Mobile pastoralism on the brink of land privatization in Northern Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire’s adoption of land privatization policies promoted by the World Bank and European Union is producing new land use patterns in the countryside. A centerpiece of these policies is the 1998 Rural Land Law that aims to restructure rural economic life along agrarian capitalist lines. The purported “development” objective of land privatization is to stimulate agricultural productivity based on the assumption that land titling will lead farmers and herders to make greater investments in their production systems. This paper argues that the mobile livestock raising system of immigrant FulBe pastoralists in Côte d’Ivoire is threatened by the new land law. Since mobility is crucial to animal health and fertility rates, I argue that reduced mobility will lead to lower livestock productivity. Although the land law has yet to be implemented, its very existence is leading prospective claimants to test their land rights by planting orchards and lending land to immigrant farmers. The monetization of land lending and grazing rights is increasingly common. Land disputes over who has the power to allocate land are also on the rise. I argue that this heightened interest in “tenure building” is constraining herd mobility, especially for herders with limited resources to negotiate access to rangelands. On the other hand, land privatization is strengthening the hand of local cattle-owning farmers who increasingly practice mobile livestock raising and compete with FulBe herders for grazing lands. Under these new conditions of land access, control, and competition, FulBe herd mobility and productivity are at risk of declining.     

The production relations of contract farming in Honduras

Contract farmers in central Honduras have been producers of Asian vegetables for American markets since 1989. Contract farming holds the potential to provide benefits to small farmers who would otherwise be unable to access export markets but production relations between firms and farmers are often asymmetric and can be exploitative. Poor communication and legacies of mistrust between commodity agriculture and small farmers lead to ambiguities in the contracting system that are misinterpreted by both firms and farmers, creating social tensions between contracting parties. This article will consider how farmers’ navigation of the contracting system and competition between export firms has led to changes in the system. Through competition for a limited pool of outgrowers, firms adjust their policies in favor of farmers without explicit attempts of labor organization on the part of the farmers.

农村土地承包经营权流转问题研究--以肥城市为例

家庭联产承包责任制实现了土地所有权和使用权的初步分离,使农民获得了相对独立的承包经营权,极大地调动了农民的生产积极性。然而,随着农村经济社会的发展,人地矛盾日益激化,土地的边际生产力已出现明显的递减趋势,土地小规模家庭经营,农业的比较利益大大下降;同时,农村的剩余劳动力涌向经济较发达的大中城市,城市化进程骤然加剧等,使得土地家庭承包经营这一土地制度逐渐显露出自身的缺陷。在稳定农村土地承包关系的前提下,促进农村土地流转,可以在一定程度上发挥土地的规模效益,促进农村经济社会的健康持续发展。     

Enhancement of edges of Sidi Chennane phosphate “disturbances” using sunshading responses of resistivity data

Sunshading is a powerful tool for the enhancement of edges in images. Given the azimuth and elevation of a source illumination, it calculates the reflectance from a surface which is composed of the data to be interpreted. It is a standard tool used in the interpretation of geophysical potential field data. In the great Oulad Abdoun phosphate basin, inclusions of sterile hardpan — so-called “disturbances” — are hard to detect as they interfere with phosphates. Their resistivity is above 200 Ohmm against 80 to 150 Ohmm for a phosphate-rich mineral. A Schlumberger resistivity survey over an area of 50 hectares was carried out. The geologic setting was successfully modeled on the basis of sunshaded maps of disturbances. A new field procedure was tested to deal with the extended edges of anomalous zones of phosphate deposit disturbances. Phosphate reserves were estimated more reliably.     

Chronologic implications of new Miocene mammals from the Cura-Mallín and Trapa Trapa formations, Laguna del Laja area, south central Chile

