A study of the geoelectrical properties of peatlands and their influence on ground-penetrating radar surveying1

Geophysical surveys and chemical analyses on cores were carried out in three Ontario peatlands, from which we have gained a better understanding of the peat properties that control the geophysical responses. The electrical conductivity depends linearly on the concentration of total dissolved solids in the peat pore waters and the pore waters in turn bear the ionic signatures of the underlying mineral sediments. The ionic concentration, and thus the electrical conductivity, increase linearly from the surface to basement. The average bulk electrical conductivity of peatlands at Ellice Marsh, near Stratford, and at Wally Creek Area Forest Drainage Project, near Cochrane, are of the order of 25 mS/m. The Mer Bleue peatland, near Ottawa, has extremely high electrical conductivity, reaching levels of up to 380 mS/m near the base of the peat. The Mer Bleue peatland water has correspondingly high values of total dissolved solids, which originate from the underlying Champlain Sea glaciomarine clays. The dielectric permittivity in peats is largely controlled by the bulk water content. Ground penetrating radar can detect changes in water content greater than 3%, occurring within a depth interval less than 15 cm. The principal peatland interfaces detected are the near-surface aerobic to anaerobic transition and the peat to mineral basement contact. The potential for the successful detection of the basement contact using the radar can be predicted using the radar instrument specifications, estimates of the peatland depth, and either the bulk peat or the peat pore water electrical conductivities. Predicted depths of penetration of up to 10 m for Ellice Marsh and Wally Creek exceed the observed depths of 1 to 2 m. At Mer Bleue, on the other hand, we observe that, as predicted, a 100 MHz signal will penetrate to the base of a 2 m thick peat but a 200 MHz signal will not.     

Within-storm variations in runoff and sediment export from a rapidly eroding coal-refuse deposit

Measurements of rainfall, runoff and sediment export from a barren deposit of coal mine refuse in south-western Indiana were collected during three storms in the summer and autumn of 1990. Interfluve sheetwash, sediment mass flux, sediment concentration and, to a lesser extent, trunk gully discharge all responded quickly to changes in rainfall intensity. Grain-size distributions varied considerably during storms, containing exclusively fine-grained sediment at low sediment discharges but very large quantities of coarse (> 2mm) sediment at peak sediment discharges. Although data from a fairly long, multipulsed storm indicate that sediment production is limited by supply, the imbricated layer of flat chips that exists at the surface of the deposit is apparently mobilized during most high-intensity pulses of rainfall, thereby producing large volumes of coarse sediment during summer thunderstorms.     

Nutrient enrichments and phytoplankton growth in the surface waters of the Louisiana Bight

Nitrate concentrations have increased twofold in the Mississippi River during the past three decades. The increased nitrogen loading to the Louisiana shelf has been postulated as a factor leading to eutrophication and the subsequent development of hypoxia west of the Mississippi River delta. While ratios of nitrogen:phosphorus and nitrogen:silica are relatively high in surface waters on the western Louisiana shelf, nitrogen has been posed as the ‘limiting’ nutrient in this region. Bioassays were performed with nutrient additions to surface waters collected from the Louisiana shelf to examine the potential for specific nutrient limitation. Experiments were conducted in March and September 1991, and May 1992. The growth responses of natural and cultured phytoplankton populations were determined by measuring the time course of in vivo and 3-(3,4 dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea (DCMU)-induced fluorescence, as well as initial and final chlorophylla concentrations. The results suggest that phosphate and silicate potentially limit phytoplankton growth during the winter-spring, particularly at low salinities. In late summer, in contrast, nitrogen limitation may be prominent at higher salinities.     

