title: Petrologic evidence for earliest Miocene tectonic mobility on eastern Taranaki Basin margin

authors: Hood, Steven D.

subjects: Taranaki Basin

abstract: At Gibsons Beach on the west coast of central North Island, the earliest Miocene (Waitakian) Otorohanga Limestone, the top-most formation in the Te Kuiti Group, is unconformably overlain on an undulating, locally channelised erosion surface by the Early Miocene (Otaian) Papakura Limestone at the base of the Waitemata Group. The basal facies of the Papakura Limestone is a conglomerate composed exclusively of tightly packed pebble- to cobble-sized clasts of skeletal limestone sourced from the underlying Otorohanga Limestone. This petrographic and geochemical study demonstrates that the Otorohanga Limestone was partially lithified during marine and shallow-burial cementation at subsurface depths down to a few tens of metres prior to uplift, erosion and cannibalisation of the limestone clasts into the Papakura Limestone. Strontium isotope dating of fossils from both the Otorohanga and Papakura Limestones at Gibsons Beach yield comparable ages of about 22 Ma, close to the Waitakian/Otaian boundary, indicating very rapid tectonic inversion and erosion of the section occurred in the earliest Miocene. We envisage the clasts of Otorohanga Limestone were sourced from a proximal shoreline position and redeposited westwards by episodic debris flows onto a shallow-shelf accumulating  mixed siliciclastic-skeletal carbonate deposits of the Papakura Limestone. Subsequent burial of both limestones by rapidly accumulating Waitemata Group sandstone and flysch instigated precipitation of widespread burial cements from pressure dissolution of carbonate material at subsurface depths from about 100 m to 1.0 km. The vertical tectonic movements registered at Gibsons Beach can be related to the oblique compression associated with the development of the Australian-Pacific plate boundary through New Zealand at about this time and coincide with overthrusting of basement into Taranaki Basin between mid-Waitakian (earliest Miocene) and Altonian (late Early Miocene) times.

text: Petrologic evidence for earliest Miocene tectonic mobility on eastern Taranaki Basin margin At Gibsons Beach on the west coast of central North Island, the earliest Miocene (Waitakian) Otorohanga Limestone, the top-most formation in the Te Kuiti Group, is unconformably overlain on an undulating, locally channelised erosion surface by the Early Miocene (Otaian) Papakura Limestone at the base of the Waitemata Group. The basal facies of the Papakura Limestone is a conglomerate composed exclusively of tightly packed pebble- to cobble-sized clasts of skeletal limestone sourced from the underlying Otorohanga Limestone. This petrographic and geochemical study demonstrates that the Otorohanga Limestone was partially lithified during marine and shallow-burial cementation at subsurface depths down to a few tens of metres prior to uplift, erosion and cannibalisation of the limestone clasts into the Papakura Limestone. Strontium isotope dating of fossils from both the Otorohanga and Papakura Limestones at Gibsons Beach yield comparable ages of about 22 Ma, close to the Waitakian/Otaian boundary, indicating very rapid tectonic inversion and erosion of the section occurred in the earliest Miocene. We envisage the clasts of Otorohanga Limestone were sourced from a proximal shoreline position and redeposited westwards by episodic debris flows onto a shallow-shelf accumulating  mixed siliciclastic-skeletal carbonate deposits of the Papakura Limestone. Subsequent burial of both limestones by rapidly accumulating Waitemata Group sandstone and flysch instigated precipitation of widespread burial cements from pressure dissolution of carbonate material at subsurface depths from about 100 m to 1.0 km. The vertical tectonic movements registered at Gibsons Beach can be related to the oblique compression associated with the development of the Australian-Pacific plate boundary through New Zealand at about this time and coincide with overthrusting of basement into Taranaki Basin between mid-Waitakian (earliest Miocene) and Altonian (late Early Miocene) times.

year: 2006

title: Meta-Learning and the Full Model Selection Problem

authors: Sun, Quan

subjects: meta-learning

abstract: When working as a data analyst, one of my daily tasks is to select appropriate tools from a set of existing data analysis techniques in my toolbox, including data preprocessing, outlier detection, feature selection, learning algorithm and evaluation techniques, for a given data project. This indeed was an enjoyable job at the beginning, because to me finding patterns and valuable information from data is always fun. Things become tricky when several projects needed to be done in a relatively short time. 

Naturally, as a computer science graduate, I started to ask myself, "What can be automated here?"; because, intuitively, part of my work is more or less a loop that can be programmed. Literally, the loop is "choose, run, test and choose again... until some criterion/goals are met". 

