from the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA. The rocks examined have TDM model ages ranging between ∼3.6 Ga and 2.3 Ga, permitting the tracing of the evolution of 182W in the upper mantle precursors to these rocks, during the purported period of isotopic transition. Of these crustal rocks, the 2.55 Ga Little Elk Granite, with an average TDM age of ∼3.2 Ga, is characterized by a well resolved positive anomaly (μ182W = +8.2 ± 3.1, 2SE). This observation is consistent with a modest diminution in the upper mantle μ182W value relative to the Eoarchean average. By contrast, the 2.60 Ga Bear Mountain Granite, with a slightly younger average TDM age of ∼3.0 Ga, exhibits no resolved anomaly. Most other individual rocks examined also lack resolved anomalies, although the group average μ182W value of +3.3 ± 1.3 (2SE) for the 1.72 Ga Harney Peak Granite, with the majority of TDM model ages ranging from ∼2.7 to 2.3 Ga, may indicate a small positive anomaly for their Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic upper mantle precursors.The Black Hills rocks provide new evidence for the uneven dissipation during the Mesoarchean through Paleoproterozoic of the positive μ182W value that typified the Eoarchean upper mantle. When the new data are combined with data from prior studies, it becomes evident that the transition to a “modern” BSE W isotopic composition was not the result of a smooth linear decrease, but rather an irregular trend. Nevertheless, the collective data indicate that the positive anomalies in the upper mantle were nearly eliminated by the beginning of the Proterozoic, presumably by mantle mixing processes. The diminution in the scale of 182W anomalies during the Archean is similar to that of 142Nd, and requires a global-scale process that most likely involved vertical and/or lateral mixing within the mantle. The reasons for the delay in the initiation of this mixing process until the end of the Eoarchean, and the completion of mantle mixing by ∼2.4 Ga, awaits exploration via geodynamical modeling of different mixing scenarios.

3D Modeling and Determination of Factors Responsible for Zinc‐Lead Mineralization in the Mehdiabad Deposit, Central Iran, based on Statistical Analysis of Geochemical Data

AbstractAlthough the Mehdiabad zinc‐lead deposit is one of the most well‐known deposits in the central Iran structural zone, the genesis of the deposit remains controversial. The host rock of the ore is a dolomitic limestone of the Lower Cretaceous Taft Formation. In the two main orebodies of the deposit, which includes the Black Hill and East Ridge ore zones, the oxide and sulfide ores are observed at the surface and at depth, respectively. The elements Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg are more abundant in the East Ridge ore zone (in both sulfide and oxide ores), with Ba, Pb, Ag and Cu being more abundant in the Black Hill oxide ore. Based on the distribution of elements and their correlation with each other in these ore zones, the elements are divided into three general groups, that of terrigenous elements, chemically‐deposited elements and ore‐forming (hydrothermally deposited) elements, a division that is supported by the results of factor analyses. The spatial distribution of elements is jointly affected by contact with host rocks, the boundary of oxide‐sulfide ores and fault zones. The main factors governing the distribution of elements are the mechanical transfer of detrital sediments, chemical sedimentation, transfer by hydrothermal fluids, oxidation and surface dissolution, all of which affected the spatial distribution of elements. The ore‐forming elements are mostly affected by hydrothermal fluids and oxidation. This study not only provides additional information about the genesis of the Mehdiabad deposit, but also could assist in the exploitation of ore and further exploration purposes. The results of this study can aid in the exploration and exploitation of the Mehdiabad deposit and similar deposits in the region.

흑인 민권운동 기억하기

Alice Walker explores the waning years of the Civil Rights Movement and the emerging Black Power Movement in her second novel Meridian. Although the militant black activists consider the non-violent Movement is obsolete, Walker tries to affirm the value of the Civil Rights Movement by examining the hearts and minds of a black female activist Meridian Hill in the midst of revolutionary social change. Meridian decides to participate in the Movement when she realizes that there are so many innocent losses of community leaders and activists. Her mourning for the losses and her involvement in the Movement helps her understand the importance of communal spirit and overcome racism and androcentric perspectives. Remembering the Movement and revealing the process of Meridian’s personal transformation, Meridian is a powerful reminder of the Movement’s legacy.

