Mohorovičić discontinuity beneath Fennoscandia and adjacent parts of the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea

A preliminary contour map showing the Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho) beneath Fennoscandia, adjacent parts of the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea has been compiled on the basis of published information from deep seismic soundings.The Moho contour map shows a 10 km thick crust beneath the investigated basin-region of the Norwegian Sea. It seems that the Vøring Plateau has at least in part a continental structure even if the Moho-depth is only 15 km. A shallow Moho (28–30 km) all along the Norwegian coast is a well established feature. A good correlation between the surface elevation of the mountain range running through Norway and parts of Sweden and the depth of the Moho is also well established. The Gulf of Bothnia is a region of a great Mono-depression.     

“Traditional” women, “modern” water: Linking gender and commodification in Rajasthan, India

In this paper, I analyze the connections made between women and water in a Rajasthani drinking water supply project as a significant part of drinking water’s commodification. For development policy makers, water progressing from something free to something valued by price is inevitable when moving economies toward modernity and development. My findings indicate that water is not commodified simply by charging money for it, but through a series of discourses and acts that link it to other “modern” objects and give it value. One of these objects is “women”. I argue that through women’s participation activities that link gender and modernity to new responsibilities and increased mobility for village women involving the clean water supply, a “traditional” Rajasthani woman becomes “modern”. Water, in parallel, becomes “new”, “improved” and worth paying for. Women and water resources are further connected through project staff’s efforts to promote latrines by targeting women as their primary users. The research shows that villagers applied their own meanings to latrines, some of which precluded women using them. This paper fills a gap in feminist political ecology, which often overlooks how gender is created through natural resource interventions, by concerning itself with how new meanings of “water” and “women” are mutually constructed through struggles over water use and its commodification. It contributes to critical development geography literatures by demonstrating that women’s participation approaches to natural resource development act as both constraints and opportunities for village constituents. It examines an under-explored area of gender and water research by tracing village-level struggles over meanings of latrines.     

Water losses from the Ričice reservoir built in the Dinaric karst

The Ričice reservoir was built in 1987 in the central part of the bare Dinaric karst region in Croatia, on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reservoir water level rise rapidly after rainfall, but due to high water-loss rates the water remains impounded for a very short time. The reservoir volume at the spillway altitude is 18.4 × 10⁶ m³. Due to water losses, the mean annual water volume in the 1989–1995 period was 6.5 × 10⁶ m³. Interdisciplinary analyses and investigations of geological, hydrological and hydrogeological factors which caused water losses from the Ričice reservoir have been carried out. Water losses from the reservoir are defined using a water budget equation. An assessment of the calculation of hydraulic conductivity, and a definition of the groundwater level below the Ričice reservoir, using Darcy's equation for vertical flow, is carried out. It may be concluded that the water losses from the Ričice reservoir are mainly controlled by the water level in the reservoir.     

A late Holocene climate record in stalagmites from Modrič Cave (Croatia)

Few terrestrial Holocene climate records exist from south‐eastern Europe despite its important geographical position as a transitional climatic zone between the Mediterranean and mainland continental Europe. Here we present new petrographic and stable isotope data for two Holocene speleothems from Modri? Cave, Croatia (44°15′N, 15°32′E), a coastal Adriatic site (120 m inland). Modern meteorological and cave conditions have been monitored for 2 years to understand the links between climate variability and stable isotope time‐series records in speleothems. Typical of a Mediterranean‐type climate, a negative water balance exists between April and September, so that recharge of the aquifer is restricted to the winter months. The weighted mean δ¹⁸O of the rainfall is ?5.96‰ (2σ = 2.83), and the weighted mean D/H rainfall value is ?36.83‰ (2σ = 19.95), slightly above the Global Meteoric Water Line, but well below the Mediterranean Meteoric Water Line. Modern calcite from the tops of each stalagmite exhibits δ¹⁸O values that are close to isotopic equilibrium with their respective drip water values. Unfortunately, the relatively young ages and low uranium contents (ca. 50 p.p.b.) of both stalagmites hamper the use of U‐series dating. Radiocarbon dates have been used instead to constrain their chronology using a dead carbon correction. Apart from some Isotope Stage 3 material (ca. 55 ka), both stalagmites were deposited during the late Holocene. Climatic conditions during the late Holocene are inferred to have been sufficiently wet to maintain stalagmite growth and any hiatuses appear to be relatively short lived. Inferred changes in the stalagmite diameters during deposition are linked to δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O variations, indicating alternating periods of drier and wetter conditions. Drier conditions are inferred for the late Roman Ages warm period and the mid‐Medieval Warm Period. Wetter conditions are associated with the Little Ice Age. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Normal” and “inverted” metamorphic isograds and their relation to syntectonic proterozoic batholiths in the Wopmay Orogen, Northwest Territories, Canada

