Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Soil Types And Drainage, Eric Bettenay, N. J. Schofield

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

At least 90 per cent of the phosphorus entering the Peel-Harvey estuarine system comes from land cleared for agriculture, most of it from the coastal plain. These soils are naturally deficient on phosphorus and sulfur and this is supplied in superphosphate, which contains about 10 per cent phosphorus and 1 percent sulphur.

However, rain leaches some of this applied phosphorus from the land into drains and rivers which flow into the estuary. In 1981, farmers in the Harvey River-Mayfields Drain catchment lost the equivalent of 1,300 tonnes of superphosphate into the estuary. Between them they have in effect spent $120,000 …

Modifying Fertiliser Practices, J S. Yeates, D. M. Deeley, M. F. Clarke, D. Allen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

If modified fertiliser practices are adopted phosphorus losses from the Peel-Harvey catchment can be reduced. Farmers can save money on fertiliser applications and the need for more expensive catchment management measures to reduce algal pollution of the estuary will be avoided.

Research data available so far indicate that, with farmer co-operation and the use of the new slow release fertiliser New Coastal Superphosphate, long-term phosphorus application rates can be reduced by 30-40 per cent - and possibly even halved - without lowering agricultural production. This will also reduce phosphorus loss to drainage water.

Although much of the research since 1982 …

The Extension Programme, W K. Russell, G. K. Palmer

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

From the start of the Peel-harvey study in 1976, scientific research and extension have been closely linked. Trials, some involving major drainage works, have been set up on about 30 farms and several field days and seminars have been held.

The Peel-Harvey Study Group anticipates that farmer acceptance of the Department of agriculture's recommendations will reduce the phosphorus input to the estuary by 30 to 40 per cent over the next three to five years. At the same time farmers will benefit from modified cultural practices better suited to the sandy soils of the coastal plain.

Alternative Land Uses, D A. Morrison, B. C. Mattinson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

One aproach to minimise the high nutrient content and associated algal pollution of the Peel-Harvey estuarine system is to reduce phosphorus losses at their source. Farmers can do this by changing land use is such a way thar phosphorus run-off fromthe catchment soils into drainage is prevented or at least reduced.

The department of Agriculture is investigating the economics of alternative uses, particularly substituting forestry with Pinus pinaster or Eucalyptus globulus (Tasmanian blue gum) for present beef and sheep enterprises. P. pinaster is used for logging and E. globulus for pulping.

Alternative Pasture Species For Deep Sands, D A. Nicholas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Although the climate of the swan coastal plain between Perth and Bunbury is suitable for growing a range of pasture species, some soil types greatly limit this range.

Pasture species commonly grown in the South-West, such as subteranean clover and annual ryegrass, can only be grown successfully on the better soils of the coastal plain - the loams, yellow sands and Joel sands. On the freely drained, deep, infertile Gavin sands such species rarely persist because of the soil's poor water holding capacity, and its water repellency and its poor ability to retain nutrients.

Soil Testing For Acidity, I R. Wilson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

One of the most important aspects of the soil acidity research programme is the accurate analysis of soil and plant materials.

A soil acidity problem cannot be simply diagnosed with one test. Although the soil pH test is used for the initial evaluation of soil acidity, it does not measure the other factors which affect plant growth as a result of this acidity.

For example, plant growth on a coastal soil with pH 4.3 (in water) may not be affected by applying lime, but growth may improve markedly on a central wheatbelt soil of pH 4,8 (in water).

Another two …

The Effects On Plant Growth, W M. Porter, J. S. Yeates

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The level of acidity of a soil reflects its chemical and sometimes its biological condition. Changes in acidity mean changes in the availability to plants of some soil elements, and modifications to the biological processes in the soil.

Some elements become more available to plants in acis soils, and in some soils particular elements can reach toxic levels. Other elements can be effected in the opposite way: deficiencies can develop in acid conditions.

It is important to realise, however, that the chemical nature of all soils varies. Beccause of these variations, acidity can affect each soil differently and thus influence …

Soil Acidity And Legume Nodulation, J G. Howieson, M. A. Ewing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Nitrogen is a basic constituent of protien and is essential to all forms of life. Many agricultural plants are legumes - a group of plants which, in co-operation with specialised soil bacteria, fix their own nitrogen from the air. When the legume dies, the organic matter breaks down anf the nitrogen becomes available to the following crops.

