Extensive fossil collections from the upper part of the Sandilands and the lowermost Ghost Creek Formations allowed a detailed taxonomic study of the latest Hettangian to earliest Phensbachian ammonoid fauna of the Queen Charlotte Islands. 61 taxa, allocated to 27 genera, are described. Sunrisites senihlevis, Plesechioceras yakounense, Tetraspidoceras pacificum and Tetraspidoceras recognitum are introduced as new species. The vertical distribution of ammonites, documented in measured sections, serves as a basis to distinguish six successive assemblage zones: the Canadensis Zone, "Coromceras" Zone, Arnouldi Zone, Varians Zone, Harbledownense Zone, and Recognitum Zone. Of these only the Canadensis Zone was established earlier, the remaining five are defined here for the first time. This zonation permits high-resolution correlation of the sections. The total thickness of uppermost Hettangian to lowermost Pliensbachian strata in sections on Kunga Island is estimated at 385 m. A comparison of selected zones in different sections shows a subtle thickness increase to the south. The contact of the Sandilands Formation and the overlying Ghost Creek Formation is diachronous, younging gradually to the south. The faunal succession in the Queen Charlotte Islands agrees well with that of the Taseko Lakes area and Nevada, promising regional applicability of the proposed zones. Intercontinental correlation with the northwest European standard zonation is possible at diffrent levels. The Hettangian/Sinemurian boundary is contained within the Canadensis Zone. It is best approximated by the first appearance of Badouxia columbiae and Metophioceras spp. The position of the Recognitum Zone at the Sinemurian/Pliensbachian boundary remains problematic; most evidence on hand points to its Pliensbachian affinities. The ammonite fauna consists of taxa with pandemic, Tethyan, Athabascan, East Pacific, and Pacific distribution. Provincialism was not prominent but existed during the Sinemurian time. The high proportion of Tethyan forms is in accord with the theory suggesting a more southerly original paleolatitude for Wrangellia. The distribution of Tethyan forms can be explained by the early opening of the Hispanic Corridor, proven to be in existence by the Pliensbachian. Alternatively, the pantropic distribution model cannot be ruled out, although the faunal record from the eastern Tethys is inadequate to prove it. Thestrong representation of Athabascan and East Pacific elements renders long-distance longitudinal tectonic dislocation of Wrangellia unlikely. The paleoecology and taphonomy of ammonites, associated macrofauna, and trace fossils is used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The general lack of bioturbation, predominance of thin-shelled, presumably pseudo-planktonic bivalves, and the intact preservation of fish and a crinoid specimen indicate prevailing oxygen deficient bottom conditions. Trace fossils provide evidence for periodic improvements of bottom oxygenation. Different modes of ammonite preservation are controlled by shell morphology as well as the varying sedimentation rate and diagenetic regime. The latter reflects changes in redox conditions in the upper sediment layers. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

An earthquake swarm occurring on a segment of the ocean rise system in the northeast Pacific Ocean is considered. The data are in the form of standard seismograph records from the western portion of British Columbia, covering the period August 27 to September 1, 1967. The study follows two lines of investigation. Five seismograph stations in western British Columbia are considered as an array and 19 of the larger magnitude events located with respect to this array. The closest station to the swarm is on the northern end of Vancouver Island about 180 km from the source area. This station recorded 217 distinct arrivals in the 5-day period. Statistical properties of the swarm plus the magnitude-frequency relationship can thus be estimated. The Pn and Sn arrivals in western British Columbia show the following time-distance relationships: T[subscript Pn] = (5.51±0.38) + Δ/(7.69±0.03) T[subscript Sn] = (10.16±1.25) + Δ/(4.45±0.03) These travel times are consistent with a crust on Vancouver Island greater than 50 km thick. The epicenters for events in the swarm are associated with two distinct tectonic features in the northeast Pacific Ocean - the Explorer Trench and the Queen Charlotte Island Fracture Zone. The events in the swarm show a non-random distribution in time and the polarity of the first arrival varies with station and with event. These facts suggest a generating process involving strain release by movement on a fault or faults coupled with some sort of triggering mechanism. The magnitude-frequency relationship is determined as Log₁₀N = (4.07±0.50) - (1.10±0.20)M[subscript L] for 2.0 < M[subscript L] < 4.0. The value for the slope (-1.10) is characteristic of earthquake swarms generated as a result of volcanic activity. The apparent paradox concerning the source mechanism is reconciled in the idea of "The New Global Tectonics" that extension across ridge crests (involving generation of new crustal material by diapiric intrusions) and transform faulting of the off-setting fracture zones will occur together. