Population movement in Post-Colonial Fiji: Review and speculation

May 1987 is a month that will not be forgotten in the South Pacific. The first of two military coups d'etat led by Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka not only transformed the course of post-colonial political development in Fiji, but this event also had profound implications for international relations in the region. Co-incidentally, May 1987 was also the month when detailed results of Fiji's second national population census since Independence in 1970 became available. The 1986 census documents Fiji's population on the eve of a political revolution which has the potential to cause significant economic and social change. The demographic process most likely to be affected in the short-term by the coups is population movement, both within Fiji and to overseas destinations. This: paper examines developments in population movement between 1970 and 1986 with particular reference to an acceleration in levels of migration overseas by Indians and an exodus of Fijians from rural village communities for towns on Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Trends in internal and international migration are evaluated at a range of spatial scales — national, regional and local. Some speculation on the effect of political and economic changes since May 1987 on these population movements attempts to provide a contemporary perspective on demographic developments over the last 15 years.     

浅层高分辨率地震反射法在各种环境问题中的应用

浅层地震反射法已成功地应用于各种地质下沉和环境问题。记录仪器的动态范围的增大、处理硬件和软件费用的降低、使地震反射法成为一种具有高性能价格比的手段而应用于浅层目标成象之中。许多地区的地震资料都具有很高的分辨率，能探测出小于３ｍ位移造成的断层以及仅１ｍ厚的地层。目前，我们已经探测到了仅２ｍ深的浅层反射，还可以探测并成象地下２０ｍ内与废弃煤矿有关的地下空穴；地震反射法已成功地应用于受盐岩溶蚀矿影响的地     

浅层高分辨率地震反射法应用于各种环境问题

浅层地震反射法已成功地应用于各种不同地质条件的环境问题，提高记录仪器的动态范围和降低处理硬件和软件的成本，使得到震反射法成为对浅层地质目标成像的节省成本的方法。地震资料在许多地区具有足够的分辨率，中以探测出位移小于３ｍ的断层和薄到１displaystatus     

New interstellar masers in nonmetastable ammonia

We report the astronomical detections of several ammonia inversion transitions involving nonmetastable levels with energies as high s 1090 K above the ground state. The (J, K) = (9, 6) inversion transition shows maser-like emission in the directions of W51, NGC 7538, W49, and DR 21(OH). The NH3 (6, 3) line exhibits similar characteristics in W51 but is seen in absorption in NGC 7538. These are the first definite detections of ammonia masers in space. The intensities and narrow line widths (0.5-1.5 km s-1) for the emission features are in contrast to the previously detected broad, weak, nonmetastable lines attributed to thermal emission in these sources. Temporal variability appears to be evident in the (9, 6) emission in W49 over a 4 month period. The highly excited (J, K) = (9, 6) and (6, 3) ammonia lines are found in regions containing compact H II regions and strong infrared sources with associated H2O and OH masers; i.e., in regions of active star formation.     

Tricarbon monoxide in TMC-1

We report the measurement of three new lines of C3O in TMC-1. The observed peak antenna temperatures, appropriately corrected for atmospheric and telescope losses, are found to be consistent with a large velocity gradient radiative transfer model whose parameters span the range of standard values for this cloud. The derived fractional abundance for C3O is 1.4 x 10(-10), comparable with the results predicted from a model calculation based on a gas-phase ion-molecule reaction scheme. The results of negative searches for C3O in six other sources are not inconsistent with expected conditions in these clouds.     

Estimates of sediment and nutrient loads in 10 major catchments draining to the Great Barrier Reef during 2006-2009

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment area has been monitored simultaneously for sediment and nutrient exports from 10 priority catchments discharging into the GBR lagoon between 2006 and 2009. This allows GBR catchment-wide exports to be estimated and spatially compared within a discrete time-frame. Elevated levels of sediment and nutrient exports were recorded in all monitored catchments as compared to pre-European estimates, but vary around previous estimates of mean annual loads. During the period of monitoring, the Burdekin and Fitzroy catchments contributed the highest sediment and nutrient exports, however when loads were normalised for area, these catchments produced the lowest unit yields. In contrast, the highest yields were produced in the wetter and proportionately more intensively cultivated Johnstone, O'Connell, and Pioneer catchments particularly for dissolved nitrogens. This assessment offers the necessary scientific foundation for future monitoring, assessment, and management of sediment and nutrient loads entering the GBR.     

