Defending national linguistic territories in the European Single Market: towards more transnational geolinguistic analysis

This paper calls for more analysis of contemporary transnational linguistic movements. Geographers have hitherto focused on linguistic problems within states and paid less attention to issues that arise as languages, notably English, are used internationally across state boundaries. It does this by examining a conflict that arose when forces integrating the supranational European Single Market space came into conflict with a Member State's determination to protect the linguistic 'integrity' of its national territory. This conflict would appear to be a precursor of similar ones to come as languages increasingly compete in a linguistic market within an integrating Europe and a globalizing world.     

Palaeomagnetism of the teschenitic rocks (Lower Cretaceous) in the Outer Western Carpathians of Poland: constraints for tectonic rotations in the Silesian unit

Results of palaeomagnetic investigations of the Lower Cretaceous teschenitic rocks in the Silesian unit of the Outer Western Carpathians in Poland bring evidence for pre-folding magnetization of these rocks. The mixed-polarity component reveals inclinations, between 56° and 69°, which might be either of Cretaceous or Tertiary age. Apparently positive results of fold and contact tests in some localities and presence of pyrhotite in the contact aureole suggest that magnetization is primary, although a Neogene or earlier remagnetization cannot be totally excluded since inclination-only test between localities gives 'syn-folding' results. Higher palaeoinclinations (66°–69°) correlate with a younger variety of teschenitic rocks dated for 122–120 Ma, while lower inclinations (56°–60°) with an older variety (138–133 Ma). This would support relatively high palaeolatitudes for the southern margin of the Eurasian plate in the late part of the Early Cretaceous and relatively quick northward drift of the plate in this epoch, together with the Silesian basin at its southern margin. Declinations are similar to the Cretaceous–Tertiary palaeodeclinations of stable Europe in the eastern part of the studied area but rotated ca. 14°–70° counter-clockwise in the western part. This indicates, together with older results from Czech and Slovakian sectors of the Silesian unit, a change in the rotation pattern from counter-clockwise to clockwise at the meridian of 19°E. The rotations took place before the final collision of the Outer Carpathians nappe stack with the European foreland.     

Crustal structure across the Grand Banks–Newfoundland Basin Continental Margin – II. Results from a seismic reflection profile

New multichannel seismic reflection data were collected over a 565 km transect covering the non-volcanic rifted margin of the central eastern Grand Banks and the Newfoundland Basin in the northwestern Atlantic. Three major crustal zones are interpreted from west to east over the seaward 350 km of the profile: (1) continental crust; (2) transitional basement and (3) oceanic crust. Continental crust thins over a wide zone (∼160 km) by forming a large rift basin (Carson Basin) and seaward fault block, together with a series of smaller fault blocks eastwards beneath the Salar and Newfoundland basins. Analysis of selected previous reflection profiles (Lithoprobe 85-4, 85-2 and Conrad NB-1) indicates that prominent landward-dipping reflections observed under the continental slope are a regional phenomenon. They define the landward edge of a deep serpentinized mantle layer, which underlies both extended continental crust and transitional basement. The 80-km-wide transitional basement is defined landwards by a basement high that may consist of serpentinized peridotite and seawards by a pair of basement highs of unknown crustal origin. Flat and unreflective transitional basement most likely is exhumed, serpentinized mantle, although our results do not exclude the possibility of anomalously thinned oceanic crust. A Moho reflection below interpreted oceanic crust is first observed landwards of magnetic anomaly M4, 230 km from the shelf break. Extrapolation of ages from chron M0 to the edge of interpreted oceanic crust suggests that the onset of seafloor spreading was ∼138 Ma (Valanginian) in the south (southern Newfoundland Basin) to ∼125 Ma (Barremian–Aptian boundary) in the north (Flemish Cap), comparable to those proposed for the conjugate margins.     

Late Holocene linkages between decade–century scale climate variability and productivity at Lake Tanganyika, Africa

Microlaminated sediment cores from the Kalya slope region of Lake Tanganyika provide a near-annually resolved paleoclimate record between ∼∼2,840 and 1,420 cal. yr B.P. demonstrating strong linkages between climate variability and lacustrine productivity. Laminae couplets comprise dark, terrigenous-dominated half couplets, interpreted as low density underflows deposited from riverine sources during the rainy season, alternating with light, planktonic diatomaceous ooze, with little terrigenous component, interpreted as windy/dry season deposits. Laminated portions of the studied cores consist of conspicuous dark and light colored bundles of laminae couplets. Light and dark bundles alternate at decadal time scales. Within dark bundles, both light and dark half couplets are significantly thinner than within light bundles, implying slower sediment accumulation rates during both seasons over those intervals.Time series analyses of laminae thickness patterns demonstrate significant periodicities at interannual–centennial time scales. Longer time scale periodicities (multidecadal to centennial scale) of light and dark half couplet thicknesses are coherent and in some cases are similar to solar cycle periods on these time scales. Although laminae thickness cycles do not strongly covary with the actual Δ¹⁴C record for this same time period, two large Δ¹⁴C anomalies are associated with substantial decreases in both light and dark laminae thickness. In contrast to the multidecadal– centennial time scale, significant annual to decadal periodicities, which are broadly consistent with ENSO/PDO forcing and their impact on East African climate, are not coherent between light and dark half couplets. The coherency of light–dark couplets at decadal–centennial time scales, but not at shorter time scales, is consistent with a model of a long-term relationship between precipitation (recorded in wet season dark laminae thickness) and productivity (light laminae thickness), which is not manifest at shorter time scales. We hypothesize that this coupling results from long-term recharging of internal nutrient loading during wet periods (higher erosion of soil P) and reduced loading during drought intervals. The relationship is not expressed on short time scales during which the dominant control on productivity is wind-driven, dry season upwelling, which is uncorrelated with wet-season precipitation. Our record greatly extends the temporal record of this quasi-periodic behavior throughout the late Holocene and provides the first evidence linking decade- to century-scale episodes of enhanced productivity to enhanced precipitation levels and nutrient recharge in a productive tropical lake.     

Biological and Geochemical Record of Anthropogenic Impacts in Recent Sediments from Lake Pupuke, Auckland City, New Zealand

Frozen sediment cores from Lake Pupuke in Auckland City, New Zealand, contain a high resolution decadal to annual scale record of changing lake paleoenvironments and geochemistry that reflects changing landuse and hydrology in the catchment over the past c. 190 years. A reliable chronology is available from AMS ¹⁴C and ²¹⁰Pb dating of the sediments, with the timing of the older part of the record supported by the first appearance of pollen of introduced Pinus and Plantago lanceolata associated with European settlement of Auckland in the early 1840s. Diatom stratigraphy, sediment elemental and carbon isotope geochemistry reflect changes in sediment sources and lake conditions commensurate with European development of the Lake Pupuke catchment, in particular enhanced algal productivity controlled by the influx of nutrients after c. 1920 AD. Attempts to prevent nuisance algal blooms in 1933, 1934 and 1939 using CuSO₄ addition produced Cu spikes in the sediment that allowed confirmation of the accuracy of the ²¹⁰Pb chronology. Hence, the elemental and isotopic composition of the Lake Pupuke sediments reflect the timing of significant anthropogenic activities, rather than climatic variations, that have occurred within the watershed over the past c. 190 years. The comparison of records of land use change in the catchment with the multi-proxy record of changes in the sediments usually allowed unambiguous identification of the signatures of change and their causes.