UMATILLA COLUMBIA RIVER BASALT UMAT-1

A preliminary report is presented on a basalt reference sample, Umatilla Columbia River Basalt, UMAT-1. Prepared in over 100 kg by the Columbia River Basalt Group, UMAT-1 was, initially, tested for its homogeneity by two US laboratories for major, minor and several trace elements; mean values of these two laboratories are presented. More recent data on 50 elements by a French laboratory attest to the excellent homogeneity of the sample. UMAT-1 is now available for further studies.     

Natural and imposed injustices: the challenges in implementing 'fair' flood risk management policy in England

This paper examines the challenges facing English flood risk management (FRM) policy and practice when considering fair decision-making processes and outcomes at a range of spatial scales. It is recognised that flooding is not fair per se : the inherent natural spatial inequality of flood frequency and extent, plus the legacy of differential system interventions, being the cause. But, drawing on the three social justice models – procedural equality, Rawls' maximin rule and maximum utility – the authors examine the fairness principles currently employed in FRM decision-making. This is achieved, firstly, in relation to the distribution of taxpayer's money for FRM at the national, regional and local levels and, secondly, for non-structural strategies – most notably those of insurance, flood warnings and awareness raising, land use control, home owner adaptation and emergency management. A case study of the Lower Thames catchment illustrates the challenges facing decision-makers in 'real life': how those strategies which appear to be most technically and economically effective fall far short of being fair from either a vulnerability or equality perspective. The paper concludes that if we are to manage flood risk somewhat more fairly then a move in the direction of government funding of nationally consistent non-structural strategies, in conjunction with lower investment decision thresholds for other local-level FRM options, appears to offer a greater contribution to equality and vulnerability-based social justice principles than the status quo.     

Use of Geochemical Reference Materials in a Quality Control/Quality Assurance Program*

The role played by geochemical reference materials in establishing and maintaining a quality control/quality assurance program in a geochemical/assay laboratory is discussed. It includes the development of in-house reference materials and their characterization with reference to internationally recognized reference materials. It also concerns reference materials for use in geochemical trace analysis, ore grade assays and the analysis of concentrates for establishing the values of shipments. Suggestions are given for the sources and preparation of various types of reference materials that may need to be developed for in-house use.     

Serving the Service Sector: Gendering Regional (Un)Employment in Geelong,Australia1

This paper will briefly examine employment trends in regional Australia before focusing on one manufacturing, coastal region ‐ Geelong, Victoria –over the 1990s. It will consider the experience of a differentiated sample of women as they enter (and re‐enter) the one sphere of economic activity seen by many as the economic future of cities and regions ‐the service sector. Interviews detailed women's employment histories and experiences but despite the complexity of their multiple locations, this paper will argue that it is their disadvantaged positions as women workers that is fundamental in shaping that experience, regardless of how it is complicated by age, ethnicity or disability.     

APPLICATION OF THEORY TO AN ATLANTIC TURBIDITY-CURRENT PATH

Some results of turbidity-current theory are applied to analyses of turbidite layers in cores from the route of a large turbidity current of sheet-flow type. Novel features are that current velocity is estimated from the sediment sizes deposited, and the lateral spreading of the current is considered. An approximate quantitative picture of the current is obtained. It is compared with the turbidity current which caused the Grand Banks cable breaks.     

Modelling of cyclic tidal rhythmites (Carboniferous of Indiana and Kansas, Precambrian of Utah, USA) as a basis for reconstruction of intertidal positioning and palaeotidal regimes

Analyses are presented for a variety of ancient cyclic tidal rhythmites, which exhibit well developed neap-spring tidal periods. Many such rhythmites were formed within the upper intertidal zone and exhibit truncated cycles that contain relatively few discrete lamina per neap-spring cycle. In such cases it can be difficult to determine if the originated palaeotidal system was diurnal or semidiurnal. Based on sedimentological controls observed in modern analogues, the development of cyclic tidal rhythmites can be modelled by use of predicted tidal-height information. The modelling used a 19-year-long series of tidal heights, which were subsequently used to approximate tidal velocities and rhythmite sedimentation. Modelling was based on a range of diurnal to semidiurnal regimes and comparisons were performed at a number of levels within the intertidal zone. This modelling produced a long series of simulated laminae-thickness series which could be cross-correlated with ancient laminae-thickness series measured directly from ancient rhythmites. This approach involved 1.6 × 10⁶ comparisons of each ancient rhythmite series to the series simulated from the predictive tidal-height information. The high correlations derived for such comparisons indicate that reasonable approximations to the palaeotidal systems can be made. In some cases, it is possible to determine the diurnal or semidiurnal nature of the originating palaeotidal system.     

Lack of porphyroblast rotation in the Otago schists, New Zealand: implications for crenulation cleavage development, folding and deformation partitioning

Porphyroblasts of garnet and plagioclase in the Otago schists have not rotated relative to geographic coordinates during non-coaxial deformation that post-dates their growth. Inclusion trails in most of the porphyroblasts are oriented near-vertical and near-horizontal, and the strike of near-vertical inclusion trails is consistent over 3000 km². Microstructural relationships indicate that the porphyroblasts grew in zones of progressive shortening strain, and that the sense of shear affecting the geometry of porphyroblast inclusion trails on the long limbs of folds is the same as the bulk sense of displacement of fold closures. This is contrary to the sense of shear inferred when porphyroblasts are interpreted as having rotated during folding.
Several crenulation cleavage/fold models have previously been developed to accommodate the apparent sense of rotation of porphyroblasts that grew during folding. In the light of accumulating evidence that porphyroblasts do not generally rotate, the applicability of these models to deformed rocks is questionable.
Whether or not porphyroblasts rotate depends on how deformation is partitioned. Lack of rotation requires that progressive shearing strain (rotational deformation) be partitioned around rigid heterogeneities, such as porphyroblasts, which occupy zones of progressive shortening or no strain (non-rotational deformation). Therefore, processes operating at the porphyroblast/matrix boundary are important considerations. Five qualitative models are presented that accommodate stress and strain energy at the boundary without rotating the porphyroblast: (a) a thin layer of fluid at the porphyroblast boundary; (2) grain-boundary sliding; (3) a locked porphyroblast/matrix boundary; (4) dissolution at the porphyroblast/matrix boundary, and (5) an ellipsoidal porphyroblast/shadow unit.