Recent work in the central Andean Main Range of Chile near Laguna del Laja (37.5°S, 71°W) has produced the first mammal fossils for the region. Fossils, locally abundant and well preserved, occur patchily across a wide area southeast of the lake. Mammalian remains are derived from generally strongly folded (kilometer-scale) exposures of the locally 1.8 km thick, early to middle Miocene Cura-Mallín Formation; two identifiable specimens have been recovered from the overlying Trapa Trapa Formation as well. Both formations consist primarily of well-stratified (1–5 m thick layers) volcaniclastic and volcanic strata, deposited predominantly in fluviatile systems. The Cura-Mallín Formation is possibly the southern continuation of (or lateral equivalent to) the richly fossiliferous Abanico Formation mapped between 32°S and 36°S. Intensive sampling in a series of localities east and south of Laguna del Laja has yielded diverse faunas, in addition to radioisotopically dateable horizons. The new fossil mammal faunas represent as many as six South American Land Mammal “Ages” (SALMAs). Fossils, together with preliminary ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar radioisotopic dates, ranging from 9 to 20 Ma across the exposed thickness of the Cura-Mallín Formation and into the overlying Trapa Trapa Formation, provide a robust geochronological framework for middle Cenozoic strata in the Laguna del Laja region. The sequence of directly superposed mammalian assemblages at Laguna del Laja is one of the longest in all of South America, rivaled only by the classic Gran Barranca section of Patagonian Argentina. These data illuminate the geological history of the area and its record of mammalian evolution. The potential to isotopically date these diverse faunas with high precision (error ± 0.5 Ma) presents a rare opportunity to calibrate related portions of the SALMA sequence.     

Rural development planning in Pakistan

Summary and Perspectives Most of the rural development plans and green revolution technology attempted in Pakistan between the years 1950 and 1970 were a part of induced transformations and institutional innovations. These attempts did bring some advances in productivity in Pakistan. In recent years, Panjab broke the international records in wheat production. But, a review of rural development efforts and wide application of induced innovations provide mixed results. Since 1972, the Integrated Rural Development has been adopted as a model for country's agrarian reforms, because of the gains at Shadab Project. The success of Shadab was impressive indeed, but Pakistan's economy, history, and society call for caution and raise scepticism, as were rightly pointed out byRuttan (12) for Integrated Rural Development Program.Success of Shadab Project was in large part due to well guided input of human resources devoted to organizational, management and technical assistance. Extensive extension services, model demonstration farms, publicity, and the training of farmers in various new techniques of agriculture were provided. The history of other development efforts prove that similar intensity of resource input cannot be maintained, when the program is generalized.Furthermore, the administrative freedom usually available in pilot projects of limited geographic extent to tailor programs precisely to local, national, and human endowments is usually not available in widespread use due to administrative inconveniences. Likewise, resources of physical, and institutional infrastructure are likely to diminish when the program is spread widely. Another perspective which worries the historical-cultural geographers is the dominant cultural attitudes and preferences of the village people in Pakistan.Pakistani way of life does not set man so much against the nature, as he often has been in the western world. Man is viewed as a part of nature, who can be happy and successful if he adjusts himself to his habitat. Rural Pakistan values leisure as an end in itself, and believes in its predestiny as set by one's luck. This luck-leisure attitude is one of the graces of rural Pakistan, and often serves as an impediment to quick induced changes, which did not evolve from within their own society.Deh Nareja, which this author is studying for the past 23 years as his laboratory to study rural changes, is a good example. Deh Nareja is an assemblage for six villages, with about 1000 people, located 15 km southwest of Tatta. The Deh is linked with Tatta, a tourist town and headquarter of the district administration, by a canal path and a surfaced road. Proximity and spatial linkage with Tatta have made the people of Deh Nareja more mobile, than their counterparts in other villages. In spite of this interchange, and exposure of farmers to other ways of life in the town, Deh Nareja remains a repository of traditional values, and traditional agriculture.Comparison of two maps of Deh Nareja, substantiates this point (Fig. 2). In order to improve the field ditches and save the water lost to seepage and spills, a survey was done in early 1960, to lay the fields in a rectangular pattern. Equal amount of land which belonged to a farmer as an irregular field was given to the farmer in a rectangular pattern (Fig 3). It took considerable amount of time and resources to accomplish the task, but the rural people resisted this change to the extent that the entire plan had to be abandoned. The traditional sentimental love of one's own land, its hereditary linkage were far more important than an efficient irrigation and agriculture.However, consequent to March 1972 land reforms, certain changes were visible in the attitude of the farmers. During a visit again to Deh Nareja and to a number of other villages in Pakistan in the summer of 1976, a certain optimism and hope was noticeable amongst the villagers. The farmers seemed to be more conscious of their rights; they were more aggressive, and were looking forward to a better future. Comparing with their former subdued and downtrodden condition, their changed situation and perceptions can better be expressed by the term agro-nauts. The term agro-naut is introduced here for the present conscious, partly reliant, and aggressive farmers, as against subdued, downtrodden and exploited peasants. Like astronauts, these agro-nauts still do not know their destiny or ramifications of induced changes, but seem to be prepared to accomplish something new. The first ever national conference of agro-nauts convened at Mandi Bahauddin, Panjab, and adoption of a national farmers charter were the steps in the right direction to enhance the confidence of the agro-nauts.Under this changed situation, the Integrated Rural Development Program, seems to have some potential, if environmental, cultural and historical roots of Pakistan are not ignored, and package transformations are induced without destroying the present producing ability of the farmers.     