在沉积物搬运过程中气体水合物的自然赋存作用

自然界中赋存的气体水合物在海底沉积物是处于半固结状态,具有储存大量的气体和水的潜能。当水合物的平衡条件被打破时,能释放出气体和水。因此,水合物能给巨大的沉积物搬运提供潜在的形成机制。在海底低水温和正常静水压力条件下,大部分陆坡和所有海隆、深海平原在靠近海底沉积物的孔隙不处在饱和或近饱和状态下,烃类气体将形成水合物。水合物的气体既可能是原地微生物成因气,也可能是来自较深部沉积物的热解气。稳定水合物沉积物的平衡条件可能遭到破坏,例如由连续沉积或者海平面下降所引起,其中任何一种情况出现使部分固体气－水混合物开始分解。释放出气体和水的体积超过水合物自身的体积,如果大量水合物分解,那么其内部压力能猛烈地骤增,原来部分稳定的沉积物转化为富含气体和富含水的低密度泥岩。当内部压力由于气体压缩或者浮力作用变得非常大时,其上覆沉积物隆起甚至破裂,而非致密的气侵泥岸可以向上运移。与水合物有关非常大时,其上覆沉积物隆起甚至破裂,而非致密的气侵泥岸可以向上运移。与水合物有关的这些现象可以引起泥底辟、泥火山、泥滑坡或浊流,这取决于沉积物的结构和海底地形。     

Relationship between oxygen concentration,respiration and filtration rate in blue mussel Mytilus edulis

The large water-pumping and particle-capturing gills of the filter-feeding blue mussel Mytilus edulis are oversized for respiratory purposes. Consequently, the oxygen uptake rate of the mussel has been suggested to be rather insensitive to decreasing oxygen concentrations in the ambient water, since the diff usion rate of oxygen from water flowing through the mussel determines oxygen uptake. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the oxygen uptake in mussels exposed to various oxygen concentrations. These concentrations were established via N2-bubbling of the water in a respiration chamber with mussels fed algal cells to stimulate fully opening of the valves. It was found that mussels exposed to oxygen concentrations decreasing from 9 to 2 mg O_2/L resulted in a slow but significant reduction in the respiration rate, while the filtration rate remained high and constant. Thus, a decrease of oxygen concentration by 78% only resulted in a 25% decrease in respiration rate. However, at oxygen concentrations below 2 mg O_2/L M. edulis responded by gradually closing its valves, resulting in a rapid decrease of filtration rate, concurrent with a rapid reduction of respiration rate. These observations indicated that M.edulis is no longer able to maintain its normal aerobic metabolism at oxygen concentration below 2 mg O 2/L, and there seems to be an energy-saving mechanism in bivalve molluscs to strongly reduce their activity when exposed to low oxygen conditions.     

Differential kinetics and temperature dependence of abiotic and biotic processes controlling the environmental fate of TNT in simulated marine systems

This work seeks to understand how the balance of abiotic and biotic kinetic processes in sediments control the residual concentration of TNT in marine systems after release from ocean-dumped source. Kinetics of TNT disappearance were followed using marine sediments at different temperatures and under both biotic and presumably abiotic conditions (through sodium azide addition). Sediments exhibiting the highest rate of TNT disappearance under biotic conditions also exhibited the highest sorption affinity for TNT under abiotic conditions. Significant temperature dependence in the abiotic processes was observed in the diffusion coefficient of TNT and not sediment sorption affinity. At higher temperature, kinetics of biotic processes outpaced abiotic processes, but at low temperature, kinetics of abiotic processes were much more significant. We concluded that the differential influence of temperature on the kinetics of abiotic and biotic processes could provide distinguishing predictions for the potential residual concentration of TNT contamination in marine-sediment systems.     

Evaluation of nonwoven polypropylene oil sorbents in marine oil-spill recovery

Mechanical recovery of oil by oil sorbents is one of the most important countermeasures in marine oil-spill response. Polypropylene is the ideal material for marine oil-spill recovery due to its low density, low water uptake and excellent physical and chemical resistance. Different forms of polypropylene nonwoven sorbents were evaluated in this study in terms of initial oil-sorption capacities and oil-retention properties. The investigation revealed that the fibre diameter, sorbent porosity and oil property are the most important factors in the oil-sorption performance of polypropylene nonwoven sorbents.