Van Walt Environmental Connect Issue Two

Van Walt Environmental Connect Issue Two

Van Walt Environmental C O N N E C T

October 2016 Issue 2

Augers in Armenia Helping Conserve Orangutans Working with Save the Children Corer Recovers Crucial Evidence

VANWALT Monitoring your needs vanwalt CONNECT

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Hand Augering among the Carved Rocks at Ughtasar

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Turkish Delight

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More than just another telemetry system...

MP1 Pump is back

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Frack Off or Frack Active

It seems like only yesterday that I wrote the introduction to the first issue of this magazine. “tempus fugit” and so much has happened since February. In business, as in life more generally we make our choices and by way of an introduction to this issue I’d like to share with you one of my favourite poems; “The road not taken” by Robert Frost: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

Flood risk monitoring

Property protection

Brackish water tracking

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It started with a kiss …..!

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And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

The Soil in my Salad

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Studying Soil Properties to Help Conserve Orangutans

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Van Walt Corer Recovers Crucial Evidence

Measuring water quality parameters

Detecting & identifying pollutants

Agricultural runoff studies

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Controlling the snow at Cardrona Ski Resort

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Reasons to be Cheerful, 1, 2, 3 ...

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Confidence-Technology-Choice has been a strap-line by which we choose to do business. Some things are within our control while others are not. But we are pleased with the path we took this year; levelSCOUT, vanwalt CONNECT,

Catalan Water Partnership - CWP

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and more ...

our response to Brexit; but most importantly I think our customers have been pleased with our choices and we are so very grateful to them for their continued loyalty. Without this we would be nowhere. Thank you!

vanwalt CONNECT in Somalia

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+ 34 93 590 00 07 [email protected]

+64 (0)3443 5326 [email protected]

+44 (0)1428 661 660 [email protected]

The World of Van Walt

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www.vanwal t .com

The Evolution of Groundwater Sampling

Hand Augering among the Carved Rocks at Ughtasar

The spectacular rock art site of Ughtasar is set within the naturally bounded space of a cirque within an extinct strato volcano at an altitude of 3300metres in the Syunik Mountains of southern Armenia. The study area, accessible for only 3 months of the year, measures c1 x 1.5kms plus the steep rocky approach from the south and the more gradual ascent from the north. The landscape is dominated by high craggy twin peaks, which form part of the eroded rim of the caldera. Rich grasslands house seasonal pools while the only permanent glacial lake is held by a massive natural dam of rocks and boulders. Extensive boulder streams of fractured basaltic lava spill across the site; heavily glaciated and darkened by rock varnish, the polished rocks form an inviting surface on which to peck animals, humans, occasional wheeled vehicles and abstract motifs. The mainly self-funded Ughtasar Rock Art Project team (a committed and enthusiastic group of Armenian, UK and international archaeologists, art historians, students and volunteers led by co-directors Anna Khechoyan and Tina Walkling working under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences, Armenia and the Landscape Research Centre, UK) has recently completed a survey of nearly 1000 carved rocks. We are currently busy analysing the results - most striking is the extraordinary predominance of images of wild goats with huge horns, which account for 65% of all the figurative motifs. What we have been sorely lacking is geo- archaeological and environmental information, in particular from palaeo-botanical, palaeo-climatic and more detailed geo-morphological studies, which would provide invaluable information about the site formation processes – and perhaps even help towards dating. Excavation is expensive, time consuming and potentially destructive and the logistics of working and camping at 3300m are not straightforward – the nearest village is 17km down a rough track at the foot of the mountain. Having seen environmental archaeologists successfully gaining information from auger surveys at various sites in the UK, it seemed that hand augering would prove to be a useful and non-destructive way of providing information that would help to fill in some of the gaps urgently needed to piece together the environmental conditions within the caldera in the ancient past. The company of Van Walt, renowned throughout the UK and internationally for its soil sampling equipment, was recommended by our UK principal partner and mentor, archaeologist Professor Dominic Powlesland, and by geo-archaeologist Dr Mike Allen, who kindly offered similar advice. I was determined to obtain an auger for our project!

It was explained to me on the phone that the difficult site conditions might not be suitable for survey by auger, however Vincent van Walt kindly agreed to meet me at the company’s offices in Haslemere. Vincent was not over-optimistic when he pored over the geomorphological map (prepared by Armenian geomorphologist, Dr Samvel Nahapetyan). “I’m not sure that you’ll find a suitable place to auger in such rocky conditions”. We discussed the possibilities and the problems and then to my utter astonishment and delight Vincent offered to sponsor us by providing augers, extension rods and handle! Overjoyed, I left dancing on air! Two or three days later the promised packages arrived, containing three different augers, each 7cms in diameter, one for stony soil, one for riverside sampling and an Edelman type combination auger, together with handle and extension rods (to ‘dig’ as deep as possible!). Having tried out the equipment in our London suburban garden we packed it carefully for the journey to Yerevan.

We were thrilled to hear that Samvel Nahapetyan, Armenia’s only geo-morphologist and Roman Hovsepyan, Armenia’s sole palaeo-botanist planned to visit us on site for a couple of days in order to obtain soil samples with the augers and from a small test pit which Samvel had previously excavated a couple of years before. But would they manage to reach the caldera? Two nights of dramatic thunder and lightning with torrential rain meant that the rough tracks up the mountain might be impassable. As I hugged my knees in the middle of the night with the storm flashing and crashing directly overhead, I crossed my fingers hard and next evening, Wednesday 27th July Samvel and Roman arrived having safely ascended the mountain in their 4-wheeled drive vehicle. Next day the augers were used in a variety of different situations, first in a low-lying area of rich grassland not far from a circular mound that might possibly be a burial. The auger descended to a depth of c60cms into glacial clays with no organic layer (more than enough clay to fashion a small human figure!).

