“Traditional” women, “modern” water: Linking gender and commodification in Rajasthan, India

In this paper, I analyze the connections made between women and water in a Rajasthani drinking water supply project as a significant part of drinking water’s commodification. For development policy makers, water progressing from something free to something valued by price is inevitable when moving economies toward modernity and development. My findings indicate that water is not commodified simply by charging money for it, but through a series of discourses and acts that link it to other “modern” objects and give it value. One of these objects is “women”. I argue that through women’s participation activities that link gender and modernity to new responsibilities and increased mobility for village women involving the clean water supply, a “traditional” Rajasthani woman becomes “modern”. Water, in parallel, becomes “new”, “improved” and worth paying for. Women and water resources are further connected through project staff’s efforts to promote latrines by targeting women as their primary users. The research shows that villagers applied their own meanings to latrines, some of which precluded women using them. This paper fills a gap in feminist political ecology, which often overlooks how gender is created through natural resource interventions, by concerning itself with how new meanings of “water” and “women” are mutually constructed through struggles over water use and its commodification. It contributes to critical development geography literatures by demonstrating that women’s participation approaches to natural resource development act as both constraints and opportunities for village constituents. It examines an under-explored area of gender and water research by tracing village-level struggles over meanings of latrines.     

A diatom-based reconstruction of drought intensity, duration, and frequency from Moon Lake, North Dakota: a sub-decadal record of the last 2300 years

Diatom assemblages preserved in sediment cores from closed-basin lakes can provide high-resolution records of past hydrologic and climatic conditions, including long-term patterns in the intensity, duration, and frequency of droughts. At Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in eastern North Dakota, a comparison of diatom-inferred salinity and the precipitation-based Bhalme-Mooley Drought Index (BMDI) over the last 100 years was highly significant, suggesting that the diatom record contains a sensitive archive of past climatic conditions. A sub-decadal record of inferred salinity for the past 2300 years indicates that extreme droughts of greater intensity than those during the 1930s 'Dust Bowl' were more frequent prior to A.D. 1200. This high frequency of extreme droughts persisted for centuries and was most pronounced from A.D. 200–370, A.D. 700–850 and A.D. 1000–1200. A pronounced shift to generally wetter conditions with less severe droughts of shorter duration occured at A.D. 1200. This abrupt change coincided with the end of the 'Medieval Warm Period' (A.D. 1000–1200) and the onset of the 'Little Ice Age' (A.D. 1300–1850).     

Decomposition of saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens) in Louisiana coastal marshes

In Louisiana, plant production rates and associated decomposition rates may be important in offsetting high rates of land loss and subsidence in organic marsh soils. Decomposition ofSpartina patens shoot and leaf material was studied by using litter bags in mesohaline marshes in the Barataria and Terrebonne basins of coastal Louisiana.Spartina patens decomposed very slowly with an average decay constant of 0.0007, and approximately 50% of the material remained after 2 years in the field. Material at the Barataria site decomposed faster than did Terrebonne material with trend differences apparent during the first 150 days. This difference might be explained by the higher content of phosphorus in the Barataria material or a flooding period experienced by the Barataria bags during their first 10 days of deployment. Nitrogen and carbon content of the plant material studied did not differ between the two basins. We detected no consistent significant differences in decomposition above, at, or below sediment/water level. BecauseS. patens is the dominant plant in these marshes, and because it is so slow to decompose, we believe thatS. patens shoots are an important addition to vertical accretion and, therefore, marsh elevation.     

Behavior of the decollement at the toe of the Middle America Trench

Seismic reflection data from three areas of the Middle America Trench provide insights into the behavior of the decollement that separates subducted and offscraped sediment. The range of responses observed along this single subduction system provides clues as to how the decollement forms and is influenced by local conditions. The location of the decollement and whether or not the subducting basement topography influences the decollement are apparently controlled by the type and thickness of sediment in the trench. Where subducting basement topography and oceanic plate hemipelagic sediments are buried by sandy terrigenous turbidites, such as in the trench axis off Mexico, the decollement is localized near the base of the turbidite section. Subducting normal fault blocks in the oceanic crust control thrust ramps, and hanging wall anticlines form above the ramps.In regions of the trench where coarse terrigenous sediment is thin or absent, the decollement is localized within the incoming sediment section. Where muddy trench turbidites bury subducting topography (e.g. off Guatemala), the decollement is approximately 100 m deep and is little affected by the underlying subducting topography. The lower 200–300 meters of trench sediment and all of the pelagic sediment are subducted. Where there is no trench sediment overlying carbonate-rich oceanic plate sediments (e.g. off Costa Rica), the decollement is located within the subducting plate sediment section. The decollement is localized at a single stratigraphic level and rides up and over subducting horst blocks.

