The new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein,South Africa: age and preliminary assessment

A new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein Member 2 attaches to foot bones recovered from loose blocks during the 1980s and first described in 1995. Several flowstone horizons are present above and below the skeleton and have given clear palaeomagnetic signatures. Five changes in magnetic polarity have been identified; when constrained by the available biostratigraphy, this sequence can be placed confidently between 3.22 and 3.58 Ma. Interpolation of sedimentation rates over the small intervals between reversals allows this range to be reduced to 3.30–3.33 Ma. The skeleton is thus the oldest yet discovered and is considered to belong to a species of Australopithecus other than africanus. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

INDUSTRIAL IMPACTS OF FOREIGN ENTERPRISE: A CANADIAN TECHNOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

The technological underdevelopment of secondary manufacturing in Canada is inferred from patterns of trade, industrial structure, and the range of industrial functions performed within firms in Canada. These patterns are explained by reference to the behavior of foreign subsidiaries that have major direct and indirect effects on the linkages and developmental potential of the Canadian industrial system. Canadian manufacturing is found to have a low level of innovative capability because of inadequate R & D and product and design engineering in foreign and domestic firms. In view of the strong need for new policy initiatives, the components of a techno-industrial strategy are evaluated.     

Contested and congested spaces: Exploring authenticity in New Zealand farmers' markets

This paper considers issues of authenticity as they apply to the evolution of farmers' markets in New Zealand. Following a discussion of the nature of authenticity and its deployment by farmers' market organisations in several jurisdictions, a two‐part case study is presented. An analysis of the strategies adopted by Farmers' Markets New Zealand to ‘protect its brand’ nationally and an examination of the disputation of authenticity in the Marlborough Farmers' Market reveals the potential of the ‘authenticity project’ to be a lightning rod for heightened tension and the fracturing of the relationship between competing interests in New Zealand farmers' markets.     

Government response to marine pollution from ships

The Marine Pollution Control Unit (MPCU) is the competent national authority for discharging the Secretary of State for Transport responsibility for pollution from ships under the Prevention of Oil Pollution Act 1971 and subsequent legislation covering other hazardous substances. It is an integral part of The Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of The Department of Transport. MPCU is responsible for maintaining the National Contingency Plan, for monitoring and assessing all pollution incidents within UK waters including dealing with pollution from ships and for advising on/co-ordinating shoreline counter pollution operations, and for fostering and maintaining international relationships for mutual support.     

Data-Driven Predictive Modeling of Mineral Prospectivity Using Random Forests: A Case Study in Catanduanes Island (Philippines)

The Random Forests (RF) algorithm is a machine learning method that has recently been demonstrated as a viable technique for data-driven predictive modeling of mineral prospectivity, and thus, it is instructive to further examine its usefulness in this particular field. A case study was carried out using data from Catanduanes Island (Philippines) to investigate further (a) if RF modeling can be used for data-driven modeling of mineral prospectivity in areas with few (i.e., <20) mineral occurrences and (b) if RF modeling can handle predictor variables with missing values. We found that RF modeling outperforms evidential belief (EB) modeling of prospectivity for hydrothermal Au–Cu deposits in Catanduanes Island, where 17 hydrothermal Au–Cu prospects are known to exist. Moreover, just like EB modeling, RF modeling allows analysis of the spatial relationships between known prospects and individual layers of predictor data. Furthermore, RF modeling can handle missing values in predictor data through an RF-based imputation technique whereas in EB modeling, missing values are simply represented by maximum uncertainty. Therefore, the RF algorithm is a potentially useful method for data-driven predictive modeling of mineral prospectivity in regions with few (i.e., <20) occurrences of mineral deposits of the type sought. However, further testing of the method in other regions with few mineral occurrences is warranted to fully determine its usefulness in data-driven predictive modeling of mineral prospectivity.     

Observed intra-seasonal to interannual variability of the upper ocean thermal structure in the southeastern Arabian Sea during 2002–2008

The southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS), located in the Indian Ocean warm pool, is a key-region of the regional climate system. It is suspected to play an important role in the dynamics of the Asian summer monsoon system. The present study reports the salient features derived from a newly harvested observational dataset consisting of repeated fortnightly XBT transects in the SEAS over the period 2002–2008. The fortnightly resolution of such a multi-year record duration is unprecedented in this part of the world ocean and provides a unique opportunity to examine the observed variability of the near-surface thermal structure over a wide spectrum, from intra-seasonal to interannual timescales. We find that most of the variability is trapped in the thermocline, taking the form of upwelling and downwelling motions of the thermal stratification. The seasonal variations are consistent with past studies and confirm the role of the monsoonal wind forcing through linear baroclinic waves (coastally-trapped Kelvin and planetary Rossby waves). Sub-seasonal variability takes the form of anomalous events lasting a few weeks to a few months and occurs at two preferred timescales: in the 30–110 day band, within the frequency domain of the Madden–Julian oscillation and in the 120–180 day band. While this sub-seasonal variability appears fairly barotropic in the offshore region, the sign of the anomaly in the upper thermocline is opposite to that in its lower part on many occasions along the coast. Our dataset also reveals relatively large interannual temperature variations of about 1 °C from 50 to 200 m depth that reflect a considerable year-to-year variability of the magnitude of both upwelling and downwelling events. This study clearly demonstrates the necessity for sustained long-term temperature measurements in the SEAS.     

