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Vegetation ecology of the Camdebo and Sneeuberg regions of the Karoo biome, South Africa

- Palmer, Anthony Riordan

Authors: Palmer, Anthony Riordan
Date: 1989
Subjects: Plants -- South Africa -- Great Karoo Great Karoo (South Africa)
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:4173 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002021
Description: An hierarchical syntaxonomic classification of the vegetation of the Camdebo and Sneeuberg regions of the karoo biome is presented as a second approximation after the earlier work by Acocks (1953). Details on the geomorphology, geology, climate, and early vegetation history of the area are given. The vegetation of the study area was stratified with the aid of Landsat imagery and the community classification was generated using two-way indicator species analysis (Twins pan) which produced ordered phytosociological tables. Tabular comparisons and final sorting of tables are according to the methods and techniques of the ZiirichMontpellier school of phytosociology. Syntaxonomic ranks are defined as five classes, nine orders and seventeen communities. The classes are Grasslands, Karoo Shrublands, Karoo Dwarf Shrublands, Sub-tropical Transitional Thicket, and Riparian Thicket. The distribution of syntaxa corresponds with the steep precipitation gradient experienced in the study area. These vegetation concepts are applied to the description of the flora of the Karoo Nature Reserve and an analysis of the total flora of the reserve is provided. The communities of the pediments, which contain the highest number of endemics, are poorly conserved. I test the validity of the vegetation classification by interpreting the results of an analysis of soils within the hypothesized vegetation units. There is a gradient of increasing Na, silt and pH levels from the Shrublands and Grasslands to the Succulent and Grassy Dwarf Shrublands of the pediments. A qualitative model of the vegetation history during the glacial-interglacial sequence in the Graaff-Reinet region of the eastern Cape is presented. Using a descriptive approach, the distribution patterns of 68 taxa, which are differential species for Karoo Shrublands, Succulent Thicket and Karoo Dwarf Shrublands, are investigated relative to major southern African biomes. The results indicate that a large proportion of the differential species in the phytosociological classification show affinity with Grassland and Savanna Biomes. Three species groups encountered in the Dwarf Shrublands show affinity with the Nama-Karoo biome. The differential species of the Succulent Thicket have a predominantly subtropical distribution. Using an historical approach, the palaeoenvironment of the region during the past 20 000 years is discussed briefly. On the basis of the descriptive and historical perspectives, a qualitative model of vegetation history is presented. The Succulent Thicket may have become established on edaphically favourable sites in the ameliorating conditions of the warmer, wetter Holocene subsequent to the Last Glacial Maximum. The Dwarf Shrubland and Succulent Dwarf Shrubland are depauperate in relation to ccmmunities in other southern African biomes, but the relatively large number of endemics suggests a long history in the region. Their differential species groups occur under arid conditions, accompanied by soils with high base and fertility status. The Dwarf Shrublands may have been more extensive during the drier glacial times on those sites currently occupied by Shrubland. The Shrublands display the expected affInity with the Grassland and Savanna Biomes. The small number of endemics suggest that these communities may have occupied the region in the period since the Last Glacial Maximum. Species with Succulent Karoo Biome affInity are poorly represented. The reliability of using Landsat products to detect and map the vegetation of the region is assessed. The manual classification of Landsat standard products provides a poor reflection of the vegetation of the arid, sparsely-vegetated bottomlands and pediments. The products provide good representation of the boundaries of thicket vegetation, but this uni-temporal approach does not distinguish between floristically different thicket communities. After analyzing digital Landsat data, I suggest that the multi-spectral scanner detects the boundaries of broad soil pedons and geological formations in areas of low vegetative cover. I describe and map the vegetation categories of the region after manual interpretation of six Landsat scenes. This is an effIcient, cost-effective method of mapping vegetation in extensive regions. The mapping units do not reflect the syntaxonomic classification, representing rather an integration of physiographic, pedological, geological and floristic information. With the view to improving the classification of these units, I develop a qualitative model of the natural resources of the region using an expert system
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Date Issued: 1989

