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This article presents a case study of a dispute over magnetite mining in the Municipality of Gonzaga in the Philippines that culminated in the assassination of the town’s mayor by the New People’s ...

Early Woodland Liverpool (Black Sand variant) pottery decorations consist of belts, rectilinear panels, and/or punctates encircling the vessel. Vertically arranged thematic motifs reflect t...

Biogrouting, which is a new method for soil improvement, was used in an attempt to cement a type of hydraulic fill fine sands (called black sands) in reclamation projects in Tianjin, China, to form a working layer for mechanical equipment. Several factors influencing biogrouting with regard to cementing solution, including injection frequency, reaction time, concentration, and flow rate, were controlled to prepare black sand columns. This paper reports on an investigation of bacterial fixation, calcium ion utilization, and calcium carbonate distributions of biogrouted sand specimens. At the end of the tests, the geotechnical performances of the sand specimens were determined. The results showed that the biogrouting method effectively solidified black sands, by increasing the unconfined compressive strength of a sand column to 1.91 MPa and reducing the permeability coefficient by three orders of magnitude. A relationship between the unconfined compressive strengths and calcium carbonate contents wa...

Sediment samples from the foreshore and backshore regions between Thottappally and Kayamkulam, (Thottappally – Trikkunnapuzha = Northern; Trikkunnapuzha – Arattupuzha = Central; Arattupuzha – Kayamkulam = Southern), which are enriched with heavy minerals, were subjected to detailed textural evaluation. Through frequency curves, bivariate and CM pattern, the textual characteristics of black sand deposits have been brought out and their provenance has been discussed. Beach sands of the study area mainly comprise fine sand, moderately well- to well-sorted, with near symmetrical skewness in all three sectors. Kurtosis is platykurtic in the northern sector, whereas mesokuritic sediments in the central and southern sectors show a characteristic playtkuritc nature. In the Trikkunnapuzha – Arattupuzha and Aratupuzha – Kayamkulam sectors, sediments are mesokurtic to platykurtic, which shows that low energy conditions and high wave energy conditions must have prevailed. Sediment transportation is mainly by saltatio...

The key point of food plant agriculture is how to regulate the harmonious relationship between the soil and the plant environment. This study deals with radionuclide uptake by two food plant and two fruit tree species in relation to the geochemical characteristics of the soil. Uranium and thorium content was determined in coastal black sand and inland cultivated soils. Four commonly cultivated species Eruca sativa, Lycopersicon esculentum, Psidium guajava and Mangifera indica were investigated. Physical and chemical properties of the soil were analysed in relation to uranium and thorium uptake by plants. The results revealed the ability of plants to accumulate uranium and thorium in their edible portions. The absorbed radionuclides were positively correlated with their concentrations in the soil and the geochemical characteristics of the soil. The transfer of radioactive elements from soil to plant is a complex process that can be regulated by controlling the geochemical characteristics of the soil, inclu...

Information on the “needle nematode” Longidorus elongatus in New Zealand pastures has hitherto been limited. Monthly sampling of Pukepuke black sand and Manawatu fine sandy loam yielded L. elongatus populations up to 87 500 m−2 (February) and 21 600 m−2 (August). First stage juveniles appeared when soil temperature exceeded 15°C; females dominated populations every month and males were rare. Differences in abundance between soils may reflect the pore space available to these relatively large nematodes. Specimens survived 24 weeks storage at 5 and 15°C. While abundance tended to decline with depth, at 30–40 cm depth in Pukepuke sand, numbers increased, perhaps through the impact of groundwater levels on rooting patterns. In Pukepuke sand, plant species were associated with significantly different populations of L. elongatus, with Trifolium repens and T. subter‐raneum supporting more than Lolium perenne. More L. elongatus were found in grazed pasture with lower plant available P.

Archaeologists have long been concerned about the incomplete record of Early Woodland evidence in the Midwest. Many broad geographic areas have not even been superficially surveyed, much less systematically researched for evidence of early ceramic cultures, which include Marion and various Black Sand phases. The Missouri River drainage between St. Louis and Kansas City has been targeted as a significant regional gap (Farnsworth 1986a:2). Recent investigations, however, have indicated that the Black Sand pottery type is more widespread than once believed. This article examines artifact evidence and provides information regarding Early Woodland artifact assemblages, settlement patterns and lithic exploitation strategies.

