Book reviews

VANCOUVER'S CHINATOWN: racial discourse in Canada 1875–1980 by K. J. Anderson. 16 × 24 cm, 323 pages. McGill‐Queen's University Press, Montreal, 1991. (ISBN 07735 0844 9) $C34.95 (hard).

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS: developments and applications edited by L. Worrall. 15 × 23 cm, 251 pages. Belhaven, London, 1990. (ISBN 1 85293 140 X) £45.00 (hard).

SAVANNA ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT: Australian perspectives and intercontinental comparisons edited by P. A. Werner. 22 × 27 cm, xii and 221 pages. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, 1991. (ISBN 0 632 03199 9) $A89.00 (soft).

GLOBAL CHANGE AND CHALLENGE: geography for the 1990s edited by R. J. Bennett and R. Estall. 14 × 22 cm, xii and 264 pages. Routledge, London, 1991. (ISBN 0 415 00143 9) $A29.95 (soft).

PLAINS OF PROMISE RIVERS OF DESTINY: water management and the development of Queensland 1824–1990 by J. M. Powell. 17 × 24 cm, xvii and 395 pages. Boolarong Publications, Brisbane, 1991. (ISBN 0 7242 4470 0) $A40.00 (hard).

A SHARED HARVEST: The Australian Wheat Industry, 1939–1989 by G. Whitwell and D. Sydenham. 17 × 25 cm, xi and 324 pages. Macmillan, Melbourne, 1991. (ISBN 0 7329 0584 2) $A29.95 (hard).

TAMING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND: a history of the conquest of nature in Australia by W. J. Lines. 16 × 23cm, xx and 337 pages. Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991. (ISBN 1 86373 017 6) $A34.95 (hard).

PLAINS OF PROMISE RIVERS OF DESTINY: water management and the development of Queensland 1824–1990 by J. M. Powell. 17 × 24 cm, xvii and 395 pages. Boolarong Publications, Brisbane, 1991. (ISBN 0 7242 4470 0) $A40.00 (hard).

THE HUMANITIES AND THE AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENT: Papers from the Australian Academy of the Humanities Symposium edited by D. J. Mulvaney. 24 × 17 cm, xiii and 123 pages. Australian Academy of the Humanities, Canberra, 1991. (ISBN 0 909897 22 0) $A18.50 posted (soft).

GROWTH (Vol. 167, Sage Library of Social Research) by H. Teune. 141 pages. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA, 1988. (ISBN 0 8039 3183 2) US$46.00 (hard); (ISBN 0 8039 3190 5) US$22.95 (soft).

BEYOND GROWTH: elements of sustainable development by U.E. Simonis. 151 pages. Edition Sigma Bohn, Berlin, 1990. (ISBN 3 924859 56 6) DM24.80 (soft).

BEYOND BEEF: the rise and fall of the cattle culture by J. Rifkin. 16 × 24 cm, xi and 353 pages. Viking O'Neil, Melbourne, 1992. (ISBN 0 670 84844 1) $35.00 (hard).

A QUESTION OF PLACE: exploring the practice of human geography by R.J. Johnston. 15 × 23 cm, ix and 280 pages. Blackwell, Oxford, 1991. (ISBN 0 631 18207 1) $39.95 (soft).

GEOGRAPHY IN SOCIETY edited by R. Gerber. 21 × 29 cm, 92 pages. Royal Geographical Society of Queensland, Brisbane, [1992]. (ISBN 0 949286 02 8) $8.00 (soft).     

An integrative assessment of water vulnerability in First Nation communities in Southern Ontario,Canada

Assessing vulnerability related to water is a global concern and especially important to populations experiencing multiple exposures and sensitivities. Approaches are required that span social and physical concerns, and that bridge multiple types and forms of knowledge. This research investigates the water vulnerability of three First Nation communities in Ontario, Canada. A collaborative process was used to build an integrative understanding of water vulnerability, develop an associated instrument, and undertake the community scale assessments. Results from the assessment provided communities with a comprehensive overview of water vulnerability, and pointed to gaps in knowledge and specific areas where attention was needed. Conducting assessments at a community scale following the methodology employed in this research responds to the need for integration and context sensitivity when engaging in water vulnerability assessments and introduces innovations to existing assessment tools. A holistic approach to water vulnerability assessment provided decision-makers with the context-specific details and empirical insights they require to prioritize issues and allocate resources.     

