What kind of quantitative methods for what kind of geography?

This paper asks why we teach what we teach to geography undergraduates in quantitative methods courses. We re-consider the origins of quantitative geography and note how partial and historically contingent the traditional syllabus is. From this basis, we suggest that other approaches should be considered in order to provide a broader training in quantitative methods. We then propose an example syllabus that attempts to integrate a range of quantitative methodologies within a common, applied context that is also connected to relevant social, economic and political issues. We conclude that students with a better understanding of methods in physical and social science could be very valuable to the betterment of society, but to achieve this may require a change to our quantitative methods teaching.     

Paleo-Indian procurement of Camelops on the northwestern plains

Camelops have been recorded in a number of Paleo-Indian sites that lack evidence of past procurement methods. Recently, two occurrences of Camelops remains have been recorded in Paleo-Indian animal kills in Wyoming. One kill situation was in a Hell Gap cultural context that produced remains of a single Camelops taken along with about 100 bison in a parabolic sand dune trap. The other Camelops was in a Clovis cultural context and deals with a single animal believed to have been taken in an arroyo trap that was used to take bison at several Paleo-Indian time periods. Identification of geomorphic features involved in these kill sites offers a basis for beginning to interpret Paleo-Indian camel procurement methods.     

Carbon,hydrogen, and oxygen isotope studies of the regional metamorphic complex at Naxos,Greece

At Naxos, Greece, a migmatite dome is surrounded by schists and marbles of decreasing metamorphic grade. Sillimanite, kyanite, biotite, chlorite, and glaucophane zones are recognized at successively greater distances from the migmatite dome. Quartz-muscovite and quartz-biotite oxygen isotope and mineralogie temperatures range from 350 to 700°C.The metamorphic complex can be divided into multiple schist-rich (including migmatites) and marblerich zones. The δ¹⁸O values of silicate minerals in migmatite and schist units and quartz segregations in the schist-rich zones decrease with increase in metamorphic grades. The calculated δ¹⁸O_H2O values of the metamorphic fluids in the schist-rich zones decrease from about 15‰ in the lower grades to an average of about 8.5‰ in the migmatite.The δD values of OH-minerals (muscovite, biotite, chlorite, and glaucophane) in the schist-rich zones also decrease with increase in grade. The calculated δD_H2O values for the metamorphic fluid decrease from ?5‰ in the glaucophane zone to an average of about ?70‰ in the migmatite. The δD values of water in fluid inclusions in quartz segregations in the higher grade rocks are consistent with this trend.Theδ¹⁸O values of silicate minerals and quartz segregations in marble-rich zones are usually very large and were controlled by exchange with the adjacent marbles. The δD values of the OH minerals in some marble-rich zones may reflect the value of water contained in the rocks prior to metamorphism.Detailed data on 20 marble units show systematic variations of δ¹⁸O values which depend upon metamorphic grade. Below the 540°C isograd very steep δ¹⁸O gradients at the margins and large δ¹⁸O values in the interior of the marbles indicate that oxygen isotope exchange with the adjacent schist units was usually limited to the margins of the marbles with more exchange occurring in the stratigraphic bottom than in the top margins. Above the 540°C isograd lower δ¹⁸O values occur in the interior of the marble units reflecting a greater degree of recrystallization and the occurrence of Ca-Mg-silicates.Almost all the δ¹³C values of the marbles are in the range of unaltered marine limestones. Nevertheless, the δ¹³C values of most marble units show a general correlation with δ¹⁸O values.The $\text{CO}{}_2\text{H}{}_2\text{O}$ mole ratio of fluid inclusions in quartz segregations range from 0.01 to 2. Theδ¹³C values of the CO₂ range from ?8.0 to 3.6‰ and indicate that at some localities CO₂ in the metamorphic fluid was not in carbon isotopic equilibrium with the marbles.     

