What is the Use of Fieldwork? Conceptions of Students and Staff in Geography and Geology
This paper explores conceptions of the purpose of fieldwork held by undergraduates and academic staff in the disciplines of geography and geology. Phenomenographic analysis of written data reveals six qualitatively distinct conceptions broadly classified as ‘fragmented’ and ‘cohesive’. While considerable commonality in conceptions exists across subjects and stages of study, variations appear to reflect underlying diversity in the aims and delivery of undergraduate fieldwork, and in the undergraduate populations themselves. In particular, the identification of apparent ‘mismatches’ between the conceptions held by students and academic staff has important implications for the design and delivery of undergraduate geography and geology fieldwork. [1]
Relationship of Climate, Geography, and Geology to the Incidence of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya during the 2006–2007 Outbreak
We estimated Rift Valley fever (RVF) incidence as a function of geological, geographical, and climatological factors during the 2006–2007 RVF epidemic in Kenya. Location information was obtained for 214 of 340 (63%) confirmed and probable RVF cases that occurred during an outbreak from November 1, 2006 to February 28, 2007. Locations with subtypes of solonetz, calcisols, solonchaks, and planosols soil types were highly associated with RVF occurrence during the outbreak period. Increased rainfall and higher greenness measures before the outbreak were associated with increased risk. RVF was more likely to occur on plains, in densely bushed areas, at lower elevations, and in the Somalia acacia ecological zone. Cases occurred in three spatial temporal clusters that differed by the date of associated rainfall, soil type, and land usage. [2]
Geographical Concept Recognition With the Octgrid Method for Learning Geography and Geology
Recognizing geographical concepts such as ridges, valleys, and contour lines is an important issue in geography learning. We provide a system for automatic recognition of such concepts based on a data structure, OCTGRIDs for landforms. Furthermore, we apply the systems to a CAI system for geology and geography. [3]
Geology and Mineral Resources of Oyo State, South Western Nigeria
Oyo State lies in the south-western part of Nigeria. Underlain by three lithological units of the crystalline basement complex, comprising: (i) Migmatite-Gneiss Complex (quartzite, gneissic rocks); (ii) Low to medium grade metasediments (Green schists facies, namely quartz schist and mica schist). (iii) The Pan African Granitoids (older granites) which are syn to late tectonic intrusions. [4]
Geology, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Clay Occurrences within the Northern Anambra Basin, Nigeria
Clay occurrences at Aloji, Udane Biomi, Ofe-jiji and Agbenema, within Northern Anambra Basin were characterized mineralogically and geochemically in order to investigate its compositional characteristics and petrogenesis. Mineralogical analysis portrays kaolinite as the only observable clay mineral.
Abundances of major oxides show that SiO2 (69.67 – 90.28%) and Al2O3 (5.10 – 15.24%) constitute over 76% of the bulk chemical compositions, the high content of Si02 shows that the source rocks are rich in quartz and silica-rich minerals confirming the grittiness of the clay. Other oxides are present in relatively very small amounts. The occurrences of Ca0, Na0 and K20 which are the major components of feldspar in clay suggest the clay to be of granitic origin possibly from Oban Massif, east of the Anambra Basin.
Reference
[1] Stokes, A., Magnier, K. and Weaver, R., 2011. What is the use of fieldwork? Conceptions of students and staff in geography and geology. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(01), pp.121-141.
[2] Hightower, A., Kinkade, C., Nguku, P.M., Anyangu, A., Mutonga, D., Omolo, J., Njenga, M.K., Feikin, D.R., Schnabel, D., Ombok, M. and Breiman, R.F., 2012. Relationship of climate, geography, and geology to the incidence of Rift Valley fever in Kenya during the 2006–2007 outbreak. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 86(2), pp.373-380.
[3] Yokoyama, R., Kureha, A., Motohashi, T., Ogasawara, H., Yaku, T. and Yoshino, D., 2007, July. Geographical concept recognition with the octgrid method for learning geography and geology. In Seventh IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2007) (pp. 470-471). IEEE.
[4] Musbau, A.F., 2014. Geology and mineral resources of Oyo State, south western Nigeria. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, pp.2718-2731.
[5] Alege, T.S., Idakwo, S.O., Alege, E.K. and Gideon, Y.B., 2014. Geology, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Clay Occurrences within the Northern Anambra Basin, Nigeria. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, pp.841-852.