Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--Göttingen. / Dateiformat: zip, Dateien im PDF-Format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-137). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Σκοπός της παρούσας μεταπτυχιακής διατριβής ειδίκευσης είναι η μελέτη της υδρογεωλογικής και υδροχημικής κατάστασης του νοτιοδυτικού τμήματος του συστήματος των Ακαρνανικών Ορέων. Η περιοχή μελέτης βρίσκεται στην Δυτική Αιτωλοακαρνανία. Ανήκει στην Ιόνια ζώνη, και καλύπτεται κατά κύριο λόγο από την μετα-Τριαδική ανθρακική ακολουθία, η οποία αποτελείται από τους Ασβεστόλιθους Παντοκράτορα, Ανώτερου Λιάσιου, Βίγλας, Σενωνίου και Παλαιόκαινου. Οι μεταλπικοί σχηματισμοί αποτελούνται από αλλουβιακές αποθέσεις, και πλευρικά ασβεστολιθικά κορήματα. Το ανάγλυφο της περιοχής είναι έντονο, με μεγάλα υψόμετρα ειδικά στο δυτικό τμήμα της. Η έντονη τεκτονική καταπόνηση της περιοχής παίζει καθοριστικό ρόλο στην εμφάνιση των πηγών καθώς και στη διαμόρφωση του υδροχημικού χαρακτήρα αυτών. Στην περιοχή αναπτύσσονται καρστικοί υδροφόροι στους ασβεστόλιθους Παντοκράτορα αλλά και ελεύθερος υδροφόρος στις αλλουβιακές αποθέσεις της κοιλάδας του Αστακού. Οι δυτικοί ασβεστολιθικοί όγκοι αποστραγγίζονται από σειρά πηγών κατά μήκος της επαφής των ασβεστόλιθων με το φλύσχη, ενώ εμφανίζονται και αρκετές υποθαλάσσιες πηγές. Στα πλαίσια της παρούσας εργασίας έγιναν δύο εκτεταμένες δειγματοληψίες κατά την ξηρή και υγρή περίοδο, καθώς και συλλογή δειγμάτων νερού και μετρήσεων παροχής σε επιλεγμένες πηγές σε μηναία βάση. Προσδιορίστηκαν οι κύριοι υδροχημικοί τύποι των νερών, οι οποίοι είναι Ca-HCO3 για τις καρστικές πηγές του δυτικού τμήματος, Ca-Mg-HCO3 και Ca-HCO3 για το κεντρικό τμήμα της περιοχής μελέτης. Παρατηρήθηκε επίσης υφαλμύρινση πηγής, η οποία εμφανίζεται στην επαφή ασβεστολίθων Ηωκαίνου με τις αλλουβιακές αποθέσεις και αποστραγγίζει το ανατολικό τμήμα της περιοχής, καθώς και σε υδροσημεία κατά μήκος αυτής της επαφής σε απόσταση έως 1,8 km από την θάλασσα. Ο υδροχημικός χαρακτήρας των νερών στο ανατολικό τμήμα της περιοχής μελέτης επηρεάζεται από τη διάλυση των Τριαδικών ανθρακικών λατυποπαγών, της γειτονικής περιοχής. Τέλος από τα υδρογράμματα των πηγών και τους συντελεστές στείρευσης που υπολογίστηκαν προέκυψε ότι η ροή του νερού γίνεται μέσω καρστικών αγωγών. / Τhe present master thesis deals with the hydrogeological and hydrochemical conditions of the SW part of the Akarnanika Mountains system in West Greece. The study area is located at West Aitoloakarnania. It’s a part of the Ionian Geotectonic Zone and is covered mainly by post-Triassic Carbonate series, which consists of “Pantokratoras” series, Upper Liasian limestones, “Vigla” series, and Palaiocene-Eocene Limestones. The post-Alpine formations consist of alluvial deposits and talus cones. The relief of the area is intense, reaching high altitudes especially in the western part of the area. The tectonic setting of the area plays an important role in the appearance of springs. Karstic aquifers are developed in the area, mainly in the “Pantokratoras” limestones. An unconfined aquifer is developed in the alluvial deposits which form the Astakos valley. The western limestone masses are drained by a series of springs, along the contact of limestone with flysch. Several submarine springs also occur. Within the frame of the thesis, two major sampling campaigns were conducted in the area, during the wet and dry period, accompanied with sampling and discharge measurements in selected springs on a monthly basis. The main hydrochemical types were defined, which are Ca-HCO3 for the karst springs of the western part and Ca-Mg-HCO3 and Ca-HCO3 for the central part. In the study area, seawater intrusion phenomena was observed in a coastal spring, draining the eastern part, at the contact of Eocene limestones with alluvial deposits, as well as on boreholes along this contact to a distance up to 1,8 km from the sea. The hydrochemical type of waters at the eastern part of the study area is defined by the dissolution of Triassic Carbonate Breccias that lie east of the study area. Finally spring hydrographs and the recession curves have shown that groundwater flows through karst conduits.

