Subordinate Components Research Articles

Modes of occurrence of noble and nonferrous metals in ferromanganese formations in the central part of the Sea of Okhotsk

Ferromanganese formations are among the major solid mineral resources in the World Ocean. They are characterized by high contents of Fe, Mn, and often nonferrous and noble metals. The issue of the mode of occurrence and genesis of noble and nonferrous metals in the FMS long ago attracted the attention of researchers. However, this issue remains debatable. According to some researchers, the metals mentioned above are extracted from seawater by manganese and iron hydroxides. Other researchers believe that the metals are derived from postmagmatic and hydrothermal solutions. Proponents of the extraterrestrial origin have suggested that platinum group elements (PGE) and some other heavy metals could be incorporated as cosmogenic spherules during the growth of ferromanganese formations. However, all these hypotheses remain controversial. We investigated ferromanganese crusts from the Kashevarov Bank, Deryugin Basin, and Akademiya Nauk Rise in the central part of the Sea of Okhotsk (Fig. 1). Ore crusts from this region are thin (up to 2 cm), usually homogeneous, and vaguely layered (Fig. 2a). The slope of the Kashevarov Bank also contains oolitic crusts related to the cementation of sandy sediment by ferromanganese hydroxides. However, the predominant crust type is characterized by a monolithic upper layer (3 to 4 mm thick) and an oolitic lower layer (Fig. 2b). Data on the chemical composition showed that the crusts contain almost equal contents of Mn and Fe. The total content of ore elements in them is as much as 30 wt %. The Mn content varies from 5.6 to 16.0%; the Fe content, from 3.9 to 17.7%; and the Mn/Fe ratio, from 0.18 to 1.42. Contents of nonferrous metals are very low (0. n ‐0.0 n %) relative to the oceanic ore crust. The total content of Ni, Co, Cu, Pb, and Zn varies from 0.03 to 0.46%. The content of Au and Ag is 0.01 and 0.24 g/t, respectively. In order to elucidate the mode of occurrence of noble and nonferrous metals, we prepared eight polished samples and examined them with an electron microscope and microprobe analyzer (JXA8100, Jeol, Japan). The results show that all samples contain inclusions of noble and nonferrous metals of different compositions. Native silver is the major constituent. Small grains of gold, iron, copper, tungsten, Fe‐Sb oxides, Zn‐Ag‐Cu sulfides, phosphates of rare earth elements, and intermetallic (Cu‐Zn, Cu‐Ni, Sn‐Pb‐Cu‐Ni, Ni‐ Cr‐Mo, Fe‐Cr‐Ni, and Au‐Cu‐Ag) compounds are the subordinate components (Tables 1, 2; Fig. 3).

Jurassic climates

The geological record shows, compared to the present, that the Jurassic Earth was an exotic world. The climatic processes operating are illustrated by reference to Late Jurassic palaeoclimate reconstructions generated on a computer-based General Circulation Model. Throughout the Period, and indeed through much of the Mesozoic, dense forests grew close to both poles and experienced months-long daylight. Models suggest that they experienced warm summers, and months-long darkness in cold, sometimes snowy, winters. Ocean deeps were warmer, perhaps by 8°C, than the present. Reefs grew 10° of latitude further north and south than at the present time but with corals as a subordinate component. The whole Earth is modelled to have been warmer than now by 5° C to 10° C, causing a higher atmospheric humidity and greatly enhanced hydrological cycle. Modelling also suggests that much of the rainfall was convective in character and focused under the Intertropical Convergence Zone over the oceans, leaving major desert expanses on the continents. There is no direct geological evidence for polar ice sheets which, from model output, are unlikely to have been present for most of the time because of the high summer temperatures in these areas. Oxygen isotopic ratios in marine shells are more negative (i.e. show less 18O enrichment) than during later times, reflecting an absence of major terrestrial ice caps which would have stored water enriched with 16O. Localized mountain glaciers cannot be ruled out, particularly in high altitude southern polar terrains, but there is no convincing evidence of short-term and large-scale eustatic changes associated with major glaciation and deglaciation comparable with those of the Neogene. Model results for the Jurassic do, however, suggest the possibility of upland ice sheets during orbitally induced climatic minima. During the Jurassic, the world was predominantly warm with at least four times the present level of atmospheric CO2, and model outputs for evaporation and precipitation generally conform well with the known distributions of evaporates, calcretes and other climatically sensitive facies.

Faja de Deformación La Horqueta, sierra de Velasco, Sierras Pampeanas, NO de Argentina: petrografía, geoquímica, estructuras y significado tectónico

The La Horqueta Shear Zone (LHSZ) is the sixth shear zone recognized in the Sierra de Velasco, Sierras Pampeanas, NW Argentina. This shear zone separates two types of metagranitoids of contrasting petrographical and geochemical characteristics: metagranodiorites, outcropping towards the SW, consist in weakly peraluminous biotite-allanite-titanite granodiorites similar to the I-type granitoids of southern Sierra de Velasco and of neighboring ranges that are part of the Famatinian magmatic arc, while metagranites, outcropping towards the NE, consist in strongly peraluminous biotite-muscovite monzogranites identical to the Antinaco Orthogneis of northern Sierra de Velasco, which is part of an inner S-type granitoid belt. The LHSZ, developed from these two protoliths, has a thickness of 1 to 2 km and is composed of protomylonites and mylonites with strong NNW trending and E dipping mylonitic foliation. Cinematic analyses indicates a main transpressive deformational regime with an inverse-sinistral component, accompanied by a subordinate dextral transcurrent component, which possibly placed the two tectonic settings in contact.

