“We will go side-by-side with you.” Labour union engagement with Aboriginal peoples in Canada

The inclusion of new groups of workers has been an important component of union renewal efforts. Several unions in Canada have begun to dedicate significant resources to better organize and represent Aboriginal workers. Drawing on interviews with union activists, organizers and representatives from two national public sector unions in Canada, we present an overview of union strategies to engage with Aboriginal peoples. Results suggest that understanding the distinct territorial context of Aboriginal peoples’ relationships to work and unions has been necessary to the success of these union strategies. This approach begins by drawing connections between Aboriginal peoples’ present-day relationships to work and their prior occupancy of, and dispossession from, lands and resources. Because of the geographical specificity of how the colonial experience affected Aboriginal peoples’ relationships to work and unions, unions have had to adopt non-normative approaches to their engagements with Aboriginal peoples. In workplaces where settlers were dominant, addressing racism in the workplace and gaining support for initiatives to hire and train Aboriginal workers were important. Alternatively, in Aboriginal workplaces, organizing was a priority. Here questions of union legitimacy have taken precedence and the focus of unions has been on partnership building. Most importantly, however, engagement with Aboriginal peoples has brought attention to the colonial practices within unions and helped to foster growing Aboriginal voice within the labour movement.     

Disaster recovery as participation: lessons from the Shaky Isles

Natural Hazards - Despite broad scholarly consensus that public participation in disaster recovery is highly desirable, in practice, appropriate and effective forms of community involvement are...     

Magma sources and gold mineralisation in the Mount Leyshon and Tuckers Igneous Complexes, Queensland, Australia: U-Pb and Hf isotope evidence

In situ LAM-ICPMS U-Pb, Hf-isotope and trace-element analyses of zircon have been used to evaluate the relative contributions of juvenile mantle and crustal sources to the intrusive rocks of the mafic to intermediate, gold-poor Tuckers Igneous Complex (TIC), and the spatially and temporally related, felsic Mount Leyshon Igneous Complex (MLIC), which hosts a gold-rich porphyry system.

The TIC intrusions range in age from 304.2 ± 9.1 Ma to 288.5 ± 6.4 Ma, and the MLIC intrusions from 291.0 ± 4.8 Ma to 288 ± 6 Ma. Cross-cutting relationships define the intrusion sequence from oldest to youngest; Diorite, Monzodiorite, Mafic Granodiorite and Biotite Microgranite within the TIC; Early Dyke, Southern Porphyry and Late Dyke within the MLIC.

Zircons from the earliest rock type within each complex have a wide range in _Hf (5.2 to 14.8 for the TIC Diorite, 2.0 to 12.4 for the MLIC Early Dykes) suggesting the mixing of juvenile and crustal magmas. This interpretation is supported by trace-element data that show the presence of two distinct zircon populations in the MLIC Early Dyke. The later intrusive rocks have narrower ranges in _Hf (typically < 4 _Hf units) and trace-element patterns of zircon. This homogeneity suggests derivation from magmas produced by further mixing and fractional crystallisation of the TIC Diorite and the MLIC Early Dyke magmas respectively. A greater crustal contribution to the gold-rich MLIC is inferred from the range of median _Hf (3.2 to 4.5 for the MLIC, 5.4 to 8.7 for the TIC). We suggest that the MLIC was derived by melting of more felsic crustal rocks, and with less input from juvenile mantle, then the TIC; it was not derived by fractional crystallisation of an intermediate to mafic TIC-like magma. Modelling of Hf isotope data yields a mean model age of 1040 ± 10 Ma (at ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf = 0.015) for the crustal component in both complexes.

Gold was precipitated in the MLIC Breccia during the emplacement of the Late Dykes. The isotopically homogenous nature of the Late Dykes suggests that no additional juvenile-mantle input was involved at the mineralisation stage. This supports a model in which gold and other metals were indigenous to the Late Dykes magma and were concentrated by magma differentiation and fluid-evolution processes.     

Combined U-Pb dating and Sm-Nd studies on lower crustal and mantle xenoliths from the Delegate basaltic pipes, southeastern Australia

Mafic rocks dominate the lower crustal and upper mantle xenolith suites within the Jurassic Delegate basaltic diatremes in the Paleozoic Lachlan Fold Belt, SE Australia. Two upper mantle mafic xenoliths from the Delegate pipes, a garnet pyroxenite and a garnet granulite (equilibrated at 1060 and 1140 °C, and 40–50 km), yield garnet-clinopyroxene Sm-Nd ages of 160 ± 4 Ma and 153 ± 10 Ma, respectively. Both ages are indistinguishable from the time of eruption of the diatremes, and are interpreted as showing continuous isotopic equilibrium within the mantle of Sm and Nd between garnet + clinopyroxene at temperatures ≥ 1050 °C. A lower crustal, 2-pyroxene granulite xenolith (equilibrated at 810–850 °C and ca. 25 km) yields a clinopyroxene + plagioclase + whole rock Sm-Nd isochron ages of 283 ± 26 Ma. This age probably reflects partial resetting of the isotopic systems of much older granulite during slow cooling, or after a heating event in the lower crust associated with the Jurassic magmatic activity represented by the basaltic host rock. Metamorphic zircons from the 2-pyroxene granulite xenolith were dated by the U-Pb method at 398±2 and 391 ± 2 Ma. These ages are considered to date granulite facies metamorphic events in the lower crust of the region. The age gap between the granulite facies metamorphism and granitoid plutonism in the region (420–410 Ma) indicates that the dated granulite is unlikely to represent residue after partial melting and magma extraction that generated the regional granitoids. It is suggested that these ages may record a relatively slow cooling following the cessation of mafic magmatic intrusion that formed the xenolith protoliths and that was probably the heat source responsible for granite production. At about 25 km, this thermal relaxation accounts for the change from an olivine + plagioclase + 2-pyroxene gabbroic assemblage into the granulite facies 2-pyroxene + plagioclase + spinel field. Received: 17 May 1995 / Accepted: 24 March 1997     

