The salient points of the thesis are summarised as follows. 1. The first chapter is essentially a review of chemical and mineralogical transformations accompanying the weathering of some primary rock forming minerals, and includes a discussion of feldspars, trioctahedral and dioctahedral mica, quartz, chalcedony, opal, metamorphic, accessory, and opaque minerals, and ferromagnesian minerals. Included therein is a hypothesis for the mechanism of formation and layered structure of hydrobiotite. 2. A brief review of the geology, geomorphology, <and age of weathering in north east Scotland is presented in chapter 2. 3. The geology, field work and laboratory investigations of the weathe~ing in a meta-sediment, a quartz-mica-schist, and the Tertiary gravels at two sites, are presented in chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively. Some features found are considered to be relic, and formed under previous conditions. The weathering products include 2:1 type and kaolin minerals. 4. Secondary silica in a minute form was found to be common and is referred to as "aphanitic silica". The main optical properties and occurrence have been noted. 5. Secondary deposits of Ti02 (leucoxene) are also common, and because of the great opacity of Ti02, may be very ;caospicuous in thin sections even though actual concentrations are very low. Some of the leucoxene is shown to contain rutile and anatase. The source of much Ti02 may be biotite, and very rarely Ti02 may apparently completely pseudomorph biotite. 6. A comparison of the kaolin minerals (poorly ordered kaolinite, well-crystallised kaolin'ijte,and halloysite) from some sites has been made by a variety of techniques including thin sections, X-ray diffraction, DTA, infrared spectroscopy, chemical intercalation, and electron microscopy. Some problems in the study of these clays are considered, particularly with respect to monomineralic and polymineralic mixtures. It is concluded that there are fundamental differences between the structures of kaolinne and halloysite, other than the occurrence of interlayer water in the natural state of halloysiteamphiboles and pyroxenes (generally), tremo1ite-actino1ite, and accessory minerals in the weathered materials is discussed and summarised. 8. The age of weathering and the contribution of weathering products to contempotary soils is assessed from a consideration of the evidence found and that available. It is concluded that in north east Scotland contemporary weathering has very little effect upon weathered rocks beneath soils

