Sierra Leone’s illicit diamonds: the challenges and the way forward

Although the Kimberley Process Certificate Scheme has considerably reduced the flow of conflict diamonds from 4% to less than 1%, other forms of illicit diamonds are estimated at 20% of global production. While scholars and policy makers have given considerable attention to illicit mining and smuggling (with some success), illicit exploitation still hinders revenue generation that is needed for economic growth and development in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries heavily reliant on alluvial minerals. Based on surveys of 240 households in four diamondiferous chiefdoms in Kono District in Sierra Leone, key informant interviews, focus groups and secondary data, and drawing from the actor-oriented approach and Le Billon (Fuelling war: natural resources and armed conflict. London, International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2005) conceptualization of the political geography of the resource, this paper examines the problem of illicit diamond exploitation in post-conflict Sierra Leone. It investigates: (1) the causes of illicit diamond mining and smuggling; (2) the spatial and temporal aspects of illicit mining and smuggling, and (3) possible solutions to illicit diamond exploitation. The paper argues that the ineffectiveness of national mining laws/policies has created conditions that are exploited by local and international actors in the diamond industry. This is further exacerbated by the political geography of the resource. Study findings reveal that while better mining regulation could reduce illicit exploitation, bringing buyers closers to miners and offering them better prices for rough diamonds will minimize smuggling and thus increase government’s mineral revenue base.     

Old Chico’s new tricks: Neoliberalization and water sector reform in Brazil’s São Francisco River Basin

This article examines changing water governance modalities in the context of the neoliberalization of nature. Specifically, it focuses on Brazilian water sector reforms passed in 1997 that mandate decentralized and participatory decision-making at the river basin scale. Critics have suggested that rescaling, decentralization, and participatory governance mechanisms – supposedly intended to render decision-making more equitable, accessible, and relevant – can serve to legitimate, facilitate, and thus further embed processes of neoliberalization. Examining the impact of Brazil’s water sector reforms on the state–society relationship, this article presents a case study of water governance in the São Francisco River Basin and finds that the reforms – despite their neoliberalizing potential – have not significantly contributed to the neoliberalization of governance therein. Instead, water governance continues to be characterized by longstanding patterns of traditional elite control. Through an institutional and socio-natural analysis, this article describes and accounts for the continued dominance of these patterns relative to neoliberalization and explores activists’ efforts to use water sector reforms to pursue more progressive possibilities. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for variegation and contestation in ongoing debates over neoliberal natures.     

Crystal chemistry of wadsleyite II and water in the Earth’s interior

Wadsleyite II is a variably hydrous magnesium-iron silicate phase similar to spinelloid IV and a potential host for H in the Transition Zone of the Earths mantle. Two separate samples of wadsleyite II synthesized at 17.5 GPa and 1400°C and at 18 GPa and 1350°C have been characterized by electron microprobe, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, visible, IR, Raman, and Mössbauer spectroscopies, and transmission electron microscopy including electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The two samples have the following chemical formulae: Mg_1.71Fe_0.18Al_0.01H_0.33Si_0.96O₄ and Mg_1.60Fe_0.22Al_0.01 H_0.44Si_0.97O₄. Mössbauer spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) indicate that about half of the iron present is ferric. Refinement of the structures shows them to be essentially the same as spinelloid IV. Calculated X-ray powder diffraction patterns show only subtle differences between wadsleyite and wadsleyite II. The hydration mechanism appears to be protonation of the non-silicate oxygen (O2) and possibly the oxygens surrounding the partially vacant tetrahedral site Si2, charge-balanced by cation vacancies in Si2, M5 and M6. The unit cell volume of this phase and its synthesis conditions indicate that it may be an intermediate phase occurring between the fields of wadsleyite and ringwoodite, if sufficient trivalent cations are available. The unit cell parameters have been refined at pressures up to 10.6 GPa by single-crystal X-ray diffraction in the diamond anvil cell. The refined bulk modulus for the sample containing 2.8 wt% H₂O is 145.6 ± 2.8 GPa with a K of 6.1 ± 0.7. Similar to wadsleyite and ringwoodite, hydration has a large effect on the bulk modulus. The presence of this phase in the mantle could serve to obscure the seismic expression of the phase boundary between wadsleyite and ringwoodite near 525 km. The large apparent effect of hydration on bulk modulus is consistent with hydration having a larger effect on seismic velocities than temperature in the Transition Zone.     

