The use of 18O/16O ratios to study the formation and chemical origin of coal

The ${}^{18}\text{O}{}^{16}\text{O}$ ratios of some New Zealand peat, lignite and coal samples were measured and compared with those of various coal precursors (cellulose, lignin and plant resins). The results showed that the major source of oxygen in all cases (except that of high rank coal) was from cellulose with the contribution from lignin and plant resins being insignificant.     

Exploitation of relaxation in cross-polarization nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of fossil fuels

The judicious choice of dipolar dephasing times or carbon magnetization holding times has been shown to improve resolution in solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of complex materials. Signals from protonated and alkylated aromatic carbons are reduced to enhance resolution of aromatic oxygenated groups. Rapidly rotating methyl groups can be resolved from other aliphatic carbon types. These techniques were used to investigate the structure of a brown coal, xylite fractions of a brown coal, a bituminous coal, an oil shale and a solvent-refined coal. The results allow estimates of the fraction of aromatic carbon that is protonated in coal to be made, and demonstrate that methyl groups in coal rotate rapidly at room temperature.     

The stability of underground workings in the soft rocks of the Coal Measures

Summary The characteristics of soft rocks typical of the British Coal Measures are defined and a series of working hypotheses are developed to provide improved design methods for underground roadway and face supports and pillars in coal mines. Proposed design equations are tested against case history data.     

Multistage evolution of the European lithospheric mantle: new evidence from Sardinian peridotite xenoliths

Peridotite xenoliths entrained in Plio-Pleistocene alkali basalts from Sardinia represent fragments of the uppermost lithospheric mantle, and are characterised by an anhydrous four-phase mineral assemblage. They range in bulk rock composition from fertile spinel-lherzolites to residual spinel-harzburgites. The Sr-Nd isotope and trace element composition of clinopyroxene mineral separates varies between LREE-depleted samples with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr as low as 0.70262 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd up to 0.51323 and LREE-enriched samples with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr up to 0.70461 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd down to 0.51252. The available data suggest that all the studied peridotite samples suffered variable degrees of partial melting during Pre-Mesozoic times (based on Nd model ages relative to CHUR and DMM). The overprinted enrichment is related to a subsequent metasomatism, induced by fluids rising through the lithosphere that preferentially percolated the originally most depleted domains. Despite the occurrence of orogenic volcanism in the area, preferential enrichment in elements typically associated with slab derived fluids/melts (K, Rb, Sr, Th) relative to LREE has not been detected, and metasomatism seems to be more likely related to the infiltration of highly alkaline basic melts characterised by an EM-like Sr-Nd isotopic composition. Similar ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr-¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd compositions, characterised by an EM signature, are observed in anorogenic mafic lavas and peridotite xenoliths from widespread localities within the "European" plate, whereas they have not previously been recorded in peridotite xenoliths and associated alkaline mafic lavas from the stable "African" lithospheric domain.     

Summer temperatures in the Canadian Rockies during the last millennium: a revised record

We present a significant update to a millennial summer temperature reconstruction (1073–1983) that was originally published in 1997. Utilising new tree-ring data (predominantly Picea engelmannii), the reconstruction is not only better replicated, but has been extended (950–1994) and is now more regionally representative. Calibration and verification statistics were improved, with the new model explaining 53% of May–August maximum temperature variation compared to the original (39% of April–August mean temperatures). The maximum latewood density data, which are weighted more strongly in the regression model than ringwidth, were processed using regional curve standardisation to capture potential centennial to millennial scale variability. The reconstruction shows warm intervals, comparable to twentieth century values, for the first half of the eleventh century, the late 1300s and early 1400s. The bulk of the record, however, is below the 1901–1980 normals, with prolonged cool periods from 1200 to 1350 and from 1450 to the late 19th century. The most extreme cool period is observed to be in the 1690s. These reconstructed cool periods compare well with known regional records of glacier advances between 1150 and the 1300s, possibly in the early 1500s, early 1700s and 1800s. Evidence is also presented of the influence of solar activity and volcanic events on summer temperature in the Canadian Rockies over the last 1,000 years. Although this reconstruction is regional in scope, it compares well at multi-decadal to centennial scales with Northern Hemisphere temperature proxies and at millennial scales with reconstructions that were also processed to capture longer timescale variability. This coherence suggests that this series is globally important for the assessment of natural temperature variability over the last 1,000 years.Authors are listed alphabetically     