Three progressive metamorphic suites are developed in pelitic rocks of the northern Wopmay Orogen. Two suites are related to the Hepburn Batholith and one to the Wentzel Batholith. All three suites are cut by post-metamorphic wrench faults, some of which have significant vertical displacement. The structural relief so provided reveals that medium-and high-grade isograds associated with the Hepburn Batholith dip inward towards the batholith and are thus “hot-side-up”. Isograds associated with the Wentzel Batholith dip away from the batholith and are thus “hot-side-down”. It is concluded that Hepburn Batholith has the form of the flattened funnel fed from depth, and that Wentzel Batholith is the arched roof of an intrusive complex of unknown shape at depth.     

Paragenesis of “box-work geodes”, Tampa Bay, Florida

An unusual suite of silicified rocks was excavated during a recent harbour-deepening project in Tampa Bay, Florida. These rocks, which we have termed “box-work geodes”, are composed of convoluted, intersecting silica walls enclosing cavities which are either voids or filled with relatively pure monoclinic palygorskite. The “box-work geodes” are interpreted as having formed in shallow lagoonal environments, similar to the Coorong Lagoon of South Australia. Synaeresis of syngenetic palygorskite was followed by opal deposition and case hardening of the material. Subsequent chemical deposition of chalcedony, megacrystalline quartz, barite, and calcite on the void facing walls indicates an open chemical system.

The existence of opal saturated lagoons, as inferred from the “box-work geodes”, suggests that much of the replacement chert, porcelanite, and silicified fossils in the Tertiary deposits of peninsular Florida formed in the shallow subsurface. Subsequent weathering of carbonates and clays not encapsulated in the box works has resulted in formation of a green montmorillonite residual clay bed.     

油气聚集链:内涵、特征与勘探实践:以渤海湾盆地冀中、黄骅坳陷为例

成熟盆地仍然蕴藏着可观的油气资源,目前的油气成藏理论面临越来越难、复杂、隐蔽油气藏勘探的挑战。受“链”事物属性的启发,通过调研、类比国内外油气成藏过程与分布规律,在继承和发展已有油气成藏理论基础上,结合勘探实践,学界提出了“油气聚集链”的概念和认识。油气聚集链指在成因上有密切联系、空间上多呈串珠状链式排列在一起的一系列油气藏组合,是油气成藏与分布本质规律的客观体现。油气聚集链在形式上多表现为油气藏多呈串珠状的链式空间分布特征,实质上表现为油气生成、运移、聚集的沿优势运移通道的链式反应和成藏事件;现今复杂的油气分布是地史上多条油气聚集链叠合的反映;一条完整的油气聚集链由内链、中链和外链组成,它们在成藏背景、成藏条件、成藏机理、富集规律和分布模式上既各有特征,又有连续性,更是紧密有机的油气生运聚成藏整体。“同源多链、一链多藏、多链成域、主链富集”是“油气聚集链”的四大特征。与目前油气成藏理论相比,油气聚集链认识的突出优势在于:发现和论证了油气聚集的链式成藏特点和多呈串珠状链式分布规律,提出沿“油气聚集链”寻找油气藏,比沿“油气聚集带”寻找油气藏的效率更高;将勘探目标的预测精度从油气聚集区带范围提高到某个具体圈闭或甜点。油气聚集链认识具有目前其他油气成藏理论所不具有的独特优势——链式思维,精准定位。依据油气聚集链的认识,提出了“找准链源,梳理链节,确定链环,重视主链”和“全链思维、整体研究,顺链找油、精准勘探”的思路,对指导成熟盆地继续挖掘勘探潜力、新区新领域获得勘探突破,都具有重要现实意义。以油气聚集链的认识为指导,转变勘探思维,在冀中、黄骅坳陷油气勘探中获得重大突破。     

