Palaeointensity record through the Lower Mammoth reversal from the Waianae volcano, Hawaii

The normal to reverse Lower Mammoth reversal (3.33 Ma) has been recorded in several sequences of lava from the Waianae Volcano, the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. 137 samples from 29 flows from the Pu'u Paheehee section have been the subject of a palaeointensity study using the microwave technique. Duplicate sister samples from the directional study of Herrero-Bervera and Valet (Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 171 (1999) 139–148) were used. Microwave demagnetisation was carried out on all samples and the directions compared to the published flow mean directions. Microwave palaeointensity experiments were carried out on all accepted samples using the 8.2 GHz and 14 GHz microwave systems. The perpendicular applied field palaeointensity method and a Coe analogue method were used. Eighty-four samples from 24 flows gave acceptable palaeointensity results. The results indicate that the geomagnetic field was low (mean 5.9±1.3 μT (N=7)) prior to the transitional directions. During the first stage of the reversal the field remains low. Results however could only be obtained from three transitional flows. The field then strongly recovers with very high intensity (70 μT) and reversed direction. After this the intensity decreases before the field becomes transitional again for a cluster of four flows. The field does not reduce as much as previously, rather it is about twice the pre reversal intensity. For the final section of reversed flows the intensity is more than twice the pre reversal mean value, 15.1±5.9 μT (N=7). Whilst some similarities are seen between this reversal and other reversals of different ages and locations there is not enough data at present to say whether there is any systematic behaviour.     

Critiquing environmental management in indigenous Australia: two case studies

The notion of community participation in sustainable environmental management is well documented, but applications between environmental scientists and indigenous Australians are less known. Many indigenous Australians are socially and culturally marginalized, and agencies debate over appropriate designs for collaborative, cross-cultural environmental programmes that will alleviate marginalization. This paper presents two case studies from northern Australia, where indigenous people participated in an environmental project exploring the commercial potential of the local sea cucumber resource. A framework with principles of participation and knowledge exchange guided project implementation at both localities. Participant observation data that related to these principles suggests that abuse of power imbalances and exploitation (institutional racism) may be more easily disguised within formalized governance structures than in the informal networks and structures that can be supported through less formalized representation. Linking informal and formal governance structures and canvassing a range of governance modalities will ultimately connect the human behaviours and governance structures needed to progress indigenous environmental management in Australia.     

Can we spot a neighborhood from the air? Defining neighborhood structure in Accra, Ghana

Slums are home to a large fraction of urban residents in cities of developing nations, but little attempt has been made to go beyond a simple slum/non-slum dichotomy, nor to identify slums more quantitatively than through local reputation. We use census data from Accra, Ghana, to create an index that applies the UN-Habitat criteria for a place to be a slum. We use this index to identify neighborhoods on a continuum of slum characteristics and on that basis are able to locate the worst slums in Accra. These do include the areas with a local reputation for being slums, lending qualitative validation to the index. We show that slums also have footprints that can be identified from data classified from satellite imagery. However, variability among slums in Accra is also associated with some variability in the land cover characteristics of slums.     

New evidence for high discharge to the Chukchi shelf since the Last Glacial Maximum

Using CHIRP subbottom profiling across the Chukchi shelf, offshore NW Alaska, we observed a large incised valley that measures tens of kilometers in width. The valley appears to have been repeatedly excavated during sea level lowering; however, the two most recent incisions appear to have been downcut during the last sea level rise, suggesting an increase in the volume of discharge. Modern drainage from the northwestern Alaskan margin is dominated by small, low-discharge rivers that do not appear to be large enough to have carved the offshore drainage. The renewed downcutting and incision during the deglaciation and consequent base level rise implies there must have been an additional source of discharge. Paleoprecipitation during deglaciation is predicted to be at least 10% less than modern precipitation and thus cannot account for the higher discharge to the shelf. Glacial meltwater is the most likely source for the increased discharge.     

The NOAA Goes-12 Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) 1. Instrument, Operations, and Data

The Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) was launched 23 July 2001 on NOAAs GOES-12 satellite and completed post-launch testing 20 December 2001. Beginning 22 January 2003 it has provided nearly uninterrupted, full-disk, soft X-ray solar images, with a continuous frame rate significantly exceeding that for previous similar instruments. The SXI provides images with a 1 min cadence and a single-image (adjustable) dynamic range near 100. A set of metallic thin-film filters provides temperature discrimination in the 0.6 – 6.0 nm bandpass. The spatial resolution of approximately 10 arcsec FWHM is sampled with 5 arcsec pixels. Three instrument degradations have occurred since launch, two affecting entrance filters and one affecting the detector high-voltage system. This work presents the SXI instrument, its operations, and its data processing, including the impacts of the instrument degradations. A companion paper (Pizzo et al., this issue) presents SXI performance prior to an instrument degradation that occurred on 5 November 2003 and thus applies to more than 420000 soft X-ray images of the Sun.     

