Lunar Palaeoregolith Deposits as Recorders of the Galactic Environment of the Solar System and Implications for Astrobiology

One of the principal scientific reasons for wanting to resume in situ exploration of the lunar surface is to gain access to the record it contains of early Solar System history. Part of this record will pertain to the galactic environment of the Solar System, including variations in the cosmic ray flux, energetic galactic events (e.g., supernovae and/or gamma-ray bursts), and passages of the Solar System through dense interstellar clouds. Much of this record is of astrobiological interest as these processes may have affected the evolution of life on Earth, and perhaps other Solar System bodies. We argue that this galactic record, as for that of more local Solar System processes also of astrobiological interest, will be best preserved in ancient, buried regolith (‘palaeoregolith’) deposits in the lunar near sub-surface. Locating and sampling such deposits will be an important objective of future lunar exploration activities.     

Risks of shifting baselines highlighted by anecdotal accounts of New Zealand's snapper (Pagrus auratus) fishery

Anecdotal data sources may constitute an important component of the information available about an exploited species, as record keeping may not have occurred until after exploitation began. Here, we aimed to fill any gaps in the exploitative history of the sparid snapper (Pagrus auratus), using social and historical research methods. Social research consisted of interviews with recreational fishers, focusing on the most and largest snapper they had caught. In addition, the diary‐logs of two recreational fishers were analysed. Historical research consisted of investigation of old books, photos, archives and unpublished sources unconventional to fishery science. Interviews with fishers demonstrated no or weak trends in snapper abundance or size, and were likely impeded by a lack of ability to detect change in a fish stock that may still be considered abundant. The fishers’ perception of change, however, largely reflected recent experiences (last c. 10 years), when biomass is understood to have increased, and mostly did not consider experiences before the 1980s. Alternatively, diary‐logs of fisher catch rates produced a pattern that matched formal stock assessments of snapper biomass, suggesting declines in abundance up until the 1990s and an increase in biomass after that time. Historical research, although more qualitative, had the ability to investigate periods where formal records were not kept and described a fishery vastly different from the current one. Snapper were easily caught, in great abundance and in unusual locations. Localised depletion of snapper was first noticed in the early 20th century, despite spectacular catches of snapper occurring after that time. Snapper behaviour was also likely different, with visual sightings of snapper by onlookers a common occurrence. Although predictions from stock assessment models are consistent with that of the anecdotes listed here (i.e., high biomass in the past), these anecdotes are valuable as they explain lost biomass in a perspective meaningful to all. This perspective may be valuable for managers trying to consider the non‐financial value of a shared fishery but, if unrecognised, represents a shifting baseline.     

Some things old, some things new: The spatial representations and politics of change of the peak oil relocalisation movement

Despite continued uncertainty about the physical realities and political, economic and social implications of peak oil, combined concerns about oil scarcity, climate change and globalisation has spawned an energetic relocalisation movement dedicated to achieving a comprehensive reduction in oil dependency through community-scale initiatives. This paper uses a discourse approach to examine the emergence, geographical spread and practices of the Transition Network, a UK-originated relocalisation movement now involving 186 local initiatives in the UK and other countries. We trace the movement’s drawing upon, and innovation from, discourses and techniques used by other grassroots environmental movements to promote a spatial representation of peak oil as an inevitable and geographically undiscriminating problem, and its use of addiction metaphors and participatory techniques to promote personal and community-scale energy descent initiatives as a viable and necessary alternative to globalisation. We also analyse the spatial representations and techniques used in the Network’s “rhizomic” spread across multiple localities around the world and embedding in communities where relocalisation initiatives are established. We conclude by examining the future challenges these spatial constructions of peak oil pose for the relocalisation movement.     

Making spaces: The ethnic Brao people and the international border between Laos and Cambodia

On December 6, 1904 the present international border between Laos and Cambodia was unilaterally established when the French colonial government extracted Stung Treng Province from Laos and transferred it to Cambodia. The ethnic Brao people living in the border region were not well known to the French, and in any case, their views were not deemed important. But since then the Brao have utilised this state administrative boundary in ways not intended by its designers, or governments since then, to give them more power to create new spaces. When conditions in Cambodia have been deemed unfavourable, the Brao have often crossed into Laos, and similarly, when circumstances have been less advantageous in Laos they have moved to Cambodia.This paper traces the history of the Brao as it specifically relates to the international border between Laos and Cambodia. While this administrative boundary was created to help national governments keep populations confined within nation-states, Brao human agency has sometimes confounded these efforts, through transforming its significance and role. The boundary has separated Brao populations in ways that are sometimes upsetting to them, but it has also allowed the Brao to position themselves at the margins of different nation-states, in spaces where they have been able to, at least temporarily, avoid or reduce state control over them. These are not non-state spaces; they are fundamentally constituted by a state-established boundary, even if the Brao have been able to mobilise this resource to empower themselves, and sometimes to resist the state itself.     