abstract: The Byrd Glacier region of Antarctica is important for understanding the tectonic development and landscape evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM). This outlet glacier crossing the TAM marks a major discontinuity in the Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic Ross orogen. The region has not been geologically mapped in detail, but previous studies have inferred a fault to exist beneath and parallel to the direction of flow of Byrd Glacier. Thermochronologic analysis has never been undertaken across Byrd Glacier, and little is known of the exhumation history of the region. The objectives of this study are to assess possible differential movement across the inferred Byrd Glacier fault, to measure the timing of exhumation, and to gain a better overall understanding of the structural architecture of the TAM. Apatites and zircons separated from rock samples collected from various locations north and south of Byrd Glacier were dated using single-crystal (U- Th)/He analysis. Similar cooling histories were revealed with comparable exhumation rates of 0.03 ± 0.003 and 0.04 ± 0.03 mm/yr north and south of Byrd Glacier from apatite data and somewhat similar rates of 0.06 ± 0.008 and 0.04 ± 0.01 mm/yr north and south of Byrd Glacier from zircon data. Age vs. elevation regressions indicate a vertical offset of 1379 ± 159 m and 4000 ± 3466 m from apatite and zircon data. To assess differential movement, the Kukri Peneplain (a regional unconformity) was utilized as a datum. On-site photographs, Landsat imagery, and Aster Global DEM data were combined to map Kukri Peneplain elevation points north and south of Byrd Glacier. The difference in elevation of the peneplain as projected across Byrd Glacier shows an offset of 1122 ± 4.7 m. This study suggests a model of relatively uniform exhumation followed by fault displacement that uplifted the south side of Byrd Glacier relative to the north side. Combining apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He analysis along with remote geomorphologic analysis has provided an understanding of the differential movement and exhumation history of crustal blocks in the Byrd Glacier region. The results complement thermochronologic and geomorphologic studies elsewhere within the TAM providing more information and a new approach. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Geological Sciences 2011

abstract: The San Gabriel Mountains (SGM) of southern California provide the opportunity to study the topographic controls on erosion rate in a mountain range where climate and lithology are relatively constant. I use a combination of digital elevation model data, detailed channel survey data, decadal climate records, and catchment-averaged erosion rates quantified from 10Be concentrations in stream sands to investigate the style and rates of hillslope and channel processes across the transition from soil-mantled to rocky landscapes in the SGM. Specifically, I investigate (1) the interrelations among different topographic metrics and their variation with erosion rate, (2) how hillslopes respond to tectonic forcing in "threshold" landscapes, (3) the role of discharge variability and erosion thresholds in controlling the relationship between relief and erosion rate, and (4) the style and pace of transient adjustment in the western SGM to a recent increase in uplift rate. Millennial erosion rates in the SGM range from 0.03-1.1 mm/a, generally increasing from west to east. For low erosion rates (< 0.3 mm/a), hillslopes tend to be soil-mantled, and catchment-averaged erosion rates are positively correlated with catchment-averaged slope, channel steepness, and local relief. For erosion rates greater than 0.3 mm/a, hillslopes become increasingly rocky, catchment-mean hillslope angle becomes much less sensitive to erosion rate, and channels continue to steepen. I find that a non-linear relationship observed between channel steepness and erosion rate can be explained by a simple bedrock incision model that combines a threshold for erosion with a probability distribution of discharge events where large floods follow an inverse power-law. I also find that the timing of a two-staged increase in uplift rate in the western SGM based on stream profile analysis agrees with independent estimates. Field observations in the same region suggest that the relict topography that allows for this calculation has persisted for more than 7 Ma due to the stalling of migrating knickpoints by locally stronger bedrock and a lack of coarse sediment cover. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Geological Sciences 2011

The hemlock-silverbell (Tsuga canadensis-Halesia tetraptera) forest type is known to exist in only two places, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) and the Joyce Kilmer National Memorial Forest. The hemlock component of this forest type is currently threatened by the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelgis tsugae), an invasive aphid-like insect native to Japan. This current status has given rise to the need to investigate the ecological resources of this rare forest type before the hemlock component dies out. The objectives of this study were to determine the nature of the plant/environment and plant/plant associations within this forest type. Within this forest type hemlock was negatively related to protection, aspect, and slope steepness and silverbell was positively related to aspect and slope steepness. This study also identified some interspecific associations such as the negative relationship in the understory between hemlock and striped maple, and provided evidence that understory stems are exhibiting a growth response to hemlock decline in these stands. The information obtained from this study characterizing the plant/environment interactions and even the structural and species components of this forest type will serve as a baseline of data from which to measure change and will provide insight into the mechanisms of species distribution and perhaps into short term scenarios of forest response to hemlock decline and mortality.