Evaluating alluvial stratigraphic response to cyclic and non‐cyclic upstream forcing through process‐based alluvial architecture modelling

Formation of alluvial stratigraphy is controlled by autogenic processes that mix their imprints with allogenic forcing. In some alluvial successions, sedimentary cycles have been linked to astronomically‐driven, cyclic climate changes. However, it remains challenging to define how such cyclic allogenic forcing leads to sedimentary cycles when it continuously occurs in concert with autogenic forcing. Accordingly, we evaluate the impact of cyclic and non‐cyclic upstream forcing on alluvial stratigraphy through a process‐based alluvial architecture model, the Karssenberg and Bridge (2008) model (KB08). The KB08 model depicts diffusion‐based sediment transport, erosion and deposition within a network of channel belts and associated floodplains, with river avulsion dependent on lateral floodplain gradient, flood magnitude and frequency, and stochastic components. We find cyclic alluvial stratigraphic patterns to occur when there is cyclicity in the ratio of sediment supply over water discharge (Q_s/Q_w ratio), in the precondition that the allogenic forcing has sufficiently large amplitudes and long, but not very long, wavelengths, depending on inherent properties of the modelled basin (e.g. basin subsidence, size, and slope). Each alluvial stratigraphic cycle consists of two phases: an aggradation phase characterized by rapid sedimentation due to frequent channel shifting and a non‐deposition phase characterized by channel belt stability and, depending on Q_s/Q_w amplitudes, incision. Larger Q_s/Q_w ratio amplitudes contribute to weaker downstream signal shredding by stochastic components in the model. Floodplain topographic differences are found to be compensated by autogenic dynamics at certain compensational timescales in fully autogenic runs, while the presence of allogenic forcing clearly impacts the compensational stacking patterns.     

The computation of deformations

The mathematics of irrotational deformation are simplified by presentation in matrix form. Matrix equations are easily programmed and are easily interpreted in geometrical terms. Graphical operations commonly carried out on orientation nets such as rotation of data can be translated into simple matrix equations for use with a computer. If the shape and orientation of the deformation ellipsoid for a pure shear are known, a matrix can be constructed for use as a deformation matrix. This can be used to deform other deformation ellipsoids to obtain a resultant ellipsoid. It can also be used to deform geological structures such as lineations and planes. The matrix equations for these operations are very simple, but their numerical solution often requires a computer.     

A Review of Some Environmental Issues Affecting Marine Mining

This article reviews information recently available from existing marine and coastal mining for responses to environmental issues affecting marine mining at different depths. It is particularly but not exclusively concerned with those issues affecting seabed biodiversity impact and recovery. Much information has been gathered in the past 10 years from shallow mining operations for construction aggregate, diamonds, and gold, from coastal mines discharging tailings to shallow and deep water, and from experimental deep mining tests. The responses to issues identified are summarized in a series of eight tables intended to facilitate site-specific consideration. Since impacts can spread widely in the surface mixing layer SML, and can affect the biologically productive euphotic zone, the main issues considered arise from the depth of mining relative to the SML of the sea. Where mining is below the SML, the issue is whether it is environmentally better to bring the extraction products to the surface vessel for processing (and waste discharge), or to process the extraction products as much as possible on the seabed. Responses to the issues need to be sitespecific, and dependent on adequate preoperational environmental impact and recovery prediction. For deep tailings disposal from a surface vessel, there are four important environmental unknowns: (1) the possible growth of "marine snow" (bacterial flocs) utilizing the enormous quantities of fine tailings particles (hundreds or thousands of metric tons per day) as nuclei for growth, (2) the possibility that local keystone plankton and nekton species may migrate diurnally down to and beyond the depth of deep discharge and hence be subjected to tailings impact at depth, (3) the burrow-up capability of deep benthos and their ability to survive high rates of tailings deposition, and (4) the pattern and rate of dispersion of a tailings density current through the deep water column from discharge point to seabed. Actions to obtain relevant information in general and site-specifically are suggested.     