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Vein and replacement type Sn and Sn-W mineralization in the Southern Kaoko Zone, Damara Province, South West Africa/Namibia

- Petzel, V

Authors: Petzel, V
Date: 1986
Subjects: Geology, Structural -- Namibia -- Damara Mobile Belt , Geology, Structural -- Namibia -- Kaoko Belt , Veins (Geology) -- Namibia -- Damara Mobile Belt , Veins (Geology) -- Namibia -- Kaoko Belt , Mineralogy -- Namibia -- Damara Mobile Belt , Mineralogy -- Namibia -- Kaoko Belt , Geodynamics -- Namibia -- Damara Mobile Belt , Geodynamics -- Namibia -- Kaoko Belt
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:5041 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007633
Description: The ENE trending Brandberg West - Goantagab Sn-W belt is located in the Southern Kaoko Zone of the northern coastal branch of the Damara Orogen. The lithologies in this area are turbiditic and consist of three schist units separated by two marble horizons, all of which are correlated with the Swakop Group. The formations are intensely folded by at least three episodes of which the first two are coaxial and resulted in prominent, approximately N-S trending, structures. Sn and Sn-W mineralization predominantly occurs as vein and replacement type mineralization. Vein type mineralization occurs as Brandberg West, Frans Prospect, Gamigab Prospect and the Goantagab Mining Area. The vein type mineralization is accompanied by intense alteration, consisting of greisenization, sericitization, hematitization and carbonatization. Replacement-type, hematite-cassiterite mineralization, occurs in the Goantagab Mining area in the marble close to, or at the schist marble contact. Intense ferruginous alteration of the marbles in this area, is associated with veins, which terminate against, or cross cut the marble. A regional metal zonation, ranging from Sn-W mineralization with minor sulphides at Brandberg West to Sn-sulphide mineralization at Goantagab can be detected. This metal zonation is attributed to the distance of the mineral locality from the source area, with Goantagab representing a distal and Brandberg West a proximal position relative to the source area. Structural, mineralogical and geological features of the mineralization in this area suggest that processes of ore genesis may be related to anorogenic magmatism of Karoo age.
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Date Issued: 1986

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Vein structure in relation to phloem loading in selected Ranunculaceae, Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae of the Eastern Cape

