Energy solution or future pollution? Applying an energy justice perspective to coal seam gas in New South Wales

ABSTRACT

The emergence of an unconventional extractive industry of coal seam gas (CSG) in New South Wales, Australia has caused a range of social tensions. Although the industry has generally received strong support from state-level governments across Australia, an eclectic social movement has arisen in opposition. Critical questions of justice have emerged in these debates about CSG, particularly about the ‘winners' and ‘losers' that would emerge should large-scale CSG extraction be introduced into New South Wales. However, the question of justice in relation to CSG extraction is not altogether so simple. Actors on all sides of CSG development have mobilised the language of justice in their claims about this energy source in sophisticated ways and at different scales. In this paper, we draw upon ‘energy justice’ scholarship to tease out different energy justice dimensions of the CSG debate in New South Wales. We show how there are significant issues that will likely intensify regarding the recognition of different forms of knowledge, the access citizens have to forms of decision-making, and the risks that span geographic and temporal scales. We argue that it is vital to appreciate the significant and interrelated injustices faced by those challenging the industry.     

Persistent effects of physical disturbance on meiobenthos in mangrove sediments

Disturbance is an important factor in structuring ecological communities, exerting its influence through changes to the physical environment and to the trajectories of successional processes. Marine environments are subject to a wide range of disturbances and while much is known about the effects of disturbance on macrobenthos in unconsolidated sediments, little is known about the responses of meiobenthos to disturbance in consolidated sediments, such as mangroves. Trampling was used to study the response of meiobenthos to disturbance in mangrove sediments. Even light trampling appeared to break up the mangrove root mat and increased the proportion of fine sediment. Densities of meiobenthos increased 2-3-fold in disturbed sediments, but there was no evidence of disproportionate abundance. Temporal variability was similar in all treatments, but spatial variability increased 4-5-fold in disturbed sediments. Effects persisted for at least 24 months, with little evidence of convergence of treatments. Meiobenthos may have exploited the increase in habitat resulting from loss of the root mat and possibly benefited from increased food from the decomposition of root material. These effects are likely to persist for several years because of the minimal recovery of the root mat.     

The ashgill rocks of the glyn ceiriog district. North wales

The Ashgill rocks of the Glyn Ceiriog district comprise a relatively thick sequence of mudstones and siltstones with subordinate sandstones and locally developed limestone members. Closely related deposits are found in the inliers of Cym-y-brain and Mynydd Cricor to the north. Correlation with other areas of Ashgill rocks suggests that the Dolhir Formation, of the Glyn Ceiriog district, can be dated as mid-Cautlcyan to Rawtheyan while the overlying Glyn Formation is high Rawtheyan to Himantian. In the inliers to the north, that part of the Cyrn-y-brain Formation which is exposed is dated as Rawtheyan and both the Plas Uchaf Formation (Cym-y-brain) and Cricor Formation (Mynydd Cricor) are taken to be Hirnantian. The succession is interpreted as a transgressive-regressive sequence in which shallow shelf mud-stones and siltstones with storm-sand and coquinid layers are overlain by shallow water shoreline deposits. Although the base of the Ashgill is not exposed in the inliers to the north, in the Glyn Ceiriog district it is seen to rest unconformably on older Ordovician strata; in all three areas the Ashgill is apparently conformably overlain by Lower Llandovery shales and sandstones.     

Assessing the suitability of OSPAR EcoQOs for eutrophication vs ICES criteria for England and Wales

This paper provides a preliminary evaluation of the suitability of OSPAR Ecological Quality objectives for eutrophication for coastal and offshore waters of England and Wales on the basis of ICES criteria. In principle, EcoQOs are easy to understand, but responses to nutrient enrichment are complex. Few studies provide unequivocal evidence of links between inputs and response. Monitoring is generally feasible and in place, but needs to be improved. The best EcoQO is winter nutrient concentrations. Chlorophyll concentrations are a good indicator in environments susceptible to nutrient enrichment. The EcoQO for zoobenthos/fish kills potentially meets all criteria for a good indicator; EcoQOs for phytoplankton indicator species, oxygen concentrations and zoobenthos changes do not. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on seasonal effects of nutrient inputs and phytoplankton response, natural susceptibility of different water bodies, differences between coastal and offshore environments, and developing longer time series of data.     

