Niagara Guide looking into Cave of the Winds - Niagara Falls, U.S.A.

The description reads "(10) An old Niagara Guide - looking into the awe-inspiring Cave of the Winds - Niagara Falls, U.S.A.".

Cave of the Winds on the American Side Poster

Cave of the Winds on the American Side. This poster contains a poem by Mary S. Pond called Cave of the Winds, 35 cm. x 19 cm. The guides are listed as F.H. Johnson and Son. There is a portion of the poster missing from the upper left hand corner. This does affect the text. This newsprint article is mounted in a cardboard frame, 1860.

Cave of the Winds, Goat Island, U.S.A.

Cave of the Winds, Goat Island, U.S.A. This is touted as the only place on the globe where rainbows form an entire circle. Geo. W. Wright is listed as the lessee. 30 cm. x 14 cm. newsprint. There is a slight wearing away of the edges. This does not affect text, n.d.

A directory for the navigation of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Japan, from the straits of Malacca and Sunda, and the passages east of Java. To Canton, Shanghai, the Yellow Sea, and Japan, with descriptions of the winds, monsoons, and currents, and general instructions for the various channels, harbours, etc.

Lettered on cover: Sailing directory for the Indian Archipelago, China & Japan.

View of Falls from Steel Bridge, Niagara, U.S.A.

The description of the image reads "(4)-8972-General view of Falls from new steel bridge - Maid of the Mist at landing - Niagara, U.S.A." The reverse of the image includes the description, "We are standing on the new steel bridge over Niagara River, 190 feet above the water and looking a little west of south, up the river towards Lake Erie. The high cliff at the extreme left, on the American side, is Prospect Point, where a crowd is gathered at this moment to view the Falls that we see just beyond Prospect Point. That dark, tree-covered mass of rock beyond is Goat Island; and just this side of Goat Island we see a bit of its precipice has been cut off separate from the rest by the powerful current of the waters - the smaller portion is Luna Island, and the Luna Falls go pouring down between the two islands. The face of the precipice curves inward beneath the Luna Falls leaving behind the 160 foot sheet of water the unearthly hollow known as the Cave of the Winds. Beyond Goat Island we see the gigantic curve of the Horseshoe Falls, 3,010 feet long and 158 feet high, reaching around through the clouds of spray to the farther Canadian shore. (The boundary line between British and American territory is in mid-stream.) It has been estimated that every minute 375,000 tons of water pour over these Horseshoe Falls, and they are wearing away the cliffs, moving back up the stream at the rate of 2.4 feet per year. It was probably only about a thousand years ago that they took their plunge just about where we stand now. Down there below us, at the wharf is the Maid of the Mist at the American landing taking on passengers who have come down the steep bank by the inclined railway. Its course takes it through those clouds of spray almost to the very foot of both Falls, - waters falling from 167 feet overhead, and water surging at least as many feet deep under the staunch little vessel. See special 'keyed' maps of Niagara pub. by Underwood and Underwood, also the Niagara Book by Mark Twain, W.D. Howells and others."

Niagara Falls Handbill Collection, 1838-1886, n.d. (non-inclusive)

According to legend, the Burning Springs were discovered by early natives in the Niagara Peninsula. Bridgewater Mills was built on the site of the spring. During the excavation of the factory; workmen uncovered the spring. Samuel Street and Thomas Clark recognized the potential of this as a tourist attraction so they built a wooden shelter over the spring. The spring was covered with a barrel with a pipe protruding from it. This became the first tourist attraction at Niagara. The Cave of the Winds was a cavern located behind the Bridal Veil Fall. It was originally named the Aeolus Cave. In 1920, a sudden rock fall from the ceiling killed 3 tourists. The cave was destroyed in 1955 as it was deemed dangerous. The captain of the Maid of the Mist was usually a farmer who owned the land where the ship docked. In 1846, the first steam powered Maid of the Mist was launched. By 1848, the first suspension bridge was built over the gorge and the main purpose of the Maid of the Mist was no longer to carry people who needed to travel, but now the focus was on people who wanted to view the Falls at close range. Source: http://www.niagarafrontier.com/burningsprings.html http://www.niagarafrontier.com/winds.html http://reservationsystems.com/niagara_daredevils/maid_of_the_mist.html