Structure and geochronology of the southern Xainza-Dinggye rift and its relationship to the south Tibetan detachment system

The Xainza-Dinggye rift is one of several north-south trending rifts in central and southern Tibet created by Cenozoic east-west extension during Indo-Asian convergence. The southern part of the rift cuts through the Tethyan and High Himalayas. In the Tethyan Himalaya, this rift consists of an early domal structure and a late normal fault developed during the progressive deformation. The dome is cored by leucogranitic plutons that intruded during extension. Muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the mylonitic leucogranite indicate that extension in the Tethyan Himalaya began at 8 Ma or before. In the High Himalaya, the rift is controlled by a normal fault dipping to the southeast. This fault has a structural constitution similar to a detachment fault. Its lower block is made up of mylonitic High Himalayan gneiss, intruded by early mylonitic leucogranite sills and late less-deformed biotite-bearing leucogranite dikes. Mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of these leucogranites and the retrograded metamorphosed gneiss of the lower block range from 13 to 10 Ma. In the study area, the south Tibetan detachment system (STDS) is a ductile shear zone composed of mylonitic leucogranite that is intruded by less-deformed leucogranite and overlain by low grade metamorphic rocks. Mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of leucogranites in the shear zone and schist from the detachment hanging wall indicate a protracted deformation history of the STDS from 19 to 13 Ma. The Xainza-Dinggye rift is younger than the STDS because it offsets the STDS; this north-south trending rift belongs to a different tectonic system from the east-west striking STDS, and may be caused by geological process related to India–Asia convergence. This temporal and spatial relationship of the STDS to the rift may indicate an important change in tectonic regime at 13 Ma in the building of the plateau.     

Archean Granitoids at the Contact of Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt and Singhbhum-Orissa Craton, in Bhuban-Rengali Sector, Orissa, India

The small granite plutons occurring at the contact of the Singhbhum-Orissa Iron Ore craton (IOC) to the north and the Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt (EGGB) to the south in eastern Indian shield are characterised by the presence of enclaves of the granulites of EGGB and the greenschist facies rocks of IOC. These granites also bear the imprints of later cataclastic deformation which is present at the contact of the IOC and the EGGB. In situ Pb-Pb zircon dating of these granites gives minimum age of their formation 2.80 Ga. A whole-rock three point Rb-Sr isochron age of this rock is found to be 2.90 Ga. Therefore, the true age of formation of these granites will be around 2.90–2.80 Ga. These granitic rocks also contain xenocrystic zircon components of 3.50 Ga and show a later metasomatic or metamorphic effect 2.48 Ga obtained from the analyses on overgrowths developed on 2.80 Ga old zircon cores. The presence of granulitic enclaves within these contact zone granite indicates that the granulite facies metamorphism of the EGGB is 2.80 Ga or still older in age. The cataclastic deformations observed at the contact zone of the two adjacent cratons is definitely younger than 2.80 Ga and possibly related to 2.48 Ga event observed from the overgrowths. As 2.80 Ga granite plutons of small dimensions are also observed at the western margin of the IOC; it can be concluded that a geologic event occurred 2.80 Ga over the IOC when small granite bodies evolved at the marginal part of this craton after its stabilisation at 3.09 Ga.     

Guidelines for assessing the petroleum potential of coaly source rocks using Rock-Eval pyrolysis

Coaly source rocks are sufficiently different from marine and lacustrine source rocks in their organic matter characteristics to warrant separate guidelines for their assessment using Rock-Eval pyrolysis. The rank threshold for oil generation is indicated by the increase in BI (S1/TOC) at Rank(S_r)9–10 (T_max 420–430 °C, R_o 0.55–0.6%), and the threshold for oil expulsion is indicated by the peak in QI ([S1+S2]/TOC) at Rank(S_r)11–12.5 (T_max 430–440 °C, R_o 0.65–0.85%). The pronounced rank-related increase in HI (S2/TOC) prior to oil expulsion renders the use of immature samples inappropriate for source rock characterisation. A more realistic indication of the petroleum generative potential and oil expulsion efficiency of coaly source rocks can be gained from samples near the onset of expulsion. Alternatively, effective HI′ values (i.e. HIs near the onset of expulsion) can be estimated by translating the measured HIs of immature samples along the maturation pathway defined by the New Zealand (or other defined) Coal Band. Coaly source rocks comprise a continuum of coaly lithologies, including coals, shaly coals and coaly mudstones. Determination of the total genetic potential of coaly source rock sequences is best made using lithology-based samples near the onset of expulsion.     

