South Africa is unique in that the majority of its wildlife is managed in privately owned game reserves. One major challenge for reserves is maintaining healthy stable populations, particularly large species, such as the big five (white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), African leopard (Panthera pardus), and lion (Panthera leo)). Nevertheless, there has been very little research on management of these charismatic species in such size restricted reserves. To address this need, we are studying the impacts of megaherbivores on the structure and spatial distribution of vegetation in Amakhala Game Reserve. The reserve was created in 1999 from 7,500 ha of agricultural land. Since the formation of the reserve, succession of vegetation has been encouraged to create a more natural environment. However, the introduction of large herbivores, such as elephants and rhinos, may have altered or slowed down this succession. To explore this hypothesis, we conducted a GIS analysis using Landsat imagery and megaherbivore GPS tacking data. Vegetation type was classified to quantify historic changes, and we performed kernel densities and an emerging hotspot analysis with the tracking data (2011-2018) to determine megaherbivore distribution. We determined that the megaherbivores hindered the natural succession of vegetation by maintaining grasslands and preventing woodland encroachment. These findings will facilitate game reserve management by identifying Amakhala’s limitations for increasing browsing herbivores as well as the potential for the addition of grazing herbivores.

Large numbers of migratory tree bats are killed at wind turbines globally. Recent studies have predicted potential population-level impacts as a result, highlighting the need for strategies alleviating bat-wind turbine collisions. Research has shown bats active in close proximity to turbines, approaching and interacting with tower surfaces as if they provided resources, such as water sources and foraging opportunities. Evidence indicates that the smooth surface of the towers can be misperceived by bats as water, and it can also create an acoustic mirror that can enhance foraging success. We hypothesized that a textured coating would disrupt the smooth tower surfaces. Thus, the focus of our study was to determine if texture application would result in decreased bat activity in proximity to tower surfaces, which in turn would reduce collision risk. From May to September 2017, we used thermal cameras, night vision technology, and ultrasonic acoustic bat detectors to assess bat activity at two pairs of wind turbines in north central Texas. Each pair comprised a texture-treated turbine and a control, and bat proximity and behavior at towers were compared. In this first year of testing, we conducted 76 survey nights, observed 1030 confirmed bats on video, and recorded 1215 acoustic calls from 7 bat species. To fully assess the effectiveness of the texture coating, we will be repeating surveys from June to September 2018.

Although multiple localized chemostratigraphic and strength studies have been completed on the organic-rich Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth basin (Montgomery et al., 2005; Pollastro et al., 2007; Jarvie et al., 2007; Rowe et al., 2008; Williams et al., 2016; Taylor, 2017; Alsleben, unpublished), basin-wide correlations have not been completed. Basin-wide correlation of chemostratigraphy and mechanical stratigraphy could enhance the understanding of regional variations in chemical composition and rock competence. Therefore, this study is going to test multiple hypotheses to identify regional trends and correlations within the Barnett Shale, based on variations in the formations chemical makeup and rock strength. The purpose is to start establishing a more comprehensive, basin-wide characterization of the mechanical stratigraphy and chemostratigraphic framework of the Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin. Results will start to establish possible regional variations such as rock strength and help determine what controls those variations. Ultimately, the data compilation may provide a better understanding of the Barnett Shale and start to address the complex interactions between marine sediment flux, terrestrial sediment flux, and geochemistry throughout the basin at the time of deposition.

Silica oxides (SiO2) come in a variety of forms including quartz, opal, silica gel and phytoliths. This study will focus on the binding and debinding energetics of sodium benzoate, sodium butyrate and sodium acetate on these various silica oxides. The direct measurement and analysis of binding and debinding energies should provide valuable data and insights into the dynamics of organic molecules at the oxide-water interface. The study will focus on the systematic collection and analysis of experimental data that can be used to support the development, validation and refinement of computational models of interactions involving natural organic matter at the metal oxide-water interface, while facilitating the further development of experiment-driven understanding of binding-debinding dynamics of organic molecules onto mineral surfaces.

METASOMATIC FEATURES IN EUCRITES. R. L. Funderburg1, R. G. Mayne, N. G. Lunning2, and S. Sin-gletary3, 1Monnig Meteorite Collection, 2950 West Bowie Street, SWR 244, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76109. (r.funderburg@tcu.edu), 2Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution NW, Washington, DC 20560-0119. 3Robeson Community College, 5160 Fayetteville Road, Lumberton, NC 28360.

