Research Ethics,Trauma and Self-care: reflections on disaster geographies

In this Research Note, I reflect on researcher trauma in the discipline of geography, and explore ways to build a framework for researcher self-care by facilitating conversations about mental health in collaboration with Human Research Ethics Committees, Professional and Organisational Development Services and Workplace Health and Safety units.     

Mixed methods participatory GIS: An evaluation of the validity of qualitative and quantitative mapping methods

Participatory mapping in social research is characterized by methodological pluralism, with two common methods being qualitative mapping using stakeholder interviews and quantitative methods that engage larger public samples through digital, internet mapping. To date, there has been no systematic evaluation of the extent to which mixed methods in participatory mapping yield valid results when applied to the same research setting and research questions. A mixed methods research design (combined exploratory sequential and convergent parallel) was implemented in a large research project to identify marine and coastal values in the Kimberley region of Australia. Qualitative interviews (n = 167) were completed with stakeholders to identify place-based values using polygon mapping methods and internet-based public participation GIS (PPGIS) methods (n = 578). We defined and operationalized the concepts of concurrent, commensurate, and convergent validity to assess mixed methods research outcomes. We found that qualitative and quantitative methods resulted in moderate to high concurrent validity when assessing the importance of place values in the study area. Convergent validity (spatial) was highly variable by place value, with stronger convergent validity found with mapped aesthetic, recreational fishing, tourism, biodiversity, and Aboriginal culture values, and weakest with existence, therapeutic, and commercial fishing values. Convergent validity was influenced by weak commensurate validity through the use of different geometric features (polygons versus points) for mapping values across a large study area. The utility of mixed methods for planning decision support in a convergent parallel design depends on demonstrating convergence in construct meaning, spatial location, and consistency in values in the sampling populations.     

An Upper Cretaceous paleo-aquifer system in the Eromanga Basin of the central Gawler Craton,South Australia: evidence from apatite fission track thermochronology

An apatite fission track (AFT) study of crystalline basement in the central Gawler Craton reveals apparent ages in the range of ca 430–58 Ma. The majority of samples underwent protracted monotonic cooling related to regional Paleozoic exhumation, consistent with long-term crustal stability as expected for cratonic interiors. However, multiple samples show evidence of Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene reheating, indicating a more dynamic low-temperature history. Inverse time–temperature modelling of AFT data indicates varying degrees of thermal overprinting between ～60 and 110°C, with substantially overprinted and negligibly overprinted samples in close proximity (<1 km). Time–temperature histories for samples that experienced thermal overprinting reveal localised Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene (ca 100–50 Ma) heating that is significantly younger than the Paleozoic–early Mesozoic exhumation recorded regionally. The highly localised nature and non-systematic patterns of overprinting combined with the lack of major Mesozoic or Cenozoic fault structures are not consistent with a regional thermal event associated with substantial reburial and later exhumation. Rather, localised reheating was most likely caused by heated groundwater from the once-overlying Mesozoic Eromanga Basin aquifer system, whose modern discharge margin (～400 km north of the study area) is marked by thermal mound springs that produce fluids with temperatures up to 100°C. Only basement rocks in close proximity to fluid pathways in the overlying aquifer would have recorded reheating, resulting in the observed sporadic distribution of partially overprinted samples. Thermal history modelling indicates rejuvenated apatite grains cooled to near-surface temperatures in the latest Cretaceous–Paleogene. This was likely in response to local removal of the overlying Eromanga Basin aquifer unit due to a relatively minor degree of exhumation (≤1 km) recorded regionally, which consequently disrupted the anomalous heating mechanism. These results show that the flow of heated groundwater is a feasible reheating mechanism for low-temperature thermochronometers, resulting in cooling patterns that may become decoupled from exhumation in cratonic interiors.     

The mined-out phosphate lands of Nauru,equatorial western Pacific

Nauru once possessed the world's purest deposits of rock phosphate, the precursor of the agricultural fertiliser, superphosphate. This resource was almost entirely depleted during the 20th century, mainly destined for Australia and New Zealand, where it played a critical role in the economic, social and demographic development of these nations and their biological transformation to outposts of temperate Northern Hemisphere flora.

By the early 1990s, the primary phosphate that had once blanketed the island had been almost completely removed, exposing a dramatic buried landscape of karst pinnacles and transforming Nauru into the world's most environmentally altered nation. Investigations into the rehabilitation of the mined-out area began in 1953, but all rejected the idea of restoration on the grounds of expense. In 1993, Nauru won an out-of-court settlement of A$135 million from Australia for restitution of the phosphate lands. No rehabilitation has yet taken place, however, and the project is unlikely to succeed. The soil stockpiled for the project is inadequate in quantity, in fertility, in elemental composition, in water retention capacity, and contains toxic levels of cadmium. Rainfall is too unreliable to support regular cultivation and the Nauruans possess no tradition of agriculture.

One alternative to rehabilitation is to exploit the terrain that has been exhumed from beneath the phosphate overburden. This closely resembles the Nauruan landscape of a quarter of a million years ago, before humans arrived and before phosphate buried the land. Such spitzkarren landscapes elsewhere in the tropics are venerated as landscape wonders and revered as scientific marvels. They are protected by World Heritage status and receive millions of visitors a year. The end of mining in Nauru is meanwhile leading to the re-establishment of an ecologically valuable and visually striking indigenous vegetation. This spectacular new landscape should be preserved, not destroyed, and exploited as a global travel destination.     