Soil acidity is a major factor limitimg the successful association between legumes and their beneficial soil bacteria in Western Australia.

Molybdenum Deficiency In The Wheatbelt, M M. Riley

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The trace element molybdenum is needed in very small amounts in nitrogen metabolisms of crops and pastures. One of the projects that started as a result of the overall soil acidity research programme was the examination of molybdenum deficiency on acid soils throughout the South-West of Western Australia.

Barley Production And Soil Acidity, P J. Dolling, W. M. Porter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

One of the causes of reduced plant yields on acid soils is aluminium toxicity. because barley is extremely sensitive to this mineral, a project started last year to examine the influence of soil acidity on barley production in the main barley growing areas of Western Australia.

This article discusses some of the background information on the project and its aims.

Soil Acidity On High Rainfall Pastures, J S. Yeates, D. A. Mcghie, I. R. Wilson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Most soils of the high rainfall area of south-western Western Australia are naturally acis.

The most acid group of soils, the peaty sands. have been routinely limed before subterranean clover pastures were established since research in the 1950s showed that poor Rhizobium nodulation could be overcome with the application of about 2 tonnes per hectare of coastal limesand.

Soil Acidity And Liming In The Lower Great Southern, R N. Glencross, M. G. Clarke

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In the 375 to 750 millimetre rainfall area of the Lower Great Southern, reports of loss of subterranean clover from established pastures, reduced carrying capacity for sheep and increasing soil acidity lead to the establishment in 1981 of a research programme into the effects of soil acidity on pasture productivity in that region.

Breeding Wheat Varieties For Acid Soils, I R. Barclay

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Wheat varieties with improved tolerance of acid soils cold increase yeilds be perhaps 20 per cent or more over a substantialarea ofWestern Australia's eastern wheatbelt.

Aluminium toxicity is probably the main cause of poor root growth and therefore reduced yields on these soils.

Sources Of Lime In The South-West, I M V Brown

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many Western Australian farmers topdress or incorporate lime into their acid soils to neutralise them and to improve crop or pasture yields. Most use pulverised limestone or limesand which is cheap and relatively easy tospread.

Agricultural lime isdefined as "any fertiliser used principally for the purpose of reducing soil acidity and having calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, or both, as its main ingredients".

Less extensive sources of liming material are found in scattered inland areas where deposits of calcrete have been formed by the weathering of calcium-rich rock and also in association with internal drainage systems.

Magnesite, generally formed by …

Water Erosion On Potato Land During The 1983 Growing Season Donnybrook, D J. Mcfarlane

Resource management technical reports

Soil losses over a three month period varied from 10 to 49 mm.. Soil loss was most highly correlated with length of slope of the plots. Other important factors appeared to be slope angle and soil textures. Grade furrows appear to be the best method of breaking-up long slope lengths. The low capacity of the furrows requires them to be on grades of about 4 to 4 per cent to prevent siltation and overtopping during high density storms.

Probability Densities And The Random Variable Transformation Theorem, John D. Ramshaw

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

D. T. Gillespie has recently derived and discussed a random variable transformation (RVT) theorem relating the joint probability densities of functionally dependent sets of random variables.....

It is hoped that the present discussion will help to disseminate this basic relation among a wider circle of nonspecialists.

The Effects Of Seismic Blasting On Shallow Water Wells And Aquifers In Western North Dakota, Frank W. Beaver Jr. P. E.

Theses and Dissertations

Seismographic petroleum exploration throughout North Dakota has generated concern over the effects of blasting on groundwater supplies and wells. A preliminary investigation revealed complaints alleging declining productivity and decreased water quality in regions where coal aquifers are extensively used. Unplugged shotholes were frequently cited as a source of problems.

