Interlocking directorships and trans-national linkages within the British Empire, 1900–1930

Recent research has highlighted the value of employing the idea of networks to describe the interrelatedness of today's globalizing economy. Networks facilitate flows of knowledge, ideas, managerial techniques and capital between firms both within and across political borders. This paper argues that the reconstruction of social connections through which information is created, given value and exchanged is fundamental to an understanding of not only contemporary but also historical patterns of economic globalization. We focus on the networks of the capitalist elite running 12 major multinational enterprises, active across British imperial territories, between c .1900 and c .1930. An examination is made of the economic and spatial interlocks between firms created by board members who were multiple directors. Social underpinnings of multiple directorates are examined by exploring the common, overlapping social spheres within which individuals engaged. A clearer grasp of the ways in which corporate activity operated in the early 1900s can provide a better understanding of the social context of global economic operations.     

Ice-core pollen record of climatic changes in the central Andes during the last 400 yr

This paper presents a high-resolution ice-core pollen record from the Sajama Ice Cap, Bolivia, that spans the last 400 yr. The pollen record corroborates the oxygen isotopic and ice accumulation records from the Quelccaya Ice Cap and supports the scenario that the Little Ice Age (LIA) consisted of two distinct phases—a wet period from AD 1500 to 1700, and a dry period from AD 1700 to 1880. During the dry period xerophytic shrubs expanded to replace puna grasses on the Altiplano, as suggested by a dramatic drop in the Poaceae/Asteraceae (P/A) pollen ratio. The environment around Sajama was probably similar to the desert-like shrublands of the Southern Bolivian Highlands and western Andean slopes today. The striking similarity between the Sajama and Quelccaya proxy records suggests that climatic changes during the Little Ice Age occurred synchronously across the Altiplano.     

Late Holocene environmental conditions in Coronation Gulf,southwestern Canadian Arctic Archipelago: evidence from dinoflagellate cysts,other non‐pollen palynomorphs,and pollen

Boxcore 99LSSL‐001 (68.095° N, 114.186° W; 211 m water depth) from Coronation Gulf represents the first decadal‐scale marine palynology and late Holocene sediment record for the southwestern part of the Northwest Passage. The record was studied for organic‐walled microfossils (dinoflagellate cysts, non‐pollen palynomorphs), pollen, terrestrial spores, and sediment characteristics. ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, and three accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dates constrain the chronology. Three prominent palaeoenvironmental zones were identified. During the interval AD 1470–1680 (Zone I), the climate was warmer and wetter than at present, and environmental conditions were more favourable to biological activity and northward boreal forest migration, with reduced sea‐ice and a longer open‐water (growing) season. The interval AD 1680–1940 (Zone II) records sea‐ice increase, and generally cool, polar conditions during the Little Ice Age. During AD 1940–2000 (Zone III), organic microfossils indicate an extended open‐water season and decreased sea‐ice, with suggested amelioration surpassing that of Zone I. Although more marine studies are needed to place this record into an appropriate context, the succession from ameliorated (Zone I) to cooler, sea‐ice influenced conditions (Zone II) and finally to 20th‐century warming (Zone III) corresponds well with several terrestrial climatic records from the neighbouring mainland and Victoria Island, and with lower‐resolution marine records to the west. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Change Analysis of Three Major Antarctic Ice Shelves Based on Multi-source Remote Sensing Data

In recent years, melting and calving happen in the Antarctic ice shelves. In this paper, seven periods of coastlines were applied to provide an analysis of the ice front changes of Ross, Filchner-Ronne and Amery ice shelves with the inclusion of 1997 and 2000 Radarsat products, 2003/2004 and 2008/2009 MODIS products and 2006, 2012, 2015 coastline which were extracted from MODIS images. Change area, SCE (Shoreline Change Envelope) and NSM (Net Shoreline Movement) were applied to analyze the variation of the ice shelf front. The results shows that, the ice front of Amery ice shelf has advanced since 1997 and the total outward extension distance of the ice front was about 20 to 25 km while the advance area reached 3.03×10³ km². Ross ice shelf and Filchner-Ronne ice shelf continued to advance after ice calving events under the driver action of glacier. However, the advance area was less than the retreat area and the net change area is respectively -9.39×10³ km² and -5.86×10³ km². The retreat distance of the collapse area were up to 53 km and 39 km in the two biggest ice shelves.     

