Park Complex Research Articles

The proposed translocation of the Javan rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus

Ujung Kulon is the last stronghold of the Javan rhinoceros, with a population estimated to be 54. None survive outside, even in zoos. The sudden death in 1982 of five animals, perhaps as a result of an epidemic disease, underlined the vulnerability of these rhinos. Among the measures proposed to safeguard the animals from early extinction was the translocation of a nucleus of breeding individuals from Ujung Kulon to the Pulau Panaitan nearby or the Way Kambas Game Reserve in Sumatra. In principle, the translocation of Javan rhinos into Way Kambas is justifiable in that the animal lived there a few decades ago, and despite indiscriminate logging in the past, appropriate habitats still exist there. However, the main concern is over the present inadequate anti-poaching measures and the easy accessibility of the reserve to poachers. Way Kambas is also situated in one of the most densely populated provinces of Sumatra. The rhinos in Ujung Kulon represent a highly inbred population and are therefore vulnerable to the effects of inbreeding depression and other stochastic processes. We suggest that there is a strong case for translocating a proportion of the Javan rhinos from Ujung Kulon when their numbers have increased to about 80 individuals, and when such expertise becomes available to carry out the translocation in safety. As a first stage, captive, free-range breeding of a few individuals in the Pulau Panaitan within the Ujung Kulon National Park complex is recommended. We are not convinced that the available security in Way Kambas Game Reserve in Sumatra is sufficient to guarantee the survival of the Javan rhinos.

Ophiolitic mélange separates ortho- and para-tectonic Caledonides in western Ireland

The nature of the contact between the orthotectonic (late Pre-cambrian to Cambrian) and the paratectonic (Ordovician and Silurian) Caledonides has long been a source of discussion. In western Ireland this junction occurs in a complex zone which crops out along the southern shores of Clew Bay, County Mayo, where Dalradian (Middle Cambrian) and Ordovician (Arenig) rocks are separated by a pre-Silurian rock unit termed the Deer Park Complex1 (Fig. 1). The complex contains both meta-sedimentary and meta-igneous rocks and has been variously interpreted as representing a pre-Caledonian basement ridge1, an imbricate thrust zone2 related to the development of a major fault system, the Fair Head–Clew Bay line3 or an Arenig ophiolite4. We report here geological, geochemical and geophy-sical studies on the Deer Park Complex which indicate that it is a northerly dipping melange unit containing the components of a dismembered ophiolite. These findings imply a source of ophiolitic rocks to the north possibly within the orthotectonic Caledonides.

Acoustics of EPCOT

Walt Disney Productions and their engineering arm WED Enterprises have undertaken to build the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT), the largest theme park complex in the world. This park recently opened in Orlando, Florida and features 17 pavilions in two groups, Future World and World Showcase. The project which will cost over a billion dollars to build has a number of interesting and unique acoustical features. The author who served as consultant on 6 of 7 Future World Pavilions and 8 of 10 World Showcase Pavilions will review several of the most interesting acoustical aspects of this monumental facility.

Genetic implications of minor-element and Sr-isotope geochemistry of alkaline rock complexes in the Wet Mountains area, Fremont and Custer counties, Colorado

Concentrations of Rb, Sr, and REE (rare earth elements), and Sr-isotopic ratios in rocks of the Cambrian alkaline complexes in the Wet Mountains area, Colorado, show that rocks formed as end-products of a variety of magmas generated from different source materials. The complexes generally contain a bimodal suite of cumulus mafic-ultramafic rocks and younger leucocratic rocks that include nepheline syenite and hornblende-biotite syenite in the McClure Mountain Complex, nepheline syenite pegmatite in the Gem Park Complex, and quartz syenite in the complex at Democrat Creek. The nepheline syenite and hornblende-biotite syenite at McClure Mountain (535±5m.y.) are older than the syenitic rocks at Democrat Creek (511±8m.y.). REE concentrations indicate that the nepheline syenite at McClure Mountain cannot be derived from the hornblende-biotite syenite, which it intrudes, or from the associated mafic-ultramafic rocks. REE also indicate that mafic-ultramafic rocks at McClure Mountain have a source distinct from that of the mafic-ultramafic rocks at Democrat Creek.