Evidence for microbial activity in British and Irish Ordovician pillow lavas

Pyrite is consistently found in modern seafloor vesicular basalts and has a sulphur isotopic composition consistent with microbial activity. We present S isotope data from pyrite in Ordovician pillow lavas at localities across the British Isles, which yield a range of δ³⁴S compositions consistent with two components of sulphur: groundmass pyrite (~0 ± 4‰) and ³²S‐enriched pyrite in the vesicles (−8‰ to −27‰). The latter are recorded from vesicular lavas in four different terranes, representing different settings at the margins of the Iapetus Ocean. Whereas a component of magmatic sulphate is recognized in the groundmass values, the isotopically light data in the vesicles are consistent with microbial reduction of seawater sulphate in sub‐seafloor lavas. This is consistent with modern examples and indicates considerable longevity for this sub‐seafloor microbial habitat. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Origin of Carboniferous sandstones fringing the northern margin of the Wales‐Brabant Massif: insights from detrital zircon ages

A study of detrital zircon age populations in Namurian–Westphalian (Carboniferous) sandstones in the southern Central Pennine Basin of the UK has revealed considerable complexity in their provenance history. The Pendleian–Marsdenian Morridge Formation, which is known to have been derived from the Wales‐Brabant Massif to the south on the basis of palaeocurrent and petrographic information, is dominated by zircons ultimately derived from the Caledonian belt to the north. These zircons were recycled from sandstones of northern origin that had been previously deposited over the massif during Middle to Late Devonian times. The Morridge Formation also includes Late Neoproterozoic zircons of local Wales‐Brabant Massif origin. The south lobe of the Yeadonian Rough Rock has been previously interpreted as having a complex provenance including sediment of northern origin interbedded with sediment ascribed to a Wales‐Brabant Massif source. However, the zircon spectrum lacks a Late Neoproterozoic component that would have been diagnostic of input from the Wales‐Brabant Massif, and the provenance history of the Rough Rock south lobe therefore remains enigmatic. The Langsettian Ludgbridge Conglomerate is dominated by Late Neoproterozoic zircons of Wales‐Brabant Massif origin, but even in this evidently proximal deposit, the provenance is complex since the main zircon group (ca. 640 Ma) cannot be matched with known local Neoproterozoic basement sources. The data either indicate the presence of hitherto‐unknown magmatic rocks of this age adjacent to the South Staffordshire coalfield or indicate that the zircons were recycled from sediment with a more distal origin. Finally, the Duckmantian Top Hard Rock contains zircons that can be reconciled with a source in the Irish Caledonides, consistent with the palaeocurrent evidence, supplemented by zircons derived from the Wales‐Brabant Massif, possibly including the Monian Composite Terrane of Anglesey. The study reinforces the important message that failure to recognize the presence of recycled zircon could lead to erroneous reconstructions of sediment provenance and transport history. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The identity of the British Ordovician cystoid ‘Hemicosmites rugatus Forbes‘

New articulated specimens of the British Ordovician cystoid first mentioned under the name ‘Hemicosmites rugatus Forbes’ in 1848 allow its morphology and systematic affinities to be established for the first time. Despite being based on isolated plates, ‘H. rugatus Forbes’ has been reported from England and Wales, Belgium, France, Spain and Thailand, and has been attributed to four genera. It is characterized by a heteromorphic, circular stem, a theca with four basal, six infra‐lateral and eight lateral plates, all with sharp‐crested ridges running to plate angles, multiple arms in each ambulacrum and an extensive tegmen. These characters indicate it belongs in the family Caryocrinitidae and genus Caryocrinites. Caryocrinites rugatus had arms with lateral brachioles that folded in against the main arm axis, as in the type species C. ornatus Say. It is the first Ordovician species known to possess this character. Isolated plates show sorting and a few may represent other species of Caryocrinites s.l. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palynology of organic beds below Devensian glacigenic sediments at Pen-y-bryn,Gwynedd, North Wales