贵州荔波黑洞碎屑沉积物宇宙成因核素26Al/10Be埋藏年龄

河流下切在岩溶区形成的多级层状洞穴,记录了地体隆升和地貌演化历史,但由于测年手段的限制,国内在这方面的研究一直进展不大。近年来,运用宇宙成因核素得到洞穴碎屑沉积物埋藏年龄的方法,已成为反演山地区域构造-地貌演化的新途径。本文尝试运用宇宙成因核素26Al/10Be埋藏测年技术,对属于贵州荔波地区4层洞穴系统的黑洞(第二层)碎屑沉积物进行年龄测定,假设样品进洞前无埋藏史,测年结果显示黑洞年龄至少有 1.06±0.23Ma,并且该地区三岔河流域的侵蚀速率为 55.1±2.3m/Ma。这是对该地区洞穴测年的一次新探索,体现出洞穴沉积物宇宙成因核素埋藏测年技术在我国晚新生代地质地貌演化研究方面具有良好的应用前景。     

The Cali meteorite fall: A new H/L ordinary chondrite

Abstract— The fall of the Cali meteorite took place on 6 July 2007 at 16 h 32 ± 1 min local time (21 h 32 ± 1 min UTC). A daylight fireball was witnessed by hundreds of people in the Cauca Valley in Colombia from which 10 meteorite samples with a total mass of 478 g were recovered near 3°24.3′N, 76°30.6′W. The fireball trajectory and radiant have been reconstructed with moderate accuracy. From the computed radiant and from considering various plausible velocities, we obtained a range of orbital solutions that suggest that the Cali progenitor meteoroid probably originated in the main asteroid belt. Based on petrography, mineral chemistry, magnetic susceptibility, thermoluminescence, and bulk chemistry, the Cali meteorite is classified as an H/L4 ordinary chondrite breccia.     

Palaeoseismology in steep terrain: The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault, Transverse Ranges, California

Transpressional tectonics are typically associated with restraining bends on major active strike-slip faults, resulting in uplift and steep terrain. This produces dynamic erosional and depositional conditions and difficulties for established lines of palaeoseismological investigation. Consequently, in these areas data are lacking to determine tectonic behaviour and future hazard potential along these important fault segments. The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault in the Transverse Ranges of southern California exemplifies these problems. However, landslides, probably seismically triggered, are widespread in the rugged terrain of the Big Bend. Fluvial reworking of these deposits rapidly produces geomorphic planes and lines that are markers for subsequent fault slip. The most useful are offset and abandoned stream channels, for these are relatively high precision markers for identifying individual faulting events. Palaeoseismological studies from the central Big Bend, involving ¹⁴C ages of charcoal fragments from trench exposures, illustrate these points and indicate that the past three faulting events, including the great 1857 earthquake, were relatively similar in scale, each producing offsets of about 7–7.5 m. The mean recurrence interval is 140–220 years. The pre-1857 event here may be the 1812 event documented south of the Big Bend or an event which took place probably between 1630 and 1690. Ground breakage in both events extended south of the Big Bend, unlike the 1857 event where rupture was skewed to the north. The preceding faulting event ruptured both to the north and south of the Big Bend and probably occurred between 1465 and 1495. All these events centred on the Big Bend and may be typical for this fault segment, suggesting that models of uniform long-term slip rates may not be applicable to the south-central San Andreas. A slip-rate estimate of 34–51 mm a^{− 1} for the central Big Bend, although uncertain, may also imply higher slip in the Big Bend and highlights difficulties in correlating slip-rates between sites with different tectonic settings. Slip rates on the San Andreas may increase within the broad compressional tectonics zone of the Big Bend, compared to the north and south where the plate boundary is a relatively linear and sub-parallel series of dominantly strike-slip faults. Partitioning slip within the Big Bend is inherently uncertain and insufficient suitably comparable data are available to sustain a uniform slip model, although such models are a common working assumption.     

Two chondrule groups each with distinctive rims in Murchison recognized by cathodoluminescence

Abstract— Two groups of chondrules in the Murchison CM chondrite, which have previously been identified on the basis of FeO in the chondrule grains, are readily identified from cathodoluminescence (CL) and belong to those of the ordinary chondrite group A and B chondrules of Sears et al. (1992a). All chondrules are surrounded by fine-grained rims containing forsterite with bright red CL, but on group A chondrules an outer thin rim grades into a much thicker rim, with a lower density of forsterite grains, which in turn grades into the central chondrule. Group B chondrules have only the thin outer rim with a high density of small forsterite grains. This is the first time an unequivocal correlation has been observed between chondrule rim thickness and the composition of the object on which the rim is located. We suggest that while all objects in the meteorite (group B chondrules, refractory inclusions, mineral and chondrule fragments, clasts) acquired a very thin rim during processing in a wet regolith, the thick rims on group A chondrules were formed by aqueous alteration of precursor metal- and sulfide-rich rims which are a characteristic of group A chondrules in ordinary chondrites.