Correlation between water quality and the diurnal variation of Pontederia cordata’s physiology

The purifying tank containing Pontederia cordata was used to treat heavily polluted river water. The relationship between the diurnal variation of plant physiology and water quality was investigated. The study took place from 0800 to 1800?hours and in that period the physiological parameters of the plant and the water quality were analysed. Results indicated that the activity of peroxidase and catalase, the content of soluble protein and the rate of photosynthesis and transpiration were negatively correlated to the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the river water, respectively. Higher sunlight intensity increased the activity of peroxidase and catalase, the content of soluble protein, rate of photosynthesis and transpiration. Sunlight also decreased the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus, the cations (Al³⁺, Fe²⁺ and Ca²⁺), the anions (Cl^?, NO₃ ^? and SO₄ ^2?) and the oxidation?Creduction potential and electrical conductivity of the river water. During the treatment from 0800 to 1800?hours, soluble protein content, photosynthesis rate of the plant and dissolved oxygen concentration of the river water showed a bimodal distribution, with peaks at 1200 and 1400?hours and a decrease at 1300?hours due to decrease in photosynthesis at midday. Peroxidase and catalase activity, soluble protein content, photosynthesis and transpiration rate were highest between 1000 and 1400?hours, while nitrogen and phosphorus concentration of the polluted water decreased significantly during this time. The correlation between plant physiology and water quality provided valuable data on the role of this plant in the ecological restoration of polluted water.     

Assessment of changes in the area of the water conservation forest in the Qilian Mountains of China’s Gansu province, and the effects on water conservation

The Qilian Mountains water conservation forest in Gansu province is an important ecological barrier surrounding the oasis in China’s Hexi Corridor. The water they provide is the basis for the existence and sustainable socioeconomic development of those oases. As a result of unsustainable use of the water conservation forest until the 1980s, the oasis ecosystems of the Hexi region were seriously damaged, and the oasis areas experienced deterioration of their ecological environment. In this paper, Landsat images were used to monitor the temporal and spatial changes in area of water conservation in Qilian Mountains of China’s Gansu province and to assess the effect on water conservation by analyzed relationship between water conservation forest area, climatic data and hydrological data. The results showed that the forest covered 15.1% of the study area in 2007 and has followed different trends during the study period. From 1978 to 1990, the forest area decreased; however, from 1990 to 2007, the forest area increased, with a faster rate of increase from 1990 to 2000, and the rate of increase averaged 2,733.89 ha per year since 1990. The water conservation forest appears to play an important role in flood control, runoff regulation, the prevention of soil erosion, and water conservation; and these benefits increase with an increasing area of forest.     

Snow avalanches striking water basins: behaviour of the avalanche’s centre of mass and front

Gutenberg and Richter developed an empirical relation, \(\log_{10} N(M) = a - bM\), to quantify the seismicity rate of various magnitudes in a given region and time period. They found the equation fit observed data well both globally and for particular regions. In conventional G–R relation, N(M) represents an arithmetic mean. As a result, the arithmetic standard deviation cannot be explicitly incorporated in the log-linear G–R relation. Moreover, this representation is susceptible to influence of spuriously large numbers of aftershocks of major earthquake sequences. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose an alternative representation of the G–R relation in terms of the logarithmic mean annual seismicity rate and its standard deviation. We select the crustal earthquake data from 1973 to 2011, as listed in the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) global catalog and the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) Taiwan regional catalog, to illustrate our methodology. We first show that by using the logarithmic annual seismicity rates we can significantly suppress the influences of spuriously large numbers of aftershocks following major earthquake sequences contained in the Taiwan regional catalog. More significantly, both the logarithmic mean annual seismicity rate and its standard deviation can be explicitly represented in the Gutenberg–Richter relation as follows:

$${\text{For}}\,{\text{global}}\,{\text{crustal}}\,{\text{seismicity}}{:}\;\log_{10} N = 8.14 - 1.03M \pm (0.04M - 0.13);$$