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Whether one is interested in the geomorphology, hydrology, or ecology of a river, the nature of the bed sediments is of major importance. Despite a long history of interest our ability to predict local grain size is poor, which is unfortunate given the labour and costs associated with bed material sampling. A preliminary model of sediment texture variation at the drainage basin scale, which makes a fundamental distinction between coupled and uncoupled hillslope-channel units, is presented. It is hypothesised that grain size variations in strongly coupled rivers are unstructured as a result of overbank colluvial inputs and special storage elements. These preclude the development of the systematic downstream structure commonly associated with fluvial sorting and abrasion processes in uncoupled channels. This conjecture is assessed empirically using data collected in two rivers on the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is found that distance alone does not explain changes in grain size, and that local variations are dominated by large organic debris jams. Impermeable jams are associated with upstream fining and downstream coarsening but the effect diminishes as the jams become more permeable, often with age. Jam placement is random, but frequent, and consequently at the drainage basin scale, grain size changes dramatically and unpredictably over very short distances. No deterministic structure is apparent. Further analysis reveals that the observed variations of surface median grain size and Fredle index are best regarded as stochastic phenomena. Sampling criteria are then determined which enable the accurate characterisation of such variation, once a stream has been classified by land use and position relative to hillslopes. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Radiolarian biostratigraphy is used to construct an informal zonation for sediments of upper Pliensbachian to lower Bajocian age from the Maude and Yakoun Formations, Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. Paleoenvironmental studies assess depositional environment and the effects of changing facies relationships on the fauna. Seven distinctive assemblages are recognized comprising 167 species of spumellarian and nassellarian Radiolaria. The first well established middle Toarcian radiolarian assemblages are documented and both these and upper Toarcian assemblages are highly diverse and contain many new and unusual forms. Five genera and 89 new species are described many of which have restricted biostratigraphic ranges. A chlorophyte algal cyst appearing in all lowest Bajocian samples may, with further study, prove to be a significant marker for the lower Bajocian in the Queen Charlotte Islands. Although Toarcian Radiolaria have been little studied, the assemblages compare with others from North America, the Mediterranean and Japan, and are distinctly Tethyan in aspect. This is consistent with the position of Wrangellia, which paleomagnetic and ammonite biogeographic evidence indicates was in the northern hemisphere within 30° of the equator during the Early to Middle Jurassic. Studies of the abundance of spumellarians vs. nassellarians indicate thatnassellarians predominate, are abundant and diverse in deeper-water deposits (middle Toarcian and lower Bajocian shales) whereas spume Marians, particularly those with multi-layered or spongy tests, dominate in shallow-water deposits (upper middle Toarcian to Aalenian sandstones). Shallow-water nassellarians are much less diverse but a few species (all multicyrtids with thickened tests) are very abundant. Depth appears to be the major factor controlling radiolarian distribution patterns in this relatively shallow-water setting. Studies of eustatic sea-level changes throughout the Jurassic have indicated that major phases of sea-level rise occurred in the early to mid Toarcian and in the early Bajocian with a major phase of sea-level lowering in the late Toarcian to Aalenian; detailed study of the radiolarian faunal succession in the Queen Charlotte Islands appears to confirm this major worldwide trend. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation investigates the ways visitors to Haida Gwaii (sometimes called the Queen Charlotte Islands) have written about the islands. I argue that accounts by visitors to Haida Gwaii fashion the object that they seek to represent. In short, visitors' stories do not unproblematically reflect the islands but determine how Haida Gwaii is perceived. These perceptions in turn affect the actions of visitors, residents and governments. I contribute to that representational process, striving to show the material consequences of language and the ways discourses shape Haida Gwaii. The dissertation consists of three sections. "Early visitors" focuses on the last quarter of the eighteenth century, studying the earliest documented visits by Euro-American mariners and fur traders. "Modern visitors" concentrates on the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when some visitors were busy imposing colonial forms of government and social organization, while others were resisting these projects. "Recent visitors" concentrates on the final quarter of the twentieth century, examining the campaign to save a portion of the archipelago from clearcutting and efforts to develop alternatives to resource-extractive economic practices. By examining three case studies for each period, I argue that the ways visitors imagine the islands have been transformed in each of these periods.

