Thesis--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-57).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-76).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1981. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [176]-191.

Thesis, Leyden, 1827. / Caption title: Dissertationis pars prima, quae est historica. Reproduction of original from Kress Library of Business and Economics, Harvard University. Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 25206.101. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1987. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-140). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

Aid In Action Porthcawl (a registered South Wales Charity Organisation) has been carrying out charity work in the town of Rubik in the Mirdita Region of North Albania for many years. Rubik lies within the Catchment of the River Fani which is remote, ungauged and characterised by frequent flooding, erosion and deforestation. Over the years these processes have had a huge environmental and socioeconomic impact on the residents of Rubik. Aid In Action was concerned about this situation and wished to provide a sustainable solution. Following discussions with staff at the University of Glamorgan, it was agreed that a sustainable solution was the development of an integrated hydrological decision support system for the whole River Fani Catchment. Hydrological models can be a valuable tool, providing a common platform for experts, decision-makers and stakeholders for the sustainable management of catchments, especially when used within the framework of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Such models and systems require quantitative data of good quality over appropriate spatial and temporal scales. For remote mountainous ungauged river catchments in developing countries the development of a catchment model and management system is often complicated due to limited availability of such data. Very often, any available data are difficult to obtain; they could, for example, be scattered among local authorities and are generally in the national language of the country concerned, thus adding the challenge of having records translated into the study language. Over the last few decades, advances in hydrological data capture (e.g. using remote sensing) and data management systems (e.g. GIS) have provided opportunities for overcoming some of the challenges of modelling ungauged catchments. However, the data captured is often from different sensors and sources and at different scales. This research project sought out to creatively use multi-source and multi-scale data to develop a GIS based hydrological model of the River Fani Catchment in the North of Albania to provide, a long term solution for the sustainable management of the Fani Catchment, thus improving the quality of life for the residents of Rubik and the rest of the Catchment. Data from various remote sensing sensors (e.g. Landsat, MODIS, ASTER) and other sources such as published maps, limited gauged flow and rainfall records, local library archives, digital datasets (e.g. CORINE and radar rainfall) and interviews with residents were used to develop the integrated GIS-based hydrological (using WMS hydrological modelling environment) and hydraulic (HEC-RAS) model of the Fani Catchment. The model was then used to not only map significant environmental change in the Catchment (e.g. deforestation using various vegetation indices), but also to assess flooding impact and to analyse various “What-if” scenarios of conservation strategies (e.g. deforestation, afforestation and provision of runoff attenuation systems). The results suggest that the changes in vegetation cover (apart from farming practices) are not considerably extensive in the Catchment between 1984 and 2000. It was observed that afforestation as a flooding mitigation measure did not play a decisive role in runoff reduction compared with attenuation measures. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of remote sensing and GIS in generating quantitative information on land classification, change detection, soil erosion and general catchment management for remote and ungauged catchments in developing countries. This has been particularly so, owing to recent developments in sensor technologies and increasing available datasets from data providers and the global scientific community at little or no cost.

The sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup in the Tuli Basin (South Africa) consist of various terrigenous clastic and chemical deposits (parabreccias, conglo-breccias, conglomerates, sandstones, fine-grained sediments, calcretes and silc~etes). Four stratigraphic units were identified: the Basal, Middle and· Upper Units, and the CI~rens Formation. The palaeo-environmental reconstructions of the four stratigraphic units are based on evidence provided by primary sedimentary structures, palaeo-flow measurements, clast size/shape analysis, petrographic studies, palaeontological findings, borehole data and stratigraphic relations. The facies associations of the Basal Unit are interpreted as colluvial fan and low sinuosity, braid~d river channel with coal-bearing overbank and thaw-lake deposits. The interpreted depositional environment implies a cold climate, non-glacial subarctic fluvio-Iacustrine system. The current indicators of the palaeo-river system suggest flow direction from ENE to WSW. The lithologies of the Basal Unit are very similar to the deposits of the fluvial interval in the Vryheid Formation (Ecca Group) of the main Karoo Basin. There is no indubitable evidence for glacial activity (e.g. striated pavements or clasts, varvites, etc.), therefore the presence of unequivocal Dwyka Group correlatives in the Tuli Basin remains uncertain. The sedimentary structures and palaeo-current analysis indicate that the beds of the Middle Unit were deposited by an ancient river system flowing in a north-northwesterly direction. A lack of good quality exposures did not allow the reconstruction of the fluvial style, but the available data indicate a high-energy, perhaps braided fluvial system. The lack of bio- and chronostr~~igraphic control hampers precise correlation and enables only the lithocorrelation of the Middle Unit with other braided river systems either in the Beaufort Group or in the Molteno Formation of the main Karoo Basin. The depositional environment of the Upper Unit is interpreted as a low-sinuosity, ephemeral stream system with calcretes and silcretes in the dinosaur-inhabited overbank area. During the deposition of the unit, the climate was semi-arid with sparse precipitation resulting -iFlhighmagnitude, low-frequency devastating flash floods. The sediments were built out from a distant northwesterly source to the southeast. The unambiguous correspondence between the Upper Unit and the Elliot Formation (main Karoo Basin) is provided by lithological similarities and prosauropod dinosaurs remains. The palaeo-geographic picture of the Clarens Fonnation indicates a westerly windsdominated erg environment with migrating transverse dune types. The ephemeral stream deposits, fossil wood and trace fossils are only present in the lower part of the Formation, indicating that the wet-desert conditions were progressively replaced by dry-desert conditions. Based on lithological and palaeontological evidence, the Formation correlates with the Clarens Formation in the main Karoo Basin. At this stage, it remains difficult to establish the exact cause of the regional palaeo-slope changes during the deposition of the Karoo Supergroup in the Tuli Basin. It is probable that foreland system tectonics, which affected the lower part of the Supergroup (Basal Unit and Middle Unit?), were replaced by incipient continental extension and rift related tectonic movements in the Middle and Upper Units, and Clarens Formation.