ABSTRACT This work examined the role of micro-organisms in the biogeochemical cycling of selenium within the benthic ecosystem of Lake Macquarie, a coastal lake in New South Wales with a history of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination. Certain micro-organisms possess the ability to oxidise or reduce selenium (Fleming and Alexander, 1973; Doran and Alexander, 1977), and microbial volatilisation of selenium from contaminated sediments and soils utilising naturally-occurring microflora has been shown in overseas research (Thompson-Eagle and Frankenberger, 1992) to be a potentially effective remediation strategy. In examining the impact of micro-organisms upon the oxidation state of selenium in Lake Macquarie sediments, this work also investigated and characterised selenium (and heavy metal) concentrations, speciation and geochemical phase associations (an indicator of potential bioavailability) in the sediments. Seven distinct bacterial species indigenous to Lake Macquarie were identified in this work with the ability to reduce selenium as selenite to elemental selenium, and selenium as selenate to organic forms of selenium, including volatile methylated selenium compounds. Metabolic parameters calculated for these organisms compared favourably with those reported in the literature by other researchers. Mixed populations of sediment micro-organisms were also isolated and studied in this work for their selenite and selenate reduction abilities. Total reduction of added selenite at levels up to 100 mg/L was recorded for a number of the organisms studied in this work. A maximum specific uptake rate for selenite of 3040 mgSe(IV).(gcells)-1.(h)-1 for one isolate (Shewanella putrefaciens) was determined, exceeding rates reported in the literature by other authors. Use of the indigenous micro-organisms from Lake Macquarie for the bioremediation of selenium containing waste streams was also examined in this work and selenium reduction in an immobilised cell reactor was demonstrated with such organisms. Concentrations, speciation, sediment core profiles and geochemical phase associations for selenium were determined for sediment samples collected at a variety of sites throughout Lake Macquarie and from Wyee Creek, a selenium-impacted fluvial input to the lake. The maximum concentration of selenium obtained in this work for the lake proper was 4.04 mg/kg, considerably lower than values reported over a decade ago (Batley, 1987) but consistent with reported reductions of selenium input into the lake from the lead-zinc smelter. Selective extraction methodology (Tessier et al. and BCR methods) studied geochemical phase association of selenium in Lake Macquarie sediments and found up to 44% of selenium was in bioavailable forms. Of interest and environmental concern was levels of selenium found in sediments of Wyee Creek, which previously received overflows from the ash dam associated with the Vales Point Power Station. Sediment selenium levels of up to 300 mg/kg were determined for this creek. These were an order of magnitude or more greater than those recorded for the lake itself and are of concern as to the potential impact on benthic organisms and those animals, including humans, who consume them. While this work can only provide a 'snapshot' of conditions within Lake Macquarie at the time of the sampling events recorded herein, it does make several important contributions to the understanding of selenium biogeochemistry in Lake Macquarie. These include: presentation of the hypothesis that selenium levels in surficial sediments being deposited in the north of the lake have decreased in recent years as a result of selenium reduction measures undertaken by the lead-zinc smelter; determination that up to 44% of selenium in surficial sediments from the lake is associated with sediment phases in which selenium has the potential to become remobilized and hence possibly bioavailable; and documentation of selenium concentrations in Wyee Creek, identifying the area as having selenium concentrations an order of magnitude or more greater than the lake itself. Concerning the role played by microorganisms in the biogeochemical cycling of selenium in Lake Macquarie, this work has: identified individual isolated and mixed cultures of bacteria that can reduce selenium as selenite to lower oxidation states; identified individual isolated and mixed cultures of bacteria that can reduce selenium as selenate to lower oxidation states; identified volatile methylated selenium compounds in the headspace gases of microorganisms reducing selenate; determined Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations for selenate and selenite for organisms isolated from Lake Macquarie; identified casein hydrolysate as a preferred carbon source for selenium reducing microorganisms from Lake Macquarie; and demonstrated that bioremediation of selenium contaminated waste streams using indigenous organisms from Lake Macquarie is feasible on the laboratory scale. Further research areas suggested by this work include: additional investigations of elevated selenium levels in Wyee Creek sediments; determination of the role of microbes in in-situ selenium reduction; and optimisation of selenium biotreatment/bioremediation of selenium-containing waste streams and sediments. In summary, this work, in rejecting the null hypothesis that the oxidation states of selenium in sediments from Lake Macquarie, NSW, are independent of microbial activity and accepting the alternate hypothesis that these oxidation states are not independent of microbial activity, contributes to the understanding of the role of microorganisms in the biogeochemical cycling of selenium, having applicability to both the specific ecosystem of Lake Macquarie, NSW, and also to selenium cycling in the environment in general. In addition, this work has identified selenium contamination in Wyee Creek, one of the fluvial inputs to Lake Macquarie, which was previously been undocumented in the literature and which may pose significant potential risk to humans and the ecosystem due to sediment selenium levels one or more orders of magnitude higher than those recorded in the lake itself. Finally, this work has also identified a number of microorganisms indigenous to Lake Macquarie with the ability to reduce selenium from toxic, mobile forms to less toxic, immobile or volatile forms, and these organisms have been shown to have the potential for use in treatment of selenium contaminated waste streams and also in the bioremediation of selenium-contaminated sediments.

