Climate-Change Journalism and “Edgeball” Politics in Contemporary China

ABSTRACT

Climate change is a complex and uncertain phenomenon, requiring political approaches that can find compromise and incorporate feedback from experience, as well as harness the role of civil society in holding governments to account. It thus presents an unusual challenge for China, the world’s largest greenhouse-gas emitter and an authoritarian regime, which tends to avoid the inclusion of non-state actors in governance. Drawing on ethnographic research among contemporary Chinese environmental journalists, this article suggests that climate change, as a destabilizing phenomenon with nonlinear and uncertain dynamics, can be drawn upon to develop a pluralistic political position that may run counter to such authoritarian approaches. It shows that Chinese journalists can create in climate reporting a space where outcomes are not known in advance, and where people therefore might generate political positions that challenge dominant narratives around science, technology, and the environment.     

Multimethod (K–Ar, Rb–Sr, Sm–Nd) dating of bentonite minerals from the eastern United States

Isotopic determinations (K–Ar, Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd), and trace and rare-earth elemental analyses were made on a few biotite and clay fractions of Palaeozoic bentonite units from the eastern United States. The clay fractions were gently leached with dilute hydrochloric acid to study separately the acid-soluble minerals intimately associated with the extracted clay particles. The data highlight interesting potentials for this integrated approach to decipher complex tectonothermal evolutions of sedimentary basins. Biotite K–Ar ages are consistent with a Middle Ordovician stratigraphic age for the bentonite units with a mean age of 459±10 Ma. The clay residues give a Sm–Nd isochron age of 397±44 Ma, indicative of their crystallization during Acadian tectonothermal activity at about 200 °C. The clay leachates, which are considered to represent mineral phases different from clay material, yield a distinct Sm–Nd isochron age of 285±18 Ma which is indistinguishable from K–Ar ages obtained previously on the clays, suggesting a thermally induced diffusion of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar from clay particles during Alleghenian–Ouachita orogenic activity. The Rb–Sr system of the clay material seems to have been variably disturbed, except for the sample taken near the Allegheny Front for which an age of 179±4 Ma suggests a further localized activity of the thrust system at about 130–150 °C. Clearly the limited number of samples does not allow us to perfectly constrain an evolutionary model. However, analysis of the soluble minerals for their contents in metal and rare-earth elements suggests that metal-carrying fluids migrated during the Alleghenian–Ouachita orogenic activity in the eastern North American continent. Consequently, they could have contributed to the concentration of ore deposits in the region, but this possibility needs to be tested with a larger data base.     

Seismic analysis of infinite pile groups in liquefiable soil

Numerical analysis of an infinite pile group in a liquefiable soil was considered in order to investigate the influence of pile spacing on excess pore pressure distribution and liquefaction potential. It was found that an optimal pile spacing exists resulting in minimal excess pore pressure. It was also found that certain pile group configurations might reduce liquefaction potential, compared to free field conditions. It was observed that for closely spaced piles and low frequency of loading, pile spacing has little influence on the response of the superstructure.     

Biological soil crust development and its topsoil properties in the process of dune stabilization, Inner Mongolia, China

This study was undertaken at Horqin Sand Land, Inner Mongolia, Northern China. Field samples of biological soil crusts (BSCs) and underlying topsoil (0–5 cm under BSC) were taken in areas of different dune stabilization stages, and their physicochemical properties were analyzed, including particle size distribution, bulk density, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and CaCO₃ content. The results revealed that semi-mobile dunes, semi-fixed dunes and fixed dunes had developed a physical crust, algae crust and moss crust, respectively. The thickness, hardness, water content, fine fraction and nutrient contents of BSCs were gradually increasing along the dune stabilization gradient. Meanwhile, BSC establishment and development enhanced the bulk density, silt and clay content, and nutrients of the topsoil under it, in an increasing tend from semi-mobile dune to fixed dune. Organic matter concentrations and other nutrients in the 0–5 cm topsoil layer under BSCs were significantly higher compared to unconsolidated soil (control). Moreover, there were strong significant positive correlations between topsoil and BSCs’ organic matter, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, CaCO₃, and <0.05 mm particle content, suggesting that BSCs have an influence on some of the properties of the underlying topsoil.     

