title: Neogene plate tectonic reconstructions and geodynamics of North Island sedimentary basins: Implications for the petroleum systems

authors: Furlong, Kevin P.

subjects: Australia-Pacific plate boundary

abstract: Although the modern Australia-Pacific plate boundary through New Zealand is relatively straight, there have been significant changes in its geometry during the Neogene. Within the North Island sector there has been a fundamental transition from an Alpine Fault translation/transpression regime to a Hikurangi margin subduction regime. This transition has been accompanied by the southward encroachment of the edge of the Pacific plate oceanic slab into Australia lithosphere, shortened and thickened along its eastern margin as a consequence of the prior Alpine Fault transpression, the process now operating in South Island. The response of the Australia lithosphere at the surface to the emplacement of the subducted slab at depth, has differed in the East Coast forearc region versus the foreland in western North Island, where the depth to the slab is greater and there has been a characteristic southward migration of depocentres pinned to the leading edge of the slab. The recent publication of new rotation parameters for relative motion of the Australia, Antarctic and Pacific plates, have provided key new data from which to plot the successive emplacement history of the Pacific slab beneath North Island, thus enabling the comparisons to be made with basin stratigraphy and geohistory. These data also constrain the age of subduction initiation at various points along the present trend of the Hikurangi Trough, identifying a younging of subduction initiation to the southwest. An implication of this younging direction is that the modern accretion¬ary prism south of Cape Kidnappers can be no older than late Miocene (c. 11 Ma). The focus of this paper is on new ideas about the tectonic development of North Island and its basins, which have implications for hydrocarbon exploration.

text: Neogene plate tectonic reconstructions and geodynamics of North Island sedimentary basins: Implications for the petroleum systems Although the modern Australia-Pacific plate boundary through New Zealand is relatively straight, there have been significant changes in its geometry during the Neogene. Within the North Island sector there has been a fundamental transition from an Alpine Fault translation/transpression regime to a Hikurangi margin subduction regime. This transition has been accompanied by the southward encroachment of the edge of the Pacific plate oceanic slab into Australia lithosphere, shortened and thickened along its eastern margin as a consequence of the prior Alpine Fault transpression, the process now operating in South Island. The response of the Australia lithosphere at the surface to the emplacement of the subducted slab at depth, has differed in the East Coast forearc region versus the foreland in western North Island, where the depth to the slab is greater and there has been a characteristic southward migration of depocentres pinned to the leading edge of the slab. The recent publication of new rotation parameters for relative motion of the Australia, Antarctic and Pacific plates, have provided key new data from which to plot the successive emplacement history of the Pacific slab beneath North Island, thus enabling the comparisons to be made with basin stratigraphy and geohistory. These data also constrain the age of subduction initiation at various points along the present trend of the Hikurangi Trough, identifying a younging of subduction initiation to the southwest. An implication of this younging direction is that the modern accretion¬ary prism south of Cape Kidnappers can be no older than late Miocene (c. 11 Ma). The focus of this paper is on new ideas about the tectonic development of North Island and its basins, which have implications for hydrocarbon exploration.

year: 2006

title: Thai Grade 11 students' alternative conceptions for acid-base chemistry

authors: Artdej, Romklao

subjects: acid-base chemistry

abstract: This study involved the development of a two-tier diagnostic instrument to assess Thai high school students' understanding of acid-base chemistry. The acid-base diagnostic test (ABDT) comprising 18 items was administered to 55 Grade 11 students in a science and mathematics programme during the second semester of the 2008 academic year. Analysis of students' responses from this study followed the methodology outlined by Calik and Ayas. The research findings suggest that the ABDT, the multiple choice diagnostic instrument, enables researchers and teachers to classify students' understanding at different levels. Most students exhibited alternative conceptions for several concepts: acid-base theory, dissociation of strong acids or bases, and dissociation of weak acids/bases. Interestingly, one of the concepts that students appeared to find most difficult, and for which they exhibited the most alternative conceptions, was acid-base theory. Some alternative conceptions revealed in this study differ from earlier reports, such as the concept of electrolyte and non-electrolyte solutions as well as the concentration changes of H3O⁺and OH⁻ in water. These research findings present valuable information for facilitating better understanding of acid-base chemistry by providing insight into the preventable and correctable alternative conceptions exhibited by students.

text: Thai Grade 11 students' alternative conceptions for acid-base chemistry This study involved the development of a two-tier diagnostic instrument to assess Thai high school students' understanding of acid-base chemistry. The acid-base diagnostic test (ABDT) comprising 18 items was administered to 55 Grade 11 students in a science and mathematics programme during the second semester of the 2008 academic year. Analysis of students' responses from this study followed the methodology outlined by Calik and Ayas. The research findings suggest that the ABDT, the multiple choice diagnostic instrument, enables researchers and teachers to classify students' understanding at different levels. Most students exhibited alternative conceptions for several concepts: acid-base theory, dissociation of strong acids or bases, and dissociation of weak acids/bases. Interestingly, one of the concepts that students appeared to find most difficult, and for which they exhibited the most alternative conceptions, was acid-base theory. Some alternative conceptions revealed in this study differ from earlier reports, such as the concept of electrolyte and non-electrolyte solutions as well as the concentration changes of H3O⁺and OH⁻ in water. These research findings present valuable information for facilitating better understanding of acid-base chemistry by providing insight into the preventable and correctable alternative conceptions exhibited by students.

