No abstract was provided. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> The aureole surrounding the Loon Lake pluton, notable for the presence of scapolite, is situated in an upper amphibolite facies terrane in the Grenville Province of southern Ontario. Four distinct scapolite-bearing parageneses are found to surround the pluton in more or less concentric zones. Furthest from the pluton a clinopyroxene-scapolite gneiss grades into Ca-amphibole gneiss, Ca-amphibole-biotite gneiss and biotite gneiss. Scapolite is also found in the marbles surrounding the aureole, as well as in all gneisses of the aureole. As the mineralogy of the gneisses change from clinopyroxene through biotite, the textures grade from granoblastic polygonal to a granoblastic polygonal texture modified by abundant acicular and platy minerals. </p> <p> As the pluton is approached, scapolite often assumes a ragged fine-grained nature with alteration to sericite. The whole rock chemistry is characteristic of that derived from a mixture of intermediate volcanics (latite) and carbonate-evaporites. This sequence was undoubtedly deposited in a shallow marine environment. Subsequent metamorphism to upper amphibolite facies produced a band of clinopyroxene gneiss. As the Loon Lake pluton was emplaced increasing temperature and volatiles in an aqueous solution caused the clinopyroxene-scapolite gneiss to undergo retrograde metamorphism and formed the Ca-amphibole, Ca-amphibole-biotite and biotite gneisses. </p> <p> Studies of mineral chemistry indicate that the minerals coexist in equilibrium and that they are related, to some degree, to whole rock composition. As the retrograde metamorphsim occurred elements within the minerals redistributed themselves according to the nature of the new phases produced. Finally, the partitioning between phases followed the ideal binary solution model. Chlorine is found to be partitioned between scapolite, Ca-amphibole and biotite, and all three phases contain chlorine, the relative amounts present being controlled by the crystal structure of the minerals. The relation of Lin and Burley (1973a) between lattice parameter and scapolite composition is confirmed. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> An open Quercus-dominated vegetation association, known locally as the oak plains, was found at a number of locations in southern Ontario until disturbance by European settlers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Two contrasting theories have been suggested in the literature regarding the origin of the oak plains. One suggests they developed as the result of burning by pre-European natives, while the other considers them to be relics of a warmer, drier mid-Holocene climate. In this paper, the factors which led to the development of the oak plains are examined. The hypothesis that the oak plains resulted from native burning of the natural vegetation was tested by pollen analysis of a 5 m sediment core from Decoy Lake, a small kettle basin near Paris, Ontario located in an area mapped by early surveyors as oak plains. The Decoy Lake record was then compared to those of two nearby lakes supporting mesic forests. This palaeoecological analysis was supported by an investigation of physical factors controlling the historical distribution of the oak plains in a study area between Cambridge and Long Point on Lake Erie. </p> <p> The distribution of the oak plains and other vegetation associations in pre-settlement times, reconstructed from early survey records, correlated fairly well with the texture of soils and underlying Quaternary parent materials. Within the defined study area, the oak plains were restricted almost exclusively to well-drained soils overlying coarse-textured till and sandy outwash and deltaic deposits. Climatic factors and topography varied within the study area, but showed little correlation with the distribution of vegetation associations. <p> <p> The fossil pollen record at Decoy Lake indicates that a QuercusPinus- herb pollen assemblage, unique to southern Ontario, was found from 4000 yr BP until pre-settlement times. This suggests that the oak plains have existed in the area for at least 4000 years. The oak plains replaced an assemblage dominated by Pinus strobus. The warm, dry Hypsithermal appears to have allowed Pinus strobus to remain dominant on the well drained soils around Decoy Lake until after 5000 yr BP, 2000 to 3000 years longer than at other southern Ontario sites. The Picea zone (11,800 yr BP to 10,100 yr B P), Pin us banksiana/resinosa zone ( 10,100 yr BP to c. 9000 yr BP), and the replacement of Pinus banksiana/resinosa by Pinus strobus (c. 9000 yr BP) occurred contemporaneously with other records from southern Ontario. </p> <p> The hypothesis that anthropogenic factors resulted in the development of the oak plains was rejected since this association developed 2500 years before the onset of agricultural activity by natives in southern Ontario. Instead, it appears post-Hypsithermal increases in moisture, perhaps coupled with an amelioration of winter temperatures, led to the replacement of Pinus strobus by the oak plains in some areas of well-drained soils between 6300 yr BP and 4000 yr BP. The pollen record from Decoy Lake provides the first evidence from southern Ontario for substantial vegetation response to mid to late Holocene climatic change. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> This paper is a descriptive analysis of differences in mortality rates among Canada's 23 Census Metropolitan Areas in 1976. · Life Table output focuses specifically on the life expectancies and standardized mortality rates as a means to identify CMA mortality differences. With mention to relevant cause-specific studies and use of regression analysis an attempt is made to shed some light on the identified mortality patterns. Major findings are (1) that mortality rate variation among CMAs reveals an east-west spatial arrangement - mortality rates in Atlantic, Quebec, and Northern Ontario CMAs are above the Canadian average while the mortality rates of Southern Ontario and Western CMAs are at or below the Canadian average; (2) that Victoria CMA is dominant among the CMAs in 1976 in terms of favourable mortality probability; (3) that male mortality rates are significantly higher than female mortality rates but tend to be positively related; (4) that health expenditures per capita have significant influence on health status but continued research is necessary to study and gain a fuller understanding of the effects of various explanatory variables on mortality. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

In this thesis I recount the historical relationship between settlement and food lands in Southern Ontario. Informed by landscape and food regime theory, I use a landscape approach to interpret the history of this relationship to deepen our understanding of a pertinent, and historically specific problem of land access for sustainable farming. This thesis presents entrenched barriers to landscape renewal as institutional legacies of various layers of history. It argues that at the moment and for the last century Southern Ontario has had two different, parallel sets of determinants for land-use operating on the same landscape in the form of agricultural policy and urban planning. To the extent that they are not purposefully coordinated, not just with each other but with the social and ecological foundations of our habitation, this is at the root of the problem of land access for sustainable farming.

