ABSTRACT Landslides are especially damaging in Canada and despite their extensive occurrence, the... more ABSTRACT Landslides are especially damaging in Canada and despite their extensive occurrence, the exact location of instability is not homogeneous across the country and depends on several factors. Based on clear evidence it is known that there is a wide range in the scale and diversity of landslide environments, especially as they pertain to landslide problems. A proposed 1:6 million scale landslide susceptibility map of Canada is presented in this study as a first approximation for those individuals interested in pursuing more detailed investigations. The final map has been constructed based primarily on GIS, by considering digital layers of relevant national information including: slope angle, aspect, precipitation, permafrost, surficial geology, vegetation, distance to rivers, distance to coast (lakes and oceans) and bedrock lithology. These variables have been categorized into several classes depending on their greater or lesser favourability to influence slope instabilities. The values assigned to each class are not equal for the whole country and vary depending on the region considered (Canadian Shield, Hudson Bay Lowlands, or the remaining area). eywords landslide, susceptibility, Canada, GIS. K
SUMMARYTo understand distributions of coastal diatoms along Vancouver Island, British Columbia, C... more SUMMARYTo understand distributions of coastal diatoms along Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, this paper describes diatom assemblages observed in 47 surface sediment samples from intertidal environments. One hundred and eighty‐four diatom taxa were identified from five transects crossing tidal flats, salt marshes, and freshwater forests in Tofino, Ucluelet, and Port Alberni. Distributions of the diatom assemblages were consistent with those reported elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but a few diatom taxa show different trends in their distributions. For example, one benthic speciesDenticula subtilisshows widespread distributions along the transect in Tofino. An ordination shown by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) using a combined dataset indicated overlapped scatter plots of diatom assemblages, suggesting that assemblages with similar species compositions are observed in more than one location. Hierarchical and k‐means clustering analyses using Euclidean distance recognized unique small groups along each transect. Rank abundance curves show different trends for richness and evenness of diatom assemblages among the five transects.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2021
This is the second volume focused on geoethics published by the Geological Society of London. Thi... more This is the second volume focused on geoethics published by the Geological Society of London. This is a significant step forward in which authors address the maturation of geoethics. The field of geoethics is now ready to be introduced outside the geoscience community as a logical platform for global ethics that addresses anthropogenic changes. Geoethics has a distinction in the geoscientific community for discussing ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience knowledge, research, practice, education and communication. This provides a common ground for confronting ideas, experiences and proposals on how geosciences can supply additional service to society in order to improve the way humans interact responsibly with the Earth system. This book provides new messages to geoscientists, social scientists, intellectuals, law- and decision-makers, and laypeople. Motivations and actions for facing global anthropogenic changes and their intense impacts on the planet need to be governed by an ethical framework capable of merging a solid conceptual structure with pragmatic approaches based on geoscientific knowledge. This philosophy defines geoethics.
to the biological makeup of the modern Japanese. These are clear, easy-to-use papers, but given t... more to the biological makeup of the modern Japanese. These are clear, easy-to-use papers, but given the archaeological character of this volume, it is remarkable that they consistently interpret biological data in terms of temporal units, economic patterns, "migrations," and other archaeological "facts" that themselves are not evaluated. Those interested in Japanese prehistory will read Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers in Japan because it lays out important issues in Jomon studies and illustrates the research being done by Japanese archaeologists. The volume has an even broader audience, though, since it is not simply about Japan. It addresses methodological issues of general interest and shows clearly that Japanese archaeologists have much to contribute to our field.
Recent trends in zooarchaeology have emphasized a quantitative approach toward evaluating faunal ... more Recent trends in zooarchaeology have emphasized a quantitative approach toward evaluating faunal assemblages. In 1977, R. W. Casteel suggested that the behavior of the minimum number of individuals estimate can be quantitatively described as a function of the number of identifiable specimens. This bivariate relationship is accurate and useful but must be reduced to the levels of natural faunal classes and specific assemblages. Such a reductionist procedure allows for reduced biasing in subsequent cultural interpretations of faunal patterning. The faunal assemblage recovered at Rodg ers Shelter, Missouri, is used as an example to illustrate the necessity and utility of a reductionist approach.