year: 2010

title: E Whakatipuranga o te Tāpoi Māori - Māori Indigenous Tourism Development: A Whānau based Māori Tourism development

authors: Puriri, Ashley Reed

subjects: Maori Tourism

abstract: This Doctoral thesis uses a Kaupapa Māori research methodology, which is culturally grounded to identify the indigenous Māori underpinnings and processes that a Whānau (Māori family) experience when developing their Māori tourism business. The thesis discusses the following four issues, which are addressed using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology:
1. The gap in the current literature for Māori tourism development and authenticity from a Māori perspective.
2. The cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau (Māori family) tourism business.
3. Identification of the Māori cultural values that inform Māori tourism development
4. Development of a cultural framework that positions Māori values on levels of significance from a Māori perspective.
A cultural tourism experience is investigated, involving a Whānau Māori tourism business developed from a conceptual stage in preparation for financial investment. Using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology this research contributes to a gap in the academic literature relating to Whānau (Māori family) tourism development. The research contributes new academic literature to support the notion that the Whānau unit is at the core of social and economic development for Māori tourism. This thesis captures and describes the various stages, developed over a year, of Whānau Hui (family meetings), of a Whānau tourism business. As a Māori researcher, I gained emancipated access to a Whānau using Kaupapa Māori methods, applying a cultural set of protocols and values to unlock access to a Māori worldview of how a Whānau navigates the processes of developing their Whānau tourism experience in New Zealand. The engagement of a Kaupapa Māori research methodology enabled me to apply my personal skills of a lifetime of knowledge of Te Ao Māori (a Māori worldview) and Te Reo Māori (Māori language) combined with over 20 years of global advancement of indigenous tourism in the cruise industry. As a Tohunga Whakairo (master carver) I applied seven distinctive steps of a master carver’s processes in carving a Pou Tokomanawa (the main centre post of a Tipuna Whare orancestralmeeting house), providing a unique cultural process that frames the chapters of this dissertation. The research data provided an enriched flow of cultural information, which was analysed using a cultural analytical process to validate the key themes that emerged from the research findings. The cultural analyses are completed in two stages; the processes of Whakapapa and Whanaungatanga (cultural relationships), which are culturally-grounded methods for analysing research data using a Māori worldview, and the validation of cultural significance by Kaumātua (elders) of the Whānau. The thesis is imbued with cultural paradigms that frame and identify the cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau tourism development. The study expands on two cultural models,‘Te Tāpoi Poutama’ and Te Matua Poutama (Māori tourism frameworks for identifying cultural levels of significance) and these cultural paradigms are applied to demonstrate cultural levels of significance that a Whānau place on their proposed Māori tourism business.

text: E Whakatipuranga o te Tāpoi Māori - Māori Indigenous Tourism Development: A Whānau based Māori Tourism development This Doctoral thesis uses a Kaupapa Māori research methodology, which is culturally grounded to identify the indigenous Māori underpinnings and processes that a Whānau (Māori family) experience when developing their Māori tourism business. The thesis discusses the following four issues, which are addressed using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology:
1. The gap in the current literature for Māori tourism development and authenticity from a Māori perspective.
2. The cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau (Māori family) tourism business.
3. Identification of the Māori cultural values that inform Māori tourism development
4. Development of a cultural framework that positions Māori values on levels of significance from a Māori perspective.
A cultural tourism experience is investigated, involving a Whānau Māori tourism business developed from a conceptual stage in preparation for financial investment. Using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology this research contributes to a gap in the academic literature relating to Whānau (Māori family) tourism development. The research contributes new academic literature to support the notion that the Whānau unit is at the core of social and economic development for Māori tourism. This thesis captures and describes the various stages, developed over a year, of Whānau Hui (family meetings), of a Whānau tourism business. As a Māori researcher, I gained emancipated access to a Whānau using Kaupapa Māori methods, applying a cultural set of protocols and values to unlock access to a Māori worldview of how a Whānau navigates the processes of developing their Whānau tourism experience in New Zealand. The engagement of a Kaupapa Māori research methodology enabled me to apply my personal skills of a lifetime of knowledge of Te Ao Māori (a Māori worldview) and Te Reo Māori (Māori language) combined with over 20 years of global advancement of indigenous tourism in the cruise industry. As a Tohunga Whakairo (master carver) I applied seven distinctive steps of a master carver’s processes in carving a Pou Tokomanawa (the main centre post of a Tipuna Whare orancestralmeeting house), providing a unique cultural process that frames the chapters of this dissertation. The research data provided an enriched flow of cultural information, which was analysed using a cultural analytical process to validate the key themes that emerged from the research findings. The cultural analyses are completed in two stages; the processes of Whakapapa and Whanaungatanga (cultural relationships), which are culturally-grounded methods for analysing research data using a Māori worldview, and the validation of cultural significance by Kaumātua (elders) of the Whānau. The thesis is imbued with cultural paradigms that frame and identify the cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau tourism development. The study expands on two cultural models,‘Te Tāpoi Poutama’ and Te Matua Poutama (Māori tourism frameworks for identifying cultural levels of significance) and these cultural paradigms are applied to demonstrate cultural levels of significance that a Whānau place on their proposed Māori tourism business.

year: 2017