Eastern Periphery Research Articles

Improvement of Accessibility in Eastern Europe due to Implementation of Road Projects in the Via Carpatia Corridor

The main objective of the present study is to assess the possible impact of the completed Via Carpatia route on changes in potential accessibility. The auxiliary objectives are: a) comparison of the effects of creating the entire route in selected regions and cities (in particular peripherally located medium-sized centres), and b) comparison of the effects of implementation of particular sections of the future undertaking. The eastern peripheries of the European Union remain, in a large part, an area with development opportunities reduced by the lagging transport infrastructure, as this is expressed by lower level of spatial accessibility indicators. The analysis here presented confirmed that the construction of the new corridors (here: Via Carpatia route) can improve this situation. However, the possible positive investment effect is selective in the territorial sense. It is also dependent on other investments, including routes having east-west and oblique orientations.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi along secondary forest succession at the eastern periphery of Amazonia: Seasonal variability and impacts of soil fertility

As anthropic transformation of Amazonian rainforests into degraded lands continues, the consequences of this on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) remain in the dark. This paper describes changes in AMF (glomerospore abundances, species composition and diversity and glomalin contents) along secondary forest succession, and we explore the impacts of seasonality and of soil texture and chemistry. Research was conducted in a shifting cultivation region at the eastern periphery of Amazonia, in ‘young’ (3–4 yrs old – SEC1) and ‘mid-aged’ (6-8yrs old –SEC2) degraded secondary forest regrowth, and in mature (>120yrs old – SEC3) rainforest, both in dry (November 2015) and in rainy (May 2016) seasons. We identify a total of 36 AMF species, corresponding to 24.1% of Braziĺs and 12.5% of the worldwide known AMF species richness. The genera Glomus and Acaulospora predominated in both seasons and over all successional stages, in terms of species richness and of relative abundances and frequencies. Though AMF species diversity did differ significantly between young / mid-aged degraded secondary forests and >120 yrs-old mature rainforests, differences were altogether small and – contrary to vegetation species diversity – higher in stages SEC2 + 3 than in SEC1. Neither easily-extractable nor total glomalin contents differed significantly between seasons or successional stages, though they did contribute substantially (overall 2.5% average) to total soil organic carbon. BCA suggests that AMF species composition was driven mainly by seasonality (15.9%) and only marginally (though likewise significantly) by succession (8.0%). A subset of soil variables (pH, OM, Al, CEC, Ca) related strongly (r2 = 0.46) with glomerospore abundance and AMF species composition. Our results support the view of a remarkably resilient limited set of AMF species with only subtle differences between young (degraded) secondary regrowth and mature rainforests. Thus, the successional trajectories of vegetation recovery after repeated shifting cultivation cycles are likely not limited by AMF species availability.

Regional features of changes in winter extreme temperatures and precipitation in Russia in 1970–2015

Te space-time dynamics of the occurrence of winter extreme events is investigated on the territory of Russia in 1970-2015 on the basis of daily observations at weather stations. It was found that a whole on the territory a noticeable increase in the occurrence of days with extremely high daily temperatures and daily precipitation and a decrease in the occurrence of extremely cold days was noted. Te most noticeable changes happened in the European part of Russia, where at the beginning of the XXI century occurrence of the extremes was greater than during the previous thirty years. Note also that at the beginning of XXI century in Southern Siberia increase of occurrences of both daily maximum and daily minimum temperature was concurrent. Tis combination appears to be caused by the increase in temperature variability in the region due to the alternation of winters with extreme frosts and warmer and wet winters. Te increase in the frequency of extremely high temperatures in the European part of Russia could have been caused by both general warming and the increased influence of AMO. An increase in the frequency of extreme high and low temperatures in the south of Siberia may be due to the formation of an anticyclonic circulation anomaly with a center near the coast of the Kara Sea, which is responsible for advection of cold air masses from the northeast. As well as cyclonic formation in southern Siberia, along the eastern periphery of which temperate latitudes can receive anomalously warm air from the subtropics.

