Contaminated identities: Mercury and marginalization in Ghana’s artisanal mining sector

This article provides a counter-narrative to the dominant discourse of marginalization and criminalization of Ghana’s illegal gold miners (galamsey) by focusing on the contested mercury debate. We first examine the complex and multifaceted policy problem that underlies the current conflictual aspects in the small-scale mining sector, arguing that mercury use and contamination are key elements in the antigalamsey rhetoric. Second, we describe an interdisciplinary pilot study on human and environmental health that involved health personnel and illegal miners from two sites. Through participatory ranking and mapping activities, we explored participants’ understanding of mercury and other life hazards as well as causes and consequences of mercury contamination. We used chemical indicator strips to sample contaminated areas in collaboration with the miners. By drawing upon novel concepts from the environmental justice and ecohealth literature, we propose a political ecology of human and environmental health that advocates recognition of galamsey operators and their participation in learning opportunities as a first step out of the current impasse in the Ghanaian small-scale mining sector.     

The geochemistry of gossans associated with Sarcheshmeh porphyry copper deposit,Rafsanjan, Kerman,Iran: Implications for exploration and the environment

The Sarcheshmeh copper deposit is one of the world's largest Oligo-Miocene porphyry copper deposits in a continental arc setting with a well developed supergene sulfide zone, covered mainly by a hematitic gossan. Supergene oxidation and leaching, have developed a chalcocite enrichment blanket averaging 1.99% Cu, more than twice that of hypogene zone (0.89% Cu). The mature gossans overlying the Sarcheshmeh porphyry copper ores contain abundant hematite with variable amounts of goethite and jarosite, whereas immature gossans consist of iron-oxides, malachite, azurite and chrysocolla. In mature gossans, Au, Mo and Ag give significant anomalies much higher than the background concentrations. However, Cu has been leached in mature gossans and gives values close or even less than the normal or crustal content (< 36.7 ppm). Immature gossans are enriched in Cu (160.3 ppm), Zn (826.7 ppm), and Pb (88.6 ppm). Jarosite- and goethite-bearing gossans may have developed over the pyritic shell of most Iranian porphyry copper deposits with pyrite–chalcopyrite ratios greater than 10 and therefore, do not necessarily indicate a promising sulfide-enriched ore (Kader and Ijo). Hematite-bearing gossans overlying nonreactive alteration halos with pyrite–chalcopyrite ratios about 1.5 and quartz stringers have significant supergene sulfide ores (Sarcheshmeh and Miduk). The copper grade in supergene sulfide zone of Sarcheshmeh copper deposit ranges from 0.78% in propylitized rocks to 3.4% in sericitized volcanic rocks, corresponding to the increasing chalcopyrite–pyrite or chalcocite–pyrite ratios from 0.3 to 3, respectively. Immature gossans with dominant malachite and chrysocolla associated with jarosite and goethite give the most weakly developed enrichment zone, as at God-e-Kolvari. The average anomalous values of Au (59.6 ppb), Mo (42.5 ppm) and Ag (2.6 ppm) in mature gossans associated with the Sarcheshmeh copper mine may be a criterion that provides a significant exploration target for regional metallogenic blind porphyry ore districts in central Iranian volcano–plutonic continental arc settings. Drilling for new porphyry ores should be targeted where hematitic gossans are well developed. The ongoing gossan formation may result in natural acidic rock drainage (ARD).     

Community forests and regeneration in post-industrial landscapes

Through a critique of existing regeneration literatures the paper points to the close relationship between regeneration and sustainable development. It suggests that the economic aspects of sustainable development have tended to dominate: leading to the neglect of nature in both regeneration and sustainable development, with regeneration having a principal focus on socio-economic issues in urban settings. To address these lacunae we suggest the need for a more environmentally sensitive regeneration theory. Using this approach the paper draws on recent in-depth research in three post-industrial coalfield areas where regeneration processes operate in the form of community forest projects. It provides a critical perspective on these regeneration processes, integrating theory with empirical data and highlighting how nature is drawn into broader economic and social processes of regeneration. In conclusion, using forestry initiatives as examples, we reflect on the conceptual dissonance apparent in regeneration theory and practice, and point to theoretical insights that could enable a more critical regeneration theory; more beneficial outcomes to regeneration processes; and an improved understanding of the relations between nature, capital and community in regeneration processes and sustainable development.     

Situating local experience of risk: Peripherality, marginality and place identity in the UK foot and mouth disease crisis

Research into exposure to, and experience of, environmental risk that has an explicitly spatial focus can be broadly differentiated into two strands. The first strand focuses on the responses of communities of exposure (or the threat of exposure) to some form of environmental hazard and to the policies put in place by institutional actors to manage the hazard. The second strand addresses social inequalities in exposure to environmental hazards and seeks to correlate uneven spatial distributions of risk across different social groups. It is argued that both strands are limited by their respective understandings of space - and that the way in which vulnerable communities experience environmental risk and its management will be shaped significantly by the complex interactions of different spatialisations or constructions of space. We explore this process by examining accounts of local experience of the UK’s 2001 foot and mouth disease crisis and its management in terms of the interplay of two different spatialisations: socio-cultural marginality and political-economic peripherality. We trace the relationship between these cultural and political-economic spatialisations through an analysis of the discursive mobilisation of contrasting place rhetorics. We conclude that focusing on these rhetorics can enhance our understanding of the spatial processes which are constitutive of place identity and in turn mediate the experience of environmental risk and its management.     

Environmental justice as subtext or omission: Examining discourses of anti-incineration campaigning in Ireland

The incineration of waste is a controversial issue marked by a history of opposition from community groups and environmentalists around the globe. Opponents, particularly in the USA, have frequently adopted a discourse of environmental justice to challenge the legitimacy of incineration. In line with these broad geographies of resistance recent proposals to introduce municipal solid waste incinerators in Ireland have sparked a series of opposition campaigns. However an examination of the discourses of resistance adopted by campaigners in one specific site of resistance, the Galway region on the west coast of Ireland, indicates that the vocabulary of environmental justice has not been publicly articulated. This paper investigates this absence of environmental justice in the language of opposition. The research reveals an interwoven set of contingent conditions that conspire to inhibit the adoption of environmental justice discourses in Ireland. However these conditions are not static and a combination of pressures, both within and beyond Ireland, are creating a dynamic context that could promote the emergence of environmental justice discourses in the future.     

Mechanism of the water invasion of Gaoyang Iron Mine,China and its impacts on the mine groundwater environment

With the development of mining of iron deposits in China, groundwater invasion and the impacts of groundwater drainage, such as regional groundwater table lowering, overlapping cones of depression, subsidence, and water quality deterioration are environmental problems which endanger mining production and human life. Effective prevention of water invasion or timely determination of the mechanism of water bursting and rational design of drainage plans are the most urgent mining challenges. The mechanism of water invasion and the environment impacts on the groundwater system of the Gaoyang Iron Mine, China were dealt with in this paper. A systematical investigation of the hydrogeological conditions and monitoring of groundwater dynamics of the mine were completed. Results show that the limestone of the middle Ordovician System constitutes the under floor of the iron deposit. This limestone is the main source of water invasion into the mine. Groundwater dynamic equilibrium conditions are broken due to mine drainage. Water invasion and drainage have caused a serious impact on the groundwater environment of the area.     

Development of a system of indicators for sustainable port management

The 1998 project ECOPORT, “Towards A Sustainable Transport Network”, developed by the Valencia Port Authority (VPA), established the bases for implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) in industrial harbours. The use of data and information shall always be required to develop an efficient EMS. The objective of the present research (INDAPORT) study is to propose a system of sustainable environmental management indicators to be used by any port authorities. All activities performed within a port area are analysed for any potential environmental impacts and risks.