Improvement of Onsite Wastewater Systems Performance: Experimental and Numerical Investigation

Population growth and the associated increase in the use of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (OWTS) in the Black Hills have been a reason for interest in nitrate contamination within the public water supply over the past few years. The main concern for the Black Hills is the presence of karst formation that all OWTS for wastewater travel faster, limiting the natural attenuation of wastewater contaminants. The treatment performance of common soils in the Black Hills and wood-based media was evaluated using soil column experiments and a numerical model, HYDRUS 2D. Nitrate treatment performances were evaluated using alluvial and cedar soils collected from the Black Hills, sand, woodchips (loose and dense), and biochar. This research investigated hydraulic and reaction parameters through a combination of experimental and inverse modeling approaches. A good agreement was obtained between the measured and model-predicted soil moisture content, with R2 values ranging from 0.57 to 0.99. The model was calibrated using flow data and nitrate concentration data measured from leachate collected at the bottom of the experimental columns. Nitrate removal rates varied from 32.3% to 70%, with the highest removal rate in loose woodchips, followed by dense woodchip and biochar, and the lowest removal rate in alluvial materials. The biochar and loose woodchips removed an additional 20% compared to common soils, attributable to the enhanced denitrification rate due to higher water content and organic content. The use of woodchips and biochar should be implemented in OWTS, where there are known karst formations.

A new method to estimate the total magnetization direction from the magnetic anomaly: Multiple correlation

Natural remanent magnetization diverts the direction of the total magnetization vector from the earth’s magnetic field direction. It is important to determine the magnetization direction because the processing and inversion of magnetic usually need the magnetization direction as a priori information. The conventional strategy for estimating the magnetization direction is to compute the crosscorrelation between the reduced-to-the-pole (RTP) field and one magnetic magnitude transform, which is insensitive to the magnetization direction. A new theory and method are proposed that the total magnetization direction is determined by computing the multiple correlation coefficients between the RTP field and the multiple direction-insensitive magnitudes transforms, such as the total magnitude anomaly and the normalized source strength. The linear regression between the RTP field and the direction-insensitive magnitude transforms is established. Then, the correlation is computed by the RTP field and the constructed regressor. The proposed method is tested on synthetic of single and complex models, respectively. Then, the method is applied to the field data of the Yeshan region (eastern China) and the Black Hill Norite (southern Australia). The proposed multiple correlation is an extension of the conventional crosscorrelation method that provides an accurate and robust way to estimate the magnetization direction from the total field anomaly.

Restoration and fuel hazard reduction result in equivalent reductions in crown fire behavior in dry conifer forests.

Over the past several decades, the management of historically frequent-fire forests in the western United States has received significant attention due to the linked ecological and social risks posed by the increased occurrence of large, contiguous patches of high-severity fire. As a result, efforts are underway to simultaneously reduce potential fire and fuel hazards and restore characteristics indicative of historical forest structures and ecological processes that enhance the diversity and quality of wildlife habitat across landscapes. Despite widespread agreement on the need for action, there is a perceived tension among scientists concerning silvicultural treatments that modify stands to optimally reduce potential fire behavior (fuel hazard reduction) versus those that aim to emulate historical forest structures and create structurally complex stands (restoration). In this work, we evaluated thinning treatments in the Black Hills National Forest that exemplify the extremes of a treatment continuum that ranges from fuel hazard reduction to restoration. The goal of this work was to understand how the differing three-dimensional stand structures created by these treatment approaches altered potential fire behavior. Our results indicate that restoration treatments created higher levels of vertical and horizontal structural complexity than the fuel hazard reduction treatments but resulted in similar reductions to potential crown fire behavior. There were some trade-offs identified as the restoration treatments created larger openings, which generated faster mean rates of fire spread; however, these increased spread rates did not translate to higher levels of canopy consumption. Overall, our results suggest that treatments can create vertical and horizontal complexity desired for restoration and wildlife habitat management while reducing fire hazard and that they can be used in concert with traditional fuel hazard reduction treatments to reduce landscape scale fire risk. We also provide some suggestions to land managers seeking to design and implement prescriptions that emulate historical structures and enhance forest complexity.

