Examples Of Erosion Research Articles

Recreating Social Capital through nurturing Ubuntu in Community Health Clubs for disease prevention

Whilst the concept of Social Capital is well known in Western literature as a measure of a functional community, the indigenous African ethical code known as Ubuntu is seldom referred to in community development programmes. We undertook exploratory research to better understand the extent to which values of Ubuntu are still recognised today and if such values could be co-opted into Community Health Club programmes to address the many common diseases that could be prevented by group action. Method: A questionnaire was developed to identify key aspects of Ubuntu as lived experience in modern day Zimbabwe and how this ethic may manifest in the ordinary lives of Zimbabweans. The survey consisted of 40 questions with a mixture of quantifiable multiple-choice questions using a Lickert scale and qualitative open-ended questions. 100+ respondents were purposely selected representing a proportionate distribution of demographics. The quantitative data was cleaned and analysed in Excel with frequencies and percentages. The qualitative data was analysed using ‘Applied Thematic Analysis’. A Focus Group Discussion with Shona and Ndebele community development officers was held to ensure a deeper cultural interpretation of findings. Results: The ethical code of Ubuntu was understood by 95% of the 102 final respondents, who reported they had been brought up with such values. However, socialisation of children in norms and values of Ubuntu had dropped to 75% in the current generation of parents. Social networks in both rural and urban areas were high with all but 11% belonging to a regular group, and 45% having 21 or more friends within walking distance. For the rural areas 64% of respondents considered ‘Ubuntu’ to be high, 68% thought ‘honesty’ is high; ‘child safety’ in rural areas is considered moderate by 50% and high by 48% but only 9% would leave the door unlocked when going out. Only 4% could cite examples of non-Ubuntu behaviour in rural areas which included disrespect to elders, child disobedience, alcohol abuse, witchcraft and gender-based violence. In urban areas, the inverse was found: only 16% thought there was any Ubuntu at all, and 81% thought there was a high level of non-Ubuntu behaviour, with a low level of ‘honesty’, no ‘personal security’ and low ‘child safety’. 81% cited examples of erosion of Ubuntu values, such as lack of trust and reciprocity, substance abuse, little social support and immorality in sexual behaviour. People who are guided by values of Ubuntu invest highly in community which may generate high social networks and reciprocity, although levels of trust still remain low. Unlike Ubuntu, ‘Social Capital’ is not an ethical code but is the ‘common good’ that may be the outcome if Ubuntu is practiced sufficiently by a large enough group. Conclusion: Ubuntu is a living and valuable attribute of traditional Zimbabwean culture and could be resuscitated particularly in areas, where society is in transition from rural to urban lifestyle, to provide a secular code of ethics to promote gender equity and equality, through consensus building and preventing disease within Community Health Clubs, thereby addressing many ills of modern African society.

Teaching Field Data Crowdsourcing Using a GPS-Enabled Cellphone Application: Soil Erosion by Water as a Case Study

Crowdsourcing is an important tool for collecting spatio-temporal data, which has various applications in education. The objectives of this study were to develop and test a laboratory exercise on soil erosion by water and field data crowdsourcing in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) at Clemson University. Students from different STEM disciplines (wildlife biology, forestry, and environmental and natural resources) participated in the study in the fall of 2021. They completed a sequence of self-contained digital teaching modules or reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are often used in online learning. The exercise included a field exercise and learning module to teach students about different types of water-based soil erosion as well as field data collection and crowdsourcing tools. As a result of this exercise, student familiarity with crowdsourcing was effectively increased, as shown by the post-assessment survey with a +31.2% increase in the “moderately familiar” category and a +28.3% increase in the “extremely familiar” category. The online quiz contained ten questions and was taken by 56 students with an average score of 9.5 (out of 10). A post-assessment survey found that most of the students indicated that the laboratory was an effective learning experience about field data crowdsourcing using a GPS-enabled cellphone application. Detailed students’ comments indicated enjoyment of learning (e.g., data collection, learning about different technologies), the value of multimedia (e.g., ArcGIS Survey123, cellphone), the flexibility of learning (e.g., field work), the content applicability (e.g., actual field examples of erosion by water), and criticism (e.g., technical issues). A word cloud derived from students’ comments about their laboratory exercise experience indicated the most frequent words used by students, such as “erosion”, “enjoyed”, and “different”, among others. Incorporating a learning module and field exercise using modern data collection technology into an undergraduate soil science education course enabled students to understand the value and methods for leveraging cellphone-based field collection methods to crowdsource data for environmental assessment. Practical recommendations for planning and executing future crowdsourcing exercises were developed using the current study as an example.