This dissertation investigates the ways visitors to Haida Gwaii (sometimes called the Queen Charlotte Islands) have written about the islands. I argue that accounts by visitors to Haida Gwaii fashion the object that they seek to represent. In short, visitors' stories do not unproblematically reflect the islands but determine how Haida Gwaii is perceived. These perceptions in turn affect the actions of visitors, residents and governments. I contribute to that representational process, striving to show the material consequences of language and the ways discourses shape Haida Gwaii. The dissertation consists of three sections. "Early visitors" focuses on the last quarter of the eighteenth century, studying the earliest documented visits by Euro-American mariners and fur traders. "Modern visitors" concentrates on the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when some visitors were busy imposing colonial forms of government and social organization, while others were resisting these projects. "Recent visitors" concentrates on the final quarter of the twentieth century, examining the campaign to save a portion of the archipelago from clearcutting and efforts to develop alternatives to resource-extractive economic practices. By examining three case studies for each period, I argue that the ways visitors imagine the islands have been transformed in each of these periods. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Search strategies have been a central activity within archaeology, varying with the types of questions being addressed, technological tools available, and theoretical proclivity of the investigator. This thesis will test the utility of LiDAR remote sensing and GIS spatial technologies against a phenomenological field methodology. Modeled lands include select areas within Northeast Graham Island, Haida Gwaii, located off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The time scale in question includes the entire Holocene. A history of the landscape concept is evaluated, fleshing out a decisive working term. An Interdisciplinary Multilogical Framework is devised, linking the two modeling methods with a breadth of information sources on the physical and cultural attributes of landscapes. This dialectic approach culminates in a holistic anthropological practice, and grounds for interpretive analysis of the archaeological record. The role of archaeological predictive modeling in the contemporary socio-political context of heritage management in British Columbia is discussed.

Natural resource management models simplify reality for the purpose of planning or management. In much the same way, an uncertainty model simplifies the many uncertainties that pervade the natural resource management model. However, though a number of uncertainty models have been developed, there has been little work on verifying such models against the uncertainty they purport to represent. The central research question addressed by this work is 'can a natural resource management uncertainty model be verified in order to evaluate its utility in real-world management?' Methods to verity uncertainty models are developed in two areas: uncertainty data models, and uncertainty propagation through process models. General methods are developed, and then applied to a specific case study: slope stability uncertainty in the southern Queen Charlotte Islands. Verification of two typical uncertainty data models (of classified soils and continuous slope) demonstrates that (in this case) both expert opinion inputs and published error statistics underestimate the level of uncertainty that exists in reality. Methods are developed to recalibrate the data models, and the recalibrated data are used as input to an uncertainty propagation model. Exploratory analysis methods are then used to verify the output of this model, comparing it with a high-resolution mass wastage database—itself developed using a new set of tools incorporating uncertainty visualisation. Exploratory data analysis and statistical analysis of the verification shows that, given the nature of slope stability modelling, it is not possible to directly verify variability in the model outputs due to the existing distribution of slope variability (based on the nature of slope modelling). However, the verification work indicates that the information retained in uncertaintybased process models allows increased predictive accuracy—in this case of slope failure. It is noted that these verified models and their data increase real-world management and planning options at all levels of resource management. Operational utility is demonstrated throughout this work. Increased strategic planning utility is discussed, and a call is made for integrative studies of uncertainty model verification at this level.