In this thesis I recount the historical relationship between settlement and food lands in Southern Ontario. Informed by landscape and food regime theory, I use a landscape approach to interpret the history of this relationship to deepen our understanding of a pertinent, and historically specific problem of land access for sustainable farming. This thesis presents entrenched barriers to landscape renewal as institutional legacies of various layers of history. It argues that at the moment and for the last century Southern Ontario has had two different, parallel sets of determinants for land-use operating on the same landscape in the form of agricultural policy and urban planning. To the extent that they are not purposefully coordinated, not just with each other but with the social and ecological foundations of our habitation, this is at the root of the problem of land access for sustainable farming.

Allegations by the Canadian media that the Canadian-Somali population has been continuing its traditional practice of Female Circumcision (FC) or Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Canada despite its illegality was questioned in this thesis. Through qualitative interviews undertaken with fourteen members of the Somali community in Southern Ontario, it was discovered that the respondents do not believe the practice is being continued in Canada. Their views concur with those of the Ministry of Health -Canada which claims that to date, not a single case ofFC/FGM being performed in Canada has been substantiated. The respondents credit their voluntary abandonment of the practice primarily to anti-FGM campaigns that were supported in the urban regions of Somalia from the 1970s until the onset of the Somali civil war in the late 1980s. A secondary deterrent is the fact that the practice is illegal in Canada. Present anti-FGM programs in Canada were deemed necessary by the respondents to reach the minority of individuals who might seek to continue the practice in Canada. Such programs, however, also serve to provide support to circumcised women living in Canada, as well as to provide education about health care in general. Non-FC/FGM related health concerns were deemed more pressing to the Canadian-Somali community, namely, lack of employment, overcrowded living conditions, and inability to access proper health care. Consequently, the respondents were critical of the Canadian media's approach to FC/FGM since the media has neglected to consider other, and in their view, more immediate health concerns faced by the Canadian-Somali community. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

<p> This study assessed biomass and carbon (C) allocation in a chronosequence of four White pine (Pinus strobus L.) plantation forests planted in 2002 (WPP02), 1989 (WPP89), 1974 (WPP74), and in 1939 (WPP39), in southern Ontario, Canada. A plotbased inventory and destructive tree sampling were conducted in 2004 to assess allocation of oiomass and C in ecosystem components, as well as allometry of tree biomass. Seasonal and annual patterns of litter and branch fall were also determined.</p> <p>Individual tree biomass components as well as sapwood area have strong site specific allometric relationships with tree diameter. Except for foliage biomass, strong single allometric equations could also be obtained across all sites and stand ages. Whereas allometry of individual tree components may be affected by site conditions and stand age, total tree biomass solely depended on tree diameter. This suggests that total biomass of White pine may be predicted from single allometric equations with DBH as input variable across sites and even across regions.</p> <p>Relative partitioning of tree biomass components was strongly related to tree age. Stem biomass gains major importance with increasing tree age at the cost of all other components comprising 69% of total tree biomass after 65 years. Whereas site conditions influenced the absolute amount of biomass and allometry of individual tree components, they did not affect their relative partitioning </p> <p> Only biomass of trees, woody debris, and small roots (2-5mm) showed agerelated patterns by increasing with greater stand age. Increase in tree biomass was highest during the early decades after establishment and after thinning practices. </p> <p> C storage in forest floor was 0.8, 7.5, 5.4, and 12.1 t C ha⁻¹ and C content in mineral soil was 37.2, 33.9, 39.1, and 36.7 t C ha⁻¹ at WPP02, WPP89, WPP74, and WPP39, respectively. Biomass of roots < 5mm was 0.3, 6.0, 8.9, and 7.5 t ha⁻¹ at WPP02, WPP89, WPP74 and WPP39, respectively. Annual litter fall was age independent with 5, 3 and 4 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ at WPP89, WPP74, and WPP39, whereas branch fall increased with age and basal area to 0.007, 0.17, and 1.38 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ at WPP89, WPP74, and WPP39, respectively. Average total tree biomass was 0.4, 67, 122, and 547 kg per tree with an uncertainty of less than 1, 5, 3, and 1 % at WPP02, WPP89, WPP74 and WPP39, respectively. Belowground to aboveground tree biomass ratio was 0.35, 0.19, 0.14, and 0.17 forWPP02, WPP89, WPP74, and WPP39, respectively, which suggests a considerable amount of C stored in root biomass. Above and below ecosystem C increased with an average rate of 1.9 and 0.5 t C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ across the chronosequence, reaching 122 and 66 t C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ respectively at age 65. Total net ecosystem C accumulation between age 2 and 65 was 147 t C ha⁻¹. Inventories limited to stem biomass may underestimate total tree biomass by up to 3 5% and total ecosystem C by up to 62%.