BETWEEN MAGDALENIAN AND EPIGRAVETTIAN. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE PALAEOLITHIC ON THE POLISH-UKRAINIAN BORDER

The terrains of Poland, located north of the Carpathians and the Sudetes, have been almost completely abandoned during the period of the LGM sensustricte. The reoccupation of Polish territories took place not until the end of LGM. These areas were then settled by the societies of the Magdalenian complex – a tradition that included upland areas of Western and Central Europe. On the basis of today's state of knowledge, it can be concluded that the eastern borders of Poland are at the same time the eastern boundary of the Magdalenien settlement. Five Magdalenian sites from the areas of today's Podkarpackie Voivodship are known (fig. 1). In the 1940s, a single-row harpoon linked to Magdalenian was found in Przemyśl. Further discoveries of sites fall into the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Four of the mhave been discovered up to this day: in Hłomcza, Grodzisko Dolne, Wierzawice and Łąka. This sites are only short-lived campsprovided small inventories. So far, no traces of large, longer settled base camp types have been found. If this situation is not only the result of the current state of research, then it may suggest that the areas of south-eastern Poland were part of a larger territory exploited by some Magdalenian community. On the basis of the analysis, it may be assumed that this territory may have covered the areas of eastern Poland. Magdalenian settlement in eastern Poland continues throughout the presence of Late Magdalenian societies in Central Europe, from Dryas I to Alleröd. It means that the population, or traditions of this culture, reached the eastern periphery relatively quickly and for a long time. The question arises if the Magdalenian population, functioning in the eastern borderlands, occupied areas not covered by any previous settlement, and whether were there contacts between them and representatives of other traditions – Epigravettian, whose settlement extends east of today's Polish borders on the territory of Ukraine. Finally, the last question is whether the line of the San is the final eastern limit of Magdalenian. This last question should be answered in the affirmatively, though not categorically. So far, we do not know of any Magdalenian sites from the areas east of Poland. The answer to the remaining questions is difficult. A certain light is being shed on them by the discovery of the site in Święte. The part of the site studied so far provided a small concentration of lithic artefacts – flakes and blades as well as several tools. These materials were described as Epigravettian. The TL dates obtained from the profile indicate that it is contemporary to the Magdalenian settlement. Perhaps, therefore the Magdalenian population who came to this area inhabited the areas that were occupied by the “Epigravettian” population? Perhaps we are also dealing with a zone penetrated by both these communities? So far, we know only one Epigravettian site from this area, which is contemporary to the Magdalenian settlement, but its significance in the discussion of Magdalenien-Epigravettian relations is very important. To what extent this borderland was the area of contacts and what the consequences could have been is unexplained yet. Apart from the few possible imports of Volhynian flint in Magdalenian inventories (Wierzawice, Grodzisko Dolne?), there are no other elements that could be a material confirmation of such contacts. An in-depth analysis of possible contacts on the west-east axis is also hindered by the poor level of recognition of the Polish-Ukrainian borderland on the Ukrainian side. Research conducted in the south-east of Poland shows that the Polish-Ukrainian borderland is an important area through which the border between two cultural traditions passes at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. This is an extremely important area in discussion on the relationship between Magdalenian and Epigravettian. Today's knowledge and questions set the prospects for further work. Key words: Epigravettian, Magdalenian, Upper Paleolithic, South-Eastern Poland, Polish-Ukrainian borderland, cultural contacts, imports.