This study investigates the contribution of including local stakeholders in the early stages of identifying local attributes of vulnerability, adaptive capacity and resiliency to climate change impacts. The research is specific to two remote coastal communities on Haida Gwaii (The Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia. It includes community feedback on research tools, as well as on local attributes of vulnerability and adaptive capacity. I employ multiple methods and a participatory approach for data collection. Using this approach I discovered that some of the attributes I originally believed contributed to vulnerability were perceived by participants as strengthening their community. Other attributes which I believed to be strengthening, were viewed by participants as contributing to vulnerability. This thesis illustrates how the use of multiple methods and a participatory approach contribute to greater knowledge and understanding, by both the researcher and the community, of local attributes of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to projected climate change impacts.

Descent with modification (Darwin, 1859) overwhelmingly occurs through the process of natural selection on genetically variable traits. Following deglaciation in the Pleistocene, morphologically conservative marine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from two distinct mitochondrial DNA lineages colonized freshwater habitats on the Haida Gwaii archipelago. These freshwater populations have radiated in response to a diverse selective landscape on the archipelago and exhibit morphological diversity that equals or exceeds the known range for the species in the circumboreal distribution. I investigated the body shape of 3808 stickleback from 125 isolated populations from Haida Gwaii using geometric morphometrics. Relative warp and discriminant function analysis were used to quantify lateral shape differences based on partial warp scores. which were generated from twelve homologous landmarks digitally placed on each specimen's image. The possibility of ontogenetic shifts and sexual dimorphism of body shape were examined for each population on the archipelago. Stickleback body-shape changes during ontogeny were highly variable, and cannot be predicted by the volume and water clarity of the habitat. I found a slight sexual dimorphism in adult body shape, the magnitude of which could not be predicted by habitat volume and clarity. A number of comparisons were made to elucidate the possible causes for selection for divergence of adult body shape among Haida Gwaii populations. Body shape of parapatric lake-river stickleback populations differed significantly in concordance with hydrodynamic principles. Comparing the body shape of Haida Gwaii populations to the shape of sympatric benthic-limnetic species pairs from southwestern British Columbia. I found that benthic and limnetic body-shape ecotypes differ by up to 56% of the total variation among Haida Gwaii populations. Tests for phenotypic plasticity of body shape were conducted with two morphologically distinct stickleback populations that had been transplanted into two separate experimental ponds that were the ecological opposites of the respective source lakes. I found evidence for some phenotypic plasticity in body shape; the difference between each source and experimental population was approximately 11% of the total variation in body shape among populations throughout the archipelago. Throughout the islands adult body shape and size can be predicted by both abiotic and biotic factors of the habitat. Populations with derived shape (CV1+), including thicker peduncles, posteriad and closely spaced dorsal spines, anteriad pelvis, short dorsal and anal fins, and smaller body size occur in small, shallow, stained ponds, and populations with less derived shape (CVI-). with smaller narrow peduncles. anteriad and widely spaced dorsal spines. posteriad pelvis. longer dorsal and anal fins, and larger size occur in large, deep. clear lakes. There were large-bodied populations with derived shape (CV2-). including smaller heads and shallower elongate bodies in open water habitats of low productivity, and populations with smaller size and less derived shape (CV2±), with larger heads and deeper bodies, in higher productivity, structurally complex habitats. Populations with robust defensive adaptations have less derived shape (CV1-) and larger size, in response to salmonid predation, while populations with weak defences had derived shape (CV 1+), in response to bird/invertebrate predators. The ecomorphological relationships were consistent between mitochondrial lineages and replicated in each geographical region on the archipelago among geographically distant populations, suggesting the parallel evolution of body shape governed by the hydrodynamic constraints of each habitat. Although initially colonized by ancestors with conserved morphology, the stickleback populations on Haida Gwaii exhibit body shapes suited to the hydrodynamic landscape of the habitat, demonstrating the predictability of natural selection in adaptive radiations.