Modelling late-holocene snow-avalanche activity: Incorporating a new approach to lichenometry

Where snow avalanches descend steeply into large rivers, displacing bedload, avalanche boulder-ramparts may accumulate, retaining a record of late-Holocene snow-avalanche frequency. The age frequency of surface boulders on 12 such features in upper Jostedalen, southern Norway, was investigated using the size-frequency distribution of lichens. A model was constructed to simulate the influence of variations in avalanche frequency since AD 1325 on lichen-size-frequency distributions. Using this modelling approach it is not possible to define a unique pattern of avalanche activity to account for the observed lichen-size-frequency distributions, but it is possible to place strict limits on the range of scenarios that are acceptable. The results suggest that maximum avalanche activity occurred during the 19th century, after the peak of the Little Ice Age. This conflicts with historical records of avalanche damage to property at lower altitude in nearby valleys, which may reflect avalanche activity only during a short period of extreme climatic conditions. Close agreement between the records of snow avalanches and debris flows suggests that both reflect periods of high winter snowfall and rapid spring melting rather than low temperature. Future ‘greenhouse warming’ may therefore result in increased avalanche activity in southern Norway.     

Differential weathering of feldspar and pyroxene in an arctic-alpine environment

The relative relief of adjacent plagioclase and pyroxene minerals was accurately measured on a recently-exhumed outcrop of gabbroic rocks in Leirdalen, southern Norway. Above the level of the former soil surface the feldspars protrude above the pyroxenes whereas below that level the pyroxenes are higher. Differential relief declines with increasing depth of burial down to 80 cm. On exposed surfaces the mean loss of pyroxene relative to feldspar is 103 cm³ m^?2 of rock surface. With burial down to 50 cm in an arctic-alpine Brown Soil the mean loss of feldspar relative to pyroxene is 179 cm³ m^?2. These figures represent minimum amounts of weathering over about 9000 years. The results confirm the importance of chemical weathering in arctic-alpine environments and the techniques may provide useful physical measures of degree of weathering for use in rate studies and relative-dating.     

The Donegal ice dome,northwest Ireland: dimensions and chronology

Geomorphological evidence indicates that Donegal was formerly occupied by an ice dome that extended offshore to the west, northwest and north and was confluent with adjacent ice masses to the east and south. Erosive warm‐based ice over‐rode almost all the highest mountains, implying an ice‐divide altitude greater than 700 m. Only six peripheral summits escaped glacial modification, implying either that they remained above the ice surface as nunataks or supported a thin cover of protective cold‐based ice. Gibbsite, a pre‐last glacial weathering product, is preferentially represented on summits that escaped glacial modification. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be exposure ages of 18.6 ± 1.4 to 15.9 ± 1.0 k yr for coastal sites confirm that Donegal ice extended offshore at the last glacial maximum. Reconstruction of the form of the Donegal ice dome suggests a former minimum ice thickness of ～500 m close to the present coastline in the west and northwest, and ～400 m near the coast of the Inishowen Peninsula in the north, with the ice extending at least 20 km across the adjacent shelf to the west and northwest. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting contaminant fate and transport in sediment caps: Mathematical modelling approaches

Sediment capping is a remedial option for managing contaminated sediments that involves the artificial placement of a layer of material over a contaminated area. Sorbent materials such as activated C and coke can be used to amend sand caps to improve cap performance. In this study, analytical and numerical modelling approaches were compared for predicting contaminant fate and transport in sediment caps using several diffusion-controlled and advection-dominated contaminant transport scenarios. An analytical tool was used to predict cap performance at steady-state. These results were compared with the results from the numerical CoReTranS model in which the effective diffusivity and degradation rates were modelled as discontinuous functions at a prescribed bioturbation depth. The numerical approach was also applied to modelling a sorptive cap. It was shown that, while the analytical approach can be used to predict steady-state contaminant transport, the numerical approach is needed to evaluate multiple sediment layers with different transport and sorption characteristics and to examine the transient performance between the time that the single layer transient is applicable (i.e., before penetration of the cap containment layer) and until steady-state in the upper layer. For the 30 cm thick sand cap that was considered in this study, the predicted time to reach steady-state conditions for a diffusion-controlled scenario is 1 ka. For an advection-dominated transport, the time to reach steady-state conditions is reduced to 100 a. The activated C-amended sand cap was more effective in isolating the contaminant within the sorbent layer for a sustained period of time (∼100 a). Results from both modelling approaches showed that capping can effectively reduce contaminant flux to the overlying water with critical variables being cap thickness, groundwater velocity, and sediment sorptivity.