Staple Economies and Storage in Post-Hittite Anatolia: Considerations in Light of New Data from Niğde-Kınık Höyük (Southern Cappadocia)

AbstractHistorical narratives about post-Hittite polities traditionally concern their political, military, and ethnic aspects, with very little attention given to their economic dimensions. Thanks to the recent discovery of large-scale storage facilities at the site of Niğde-Kınık Höyük, in South-Central Anatolia, this study aims to partially fill this gap, providing some new insights into the political economy of Iron Age polities of Anatolia and northern Syria. This evidence, radiocarbon-dated to the tenth century BCE, will be contextualized within a broader geographic and chronological context. The combined analysis of the archaeological and epigraphic record allows us to hypothesize that a distinctive “Hittite” tradition of centralized accumulation and redistribution of agricultural products survived the end of the Late Bronze Age in the former southern and eastern peripheries of the empire. The survival of such economic system can reshape established paradigms concerning the modality and degree of continuity across the Late Bronze and Iron Age divide.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with the babassu palm (Attalea speciosa) in the eastern periphery of Amazonia, Brazil

ABSTRACT Babassu, Attalea speciosa (Arecaceae) is a ruderal palm native to Amazonia, which turned dominant in frequently burned lands throughout the ‘arc of deforestation’ and other degraded lands, in extreme cases attaining complete dominance. This study investigated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as one possible explanation for the outstanding ecological success of this exceptional palm. We explored the relationships between the babassu palm and native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and babassu effects on the AMF richness and mycorrhizal inoculum potential (MIP) in the eastern periphery of Amazonia. For this purpose, we sampled topsoil (0-20 cm) at the onset of the rainy season from a 5-year-old secondary forest regrowth (SEC) area with three levels of babassu dominance (sites with 10, 50 and 70% babassu biomass shares), and at three distances (0, 2.5 and 4 m) from isolated babassu patches within a degraded pasture (PAS), both with five replications per treatment. Glomerospore density varied from 100 to 302 per gram of soil, 56% higher in SEC than PAS. We identified a total of 16 AMF species, with dominance of Acaulospora (six species) followed by Glomus (three species). AMF richness increased with babassu dominance in SEC sites, and reduced with distance from babassu patches within the PAS. The colonization rate of babassu roots was higher in SEC than in PAS, whereas MIP was similar in both areas and without treatment differences. Our study points to strong mycorrhizal association of the babassu palm as a potential mechanism for its outstanding ecological success in degraded lands.

Quasi państwa na obszarze poradzieckim – Naddniestrze w rosyjskiej polityce zagranicznej

The main aim of this article is to give an overview of the conflict in a region called Transnistria or Pridnestrovskaya Moldovskaya Respublika (PMR), a quasi-state that has been outside of Moldovan control since 1992. Author focus on historical and emotional aspect of conflict. The turning point of this region’s history was in 1812, when Russia, after the war with Ottoman Turkey annexed part of historic Moldavian territory and named it Bessarabia. During the time, the territory was used as a geostrategic point for Russia’s reaching Black Sea coast. After the World War I Bessarabia become a part of Kingdom of Romania but Soviet Union regarded the area as a territory occupied by Romania. After the World War II the area was formally integrated into the Soviet Union as a Moldavian ASRR. In 1991 during the process of the dissolution of Soviet Union the Moldavian ASRR proclaimed the independence. This proclamation initiated the internal conflict ended with secession of eastern periphery of former Soviet republic. Moscow brought Transnistria under protective umbrella in the international area. The paper will examine the historical roots of the conflict and Russian vision of Transnistria as a part of русский мир.

Krössinsee (zachodniopomorski Złocieniec-Budowo) i inne narodowosocjalistyczne „zamki zakonne”. Budowa – funkcja – kostium stylowy

