“Global warming” versus “climate change”: A replication on the association between political self-identification,question wording,and environmental beliefs

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity and requires immediate action. Schuldt, Konrath, and Schwarz (2011) suggested that beliefs in environmental phenomena can be influenced by the terminology used to describe it: changing question wording from global warming to climate change resulted in a 6.3 percentage point increase in belief in environmental phenomena. This association was moderated by political self-identification, with Republicans being 16.2 percentage points more likely to believe in climate change than in global warming, with Democrats showing no difference. The potential for connotative meanings to shift over time and the sociopolitical changes since the original study, potential policy and environmental campaign implications, and an expansion of these findings to other countries, motivated an attempt to replicate this important finding. This pre-registered study repeated the original procedures in the United States of America and two other countries (United Kingdom and Australia; total N = 5,717). Although question wording no longer had a significant effect on beliefs in climate change/global warming, the association of political self-identification with beliefs in environmental phenomena replicated in all three countries, with Conservatives consistently believing less in climate change/global warming than Liberals. The potential impacts of temporal and methodological differences on the discrepancies between this study's and the original's findings are discussed.     

Pisolitic laterite geochemistry in the golden grove massive sulphide district, Western Australia

The two known massive Cu-Zn sulphide deposits in the steeply dipping strata of the Golden Grove District of Western Australia — the Gossan Hill Deposit and Scuddles Prospect — both have a multi-element secondary geochemical dispersion halo in the pisolitic layer of laterite of probable Tertiary age. The Gossan Hill geochemical anomaly is about 1.5 × 2 km and has a Bi-Sn-Mo-In-Sb-As-Cu-Au association. Mean compositions of pisolitic laterite samples range from 4 to 18 times background, with maxima for Bi, Sn and Mo reaching 90 to 100 times background. Relief of Gossan Hill, which rises some 80 m above the laterite plain, would have favoured dispersion during lateritization. Nevertheless at Scuddles, where the laterite surface has only a gentle slope across strike, an anomaly in pisolitic laterite measures 1 to 1.5 by 1.5 to 2.0 km. The anomalous association, Bi-Sn-Mo-Sb-As, is similar to that at Gossan Hill; the mean contents in pisolitic laterite samples from the Scuddles anomaly range from 2.3 to 8 times background, with maxima for Bi being 12 times background.At Gossan Hill, individual pisolites and the concretionary skins contain gossan fragments and cassiterite, indicating mechanical dispersion during interitization. However, anomalous Cu, Zn and As in goethites of the concretionary skins of pisolites and nodules from the centre of the anomaly indicate that there has also been hydromorphic dispersion.The geochemical characteristics of pisolitic laterite samples have been represented by empirically derived additive indices based on up to eleven chalcophile elements. One index is suggested as a method to increase anomaly size and simplify interpretation; a more specific index based on Bi, Sn and Se is suggested for defining more closely the actual centres of mineralization.For routine exploration of lateritic terrain where the dips of the host sequence are steep, 320-m spacing of samples on a triangular grid appears suitable for locating anomalies and generally defining their source. However, for reconnaissance exploration, the density of sampling could be significantly reduced for example to 1 km spacing.     

