Report of Investigations No. 131 Origin and Diagenesis of Cap Rock, Gyp Hill and Oakwood Salt Domes, Texas

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Meaning Correlates of Value Orientations

The purpose was to explore the relations between value orientations and meaning assignment tendencies. The hypotheses were that values would be related to a certain number of meaning variables that would be similar in three cultural groups. The participants were 150 individuals of both genders living in Israel. They are from three cultural communities (50 participants each): Israeli, French, and Russian. They were administered the values inventory PQ IV by Schwartz (1992) and the Meaning Test by Kreitler and Kreitler (1990a). The relations between the values of hedonism, power, and benevolence and the meaning variables were analyzed by correlations. The results showed that there are patterns of meaning variables corresponding to value orientations and that these patterns are unique to each of the value orientation. There were similarities in the major meaning variables across the groups but also differences, mainly in the salience of the constituents in the meaning patterns

In Pursuit of the Person in Psychology

Das neue Buch von Brian Schiff, A New Narrative for Psychology, wirft einen kritischen Blick auf die aktuelle Identitätskrise der Psychologie, die durch die Zersplitterung in diverse theoretische Unterdisziplinen und dem Fehlen einer gemeinsamen Terminologie spürbar ist. Schiff argumentiert, dass ein Fokus auf Erzählungen, oder genauer, eine erzähltheoretische Perspektive, der Disziplin ein neues Selbstverständnis und eine einheitliche Richtung verleihen kann. Indem das Hauptaugenmerk auf Erzählungen und die damit verbundenen Prozesse von Bedeutungsgeneration liegt, werden andere Problemfelder, wie die Konvention der quantitativen Forschung und die falsche Interpretation von Erkenntnissen ebenfalls beseitigt. Mit einem Fokus auf Funktionen der Erzählung bietet das Buch eine Neukonzeption der narrativen Psychologie und eine alternative Möglichkeit der psychologischen Forschung. Es stellt einen Appell an die Disziplin im Allgemeinen dar, sich mit Methoden auseinanderzusetzen, die sich mit dem Individuellen, statt dem Allgemeinen befassen. In diesem Zuge stellt das Buch einen wichtigen Beitrag zu der Debatte um die Zukunft der zeitgenössischen Psychologie dar.Brian Schiff’s new book, entitled A New Narrative for Psychology, takes a critical look at the current identity crisis of psychology, which is marked by a fragmentation into different theoretical perspectives and a lack of shared terminology. Schiff argues that a narrative perspective can lend the discipline a new self-conception and common direction. Centering research around narrative and meaning-making processes would help the discipline to dispose of issues like the convention of relying on quantitative research and the misinterpretation of findings. Taking a functionalist approach to narrative, the book reformulates the conception of narrative psychology to offer a new way to do psychological research. It is an appeal to the discipline to consider alternative practices and to focus on the particular, rather than the general. By doing this, the book constitutes an important contribution to the debate on contemporary psychology’s future

Report of Investigations No. 133 Three-Dimensional Ground-Water Modeling in Depositional Systems, Wilcox Group, Oakwood Salt Dome Area, East Texas

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Nitrate contamination of groundwater in southern Runnels County, Texas

Nitrate concentrations in the groundwater in southern Runnels County, Texas, ranged from less than 0.5 mg/l to 3,580 mg/l. Only ten percent of the water samples analyzed contained less than the U. S. Public Health Service recommended limit for nitrate in drinking water (45 mg/l). The major sources of nitrate contamination are soils beneath or near barnyards or septic tanks. Average total nitrate concentration in barnyard soils was 26,000 pounds of nitrate per 15 acre-feet, whereas the average total nitrate (NO₃) concentration in cultivated fields and pastures was 4,100 lb. NO₃ / 15 acre-feet and 3,900 lb. NO₃ / 15 acre-feet, respectively. Nitrates appear to be added to the groundwater by two mechanisms. First, large volumes of water from cattle excrement can enter the aquifers by easy drainage down poorly cased water wells. Second, extensive terracing has caused an appreciable rise in the potentiometric surface with subsequent dissolution of nitrate caliches from the soils by groundwater. Groundwater flow is restricted to solution cavities and fractures in the limestones. Aquifer tests indicate transmissivities on the order of 10,000 gpd/ft, and coefficients of storage on the order of 10⁻⁵. Numerous poorly cased water wells, unplugged seismic shot holes and abandoned oil wells have interconnected the thin limestone aquifers and have permitted extensive contamination of the aquifer system. Early improvement of future groundwater quality cannot be expected because of the vast quantities of nitrate still in the barnyard soils. Water importation or desalination may prove economically feasible for human consumption, but not for agricultural needs.Geological Science