The concern of the investigation described in this thesis has been to examine certain drift deposits in southern Wiltshire and to consider their distribution in relation to the accepted interpretation of the landscape. The area examined has been discussed by Wooldridge and Linton (1955) but lies on the periphery of the tract with which they deal, and their treatment is essentially theoretical and not circumstantial. In the course of the investigations which are described, samples were collected from over two hundred sites, surface indications of the geology were examined at a substantially larger number of sites and more than thirty sections were specially excavated in particularly interesting locations. The work is based not on the application of refined geological techniques but on the ability to distinguish, in hand specimens, common and distinctive rocks. In important sections, samples of gravel of from 6 lbs to 2O lbs weight were secured and broken down into three fractions (¹⁄₁₆"-⁵⁄₃₂"; ⁵⁄₃₂"-¹⁄₂"; ¹⁄₂" upwards); for correlative purposes exact counts of the component materials were carried out for the two coarser fractions. Although some of the individual examples encountered are problematic the conclusions have invariably been based on a significant volume of unmistakable material. The use of refined correlative techniques to confirm the results has not been attempted. This omission to some extent reflects the nature of the investigation, which is best regarded as a reconnaissance of a large area, describing evidence not only in Wiltshire but on the Chalk and Eocene outcrops elsewhere in We ss ex, for the most part on ground lying to the West of the Salisbury Avon. The results of the work are described in a comparative study of landscape features using, so far as possible, the whole geographical context of the ground examined: the dissection and weathering of the surface, the drifts and soils which rest upon it, and the relation of the ground to relief both above and below it. In Part One of the thesis an attempt is made to establish the nature of the sub-Eocene unconformity. A study of the Pleistocene river gravels about Salisbury suggests that Eocene formations may have been preserved on the western part of Salisbury Plain at the beginning of the Pleistocene period. This result is inconsistent with the views adopted by Wooldridge and Linton. The composition of the gravels examined suggests that the Eocene formations in question did not resemble formations now recognised in the main Eocene outcrops adjoining Salisbury Plain. A study of the Palaeogene outlier on Salisbury Plain, at Clay Pit Hill, shows the gravels in the outlier to be closely similar in terms of petrology to the distinctive gravels in the Bagshot Beds about Dorchester in Dorset, and a correlation with these beds is suggested. A distinctive gravel from another Palaeogene outlier, at Cley Hill, near Warrninster, is described. This gravel at a height of about 800' O.D. appears to be preserved at or near the level of its original deposition, and is tentatively referred to the Oligocene period. The evidence at Cley Hill and Clay Pit Hill is taken to show that the Chalk suffered extensive erosion during the Eocene and Oligocene periods. A study of sites on the ground intervening between the Palaeogene outliers on Salisbury Plain and the Bagshot outcrop in Dorset provides new evidence on the nature of the Reading Beds, which tends to confirm the results of the investigations on Salisbury Plain. In Part Two of the thesis drifts on the mid- Tertiary surface of Wooldridge and Linton (1955) are described. Drifts on the Upper Greensand outcrop in the Vales of Wardour and Warminster are believed to be of periglacial origin and Pleistocene age. Drift on the Portland outcrop in the Vale of Wardour appears to be the debris of Lower Cretaceous formations and probably rests on an intra-Cretaceous surface. On the Chalk a contrast is discerned between ground occupied by deep very flinty drifts of residual aspect and ground occupied by shallower flint drifts, also of residual aspect. The shallow drifts are shown to be associated with the relics of gravels incorporating Upper Greensand, Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic debris. The deep very flinty drifts are believed to confirm the views of Wooldridge and Linton concerning the mid-Tertiary surface, but the shallower drifts and associated gravels are thought to rest on a separate surface, and the Cretaceous and Jurassic debris is believed to imply the competence of transverse gradients during the dissection of the mid-Tertiary surface. The evidence described in Part Two of the thesis is difficult to reconcile with the concept of marine transgression across the Wiltshire Chalk. In Part Three of the thesis drifts on the supposed marine plain are described and the marine origin of the surface is rejected. Specific evidence of a 'Pliocene' transgression in Wessex is reviewed and a study of supposed 'Pliocene' material refers the material in question to the Eocene period. Problematic aspects of Pliocene stratigraphy and the concept of superimposition from a Pliocene surface are reviewed. Pinchemel's objections (1954) to a depositional surface are accepted but his views on fluvial aggradation are rejected in a study of gravel at Alderbury, near Salisbury, referred by him to this aggradation. Difficulties inherent in the concept of marine planation are recognised and ground referred by Wooldridge and Linton to the Pliocene marine plain is shown to be essentially indistinguishable from their mid-Tertiary surface and is therefore believed to be correlative with it. This view implies post-mid-Tertiary deformation of the Chalk. In Part Four of the thesis a theory of drainage evolution is developed to replace the hypothesis based on a concept of late Tertiary marine planation. Drifts, landforms and drainage morphology in the Vale of Wardour are shown to demonstrate a deformed, subaerial planation surface, bevelling the outcrop of the Chalk and earlier formations at a level below the mid-Tertiary surface of Wooldridge and Linton. The present drainage pattern is believed to have originated during the deformation of this surface, probably in the Plio-Pleistocene interval. This subaerial surface is also identified on Salisbury Plain and the origin of the drainage pattern there and in the Alderbury syncline is described. The available evidence suggests that the subaerial surface was elaborated during the Pliocene period following the deformation of the Oligo-Miocene (mid-Tertiary) surface. The character of the late Tertiary (Pliocene) surface suggests comparisons with the surfaces described by King (1962) and termed by him pediplains, although the nature of the process involved remains doubtful. In Part Five of the thesis some aspects of Pleistocene erosion are treated. Adjustments to the drainage pattern in the basin of the Avon above Salisbury during the Pleistocene period are discussed. This account is based on analyses of gravels of the Avon and its tributaries about Salisbury. The concept of successive stages of marine planation in the Hampshire Basin daring the Pleistocene period is rejected in a study of the composition and morphology of the Pleistocene gravels. An alternative scheme of subaerial planation is suggested and some morphological evidence of this planation on the Wiltshire Chalk and on the Eocene outcrop in the Hampshire Basin is described. The problems of scarp recession and the dessication of the dry valleys are reviewed and the concept of scarp recession is abandoned.

