The re-cycling of sewage sludgeis the most significant entry point for trace metalsin to the agroecosystem. However, the investigation of the transfer and fate of trace metals in soil-plant-arthropod systems in an agricultural context has received little attention, despite the potential threat that secondary toxicity to predatory arthropodsposes to the biological control of crop pests.In this study, an agricultural soil was amended with sewage sludgeat rates up to an equivalent of 100 t (dry solids) ha-1.The subsequenttransfer of Zn and Cd through an ecologically relevant soil-crop-aphid-arthropod predator systemwasinvestigatedin a series of pot trials. Results show that Zn was transferred to a greater extent than Cd between all components of the system, except between the roots and shoots. Cadmium was only biomagnified in roots and was biominimised in shoots, aphids and ladybirds. Zinc was biomagnified in roots, shoots, andaphids compared to the soil, but concentrationsin ladybirds were similar to those in the aphids they consumed.Differences between winter and spring wheat were found to have a larger influence on the transfer of Cd and Zn in the systemthan differences between winter wheat and spring barley. It was also shown that the rose grain aphid (Metopolophium dirhodum) accumulateshigher concentrationsof Cd than the grain aphid (Sitobion avenae).Whilst concentrationsof Zn did not differ between the two species of aphid, concentrations in M. dirhodum appearedto be more closely regulated than in S.avenae. Consumptionof S.avenaeby the fourth instar larvae of the seven-spottedladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)did not result in significant differences between treatmentsin newly emergedadults.This was partly the result of the sequestrationof the two metalsin the pupal exuviae. This mechanism had a greater effect on the Cd concentrations in newly emerged adult ladybirds than on Zn concentrations.In a further experiment,there appeared to be no pathway for the transfer of Cd from aphids to adult ladybirds, but a pathway was indicatedfor Zn. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to the agroecosystem andthe wider environment.

An Analytical Study of Earth and Lime Based Building Materials in the Blumenau Region, Southern Brazil. In the last fifteen years, there has been a growing state and national interest in the preservation of historic rural settlements of the nineteenth and twenty centuries in southern Brazil. This interest has generated a need to develop appropriate conservation methods which will safeguard the integrity and technology of vernacular buildings in Brazil. This study focuses on the Blumenau region, an area in the state of Santa Catarina which was settled by German and Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. As was typical in such settlements, the immigrants brought with them European methods of construction which were then adapted to the local environment and available local materials. Though somewhat deteriorated, Blumenau still retains a large number of vernacular building types and good documentary sources of information. Thus, it provided an ideal context in which to develop a methodological approach to the study and conservation of regional building materials in Santa Catarina. Twenty domestic buildings dating from approximately 1870 to 1930 and representing the four principal types of construction in the area were chosen for the pilot project. In addition to thorough historical and archival research on the architecture and technology of the region, the study includes an in-depth scientific analysis of earth and lime- based buildings materials utilised in the rural settlement. The analytical results are interpreted in light of the historical research and recommendations are made regarding appropriate conservation and repair techniques. The study concludes with general recommendations for improved conservation practice in the region including issues of material production, training, and management. The work includes an extensive bibliography relating to the characterisation and conservation of earth and lime- based building materials. Full details of analytical techniques utilised are given in the appendix.

District-scale zoning of ore deposits and structural-tectonic setting of Bau was investigated. Regional tectonic studies, structural analysis, and field mapping complemented by aeromagnetic interpretation were integrated to a structural model of Bau. Ores were studied with optical and electron microscopy, followed by major and trace element, fluid inclusion, and lead and sulfur isotope analyses. In the Late Triassic, Bau was in an island arc - back-arc basin environment Following Early Jurassic deformation and uplift, an active margin developed. Subduction of the West Pacific oceanic plate under the NW Kalimantan block began. Erosion of the Triassic Serian Volcanics produced extensive turbidite flows of the Pedawan Formation since the Latest Jurassic. Coeval development of rudist patch reefs on an unstable shelf edge of the overriding plate lasted until Cenomanian. Accretion of the turbidites ended in the Latest Cretaceous. Early Tertiary molasse deposition ended with a Mid-Eocene event. A 200-km-Iong, crustal-scale complex fault system involving dextral strike-slip and wrench faulting, termed the Bau Trend, developed during Mid-Miocene post-subduction regional extension. The principal mineralization event at Bau took place at 12-10 m.a., when I-type, calc-alkaline, reduced granodiorites intruded along the Bau Trend and its intersection with seven parallel, ENE fracture zones, providing channel ways to distribute hydrothermal fluids laterally away from the Bau Trend. Deformation preceding mineralization produced high structural permeability of the host rocks. Central Bau is underlain by an ENE trending, 5x12 km broad plutonic body at depth, inferred from aeromagnetic data. Bau displays district-scale zoning, from proximal porphyry-copper and skarn deposits, via intennediate Cordilleran-Vein base metal mineralization, sediment-hosted precious metal deposits, to distal disseminated Au-As and Ba-Hg-TI deposits. The deposits are hosted in, from proximal to distal, porphyritic granodiorites, limestones, and turbiditic shales. Gradual changes in geochemical, mineralogical, and isotopic compositions across the district indicate consanguinity between them. Epithermal gold mineralization at Bau is most similar to disseminated, sediment-hosted gold deposits of Nevada, except for higher grades, visible occurrence of gold, both base and precious metal signatures, purely structural controls, less radiogenic lead, and magmatic sulfur isotope signatures.