</p> <p> Thus, estimations of C storage in forest ecosystems should include all above and belowground C pools, and its accuracy may be improved by predicting total treebiomass with allometric equations related to stand age and tree diameter.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> The nearshore morphology of sand beaches in the Great Lakes usually consists of a ridge and runnel unit in the shallow, inner portion of the nearshore zone and one or more longshore bar and trough units in the deeper, outer portion. These two sets of features are morphologically and genetically different and exhibit spatial and temporal variations indicating the relative importance of environmental factors in controlling the form of each. </p> <p> Ridges and runnels form and evolve in response to a combination of the controlling factors of wave and water level variations. Ridge formation occurs in response to a rapid decrease in wave energy and lowering of the water level during the subsiding period of a storm. Ridges, with heights of 0.04-0.40 m, take 5-10 days to migrate 10-30 m across an inner nearshore terrace toward the shore. Ridge migration produces laminations dipping at 20°-30° toward the shore. Ridge attachment to the shore produces an accretional berm composed of laminations dipping at about 5° toward the lake. </p> <p> An annual cycle of erosion and deposition occurs in the inner nearshore and foreshore zones and is due to seasonal wave energy and water level variations. Erosion occurs in spring and summer because of rising water levels while the deposition of planar laminations dipping at less than 5° toward the lake is caused by lower water levels and higher energy waves in autumn. </p> <p> Based on the analysis of over 100 echo sounder profiles of the outer nearshore zone of 7 beaches, longshore bar and trough morphologic properties (maximum depth of bar formation, number of bars, and bar amplitudes), are controlled by three main environmental factors (wave energy or surf base, nearshore slope, and sediment size). Bars are present at depths of 3.5 m and at distances of 500 m from the shore, the number of bars ranges up to 6, and bar amplitudes range up to 2 m. Surf base ranges from 3-6 m, slopes from 0.009-0.02, and mean sediment size from 1.85 Ø - 3.30 Ø. There is a good correlation between the slope and sediment size. Temporal variation in bar morphology during the summer period of study is small or insignificant. </p> <p> Individual longshore bars probably only approach, rather than attain, equilibrium forms because of the temporal flucuations in the environmental controls of wave energy and water level. The geometrical trend in all longshore bar systems for the bar amplitude and spacing between bars to increase with increasing depth and distance from the shoreline, suggests a wave energy dissipation process which is somewhat analogous to dampened oscillation. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> The behaviour of asphaltic concrete, granular base and subbase materials, and subgrade soils in repeated dynamic loading is best represented by their resilient moduli in rational flexible pavement designs. The recoverable, or resilient, strains in pavement structures due to repetitions of moving traffic loads can be predicted through the use of appropriate material parameters in analytical or numerical models of pavement response. It appears that the repeated-load triaxial test offers the most promising means of applying simulated field loading conditions to representative samples of flexible pavement components. This testing of laboratory or field prepared samples provides a good estimate of the material 1 s overall dynamic behaviour and the desired resilient modulus and Poisson's ratio for design analyses. The purpose of this research was to simulate field loading conditions for a range of typical Southern Ontario granular base and subbase materials by means of repeated-load, variable and constant confining pressure, triaxial tests using laboratory research equipment readily adaptable to regular design use. The pavement materials were characterized in a condition corresponding to optimum density and moisture content with repeated loadings representative of field stress conditions of 0.1 second pulse duration at a frequency of 20 cycles per minute. In addition to determining the resilient modulus and Poisson 1 s ratio for four basic conditions -unsaturated drained, unsaturated undrained, partially saturated drained, partially saturated undrained -the results were examined for significant trends. The characterization of typical base, subbase and subgrade materials for Southern Ontario, coupled with previous work on asphaltic concrete, allows the use of representative moduli for all flexible pavement components in Ontario pavement design systems such as OPAC. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)