Back and forth with hopes and fears: Sri Lankan men's narratives on gender and mobility in transnational livelihoods

Although in the past Sri Lanka has had a higher number of women migrant workers, recent statistics show that the gap between the percentages of female and male migrants is decreasing. Since 2007, male migrants have outnumbered female migrants. The article explores how Sri Lankan men have responded to the increased economic needs of their families and lack of proper income-generating activities within the country by engaging in transnational livelihoods, as well as how their roles and identities are contested and negotiated through labour migration. The study is based on men's narratives on their reasons for migration and their experiences of transnational labour migration. The concepts of hope and life course are used to analyse the intertwined relationships of gender and mobility in transnational livelihoods. The author identifies that men's mobility is motivated by their hopes of fulfilling traditional gender norms as providers and protectors of their families in combination with their new identity as successful men. Further, the study provides evidence that men's mobility is not only gendered but also a repeated act during their life course. The study contributes to strengthen research on mobility and gender by adding men's perspectives on transnational labour migration.     

Zr-in-rutile thermometry in blueschists from Sifnos, Greece

Zr-in-rutile thermometry on samples of blueschist from Sifnos, Greece, yields temperatures that reflect progressive crystallization of rutile from ca. 445 to 505°C with an analytical precision of + 18/−27 and ± 10°C using the electron microprobe and ± 1.5–3.5°C using the ion microprobe. Individual grains are generally homogeneous within analytical uncertainty. Different grains within a single sample record temperature differences as large 55°, although in most samples the range of temperatures is on the order of 25°. In several samples, Zr-in-rutile temperatures from grains within garnet are lower than temperatures from matrix grains, reflecting growth of rutile with increasing temperature of metamorphism. Although the specific rutile-producing reactions have not been identified, it is inferred that rutile grows from either continuous reaction involving the breakdown of lower grade phases (possibly ilmenite), or from pseudomorph reactions involving the breakdown of relic igneous precursors at blueschist-facies conditions. No systematic variation in rutile temperatures was observed across the blueschist belt of northern Sifnos, consistent with the belt having behaved as a coherent block during subduction.     

Phosphorus removal in low alkalinity secondary effluent using alum

The alkalinity plays an important role in phosphorus removal using coagulant. The dosage of coagulant in the low alkalinity wastewater is limited due to rapid pH changes. In the present study, a series of jar test was conducted using low alkalinity wastewater (50 mg/L) to evaluate the optimum pH, dosage and performance parameters (slow mixing and settling time) for the common coagulant alum. From the experiment, it was found that the dosage of coagulant and removal of phosphorus depend upon the pH of the wastewater after adding coagulant. The final optimum pH for efficient P removal was found to be within the range of 5.7–5.9. This range acts as an indicator and it is the maximum tolerable pH range for phosphorus removal for low alkalinity wastewater. The optimum time for slow mix and settling was found to be 20 min. The optimum mole ratio of alum to remove one mole of phosphorous was found to be 2.3. The alum coagulation at pH 7 produced effluent with the total residual phosphorus and reactive phosphorus content of 0.3 and 0.9 mg/L, respectively.     

Tectonic evolution at an early proterozoic continental margin: The Svecokarelides of eastern Finland

The early Proterozoic history of the Baltic Shield in Fennoscandia provides evidence of fragmentation of a late Archaean craton, continental sedimentation and then back-arc spreading, interpreted as being associated with the uprise of a mantle diapir. Basin subsidence and infilling with flysch debris is explained on the basis of thermal decay, locking of a subduction zone and erosion of an uplifted arc. Compressive tectonism in the Karelian part of the Svecokarelian orogen resulted in obduction of the contents of the back-arc basin on to the continental foreland. Further compression caused further thickening of the supracrustal pile and interdigitation of tectonic slices of basement and cover due to thrusting. Subsequently movement was resolved along major NW-trending wrench-faults that generally follow the margin of teh craton and which represent zones of reactivation of planar features developed in late Archaean times. As the crustal pile was warped and uplifted in subsequent deformational phases, the deep levels of the wrench-faults acted as sites of granitoid emplacement.The tectonic activity in the Karelian part of the Svecokarelides is interpreted as the response to the northward movement of oceanic lithosphere in the Svecofennian part of the orogen where successively-formed early Proterozoic island arcs moved northwards and were intensely deformed, associated with the development and emplacement of large masses of igneous material. The resultant orogen, consisting of a stable craton, obducted nappes, exotic terrane, transcurrent faults and island arcs that moved obliquely to the margin of the craton, shows many similarities in development to that of the western Cordillera of North America.     

The palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrological evolution of Padul Peat Bog (Granada, Spain) over one million years, from elemental, isotopic and molecular organic geochemical proxies

The elemental (concentration of organic carbon, atomic H/C and C/N ratios), isotopic (δ¹³C values of organic matter) and molecular (predominant n-alkane chain length and carbon preference index (CPI)) organic components were measured for 600 samples taken from a 107-m long core from the Padul Basin (Andalusia, Spain). The record runs from the Lower Pleistocene (ca. 1 Ma B.P.) to the mid-Holocene (ca. 4.5 ka B.P.) with, in general, little diagenesis (removal of components). Two markedly different hydrogeological scenarios were interpreted: (1) From ca. 1 Ma to ca. 400 ka B.P. run-off recharge was significant and water depths were greater (lacustrine scenario). From ca. 400 to 4.5 ka B.P., the Padul Basin became a peat bog s.s. with the major water input coming from groundwater inflow. From ca. 400 to ca. 180 ka B.P. alternating episodes with either predominant grasses, trees or aquatic macrophytes which were linked to wet/dry phases, took place. An important deglaciation episode has been interpreted to occur between ca. 180 and 170 ka B.P. The global climatic changes occurring from ca. 170 to 25 ka B.P. were not recorded in the proxies, though they do show important variations linked to the Last Glacial Maximum and the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 25–10 ka B.P.): (2) Cold phases coexisting with dry periods produced the recession of forests and the development of grasses. After these periods, as both temperature and precipitation increased, forests expanded and the water level, linked to thaw, rose, especially at ca. 20 ka B.P. Few changes occurred during the Holocene, although there were short alternations between wet and dry episodes. Overall, the techniques applied proved to be excellent palaeoenvironmental proxies for studying the basin’s palaeoclimatological and palaeohydrological evolution.     

