title: Soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica

authors: Hofstee, Erica H.

abstract: The soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica were investigated during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 summer periods. Seabee Hook is a low lying spit that has been built up by the deposition of material, from nearby cliffs, by strong tidal currents. Seabee Hook is also the location of a large Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony and was the location of a USNNZ research base, occupied from 1957-73.

A soil map is presented of the Seabee Hook area. A soil association was identified between penguin mounds and intermound areas. Penguins build nests of stones on elevated sites, which at Cape Hallett are relict beach ridges. The penguins have exaggerated the topography of the beach ridges, primarily by adding 3-10 cm size stones ("penguin-stones") and guano, to form penguin mounds. Soils on penguin mounds contain guano in the upper 50 cm of the gravelly and sandy profile, and the guano layer overlies sub-rounded beachdeposited gravel and sand. Soils between beach ridges contain a thin veneer ( <3cm) of guano overlying the same basaltic gravelly sand found in the lower parts of the mound soils. The soils formed on the mounds have been classified usingUSDA Soil Taxonomy as Typic Haplorthels, and the soils formed between mounds have been classified as Typic Haplorthels/Typic Aquorthels depending on their soil moisture contents. 
The soil of the penguin mounds was enriched in many elements including nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus, cadmium, zinc, copper and it had increased electrical conductivity in soil horizons influenced by penguin guano compared to guano free horizons, soils from intermound areas, and soils away from the penguin colony. 
Radiocarbon dates from five penguin bones buried at the bottom of soil profiles indicate that Seabee Hook has been colonized by penguins for at least1000 years. That the colonization of Seabee Hook may have been rapid is evidenced by the consistent thickness of "penguin stones" and guano on top of the beach ridges throughout the area.
 Groundwater was situated perched above the ice cement as a shallow (<1-30 cm thickness of groundwater) unconfined aquifer. Groundwater within the penguin colony was sourced from melting snow drifts and ground ice. The occurrence of groundwater within the penguin colony at Seabee Hook showed considerable spatial and temporal variations over the 2003-04 and 2004-05summers, with ice cement levels decreasing from November and groundwater beginning to accumulate in early-December. Groundwater velocity through the permeable gravel and sand (porosity 23-33%) was up to 7.8 m day⁻¹, with hydraulic conductivities of 5 x 10⁻⁴ m s⁻¹ to 5 x 10⁻⁹ m s⁻¹.  Groundwater abundance varied on an annual basis depending on the amount of snowmelt occurring during summer. The 2003-04 summer had a higher water table within the penguin colony than the 2004-05 summer. During 2003-04, surface water commonly occurred as ephemeral and intermittent streams and ponds. During2004-05, water was mostly confined to groundwater within the penguin colony, where it occurred in topographic lows. Surface water was present in only a few ponds within the colony during 2004-05, and was more common in the high meltwater zones away from the penguin colony. 
The penguins and close proximity to the ocean have affected the groundwater chemistry, with groundwater in the penguin colony elevated in salt (14 times more sodium, 41 times more potassium), nitrogen (7 times more nitrate,416 times more ammonia), and phosphorus (33 time more total phosphorus)compared to groundwater sourced away from the penguin colony on Seabee Hookand also compared to other terrestrial waters in Antarctica.

text: Soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica The soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica were investigated during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 summer periods. Seabee Hook is a low lying spit that has been built up by the deposition of material, from nearby cliffs, by strong tidal currents. Seabee Hook is also the location of a large Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony and was the location of a USNNZ research base, occupied from 1957-73.

