Constructions of 'whiteness' in the geographical imagination

Summary Following debates in geography and across the social sciences about the social construction of 'race', there has been a growing recognition that these arguments apply with equal force to dominant groups as well as to the categorization of so-called ethnic minorities. This paper traces these developments through a brief review of recent work on the social construction of 'whiteness' in literary, historical and ethnographic research. It examines some specific constructions of 'whiteness' at the national scale (in the United States, Britain and Aotearoa/New Zealand) and concludes with some empirical evidence from fieldwork in North London, where it is suggested that constructions of 'whiteness' are articulated through discourses of Englishness.     

Some things do change: indigenous rights,geographers and geography in Australia

Using a recent editorial comment in this journal as a focus, this paper reviews the extent to which geography has been implicated in the ‘colonial project’ in Australia. It argues that recent work amongst geographers involved with indigenous Australians reflects a commitment to transcend this colonial past. The paper calls for geographers to work toward a wide‐reaching decolonisation of the discipline, and to develop a better understanding of the contemporary legacies of geography's colonial past.     

Evaluation of vegetative criteria for near-surface groundwater detection using multispectral mapping and GIS techniques in semi-arid Botswana

The critical need to consider all options in the search for groundwater in semi-arid areas has promoted work on the possible association of near-surface groundwater and vegetation characteristics using a combination of remote-sensing data and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques. Two vegetative criteria (dense woody cover and abundance of deep-rooting species) are identified as being indicative of near-surface groundwater, and their spatial distribution is tested against the location of aquifers in southeast Botswana. Vegetative criteria classes were combined in a GIS environment with the distribution of geomorphic units and bedrock geology to determine the degree of coincidence with assumed or known aquifers. Results indicate that the distribution of dense woody vegetation as mapped from Thematic Mapper imagery has some potential in identifying especially surficial but also bedrock near-surface groundwater sources in mostly naturally vegetated semi-arid areas. Dense woody cover classes tend to select aquifers in topographically higher areas while classes comprising some deep-rooting species tend to select low-lying aquifers such as those occurring in fossil valleys. Deep-rooting species, however, are less successful as a vegetative criterion. Although various technical refinements are suggested, this work shows that vegetative criteria mapping can however be used in conjunction with conventional geological/geophysical techniques to enhance the prospects for groundwater location in relatively undisturbed semi-arid areas.     

Thecamoebians in Lake Winnipeg: a tool for Holocene paleolimnology

Holocene sediments in Lake Winnipeg are expressed in the lower Lake Agassiz sequence which is unconformably overlain by the Lake Winnipeg sequence. Nine sites, covering the North and South basins and the connecting Narrows, were selected for analysis of Holocene changes in thecamoebian faunae. Only the Lake Winnipeg sequence contains thecamoebians. This study indicates that biologic productivity and consequently the type of organic material in the sediments is the main control on thecamoebian taxa in Lake Winnipeg. Other factors controlling the distribution of thecamoebians are water chemistry and turbidity. Inorganic sediment geochemistry and water temperature do not appear to significantly influence the thecamoebian fauna of Lake Winnipeg. Variations in the abundance of key thecamoebian species along a north-south transect divide Lake Winnipeg into three distinct areas. The North Basin has remained relatively unchanged since the retreat of Lake Agassiz as indicated by the domination of Difflugia manicata throughout its history. This species appears to prefer Cyanophyta and diatoms as its food source. In the Narrows harsh conditions created by turbid waters and lack of algal food taxa result in Centropyxis aculeata replacing Difflugia manicata as the dominant species. In the South Basin three thecamoebian assemblages are recognized. Cucurbitella tricuspis, indicative of eutrophic conditions, dominates the most recent sediments of the South Basin. The underlying sediments are characterized by Difflugia globulus. In Lake Winnipeg this species is not a cold climate (arctic) indicator as suggested elsewhere but instead seems to prefer sediments containing green and yellow-green algal material. A Centropyxis-Arcella Assemblage occurs only at the base of the southernmost core where it is indicative of an early phase of hyposaline conditions as developed in shallow pools during the southward transgression of Lake Winnipeg. This study illustrates the usefulness of thecamoebians as paleolimnological indicators. Environmental changes are more significant in the restricted South Basin resulting in distinct thecamoebian assemblages. In contrast, the North Basin provided a stable environment throughout the late Holocene reflected in only subtle faunal changes.     

The breakdown of potassium feldspar at high water pressures

The equilibrium position of the reaction between sanidine and water to form “sanidine hydrate” has been determined by reversal experiments on well characterised synthetic starting materials in a piston cylinder apparatus. The reaction was found to lie between four reversed brackets of 2.35 and 2.50 GPa at 450 °C, 2.40 and 2.59 GPa at 550 °C, 2.67 and 2.74 GPa at 650 °C, and 2.70 and 2.72 GPa at 680 °C. Infrared spectroscopy showed that the dominant water species in sanidine hydrate was structural H₂O. The minimum quantity of this structural H₂O, measured by thermogravimetric analysis, varied between 4.42 and 5.85 wt% over the pressure range of 2.7 to 3.2 GPa and the temperature range of 450 to 680 °C. Systematic variation in water content with pressure and temperature was not clearly established. The maximum value was below 6.07 wt%, the equivalent of 1 molecule of H₂O per formula unit. The water could be removed entirely by heating at atmospheric pressure to produce a metastable, anhydrous, hexagonal KAlSi₃O₈ phase (“hexasanidine”) implying that the structural H₂O content of sanidine hydrate can vary. The unit cell parameters for sanidine hydrate, measured by powder X-ray diffraction, were a = 0.53366 (±0.00022) nm and c = 0.77141 (±0.00052) nm, and those for hexasanidine were a = 0.52893 (±0.00016) nm and c = 0.78185 (±0.00036) nm. The behaviour and properties of sanidine hydrate appear to be analogous to those of the hydrate phase cymrite in the equivalent barium system. The occurrence of sanidine hydrate in the Earth would be limited to high pressure but very low temperature conditions and hence it could be a potential reservoir for water in cold subduction zones. However, sanidine hydrate would probably be constrained to granitic rock compositions at these pressures and temperatures. Received: 6 May 1997 / Accepted: 2 October 1997     

