The shifting territory of government: some insights from the Rural White Paper

Summary In this paper it is proposed that the territory of governance is currently being reconfigured by the state. The state is pulling back from a universalist, welfare role, which entailed comprehensive governance of the whole national territory. Now a much more selective form of government is coming into being, concerned with 'community', 'diversity' and 'locality'. This is not, however, simply a belated recognition by the state that these are ever more important features of socio-spatial life: rather, it is part of the reconfiguration of the territory of government as the state invokes these characteristics in order to modify its ways of governing. Using Foucault's concept of governmentality–that is the means used by the state to 'problematise' life within its territorial borders and then act on the basis of these problematisations—the recent case of the Rural White Paper is examined. It is proposed that this is a very clear example of a governmental retreat from a comprehensive role in the governance of rural areas and shows how the state now seeks to govern 'through communities'.     

Delineating runoff processes and critical runoff source areas in a pasture hillslope of the Ozark Highlands

The identification of runoff contributing areas would provide the ideal focal points for water quality monitoring and Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation. The objective of this study was to use a field‐scale approach to delineate critical runoff source areas and to determine the runoff mechanisms in a pasture hillslope of the Ozark Highlands in the USA. Three adjacent hillslope plots located at the Savoy Experimental Watershed, north‐west Arkansas, were bermed to isolate runoff. Each plot was equipped with paired subsurface saturation and surface runoff sensors, shallow groundwater wells, H‐flumes and rain gauges to quantify runoff mechanisms and rainfall characteristics at continuous 5‐minute intervals. The spatial extent of runoff source areas was determined by incorporating sensor data into a geographic information‐based system and performing geostatistical computations (inverse distance weighting method). Results indicate that both infiltration excess runoff and saturation excess runoff mechanisms occur to varying extents (0–58% for infiltration excess and 0–26% for saturation excess) across the plots. Rainfall events that occurred 1–5 January 2005 are used to illustrate the spatial and temporal dynamics of the critical runoff source areas. The methodology presented can serve as a framework upon which critical runoff source areas can be identified and managed for water quality protection in other watersheds. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QSOs as probes of the early universe

The spectrum of the highest redshift QSO 2000–330 (z=3.78) contains four heavy-element absorption systems withz _abs>3.0. Interesting features include velocity structure atz _abs=3.552 which suggests a cluster origin and a purely low ionization system atz _abs=3.1881 typical of a galactic disk sightline.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

中生代复杂构造体系的成矿过程与成矿作用——以华北大陆北缘西拉木伦钼铜多金属成矿带为例

西拉木伦钼铜多金属成矿带处于华北克拉通与中亚造山带的过渡区,是古生代古亚洲构造域与中生代西太平洋构造域的交汇部位。在中生代受多种构造体系的制约,如中亚造山带造山后期局部伸展、蒙古-鄂霍茨克俯冲-碰撞造山作用、古太平洋板块的向西俯冲和中国东部岩石圈减薄事件的影响等。西拉木伦成矿带成矿斑岩锆石U-Pb年龄和辉钼矿Re-Os同位素年龄资料显示,钼铜矿成岩成矿主要集中在260～220Ma、180～150Ma和140～120Ma三个时期。结合华北克拉通北缘构造演化历史,推测这三期成矿作用主要与造山后局部伸展、构造体系转折和陆内伸展(岩石圈减薄)过程有关,并相应建立了"车户沟式"、"鸡冠山式"和"敖伦花式"三类斑岩钼铜矿床成矿模式。进一步研究表明,岩石的酸碱性、岩浆来源、岩浆的氧逸度、岩浆演化方式、构造背景等因素,制约了成矿作用的专属性。     

The precision of radial-velocity determinations of solar-type stars by cross-correlation

The theoretical limit to the precision (defined as the inverse of the square of the random error) of a radial-velocity determination of a solar-type star obtained from the technique of digital cross-correlation is constructed as a function of simple parameters of the recording of a stellar spectrum.The relationship is used to establish conditions for maximizing the precision for a given object, exposure time, and observing instrument. Both fibre-fed and Cassegrain-mounted spectrographs are considered.     

Analysis of a deformable fracture in permeable material

The response of deformable fractures to changes in fluid pressure controls phenomena ranging from the flow of fluids near wells to the propagation of hydraulic fractures. We developed an analysis designed to simulate fluid flows in the vicinity of asperity‐supported fractures at rest, or fully open fractures that might be propagating. Transitions between at‐rest and propagating fractures can also be simulated. This is accomplished by defining contact aperture as the aperture when asperities on a closing fracture first make contact. Locations on a fracture where the aperture is less than the contact aperture are loaded by both fluid pressure and effective stress, whereas locations where the aperture exceeds the contact aperture are loaded only by fluid pressure. Fluid pressure and effective stress on the fracture are determined as functions of time by solving equations of continuity in the fracture and matrix, and by matching the global displacements of the fracture walls to the local deformation of asperities. The resulting analysis is implemented in a numerical code that can simulate well tests or hydraulic fracturing operations. Aperture changes during hydraulic well tests can be measured in the field, and the results predicted using this analysis are similar to field observations. The hydraulic fracturing process can be simulated from the inflation of a pre‐existing crack, to the propagation of a fracture, and the closure of the fracture to rest on asperities or proppant. Two‐dimensional, multi‐phase fluid flow in the matrix is included to provide details that are obscured by simplifications of the leakoff process (Carter‐type assumptions) used in many hydraulic fracture models. Execution times are relatively short, so it is practical to implement this code with parameter estimation algorithms to facilitate interpretation of field data. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulations of granular dynamics II: Particle dynamics in a shaken granular material