Geophysical extent of the Wyoming Province, western USA: Insights into ancient subduction and craton stability

AbstractA new 3-D resistivity model, estimated from inversion of magnetotelluric data, images crustal and upper-mantle structure of the Wyoming Province and adjacent areas. The Archean province is imaged as a coherent resistive domain, in sharp contrast to active tectonic domains of the western U.S. Prominent high-conductivity belts define the northern, eastern, and southern margins of the Wyoming Province and are interpreted as sutures marking the remnants of Paleoproterozoic orogens. The model results suggest the northern boundary of the Wyoming Province is located 150 km south of its traditional placement and adjacent to a composite orogen separating the Wyoming Province and Medicine Hat block. The eastern province boundary is clearly imaged along the Black Hills, whereas the western margin is obscured by Cenozoic extension and magmatism. An internal boundary within the Wyoming Province is interpreted to represent a Neoarchean suture; in stark contrast to Proterozoic sutures, though, it is not marked by a high-conductivity belt. This difference in conductivity is speculated to reflect changes in the subduction process through time. The absence of high-conductivity along Archean sutures appears to be global in nature and related to reduced continental freeboard in the Archean which limited continental weathering and the delivery of carbon-rich sediments to the seafloor. Although the entire Wyoming Province has been proposed to have undergone lithospheric modification that lessened its stability, the resistivity model suggests a thick lithospheric root remains in place except along its western margin. These results suggest that Archean cratons may be more resistant to lithospheric modification by influx of heat and fluids associated with extension and plumes than previously thought, and that metasomatism does not necessarily weaken the lithosphere and set a craton on the path to destruction.

Factors influencing rate of decline in a Merriam's wild turkey population

AbstractWe investigated population growth rate (λ) for a Merriam's wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo merriami) population in the northern Black Hills, South Dakota, USA. We constructed and evaluated a females‐only matrix population model. Our estimate of asymptotic λ, derived from estimates of vital rates obtained from 2016–2018 was 0.74 (95% CI = 0.60, 0.88), which indicates that the vital rates were inadequate to sustain the population. Elasticity values were highest for changes in adult survival probability followed by, in order, changes in juvenile survival, yearling survival, and adult reproduction. We could only achieve stable or growing populations (i.e., λ ≥ 1) by increasing the probability of adult and yearling survival (holding all other vital rates constant). Estimated adult survival rate in the work reported here was lower than values reported for other populations in the Black Hills; therefore, managing for increased female survival (≥0.68) may be the most practical strategy for promoting wild turkey population growth in this system. We recommend no female harvest during any open turkey season.

Identification and Stratification of Cultured Microorganisms from Wind Cave

Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota contains many fungal, bacterial, and archaeal organisms. These biotic communities tend to be low in diversity and sensitive to changes in external inputs of organic matter from seasonal snow melts and tourist traffic. Tourist traffic in particular can affect the natural state of the cave environment and alter species composition and population densities of the resident biota. The goal of this project was the molecular identification of the various fungal and bacterial samples between remote and public sites of Wind Cave to better understand the impact of tourist traffic on cave biota. DNA obtained from cultured samples was used to perform PCR‐based sequencing analysis using primers targeting either a specific region of the 16S small ribosomal subunit for identifying bacteria or an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) for identifying fungal lineages. Phylogenetic trees were created of both the fungal and bacterial genra stratified by cave location.