A complete infrared Einstein ring in the gravitational lens system B1938 + 666

We report the discovery, using NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope , of an arcsec-diameter Einstein ring in the gravitational lens system B1938+666. The lensing galaxy is also detected, and is most likely an early-type galaxy. Modelling of the ring is presented and compared with the radio structure from MERLIN maps. We show that the Einstein ring is consistent with the gravitational lensing of an extended infrared component, centred between the two radio components.     

B0712+472: a new radio four-image gravitational lens

A new four-image gravitational lens system, B0712+472, has been discovered during the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey. This system consists of four flat-spectrum radio images that are also seen on a Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) image, together with the lensing galaxy. We present MERLIN, VLA and VLBA maps and WHT spectra of the system as well as the HST images. The light distribution of the lensing galaxy is highly elongated and so too is the mass distribution deduced from modelling. We suggest a redshift of ∼1.33 for the lensed object; the lens redshift will require further investigation. The discovery of this new system further increases the ratio of four-image to two-image lens systems currently known, exacerbating problems of required ellipticity of matter distributions in lensing galaxies.     

Resistance of quartz silt to isotopic exchange under burial and intense weathering conditions

Oxygen isotopic compositions of quartz from silty sediments buried to 5400 m depth from two wells in the Gulf of Mexico each showed δ5¹⁸O variations of less than 1.7%. Clay diagenesis has been reported within this depth. The observed variations in the quartz do not appear to be primarly diagenetic effects, but rather are mainly depositional features reflecting variations in the sources of the sediments. Sources may be influenced by the variation of distance from the shore at different depths in a given sampling location and by sediment production by continental glaciations. Stability of the oxygen isotopic composition of quartz in the 10–20 μm size range under long-time humid, temperate weathering conditions was studied by analysis of saprolites formed from Pennsylvanian to Precambrian crystalline rocks. In four of the five cases, the 10–20 μm fraction was found to have only 0.1–0.5%. greater δ¹⁸O than the corresponding 20–50 μm fraction. This increase may be attributable either to a slight oxygen isotopic exchange with ambient ground waters or original differences within the rock since the saprolites were sufficiently coherent to make an influx of extraneous detrital silt unlikely. The amount of oxygen isotopic exchange in silt size quartz over periods of many million years of shallow burial or weathering appears to be small enough to permit the use of the oxygen isotopic ratio of quartz in tracing the origin of eolian and fluvial additions of minerals to continental soils and pelagic sediments.     

Plagiogranites as late-stage immiscible liquids in ophiolite and mid-ocean ridge suites: An experimental study

Chemical studies of two ophiolite suites and of selected mid-oceanic rift (MOR) regions indicate the presence of certain magmatic compositions: basalt, Fe-enriched basalt, and sodium granite (plagiogranite). There is a notable lack of evidence for melts of intermediate composition (i.e. 50–60 wt.% SiO₂). To determine possible relationships between basic rocks (basalts and gabbros) and acidic rocks (plagiogranites) a primitive basalt was fractionated at low pressure, under anhydrous conditions, and at different oxygen fugacities near the iron-wustite buffer and slightly above the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer. Samples of this basalt were taken to slightly above liquidus temperatures and then cooled at rates ranging from 1 to 2°C/hr. A liquid line of descent characterized by an Fe enrichment was delineated by quenching these experiments from a final temperature in the range of 1200 to 1000°C and analyzing the residual liquid (glass). After 95% crystallization of olivine, plagioclase, calcium pyroxene, and ilmenite, the residual liquid was an Fe-enriched basalt. This Fe-enriched basalt became immiscible at a temperature of about 1010°C. The immiscible phases produced were a more Fe-enriched basaltic liquid and a granitic liquid. The granitic liquid is similar in composition to the naturally occurring plagiogranites found in small volumes in ophiolites and in certain MOR regions. It is therefore concluded that silicate liquid immiscibility could be the petrogenetic process responsible for producing plagiogranite in some MOR regions and in some ophiolites. On the other hand, plagiogranites in ophiolites and MOR rock suites having andesitic and dacitic composition rocks may have evolved under conditions more closely approximating equilibrium crystallization and/or they may have evolved at high water pressures. The available experimental data suggest that amphibole would crystallize early and yield SiO₂-enriched liquids at depths greater than 4.5 km for P_H2O's in the range 0.6–1.0 P_total.The major problem in interpreting any of the natural plagiogranites as products of silicate liquid immiscibility is the fact that neither the Fe-enriched conjugate liquid or its crystalline equivalent has been described in the ophiolite or MOR literature. The identification of this Fe-rich conjugate magma is essential in any rock suite if a completely convincing case for silicate liquid immiscibility is to be made.