Managing the winds of change

Environmental impacts caused during Australia's comparatively recent settlement by Europeans are evident. Governments (both Commonwealth and States) have been largely responsible for requiring landholders – through leasehold development conditions and taxation concessions – to conduct clearing that is now perceived as damage. Most governments are now demanding resource protection. There is a measure of bewilderment (if not resentment) among landholders because of this change. The more populous States, where most overall damage has been done (i.e. Victoria and New South Wales), provide most support for attempts to stop development in other regions where there has been less damage. Queensland, i.e. the north-eastern quarter of the continent, has been relatively slow to develop. It also holds the largest and most diverse natural environments. Tree clearing is an unavoidable element of land development, whether to access and enhance native grasses for livestock or to allow for urban developments (with exotic tree plantings). The consequences in terms of regulations are particularly complex because of the dynamic nature of vegetation. The regulatory terms used in current legislation – such as 'Endangered' and 'Of concern' – depend on legally-defined, static baselines. Regrowth and fire damage are two obvious causes of change. A less obvious aspect is succession, where ecosystems change naturally over long timeframes. In the recent past, the Queensland Government encouraged extensive tree-clearing e.g. through the State Brigalow Development Scheme (mostly 1962 to 1975) which resulted in the removal of some 97% of the wide-ranging mature forests of Acacia harpophylla. At the same time, this government controls National Parks and other reservations (occupying some 4% of the State's 1.7 million km2 area) and also holds major World Heritage Areas (such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest) promulgated under Commonwealth legislation. This is a highly prescriptive approach, where the community is directed on the one hand to develop (largely through lease conditions) and on the other to avoid development (largely by unusable reserves). Another approach to development and conservation is still possible in Queensland. For this to occur, however, a more workable and equitable solution than has been employed to date is needed, especially for the remote lands of this State. This must involve resident landholders, who have the capacity (through local knowledge, infrastructure and daily presence) to undertake most costeffectively sustainable land-use management (with suitable attention to ecosystems requiring special conservation effort), that is, provided they have the necessary direction, encouragement and incentive to do so.

A Raman spectroscopic study of the ‘cave’ mineral ardealite Ca2(HPO4)(SO4)•4H2O

The mineral ardealite Ca2(HPO4)(SO4)•4H2O is a ‘cave’ mineral and is formed through the reaction of calcite with bat guano. The mineral shows disorder and the composition varies depending on the origin of the mineral. Raman spectroscopy complimented with infrared spectroscopy has been used to characterise the mineral ardealite. The Raman spectrum is very different from that of gypsum. Bands are assigned to SO42- and HPO42- stretching and bending modes.

Thermal stability of the ‘cave’ mineral brushite CaHPO4•2H2O -mechanism of formation and decomposition

Thermogravimetry combined with evolved gas mass spectrometry has been used to ascertain the stability of the ‘cave’ mineral brushite. X-ray diffraction shows that brushite from the Jenolan Caves is very pure. Thermogravimetric analysis coupled with ion current mass spectrometry shows a mass loss at 111°C due to loss of water of hydration. A further decomposition step occurs at 190°C with the conversion of hydrogen phosphate to a mixture of calcium ortho-phosphate and calcium pyrophosphate. TG-DTG shows the mineral is not stable above 111°C. A mechanism for the formation of brushite on calcite surfaces is proposed, and this mechanism has relevance to the formation of brushite in urinary tracts.

Thermal stability of the ‘cave’ mineral ardealite Ca2(HPO4)(SO4)•4H2O

Thermogravimetry combined with evolved gas mass spectrometry has been used to characterise the mineral ardealite and to ascertain the thermal stability of this ‘cave’ mineral. The mineral ardealite Ca2(HPO4)(SO4)•4H2O is formed through the reaction of calcite with bat guano. The mineral shows disorder and the composition varies depending on the origin of the mineral. Thermal analysis shows that the mineral starts to decompose over the temperature range 100 to 150°C with some loss of water. The critical temperature for water loss is around 215°C and above this temperature the mineral structure is altered. It is concluded that the mineral starts to decompose at 125°C, with all waters of hydration being lost after 226°C. Some loss of sulphate occurs over a broad temperature range centred upon 565°C. The final decomposition temperature is 823°C with loss of the sulphate and phosphate anions.