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Zusammenfassung Reflektionsseismische Daten aus drei Bereichen des Mittel-Amerika-Grabens geben Einblick in das Verhalten entlang einer Abscherung in der subduziertes und »abgeschabtes« Sediment voneinander getrennt werden. Die Daten, die entlang dieses Subduktionssystems erhalten wurden, liefern Anhaltspunkte darüber, wie sich die Abscherung bildet und wie sie von lokalen Bedingungen beeinflußt wird. Der Entstehungsort der Abscherung wird, unabhängig davon, ob die abtauchende Basementtopographie die Abscherung beeinflußt oder nicht, anscheinend von Typ und Dicke der Grabensedimente kontrolliert. Dort, wo das abtauchende Basement und die hemipelagischen Sedimente der ozeanischen Platte von sandigen, terrigenen Turbiditen überlagert werden, wie im Grabenabschnitt vor Mexico, liegt die Abscherung nahe der Basis des Turbiditprofiles. Abtauchende, normal gestörte Schollenblöcke der ozeanischen Kruste kontrollieren die Bildung von Überschiebungsrampen unter Bildung von Antiklinalen oberhalb dieser Rampen.Wo schlammige Grabenturbidite die subduzierende Topographie überdecken (z.B. vor Guatemala), liegt die Abscherung etwa 100 m unter der Sedimentoberfläche und wird kaum von der unterlagernden, abtauchenden Topographie beeinflußt. Die unteren 200–300 m der Grabensedimente sowie die gesamten pelagischen Ablagerungen werden subduziert. Wo karbonatreiche Sedimente der ozeanischen Platte nicht von Grabensedimenten überlagert werden (z.B. vor Costa Rica) liegt die Abscherung innerhalb der Sedimentsäule der abtauchenden Platte. Die Abscherung bewegt sich in einem einzigen stratigraphischen Niveau und gleitet dabei auf und über abtauchende Horstschollen.

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Résumé Des prospections par sismique-réflexion, effectuées dans trois régions de la fosse d'Amérique Centrale, éclairent le comportement du décollement qui sépare les sédiments subductés des sédiments «raclés». Les donnés recueillies le long de ce système de subduction simple fournissent des indications sur la manière dont le décollement prend naissance et est influencé par les conditions locales. L'emplacement du décollement et le fait qu'il est, ou non, influencé par la topographie du substrat en subduction dépendent, semble-t-il, de la nature et de l'épaisseur des sédiments de la fosse. Lorsque, dans la plaque océanique en subduction, la topographie du socle et les sédiments hémipélagiques surincombants sont enfouis sous des turbidites terrigènes arénacées, comme c'est le cas au large du Mexique, le décollement se produit près de la base de la série turbiditique. La subduction de blocs découpés par des failles normales dans la croûte océanique détermine des rampes de charriage au-dessus desquelles prennent naissance des structures anticlinales.Dans les parties de la fosse qui sont pauvres en sédiments terrigènes grossiers ou qui en sont dépourvues, le décollement est situé à l'intérieur de la série sédimentaire. Lorsque le relief de la plaque en subduction est enfoui sous des turbidites boueuses (p. ex. au large du Guatemala), le décollement se situe à 100 m sous la surface supérieure des sédiments et est peu affecté par la topographie du substrat subducté. La subduction affecte alors la partie inférieure (200 à 300 m) des sédiments de la fosse, ainsi que l'entièreté des sédiments pélagiques. Lorsqu'il n'y a pas de sédiments terrigènes recouvrant les dépôts carbonates de la plaque océanique (p. ex. au large de Costa Rica), le décollement se situe au sein de ces derniers; il correspond à un niveau stratigraphique et contourne par en-haut les blocs en horst de la plaque descendante.