The concept of talus slopes co-evolving with vegetation cover is investigated on the Trotternish Ridge, Isle of Skye, Scotland.  This uses several lines of contemporary and palaeoenvironmental evidence.  Through a replicated set of grazing enclosures, the composition and structure of present-day vegetation is linked to contemporary grazing regimes and slope erosion processes.  Vegetation history is reconstructed from the fossil pollen content of organic palaeosols intercalated within the talus deposits.  A new method using Long Chain Alcohols is used to support the interpretation of the fossil pollen records.  Geomorphological development is revealed through analysis of talus stratigraphy and the sedimentary deposits immediately below the slopes.  These lines of evidence are combined to construct a conceptual model for talus co-evolution on the Trotternish Ridge.  Talus development began as the climate warmed from around 17.5k cal yrs BP, and the glaciers of the last Ice Age retreated.  Slopes initially comprised rockfall debris, with a sparse cover of vegetation having little or no effect on slope processes.  Heathland and grassland vegetation, evidenced by the organic palaeosols, was intermittently present on the talus slope surfaces from 7.7-7.6k cal yr BP until approximately 0.6-0.5k cal yr BP.  This vegetation cover limited physical and hydrological surface processes, enabling the upper part of the talus slopes to over-steepen.  Evidence of increased frequency of organic palaeosol burial, and increased rates of sediment deposition after around 2.0k cal yr BP, both indicate greater debris flow and other erosional activity in the late Holocene.  This is attributed to both increased incidence of intense rainfall events and much higher levels of grazing associated with the introduction of cattle, sheep and rabbits.  Contemporary evidence shows that heavy grazing changes the vegetation composition and structure, and increases susceptibility to erosion.  Talus co-evolution on the Trotternish Ridge may be similar to that at other British and Faroese sites which share the same basaltic geology.

Traditionally, the interactions between geomorphic character and aquatic biodiversity have been widely acknowledged, but poorly quantified. However, the coupling of these disciplines is currently rising up legislative and political agendas, such as the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU WFD). The Directive requires Member States to classify rivers into types based on their natural morphology and geomorphic processes, and to link the biota to river types existing under natural conditions. Typing now forms the basis for evaluating environmental sensitivity to river engineering and determining reference conditions for river restoration. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has adapted the Montgomery and Buffington (1997) channel typology developed in the Pacific Northwest of the USA for use in Scotland. The modified typology identifies eleven distinct channel types (e.g. bedrock, plane-bed, wandering and meandering). In this study, 43 reference condition sites in the upper River Dee catchment in the Cairngorms, Scotland were chosen to determine the geomorphic validity of the proposed typology, and assess whether channel types support a distinct macroinvertebrate community. Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster Analysis failed to clearly identify eleven channel types based on catchment controls or on physical habitat characteristics. Four clusters were observed based on catchment drivers and six on physical habitat. Boundaries appear to be fuzzy, relating to a collective number of interacting environmental variables, geological discontinuities, and the geographic complexity of a river system. Multivariate ordinations and Analysis of Similarity indicated that macroinvertebrate communities only differed significantly between bedrock and step-pool reaches. A redundancy analysis showed differences in macroinvertebrate abundances among channel types were related to hydraulic, catchment drivers, physical habitat and physico-chemical variables. The results of the study have important implications for the use of geomorphic typologies in predicting aquatic biota.

Η υπό μελέτη περιοχή βρίσκεται στο Δήμο Σφακιωτών, του νομού Λευκάδας. Το γεωλογικό υπόβαθρο αντιπροσωπεύεται από την ανθρακική σειρά της Ιόνιας ζώνης και κλαστικά ιζήματα. Στα πλαίσια της εργασίας αυτής μελετώνται οι υδρογεωλογικές και υδροχημικές συνθήκες που επικρατούν στην ευρύτερη περιοχή, συλλέγοντας δείγματα από γεωτρήσεις, πηγές και πηγάδια, ούτως ώστε να πραγματοποιηθούν χημικές αναλύσεις των κύριων στοιχείων του νερού. / The study area is located in the municipality of Sfakiotes, part of the prefecture of Lefkas. Its’ bedrock consists of the carbonic sequence of Ionian Zone that is covered by clastic sediments. In the frame of this final work the hydrogeological and hydrochemical conditions that prevail in the broader region are studied by collecting samples of water from drillings, springs and wells in order to accomplish chemical analyzes of the main elements of the water.

Στόχος της εργασίας ήταν η υδροχημική ανάλυση δειγμάτων νερού από καρστικές πηγές και γεωτρήσεις της περιοχής του Ξηρόμερου, το οποίο βρίσκεται στο βόρειο- βορειοανατολικό τμήμα του νομού Αιτωλοακαρνανίας. / The aim of the present thesis is the hydrochemical analysis of water samples from karst springs and boreholes in the area of Xiromero

Στα πλαίσια της συγκεκριμένης πτυχιακής εργασίας μελετήθηκαν οι υδρογεωλογικές συνθήκες της περιοχής Κίτι-Περβόλια στην Κύπρο. Κατά την διάρκεια της συγγραφής της εργασίας αυτής εκτελέστηκαν οι ακόλουθες εργασίες: 1. Συγκέντρωση γεωλογικών, υδρογεωλογικών και υδρολογικών μελετών που αφορούν την περιοχή αυτή. 2. Συγκέντρωση κλιματικών και μετεωρολογικών δεδομένων καθώς και γεωμορφολογικών στοιχείων της περιοχής . 3. Πραγματοποιήθηκε δειγματοληψία και χημική / -