The Toarcian, Early Jurassic, Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE: ~183 Ma) was characterized by globally synchronous deposition of sediments rich in organic carbon (black shales), and is associated with an abrupt negative carbon isotope excursion, disrupting a positive carbon-isotope excursion during the tenuicostatum–serpentinum ammonite Zone boundary. The T-OAE has been extensively studied in northern and southern Europe, but evidence from the southern hemisphere is limited. New geochemical data from the tenuicostatum–hoelderi (~serpentinum) Andean ammonite Zone, from the Neuquén Basin, Argentina provides evidence for the global imprint of the event. The event is recorded in bulk-sediment from Arroyo Lapa (North and South) and Arroyo Serrucho with δ¹³C_org values of -30‰ – -32.5‰ and δ¹³C values from fossil wood fall to -30.7 ‰, isotopic ratios that are comparable to those identified in Europe for the T-OAE. Hydrogen Index (HI) data for the T-OAE in Argentina give values ranging from 12 to 425 mg HC/ g TOC, indicating a mixture of terrestrial and marine organic components. Pristane/Phytane ratios and pyrite framboid distribution data indicative of anoxic conditions occur at some levels, and new δ^98/95Mo data, with values ranging from ~ -0.2 to 0.78 ‰, which contrast with previously published molybdenum-isotope values from T-OAE black shales of northern Europe. Sedimentological data also reveals a marine transgression during the tenuicostatum–hoelderi Andean ammonite zone.

The “deltaic” geomorphology in the Eberswalde Crater is often considered a “smoking gun” for the warm-and-wet ancient climate of Mars. The Crater displays sedimentary features, which many argue, can only be found in a river-delta system (Bhattacharya et al., 2005). However, with the advent of high-resolution images, the Eberswalde Crater delta’s geomorphology has been revealed to be more complicated than could be seen previously. These high-resolution data suggest that the development of the Eberswalde delta is likely more episodic (Schieber 2007). While better resolution data has placed doubt on the wet Mars hypothesis at the Eberswalde Crater, the opposite is true of the Gale Crater. Recent images acquired by the Mars Curiosity Rover have revolutionized the hypotheses explaining the formation of Mount Sharp in the Gale Crater. The new prevailing hypothesis is that Mount Sharp was formed by a series of crater lakes (NASA, 2014). This study provides evidence supporting the crater lake hypothesis, using bedding architecture diagrams, facies diagrams, lithologic logs, paleocurrent map and rose diagram, and minimum water depth estimations of the exposed sedimentary layers. Reconstructing a detailed depositional history of the Gale Crater Lake provides a window into a more ancient Mars where life could have evolved in a wet habitable climate that is absent today.

Fractures are discrete planar features that are heterogeneously distributed throughout the earth's upper crust. Methods commonly used to quantify fracture populations typically yield singular values/indexes for the attribute of interest. These values are useful in characterizing the bulk properties of a fracture population, but are unable to address the inherent spatial heterogeneities of the fracture network. This study explores techniques to map fractures and capture the spatial heterogeneity of fracture networks within a Geographic Information System (GIS). The study was performed on exposures of the intensely fractured Monterey Formation in Santa Barbara, California. Results of the GIS-based spatial analysis provide a framework to (a) quantify the dependence of fracture style on lithology, (b) compare and contrast geometric properties of fracture populations hosted in alternate stratigraphic units, (c) evaluate fracture intensity as a function of proximity to large faults, and (d) quantify geometric properties of fracture networks that impact fluid flow.

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