Influence of cyclonic winds on the performance of hardwood plantations in tropical north Queensland.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi crossed the far north Queensland coast at Mission Beach on February 3rd, 2011, shattering the regions developing hardwood plantation industry. The cyclone’s path covered the primary areas of hardwood and softwood plantations in this region, causing widespread destruction. The extent of cyclone damage, coupled with the weak international economy has resulted in a severe decline in industry confidence for the future of timber plantations in this region. This report reviews the impacts of Severe TC Yasi on the performance of key hardwood plantation species in north Queensland. It summarises the influence of species, genetics, plantation design, management and age on plantation resilience. The information will contribute to a “Best Practice Guide for Timber Plantations in Cyclonic Areas” to be produced by Timber Queensland. This will assist companies with future plantation investment decisions in the tropical cyclone zone. 2 200 trees were assessed, including 44 species at 32 localities located from Daintree to Townsville. Data are also presented for a post-cyclone assessment of 5 900 African mahogany trees on four sites in the Ingham region. A report prepared for the Timber Queensland project: Best Practice Guide for Timber Plantations in Cyclonic Areas.

Towards the Use of Radar Winds in Numerical Weather Prediction

Numerical weather prediction (NWP) models provide the basis for weather forecasting by simulating the evolution of the atmospheric state. A good forecast requires that the initial state of the atmosphere is known accurately, and that the NWP model is a realistic representation of the atmosphere. Data assimilation methods are used to produce initial conditions for NWP models. The NWP model background field, typically a short-range forecast, is updated with observations in a statistically optimal way. The objective in this thesis has been to develope methods in order to allow data assimilation of Doppler radar radial wind observations. The work has been carried out in the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) 3-dimensional variational data assimilation framework. Observation modelling is a key element in exploiting indirect observations of the model variables. In the radar radial wind observation modelling, the vertical model wind profile is interpolated to the observation location, and the projection of the model wind vector on the radar pulse path is calculated. The vertical broadening of the radar pulse volume, and the bending of the radar pulse path due to atmospheric conditions are taken into account. Radar radial wind observations are modelled within observation errors which consist of instrumental, modelling, and representativeness errors. Systematic and random modelling errors can be minimized by accurate observation modelling. The impact of the random part of the instrumental and representativeness errors can be decreased by calculating spatial averages from the raw observations. Model experiments indicate that the spatial averaging clearly improves the fit of the radial wind observations to the model in terms of observation minus model background (OmB) standard deviation. Monitoring the quality of the observations is an important aspect, especially when a new observation type is introduced into a data assimilation system. Calculating the bias for radial wind observations in a conventional way can result in zero even in case there are systematic differences in the wind speed and/or direction. A bias estimation method designed for this observation type is introduced in the thesis. Doppler radar radial wind observation modelling, together with the bias estimation method, enables the exploitation of the radial wind observations also for NWP model validation. The one-month model experiments performed with the HIRLAM model versions differing only in a surface stress parameterization detail indicate that the use of radar wind observations in NWP model validation is very beneficial.

The influence of momentum addition on the acceleration of the solar and stellar winds

The influence of the momentum addition, which may be associated with the average or fluctuation transverse component of the magnetic field or others, on the acceleration the solar wind or stellar wind is studied in a local streamtube. The results show that the larger the momentum addition the stronger the acceleration of the wind. For example, if the typical transverse magnetic field is about 0.1 of the longitudinal field, the velocity of the solar wind at 1 AU may be increased by 40%. The coronal hole may be considered as a streamtube, the presence of a high stream from the coronal hole may be explained by the existence of an average or fluctuation transverse magnetic field in the streamtube. A similar conclusion may be applied to the polar region, where the velocity of the solar wind will be larger than elsewhere as if there is a transverse component of magnetic field, as well as to the stellar wind. The influence of other parameters on the acceleration of the solar wind is also discussed. From the viewpoint of the solar wind mechanism, the present paper shows that the momentum addition in the subsonic flow region can increase the velocity of the solar wind at 1 AU.