Changes in Zn speciation during soil formation from Zn-rich limestones

In order to better understand the long-term speciation and fractionation of Zn in soils, we investigated three soils naturally enriched in Zn (237–864 mg/kg Zn) from the weathering of Zn-rich limestones (40–207 mg/kg Zn) using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy and sequential extractions. The analysis of bulk EXAFS spectra by linear combination fitting (LCF) indicated that Zn in the oolitic limestones was mainly present as Zn-containing calcite (at site Dornach), Zn-containing goethite (Gurnigel) and Zn-containing goethite and sphalerite (Liestal). Correspondingly, extraction of the powdered rocks with 1 M NH₄-acetate at pH 6.0 mobilized only minor fractions of Zn from the Gurnigel and Liestal limestones (<30%), but most Zn from the Dornach rock (81%). In the Dornach soil, part of the Zn released from the dissolving limestone was subsequently incorporated into pedogenic hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite (Zn-HIV, 30%) and Zn-containing kaolinite (30%) and adsorbed or complexed by soil organic and inorganic components (40%). The Gurnigel and Liestal soils contained substantial amounts of Zn-containing goethite (50%) stemming from the parent rock, smaller amounts (20%) of Zn-containing kaolinite (and possibly Zn-HIV), as well as adsorbed or complexed Zn-species (30%). In the soil from Liestal, sphalerite was only found in trace amounts, indicating its dissolution during soil formation. In sequential extractions, large percentages of Zn (55–85%) were extracted in recalcitrant extraction steps, confirming that Zn-HIV, Zn-containing kaolinite and Zn-containing goethite are highly resistant to weathering. These Zn-bearing phases thus represent long-term hosts for Zn in soils over thousands of years. The capability of these phases to immobilize Zn in heavily contaminated soils may however be limited by their uptake capacity (especially HIV and kaolinite) or their abundance in soil.     

Part-time farming: The Cyprus case

Part-time farming is a feature and a consequence of economic change which involves labour movement out of agriculture. It helps to sustain the rural sector by reducing the rate of outmigration. This paper reports on a pilot survey of part-time farmers in the S, Government-controlled part of Cyprus. The economy is growing rapidly with agriculture declining in relative importance although still contributing nearly half the value of exports. Over 50 % of farmers are part-time, meaning in this case they have another occupation. In general, farming is a minor activity and time spent in off-farm work is often increasing to maintain income levels. However the majority of the sample are keen to maintain their farming activity.In the Cyprus study part-time farmers appear slightly younger and operate smaller units than average; they rent in less land and irrigate a smaller area. Considerable differences are found between the four main agricultural zones; mountain, vines, dryland and coastal. At one extreme, exemplified by the coastal zone, commercial part-time farming provides a high standard of living on farms which are somewhat smaller than average. Off-farm work is available locally and complements farm work. Farmers' confidence in long-term prospects is reflected in their willingness (and ability) to invest on the farm and in their low levels of family, migration. At the other extreme, found in the depressed areas of the mountain zone, overt government policies may be required to ensure the continued existence of farming. The combined income of on and off farm work may be inadequate and farmers often have to borrow to meet basic household needs. These farmers travel long distances to find work and may have more than one off-farm occupation. Much of the burden of farm work falls on other family members. Although farmers would prefer to spend more time in agriculture they have limited confidence in its future prospects and recognize the possible necessity of outmigration.     