The relationship of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) populations in the Muck Creek basin, a 238 km�� southern Puget Sound stream basin in western Washington, was examined using starch gel electrophoresis and meristic analysis. Coastal cutthroat trout were collected from six sites throughout the basin including tributaries, portions of the mainstem, and a lake. Four sites contained only resident trout, the lower mainstem contained resident and anadromous trout, and the lake contained only mature anadromous trout based on size and appearance. Patterns of allelic and meristic variation suggest a significant structuring and separation of coastal cutthroat trout populations in the basin. The lake population was distinguished from the other populations by significant differences in allele frequencies and meristic characters. The other sites grouped more closely together with significant variation among and between sites meristically and at several loci. / Graduation date: 1996

Scar: A lingering sign of damage or injury, either mental or physical. Technological advancement scars the landscape. It has been our practice to ignore, or worse, hide these marks that have been made as society continues to advance. Industries past left us relics and ruins of bygone eras of promise and production. The time we live in has recognized the untenable failures of past generations, however there are methods of industry that continue to injure the landscape. We will leave our scars. In this time we must rethink the scar, define it, and recognize its beauty. The first step of reclamation is acquiring awareness of where the scar came from. Whether it is an injury, an accident, or a natural disaster, some traumatic event caused lasting damage. Traumatic events whether natural - hurricanes, floods and earthquakes - or manmade - wars, genocide and assaults - can cause both physical and emotional scars. Human tissues can repair themselves leaving scars, but there are also the scars of repair. Even technological advancements in medicine cannot eliminate the scar. Scarring is the natural healing process, yet we view them as unnatural. Once recognized, we must accept the scar so that we do not destroy it. We must accept the traumatic cause/effect relationships, and be conscious of the healing process. The scar must be appreciated: the time that it takes to make it, the time that it takes to heal, the history it can teach, and the story that it can tell. To hide it would only be an injustice to those who came before us and to those yet to come. With acceptance a scar’s beauty can be seen. Every new era of technology, every successive generation, leaves a scar. The opportunity to aid the greatest healer – time – is now. Every scar tells a story. Reclamation: A restoration, as to productivity, usefulness, or morality.

The organochlorine pesticide endosulfan has been shown to be highly toxic to fish and there is some evidence to support that it may act as an endocrine disrupting chemical. Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were caged at 4 sites in Oshawa Creek during the fall and spring of 2008 and 2009 while another group was intra-peritoneal injected in the laboratory with varying concentrations (ppm) of endosulfan. Plasma vitellogenin (VTG) levels, liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), citrate synthase (CS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and brain acetylcholine esterase (AChE) (caged fish only) enzymatic activities were measured. Trout injected with endosulfan experienced an increase of the anaerobic (LDH activity) and a decrease of the aerobic (CS activity) metabolic pathways, while male VTG levels increased. Since it was a singular injection, VTG results have to be confirmed. Fall caged trout showed increased EROD activity and inhibited AChE activity while those caged in the spring experienced an unexpected exposure to the lampricide 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol (TFM) which disrupted metabolic parameters (inhibited CS and increased LDH activity). Both fall and spring caged trout experienced no induction of VTG activity. Further research is needed since the spring exposure was altered due to the unplanned TFM treatment and thus did not represent a valid temporal replicate.

