This thesis approaches the problem of the cost-efficient wind turbine foundation on an onshore site of clayey soil characteristics. The given soil stratigraphy includes a layer of clay and two sands of different density. The characteristics of the soil and the water level that were used as input come from a site in Peloponissos, Greece. The applied wind, static and seismic loads on this study were resolved with the German DIN standards, and other related research and European standards. The safety factors were adjusted for wind turbines. For the pile solution, after the bearing and overturning adequacy against the horizontal and vertical loads was proven with the calculation of the DIN equations, then the model was inserted in the Pfahl program using DIN 4017 equations to calculate settlements. Firstly, a shallow foundation of various dimensions in the clay layer over the water level with all the necessary checks was considered. Afterward, a deep foundation solution of a single bored pile, with reinforcement steel casing, of various diameters was investigated. The different foundation solutions were assessed and compared on a technical and economic basis. As a conclusion, the 0.70 meter diameter single pile was chosen as the best solution because it needs only a few days for construction, and it is the most cost-efficient. The chosen circular footing was of a diameter of 10 meters and 1.5 meter raft thickness, but proved unfeasible because of high excavations costs. The checks on the DIN standards and Eurocode that set the boundaries for the design in the two cases were recognised and possible future work goals were discussed.

Charwell Basin is a 6 km-wide structural depression situated at the boundary between the axial ranges and faulted and folded Marlborough Fault Zone of north-eastern South Island, New Zealand. The basin contains the piedmont reach of the Charwell River, and a series of late Quaternary loess-mantled alluvial terraces and terrace remnants that have been uplifted and translocated from their sediment source due to strike-slip motion along the Hope Fault which bounds the basin to its immediate north. The aim of this study was to provide an interdisciplinary, integrated and holistic analysis of late Quaternary landscape evolution and environmental change in Charwell Basin using terrain analysis, loess stratigraphy, soil chemistry and paleoecological data. The study contributes new understanding of New Zealand landscape and ecosystem responses to regional and global climatic change extending to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6, and shows that climatically-forced shifts in biogeomorphic processes play a significant role in lowland landscape evolution. Morphometric analysis of alluvial terraces and terrace remnants of increasing age demonstrated geomorphic evolution through time, with a decrease in extent of original planar terrace tread morphology and an increase in frequency of steeper slopes and convexo-concave land elements. Paleotopographic analysis of a &gt150 ka terrace mantled by up to three loess sheets revealed multiple episodes of alluvial aggradation and degradation and, subsequent to river abandonment, gully incision prior to and coeval with loess accumulation. Spatial heterogeneity in loess sheet preservation showed a complex history of loess accumulation and erosion. A critical profile curvature range of -0.005 to -0.014 (d2z/dx2, m-1) for loess erosion derived from a model parameterised in different ways successfully predicted loess occurrence on adjacent slope elements, but incorrectly predicted loess occurrence on an older terrace remnant from which all loess has been eroded. Future analyses incorporating planform curvature, regolith erosivity and other landform parameters may improve identification of thresholds controlling loess occurrence in Charwell Basin and in other South Island landscapes. A loess chronostratigraphic framework was developed for, and pedogenic phases identified in, the three loess sheets mantling the &gt150 ka terrace. Except for one age, infrared-stimulated luminescence dates from both an upbuilding interfluve loess exposure and colluvial gully infill underestimated loess age with respect to the widespread Kawakawa/Oruanui Tephra (KOT; 27,097 ± 957 cal. yr BP), highlighting the need for improvements in the methodology. Onset of loess sheet 1 accumulation started at ca. 50 ka, with a break at ca. 27 ka corresponding to the extended Last Glacial Maximum (eLGM) interstadial identified elsewhere in New Zealand. Loess accumulation through MIS 3 indicates a regional loess flux, and that glaciation was not a necessary condition for loess generation in South Island. Loess accumulation and local alluvial aggradation are decoupled: the youngest aggradation event only covers ~12 kyr of the period of loess sheet 1 accumulation. Older local aggradation episodes could not be the source because their associated terraces are mantled by loess sheet 1. In the absence of numerical ages, the timing of L2 and L3 accumulation is inferred on the basis of an offshore clastic sediment record. The upbuilding phase of loess sheet 2 occurred in late MIS 5a/MIS 4, and loess sheet 3 accumulated in two phases in MIS 5b and late MIS 6. Biogenic silica data were used to reconstruct broad shifts in vegetation and changes in gully soil saturation status. During interglacial/interstadial periods (MIS 1, early MIS 3, MIS 5) Nothofagus¬-dominated forest covered the area in association with Microlaena spp grasses. Lowering of treeline altitude during glacial/stadial periods (MIS 2, MIS 3, MIS 5b, late MIS 6) led to reduction in forest cover and a mosaic of shrubs and Chionochloa spp, Festuca spp and Poa spp tussock grasses. Comparison of interfluve and gully records showed spatial heterogeneity in vegetation cover possibly related to environmental gradients of exposure or soil