This study was undertaken between July 24, 2003 and January 16, 2004 to investigate the influence of urban development upon the abundance and species diversity of frogs in the upper Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Five urban sites were paired with matched non-urban sites. Urban sites were located within or on the fringes of the towns of Katoomba and Blackheath and were subject to varying degrees of physical disturbance, as well as degradation and pollution by urban runoff and sewage. The non-urban sites were located within the Blue Mountains National Park and were effectively un-impacted by human activity. No adequate explanation emerged for the marked difference between the frog assemblages at the two types of habitat. It is speculated that the salts, detergents and other chemicals in urban wastewaters (roadway runoff, yard runoff and sewage) may provide the frogs at urban sites with some level of protection against disease, particularly chytridiomycosis. All indications from this and previous work are that the frog abundance and diversity in non-urban habitats in the upper Blue Mountains of New South Wales are showing the same trends in decline as observed in other montane regions of Australia. Urban habitats are important population reservoirs for the diversity of frog species absent from the non-urban habitats, but are vulnerable to progressive destruction from a variety of human impacts. Efforts should be made by municipal authorities to recognise their significance and to protect them from future loss / Master of Science (Hons)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2003. / A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, School of Humanities, 2003. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.) (Hons) -- University of Western Sydney, 2005. / "A thesis submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Hons.) at University of Western Sydney" Bibliography : leaves 207 - 221.