Tephrological implications of beam size—sample‐size effects in electron microprobe analysis of glass shards

This paper concerns the potential consequences of varying procedures for the determination of tephra geochemistry by electron microprobe. Application of electron probe microanalysis to tephrostratigraphical methods has increasingly facilitated the resolution and refinement of Quaternary chronology associated with records of proxy‐environmental or proxy‐climatic change. The geographical range over which tephras are recovered has expanded significantly with the identification and analysis of crypto (or hidden) tephras in areas far removed from tephra sources. These tephras are dominated by glass shards, which, in many distal environments, may be either small in size (μm) or may be highly pumiceous with low glass:void ratios and thin (<10 μm) shard walls. We demonstrate that reducing the size of the electron beam used to analyse shard geochemistry cannot be used reliably to permit analysis of thin glass walls. This approach distorts the geochemical data, creating analytical differences that may generate inappropriate tephrogeochemical fingerprints. Additional distortion of the geochemical fingerprint in the form of hybrid analyses may be encountered in glass fragments containing micron‐sized crystalline phases such as feldspar. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent progress on the Columbus Project and the Miror Laboratory program

This paper summarizes recent advances on the Columbus Project telescope and in the University of Arizona Mirror Lab. The Columbus telescope structure has been re-optimized to allow rapid changes between foci, while still maintaining high rigidity. Room has been made to translate secondary and tertiary spiders out of the light path to the center. A bill allowing construction of the telescope on Mt. Graham, Arizona, has been passed by Congress and signed into law. Two alternative enclosure designs, one with a co-rotating building and a second which opens like a flower, are being explored.A common baseline design for the 8 m honeycomb mirrors for both the Columbus and Magellan telescopes has been developed. It has stiffness comparable to that of the Palomar 200 inch mirror. The Mirror Lab has successfully cast two 3.5 m honeycomb blanks and expects to begin casting at the 6.5 and 8 m scale at the end of 1990. Interferometric tests of the Vatican f/1 1.8 m borosilicate honeycomb mirror show good stability of figure with the air jet ventilation system. A 60 cm stressed lap has been completed, and will be used to parabolize this mirror which is now polished as an f/1 sphere. Plans for a polishing facility to house two 8 m machines and a test tower are complete, with construction starting in April 1989.Paper presented at the Symposium on the JNLT and Related Engineering Developments, Tokyo, November 29–December 2, 1988.     

The Mackenzie Delta: sedimentary processes and facies of a high-latitude, fine-grained delta

The Mackenzie Delta is a large fine‐grained delta deposited in a cold arctic setting. The delta has been constructed upon a flooding surface developed on a previous shelf‐phase delta. There are three principal depositional zones: the subaerial delta plain, the distributary channel mouth region and the subaqeous delta. The subaerial delta plain is characterized by an anastomosing system of high‐sinuosity channels and extensive thermokarst lake development. This region is greatly influenced by the annual cycle of seasonal processes including winter freezing of sediments and channels, ice‐jamming and flooding in the early spring and declining river stage during the summer and autumn. Deposition occurs on channel levees and in thermokarst lakes during flood events and is commonly rhythmic in nature with discrete annual beds being distinguishable. In the channel mouth environment, deposition is dominated by landward accretion and aggradation of mouth bars during river‐ and storm surge‐induced flood events. The subaqeous delta is characterized by a shallow water platform and a gentle offshore slope. Sediment bypassing of the shallow‐water platform is efficient as a result of the presence of incised submarine channels and the predominance of suspension transport of fine‐grained sediments. Facies of the shallow platform include silty sand with climbing ripple lamination. Offshore facies are dominated by seaward‐fining fine sand to silt tempestites. Sea‐ice scouring and sediment deformation are common beyond 10 m water depth where bioturbated muds are the predominant facies. The low angle profile of the shallow‐water platform is interpreted to be the combined response of a fine‐grained delta to (1) storm sediment dispersal; (2) autoretreat as a result of the increasing subaerial and subaqeous area of deposition as the delta progrades out of its glacial valley; (3) limited water depth above the underlying flooding surface; and (4) efficient nearshore bypassing of sediment through subice channels at the peak of spring discharge. Several indicators of the cold climate can be used as criteria for the interpretation of ancient successions, including thermokarst lake development, submarine channel scours, freeze–thaw deformation and ice‐scour deformation structures. Permafrost inhibits compaction subsidence and, together with the shallow‐water setting, also limits autocyclic lobe switching. The cold climate can thus influence stratal architecture by favouring the development of regional‐scale clinoform sets rather than multiple, smaller scale lobes separated by autocyclic flooding surfaces.