A soil map is presented of the Seabee Hook area. A soil association was identified between penguin mounds and intermound areas. Penguins build nests of stones on elevated sites, which at Cape Hallett are relict beach ridges. The penguins have exaggerated the topography of the beach ridges, primarily by adding 3-10 cm size stones ("penguin-stones") and guano, to form penguin mounds. Soils on penguin mounds contain guano in the upper 50 cm of the gravelly and sandy profile, and the guano layer overlies sub-rounded beachdeposited gravel and sand. Soils between beach ridges contain a thin veneer ( <3cm) of guano overlying the same basaltic gravelly sand found in the lower parts of the mound soils. The soils formed on the mounds have been classified usingUSDA Soil Taxonomy as Typic Haplorthels, and the soils formed between mounds have been classified as Typic Haplorthels/Typic Aquorthels depending on their soil moisture contents. 
The soil of the penguin mounds was enriched in many elements including nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus, cadmium, zinc, copper and it had increased electrical conductivity in soil horizons influenced by penguin guano compared to guano free horizons, soils from intermound areas, and soils away from the penguin colony. 
Radiocarbon dates from five penguin bones buried at the bottom of soil profiles indicate that Seabee Hook has been colonized by penguins for at least1000 years. That the colonization of Seabee Hook may have been rapid is evidenced by the consistent thickness of "penguin stones" and guano on top of the beach ridges throughout the area.
 Groundwater was situated perched above the ice cement as a shallow (<1-30 cm thickness of groundwater) unconfined aquifer. Groundwater within the penguin colony was sourced from melting snow drifts and ground ice. The occurrence of groundwater within the penguin colony at Seabee Hook showed considerable spatial and temporal variations over the 2003-04 and 2004-05summers, with ice cement levels decreasing from November and groundwater beginning to accumulate in early-December. Groundwater velocity through the permeable gravel and sand (porosity 23-33%) was up to 7.8 m day⁻¹, with hydraulic conductivities of 5 x 10⁻⁴ m s⁻¹ to 5 x 10⁻⁹ m s⁻¹.  Groundwater abundance varied on an annual basis depending on the amount of snowmelt occurring during summer. The 2003-04 summer had a higher water table within the penguin colony than the 2004-05 summer. During 2003-04, surface water commonly occurred as ephemeral and intermittent streams and ponds. During2004-05, water was mostly confined to groundwater within the penguin colony, where it occurred in topographic lows. Surface water was present in only a few ponds within the colony during 2004-05, and was more common in the high meltwater zones away from the penguin colony. 
The penguins and close proximity to the ocean have affected the groundwater chemistry, with groundwater in the penguin colony elevated in salt (14 times more sodium, 41 times more potassium), nitrogen (7 times more nitrate,416 times more ammonia), and phosphorus (33 time more total phosphorus)compared to groundwater sourced away from the penguin colony on Seabee Hookand also compared to other terrestrial waters in Antarctica.

year: 2006

title: Restraints of change : limits to 'managed retreats' in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Hanna, Christina Jane

subjects: managed retreat

abstract: Managed retreat is an important strategy for natural hazard risk reduction and climate change adaptation, but its operationalisation brings many challenges, even when it is compelling. With significant built, cultural and infrastructural assets sited on low lying coastal land, and settlements traversing fault lines, flood plains, volcanic fields, and debris flow fans, remedying unsustainable land use patterns is essential to building societal resilience. To progress managed retreat from rhetoric to reality, however, New Zealand’s governance framework must be fit for purpose.
The decision-making challenge for managed retreat in New Zealand rests predominantly with environmental planning and the mandated promotion of sustainable management of natural and physical resources. The focus of this research is to examine the role of environmental planning in enabling managed retreat in New Zealand, identify and analyse the potential mechanisms available, and consider opportunities to improve practice. Quantitative and qualitative methods are applied to investigate the function and effect of the various instruments able to influence the practice of managed retreat, identify significant barriers and enablers, ascertain public perceptions towards policy, and consider governance constraints and the prospects to build institutional capacity. 
The research finds that the term ‘managed retreat’ incorporates a broad array of regulatory and financial mechanisms, with the potential to reduce exposure to a range of natural hazards and disruptive environmental changes across space and time. Although the current institutional framework has elements that can address future managed retreat of new development, instruments and support for managing legacy land uses are weak. Policy learning is occurring nationwide, but fragmentation and a lack of strong and consistent direction hinders effective management of risk. Important contributions of the research include a detailed interrogation of managed retreat in policy, analysis of the significant constraints hindering its application and acceptance in New Zealand, and the development of new opportunities to pursue managed retreat in a more effective, equitable, responsive, and robust manner. A governance framework provides a foundation to better examine and consider the various types of ‘managed retreats’ which align to the nature of the problem. It also helps shed light on the areas where research, law, and policy is currently lacking, in order to continue to answer the difficult questions of managed retreat by whom, how, when, and who pays?
Overall, this research exposes the complexities inherent in a diverse array of managed retreats, which at present are constrained by a range of socio-political-cultural, economic, and institutional barriers, requiring new arrangements of the law, planning, and funding mechanisms, and potentially, alternative governance modes. Retreat is inevitable in certain local and global environs—how it is delivered will determine the success of its outcomes and ultimately, the resilience of current and future generations. Bridging the gap between managed retreat theory and practice to increase resilience is essential.