A new 40Ar/39Ar eruption age for the Mount Widderin volcano,Newer Volcanic Province,Australia, with implications for eruption frequency in the region

The Mount Widderin shield volcano is located near Skipton, western Victoria, in the Western Plains subprovince of the monogenetic Pliocene–Holocene Newer Volcanic Province (NVP). Radiometric ages for lavas in the Hamilton–Skipton–Derrinallum area are few, owing to limited suitable outcrop for K–Ar or ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology studies. Existing age constraints for flows in this area have been inferred from Regolith Landform Units (RLUs), complemented by a small number of K–Ar studies on ≥1 Ma flows. Although the RLU approach provides a valuable overview of relative eruption ages across the NVP, it is of limited use in eruption frequency studies. Additional radio-isotopic ages are required to refine age ranges for individual RLUs, and to validate previous assignment of individual flows to specific RLUs. We report a new, high-precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 389 ± 8 ka (2σ) for a Mount Widderin basalt sample. Based on this age and geomorphic observations, we propose that both the Widderin and Elephant lava flows be reassigned from the Eccles RLU to the Rouse RLU. We use the 389 ± 8 ka (2σ) age for Widderin, along with published K–Ar ages, to anchor a stratigraphic sequence of 15 individual flows in the Hamilton–Skipton–Derrinallum area, demonstrating that intermittent volcanism has occurred in this area from ≥3 Ma to ≤0.389 Ma. Within the limits of available data for the NVP, this time span of volcanic activity is second only to that of the Melbourne area. We consider the significance of the Widderin eruption age, in conjunction with published age constraints for maars and scoria cones of the Western Plains subprovince, building on previous studies that have focused solely on lava flow ages. The inclusion of the additional data weakens the argument for a decrease in volcanic activity after ca 0.9 Ma as implied by published ages for lava flows only. Additional detailed combined geochronology–geomorphology studies of lavas, scoria cones and maars in strategically selected small areas are advocated to better understand eruption frequency across the NVP.     

SEDEX型矿床中电气石岩的地质特征及找矿意义

电气石岩是一种富硼的硅质喷气岩,主要产于以沉积岩为容矿岩石的喷气矿床中及附近。研究广泛认为其与喷流-沉积型块状硫化物矿床(SEDEX矿床)有着密切的关系,并被视为该类矿床找矿勘探的标志岩性之一。综述了电气石岩的产出环境、形态、岩石学、地球化学等地质特征,分析了电气石岩的沉积环境及成因。以澳大利亚布罗肯希尔地区电气石岩与矿化的关系为例,对其地质找矿意义进行了总结与展望。     

The tectonics and mineral systems of Proterozoic Western Australia:Relationships with supercontinents and global secular change

The cratonisation of Western Australia during the Proterozoic overlapped with several key events in the evolution of Earth. These include global oxidation events and glaciations, as well as the assembly,accretionary growth, and breakup of the supercontinents Columbia and Rodinia, culminating in the assembly of Gondwana. Globally, Proterozoic mineral systems evolved in response to the coupled evolution of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. Consequently, mineral deposits form preferentially in certain times, but they also require a favourable tectonic setting. For Western Australia a distinct plate-margin mineralisation trend is associated with Columbia, whereas an intraplate mineralisation trend is associated with Rodinia and Gondwana, each with associated deposit types. We compare the current Proterozoic record of ore deposits in Western Australia to the estimated likelihood of oredeposit formation. Overall likelihood is estimated with a simple matrix-based approach that considers two components: The "global secular likelihood" and the "tectonic setting likelihood". This comparative study shows that at least for the studied ore-deposit types, deposits within Western Australia developed at times, and in tectonic settings compatible with global databases. Nevertheless, several deposit types are either absent or poorly-represented relative to the overall likelihood models. Insufficient exploration may partly explain this, but a genuine lack of deposits is also suggested for some deposit types. This may relate either to systemic inadequacies that inhibited ore-deposit formation, or to poor preservation. The systematic understanding on the record of Western Australia helps to understand mineralisation processes within Western Australia and its past connections in Columbia, Rodinia and Gondwana and aids to identify regions of high exploration potential.     

Tectonic Relationship between the Late Ordovician and Late Silurian palaeogeographies of southeastern Australia

The Ordovician palaeogeography of southeastern Australia was an east‐facing mafic volcanic island arc separated from the Gondwanan continent by a marginal sea, probably floored by oceanic crust. By mid‐Silurian the palaeogeography had changed to an almost wholly ensialic configuration, with meridional horsts and grabens east of the Wagga Metamorphic Belt and widespread silicic magmatism. By extending a previously postulated match between the modern Andaman Basin and parts of southeastern Australia in the Late Ordovician, the transition from the Late Ordovician to Late Silurian palaeogeography can be explained. The entire Ordovician and Silurian interval can be understood in terms of a relatively simple and constant plate geometry involving southeastern Australia in regional dextral shear.     

Late Holocene temperature record from southwestern Australia: evidence of global warming from deep boreholes*

A ground surface temperature history for the last 500 years was created from the inversion of geophysical temperature logs in four deep (?>?1400?m) boreholes on the Blackwood Plateau in southwestern Australia. Modelled temperature changes show close agreement with ground surface temperature histories from elsewhere in the world for this period and indicate that the Blackwood Plateau has experienced a 0.4 K increase in mean temperature between the beginning of the sixteenth century and the 1980s, with more than half of the increase having taken place after 1900. The modelling indicates that the highest temperatures in the region for the last 500 years were recorded during the twentieth century, and that the current rate of temperature change of more than 0.5° K per century is higher than at any other time during this time period.