In this essay, reader-response theory is used to explore the application of history in "The Rats in the Walls" and "At the Mountains of Madness" by H.P. Lovecraft.Utilizing the concepts of the informed reader and temporal reading, this essay concludes that Lovecraft used history in two distinct ways. Firstly, history is used as a means to build immersion, ambience, and explore the individual's place in history by drawing upon English cultural layers. Secondly, it functions to reflect on human history in relation to human existence and geological history by turning the history of Earth into the history of an alien species. Furthermore, this essay concludes that Lovecraft and history could be valuble assets to an EFL classroom by relating the findings to theory on reader-response in education. Firstly, it enables students to reflect on social issues in the past and the present by looking at Lovecraft's historical settings, his antiquated prose and the casual racism he exhibits in his texts. Secondly, Lovecraft's apparent obsession with his historical identity and ancestry provides an opening for the students to contemplate their own sense of identity as it relates to culture and history. The underlying idea being that the best way to reveal Lovecraft's use of history is to consider what the individual reader brings to the reading experience.

The Drakensberg rock-jumper (Chaetops aurantius) is a high-altitude passerine endemic to South Africa and Lesotho, living along a highly disrupted portion of the southern Great Escarpment from the Drakensberg highlands in the north-east to the Sneeuberg in the west, above an altitude of 1500 m. Along with the Cape rock-jumper (C. frenatus), this genus provides one of the stronger faunal links between the floristic biomes known as the Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) and the Cape Floristic Region (CFR). Despite this, there is a significant lack of information regarding the species. The great majority of information is based on incidental observation, and no dedicated study has been undertaken. I conducted a series of field excursions between January 2011 and November 2012 in order to explore the rock-jumper’s feeding ecology, diet, habitat usage and genetic diversity. By trapping the birds, I was able to mark them individually with unique colour ring-combinations, and pluck a tail feather for genetic analyses. Observational data reveal that birds living close to their lower altitude threshold (c. 1500 m) are strongly habitat specific, living in boulder fields dominated by grassy vegetation. However, in areas at higher elevations (c. 2000 – 2500 m) this restriction seemed to fall away, possibly as a result of farming practices in those areas – higher grazing pressure results in shorter grass and less foraging effort for the birds. They live in groups ranging from pairs to small family groups of up to twelve individuals and maintain year round territories. Territory defence takes the form of calling and displaying from a prominent rock or boulder and becomes particularly noticeable just prior to, and during, the breeding period. No colour ringed individuals were ever spotted in boulder fields outside from where they had been initially ringed. This, coupled with the behaviour of territory maintenance, suggests a strongly sedentary lifestyle. Genetic inferences are constrained by a small sample size (only 25 birds were caught), but results indicate that some genetic isolation is occurring – a single haplotype was exhibited in birds from across the southern Escarpment, while seven private haplotypes show that any genetic mixing is likely to be historical rather than current. Historical gene flow would most probably have occurred during the last glacial maximum (18 000 years before present), when the cooler, drier conditions which are currently restricted to high peaks would have been much more extensive, thereby decreasing the distance required for effective dispersal. This is in agreement with the observation results, concluding that although there has been movement of birds across the southern Escarpment in the past, it does not appear to be occurring currently. However, this does leave plenty of scope for further work, particularly in the genetic diversity of the species, and in expanding the ecological observations to include the breeding biology.

The aim of the study was to assess succes of some plant species in restoration of species rich meadows in Bílé Karpaty mountains. The meadows were sown with regional seed mixtures. It also deals with a diversity of the growths old 1 till 8 years and its relation to environmental conditions.

The thesis deals with literary and film representations of "The King of the Šumava Mountains" and stories which themes are close to this topic (converters, protection of national border). The thesis pursues the interconnection of particular works with their period context and medialization. The attention is also put to the intertextual "communication" within the works themselves and to the relationship between individual characters of "The King of Šumava Mountains" and archetypes of the contemporary world. The emphasis is placed on the analysis of the film (and the novel of the same title) The King of the Šumava Mountains alongside the prose books The Death of the King of the Šumava Mountains and The Return of the King of the Šumava Mountains. The conclusion articulates the same and the different features of individual representations which are often narrowly connected to the time of its inception.