First record of a Cretaceous cheilostome bryozoan from Hokkaido, Japan

A small collection of recrystallised, encrusting colonies of a single species from the Mikasa Formation (lower Middle Cenomanian), represents the first record of cheilostome (malacostegan or anascan) bryozoans from Hokkaido, Japan.     

Education for development, CD for Peace: Producing the “globally competitive” child

This paper is set against the backdrop of an increasingly pervasive discursive coupling of peace with development, and of extremism with underdevelopment. An evolving knowledge economy discourse casts education as both a key determinant of economic development, and as a crucial tool in the battle for “hearts and minds” in a global war against terrorism and extremism. Education for development, and education as anti-extremism are the twin goals of the Filipino CD for Peace - a contribution to the UN-backed International Power Users of ICT (Information Communication Technology) Symposium. In this paper, I examine the ways in which this youth Symposium feeds into and mobilizes powerful logics around the links between education and development/counterterrorism. My argument is that education for development, and one of its articulations, the CD for Peace, are undergirded by and reproduce neoliberal development logics in several overlapping respects. I illustrate the ways in which the language of connection and collaboration reproduces a distinct rationality related both to the transformative potential of (private investment in) ICT and to the production of particular kinds of subjectivities: youth as connected, informed, economically valuable global citizens beyond the reach of extremists. The Power Users project works to (re)construct teenagers as “gurus”; conflict (and poverty, and terrorism) becomes solvable through education and ICT. I show how knowledge economy discourse powerfully constructs youth as learning subjects who come to imagine their own roles and identities in specifically neoliberal ways: not only as learners, but also as advocates for this nexus of technology, education, development and peace.     

Characterization of fluid inclusions from mineralized pegmatites of the Damara Belt,Namibia: insight into late-stage fluid evolution and implications for mineralization

Mineralogy and Petrology - Mineralized NYF and LCT pegmatites occur throughout the northeast-trending Neoproterozoic Damara Belt, Namibia. Mineralization in the pegmatites varies geographically,...     

Seismic interferometry and ambient noise tomography in the British Isles

Traditional methods of imaging the Earth's subsurface using seismic waves require an identifiable, impulsive source of seismic energy, for example an earthquake or explosive source. Naturally occurring, ambient seismic waves form an ever-present source of energy that is conventionally regarded as unusable since it is not impulsive. As such it is generally removed from seismic data and subsequent analysis. A new method known as seismic interferometry can be used to extract useful information about the Earth's subsurface from the ambient noise wavefield. Consequently, seismic interferometry is an important new tool for exploring areas which are otherwise seismically quiescent, such as the British Isles in which there are relatively few strong earthquakes. One of the possible applications of seismic interferometry is ambient noise tomography (ANT). ANT is a way of using interferometry to image subsurface seismic velocity variations using seismic (surface) waves extracted from the background ambient vibrations of the Earth. To date, ANT has been used successfully to image the Earth's crust and upper-mantle on regional and continental scales in many locations and has the power to resolve major geological features such as sedimentary basins and igneous and metamorphic cores. Here we provide a review of seismic interferometry and ANT, and show that the seismic interferometry method works well within the British Isles. We illustrate the usefulness of the method in seismically quiescent areas by presenting the first surface wave group velocity maps of the Scottish Highlands using only ambient seismic noise. These maps show low velocity anomalies in sedimentary basins such as the Moray Firth, and high velocity anomalies in igneous and metamorphic centres such as the Lewisian complex. They also suggest that the Moho shallows from south to north across Scotland which agrees with previous geophysical studies in the region.     