The performance of inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP‐AES) for the determination of 14 lanthanides and Yttrium was evaluated by comparison with inductively coupled plasma–mass spectral (ICP‐MS) analysis. The geochemical reference samples (GRS), DNC‐1(diabase), AGV‐1(andesite), Sy‐2(syenite), MRG‐1(gabbro), AN‐G(anorthosite), AC‐E(granite), and MAG‐1(marine mud) were chosen as test materials and analyzed for checking the precision and reproducibility of the methods. The mineral garnet is separated from the black sands of the southwest coast of India, and the combined cation exchange–ICP method of AES analysis and MS analysis were carried out for the determination of rare earth elements. Both techniques are within the requirements needed for garnet minerals. The determination of rare‐earth elements in these minerals, which contain other elements as major contribution and trace distribution of rare‐earth elements, shows that ICP applied under the proper working condition li...

The monitoring and evaluation of natural radioactivity content of sixty-five different samples of sand used in building materials, black sand and its components, and therapy sand collected from different locations in Egypt have been investigated. The specific radioactivity concentration of 238U, 232Th series, and 40K were measured by gamma-ray spectrometer using a shielded HPGe. The obtained results of 238U and 232Th series as well as 40K are discussed. The absorbed dose rate of gamma radiation ranged from 15.1 to 64.1, 9.3 to 109, 751, and 32.9 to 63.4 nGy h(-1) for sand used in building materials, black sand with its components, and therapy sand samples, respectively. The representative external hazard index (H ex) for the corresponding values are also estimated and tabulated. The present results are compared with other data previously obtained from different sand areas in both Egyptian and foreign locations.

Sealed can- and alpha-autoradiography techniques were used to estimate the effective and real contents of Ra-224 respectively in Egyptian black sand samples collected from Rosetta City in the Nile Delta at the North Coast of Egypt. The effective Ra-224 content was found to be 15 ± 3 Bq · kg−1. From the average chemical composition of the black sand samples, the range-energy relation for the alpha-particles of the thorium series was calculated. Assuming radioactive equilibrium, the real Ra-224 content for samples collected from different regions were found to range from 90 to 900 Bq · kg−1. As a result, the total emanation power was measured and then used to estimate grain diameter of the black sand. The average mass exhalation rate of the different locations in Rosetta City was also estimated.

By using 14 MeV neutron flux of 3.5 × 1010 n/cm2 · s, the activities of the activated nuclides in both ferrosilicon alloy (from Kima-Aswan Company) and black sand samples (from the mouth of Damietta, North of Egyptian Delta), were measured. The rate dose of natural gamma-activities arising from Th-232 in the black sand area was calculated.

Seven trials were conducted in the autumns of 1969, 1970, and 1971 using the imperfectly drained soil sequence: Hokio wet sand, Pukepuke black sand, and Carnarvon black sand. No significant weight responses to cobalt were obtained.

Detailed aerial and ground radiometric surveys were conducted on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, on both sides of the estuary of the Rosetta branch of the River Nile. Auger samples representing the upper 1 m, were collected and analysed for the two principal radioactive minerals in the black sands, zircon and monazite. The results obtained by the various methods, particularly aeroradiometry, revealed five main zones of heavy mineral concentration along the beach to the east and west of the Rosetta estuary. The present-day Rosetta branch is responsible for the formation of the first zone of mineral concentration. The second and fifth zones can be related to the ancient extinct estuaries of the Bolbitine and Sebennytic branches mentioned by Ball (1942) (after Herodotus, 450 B.C.). The third and fourth zones are believed to correspond to two ancient extinct estuaries of the River Nile, which were probably not in existence at the time of Herodotus and therefore were not reported by Ball (...

