Inner-city deprivation: Problems and policies in advanced capitalist countries

The problems of the inner city are a subject of growing concern in the advanced capitalist world. The level of social deprivation may be identified on a territorial basis, by mapping numerical indicators relating to various relevant conditions. However, the application of conventional geographical methodology with its emphasis on pattern identification and ecological analysis provides an inadequate foundation for the explanation of localized deprivation and for the design of remedial policy. Inner-city deprivation arises from the operation of the contemporary capitalist system, the understanding of which requires a holistic social-science perspective.     

Performance analysis of the spaceborne laser ranging system

The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System is a proposed short pulse laser on board an orbiting spacecraft.^1,2,3,4 It measures the distance between the spacecraft and many laser retroreflectors (targets) deployed on the Earth’s surface. The precision of these range measurements is assumed to be about ±2 cm (M. W. Fitzmaurice, private communication). These measurements are then used together with the orbital dynamics of the spacecraft, to derive the relative position of the laser ground targets. Assuming a six day observing period with 50% cloud cover, uncertainties in the baseline for target separations of 50 km to 1200 km were estimated to be on the order of 1 to 3 cm and the corresponding values in the vertical direction, ranged from 1 cm to 12 cm. By redetermining the measurements of the relative target positions, the estimated precision in the baseline for a target separation of 50 km is less than 0.3 cm and for a separation of 1200 km is less than 1 cm. In the vertical direction, the estimated precision ranged from 0.4 cm to 4.0 cm respectively. As a result of the repeated estimation of the relative laser target positions, most of the non-temporal effects of error sources as exemplified by the errors in geopotential are reduced. The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System’s capability of determining baselines to a high degree of precision provides a measure of strain and strain rate as shown byCohen, 1979. These quantities are essential for crustal dynamic studies which include determination and monitoring of strain near seismic zones, land subsidence, and edifice building preceding volcanic eruptions. It is evident that such a system can also be used for geodetic surveys where such precisions are more than adquate.     

Fertile and barren AlCr-spinel harzburgites from the upper mantle: Ion and electron probe analyses of trace elements in olivine and orthopyroxene: Relation to lherzolites

Ion and electron microprobe analyses of twenty-one CrAl-spinel harzburgite xenoliths from southern African kimberlites show two chemical groups. Orthopyroxenes from “fertile” harzburgites have higher CaO (mean of 11, 0.95 wt.%), Al₂O₃ (3.05 wt.%), Cr₂O₃ (0.85 wt.%) and Li (0.8 ppmw) than those from “barren” harzburgites (mean of 10, CaO 0.24 wt.%, Al₂O₃ 1.10 wt.%, Cr₂O₃ 0.35 wt.%, Li 0.3 ppmw). Olivines from all harzburgites have similar chemistry except that mean values of Li and Na are higher for barren than fertile harzburgites (Li 0.9 vs. 0.4 ppmw; Na₂O 16 vs. 7 ppmw). Orthopyroxenes from fertile harzburgites are chemically distinct from those in garne lherzolites from southern Africa and spinel lherzolites from southwest U.S.A., but orthopyroxenes from barren harzburgites are indistinguishable from those in many coarse garnet lherzolites.Chromium, Ca, Ni, Na and Li in coexisting olivines and orthopyroxenes from the above rock types show complex patterns, which for Ca, Cr and Ni can be related to pressure and temperature. Temperatures from an empirically calibrated thermometer based on Ni-Mg exchange between olivine and orthopyroxene, measured modes of harzburgites (fertile, mean of 10: ol 68, opx 31, spinel-silicate intergrowth <0.5; barren, mean of 8: ol 76, opx 23, spinel and spinel-silicate intergrowth 1), and high-pressure experimental studies suggest (a) that harzburgites are residues of partial melting, (b) that barren harzburgites were melted to a greater extent at a higher temperature (though probably at a similar depth) than fertile harzburgites, and (c) that incomplete reequilibration during retrograde metamorphism has led to development of complex inter- and intragranular textures, probably in the range ～700–900°C.     

Locational components of urban and regional public policy in postwar Vietnam: The case of Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon)

Ho Chi Minh city is a primate city in which wartime dislocations have resulted in severely overcrowded conditions as well as a shrunken economic base. The new government has opted for a policy based on the rapid decanting of a large proportion of the urban population by encouraging internal migration to New Economic Zones in the hinterlands. This policy is based on a hierarchial administrative structure with agricultural productivity as its prime goal. A Green Belt policy has been articulated that uses the New Economic Zones as building blocks. The Green Belts constrain urban growth as well as provide foodstuff for the remaining urban residents. The ultimate objective of the overall policy is a balanced urban and regional environment that is in tune with Vietnam's agricultural economy.     

