The short-term responses of Cassiope tetragona, a high arctic evergreen shrub, to variations in growing season climate were examined using experimental manipulations of temperature and growing season length at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island. Surface temperatures in the field were increased an average of 1-2 °C in two communities using open-top greenhouses. Growing season length was altered in a snowbed community by using manual snow manipulations to change the date of snowmelt. Growth and reproductive responses of Cassiope tetragona to these manipulations were observed over two field seasons following treatment establishment. Natural variations in vegetative and reproductive characteristics of Cassiope tetragona were also monitored in unmanipulated communities selected to represent a range of environmental conditions at the study site. Retrospective analysis of past Cassiope growth and reproduction was used to provide a record of variations in productivity spanning 25-35 years which could be related to climate records from Ellesmere Island. For the retrospective analysis, patterns of internode lengths were used to delimit sections of annual growth and chronologies of annual stem elongation, leaf number and flower number were then analyzed using methods similar to those applied to tree-ring studies. In general, the reproductive parameters of Cassiope tetragona were observed to be highly responsive to short-term variations in growing season climate, while vegetative production exhibited a much more conservative response. Flower production and rates of reproductive development were significantly stimulated by experimental warming. Retrospective analysis of flower production support field observations indicating that flower production is highly sensitive to annual variations in growing season temperatures. In contrast, shoot growth showed moderate responses to experimental warming. Records of past growth indicate that although vegetative production appears to be sensitive to annual variations in summer temperatures, the degree of responsiveness is much lower than for reproductive parameters. Net growth and reproduction were not stronly affected by natural or experimental variations in snowmelt timing, although phenology timing was significantly altered. The conservative growth response of Cassiope tetragona to short-term variations in climate is suggested to be related to constraints on plant phenology which may restrict flexibility in the period utilized by plants for aboveground growth. Preferential allocation of within-plant resources to reproductive structures during periods of ameliorated growing season climate may account for the observed strong reproductive responses to climate variations. Trade-offs betweeen growth and reproduction have important implications for predicting the long-term response of Cassiope tetragona to climate change. An understanding of within-plant allocation strategies is also important to the interpretation of past variations in growth and reproduction. Retrospective analysis of past Cassiope production is likely to be a very useful tool for investigating ecological relationships and past climate change. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The thesis represents a stratigraphical, structural and paleontological study of the Upper Cretaceous strata exposed on Hornby Island. The stratigraphy and structure were studied in some detail, but the main part of the work is the faunal description, revision and illustration of 24 species of cephalopods, 15 species of pelecypods, 9 species of gastropods, 1 coral and 2 scaphopods. The group of nostoceratids previously assigned to Anisoceras cooperi has been divided into five species, of which two are new ones. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

A study was undertaken to determine some of the chemical, physical and pedological factors affecting the genesis of shot formations in the Fairbridge and Alberni shot soils series of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. On the basis of hardness, color and texture, Fairbridge and Alberni shot formations were separated into two groups, one of which was classified as true shot and the other as pseudoshot. Chemical analyses showed that the two forms contained different amounts of aluminum, iron, manganese, phosphorus and silica, and that both forms acted as accumulation centres for aluminum, iron, manganese and phosphorus when their totals of these elements were compared with those present in the shot formation matrix ('B' horizons) and parent material ('C' horizons). Physical analyses of shot formations showed diversity in the percentages of sand, silt and clay contained in shot and pseudoshot, and the particle size distribution of these components also differed in both forms. Shot formations were found to be concentrated in the surface ('B') horizons of each series studied, and the 'C' horizon of each soil type was found to be impermeable to water. This latter condition, coupled with the seasonal fluctuation in temperature and precipitation in the respective areas, produced alternate wetting and drying cycles similar to those observed by other investigators of shot soils. Micropedological studies involving the preparation, examination and photographing of shot formation and soil horizon thin sections showed that the degree of weathering of clay minerals in shot and pseudoshot was not comparative, and that similar differences existed between shot formations and the 'B' and 'C' horizons of each soil series. It is postulated that shot genesis might begin with parent material which, after passing through a pseudoshot stage, develops into the true shot form. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

