An investigation of the relationship between the physical, pedological and anthropogenic influences on landslide occurrence on the midslopes within and outside Mt Elgon National Park was carried out. One of the landslides occurred in a protected pristine forest environment within the Park while the other two were located at sites deforested for cultivation within and outside the National Park. Field based surveys, GIS techniques and laboratory tests were used to collect and analyze the data. A household survey was undertaken to establish the main community livelihood strategies, the drivers of land use change and implications for land degradation on the mid slopes of Mt Elgon. Aerial photographs taken in 1960 and orthophoto maps formed the benchmark for the analysis of the respective land use changes between 1995 and 2006, using 30m Landsat TM and 20m SPOT MS images in IDRISI Andes GIS environment. Landslide sites were mapped using a Magellan Professional MobileMapperTMCX and terrain parameters were derived using a 15M Digital Elevation Model. A hybrid supervised/unsupervised classification approach was employed to generate land cover maps from which the areal extent of three land cover classes (agricultural fields, woodlands and forests) was calculated. Particle size distribution and atterberg limits were used to test the hypothesis that soils at the landslide sites are inherently ‘problem soils’ where slope failure can occur even without human intervention. Shear strength parameters (internal of friction and cohesion) were used calculate the slope factor of safety to ascertain slope stability at pristine and disturbed landslide sites. Results from the socio-economic survey revealed that smallholder subsistence agriculture and encroachment on the National Park resources are the main sources of livelihoods for the communities surrounding the Park. The communities also have a strong socio-cultural attachment to the National Park, as it is the source of items used during traditional rituals like circumcision. Encroachment is driven by the high population pressure and the prevalent political climate. Farmers mainly use slash and burn technique to prepare land for cultivation and those close to the National Park are reluctant to adopt appropriate farming and soil conservation practices due to the uncertainties surrounding their future on such plots. Slash and burn iii techniques were observed to accelerate various forms of erosion including rills, gullies and sheet. Soil and water conservation techniques were mainly practiced on privately owned farms. The period 1960 and 1995 was characterized by minimal land use changes and no encroachment into the designated Mount Elgon National Park. Conversely, the period 1995 – 2006 marked a significant loss of woodlands and forest cover particularly on steep concave slopes (36º – 58º) within the National Park. The land use change trends were attributed to the prevalent land politics and exponential population growth in the region. The encroachment onto the critical slopes was noted to have induced a series of shallow and deep landslides in the area. Deforestation on Mt Elgon was reported to have both onsite and offsite climate variability and implications in the form of drought, heat waves, flash floods, economic dislocation, crop failure and associated malnutrition in surrounding low lying areas. The soils on pristine and disturbed slopes contain high amount of clay (>10 percent), are fine textured (>50 percent of the material passing the 0.075mm sieve) and highly plastic. These soil attributes imply low permeability, excessive water retention and high susceptibility to expansion and sliding. The vertic nature of soils at Nametsi was confirmed by the extremely high plasticity indices (averaging 33percent), while, high liquid limits at Buwabwala (53 percent) and Kitati (59 percent) qualified the soils as vertisols which are associated with landslides. The results point to the fact that soils at landslide sites are inherently ‘problem soils’ where slope failure can occur even without human intervention. Therefore, the hypothesis that soils at three landslide sites are inherently ‘problem soils’ where slope failure can occur even without human intervention is accepted. Notwithstanding the fact that the study was focussed on mid-altitude slopes of Mt Elgon, the results are in tandem with investigations carried out earlier on the lower densely populated slopes, thus confirming the widespread nature of problem soils on Mt Elgon. There is an urgent need to control human population growth and restore forest cover on the heavily deforested steep slopes particularly within the National Park, and restrain communities from encroaching on the pristine slopes of Mt Elgon. This will be achieved if the politicians, Park Authorities and local communities jointly participate in the design and implementation of CFMs. Future research could focus on climate change implications of deforestation of Mt Elgon environments and quantification of carbon loss related to deforestation and soil degradation in the mountain environments.

