Collaborating in the field, working for change: Reflecting on partnerships between academics, development organizations and rural communities in Africa

Academics and development organizations approach fieldwork with somewhat different motivations, constraints and challenges. In many instances, fieldwork might be improved if greater collaboration occurred between these two parties. Rural communities are also important yet frequently taken for granted partners in the research process that deserve greater respect. This paper explores and describes the real and imagined impediments to greater collaboration between academics, development organizations and rural communities. The findings are based on 18 years of working with rural communities in Africa, both as a development practitioner and academic researcher. This reflection makes three contributions to the broader literature on fieldwork. First, it explicitly links two ongoing discussions, one on relationships with institutional partners, the other on interactions with rural communities. Second, it articulates the concerns of development organizations in their partnerships with academic researchers, a perspective rarely heard in a literature dominated by academic voices. Third, while feminist scholarship on fieldwork methods often wrestles with issues of positionality and engagement at the scale of the individual researcher, this reflection is aimed at the broader scale of the professional (academic and practitioner) communities involved in development praxis and scholarship.     

Focal mechanisms of recent earthquakes in the Southern Korean Peninsula

We evaluate the stress field in and around the southern Korean Peninsula with focal mechanism solutions, using the data collected from 71 earthquakes ( M_L = 1.9–5.2) between 1999 and 2004. For this, the hypocentres were relocated and well-constrained fault plane solutions were obtained from the data set of 1270 clear P -wave polarities and 46 SH / P amplitude ratios. The focal mechanism solutions indicate that the prevailing faulting types in South Korea are strike-slip-dominant-oblique-slip faultings with minor reverse-slip component. The maximum principal stresses (σ₁) estimated from fault-slip inversion analysis of the focal mechanism solutions show a similar orientation with E–W trend (269°–275°) and low-angle plunge (10°–25°) for all tectonic provinces in South Korea, consistent with the E–W trending maximum horizontal stress (σ_Hmax) of the Amurian microplate reported from in situ stress measurements and earthquake focal mechanisms. The directions of the intermediate (σ₂) and minimum (σ₃) principal stresses of the Gyeongsang Basin are, however, about 90 deg off from those of the other tectonic provinces on a common σ₂–σ₃ plane, suggesting a permutation of σ₂ and σ₃. Our results incorporated with those from the kinematic studies of the Quaternary faults imply that NNW- to NE-striking faults (dextral strike-slip or oblique-slip with a reverse-slip component) are highly likely to generate earthquakes in South Korea.     

Late Quaternary clay minerals off Middle Vietnam in the western South China Sea: Implications for source analysis and East Asian monsoon evolution

High-resolution clay mineral records combined with oxygen isotopic stratigraphy over the past 450 ka during late Quaternary from Core MD05-2901 off Middle Vietnam in the western South China Sea are re-ported to reconstruct a history of East Asian monsoon evolution. Variations in Illite, chlorite, and kaolinite contents indicate a strong glacial-interglacial cyclicity, while changes in smectite content present a higher frequency cyclicity. The provenance analysis indicates a mixture of individual clay minerals from various sources surrounding the South China Sea. Smectite derived mainly from the Sunda shelf and its major source area of the Indonesian islands. Illite and chlorite originated mainly from the Mekong and Red rivers. Kaolinite was provided mainly by the Pearl River. Spectral analysis of the kaolin-ite/(illite chlorite) ratio displays a strong eccentricity period of 100 ka, implying the ice sheet-forced win-ter monsoon evolution; whereas higher frequency changes in the smectite content show an ice sheet-forced obliquity period of 41 ka, and precession periods of 23 and 19 ka and a semi-precession period of 13 ka as well, implying the tropical-forced summer monsoon evolution. The winter monsoon evolution is generally in coherence with the glacial-interglacial cyclicity, with intensified winter monsoon winds during glacials and weakened winter monsoon winds during interglacials; whereas the summer monsoon evolution provides an almost linear response to the summer insolation of low latitude in the Northern Hemisphere, with strengthened summer monsoon during higher insolation and weakened summer monsoon during lower insolation. The result suggests that the high-latitude ice sheet and low-latitude tropical factor could drive the late Quaternary evolution of East Asian winter and summer monsoons, respectively, implying their diplex and self-contained forcing mechanism.     