A granodiorite pluton near the southwest boundary of the Coast Range of British Columbia was examined by field and petrographic methods, with the object of determining the origin of the pluton. Field and petrographic characteristics are presented and descriptions of 42 of 65 thin sections studied are included. There are no field structures which can be explained solely by magmatic processes. Several field characteristics which should be associated with magmatic intrusion are absent. Petrographic examination revealed no features which can be explained only by magmatic processes. On the other hand, the replacement textures found by microscopic examination cannot be attributed to crystallization from a melt. The physical chemical system which produced the present form of the pluton was an open one. Potash was added and soda and lime were removed in the early stages of recognizable replacement. Later silica was added and potash, alumina, soda and lime were removed. The processes which developed the granodiorite pluton are most accurately described as granitization. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Bowen Island is situated within six and one-half miles of the University of British Columbia and is accessible at all seasons. The island contains a great variety of rocks and offers an excellent opportunity for the student geologist to study batholithic and minor intrusives, acidic to basic extrusives, pyroclastics and sediments. The writer studied the rocks and is submitting, for a Master's degree in Geological Engineering, this paper encompassing the results of his study. Roughly two-thirds of the island were visited in reconnaissance survey. Mapping was done by means of pacing, compass and barometer. A compilation map showing the writer's observations and those of earlier observers is presented. A small area, roughly half a mile square, was studied in detail and is the main basis of the paper. The area studied in detail was found to be composed of volcanics, sediments, quartz-diorite and minor intrusives. The earliest rocks in the detailed area are a series of volcanics with some interbedded sediments. The volcanics and interbedded sediments are highly metamorphosed and intruded by basic porphyry dykes which are in turn metamorphosed to a lesser degree. All the above are cut by quartz-diorite and minor acid intrusions. This places the basic porphyry dykes as later than the volcanics and earlier than the quartz-diorite and related rocks. Basic dykes of trachytic texture represent the closing period of intrusion. Pleistocene and post-pleistocene sediments lie unconformably on the earlier rocks. There are three types of metamorphism present: a) dynamic metamorphism; b) thermal metamorphism; c) contact metamorphism. In addition to these, paulopost juvenile action and propylitization have caused considerable alteration of the volcanics and related dykes. The age of the batholith is accepted provisionally as Upper Jurassic. Material which is believed to be from fossilized organisms but which has not yet proved identifiable, is found in limey inclusions in the volcanics of Wharf Point. The inclusions may indicate an earlier limestone formation or mud formation contemporaneous with the flow rocks. Structures in the pre-batholith volcanics are of questionable assistance in determining top from bottom of a formation. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The food habits and social organization of Vancouver Island wolves (Canis lupus crassodon Hall) inhabiting an area on Northeastern Vancouver Island were studied from January, 1977 through January, 1979. During this period, two adjacent packs were studied in detail between March and November, 1978. Three members of the Upper Adam pack, an adult male, adult female and yearling female, were captured, fitted with radio-transmitters and subsequently radio-tracked for five months (April to August, 1978). The same procedures were carried out on the adult male and female of the Lower Adam pack, who were radio-tracked for eight and five months respectively (April to November; April to August). A lone male was captured and tracked for eight months (November, 1978 to June, 1979). Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) were the major prey in the diet of both packs, while Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) and beaver (Castor canadensis leucodontus) were utilized as secondary food sources. Seasonal variation in the diet of the wolves was apparent, with deer fawns and elk calves constituting the bulk of the summer (June 1 to August 31) diet. Beaver were taken primarily during the winter months. Individual packs showed different foraging patterns. The lower pack depended less upon adult elk during the winter and more upon ungulate young during the summer, while the Upper pack utilized relatively more adult elk during the winter with more emphasis on adult deer as opposed to ungulate young during the summer. The Upper pack consisted of ten individuals, two adult males, one adult female, one yearling femaling, two unknown, and four pups. The radio-collared members inhabited a 64 km2 home range. Wolf density within their home range was one per 6.4 km2. The Lower pack consisted of five individuals including one adult male, one adult female, and three pups which ranged throughout a 75 km2 area. Density within this area was one wolf per 15 km2. Den sites were situated within pristine coniferous timber where hollow logs, tree bases and root systems were utilized for denning purposes. Both packs occupied densites from late April until mid-July. During the post-denning period rendezvous sites were frequented, situated in open meadows bordering on timber stands or river side areas. Both types of sites were generally typified by a water source nearby, structural suitability giving a view of the surrounding area, activity and resting areas, and several well used trails. Seasonal shifts in the use of core areas of home ranges were apparent for both packs, and den and rendezous sites were spatio-temporally distributed at significant distances from adjacent pack sites. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Mycorrhizal colonization and types of mycorrhizae that formed on container-grown Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar seedlings were determined in a nursery near Nanaimo, B.C. and under a range of field conditions on eastern Vancouver Island. Methods included a root clearing, bleaching, and staining procedure that allowed for accurate estimates of percentage colonization and some advantages in mycorrhiza characterization. The percentage of Douglas-fir and western hemlock short roots colonized by ectomycorrhizal fungi in the nursery was highly variable but over 99 percent of the mycorrhizae were formed by Thelephora terrestris. After one field season mycorrhizal colonization levels were between 72 and 93 percent on the new roots formed. The most difficult to regenerate site had the lowest percentage colonization and number of ectomycorrhizal types. T. terrestris mycorrhizae still had the highest relative abundance followed by Rhizopogon vinicolor (on Douglas-fir only), Cenococcum geophilum, Mycelium radicus atrovirens, Tujber-like, Sndogone-like, and 38 minor types of ectomycorrhizae. Some types of ectomycorrhizae were only present or common on specific sites. This included a type that formed spore-like structures on the mantle cystidia and a type that produced red-brown hyphal exudates. Douglas-fir seedlings artificially inoculated with R. vinicolor in an Oregon nursery were taller than control seedlings when outplanted but no height or weight difference was found after one field season. The 17 types of mycorrhizae that formed on the control seedlings were dominated in relative abundance by a type that was morphologically identical to that formed on the seedlings that were artificially inoculated with R. vinicolor. Western red cedar did not form mycorrhizae in the nursery but formed low levels of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae in the field that included both fine and coarse endophytes. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