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Mercury-binding proteins in the slipper limpet,Crepidula fornicata,exposed to increased soluble mercury

Crepidula fornicata were held in a flow-through bioassay system and exposed to sand-filtered seawater to which no soluble mercury (control) was added or to which either 5, 25, or 50 μg 1^?1 soluble Hg was added. At specific intervals during the 16-week experiment, a group of limpets was removed from each tank; one subgroup was exposed for 48 h to high concentrations of Hg, and another was analyzed for Hg-binding proteins by gelpermeation chromatography and spectrometry. Mortality from exposure to Hg in the 48-h acute toxicity tests was related to concentrations of Hg experienced both during the long-term exposure period and the 48-h exposure period. Chronic exposure to low levels of Hg resulted in increased amounts of total Hg in the whole body and in the low-molecular-weight Hg-binding proteins. No evidence was found for increased tolerance to Hg with preexposure.     

Isotopic composition of surface-correlated chromium in Apollo 16 lunar soils

We have analyzed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) the isotopic composition of Cr in five progressive etches of size-sorted plagioclase grains separated from lunar soils 60601 and 62281. Aliquots of the etch solutions were spiked for isotopic dilution (ID) analysis of Cr and Ca. The Ca ID data indicate that the initial etch steps represent dissolution of an average 0.1 to 0.2 μm depth from the grain surfaces, the approximate depth expected for implanted solar wind. The Cr/Ca ratio in the initial etches is several fold higher than that expected for bulk plagioclase composition, but in subsequent etches decreases to approach the bulk value. This indicates a source of Cr extrinsic to the plagioclase grains, surface-correlated and resident in the outermost fraction of a μm, which we provisionally identify as solar wind Cr. The surface-correlated Cr is isotopically anomalous and by conventional TIMS data reduction has approximately 1 permil excess ⁵⁴Cr and half as great excess ⁵³Cr. In successive etches, as the Cr/Ca ratio decreases and approaches the bulk plagioclase value, the magnitude of the apparent anomalies decreases approaching normal composition. If these results do indeed characterize the solar wind, then either the solar wind is enriched in Cr due to spallation in the solar atmosphere, or the Earth and the various parent bodies of the meteorites are isotopically distinct from the Sun and must have formed from slightly different mixes of presolar materials. Alternative interpretations include the possibility that the anomalous Cr is meteoritic rather than solar or that the observed (solar) Cr is normal except for a small admixture of spallation Cr generated on the Moon. We consider these latter possibilities less likely than the solar wind interpretation. However, they cannot be eliminated and remain working hypotheses.     

Strontium Isotopic Signatures of the Streams and Lakes of Taylor Valley, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Chemical Weathering in a Polar Climate

We have collected and analyzed a series of water samples from three closed-basin lakes (Lakes Bonney, Fryxell, and Hoare) in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and the streams that flow into them. In all three lakes, the hypolimnetic waters have different ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios than the surface waters, with the deep water of Lakes Fryxell and Hoare being less radiogenic than the surface waters. The opposite occurs in Lake Bonney. The Lake Fryxell isotopic ratios are lower than modern-day ocean water and most of the whole-rock ratios of the surrounding geologic materials. A conceivable source of Sr to the system could be either the Cenozoic volcanic rocks that make up a small portion of the till deposited in the valley during the Last Glacial Maximum or from marble derived from the local basement rocks. The more radiogenic ratios from Lake Bonney originate from ancient salt deposits that flow into the lake from Taylor Glacier and the weathering of minerals with more radiogenic Sr isotopic ratios within the tills. The Sr isotopic data from the streams and lakes of Taylor Valley strongly support the notion documented by previous investigators that chemical weathering has been, and is currently, a major process in determining the overall aquatic chemistry of these lakes in this polar desert environment.     

Interaction of wind and cold-season hydrologic processes on erosion from complex topography following wildfire in sagebrush steppe