Η παρούσα εργασία πραγματεύεται τις τεχνικογεωλογικές συνθήκες που επικρατούν στην περιοχή του Φράγματος και του Ταμιευτήρα Μόρνου, όπως επίσης και τις υδροχημικές αναλύσεις που έγιναν σε δείγματα νερού που ελήφθησαν από τις διαρροές των σηράγγων του φράγματος. Περιλαμβάνονται διαγράμματα και ταξινομήσεις των αποτελεσμάτων των δειγμάτων των νερών. / This thesis includes the geological and technical conditions that describe the area around the Mornos Dam and Reservoir, as well as the hydrochemical analyses that were performed at samples of water wich were taken from the leaks at the tunnels of the Dam. In this thesis, there are also included diagrams, and classifications of the results of the water samples analyses.

The Central Indian Ridge (CIR) between 18° and 21°S shows significant morphological variation at a relatively constant spreading rate (between 47 and 51mmyr-1). High resolution TOBI sidescan sonar data (cruise CD127) and multibeam bathymetry data (Magofond 2 cruise), complemented by regional geophysical and geochemical datasets, provide an important opportunity to examine the processes controlling morphological and volcano-tectonic variations along the CIR. The CIR is situated on an elevated plateau formed from a temporally persistent and robust melt supply to the ridge axis. Analysis of the data shows that the fracture zones have a significant structural control on along-axis morphology and melt supply, partitioning the ridge into three morphologically defined regions. The central region (Region B) bounded by two of the fracture zones, contains segments which show rifted axial morphologies characteristic of slow-spreading ridges. Regions A and C show patterns of variable volcanic robustness along-axis associated with the supply and availability of melt to the ridge. Tectonic analysis correlates with inter- and intra-segment trends in morphology and volcanic structure, further highlighting regions of robust or deficient melt supply. Strong relationships are also revealed between the tectonic parameters of fault length, spacing and density along-axis. Finite difference analysis is used to model the Non-Transform Discontinuities along the CIR and Mid-Atlantic Ridge to understand patterns of strain within their interiors. The results indicate the presence of a damage zone ahead of a propagating segment tip, providing increased crustal permeability and a greater potential for hosting hydrothermal circulation. Analysis of geochemical data along the CIR identifies five hydrothermal plume signatures, three of which are coincident with the locations of NTDs in the study area, correlating with the findings of the numerical analysis. A detailed model of the CIR demonstrates that thermal variation influenced by ridge structure can produce significant variations in morphology and volcano-tectonic distribution at a constant spreading rate.

The magnitudes and pathways of sand transport in Chioggia Inlet, southern Venice Lagoon, and the resulting morphological evolution have been investigated. Bathymetric analysis has established that there is a net export of sediment from the southern Lagoon Basin, and that significant morphodynamic changes in the barrier-inlet system have taken place. The total loss of sediment from the lagoon was evaluated as 125,770 m3/a, 10% of which is estimated to be sand. In addition, the presence of an ebb-tidal delta, extending from the mouth of Chioggia Inlet, as well as two subaqueous spits, were identified. The ebb-tidal delta annual growth was estimated as 50,000 m3/a, suggesting the existence of an additional source of sand for the delta, in addition to the Lagoon. The pathways and provenance of sand in transport were determined through seabed sampling and mineralogical analysis. Three predominant sources were identified: sand eroded from the tidal flats in the Southern Basin; a northelrly littoral drift of quartz-rich sand supplied by the Adige and Brenta rivers, to the south of the Chioggia Inlet; and a southerly littoral drift of carbonate-rich renourishment sand from Pellestrina, to the north of the Inlet. The nature and magnitude of transport through the inlet was investigated through direct measurements and modelling. It was found that the export of sand through the inlet is bed grain size dependant, ebb dominant and mostly in the bottom 1 m of the water column. The shape of the profile of concentration is well reproduced by the Rouse parameter, and thresholds for motion are between those derived by Van Rijn (1993) and by Amos et al. (2010b) for the Venetian inlets. Modelling results suggest that present export rates are 40% lower than those evaluated from longterm bathymetry changes. Volumetric and modelling estimates of drift along the shores adjacent to the Inlet indicate that the main contribution to the inlet features is littoral drift, with a longshore transport rate of 118,000 m3/a, from the south, and 91,000 m3/a, from the north. A conceptual sand budget for Chioggia Inlet was proposed. Littoral drift was found to be dominant over transport through the Inlet; thus, it is suggested that although the overall budget of sand in Chioggia Inlet is still negative, a small import of sand is starting to take place. Furthermore, the contribution of Chioggia Inlet to the net export of sand from the lagoon, based on present net budget estimates was calculated as 15%.