This is a case study of a project focused on organizing community economic development (CED) in the inner-city neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant, in Vancouver. Participant-observation research techniques, combining the roles of organizer and researcher, were used in this exploratory study. The ethnic and cultural diversity of this inner-city neighbourhood, with its various "communities of interest, “presents challenges to CED organization. This study examines these challenges in relation to the process of organizing CED and identifies the relevant factors for determining a community's readiness for CED. Key aspects of the organizing process are explored in depth (e.g., gaining legitimacy within the community, assessing the community’s readiness for CED, determining a development approach, cultivating leadership and developing an organizational base). This study proposes a framework for organizing CED which identifies the major stages, activities and critical factors in organizing CED. The research identifies and discusses the major roles of the organizer and the beliefs and values which guided the organizing process. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis explores the embodied topography of Mount Athos, emphasizing the conditions of liminality – the nature of different kinds of boundaries and intermediate zones within it. Mount Athos is a valuable case study of sacred topography, as it is one of the largest monastic communities and an important pilgrimage destination. Its phenomenological examination in this study highlights the importance of embodiment in the experience of religious places advocating also for a deeper understanding of the boundaries in it. The thesis seeks to convey a more primary insight into the phenomena found there, examining also how ritual and pre-reflective embodied movements explore the topography in a meaningful way. Combining elements of different disciplines (philosophy, theology, anthropology, and architectural history and theory) with primary sources from archives and fieldwork, the thesis constitutes an original contribution to both Athonian studies and sacred topography scholarship. By focusing on the spatial, temporal and aural boundaries and intermediate zones as perceptual phenomena of an embodied topography, it suggests an alternative to the usual art-historical, objectifying examination of the case study. Liminality refers to the intermediate zones between two or more components of a sacred place. It allows the reciprocal communication between them, carrying the character of both departure and return. In using liminality as a focus of investigation, the thesis provides a new understanding of the way religious places are interconnected through cyclical rituals, the strangers’ travel and silent meditation. Following the archetype of the journey, these movements are also studied according to their particular power to “map” places in a more primary way than the modern cartographic method. Starting from the periphery of Athos, the study presents a variety of in-between zones, the passage through which contributes to the sensual realization of a multi-layered meaningful topography. Annual pilgrimages to the peak of the mountain, silent meditation in isolated caves, wandering asceticism and walking along the footpaths provide different ways to narrate the natural landscape of the peninsula. Moreover, ritual choreographies being inscribed in the courtyard and church of a coenobitic monastery, meals and death services ritually perform the place. Through their investigation, this study illuminates important aspects of the topography, such as its multi-sensual aural environment in which silence plays a key role. The analysis concludes that the different liminal zones of Mount Athos are always undergoing a condition of penetration, alteration, and even violation, allowing the integrity of the topography to be enacted.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

A Final Report Submitted to the U.S. Forest Service, Safford Ranger District, P.O. Box 709, Safford, Arizona 85548

No description available.

The volcanic stratigraphy and petrography is described for a 46 km2 area on the southern flank of Mount Jefferson in the north-central part of the Oregon High Cascades. Here, volcanic processes have been active throughout Quaternary time, resulting in complex stratigraphic relationships. In addition, three formerly recognized glaciations and a two-phase period of neoglaciation have eroded the terrain, depositing tills in contact or interstratified with the volcanic units. Collectively, these processes and the resulting deposits are characteristic of High Cascades development.

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 1963. / Typescript. Mounted photographs. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-174). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Diskette for IBM/PC in pocket on back end paper. Copies of author's previously published articles inserted. Bibliography: leaves 186-207. An evaluation of spatial and temporal variation in composition of soil solutions collected from a hydro-toposequence with seasonally saturated soils ranging from Xeralfs to Aqualfs. The sub-catchment is under native eucalyptus and is formed from granite gneiss. The study shows that mineral weathering under eucalypt vegetation contributes substantially to the quantity of elements measured in soil solution with some aeolian salts. Migration of soil solutions to low lying areas promotes dryland salinity in these landscapes.

Copy of author's previously published work inserted. Bibliography: leaves 261-306. The objectives of the project were: i. to determine whether there are competitive interactions between Aporrectodea trapezoides and A. caliginosa and A. rosea.--ii. to investigate compeditive interactions between A. calignosa, Microscolex dubius and A. trapezoides.--iii . to determine the likely impact of A. longa on soil fauna, especially the native earthworm, Gemascolex lateralis, in native ecosystems.