In 1997, pesticide concentrations were measured in mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) from two areas in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA. One area (Sixty Lakes Basin, Kings Canyon National Park) had large, apparently healthy populations of frogs. A second area (Tablelands, Sequoia National Park) once had large populations, but the species had been extirpated from this area by the early 1980s. The Tablelands is exposed directly to prevailing winds from agricultural regions to the west. When an experimental reintroduction of R. muscosa in 1994 to 1995 was deemed unsuccessful in 1997, the last 20 (reintroduced) frogs that could be found were collected from the Tablelands, and pesticide concentrations in both frog tissue and the water were measured at both the Tablelands and at reference sites at Sixty Lakes. In frog tissues, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) concentration was one to two orders of magnitude higher than the other organochlorines (46+/-20 ng/g wet wt at Tablelands and 17+/-8 Sixty Lakes). Both gamma-chlordane and trans-nonachlor were found in significantly greater concentrations in Tablelands frog tissues compared with Sixty Lakes. Organophosphate insecticides, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon were observed primarily in surface water with higher concentrations at the Tablelands sites. No contaminants were significantly higher in our Sixty Lakes samples.

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New data, including regional high resolution aeromagnet ic coverage, acquired by the New South Wales Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) as part of its Discovery 2000 Initiative, have provided the first opportunity for a comprehensive review of the regional framework of the Darling Basin. Covering an area of 90,000 km2 in central western NSW, the Darling Basin contains over 8,000 m of mainly Palaeozoic sediments. With only 17 petroleum wells drilled in the basin, mostly during the 1960s and 1970s, and some 1,550 km of modern multifold seismic coverage, the Darling Basin represents one of the major frontier basinal regions of onshore Australia.The initial phase of petroleum exploration was discouraged by the lack of shows, the likelihood of gas-prone source rocks and presence of a thick, red-bed dominated, organically lean, Late Devonian sequence. Renewed interest in the Darling Basin's prospectivity followed from favourable, albeit superficial, comparisons between the Darling Basin and Queensland's Adavale Basin, where commercial gas is produced at the Gilmore Gas Field. Additionally, as part of some $15 million expenditure by the DMR on acquiring new and reassessing old data from the Darling Basin, new geochemical analyses of extracts collected from core holes and out-crop suggest the presence of at least one active Palaeozoic petroleum system. This system has been responsible for generating oil and possibly substantial quantities of gas found dissolved within artesian waters in the overlying shallow Mesozoic sequences.

This book is a comprehensive study of political thought at the court of King Alfred the Great (871–99). It explains the extraordinary burst of royal learned activity focused on inventive translations from Latin into Old English attributed to Alfred's own authorship. A full exploration of context establishes these texts as part of a single discourse which placed Alfred himself at the heart of all rightful power and authority. A major theme is the relevance of Frankish and other European experiences, as sources of expertise and shared concerns, and for important contrasts with Alfredian thought and behaviour. Part I assesses Alfred's rule against West Saxon structures, showing the centrality of the royal household in the operation of power. Part II offers an intimate analysis of the royal texts, developing far-reaching implications for Alfredian kingship, communication and court culture. Comparative in approach, the book places Alfred's reign at the forefront of wider European trends in aristocratic life.