Experimental results indicate that changes due to blasting occur within long term physical the aquifers rather than in specific water wells. Pumping tests conducted in a sand and coal aquifer system showed no apparent physical effects when shots were detonated one quarter mile away from the pumping wells. Shots 500 feet …

Stratigraphy And Depositional Environments Of The Three Forks Formation (Upper Devonian), Williston Basin, North Dakota, Gayle M. Dumonceaux

Theses and Dissertations

The Three Forks Formation (Upper Devonian) is present in the subsurface in the western two-thirds of North Dakota and is generally conformable with the underlying Birdbear Formation and the overlying Bakken Formation.

The Three Forks attains a maximum thickness of 265 feet (81 meters) in the central basin, east and south of the Nesson Anticline, and thins to an erosional edge in eastern North Dakota. The Three Forks is composed of micrite and dolomicrite, which may be fcssiliferous and argillaceous. From the study of core samples and detailed petrographic analysis of thin sections, five lithofacies were recognized and their extent …

Research Objectives In Vertebrate Pest Control, A J. Oliver

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The European rabbit, introduced into Australia in 856 by an early settler for hunting, caused massive losses to agricultural production in Western Australia in 1940s and 1950s.

In those years most of the country's recources and efforts allocated to vertebrate pest problems were aimed at controlling this animal.

Research and control measures by Commonwealth and State agencies, including the introduction of myxomatosis, were largely responsible for reducing the rabbit problem to the comparatively minor one it is now.

Today, the Agricultural Protection Board is involved in the control of a much wider range of mammals and birds which cause losses …

Rabbit Kitten Survival In The South-West, D R. King

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In the South-West of Western Australis reliable winter rains allow the rabbit breeding season to extend through winter and spring, and thus a large number of kittens are produced each year.

Studies on the biology of rabbits at Cape Naturaliste (270 kilometres south-west of Perth) and Chidlow (40 kilometres east of Perth in the Datling Range) have shown that at these sites each doe produces about 30 and 27 kittens respectively a year. If all these youg rabbits survived, there would be a 15-fold increase in numbers. Within a short time the State would be covered "wall to wall" by …

Rabbits North Of Carnarvon, D R. King

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In Westeern Australia rabbits are mainly a pest along the south-western coastal parts of the State, but there are populations north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Rabbits after crossing the Nullarbour plain from South Australia and colonising the South-West of the State, were reported to have reached the west coast near Geraldton by 1912 and then spread northwards.

There is little information on the biologhy of rabbits in the northan parts of their range, but pastoralists in some areas are concerned about erosion and damage to vegetation on their stations when rabbits reach high numbers.

The Agricultural Protection Board undertook …

Feral Donkeys : An Assessment Of Control In The Kimberley, S H. Wheeler

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Feral donkeys are one of the major limitations to increased pastoral production in many parts of the Kimberley area of Western Australia, where they compete with cattle for food. In addition donkeys are aggressive animals, driving cattle from watering points and better grazing areas. They eliminate perenial plants by overgrazing and therefore reduce the carrying capacity of the range.

Originally introduced as draught animals, donkeys were released when cars arrived; since then they have bred up to large numbers in many areas.

For several years the Agricultural Protection Board has undertaken a programme of donkey shooting from helicopters. Since this …

Sulphur Needs Of Crops And Pastures, J S. Yeates

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sulphur deficiency has long been recognised as a potential problem of legume pastures in the higher rainfall areas (over 750 mm a year) of south-west Western Australia. Before the introduction of granulated superphosphate (about 1970), sulfer deficiencies commonly developed in spring on susceptible soils despite autumn applications of superphosphate (containing about 10.5 per cent sulphur).

In loww and medium rainfall areas sulphur deficiency is rarely reported, at least partly because of annual superphosphate applications. However large areas of the sandy-surfaced soils of Western Australia would become sulphur deficient for pastures and crops if sulphur inputsd in fertilisers were substantially reduced. …

Molybdenum Nutrition, M M. Riley

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

Field trials. 1. Residual value of Molybdenum on an acid soil - 81NO40. 2. Residual value of Molybdenum on an acid soil - 81M2. 3. Residual value of Molybdenum on an acid soil - 81LG12. 4. Residual value of Molybdenum on an acid soil - 83ME82. 5. Residual value of Molybdenum on and acid soil - 82NO7. 6. Residual values of different Molybdenum sources - 84ME10. 7. Residual values of different Molybdenum sources - 84GE49. 8. Molybdenum requirements of wheat and lupins - 83ME10. 9. Molybdenum requirements of wheat, triticale and lupins - 84ME8. 10. Forms and rates of soil …