In 1934, construction began on training centers for the upper echelons of future NS leadership: the Vogelsang in the Eifel, Krössinsee (Polish Złocieniec-Budowo) in western Pomerania, and Sonthofen in Allgäu. Through the enormous efforts of the German Labor Front (DAF) the training centres, called Ordensburgen (literally: ‘castles of the orders’), were completed in 1936. In the meantime, much literature has been published on all of the NS Ordenburgen, yet an investigation of the genesis and analysis of their form is still lacking, which this essay partially attempts to address.
 The intention was undoubtedly to build Ordensburgen on the southern, western and eastern fringes of the Reich distanced less than 60 kilometres from the border. Rosenberg, who had made a statement to this effect in a speech in 1934, coined the name ‘Ordensburg’ in connection with the Teutonic Order – the proud champion of ‘Germanness’. The name evoked other echoes from history: young men who were trained for warfare and administration and who lived a life closed of from outside influences. The name also recalled the medieval orders of knights who exercised their power as a military authority along the frontiers of Christianity from Spain to Palestine.
 If we go beyond a formal interpretation of the Ordensburgen, what can be seen in all the three structures is the important symbolic function of towers (two rectangular brick towers were erected in Kroessinsee in 1939). In all of them so-called Tingplätze were built, a kind of open-air theatre for political rallies. Moreover, the architect Clemens Klotz embraced the modern age. In adhering to contemporary thought, he blended the cosiness of the Heimatstil with the monumentality and pathos of Neoclassicism. Other forms are also found, such as oval risalites derived from ‘Neues Bauen’ or the protruding window reveal, or the use of unworked stone blocks, something that was particularly characteristic of NS architecture. Yet despite the name ’Ordensburg’, formal references to medieval architecture are sparse. The most apparent examples are seen in the Sonthofen architecture of Herman Giesler in the proportions of the main tower or the vaulted ceilings of the tavern (the so-called Fuchsbau).
 After 1945, the Ordensburgen became the military barracks of the victors: Vogelsang was British until 1950, then Belgian; Sonthofen was American until 1956 and then turned over to the German Bundeswehr; Krössinsee was used by the Soviet army from 1947 or 1948, and afterward became the Polish Budowo. Vogelsang was opened to the public in 2006. Today, we face ongoing questions about the preservation and new uses of the Ordensburg structures and facilities. The designation of the former NS training centres as memorial sites, in which the juncture between Ordensburgen and the NS crimes finds physical expression, will presumably be the sole way to ensure their continued existence. Between 1939 and 1940, approximately 260 Ordensjunkers (the name derived from ‘Junker’: a nobleman from the landed class) were sent from Krössinsee on military assignment to the area of Poznań (‘Warthegau’), from where up to a half a million Poles and Jews were expelled to the Government General. Further documentation shows the involvement of the Ordensjunkers in the Holocaust during 1941 in the occupied Soviet territories. In making the buildings of the Ordensburgen accessible to the public, while at the same time laying bare the reality behind the mystique, it seems necessary to proceed on a different path than that which has been taken up to now. ‘Domesticating’ the testimonies of a terror regime has been expressed in ways such as the oversized colourful pillows for visitor seating at the Wewelsburg Castle or the garish plastic forms in Vogelsang. Tus, in addition to taking stock of the buildings and making a case for their preservation, the serious question that must be asked is how to deal with this kind of legacy.
 (translated by Sharon Nemeth)

Porpomiris curtulus (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae), a Plant Bug Specialist on Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.; Poaceae): New Distribution Records, Host-Plant Range, and Seasonality

Porpomiris curtulus (Reuter), a plant bug of the mirine tribe Stenodemini, is newly reported from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and South Dakota. Additional records from Nebraska (26 counties) and one from New Jersey are presented. All specimens (except those from New Jersey) were taken on switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.; Poaceae). Nymphs were collected in Nebraska from reproductive structures of switchgrass in roadside plantings in areas of the once-extensive eastern tallgrass prairie, Sandhills prairie of north-central counties, and mixed-grass prairie west to the eastern fringe of shortgrass prairie in the panhandle. Overwintered eggs hatched in mid-June to early July as inflorescences of switchgrass were emerging from leaf sheaths, with adults appearing in July during flower expansion (anthesis). Nymphs of a second generation fed on developing and ripened seeds in mid- to late summer, with late-hatching first instars of a second generation observed in southern Nebraska in early September. Adult females sometimes persisted until late September. At a coastal site in New Jersey, adults were collected from redtop panicgrass (Panicum rigidulum Bosc ex Nees), suggesting that this congeneric grass might also support nymphal development.