The oceanic Juan de Fuca and Explorer plates are subducting beneath the continental America plate west of Vancouver Island. The Nootka fault zone, which separates these oceanic plates, experiences left-lateral shear due to the different rates of subduction for the Juan de Fuca (4 cm/yr) and the Explorer (<2 cm/yr) plates. Since 1918, six significant earthquakes (M= 5.3 - 7.2) have occurred in the region where the projection of this fault zone intersects central Vancouver Island. In this study two of the largest events are examined; the 1918 (Ms ≃ 7) and the 1957 (Ms ≃ 6) earthquakes. Prior to this research, no comprehensive studies of these events had been carried out. A total of 46 seismograms from 24 stations worldwide were obtained for the 1918 earthquake, and 138 seismograms from 46 stations were obtained for the 1957 earthquake. The preferred epicentre for the 1918 earthquake is 49.47°N, 126.24°W, with an estimated uncertainty of ±30 km. The preferred focal depth of 15 km indicates that this was a crustal earthquake. Magnitude estimates are Ms = 6.9 ± 0.3, mb, = 7.2 ± 0.4 and MI = 7.0, in agreement with previous studies. Surface wave analysis suggests this is a predominantly strike-slip earthquake occurring along either a NNW or an ENE striking fault. A seismic moment of 7.40x10²⁵ dyne-cm and a stress drop of 122 bars, indicative of an intraplate event, are estimated. The preferred epicentre for the 1957 earthquake is 49.65°N, 127.02°W with an uncertainty of ± 20 km. The estimated focal depth of 30 km suggests this event occurred in the subducting oceanic plate. Magnitude estimates are Ms = 5.9±0.2, rrif, = 6.3±0.3 and Mi = 5.7. Surface wave and P-nodal analyses indicate that this is a predominantly strike-slip earthquake; either dextral along a NNW striking fault, or sinistral along a ENE striking fault. The seismic moment is estimated to be 8.14x10²⁴ dyne-cm, and the stress drop to be 36 bars, which is indicative of an interplate event. The quality of these data does not allow for an unambiguous interpretation of these earthquakes in terms of seismotectonic models. However, the results of this study indicate that these earthquakes do not have normal or thrust mechanisms. The 1918 earthquake appears to be a crustal, intraplate event resulting indirectly from the complicated interaction of the Explorer, Juan de Fuca and America plates. The preferred epicentre, depth and stress drop for the 1957 earthquake are consistent with left-lateral motion between the Juan de Fuca and Explorer plates along the Nootka fault zone where it is being subducted beneath Vancouver Island. Uncertainties in the above parameters however, do not rule out the possibility of this being a crustal earthquake along a NW striking fault. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

This diploma thesis concerns with icelandic financial and mostly banking crisis. The first part is dedicated to presentation of Iceland as a state in general. The second part draws an economic development from 2000 to 2008 and consequently describes general causes of the crisis and recognizes them on the annual reports of the Kaupthing Bank. Third part shows the course of the crisis and impact on the regional financial system and institutions. In a closing, the part four deals with development after the crisis.

No description available.