- Buswell, Alison Mary

Authors: Buswell, Alison Mary
Date: 2001
Subjects: Ranunculaceae Apocynaceae Asclepiadaceae Phloem Plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:4243 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007277
Description: The relationship between leaf architecture, vein anatomy and phloem ultrastructure, and that of possible routes from mesophyll cells to phloem and potential phloem loading method was investigated using species adapted to the southern African climate. The research was based on the hypothesis of Gamaiei and Van Bel, using nothern hemisphere species only (Gamalei 1985a, b, 1989, 1991, VanBeletal. 1988, Van Bel 1992, 1994, 1996, Van Bel & Gamalei 1991, 1992, Gamalei et al. 1992, 1994, 1996, Van Bel 1992a-c, 1993a, b, 1996). The thesis commenced with a survey ofleafarchitecture of the Ranunculaceae, Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae. Anatomical and ultrastructural studies followed. Leaf architecture was described according to Hickey (1973). Within the Ranuncuiaceae, leaf architecture was found to be marginally actinodromous. Venation pattern consisted of a widely spaced reticulum of delicate veins, especially in Ranunculus. Leaf architecture of the Apocynaceae was described as pinnate, camptodromous and brochidodromous. The Asclepiadaceae showed less uniformity in terms of leaf architecture, being pinnate and camptodromous, with mostly brochidodromous and, unexpectedly, eucamptodromous patterns of secondary venation. A predominantly common leaf architecture supported the move to amalgamate the two families. As the less advanced eucamptodromous arrangement could represent a more primitive branch of this huge family, the phylogenetic classification of the new amalgamated family is eagerly awaited for discussion. Allocation of vein order allowed comparisons between species and families to be drawn. Reticulum density and vein order anatomy was used to indicate potential routes from mesophyll to phloem. A definite contrast was obvious between the loose arrangement of mesophyll and veins in the mesic Ranunculus, and the close mesophyll and dense venation of the xeric apocynate and asclepiad species, and was related to habitat. Ultrastructural characteristics of companion cells, together with plasmodesmatal abundance, were considered especially important for the determination of minor vein configuration. Descriptions of plasmodesmatal distribution did not consider functional status. In this thesis, vein structure and ultrastructure were considered in relation to phloem loading, not as a demonstration thereof. All three families were designated minor vein configuration type 2a. Two interesting examples that did not adhere to the familial norm, viz. few plasmodesmata and normal companion cells, occurred in the Asclepiadaceae. Secamone alpinii had abundant aggregated plasmodesmata, forming a potential symplasmic continuum from mesophyll to companion cells. The question of plasmodesmatal functionality remained open. Ceropegia carnosa showed folding of the companion cell membrane, but no accompanying wall ingrowths. The folds were suggested to increase surface area for apoplasmic phloem loading in the noted absence of plasmodesmata. Loading routes and methods suggested were based on anatomical and ultrastructural evidence only. Whilst these results were supported by published data for other species of these families, the prediction of the Gamalei and Van Bel hypothesis did not hold true. The relatively primitive Ranunculaceae were expected to have the least advanced type 1 minor vein configuration, with abundance plasmodesmata providing a symplasmic phloem loading pathway. The relatively advanced Apocynaceae and Asc1epiadaceae were predicted to have the most progressive minor vein configuration, type 2b, with specialised transfer cells to maximise apoplasrnic uptake. As families with type 2a minor vein configurations, the Ranunculaceae were more advanced than expected and the Apocynaceae and Asc1epiadaceae less so.
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Date Issued: 2001

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Verdrängung und verleugnung der wirklichkeit als erzählproblem im werk Hans Erich Nossacks

- Krueger, Gustav Adolf Ludwig Werner

Authors: Krueger, Gustav Adolf Ludwig Werner
Date: 1982
Subjects: Nossack, Hans Erich, 1901-1977 -- Criticism and interpretation Authors, German -- 20th century -- History and criticism German fiction -- 20th century German literature -- History and criticism
Language: German
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:3612 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005627
Description: From introduction: Wenn ich mir neben anderen sozial-psychologischen Theorien· auch die Theorie Freuds zunutze mache, so geschieht das nicht nur um der Textgerechtheit und der Nachprüfbarkeit willen, sondern auch aufgrund der überlegung, daß der Nossacksche Held, als "bürgerlicher Held"⁵²) , in mehr oder minderem Maße krank- und wahnhafte Züge haben wird, denn seine Bürgerlichkeit ist schon beim ersten, auffassenden Lesen der Texte kaum rnehr zu bezweifeln. Sein verstockter Individualismus ist hingegen, um noch einmal Adorno anzuführen, auch wieder nicht rückhaltlos verwerflich, ist dieser doch, "sowohl Produkt desDrucks", wie "das Kraftzentrum, das ihm widersteht".⁵³)
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Date Issued: 1982

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Vere deus vere homo: a critical assessment of Christological discourse concluding with a brief appraisal of selected Christological hymns

