POLITICS AND MEDIA RICHNESS IN WORLD WIDE WEB REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

ABSTRACT. Media-richness theory is applied to World Wide Web sites to demonstrate how Web-page designers are using hypertext markup language to shape conceptions of place and to provide competing visions of the events that have transpired in the former Yugoslavia. We argue that Web sites vary in their interactivity, strategically, to reduce equivocality surrounding conceptions of space and territory. Media-richness theory as applied here allows the development of a heuristic to understand how Web pages communicate information about geographical entities and help to shape perceptions of place.     

A new, instantaneous aeolian sand trap design for field use

A new aeolian sediment trap is described which can give up to 1 Hz measurement frequency in field conditions. The trap adopts a circular, horizontal trap design with a load cell connection to give continuous, unobtrusive trap measurement of sediment flux. Simultaneous velocity recording is carried out using an anemometer. Trap construction costs are approximately £200. Initial results in field conditions using a direct comparison of wind velocity data, sampled at an equivalent frequency, have given a first-order relationship between sediment flux and velocity. The trap enables simultaneous sampling of wind velocity and sediment flux at a sufficiently short interval to enable investigation of sediment transport dynamics under a variety of field conditions.     

Normal faulting as a control on the stratigraphic development of shallow marine syn-rift sequences: the Nukhul and Lower Rudeis Formations, Hammam Faraun fault block, Suez Rift, Egypt

Tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the East Tanka fault zone (ETFZ), Suez Rift, indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments was an important control on syn-rift depositional patterns and sequence stratigraphy. Sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of the Nukhul Formation indicates that it was deposited in a narrow (ca 1–2 km), elongate (ca 5 km), fault-bounded, tidally influenced embayment during the low subsidence rift-initiation phase. The Nukhul Formation is composed of transgressive (TST) and highstand (HST) systems tract couplets interpreted as reflecting fault-driven subsidence and the continuous creation of accommodation in the hangingwall to the ETFZ. The overlying Lower Rudeis Formation was deposited during the high subsidence rift-climax phase, and is composed of forced regressive systems tract (FRST) shallow marine sandbodies, and TST to HST offshore mudstones. Activity on the ETFZ led to marked spatial variability in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces, as footwall uplift, coupled with regressive marine erosion during deposition of FRST sandbodies, led to the removal of intervening TST–HST mudstone-dominated units, and the amalgamation of FRST sandbodies and the stratal surfaces bounding these units in the footwall. This study indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments over relatively short (i.e. <1 km) length-scales has the potential to enhance or suppress a eustatic sea-level signal, leading to marked spatial variations in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces. Crucially, these variations in sequence stratigraphic evolution may occur within time-equivalent stratal units, thus caution must be exercised when attempting to correlate syn-rift depositional units based solely on stratal stacking patterns. Furthermore, local, tectonically controlled variations in relative sea level can give rise to syn-rift stacking patterns which are counterintuitive in the context of the structural setting and perceived regional subsidence rates.     

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH-FREQUENCY SEISMIC SOURCE FOR USE IN BOREHOLES1

A borehole sparker seismic source enclosed in a semi-flexible tube has been developed to produce a short compressional seismic pulse with a frequency content in the range 250 Hz to 3.5 kHz with a peak power at 570 Hz. The pulse shape and frequency content are shown to be a function of the input power, the diameter of the spark chamber, the salinity of the electrolyte, the material of the spark chamber and the electrode configuration. When in a borehole, the source produces a vertically polarized shear wave but, being similar to a small explosive charge does not allow phase reversal as a means of identifying the shear wave in the received pulse train. The source is shown to be ideal for tomographic imaging surveys because of its repetitive nature, high frequency content and reliability. Very high resolution seismic reflection surveys are also shown to be possible under favourable circumstances.     

Crystal Accumulation and Magma Mixing in the Petrogenesis of Tholeiitic Andesites from Fukujin Seamount, Northern Mariana Island Arc

Fukujin Seamount is a large, active, submarine volcano on thevolcanic front in the northernseamount province (NSP) of theMariana island arc (MIA). Five dredge hauls from the summitand upper flanks of Fukujin recovered mainly highly porphyriticbasaltic andesites. A few nearly aphyric samples are medium-Ksiliceous andesites (SiO₂ = 62%, K₂O = 1•5%). Fukujin andmost other large arc-front volcanoes of the northern MIA havetholeiitic (iron-enrichment) fractionation trends. This contrastswith the calc-alkaline trends of many smaller seamounts. A negativecorrelation of modal plagioclase content with bulk-rock SiO₂,as well as bulk-rock major and trace element variation trends,and glass analyses, suggests that lavas with >30 vol.% phenocrystsand <55 wt.% SiO₂ are partial cumulates. The presence ofbimodal phenocryst populations along with reversed to normalzoning of phenocrysts is explained by magma mixing of andesiticand basaltic liquids. Hybrid basaltic andesites probably formedby the accumulation of plagioclase in a tholeiitic magma chamberundergoing replenishment and mixing at a shallow crustal level.A petrogenetic model is presented for the origin of basalticandesite by combined magma mixing and fractional crystallization.Aphyric siliceous andesites can be modelled by simple fractionationof basaltic andesite. The early fractionating assemblage consistedmainly of plagioclase and clinopyroxene, with lesser olivineand minor magnetite, but plagioclase remained suspended in themelt. The later fractionating assemblage was dominated by plagioclasewith orthopyroxene instead of olivine. ^*Present address: 2260 rue Panet, Montreal, Quebec, H2L 3A6, Canada.     

