Nation states, ideological power and globalisation: can geographers catch the boat?

After a period of considerable and sustained hegemony, many commentators have argued that contemporary processes of globalisation are acting as a challenge to nation state sovereignty. The paper argues that geographers need to focus on the ways in which the nation state continues to act, albeit in a modified manner, within the era of globalisation. This might help to position geography within globalisation debates, which--according to Dicken [Geographers and `globalization': (yet) another missed boat? forthcoming, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 2004]--we have not been centrally involved in. Drawing on the work of Michael Mann, we focus on a neglected dimension of state power--namely, its ideological form--as a means of exploring how the nation state is being differentially re-engineered under globalisation. Using Mann's classification of forms of ideological organisation, we deploy three vignettes in order to demonstrate the evolving nature of ideological power within the contemporary UK State.     

Evidence for centennial-scale Lateglacial and early Holocene climatic complexity from Quoyloo Meadow,Orkney, Scotland

The influence of the North Atlantic on the margins of Europe means the region is particularly sensitive to changes in the ocean–atmospheric system. During the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (16–8 cal ka bp ) this system was repeatedly disrupted, leading to a series of abrupt and short-lived shifts in climate. Despite much research, the number and magnitude of these ‘centennial-scale’ events is not well understood. To address this, we expand upon investigations at Quoyloo Meadow, Orkney, Scotland, one of the best chronologically constrained palaeoclimate records in northern Britain. By coupling stable isotope and chironomid fossil analyses with existing data, this study identifies multiple phases of centennial-scale disturbance at: c. 14.0, 11.1, 10.8, 10.5, 10.45 and 10.3 cal ka bp , with the events at 14.0 and 10.3 exhibiting a particularly pronounced cold-climate signature. During the Holocene, the strongest response to climate forcing was at c. 10.3–10.0 cal ka bp , expressed as a two-stage drop in mean July temperatures, a shift in pollen spectra indicative of ‘less-stable’ climatic regimes, and a depletion in δ¹⁸O values. We interpret this as the first reliably dated incidence of the ‘10.3-ka event’ in the British Isles and consider the wider impact of this climatic reversal in other Holocene records.     

Landform investigation utilizing digitally processed satellite thematic mapper imagery

The potential of remotely sensed imagery for Earth science applications has been widely recognised for many years. However, with the advent of space borne sensors, a totally new perspective from which to view the Earth's surface has been available to such disciplines as geology and geography. Primary in this development was the deployment of the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites with their multispectral scanning capability. Although standard single band imagery and false-colour composites contain much geomorphological detail, a great deal more information can be extracted from the digital output of such scanners if the data is subjected to computer-assisted image processing.     

Middle Pleistocene environments,landscapes and tephrostratigraphy of the Armenian Highlands: evidence from Bird Farm 1, Hrazdan Valley

The significance of the southern Caucasus in understanding Pleistocene hominin expansions is well established. However, the palaeoenvironments in which Palaeolithic occupation of the region took place are presently poorly defined. The Hrazdan river valley, Armenian Highlands, contains a rich Palaeolithic record alongside Middle Pleistocene volcanic, fluvial and lacustrine strata, and thus offer exciting potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. We present the first results of sedimentological, geochemical, tephrostratigraphical and biological (diatoms) study of the sequence of Bird Farm 1, located in the central part of the valley. These data show six phases of landscape development during the interval 440–200 ka. The sequence represents the first quantitative Pleistocene diatom record from the Armenian Highlands and the southern Caucasus, and indicates the persistence of a deep, stratified lacustrine system, with evidence for changing lake productivity that is tentatively linked to climate. Furthermore, major element chemical characterization of visible and crypto-tephra horizons in the sequence enables the first stages of the development of a regional tephrostratigraphy. Together, the evidence from Bird Farm 1 demonstrates the importance of lacustrine archives in the region for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and highlights the potential for linkages between archives on both a local and regional scale.     

Insights into ground response during underground coal gasification through thermo-mechanical modeling

This paper presents a coupled thermo-mechanical model to investigate the ground response during underground coal gasification (UCG). The model incorporated the temporal and spatial development of temperature, the gradual growth of the cavity, and temperature-dependent material properties. Model verification was made against two benchmarks to acquire the confidence for the predictive purpose. The first exercise demonstrated the correctness of the model implemented in COMPASS. The second exercise showed that using the ash-filled cavity to represent null or empty zones is a good option in the numerical modeling and provided highly comparable results to other models. Based on the Hanna UCG trial, different cases were simulated to investigate the effects of the cavity size in the coal seam and the thermal expansion coefficient of the caprock and base rock on key features that take place during the process of UCG. A maximum temperature in the range of 1200–1500 ℃ was induced by the gasification of coal, and a cavity with a maximum length of 13.5 m was formed after 30 days of simulation. Meanwhile, small vertical displacement in the range of -5–12 mm took place near the cavity because of the thermal expansion of the geologic materials and the reduction of the overall weight with the creation of the cavity. In addition, it was found the thermal expansion coefficients can influence the thermo-mechanical response of geologic materials, but the effects were insignificant when its order of magnitude was smaller than 10^-6 K^-1.     

Delineation of lithostructural domains in northern Orissa (India) from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery

Image-based reconnaissance geological mapping at 1:100,000 scale using Landsat TM data has delineated a college of Precambrian lithostructural domains within a 50,000-km² region which encompasses the northern portion of the Archaean to Proterozoic granulite-grade Eastern Ghats Tectonic Province and the adjacent Archaean-Mesoproterozoic Singhbhum Craton. The domains identified in the present study display distinctive internal structures on satellite imagery. Most are bounded by clearly recognisable major shear zones and faults on imagery; displacement directions may frequently be ascertained through local reorientation of planar structures adjacent to large strike-slip shear zones and through juxtaposition of domains with different structuring.

The macroscopic/megascopic structural overview provided by the Landsat interpretation, supported by preliminary field investigation, suggests that the N-S shortening (E-W fold/thrust packages with associated NE and NW strike-slip faulting), is the dominant structural style in the northernmost part of the Eastern Ghats Tectonic Province, followed by regional dextral transpression, expressed in the form of major strike-slip faults. The largest of these structures (Kerajang Fault), which may be traced for over 250 km, has demonstrable Paleozoic-Mesozoic dextral motion associated with coal basin formation. A precursor Kerajang shear zone with dextral movement in excess of 100 km of indeterminate age may also have been instrumental in juxtaposing the Singhbhum Nucleus into its present position to the north of the Eastern Ghats Tectonic Province.     

Plastic contamination in the decapod crustacean Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The aim of this study was to determine the extent Nephrops consumes plastics in the Clyde Sea and if this intake occurs through their diet. Plastic contamination was found to be high in Nephrops, 83% of the animals sampled contained plastics (predominately filaments) in their stomachs. Tightly tangled balls of plastic strands were found in 62% of the animals studied but were least prevalent in animals which had recently moulted. No significant difference in plastic load was observed between males and females. Raman spectroscopy indicated that some of the microfilaments identified from gut contents could be sourced to fishing waste. Nephrops fed fish seeded with strands of polypropylene rope were found to ingest but not to excrete the strands. The fishery for Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, is the most valuable in Scotland and the high prevalence of plastics in Nephrops may have implications for the health of the stock.     

On the Inclusion of Some Biological Impacts and Influences in Coupled Transport Phenomena in Unsaturated Soil

This paper presents a first attempt at the inclusion of some biological impacts and influences in the authors’ continued research on coupled transport phenomena through unsaturated porous media. The work presented here forms an extension to an existing coupled Thermo-Hydraulic-Chemical–Mechanical Model (THCM) to include the biological aspects, as a first attempt towards a new THCMB framework. The biological model incorporates biodegradation kinetics of organic substrates and resultant effects in the inorganic geochemistry. In order to achieve this, the biological aspects of the model are coupled to an equilibrium geochemical model following a two-step partial equilibrium approach. Additionally, of concern in contaminant/pollutant transport studies, including the biological aspects, is the effect on human health. This paper therefore also presents some aspects of a health impact analysis model adopted in this study.     

Climate change during the Triassic and Jurassic

The transition from the Triassic to Jurassic is associated with dramatic changes in Earth's climate. Pangaea was breaking up as North America rifted away from Africa, the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province erupted, and the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide increased dramatically. This article summarises the changes in Earth's climate associated with this transition, including a discussion of the various impacts of the increased carbon dioxide on the Earth system, the question of whether the wet episode in the Carnian was a global or regional event, the formation of bauxite deposits, and how dinosaur distributions changed over time. Palaeoclimate model simulations reveal the spatial changes in climate between the Triassic and Jurassic, illustrating the subtropics becoming slightly cooler and wetter despite the warming trend for the Earth's average temperature.