Writing difference differently

This paper investigates the writing of situated knowledge and explores the possibilities of enacting difference by writing differently. We present a selection of research stories in which carrier bags, sounds, baskets, gardens and potatoes are interpreted less as objects of research or metaphors to aid in analysing phenomena, than as mediators of the stories. Our stories emphasise the ontological politics of engaging with and representing the relational, the messy, the spontaneous, the unpredictable, the non‐human and bodily experiences. These stories demonstrate how writing is performative and how it is integral to the production of knowledge.     

Getting it right for the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaenaglacialis): A last opportunity for effective marine spatial planning?

The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) faces increasing pressure from commercial shipping traffic and proposed marine renewable energy developments. Drawing upon the successful Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary model, we propose a multi-stakeholder marine spatial planning process that considers both appropriate positioning of offshore wind farms and redefining commercial shipping lanes relative to whale migration routes: placement of wind turbines within certain right whale habitats may prove beneficial for the species. To that end, it may be advisable to initially relocate the shipping lanes for the benefit of the whales prior to selecting wind energy areas. The optimal end-state is the commercial viability of renewable energy, as well as a safe shipping infrastructure, with minimal risk of collision and exposure to shipping noise for the whales. This opportunity to manage impacts on right whales could serve as a model for other problematic interactions between marine life and commercial activities.     

The Adaptation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer to a Change in Surface Roughness

The adaptation of the atmospheric boundary layer to a change in the underlying surface roughness is an interesting problem and hence much research, theoretical, experimental, and numerical, has been undertaken. Within the atmospheric boundary layer an accurate numerical model for the turbulent properties of the atmospheric boundary layer needs to be implemented if physically realistic results are to be obtained. Here, the adaptation of the atmospheric boundary layer to a change in surface roughness is investigated using a first-order turbulence closure model, a one-and-a-half-order turbulence closure model and a second-order turbulence closure model. Perturbations to the geostrophic wind and the pressure gradients are included and it is shown that the second-order turbulence closure model, namely the standard k - model, is inferior to a lower-order closure model if a modification to limit the turbulent eddy size within the atmospheric boundary layer is not included within the model.     

Field report: Exploring the Doonerak fenster of the central Brooks Range,Alaska, USA

Arctic Alaska is a ‘suspect’ terrane that encompasses approximately 20% of Alaska, stretching from the southern Brooks Range all the way to the continental shelves of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Although the origin and subsequent travels of this large crustal fragment are debated among geologists, most researchers agree upon its composite nature and exotic origin. To constrain the early geological history of this terrane, we describe a recent expedition to the Doonerak fenster of the central Brooks Range. This area has long been regarded as a key locality for understanding the structural evolution of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic Brooks Range orogen; however, our target was different: a unique sequence of volcanic and siliciclastic rocks (Apoon assemblage) exposed beneath a profound pre-Mississippian unconformity, which we argue is of key importance to understanding the early Paleozoic tectonic history of northern Alaska and the greater Arctic.     

The closing of a seaway: ocean water masses and global climate change

The Late Neogene witnessed various major paleoceanographic changes that culminated in intense Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (NHG). The cause and effects of these changes are still debated. We use a multiproxy approach to determine the relative timing of the closure of the Panama gateway, changes in Atlantic circulation, global cooling and ice sheet growth. Benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca records from a Pacific and an Atlantic Site have been produced and are interpreted in terms of bottom water temperatures. These Mg-temperature records are combined with published benthic δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O and erosion records to reconstruct the flow of proto-North Atlantic Deep Water (proto-NADW) over the past 12 Ma. The results suggest that between 12.5 and 10.5 Ma, and again between about 8.5 and 6 Ma, a nutrient-depleted water mass that was colder (by 1–2°C) and fresher than the intervening deep water mass filled the Atlantic basin. This proto-NADW became warmer (by 1°C) and saltier between 6 and 5 Ma, coincident with the restriction of surface water flow through the Central American Seaway. The Mg-temperature records define a subsequent global cooling trend of 3.5°C between 5 Ma and today. Early NHG in the late Miocene was perhaps related to the formation of the relatively cold, fresh proto-NADW. The formation of the warmer and saltier proto-NADW in the early Pliocene may have initially limited Northern Hemisphere ice growth. However, the increased moisture released at high northern latitudes associated with formation of ‘warm’ proto-NADW, coupled with the global temperature decrease of deep (and hence polar surface) waters, likely helped initiate the intense NHG of the Plio–Pleistocene.     

