The reserves of extracted resources: Historical data

The available data on known reserves of extracted resources have not previously been tabulated and graphed. In this article we compile the reserves data in one place for the first time. This serves to (1) show the trends in the reserves series, (2) make the series available to others, and (3) place the reserves data in the context of price data for which longer series have been available, and with which they can now be seen to be consistent in both showing increasing availability rather than increasing scarcity.     

The contested spaces of Cuban development: Post-socialism, post-colonialism and the geography of transition

The experience of the (post)socialist South has been marginal to the study of transition, despite the many similarities between processes of transition and development. This paper tries to better understand this overlap by exploring some empirical and conceptual connections between processes of development and processes of transition in Cuba. In doing so it makes two sets of arguments. The first set of arguments concerns the nature of ‘transition’ itself. I use the ‘contested spaces’ of the Cuban (socialist) biotech sector, and specifically its attempts to attract foreign (capitalist) investment as a case study. As a high profile industry, biotechnology functioned in Cuba as a political space within which questions of transition and development could be reconfigured by blurring the boundaries between them. In turn, this has enabled the Cuban State to legitimise responses to transition that would otherwise have appeared contradictory. The second set of arguments try to explain how this was possible. I argue that the slippage between nationalist and socialist visions of development allowed biotechnology (as a specifically developmentalist project) to be variously understood as, for example, a post-colonial socialist, or anti-colonial nationalist project in ways that suited the needs of transition at any one time. Such recombinations in many ways account for the non-linear and reversible nature of transition in Cuba. I speculate as to whether Bruno Latour’s work on the way capitalist societies understand themselves to be ‘modern’, helps explain how, in (post)socialist countries, processees of transition can be shaped through different historical constructions of modernisation and development.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000395

The study of fluid inclusions in high-grade rocks is especially challenging as the host minerals have been normally subjected to deformation, recrystallization and fluid-rock interaction so that primary in- clusions, formed at the peak of metamorphism are rare. The larger part of the fluid inclusions found in metamorphic minerals is typically modified during uplift. These late processes may strongly disguise the characteristics of the ＂original＂ peak metamorphic fluid. A detailed microstructural analysis of the host minerals, notably quartz, is therefore indispensable for a proper interpretation of fluid inclusions. Cathodoluminescence （CL） techniques combined with trace element analysis of quartz （EPMA, LA- [CPMS） have shown to be very helpful in deciphering the rock-fluid evolution. Whereas high-grade metamorphic quartz may have relatively high contents of trace elements like Ti and A1, low- temperature re-equilibrated quartz typically shows reduced trace element concentrations. The result- ing microstructures in CL can be basically distinguished in diffusion patterns （along microfractures and grain boundaries）, and secondary quartz formed by dissolution-reprecipitation. Most of these textures are formed during retrograde fluid-controlled processes between ca. 220 and 500 ℃, i.e. the range of semi-brittle deformation （greenschist-facies） and can be correlated with the fluid inclusions. In this way modified and re-trapped fluids can be identified, even when there are no optical features observed under the microscope.     

The effect of the dynamical state of clusters on gas expulsion and infant mortality

The star-formation efficiency (SFE) of a star cluster is thought to be the critical factor in determining if the cluster can survive for a significant (>50 Myr) time. There is an often quoted critical SFE of ～30% for a cluster to survive gas expulsion. I reiterate that the SFE is not the critical factor; rather, it is the dynamical state of the stars (as measured by their virial ratio) immediately before gas expulsion. If the stars in a star cluster are born in an (even slightly) cold dynamical state, then the survivability of a cluster can be greatly increased.     

The Contribution of Groundwater Discharge to Nutrient Exports from a Coastal Catchment: Post-Flood Seepage Increases Estuarine N/P Ratios

Four months of daily nutrient and radon (a natural groundwater tracer) observations at the outlet of a heavily drained coastal wetland illustrated how episodic floods and diffuse groundwater seepage influence the biogeochemistry of a sub-tropical estuary (Richmond River, New South Wales, Australia). Our observations downstream of the Tuckean Swamp (an acid sulphate soil floodplain) covered a dry stage, a flood triggered by a 213-mm rain event and a post-flood stage when surface water chemistry was dominated by groundwater discharge. Significant correlations were found between radon and ammonium and N/P ratios and between radon and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) during the post-flood stage. While the flood lasted for 14?% of the time of the surface water time series, it accounted for 18?% of NH₄, 32?% of NO _x , 66?% of DON, 58?% of PO₄ and 55?% of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) catchment exports. Over the 4-month study period, groundwater fluxes of 35.0, 3.6, 36.3, 0.5 and 0.7?mmol?m^?2?day^?1 for NH₄, NO _x , DON, PO₄ and DOP, respectively, were estimated. The groundwater contribution to the total surface water catchment exports was nearly 100?% for ammonium, and <20?% for the other nutrients. Post-flood groundwater seepage shifted the system from a DON to a dissolved inorganic N-dominated system and doubled N/P ratios in surface waters. We hypothesise that the Richmond River Estuary N/P ratios may reflect a widespread trend of tidal rivers and estuaries becoming more groundwater-dominated and phosphorus-limited as coastal wetlands are drained for agriculture, grazing and development.     

Regional modelling of permafrost thicknesses over the past 130 ka: implications for permafrost development in Great Britain

The greatest thicknesses of permafrost in Great Britain most likely occurred during the last glacial–interglacial cycle, as this is when some of the coldest conditions occurred during the last 1 000 000 years. The regional development of permafrost across Great Britain during the last glacial–interglacial cycle was modelled from a ground surface temperature history based on mean annual temperatures and the presence of glacier ice. To quantify the growth and decay of permafrost, modelling was undertaken at six locations across Great Britain that represent upland glaciated, lowland glaciated, upland unglaciated and lowland unglaciated conditions. Maximum predicted permafrost depths derived in this academic study range between several tens of metres to over 100 m depending upon various factors including elevation, glacier ice cover, geothermal heat flux and air temperature. In general, the greatest maximum permafrost thicknesses occur at upland glaciated locations, with minimum thickness at lowland sites. Current direct geological evidence for permafrost is from surface or shallow processes, mainly associated with the active layer. Further research is recommended to identify the imprint of freeze/thaw conditions in permanently frozen porous rocks from beneath the active layer.     

A Snapshot of the Sun Near Solar Minimum: The Whole Heliosphere Interval

We present an overview of the data and models collected for the Whole Heliosphere Interval, an international campaign to study the three-dimensional solar?Cheliospheric?Cplanetary connected system near solar minimum. The data and models correspond to solar Carrington Rotation 2068 (20 March??C?16 April 2008) extending from below the solar photosphere, through interplanetary space, and down to Earth??s mesosphere. Nearly 200 people participated in aspects of WHI studies, analyzing and interpreting data from nearly 100 instruments and models in order to elucidate the physics of fundamental heliophysical processes. The solar and inner heliospheric data showed structure consistent with the declining phase of the solar cycle. A closely spaced cluster of low-latitude active regions was responsible for an increased level of magnetic activity, while a highly warped current sheet dominated heliospheric structure. The geospace data revealed an unusually high level of activity, driven primarily by the periodic impingement of high-speed streams. The WHI studies traced the solar activity and structure into the heliosphere and geospace, and provided new insight into the nature of the interconnected heliophysical system near solar minimum.