Once the founding site of the city of Toronto and its second largest watercourse, the Garrison Creek and its original landscape of dense forest and deep ravines have disappeared beneath an aggressive process of development and growth. Yet, despite attempts to subdue the creek, it continues to reveal itself through a collection of buildings, sites and structures, here collectively referred to as artefacts, that mark its path. This thesis presents the lost stories of the Garrison Creek as an investigation into the circumstances surrounding its burial and the city’s futile attempts to control its wilderness. Recounted as an historical narrative through the pairing of archival photographs and stories, this thesis exhibits a catalogue of the politics, betrayal, confusion, characters, voices, lessons and synchronicities that have emerged through the burial of the creek. The structure of this thesis is intended to draw out a definition that describes the tenuous, conflicted and complex relationship between a major North American city undergoing rapid change and the wilderness from which it emerged.

Biogeographic patterns across a landscape are developed by the interplay of environmental processes operating at different spatial and temporal scales. This research investigated dynamics of salt marsh vegetation on the Skallingen salt marsh in Denmark responding to environmental variations at large, medium, and fine scales along both spatial and temporal spectrums. At the broad scale, this research addressed the importance of wind-induced rise of the sea surface in such biogeographic changes. A new hypothetical chain was suggested: recent trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation index toward its positive phase have led to increased storminess and wind tides on the ocean surface, resulting in increased frequency, duration, and magnitude of submergence and, hence, waterlogging of marsh soils and plants, which has retarded ecological succession. At the mid-scale, spatial patterns of vegetation and environmental factors were examined across tidal creeks. Sites closer to tidal creeks, compared to marsh interiors, were characterized by the dominance of later-successional species, higher bulk density, and lower nutrient contents and electrical conductivity. This finding implies that locations near creeks have experienced a better drainage condition than the inner marshes, which eventually facilitated the establishment of later-successional plants that are intolerant to physical stress. At the micro-scale, this research examined how the extent and mode of facilitation and competition vary for different combinations of plant species along physical gradients. Both positive and negative relationships were spatially manifested to a greater degree on the low marsh than on the mid marsh. This insight extends our current knowledge of scale-dependent interactions beyond pioneer zones to higher zones. On the low marsh, different types of bivariate point pattern (i.e., clustered, random, and regular) were observed for different combinations of species even at similar spatial scales. This finding implies that it is difficult to generalize at which scales competition and facilitation occur. To conclude, this research stresses the need for a holistic approach in future investigations of salt marsh biogeography. For example, based on results of this current research, it would be meaningful to develop a comprehensive simulation model that incorporates salt marsh ecology, geomorphology, and hydrology observed across scales.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a primary source of greenhouse gases. Injection of CO2 from power plants near coalbed reservoirs is a win-win method to reducing emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. Limited studies have investigated CO2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane production in San Juan and Alberta basins, but reservoir modeling is needed to assess the potential of the Black Warrior basin. Alabama ranks 9th nationally in CO2 emissions from power plants; two electricity generation plants are adjacent to the Black Warrior coalbed methane fairway. This research project was a reservoir simulation study designed to evaluate the potential for CO2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery in the Blue Creek Field of Black Warrior basin, Alabama. It considered the injection and production rate, the components of injected gas, coal dewatering, permeability anisotropy, various CO2 soak times, completion of multiple reservoir layers and pressure constraints at the injector and producer. The simulation study was based on a 5-spot well pattern 40-ac well spacing. Injection of 100 percent CO2 in coal seams resulted in average volumes of 0.57 Bcf of sequestered CO2 and average volumes of 0.2 Bcf of enhance methane production for the Mary Lee coal zone only, from an 80-acre 5-spot well pattern. For the entire Blue Creek field of the Black Warrior basin, if 100 percent CO2 is injected in the Pratt, Mary Lee and Black Creek coal zones, enhance methane resources recovered are estimated to be 0.3 Tcf, with a potential CO2sequestration capacity of 0.88 Tcf. The methane recovery factor is estimated to be 68.8 percent, if the three coal zones are completed but produced one by one. Approximately 700 wells may be needed in the field. For multi-layers completed wells, the permeability and pressure are important in determining the breakthrough time, methane produced and CO2 injected. Dewatering and soaking do not benefit the CO2 sequestration process but allow higher injection rates. Permeability anisotropy affects CO2 injection and enhanced methane recovery volumes of the field. I recommend a 5-spot pilot project with the maximum well BHP of 1,000 psi at the injector, minimum well BHP of 500 psi at the producer, maximum injection rate of 70 Mscf/D, and production rate of 35 Mscf/D. These technical results, with further economic evaluation, could generate significant projects for CO2 sequestration and enhance coalbed methane production in Blue Creek field, Black Warrior Basin, Alabama.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 75 p. : ill., maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-57).

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Dept. of Archaeology) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Ward, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 16, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.