Pollen diagrams from organic facies overlain by glacigenic sediments at Pen-y-bryn, North Wales (53°7′N, 4°16′W), suggest that it is the first locality in the British Isles to provide evidence for several Devensian interstadials prior to Devensian stadial glaciation(s). The evidence is not, however, unequivocal. At least two main episodes of organic sedimentation are indicated, separated by an interval of uncertain duration. One eposide records a Pinus-Picea-Betula forest. A second, possibly later, event, with tree pollen less than 10% of total land pollen (TLP), suggests a cool, largely unforested environment. A third episode, with tree pollen up to 25% of TLP, may be related to the latter or be of intermediate age, whereas a fourth and later episode of organic accumulation may be of reworked material. Radiocarbon dating of organic deposits and of a wood macrofossil enclosed in basal till is inconclusive, as is preliminary uranium-series dating. The principal biogenic episodes may correlate with Oxygen Isotope Substages 5c and 5a, but as the pollen records reflect facies floras, the correlation remains tentative; it is also possible that other temperate periods are recorded. Further resolution of the chronostratigraphy is required to help clarify the problematic correlation of interstadial and stadial events in northwest Europe and to correlate more accurately the biogenic and glacigenic facies at Pen-y-bryn with their Pleistocene equivalents elsewhere.     

Comparative assessment of three approaches for deriving stream power plots along long profiles in the upper Hunter River catchment, New South Wales, Australia

The downstream distribution of stream power is derived and analysed for 11 different streams in the upper Hunter River catchment, Australia. Stream long profiles were produced in a GIS environment using DEM data and catchment area–discharge analysis. These profiles were analysed using three approaches, namely long profile smoothing, curve fitting and a theoretical model. The methodology for deriving stream power profiles using these three approaches is discussed. The long profile smoothing method provides a good approximation of the subcatchment variability in stream power trends. The curve fitting method shows that higher-order exponential curves provide a better fit for long profile data. For the streams of the upper Hunter River catchment, second-order exponential curves fit well with significantly less error. The curve fitting method predicts a bimodal (upstream and midstream) distribution of stream power, which is a deviation from our earlier understanding of a single midstream peak. The theoretical approach provides a mathematical expression of the observed bimodal stream power distribution. The bimodal distribution emphasises the erosion potential of headwater reaches. The resultant stream power distribution provides a catchment-scale characterisation of the distribution of available energy in any given system. Using these approaches, the variability of stream power in headwater reaches is explained by discharge variability, while variability in midstream and downstream reaches is related to high variability in channel gradient.     

Late Ordovician island‐arc volcanic rocks,northern Capertee Zone,Lachlan Fold Belt,New South Wales

The Cape Hoskins volcanoes form part of the Quaternary volcanic island arc that extends from Rabaul in the east to the Schouten Islands in the west, and they overlie the northerly dipping New Britain Benioff Zone. The products of the volcanoes range in composition from basalt to rhyolite, and are normative in quartz and hypersthene. They contain phenocrysts of plagioclase and subordinate augite, hypersthene, and in most samples iron‐titanium oxides; some samples also contain olivine or quartz or both, and some pumice contains hornblende and, rarely, biotite.

Chemical analyses of 29 volcanic rocks are presented; 22 were also analysed for 17 minor elements — Rb, Ba, Sr, Pb, Zn, Cu, Zr, Y, Ni, Co, Sc, Cr, V, Ga, B, U, and Th.

Chemically the rocks have many of the characteristics of the ‘island arc tholeiitic series’, but do not show a pronounced relative enrichment in iron and appear to be relatively enriched in Sr. Compared with volcanic rocks from the northern part of the Willaumez Peninsula, they are lower in K (but not Na), Ti, Rb, Ba, Zr, Pb, Th, Ni, and probably also V, Cu, and Zn: these differences are attributed to the greater depth of the Benioff Zone beneath the Willaumez Peninsula. The more basic of the Cape Hoskins rocks are similar in most respects to lavas of comparable composition from Ulawun volcano to the east.