Wildfire is a natural component of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe rangelands that induces temporal shifts in plant community physiognomy, ground surface conditions, and erosion rates. Fire alteration of the vegetation structure and ground cover in these ecosystems commonly amplifies soil losses by wind- and water-driven erosion. Much of the fire-related erosion research for sagebrush steppe has focused on either erosion by wind over gentle terrain or water-driven erosion under high-intensity rainfall on complex topography. However, many sagebrush rangelands are geographically positioned in snow-dominated uplands with complex terrain in which runoff and sediment delivery occur primarily in winter months associated with cold-season hydrology. Current understanding is limited regarding fire effects on the interaction of wind- and cold-season hydrologic-driven erosion processes for these ecosystems. In this study, we evaluated fire impacts on vegetation, ground cover, soils, and erosion across spatial scales at a snow-dominated mountainous sagebrush site over a 2-year period post-fire. Vegetation, ground cover, and soil conditions were assessed at various plot scales (8 m² to 3.42 ha) through standard field measures. Erosion was quantified through a network of silt fences (n = 24) spanning hillslope and side channel or swale areas, ranging from 0.003 to 3.42 ha in size. Sediment delivery at the watershed scale (129 ha) was assessed by suspended sediment samples of streamflow through a drop-box v-notch weir. Wildfire consumed nearly all above-ground live vegetation at the site and resulted in more than 60% bare ground (bare soil, ash, and rock) in the immediate post-fire period. Widespread wind-driven sediment loading of swales was observed over the first month post-fire and extensive snow drifts were formed in these swales each winter season during the study. In the first year, sediment yields from north- and south-facing aspects averaged 0.99–8.62 t ha⁻¹ at the short-hillslope scale (~0.004 ha), 0.02–1.65 t ha⁻¹ at the long-hillslope scale (0.02–0.46 ha), and 0.24–0.71 t ha⁻¹ at the swale scale (0.65–3.42 ha), and watershed scale sediment yield was 2.47 t ha⁻¹. By the second year post fire, foliar cover exceeded 120% across the site, but bare ground remained more than 60%. Sediment yield in the second year was greatly reduced across short- to long-hillslope scales (0.02–0.04 t ha⁻¹), but was similar to first-year measures for swale plots (0.24–0.61 t ha⁻¹) and at the watershed scale (3.05 t ha⁻¹). Nearly all the sediment collected across all spatial scales was delivered during runoff events associated with cold-season hydrologic processes, including rain-on-snow, rain-on-frozen soils, and snowmelt runoff. Approximately 85–99% of annual sediment collected across all silt fence plots each year was from swales. The high levels of sediment delivered across hillslope to watershed scales in this study are attributed to observed preferential loading of fine sediments into swale channels by aeolian processes in the immediate post-fire period and subsequent flushing of these sediments by runoff from cold-season hydrologic processes. Our results suggest that the interaction of aeolian and cold-season hydrologic-driven erosion processes is an important component for consideration in post-fire erosion assessment and prediction and can have profound implications for soil loss from these ecosystems. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New records of Ediacaran Acraman ejecta in drillholes from the Stuart Shelf and Officer Basin,South Australia

Abstract— New occurrences of the Acraman impact ejecta layer were recently discovered in two South Australian drillholes, SCYW‐79 1a (Stuart Shelf) and Munta 1 (Officer Basin) using lithostratigraphy, acritarch biostratigraphy, carbon isotope stratigraphy, and biomarker anomalies to predict the stratigraphic position. The ejecta layer is conspicuous because it consists of pink, sandsized, angular fragments of volcanic rock distributed along the bedding plane surface of green marine siltstone. In SCYW‐79 1a it forms a layer 5 mm thick; in Munta 1 the ejecta layer is thin and discontinuous because of its distance (?550 km) from the impact structure. Palynological, biomarker, and carbon isotope anomalies can now be shown to coincide with the ejecta layer in SCYW‐79 1a and Munta 1 suggesting the Acraman impact event may have had far reaching influences on the rapidly evolving Ediacaran biological and geochemical cycles.     

Metrics for the comparative analysis of geospatial datasets with applications to high-resolution grid-based population data

Geospatial data sciences have emerged as critical requirements for high-priority application solutions in diverse areas, including, but not limited to, the mitigation of natural and man-made disasters. Three sets of metrics, adopted or customized from geo-statistics, applied meteorology and signal processing, are tested in terms of their ability to evaluate geospatial datasets, specifically two population databases commonly used for disaster preparedness and consequence management. The two high-resolution, grid-based population datasets are the following: The LandScan dataset available from the Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the Gridded Population of the World (GPW) dataset available from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) group at Columbia University. Case studies evaluate population data across the globe, specifically, the metropolitan areas of Washington DC, USA, Los-Angeles, USA, and Houston, USA, and London, UK, as well as the country of Iran. The geospatial metrics confirm that the two population datasets have significant differences, especially in the context of their utility for disaster readiness and mitigation. While this paper primarily focuses on grid based population datasets and disaster management applications, the sets of metrics developed here can be generalized to other geospatial datasets and applications. Future research needs to develop metrics for geospatial and temporal risks and associated uncertainties in the context of disaster management. The U. S. Government’s right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.