Middle and Upper Paleolithic Levallois technology in eastern Central Asia

Situated on the eastern periphery of Central Asia, Mongolia was a potentially important pathway for the migration of paleopopulations from the west to the east (and/or vice versa). Possible scenarios for the dispersal of ancient human populations in Mongolia are much more complicated than we initially supposed, due to the limited number of corridors penetrating natural barriers like the mountains of southern Siberia in the north and the arid mountain systems of the Mongolian and Gobi Altai ranges in the south. Nevertheless, we can detect several episodes during which those barriers were crossed by human migrants in the Upper Pleistocene based upon the geographic distribution of various species of Homo. These migration events can be detected by analyzing variability in lithic knapping technology and stone tool assemblages in Mongolia. The earliest two dispersal events we can identify – the Terminal Middle Paleolithic (TMP) and Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) are associated with an extremely complex and enigmatic question: who were the bearers of those cultural traits and did they successively replace one another, or did they co-exist, overlapping culturally? Both the TMP and IUP are associated with the Levallois reduction technology. Here, we attempt to analyze and interpret the entire spectrum of Levallois methods from chronological and technological perspectives, identified in Terminal Middle Paleolithic and Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblages from Mongolia. We identify four principal Levallois methods. The reduction strategies associated with them share features in common with lithic industries from the Russian Altai district in southern Siberia as well as northwestern and north-central China.

The Theatrical Life and Death of Wych Street

In London’s Lost Theatres of the Nineteenth Century (1925), Errol Sherson describes Wych Street, located on the eastern periphery of the West End and within 200 metres of Drury Lane Theatre, as ‘one of the narrowest, dingiest and most disreputable thoroughfares the West End has ever known.’ By this time Wych Street had long disappeared, although its memory lingered. In a short story entitled ‘Where was Wych Street’ ( Strand Magazine, 1921), Stacy Aumonier attempted to recall the street’s existence and its significance. In the course of the story the street is identified in relation to two theatres – the Gaiety and the Globe – only the latter of which was connected to the street. Surprisingly, no reference is made to the Olympic Theatre with which Wych Street had been identified since the early nineteenth century or to the Opera Comique immediately adjacent to the Globe, highlighting the problematic role of memory in mapping historical space. This article examines the historical, theatrical and geographical mapping of Wych Street, bringing out contrasts, contradictions and paradoxes, and considering its role as part of the theatrical and extra-theatrical milieu of London.

