The diploma thesis deals with topic of relict Czech-German ethnic boundary. In the first part of the thesis theoretical-methodological aspects of the study are discussed with an emphasis on delimitation of Czech-German ethnic boundary in literature. In the past the tendency to draw ethnic boundary as a line prevailed and it was common not to deal with zonal character of ethnic boundaries. In the second part of the thesis the shape of Czech- German ethnic boundary in the Czech lands and its changes from the end of the 19th century to 2001 are studied. In the third part of the thesis the shape of Czech-German ethnic boundary in chosen interest regions is analyzed, and the function of ethnic boundary as a socio-cultural divide of a territory is considered. The aim of the study was to find out if there are differences between Czech and German community in the interest regions. The function of ethnic boundary as a socio-cultural divide was examined in two periods: in an interwar era of the first Czechoslovak republic, and at the beginning of the 21st century, when Czech-German ethnic boundary remains only as a relict boundary. Comparison of both parts along the ethnic boundary in the interest regions was done on the basis of religiosity of population and results of parliamentary elections. Key words:...

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The reefs off Broward County exist as three shore-parallel, sequentially deeper terraces named the "inner", "middle", and "outer" reefs and also a shallower, nearshore ridge complex. These structures span the continental coast of southeast Florida from Palm Beach County to southern Miami-Dade County and were characterized as relict, early Holocene shelf-edge and mid-shelf reefs along with limestone ridges. Presently, the reefs are colonized by a fauna characteristic of West Atlantic/Caribbean reef systems. Scleractinian coral cover is low except for a few dense patches of Acropora cervicornis, while Acropora palmata is absent except for a few individual living colonies. Coral reef core-drilling is a useful analytical tool to extract observable and datable geological samples from within reefs. This technique was employed to retrieve 4 cores from the inner reef off Broward County to better understand its age, composition, and Holocene growth history. Sub-samples from corals in cores provided 7 new radiocarbon ages ranging from 7,860-5,560 cal BP, and reef accumulation rates of l.7-2.45 m/1,000 yrs were calculated from these ages. In addition, coral species composition and taphonomic characteristics were analyzed to identify former reef environments/reef zonation, and signals for inner reef termination. Reef zonation was detectable but no clear taphonomic signal for inner reef termination was evident. Current data and radiocarbon ages from all three Broward County reefs suggest that the outer reef accumulated from ~10.6-8 ka cal BP, the middle reef from at least ~5.8-3.7 ka cal BP, and the inner reef from ~7.8-5.5 ka cal BP. A lack of significant age overlaps between the three reefs has led to the assertion that they represent backstepping reefs in response to Holocene sea-level rise. This study has provided the oldest and youngest ages from the inner reef thus far, and confirms that reef backstepping from the outer reef to the inner reef occurred within just a few hundred years after the termination of the outer reef. The middle reef remains poorly understood and thus a definitive Holocene growth history and ultimately an understanding of their formation are still largely unknown.

On the territory of the Czech Switzerland National Park took place during the Holocene significant changes in vegetation cover to the form is most enrolled medium Holocene climatic optimum when broadleaf deciduous forests expanded into Central Europe. These transformations are caused by climatic changes. However, it started the process of soil acidification to this day that caused the other variations of the vegetation composition, even the extinction a variety of species especially in sandstone areas. In addition, in the last few centuries the human impact is graduating, which more or less of the original forests changes due to agricultural and economic reasons to breed-specific and the same-aged plantations which supports the already declining species diversity and relative abundance of the undergrowth species. This work focuses on a single species, evergreen undergrowth shrub Ledum palustre which is characterized by strong demands on its habitat and indicates the specific habitat type. It grows on the upper north-facing edges of rocks with plenty of light and humidity. At these locations stores organic material thanks the favourable hydrology. This makes possible to study the use of pollen and macroremains the paleoecology of the species. On the basis of recent occurrences and the relationships...