text: Restraints of change : limits to 'managed retreats' in Aotearoa New Zealand Managed retreat is an important strategy for natural hazard risk reduction and climate change adaptation, but its operationalisation brings many challenges, even when it is compelling. With significant built, cultural and infrastructural assets sited on low lying coastal land, and settlements traversing fault lines, flood plains, volcanic fields, and debris flow fans, remedying unsustainable land use patterns is essential to building societal resilience. To progress managed retreat from rhetoric to reality, however, New Zealand’s governance framework must be fit for purpose.
The decision-making challenge for managed retreat in New Zealand rests predominantly with environmental planning and the mandated promotion of sustainable management of natural and physical resources. The focus of this research is to examine the role of environmental planning in enabling managed retreat in New Zealand, identify and analyse the potential mechanisms available, and consider opportunities to improve practice. Quantitative and qualitative methods are applied to investigate the function and effect of the various instruments able to influence the practice of managed retreat, identify significant barriers and enablers, ascertain public perceptions towards policy, and consider governance constraints and the prospects to build institutional capacity. 
The research finds that the term ‘managed retreat’ incorporates a broad array of regulatory and financial mechanisms, with the potential to reduce exposure to a range of natural hazards and disruptive environmental changes across space and time. Although the current institutional framework has elements that can address future managed retreat of new development, instruments and support for managing legacy land uses are weak. Policy learning is occurring nationwide, but fragmentation and a lack of strong and consistent direction hinders effective management of risk. Important contributions of the research include a detailed interrogation of managed retreat in policy, analysis of the significant constraints hindering its application and acceptance in New Zealand, and the development of new opportunities to pursue managed retreat in a more effective, equitable, responsive, and robust manner. A governance framework provides a foundation to better examine and consider the various types of ‘managed retreats’ which align to the nature of the problem. It also helps shed light on the areas where research, law, and policy is currently lacking, in order to continue to answer the difficult questions of managed retreat by whom, how, when, and who pays?
Overall, this research exposes the complexities inherent in a diverse array of managed retreats, which at present are constrained by a range of socio-political-cultural, economic, and institutional barriers, requiring new arrangements of the law, planning, and funding mechanisms, and potentially, alternative governance modes. Retreat is inevitable in certain local and global environs—how it is delivered will determine the success of its outcomes and ultimately, the resilience of current and future generations. Bridging the gap between managed retreat theory and practice to increase resilience is essential.

year: 2019

title: Understanding the context of hospital transfers and away-from-home hospitalisations for Māori

authors: Cormack, Donna

subjects: Humans

abstract: In Aotearoa New Zealand, people regularly travel away from their home to receive hospital care. While the role of whānau support for patients in hospital is critical for Māori, there is little information about away-from-home hospitalisations. This paper describes the frequency and patterning of away-from-home hospitalisations and inter-hospital transfers for Māori. Data from the National Minimum Dataset (NMDS), for the 6-year period of 1 January 2009-31 December 2014, were analysed. Basic frequencies, means and descriptive statistics were produced using SAS software. We found that more than 10% of all routine hospitalisations constituted an away-from-home hospitalisation for Māori; that is, a hospitalisation that was in a district health board (DHB) other than the DHB of usual residence for the patient. One quarter (25.19%) of transfer hospitalisations were to a DHB other than the patient's DHB of domicile. Away-from-home hospital admissions increase for Māori as deprivation increases for both routine and transfer admissions, with over half of Māori hospital admissions among people who live in areas of high deprivation. This analysis aids in understanding away-from-home hospitalisations for Māori whānau, the characteristics associated with these types of hospitalisations and supports the development and implementation of policies which better meet whānau Māori needs. The cumulative impact of the need to travel to hospital for care, levels of poverty and a primarily reimbursement-based travel assistance system all perpetuate an unequal cost burden placed upon Māori whānau.

text: Understanding the context of hospital transfers and away-from-home hospitalisations for Māori In Aotearoa New Zealand, people regularly travel away from their home to receive hospital care. While the role of whānau support for patients in hospital is critical for Māori, there is little information about away-from-home hospitalisations. This paper describes the frequency and patterning of away-from-home hospitalisations and inter-hospital transfers for Māori. Data from the National Minimum Dataset (NMDS), for the 6-year period of 1 January 2009-31 December 2014, were analysed. Basic frequencies, means and descriptive statistics were produced using SAS software. We found that more than 10% of all routine hospitalisations constituted an away-from-home hospitalisation for Māori; that is, a hospitalisation that was in a district health board (DHB) other than the DHB of usual residence for the patient. One quarter (25.19%) of transfer hospitalisations were to a DHB other than the patient's DHB of domicile. Away-from-home hospital admissions increase for Māori as deprivation increases for both routine and transfer admissions, with over half of Māori hospital admissions among people who live in areas of high deprivation. This analysis aids in understanding away-from-home hospitalisations for Māori whānau, the characteristics associated with these types of hospitalisations and supports the development and implementation of policies which better meet whānau Māori needs. The cumulative impact of the need to travel to hospital for care, levels of poverty and a primarily reimbursement-based travel assistance system all perpetuate an unequal cost burden placed upon Māori whānau.

year: 2022-11-11