The Talili Pyroclastics eruption sequence: VEI 5 precursor to the seventh century CE caldera-forming event at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Studies of the products of the activity precursory to caldera-forming events are essential in revealing how caldera systems evolve in the prelude to climactic eruptions. Here, we investigate the deposits formed by the Talili Pyroclastics eruption sequence, which preceded the youngest major eruptive event, the seventh century CE (1400 BP) Rabaul Pyroclastics VEI 6 caldera-forming eruption, at Rabaul in northeastern Papua New Guinea. The Talili Pyroclastics deposits are essentially a bimodal (dacite-basalt) tephra sequence that was emplaced during the 2.8 ky leading to the Rabaul Pyroclastics eruption. The dominant activity during the Talili period, starting at 4200 BP, involved strong (up to VEI 5), water-modified explosive eruptions of dacite from intra-caldera vents. This activity generated > 4.4 km3 of unstratified, bedded and laminated fine-grained fall deposits, pyroclastic surges and a small ignimbrite. In addition, all three of the young stratovolcanoes on the eastern and northeastern fringes of Rabaul Caldera were active during the Talili era, producing > 0.7 km3 of basaltic scoria fall and flow deposits. The main phase of Talili era basalt production occurred at 4100 BP and involved sequential eruptions from two of the stratovolcanoes, Palangiangia and Kabiu. The sequence of dacitic Talili eruptives shows a progressive decline then late-stage increase in SiO2 contents, with corresponding changes in Fe2O3, MgO and CaO. Early and late products have compositions similar to those of the most-evolved products of the major eruptions at Rabaul (intermediate to high-SiO2 dacites), while middle-stage products are similar to those of the historical eruptions (lower-SiO2 dacites and andesites). The basaltic eruptives have three different compositions, attributed to three different (stratovolcano) sources. There is no evidence of mixing or mingling of basalt and dacite. However, andesitic scoria inclusions in the early-erupted dacitic ignimbrite represent mingling of andesitic and dacitic magmas. As with the Talili Pyroclastics, at least two other earlier tephra sequences at Rabaul probably resulted from phases of VEI 5 volcanism and directly underlie the deposits of major eruptions. This leads to the inference that cycles of escalating eruptive activity have prevailed prior to some of the major eruptions, and suggests that the strength of volcanism at Rabaul may rise from the lower levels (maximum of VEI 4) evident since the Rabaul Pyroclastics event as the system moves towards the next major eruption.

EU-Russia political and security cooperation: major research trends

ABSTRACT The Russia-Georgia conflict in August 2008 and Ukraine’s crisis have dramatic consequences for the security environment on the EU Eastern periphery and undermined ‘strategic partnership’ with Russia. The Western literature on security has been dominated since by Russia’s confrontation with Europe, the use of sanctions by the EU as an instrument of statecraft to ‘contain’ Russia, and the promotion by Moscow of ‘hybrid warfare’ tactics. The Russian literature has mainly concentrated on rivalry between Russia and the EU in the post-Soviet region, reciprocal sanctions and ‘Cold War 2.0’. In fact, much of the previous extensive literature reflected commonalities as well as divergences in Russian and European scholars’ perceptions of their security relationship. We identify the key conceptual and empirical concerns reflected in the scholarly literature: (1) legal-institutional issues; (2) EU–Russia bilateral cooperation in security governance; (3) EU–Russia cooperation at the international level to address common security problems and (4) EU–Russia relations in terms of ideational/identity issues. We have used these four themes as the basis of our analytical framework enabling us to compare approaches of Russian and European scholars. The conclusions focus on the commonalities and differences in European and Russian scholarship and identify epistemological and practical consequences.

Semi-quantitative analysis of land use homogeneity and spatial distribution of individual ecological footprint in selected areas of Eastern fringes of Kolkata, West Bengal

Land-use change is a part and parcel of urbanization and is carried out by the active participation of people and their technology. But with significant land-use change over an area, the surrounding ecology also changes. Hence it is essential to assess and control the unabated resource consumption rate. This paper makes an attempt to study the change in land-use over a span of more than 25 years and calculate the present individual ecological footprint. Further, an effort has also been made to analyse the relationship that exists between changing land-use mix index and current individual ecological footprint. Though urbanization is a boon in developing countries, increasing land-use changes linked with increasing ecological footprints, as found in the study area, suggests that urbanization has been more exploitative than sustainable in nature having a detrimental effect on the environment. This problem needs to be addressed with sustainable environmental management plans.