- Gamley, Anthony M

Authors: Gamley, Anthony M
Date: 1963
Subjects: Jesus Christ -- History of doctrines Hymns, English Theology, Doctrinal Barth, Karl., 1886-1968
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
Identifier: vital:1253 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011938
Description: "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to Gentiles". In so writing, St. Paul stated in its briefest form the scandal of the Christian faith. To human reason it is nonsense to suppose that a man who grew up and lived like other men, and who ultimately died on a cross, could at the same time be the Son of God, equal to God, eternal like God, and Creator of the world with Him. Contrary to the painfully-evolved and carefully formulated conclusion reached by philosophers, that God is one, and diametrically opposed to the monotheistic divine revelation given to Israel, the belief that Jesus was Son of God and equal to His Father seemed; when it was first postulated, to imply some kind of flaw in the indivisibility of God. Men were being asked to believe that they could see God incarnate, that is, in a being of flesh and blood. Yet all our faith hovers around this precise point.
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Date Issued: 1963

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Verification of Ionospheric tomography using MIDAS over Grahamstown, South Africa

- Katamzi, Zama Thobeka

Authors: Katamzi, Zama Thobeka
Date: 2008
Subjects: Ionosphere -- Remote sensing -- South Africa , Atmosphere, Upper , Tomography -- Scientific applications -- South Africa , Global Positioning System
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:5497 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005283 , Ionosphere -- Remote sensing -- South Africa , Atmosphere, Upper , Tomography -- Scientific applications -- South Africa , Global Positioning System
Description: Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and receivers are used to derive total electron content (TEC) from the time delay and phase advance of the radiowaves as they travels through the ionosphere. TEC is defined as the integralof the electron density along the satellite-receiver signal path. Electron densityprofiles can be determined from these TEC values using ionospheric tomographic inversion techniques such as Multi-Instrument Data Analysis System (MIDAS).This thesis reports on a study aimed at evaluating the suitability of ionospheric tomography as a tool to derive one-dimensional electron density profiles, using the MIDAS inversion algorithm over Grahamstown, South Africa (33.30◦S, 26.50◦E). The evaluation was done by using ionosonde data from the Louisvale (28.50◦S, 21.20◦E) and Madimbo (22.40◦S, 30.90◦E) stations to create empirical orthonormal functions (EOFs). These EOFs were used by MIDAS in the inversion process to describe the vertical variation of the electron density. Profiles derived from the MIDAS algorithm were compared with profiles obtained from the international Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2001 model and with ionosonde profiles from the Grahamstown ionosonde station. The optimised MIDAS profiles show a good agreement with the Grahamstown ionosonde profiles. The South African Bottomside Ionospheric Model (SABIM) was used to set the limits within which MIDAS was producing accurate peak electron density (NmF2) values and to define accuracy in this project, with the understanding that the national model (SABIM) is currently the best model for the Grahamstown region. Analysis show that MIDAS produces accurate results during the winter season, which had the lowest root mean square (rms) error of 0.37×1011[e/m3] and an approximately 86% chance of producing NmF2 closer to the actual NmF2 value than the national model SABIM. MIDAS was found to also produce accurate NmF2 values at 12h00 UT, where an approximately 88% chance of producing an accurate NmF2 value, which may deviate from the measured value by 0.72×1011[e/m3], was determined. In conclusion, ionospheric tomographic inversion techniques show promise in the reconstruction of electron density profiles over South Africa, and are worth pursuing further in the future.
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Date Issued: 2008

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Verkenninge in die woordeskat van die poësie met spesiale verwysing na N. P. van Wyk Louw

- De Villiers, Aart

Authors: De Villiers, Aart
Date: 1957
Subjects: Louw, N. P. van Wyk (Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk), 1906-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation , Afrikaans poetry -- History and criticism
Language: Afrikaans
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:3644 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014742
Description: [From Introduction]. Soos die titel aandui, wil hierdie skripsie bloot verkenninge wees. Dit sal vir die leser duidelik wees dat dieselfde metode van benadering wat ek hier op sekere aspekte van die woordeskat van van Wyk Louw se poësie toegepas het, ook op ander woordsoorte toegepas sou kan word, en ook op die werk van ander digters. As 'n mens die gegewens wat jy so verkry, histories sou beskou, sou jy 'n baie interessante kykie kry op die ontwikkeling van die woordeskat in die Afrikaanse poësie. ln die beste van een skripsie is so iets egter, soos duidelik sal blyk, nie moontlik nie. Later, voel ek, sou miskien met vrug op dié grondslag voortgebou kan word.
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Date Issued: 1957

