Characterization of a loess–paleosols section including a new record of the last interglacial stage in Pampean plain,Argentina

A new record of the Marine Isotopic Stage 5, the last Interglacial Stage before present is presented in this paper. Sedimentological, micromorphological, trace elements analyses (Rb–Sr) and magnetic polarity determination were performed on Buenos Aires and Ensenada Formation (Late Cenozoic) deposits in the southern Chaco-Pampean Basin (Argentina). This work aims to unravel paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental information from the analyzed data.The studied deposits encompass a complex and cyclic 8 m-thick sedimentary-pedogenetic sequence formed by loessic sediments and paleosols with volcano-pyroclastic provenance.Four tabular units, with net base and top, were defined from erosion surfaces.An OSL age >126 kyr was obtained from the upper middle part of unit B, which suggests that this unit as well as unit C, could have developed during the latest interglacial stage, equivalent to MIS 5.The occurrence of calcretes indicates periods of little clastic supply and seasonal arid or semiarid climate while iron oxides, smectites and illite-bearing pedogenetic calcretes point to annual rain rates between 100 and 500 mm. No calcretes of any origin occur in present soils of the same zone. According to our proposed interpretation of the available data, climate during MIS 5 was drier than today. The drier conditions may have been related to lower temperatures during summer.     

Investigations into slum tourism in Mumbai: poverty tourism and the tensions between different constructions of reality

The paper seeks to contribute to the recent slum tourism-debate. On the basis of an empirical field study conducted in Mumbai in 2009, this article investigates how Indian slums are observed by different actors within the communication context of this (emerging) form of tourism. Taking into consideration that slums are defined in public discourse nearly exclusively by poverty and sordidness, it is interesting to examine how the tour agency’s objective of correcting the negative connotations of poverty is achieved. Accordingly, the study aims, by means of a second order observation, to observe how the tourists and the tour agency simultaneously perceive and charge poverty. Following the epistemological premise that reality is an observer-dependent construction, it seeks to outline which different images or realities of the investigated slum, Dharavi, are created by the different observations. The findings will then facilitate a discussion of the extent to which poverty can be defined as the dominant mode of observation of the slum tourism context as a whole.     

Producing nature and enacting difference in ecosystem-based fisheries management: An example from the Northeastern US

The science and management of marine resources is increasingly grappling with the use of ecosystem-based fisheries management. Though ecosystem-based fisheries management seeks to unite biological and sociocultural concerns into a holistic framework, people are often seen simply as external drivers of change. The technical questions that are often posed, such as the delineation of boundaries or the strategies of governance, are however more broadly questions concerning the social production of nature. This paper explores these issues by analyzing both the spatial fishing practices of different fishermen and the results of a series of workshops held in New England to solicit opinions about ecosystem-based fisheries management. The paper emphasizes teasing apart the human dimensions of fishing embedded in predominant notions such as fishing effort through more explicit consideration of spatially based resource dependencies and mutual constitution of society-nature.     

Volatile (sulphur and chlorine), major,and trace element geochemistry of mafic to intermediate tephras from the Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone (33–43°S)

Here we present the first systematic investigation of volatile geochemistry along the Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) of Chile. Holocene olivine-hosted melt inclusions in the most mafic tephras sampled from 16 volcanoes along the volcanic front of the SVZ between 33°S and 43°S were analysed for pre-eruptive sulphur, chlorine, and major element contents. These results are combined with trace element compositions of the host whole rocks. The highest fractionation-corrected gas contents occur in the least-degassed melt inclusions from small monogenetic cones of Los Hornitos, Cabeza de Vaca, and Apagado from both the transitional and the southern-central SVZ, reaching ~3,000 μg/g S and 1,400 μg/g Cl, while the lowest abundances of ~1,100 μg/g S and ~600 μg/g Cl were found in the central SVZ at Volcán Lonquimay, Volcán Llaima, and Volcán Villarrica. Chlorine co-varies with trace element indicators for the degree of melting and/or source enrichment, such that the lowest Cl contents are found in high-degree melts from the most depleted mantle sources. The size of the volcanic edifices correlates inversely with Cl abundances in the melt. This could reflect more extensive degassing during ascent through the complex magma plumbing systems beneath the stratovolcanoes or greater dilution during larger degrees of melting of more depleted sources, or a combination of these factors. Compared to other subduction zones, the SVZ melt inclusions exhibit Cl and S abundances in the same range as most of those from the Central American and those from the Marianas arcs.     

Reliability and importance of structural diversity of climate model ensembles

We investigate the performance of the newest generation multi-model ensemble (MME) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). We compare the ensemble to the previous generation models (CMIP3) as well as several single model ensembles (SMEs), which are constructed by varying components of single models. These SMEs range from ensembles where parameter uncertainties are sampled (perturbed physics ensembles) through to an ensemble where a number of the physical schemes are switched (multi-physics ensemble). We focus on assessing reliability against present-day climatology with rank histograms, but also investigate the effective degrees of freedom (EDoF) of the fields of variables which makes the statistical test of reliability more rigorous, and consider the distances between the observation and ensemble members. We find that the features of the CMIP5 rank histograms, of general reliability on broad scales, are consistent with those of CMIP3, suggesting a similar level of performance for present-day climatology. The spread of MMEs tends towards being “over-dispersed” rather than “under-dispersed”. In general, the SMEs examined tend towards insufficient dispersion and the rank histogram analysis identifies them as being statistically distinguishable from many of the observations. The EDoFs of the MMEs are generally greater than those of SMEs, suggesting that structural changes lead to a characteristically richer range of model behaviours than is obtained with parametric/physical-scheme-switching ensembles. For distance measures, the observations and models ensemble members are similarly spaced from each other for MMEs, whereas for the SMEs, the observations are generally well outside the ensemble. We suggest that multi-model ensembles should represent an important component of uncertainty analysis.     