Next, a sample obtained to a depth of 40cms from near Rock 9 revealed no apparent organic deposit. But then a much more positive result was obtained when Roman augered to a depth of 30cm closer to the carved rock revealing an organic layer very similar to the one in the re-opened small test pit adjacent to Rock 9. We were delighted to find that a further auger hole near Rock 81 also revealed a possible organic layer at a depth similar to the one by Rock 9, which we hope may possibly be contemporary with the rock carvings. In total four samples were taken for pollen analysis and one for possible AMS dating. Also a sample from the small test pit was obtained for micro-morphological analysis together with a sample for OSL dating in a small test pipe carefully sealed at both ends. These are the first environmental samples that have been obtained from the site and we are very excited and optimistic about the results. But we will have to be patient! As there is no equipment available for pollen analysis,

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Hand Augering among the Carved Rocks at Ughtasar

unable to find lakes or pools which are not too rocky within the main part of the study area. As they are both the only specialists in Armenia in their respective fields, Samvel and Roman are very much in demand and both had to hurry away to meet other fieldwork commitments. But the augers were not allowed to lie idle! Next day we set off for the northern approach and augered to a depth of 34 cm and again to a depth of 30cms close to Rock 946 which lies above a rocky stream which descends into the plain below the caldera. We retained the sample, carefully wrapped in foil and cling film. Our next two samples were extracted from an area close to and within the remains of a possible tented camp. Here we augered to a depth of 40cms in short turf. We are hopeful that organic material may be found in the samples we retained. Next we chose one of the stone-walled animal enclosures that look quite promising with their lush vegetation due to animal dung, but the soils are shallow and soon the auger struck rock. We eagerly await Samvel’s and Roman’s examination of the samples we acquired – the flotation bucket is ready for the soil samples in the hope that they will be deemed to be useful! The augers will remain in Armenia for the future use of the project and for the use of environmental archaeologists. Samvel explained that usually international projects take their equipment home at the completion of the fieldwork season so he is absolutely delighted that he and his colleagues will be able to carry on using the equipment during the year and for many years to come. We are extremely grateful to Vincent Van Walt for his great generosity, kindness and invaluable help and advice in enabling the Ughtasar Rock Art Project to gain much needed palaeo- environmental information. Our grateful thanks also go to Professor Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia and Professor Dominic Powlesland, Director of the Landscape Research Centre, UK and not least to our enthusiastic team members without whom there would be no project!

micro-morphology testing or OSL or AMS dating in the laboratory in Armenia, the samples will be taken back to UK on my return in early September. We will report back as soon as any results are obtained. Please watch this space! Samvel and Roman have promised to return to site with the augers next summer. They are confident that within the area surrounding the caldera they will find suitable boggy lakes for sediment sampling with the augers as they were

Tina Walkling & Anna Khechoyan, Ughtasar Rock Art Project

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It’s back...

Turkish Delight

The Grundfos MP1 environmental sampling pump system has been around in different iterations for as long as we can remember. Some three years ago Grundfos, who have an annual production of more than 16 million pump units and is one of the world’s leading pump

manufacturers, decided to cease production of the MP1. For all those involved in environmental research this was a great disappointment. We’re delighted therefore to let you know that through an agreement with Royal Eijkelkamp whom Van Walt represent in the UK, Ireland, Spain and New Zealand, the phoenix has risen from the ashes and is being manufactured again. ... return of the MP1 Pump • High pumping capacity for purging, slow pumping for sampling • Pumps to up to 90m head of water in 50 mm (2 inch) diameter or larger wells • Easy to install • Step-less control for flow rates from 100ml to 34 litres per minute • Resistant to corrosive liquids • Pump is stainless steel and the cord is teflon coated so can be easily decontaminated • Can be used for sampling and purging deep wells • Individual elements available or as a complete set. The MP1 was generally regarded as the pinnacle of groundwater sampling pumps; powerful, efficient and capable of pumping to a theoretical 90 metres head of water and small enough to fit in a 50mm/2” well. For high flow purging and sampling in deep wells it has never been equalled. At Van Walt we are well trained in the use, maintenance and repair of the MP1 and we are delighted to be able to offer you these systems again. We have even put a new video together to help you maintain your MP1 pump in top condition. Aside from the individual components; from the pump replacements to frequency converters and cables; we will also be able to offer complete sets comprising the VFD, pump, cable and discharge tube on

Think of Turkey and you usually think of sunshine but the temperature, at -15*C hit us as soon as we exited Ankara airport and the first thoughts were whether we had packed enough warm clothes for site work and the installation of a remote telemetry system in an isolated, mountainous area in the north of Turkey. Our objective was to help with the installation of and to train local operatives in the use of a vanwalt CONNECT system. The system was fitted for a water authority who need to collect water level and turbidity >Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14-15 Page 16-17 Page 18-19 Page 20-21 Page 22-23 Page 24-25 Page 26-27 Page 28-29 Page 30-31 Page 32-33 Page 34-35 Page 36-37 Page 38-39 Page 40

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