Essays on Ponds

____________ University

Introductory remarks

Alberta oil is one of the largest oil fields in the world. According to Simon Dyer, “The Canadian oil sands are the second largest proven oil reserve after Saudi Arabia” (Dyer, 2009). The commercial development of the Alberta oil sand had begun in the late 1960s. By the time World War I had arrived, and after the war was over, Canada was almost entirely dependent on oil from foreign countries. Canadians, after the war, began to wonder if the nation had any oil resources of their own. This interest led to the creation of the Alberta Research ...

Introductory remarks

With the depletion of crude oil deposits across the world becoming a reality with every new day, the world has been forced to start looking at alternative sources of oil. One of these unconventional sources of oil is the bitumen oil found in oil sands. Canadian oil sands have been identified as the second largest oil reserves in the world after those in Saudi Arabia. Most of these oil sands are found in the province of Alberta. These oil reserves are estimated to be an approximate 175 billion barrels of bitumen and sit across an area of 140,800 ...

Flood is a natural disaster caused by unusually heavy rainfall lashing an area at a rapid pace and filling the area even as the excess water is unable either to infiltrate beneath the ground or drain safely. Chennai, the South Indian city, recently witnessed unprecedented rainfall in a century. Nature’s fury coupled with a development culture that pays no heed to environmental sustainability is widely blamed for the natural disaster. In light of individuals asking the legitimate questions on the indiscriminate use of precious natural resources and the scant apprehension for the environment, the floods continue to remind ...

Abstract

The eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki, is a globally distributed species of viviparous freshwater fish, found in tropical and temperate climates. It is considered an invasive species on several continents, including Australia, and it may threaten the survival of certain critically endangered native species throughout the world. It is of great interest to ecosystem conservation to monitor and control their populations. To gain a better understanding of this non-native species’ life history with potential implications of other species, we used passive-capture methods to obtain a 365-specimen sample from a campus pond. The lengths of the specimens were used to estimate ...

Abstract

Figure skaters graciously glide over ice and perform intricate aerobatics, speed skaters achieve incredible velocities over ice, and thousands of persons each year stumble in ice as they first try out this practice for leisure. This paper reviews the scientific concepts and laws that make ice skating possible, as well as the factors that influence performance and ice skates design.

Introduction

Ice skating, gliding along an ice surface using keel-like runners known as ice skates [1], is a sport practiced by many solely for recreational purposes, while others engage in it as an inherent part of other sports, such as ...

Sinkholes; Made by nature or humans?

Abstract Sinkholes seem to swallow the earth and everything sitting on the surface. Some sinkholes are small and have relatively no effect on humans or property. Some sinkholes are very large and will leave ga[ing holes in the landscape. Sometimes these large sinkholes will devour a road and cause harm to the humans who live, work, and travel where the sinkhole is located. For example, a series of sinkholes and a landslide occurred simultaneously in Harbor, Oregon. This sinkhole was a combination of nature and human activity. Many sinkholes are caused by human activity that nature decides to ...