Seismic performance of three-dimensional frame structures with underground stories

This paper investigates the seismic performance of moment-resisting frame steel buildings with multiple underground stories resting on shallow foundations. A parametric study that involved evaluating the nonlinear seismic response of five, ten and fifteen story moment-resisting frame steel buildings resting on flexible ground surface, and buildings having one, three and five underground stories was performed. The buildings were assumed to be founded on shallow foundations. Two site conditions were considered: soil class C and soil class E, corresponding to firm and soft soil deposits, respectively. Vancouver seismic hazard has been considered for this study. Synthetic earthquake records compatible with Vancouver uniform hazard spectrum (UHS), as specified by the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) 2005, have been used as input motion. It was found that soil–structure interaction (SSI) can greatly affect the seismic performance of buildings in terms of the seismic storey shear and moment demand, and the deformations of their structural components. Although most building codes postulate that SSI effects generally decrease the force demand on buildings, but increase the deformation demand, it was found that, for some of the cases considered, SSI effects increased both the force and deformation demand on the buildings. The SSI effects generally depend on the stiffness of the foundation and the number of underground stories. SSI effects are significant for soft soil conditions and negligible for stiff soil conditions. It was also found that SSI effects are significant for buildings resting on flexible ground surface with no underground stories, and gradually decrease with the increase of the number of underground stories.     

Macassan/Indigenous Australian ‘sites of memory’ in the National Museum of Australia and Australian National Maritime Museum

For over two centuries people from Makassar on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi came to northern Australia with the onset of the northeast monsoon winds. They came in search of trepang that, with the help of Indigenous Australians, they collected and traded on to China. Their impact on the Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land was considerable. Along with sharing language, technology and culture, they built relationships, many ongoing, that are celebrated in Yolngu art, song and stories. These stories of contact are well known to many archaeologists and anthropologists but for many Australians the only place where they come into contact with these stories is in a museum display. In this paper I examine the ways in which these stories are disseminated by two national museums, the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney and the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. As important ‘lieux de mémoire’ or ‘sites of memory’, they tell of Macassan visits to northern Australia as part of Australian history. In both cases not only are the stories situated in the past but both Macassan and Indigenous Australian voices are largely absent.     

A Comparison of Charcoal and Archaeological Information to Address the Influences on Holocene Fire Activity in the Sydney Basin

The influence of Aboriginal people on fire activity and hence the vegetation of Australia has long been debated. This study aimed to document the local fire activity of the Holocene in the catchment of a small freshwater reed swamp located in the Sydney Basin and to compare this with nearby archaeological evidence; including artefact discard rates and the number of base camps and activity locations used through time. This archaeological evidence was used as an index of human activity through time to assess anthropogenic influences on fire activity. Charcoal (>250 µm) was quantified in a radiocarbon-dated sediment core from Griffith Swamp covering ～6000 calibrated years BP. A substantial increase in fire activity was found from ～3000 years BP and a lesser increase approximately 700 years ago. The change in fire activity at ～3000 years BP was approximately coeval with changes in archaeological evidence from Upper Mangrove Creek, suggesting either greater human presence in the landscape or altered subsistence and land-use strategies. Fire frequency in the catchment of Griffith Swamp peaked at about eight episodes per century, perhaps in response to environmental change that promoted both increased human activity and a higher natural fire frequency. This study provides an extended temporal perspective on fire and humans in this landscape, demonstrating how palaeoecology can provide practical information for the contemporary management of such fire-prone ecosystems.     

Paleoecological analyses of lake sediments reveal prehistoric human impact on forests at Anthony Island UNESCO World Heritage Site, Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), Canada

Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses of lake sediments from Anthony Island in the southern Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), British Columbia, reveal 1800 yr of relatively stable temperate rainforest vegetation. Cupressaceae (cedar) pollen percentages and accumulation rates decline about 1000 cal yr BP, coincident with occupation of the island by Haida peoples, who use Thuja plicata (western red cedar) almost exclusively for house construction, dugout canoes, monumental poles, and many other items. Anthropogenic disturbance offers the most likely explanation for the decline of T. plicata.     

The Getting of the Nganabbarru: Observations and reflections on Aboriginal buffalo hunting in northern Australia

Nganabbarru , or water buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis ), is frequently hunted by Aboriginal men, and buffalo meat is an important food source for many Arnhem Land Aboriginal communities. The experience of buffalo hunting trips with Aboriginal men who reside at Korlohbidahdah outstation in central Arnhem Land is used as a point of departure to consider the relationships between Aboriginal people and megaherbivores in the past and the present, and to explore the complexity of feral animal management in cross-cultural settings. This enquiry raised the question of the cultural conception of feral animals and demonstrates that there is no simple answer to the question: what is a buffalo? Buffaloes have been the focus of a colonial economic industry and are iconic of the Territorian way of life. However, they spread economically significant livestock diseases and cause widespread environmental damage. In the 1980s feral buffalo populations were the target of the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) control program. The failure to continue control programs following the cessation of BTEC program and inadequate consultation with Aboriginal landowners has meant that today's land managers are once again faced with conflicting views about controlling feral buffalo populations on Aboriginal land and within National Parks like Kakadu. It is concluded that there are genuine, previously overlooked opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration in managing feral buffaloes. Cross-disciplinary research involving ecologists, anthropologists, linguists, economists and environmental historians is required to help develop sustainable and culturally appropriate feral animal control programs.     

