ABSTRACT Granite Butterfly is a novel about three women—grandmother, mother, and daughter—and the unusual attachments that break apart their family. Tuula Laine is a Rockport, Massachusetts, native of Finnish descent, whose parents moved to Cape Ann for work in the area’s granite quarries. Her life changes one afternoon when her son Henri, a brilliant surgeon who has never seriously dated anyone before, visits with his pregnant girlfriend, Coreen. Tuula immediately senses that Coreen not the right match for him in terms of age, education, or temperament, and as the couple separates and unites over the course of one summer, Tuula witnesses, for the first time, the pattern of desire and abandonment that will define their relationship. By the time Tuula’s granddaughter, Suvi, is fourteen years old, she, too, has established a destructive relationship pattern with Coreen: whenever Coreen and Henri separate, Suvi’s mother clings to her until they develop a bond closer to that of sisters than a mother and child. In the final movement of the novel, this bond, and the bond between Suvi’s parents, is finally put to the test. Granite is cut into precise blocks—dynamite is never used, lest it shatter the stone. In a few short weeks, the Laine family is pulled apart, but unlike with quarrying, there is no way to divide them in a careful manner, no way to detach them that isn’t violent and abrupt, no way to predict, or guide, where they will split.

Since the Vredefort Dome‟s listing as a World Heritage Site in June 2005, the area has seen a steady increase in tourists to both the local towns of Parys and Vredefort and the Vredefort Structure. Tourists venturing into the field in an attempt to explore the area have an insatiable appetite for information. By unfolding the gold and granite mining heritage of the area, a world of interesting facts and fables is exposed. The special geological character of the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site is enhanced by the mining interventions which started in the 1800s. The mines provide a glimpse into the earth‟s fresh crust which would otherwise have been obscured form the eye of the scientist/researchers, young potential earth scientists and the enquiring tourist. This study is aimed at identifying, for the first time, the localities of the major mining and quarrying sites in the area. This enabled investigation into and characterization of the exposed sites on the basis of their tourism and academic value. These sites were classified in order to identify those sites that should be made safe, rehabilitated and allowed access to tourists and scientists and those where access should be restricted but made safe in such a way that will allow access to animals and birds. The value of this initiative with regard to the stimulation of learners‟ scientific needs should not be under-estimated. The wide spectrum of natural, biological and physical sciences can be inspiring. / Thesis (MSc (Environmental Sciences))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Since the Vredefort Dome‟s listing as a World Heritage Site in June 2005, the area has seen a steady increase in tourists to both the local towns of Parys and Vredefort and the Vredefort Structure. Tourists venturing into the field in an attempt to explore the area have an insatiable appetite for information. By unfolding the gold and granite mining heritage of the area, a world of interesting facts and fables is exposed. The special geological character of the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site is enhanced by the mining interventions which started in the 1800s. The mines provide a glimpse into the earth‟s fresh crust which would otherwise have been obscured form the eye of the scientist/researchers, young potential earth scientists and the enquiring tourist. This study is aimed at identifying, for the first time, the localities of the major mining and quarrying sites in the area. This enabled investigation into and characterization of the exposed sites on the basis of their tourism and academic value. These sites were classified in order to identify those sites that should be made safe, rehabilitated and allowed access to tourists and scientists and those where access should be restricted but made safe in such a way that will allow access to animals and birds. The value of this initiative with regard to the stimulation of learners‟ scientific needs should not be under-estimated. The wide spectrum of natural, biological and physical sciences can be inspiring. / Thesis (MSc (Environmental Sciences))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013