ABSTRACT New geoscience information is presented that will help reduce the economic, environmenta... more ABSTRACT New geoscience information is presented that will help reduce the economic, environmental, health and public safety risks that landslides pose to the national railways operating through part of Canada’s western Cordillera. Knowledge of the nature and stratigraphic relationships of surficial earth materials leads to a better understanding of some controls on mass wasting near Ashcroft, British Columbia, and in particular at the Ripley Slide: an active, slow-moving translational failure situated along a critical section of the national transportation corridor. This work compliments and will help guide other aspects of a multi-year international investigation of this landslide.
ABSTRACT Within Natural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), one objective of the Publ... more ABSTRACT Within Natural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), one objective of the Public Safety Geoscience Program is the provision of broad, high level information that summarizes the likelihood of threat from a variety of natural hazards to Canada's citizens and infrastructure. Landslides are especially important. In Canada, during the past 150 years, more individuals have died from landslides than all other natural hazards combined. Moreover, landslides are estimated to cost (direct and indirect) the country over $200 million (CDN) annually. Unfortunately, no publically available, pan-Canadian expression of the potential threat from landslides currently exists. In response to these facts and issues, the Geological Survey of Canada has now developed a national scale (1:5 million) landslide susceptibility map to illustrate the significant variability that exists across the country with respect to the likelihood of slope instability. In the absence of a national inventory of landslides, information used in the derivation of this map (GIS based) consisted of national scale data for the following parameters: vegetation, precipitation, permafrost, aspect, slope angle, distance to rivers, distance to coast (lakes and oceans), bedrock geology and surficial geology. Attributes within each parameter were assessed and classified (semi-quantitatively) according to several categories of significance (1-low to 6-high). For the classification, expert opinion was obtained during a workshop at which GSC landslide experts relied on their personal experience and professional knowledge as input to the attribute and parameter relevance regarding landslide hazards.
ABSTRACT Landslides are especially damaging in Canada and despite their extensive occurrence, the... more ABSTRACT Landslides are especially damaging in Canada and despite their extensive occurrence, the exact location of instability is not homogeneous across the country and depends on several factors. Based on clear evidence it is known that there is a wide range in the scale and diversity of landslide environments, especially as they pertain to landslide problems. A proposed 1:6 million scale landslide susceptibility map of Canada is presented in this study as a first approximation for those individuals interested in pursuing more detailed investigations. The final map has been constructed based primarily on GIS, by considering digital layers of relevant national information including: slope angle, aspect, precipitation, permafrost, surficial geology, vegetation, distance to rivers, distance to coast (lakes and oceans) and bedrock lithology. These variables have been categorized into several classes depending on their greater or lesser favourability to influence slope instabilities. The values assigned to each class are not equal for the whole country and vary depending on the region considered (Canadian Shield, Hudson Bay Lowlands, or the remaining area). eywords landslide, susceptibility, Canada, GIS. K
SUMMARYTo understand distributions of coastal diatoms along Vancouver Island, British Columbia, C... more SUMMARYTo understand distributions of coastal diatoms along Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, this paper describes diatom assemblages observed in 47 surface sediment samples from intertidal environments. One hundred and eighty‐four diatom taxa were identified from five transects crossing tidal flats, salt marshes, and freshwater forests in Tofino, Ucluelet, and Port Alberni. Distributions of the diatom assemblages were consistent with those reported elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but a few diatom taxa show different trends in their distributions. For example, one benthic speciesDenticula subtilisshows widespread distributions along the transect in Tofino. An ordination shown by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) using a combined dataset indicated overlapped scatter plots of diatom assemblages, suggesting that assemblages with similar species compositions are observed in more than one location. Hierarchical and k‐means clustering analyses using Euclidean distance recognized unique small groups along each transect. Rank abundance curves show different trends for richness and evenness of diatom assemblages among the five transects.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2021
This is the second volume focused on geoethics published by the Geological Society of London. Thi... more This is the second volume focused on geoethics published by the Geological Society of London. This is a significant step forward in which authors address the maturation of geoethics. The field of geoethics is now ready to be introduced outside the geoscience community as a logical platform for global ethics that addresses anthropogenic changes. Geoethics has a distinction in the geoscientific community for discussing ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience knowledge, research, practice, education and communication. This provides a common ground for confronting ideas, experiences and proposals on how geosciences can supply additional service to society in order to improve the way humans interact responsibly with the Earth system. This book provides new messages to geoscientists, social scientists, intellectuals, law- and decision-makers, and laypeople. Motivations and actions for facing global anthropogenic changes and their intense impacts on the planet need to be governed by an ethical framework capable of merging a solid conceptual structure with pragmatic approaches based on geoscientific knowledge. This philosophy defines geoethics.