$${\text{For}}\,{\text{Taiwan}}\;{\text{crustal}}\,{\text{seismicity}}{:}\;\log_{10} N = 5.62 - 0.90M \pm (0.02M + 0.17)$$

where log₁₀ N represents the logarithmic annual seismicity rate. Above analytical equations are very well constrained by observed global seismicity data with \(5.0 \le M \le 7.0\) and by Taiwan seismicity data with \(3.0 \le M \le 5.0\). Both equations can be extrapolated with confidence to simultaneously estimate not only the median annual seismicity rates but also their uncertainties for large earthquakes for the first time since inception of the G–R relation. These equations can be used to improve the conventional probabilistic seismic hazard assessment by including the dispersion of the annual seismicity rate. Finally, the corresponding numerical median annual seismicity rate with its upper and lower bounds obtained from above equations for \(5.0 \le M \le 9.0\) is listed in Table 1.

Table 1 Observed and estimated median annual seismicity rate and return period with their dispersions for Taiwan and global crustal earthquakes

Magnitude	Catalog
	Taiwan catalog (CWB)	Taiwan catalog (CWB)	Global catalog (NEIC)	Global catalog (NEIC)
	Annual rate (event/year)	Return period (year)	Annual rate (event/year)	Return period (year)
M ≥ 5.0	24.55 13.18 7.08	0.041 0.076 0.14	1148.16 977.24 831.76	0.0009 0.001 0.0012
M ≥ 5.5	8.91 4.68 2.45	0.11 0.21 0.41	367.28 298.54 242.66	0.0027 0.0033 0.0041
M ≥ 6.0	3.24 1.66 0.85	0.31 0.60 1.18	117.49 91.20 70.79	0.0085 0.011 0.014
M ≥ 6.5	1.17 0.59 0.30	0.85 1.69 3.33	37.58 27.86 20.65	0.027 0.036 0.048
M ≥ 7.0	0.43 0.21 0.10	2.33 4.76 10.0	12.02 8.51 6.03	0.083 0.12 0.17
M ≥ 7.5	0.15 0.074 0.036	6.67 13.51 27.78	3.85 2.60 1.76	0.26 0.38 0.57
M ≥ 8.0	0.056 0.026 0.012	17.86 38.46 83.33	1.23 0.79 0.51	0.81 1.27 1.96
M ≥ 8.5	0.020 0.009 0.004	50.00 111.11 250.0	0.39 0.24 0.15	2.56 4.17 6.67
M ≥ 9.0	0.0074 0.0033 0.0015	135.14 303.03 666.67	0.13 0.074 0.04	7.69 13.51 25.00

Observed value is shown in bold number, estimated value in regular number \(\log_{10} N = 5.62 - 0.90M \pm (0.02M + 0.17)\) for Taiwan crustal earthquakes \(\log_{10} N = 8.14 - 1.03M \pm (0.04M - 0.13)\) for global crustal earthquakes

     

Spatial scale and measuring segregation: illustrated by the formation of Chicago’s ghetto

Few studies of residential segregation in cities have directly addressed the issue of spatial scale, apart from noting that the traditional indices of segregation tend to be larger when calculated for small rather than large spatial units. That observation however ignores Duncan et al.’s (Statistical geography: problems in analyzing areal data. Free Press, Glencoe, 1961) explication that any measure of segregation at a fine-grained scale necessarily incorporates, to an unknown extent, segregation at a larger scale within which the finer-grained units are nested. To avoid that problem, a multi-level modelling perspective is introduced that identifies the intensity of segregation at each scale net of its intensity at any larger scale included in the analysis. It is applied to an analysis of the emergence of Chicago’s Black ghetto over the twentieth century’s first three decades, using data at the ward and ED scales. It shows that across Chicago as a whole segregation was equally as intense at the two scales, with statistically significant increases in that intensity at both scales across the three decades. At the finer scale, however, segregation was much more intense across the EDs within those wards that formed the core of the emerging ghetto than it was in the remainder of the city.     

Post-disaster recovery in the cyclone Aila affected coastline of Bangladesh: women’s role,challenges and opportunities

Natural Hazards - The present study deals with the gender aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) situation in post-cyclone Aila period in Bangladesh. Data were collected using...     

