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Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-218). Also available via the Internet.

M.S.

This thesis is a multi-faceted engagement with the many events and people that came to be known as 'The Bluff Rock Massacre'. Employing a number of textual techniques it seeks to articulate the ways in which 'historical' events and particular places come to be lived out in subjects who are both past and present and in a constant state of becoming. The work employs official historical records, family histories, tourist leaflets, gossip, field notes and other texts to show the multiple ways in which an event both becomes and exceeds its invention. The thesis is concerned with the ways in which the non-Aboriginal can write Australian history after the many Aboriginal interventions into hegemonic history and the ongoing re-appraisal of 'What happened?' Simultaneously the writing is written on the terrain of post-identity politics and is both queered and performative. The work attempts a textual exposition of the questions - How does one write the past when it is also the present?; What is a postcolonial autobiography?; what is a postcolonial sexuality/textuality? - rather than answer them / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

It is shown in this thesis that fluid dynamic forces on unsteadily moving bluff bodies depend on the history of motion as much as on the velocity and acceleration of motion. An empirical relationship between the motion of the body and the resulting force is obtained by analysing the effect of the history of motion on the fluid dynamic force at any instant. The fluid dynamic force, velocity and acceleration are obtained as functions of time, by oscillating test models in water while they are being towed at constant speed. The test models used are: 1. a two-dimensional circular cylinder, 2. a rectangular block with square frontal area and fineness ratio of 3:1, 3. a cruciform parachute canopy with arm ratio of 4:1, and 4. a ring-slot parachute canopy. The functions by which the history of flow affects the future forces, are evaluated by using the Convolution Integral. The results show that the effects due to history of both velocity and acceleration are by no means negligible, that is the velocity and the acceleration at a specific time prior to any instant is so domineering that the fluid dynamic force can approximately be expressed as being delayed by this period of time. This 'time-delay', or time lag (as opposed to phase-lag) in the part of the measured force is found to be independent of the frequency of excitation. In the light of this evidence, a prediction model is suggested for estimating unsteady fluid forces. The data required for the application of this prediction model are obtained experimentally. Chapter One of this thesis gives a brief explanation of the historical background of unsteady fluid dynamics. The effects of acceleration on the fluid dynamic force, in both ideal and real fluids, are discussed in Chapter Two. Explained in Chapter Three are the techniques used for building the force prediction model, and data acquisition. The experimental procedure is explained in Chapter Four. Chapter Five gives the empirical form of the prediction model, and some data that are used in association with this model.

On September 10, 2005, a landslide occurred to the south of Utah State University Campus and Highway 89. This landslide did considerable damage to the Logan and Northern canal, which is cut into the slope, and to a residence at the toe of the slope. This event brought many parties together to collaborate on possible solutions to the immediate fix of the slide as well slides that could occur in the future. The purpose of this report is to compile information useful to the study of the area and the possible solutions and/or risk assessment of the Logan Bluff Landslide Zone. The study includes the records of any landslides, possible causes of slope failures, historical precipitation analysis, construction and land use changes over time, and a specific study of the September 2005 slide. The information presented in this report still leaves many questions unanswered and other data is likely available. However, it can be used as the starting point for a more in depth study of the bluff area.

Mortuary analysis has been used in the past to understand social status and social organization. The need for a scientific way to undertake mortuary analysis in achaeology is necessary because too often social status is assumed. This thesis attempts to demonstrate that there is a scientific approach that can be taken in mortuary analysis through the investigation of energy expenditure, a dimension that can measure the attributes of status. The mortuary analysis in this study is carried out using a scientific approach involving the amount of energy expended on burials by looking at burial type, grave goods, and special placement of the burials. Through the use of archival data, this thesis investigates differences seen in the burial population of Lyon’s Bluff (22OK520) in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi through mortuary analysis that looks at burial type, grave goods, and special placement of the burials. Local farmsteads are used as a comparative basis. Through the creation of a paradigm with dimensions of burial treatments and modes of grave goods, it is possible to place all burials at a particular site or group of sites in categories that show the amount of energy expended on burials. From this, comparisons can be made with age and sex, stature, cranial deformation, and spatial location that can aid in the interpretation of mortuary data at a site. The results of this research suggest that at Lyon’s Bluff and the farmsteads used in this study there is an increase in the energy expended on burials through time. This type of research is applicable to both past and future mortuary analysis when there is well-documented information on burial type and burial inclusions.