Holocene sea-surface temperature variability in the Chilean fjord region

Here we provide three new Holocene (11–0 cal ka BP) alkenone-derived sea surface temperature (SST) records from the southernmost Chilean fjord region (50–53°S). SST estimates may be biased towards summer temperature in this region, as revealed by a large set of surface sediments. The Holocene records show consistently warmer than present-day SSTs except for the past ~ 0.6 cal ka BP. However, they do not exhibit an early Holocene temperature optimum as registered further north off Chile and in Antarctica. This may have resulted from a combination of factors including decreased inflow of warmer open marine waters due to lower sea-level stands, enhanced advection of colder and fresher inner fjord waters, and stronger westerly winds. During the mid-Holocene, pronounced short-term variations of up to 2.5°C and a cooling centered at ~ 5 cal ka BP, which coincides with the first Neoglacial glacier advance in the Southern Andes, are recorded. The latest Holocene is characterized by two pronounced cold events centered at ~ 0.6 and 0.25 cal ka BP, i.e., during the Little Ice Age. These cold events have lower amplitudes in the offshore records, suggesting an amplification of the SST signal in the inner fjords.     

The 2012/2014 swarmquakes of Jaen,Spain: a working hypothesis involving hydroseismicity associated with the hydrologic cycle and anthropogenic activity

A total of 2,300 swarmquake-type seisms have been striking the Torreperogil–Sabiote Hill (TSH) in southern Spain (Jaen) from October 2012 to the present, involving a major seismic crisis with six subseries until May 2013 (TSH seismic series, TSHS), followed by seven final series (FS). Two mild premonitory events occurred nearby in 2010–2011. Several evidences suggest cause–effect relationships between water and seismicity at the TSH: (1) The characteristics of seisms with a vast majority of ill-defined shallow/small events, spatial/temporal variations of the better constrained diffuse swarmquakes, increasing seismic velocities preceding stronger events, marked periodicities, abundant hydro-tremors, etc. (2) A series of spatial/temporal relationships between water and seismicity: Time lags between rainfall/reservoir peaks and seismic peaks; spatial links between swarmquakes and several factors (underground hydrogeology, reservoirs, etc.); etc. (3) From May 2013 to January 2014 evolution of rainfall and FS seismicity declined drastically at the same time. We suggest a hydroseismic hypothesis for TSH swarmquakes resulting from a complex series of cumulative factors: (1) A million-years natural setting involving geological, hydrogeological, geomorphological and tectonic elements. (2) A decades-long series of natural and anthropogenic factors are as follows: the 2012/2013 meteorological change, the massive overexploitation of the confined aquifers and alternating impoundment/emptying of the Giribaile reservoir.     

Assembling Birrarung Wilam: a case study of Indigenous public artwork in the city

ABSTRACT

Indigenous public artworks in Australian urban spaces have challenged assumptions of Indigenous absence from the city. This paper examines the construction of Birrarung Wilam, in central Melbourne, in the period 2005–2008. We use archival documents and semi-structured interviews to analyse the collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants in a project sponsored by the city. We show the particular mediating contribution of ‘fabricators’: a group of commissioned workers and tradespeople with material-specific expertise. Person to person encounters occurred through the modules of project management, with limited scope for long-term engagement. Despite being embedded in formal state-based recognition, Birrarung Wilam asserts Indigenous self-recognition through the renewal and adaptation of Indigenous material practices and traditions and the refusal to provide straightforward interpretive materials at the site. The study provides support for arguments that challenge a simple binary of co-option and resistance in interpreting such public art practice.     

Environmental attitudes and adventure tourism motivations

The natural environment plays an important role in adventure tourism. Specific environments are often necessary for certain types of adventure tourism and unique settings are seen to enhance the value of adventure tourism experiences. Given the importance of the environment in adventure tourism, the interplay between humans and the environment in this context should be given further attention. Although much research has examined the physical environmental impacts caused by specific activities considered adventure tourism, the impact of the environment on the behavior of adventure tourists has only briefly been touched upon. Environmental attitudes are said to be an indicator of environmentally conscious behavior. In the tourism context, however, conflicting results have been found as to whether or not environmental attitudes drive consumer behavior. Therefore, the manner in which environmental attitudes, using the New Environmental Paradigm scale, influence the motivations of participants in adventure tourism is investigated using the case of commercial adventure tourism in South Africa. The results show that the environmental attitudes of this group of tourists were relatively low and that the links between environmental attitudes and adventure tourism motivations are relatively weak. Therefore, the impact of general environmental attitudes on adventure tourist behavior is questionable.     

Batagayite,CaZn2(Zn,Cu)6(PO4)4(PO3OH)3·12H2O,a new phosphate mineral from Këster tin deposit (Yakutia,Russia): occurrence and crystal structure

Mineralogy and Petrology - Batagayite, CaZn2(Zn,Cu)6(PO4)4(PO3OH)3·12H2O, is a new secondary phosphate mineral from the Këster deposit, Arga-Ynnykh-Khai massif, NE Yakutia, Russia. It is...