GRS evidence and the possibility of paleooceans on Mars

The Gamma Ray Spectrometer (Mars Odyssey spacecraft) has revealed elemental distributions of potassium (K), thorium (Th), and iron (Fe) on Mars that require fractionation of K (and possibly Th and Fe) consistent with aqueous activity. This includes weathering, evolution of soils, and transport, sorting, and deposition, as well as with the location of first-order geomorphological demarcations identified as possible paleoocean boundaries. The element abundances occur in patterns consistent with weathering in situ and possible presence of relict or exhumed paleosols, deposition of weathered materials (salts and clastic minerals), and weathering/transport under neutral to acidic brines. The abundances are explained by hydrogeology consistent with the possibly overlapping alternatives of paleooceans and/or heterogeneous rock compositions from diverse provenances (e.g., differing igneous compositions).     

一个中国边缘海的风-浪-流预报系统

海洋预报是进行海上活动的安全保障,海洋预报系统技术已经成为现代海洋气象业务的技术支撑。海洋观测、数据同化、数值模拟和高性能计算机等技术的进步极大地推动着海洋业务化预报的发展。采用大气数值模式（WRF）、海洋数值模式（CROCO）和海浪数值模式（SWAN）的多模式高分辨率离线耦合方式,添加南京信息工程大学“海洋数值模拟与观测实验室”团队自主研发的一系列海洋模式参数化方案,包括浪致混合参数化方案、亚中尺度参数化方案、海山诱导混合参数化方案以及涡旋诱导的沿等密度面和跨等密度面混合参数化方案,并通过同化技术和最新的人工智能技术与观测资料相结合,构建一种面向中国边缘海的风浪流多参数耦合预报系统,用于海上风电功率的预报和其他海洋灾害预警。实际观测资料的验证表明,该预报系统能较准确地模拟海上风场、海流、海温、波浪、潮汐等海洋气象要素。同时实现了按需实时可视化全景展示。     

Fabrics,facies control and diagenesis of lacustrine ooids and associated grains from the Upper Triassic,southwest England

Petrographic analysis of ooids from the Upper Triassic (Mercia Mudstone Group) of southwest England provides an opportunity to assess in detail the origins, transport pathways and diagenesis of an ancient oolite. The Clevedon Oolite is dolomitized and contains a variety of dissolved ooids (oomoulds) and associated grains. The oomoulds occur in well‐sorted, planar and cross‐stratified grainstones, packstones, sandstones and conglomerates associated with shoreface, intershoal, foreshore, beachrock and littoral strandplain deposits. The ooids grew in suspension in the shoreface zone and developed a radial aragonite microstructure. The ooids grew to 0.80 mm in diameter, after which they fractured or ceased growing. Broken grains deposited on or near mobile shoals were rapidly recoated, while other grains, deposited in less agitated, intershoal and lower foreshore areas, were micritized or microbially bound into grapestone aggregates. Locally peloids, intraclasts, quartz grains and micritized grains from intershoal areas supplied nuclei for ooids on nearby shoals. Grains deposited in foreshore areas were rapidly cemented into beachrock and reworked into conglomerates. Soon after deposition, the ooids were subjected to widespread aragonite dissolution followed by dolomitization. The lack of pre‐dolomitization calcite, together with the abundance of early (pre‐compaction) dolospar cements and fabric‐selective dolomitization of micritic fabrics, suggest aragonite dissolution by dolomitizing fluids. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.