Understanding the challenges for the governance of China’s “sponge cities” initiative to sustainably manage urban stormwater and flooding

Natural Hazards - China is a country with severe water problems. In recent years, urban flooding has become even more frequent, pervasive and severe, threatening China’s development. To...     

Recent structures and tectonic regimes of the stress–strain state of the Earth’s crust in the northeastern sector of the Russian Arctic region

A comprehensive investigation aimed at determining seismotectonic types of destruction and the stress–strain state of the Earth’s crust in the main seismogenerating structures of the Arctic–Asian seismic belt is conducted for the territory of the northeastern sector of the Russian Arctic region. Based on the degree of activity of geodynamical processes, the regional principles for ranking neotectonic structures are elaborated, and neotectonic zoning is carried out based on the substantiated differentiation of the corresponding classes. Within the limits of the Laptev Sea, Kharaulakh, and Lena-Anabar segments, we analyzed I the structural–tectonic position of the most recent structures, II the deep structure parameters, III the parameters of the active fault system, and IV the parameters of the tectonic stress field, as revealed from tectonophysical analysis of Late Cenozoic fault and fold deformations. Based on the seismological data, the mean seismotectonic deformation tensors are calculated to determine, in combination with geological and geophysical data, the orientations of the principal stress axes and to reveal the structural–tectonic regularity for tectonic regimes of the stress–strain state of the Earth’s crust in the Arctic sector of the boundary between the Eurasian and North American lithospheric plates.     

Towards ‘hybrid accountability’ in EU biofuels policy? Community grievances and competing water claims in the Central Kalimantan oil palm sector

The EU biofuels market is stimulating expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia. Little research has yet examined the impacts on water resources arising from this large-scale land use conversion to cultivation of biofuel feedstock or positioned contextual water resource governance in Indonesian locales in a wider political ecology of European climate politics. Through the concept of ‘hybrid accountability’, we examine primary evidence from an extensive action research process in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesian Borneo, to assess whether the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive and existing certification schemes offer a way to improve the accountability of market actors and promote sustainable water resource management. We conclude that these initiatives have had no bearing on safeguarding local livelihoods and the water resources they depend on, with governance mechanisms largely failing to address people’s grievances. Rather, the EU’s policies on biofuels have supported a de-politicisation of what needs to be seen as ‘distributional water politics’. Furthermore, certification schemes such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil offer, at present, only cosmetic tools and are insufficient to address deep structural governance issues. We argue that further hybridisation of market-based certification and governmental regulation should be designed with the purpose of providing new transnational recourse mechanisms and remedies for affected communities.     

‘That’s where my perception of it all was shattered’: Oral histories and moral geographies of food sector workers in an English city region

Geographers and oral historians continue to have much to learn from each other. The subfield of labour geography in particular can enrich its understanding of workers’ lived experiences, both in employment and beyond the workplace, through greater use of interpretative, collaborative oral history methodologies. Attentive to the temporal specificity and inter-subjectivity of people’s narratives, oral history reveals how workers’ moral geographies emerge and change. This article documents the spatio-temporalities and institutions of food sector employment in Peterborough, England, a city-region from which urban-based workers are bussed out daily to rural jobs. The analysis draws on four extended case studies of people who migrated to the UK and worked in the sector in the 2000s, building on recent research that has highlighted harsh employment conditions in the food production, packing and processing sector. It complements this work by viewing narrative itself as an agentic act and listening to how research participants crafted their life stories. These stories revealed diverse, complex and context-specific moral geographies, with participants variously placing value on small acts of rebellion or refusal, dignity and the time to speak with others at work. The article advocates greater engagement by labour geographers with the subjective experiences of workers, and with individual as well as collective agency.     

