Exhibitions

In this paper we propose the use of ‘Encountering’ a location-based game (LBG) based on the Wherigo platform to facilitate interdisciplinary student learning about places on field courses. Deploying a mobile, digital map-based platform addresses significant challenges – such as the sacrifice of context specificity and methodological applicability and depth. It also runs the danger of ‘gamifying’ the fieldwork, blinding the participant to their own agency and emergent encounters. Interactive and layered digital map interfaces have affordances that can potentially overcome such challenges. We claim that one such affordance is the ability to play through the map. In other words, maps – and digital maps in particular – offer the possibility of decoupling results-orientated actions from free-form serendipitous engagement with the field. Our argument is two-fold. First, that LBG toolsets such as Wherigo can provide a ‘common ground’ for students engaging in place-based interdisciplinary research, by providing a material, cartographic basis for playful investigation. Second, that they can facilitate the production of ‘spaces of epistemological failure’, allowing students to challenge taken-for-granted conceptual and methodological axioms within and across disciplines.     

The Influence of Digital Surface Model Choice on Visibility‐based Mobile Geospatial Applications

In this work we investigate the effectiveness of different types of visibility models for use within location‐based services. This article outlines the methodology and results for our experiments, which were designed to understand the accuracy and effects of model choices for mobile visibility querying. Harnessing a novel mobile media consumption and authoring application called Zapp, the levels of accuracy of various digital surface representations used by a line of sight visibility algorithm are extensively examined by statistically assessing randomly sampled viewing sites across the 1 km² study area, in relation to points of interest (POI) across the University of Nottingham campus. Testing was carried out on three different surface models derived from 0.5 m LiDAR data by visiting physical sites on each surface model with 14 random point of interest masks being viewed from between 10 and 16 different locations, totalling 190 data points. Each site was ground‐truthed by determining whether a given POI could be seen by the user and could also be identified by the mobile device. Our experiments in a semi‐urban area show that choice of surface model has important implications for mobile applications that utilize visibility in geospatial query operations.     

An integrative method for the evaluation,monitoring, and comparison of seagrass habitat structure

Assessing environmental condition is essential for the management of coasts and their resources, but better management decisions occur when large databases are simplified into more manageable units of information. Here we present the habitat structure index (HSI), which enables rapid assessment and direct comparison of seagrass habitat structure using scores of 0 (poor) to 100 (excellent) based on integrating five habitat variables: area, continuity, proximity, percentage cover, and species identity. Acquiring data to calculate the HSI can be done in situ or from video recordings, and requires relatively simple methodology of belt transects, estimating percentage cover, and basic taxonomy. Spatiotemporal comparisons can usefully identify locations and periods of seagrass habitat change, potentially providing an early warning indicator of habitat damage and decline in environmental quality. Overall, the integrative approach of the HSI represents a step toward simplifying the exchange of environmental information among researchers, coastal managers, and governing bodies.     

Bioconcentration of triclosan and methyl-triclosan in marine mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) under laboratory conditions and in metropolitan waters of Gulf St Vincent,South Australia

The anti-microbial agent triclosan (TCS), and its derivative methyl-triclosan (Me-TCS), are discharged with treated effluents from wastewater treatment plants to receiving environments. We investigated the bioconcentration of TCS and Me-TCS in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) exposed to TCS (100 ng L⁻¹) for 30 days in seawater aquaria (19 ± 2 °C) with fresh phytoplankton as a food source. Bioconcentration increased with time reaching a steady-state around 24–30 days. The bioconcentration factor (log BCF) for TCS were 2.81 L kg⁻¹ (dry weight) and 4.13 L kg⁻¹, when lipid normalised concentrations were used. Mussels were also deployed in cages at four marine locations receiving effluents from WWTPs. The mean (±SD) TCS and Me-TCS concentrations for mussels from these sites were 9.87 (±1.34) and 6.99 (±2.44) μg kg⁻¹. The study showed that mussels can be a useful tool for monitoring pollution of TCS and Me-TCS in marine and estuarine environments.     