Determining the source of nitrate in groundwater by nitrogen isotope studies

Nitrogen isotope ratios of ammonium and nitrate ions from soil and water samples can be analyzed reproducibly with an experimental error of approximately ±1⁰/₀₀. Two isotopic ranges of soil nitrate are found in the soils of southern Runnels County, Texas. Nitrate from the decomposition of animal waste nitrogen has a δN¹⁵ of +10⁰/₀₀ to +22⁰/₀₀. The isotopic ratio is controlled by the volatilization of isotopically light ammonia gas during the decomposition of urea in urine. Nitrate derived from the mineralization of organic nitrogen in cultivated soils has a δN¹⁵ of +2⁰/₀₀ to +8⁰/₀₀. In southern Runnels County the major source of nitrate in groundwater is natural soil nitrate. The isotopic composition of groundwater nitrate beneath cultivated 15 fields corresponds with δN¹⁵ of natural soil nitrate. Groundwaters beneath farmhouse-barnyard complexes have a higher average δN¹⁵, indicating the addition of animal waste nitrate. Eleven samples of groundwater from Macon County, Missouri, have δN¹⁵ of +10⁰/₀₀ to +19⁰/₀₀ indicating that the waters are contaminated with nitrate from animal wastes. Nitrates in groundwaters from the Upper Glacial aquifer in Queens County, New York, appear to be from an animal waste source, whereas nitrates in groundwaters from the Magothy aquifer in Nassau County, New York, appear to be from either natural soil nitrogen or artificial fertilizer.Geological Science

Super Charging Your Clients\u27 Retirement Portfolios

Most retirees\u27 main objective is to maximize income and ensure that they do not run out of money. This is different from the preretirement years, when maximizing total return is typically the client\u27s goal. The often neglected immediate fixed annuity is unique in its ability to super charge a portfolio. It can increase income and guarantee it for life

Evaluating the Potential of East Texas Salt Domes for Isolation of Nuclear Waste

Since January 1978, the Bureau of Economic Geology has been evaluating the potential for using a salt dome in the East Texas Basin as a repository for nuclear waste isolation. This report is a brief summary of work accomplished within Year I. Using the dome selection criteria of Brunton and others (1977), Kreitler and others (1978) selected Oakwood, Keechi, and Palestine salt domes as possible sites for a nuclear waste repository. The problem of depositing nuclear wastes into an East Texas salt dome contains two critical questions: (1) Are the domes still growing (tectonic stability)? (2) Are the domes dissolving, and what is the rate of dissolution (hydrologic stability)? These two questions are being asked on a dome-specific and regional scale. The long-term suitability of a dome cannot be ascertained until it is placed in a regional context. This necessitates regional as well as site-specific studies. The approach includes three subprograms: (1) subsurface geology, (2) hydrogeology, and (3) surficial geology and remote sensing. The subsurface geology program investigates dome size and shape, the geology immediately around the dome, and the infilling of the East Texas Basin over geologic time and how this basin filling affected the growth of the domes. The surficial geology and remote sensing program addresses the problem of potential dome growth during the Quaternary. Typical questions examined in this program include: have Pleistocene terraces been uplifted or warped, has there been any fault movement in the Pleistocene, and are there any movements reflected in lineation patterns around domes anomalous to regional patterns or indicated by drainage networks? The hydrogeology program evaluates the hydrologic stability of the domes with the following objectives: What are the rates and directions of regional groundwater flow? What are the ages of these groundwaters? How does groundwater flow around a salt dome? What are the rates of salt solution? Does the caprock prevent salt dissolution? This document represents a progress report and is not a final statement on the Bureau of Economic Geology's position on the suitability of salt domes in the East Texas Basin for waste isolation. The observations and ideas presented in this document therefore represent a status report and may be subject to change as more information and concepts are developed.Bureau of Economic Geolog