Gold and copper mineralization at the El Indio deposit, Chile

A Middle Tertiary volcanic belt in the High Andes of north-central Chile hosts numerous precious- and base-metal epithermal deposits over its 150 km north-south trend. The El Indio district, believed to be associated with a hydrothermal system in the late stages of development of a volcanic caldera, consists of a series of separate vein systems located in an area of 30 km² which has undergone intense argillic-sericitic-solfataric alteration. The majority of the known gold-copper-silver mineralization occurs within a structural block only 150 by 500 m in surface area, with a recognized vertical extent exceeding 300 m. This block is bounded by two high-angle northeast-trending faults oriented subparallel to the mineralized veins.Hypogene mineralization at El Indio is grouped into two main ore-forming stages: Copper and Gold. The Copper stage is composed chiefly of enargite and pyrite forming massive veins up to 20 m wide, and is accompanied by alteration of the wall rocks to alunite, kaolinite, sericite, pyrite and quartz. The Gold stage consists of vein-filling quartz, pyrite, native gold, tennantite and subordinate amounts of a wide variety of telluride minerals. Associated with this stage is pervasive alteration of the wall rocks to sericite, kaolinite, quartz and minor pyrophyllite. The transition from copper to gold mineralization is marked by the alteration of enargite to tennantite and by minor deposition of sphalerite, galena, huebnerite, chalcopyrite and gold. Mineral stability relations indicate that there was a general decrease in the activity of S₂ accompanied by variations in the activity of Te₂ during the Gold stage.Fluid-inclusion data show homogenization temperatures ranging from about 220 to 280°C, with salinities on the order of 3–4 eq. wt. % NaCl for the Copper stage. The Gold-stage inclusions indicate a similar range in homogenization temperatures, but significantly lower salinities (0.1–1.4 eq. wt. % NaCl). Fluid inclusions of transition minerals show a weak inverse relationship between homogenization temperatures (190–250°C) and salinities (3.4–1.4 eq. wt. % NaCl), which may represent mixing of hotter Gold-stage fluids with cooler late-Copper-stage fluids. No evidence of boiling was found in fluid inclusions, but CO₂ vapor-rich inclusions were identified in wall-rock quartz phenocrysts which pre-date copper and gold mineralization.Mineral stability calculations indicate that given a fairly restricted range of solution compositions, the Copper-, Transition- and Gold-stage minerals at El Indio could have been deposited from a single solution, with constant total dissolved sulfur which underwent reduction through time. Limited sulfur-isotope data indicates that pyrite from the Copper stage was not in isotopic equilibrium with Copper-stage alunite or Transition-stage sphalerite. The sulfur-isotope and fluid-inclusion data indicate that two fluids with comparable temperatures but different compositions flowed through the El Indio system. The earlier fluid deposited copper attended by sericite-alunite-kaolinite alteration, and later epithermal fluids deposited gold with quartz-sericite-kaolinite-pyrite alteration.     

Le Batholite de San Ramon,Cordillère Orientale du Pérou Central

Résumè Le batholite de San Ramon est constitue par un granite à gros grains ou porphyroïde, à biotite et parfois hornblende, de teinte rouge à grise. Il s'étend sur 90 km du Nord au Sud à la bordure est de la Cordillère Orientale du Pérou Central. Il recoupe des terrains carbonifères et on le retrouve en galets dans des conglomérats rouges sous-jacents aux calcaires triasico-liasiques. Son âge est précisé par une isochrone Rb/Sr en roches totales qui le fixe à 238±10 MA. Il s'agit donc d'un granite d'âge permien supérieur à trias inférieur en partie contemporain du volcanisme rhyolitique à andésitique qui accompagne le dépôt des molasses rouges Mitu post-léonardiennes et pré-ladiniennes. Avec d'autre granitoïdes tardi-hercyniens de la Cordillère Orientale, il témoigne de l'importance insuffisamment reconnue jusqu'alors du plutonisme associé à ce volcanisme »permo-triasique«.

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The batholith of San Ramon is made of a coarse-grained to porphyritic granite that bears biotite and also hornblende at some places. It extends over 90 km from north to south along the eastern boundary of the Eastern Cordillera of Central Peru. It intrudes Carboniferous and Lower Permian strata and is included as cobbles into the red conglomerates that underlie Triassic to Liassic carbonates. A Rb/Sr whole-rock isochron gives a Late Permian to Early Triassic age of 238±10 m. y. Thus the San Ramon granite appears to be in part coeval with the andesite to rhyolitic volcanism associated to the red Mitu molasses, that as a whole were deposited after the Late Leonardian and before the Lower Ladinian. Some other radiometric ages from the Eastern Cordillera granitoïds stress the extension of this Late Variscan plutonism.