Replacement and primary magmatic carbonatites from the Wet Mountains area, Fremont and Custer counties, Colorado

Carbonatites associated with alkalic rocks of the McClure Mountain and Gem Park Complexes, and the complex at Democrat Creek, can be classified into two distinct groups, replacement and primary magmatic, based on distinctive petrographic differences. These two groups also show distinctive differences in mineralogy and geochemistry. Replacement carbonatites show textures indicating nearly complete pseudomorphous replacement of originally porphyritic or hypidiomorphic-granular igneous dike rocks by carbonate minerals. They contain an element suite characteristic of carbonatites as well as a trace element signature indicative of a mafic silicate precursor. Minerals containing thorium, niobium, and rare earth elements as essential constituents are generally rare. Primary magmatic carbonatites, which do not show the distinctive replacement textures, are also enriched in elements characteristic of carbonatites but contain greater average amounts of these elements than replacement carbonatites. Thorite, bastnaesite, synchisite, ancylite, and monazite are chiefly responsible for the high thorium and rare earth element content of these rocks compared to other igneous rocks. Primary magmatic carbonatites are spacially more closely associated with the alkalic intrusions than are replacement carbonatites, which have a somewhat wider distribution. Field data and delta 18 O and delta 13 C values support an igneous origin for primary magmatic carbonatites; isotopic values also indicate that the carbonatite replacing the earlier alkalic dikes also was derived from igneous sources. Exchange of isotopes between both types of carbonatite and nonigneous reservoirs appears to be minimal.Abundances of rare earth elements and niobium in carbonatites of the Wet Mountains are somewhat lower than those at other carbonatite localities containing economic or near-economic concentrations. Thorium is more abundant in closely related vein-type deposits than in the carbonatites.

Mountain Resorts and Trail Camps in Southern California's Great Hiking Era, 1884-1938

Until approximately thirty years ago the San Gabriel Mountains held a different attraction for the tourist than the present overcrowded public campgrounds under the charge of the United States Forest Service, or the very few resorts and lodges to be found in its canyons. Trail camps and mountain resorts existed for the pleasure of the tourist-hiker, and the Sierra Madres (as the mountain range was then called) were noted for having places to visit and things to see that today's visitor can only read about. Those places are gone forever, picked clean from the face of the mountainsides, except for an occasional ruin. People who have recently arrived in Southern California, or who were born there since World War II, have no way of knowing about some of the changes the land has undergone. The easterner who recalls the resorts of New York State might assume that because of Southern California's climate, the mountains are there for more than just looking at or driving through. Apart from snow and ski enterprises and the park complex at the summit of Mt. Wilson, a search for local mountain resorts or privately operated trail camps would prove for the most part a vain one.1 The great hiking era in Southern California, to use W. W. Robinson's phrase,2 began with the influx of people in the real estate boom of the 1880s. One of the side-effects of this boom was the attraction of the varied environment in which the newcomers found themselves. The Pacific Ocean and the beaches formed a western boundary, and to the north and northeast ran the Sierra Madres.3 After the boom subsided, those who decided to remain in Southern California started to investigate their adopted homeland. People who were sick or infirm lived in the

Historic alleys of Podlasie region – Droblin, Leśna Podlaska commune

The article defines the historical value and presents the results of a detailed dendrological inventory of lime trees alley in Droblin, Leśna Podlaska commune. The alley is a part of the manor and park complex of the nineteenth century and it is a valuable object not only in historical, but also in natural terms. The manor house, around which grow inventoried trees, originally belonged to the Hińcza and Wężyk families and currently it serves as a private catering and hotel facility with a stable. The access alley after the restoration and complementary plantings is to be the main thoroughfare leading to the manor house.

New crystallographic center

A Center for Crystallographic Research is being established in Buffalo, N.Y., with David Harker as its director. Its financial support comes from the Roswell Park Division of Health Research, Incorporated, an organization created to administer grants in support of scientific research at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute, the Cancer Research Institute of the New York State Department of Health. The two story 60′×100′ building in which the Center will be housed is under construction on a site adjacent to the Roswell Park complex near downtown Buffalo, and is expected to be ready early in 1965. The Center's intended personnel will consist of: (1) About five scientists at the professional level. (2) About ten scientists with standings ranging from post doctorate fellows to associate professors. These people will often have temporary appointments of from one to five years. (3) Eventually about thirty graduate students. They will be students in departments of established universities, but doing research under the direction of members of the first two categories.