Analysis of the Wenchuan Ms8.0 Earthquake’s Co-seismic Stress and Displacement Change by Using the Finite Element Method

The variation of in situ stress before and after earthquakes is an issue studied by geologists. In this paper, on the basis of the fault slip dislocation model of Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake, the changes of co-seismic displacement and the distribution functions of stress tensor around the Longmen Shan fault zone are calculated. The results show that the co-seismic maximum surface displacement is 4.9 m in the horizontal direction and 6.5 m in the vertical direction, which is almost consistent with the on-site survey and GPS observations. The co-seismic maximum horizontal stress in the hanging wall and footwall decreased sharply as the distance from the Longmen Shan fault zone increased. However, the vertical stress and minimum horizontal stress increased in the footwall and in some areas of the hanging wall. The study of the co-seismic displacement and stress was mainly focused on the long and narrow region along the Longmen Shan fault zone, which coincides with the distribution of the earthquake aftershocks. Therefore, the co-seismic stress only affects the aftershocks, and does not affect distant faults and seismic activities. The results are almost consistent with in situ stress measurements at the two sites before and after Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake. Along the fault plane, the co-seismic shear stress in the dip direction is larger than that in the strike direction, which indicates that the faulting mechanism of the Longmen Shan fault zone is a dominant thrust with minor strike-slipping. The results can be used as a reference value for future studies of earthquake mechanisms.     

Influence of various factors on the difference in the liquid limit values determined by Casagrande’s and fall cone method

As there are many correlations linking the liquid limit directly or indirectly with various engineering properties of the soil, the accurate determination of the liquid limit is quite essential. Generally, two methods, i.e. Casagrande’s and fall cone are adopted to determine the liquid limit of soil. Research was carried out to study the influence of the properties of bentonite and the presence of the salt solution on the liquid limit values of soil-bentonite mixtures determined by the Casagrande’s and fall cone methods. The results showed that irrespective of the presence of the type of bentonite or salt solution, a higher value of the liquid limit was obtained by the Casagrande’s method as compared to the fall cone method. However, the difference between the two methods decreased with the decrease in the liquid limit, clay fraction, specific surface area and free swelling capacity of the bentonite present in the mixture. Similarly, the difference in the liquid limit values obtained by both these methods is reduced with an increase in the salt concentration.     

What drives visitors’ perceptions in street food events? Potential tools to boost the local and regional development (and how to do it)

The widespread popularity reached by food trucks (FTs) has led to a reshape of many food events into new forms of street food events (SFEs), in which the FTs become the main attractors for the visitors, and not anymore a simple support element to the event making. Such SFEs have rapidly been recognized as a pivotal place marker for attracting visitors from within and beyond the regional boundaries: it is therefore significant to understand visitors’ motivations to attend a SFE, both for addressing policies and for supporting business decision-making processes, since the overall visitors’ perceptions are related to a form of loyalty towards the visited destination, and this linkage might encourage revisit intentions. This study applies an ordered multinomial model to a SFE taking place in Abruzzo region (Italy) and the main findings reveal that visitors’ perceptions tend to strengthen if they find in the event memorable atmospheres and non-routine food specialties, suggesting the search for a hedonic consumption. In these regards, this study provides implications on how SFEs might represent an enhancer for the local and regional development and how SFEs might help preserve the economic and social fabric of smaller and larger communities.

     

A new closed-form solution for circular openings modeled by the Unified Strength Theory and radius-dependent Young’s modulus

A new closed-form solution is presented for the stress and displacement distribution surrounding circular openings with finite external radii that are subject to uniform internal and external pressures under plane strain conditions. The specific solution for a deep circular tunnel in an infinite rock mass is also provided. It is assumed that the rock mass is elastic–brittle–plastic and governed by the Unified Strength Theory (UST). In the plastic zone, the radius-dependent Young’s modulus (RDM) model and a non-associated linear flow rule were adopted to establish the radial displacement solution. The new closed-form solution obtained in this paper is a series of results rather than one specific solution; hence, it is suitable for a wide range of rock masses and engineering structures. The traditional solutions, which are based on the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion and the Generalized Twin Shear Stress yield criterion, can be categorized as special cases of this proposed solution. This new solution agrees reasonably well with the results of a borehole collapse test, a secondary development numerical simulation and an additional closed-form solution using the generalized non-linear Hoek–Brown failure criterion. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the effects of intermediate principal stress, RDM and dilatancy on the results. It is shown herein that the effects of intermediate principal stress and dilatancy are significant; the RDM model is recommended as the optimum approach for calculating radial displacement and support pressure.