- Email: [email protected]
Water resources of Canada
330
BOOK REVIEWS
He has called attention to the importance of sea-level changes and tectonic movements in both alluviation and erosion, and shows how such effects have sometimes been erroneously ascribed to climatic change. He does not accept the view regarding "Boreal" and "Atlantic" climatic phases; he considers that the atmospheric circulation of today was established about 7000 B.C., and that at about that time the climate of the Middle East was essentially that of today. He shows for example that all the major sites in Baluchistan link the main areas where today soil and water can support agriculture. He suggests that observed ecological changes have been due mainly to the built-in, year-to-year variability of climate and particularly of rainfall, changes in drainage and erosion due to changes in sea level, tectonic processes, etc, and the intervention of man and animals in the destruction of precariously-balanced vegetation, with consequent loss of soil and change in regime of streams from perennial to torrential. It may be added that the arid aspect of many Mediterranean countries is due in large part to effects following the destruction of vegetation, as well attested from historical records, rather than to climatic factors, and that when apparently worthless semi-arid grazing areas are rested for a few years from tribal or other causes the vegetation re-establishes itself to a remarkable degree. Moreover, in North Africa and the Middle East many of the Roman springs, wells, cisterns, tanks and other works are fully effective today when properly maintained. While the views of the author regarding the absence of major climatic change, apart from random variations, during the last 9000 years will be new to many readers there can be no doubt that he has properly assessed the importance of the application of hydrological principles to this problem, and has called attention to the many hydrological and geomorphological considerations that should be taken into account by archaeologists in assessing the environment of their sites. The book should accordingly prove of interest and value to archaeologist, hydrologist and layman alike. F.D.
Water Resources of Canada. Symposia presented to the ROYALSOCIETYOF CANADAin 1966, Edited by Claude E. Dolman, F.R.S.C., Royal Society of Canada, Studia Varia Series No. 11, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1967, 6 x 9¼", hard cover, 251 pp., $ 7,50 Can. The Royal Society of Canada chose Water Resources as the main theme for its 1966 annual meeting. The topic has been interpreted broadly and the 23 contributions cover political, historical, sociological, biological and physi-
BOOK REVIEWS
331
cal aspects of the subject. The contents have been grouped into six parts under self-explanatory headings: "Pros and Cons of Canadian Water Export"; "Water, an Indispensable Resource"; "The St. Lawrence, Then and N o w " ; "The Great Lakes: Unique Features and Peculiar Problems"; "Physico-Mathematical Studies of Water", and "The Biological Necessities and Hazards of Water". In the first part Senator Frank E. Moss presents cool and political arguments towards a North American Water policy, followed by a strong rebuff by the late General A. G. L. McNaughton. The two debates, which were the emotional highlights of the meeting, have been accorded a fine editorial comment by Professor C. E. Dolman. The three papers by P. Camu, W. M. Cameron and J. M. Harrison that constitute the second part of this volume are of a general nature, more or less introductory to the more explicit parts that follow. Contributors to the third part are Hilda Neatby, Professor of History at the University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. B. Brouillette. Professor Neatby's essay is an evocative account of the historical significance of the St. Lawrence River, which she calls North Amerca's most famous waterway. Dr. Brouillette's contribution presents revealing statistical information on tonnage and value of commercial goods shipped through present-day parts of the Province of Quebec. The fourth part of this authoritative book contains five technical papers on Great Lakes Hydrology, by A. D. Misener, D. C. Chandler, E. G. Pleva, G. K. Rodgers and T. L. Richards. Dr. Rodgers' paper deals with lake-wide circulation patterns and temperature structures within the Great Lakes. He describes the existence of a sharp horizontal temperature gradient at the lake surface, known as the "thermal bar". The paper by Richards describes the influences excited by the Great Lakes on the regional weather patterns. Part V contains four miscellaneous studies on physico-mathematical aspects of water: Meteorology and Water Resources by G. P. Bruce, L'aspect mathdmatique de l'oc6anographie par P. H. LeBlond; Estimates of Groundwater Recharge on the Prairies by P. Meyboom, and a paper on Reverse Osmosis Membrane separation and its application to water purification by S. Sourirajan, co-inventor of the cellulose acetate desalination membranes. Finally, the papers assembled in the sixth part of the book discuss and illustrate that water is the essence of life, but may be the medium of death. Part VI contains papers by F. R. Hayes on biological aspects of the water problem ; by G. A. Riley on aquatic communities and their adaptions to their environment; by R. Desrochers on changes in the bacterial flora in the Ottawa River resulting from pollution by pulp mill effluents and by D.M. McLean on water-borne viral infections. The last item in the book is Pro-
