Characteristics and evolution of the Tertiary palaeovalleys in the northwest Gawler Craton,South Australia

Integrated geoscientific datasets have contributed to an understanding of the Tertiary palaeovalleys once draining the Gawler Craton. Systematic investigations of both the shape and depth of the channels are based on interpretations from field exposures, a compendium of geological and drilling data, computer modelling of ancient landscapes, topographic and evaluated digital elevation models, remote sensing imagery, magnetics, seismic, gravity, airborne and transient electromagnetics, and radiometrics. Physical property contrasts that exist between the channel sediments and the underlying bedrock, for example, can be differentiated by geophysical methods to locate the incised‐valley thalweg. Evidence from sedimentology is combined with evidence from other geological and geophysical characteristics to arrive at a general reconstruction of palaeovalley architecture and history. The palaeovalleys were originally incised into the weathered pre‐Tertiary landscape of mostly weathered basement, and Tertiary fluvial, lacustrine, estuarine and even marine sediments accumulated during the Eocene and Miocene. Marine influence extended at least 100 km up the palaeovalleys during at least three major transgressions in the Eocene and Miocene intervals. Major sedimentary phases occurred in the Paleocene to Early Eocene, Middle to Late Eocene, Oligocene to Early Miocene, and Middle Miocene to Early Pliocene times.     

Determination of retardation coefficients of sulfolane and thiolane on soils by Kow–Koc and solubility parameter, batch and column experiments

 Retardation parameters (R_f) for sulfolane and thioalne were estimated using reference values and experimentally as they were mainly observed at an aquifer underneath a waste disposal site near Brisbane, Australia. Three soil aquifer materials e.g. clay, silty clay and sand were used as sorbents. At first, R_f was obtained employing K_oc–K_ow and solubility parameter, respectively, while experimental coefficients were determined from both batch and flow-through column tests. Additionally, R_f was observed at a single- and bi-solute system through the column test. There was not found any significant difference in R_f between K_oc–K_ow and solubility parameters, but the retardation coefficient was significantly dependent on organic carbon content for solubility parameter. In contrast, using K_oc–K_ow, the coefficient correspondingly varied with an amount of clay content contained in each soil. In the same manner, the batch-determined parameters were more subject to clay content. On the other hand, the column-determined parameters can be comparable with the desk-derived values. In a bi-solute system, they did not influence each other concerning retardation coefficients while they flew though the column simultaneously. It was concluded that there was a large discrepancy in retardation coefficient of batch- against both reference-oriented estimation and column-determined values. Received: 20 August 1998 · Accepted: 17 May 1999     

THE DERRICK PEAK,ANTARCTICA, IRON METEORITES

Sixteen iron meteorite specimens, Derrick Peak A78001 through DRPA78016, were recovered from the slopes of Derrick Peak, Antarctica, in 1978. Recovery from a relatively small area combined with their strikingly similar appearances suggest they represent a single fall. The metallographic structure of the two specimens that have been cut is dominated by regions of swathing kamacite enclosing coarse schreibersite and schreibersite-troilite inclusions. Patches of coarsest octahedrite Widmanstätten structure are interspersed. Specimens DRPA78008 and DRPA78009 have been analyzed: 6.64, 6.59 wt % Ni; 0.51, 0.46 wt % Co; 0.35, 0.34 wt % P. The specimens are coarsest octahedrites of chemical group IIB.     

CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION IN THE DECENTRALISATION OF BRAZIL'S WATER RESOURCES: ASSESSING PARTICIPATION IN THREE STATES

Decentralisation, the transfer of powers to a lower level of government, is thought to encourage more efficient and equitable management of natural resources. Participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) is considered critical to create positive outcomes of decentralisation. Here we examine aspects of civil society participation in decentralised management using the case of Brazil's water resources management. Several Brazilian states have enacted reforms mandating watershed committees in which the participation of civil society is either encouraged or required. However, actual participation of civil society is not yet well understood. To assess participation, we collected qualitative data on watershed districts in three Brazilian states (Bahia, Paraná and São Paulo). Our findings reaffirm the importance of the state in establishing a transparent legal framework to encourage participation and in defining “civil society”. The ability of civil society leaders to obtain and deploy local environmental knowledge, which frames environmental issues in new geographical scales, is useful to achieve the efficiency and efficacy objectives of decentralisation. However, by “upscaling” political activities beyond decentralisation's new territories, CSOs could make decentralisation irrelevant to local environmental issues.     

Combining microsimulation and spatial interaction models for retail location analysis

Although the disaggregation of consumers is crucial in understanding the fragmented markets that are dominant in many developed countries, it is not always straightforward to carry out such disaggregation within conventional retail modelling frameworks due to the limitations of data. In particular, consumer grouping based on sampled data is not assured to link with the other statistics that are vital in estimating sampling biases and missing variables in the sampling survey. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a useful combination of spatial interaction modelling and microsimulation approaches for the reliable estimation of retail interactions based on a sample survey of consumer behaviour being linked with other areal statistics. We demonstrate this approach by building an operational retail interaction model to estimate expenditure flows from households to retail stores in a local city in Japan, Kusatsu City.      

Automated Three Dimensional Measurement Using Multiple CCD Camera Views

The goal of automated three dimensional measurement of arbitrary objects using photogrammetric methods is a long way from being achieved, but significant progress is being made. However, automated measurement of small objects using inexpensive CCD cameras and frame grabbers is becoming increasingly common. A number of such systems have been developed both for commercial use and for academic research. It is within this latter context that a system to measure objects within a controlled environment has been developed at City University. The objective of the research is not only to produce a flexible measuring system for use in online inspection, but also to address many of the fundamental problems that hinder three dimensional measurement outside a controlled environment.