Lidköpings kommun i Västra Götalands län tar ut en del av sitt råvatten till dricksvattenproduktion från grundvattenmagasinet Rådaås. Det görs genom tre olika uttagsbrunnar (Brunn 1, Brunn 2 och Brunn 3) som körs en i taget. På senare tid har kommunen börjat misstänka att salthalterna i uttagsvattnet ökar, och det finns ett intresse för att förstå vad problemet beror på och vad som kan göras åt saken.  Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka förekomst och ursprung hos saltvattnet i magasinet och att undersöka hur brunnsdrift i samband med grundvattennivåer påverkar halten i uttagsvattnet. Eftersom det sedan tidigare finns misstankar om att det rör sig om relikt saltvatten utgör det en hypotes för detta arbete. Relikt saltvatten är salt grundvatten som avsatts under en tid då området varit täckt av salt hav, till exempel delar av Sverige under Östersjöns utveckling sedan den senaste istiden.   För att undersöka förekomst av saltvatten i magasinet funktionstestades och provtogs samtliga tillgängliga grundvattenrör för kloridhalt. Resultatet visar att kloridhalten ökar med grundvattenrörens djup och att de högsta salthalterna finns i en djuphåla eller ränna i berggrunden strax under Brunn 1 och 2. För att undersöka ursprunget hos det salta grundvattnet provtogs några av grundvattenrören och samtliga uttagsbrunnar för jodid. Med hjälp av jodid-/kloridkvoten kunde det fastställas att saltvattnet är av relikt ursprung.  För att undersöka hur brunnsdrift påverkar salthalten i uttagsvattnet togs start- och slutprover på kloridhalt i början och slutet på varje driftsperiod och brunn under tre månader. Mönstret i kloridhalt jämfördes med grundvattennivåer. Resultatet visar att kloridhalterna i uttagsvattnet ökar under driftsperioden för samtliga brunnar, men återhämtar sig då brunnen är vilande. Generellt är salthalten högst för Brunn 2 och lägst för Brunn 3. Det kan bero på att Brunn 2 ligger sist av de tre brunnarna i grundvattnets strömningsriktning medan Brunn 3 ligger först samt längst bort från rännan i berggrunden.  Resultatet från detta arbete visar också på att grundvattenuttaget ur Rådaåsmagasinet sedan 1990-talet har orsakat en höjning av salthalterna i råvattnet. Rekommendationer som ges till Lidköpings kommun för att minska eller bibehålla nuvarande salthalt är att installera kontinuerlig övervakning av konduktivitet i uttagsbrunnarna och av grundvattennivå i de två rör som ligger brunnarna närmast. Detta för att i realtid kunna följa hur uttagssätt och grundvattennivå påverkar salthalten. En idé är också att strategiskt placera ut en eller flera nya uttagsbrunnar och på så sätt undvika saltansamlingar i djupa jordlager. / Lidköping municipality in Västra Götaland county, Sweden, extracts some of its raw water for drinking water production from Rådaås aquifer. It is done by using three different pumping wells (Well 1, Well 2 and Well 3) which are run one at a time in a cyclic manner. Recently, the municipality personnel have started to suspect that the salinity of the raw water is increasing. They are therefore interested in understanding the cause of the problem and what could be done to mitigate it.  The purpose of this study is to investigate the occurrence and origin of saline groundwater in the Rådaås aquifer and to determine how operation of the pumping wells along with groundwater levels affect the salinity in the raw water. Since there is already a suspicion of the saline water being relict salt water, that is a hypothesis for this study. Relict salt water is saline groundwater deposited during times when an area was covered by marine water, for example some areas of Sweden during the development of the Baltic Sea since the latest ice age.    To investigate the occurrence of saline groundwater in the aquifer, all available piezometers were tested for functionality and sampled to analyse chloride concentration. The results show that the chloride concentration increases with the depth of the piezometer and that the highest concentrations are found in a depression or furrow in the bedrock just below Well 1 and 2. To investigate the origin of the saline groundwater, some of the piezometers and all pumping wells were tested for iodide. Using the iodide/chloride ratio, it was concluded that the salt water is relict. To investigate how operation of the pumping wells affect the salinity of the raw water, samples of chloride concentration were extracted in the beginning and in the end of each pumping period and well during three months. The resulting pattern of chloride concentration was compared to groundwater levels. The results show that the chloride concentrations in the raw water increase during the pumping periods for all wells, but recover when the well is resting. In general, Well 2 shows the highest salinity and Well 3 shows the lowest. The reason may be that of the three, Well 2 is located last in the groundwater flow direction, while Well 3 is located first and is also furthest away from the furrow in the bedrock.    The results of this study also show that groundwater withdrawal from Rådaås aquifer since the 1990’s has caused an increase of salinity in the raw water. Recommendations given to Lidköping municipality to reduce or maintain the salinity of the raw water are to install continuous surveillance of conductivity in the pumping wells and of groundwater levels in the two most adjacent piezometers. This is to enable live monitoring of how operating the pumping wells along with groundwater levels affect the salinity. Another idea is to strategically place one or more new pumping wells to insure that they avoid deep layers of soil where salt water is accumulated.

