An expansive panel of well exposed (periglacial) strata of the Upper Kaza Group permitted a detailed study of the stratal architecture of proximal basin floor deposits in the Neoproterozoic Windermere turbidite system. Detailed stratigraphic and petrographic analyses identified six lithofacies: poorly-sorted, clast-rich mudstone (F1), thin-bedded siltstone and mudstone (F2), thick-bedded, massive sandstone (F3), medium-scale, cross-stratified sandstone (F4), mudstone-clast breccia (F5), and medium-bedded turbidites (F6). The spatial distribution of these facies identify five architectural elements: heterolithic feeder channel deposits (FA1), thin-bedded intralobe turbidites (FA2), terminal splay deposits (FA3), distributary channel deposits (FA4), and isolated scours (FA5). FA 1-4 are genetically related and form the basic building blocks of large-scale basin floor depositional lobes. FA 5, which is isolated to the stratigraphic top of the study area, is interpreted to have formed in a base-of-slope setting, and its superposition on FA 1-4 suggests the long-term progradation of the Windermere turbidite system.

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Underground Research Laboratory was built to allow study of concepts for the long-term disposal of Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository. The underground portion of the facility was decommissioned and permanently closed in 2010. Decommissioning included the installation of a seal at the intersection of the access shaft with a hydraulically active fracture zone located at 275 m depth. The objective of the shaft seal is to limit potential groundwater mixing above and below the fracture zone. This project provided a unique opportunity to study the hydro-mechanical evolution of a full-scale shaft seal installed under conditions similar to those in a deep geological repository. This thesis provides an overview of the instrumentation and data logging techniques that have been successfully used to monitor the initial behaviour of the shaft seal in this unique underground environment.

Thunderstorms have been identified as an important component of the hydrological cycle on the Canadian Prairies, a region that is postulated to have the potential to exert a detectable influence on convective precipitation in the summer. However, very little work has been undertaken exploring and elucidating those aspects of biophysical forcing on the Canadian Prairies that affect lightning activity during the summer months, the constraints under which any linkages operate, and the mechanisms by which surface anomalies modify the structure and moisture content of the convective boundary layer (CBL) so as to modulate lightning activity. Evapotranspiration (ET) from the soil and vegetation canopy is known to be important for modulating the moisture content in the CBL, and this in turn has important implications for the initiation and intensity of deep, moist convection. The Second Generation Prairie Agrometeorological Model (PAMII) of Raddatz (1993) has been used extensively for the purpose of quantifying the evolution of soil moisture and ET in response to atmospheric drivers on the Canadian Prairies. However, the ability of PAMII to simulate the evolution of root-zone soil moisture and ET during the growing season has yet to be verified against a comprehensive set of in-situ observations. In this thesis, we address the above knowledge gaps using unique datasets comprising observed lightning flash data, satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, observed atmospheric soundings, in-situ soil moisture observations and estimates of daily ET from eddy-covariance systems. A thorough quantitative validation of simulations of root-zone soil moisture and ET from PAMII was undertaken against in-situ soil moisture measurements and ET from eddy-covariance systems at sites on the Canadian Prairies. Our analysis demonstrates that PAMII shows skill in simulating the evolution of bulk root-zone soil moisture content and ET during the growing season, and for contrasting summer conditions (i.e., wet versus dry). As part of the soil moisture validation, a novel multi-model pedotransfer function ensemble technique was developed to quantify the uncertainty in soil moisture simulations arising from errors in the specified soil texture and associated soil hydraulic properties. An innovative approach was used to explore linkages between the terrestrial surface and deep, moist convection on the Canadian Prairies, using datasets which avoid many of the problems encountered when studying linkages between soil moisture and thunderstorm activity. This was achieved using lightning flash data in unison with remotely sensed NDVI data. Specifically, statistical analysis of the data over 38 Census Agricultural Regions (CARs) on the Canadian Prairies for 10 summers from 1999 to 2008 provided evidence for a surface-convection feedback on the Canadian Prairies, in which drought tends to perpetuate drought with respect to deep, moist convection. The constraints in which such a feedback operates (e.g., areal extent and magnitude of the NDVI anomalies) were also identified. For example, our data suggest that NDVI anomalies and lightning duration are asymmetric, with the relationship between NDVI and lightning duration strengthening as the area and amplitude of the negative NDVI anomaly (less vegetation vigour) increases. Finally, we focused on how surface anomalies over the Canadian Prairies can condition the CBL so as to inhibit or facilitate thunderstorm activity, while also considering the role of synoptic-scale forcing on modulating summer thunderstorm activity. We focused on a CAR located over central Alberta for which observed lightning flash data, NDVI data, and in-situ sounding data were available for 11 summers from 1999 to 2009. Our analysis suggests that storms over this region are more likely to develop and are longer-lived or more widespread when they develop in an environment in which the surface and upper-air synoptic-scale forcings are synchronized. On days when a surface or upper-air feature is present, storms are more likely to be triggered when NDVI is much above average, compared to when NDVI is much below average. We propose a conceptual model, based almost entirely on observations, which integrates our findings to describe how a reduction in vegetation vigour modulates the partitioning of available energy into sensible and latent heat fluxes at the surface, thereby modulating the lifting condensation level heights, which in turn affect lightning duration.

No description available.

No description available.

Graduation date: 1997

This research aims to investigate an assertion, endorsed by a range of commentators, that multimedia teaching and learning approaches encourage learners to adopt a richer, creative and deeper level of understanding and participation within the learning environment than traditional teaching and learning methods. The thesis examines this assertion by investigating one type of multimedia activity defined (for the purposes of this research) as a digital audio video assessment (DAVA). Data was collected using a constructivist epistemology, interpretative and naturalistic perspective using primarily a qualitative methodology. Three types of data collection methods were used to collect data from thirteen Diploma of Event Management students from William Angliss TAFE. Firstly, participants completed the Biggs Study Process Questionnaire (2001) which is a predictor of deep and surface learning preference. Each participant then engaged in a semi-structured interview that elicited participant's self-declared learning preferences and their approaches to completion of the DAVA. These data sources were then compared. Six factors that are critical in informing the way that the participants approached the DAVA emerged from the analysis of the data. Based on these findings it is concluded that the DAVA does not restrict, inhibit or negatively influence a participants learning preference. Learners with a pre-existing, stable learning preference are likely to adopt a learning approach that is consisten t with their preference. Participants that have a learning preference that is less stable (more flexible) may adopt either a surface or deep approach depending on the specific task, activity or assessment.

Copies of author's previously published articles inserted / Bibliography : leaves 171-190 / v, 190 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics and Mathematical Physics, 1991

Copies of three of the author's previously published articles inserted as appendix B. / Includes bibliographical references / 124 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics and Mathematical Physics, 1993

List of author's previously published works included / Bibliography: leaves 165-177 / v, 177 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics and Mathematical Physics, 1994