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Zusammenfassung Der Batholit von San Ramon besteht aus einem grobkörnigen bis porphyrartigen Granit mit Biotiten und bisweilen Hornblenden von rötlicher bis grauer Farbe. Er erstreckt sich über 90 km in N—S-Richtung längs dem Ostrand der östlichen Cordillere von Zentralperu. Er durchschneidet Karbon- und Permablagerungen und findet sich in Gerollen des triadisch-liassische Kalke unterlagernden Konglomerats. Aus der Rb/Sr-Gesamtisochrone ergibt sich ein Alter von 238±10 M. J. Es handelt sich also um einen Granit aus dem Grenzbereich Perm—Trias, der zum Teil gleichaltrig mit dem rhyolitischen bis andesitischen Vulkanismus ist, der die Ablagerung der postleonardischen und praeladinischen roten Molasse Mitubegleitet. Im Verein mit anderen spätvariszischen Granitoïden weist er auf die bisher ungenügend erkannte Bedeutung des diesen permo-triadischen Vulkanismus begleitenden Plutonismus hin.

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Resumen El batolito de San Ramón esta localizado a lo largo del limite este de la Cordillera Oriental en el Perú Central. Esta compuesto por un granito de grano grueso que puede tambien ser porfiroide, contiene biotita y tambien hornablenda y su color varia de rojo a gris. Dicho granito intruye terrenos carboniferos y eo-pérmicos y se le encuentra formando parte de los cantos en los conglomerados rojos infrayacentes a la serie carbonatada triásico-liásica. Una isocrona Rb/Sr en rocas totales le da una edad de 238±10 m. y. es decir del Permico terminal o de la base del Triásico. Por lo tanto, el granito de San Ramón es contemporáneo con parte del volcanismo riolitico a andesítico asociado a la sedimentacion de las molasas rojas del grupo Mitu, la cual ocure entre el Leonardiano superior y el Ladiniano inferior. Junto con otros granitoïdes de la Cordillera oriental, el batolito de San Ramón demuestra la importancia del plutonismo asociado a este volcanismo »permo-triásico«.

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Uranium series dating of stalagmites from Blanchard Springs Caverns,U.S.A.

Because stalagmites are enriched in ²³⁴U beyond the equilibrium value at the time of deposition, they are potentially datable by measuring their progress toward equilibrium. Procedures for uranium-thorium and uranium disequilibrium dating of speleothems were developed, making use of alpha spectrometry for thorium determinations and mass spectrometry for uranium determinations. The stalagmites tested were generally beyond the age range of the U-Th age dating method and, as a result, ²³⁴U/²³⁸U ratios provided the most useful dating technique. The estimated age range for a stalagmite from Blanchard Springs is 135,000 to 785,000 years BP with an interval of slow or suspended growth from about 320,000 to 570,000 years BP.     

Highly heterogeneous Precambrian basement under the central Deccan Traps, India: Direct evidence from xenoliths in dykes

Crustal or mantle xenoliths are not common in evolved, tholeiitic flood basalts that cover huge areas of the Precambrian shields. Yet, the occasional occurrences provide the most direct and unequivocal evidence on basement composition. Few xenolith occurrences are known from the Deccan Traps, India, and inferences about the Deccan basement have necessarily depended on geophysical studies and geochemistry of Deccan lavas and intrusions. Here, we report two basalt dykes (Rajmane and Talwade dykes) from the central Deccan Traps that are extremely rich in crustal xenoliths of great lithological variety (gneisses, quartzites, granite mylonite, felsic granulite, carbonate rock, tuff). Because the dykes are parallel and only 4 km apart, and only a few kilometres long, the xenoliths provide clear evidence for high small-scale lithological heterogeneity and strong tectonic deformation in the Precambrian Indian crust beneath. Measured ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in the xenoliths range from 0.70935 (carbonate) to 0.78479 (granite mylonite). The Rajmane dyke sampled away from any of the xenoliths shows a present-day ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70465 and initial (at 66 Ma) ratio of 0.70445. The dyke is subalkalic and fairly evolved (Mg No. = 44.1) and broadly similar in its Sr-isotopic and elemental composition to some of the lavas of the Mahabaleshwar Formation. The xenoliths are comparable lithologically and geochemically to basement rocks from the Archaean Dharwar craton forming much of southern India. As several lines of evidence suggest, the Dharwar craton may extend at least 350–400 km north under the Deccan lava cover. This is significant for Precambrian crustal evolution of India besides continental reconstructions.     