The severity of drought and precipitation prediction in the eastern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau

The trend, severity, and duration of drought in the eastern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau (EFTP) have been investigated using the Mann-Kendall (M-K) trend test, standardized precipitation index (SPI), and generalized extreme value (GEV), using data obtained from 438 rainfall stations and reanalysis datasets for the period 1961–2014. A recent drought trend is evident from a decrease in rainfall, with this mainly occurring on the eastern slope of the TP (< 3000-m elevation); this is attributed to downward air flows over the eastern slope of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) induced by TP heating. Recent droughts have also been more severe, with these again mostly occurring on the eastern slopes. The duration of drought illustrates that extreme droughts are becoming more frequent. The study also predicted summer precipitation, due to its crucial role in drought research in the EFTP. Results show that the preceding May–June–July (MJJ) averaged column-integrated meridional water vapor transport (MWVT) from the South China Sea (SCS), Philippine Sea, and tropical western Pacific is a vital predictor of summer precipitation in the EFTP. A partial least squares (PLS) regression prediction model is therefore constructed, using the leading PLS components of preceding MJJ-averaged column-integrated MWVT. Compared to the observed summer rainfall, the PLS prediction model performs an excellent reconstructed skill with a correlation of 0.81 (1961–2006) and exhibits a promising forecast skill with a correlation of 0.67 (2007–2014). Results suggest that southerly moisture transport in early summer would help prevent summer drought in the EFTP.

Warm season nocturnal rainfall over the eastern periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and its relationship with rainfall events in adjacent regions

Hourly observational records are used to investigate the distinct nocturnal rainfall and related convection activities over the eastern periphery of the Tibetan Plateau (EPTP). The results show that rainfall events over the EPTP are characterized by frequent moderate rainfall with long durations, which differs from both the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP_E) and the west Sichuan Basin (SCB_W). Although the nocturnal rainfall dominates the warm season rainfall over the EPTP and its adjacent slopes, the midnight rainfall peak is more evident over the slope and basin regions, whereas over the TP_E, the rainfall intensity tends to peak in the late afternoon. An eastwards phase delay is found from the TP_E to the downstream EPTP regions, and the signal is more evident in the intense long‐duration rainfall events. To demonstrate the regional characteristics of the rainfall processes over the EPTP and its adjacent areas, a regional rainfall event (RRE) method is applied to consider the spatiotemporal evolution of the rainfall processes. The intense long‐duration RREs over the EPTP are selected and classified into two categories, with one related to the early stage rainfall systems in the TP region (RRE_with_TP) and the other not related to the TP rainfall systems (RRE_without_TP). The RRE_with_TP cases are probably related to the propagation of rainfall systems from the plateau. By analysing the convective activity derived from the FY‐2 geostationary satellites, evidence of the close relationship between the RRE_with_TP cases and the eastwards propagation of the convective systems that develop over the TP in the late afternoon is shown, whereas the RRE_without_TP cases seem to be more locally initialized or caused by rainfall systems from eastern regions. These results provide more detailed metrics to evaluate model performances over the EPTP region where excessive rainfall has been a long‐standing problem in the simulation of the East Asian climate.

The diurnal cycle of East Asian summer monsoon precipitation simulated by the Met Office Unified Model at convection-permitting scales

A limited area convection permitting model (CPM) based on the Met Office Unified Model, with a 0.04° (4.4 km) horizontal grid spacing, is used to simulate an entire warm-season of the East Asian monsoon (from April to September 2009). The simulations are compared to rain gauge observations, reanalysis and to a lower resolution regional model with a 0.12° (13.2 km) grid spacing that has a parametrization of subgrid-scale convective clouds and precipitation. The 13.2 km simulation underestimates precipitation intensity, produces rainfall too frequently, and shows evident biases in reproducing the diurnal cycle of precipitation and low-level wind fields. In comparison, the CPM shows significant improvements in the spatial distribution of precipitation intensity, although it overestimates the intensity magnitude and has a wet bias over central eastern China. The diurnal cycle of precipitation over Mei-yu region, southern China and the eastern periphery of the Tibetan Plateau, as well as the diurnal cycle of low-level winds over both the Mei-yu region and southern China are better simulated by the CPM. Over the Mei-yu region, in both simulations and observations, the local atmospheric instability in the afternoon is favorable for upward motion and rainfall. The CPM receives more sensible heat flux from the surface, has a stronger upward motion, and overestimates water vapor convergence based on moisture budget diagnosis. All these processes help explain the excessive late afternoon rainfall over the Mei-yu region in the CPM simulation.