Compositional classification of “kimberlitic” and “non-kimberlitic” ilmenite

Ilmenite is one of the common kimberlitic indicator minerals recovered during diamond exploration, and its distinction from non-kimberlitic rock types is important. This is particularly true for regions where these minerals are present in relatively low abundance, and they are the dominant kimberlitic indicator mineral recovered. Difficulty in visually differentiating kimberlitic from non-kimberlitic ilmenite in exploration concentrates is also an issue, and distinguishing kimberlitic ilmenite from those derive from other similar rocks, such as ultramafic lamprophyres, is practically impossible. Ilmenite is also the indicator mineral whose compositional variety has the most potential to resolve provenance issues related to mineral dispersions with contributions from multiple kimberlite sources.

Various published data sets from selected kimberlitic (including kimberlites, lamproites, and various ultramafic lamprophyres) and non-kimberlitic rock types have been compiled and evaluated in terms of their major element compositions. Compositional fields and bounding reference lines for ilmenites derived from kimberlites (sensu stricto), ultramafic lamprophyres, and other non-kimberlitic rock types have been defined primarily on MgO–TiO₂ graphs as well as MgO–Cr₂O₃ relationships.     

Vegetation, climate and ice-front oscillations in the Tromsø area, northern Norway during the Allerød and Younger Dryas

Sediments from two small lakes distal to the Tromsø–Lyngen moraine at Tromsø, northern Norway, indicate that the area was deglaciated prior to c. 11.7 ¹⁴C ka BP. The earliest vegetation was dominated by calciphilous and heliophilous pioneer plants on unstable soils; this changed to a vegetation reflecting a dry continental climate until c. 10.7 ¹⁴Cka BP. A phase (10.7–10.5 ¹⁴Cka BP) with snow-bed communities was followed by one with a mosaic of plant communities. This was succeeded by Empetrum heaths c. 10.3 ¹⁴Cka BP, then by an open forest with Betula pubescens after 10.0 ¹⁴Cka BP. Ice-front oscillations in the Tromsø area are evaluated. The main part of the Younger Dryas glacial readvance, the Tromsø–Lyngen event, probably occurred between 10.7 and 10.3 ¹⁴Cka BP.     

Petrology of two granite types from the Tribeč Mountains,Western Carpathians: An example of allanite (+ magnetite) versus monazite dichotomy

Two granitoid series have been distinguished in the Tribeč Mountains (Western Carpathians) on the basis of the contrasting petrological behaviour of their accessory minerals. The allanite–magnetite-bearing (AM) tonalite–granodiorite–granite series typically contains dark magmatic enclaves and is produced from oxidizing, more hydrous (about 5.2 wt.% water) melts that were emplaced at depths equivalent to 350 ± 100 MPa. The monazite-bearing (M) tonalite–granodiorite–granite series contains only metamorphic xenoliths and comes from reduced and drier (about 2.3 wt.% water) melts that were probably emplaced at a shallower depth. The inferred magma properties probably reflect source rock effects. The mineralogical discrimination scheme between the AM and M series corresponds broadly to I- and S-type subdivision and may be useful not only for the granitoid bodies in the Western Carpathians but also for the whole Variscan orogenic belt.     