The palaeoenvironment associated with a partial Iguanodon skeleton from the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks (Ockley, Surrey, UK), based on palynomorphs and ostracods

In 2001 a partial skeleton of an Iguanodon was discovered in the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks near Ockley, Surrey, UK. When the dinosaur was excavated, a detailed stratigraphic section was logged and 25 samples taken for palynological and micropalaeontological (ostracod and megaspore) analysis, including a detailed sample set of the dinosaur bed itself. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the palynoflora revealed rich and well-preserved non-marine assemblages of pollen and spores, including early angiosperms, and freshwater green algae. Four types of angiosperm pollen are described and assigned to the genus Retimonocolpites Pierce, 1961, but left in open nomenclature. Some marine elements such as dinoflagellate cysts are identified as the result of reworking of Middle and Upper Jurassic sediments. The pollen/spore assemblages depict a vegetational change from principally gymnosperm-dominated assemblages at the base to principally pteridophyte-dominated assemblages at the top of the section. The dinosaur bed shows a pteridophyte-dominated assemblage, with a significantly high amount of the freshwater green alga Scenedesmus novilunaris He Cheng-quan et al., 1992. Samples close to the dinosaur bed yielded the first useful ostracod finds from Smokejacks Brickworks: well-preserved assemblages containing Cypridea clavata (Anderson, 1939), Damonella cf. pygmaea (Anderson, 1941), Stenestroemia cf. cressida Anderson, 1971 and Stenestroemia sp. A, and fragments and damaged valves of a thin-shelled ostracod, possibly belonging to Mantelliana Anderson, 1966. Those identified as Cypridea clavata show a wide range of morphological variety and in opposition to Anderson's (1967, 1985) taxonomic scheme, which would assign them to up to five different taxa, they are considered to be intraspecific variants of a single species. The possibilities and limitations of age determination of the Wealden sediments using palynomorphs and ostracods are discussed; distinct forms of early angiosperm pollen, together with the ostracod fauna, are consistent with an early Barremian age. Pollen and spores are discussed in terms of their parent plants and the reconstruction of vegetation and palaeoclimate. Palynology and ostracods give evidence for temporary freshwater conditions at the time when the Iguanodon died and the carcase was buried.     

The Fe-C system at 5 GPa and implications for Earth’s core

Earth’s core may contain C, and it has been suggested that C in the core could stabilize the formation of a solid inner core composed of Fe₃C. We experimentally examined the Fe-C system at a pressure of 5 GPa and determined the Fe-C phase diagram at this pressure. In addition, we measured solid metal/liquid metal partition coefficients for 17 trace elements and examined the partitioning behavior between Fe₃C and liquid metal for 14 trace elements. Solid metal/liquid metal partition coefficients are similar to those found in one atmosphere studies, indicating that the effect of pressure to 5 GPa is negligible. All measured Fe₃C/liquid metal partition coefficients investigated are less than one, such that all trace elements prefer the C-rich liquid to Fe₃C. Fe₃C/liquid metal partition coefficients tend to decrease with decreasing atomic radii within a given period. Of particular interest, our 5 GPa Fe-C phase diagram does not show any evidence that the Fe-Fe₃C eutectic composition shifts to lower C contents with increasing pressure, which is central to the previous reasoning that the inner core may be composed of Fe₃C.     

Possible effects of pre-existing basement topography on thrust fault ramping

Finite-element models show that one way in which thrust ramps may arise is through the mechanical interaction between basement and overlying sediments. In the simplest case, shear coupling between a planar basement—sediment contact causes the differential stresses in the sediments to die out with depth and distance from the applied load. For such cases, curved thrust faults may result if the strength of the rock is exceeded. Basement topography may also affect the location and shape of ramps by acting as a stress concentrator, by producing a stress shadow and by changing principal stress orientations. Modeling suggests that whether or not these basement topographic features cause ramping will depend on the height and angularity of the feature as well as the rock types that overlie it.Under the assumption of linear elasticity and for given boundary conditions, the Poisson's ratio plays an important role in determining the orientation and magnitude of the principal stresses. Calculations using experimentally measured Poisson's ratios predict that the earliest maximum compressive stress directions should be nearly vertical in the more cratonward portions of thrust belts. However, the stress directions which are inferred to have occurred earliest in this part of thrust belts are nearly horizontal. This suggests that non-elastic or ductile processes have an effect on the propagation of thrust faults.