moisture. A post-KOT peak in gully tree phytoliths corresponds to the eLGM interstadial, and a shift to grass-dominated vegetation occurred during the LGM sensu stricto. Diatoms indicated the site became considerably wetter from ca. 36 ka, with peak wetness at ca. 30, 25 and 21 ka, possibly due to reduced evapotranspiration and/or increased precipitation from a combination of strengthened westerly winds and increased cloudiness, or strengthened southerly flow and increased precipitation. Human influence after ca. 750 yr BP led to re-establishment of grassland in the area, which deposited phytoliths mixed to 30 cm depth in the soil. A coupled gully colluvial infilling/vegetation record showed that sediment flux during the late Pleistocene was ~0.0019 m3 m-1 yr-1 under a shrubland/grassland mosaic, and Holocene sediment flux was ~0.0034 m3 m-1 yr-1 under forest. This increase of 60% through the last glacial-interglacial transition resulted from increased bioturbation and down-slope soil transport via root growth and treethrow, which formed a biomantle as evidenced by slope redistribution of the KOT. These results contrast with sediment transport rates and processes hypothesised to occur contemporaneously in adjacent mountain catchments. This suggests that intraregional biogeomorphic processes can differ significantly depending on topography and geological substrate, with different landscapes responding in unique ways to the same climate shifts. Analysis of Quaternary terrestrial landscape evolution in non-glaciated mountainous and lowland areas must therefore consider spatial and temporal heterogeneity in sediment fluxes and underlying transport processes.

Charwell Basin is a 6 km-wide structural depression situated at the boundary between the axial ranges and faulted and folded Marlborough Fault Zone of north-eastern South Island, New Zealand. The basin contains the piedmont reach of the Charwell River, and a series of late Quaternary loess-mantled alluvial terraces and terrace remnants that have been uplifted and translocated from their sediment source due to strike-slip motion along the Hope Fault which bounds the basin to its immediate north. The aim of this study was to provide an interdisciplinary, integrated and holistic analysis of late Quaternary landscape evolution and environmental change in Charwell Basin using terrain analysis, loess stratigraphy, soil chemistry and paleoecological data. The study contributes new understanding of New Zealand landscape and ecosystem responses to regional and global climatic change extending to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6, and shows that climatically-forced shifts in biogeomorphic processes play a significant role in lowland landscape evolution. Morphometric analysis of alluvial terraces and terrace remnants of increasing age demonstrated geomorphic evolution through time, with a decrease in extent of original planar terrace tread morphology and an increase in frequency of steeper slopes and convexo-concave land elements. Paleotopographic analysis of a >150 ka terrace mantled by up to three loess sheets revealed multiple episodes of alluvial aggradation and degradation and, subsequent to river abandonment, gully incision prior to and coeval with loess accumulation. Spatial heterogeneity in loess sheet preservation showed a complex history of loess accumulation and erosion. A critical profile curvature range of -0.005 to -0.014 (d²z/dx², m⁻¹) for loess erosion derived from a model parameterised in different ways successfully predicted loess occurrence on adjacent slope elements, but incorrectly predicted loess occurrence on an older terrace remnant from which all loess has been eroded. Future analyses incorporating planform curvature, regolith erosivity and other landform parameters may improve identification of thresholds controlling loess occurrence in Charwell Basin and in other South Island landscapes. A loess chronostratigraphic framework was developed for, and pedogenic phases identified in, the three loess sheets mantling the >150 ka terrace. Except for one age, infrared-stimulated luminescence dates from both an upbuilding interfluve loess exposure and colluvial gully infill underestimated loess age with respect to the widespread Kawakawa/Oruanui Tephra (KOT; 27,097 ± 957 cal. yr BP), highlighting the need for improvements in the methodology. Onset of loess sheet 1 accumulation started at ca. 50 ka, with a break at ca. 27 ka corresponding to the extended Last Glacial Maximum (eLGM) interstadial identified elsewhere in New Zealand. Loess accumulation through MIS 3 indicates a regional loess flux, and that glaciation was not a necessary condition for loess generation in South Island. Loess accumulation and local alluvial aggradation are decoupled: the youngest aggradation event only covers ~12 kyr of the period of loess sheet 1 accumulation. Older local aggradation episodes could not be the source because their associated terraces are mantled by loess sheet 1. In the absence of numerical ages, the timing of L2 and L3 accumulation is inferred on the basis of an offshore clastic sediment record. The upbuilding phase of loess sheet 2 occurred in late MIS 5a/MIS 4, and loess sheet 3 accumulated in two phases in MIS 5b and late MIS 6. Biogenic silica data were used to reconstruct broad shifts in vegetation and changes in gully soil saturation status. During interglacial/interstadial periods (MIS 1, early MIS 3, MIS 5) Nothofagus-dominated forest covered the area in association with Microlaena spp grasses. Lowering of treeline altitude during glacial/stadial periods (MIS 2, MIS 3, MIS 5b, late MIS 6) led to reduction in forest cover and a mosaic of shrubs and Chionochloa spp, Festuca spp and Poa spp tussock grasses. Comparison of interfluve and gully records showed spatial heterogeneity in vegetation cover possibly related to environmental gradients