Marine organic-walled microplankton biostratigraphy of the Maastrichian Prairie Bluff Chalk is documented. A total of 69 dinoflagellate species were identified in the Prairie Bluff Chalk. Samples were studied from three sites in central and western Alabama (Tombigbee River, Millers Ferry, and Braggs). Also included were several samples of the overlying Clayton Formation, and the underlying Ripley Formation. The species and their stratigraphic ranges were compared with other coeval sections in the U. S. and Europe. Dinoflagellate Zones Va and Vb of Wilson (1974) are recognized in the Prairie Bluff Chalk. This suggests the age of the Prairie Bluff Chalk is restricted to late Maastrichtian. The Prairie Bluff Chalk correlates to the upper Providence Formation of Georgia (Firth 1984); the lower Providence being early Maastrichtian. The basal Clayton Formation may be latest Maastrichtian in age / Master of Science

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Surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinders and square prisms can be found in many industrial and engineering applications. The local flow fields around these bluff bodies are not yet well understood due to lack of experimental and numerical data close to the cylinder and prism. The aim of this thesis was therefore to gain an improved physical description of the flow field above the free end surface and around the cylinders and prisms. In the present experimental study, the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique was used to measure the flow field very close to these bluff bodies in the test section of a low-speed wind tunnel. Four finite circular cylinders and square prisms of aspect ratios AR = 9, 7, 5 and 3 were tested at a Reynolds number of ReD = 4.2×104. At the location of the cylinder or prism, the boundary layer thickness relative to the cylinder diameter or prism width (D) was δ/D = 1.6. PIV velocity field measurements in the near-wake region were made in a vertical plane parallel to the mean flow direction on the flow centreline (the symmetry plane), within 2D upstream and 5D downstream of the cylinder or prism. Additional PIV measurements were carried out in three orthogonal x-z, x-y, and y-z planes above the free end surface of the models. In the near-wake region of the finite circular cylinders, the large recirculation zone contained a vortex immediately behind and below the free end; this vortex was found for all four aspect ratios. A second vortex was found behind the cylinder near the cylinder-wall junction; this vortex was not observed for the cylinder of AR = 3, indicating a distinct wake structure for this cylinder. Similar to the circular cylinder case, in the near-wake region of the square prisms, a vortex was observed immediately behind and below the free end in the recirculation zone. The size and strength of this vortex increased as the aspect ratio of the prism decreased. Also, a second vortex was found near the prism-wall junction downstream of the prisms of AR = 9 and 7, while this vortex was not observed for the prisms of AR = 5 and 3. The PIV results in the near-wake regions of the circular cylinders and square prisms show that the effect of the bluff body shape (circular or square cross-section) is evident in the maximum length of the mean recirculation zone. A considerable difference was seen between the maximum length of the mean recirculation zones of the circular cylinder and square prism of AR = 9, while the shape of the bluff body does not considerably affect the length of the recirculation zones for the bodies of AR = 7, 5, and 3. The present PIV results also provided insight into the separated flow above the free ends, including the effects of AR and body shape. Above the free end of the cylinders, flow separation from the leading edge led to the formation of a mean recirculation zone on the free-end surface. The point of reattachment of the flow onto the free-end surface moved towards the trailing edge as the cylinder aspect ratio was decreased. Large regions of elevated turbulence intensity and Reynolds shear stress were found above the free end. For the finite circular cylinders, the flow pattern above the free end was similar in all three x-z planes for all aspect ratios, consisting of a cross-stream vortex at approximately x/D = 0. According to the PIV results in the x-y planes, one of the main characteristics of the flow over the free end surface of the circular cylinders was a pair of focal points at x/D ≈ 0 and near the edge of the free end. As the cylinder aspect ratio increased, the size and strength of these vortices decreased. Also, the centers of the vortices moved downstream as the aspect ratio increased. For the finite square prism, the large, separated, recirculating flow region extended into the near wake. For the square prism of AR = 3, considerable difference was seen in the free-end flow pattern compared to the more slender prisms of AR = 9, 7 and 5. In particular, a cross-stream vortex formed due to interaction between the separated flow from the leading edge of the prism and the reverse flow over the trailing edge of the free end. This vortex was seen in all three planes at different cross-stream locations for AR = 3 but only in the symmetry plane for AR = 9. Hence, the present PIV results in the x-z planes revealed the effect of the near-wake flow on the flow above the prism free end. The results also showed a considerable effect of the aspect ratio on the mean velocity field as well as the Reynolds stress fields. The results in the x-y planes showed different flow patterns for the prism of AR = 3 including wall-normal vortices close to the free end at the sides of the prism as well as two saddle points close to the corners of the trailing edge and one node downstream of the trailing edge, while for AR = 9, no vortices and node were observed. Two streamwise vortices with opposite sign of rotation were seen in the y-z plane at x/D = 0.2 for all aspect ratios. The present results illustrate in-plane vorticities originating from the vertices of the leading edge of the prism for all aspect ratios.