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Versions of confinement: Melville's bodies and the psychology of conquest

- Goddard, Kevin Graham

Authors: Goddard, Kevin Graham
Date: 2003
Subjects: Melville, Herman, 1819-1891 -- Criticism and interpretation Human body in literature
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:2216 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002259
Description: This thesis explores aspects of Melville’s presentation of both the whale and the human bodies in Moby-Dick and human bodies in other important novels. It argues that Melville uses his presentation of bodies to explore some of the versions of confinement those bodies experience, and by doing so, analyses the psychology which subtends that confinement. Throughout Melville’s works bodies are confined, both within literal spatial limits and by the psychology which creates and/or accepts these spatial limits. The thesis argues that perhaps the most important version of bodily confinement Melville addresses is the impulse to conquer bodies, both that of the other and one’s own. It adopts a largely psychoanalytic approach to interpreting bodies and their impulse to conquer, so that the body is seen to figure both in its actions and its external appearance the operations of the inner psyche. The figure of the body is equally prevalent in Melville’s exploration of nationalist conquest, where, as with Manifest Destiny and antebellum expansionism, the psychological and physical lack experienced by characters can be read as motivating factors in the ideology of conquest. A final important strand of the thesis is its argument in favour of a gradual shift in Melville’s interpretation of the value and possibility of genuine communion between human beings and between humans and the whale. One may read Typee as an attempt by Melville to explore the possibility of a this-worldly utopia in which human beings can return to a version of primitive interconnectedness. This exploration may be seen to be extended in Moby-Dick, particularly in Ishmael’s attempts to find communion with others and in some moments of encounter with the whales. The thesis uses phenomenology as a theory to interpret what Melville is trying to suggest in these moments of encounter. However, it argues, finally, that such encounter, or ‘intersubjectivity’ is eventually jettisoned, especially in the works after Moby-Dick. By the end of Melville’s life and work, any hope of an intersubjective utopia he may have harboured as a younger man have been removed in favour of a refusal actually to assert any final ‘truth’ about social, political or even religious experience. Billy Budd, his last body, is hanged, and his final word is silence.
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Date Issued: 2003

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Versions of virginity : an exploration of university students' narrative accounts of first sexual experience

- Ebden, Tiffany

Authors: Ebden, Tiffany
Date: 2013-05-21
Subjects: College students -- South Africa -- Sexual behavior Sexual intercourse -- Psychological aspects Virginity
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:3170 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007797
Description: The research assumes a narrative constructionist and feminist perspective in order to explore stories concerning men and women's first sexual experience. Such a metatheoretical stance is concerned with the ways that lives are constructed and storied through language. There is a concern for the myriad voices, both personal and social, that speaks through individuals' stories and for the manner in which these voices are represented. Three men and three women were interviewed to elicit narratives of first sexual experience. The analysis of interview transcripts tells first sexual experience as a rite of passage described in terms of certain mythic elements. That is, the experience of first sex concerns three stages. Firstly the individual is detached from the experience of sex while still a virgin. Secondly the experience itself is one that is ineffable and diffuse. Thirdly the individual must make sense of the experience. Participants' experience could be characterised as containing elements of demonic, heavenly or earthly myths about sexual relationships: demonic elements concerned the base , physical and painful experiences of first sex; the myth of heavenly love emphasises the mental and emotional connection between partners; an earthly myth tells sex as a predestined meeting of two partners. The manner in which stories were constructed was different for male and for female participants, and these differences have implications for the power dynamics at play between genders in the context of sexual interaction, especially first sex. Further the research's storied and ritualised approach to these gender differences suggests the performative aspect of gender. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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