Neoliberalism,Mineral Development and Indigenous People: a framework for analysis

There have been suggestions in recent literature that neoliberalism and globalisation present positive opportunities for Indigenous communities engaging in resource development projects on their traditional lands. This paper will present evidence from preliminary research on the neoliberal restructuring that has endured for those Indigenous communities of Queensland who have engaged with mineral development opportunities. Initial findings indicate that the State has devolved some of its responsibilities to the mining company in relation to Indigenous development and service provision. This paper develops a theoretical and analytical framework to enable an examination of the implications of this voluntary devolution of responsibility for Indigenous development and service provision and questions whether this represents a positive opportunity for Indigenous people in the region.     

Serendipitous Asteroid Lightcurve Survey Using SuperWASP

The SuperWASP project is an ultra-wide angle search for extra solar planetary transits. However, it can also serendipitously detect solar system objects, such as asteroids and comets. Each SuperWASP instrument consists of up to eight cameras, combined with high-quality peltier-cooled CCDs, which photometrically survey large numbers of stars in the magnitude range 7–15. Each camera covers a 7.8 × 7.8 degree field of view. Located on La Palma, the SuperWASP-I instrument has been observing the Northern Hemisphere with five cameras since its inauguration in April 2004.The ultra-wide angle field of view gives SuperWASP the possibility of discovering new fast moving (near to Earth) asteroids that could have been missed by other instruments. However, it provides an excellent opportunity to produce a magnitude-limited lightcurve survey of known main belt asteroids. As slow moving asteroids stay within a single SuperWASP field for several weeks, and may be seen in many fields, a survey of all objects brighter than magnitude 15 is possible. This will provide a significant increase in the total number of lightcurves available for statistical studies without the inherent bias against longer periods present in the current data sets.We present the methodology used in the automated collection of asteroid data from SuperWASP and some of the first examples of lightcurves from numbered asteroids.     

SuperWASP-N extrasolar planet candidates from fields 06h < RA < 16h

The Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) survey currently operates two installations, designated SuperWASP-N and SuperWASP-S, located in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. These installations are designed to provide high time-resolution photometry for the purpose of detecting transiting extrasolar planets, asteroids, and transient events. Here, we present results from a transit-hunting observing campaign using SuperWASP-N covering a right ascension (RA) range of 06^h < RA < 16^h. This paper represents the fifth and final in the series of transit candidates released from the 2004 observing season. In total, 729 335 stars from 33 fields were monitored with 130 566 having sufficient precision to be scanned for transit signatures. Using a robust transit detection algorithm and selection criteria, six stars were found to have events consistent with the signature of a transiting extrasolar planet based on the photometry, including the known transiting planet XO-1b. These transit candidates are presented here along with discussion of follow-up observations and the expected number of candidates in relation to the overall observing strategy.     

Evidence of biogeomorphic patterning in a low‐relief karst landscape

Patterned landscapes are often evidence of biotic control on geomorphic processes, emerging in response to coupled ecosystem processes acting at different spatial scales. Self‐reinforcing processes at local scales expand patches, while self‐inhibiting processes, operating at a distance, impose limits to expansion. In Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) in southwest Florida, isolated forested wetland depressions (cypress domes) appear to be evenly distributed within a mosaic of short‐hydroperiod marshes and pine uplands. To test the hypothesis that the apparent patterning is regular, we characterized frequency distributions and spatial patterns of vegetation communities, surface and bedrock elevation, and soil properties (thickness and phosphorus content). Nearest neighbor distances indicate strongly significant wetland spatial overdispersion, and bedrock elevations exhibited periodic spatial autocorrelation; both observations are consistent with regular patterning. Bedrock elevations and soil P were clearly bimodal, suggesting strong positive feedbacks on wetland patch development. Soil‐surface elevations exhibited weaker bimodality, indicating smoothing of surface morphology by some combination of sediment transport, mineral reprecipitation, and organic matter production. Significant negative autocorrelation of bedrock elevations at scales similar to wetland spacing suggest the presence of distal negative feedbacks on patch expansion. These findings support the inference of regular patterning, and are consistent with the presence of local positive feedbacks among hydroperiod, vegetation productivity and bedrock dissolution. These processes are ultimately constrained by distal negative feedbacks, potentially induced by landscape scale limitations on the water volume required to enable this biogeomorphic mechanism. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Swift observations of GW Lib: a unique insight into a rare outburst