Management of freshwater lenses on small Pacific islands

The nature of shallow aquifers and the impacts of seawater intrusion in small islands within the Pacific Ocean are reviewed. Many Pacific islands rely on shallow fresh groundwater lenses in highly permeable aquifers, underlain and surrounded by seawater, as their principal freshwater source. It is argued here that, in small islands, the nature of fresh groundwater lenses and their host aquifers coupled with frequent natural and ever-present anthropogenic threats make them some of the most vulnerable aquifer systems in the world. A simple steady-state approximation is used to provide insight into the key climatic, hydrogeological, physiographic, and management factors that influence the quantity of, and saline intrusion into freshwater lenses. Examples of the dynamic nature of freshwater lenses as they respond to these drivers are given. Natural and human-related threats to freshwater lenses are discussed. Long dry periods strongly coupled to sea surface temperatures impact on the quantity and salinity of fresh groundwater. The vulnerability of small island freshwater lenses dictates careful assessment, vigilant monitoring, appropriate development, and astute management. Strategies to aid future groundwater sustainability in small islands are presented and suggested improvements to donor and aid programs in water are also advanced.     

The Western Pacific Working Group of the INQUA Loess Commission: expansion from Central Europe

The INQUA Loess Commission expanded from its Central European base after the 1977 INQUA Congress. The first, furthest, and probably most successful expansion was the Western Pacific Working Group(WPWG). Co-operative loess research between China, Australia and New Zealand demonstrated the ideal working of a dedicated research group within the INQUA protocols. The WPWG functioned from 1978 to about 1988, a critical ten years during which China re-appeared on the world loess scene. The WPWG meeting in China in 1985 was a useful precursor to the INQUA Congress in Beijing in 1991. The main function of the WPWG turned out to be facilitating the return of China to the world of loess scholarship.     

Post-peak,fluid-mediated modification of granulite facies zircon and monazite in the Trivandrum Block,southern India

The quarry at Kottavattom in the Trivandrum Block of southern India contains spectacular examples of fluid-assisted alteration of high-grade metamorphic rocks. Garnet-biotite gneiss has undergone a change in mineral assemblage to form submetre scale orthopyroxene-bearing patches, later retrogressed to form an amphibole-bearing lithology. These patches, often referred to as arrested or incipient charnockite, crosscut the original metamorphic foliation and are typically attributed to passage of a low aH₂O fluid through the rock. Whilst this conversion is recognised as a late stage process, little detailed chronological work exists to link it temporally to metamorphism in the region. Zircon and monazite analysed from Kottavattom not only record metamorphism in the Trivandrum Block but also show internal, lobate textures crosscutting the original zoning, consistent with fluid-aided coupled dissolution-reprecipitation during formation of the orthopyroxene-bearing patches. High-grade metamorphism at the quarry occurred between the formation of metamorphic monazite at ~585 Ma and the growth of metamorphic zircon at ~523 Ma. The fluid-assisted alteration of the garnet-biotite gneiss is poorly recorded by altered zircon with only minimal resetting of the U–Pb system, whereas monazite has in some cases undergone complete U–Pb resetting and records an age for fluid infiltration at ~495 Ma. The fluid event therefore places the formation of the altered patches at least 25 Myr after the zircon crystallisation in the garnet-biotite gneiss. The most likely fluid composition causing the modification and U–Pb resetting of zircon and monazite is locally derived hypersaline brine.     

Web Service for extracting stream networks from DEM data

This paper describes the implementation of a morphology based algorithm for extracting stream networks from data as a Web Service within the framework of GeoBrain, an open, interoperable, distributed, standard-compliant, multi-tier web-based geospatial information services and knowledge building system. Unlike standard out-of-the-box GIS software, which uses the flow direction based algorithm and often produces streams that are spatially uniform, streams extracted with this Web Service correctly reflect spatial variability in dissection patterns. In addition, this Web Service is free and can be accessed from anywhere provided that there is an Internet connection and a standard Web browser.     

Bayesian modelling the retreat of the Irish Sea Ice Stream

We present an 8000‐year history spanning 650 km of ice margin retreat for the largest marine‐terminating ice stream draining the former British–Irish Ice Sheet. Bayesian modelling of the geochronological data shows the ISIS expanded 34.0–25.3 ka, accelerating into the Celtic Sea to reach maximum limits 25.3–24.5 ka before a collapse with rapid marginal retreat to the northern Irish Sea Basin (ISB). This retreat was rapid and driven by climatic warming, sea‐level rise, mega‐tidal amplitudes and reactivation of meridional circulation in the North Atlantic. The retreat, though rapid, is uneven, with the stepped retreat pattern possibly a function of the passage of the ice stream between normal and adverse ice bed gradients and changing ice stream geometry. Initially, wide calving margins and adverse slopes encouraged rapid retreat (～550 m a^?1) that slowed (～100 m a^?1) at the topographic constriction and bathymetric high between southern Ireland and Wales before rates increased (～200 m a^?1) across adverse bed slopes and wider and deeper basin configuration in the northern ISB. These data point to the importance of the ice bed slope and lateral extent in predicting the longer‐term (>1000 a) patterns and rates of ice‐marginal retreat during phases of rapid collapse, which has implications for the modelling of projected rapid retreat of present‐day ice streams. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.