Monitoring pesticides in the Great Barrier Reef

Pesticide runoff from agriculture poses a threat to water quality in the world heritage listed Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and sensitive monitoring tools are needed to detect these pollutants. This study investigated the utility of passive samplers in this role through deployment during a wet and dry season at river mouths, two near-shore regions and an offshore region. The nearshore marine environment was shown to be contaminated with pesticides in both the dry and wet seasons (average water concentrations of 1.3-3.8 ng L⁻¹ and 2.2-6.4 ng L⁻¹, respectively), while no pesticides were detected further offshore. Continuous monitoring of two rivers over 13 months showed waters flowing to the GBR were contaminated with herbicides (diuron, atrazine, hexazinone) year round, with highest average concentrations present during summer (350 ng L⁻¹). The use of passive samplers has enabled identification of insecticides in GBR waters which have not been reported in the literature previously.     

The role of magma mixing in the petrogenesis of mafic alkaline lavas,Rockeskyllerkopf Volcanic Complex,West Eifel,Germany

The quaternary Rockeskyllerkopf Volcanic Complex (RVC) comprises three spatially and temporally distinct volcanic centers that can also be distinguished on the basis of their geochemical signatures. All the volcanic products in the complex are olivine basanites whose major and trace element compositions span almost the entire range defined for the West Eifel field as a whole. The RVC lavas have lower Al₂O₃, Na₂O and Y contents and higher TiO₂, CaO, K₂O, Sc, V, Co, Rb, and Ba than the Tertiary lavas in nearby Hocheifel volcanic field. Within the complex, the oldest South East Lammersdorf Center (SEL) comprises primitive lavas with an average MgO content of ～11 wt.% and La_N/Yb_N of 29?±?2. The second center, Mäuseberg, has similar MgO to SEL but is distinct in its much higher La_N/Yb_N of 42?±?2. The Rockeskyllerkopf Center, which was erupted after a break in activity, comprises lavas similar in composition to the SEL Center but with distinctly higher Al₂O₃ and lower MgO contents. Given the lack of evidence for significant fractionation or assimilation in the RVC lavas, we attribute the compositional variations within and between the centers of the RVC to be due to variations in the composition of the source region in combination with magma mixing. Our preferred model involves 1–5% partial melting of LREE-enriched mantle in the garnet stability field, likely within the thermal boundary layer at the base of the lithospheric mantle. These melts mixed to variable degrees with 2–4% partial melts of phlogopite-spinel peridotite formed at higher levels in the modally metasomatised lithospheric mantle.     

New evidence for widespread mass transport on the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf revealed by Olex single-beam echo sounding

Based on Olex single-beam sounder data, multibeam sonar surveys, and sparse seismic reflection profiles, we recognize a large area of anomalous bathymetry on the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf as having formed as a result of mass-transport processes. Transported masses include (1) an arcuate ridge of deformed material with an area of 430 km², which has moved distances of ~20 km; (2) a 70-km² mass of deformed material displaced 50 km along a nearly horizontal track flanked by 90-m-high berms. The movement of these and other sediment bodies has created a 150-m-high headwall escarpment extending 110 km along the north flank of the Notre Dame glacial trough. In addition, a 35-km² block of undeformed material has moved 5 km to the southeast, away from the headwall, creating a gap of the same dimensions, while a smaller block of material originating in this vicinity has been displaced 24 km in the opposite direction, creating a 20-m-deep groove on the seafloor. There is evidence for mass transport and headwall formation elsewhere on the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf. Analysis of seismic reflection data indicates that the transported material most likely consists of stacked Quaternary till sheets that overlie Cenozoic, Mesozoic and older sedimentary rocks. Given the very low gradients involved, glaciotectonism is the most likely process to account for transport and deformation of the large sediment masses. However, some mass transport may have resulted from submarine sliding away from the headwalls that were created by the glacial transport.     

Long term monitoring of photosystem II herbicides--correlation with remotely sensed freshwater extent to monitor changes in the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Photosystem II (PSII) herbicides are used in large quantities on agricultural lands adjoining the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Routine monitoring at 14 sites in inshore waters of the GBR using passive sampling techniques detected diuron (32-94% of sampling periods) at maximum concentrations of 1.7-430ng L(-1) in the relatively pristine Cape York Region to the Mackay Whitsunday Region, respectively. A PSII herbicide equivalent (PSII-HEq) index developed as an indicator for reporting was dominated by diuron (average contribution 89%) and typically increased during the wet season. The maximum PSII-HEq indicates the potential for photosynthetic inhibition of diatoms, seagrass and coral-symbionts. PSII herbicides were significantly positively correlated with remotely sensed coloured dissolved organic matter, a proxy for freshwater extent. Combining these methods provides for the first time the potential to cost-effectively monitor improvements in water quality entering the GBR with respect to exposure to PSII herbicides.