Red-light districts and Toleration Zones: geographies of female street prostitution in England and Wales

Summary Although female street prostitution is widely acknowledged to occur in specific spaces, characteristically referred to as 'red-light' districts, geographers have been remarkably reticent in examining the nature and location of these spaces. Against a backdrop of mounting debate surrounding the legal status of prostitution in England and Wales, this paper considers the importance of such areas in the regulation and containment of street prostitution, and speculates as to how changing social and legal attitudes might result in very different geographies of prostitution.     

The soft X-ray polychromator for the Solar Maximum Mission

The 1.4–22.4 Å range of the soft X-ray spectrum includes a multitude of emission lines which are important for the diagnosis of plasmas in the 1.5–50 million degree temperature range. In particular, the hydrogen and helium-like ions of all abundant solar elements with Z > 7 have their primary transitions in this region and these are especially useful for solar flare and active region studies. The soft X-ray polychromator (XRP) is a high resolution experiment working in this spectral region. The XRP consists of two instruments with a common control, data handling and power system. The bent crystal spectrometer is designed for high time resolution studies in lines of Fe i-Fe xxvi and Ca xix. The flat crystal scanning spectrometer provides for 7 channel polychromatic mapping of flares and active regions in the resonance lines of O viii, Ne ix, Mg xi, Si xiii, S xv, Ca xix, and Fe xxv with 14 spatial resolution. In its spectral scanning mode it covers essentially the entire 1.4–22.5 Å region.This paper summarizes the scientific objectives of the XRP experiment and describes the characteristics and capabilities of the two instruments. Sufficient technical information for experiment feasibility studies is included and the resources and procedures planned for the use of the XRP within the context of the Solar Maximum Mission is briefly discussed.     

Formal definition and dating of the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Holocene using the Greenland NGRIP ice core,and selected auxiliary records

The Greenland ice core from NorthGRIP (NGRIP) contains a proxy climate record across the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary of unprecedented clarity and resolution. Analysis of an array of physical and chemical parameters within the ice enables the base of the Holocene, as reflected in the first signs of climatic warming at the end of the Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1 cold phase, to be located with a high degree of precision. This climatic event is most clearly reflected in an abrupt shift in deuterium excess values, accompanied by more gradual changes in δ¹⁸O, dust concentration, a range of chemical species, and annual layer thickness. A timescale based on multi‐parameter annual layer counting provides an age of 11 700 calendar yr b2 k (before AD 2000) for the base of the Holocene, with a maximum counting error of 99 yr. A proposal that an archived core from this unique sequence should constitute the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Holocene Series/Epoch (Quaternary System/Period) has been ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences. Five auxiliary stratotypes for the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary have also been recognised. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Sun – Earth Workshop: A Summary of the Outcome

This special issue includes a set of papers that deal with extended solar activity, the launching of CMEs at the Sun, their propagation through interplanetary space, and the detection and study of the ejecta near Earth and of their interaction with the Earth’s magnetic environment. In particular solar events that occurred on 28 October 2003, 6 and 7 November 2004, and 20 January 2005, for which the related shocks arrived at Earth about two days later, are considered. The summary paper extracts the principal outcomes that were arrived at in the areas treated during the workshop and seeks to draw conclusions both on the progress made and on possible directions for future work in these areas.     

Insights into silicic melt generation using plagioclase, quartz and melt inclusions from the caldera-forming Rotoiti eruption, Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand

The Rotoiti (~120 km³) and Earthquake Flat (~10 km³) eruptions occurred in close succession from the Okataina Volcanic Centre at ~50 ka. While accessory mineral geochronology points to long periods of crystallization prior to eruption (10⁴–10⁵ years) and separate thermal histories for the magmas, little was known about the rates and processes of the final melt production and eruption. Crystal zoning patterns in plagioclase and quartz reveal the thermal and compositional history of the magmatic system leading up to the eruption. The dominant modal phase, plagioclase, displays considerable within-crystal zonation: An_37–74, ~40–227 ppm MgO, 45–227 ppm TiO₂, 416–910 ppm Sr and 168–1164 ppm Ba. Resorption horizons in the crystals are marked by sharp increases (10–30%) in Sr, MgO and X_An that reflect changes in melt composition and are consistent with open system processes. Melt inclusions display further evidence for open system behaviour, some are depleted in Sr and Ba relative to accompanying matrix glass not consistent with crystallization of modal assemblage. MI also display a wide range in XH₂O that is consistent with volatile fluxing. Quartz CL images reveal zoning that is truncated by resorption, and accompanied by abrupt increases in Ti concentration (30–80 ppm) that reflect temperature increases ~50–110°C. Diffusion across these resorption horizons is restricted to zones of <20 μm, suggesting most crystallization within the magma occurred in <2000 years. These episodes are brief compared to the longevity (10⁴–10⁵ year) of the crystal mush zones. All textural and compositional features observed within the quartz and plagioclase crystals are best explained by periodic mafic intrusions repeatedly melting parts of a crystal-rich zone and recharging the system with silicic melt. These periodic influxes of silicic melt would have accumulated to form the large volume of magma that fed the caldera-forming Rotoiti eruption.     

Geochemical and statistical approach for evaluation of heavy metal pollution in core sediments in southeast coast of India

Industrialization coupled with urbanizaton has led to stress in the Buckingham Canal which runs parallel to Bay of Bengal at a distance of around 1 km from the coastline. 4 sediment cores were collected along Ennore — Pulicat stretch to determine acid leachable trace metal concentration. Core samples were collected using gravity corer. The cores were sliced horizontally at 2.5 cm to determine the grain size, sediment composition, pH, organic matter, calcium carbonate, acid leachable trace metals; cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, zinc. The trace metals were extracted using acid mixture containing hydro fluoric acid, nitric acid and sulphuric acid and analysed by atomic emission spectrophotometer. In an attempt to infer anthropogenic input from geogenic input, several approaches including comparison with sediment quality guidelines — ecotoxicological sense of heavy metal contamination and classification by quantitative indexes such as geoaccumalation index, anthropogenic factor, enrichment factor, contamination factor and degree and pollution load index was attempted. Grain size analysis and sediment composition of core samples shows Ennore is sandy in nature having a neutral pH. Organic matter enrichment is observed to a higher extent in core 3. Core 2 at a depth of 5 cm shows organic matter of 9.4 %. calcium carbonate is totally absent at the surface sediments in core 2. Cores collected within the canal showed a higher heavy metal concentration than the cores collected from Pulicat lagoon and 2 km into the Ennore Sea. The trace metal concentration for cadmium, lead and zinc in Ennore does not pose a threat to the sediment dwelling fauna whereas chromium and copper are likely to pose a threat. Quantitative indexes place Ennore under moderately polluted. Ennore is likely to face a serious threat of metal pollution with the present deposition rates unless stringent pollution control norms are adopted.