Pasture Species Evaluation In The Medium Rainfall Zone, C W. Thorn, C K. Revell, S Davies, I Rose

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

The effect of mechanical defoliation on the production of legume species in the Katanning region - 84KA26. The effect of grazing on the seed production of legume species - 84KA27. The effect of gypsum and establishment techniques on Circle Valley medic - 84KA29. The effect of gypsum, tillage and nitrogen on cereal yields in a continous crop system - 84KA28. The effect of gypsum on cereal crop yield - Katanning, E. Garlick Kwobrup, D. Webse. Pasture probe evaluation. Aim: To determine the suitability of the Vickery single probe earth plate capacitance meter for determining pasture production.

Incompleteness, Negation, Hazard: On The Precariousness Of Systems, Martin Zwick

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

An account is offered of the dialectical tensions which afflict systems of widely differing type, "contradictions" which cannot be fully or permanently resolved, and from which follow the lawfulness of both hazard and opportunity.

Part I: The Synthesis Of Potential Agrochemicals. Part Ii: The Use Of Gold's Reagent As A Lynch Pin In The Formation Of Five And Six Membered Heterocycles, Keith F. Correia

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This research report focuses on two topics: the synthesis of potential agrochemicals and the use of Gold's reagent as a lynch pin to form five- and six-membered heterocycles. A diacyl hydrazide and two oxadiazoles are prepared for use as possible insecticides. Gold's reagent behaves as a one-atom and two-atom lynch pin when reacted with 1, 4- and 1, 5-dinucleophiles, respectively. Reaction conditions, interpretation of spectral data, and recommendations for further research are provided.

A Three Part Research Report: The Synthesis Of Potential Insecticides, N-(4-Heteroaryloxybenzoyl)-N'-(2,4-Dichlorobenzoyl) Hydrazines: A Reinvestigation Of Hexamethylphosphoramide With Ketoximes; Regioselective Fluoralkoxylation And Polyfluoroalkoxylation Of Activated Dihalobenzenes And Dihaloheterocycles, Gary A. Decrescenzo

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This report discusses research in three areas of organic synthesis: The synthesis of potential insecticides; the reinvestigation of the reaction of hexamethylphosphoramide with ketoximes; and the regioselective fluoroalkoxylation and polyfluoroalkoxylation of activated dihalobenzenes and dihaloheterocycles. In Part I, a series of N-(4-heteroaryloxybenzoyl)-N'-(2, 3-dichlorobenzoyl) hydrazines are synthesized, and attempts at cyclic dehydration to the corresponding 2, 5-disubstituted-1, 3, 4-oxadiazoles are discussed. In Part II, the synthesis of N, N-dimethyl-N'-aryl amidines by the reaction of aryl alkyl and diaryl ketoximes with HMPA is discussed. In Part III, a series of activated dihalobenzenes and dihaloheterocycles are reacted with sodium trifluoroethoxide to study the …

Dipole Moment And Potential Energy Functions Of The X ¹Σ + And A 1Σ+ States Of Nah, W. T. Zemke, Ronald E. Olson, K. K. Verma, W. C. Stwalley, B. Liu

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Calculated radiative transition probabilities between all vibrational levels in the X 1Σ+ state (υ=0-21) and in the A 1Σ+ state (υ=0-32) of NaH are given. In addition, the calculated spontaneous emission lifetimes for vibrational- rotational levels (J=0,1) and the calculated dipole moments for these same levels are given. The calculations use new hybrid potential energy curves based on Rydberg-Klein-Rees (RKR) and ab initio potential curves. The RKR curve for the X state is new. The calculations use new ab initio dipole moment functions of internuclear distance. © 1984 American Institute of Physics.

A Scc Mo Calculation On The Tetracyanoethylene-Benzene Complex, Joe Kirsch, Shannon Lieb, Mark Cisneros

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. Shannon Lieb's contribution to Volume 94 of the Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science.