The Southern Uplands of Scotland is at present a region of great interest to both geologists and geophysicists. The complex tectonic history associated with the closing of the proto-Atlantic ocean has yet to be determined. Previous geophysical studies have shown that the Southern Uplands is atypical of normal continent. Geomagnetic investigations have indicated a zone of anomalously high electrical conductivity underlying the Southern Uplands region at a depth of 12-30 km. In order to determine further the exact structure and spatial variation of this conductivity zone, two geomagnetic studies have been carried out in the region. A Geomagnetic Deep Sounding Array of 19 Gough-Reitzel variometers recorded the naturally varying Earth's magnetic field during December 1973 and January 1974. This was followed by Magneto-Telluric observations on lines perpendicular and parallel to the strike of the supposed anomaly. In this thesis, reviews of various regional MT studies, the geophysical significance of conductivity measurements and the known geology and geophysics of the Southern Uplands region are given. The aims, and relevant theory, of induction studies are also presented. The observational procedures for both the GDS and MT techniques, and the type and form of the MT activity, are described. Techniques for analysing the MT data are developed in some detail. Methods are proposed, and examples given, for (a) estimating the gross structural strike direction, (b) averaging response function estimates, (c) estimating the confidence intervals of the response functions, (d) estimating new forms of coherence functions, which exhibit many desirable properties, and (e) a frequency-time analysis· for estimating the response.functions for sub-intervals of the data set. The full MT and GDS estimates from analysis of the single station data - rotated major and rotated minor impedance estimates, azimuthal angles, skew factors and real and imaginary induction vectors - are presented and qualitatively discussed. A one-dimensional interpretation of two-dimensional MT data is examined and shown to be valid for 'rotated major' impedance estimates from locations sufficiently distant from gross lateral inhomogeneity. Various methods for determining an 'optimum model' that best satisfies, in some manner, the observed MT responses are reviewed. A Monte-Carlo inversion procedure is developed and applied to the 'rotated major' data from six of the thirteen locations. It was considered, for various reasons, unjustifiable to interpret all the data. The GDS and MT results agree on the complexity of the conductivity variations in the Midland Valley, the Southern Uplands and Northern England. The simple 'Eskdalemuir anomaly' proposed by Edwards et al. (1971) cannot explain the observations. A conductive layer is required beneath the Midland Valley at a depth of no greater than 11 km. The conductive zone underlying the Southern Uplands is at a depth greater than 24 km. For the Northern England response, the top layer of highly conducting sediments 'screen' the possible effects of a 'lower crustal/ upper mantle' conductive layer. The geological and geophysical implications of the acceptable MT models are discussed. In this work, the quantitative information, offered by the MT technique, is shown to be necessary for a full interpretation of the conductivity distribution. Also, estimation of the phase response, as well as the amplitude response, of the impedance tensor elements is shown to resolve the surface structure of the acceptable models. Various suggestions are made about further investigation of the region.

No description available.

Agrobiodiversity Enhancement (ABDE) is a strategy that has been advanced for preventing environmental degradation without losing agricultural productivity. However, there is not yet sufficient evidence to support the important role that ABDE might have for managing agricultural land use in the tropical uplands. This research is an attempt to help fill this knowledge gap. The general aim of the thesis was to explore the potential of ABDE as a management alternative for agricultural land use in the uplands in terms of environmental protection, productivity and farmer acceptability. To achieve the aim, a methodological framework for evaluating agricultural land use in the uplands was developed. The methodology aimed at allowing one to understand the influence of agricultural land use on natural resources and farm productivity and the social factors that will most likely influence land users to enhance agrobiodiversity of their production. The methodological framework provided a minimum set of criteria and indicators that can be used for assessing agricultural land uses in the uplands. Main criteria for the evaluation included protection, productivity, viability security and acceptability. The following indicators were included: Shannon Diversity Index, Depth of Topsoil, Soil Organic Matter, Soil Nitrate, Crop Yields, Net Income, Trend in Income and Harvest Loss, Farmer Traits, Farm Characteristics and Farmer perceptions on the influence of farming on the health of natural resources and of the farm workers. The methodological framework also includes a range of methods and techniques for gathering environmental, economic and social data in the uplands and indicates circumstances under which each might best be utilized. Using the methodological framework, agricultural land use in an upland area in Liliw, Laguna Philippines was evaluated for protection of natural resources, specifically of the soil quality and for farm productivity and for the social factors that influence the way agricultural lands are managed. Results showed integration of horticultural trees and crops have potential for protecting thickness of the topsoil, reducing nutrient wastage and is more economically profitable than monocropping systems. Specifically, coconut exhibited importance in maintaining thickness of topsoil while lanzones played major role in augmenting farm income and as buffer to income losses from annual crops. Older farmers and women were found associated with agricultural land use with diversified production in the case study area. The Logit model analysis further showed that leadership quality and land ownership are the social factors that will likely influence integration of horticultural trees and crops in the uplands. Other personal characteristics like years of experience in farming, access to other sources of livelihood, land size, awareness of land degradation and effect of agrochemicals on heath of the farm workers have no likely influence on agricultural lands with integration of horticultural trees and crops. SWOT analysis of agricultural land use in the case study site showed that despite the environmental and economic advantages of agricultural lands with diversified production, there are weaknesses and barriers to its further development and implementation. From this assessment, implications for developing and implementing an ABDE intervention program for the tropical uplands were drawn.