Quantification of initial steps of nucleation and growth of silica nanoparticles: An in-situ SAXS and DLS study

The initial steps of silica polymerization and silica nanoparticle formation have been studied in-situ and in real-time. The experiments were carried out in near neutral pH (7–8) solutions with initial silica concentrations of 640 and 1600 ppm ([SiO₂]) and ionic strengths (IS) of 0.02, 0.05, 0.11 and 0.22 M. The polymerization reactions were induced by neutralizing a high pH silica solution (from pH 12 to 7) and monitored by the time-dependent depletion in monosilicic acid concentration over time. The accompanied nucleation and growth of silica nanoparticles (i.e., change in particle size over time) was followed in-situ using time-resolved synchrotron-based Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and conventional Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) combined with scanning and (cryo)-transmission electron microscopy (SEM/cryo-TEM).The critical nucleus diameter was quantified (1.4–2 nm) and results from SAXS and DLS showed that over 3 h the particle diameter increased to a final size of 8 nm. SEM and TEM photomicrographs verified the SAXS and DLS data and confirmed the spherical and hydrous structure of the forming silica nanoparticles. Furthermore, fractal analysis (i.e., fractal dimension, D_m  2.2) indicated that the formed particles consisted of open, polymeric, low-density structures.For the nucleation and growth of silica nanoparticles a 3-stage growth process is proposed: (1) homogeneous and instantaneous nucleation of silica nanoparticles, (2) 3-D, surface-controlled particle growth following 1st order reaction kinetics and (3) Ostwald ripening and particle aggregation.     

Step heating of Ar/Ar standard mineral mixtures: Investigation of a fine-grained bulk sediment provenance tool

Quantitative techniques that link sediments to their sources are needed to understand a range of tectonic, climate, and anthropogenic driven Earth surface processes. Many provenance techniques exist for sand-sized material but fewer are available for fine-grained sediment archives. In this respect, bulk ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from silt-sized sediment show potential, but many questions remain about the significance of a bulk sediment ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age. We interrogate bulk sediment ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages by step heating mixtures of well-constrained ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mineral standards crushed to silt-sized. Silt-sized end member components Alder Creek Sanidine, Taylor Creek Sanidine and Heidelberg Biotite all yield plateau ages within uncertainty of their coarse-grained counterparts. High-resolution step heating (as many as 43 steps) of the mineral mixtures shows that biotite degasses first at lower temperatures compared to the two sanidines that degas generally in concert. Concordant age steps develop at both low and high temperatures and the transition from the isotope signal being dominated by one mineral phase to another is clearly observed. We show that age spectra for the mineral standard mixtures can be modeled and predicted for all mixtures by assuming a (simplistic) Gaussian distributed release of Ar, and by using the degassing maxima, variance, K concentration, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of each monitor mineral. Thus, bulk sediment ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages can be robust indicators of the average cooling/crystallization age of all contributing K-bearing minerals to a depositional center. Furthermore, we discuss the potential to deconvolve individual mineral age populations by model inversion. The application of this bulk sediment provenance technique should not be considered a replacement for single grain analyses. It should be applied to environments that do not provide sand-sized sediment archives (e.g., distal terrigenous sedimentary archives) when information about source changes through time are more important than precise sediment source identification.     

A critical review and re-investigation of the Pleistocene deposits between Cranfield Point and Kilkeel,Northern Ireland: Implications for regional sea-level models and glacial reconstructions of the northern Irish Sea basin

The coastline of County Down includes sites that are pivotal to understanding the history of the last glaciation of the northern Irish Sea Basin in relation to relative sea level and regional glacial readvances. The cliff sections display evidence that has been used to underpin controversial models of glaciomarine sedimentation in isostatically-depressed basins followed by emergent marine and littoral environments. They also provide crucial evidence claimed to constrain millennial-scale ice sheet oscillations associated with uniquely large and rapid sea-level fluctuations. This paper reviews previous work and reports new findings that generally supports the ‘terrestrial’ model of glaciation, involving subglacial accretion and deformation of sediment beneath grounded ice. Deep troughs were incised into the till sheet during a post Late Glacial Maximum draw-down of ice into the Irish Sea Basin. Ice retreat was accompanied by glaciomarine accretion of mud in the troughs during a period of high relative sea level. The trough-fills were over-ridden, compacted, deformed and truncated during a glacial re-advance that is correlated with the Clogher Head Readvance. Grounding-line retreat accompanied by rapid subaqueous ice-proximal sedimentation preserved a widespread subglacial stone pavement. Raised beach gravels cap the sequence. The evidence supports an uninterrupted fall in relative sea level from c. 30?m that is consistent with sea level curves predicted by current glacio-isostatic adjustment modelling. Critical evidence previously cited in support of subaerial dissection of the troughs, and hence rapid fall and rise in relative sea level prior to the deposition of the glaciomarine muds, is not justified.