Vulnerable groups and preliminary insights into intersecting categories of identity in Laamu Atoll,Maldives

The notion of vulnerability has acquired a significant role in discussions around reducing risk and identifying vulnerable groups, which is particularly important for targeting risk‐reducing policy and practice. Through ten semi‐structured interviews with 24 stakeholders, this study collected local perceptions on the following groups considered most vulnerable in Laamu Atoll, Maldives: youth and children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, displaced persons and migrants, and farmers. In doing this, the significance of intersecting categories of identity for understanding vulnerability emerged and was explored; an approach that is often absent or scarcely applied in studies that identify vulnerable groups in the Maldives and elsewhere. Intersections between location, youth and gender or disability, as well as gender and marital status emerged as relevant for the Laamu Atoll context. Although this study acknowledges the incompleteness of its intersectional analysis, these findings provide important preliminary insights into the role of intersectionality in shaping vulnerability experience. To enhance scholarship on vulnerability, future studies could further explore intersectionality in Laamu Atoll and the Maldives using this study as a base and also improve its practical applicability for policy and practice.     

The quaternary glacial history of the Lahul Himalaya,northern India

This paper presents the first glacial chronology for the Lahul Himalaya, Northern India. The oldest glaciation, the Chandra Glacial Stage, is represented by glacially eroded benches at altitudes greater than 4300 m above sea-level. This glaciation was probably of a broad valley type. The second glaciation, the Batal Glacial Stage, is represented by highly weathered and dissected lateral moraines, which are present along the Chandra valley and some of its tributaries. This was an extensive valley glaciation. The third major glaciation, the Kulti Glacial Stage, is represented by well-preserved moraines in the main tributary valleys of the Chandra valley. This represents a less extensive valley glaciation. Two minor glacial advances, the Sonapani I and II, are represented by small sharp-crested moraines, which are within a few hundred metres or few kilometres of the present-day glaciers. The change in style and extent of glaciation is attributed to an increase in aridity throughout the Quaternary, due either to global climatic change or uplift of the Pir Panjal mountains to the south of Lahul, which restricted the northward penetration of the south Asian summer monsoon. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unique achondrite Northwest Africa 11042: Exploring the melting and breakup of the L chondrite parent body

Northwest Africa (NWA) 11042 is a heavily shocked achondrite with medium‐grained cumulate textures. Its olivine and pyroxene compositions, oxygen isotopic composition, and chromium isotopic composition are consistent with L chondrites. Sm‐Nd dating of its primary phases shows a crystallization age of 4100 ± 160 Ma. Ar‐Ar dating of its shocked mineral maskelynite reveals an age of 484.0 ± 1.5 Ma. This age coincides roughly with the breakup event of the L chondrite parent body evident in the shock ages of many L chondrites and the terrestrial record of fossil L chondritic chromite. NWA 11042 shows large depletions in siderophile elements (<0.01×CI) suggestive of a complex igneous history involving extraction of a Fe‐Ni‐S liquid on the L chondrite parent body. Due to its relatively young crystallization age, the heat source for such an igneous process is most likely impact. Because its mineralogy, petrology, and O isotopes are similar to the ungrouped achondrite NWA 4284 (this work), the two meteorites are likely paired and derived from the same parent body.     

Micromorphological characteristics of glacimarine sediments: implications for distinguishing genetic processes of massive diamicts

Glacimarine diamicts are produced by diverse processes, and genetic differentiation is often problematic using macro-sedimentological criteria alone. Micromorphology offers a potentially helpful tool in such investigations. Macroscopically massive diamict samples of known glacimarine origin, from the Polar North Atlantic, Antarctica and north Irish Sea, were prepared for micromorphological analysis to (1) identify microstructures unique to different modes of sedimentation and (2) interpret genetic processes from those structures. The samples comprised examples of debris-flow, iceberg-turbate and suspension settling deposits from late Quaternary glacier-influenced marine environments: tidewater glacier, sub- or pro-ice shelf and continental slopes in front of ice stream termini. Results show two significant features of debris-flow sediments: a bimodal grain fabric of near-horizontal and -vertical grains, and laminated clay and silt coatings on sand and pebble grains. Coatings are best developed in sediments with finer grain-size distributions and in debris-flow sediments which have had relatively long run-out distances on trough-mouth fans, suggesting continuous rotation of grains in a buoyant, turbulent aqueous environment. This is significant because it precludes debris-flow delivery by plug flow. The micromorphology of iceberg turbate has not been described previously. It contains structures similar to those described in tills, so that unambiguous identification of these sediments seems unlikely based on micromorphological criteria alone. Suspension sediments range from fine-grained massive diamicts containing microfossils to more heterogeneous coarser sediments characterised by abrupt textural variations, from ice-distal and ice-proximal glacimarine environments respectively. The ice-proximal sediments contain fine vertical lineations marking the trajectories of dropstones through wet matrix. These dropstone tracks have not been reported in previous studies.     

Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.     

Pockmarks in the inner Oslofjord,Norway

Multibeam bathymetric surveys of the Inner Oslofjord, Norway have revealed a high density of pockmarks in the 179-km² inner fjord area, which contains over 500 pockmarks of varying size, typically 20–50 m in diameter and 2–10 m deep. These pockmarks have been investigated with a variety of techniques, including acoustic subbottom profiling, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of cores, remotely operated vehicle observation, and morphometry. Both the distribution and shapes of the pockmarks suggest that they are related to structures in the bedrock underlying relatively thin (<50 m) unconsolidated glacial and postglacial sediments. The data provide no direct indication of a particular mode of pockmark formation, but release of large amounts of biogenic, shallow methane seems unlikely. Several lines of evidence point to a continuous process of pockmark formation followed by inactivity, with some pockmarks recently active whereas others have been inactive for a considerable time. Some pockmarks are characterised by coarse sediment in their centres. The density, variety and easy access make this pockmark field an ideal model area for pockmark research. John S. Gray is deceased.     

Fluid inclusion evidence for impact‐related hydrothermal fluid and hydrocarbon migration in Creataceous sediments of the ICDP‐Chicxulub drill core Yax‐1

Fluid inclusions studies in quartz and calcite in samples from the ICDP‐Chicxulub drill core Yaxcopoil‐1 (Yax‐1) have revealed compelling evidence for impact‐induced hydrothermal alteration. Fluid circulation through the melt breccia and the underlying sedimentary rocks was not homogeneous in time and space. The formation of euhedral quartz crystals in vugs hosted by Cretaceous limestones is related to the migration of hot (>200 °C), highly saline, metal‐rich, hydrocarbon‐bearing brines. Hydrocarbons present in some inclusions in quartz are assumed to derive from cracking of pre‐impact organic matter. The center of the crater is assumed to be the source of the hot quartz‐forming brines. Fluid inclusions in abundant newly‐formed calcite indicate lower cyrstallization temperatures (75–100 °C). Calcite crystallization is likely related to a later stage of hydrothermal alteration. Calcite precipitated from saline fluids, most probably from formation water. Carbon and oxygen isotope compositions and REE distributions in calcites and carbonate host rocks suggest that the calcite‐forming fluids have achieved close equilibrium conditions with the Cretaceous limestones. The precipitation of calcite may be related to the convection of local pore fluids, possibly triggered by impact‐induced conductive heating of the sediments.     

Groundwater-level response to land-use change and the implications for salinity management in the West Moorabool River catchment, Victoria, Australia

The connection between the removal of native vegetation, rising water tables and increasing stream salinity has been established for many catchments across Australia. However, the West Moorabool River in south west Victoria is an example of a catchment where there has been little discernable effect on groundwater levels following land clearing. Over the past 150 years, a significant portion of the catchment has been cleared of dense forest for agricultural development. Historic standing water-level records from 1870–1871 and 1881 are compared with contemporary measurements (1970s to 2007) recorded in the government bore databases. The data show that the earliest recorded groundwater levels are well within the seasonal range of values observed today. By integrating geology and hydrogeology with historical observations of groundwater levels, climate data and land use, the contemporary field observations of stream salinity are linked to the changed water use and shift in rainfall. In contrast to the normally accepted axiom, reafforestation as a management strategy to mitigate the rising salinity in the West Moorabool River catchment would seem inappropriate.     

Designation processes for marine protected areas in the coastal wetlands of South Korea

The history of Korean tidal flat management and the process for designating Coastal Wetland Protected Areas (CWPAs) are described. Korean coastal wetlands have a long history of intensive use through reclamation for agricultural and industrial uses in the 20th century. Recently, the management policy is shifting away from intensive use towards the conservation of wetlands. This shift is caused by increasing public awareness of the value of wetlands and strong institutional support from the government. Since the Wetlands Conservation Act was passed in 1999, a total of twelve CWPAs have been designated through both top-down and bottom-up processes. Three designation paths are classified based on the relevant drivers, namely government-driven designations (seven CWPAs), local community driven designations (three CWPAs), and conflict resolution (trade-offs) driven designation (two CWPAs). The lessons learned from the designation of Korean CWPAs is that diversification of designation process could facilitate voluntary participation of local stakeholders and thereby enhance the chance of successful implementation of wise use strategy of tidal flats.