Kinematic variations across Eastern Cordillera at 24°S (Central Andes): Tectonic and magmatic implications

The Eastern Cordillera (Central Andes,  24°S) consists of a basement-involved thrust system, resulting from Miocene–Quaternary eastward migrating compression, separating the Puna plateau from the Santa Barbara System foreland. The inferred Tertiary strains arising from shortening in the Eastern Cordillera and Santa Barbara System are similar, higher than in the Puna. Slip data collected on the major  N–S trending faults of Eastern Cordillera show a westward progression from dip-slip (contraction) to dextral and sinistral motions. This, consistently with established tectonic models, may result from partitioning due to the oblique Mio-Quaternary underthrusting of the Brazilian Shield north of 24°S. This strain partitioning has three main implications. (1) As the dextral and sinistral shear in the Eastern Cordillera are  62% and 29% of the compressive strain respectively, the Eastern Cordillera results more strained than Santa Barbara System foreland, contrary to previous estimates. (2) The partitioning in the Eastern Cordillera may find its counterpart in that to the west of the Central Andes, giving a possible structural symmetry to the Central Andes. (3) The easternmost N–S strike-slip structures in the Eastern Cordillera coincide with the easternmost Mio-Pliocene magmatic centres in the Central Andes, at  24°S. Provided that, further to the east, the crust is partially molten, the absence of magmatic centres may be explained by the presence of pure compressive structures in this portion of the Eastern Cordillera.     

Raised coastal terraces along the Ionian Sea coast of northern Calabria, Italy, suggest space and time variability of tectonic uplift rates

A detailed study of uplifted Middle–Late Pleistocene marine terraces on the eastern side of northern Calabria, southern Italy, provides insights into the temporal and spatial scale variability of vertical displacement rates over a time span of 400 ka. Calabria is located in the frontal orogen of southern Italy above the westerly-plunging Ionian slab, and a combination of lithospheric, crustal, and surface processes concurred to rapid Late Quaternary uplift. Eleven terrace orders and a raised Holocene beach were mapped up to 480 m a.s.l., and were correlated between the coastal slopes of Pollino and Sila mountain ranges across the Sibari Plain, facing the Ionian Sea side of northeastern Calabria. Precise corrections were applied to the measured shoreline angles in order to account for uncertainty in measurement, erosion of marine deposits, recent debris shedding, and bathymetric range of markers. Radiometric (ESR and ¹⁴C) dating of shells provides a crono-stratigraphic scheme, although many samples were found to be resedimented in younger terraces. Terrace T4, whose inner margin stands at elevations of 94–130 m, is assigned to MIS 5.5 (124 ka), based on new ESR dating and previous amino acid racemization estimations. The underlying terraces T3, T2 and T1 are attributed to MIS 5.3 (100 ka), 5.1 (80 ka) and 3 (60 ka), as inferred from their relative position supplemented by ESR and ¹⁴C age determinations. The age of higher terraces is poorly constrained, but conceivably is tracked back to MIS 11 (400 ka). The reconstructed depositional sequence of terraces attributed to MIS 5.5 and 7 reveals two regressive marine cycles separated by an alluvial fanglomerate, which, given the steady uplift regime, points to minor sub-orbital sea-level changes during interstadial highstands. Based on the terrace chronology, uplift in the last 400 ka occurred at an average rate of 1 mm/a, but was characterized by the alternation of more rapid (up to 3.5 mm/a) and slower (down to 0.5 mm/a) periods of displacement. Spatial variability in uplift rates is recorded by the deformation profile of terraces parallel to the coast, which document the growth of local fold structures.     

Holocene Relative Sea Level Changes along the Seattle Fault at Restoration Point, Washington

At a marsh on the hanging wall of the Seattle fault, fossil brackish water diatom and plant seed assemblages show that the marsh lay near sea level between 7500 and 1000 cal yr B.P. This marsh is uniquely situated for recording environmental changes associated with past earthquakes on the Seattle fault. Since 7500 cal yr B.P., changes in fossil diatoms and seeds record several rapid environmental changes. In the earliest of these, brackish conditions changed to freshwater 6900 cal yr B.P., possibly because of coseismic uplift or beach berm accretion. If coseismic uplift produced the freshening 6900 cal yr B.P., that uplift probably did not exceed 2 m. During another event about 1700 cal yr B.P., brackish plant and diatom assemblages changed rapidly to a tidal flat assemblage because of either tectonic subsidence or berm erosion. The site then remained a tideflat until the most recent event, when an abrupt shift from tideflat diatoms to freshwater taxa resulted from 7 m of uplift during an earthquake on the Seattle fault 1000 cal yr B.P. Regardless of the earlier events, no Seattle fault earthquake similar to the one 1000 cal yr B.P. occurred at any other time in the past 7500 years.     

