title: Te Kuiti Group (Late Eocene - Oligocene) lithostratigraphy east of Taranaki Basin in central-western North Island, New Zealand

authors: Tripathi, Anand Ratnakar Prasad

subjects: lithostratigraphy

abstract: This report presents a lithostratigraphy for the Late Eocene - Oligocene Te Kuiti Group that crops out in central-western North Island, New Zealand, between Port Waikato in the north and Awakino in the south. The Te Kuiti Group is a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession and includes extensive limestone development in its upper parts. The group is up to several hundred metres thick, and accumulated unconformably above indurated Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary basement. The Te Kuiti Group accumulated east of Taranaki Fault and contains a record of sequence and unconformity development that helps constrain the tectonic development of eastern Taranaki Basin. In particular, it records the timing of the mid-Oligocene transition from extension to crustal shortening. Most of the report is however concerned with rationalisation of the group’s lithostratigraphy to enable the geological signals within it to be inferred.

text: Te Kuiti Group (Late Eocene - Oligocene) lithostratigraphy east of Taranaki Basin in central-western North Island, New Zealand This report presents a lithostratigraphy for the Late Eocene - Oligocene Te Kuiti Group that crops out in central-western North Island, New Zealand, between Port Waikato in the north and Awakino in the south. The Te Kuiti Group is a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession and includes extensive limestone development in its upper parts. The group is up to several hundred metres thick, and accumulated unconformably above indurated Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary basement. The Te Kuiti Group accumulated east of Taranaki Fault and contains a record of sequence and unconformity development that helps constrain the tectonic development of eastern Taranaki Basin. In particular, it records the timing of the mid-Oligocene transition from extension to crustal shortening. Most of the report is however concerned with rationalisation of the group’s lithostratigraphy to enable the geological signals within it to be inferred.

year: 2008

title: Transit time distributions are not L-shaped

authors: Bardsley, W. Earl

subjects: transit time distribution

abstract: A probability density function f(t) with origin at t = 0 is defined here as being ‘L-shaped’if f ʹ(t) ≤ 0 for t ≥ 0. L-shaped probability density functions, such as exponential distributions, are often employed as transit time distributions in hydrological modelling. However, the use of L-shaped transit time distributions implies including tracer particles that were already present at the observation point at time t = 0. These passive particles have no transit history by definition because ‘transit’ implies some history of movement of a particle through a hydrological system, however small that movement may be. That is, the particle must have reached the observation point by moving to it for some non-zero time and over some non-zero distance through a hydrological system such as a catchment or aquifer. By this argument, particles that happen to be already at the observation point at time t = 0 represent background noise.
The distinction between the inclusion or not of particles already at the observation point might seem pedantic but does have an important implication: if transit time distributions in the hydrological environment are defined to not include non-transiting particles, they must have the property f ( 0) = 0. This negates the possibility of L-shaped transit time distributions. The exclusion of non-transiting particles also has the implication that transit time distributions must have at least one mode at t > 0, which may or may not be identifiable from field measurements.

text: Transit time distributions are not L-shaped A probability density function f(t) with origin at t = 0 is defined here as being ‘L-shaped’if f ʹ(t) ≤ 0 for t ≥ 0. L-shaped probability density functions, such as exponential distributions, are often employed as transit time distributions in hydrological modelling. However, the use of L-shaped transit time distributions implies including tracer particles that were already present at the observation point at time t = 0. These passive particles have no transit history by definition because ‘transit’ implies some history of movement of a particle through a hydrological system, however small that movement may be. That is, the particle must have reached the observation point by moving to it for some non-zero time and over some non-zero distance through a hydrological system such as a catchment or aquifer. By this argument, particles that happen to be already at the observation point at time t = 0 represent background noise.
The distinction between the inclusion or not of particles already at the observation point might seem pedantic but does have an important implication: if transit time distributions in the hydrological environment are defined to not include non-transiting particles, they must have the property f ( 0) = 0. This negates the possibility of L-shaped transit time distributions. The exclusion of non-transiting particles also has the implication that transit time distributions must have at least one mode at t > 0, which may or may not be identifiable from field measurements.

year: 2018

title: A cultural encounter through volunteer tourism: Towards the ideals of sustainable tourism?

authors: McIntosh, Alison J.

subjects: cultural tourism

abstract: International volunteering is increasingly recognised as a form of alternative tourism. However, the nature of the ‘alternative’ experience gained, and the ensuing narrative between host and volunteer, remains under-explored in published research, especially in volunteer tourism research within a cultural context in a developed nation. This paper examines the nexus between volunteer tourism and cultural tourism in the search for alternative and sustainable experiences through tourism. Qualitative research using in-depth interviews, diaries and participant observation was conducted to examine the pre-, during and post-trip experiences of 12 Australian visitors undertaking organised volunteer activities in an indigenous Maori community in the North Island of New Zealand during January 2005. Members of the indigenous Maori community were also interviewed to provide an important host perspective. Findings suggest that the nature of the interaction and cultural experiences gained were perceived as mutually beneficial and seemingly different from those gained from traditional cultural products. In particular, the volunteers experienced an alternative Maori cultural product and engaged in a different narrative with their Maori hosts through their volunteer work, one rich in authentic cultural content, genuine and reflective of modern Maori life in New Zealand society.

text: A cultural encounter through volunteer tourism: Towards the ideals of sustainable tourism? International volunteering is increasingly recognised as a form of alternative tourism. However, the nature of the ‘alternative’ experience gained, and the ensuing narrative between host and volunteer, remains under-explored in published research, especially in volunteer tourism research within a cultural context in a developed nation. This paper examines the nexus between volunteer tourism and cultural tourism in the search for alternative and sustainable experiences through tourism. Qualitative research using in-depth interviews, diaries and participant observation was conducted to examine the pre-, during and post-trip experiences of 12 Australian visitors undertaking organised volunteer activities in an indigenous Maori community in the North Island of New Zealand during January 2005. Members of the indigenous Maori community were also interviewed to provide an important host perspective. Findings suggest that the nature of the interaction and cultural experiences gained were perceived as mutually beneficial and seemingly different from those gained from traditional cultural products. In particular, the volunteers experienced an alternative Maori cultural product and engaged in a different narrative with their Maori hosts through their volunteer work, one rich in authentic cultural content, genuine and reflective of modern Maori life in New Zealand society.

year: 2007