Dilemmas of development in Oceania: the political economy of the Tongan agro-export sector

This article critically engages with the recent diffusion of the orthodox development model in Oceania and highlights some evolving dilemmas. In particular, it explores the social, economic and ecological tensions arising from economic reforms that are exacerbating the fragility of already vulnerable nation-states and communities. In order to illustrate its arguments, a case study of the impacts of agro-export growth in Tonga is presented. Attention is drawn to the socially inequitable and ecologically unsustainable outcomes of rapid growth in this sector. In analyzing the political economy of the squash pumpkin sector, the authors point to the important role that culture plays in mediating and conditioning development outcomes. Reflecting on the Tongan case, it is argued that to better understand the implications of orthodox developmental reform in the region, research must seek to more explicitly incorporate distributional and ethical analysis.     

Geochemistry of environmentally sensitive trace elements in Permian coals from the Huainan coalfield, Anhui, China

To study the geochemical characteristics of 11 environmentally sensitive trace elements in the coals of the Permian Period from the Huainan coalfield, Anhui province, China, borehole samples of 336 coals, two partings, and four roof and floor mudstones were collected from mineable coal seams. Major elements and selected trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HAAS). The depositional environment, abundances, distribution, and modes of occurrence of trace elements were investigated. Results show that clay and carbonate minerals are the principal inorganic constituents in the coals. A lower deltaic plain, where fluvial channel systems developed successively, was the likely depositional environment of the Permian coals in the Huainan coalfield. All major elements have wider variation ranges than those of Chinese coals except for Mg and Fe. The contents of Cr, Co, Ni, and Se are higher than their averages for Chinese coals and world coals. Vertical variations of trace elements in different formations are not significant except for B and Ba. Certain roof and partings are distinctly higher in trace elements than underlying coal bench samples. The modes of occurrence of trace elements vary in different coal seams as a result of different coal-forming environments. Vanadium, Cr, and Th are associated with aluminosilicate minerals, Ba with carbonate minerals, and Cu, Zn, As, Se, and Pb mainly with sulfide minerals.     

海洋环境观测技术研究进展

回顾了近年来海洋观测技术发展的基本情况和主要成果,同时指出了海洋观测技术的局限性,与数值模拟技术相结合的必要性,以及加强发展海啸、风暴潮和孤立内波等灾害性强海洋动力过程的监测技术和预警研究的迫切性。     

The properties of convective storms in central Mexico: A radar and lightning approach

Radar data from Cerro Catedral (a peak close to Mexico City) were used to investigate the properties of convective storms over central Mexico, a region with complex orography. The spatial distribution shows a preference for storms to form and move to the west of radar, over a narrow band of high terrain. However, the storms with the higher volumes and echo-top heights tend to be located southwestward over lower terrain. Each radar feature was matched with the number of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning produced inside it, as retrieved from the World Wide Lightning Location Network dataset. The storms in which lightning was detected, with an average of more than six lightning bolts, clearly outperform in size and intensity the group of storms in which lightning was not detected, and tend to lie over lower terrain. The sample of over 98 000 identified cells was divided into four elevation groups to look for elevation trends in the mean properties, as reported for other Mexican regions. While the number of storms per unit area increases with terrain height, the average values for properties related to both size (area, volume, echo-top height) and intensity (maximum reflectivity, number of CG bolts, height of maximum reflectivity, maximum height of 30 dBZ echo) decrease. These results could be related to the possible shallower warm-cloud depths over the higher elevations. The diurnal cycles of convection and lightning north of the radar show a nearly typical continental regime of precipitation in that zone, with maxima at 18:00 LT in both variables. However, south of the radar, a maximum in lightning activity occurs during late night and early morning, which is linked with the deeper nocturnal convection over the lower terrain in that zone.     

Some observations of bipolar flashes during summer thunderstorms near Warsaw

Lightning discharges monitored by the SAFIR network system in Poland have been additionally identified over the 100×100 km area near Warsaw by single-point independent recordings of electric field and Maxwell current rapid changes. The data collected in summer thunderstorm days of 2002 showed some untypical properties of the lightning discharges which are rarely observed. Especially remarkable was a number of ground multi-stroke flashes with the return strokes (RS) which transported to the earth charges of opposite signs. Bipolar flashes (BF) of this kind were mostly involved in the events in which the nearby intracloud (ic) and cloud-to-ground (c-g) discharges were very closely associated in time. Events of such a close collocation of two different types of lightning discharges, previously called the complex lightning discharge events (CLDE), were quite often observed during summer thunderstorms in Poland. The events of this kind, i.e. 8 flashes, identified by the SAFIR detection system as BF’s present the multiple stroke flashes of the mean horizontal separation distance between striking points of particular RS equal to (2.8 ± 2.1) km and of the mean time interval between strokes of (46.8 ± 74.4) ms. The time separation between the observed BF and the adjacent ic flashes was from 0.1 to 335 ms, and horizontal separation distance between them ranged from 1.8 to 14.5 km. The multiplicity of the recorded BF’s ranged from 2 to 4 strokes. Four of these BF’s followed the ic discharge, but the other three preceded the ic and one was alone with no close ic.     

对应分析方法在粤西水东湾动力沉积环境分析的应用

本文以粤西水东湾表层沉积物样品的粒度分布为基本数据,使用对应分析方法并结合地形与波流特征,分析了海湾动力沉积环境。分析结果表明,海湾现代沉积环境可划分为4个动力沉积区。     

我国湖泊环境演变及其成因机制研究现状

湖泊沉积忠实地记录了湖泊环境变化的各类信息.不同时问尺度的湖泊环境变化分别受到构造、气候与人类活动三个方面的驱动机制的影响.影响中同湖泊环境变化的最主要的构造运动是青藏高原的隆升;气候变化的影响主要是东亚季风系统带来的一系列作用;而人类活动的影响则比较复杂,不仅有流域植被、土壤性质的改变导致输入湖泊物质的变化,也有人类活动直接改造湖泊,如围垦、封堵等.准确地分析湖泊环境变化的各种过程与规律,特别是定量刻画人与自然相互作用下的湖泊环境响应过程与驱动机理,是当今科学界的热点.     

雷电定位系统与人工观测雷暴日数统计比较

为了利用雷电定位系统 (lightning location system,LLS) 资料统计人工观测雷暴日数,采用湖北省2007—2012年LLS监测资料,选取25个气象站为圆心,统计其不同监测半径 (r) 圆区域内LLS监测的雷电日数,并与人工观测雷暴日数进行比较。结果表明:r≤7 km时,LLS监测平均年雷电日数小于人工观测平均年雷暴日数;r≥8 km时, LLS监测平均年雷电日数大于人工观测平均年雷暴日数;r=22 km圆区域内年平均雷电日数可替代最大年雷暴日数。根据r=7 km,r=8 km圆区域内LLS监测的年雷电日数、年平均地闪密度资料,分别采用直接替代法、地闪密度法和该文提出的二元法计算年雷暴日数,结果显示:二元法效果最好。二元法计算的2007—2012年25个站平均年雷暴日数与人工观测相等,平均差异为7.4%;二元法计算的2013年年雷暴日数与人工观测相差0.8 d,平均差异为12.3%。