Erosion and Deposition Mechanisms in Fusion Plasmas

An overview of erosion and deposition processes in fusion machines is presented. The underlying physical and chemical mechanisms are explained. The impact of erosion and deposition on wall lifetime and tritium retention, which define the availability of future fusion machines such as ITER, is discussed. Also, examples of erosion and deposition observed in present fusion experiments are presented.

Erosion and Deposition Mechanisms in Fusion Plasmas

An overview of erosion and deposition processes in fusion machines is presented. The underlying physical and chemical mechanisms are explained. The impact of erosion and deposition on wall lifetime and tritium retention, which define the availability of future fusion machines such as ITER, is discussed. Also, examples of erosion and deposition observed in present fusion experiments are presented.

Soil erosion, iron smelting and human settlement in the Haubi Basin, north-central Tanzania

The Haubi Basin, situated in the Irangi Hills of Kondoa District, Dodoma Region, Tanzania (FIGURE 1), exhibits some of the most extreme examples of erosion and associated sedimentation in the region (Christiansson 1981; Payton et al. 1992) (FIGLIRE 2). The severity of the problem, with its consequent loss of productive land, has been known since the beginning of the 20th century (Kannenberg 1900; Obst 1915). Recognition of the extent and severity of the issues encouraged the British colonial government to introduce a variety of measures aimed at soil conservation in the 1930s (Fosbrooke 1950). These included the construction of check-dams, contour bunds and contour planting with sisal. After independence, a second programme of soil conservation measures was launched. These were initially similar to those employed under colonialism, but later included de-stocking, resulting in the removal of some 90,000 livestock from the most severely eroded areas. As in the colonial period, recent overexploitation of land resources by local populations was regarded as the primary explanation for the continuing soil erosion.

The simulation of two-dimensional surface erosion and deposition processes

First-order erosion/deposition theory is applied to some examples of pattern delineation and planarization of microelectronic structures. An analogy between erosion/deposition phenomena and the progression of an optical wave front is developed, which explains many of the observable physical processes. Edges can form from an initially smooth profile and initial edges can expand into smooth curves; and it is demonstrated how they can be properly accounted for in a simulation code. Some examples of erosion and the codeposition phenomena are computed.

Examples of erosion on brickearth soils in east Kent

Abstract. High rates of erosion are reported from three sites on brickearth (loess) soils in east Kent. Problems are acute where soils are used for intensive production of vegetables and salad crops. Erosion appears to be the result of structural instability, lack of crop cover for much of the year, and certain managment practices, such as ridging the soil for the crop. In the autumn of 1984, about 120 tonnes of soil was lost from rills in a field of onions: an erosion rate of about 15 t ha−1. A large field under winter cereals also eroded and this resulted in damage to property. Conservation techniques are recommended.

Erosion of submarine outcrops, La Jolla submarine canyon, California

Observations made from a submersible operating within the sinuous central segment of La Jolla submarine canyon have provided spectacular examples of erosion at two outcrops below a depth of 300 m. One outcrop displays extensive destruction through bioerosion of siltstone members. Burrowing and grazing activity of galatheid crabs has led to slumping and spalling where cavities cluster, intersect, or parallel the face of this outcrop. A second site on the outside wall of a right-angle bend in the canyon axis revealed an undercut extending 23 m beneath the vertical canyon wall. A well-established encrusting fauna reaching to the canyon floor indicates that abrasive high-velocity currents have not occurred at this site for at least 6 months. The depth of this feature requires that the process responsible for such erosion take place on the sea floor. Sediment samples from the fan and fan valley below this part of the canyon reveal coarse deposits lacking features typical of turbidites, yet indicative of high-velocity submarine currents. It is concluded that the undercut is a relict erosional feature remaining from a previous period (Pleistocene) when runoff producing the latest rapid rise in sea level must have generated “submarine floods” charged with coarse detritus.