Pumice eruptions of the lesser Antilles

Stratigraphic studies on the active and potentially active volcanoes of the Lesser Antilles have revealed two main types of andesitic pyroclastic deposit. One with dense clasts in a poorly vesicular ash represents nuée ardente eruptions of Pelean type and the other group of vesicular pumice and ash represent both Plinian airfall and ash-pumice flow eruptions. The pumiceous deposits can be divided into airfall lapilli, airfall ash, crystal-pumice surge, ashpumice flow and ash hurricane types. No pumice eruptions have been witnessed in the Lesser Antilles during the period of written history although the stratigraphy of archaeological sites shows they occurred in pre-Columbian times. Detailed stratigraphic studies of Mt. Pelée, Martinique, and the Quill, St. Eustatius, show that, throughout their history, pumice eruptions have alternated with nuée ardente eruptions with approximately equal frequency. The widespread occurrence of pumiceous deposits on many of the West Indian volcanoes and the frequent alternations in the stratigraphic sections suggest the high probability that they will be witnessed in the future. On Martinique, some on the late prehistoric pumiceous pyroclastic flow deposits (the ash hurricanes) have been traced 20 km from the central vent to the out-skirts of Fort de France, indicating that they are the major hazard in the Lesser Antilles. Measured stratigraphic sections show that the Pelean type nuée ardente deposits are separated from the pumiceous pyroclastic deposits by others of intermediate vesicularity and appearance. The presence of such deposits of intermediate vesicularity could provide a future warning of impending change in pyroclastic style. As no such deposits formed on Mt. Pelée this century the present «safer» episode of nuée ardente (Pelean type) activity is expected to continue.     

Evaluation of cold-water carbonates as a possible paleoclimatic indicator

The common belief currently shared by many geoscientists concerning the climatic interpretation of limestones is that a warm-water environment is essential. This concept is not necessarily true because the rate and extent of terrigenous sediment dilution, rather than water temperature, is the primary factor determining whether or not a limestone forms at nearshore or continental shelf depths. Because carbonate productivity is lowest in cold climates, however, CaCO₃ abundance and the thickness of carbonate accumulations tend to be least at high latitudes. In this regard present-day continental shelves and beaches offer a poor model for comparing cold-water and warm-water carbonates because of the generally emergent continental tectonic framework, recent eustatic sea-level changes, and the presence of ice caps at the modern poles.Typically, the influence of climate on non-reef continental shelf and beach environments cannot be clearly distinguished by the presence or absence of major taxonomic groups. Faunal diversity and equitability are more sensitive in this regard. The absence of shelf-depth inorganic carbonate precipitates, micrite envelopes, and peloids may also point to the cold-water origin of a rock. Skeletal mineralogy and oxygen isotopes of certain unrecrystallized carbonates may be good paleoclimatic indicators; however, trace elements and physical-textural attributes of the carbonate fraction are probably temperature insensitive.Previous studies of high-latitude continental shelves have concentrated merely on the abundance of calcareous material and there is seemingly a disproportionate amount of information with respect to low-latitude carbonate studies. Further research on cold-water carbonates may open up new avenues for alternative paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic interpretations.     

Controls on the chemistry of springs at Teels Marsh,Mineral County,Nevada

Evaporative process plays a dominant role in determining the water chemistry of the springs at Teels Marsh, a closed basin in western Nevada. Analysis of the spring waters indicates that calcium, magnesium, sulfate, and silica are removed from solution during dry periods, even though groundwater is undersaturated with respect to gypsum, amorphous silica, and sepiolite. The removal mechanism is precipitation of authigenic phases such as gypsum above the water table, in the vadose zone.In episodes of rain and snowfall in which none of the waters enters the phreatic zone, ions in the rain and snow accumulate near the ground surface. This accumulation of material, together with the sparse rain and snowfall, inhibits chemical weathering of silicate minerals. Only at high elevations in the basin is there sufficient fluxing of water through the alluvium for silicate weathering to make a significant contribution to the sodium content of the springs. When a sufficiently heavy rainfall occurs, salts are partially dissolved and the ions transported to the permanent groundwater. The kinetics of dissolution of secondary phases in the vadose zone exert an important control on the composition of the springs.