Experimental and numerical study of soil-reinforcement effects on the low-strain stiffness and bearing capacity of shallow foundations

This paper presents results of meticulous laboratory testing and numerical simulations on the effect of reinforcement on the low-strain stiffness and bearing capacity of shallow foundations on dry sand. The effect of the location and the number of reinforcement layers is studied in the laboratory, whereas numerical simulations are used to study the reinforcement-foundation interaction. Laboratory tests show an increase of 100, 200, and 275% not only in bearing capacity but also in low-strain stiffness (linear load–displacement behaviour) of a square foundation when one, two, and three layers of reinforcement are used, respectively. The specimen preparation technique is found to be crucial for the repeatability and reliability of the laboratory results (less than 5% variability). Numerical simulations demonstrate that if reinforcements are placed up to a depth of one footing width (B) below the foundation, better re-distribution of the load to deeper layers is achieved, thus reducing the stresses and strains underneath the foundation. Numerical simulations and experimental results clearly identify a critical zone between 0.3 and 0.5B, where maximum benefits not only on the bearing capacity but also on the low-strain stiffness of the foundation are obtained. Therefore, soil reinforcement can also be used to reduce low-strain vibrations of foundations.     

Progress in isotope paleohydrology using lake sediment cellulose

Recent advances in sample preparation techniques and mass spectrometry have fostered more routine oxygen isotope analysis of aquatic cellulose in lake sediment cores, a proxy for lake water oxygen isotope history. These methodological developments have significantly increased the feasibility of incorporating this approach into high-resolution, multi-site, and multi-proxy studies, which are frequently necessary to answer complex hydrological, hydroecological and hydroclimatic questions requiring a paleoenvironmental perspective. Direct translation of lake sediment aquatic cellulose oxygen isotope composition into lake water oxygen isotope composition offers appreciable opportunity for quantitative paleohydrological reconstructions, as evidenced by studies conducted over the past 15 years that span Holocene and pre-historical timescales.     

Time, idealisation and international development: promoting Canadian co-management in northern Russia

In this article, I trace the efforts of a development team working to promote a Canadian approach to natural resources management in the Russian North. These development workers used two communication strategies related to time and history to render Canadian knowledge mobile and applicable to a new location: (1) imagining today's Russian North as equivalent to the Canadian northern past and (2) reframing and idealising the Canadian past and present to make the governance export less discursively 'messy' for an outside audience. The relative failure of these communicative strategies points to the need for richer dialogue in efforts to move knowledge cross-culturally.     

The geological evolution of southern McMurdo Sound — new evidence from a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey

Magnetic anomaly data are presented from a new helicopter-borne high-resolution aeromagnetic survey in southern McMurdo Sound. Anomaly data have been acquired at a common 305 m elevation above the McMurdo and southern McMurdo ice shelves and draped over the volcanic islands that pin them. The resulting anomaly patterns provide a significant advance in the understanding of the rift related geology beneath the floating ice shelves. More extensive Erebus Volcanic Province (McMurdo Volcanic Group) rocks are indicated along with a significant blanket of glaci-volcaniclastic sediment on the seafloor between the volcanic islands in southern McMurdo Sound. These glaci-volcaniclastic sediments are inferred to originate from former grounding of the southern McMurdo Ice Shelf as a marine ice sheet. A strong N–S fabric is also observed in the anomaly data suggesting that the rift structure observed in the Victoria Land basin persists to the south beneath the McMurdo and southern McMurdo ice shelves. W–N–W transfer faults identified within the Transantarctic Mountain rift flank to the west are not obvious in the aeromagnetic data set, implying that the 'Discovery Accommodation Zone' may be restricted to the region between a southward extension of the range bounding fault that marks the limit of the Victoria Land Basin and the right lateral offset in the Transantarctic Mountain front in southern Victoria Land.