Chasing a 'loose and baggy monster': almshouses and the geography of charity

This paper goes some way towards redressing the lack of geographical literature on charity through exploring the geography of the British domestic charitable sector. The size and geography of the third sector is outlined, followed by an analysis of how almshouses can be understood as inherently geographical and deeply embedded in local social networks of inclusion as well as exclusion.     

Aspects of the loss-on-ignition (LOI) technique in the context of clay-rich, glaciolacustrine sediments

The loss‐on‐ignition (LOI) technique for organic matter determination is evaluated with reference to clay‐rich, glaciolacustrine sediments. Examples of the use of LOI in glaciolacustrine literature are inconsistent in their methodology, and standardisation is called for. Problems with application of the technique to glaciolacustrine sediments stem mainly from the effects of additional weight loss due to release of structurally bound water and exposure time to ignition temperatures. Exposure time should be increased from 1 hour to 2.5 hours in the light of significant additional weight loss occurring between 2 and 2.5 hours in clay‐rich samples. The reason for this sudden increase in LOI after 2 hours (up to 86% of total LOI in some cases) appears to be the build‐up of a distinct surface crust during heating that insulates the core of the sample from ignition temperatures. Some time between 2 and 2.5 hours, the crust breaks down and exposes the sample core to ignition temperatures, increasing weight loss significantly. Overestimation of LOI due to loss of structural water is thought to be insignificant. Replicates of LOI at 550 and 1000°C in non‐calcareous, clay‐rich (>40%) sediments, show differences of <0.25%, which, for the purpose of inferring broad changes in glacier extent in lake catchments, is an acceptable error.     

Proglacial Sediment—Landform Associations of a Polythermal Glacier: Storglaciären, Northern Sweden

Mapping and laboratory analysis of the sediment—landform associations in the proglacial area of polythermal Storglaciären, Tarfala, northern Sweden, reveal six distinct lithofacies. Sandy gravel, silty gravel, massive sand and silty sand are interpreted as glaciofluvial in origin. A variable, pervasively deformed to massive clast‐rich sandy diamicton is interpreted as the product of an actively deforming subglacial till layer. Massive block gravels, comprising two distinctive moraine ridges, reflect supraglacial sedimentation and ice‐marginal and subglacial reworking of heterogeneous proglacial sediments during the Little Ice Age and an earlier more extensive advance. Visual estimation of the relative abundance of these lithofacies suggests that the sandy gravel lithofacies is of the most volumetric importance, followed by the diamicton and block gravels. Sedimentological analysis suggests that the role of a deforming basal till layer has been the dominant factor controlling glacier flow throughout the Little Ice Age, punctuated by shorter (warmer and wetter climatic) periods where high water pressures may have played a more important role. These results contribute to the database that facilitates discrimination of past glacier thermal regimes and dynamics in areas that are no longer glacierized, as well as older glaciations in the geological record.