Coastal archaeological sites dating to the late Pleistocene and early Holocene are rare on the northwest coast of North America, as they are in many regions of the world, due to changing environmental factors, in particular glacial isostasy and eustasy, resulting in low visibility and survival of archaeological deposits. This dissertation outlines methods and results used to locate late Pleistocene and early Holocene archaeological sites on the Dundas Island Archipelago on the Northwest Coast culture area of British Columbia, Coast Tsimshian Territory, where archaeological sites older than 5,000 years BP are not known. Part of the reason for this is that masses of glacial ice accumulated on the Cordilleran Mountains of North America during the last glacial maximum, which depressed mainland coastal regions isostatically in relation to sea levels. As a result of lateral displacement of subcrustal material, areas to the west of the Cordillera bulged and landforms were raised relative to the sea. With deglaciation, the depressed crust began to rebound and the forebulge subsided resulting in rapidly dropping sea levels along the mainland to the east and rapidly rising sea levels along outer coastal islands to the west. These processes occurred in concert with sea levels that began rising eustatically following the last glacial maximum. Between the inner and outer coasts lies the Dundas Island Archipelago. This research project hypothesized that the study area was close to a sea level hinge lying between these two regions with very different sea level histories. With less significant shoreline movement, it was further anticipated that shoreline situated archaeological sites dating to the late Pleistocene and early Holocene might be found in close proximity, although slightly higher than the present day shoreline. This dissertation addresses the following question: Where are late Pleistocene and early Holocene archaeological sites situated on the Dundas Island Archipelago? To address this question, this dissertation details the methods and results used to determine a sea-level and vegetation history for the Dundas Island Archipelago and the archaeological prospection that was undertaken along relict shorelines. Pollen analysis of sediments from a lake core identified a sequence of six vegetation zones beginning before 12,385 BP. Based on diatom identification of cores from four lake basins, combined with supporting indicators, a sea level curve for the Dundas Islands was constructed showing a slow regression of shorelines from 13 m above the barnacle line to present day elevations over the last 12,000 years BP. Drawing upon these palaeo-environmental data, areas were selected for archaeological survey and prospection. Field testing of these selected areas resulted in the identification of five archaeological sites dating to the early Holocene. These are the first archaeological sites dating older than 5,000 years BP that have been found and dated in Coast Tsimshian Territory. The elevations and radiocarbon dates on all archaeological deposits are consistent with the sea level curve based on palaeo-environmental data points. Overall, this dissertation draws upon palaeo-environmental methods and results for the purpose of identifying and interpreting archaeological sites situated on raised marine landforms.

Dominant vegetation species of two structurally and functionally different montane ecosystems were studied by means of laboratory and field spectroscopy and remote sensing image data: (1) a homogeneous human-influenced evergreen coniferous forest represented by a Norway spruce forest in the Krušné hory Mountains and (2) a heterogeneous natural ecosystem of a relict arctic-alpine tundra in the Krkonoše Mountains with predominance of grasses. The first part dealing with the Norway spruce forest is especially focused on the methods of laboratory spectroscopy. The assessment of Norway spruce stands on a regional and a global scales requires detailed knowledge of their spectral properties at the level of needles and shoots in the beginning, but ground research is very time-demanding. Open spectral libraries could help to get more ground-truth data for subsequent analysis of tree species in forests ecosystems. However, the problem may arise with the comparability of spectra taken by different devices. The present thesis focuses on a comparability of spectra measured by a field spectroradiometer coupled with plant contact probe and/or two integrating spheres (Paper 3) and proves the significant differences in spruce needle spectra measured by the contact probe and integrating sphere, spectra of...

Deep anthropogenic topsoils – those augmented through long-term additions of mineral bulk among fertilising agents – retain in both their physical and chemical make-up significant indicators for cultural activity. This project researched the geographical distribution and historical context of deep anthropogenic topsoils in Scotland and the Isles, and used this information to investigate the impact of current land cover upon the cultural information they retain. In so doing, the project investigated the potential for conservation of this significant cultural resource. A review of the historical information available on agricultural and manuring practices for Scotland identified several factors likely to affect deep topsoil distribution and frequency. These were: the availability of bulk manures to Scottish farmers, the significance of the seaweed resource in determining fertiliser strategies in coastal areas, and the influence of urban settlement and associated patterns of domestic and industrial waste disposal on the location of deep topsoils. Evidence for widespread deep topsoil development was limited. The primary data source used – the First Statistical Account of Scotland – was manipulated into a spatial database in ArcView GIS, to which geographical data from the Soil Survey of Scotland and national archaeological survey databases were added. This was used to devise a survey programme aiming both to investigate the potential factors affecting soil development listed above, and to locate deep topsoil sites for analysis. Three sites were identified with deep topsoils under different cover types (woodland, arable and pasture). The urban-influenced context of two of these highlighted the significance of urban settlement to the location of Scottish deep topsoils. Analysis of pH, organic matter, and total phosphorus content showed a correlation between raised organic matter and a corresponding increase in phosphorus content in soils under permanent vegetation. By contrast, soils under arable cultivation showed no such rise. This was attributed to the action of cropping in removing modern organic inputs prior to down-profile cycling. The potential for pasture and woodland cover to affect relict soil signatures was therefore observed. Thin section analysis aimed to both provide micromorphological characterisation of the three deep topsoil sites and investigate the effect of modern land cover on micromorphological indicators. Distinctive differences in micromorphological character were observed between the rural and urban deep topsoils, with the latter showing a strong focus on carbonised fuel residues and industrial wastes. All sites showed a highly individual micromorphological character, reflective of localised fertilising systems. There was no correlation between land cover type and survival of material indictors for anthropogenic activity, with soil cultural indicators surviving well, particularly those characteristic of urban-influenced topsoils. Suggestions for preservation strategies for this potentially rare and highly localised cultural resource included the incorporation of deep anthropogenic topsoil conservation into current government policy relating to care of the rural historic environment, and the improvement of data on the resource through ongoing survey and excavation.