A pioneering reputation: Assessing Piers Blaikie’s contributions to political ecology

This paper assesses the key contributions made by Piers Blaikie to the field of political ecology. Those contributions relate to the way in which this scholar has sought to dismantle barriers to thought by: (1) integrating the insights of political economy with those from environmental science, (2) opening up theoretical space in political ecology by engaging fruitfully with post-structural critiques, (3) moving beyond a narrow area-studies and development studies focus, and (4) helping to internationalise the research field beyond its core American base. The paper also highlights ambiguity in the role played by Blaikie in political ecology, as stances that he has taken in his work have provoked wider debate over the field’s purpose and coherence. Ensuing tensions over theory and practice as well as single versus multiple truths persist yet, pace Blaikie and others (e.g. Robbins), a robust political ecology is nonetheless able to consider what people ‘do’ from a healthy diversity of theoretical positions. The multiple contributions of Piers Blaikie underpin a reputation for having produced a pioneering body of work that has inspired scholars across theoretical, empirical and disciplinary boundaries, thereby ensuring that his will be a reputation that is interpreted and re-interpreted for many years to come.     

Use of particulate surrogates for assessing microbial mobility in subsurface ecosystems

Mass fluxes from the ground surface can play a vital role in influencing groundwater ecosystems. Rates of delivery may influence intact ecosystem composition, while fluxes of substances associated with anthropogenic activity may critically alter the functioning of associated microbial assemblages. Field-based tracing experiments offer a valuable means of understanding mass transport rates and mechanisms, particularly in complex heterogeneous epikarst systems overlying vulnerable fissured aquifers. A short-term tracer experiment monitoring solute and particle tracer concentrations after they passed through a 10-m-thick sequence of limestone, capped by a thin soil, revealed rapid travel times and variable attenuation rates for the substances employed. Results demonstrated that particle tracers have shorter average travel times and can reach the subsurface in higher concentrations and over shorter times than non-reactive solutes. High recovery rates for the bacterial tracer Ralstonia eutropha H16 contrasted strongly with those of similarly sized fluorescent polystyrene microspheres, highlighting the importance of physico-chemical surface characteristics of particle tracers. Complementary laboratory batch experiments examined the role played by organic and inorganic soil/rock surfaces on particle tracer attenuation. Findings suggest that biofilms may significantly promote transport of particulate material below ground, i.e., the delivery of allochthonous microorganisms to karst groundwater.     

Hydrological variability of major French rivers over recent decades,assessed from gauging station and GRACE observations

Abstract

This study was carried out in the framework of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) programme of the French National Centre of Space Studies (CNES). Based on discharge measurements and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) determination of total water storage (TWS), we have investigated the hydrological variability of the main French drainage basins (Seine, Loire, Garonne and Rhône) using a wavelet approach (continuous wavelet analyses and wavelet coherence analyses). The results of this analysis have shown a coherence ranging between 82% and 90% for TWS and discharge, thus demonstrating the potential use of TWS for characterization of the hydrological variability of French rivers. Strong coherence between the four basin discharges (between 73% and 92%) and between their associated TWS data (from 82% to 98%) suggested a common external influence on hydrological variability. To determine this influence, we investigated the relationship between hydrological variability and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), considered as an index of prevailing climate in Europe. Basin discharges show strong coherence with NAO, ranging between 64% and 72% over the period 1959–2010. The coherence between NAO and TWS was 62% to 67% for 2003–2009. This is similar to the coherence between NAO and basin discharges detected for the same period. According to these results, strong influence of the NAO was clearly observed on the TWS and discharges of the major French river basins.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz