Periodic nulls in the pulsar B1133+16

Numerous studies of the brightest Cambridge pulsar, B1133+16, have revealed little order in its individual pulses, apart from a weak 30-odd-rotation-period fluctuation feature and that some 15 per cent of the star's pulsars are 'nulls'. New Arecibo observations confirm this fluctuation feature and that it modulates all the emission, not simply the 'saddle' region. By replacing each pulse with a scaled version of the average profile, we were able to quench all subpulse modulation and thereby demonstrate that the star's 'null' pulses exhibit a similar periodicity. A subbeam carousel model with a sparse and irregular 'beamlet' population appears to be compatible with these characteristics.     

Nonlinear field line resonances. Effect of Hall term on plasma compression: 1D Hall-MHD modeling

A model is presented that describes the excitation of small-scale density perturbations and electromagnetic fields by standing shear Alfvén waves in a Cartesian geometry. The model includes the effects of plasma betas and the Hall term effects. The characteristics of magnetospheric density cavities and the formation of the significant peak in density are discussed in the paper.     

Magnetotelluric response of a two-dimensional sloping contact by the finite element method

Summary The finite element method, with triangular elements, is used to study the effect of a two-dimensional sloping contact on the surface electromagnetic fields. It is found in the case ofH-polarization and small slopes that the electric field and the apparent resistivity near the contact, on the conductive side, are higher than their asymptotic values. In the case ofE-polarization the apparent resistivity and phase values on the conductive side fall off less rapidly to their asymptotic values with decreasing slope resulting in higher apparent resistivity and phase values on the conductive side, than those expected for a vertical contact. The peak in the amplitude and phase of the normalized vertical magnetic field shifts from the resistive side for a vertical contact to the conductive side for a sloping contact. Far from the sloping contact, on the conductive side, higher values are observed for the normalized vertical magnetic field than in the case of a vertical contact.     

Transport of juvenile gem clams (Gemma gemma) in headland wake

Accumulation of bivalve recruits in the bottom convergence at the center of coastal eddies has been suggested as a possible mechanism resulting in locally abundant adult populations. We investigated transport of juvenile gem clams (Gemma gemma) in a headland wake to determine whether they accumulated, and where. Velocity measurements during three flood tides showed that a wake consistently formed, but that flow speeds were too slow to transport juvenile clams to the eddy center. Instead, the clams were deposited just inside the wake perimeter, where shear velocities decreased to levels below critical erosion velocities of the clams. This result demonstrated that accumulation in a coastal flow separation can occur even in the absence of a well-defined eddy or a strong bottom convergence. Juvenile gem clams were carried, probably as bedload, to regions in the wake dominated by sediments with similar grain sizes, rather than similar fall velocities, suggesting that bedload transport was particularly dependent on particle diameter in this flow regime. Adult gem clam populations tended to be locally abundant in regions receiving transported juveniles, but clam transport on any specific flood tide was not sufficient to fully predict the adult distributions.     

Ce-anomalous lavas from Rabaul caldera,Papua New Guinea

REE abundances for a suite of Rabaul caldera lavas ranging from basalt to dacite are reported. Three of the lavas contain negative Ce anomalies. These ‘anomalous’ lavas are older and have a geochemistry different from the younger lavas which form the main Rabaul caldera. The consistent geochemical differences between the two groups of lavas suggest that the Ce anomaly is inherited from the source material from which the magmas were derived and is not due to differences in crystallization or fractionation paths. Ocean floor lavas containing zeolite assemblages have been shown to possess a Ce anomaly and it is concluded that those lavas having a Ce anomaly were derived from lithosphere which had been depleted in Ce during weathering and hydrothermal processes.     

Delineation of lithostructural domains in northern Orissa (India) from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery

Image-based reconnaissance geological mapping at 1:100,000 scale using Landsat TM data has delineated a college of Precambrian lithostructural domains within a 50,000-km² region which encompasses the northern portion of the Archaean to Proterozoic granulite-grade Eastern Ghats Tectonic Province and the adjacent Archaean-Mesoproterozoic Singhbhum Craton. The domains identified in the present study display distinctive internal structures on satellite imagery. Most are bounded by clearly recognisable major shear zones and faults on imagery; displacement directions may frequently be ascertained through local reorientation of planar structures adjacent to large strike-slip shear zones and through juxtaposition of domains with different structuring.

The macroscopic/megascopic structural overview provided by the Landsat interpretation, supported by preliminary field investigation, suggests that the N-S shortening (E-W fold/thrust packages with associated NE and NW strike-slip faulting), is the dominant structural style in the northernmost part of the Eastern Ghats Tectonic Province, followed by regional dextral transpression, expressed in the form of major strike-slip faults. The largest of these structures (Kerajang Fault), which may be traced for over 250 km, has demonstrable Paleozoic-Mesozoic dextral motion associated with coal basin formation. A precursor Kerajang shear zone with dextral movement in excess of 100 km of indeterminate age may also have been instrumental in juxtaposing the Singhbhum Nucleus into its present position to the north of the Eastern Ghats Tectonic Province.     

