John C. Maclachlan

Quantitative geomorphological analysis of drumlins in the Peterborough drumlin field, Ontario, Canada

Abstract Drumlins are enigmatic subglacial landforms that have been interpreted to form by a number of processes, including incremental accumulation of till, erosion of previously deposited sediment, catastrophic meltwater floods, and sediment deformation. However, relatively little is known about the controls on drumlin formation, such as spatially variable glacial processes or substrate characteristics, and how these controls may be identified from variations in drumlin morphology within a single drumlin field. This paper explores a computational method that allows identification of drumlins and extraction of their morphological characteristics from existing topographic digital data for a portion of the eterborough drumlin field in ntario, anada. Spatial and non‐spatial analysis of the form and distribution of drumlins across the study area identifies drumlin characteristics such as size, elongation ratio, symmetry and long axis orientation and shows that drumlins are not randomly distributed across the region and their form characteristics have distinct regional trends. Kernel density analysis is used to identify the regional trends in drumlin characteristics. Factors that appear to influence the form and distribution of drumlins in the study area include sediment thickness, length of time beneath the ice, ice velocity and direction of ice movement. The distribution of particularly well developed asymmetric and elongate drumlins coincides with the location of a broad bedrock low and is interpreted to identify the former location of a fast‐flowing ice stream.

Mapping the Journey Toward Self-Authorship in Geography

Learning is a developmental journey, and geography curriculum plays a key role in supporting student progression. In this article, we argue that the concept of ‘self-authorship’ is a useful guiding principle in supporting curriculum revision and reform. A series of international case studies illustrate how self-authorship can be enacted in different ways within geography curricula in a range of contexts. The role of a range of collaborators and the co-curriculum in supporting the student journey are highlighted. The article concludes by suggesting that the key strength of the concept is its non-prescriptive nature.

Engaging the Campus Community Through New Roles and New Relationships: The McMaster University Library Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Recent reports identify a problem concerning university libraries—that of trending toward the disintermediation from the research process. Many experts have called for libraries to begin leading scholarship and to keep themselves relevant to faculty and students in light of recent work illustrating that within the hierarchy of answering questions regarding information evaluation and searching, librarians fall below Internet search engines, instructors, and even friends. In order to be successful and stay relevant, libraries must be reestablished as leaders within the university community. McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada has taken the approach of “library as lab” by matching the needs of the library with the interests of an emerging scholar. This has led to the creation of three library-funded postdoctoral fellowships in a program sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources. The new positions have been successful in facilitating a greater number of university partnerships in both teaching and research through such initiatives as the creation of the Virtual Museum of the Holocaust and the Resistance and the opening of the Lyons New Media Center. The ongoing success of the postdoctoral initiative is insured with the creation of the McMaster Centre for Digital Scholarship.

Remote and in situ photogrammetric history of the Kidd Copper tailings site, Sudbury, Ontario

There is much concern regarding the genesis of acidic leachate by mine tailings and its potential impact on local water systems. Genesis of the leachate and its subsequent escape into the surrounding watershed is controlled by the primary distribution of facies within the tailings pond. Leachate generation and percolation is enhanced in high-sulphide coarse-grained sands, while percolation is restricted in fine-grained clays formed from bentonitic slimes. The Kidd Copper deposit, located on the South Range of the Sudbury Basin, was a typical offset dike nickel deposit, where mining took place between 1970 and 1990. Using a sequence of temporally separate aerial photographs dating from 1945 to 2002, it is possible to document the initial development of the mine, its closure and the subsequent degradation of the mine tailings waste that was produced during mining activity. Since the mines closure, the resulting tailings deposit has progressively oxidized, generating acid-rich leachate. Leachate can escape from the tailings via surface run-off and subsurface flow. The spatial distribution of possible flow pathways was mapped using a combination of sub-centimetre-resolution real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS and individual, high-resolution, oriented photographs of subsurface pits. Lithologic mapping information of the Kidd Copper tailings deposit can provide an insight into the distribution of local aquifers and aquitards. Subsurface lithologic mapping was achieved using a combination of sub-centimetre-resolution RTK GPS and individual, high-resolution, oriented photographs of subsurface pits. The photograph of each pit provides lithologic information of a specific point in the tailings deposit, while the high-resolution GPS locates the individual photographs in three-dimensional (3D) geographic space. Combining these data allows us to identify continuous lithologic surfaces between pits, leading to the construction of a 3D model of the deposition of the tailings pond. Grain size and textural details extracted from the images of each lithology permit discrimination between aquifers and aquitards. The final geometric model could be used as input for estimating the hydrologic and chemical evolution of the tailings.

Developing an internet GIS for public health

The use of GIS in Public Health research is a well established practice. A concern of Public Health officials is the costs that can accumulate implementing a GIS in terms of both time and money. To alleviate this concern, an Internet platform GIS was created for the ‘Early Years Project’ in Hamilton, Ontario. The system created uses open‐source software to keep costs at a minimum and serves the specific needs of many researchers.