ON THE RESOLUTION OF H/V MEASUREMENTS TO DETERMINE SEDIMENT THICKNESS,A CASE STUDY ACROSS A NORMAL FAULT IN THE LOWER RHINE EMBAYMENT,GERMANY

In recent years, H/V measurements have been increasingly used to map the thickness of sediment fill in sedimentary basins in the context of seismic hazard assessment. This parameter is believed to be an important proxy for the site effects in sedimentary basins (e.g. in the Los Angeles basin). Here we present the results of a test using this approach across an active normal fault in a structurally well known situation. Measurements on a 50 km long profile with 1 km station spacing clearly show a change in the frequency of the fundamental peak of H/V ratios with increasing thickness of the sediment layer in the eastern part of the Lower Rhine Embayment. Subsequently, a section of 10 km length across the Erft-Sprung system, a normal fault with ca. 750 m vertical offset, was measured with a station distance of 100 m. Frequencies of the first and second peaks and the first trough in the H/V spectra are used in a simple resonance model to estimate depths of the bedrock. While the frequency of the first peak shows a large scatter for sediment depths larger than ca. 500 m, the frequency of the first trough follows the changing thickness of the sediments across the fault. The lateral resolution is in the range of the station distance of 100 m. A power law for the depth dependence of the S-wave velocity derived from down hole measurements in an earlier study [Budny, 1984] and power laws inverted from dispersion analysis of micro array measurements [Scherbaum et aL, 2002] agree with the results from the H/V ratios of this study.     

Reading between the lines: national identity and attitudes to the media in Scotland*

ABSTRACT. The relationship between national identity and how people perceive and consume media is a central but largely untested assumption of studies of nationalism. Using a previously developed classification of identity among English migrants to Scotland, this paper explores associations between how people use the media and how they make sense of their national identity. Compared with Scottish nationals, who tend to adopt a more taken‐for‐granted and uncontentious view of the media, except when they feel that the media presented to them challenge their sense of identity, English migrants find that the agendas of the media in Scotland differ from those they are used to south of the border. Specifically, how they view the media tends to vary according to whether they view themselves as ‘English’, ‘British’ or as ‘becoming Scottish’.     

3. “PRESENCE” AND MYTH

There are no dictionary meanings or authoritative discussions of “presence” that fix the significance of this word in a way that ought to be accepted by anybody using it. So we are in the welcome possession of great freedom to maneuver when using the term. In fact, the only feasible requirement for its use is that it should maximally contribute to our understanding of the humanities. When trying to satisfy this requirement I shall relate “presence” to representation. Then I focus on a variant of representation in which the past is allowed to travel to the present as a kind of “stowaway” (Runia), so that the past is literally “present” in historical representation. I appeal to Runia's notion of so‐called “parallel processes” for an analysis of this variant of historical representation.     

Environmental Systems and Human Impact at Cobrico Crater,South-western Victoria

This study assesses human impact on the landscape around Cobrico, a volcanic crater lake in dairying country in south-western Victoria. It compares the last 150 years of impact of European settlement against approximately the previous 1500 years of prehistoric occupation and land use. Focus is on vegetation dynamics, erosion, productivity changes and the fire regime. Since European settlement there has been woodland clearance and recovery, the introduction of many plant and animal species and a significant increase in the intensity in the fire regime. While many direct linkages are apparent between environmental variables some operate over significant time lags. Fire has played a major role in vegetation dynamics and has favoured open ground taxa at the expense of Eucalyptus and Melaleuca. While major fires do not always lead to erosion in the catchment it is clear that some changes in the chemistry of erosion products have resulted, with potassium and iron showing increases in the historic period.     

A Voice from behind the Bench: Recollections of a Supreme Court Page

Frank Lyman was 13 years old when he was selected as a Supreme Court page. He served five years, from September 1923 until the spring of 1928, when he became too tall and was forced to leave the page corps. Mr. Lyman served his last two years at the Court as Head Page, supervising the other three pages he worked with.