332
BOOK REVIEWS
lessor Dolman's enlightening review of man's painful struggle towards control of epidemic water-borne diseases, especially cholera. The title of Dr. Dolman's essay is taken from the last line of Shelley's couplet: Ay, many flowering islands lie In the waters of wide Agony: which Professor Dolman interpreted as an assertion of hope in the midst of despair. P.M,
W. H. HARRIS'. Stratification of Fresh and Salt Water on Barrier Islands as a Result of Differences in Sediment Permeability. Water Resources Research, Vol. 3, No. l, 1967. Theoretical values are not valid for the relation of fresh-water head to the depth of the flesh-water-salt-water interface beneath barrier islands when there is substantial motion of fresh ground water and where the sedimentary deposits are not homogeneous Or isotropic. Zones of flesh and salt water are stratified; fresh water occurs in zones of high permeability, whereas salty water occurs in zones of low permeability. Near Frisco, on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, the concentration of chloride in ground water varies inversely with the relative permeability of the water-bearing zones to a depth of about 140 ft. Permeable zones generally contain water with a chloride content of less than 100 ppm, whereas relatively impermeable zones contain water with a chloride content greater than 100 ppm. The position of the contact of flesh water with salt water depends on the permeability of the sediments at depth and is affected by differential flushing by flesh ground water as a result of the retreat of the sea water originally saturating the entire stratification, rather than by flesh-water head differences in the shallow aquifer system. (Auth. Abs.) OMAR J. ESMAIL and OSCAR K. KIMBLER: Investigation of the Technical Feasibility of Storing Fresh Water in Saline Aquifers. Water Resources Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1967.
Preliminary studies indicate that the underground storage of flesh water in saline aquifers may be feasible from a technical viewpoint. Such a process would involve injection of fresh water, storage until needed, and subsequent production from the same well. This work, based upon theoretical considerations and model studies, leads to a computer technique by means of which
BOOK REVIEWS
He has called attention to the importance of sea-level changes and tectonic movements in both alluviation and erosion, and shows how such effects have sometimes been erroneously ascribed to climatic change. He does not accept the view regarding "Boreal" and "Atlantic" climatic phases; he considers that the atmospheric circulation of today was established about 7000 B.C., and that at about that time the climate of the Middle East was essentially that of today. He shows for example that all the major sites in Baluchistan link the main areas where today soil and water can support agriculture. He suggests that observed ecological changes have been due mainly to the built-in, year-to-year variability of climate and particularly of rainfall, changes in drainage and erosion due to changes in sea level, tectonic processes, etc, and the intervention of man and animals in the destruction of precariously-balanced vegetation, with consequent loss of soil and change in regime of streams from perennial to torrential. It may be added that the arid aspect of many Mediterranean countries is due in large part to effects following the destruction of vegetation, as well attested from historical records, rather than to climatic factors, and that when apparently worthless semi-arid grazing areas are rested for a few years from tribal or other causes the vegetation re-establishes itself to a remarkable degree. Moreover, in North Africa and the Middle East many of the Roman springs, wells, cisterns, tanks and other works are fully effective today when properly maintained. While the views of the author regarding the absence of major climatic change, apart from random variations, during the last 9000 years will be new to many readers there can be no doubt that he has properly assessed the importance of the application of hydrological principles to this problem, and has called attention to the many hydrological and geomorphological considerations that should be taken into account by archaeologists in assessing the environment of their sites. The book should accordingly prove of interest and value to archaeologist, hydrologist and layman alike. F.D.