In other words, I use my experience or knowledge about machine learning and data mining to guide and speed up the process of selecting and applying techniques in order to build a relatively good predictive model for a given dataset for some purpose. So the following questions arise:

"Is it possible to design and implement a system that helps a data analyst to choose from a set of data mining tools? Or at least that provides a useful recommendation about tools that potentially save some time for a human analyst."

To answer these questions, I decided to undertake a long-term study on this topic, to think, define, research, and simulate this problem before coding my dream system. This thesis presents research results, including new methods, algorithms, and theoretical and empirical analysis from two directions, both of which try to propose systematic and efficient solutions to the questions above, using different resource requirements, namely, the meta-learning-based algorithm/parameter ranking approach and the meta-heuristic search-based full-model selection approach. 

Some of the results have been published in research papers; thus, this thesis also serves as a coherent collection of results in a single volume.

text: Meta-Learning and the Full Model Selection Problem When working as a data analyst, one of my daily tasks is to select appropriate tools from a set of existing data analysis techniques in my toolbox, including data preprocessing, outlier detection, feature selection, learning algorithm and evaluation techniques, for a given data project. This indeed was an enjoyable job at the beginning, because to me finding patterns and valuable information from data is always fun. Things become tricky when several projects needed to be done in a relatively short time. 

Naturally, as a computer science graduate, I started to ask myself, "What can be automated here?"; because, intuitively, part of my work is more or less a loop that can be programmed. Literally, the loop is "choose, run, test and choose again... until some criterion/goals are met". 

In other words, I use my experience or knowledge about machine learning and data mining to guide and speed up the process of selecting and applying techniques in order to build a relatively good predictive model for a given dataset for some purpose. So the following questions arise:

"Is it possible to design and implement a system that helps a data analyst to choose from a set of data mining tools? Or at least that provides a useful recommendation about tools that potentially save some time for a human analyst."

To answer these questions, I decided to undertake a long-term study on this topic, to think, define, research, and simulate this problem before coding my dream system. This thesis presents research results, including new methods, algorithms, and theoretical and empirical analysis from two directions, both of which try to propose systematic and efficient solutions to the questions above, using different resource requirements, namely, the meta-learning-based algorithm/parameter ranking approach and the meta-heuristic search-based full-model selection approach. 

Some of the results have been published in research papers; thus, this thesis also serves as a coherent collection of results in a single volume.

year: 2014

title: Art, the aesthetics, and ethics of tattooing at Flax Roots Tattoo Studio

authors: Shaver, Mandy (Amanda)

subjects: aesthetic

abstract: Flax Roots Tattoo Studio, a tattoo business in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand, offers clients different styles of tattooing to choose from, i.e. Moko, Traditional European, Portrait, and Traditional American. Tattoo artists and their clients differ in ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, occupation, age, hobbies, and so on.  Anthropological research and philosophical insight provided the framework texts for my case study.  My fieldwork consisted of semi-structured interviews and photographs of artists and clients.  By participating in tattooing, these individuals influence the art and the aesthetic tastes of their local culture.  Additionally, tattoo artists follow an ethical code that dictates how to run their business, preserve their art, and protect their clients.  By choosing Flax Roots Tattoo Studio as my fieldwork site, I was able to answer the questions: 1. How do tattoo artists and their clients engage with and shape tattoo art and its aesthetic at Flax Roots Tattoo Studio? ; and 2. How do these tattoo artists’ ethics influence their relationships with their clients and art?

text: Art, the aesthetics, and ethics of tattooing at Flax Roots Tattoo Studio Flax Roots Tattoo Studio, a tattoo business in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand, offers clients different styles of tattooing to choose from, i.e. Moko, Traditional European, Portrait, and Traditional American. Tattoo artists and their clients differ in ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, occupation, age, hobbies, and so on.  Anthropological research and philosophical insight provided the framework texts for my case study.  My fieldwork consisted of semi-structured interviews and photographs of artists and clients.  By participating in tattooing, these individuals influence the art and the aesthetic tastes of their local culture.  Additionally, tattoo artists follow an ethical code that dictates how to run their business, preserve their art, and protect their clients.  By choosing Flax Roots Tattoo Studio as my fieldwork site, I was able to answer the questions: 1. How do tattoo artists and their clients engage with and shape tattoo art and its aesthetic at Flax Roots Tattoo Studio? ; and 2. How do these tattoo artists’ ethics influence their relationships with their clients and art?

year: 2018