Ethics for the majority world: AI and the question of violence at scale

In this work, I argue that hegemonic AI is becoming a more powerful force capable of perpetrating global violence through three epistemic processes: datafication (extraction and dispossession), algorithmisation (mediation and governmentality) and automation (violence, inequality and displacement of responsibility). These articulated epistemic mechanisms lead to global classification orders and epistemic, economic, social, cultural and environmental inequality. Hegemonic AI can be thought of as a bio-necro-technopolitical machine that serves to maintain the capitalist, colonialist and patriarchal order of the world. To make this point, the proposed approach bridges the macro and micropolitical, building on Suely Rolnik’s call for understanding the effects of the macropolitical in the micropolitical, as well as what feminist black scholar Patricia Hill Collins made visible about oppressive systems operating at the structural, institutional and individual levels. A critical AI ethics is one that is concerned with the preservation of life and the coresponsibility of AI harms to the majority of the planet.

Modeling air pressure propagation through Wind Cave and Jewel Cave: How can air pressure signals inside barometric caves be predicted from surface pressure measurements?

Recent speleoclimatological research has shed new light on air pressure dynamics inside barometric caves by identifying pressure-modifying processes and resulting systematic differences between cave and surface air pressure. Based on these new findings, a multi- step quantitative model is developed and explored to predict air pressure inside Wind Cave and Jewel Cave – two major barometric cave systems in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA – from external surface measurements. Therefore, each identified speleoclimatological pressure process is translated into a mathematical operation. Model evaluation based on Pearson correlation and mean (absolute) deviation between model outputs and control measurements yields good to excellent results: Depending on the location, the presented model predicts 99.2% to 99.7% of measured air pressure inside Wind Cave compared to 90.3% and 99.4% inside Jewel Cave, thus proving that the previously identified and now modeled processes adequately and comprehensively describe the speleoclimatological pressure dynamics inside barometric caves. Slightly weaker model performance is observed at the lower elevator level inside Wind Cave and at Deep Camp inside Jewel Cave due to irregular pressure disturbances caused by elevator operation and unique morphological features in the deeper parts of Jewel Cave, respectively. Comparative spatial analyses of model constants and model accuracies at all investigated locations reveal significant differences in pressure patterns between the caves, thus demonstrating the effect of morphological characteristics on air pressure propagation and resulting modifications. The findings also support earlier research in Wind Cave and Jewel Cave as they provide speleoclimatological background for previously observed differences in airflow dynamics between both caves. Therefore, this study presents an important contribution to understanding the complex speleoclimatology of barometric caves.

Eocene tube-dwelling annelids (Polychaeta: Sedentaria) from the Black Hills, western Washington State: the first record of Neodexiospira from North America

Eocene tube-dwelling annelids (Polychaeta: Sedentaria) from the Black Hills, western Washington State: the first record of Neodexiospira from North America

The Development of A Tourism Information System Website in Kepahiang District Using The Rabin-Karp Algorithm

Kepahiang Regency is one of the regencies in Bengkulu province which has a natural tourist attraction destination. Some of these potentials include kabawetan tea plantations and Suro Ilir dam, Raflesia flower nature reserve, agro tirto, glagah estuary lake and black hill waterfall. The potential for natural tourism in Kepahiang district is very interesting because of the geographical location of Kepahiang district. With all the attractions on offer, it would be a pity if it was not accompanied by an attractive tourism promotion as well. One of the efforts to increase the number of tourists is to build applications that can make it easier for users to travel. Applications that can accommodate tourist needs data, especially regarding data on tourist attractions, lodging, culinary and historical places that can be visited. A tourism website that is equipped with a gallery so that it can increase the interest of tourists to come to visit. The application is built using the PHP and MySQL programming languages so that it can be accessed only using a browser application. Applications that are intended for users do not need to use a login system so that they can be accessed by anyone and anywhere. The implementation of rabin karp in the application has not been maximized because it has not been able to follow the formal concept of the algorithm, but the application can find the data sought with a similar concept because the search is carried out on every word contained in the tourist, hotel and culinary name data. The application can display complete tourist, culinary and hotel data along with the location on the map but cannot provide assistance on the closest route to visit the place you want to go on the map.