Indicators of critical point behavior prior to rock failure inferred from pre-failure damage

To investigate possible indicators of critical point behavior prior to rock failure, the statistical properties of pre-failure damage were analyzed based on acoustic emission events (AE) recorded during the catastrophic fracture of typical rock samples under differential compression. AEs were monitored using a high-speed 32-channel waveform recording system. Time-dependent statistics, including the energy release rate, b-value of the magnitude–frequency distribution, fractal dimension and spatial correlation length (SCL) of the AE hypocenters were calculated for each data set. Each parameter is a function of the time-to-failure and thus can be treated as an indicator of the critical point. It is clear that the pre-failure damage evolution prior to catastrophic failures in several common rock-types is generally characterized by: 1) accelerated energy release, 2) a decrease in fractal dimension and SCL with a subsequent precursory increase, and 3) a decrease in b-value from  1.5 to  0.5 for hard rocks, and from  1.1 to  0.8 for soft rocks such S–C cataclasite. However, each parameter also reveals more complicated temporal evolution due to either the heterogeneity of the rock mass or the micro-mechanics of shear fracturing. This confirms the potential importance of integrated analysis of two or more parameters for successfully predicting the critical point. The decreasing b-value and increasing energy release may prove meaningful for intermediate-term prediction, while the precursory increase in fractal dimension and SCL may facilitate short-term prediction.     

Cretaceous and Cenozoic cooling history across the ultrahigh pressure Tongbai–Dabie belt, central China, from apatite fission-track thermochronology

The crystalline terrane of the Tongbai–Dabie region, central China, comprising the Earth's largest ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) exposure was formed during Triassic collision between the Sino–Korean and Yangtze cratons. New apatite fission-track (AFT) data presented here from the UHP terrane, extends over a significantly greater area than reported in previous studies, and includes the (eastern) Dabie, the Hong'an (northwestern Dabie) and Tongbai regions. The new data yield ages ranging from 44 ± 3 to 142 ± 36 Ma and mean track lengths between 10 and 14.4 μm. Thermal history models based on the AFT data taken together with published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, K–Ar, apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He and U–Pb data, exhibit a three-stage cooling pattern that is similar across the study region, commencing with an Early Cretaceous rapid cooling event, followed by a period of relative thermal stability during which rocks remained at temperatures within the AFT partial annealing zone (60–110 °C) and ending with a possible renewed phase of accelerated cooling during Pliocene to Recent time. The first cooling phase followed large-scale transtensional deformation between 140 and 110 Ma and is related to Early Cretaceous eastward tectonic escape and Pacific back arc extension. Between this phase and the subsequent slow cooling phase, a transition period from 120 to 80 Ma (to 70 to 45 Ma along the Tan–Lu fault) was characterised by a relatively low cooling rate (3–5 °C/Ma). This transition is likely related to a tectonic response associated with the mid-Cretaceous subduction of the Izanagi–Pacific plate as well as lithospheric extension and thinning in eastern Asia. The present regional AFT age pattern is therefore basically controlled by the Early Cretaceous rapid cooling event, but finally shaped through active Cenozoic faulting. Following the transition phase the subsequent slow cooling phase pattern implies a net reduction in horizontal compressional stress corresponding to increased extension rates along the continental margin due to the decrease in plate convergence. Modelling of the AFT data suggests a possible Pliocene–Recent cooling episode, which may be supported by increased rates of sedimentation observed in adjacent basins. This cooling phase may be interpreted as a response to the far-field effects of the frontal India–Eurasia collision to the west. Approximate estimates suggest that the total amount of post 120 Ma denudation across the UHP orogen ranged from 2.4 to 13.2 km for different tectonic blocks and ranged from 0.8 to 9.7 km during the Cretaceous to between 1.7 and 3.8 km during the Cenozoic.     

The role of tourism in land utilization conflicts on the Spanish Mediterranean coast

Spain's Mediterranean coastline is strongly influenced by conflicts between different land utilization. Space of diverse qualities (sunshine, proximity to the sea, ground-water, modes of transport, quality of soil) represents a limited resource that can either be wasted by specific preferences of be preserved and used in public interest.The activity that uses up most land is national and international hard tourism, which has influenced the appearance of the coastline since the nineteensixties. Unplanned building of holiday residences and of settlements (urbanizaciones) as well as the high concentration of hotels along the beach have resulted in excessive use with nearly irreparable desasters.Land prices rose dramatically in the sixties and in the first half of the seventies. In the meantime, however, the bad state of the nation's economy has put the lid on it. Pollution and high traffic density, provoked among others by tourism, eventually boomerang against tourism itself.Agricultural areas of high yields in the huertas tend to disappear. Tenants and labourers leave and seek for jobs in construction or services. In a few cases only does tourism lead to a more intensive tillage. It is not only the unlimited desires of a leisure-oriented society that causes such destructive development, but also, speculation among land owners and contractors in order to achieve the highest profit possible as well as the lack of planning and of steadfastness within public administration.     