The second known outburst of the WZ Sge type dwarf nova GW Lib was observed in 2007 April. We have obtained unique multiwavelength data of this outburst which lasted ∼26 days. The American Association of Variable Star Observers ( AAVSO ) recorded the outburst in the optical, which was also monitored by Wide Angle Search for Planets , with a peak V magnitude of ∼8. The outburst was followed in the ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths by the Swift ultraviolet/optical and X-ray telescopes. The X-ray flux at optical maximum was found to be three orders of magnitude above the pre-outburst quiescent level, whereas X-rays are normally suppressed during dwarf nova outbursts. A distinct supersoft X-ray component was also detected at optical maximum, which probably arises from an optically thick boundary layer. Follow-up Swift observations taken 1 and 2 years after the outburst show that the post-outburst quiescent X-ray flux remains an order of magnitude higher than the pre-outburst flux. The long interoutburst time-scale of GW Lib with no observed normal outbursts support the idea that the inner disc in GW Lib is evacuated or the disc viscosity is very low.     

Coordination of Fe,Ga and Ge in high pressure glasses by Mössbauer,Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy,and geological implications

Mössbauer spectra of glasses of NaFeSi₃O₈ and 3NaAlSi₂O₆ · NaFeSiO₄ starting compositions consist of a dominant Fe³⁺ and subordinate Fe²⁺ quadrupole-split doublet, in agreement with previous work. Fe³⁺ is assigned to tetrahedral coordination. Pressure-induced coordination changes are not observed in the pressure range 1 bar to 30 kbar. A gradual increase in isomer shift of the Fe³⁺ doublet with increase in pressure is attributed to steric effects. Raman spectra of GeO₂, NaGaSi₃O₈ and NaGaSiO₄ glasses are dominated by network structure vibrations. There is no detectable change in the nearest-neighbor coordination of Ge⁴⁺ in GeO₂ from 1 bar to 14 kbar, of Ga³⁺ in NaGaSi₃O₈ from 1 bar to 28 kbar and of Ga³⁺ in NaGaSiO₄ from 1 bar to 25 kbar. However, some structural reorganization outside of the first coordination sphere occurs in the high pressure glasses.XANES and EXAFS spectra on powdered samples of 1 bar and 25 kbar NaGaSiO₄ glasses and crystalline NaGaSiO₄ were obtained from K edge absorption spectra at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory using a double crystal monochromator equipped with Si(220) crystals. The XANES spectra indicate that Ga³⁺ has a similar extended coordination geometry in both glasses. The EXAFS spectra reveal that Ga³⁺ is four-coordinated with oxygen in all three samples with a Ga³⁺-O distance of about 1.83 Å. The radial distribution functions of the two glasses are virtually identical. However, both XANES and EXAFS spectra indicate significant structural differences between crystalline NaGaSiO₄ (nepheline-type structure) and vitreous NaGaSiO₄ beyond the first coordination shell of Ga³⁺. Thus, X-ray absorption spectroscopy independently confirms the Raman results on the unchanged coordination of Ga³⁺ in NaGaSiO₄ glasses with pressures up to 25 kbar.Glass compositions were selected in anticipation that larger and/or lower charged cations would exhibit pressure-induced coordination changes at lower pressures than Al³⁺ and Si⁴⁺. The present null result suggests that the stabilizing features of open network structures in the liquid state (large entropy and minimized cation-cation repulsion) more than compensate for large molar volume in the pressure range accessible to experimentation. It appears that network structures in natural magmas should remain stable throughout the upper mantle. Consequently, the densities of magmas at high pressures which are calculated from compressibility data and the appropriate equation of state will be only slightly underestimated, due to the effect of minor structural changes beyond the first coordination sphere.     

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Experimental Astronomy - At peak, long-duration gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation known. Since their progenitors are massive stars, they provide a tracer...