The genesis of the silica sands of Black River, St Elizabeth, Jamaica

The only reported occurrence of quartz-rich sands in Jamaica is on the plains of Black River, St Elizabeth, where they outcrop in isolated pockets. The sands overlie limestones of the White Limestone Supergroup and the Coastal Group, and partly underlie Holocene peat deposits. Monocrystalline quartz, containing fluid and mineral inclusions, is the dominant mineral of the sands, with the heavy minerals. magnetite, haematite, epidote, rutile, anatase, zircon and tourmaline, occurring in minor amounts. Grain surface texture studies of the quartz grains have identified a series of mechanical and chemical features. Microtextures depicting marine, aeolian and pedological environments have been retained on the grains and represent the last three stages in the history of the grains. The petrography of the sands indicates an igneous provenance, with the major source of the detrital minerals being the Cretaceous granitoids that outcrop in the eastern half of the island. These rocks were unroofed during the uplift of Jamaica in the Late Tertiary and were subjected to extensive chemical weathering, which accounted for the breakdown of the majority of their primary silicate minerals. Fluvial transportation and deposition of detritus onto the shelf of the south coast commenced during this period and continued into the Pleistocene, providing terrigenous sand that was modified along the coast to quartz arenite by moderate to high energy marine conditions. Tidal currents, east-west longshore currents and weathering contributed to the maturity of the sand by the time it had been transported along the shelf to the vicinity of Black River. During low sea level stands in the Pleistocene, some of this sediment that became trapped on the shelf was blown inland by south-east winds.     

High‐resolution stratigraphic architecture and lithological heterogeneity within marginal aeolian reservoir analogues

Marginal aeolian successions contain different lithological units with variable geometries, dimensions and spatial distributions. Such variations may result in considerable heterogeneity within hydrocarbon reservoirs developed in successions of this type, which poses a high risk to their efficient development. Here, such heterogeneity is described and characterized at inter‐well (<1 km) scales using two well‐exposed outcrop analogues of ‘end member’ marginal aeolian deposits from the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone and Jurassic Page Sandstone of south‐central Utah, USA. The sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone was studied in a 1·2 km² area in the Indian Creek region of southern Utah, where the interval consists of interbedded fluvial and aeolian deposits representative of a fluvial‐dominated erg margin. The Page Sandstone was studied in a 4·3 km² area near Escalante, close to the Utah‐Arizona border, where it consists of interbedded sabkha and aeolian deposits representative of a transitional‐marine erg margin. The three‐dimensional stratigraphic architectures of both reservoir analogues have been characterized, in order to establish the dimensions, geometries and connectivity of high‐permeability aeolian sandstones. Facies architecture of the aeolian‐sabkha deposits is characterized by laterally continuous aeolian sandstone layers of relatively uniform thickness that alternate with layers of heterolithic sabkha deposits. Aeolian sandstones are thus likely to form vertically unconnected but laterally widespread flow units in analogous reservoirs. Facies architecture in the aeolian‐fluvial deposits is more complex, because it contains alternating intervals of aeolian sandstone and fluvial heterolithic strata, both of which may be laterally discontinuous at the studied length‐scales. Aeolian sandstones encased by fluvial heterolithic strata may form small, isolated flow units in analogous reservoirs, although the limited continuity of fluvial heterolithic strata results in vertical connectivity between successive aeolian sandstones in other locations. These architectural templates may be used to condition zonation schemes in models of marginal aeolian reservoirs.     

Frederick M'Coy: an eminent Victorian palaeontologist and his synopses of Irish palaeontology of 1844 and 1846

To most modern-day students of palaeontology, the name Frederick M'Coys (c. 1823–1899) is familiar; to other Earth scientists it possibly won't be. Who was M'Coy and why is 1994 a significant year for palaeontologists and historians of the Earth sciences? This year marks the sesquicentenary of the publication of M'Coy's A Synopsis of the Characters of the Carboniferous Limestone Fossils of Ireland (1844). This monograph, together with that for Lower Palaeozoic fossils, A Synopsis of the Silurian Fossils of Ireland, published two years later, which describe the collections of Richard Griffith, remain highly important to palaeontologists working today.     

PLACE MAKING,HAZARDOUS WASTE,AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOELE COUNTY,UTAH*

ABSTRACT. Declining populations, aging inhabitants and infrastructure, limited economic opportunities, and under‐ or unappreciated natural environments characterize a number of rural communities in the western United States. Faced with the challenges of providing for their residents, some of these communities have chosen to permit undesirable land‐use activities, including the disposal of hazardous or nuclear waste. Central to the development of such sites is how a place is perceived and portrayed. Our purpose in this article is to examine how a dominant perception and portrayal of one such place—Tooele County, Utah—was created and used to facilitate the development of hazardous‐waste‐disposal sites. We use the geographical concept of “place” to illustrate how meanings and values are attached to a region in order to justify its becoming what it is and how such views persist.