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<p>When simulating reactor physics experiments, uncertainties in nuclear data result in a bias between simulated and experimental values. For new reactor designs or for power reactor designs the bias can be estimated using a set of experiments. How- ever, the experiments used to estimate the bias must be applicable to the power reactor design of interest. Similarity studies can be performed to ensure this is the case. Here, potential experiments in the ZED-2 heavy water critical facility at Chalk River Laboratories were developed that would be applicable to the multiplication factor bias calculation of three thoria plutonia fuelled power reactor designs. The power reactor designs that were analyzed were the CANDU 6 with 37-element fuel bundles and 43-element fuel bundles, and a Canadian SCWR design with 78- element fuel assemblies. The power reactors were simulated using the code package SCALE 6.1 under burnup conditions that were determined using the lattice code DRAGON 3.06H and the diffusion code DONJON 3.02A. The intermediate results from DRAGON and DONJON were used to compare the benefits of various reactor designs. Various critical core configurations were then simulated in the ZED-2 re- actor using the SCALE 6.1 package. The similarities between the potential ZED-2 reactor experiments and the power reactors were analyzed. These results were used to design a set of experiments having sufficiently high completeness that they can be used as part of a bias calculation using the generalized linear least squares method. To do so a methodology was developed to guide the experiment set design process in which the fuel type, lattice arrangements, and coolant type are modified and the effects on the sensitivity coverage analyzed. A set of six experiments was designed for which all of the power reactor designs had a completeness of 0.7 or higher.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The Pacific-North American plate boundary is typified by transpression and convergence, yet the relationship between interplate deformation and long-term crustal shortening is not fully understood. The continuous belt of rugged topography that extends along the entire plate boundary is generally associated with oblique tectonic plate motion, strong interplate coupling, and terrane accretion, but relating plate boundary orogenesis to variations in plate geometry and behavior requires detailed case studies. The northern San Gabriel Mountains along the San Andreas fault and the Chugach-Kenai Mountains above the Aleutian subduction zone are located along highly tectonically active sections of the Pacific-North American plate boundary and have not been studied from the context of long-term landscape development. To determine whether mountain building along these sections of the plate boundary reflects recent, rapid exhumation as observed in bordering mountain belts, low-temperature thermochronometry and topographic analyses were applied to each area. In the northern San Gabriel Mountains, apatite (U-Th)/He ages are >10 Ma along narrow crystalline ridges topped by low-slope erosional surfaces located within ~5 km of the San Andreas fault zone. In the Chugach-Kenai Mountains, the youngest apatite (U-Th)/He ages (~5 Ma) are an order of magnitude older than those from the Yakutat collision zone to the east, despite the presence of a continuous swath of glaciated, rugged topography between the two areas. Exhumation rates inferred from these ages are <1 mm/yr, suggesting that there has been minimal recent denudation in the northern San Gabriel and Chugach-Kenai Mountains. The lack of evidence for recent mountain building in both of these case studies implies that interplate deformation is heterogeneous and that other factors (secondary structures, climate) besides plate kinematics and topographic character must be considered for understanding landscape development. / Ph. D.

The evolution of mountain landscapes is controlled by complex interactions between large-scale tectonic, surficial and climate conditions. Dominant processes are attributed to creating characteristic features of the landscape, but topographic features are the cumulative result of coupled surficial processes, each locally effective in a different climate or elevation regime. The focus of erosion by glacial, fluvial, or mass wasting processes is highly sensitive to small changes in boundary conditions, therefore spatial and temporal variability can be high when observed over short time scales. This work evaluated methods for dissecting the history of complex alpine landscapes to understand the role of individual processes influenced by changing climate and underlying bedrock. It also investigated how individual and combined mechanisms of surficial processes influenced the evolution of topography in the Teton Range in Wyoming. Detrital apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology and cosmogenic radionuclide erosion rates were applied to determine spatial and temporal variability of erosion in the central catchments of the range. Spatial variability existed between the glacial and fluvial systems, indicating that sediment erosion and deposition by these processes was controlled by short-term variability in climate conditions. Effective glacial incision also controlled other processes, specifically enhancing rock fall activity and inhibiting fluvial incision. Short-term erosion rates were highly variable and were controlled by stochastic processes, particularly hillslope failures in response to slope oversteepening due to glacial incision and orientation and spacing of bedrock fractures. Erosion rates averaged over 10 ky time scales were comparable to long-term exhumation rates measured in the Teton Range. The similarity of spatial erosion patterns to predicted uniform erosion and the balance between intermediate and long-term erosion rates suggests the landscape of the Teton Range is approaching steady-state, but frequent stochastic processes, short-term erosional variability and coupled processes maintain rugged topographic relief. / Ph. D.