Holocene Foraminifera as Indicators of Relative Estuarine–Lagoonal and Oceanic Influences in Estuarine Sediments of the River Murray, South Australia: Volume 53, Number 3 (2000), pages 378–391

In southeastern South Australia, the River Murray debouches through a coastal barrier separating euryhaline estuarine-lagoonal waters from the Southern Ocean. Depending upon the relative freshwater outflow of the river and ingress of the ocean, water salinity varies greatly within the lower estuary. Ammonia beccarii and Elphidium articulatum are euryhaline species of foraminifera that characterize the estuary and back-barrier Coorong Lagoon. The inner-shelf marine environment hosts an assemblage in which Discorbis dimidiatus, E. crispum, E. macelliforme, and various cibicidid species predominate. In cored sediments recovered from the shallow lower estuary, the relative abundance of A. beccarii + E. articulatum was compared with that of D. dimidiatus + E. crispum + E. macelliforme + other species. These data, and AMS radiocarbon ages determined for foraminifera and ostracods, provide evidence of a change from maximum oceanic influence (5255 ± 60 yr B.P.) to maximum estuarine influence (3605 ± 70 yr B.P.). Over this same time interval, sea level fell relatively by about 2 m. However, the event was also contemporaneous with falling water levels in several Victorian lakes, and it is thus attributed to onset of climatic aridity. Reduced precipitation in the River Murray catchment and reduced freshwater outflow enhanced development of the flood-tide delta and constriction of the mouth.     

Geological overview and cratering model for the Haughton impact structure,Devon Island,Canadian High Arctic

Abstract— The Haughton impact structure has been the focus of systematic, multi‐disciplinary field and laboratory research activities over the past several years. Regional geological mapping has refined the sedimentary target stratigraphy and constrained the thickness of the sedimentary sequence at the time of impact to ?1880 m. New ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dates place the impact event at ?39 Ma, in the late Eocene. Haughton has an apparent crater diameter of ?23 km, with an estimated rim (final crater) diameter of ?16 km. The structure lacks a central topographic peak or peak ring, which is unusual for craters of this size. Geological mapping and sampling reveals that a series of different impactites are present at Haughton. The volumetrically dominant crater‐fill impact melt breccias contain a calcite‐anhydrite‐silicate glass groundmass, all of which have been shown to represent impact‐generated melt phases. These impactites are, therefore, stratigraphically and genetically equivalent to coherent impact melt rocks present in craters developed in crystalline targets. The crater‐fill impactites provided a heat source that drove a post‐impact hydrothermal system. During this time, Haughton would have represented a transient, warm, wet microbial oasis. A subsequent episode of erosion, during which time substantial amounts of impactites were removed, was followed by the deposition of intra‐crater lacustrine sediments of the Haughton Formation during the Miocene. Present‐day intra‐crater lakes and ponds preserve a detailed paleoenvironmental record dating back to the last glaciation in the High Arctic. Modern modification of the landscape is dominated by seasonal regional glacial and niveal melting, and local periglacial processes. The impact processing of target materials improved the opportunities for colonization and has provided several present‐day habitats suitable for microbial life that otherwise do not exist in the surrounding terrain.     

翼龙重建：方法论的一个研究例子

Reconstructions of fossil animals are widespread and often very high profile, yet many of these reconstructions exhibit low standards of scientific accuracy.     

Going underground: in search of Carboniferous coal forests

The development of coal forests during the Carboniferous is one of the best-known episodes in the history of life. Although often reconstructed as steamy tropical rainforests, these ancient ecosystems were a far cry from anything we might encounter in the Amazon today. Bizarre giant club-mosses, horsetails and tree ferns were the dominant plants, not flowering trees as in modern rainforests. At their height, coal forests stretched all the way from Kansas to Kazakhstan, spanning the entire breadth of tropical Pangaea. Most of what we know of their biodiversity and ecology has been quite literally mined out of the ground through two centuries of hard labour. Without coal mining, our knowledge would be greatly impoverished. Over the past few years, we've been exploring underground coal mines in the United States, where entire forested landscapes have been preserved intact over huge areas. Never before have geologists had the opportunity to walk out through mile upon mile of fossilized forest. In this feature article, we describe some of our recent explorations and attempt to shed new light on these old fossils.