Seismic properties of the upper crust in the central Friuli area (northeastern Italy) based on petrophysical data

The compressional and shear wave velocities have been measured at room temperature and pressure up to 450 MPa on 5 sedimentary rock samples, representative of the most common lithologies of the upper crust in the central Friuli area (northeastern Italy). At 400 MPa confining pressure the Triassic dolomitic rock shows the highest velocities (Vp  7 km/s, Vs  3.6 km/s), the Jurassic and Triassic limestones samples intermediate velocities (Vp  6.3 /s, Vs  3.5 km/s) and the Cenozoic and Paleozoic sandstones the lowest velocities (Vp  6.15 km/s, Vs  3.35 km/s). The Paleozoic sandstone sample is characterized by the strongest anisotropy (10%) and significant birefringence (0.2 km/s) is found only on the Cenozoic sandstone sample. We elaborated the synthetic profiles of seismic velocities, density, elastic parameters and reflection coefficient, related to 4 one-dimensional geological models extended up to 22 km depth. The synthetic profiles evidence high rheological contrasts between Triassic dolomitic rocks and the soft sandstones and the Jurassic limestones. The Vp profiles obtained from laboratory measurements match very well the in-situ Vp profile measured by sonic log for the limestones and dolomitic rocks, supporting our one-dimensional modelling of the calcareous-carbonatic stratigraphic series. The Vp and Vs values of the synthetic profiles are compared with the corresponding ones obtained from the 3-D tomographic inversion of local earthquakes. The laboratory Vp are generally higher than the tomographic ones with major discrepancies for the dolomitic lithology. The comparison with the depth location of seismicity reveals that the seismic energy is mainly released in correspondence of high-contrast rheological boundaries.     

Holocene activity of the Scilla Fault, Southern Calabria: Insights from coastal morphological and structural investigations

Integration of on-land and offshore geomorphological and structural investigations coupled to extensive radiometric dating of co-seismically uplifted Holocene beaches allows characterization of the geometry, kinematics and seismotectonics of the Scilla Fault, which borders the eastern side of the Messina Strait in Calabria, Southern Italy. This region has been struck by destructive historical earthquakes, but knowledge of geologically-based source parameters for active faults is relatively poor, particularly for those running mostly offshore, as the Scilla Fault does. The  30 km-long normal fault may be divided into three segments of  10 km individual length, with the central and southern segments split in at least two strands. The central and northern segments are submerged, and in this area marine geophysical data indicate a youthful morphology and locally evidence for active faulting. The on-land strand of the western segment displaces marine terraces of the last interglacial (124 to 83 ka), but seismic reflection profiles suggest a full Quaternary activity. Structural data collected on bedrock faults exposed along the on-land segment provide evidence for normal slip and  NW-SE extension, which is consistent with focal mechanisms of large earthquakes and GPS velocity fields in the region. Detailed mapping of raised Holocene marine deposits exposed at the coastline straddling of the northern and central segments supplies evidence for two co-seismic displacements at  1.9 and  3.5 ka, and a possible previous event at  5 ka. Co-seismic displacements show a consistent site value and pattern of along-strike variation, suggestive of characteristic-type behaviour for the fault. The  1.5–2.0 m average co-seismic slips during these events document M_e  6.9–7.0 earthquakes with  1.6–1.7 ka recurrence time. Because hanging-wall subsidence cannot be included into slip magnitude computation, these slips reflect footwall uplift, and represent minimum average estimates. The palaeoseismological record based on the palaeo-shorelines suggests that the last rupture on the Scilla Fault during the February 6, 1783 M_w = 5.9–6.3 earthquake was at the expected time but it may have not entirely released the loaded stress since the last great event at  1.9 ka. Comparison of the estimated co-seismic extension rate based on the Holocene shoreline record with available GPS velocities indicates that the Scilla Fault accounts for at least  15–20% of the contemporary geodetic extension across the Messina Strait.