to the biological makeup of the modern Japanese. These are clear, easy-to-use papers, but given t... more to the biological makeup of the modern Japanese. These are clear, easy-to-use papers, but given the archaeological character of this volume, it is remarkable that they consistently interpret biological data in terms of temporal units, economic patterns, "migrations," and other archaeological "facts" that themselves are not evaluated. Those interested in Japanese prehistory will read Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers in Japan because it lays out important issues in Jomon studies and illustrates the research being done by Japanese archaeologists. The volume has an even broader audience, though, since it is not simply about Japan. It addresses methodological issues of general interest and shows clearly that Japanese archaeologists have much to contribute to our field.
Recent trends in zooarchaeology have emphasized a quantitative approach toward evaluating faunal ... more Recent trends in zooarchaeology have emphasized a quantitative approach toward evaluating faunal assemblages. In 1977, R. W. Casteel suggested that the behavior of the minimum number of individuals estimate can be quantitatively described as a function of the number of identifiable specimens. This bivariate relationship is accurate and useful but must be reduced to the levels of natural faunal classes and specific assemblages. Such a reductionist procedure allows for reduced biasing in subsequent cultural interpretations of faunal patterning. The faunal assemblage recovered at Rodg ers Shelter, Missouri, is used as an example to illustrate the necessity and utility of a reductionist approach.
ABSTRACT New geoscience information is presented that will help reduce the economic, environmenta... more ABSTRACT New geoscience information is presented that will help reduce the economic, environmental, health and public safety risks that landslides pose to the national railways operating through part of Canada’s western Cordillera. Knowledge of the nature and stratigraphic relationships of surficial earth materials leads to a better understanding of some controls on mass wasting near Ashcroft, British Columbia, and in particular at the Ripley Slide: an active, slow-moving translational failure situated along a critical section of the national transportation corridor. This work compliments and will help guide other aspects of a multi-year international investigation of this landslide.
ABSTRACT Within Natural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), one objective of the Publ... more ABSTRACT Within Natural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), one objective of the Public Safety Geoscience Program is the provision of broad, high level information that summarizes the likelihood of threat from a variety of natural hazards to Canada's citizens and infrastructure. Landslides are especially important. In Canada, during the past 150 years, more individuals have died from landslides than all other natural hazards combined. Moreover, landslides are estimated to cost (direct and indirect) the country over $200 million (CDN) annually. Unfortunately, no publically available, pan-Canadian expression of the potential threat from landslides currently exists. In response to these facts and issues, the Geological Survey of Canada has now developed a national scale (1:5 million) landslide susceptibility map to illustrate the significant variability that exists across the country with respect to the likelihood of slope instability. In the absence of a national inventory of landslides, information used in the derivation of this map (GIS based) consisted of national scale data for the following parameters: vegetation, precipitation, permafrost, aspect, slope angle, distance to rivers, distance to coast (lakes and oceans), bedrock geology and surficial geology. Attributes within each parameter were assessed and classified (semi-quantitatively) according to several categories of significance (1-low to 6-high). For the classification, expert opinion was obtained during a workshop at which GSC landslide experts relied on their personal experience and professional knowledge as input to the attribute and parameter relevance regarding landslide hazards.
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Papers by Peter Bobrowsky