An environmental analysis of port activities has been carried out with the objective of designing the indicators system. Twenty-one corresponding activities have been identified for large industrial ports. Subsequently, the same methodology developed to date will be later applied to other Spanish and European ports. The study has been developed by using an original system and a methodology, which simultaneously use stage diagrams and systemic models (material and energy flow charts). Multi-criteria analysis techniques were used to evaluate potential impacts (identification of factors and evaluation of impacts).     

Sources of bias in weighted average inferences of environmental conditions

Weighted averaging is widely used for inferring environmental conditions from an observed species assemblage. However, weighted average inferences are known to be systematically biased, and linear corrections (i.e., deshrinking functions) are commonly applied to adjust for this bias. In this analysis, the magnitude of the biases in weighted average inferences (and therefore the values of the deshrinking coefficients) are shown to depend upon the range of conditions sampled in the calibration data set and the true optima and niche breadths of the species observed in the calibration data set. Since the range of conditions and the observed species can differ between the calibration data set and the new data set for which environmental conditions are inferred, the coefficients for the deshrinking function derived using the calibration data may not be applicable to inferences computed using a new data set. Thus, environmental inferences may still exhibit systematic errors even after application of the linear correction. The findings from the theoretical analysis are demonstrated using stream temperature and macroinvertebrate data collected from wadeable streams in the western United States.     

黄旗海介形类及其壳体稳定同位素环境记录

利用黄旗海冬季坚固的冰封面作为稳固的司钻平台 ,在湖泊中央成功地获取了高质量的湖底连续沉积岩芯。对其中长 1 1m的HQH4岩芯中的介形类化石进行了属种古生态和壳体稳定同位素研究。结果显示 ,在 1 0 2 0 0aB .P .前后黄旗海进入了稳定的湖泊阶段。在此之前 ,介形类的丰度极低。介形类的最大丰度出现在 1 0 2 0 0 -680 0aB .P .,反映了早全新世期间黄旗海较高的生物生产率。在此期间 ,介壳的δ18O值的变化范围较大 ,反映了黄旗海水体氧同位素组成在全新世早期的变幅较大。从 680 0aB .P .起 ,介形类的丰度突然大幅度降低 ,介壳δ18O值随后降低 ,反映了中全新世黄旗海湖水变深 ,湖底还原性显著增强。从 3 2 0 0aB .P .起 ,湖泊水位显著下降 ,湖底氧化条件明显增强 ,介形类的丰度继续下降 ,直到大约 1 3 0 0aB .P .才出现回升     

Interannual signals in length of day and atmospheric angular momentum

Atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) and length of day (LOD) series are investigated for their characteristics on interannual time scales during the half-century period 1949 to 1998. During this epoch, the interannual variability in LOD can be separated naturally into three bands: a quasi-biennial, a triennial-quadrennial and one at six-seven years. The atmosphere appears to excite the first two bands, while it does not contribute to the last. Considering the quasi-biennial (QB) band alone, the atmosphere appears to excite most of its signal in LOD, but it arises from separate fluctuations with stratospheric and tropospheric origin. Thus, although close in frequency, stratospheric and tropospheric processes differ in their amplitude and phase variability. The time shift can be noted especially during the strong El Niño events of 1982/83 and 1997/98 when both processes have positive phase and thus combine to help produce particularly strong peak in AAM and LOD. In addition, we have reconfirmed the downward propagation in the stratosphere and upward propagation in the troposphere of AAM observed in earlier studies for other variables. In the triennial-quadrennial (TQ) band, time-variable spectral analyses reveal that LOD and AAM contain strong variability, with periods shorter than four years before 1975 and longer thereafter. This signal originates mainly within the troposphere and propagates upwards from the lower to the higher layers of the troposphere. According to a zonal analysis, an equatorial poleward mode, strongly linked to the SOI, explains more than 60% of the total variability at these ranges. In addition, this study also indicates that an equatorward mode, originating within polar latitudes, explains, on average, more than 15% of the triennial-quadrennial oscillation (TQO) variability in AAM, and up to 30% at certain epochs. Finally, a six year period in LOD noted in earlier studies, as well as in lengthier series covering much of the century, is found to be absent in atmospheric excitations, and it is thus likely to arise from mantle/core interactions.