Study of (010)[101] and (001)[110]/2 dislocations in K-feldspars by HRTEM and modelling

Dislocations in K-feldspars were studied by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and HRTEM images were further submitted to a filtering in order to improve their interpretation. (010)[101] dislocations appear to be dissociated with (001)[001]/2 planar defect, whereas (001)[110]/2 dislocations are perfect. Structural models of planar defects in (010) and (001) planes were investigated. The energy estimation of these models was performed using the Keating potential. The structural analysis agreed with the experimental result in that dislocations can be dissociated in the (010) plane, whereas they cannot be dissociated in the (001) plane.     

Fluid-rock interaction during progressive migration of carbonatitic fluids, derived from small-scale trace element and Sr, Pb isotope distribution in hydrothermal fluorite

Associated with the Cretaceous Okorusu carbonatite complex (Namibia) is a hydrothermal fluorite mineralization hosted in Pan-African country rock marbles, which resulted from fluid-rock reaction between the marbles and orthomagmatic, carbonatitic fluids expelled from the carbonatite. Yellow fluorite I was deposited in veins up to 5 cm away from the wallrock contact, followed by purple and colorless fluorite II, smoky quartz and barite, a Mn-rich crust on early calcite, and pure calcite. This clear-cut sequence of mineral growth allows an investigation into fluid-rock interaction processes between the marble and the migrating carbonatitic fluid, and element fractionation patterns between the fluid and subsequent hydrothermal precipitates.Fluorite I shows a progressive change in color from dark yellow to colorless with purple laminations over time of deposition. Subsequent fluorite I precipitates show an increase in Ca, and a continuous decrease in F, Sr, REE, Y, Th, U and Pb contents. The ratios (Eu/Eu*)_cn, Th/Pb and U/Pb increase whereas Y/Ho, Th/U and (La/Yb)_cn decrease. The Sr-isotopic composition remains constant at ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70456-0.70459, but with varying, highly radiogenic Pb (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 32-190, ²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb = 7-63). Fluorite II has ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70454-0.70459, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.349, and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.600, and a chemical composition similar to youngest fluorite I. The Mn-rich crust on early calcite accumulated REE, Ba, Pb, Zr, Cs, Th and U, developing into pure calcite with a prominent negative Ce anomaly and successively more radiogenic Sr. The calculated degrees of fluid-rock interaction, f = weight fraction of fluid/(fluid + marble), decrease from fluorite I and most fluorite II (f = 0.5) to calcite (f = 0.2-0.3) and hydrothermal quartz (f ? 0.1). A crush-leach experiment for fluid inclusions in the hydrothermal quartz yielded a Rb-Sr isochron age of 103 ± 12 Ma. Crush-leach analysis for the carbonatitic fluid trapped in the wallrock yielded a trend from the fluid leachate to the host quartz (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.224 and 18.602, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.616 and 15.636, respectively) extending from carbonatite towards crustal rocks.Calculated trace element distribution coefficients fluorite/fluid are below unity throughout, and increase from La to Yb. Elements largely excluded from fluorite (Ba, Pb, LREE relative to HREE) were incorporated later into the Mn-rich crust on calcite. The trace element patterns of the hydrothermal minerals are related to changing aCO₂ and aF⁻ in the fluid during continued fluid-marble reaction. A predominance of carbonate over fluoride complexing in the fluid as reactions proceeded controlled the Y/Ho, Th/U and REE patterns in the fluid and the crystallizing phases. Deviations from these trends indicate discontinuous processes of fluid-rock reaction.     

Biocultural nationalism? Bananas and biosecurity in Northern Queensland

ABSTRACT

The Cavendish banana is Australia’s most popular fruit and marketed as emblematic of Australian nationalisms. In July 2017, the disease-causing fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense was confirmed present on Australia’s largest Cavendish banana farm, in the worst disease incursion that Northern Queensland Cavendish monocrop plantations have yet faced. Confronted with the potential collapse of the industry, banana growers and Biosecurity Queensland officials have deployed a biosecurity response centred on measures of border control and containment. This paper examines the othering of the disease vector Panama Tropical Race 4, revealing biosecurity attempts as embroiled in cultural preoccupations with invasion. In so doing, this paper establishes that the biosecurity concerns regarding Northern Queensland bananas are not just with the economic and biological productivity of nature, but entangled in post-colonial anxieties over who belongs within the landscape. Following the entangled relations between the disease and Cavendish bananas reveals cultural nuances and multispecies relations. These shape and are shaped by industry and government efforts as experts attempt to maintain governance over entities as they appear to slip from human control. This paper finds that the anxieties and narratives of Australian post-colonial politics are deeply imbricated with the logics of ecological protection, agricultural productivity and the banality of everyday nationalisms.