Late quaternary alluvial history of Nowlands Creek,Hunter Valley,NSW

The valley‐fill sequence of Nowlands Creek, a 5.5 km² basin in the Central Lowlands of the Hunter Valley, is characterised by three inset river terraces whose sediments contain either Aboriginal or European artefacts. The highest and oldest terrace is characterised by a well‐developed yellow duplex soil with Aboriginal artefacts in the A horizon. Deposition of the bulk of the terrace sediments occurred before 11 400 yrs BP when Nowlands Creek was a low‐sinuosity, high‐energy, gravel‐bed stream. Texture contrast of the terrace soil is due partly to the superpositioning of Holocene sandy colluvium over Pleistocene fluviatile clay. The middle terrace is characterised by a deep minimal prairie soil containing Aboriginal artefacts. Deposition of the middle‐terrace sediments occurred mainly after 11 400 yrs BP when Nowlands Creek was a small‐capacity, mud‐bed channel with chains of ponds and well‐vegetated banks. The lowest terrace occupies a discontinuous trench incised into the middle terrace and was abandoned by incision between 1902 and 1938 due to open‐cut coal mining. All Aboriginal artefacts found so far are confined to Holocene sediments.     

Sustainability,development and rural aboriginal communities

Aborigines, because of their population numbers and increasing control over land and resources, are crucial to the sustainable development of rural Australia. However, appropriate Aboriginal development requires the replacement of the ‘top‐down’ approaches generally adopted by government agencies by ‘bottom‐up’ approaches reflecting the needs and aspirations of rural Aboriginal people. Past experience demonstrates that Aborigines have faced many frustrations in reconciling these concepts. But some approaches now being adopted in the use and management of Australia's rangelands provide interesting alternatives which may be more generally applicable in enhancing rangeland sustainability. Examples include land‐use practices conducted by Aborigines living in remote homeland centres on their own freehold land, and the diversity of land uses introduced on pastoral stations now under Aboriginal ownership. Broader recognition of the value of these approaches will depend on widespread acknowledgment of the overall worth of Aboriginal land management knowledge in rural restructuring     

Maintaining the Healthy Country–Healthy People Nexus through Sociocultural and Environmental Transformations: challenges for the Wik Aboriginal people of Aurukun,Australia

This paper examines the potential for multiple co-benefits to arise through re-establishing the connection between Aboriginal people and their lands. The research project was participatory in its design and implementation, and centred on three short but intensive visits to the Kendall River over a period of 4 years. Interviews with and observations of Kendall River people on country provided qualitative information concerning their wish to reconnect with country, not only to transmit key cultural knowledge through the generations, re-socialise their lands and manage them appropriately but also to help them manage the negative consequences of Wik aggregation in the troubled community of Aurukun. Participants reported that returning to and carrying out activities on country, and the family and country planning resulting from those trips, provided a way to counter feelings of disempowerment and despondency arising from living solely in Aurukun. This paper concludes by arguing that activities that re-engage Aboriginal people with country (if not actually returning to live on country) can serve to build cultural resilience in the face of multiple economic, environmental and social challenges, including those arising from life lived largely in communities such as Aurukun, thereby also likely benefiting their physical and psychosocial health and well-being.     

Aboriginal Memories of Inundation of the Australian Coast Dating from More than 7000 Years Ago

Stories belonging to Australian Aboriginal groups tell of a time when the former coastline of mainland Australia was inundated by rising sea level. Stories are presented from 21 locations from every part of this coastline. In most instances it is plausible to assume that these stories refer to events that occurred more than about 7000 years ago, the approximate time at which the sea level reached its present level around Australia. They therefore provide empirical corroboration of postglacial sea-level rise. For each of the 21 locations, the minimum water depth (below the present sea level) needed for the details of the particular group of local-area stories to be true is calculated. This is then compared with the sea-level envelope for Australia (Lewis et al., Quaternary Science Reviews 74, 2013), and maximum and minimum ages for the most recent time that these details could have been observed are calculated. This method of dating Aboriginal stories shows that they appear to have endured since 7250–13 070 cal years bp (5300–11 120 bc). The implications of this extraordinary longevity of oral traditions are discussed, including those aspects of Aboriginal culture that ensured effective transgenerational communication and the possibility that traditions of comparable antiquity may exist in similar cultures.     

The Northern Myth Revisited? Aborigines,environment and agriculture in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme,Stages One and Two

Western Australia's Ord River Irrigation Scheme has been controversial since its establishment more than twenty-five years ago. A substantial expansion of the scheme, known as Ord Stage Two, is currently underway as a joint project of the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments. In this study I examine and compare Stages One and Two in the context of the significant social and economic changes that have occurred during this period, focusing on attitudes to, and conceptualisations of, nature and the human place in it. Despite a context in which consideration of both Aboriginal and environmental issues is now integrated into the development process, three colonial themes persist in the rhetoric of Stage Two. These are the empty landscape, the invisible Aborigine, and the idealisation of agricultural land use. When expressed together these three help to naturalise the development process as both inevitable and strategically implemented. The contradictions inherent in this process enhance existing doubts about the social and ecological sustainability of continuing attempts to 'develop' Australia's north.