of exposure or soil moisture. A post-KOT peak in gully tree phytoliths corresponds to the eLGM interstadial, and a shift to grass-dominated vegetation occurred during the LGM sensu stricto. Diatoms indicated the site became considerably wetter from ca. 36 ka, with peak wetness at ca. 30, 25 and 21 ka, possibly due to reduced evapotranspiration and/or increased precipitation from a combination of strengthened westerly winds and increased cloudiness, or strengthened southerly flow and increased precipitation. Human influence after ca. 750 yr BP led to re-establishment of grassland in the area, which deposited phytoliths mixed to 30 cm depth in the soil. A coupled gully colluvial infilling/vegetation record showed that sediment flux during the late Pleistocene was ~0.0019 m³ m⁻¹ yr⁻¹ under a shrubland/grassland mosaic, and Holocene sediment flux was ~0.0034 m³ m⁻¹ yr⁻¹ under forest. This increase of 60% through the last glacial-interglacial transition resulted from increased bioturbation and down-slope soil transport via root growth and treethrow, which formed a biomantle as evidenced by slope redistribution of the KOT. These results contrast with sediment transport rates and processes hypothesised to occur contemporaneously in adjacent mountain catchments. This suggests that intraregional biogeomorphic processes can differ significantly depending on topography and geological substrate, with different landscapes responding in unique ways to the same climate shifts. Analysis of Quaternary terrestrial landscape evolution in non-glaciated mountainous and lowland areas must therefore consider spatial and temporal heterogeneity in sediment fluxes and underlying transport processes.

Saltwater Forest is a Dacrydium cupressinum-dominated lowland forest covering 9000 ha in south Westland, South Island, New Zealand. Four thousand hectares is managed for sustainable production of indigenous timber. The aim of this study was to provide an integrated analysis of soils, soil-landform relationships, and soil-vegetation relationships at broad and detailed scales. The broad scale understandings provide a framework in which existing or future studies can be placed and the detailed studies elucidate sources of soil and forest variability. Glacial landforms dominate. They include late Pleistocene lateral, terminal and ablation moraines, and outwash aggradation and degradation terraces. Deposits and landforms from six glacial advances have been recognised ranging from latest Last (Otira) Glaciation to Penultimate (Waimea) Glaciation. The absolute ages of landforms were established by analysis of the thickness and soil stratigraphy of loess coverbeds, augmented with radiocarbon dating and phytolith and pollen analysis. In the prevailing high rainfall of Westland soil formation is rapid. The rate of loess accretion in Saltwater Forest (ca. 30 mm ka⁻¹) has been low enough that soil formation and loess accretion took place contemporaneously. Soils formed in this manner are known as upbuilding soils. The significant difference between upbuilding pedogenesis and pedogenesis in a topdown sense into an existing sediment body is that each subsoil increment of an upbuilding soil has experienced processes of all horizons above. In Saltwater Forest subsoils of upbuilding soils are strongly altered because they have experienced the extremely acid environment of the soil surface at some earlier time. Some soil chronosequence studies in Westland have included upbuilding soils formed in loess as the older members of the sequence. Rates and types of processes inferred from these soils should be reviewed because upbuilding is a different pedogenic pathway to topdown pedogenesis. Landform age and morphology were used as a primary stratification for a study of the soil pattern and nature of soil variability in the 4000 ha production area of Saltwater Forest. The age of landforms (> 14 ka) and rapid soil formation mean that soils are uniformly strongly weathered and leached. Soils include Humic Organic Soils, Perch-gley Podzols, Acid Gley Soils, Allophanic Brown Soils, and Orthic or Pan Podzols. The major influence on the nature of soils is site hydrology which is determined by macroscale features of landforms (slope, relief, drainage density), mesoscale effects related to position on landforms, and microscale influences determined by microtopography and individual tree effects. Much of the soil variability arises at microscales so that it is not possible to map areas of uniform soils at practical map scales. The distribution of soil variability across spatial scales, in relation to the intensity of forest management, dictates that it is most appropriate to map soil complexes with boundaries coinciding with landforms. Disturbance of canopy trees is an important agent in forest dynamics. The frequency of forest disturbance in the production area of Saltwater Forest varies in a systematic way among landforms in accord with changes in abundance of different soils. The frequency of forest turnover is highest on landforms with the greatest abundance of extremely poorly-drained Organic Soils. As the abundance of better-drained soils increases the frequency of forest turnover declines. Changes in turnover frequency are reflected in the mean size and density of canopy trees (Dacrydium cupressinum) among landforms. Terrace and ablation moraine landforms with the greatest abundance of extremely poorly-drained soils have on average the smallest trees growing most densely. The steep lateral moraines, characterised by well drained soils, have fewer, larger trees. The changes manifested at the landform scale are an integration of processes operating over much shorter range as a result of short-range soil variability. The systematic changes in forest structure and turnover frequency among landforms and soils have important implications for sustainable forest management.

