Dryland salinity in a subcatchment at Glenthompson,Victoria

Dryland salinity is a widespread and serious environmental problem in western Victoria. As a result river environs and farmland have been seriously degraded with loss of habitat, reduced farm production and increased erosion. Until recently, the preferred method of salinity investigation was centred around expensive drilling programs to obtain information on groundwater provinces. More recently, electromagnetic surveys have provided the means of rapidly assessing the levels of soil and water salinities present within the landscape. At a site south of Glenthompson, Victoria, the results of an electromagnetic survey together with an investigation of relevant soil properties are being used to plan salinity control options. High recharge areas do not appear to be present in the study district. The effects of agronomic control options, such as the establishment of perennial grasses, can be predicted by the use of a monthly water balance whereby climatic factors and the crop's efficiency in plant water use can be related. The likely reduction in deep infiltration can then be estimated.     

CHILDREN'S PERCEPTION OF A DOWNTOWN SHOPPING CENTER

This paper offers an exploratory investigation of the effects of a child's age on three behavioral constructs (awareness space, activity space, and attitude) concerning a downtown shopping center in Bristol, England. The data are elicited from three samples of Bristol school children defined according to age and are analyzed using statistical inferential procedures. The results disclose that awareness space and activity space consistently increase with age. In addition, attitudinal responses to specific features of the shopping center exhibit a gradual change over a long-term period.     

Climatic deterioration and the end of the Gortian Interglacial in sediments from Derrynadivva and Burren Townland,near Castlebar,County Mayo,Ireland

Pollen and macrofossil analyses of two sequences of organic sediment in western Ireland have allowed the recognition of the latter parts of the Gortian Interglacial, a Middle Pleistocene temperate stage. The palaeobotanical information from the two sites identifies the preservation of partial sequences from the Gortian Interglacial (believed to be the equivalent of the Hoxnian Stage of Britain and the Holsteinian of Europe). The pollen and macrofossil data from one of the sites, Derrynadivva, span the middle and latter parts of the temperate stage. The results show that fire influenced the vegetation throughout the middle part of the temperate stage, and the termination of the organic depositional sequence appears to have been due to environmental deterioration. The former is identified through the abundant occurrence of charcoal in the sediments, whereas the latter is apparent in the sediment sequence and in the reworking of thermophilous pollen types into the upper part of the deposit. The second site, Burren Townland, records only part of the later zones of the interglacial, but the ericaceous assemblages of the latter part of the Gortian Interglacial are well developed and well preserved. Macrofossil analyses and scanning electron microscopy work on the pollen at the latter site has allowed the recognition of Rhododendron ponticum, adding to previous records of this species, which now has a very disjunct European distribution.     

Mercos — A simple Teflon sampler for ultratrace metal analysis in seawater

This paper describes an uncomplicated sampling technique for ultratrace element analysis of coastal and surface seawaters (maximum depth 100 m). The sampler system is very easy to operate. To prevent contamination problems, interchangeable 500-ml Teflon bottles are used as both sampling and storage vessels. The seawater samples are stabilized in situ by preacidifying the sampling bottles. For the determination of mercury in seawater the desired system has been developed: sampling bottle = storage bottle = reaction vessel.     

Water resource management in the USA: a case study of large dams

The construction of large dams in the USA reveals a rapid growth in activity in the post-Second World War period, with the largest number of dams being inaugurated in the mid-1960s. Texas, with 823 dams, is the state with the largest number, followed in turn by California, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Colorado. At the other extreme some states have fewer than a dozen dams. Although there are large variations in the number of dams between states nearly all of them record peak constructional activity between the late 1950s and early 1970s. Surprisingly, most dams have relatively small reservoirs with about 70 per cent of the total having capacities of less than 10⁶ m³. Over two-thirds of all dams have been constructed with a single aim in view, with flood control being the most important reason. Only 1.5 per cent of all dams are utilized for four or more purposes. The objectives behind dam construction reveal changes since the 19th century. In the early years of the 20th century irrigation, hydro-electric power generation and water supply were the most important reasons for dam construction, whereas in the post-1950 period flood control stands out as the dominant activity. Changing technology, the introduction of specific legislation and changing attitudes to the environment have been the major influences on dam-building activity over the period studied.     

The Earth's rotation and atmospheric circulation, from 1963 to 1973

Summary. The zonal angular momentum of the atmospheric circulation has been evaluated month-by-month and compared with astronomical observations of the length-of-day for the 10 years from 1963 May to 1973 April. The reason for undertaking this study is to enable the astronomical observations to be 'corrected' for the zonal wind effect and to investigate the residual excitation function for solid-Earth contributions. The principal conclusions reached are the following: (i) The annual change in length-of-day is almost entirely due to the seasonal changes in the zonal circulation with tidal, oceanographic and hydrologic phenomena contributing together at most 10 per cent of the total excitation, (ii) The semi-annual term is predominantly due to the zonal wind and the body tide, with oceanic and hydrologic terms contributing about 10 per cent, (iii) The atmospheric circulation plays a dominant role in length-of-day changes in the period range from 1 to about 4 yr. This is partly associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation and its harmonics. Both the period and amplitude of these fluctuations are very variable, (iv) At longer periods the atmosphere may still contribute to the total excitation but other excitation functions begin to rise above the spectrum of the meteorological excitation, (v) At periods less than about 1 yr the atmospheric excitation is dominant, and while the presence of other excitation functions cannot be excluded, they cannot exceed 20 per cent of the wind excitation. On the basis of these results the astronomical record from 1962 to 1978 has been 'corrected' for the meteorological 'noise'. The residual excitation exhibits only fluctuations on a time-scale of about 5 yr and longer and it is this result that must be attributed to core-mantle interactions or to other solid-Earth excitation functions.