Greening international shipping through private governance: A case study of the Clean Shipping Project

This article aims to generate insights into both private governance and partnerships within the shipping industry, but also tries to improve understanding of the complex process of institutionalisation.This is achieved through a case study of the Clean Shipping Project, a public/private partnership that aims to promote sustainability in the shipping industry. A set of enabling and constraining factors are examined that shape the institutionalisation process and determine to what extent the Clean Shipping Project can establish and expand authority as an industry norm.Overall, the Clean Shipping Project cannot yet be considered a full-fledged private governance institution, because of an insufficient level of collaborative advantage mainly due to weak system robustness and unfavourable market characteristics and conditions. However, institutionalisation is an ongoing process and the future outlook for the Clean Shipping Project remains promising. The Clean Shipping Project is certainly a relevant supplement to existing regulations and there is a basic level of commitment and cohesion within the partnership, so it is not unlikely that in the future this initiative may help to uncouple growth in shipping activities from environmental harm.     

Authigenic carbonates from the eastern Black Sea as an archive for shallow gas hydrate dynamics – Results from the combination of CT imaging with mineralogical and stable isotope analyses

Authigenic carbonates associated with cold seeps provide valuable archives of changes in the long-term seepage activity. To investigate the role of shallow-buried hydrates on the seepage strength and fluid composition we analysed methane-derived carbonate precipitates from a high-flux hydrocarbon seepage area (“Batumi seep area”) located on the south-eastern Black Sea slope in ca. 850 m. In a novel approach, we combined computerized X-ray tomography (CT) with mineralogical and isotope geochemical methods to get additional insights into the three-dimensional internal structure of the carbonate build-ups.     

Macroparasites of angelfish Brama brama (Bonnaterre, 1788) in the southern Benguela Current ecosystem

The angelfish Brama brama is a mesopelagic species distributed circumglobally in temperate to warm-temperate waters, including continental-shelf-edge and upper-slope waters of the Benguela Current ecosystem. Little is known about the parasite assemblage of Benguela B. brama, with only three parasite taxa having previously been documented from this species in the southern Benguela. This study describes the macroparasites recorded from 35 B. brama collected during research surveys off the west coast of South Africa in 2015 and 2016. A total of six macroparasite taxa were documented, including the nematode Anisakis pegreffii, the copepod Hatschekia conifera, the cestode Hepatoxylon trichiuri, an acanthocephalan from the genus Rhadinorhynchus, a monogenean from the family Diclidophoridae, and an unidentified species. Three of these (He. trichiuri, Rhadinorhynchus sp. and the unidentified species) had not previously been found to infect B. brama. The most prevalent macroparasite taxa were A. pegreffii (94%), the unidentified species (71%) and Ha. conifera (60%). Two of the parasites, Ha. conifera and He. trichiuri, showed seasonal variation in infection, and infection with the latter was positively correlated with host length. These findings increase our knowledge of B. brama biology and contribute to our understanding of the biodiversity of the southern Benguela ecosystem.     

A study of presolar material in hydrated lithic clasts from metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites

We report on the investigation of presolar grain inventories of hydrated lithic clasts in three metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites from the CR clan, Acfer 182 (CH3), Isheyevo (CH3/CB_b3), and Lewis Cliff (LEW) 85332 (C3-un), as well as the carbon- and nitrogen-isotopic compositions of the fine-grained clast material. Eleven presolar silicate grains as well as nine presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains were identified in the clasts. Presolar silicate abundances range from 4 to 22 parts per million (ppm), significantly lower than in pristine meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDP), and comparable to recent findings for CM2s and CR2 interchondrule matrix. SiC concentrations lie between 9 and 23 ppm, and are comparable to the values for CI, CM, and CR chondrites. The results of our investigation suggest similar alteration pathways for the clast material, the interchondrule matrix of the CR2 chondrites, and the fine-grained fraction of CM2 chondrites. Fine-grained matter of all three meteorites contains moderate to high ¹⁵N-enrichments (~50‰ ≤ δ¹⁵N ≤ ~1600‰) compared to the terrestrial value, indicating the presence of primitive organic material. We observed no correlation between ¹⁵N-enrichments and presolar dust concentrations in the clasts. This is in contrast to the findings from a suite of primitive IDPs, which display in several cases enhanced bulk ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratios and high presolar grain abundances of several hundred or even thousand ppm. The bulk ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratios of the clasts are comparable to the range for primitive IDPs, suggesting a nitrogen carrier less susceptible to destruction by aqueous alteration than silicate stardust.     

The chronology of a large ice-dammed lake and the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet advances, Northern Russia

Beach and shoreface sediments deposited in the more than 800-km long ice-dammed Lake Komi in northern European Russia have been investigated and dated. The lake flooded the lowland areas between the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet in the north and the continental drainage divide in the south. Shoreline facies have been dated by 18 optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates, most of which are closely grouped in the range 80–100 ka, with a mean of 88±3 ka. This implies that that the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet had its Late Pleistocene maximum extension during the Early Weichselian, probably in the cold interval (Rederstall) between the Brørup and Odderade interstadials of western Europe, correlated with marine isotope stage 5b. This is in strong contrast to the Scandinavian and North American ice sheets, which had their maxima in isotope stage 2, about 20 ka. Field and air photo interpretations suggest that Lake Komi was dammed by the ice advance, which formed the Harbei–Harmon–Sopkay Moraines. These has earlier been correlated with the Markhida moraine across the Pechora River Valley and its western extension. However, OSL dates on fluvial sediments below the Markhida moraine have yielded ages as young as 60 ka. This suggests that the Russian mainland was inundated by two major ice sheet advances from the Barents–Kara seas after the last interglacial: one during the Early Weichselian (about 90 ka) that dammed Lake Komi and one during the Middle Weichselian (about 60 ka). Normal fluvial drainage prevailed during the Late Weichselian, when the ice front was located offshore.