Water Resources of Canada. Symposia presented to the ROYALSOCIETYOF CANADAin 1966, Edited by Claude E. Dolman, F.R.S.C., Royal Society of Canada, Studia Varia Series No. 11, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1967, 6 x 9¼", hard cover, 251 pp., $ 7,50 Can. The Royal Society of Canada chose Water Resources as the main theme for its 1966 annual meeting. The topic has been interpreted broadly and the 23 contributions cover political, historical, sociological, biological and physi-
BOOK REVIEWS
331
cal aspects of the subject. The contents have been grouped into six parts under self-explanatory headings: "Pros and Cons of Canadian Water Export"; "Water, an Indispensable Resource"; "The St. Lawrence, Then and N o w " ; "The Great Lakes: Unique Features and Peculiar Problems"; "Physico-Mathematical Studies of Water", and "The Biological Necessities and Hazards of Water". In the first part Senator Frank E. Moss presents cool and political arguments towards a North American Water policy, followed by a strong rebuff by the late General A. G. L. McNaughton. The two debates, which were the emotional highlights of the meeting, have been accorded a fine editorial comment by Professor C. E. Dolman. The three papers by P. Camu, W. M. Cameron and J. M. Harrison that constitute the second part of this volume are of a general nature, more or less introductory to the more explicit parts that follow. Contributors to the third part are Hilda Neatby, Professor of History at the University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. B. Brouillette. Professor Neatby's essay is an evocative account of the historical significance of the St. Lawrence River, which she calls North Amerca's most famous waterway. Dr. Brouillette's contribution presents revealing statistical information on tonnage and value of commercial goods shipped through present-day parts of the Province of Quebec. The fourth part of this authoritative book contains five technical papers on Great Lakes Hydrology, by A. D. Misener, D. C. Chandler, E. G. Pleva, G. K. Rodgers and T. L. Richards. Dr. Rodgers' paper deals with lake-wide circulation patterns and temperature structures within the Great Lakes. He describes the existence of a sharp horizontal temperature gradient at the lake surface, known as the "thermal bar". The paper by Richards describes the influences excited by the Great Lakes on the regional weather patterns. Part V contains four miscellaneous studies on physico-mathematical aspects of water: Meteorology and Water Resources by G. P. Bruce, L'aspect mathdmatique de l'oc6anographie par P. H. LeBlond; Estimates of Groundwater Recharge on the Prairies by P. Meyboom, and a paper on Reverse Osmosis Membrane separation and its application to water purification by S. Sourirajan, co-inventor of the cellulose acetate desalination membranes. Finally, the papers assembled in the sixth part of the book discuss and illustrate that water is the essence of life, but may be the medium of death. Part VI contains papers by F. R. Hayes on biological aspects of the water problem ; by G. A. Riley on aquatic communities and their adaptions to their environment; by R. Desrochers on changes in the bacterial flora in the Ottawa River resulting from pollution by pulp mill effluents and by D.M. McLean on water-borne viral infections. The last item in the book is Pro-
332
BOOK REVIEWS
lessor Dolman's enlightening review of man's painful struggle towards control of epidemic water-borne diseases, especially cholera. The title of Dr. Dolman's essay is taken from the last line of Shelley's couplet: Ay, many flowering islands lie In the waters of wide Agony: which Professor Dolman interpreted as an assertion of hope in the midst of despair. P.M,
W. H. HARRIS'. Stratification of Fresh and Salt Water on Barrier Islands as a Result of Differences in Sediment Permeability. Water Resources Research, Vol. 3, No. l, 1967. Theoretical values are not valid for the relation of fresh-water head to the depth of the flesh-water-salt-water interface beneath barrier islands when there is substantial motion of fresh ground water and where the sedimentary deposits are not homogeneous Or isotropic. Zones of flesh and salt water are stratified; fresh water occurs in zones of high permeability, whereas salty water occurs in zones of low permeability. Near Frisco, on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, the concentration of chloride in ground water varies inversely with the relative permeability of the water-bearing zones to a depth of about 140 ft. Permeable zones generally contain water with a chloride content of less than 100 ppm, whereas relatively impermeable zones contain water with a chloride content greater than 100 ppm. The position of the contact of flesh water with salt water depends on the permeability of the sediments at depth and is affected by differential flushing by flesh ground water as a result of the retreat of the sea water originally saturating the entire stratification, rather than by flesh-water head differences in the shallow aquifer system. (Auth. Abs.) OMAR J. ESMAIL and OSCAR K. KIMBLER: Investigation of the Technical Feasibility of Storing Fresh Water in Saline Aquifers. Water Resources Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1967.
Preliminary studies indicate that the underground storage of flesh water in saline aquifers may be feasible from a technical viewpoint. Such a process would involve injection of fresh water, storage until needed, and subsequent production from the same well. This work, based upon theoretical considerations and model studies, leads to a computer technique by means of which