Long, linear, high-relief escarpments mark many of the world's passive margins. These Great Escarpments have been interpreted to be the result of isostatic flexure, parallel slope retreat, and divide migration which accompanies rifting. It is unclear whether all these escarpments share this origin. Also uncertain is whether these features are formed via stable, steady-state processes or by climatic shifts or tectonic rejuvenation. The Blue Ridge Escarpment, eastern North America's great escarpment, is no different. A number of hypotheses attempt to explain the Blue Ridge Escarpment. These include lithologic variation between Blue Ridge and Piedmont rocks, the distance to ultimate base level, as well as, escarpment retreat resulting from post/syn-rift warping or faulting. We approach this problem from two directions. The first involves topographic comparisons and geologic observations to recognize and track divide migration. The second approach uses U-Th/He thermochronometry along two scarp-normal transects. Topographic analysis used data extracted from DEMs to compare three zones - the Upland, the Piedmont and the scarp zone itself. Parameters such as relief, drainage density, hypsometry, and slope are often used as proxies for relative erosion rates and the degree of maturity of a landscape. Results from these analyses indicate that the Upland and Piedmont zones are distinct landscapes, sharing very few topographic similarities, yet neither appears significantly more erodible than the other. Examination of parameters in the proximity of the escarpment point toward more rapid erosion here. Field evidence of this rapid scarp erosion (and thus divide migration) lies in the presence of beheaded stream channels, cobble roundness, and clast provenance. U-Th/He thermochronometry is a low temperature technique that allows us to calculate when rock cooled below 60-70C. Temperature is used as a proxy for depth, from which we can extract an exhumation rate. This method allows us to further test scarp genesis hypotheses. Preliminary results show older ages (~160) from the Upland surface than on the Piedmont lowland (~100 Ma). This confirms that the Piedmont surface is distinct from the Upland and demonstrates that it has experienced greater erosion. There is also some indication that ages "jump" across the Bowens Creek/Brevard fault system. Lastly, the ages appear to become younger approaching the escarpment which is indicative of scarp migration. As these results are preliminary, more data is required to prove or disprove these conclusions. / Master of Science

Submitted by Biblioteca de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica BGQ (bgq@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-09-11T18:18:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 diss-Raphael-Logato-de-Oliveira-PPGA.pdf: 25249109 bytes, checksum: bebdeef5c344d7c319f3fd7481af2cce (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-11T18:18:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 diss-Raphael-Logato-de-Oliveira-PPGA.pdf: 25249109 bytes, checksum: bebdeef5c344d7c319f3fd7481af2cce (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Universidade Federal Fluminense. Instituto de Química. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica, Niterói, RJ / A taxa de crescimento de uma colônia do coral endêmico brasileiro Siderastrea stellata, proveniente da Reserva Biológica do Atol das Rocas (3° 45’ S / 33° 40’ O – 3° 55’ S / 33° 50’ O), baseada em conta gem de bandas de crescimento e datação absoluta pelo método U-Th, seguidas de analises geoquímicas e isotópicas, revelaram uma variablidade das Temperaturas de Superfície do Mar (TSM) durante os últimos 39 anos. Os resultados demonstram uma forte correlação entre o crescimento do coral e a razão Sr/Ca, como também entre o Sr/Ca e U/Ca. O crescimento, Sr/Ca e U/Ca indicaram um forte sinal com frequência decadal, que é correspondente a um dos principais regimes de variabilidade do Atlântico Tropical Sul. Além disto, pode ser dito que o sinal do δ18O apresentou uma boa coerência com a ZCIT, indicando um potencial para futuros estudos sobre flutuações de salinidade. Porém, a falta de correlação entre os parametros geoquimicos com a TSM pode ser atribuída à limitação dos registros instrumentais de TSM disponíveis para a área de estudo (PIRATA), que são provenientes de bóias oceanográficas espaçadamente distribuídas. Assim, este estudo destaca alguns importantes fatores: a necessidade de se obter os registros de TSM in situ, para que seja possível estabelecer boas correlações entre esta e os traçadores; a clara relação entre o crescimento e Sr/Ca, sugerindo que este traçador pode não ser regulado somente pela TSM no caso de S. stellata; e a predominância de influências de variabilidades decadais e semi-decadais para esta região / One colony growth rate of an endemic Brazilian coral Sideratrea stellata from Atol das Rocas Biological reserve (3° 45’ S / 33° 4 0’ O – 3° 55’ S / 33° 50’ O), based on growth band counting and U-Th dating method, followed by geochemical analysis, revealed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) variability for the last 39 years. Results show a strong correlation between coral growth and Sr/Ca ratio, and also strong correlation between Sr/Ca and U/Ca. Growth, Sr/Ca and U/Ca indicate strong signal at decadal frequencies, corresponding to one of major South Tropical Atlantic variability. Moreover, it can be said that δ18O signal has showed good coherence with respect to ITCZ, pointing out to potential future studies about salinity fluctuations. However, the lack of correlation between SST and geochemical tracers can be attributed to instrumental SST data restriction for the study site, which comes from sparsely distributed oceanographic buyos (PIRATA). Insofar, this study highlights some important factors: the need for in situ SST registry in order to establish good correlations for SST and geochemical data; the clear relationship between coral growth and Sr/Ca, suggesting that this ratio may not be regulated by SST only for S. stellata; and the predominance decadal and semi-decadal variabilities at this region.