Introduction: The breakdown of pyroxene to silica and troilite was first identified as an alteration process in eucrites by Duke and Silver [1]; however, metasomatism was not iden-tified as a potential cause of these features until the 1990s [2] and has been increasingly identified in the last 10 years [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Many eucrite studies were conducted prior to this time and, while metasomatic features may have been identified, they were not attributed to this process.

Barrat et al. [4] proposed a three-stage alteration process to explain the products of metasomatic alteration found in eu-crites:
(1) Fe-enrichments along cracks in pyroxenes
(2) Fe-rich olivine deposits in cracks and troilite
(3) Al-depletion coincident with Fe-enrichment of pyroxene

While metasomatism within eucrites is now commonly identified within the literature, the mechanism for this altera-tion is not well understood. Possible mechanisms proposed in-volve hydrous fluid alteration [4] or sulfurization from a S-rich vapor [6, 7]. The addition of sulfur is required to produce troilite from the breakdown of pyroxene, which has been ob-served in several eucrites [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Zhang et al. [5] sug-gested that the sulfur may have been present in the form of a dry S-O-P vapor, formed by the volatilization of pre-existing S- and P-rich material as a result of impacts. Additional petro-logical studies are needed to test if metasomatism was consist-ently driven by S-O-P vapors or if some metasomatism lacks the P-component expected for impact derived vapor.

Metasomatism has been directly investigated for only a handful of eucrites. This study will investigate metasomatism in both Stannern and Main-Group-Nuevo-Laredo (MGNL) eucrites to investigate the com-position of the altering fluid/vapor and overarching processes that drive metasoma-tism on the eucrite parent body. Our preliminary work is fo-cused on the Stannern-trend eucrites Bouvante and LEW 88010, the main group eucrite Béréba, and the polymict eu-crite NWA 4834.

Methods: The samples from this study are on loan from the following: Béréba (USNM 5745-2, USNM 6003-2; Na-tional Meteorite Collection, Smithsonian Institution), Lewis Hills 88010 (LEW 88010) (LEW 88010,4; Meteorite Working Group), Bouvante and Northwest Africa 4834 (NWA 4834) (M1224.3, M1224.5, and M2049.2; Monnig Meteorite Collection). Petrographic analysis was conducted via optical micros-copy with an Olympus BX51 polarizing light microscope at the Oscar Monnig Meteorite Collection at Texas Christian University. Backscatter electron (BSE) maps and major ele-ment data for pyroxenes in Bouvante, LEW 88010, and NWA 4834 were measured by a JEOL JXA-8530F HyperProbe elec-tron microprobe analyzer (EMPA) at Fayetteville State Uni-versity’s Southeastern North Carolina Regional Microanalyti-cal and Imaging Consortium. Backscatter maps were gener-ated for each thin section and energy dispersive x-ray spec-trometry (EDS) point analyses were performed.

Results and Discussion: Of the four samples selected for this study so far, one is unbrecciated (LEW 88010), two are monomict (Béréba and Bouvante), and one is polymict (NWA 4834). These samples were selected as they were observed to contain possible metasomatic features during our petrographic survey, but have not been included in the current literature re-garding metasomatism. They include members of both the Stannern- and MGNL- trends (S: Bouvante and LEW 88010; MGNL: Béréba). All samples are either falls or were observed to show little to no terrestrial alteration. Mineralogically, they are typical eucrites, being dominated by pyroxene and plagio-clase, with lesser phases including troilite, chromite, ilmenite, Fe-rich olivine, and silica.
Preliminary results suggest that Fe-enrichment of pyrox-ene rims, along with an associated Al-depletion, is occurring due to metasomatism in the three samples examined using EMPA. Fe-rich olivine was observed in NWA 4834. Petrographic analysis identified the breakdown of pyroxene into troilite and silica in all four samples.

Future Work: Quantitative pyroxene and plagioclase data for all four samples will be collected prior to the conference. This will allow for further assessment of the Al-depletion along with Fe-enrichment in pyroxenes. We will also investigate the presence of phosphates in these samples to investigate the P-component that would be present in an impact derived vapor. We will assess if there are any differences in metasomatism between MGNL and Stannern-trend eucrites. A survey of previously identified residual eucrites for metasomatic features will also be conducted, so that all three geochemical groupings are represented, if possible.