Methane-induced dolomite “chimneys” on the Kuroshima Knoll, Ryukyu islands, Japan

The Kuroshima Knoll is about 26 km south of Ishigaki Island in the southern part of the Ryukyu Arc. The area is considered to be the source area of “The 1771 Yaeyama Earthquake Tsunami”, which was due to the submarine landslide caused by an earthquake. It has been cleared from some investigations using “Dolphin 3K” and “Shinkai 2000” that there are large-scale dead Calyptogena colonies, many gravels of fallen dolomite chimneys and carbonates on the top of the Knoll [Matsumoto, T., Uechi, C., Kimura, M., 1997; Machiyama, H., Matsumoto, T., Matsumoto, R., Hattori, M., Okano, M., Iwase, R., Tomaru, H., 2001b.]. Carbonates of Kuroshima Knoll have various shapes and macroscopic textures. These have been classified into 4 types; shell crust (pavement), chimney, burrow, and nodule. It is clear that all chimney and burrow carbonates are composed of dolomite, while shell curst and nodule are composed of calcite, sometimes both calcite and dolomite. These carbonates are considered to have been formed by cold seep, because they are characterized by the light carbon isotopic ratio (semi-biogenic) and the heavy oxygen isotopic ratio. This suggests that methane hydrate layers develop under this survey area and the water that has the heavy oxygen and the light carbon isotopic ratio is derived from the dissociation of methane hydrate.     

Coastal margin evolution and postulated “basin‐shipyard” area at ancient Locri‐Epizephiri,Calabria, Italy

Environmental settings on the Ionian coastal plain and inner shelf seaward of Locri‐Epizephiri in Calabria, Italy, differed markedly before, during, and following settlement by the Greeks. Sediment core analyses and geophysical surveys in this study support recent archaeological findings and the hypothesis that the margin may once have served as a harbor and/or shipyard. The subsurface Holocene stratigraphy records that (1) the shoreline advanced to a maximum landward position before Greek settlement, then regressed offshore to what is now the inner shelf before once again migrating landward. These marked coastal shifts were triggered primarily by land uplift and probable subsidence offshore along this structurally active Calabrian Arc segment. Associated with this are: (2) a sediment fining‐upward sequence in Greek–Roman time that indicates only partial protection of the coastal area, and (3) possible presence of subsurface structures seaward of the city wall in a sector now positioned ∼200 m offshore. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Petrologic and geochemical characteristics of “barkinite” from the Dahe mine, Guizhou Province, China

Although “barkinite” has long been studied by many geologists, its geochemical characteristics and environment of deposition are still not known in detail. In order to study the petrography and geochemical characteristics of “barkinite”, coal samples from two Permian coal seams were taken from the Dahe mine, Guizhou Province. The samples were separated into maceral fractions, and then analyzed by microscopical, isotopic, Rock-Eval, and geochemical methods. The microscopical results indicate that “barkinite” occurs as four main types. According to their relationship to other maceral groups, “barkinite” is ostensibly formed under variably dry–wet or oxidizing–reducing conditions. The extract yield, isotope data and Rock-Eval values of “barkinite” are different from other macerals. Microscopical and geochemical results indicate that “barkinite” forms part of the liptinite group.     

Insect remains from an Alleröd peat at Lake Bysjön, South Sweden

An insect fauna in a peat layer from Lake Bysjön, South Sweden, ¹⁴C-dated to 11,200 ± 100 B. P. is described. The recorded insects indicate that the peat is of terrestrial origin and that it was formed in a subarctic environment.     

A risky business: Mining, rent and the neoliberalization of “risk”

Natural resource investment in the mining sector is often mediated through conflicts over rent distribution between corporate capital and landowner states. Recent rounds of neoliberal policy promoted by the World Bank have highlighted the need for landowner states to offer incentives in order to attract “high risk” capital investment. In Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, countries have been pushed to offer attractive fiscal terms to capital, thereby lowering the proportion traditionally called rent. This paper examines how the concept of “risk” has been mobilized to legitimate such skewed distributional arrangements. While certain conceptions of social and ecological “risk” have been prevalent in political and social theoretic discourse on mining, such focus elides the overwhelming contemporary power of our notion of “neoliberal risk” – or the financial/market risks – in actually setting the distributional terms of mineral investment. We illustrate our argument by examining the nexus of World Bank mining policy promotion and Tanzanian policy in the late 1990s meant to attract foreign direct investment in gold production. In closing, we suggest that just as “risk” is used to legitimate attractive fiscal terms for investment, recent events highlight how skewed distribution of benefits may set into motion risks that corporate capital had not bargained for.