Seasonally Hypersaline Estuaries in Mediterranean-climate Regions

Data collected in three Californian estuaries indicate that hypersaline conditions exist during the dry summers typical of a Mediterranean climate. The generalised seasonal and longitudinal hydrographic structures are described and explained. It is argued that this seasonal hypersalinity is common and that it represents a major class of estuaries. The observed accumulation of salt indicates surprisingly long residence times in small basins which have free exchange with the ocean. This semi-isolation of the inner basin leads to a large build-up or severe depletion of nutrients, pollutants and plankton in these systems. Of concern are the trends to increase pollutant loading in the same systems that are experiencing an increase in residence times owing to freshwater extraction in the watershed.     

A major lava tube system from Undara Volcano,North Queensland

The Undara Volcano erupted 0.19 m.y. ago and formed lava fields covering 1,500 km² with a volume of approximately 23 km³. One of the flows extended 160 km on a gradient that averaged only 0.3°. This great length was a result of very high effusion rates, favourable topography and lava tube efficiency. The Undara lavas are rather uniform hawaiites. Lava temperatures are estimated to have been somewhat less than 1175–1220°C and viscosities greater than 10 to 30 Pa s. Long, apparently single lava tubes are well preserved in many places. They are marked by depressions, caves and long level ridges. A system of lava tubes extends for perhaps more than 100 km. The features of the lava tubes are comparable with those described elsewhere. Aligned depressions associated with caves appear to have formed contemporaneously. Most are much wider than the caves and probably represent collapsed lava ponds. The lava tubes appear to have formed by roofing over of lava channels. Close to lava tubes, the rocks developed strongly oxidised characteristics, such as oxidised olivine phenocrysts, ferric clinopyroxene and extensively developed hematite. Differentiated lava forms drips in some caves and is also oxidised.     

Isothermal annealing of partially metamict zircon: evidence for a three-stage recovery process

 Raman spectroscopy and the powder diffraction technique have been used to monitor the recovery process of two partially metamict zircons (2.6 and 4.8 × 10¹⁸ α-decays g⁻¹) from Sri Lanka during a series of isothermal annealing experiments in the temperature range from 870 to 1622 K. These experiments show for the first time that structural recovery in partially metamict zircon proceeds via three distinct recovery stages, each of which occurs within a distinct time-temperature regime. Whereas the first two stages have previously been recognized (recovery of damaged crystalline remnants and epitaxial recrystallization), the third stage has not yet been identified as a single activated process. It is suggested that anisotropic defect annealing during the first stage at low temperatures, where the structure recovers preferentially along the a(b) plane, produces a geometrical situation where large structural rearrangements are necessary to remove the remaining defects inside the crystalline material. This situation is approximately reached when the amorphous domains start to recrystallize. The reason for anisotropic annealing can be found in a different connectivity between polyhedral linkages in both directions of the zircon lattice. High apparent activation energies, in the range of 6.4 to 7.9 eV, were determined for the third recovery stage from the Raman data, which are interpreted to reflect large structural rearrangements (i.e. polyhedral tilting) associated with the final recovery of the c axis. This explains the occurrence of a distinct recrystallization stage without defect annealing. Finally, it should be mentioned that the first recovery stage is not necessarily expected to occur in less damaged zircon crystals (<∼2 × 10¹⁸ α-decays g⁻¹), since less stable defects along the basal plane might have already been self-annealed during radiation damage accumulation under ambient temperatures. Received: 6 September 2001 / Accepted: 25 February 2002     

Reconstruction of Holocene Environmental Changes in North-Western Pacific in Relation to Paleorecord from Shikotan Island

Doklady Earth Sciences - Results of a paleolimnological investigation of a well-dated lake sediment section from Shikotan Island (Southern Kurils) showed that from ca 8.0 to 5.8 cal ka BP a warm...     

Fold-Thrust-Belt Structure of the Proterozoic Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt: A Proposed Correlation Between India and Antarctica in Gondwana

The Proterozoic Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt along the east coast of India shares a thrusted lower contact with the surrounding cratons. The thrust, known as the Terrane Boundary shear zone, is associated with two large lateral ramps resulting in a curved outline on the northwestern corner of the mobile belt. The Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt is divided into two lithotectonic units, the Lathore Group and the Turekela Group, based on their lithological assemblages and deformational history. On the basis of published data from a Deep Seismic Sounding (DSS) profile of the Eastern Ghats crust, the Terrane Boundary Shear Zone is considered to be listric in nature and acts as the sole thrust between craton and mobile belt. The Lathore and Turekela Groups are nappes. With this structural configuration the NW part is described as a fold thrust belt. However, the thrusting postdates folding and granulite metamorphism that occurred in the Eastern Ghats, as in the Caledonide type of fold thrust belt of NW Scotland. The Terrane Boundary Shear Zone is interpreted to be contiguous with the Rayner-Napier boundary of the Enderby Land in a Gondwana assembly.