Differences in the crab fauna of mangrove areas at a southwest Florida and a northeast Australia location: Implications for leaf litter processing

Existing paradigms suggest that mangrove leaf litter is processed primarily via the detrital pathway in forests in the Caribbean biogeographic realm whereas herbivorous crabs are relatively more important litter processors in the Indo-West Pacific. To test this hypothesis, we used pitfall traps to collect intertidal crabs to characterize the crab fauna in a mangrove estuary in southwest Florida. We also tethered mangrove leaves to determine if herbivorous crabs are major leaf consumers there. We compared the results with previously published data collected in an analogous manner from forests in northeastern Australia. The crab fauna in Rookery Bay, Florida, is dominated by carnivorous xanthid and deposit-feeding ocypodid crabs whereas that of the Murray River in northeastern Australia is dominated by herbivorous grapsid crabs. No leaves tethered at five sites in the forests in Southwest Florida were taken by crabs. This contrasts greatly with reported values of leaf removal by crabs in Australian forests of 28–79% of the leaves reaching the forest floor. These differences in the faunal assemblages and in the fate of marked or tethered leaves provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that leaf litter is in fact processed in fundamentally different ways in the two biogeographic realms.     

A comparison of the reactions to government taxation measures of twentieth century mining companies and nineteenth century pastoralists

This paper compares pastoralists in South Australia in the nineteenth century with Australian mining companies in the twentieth century as they resist the efforts of government to extract a greater proportion of the wealth created in the exploitation of natural resources. In effect, in both cases the struggle relates to the allocation of economic rent between private and corporate capital on the one hand, and the owners of the resources, the people of Australia, on the other. It is difficult not to be impressed by the similarities in the ideologies, objectives and strategies of these two groups of resource exploiters, separated though they are by over one hundred years.     

Agricultural policy reforms and sustainable land management: a New Zealand case study

This paper examines the link between poverty and land management within the context of New Zealand's almost total removal of subsidies to agriculture since 1984. The impact of these policy changes is explored through the findings from a detailed study of sixteen farms in the North Island hill country. Stress is identified as a primary link between social damage and environmental degradation. This link reinforces the impact of other linkages expressed in reduced production, lower stocking rates, and reduced capital inputs. Deregulation is claimed to be good. This paper shows that in certain circumstances this is not so.     

Energy market failure in road transport: Is there scope for ‘no regrets’ greenhouse gas reduction?

The Australian Government policy on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions announced in 1990 includes exploring the scope for immediate, low cost reductions. Such measures can be taken as including ‘no regrets’ policies: those that, in addition to mitigating potential climate change, confer economic gains (including other environmental benefits) which exceed their costs. Some possible ‘no regrets’ opportunities and policies are identified relevant to energy use by the road transport sector over the period to 2020. The MARKALMENSA multi-period linear programming model of the Australian energy sector is used to investigate the cost-effectiveness of these policies.     

Geoid anomalies over two South Atlantic fracture zones

Seasat altimetry profiles across the Falkland-Agulhas fracture zone (FZ) and the Ascension FZ in the South Atlantic were examined for evidence of step-like geoid offsets predicted from thermal modeling of the lithosphere. The geoid profiles exhibit much short-wavelength power and the step-like offsets are often small, making reliable estimation of the heights of the observed geoid offsets difficult. The offsets were estimated by the least-squares fitting of quadratic curves incorporating a step function to the altimetry profiles. A preferred offset value was determined for each profile by taking the average of step heights computed with various distances around the fracture zone excluded from the fit. The age of the crust surrounding the fracture zones, necessary for computing a theoretical geoid offset, was determined from surface ship magnetic anomaly data and from existing ocean floor age maps.Observed variations in geoid step height with age of the lithosphere are not consistent with those predicted from standard thermal plate models. For ages less than 30 Ma, the step offsets across both fracture zones decrease in a manner appropriate for an unusually thin plate with a thickness of 50–75 km. At greater ages, the offsets show complex behavior that may be due to bathymetric features adjacent to the fracture zones. Similar geoid patterns on opposite branches of the Falkland-Agulhas FZ are indicative of processes that act symmetrically on both sides of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This behavior of the geoid is consistent both with small-scale convection occurring beneath the lithosphere and with bathymetric features originally produced along the ridge crest and now located symmetrically on opposite sides of the ridge. The west flank of the Ascension FZ displays a regrowth in step height at about 40 Ma consistent with small-scale convection and in agreement with other studies of Pacific and South Atlantic fracture zones.