Magnetostratigraphic investigations of the Middle Triassic Badong Formation in South China

Magnetostratigraphic sampling of the Middle Triassic Badong Formation in South China was conducted at three sections. A dual-polarity characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) resolved from most samples by thermal demagnetization is shown to have been acquired prior to folding. The primary nature of the ChRM is corroborated by the discovery of the same magnetic polarity at equivalent stratigraphic levels in more than one section. The relative sample VGP (virtual geomagnetic pole) latitudes define nine magnetozones for the three major constituent members of the formation. Comparison with the Mid-Triassic magnetic polarity sequence observed from the western Tethyan region appears to indicate that the bulk of the Badong Formation is Anisian in age and that Ladinian sediments are largely missing. This agrees with palaeontological and stratigraphic evidence in the region and supports the view that Ladinian regression is a major event in the geological evolution of South China, which may signal the onset of amalgamation of the Yangtze Block (YB) with the North China Block (NCB).     

Distance and discourse in the local labour market: the case of Singapore

Summary In this paper we use the example of Singapore to make two theoretical contributions to the geographical literature on local labour markets. Firstly, we suggest that the local labour market should be conceived of as an extended 'network space' that is constituted by extra-local linkages and flows as well as local interactions. The importance of certain kinds of foreign 'workers' and 'talent' in Singapore can be used to illustrate this argument. Secondly, we contend that locally constructed discourses can actively shape labour market dynamics, exemplified here by the rise of 'knowledge-based economy' rhetoric in Singapore.     

Empirical Catchment-wide Rainfall Erosivity Models for Two Rivers in the Humid Tropics of Australia

The concept of rainfall erosivity is extended to the estimation of catchment sediment yield and its variation over time. Five different formulations of rainfall erosivity indices, using annual, monthly and daily rainfall data, are proposed and tested on two catchments in the humid tropics of Australia. Rainfall erosivity indices, using simple power functions of annual and daily rainfall amounts, were found to be adequate in describing the interannual and seasonal variation of catchment sediment yield. The parameter values of these rainfall erosivity indices for catchment sediment yield are broadly similar to those for rainfall erosivity models in relation to the R-factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation.     

Controls on Rayleigh wave amplitudes: attenuation and focusing

A large data set of amplitude measurements of minor and major arc Rayleigh waves in the period range 73–171 s is collected. By comparing these amplitudes with the amplitudes of synthetic waveforms calculated by mode summation, maps of lateral variations in the apparent attenuation structure of the Earth are constructed. An existing formalism for predicting the effects of focusing is employed to calculate amplitude perturbations for the same data set. These perturbations are used to construct 'pseudo‐attenuation' maps and these results are compared with the apparent attenuation maps calculated from the data. It is shown that variations in Rayleigh wave amplitude perturbations in the Earth are dominated by attenuation at long wavelengths (below about degree 8) and by elastic structure at shorter wavelengths. It is also shown that the linear approximation for focusing is successful at predicting Rayleigh wave amplitudes using existing phase velocity maps. These results indicate that future attempts to model the velocity structure of the Earth would be assisted by incorporating amplitude data and by jointly inverting for Q structure.     

Regional regression models for hydro‐climate change impact assessment

Hydro‐climatic impacts in water resources systems are typically assessed by forcing a hydrologic model with outputs from general circulation models (GCMs) or regional climate models. The challenges of this approach include maintaining a consistent energy budget between climate and hydrologic models and also properly calibrating and verifying the hydrologic models. Subjective choices of loss, flow routing, snowmelt and evapotranspiration computation methods also increase watershed modelling uncertainty and thus complicate impact assessment. An alternative approach, particularly appealing for ungauged basins or locations where record lengths are short, is to predict selected streamflow quantiles directly from meteorological variable output from climate models using regional regression models that also include physical basin characteristics. In this study, regional regression models are developed for the western Great Lakes states using ordinary least squares and weighted least squares techniques applied to selected Great Lakes watersheds. Model inputs include readily available downscaled GCM outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3. The model results provide insights to potential model weaknesses, including comparatively low runoff predictions from continuous simulation models that estimate potential evapotranspiration using temperature proxy information and comparatively high runoff projections from regression models that do not include temperature as an explanatory variable. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post‐1850 changes in Glacier Benito,North Patagonian Icefield,Chile

Glacier Benito is a temperate outlet glacier on the west side of the North Patagonian Icefield. Rates of thinning and ablation were obtained using data collected by the British Joint Services Expedition in 1972/73 and subsequent data collected in 2007 and 2011. Ice‐front recession rates were based on dendrochronological dating for the terminal moraines and aerial and satellite imagery of the ice front in 1944, 1998 and 2002. Between the first Benito survey in 1973 and 2007, the lower glacier thinned by nearly 150 m at an average rate of 4.3 m yr^?1 with the rate increasing to 6.1 m yr^?1 between 2007 and 2011, a 28.7% increase during the latter period. Increases in ice movement and ablation were negligible: ice movement for 1973 and 2007 averaged 0.45 m day^?1 and ablation averaged 0.05 m day^?1. Ice front recession along the glacier's centre line from 1886 to 2002 was approximately 1860 m. Retreat rates between 1886 and 1944 averaged 8.9 m yr^?1. Thereafter glacier asymmetry makes measurement along the glacier centre line unrepresentative of areal change until 1998 when symmetry was restored; retreat between 1944 and 1998 was 15.4 m yr^?1. From 1998 to 2002 the rate increased dramatically to 127.2 m yr^?1. Recession from the southern end of Benito's terminal moraine in the 1850s supports an early date for initial retreat of the Icefield's glaciers.     

The effect of environmental change on human migration

The influence of the environment and environmental change is largely unrepresented in standard theories of migration, whilst recent debates on climate change and migration focus almost entirely on displacement and perceive migration to be a problem. Drawing on an increasing evidence base that has assessed elements of the influence of the environment on migration, this paper presents a new framework for understanding the effect of environmental change on migration. The framework identifies five families of drivers which affect migration decisions: economic, political, social, demographic and environmental drivers. The environment drives migration through mechanisms characterised as the availability and reliability of ecosystem services and exposure to hazard. Individual migration decisions and flows are affected by these drivers operating in combination, and the effect of the environment is therefore highly dependent on economic, political, social and demographic context. Environmental change has the potential to affect directly the hazardousness of place. Environmental change also affects migration indirectly, in particular through economic drivers, by changing livelihoods for example, and political drivers, through affecting conflicts over resources, for example. The proposed framework, applicable to both international and internal migration, emphasises the role of human agency in migration decisions, in particular the linked role of family and household characteristics on the one hand, and barriers and facilitators to movement on the other in translating drivers into actions. The framework can be used to guide new research, assist with the evaluation of policy options, and provide a context for the development of scenarios representing a range of plausible migration futures.