Saltwater Forest is a Dacrydium cupressinum-dominated lowland forest covering 9000 ha in south Westland, South Island, New Zealand. Four thousand hectares is managed for sustainable production of indigenous timber. The aim of this study was to provide an integrated analysis of soils, soil-landform relationships, and soil-vegetation relationships at broad and detailed scales. The broad scale understandings provide a framework in which existing or future studies can be placed and the detailed studies elucidate sources of soil and forest variability. Glacial landforms dominate. They include late Pleistocene lateral, terminal and ablation moraines, and outwash aggradation and degradation terraces. Deposits and landforms from six glacial advances have been recognised ranging from latest Last (Otira) Glaciation to Penultimate (Waimea) Glaciation. The absolute ages of landforms were established by analysis of the thickness and soil stratigraphy of loess coverbeds, augmented with radiocarbon dating and phytolith and pollen analysis. In the prevailing high rainfall of Westland soil formation is rapid. The rate of loess accretion in Saltwater Forest (ca. 30 mm ka⁻¹) has been low enough that soil formation and loess accretion took place contemporaneously. Soils formed in this manner are known as upbuilding soils. The significant difference between upbuilding pedogenesis and pedogenesis in a topdown sense into an existing sediment body is that each subsoil increment of an upbuilding soil has experienced processes of all horizons above. In Saltwater Forest subsoils of upbuilding soils are strongly altered because they have experienced the extremely acid environment of the soil surface at some earlier time. Some soil chronosequence studies in Westland have included upbuilding soils formed in loess as the older members of the sequence. Rates and types of processes inferred from these soils should be reviewed because upbuilding is a different pedogenic pathway to topdown pedogenesis. Landform age and morphology were used as a primary stratification for a study of the soil pattern and nature of soil variability in the 4000 ha production area of Saltwater Forest. The age of landforms (> 14 ka) and rapid soil formation mean that soils are uniformly strongly weathered and leached. Soils include Humic Organic Soils, Perch-gley Podzols, Acid Gley Soils, Allophanic Brown Soils, and Orthic or Pan Podzols. The major influence on the nature of soils is site hydrology which is determined by macroscale features of landforms (slope, relief, drainage density), mesoscale effects related to position on landforms, and microscale influences determined by microtopography and individual tree effects. Much of the soil variability arises at microscales so that it is not possible to map areas of uniform soils at practical map scales. The distribution of soil variability across spatial scales, in relation to the intensity of forest management, dictates that it is most appropriate to map soil complexes with boundaries coinciding with landforms. Disturbance of canopy trees is an important agent in forest dynamics. The frequency of forest disturbance in the production area of Saltwater Forest varies in a systematic way among landforms in accord with changes in abundance of different soils. The frequency of forest turnover is highest on landforms with the greatest abundance of extremely poorly-drained Organic Soils. As the abundance of better-drained soils increases the frequency of forest turnover declines. Changes in turnover frequency are reflected in the mean size and density of canopy trees (Dacrydium cupressinum) among landforms. Terrace and ablation moraine landforms with the greatest abundance of extremely poorly-drained soils have on average the smallest trees growing most densely. The steep lateral moraines, characterised by well drained soils, have fewer, larger trees. The changes manifested at the landform scale are an integration of processes operating over much shorter range as a result of short-range soil variability. The systematic changes in forest structure and turnover frequency among landforms and soils have important implications for sustainable forest management.