广东沿海强东北季风的气候统计特征

通过对1988－1997年冷空气造成的广东沿海强东北季风过程的气候统计分析，发现广东的强东北季风有明显的月分布规律，而年际变化有逐渐减少的趋势；强东北季风与地面因子相关程度较高，而与850hPa要素相关性较低；同时发现地面冷高压中心位置聚合度较高，但不同月份、不同时次，其中心位置有明显差异。     

江苏南部地区煤层气资源

根据江苏南部地区二叠系龙潭组煤系的分布和规模、煤矿瓦斯涌出特征、煤的产气能力、煤层的储集条件等煤层气地质条件综合研究工作，认为该区煤层气资源存在一定的勘探开发前景，对各典型含煤区块煤层气综合评价出有远景区（A类）、较有远景区（B类）和远景差区（C类）。     

Discovery of Radiolarian Fossils from the Aiketik Group at the Western End of the South Tianshan Mountains of Chinaand Its Implications

The Aiketik Group, distributed at the western end of the South Tianshan Mountains, China, is an important lithostratigraphic unit involved in the South Tianshan orogen. It is separated from the adjacent rocks by faults. Generally, the geologists ascribed it to the Upper Carboniferous according to Pseudostaffella sp., Profusulinella sp. and Fusulinella sp. found from the limestone and sandy limestone of Aiketik. Our radiolarian fossils were obtained from the chert samples collected from the Haladaok section located at the upper Tuoshihan River. The fossils mainly include Albaillella undulata Deflandre, Albaillella paradoxa Deflandre, Albaillella sp. aff. A. paradoxa Deflandre, Albaillella sp. cf. A. deflandrei Gourmelon, Albaillella sp., Albaillella excelsa Ishiga, Kito and Imoto (?), Belowea variabilis (Ormiston et Lane), Callella cf. C. parvispinosa Won, Entactinia cf. E. tortispina Ormiston et Lane, Entactinia aff. E. tortispina Ormiston et Lane, Entactinia variospina Won, Entactinia sp., Eostylodicty     

南海海平面高度年循环的特征

根据 ＴＯＰＥＸ／ ＰＯＳＥＩＤＯＮ－ＥＲＳ高度计提供的海平面高度异常资料和并行海洋气候模式（ＰＯＣＭ）模拟海平面高度资料，分析了南海海平面高度年循环特征。结果表明：ｌ月，３月和５月海平面高度的异常值分别与７月，９月，１１月的异常值相反。ｌ月（７月），深水海区与吕宋海峡的海平面高度为负（正）异常，在大部分陆架区和南海的西和南部，海平面高度为正（负）异常。在３月（９月），除海平面高度异常的量级已减少，且较小的ＳＳＨ正异常（负异常）出现在南海的中部以外，海平面高度异常的分布型与 １月（７月）类似； ＳＳＨ的年循环的最大振幅出现在吕宋岛的西北海域；风的季节变化是南海ＳＳＨ季节变化的主要原因。     

长江中下游-南黄海地震带地震趋势研究

运用灰色理论对长江中下游－南黄海地震带从1971年开始的20世纪第2个地震活跃幕的结束时间进行了研究。结果表明，该次地震活跃幕的结束时间大约在2019年，还运用灰色理论对该地震带未来的地震形势进行了预测。所得结果可供华东地区地震大形势分析和地震的中期预报参考。     

南海及邻区地壳上地幔三维S波速度结构的面波波形反演>.

对南海及邻区中国数字地震台网４个台站接收到的328条长周期地震记录的面波波形进行分块波形反演．分块波形反演把大尺度的优化问题转化为小尺度的优化问题，采用非线性优化方法求解，从而得到南海及邻区22网格划分、从地表深至430ｋｍ 的地壳上地幔三维S波速度结构，并用检验板法进行了分辨率分析．结果表明，海域、岛弧和大陆在速度分布、岩石圈和软流圈存在明显的结构差异．      

南海北部1987～1988年颗粒物质和硅藻通量的季节性变化:季风气候与 El Nino的响应

南海北部1987年9月～1988年10月沉积物捕获器中颗粒物质和硅藻通量的季节性变化受到季风气候的控制.颗粒物质与硅藻在东北和西南季风盛行期增加,在季风转变期减少.浅层和深层的颗粒总通量、蛋白石通量、碳酸钙通量、蛋白石/颗粒总通量比值、碳酸钙/颗粒总通量比值、有机碳/磷的比值以及浅层硅藻Thalassionema nitzschioides、Coscinodiscus excentricus、Coscinodiscus nodulifer、Nitzschia marina和Rhizosolenia bergonii的通量在东北季风期间明显地增加了,这些变化可能与1987年～1988年发生的EINino事件相关.