Surfaces of planets and small bodies of our Solar System are often covered by a layer of granular material that can range from a fine regolith to a gravel-like structure of varying depths. Therefore, the dynamics of granular materials are involved in many events occurring during planetary and small-body evolution thus contributing to their geological properties.We demonstrate that the new adaptation of the parallel N-body hard-sphere code pkdgrav has the capability to model accurately the key features of the collective motion of bidisperse granular materials in a dense regime as a result of shaking. As a stringent test of the numerical code we investigate the complex collective ordering and motion of granular material by direct comparison with laboratory experiments. We demonstrate that, as experimentally observed, the scale of the collective motion increases with increasing small-particle additive concentration.We then extend our investigations to assess how self-gravity and external gravity affect collective motion. In our reduced-gravity simulations both the gravitational conditions and the frequency of the vibrations roughly match the conditions on asteroids subjected to seismic shaking, though real regolith is likely to be much more heterogeneous and less ordered than in our idealised simulations. We also show that collective motion can occur in a granular material under a wide range of inter-particle gravity conditions and in the absence of an external gravitational field. These investigations demonstrate the great interest of being able to simulate conditions that are to relevant planetary science yet unreachable by Earth-based laboratory experiments.     

Static and dynamic conceptual model of a complexly fractured crystalline rock aquifer

A conceptual model of anisotropic and dynamic permeability is developed from hydrogeologic and hydromechanical characterization of a foliated, complexly fractured, crystalline rock aquifer at Gates Pond, Berlin, Massachusetts. Methods of investigation include aquifer‐pumping tests, long‐term hydrologic monitoring, fracture characterization, downhole heat‐pulse flow meter measurements, in situ extensometer testing, and earth tide analysis. A static conceptual model is developed from observations of depth‐dependent and anisotropic permeability that effectively compartmentalizes the aquifer as a function of foliation intensity. Superimposed on the static model is dynamic permeability as a function of hydraulic head in which transient bulk aquifer transmissivity is proportional to changes in hydraulic head due to hydromechanical coupling. The dynamic permeability concept is built on observations that fracture aperture changes as a function of hydraulic head, as measured during in situ extensometer testing of individual fractures, and observed changes in bulk aquifer transmissivity as determined from earth tides during seasonal changes in hydraulic head, with higher transmissivity during periods of high hydraulic head, and lower transmissivity during periods of relatively lower hydraulic head. A final conceptual model is presented that captures both the static and dynamic properties of the aquifer. The workflow presented here demonstrates development of a conceptual framework for building numerical models of complexly fractured, foliated, crystalline rock aquifers that includes both a static model to describe the spatial distribution of permeability as a function of fracture type and foliation intensity and a dynamic model that describes how hydromechanical coupling impacts permeability magnitude as a function of hydraulic head fluctuation. This model captures important geologic controls on permeability magnitude, anisotropy, and transience and therefor offers potentially more reliable history matching and forecasts of different water management strategies, such as resource evaluation, well placement, permeability prediction, and evaluating remediation strategies.     

Numerical Analysis of Thermal Remediation in 3D Field‐Scale Fractured Geologic Media

Thermal methods are promising for remediating fractured geologic media contaminated with volatile organic compounds, and the success of this process depends on the coupled heat transfer, multiphase flow, and thermodynamics. This study analyzed field‐scale removal of trichloroethylene (TCE) and heat transfer behavior in boiling fractured geologic media using the multiple interacting continua method. This method can resolve local gradients in the matrix and is less computationally demanding than alternative methods like discrete fracture‐matrix models. A 2D axisymmetric model was used to simulate a single element of symmetry in a repeated pattern of extraction wells inside a large heated zone and evaluate effects of parameter sensitivity on contaminant recovery. The results showed that the removal of TCE increased with matrix permeability, and the removal rate was more sensitive to matrix permeability than any other parameter. Increasing fracture density promoted TCE removal, especially when the matrix permeability was low (e.g., <10^?17 m²). A 3D model was used to simulate an entire treatment zone and the surrounding groundwater in fractured material, with the interaction between them being considered. Boiling was initiated in the center of the upper part of the heated region and expanded toward the boundaries. This boiling process resulted in a large increase in the TCE removal rate and spread of TCE to the vadose zone and the peripheries of the heated zone. The incorporation of extraction wells helped control the contaminant from migrating to far regions. After 22 d, more than 99.3% of TCE mass was recovered in the simulation.     

A new species of Plaxiphora (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) from southern New Zealand

Plaxiphora boydeni n.sp. from wave‐exposed rocky shores of southern New Zealand is described and illustrated. This is the first published record of the genus from the New Zealand mainland. P. boydeni is readily distinguished from the 2 other New Zealand species of the genus, which occur in the subantarctic region, by the absence of bristle‐tufts on the girdle.