Ce travail porte sur le comportement du Ra au sein d’un écosystème forestier (Montiers, Meuse). Il s’appuie sur la mesure de plusieurs traceurs isotopiques (déséquilibres radioactifs, rapports 228Ra/226Ra et 87Sr/86Sr) dans les différents compartiments du système eau-sol-plante. Les objectifs étaient : 1) d’étudier la mobilité du Ra et ses ascendants radioactifs entre les fractions minérales séparées d’un profil de sol, 2) d’évaluer le transfert du Ra vers les compartiments eau-plante de l’écosystème, 3) de caractériser le transfert du Ra et son temps de résidence dans la végétation, 4) de réaliser le bilan du cycle biogéochimique du Ra. Ce travail montre une forte redistribution de U, Th et Ra en fonction de leurs affinités respectives avec les différentes fractions minérales du sol. Bien que le Ra soit très fortement associé à la fraction fine (< 2µm) du sol, la végétation (hêtres) semble prélever le Ra des oxydes de fer du sol. Le transfert ultérieur de ce nucléide depuis les racines vers les parties aériennes de l’arbre est moins important que celui des autres alcalino-terreux, aboutissant à un temps de résidence dans la végétation de l’ordre de quelques années (2.6 ± 1.6 ans). Enfin, le cycle biogéochimique du Ra est caractérisé par un flux de dégradation de la litière souterraine plus important que celui lié à la litière de surface, par un apport atmosphérique en Ra négligeable et par un flux d'altération très important, ce dernier ne transitant pas par les solutions de sols gravitaires. Le Ra présent dans ces dernières provient presque exclusivement de la dégradation de la litière. / This work investigates the behaviour of Ra within a forest ecosystem (Montiers, Meuse). It is based on the quantification of several isotopic tracers (U- and Th- series disequilibria, isotopic ratios of 228Ra/226Ra and 87Sr/86Sr) in the different compartments of the water-soil-plant system. The research goals were : 1) to study the mobility of Ra and its radioactive ascendants in the separated mineral fractions of a soil profile, 2) to evaluate the transfer of Ra to the water-plant system, 3) to characterise the transfer of Ra and its residence time onto the vegetation, 4) to realise an account of the biogeochemical cycle of Ra. This work shows a strong redistribution of U, Th and Ra depending on their respective affinities with the different mineral fractions of the soil. Despite being predominantly concentrated in the clay fraction (<2 µm) of the soil, our findings indicate that trees (beeches) mostly extract Ra from the soil’s iron oxides. The subsequent transfer of this nuclide from the roots to the foliage is lesser than that of other alkaline-earth metals, leading to a vegetal residence time on the order of a few years (2.6 ± 1.6 years). Finally, the biogeochemical cycle of Ra is characterised by the degradation flux of fine-roots rather than that of leaves, by a negligible atmospheric input and by a strong weathering rate. Ra presents in the latter originates almost uniquely from litter degradation and does not pass through gravitational soil solutions.

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The thesis depicts life of the parish in Třešť in the second half of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. The emphasis is placed on nuns of the Congregation of the Poor School Sisters de Notre Dame who worked in Třešť from 1885 till 1946. This thesis is further focused on pastors from Třešť and also on local churches and their economic background. Finally, there are also described changes in conditions of the parish, especially after 1918. To elaborate this thesis both sources of the Diocesan Archive of the Bishopric of Brno in Rajhrad and of the State District Archive Jihlava were perused. Documents provided by the Archive of the Congregation of the Poor School Sisters de Notre Dame in Hradec Králové also meant a valuable contribution to this thesis. The aim of the thesis is to disclose so far unknown or non-compiled history of the parish in Třešť.