Facilitating adaptation of biodiversity to climate change: a conceptual framework applied to the world’s largest Mediterranean-climate woodland

The importance of ecological management for reducing the vulnerability of biodiversity to climate change is increasingly recognized, yet frameworks to facilitate a structured approach to climate adaptation management are lacking. We developed a conceptual framework that can guide identification of climate change impacts and adaptive management options in a given region or biome. The framework focuses on potential points of early climate change impact, and organizes these along two main axes. First, it recognizes that climate change can act at a range of ecological scales. Secondly, it emphasizes that outcomes are dependent on two potentially interacting and countervailing forces: (1) changes to environmental parameters and ecological processes brought about by climate change, and (2) responses of component systems as determined by attributes of resistance and resilience. Through this structure, the framework draws together a broad range of ecological concepts, with a novel emphasis on attributes of resistance and resilience that can temper the response of species, ecosystems and landscapes to climate change. We applied the framework to the world’s largest remaining Mediterranean-climate woodland, the ‘Great Western Woodlands’ of south-western Australia. In this relatively intact region, maintaining inherent resistance and resilience by preventing anthropogenic degradation is of highest priority and lowest risk. Limited, higher risk options such as fire management, protection of refugia and translocation of adaptive genes may be justifiable under more extreme change, hence our capacity to predict the extent of change strongly impinges on such management decisions. These conclusions may contrast with similar analyses in degraded landscapes, where natural integrity is already compromised, and existing investment in restoration may facilitate experimentation with higher risk?options.     

Ancient mantle lithosphere beneath the Khanka massif in the Russian Far East: in situ Re–Os evidence

The Os‐isotope compositions of sulphides in mantle xenoliths hosted by Late Miocene alkali basalts from the Sviyaginsky volcano, Russian Far East, reveal the presence of Archaean–Proterozoic subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the Khanka massif. Their T_MA and T_RD model ages reveal similar peaks at 1.1 and 0.8 Ga suggesting later thermotectonic events in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, whereas T_RD model ages range back to 2.8 ± 0.5 (2σ) Ga. The events recognized in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle are consistent with those recorded in the crust of the Khanka massif. The sulphide Os‐isotope data show that the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the Khanka massif had formed at least by the Mesoproterozoic, and was subsequently metasomatized by juvenile crustal‐growth events related to the evolution of the Altaids. The Khanka massif is further proposed to have tectonic affinity to the Siberia Craton and should originate from it accordingly.     

Microbial remains in some earliest Earth rocks: Comparison with a potential modern analogue

Carbonaceous matter (CM) from ca. 3.5 Ga hydrothermal black cherts of the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia and the Barberton Greenstone Belt of South Africa yielded transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images that are suggestive of microbial remains and possible remnants of microbial cell walls. These are compared to a potential modern analogue, the hyperthermophilic Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, derived from an active seafloor hydrothermal environment and cultured under similar conditions. A striking resemblance to the early Archaean forms was evident in wall structure and thermal degradation mode. Cell disintegration of the cultures occurred at 100 °C marking the limits of life. Complete disintegration, deformation and shrinkage occurred at 132 °C. A multidisciplinary approach to the characterisation of the CM was undertaken using organic petrology, TEM coupled with electron dispersive spectral analysis (EDS), high resolution TEM (HRTEM) to determine molecular ordering, and elemental and carbon isotope geochemistry. Reflectance measurements of the CM to determine thermal stress yielded a range of values corresponding to several populations, and pointing to different sources and processes. The δ¹³C values of Dresser Formation CM (−36.5 to −32.1‰) are negatively correlated with TOC (0.13–0.75%) and positively correlated with C/N ratio (134–569), which is interpreted to reflect the relative abundance of high R_o/oxidised/recycled CM and preferential loss of ¹²C and N during thermal maturation. TEM observations, inferred carbon isotopic heterogeneity and isotope fractionations of −27 to −32‰ are consistent with the activity of chemosynthetic microbes in a seafloor hydrothermal system where rapid silicification at relatively low temperature preserved the CM.     

Submerged vegetation of Lakes Sumner,Marion, Katrine,Taylor, and Sheppard in Canterbury,New Zealand

The submerged vegetation of Lakes Sumner, Marion, Katrine, Taylor, and Sheppard was surveyed in May 1987. These high‐altitude lakes lie at c. 600 m a.s.l., within the largely unmodified upper Hurunui catchment. Submerged vegetation was diverse and included numerous short shallow‐water species, dense swards of Isoetes alpinus, low covers of taller native vascular plants, and charophyte meadows beyond the depth limit of vascular plants to a maximum of 15 m. A sparse deepwater bryophyte community was observed from 11 to 32 m depth in Lake Sumner. Displacement of native vegetation by dense growths of the adventive oxygen weed Elodea canadensis over mid‐depths of 3–6 m was noted in all lakes, except Lake Marion.     

Correction to: Modelling effects of an asphalt road at a dike crest on dike cover erosion onset during wave overtopping

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