Notions of ‘wildness' are increasingly relevant to upland management discussions in the Scottish Highlands as several conservation-focused estates embrace a ‘wildland management ethos'. However, while a range of wildland conservation initiatives have embarked upon pathways towards ‘rewilding', this research demonstrates that, although members of this creative conservation movement are widely perceived to share a common vision, they prioritise markedly different wildland qualities. Through a series of triangulated phases, this research explores this ‘spectrum of wildness' and examines the conceptual coherence of wildland restoration discourses. Twenty semi-structured scoping interviews with key stakeholders associated with Scotland's wildest places provide the foundations for an adapted Delphi model, incorporating a Q-methodology study, which utilises insights from seventeen large upland land-holdings to interrogate the disparate discourses associated with Scotland's emergent wildland movement. A taxonomy of management approaches is presented based upon (i) different conceptions of ‘wildness', (ii) differing degrees of concern for ecological and cultural integrity, (iii) conflicting beliefs about the degree of management intervention appropriate and (iv) fundamentally divergent underlying environmental ideologies. A further twenty-three semi-structured interviews exploring wilderness restoration frameworks in the USA, New Zealand and parts of Europe provide an international perspective on Scotland's distinctive approach to wildland management and demonstrate the challenges of multi-dimensional wilderness frameworks which grow out of conflicting mandates; most notably, a critical faultline exists between restoring ‘wildness' (focussed on processes) and naturalness (focussed on endpoints). Given that practical tensions can arise from these different ideological perspectives, understanding and accommodating the social and cultural dimensions which shape multiple (re)wilding discourses is considered critical. As such, place-specific and endogenous social representations are called for, in which wild land is both a physical place and a cultural ideal, and in which (re)wilding comprises a heterogeneous mix of different wilds. This research also critically reflects upon how cultural landscapes with wild qualities present opportunities for rethinking the historical and cultural dimensions of established wilderness values. By exploring the framing of ‘wild' in Scotland's wildland initiatives, a postmodern wildlands narrative which negotiates the conceptual challenges of (re)wilding in a storied, cultural landscape is presented.

Abstract not available

The focus of this research is the area known as Sorgenti del Brembo di Carona (sources of river Brembo of Carona), which is located in the Orobie Alps (province of Bergamo, Italy). The current archaeological activities in the area, carried out by the Civico Museo Archeologico di Bergamo, are site-specific and mainly focused on Iron Age rock engravings and on a medieval dwelling excavation. The present study aims at a wider approach to upland archaeology, more focused on landscape evolution rather than on single evidence. The starting point is the methodology developed in other alpine contexts, like the ALPES (Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole) project. The data, gathered through extensive field survey activities, assessed the presence of a complex landscape, with pastoral evidence, iron mining facilities and charcoal production sites, dating from Early Middle Ages to the present. All the collected data are managed through a GIS in order to maintain their spatial reference. Therefore, it was possible to easy cross-reference them with several historical documents (cartography, cadastres, archives) and also to perform quantitative and spatial analysis. This method allowed us to reconstruct a diachronic evolution of human activities impact on the landscape formation. An inductive predictive modelling based on the integration with ethnoarchaeology was also implemented using modern pastoral sites. The results shed light on the complex dynamics of the human approach to high-altitude regions and on the alpine environment constraints to human activities. On the other hand, it was also possible to asses both the strengths and biases of the current application of predictive models to Alpine cultural heritage. The methodology developed during this research, following and implementing previously developed methods, can be a step forward on the definition of a common archaeological approach to upland contexts. / Il progetto di ricerca nasce a seguito delle indagini archeologiche condotte dal Civico Museo Archeologico di Bergamo nel comune di Carona (BG), situato in alta val Brembana, sulle Alpi Orobie, che hanno permesso di identificare un sito cultuale con incisioni rupestri dell'età del Ferro e un villaggio minerario con fasi altomedievali e medievali. L'obiettivo principale della presente ricerca è stato ampliare la conoscenza storico-archeologica di tutto il territorio alla testata del Brembo di Carona, senza focalizzarsi su singoli siti e applicando le metodologie sviluppate all'Università di Trento nell'ambito del progetto ALPES (Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole), che prevedono un approccio al paesaggio montano in una prospettiva diacronica, inquadrabile nell'ambito della Landscape Archaeology. Le attività di ricerca sul campo hanno rappresentato il fulcro del progetto, permettendo l'individuazione di centinaia di evidenze antropiche. I dati raccolti sul campo sono stati contestualizzati attraverso l'analisi di diverse tipologie di fonti e materiali, non solo di tipo archeologico ma anche inquadrabili in ambiti storico-archivistici e topografici, con un’impostazione della ricerca in senso marcatamente interdisciplinare. L'elaborazione di un modello predittivo etnoarcheologico ha avuto il duplice obiettivo di fornire uno strumento di interpretazione delle strutture presenti sul territorio e di validare la stessa metodologia prognostica impiegata, già elaborata in ambito trentino. I dati raccolti e i risultati della loro analisi hanno permesso la ricostruzione diacronica di un paesaggio complesso, caratterizzato dalla compresenza di differenti attività economiche (pastorizia, attività minerarie e sfruttamento forestale), attraverso le quali si è espressa l'azione umana nell'ambiente montano lungo l'arco di più di un millennio. La metodologia proposta, in quanto sintesi di diverse esperienze di ricerca in ambito alpino, potrebbe porre le basi per una più ampia riflessione riguardo possibili approcci condivisi e comuni ad una "archeologia di montagna", che sempre più si sta delineando come una disciplina autonoma.