Linear Parks and the Political Ecologies of Permeability: Environmental displacement in São Paulo, Brazil

AbstractThis article considers the politics of resettlement within ongoing efforts to construct the Tietê River Valley Park (Parque Várzeas do Tietê), a linear park that upon completion will be the largest linear park in the world. Located in the eastern periphery of São Paulo, Brazil, the proposed project uses riverbank naturalization to dampen floodpeaks and bring green space to underserved populations. Due to the presence of low‐income neighborhoods on the river's edge, however, the project calls for the removal of roughly 40,000 people. Drawing from urban political ecology and contemporary concerns about environmentally induced displacement, I consider the conflicts over resettlement that mark the project. I analyze the project itself and situate it within a regional context defined by autoconstruction, regularized flooding, and insecure tenure. I argue that despite claims that the project will yield less risky lives for displaced residents, the form through which the project is being developed actually puts displaced residents in heightened situations of risk. I consider how communities have organized to resist displacement, and call for an approach to governance in peripheral landscapes that takes seriously the histories of collective infrastructural provisioning and autoconstructed housing that have marked them for decades.

Rootless calc-silicate folds in granite: An implication towards syn- to post-plutonic emplacement

Deformation of the Champaner Group of rocks that form a part of Southern Aravalli Mountain Belt, western India, occurred during the Grenville orogeny (ca. 1400–935 Ma). Two phases of deformation are recorded: $$\hbox {D}_{1}$$ , persistent throughout the group and characterised by westerly plunging tight isoclinal folds and $$\hbox {D}_{2}$$ , a localized phase of deformation associated with shortening of the earlier folds from the eastern margin. Both the phases of deformation are in association with the syn-tectonically emplaced Godhra granite. The present work records rootless calc-silicate folds in granite belonging to the older formation, located at the eastern fringe of the Champaner Group. Field evidences suggest superimposition of Type 2 interference pattern trending NE–SW over rootless Type 0 of varying trends from NW–SE to N–S. The superposed pattern obtained from the field study differs in terms of structural trends with the neighbouring Precambrian stratigraphic units. These stratigraphic units include the Champaner Group to which the study area belongs, the Kadana Formation of the Lunavada Group and Pre-Chamapaner Gneissic Complex. Rootless character of folds found within the study area imply syn-post plutonic emplacement of Godhra granite.

POST‐1989 GEOGRAPHIES IN TERÉZIA MORA'S DER EINZIGE MANN AUF DEM KONTINENT AND DAS UNGEHEUER

ABSTRACTBeginning around the year 2000, a number of German writers and film‐makers began to send their protagonists into Eastern Europe and beyond. Part of a much larger trend towards the transnational in German‐language literature, this development continues the ‘Eastern Turn’ of the 1990s but reverses the direction of movement. In this article I analyse three recent texts by the Hungarian‐born writer Terézia Mora as part of this, by now, multi‐directional ‘Eastern Turn’: her novels Der einzige Mann auf dem Kontinent (2009) and Das Ungeheuer (2013), and her ‘Frankfurter Poetik‐Vorlesungen’, a collection of five lectures assembled under the title Nicht sterben (2014). The novels, both of which chronicle migration from Eastern Europe to Germany as well as travel in the opposite direction and feature German as well as immigrant characters, present an astute critique of contemporary neoliberal economic conditions and practices that have an effect on all the main characters, albeit in very different ways. The lectures give insights into Mora's creative process and the importance of her deep cultural and historical connections to Eastern Europe. They also illustrate Mora's move beyond her own experience of migration toward broader fictional contexts. Taken together, the three texts suggest that traditional views of a Western centre and Eastern peripheries need to be revised in favour of models mindful of multi‐directional movement and the economies that drive it, and capable of mapping the geographies that emerge as a consequence.