小冰期时中国南方地区降水模式的差异研究

小冰期是过去一千年中全球气候变化的重要事件之一。关于小冰期时中国季风区和西风影响区气候变化的对比研究众多,但是缺乏中国南方地区降水模式时空差异的研究,难以了解中国南方地区降水变化规律。为了系统地了解小冰期时中国南方地区降水的复杂性,本文将中国南方地区划分为东南—华南沿海地区、中部地区以及西南地区三个区域,总共选取了19条高分辨率的古气候记录进行对比研究,主要有以下几点认识:(1)相对于中世纪暖期而言,小冰期期间中国南方东南—华南沿海地区的气候偏湿,这可能与雨带在中国南方的滞留时间延长和沿海地区受台风的影响增强有关。(2)中国中部地区秦岭南麓和神农架高山林区在小冰期时期主要呈"冷湿"的模式,差异在于秦岭南麓区域主要在小冰期中后期偏湿,这与中部其他区域偏"冷干"的模式不同。这种区域差异可能是由于地形地势和大气环流的复杂性导致。(3)中国西南地区受印度夏季风和东亚夏季风的共同影响,且该区域地形复杂,其气候变化在小冰期时期存在更加明显的空间差异,没有呈现出比较一致的降水模式。与小冰期期间的降水变化不同的是,近30年东南—华南沿海地区除了台湾和雷州半岛,其他区域降水明显减少,可能受气温和人类活动等因素的影响。通过结合高分辨率的古气候记录,我们系统分析了中国南方小冰期的干湿模式在时空上的差异及其可能的影响因子,这对于认识小冰期时中国南方不同区域降水的复杂性及未来旱涝灾害的防控具有一定意义。     

The evolution of the terrestrial-terminating Irish Sea glacier during the last glaciation

Here we reconstruct the last advance to maximum limits and retreat of the Irish Sea Glacier (ISG), the only land-terminating ice lobe of the western British Irish Ice Sheet. A series of reverse bedrock slopes rendered proglacial lakes endemic, forming time-transgressive moraine- and bedrock-dammed basins that evolved with ice marginal retreat. Combining, for the first time on glacial sediments, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) bleaching profiles for cobbles with single grain and small aliquot OSL measurements on sands, has produced a coherent chronology from these heterogeneously bleached samples. This chronology constrains what is globally an early build-up of ice during late Marine Isotope Stage 3 and Greenland Stadial (GS) 5, with ice margins reaching south Lancashire by 30 ± 1.2 ka, followed by a 120-km advance at 28.3 ± 1.4 ka reaching its 26.5 ± 1.1 ka maximum extent during GS-3. Early retreat during GS-3 reflects piracy of ice sources shared with the Irish-Sea Ice Stream (ISIS), starving the ISG. With ISG retreat, an opportunistic readvance of Welsh ice during GS-2 rode over the ISG moraines occupying the space vacated, with ice margins oscillating within a substantial glacial over-deepening. Our geomorphological chronosequence shows a glacial system forced by climate but mediated by piracy of ice sources shared with the ISIS, changing flow regimes and fronting environments.     

Unveiling buried aeolian landscapes: reconstructing a late Holocene dune environment using 3D ground-penetrating radar

Across the UK, sandy beaches and dunes protect coastal infrastructure from waves and extreme water levels during large-scale storms, while providing important habitats and recreational opportunities. Understanding their long-term evolution is vital in managing their condition in a changing climate. Recently, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) methods have grown in popularity in geomorphological applications, yielding centimetre-scale resolution images of near-surface stratigraphy and structure, thus allowing landscape evolution to be reconstructed. Additionally, abrupt changes in palaeo-environments can be visualized in three dimensions. Although often complemented by core data, GPR allows interpretations to be extended into areas with minimal ground-truth control. Nonetheless, GPR data interpretation can be non-intuitive and ambiguous, and radargrams may not initially resemble the expected subsurface geometry. Interpretation can be made yet more onerous when handling the large 3D data volumes that are facilitated with modern GPR technology. Here we describe the development of novel semi-automated GPR feature-extraction tools, based on ‘edge detection’ and ‘thresholding’ methods, which detect regions of increased GPR reflectivity which can be applied to aid in the reconstruction of a range Quaternary landscapes. Since reflectivity can be related to lithological and/or pore fluid changes, the 3D architecture of the palaeo-landscape can be reconstructed from the features extracted from a geophysical dataset. We present 500 MHz GPR data collected over a buried Holocene coastal dune system in North Wales, UK, now reclaimed for use as an airfield. Core data from the site, reaching a maximum depth 2 m, suggest rapid vertical changes from sand to silty-organic units, and GPR profiles suggest similar lateral complexity. By applying thresholding methods to GPR depth slices, these lateral complexities are effectively and automatically mapped. Furthermore, automatic extraction of the local reflection power yields a strong correlation with the depth variation of organic content, suggesting it is a cause of reflectivity contrast. GPR-interpolated analyses away from core control thus offer a powerful proxy for parameters derived from invasive core logging. The GPR data collected at Llanbedr airfield highlight a complex dune system to a depth of 2.8 m, probably deposited in several phases over ~700 years, similar to elsewhere in North Wales.     

地球科学大数据的管理与共享：以英国地质调查局为例

大数据驱动的研究范式正在引起地学领域的革命,而海量大数据的有效管理和共享是数据高效利用的前提。英国地质调查局作为最早成立的国家地质调查局,拥有海量的地学数据资源,通过近年来对数字化工作的全面推进,在数据的开放共享方面走在了世界各国的最前沿。文章对英国地质调查局的数据资源管理和数据共享方式进行了分析调研,详细介绍了他们的一站式管理平台——开放地学的主体组成,以及他们与同行合作建设的数据库。开放地学全面汇总了地调局内的数据资源,并通过一系列数据共享将所有数据集有机链接,通过数据和模型的巧妙结合,在满足用户数据需求的同时,对数据的应用进行了全方位的拓展,是地球系统科学研究框架下地球科学数字化工作的良好典范。