The overarching question under investigation in this thesis is the extent to which the ideals of penal management as espoused by both British and Colonial authorities were implemented in the day to day administration and management of a convict work force. The focus of the examination is the construction of Major Thomas Mitchell’s line of road between Mt. Victoria and Bathurst in the 1830’s. Specifically the thesis documents the various sites on the line of road with a particular emphasis on the administrative centre and principal facility, No. 2 Stockade Cox’s River, to explain the dynamic interaction of the network and its role in the penal repertoire of New South Wales. In bringing together a large range of sources the thesis has enabled the first thorough reading of the convict sites associated with the Western road. This has led to a multi-dimensional understanding of the place, its people, and the process of its construction. It provides a basis for future scholarship on this neglected network, located almost at the doorstep of greater Sydney, on the western fringe of the Blue Mountains. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis examines the material correlates of religious behaviour. Religion is an important part of every culture, but the impact religion has on structuring material culture is not well understood. Archaeologists are hampered in their reconstructions of the past because they lack comparative methods and universal conventions for identifying religious behaviour. The principal aim of this thesis is to construct an indicator model which can archaeologically identify religious behaviour. The basis for the proposed model stems directly from recurrent religious phenomena. Such phenomena, according to anthropological and cognitive research, relate to a series of spatio-temporally recurrent religious features which relate to a universal foundation for religious concepts. Patterns in material culture which strongly correlate with these recurrent phenomena indicate likely concentrations of religious behaviour. The variations between sacred and mundane places can be expected to yield information regarding the way people organise themselves in relation to how they perceive their cosmos. Using cognitive religious theory, stemming from research in neurophysiology and psychology, it is argued that recurrent religious phenomena owe their replication to the fact that certain physical stimuli and spatial concepts are most easily interpreted by humans in religious ideas. Humans live in a world governed by natural law, and it is logical that the concepts generated by humans will at least partially be similarly governed. Understanding the connection between concept and cause results in a model of behaviour applicable to cross-cultural analysis and strengthens the model’s assumption base. In order to test the model of religious behaviour developed in this thesis it is applied to a regional archaeological matrix from the Blue Mountains National Park in New South Wales, Australia. Archaeological research in the Blue Mountains has tentatively identified ceremonial sites based on untested generalised associations between select artefact types and distinctive geographic features. The method of analysis in this thesis creates a holistic matrix of archaeological and geographic data, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative measures, which generates a statistical norm for the region. Significant liminal deviations from this norm, which are characteristic indicators of religious behaviour are then identified. Confidence in these indicators’ ability to identify ceremonial sites is obtained by using a distance matrix and algorithms to examine the spatial patterns of association between significant variables. This thesis systematically tests the associations between objects and geography and finds that a selective array and formulaic spatiality of material correlates characteristic of religious behaviour does exist at special places within the Blue Mountains. The findings indicate a wide spread if more pocketed distribution of ceremonial sites than is suggested in previous models. The spatial/material relationships for identified religious sites indicates that these places represent specialised extensions of an interdependent socio-economic system where ceremonial activity and subsistence activity operated in balance and were not isolated entities.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis examines the material correlates of religious behaviour. Religion is an important part of every culture, but the impact religion has on structuring material culture is not well understood. Archaeologists are hampered in their reconstructions of the past because they lack comparative methods and universal conventions for identifying religious behaviour. The principal aim of this thesis is to construct an indicator model which can archaeologically identify religious behaviour. The basis for the proposed model stems directly from recurrent religious phenomena. Such phenomena, according to anthropological and cognitive research, relate to a series of spatio-temporally recurrent religious features which relate to a universal foundation for religious concepts. Patterns in material culture which strongly correlate with these recurrent phenomena indicate likely concentrations of religious behaviour. The variations between sacred and mundane places can be expected to yield information regarding the way people organise themselves in relation to how they perceive their cosmos. Using cognitive religious theory, stemming from research in neurophysiology and psychology, it is argued that recurrent religious phenomena owe their replication to the fact that certain physical stimuli and spatial concepts are most easily interpreted by humans in religious ideas. Humans live in a world governed by natural law, and it is logical that the concepts generated by humans will at least partially be similarly governed. Understanding the connection between concept and cause results in a model of behaviour applicable to cross-cultural analysis and strengthens the model’s assumption base. In order to test the model of religious behaviour developed in this thesis it is applied to a regional archaeological matrix from the Blue Mountains National Park in New South Wales, Australia. Archaeological research in the Blue Mountains has tentatively identified ceremonial sites based on untested generalised associations between select artefact types and distinctive geographic features. The method of analysis in this thesis creates a holistic matrix of archaeological and geographic data, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative measures, which generates a statistical norm for the region. Significant liminal deviations from this norm, which are characteristic indicators of religious behaviour are then identified. Confidence in these indicators’ ability to identify ceremonial sites is obtained by using a distance matrix and algorithms to examine the spatial patterns of association between significant variables. This thesis systematically tests the associations between objects and geography and finds that a selective array and formulaic spatiality of material correlates characteristic of religious behaviour does exist at special places within the Blue Mountains. The findings indicate a wide spread if more pocketed distribution of ceremonial sites than is suggested in previous models. The spatial/material relationships for identified religious sites indicates that these places represent specialised extensions of an interdependent socio-economic system where ceremonial activity and subsistence activity operated in balance and were not isolated entities.

This thesis presents details of investigations into the potential for co-disposal of the two rejects from Clarence Colliery and Kable's Transport Sand Mine. Column experiments were undertaken to simulate field conditions. The experiment consisted of: 1/. creating the required co-disposal arrangement and structure in containers 2/. infiltrating water through each container and measuring the rates of infiltration and overflow 3/. measuring the chemical properties of the leachate water. Geotechnical tests of co-disposal pile stability were undertaken using a specially constructed shear box. Results of this study suggest the co-disposal of course coal washery reject from Clarence Colliery with clay tailings from Kable's Transport Sand Mine is a feasible option for managing the generation of acetic drainage. It is recommended that field trials comprise layers of coal reject and clay tailings in a 9:1 ratio. Layering the coal reject with clay tailings creates a semi-permeable barrier which acts to restrict water percolation through the reject as well as reacting with the leachate to increase the leachate pH and adsorb metals / Master of Engineering (Hons)

Thesis (MA (Hons.)) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1997. / Bibliography : leaves 54-56.