The flightless, sand-burrowing beetle Chaerodes trachyscelides White is confined to the intertidal zone of sandy marine beaches in New Zealand. The dorsal surface varies from black to pale whitish-yellow, and most specimens closely match the colour of the sand they live on. On a beach with pale sand, about 98% of specimens are whitish on the dorsal surface, and about 1% areblack. Conversely, on a beach with black sand, about 96% are black and about 1% are whitish. The beetles live under cast-up marine algae on which they feed, and burrow beneath it in the sand. When predatory sea birds pick up such algae, invertebrates, including C. trachyscelides, fall out, run a short distance, ana burrow into the sand. I suggest that a higher proportion of beetles coloured less like the sand are eaten by seabirds, and that these predators exert differential selection (genetic or phenetic) against non-cryptically-coloured individuals. However, there is as yet no way of telling whether the genetic mechanism is t...

The changes in availability and forms of phosphorus over a 12-month period after the application of superphosphate to pasture on Foxton black sand and Pukepuke brown sandy loam were studied. Differences were large between the two soils in phosphorus sorption capacity, retention of applied phosphorus, and relative size of the inorganic phosphorus fractions. Decline in availability of phosphorus after application could largely be attributed to its removal from the upper 5 cm of the Foxton soil, but in the Pukepuke soil, conversion of applied phosphorus to sparingly soluble forms was the major factor involved.

The concentrations of radioactive materials in black sand samples along the beach north to the Egyptian Delta were determined using γ-analysis and solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) techniques. 232Th was found with appreciable concentrations which amounts to 250 ppm in Rosetta mouth sample. In addition, the gamma exposure dose rates were calculated.

A pottery type characterized by a cord-roughened surface, punctates and bosses, and incised line decora tion from three sites in southwestern Minnesota is typologically similar to Early Woodland pottery from stratified sites in Illinois (Black Sand Incised) and Wisconsin (Dane Incised). Pending further investiga tions, the indications are that the Minnesota materials are also Early Woodland and that this may be a fairly widely distributed pottery type. Three archaeological sites in southwestern Minnesota tested by L. A. Wilford have yielded a Woodland pottery type similar to Dane Incised of Wisconsin and Black Sand of Illinois. The heaviest concentration of the pottery was found at the Fox Lake site (Mr-2) in Martin County, the Mountain Lake site (Co-1) in Cottonwood County, and the Pederson site (Ln-2) in Lincoln County. All three sites are located in the prairie zone in the southwestern portion of the state, and all are on islands. "The Fox Lake site is located on an island in Fox Lake, a large lake in the western chain of lakes in Martin County ... the lake is long and narrow on an east-west axis, 3.5 miles long by three-eights of a mile wide, and is located two miles north of Sherburn. The island is close to the north shore of the lake and is about 10 or 15 acres in area" (Booney 1965:4). The site was excavated in four arbitrary levels about eight inches deep. Wilford noted no natural stratifica tion and found no cultural stratigraphy. The Mountain Lake site is located on a former island in a dried-up lake bed in Mountain Lake Township of Cottonwood County. L.A. Wilford tested in clearings or open areas on the brush and tree-covered "mountain" in 1957. Six-inch arbi trary levels were maintained during the tests. Again, no stratification was noted. "The Pederson site is located in southern Lincoln County on an island about ten acres in area near the northeast end of Lake Benton. The elevation of the north end of the island is high, dropping at the narrow neck, with the south end so low that it is only a little above the water level, and much of the island in this portion is swampy" (Bonney 1965:10). The site was sur veyed in 1940 and 1955 before it was tested in 1956 by L. A. Wilford (Bonney 1965:10). The nine complete rims and fifty-seven "near rims" found at these three sites, designated by Wilford (1955) as "Fox Lake", are characterized by a cord roughened surface with incised lines and punctates and bosses for decorations. Interior surfaces of these sherds are smooth except for a few outcroppings of grit temper particles. Exterior surfaces near the rims have been treated with vertical cord marks. Body sherds are treated with cord-wrapped paddle markings placed randomly over the surface. There is no smoothing of the cord markings. The decoration appears to be limited to the neck and the rim and consists of horizontal parallel incised lines with rows of punctates and bosses between them. Six sherds have alternating punctates and bosses on the exterior surface; four sherds have only bosses or punctates, with corresponding interior bosses. There are five sherds with triangles incised over the cord mark ings and filled with horizontal incised lines, and one with a triangle filled with parallel rows of punctates. The rims are either straight or slightly flaring. Lips are flat, rounded or interior beveled. Five