Bohemian garnets have been known as a jewellery stone for many centuries. There is still a lot of interest in them, however, the reserves in traditional locations are getting smaller. That is why search for alternative source of similar garnets in gem quality started. Shavaryn Tsaram deposit in Mongolia is considered as one of the potential sources. Pyrope samples from eight Bohemian localities of two areas (České středohoří [The Central Bohemian Uplands] and Podkrkonoší [The Giant Mountains]) and from Shavaryn Tsaram deposit in Mongolia were analysed using electron microprobe, LA-ICP-MS, ICP-OES, Mössbauer spectroscopy and x-ray powder diffraction. The data were compared with the conclusion that the Mongolian garnets from Shavaryn Tsaram deposit are so different from the Bohemian ones that it will not be possible to use them as a gem material of similar qualities. Bohemian garnet can be characterised as a red garnet with refraction index 1.747 (+/- 0.001) with dominant pyrope component of the average composition Py78Alm17Gr5 and Cr2O3 content above 1 wt.%. The data were also evaluated from two classification schemes point of view. The schemes by Schulze (2003) and Grütter (2004) are used in determining source materials and in diamond prospection. According to them source rocks of Bohemian garnets...

Using a comparative spatial and temporal analysis on sediment cores from 8 lakes in the Mackenzie River Delta uplands region, NT, Canada, this study assessed how persistent organic pollutant (POP) deposition to lake sediments was affected by: (1) the presence of retrogressive thaw slumps on lake shores; and (2) changes occurring with increased autochthonous primary productivity. POPs examined included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), penta- and hexachlorobenzenes (CBzs), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and metabolites (DDTs). Surface sediments of slump-affected lakes contained higher total organic carbon (TOC)-normalized POP concentrations than nearby reference lakes unaffected by thaw slumps. Inorganic sedimentation rates were positively related to contaminant concentrations, suggesting that the influx of siliciclastic material reducing organic carbon in slump-affected lake water indirectly results in higher concentrations of POPs on sedimentary organic matter. This explanation was corroborated by an inverse relationship between sedimentary POP concentrations and TOC content of the lake water. Deposition proxies of autochthonous carbon were not significantly correlated to POP fluxes of surface sediments, and historical profile fluctuations did not coincide with variation in POP deposition. Thus this study does not support the contention that algal-derived organic carbon increases the delivery of organic pollutants to sediments (the algal-scavenging hypothesis), as previously proposed for mercury. Higher POP concentrations observed in surface sediments of slump-affected lakes are best explained by simple solvent switching processes of hydrophobic contaminants onto a lower pool of available organic carbon when compared to neighbouring lakes unaffected by thaw slump development.

Using a comparative spatial and temporal analysis on sediment cores from 8 lakes in the Mackenzie River Delta uplands region, NT, Canada, this study assessed how persistent organic pollutant (POP) deposition to lake sediments was affected by: (1) the presence of retrogressive thaw slumps on lake shores; and (2) changes occurring with increased autochthonous primary productivity. POPs examined included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), penta- and hexachlorobenzenes (CBzs), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and metabolites (DDTs). Surface sediments of slump-affected lakes contained higher total organic carbon (TOC)-normalized POP concentrations than nearby reference lakes unaffected by thaw slumps. Inorganic sedimentation rates were positively related to contaminant concentrations, suggesting that the influx of siliciclastic material reducing organic carbon in slump-affected lake water indirectly results in higher concentrations of POPs on sedimentary organic matter. This explanation was corroborated by an inverse relationship between sedimentary POP concentrations and TOC content of the lake water. Deposition proxies of autochthonous carbon were not significantly correlated to POP fluxes of surface sediments, and historical profile fluctuations did not coincide with variation in POP deposition. Thus this study does not support the contention that algal-derived organic carbon increases the delivery of organic pollutants to sediments (the algal-scavenging hypothesis), as previously proposed for mercury. Higher POP concentrations observed in surface sediments of slump-affected lakes are best explained by simple solvent switching processes of hydrophobic contaminants onto a lower pool of available organic carbon when compared to neighbouring lakes unaffected by thaw slump development.

No description available.