A mid-Cretaceous flora from the Kachaike Formation, Patagonia, Argentina

An overview of a new mid-Cretaceous flora from Bajo Comisión, southern Patagonia, is presented. The flora was collected from previously studied deposits of the late Albian–Cenomanian Kachaike Formation in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The fossil assemblage consists of about 20 species mostly of pteridophytes, pteridosperms and conifers but it also includes fronds of uncertain affinity. Bryophytes, bennettites and ginkgophytes are subordinate components. The presence of angiosperm leaves is noteworthy. This flora is from a critical time interval between the earliest Cretaceous assemblages of the Springhill Formation and Baqueró Group and the younger Late Cretaceous assemblage of the Mata Amarilla Formation in southern South America. During this period of time, profound changes were taking place in the Earth's vegetation with the radiation and diversification of angiosperms. Comparisons with other Jurassic and Cretaceous assemblages indicate links with southern and eastern Gondwanan floras. Among them, the flora of the Triton Point Formation of Alexander Island (Antarctica) is most similar to that of the Kachaike Formation. Both share the presence of Athrotaxis ungeri (= Athrotaxites ungeri), taxa at generic level including Phyllopteroides, Aculea, Ptilophyllum and Ginkgoites, a similar matoniaceous species, and a relatively diverse angiosperm record.

Changes in the chemical components of light crude oil during simulated short term weathering

To unambiguously identify spilled oils and to link them to the known sources are extremely important in settling questions of environmental impact and legal liability. The fate and behavior of spilled oils in the environment depend on a number of physicochemical and biological factors. This paper presents the results regarding changes in chemical composition of light crude oil during simulated short-term weathering based on natural environmental conditions. The results show that the saturated hydrocarbons of the light crude oil mainly distribute between n-C8 and n-C23 and the most abundant n-alkanes are found in the n-C10 to n-C16. The main chemical components of the light crude oil are n-alkanes and isoprenoids. The aromatic compounds are subordinate chemical components. Under the conditions of the weathering simulation experiment, n-alkanes less than n-C12, toluene and 1,3-dimethyl benzene are lost after 1 d weathering, the n-C13, n-C14, naphthalene and 2-methyl-naphthalene are lost on the fifth day of weathering, and n-C15 alkane components show certain weatherproof capability. The ratios n-C17/pristane and n-C18/phytane are unaltered and can be used to identify the source of the light crude oil during the first 8 d of weathering. After 21 d, the ratio pristine/phytane can not provide much information on the source of the spilled light crude oil. Triterpanes (m/z 191) as biomarker compounds of light crude oil are more valuable.

Genesis of post-hotspot, A-type rhyolite of the Eastern Snake River Plain volcanic field by extreme fractional crystallization of olivine tholeiite

Rhyolites occur as a subordinate component of the basalt-dominated Eastern Snake River Plain volcanic field. The basalt-dominated volcanic field spatially overlaps and post-dates voluminous late Miocene to Pliocene rhyolites of the Yellowstone–Snake River Plain hotspot track. In some areas the basalt lavas are intruded, interlayered or overlain by ~15 km3 of cryptodomes, domes and flows of high-silica rhyolite. These post-hotspot rhyolites have distinctive A-type geochemical signatures including high whole-rock FeOtot/(FeOtot+MgO), high Rb/Sr, low Sr (0.5–10 ppm) and are either aphyric, or contain an anhydrous phenocryst assemblage of sodic sanidine ± plagioclase + quartz > fayalite + ferroaugite > magnetite > ilmenite + accessory zircon + apatite + chevkinite. Nd- and Sr-isotopic compositions overlap with coeval olivine tholeiites (ɛNd = −4 to −6; 87Sr/86Sri = 0.7080–0.7102) and contrast markedly with isotopically evolved Archean country rocks. In at least two cases, the rhyolite lavas occur as cogenetic parts of compositionally zoned (~55–75% SiO2) shield volcanoes. Both consist dominantly of intermediate composition lavas and have cumulative volumes of several 10’s of km3 each. They exhibit two distinct, systematic and continuous types of compositional trends: (1) At Cedar Butte (0.4 Ma) the volcanic rocks are characterized by prominent curvilinear patterns of whole-rock chemical covariation. Whole-rock compositions correlate systematically with changes in phenocryst compositions and assemblages. (2) At Unnamed Butte (1.4 Ma) the lavas are dominated by linear patterns of whole-rock chemical covariation, disequilibrium phenocryst assemblages, and magmatic enclaves. Intermediate compositions in this group resulted from variable amounts of mixing and hybridization of olivine tholeiite and rhyolite parent magmas. Interestingly, models of rhyolite genesis that involve large degrees of melting of Archean crust or previously consolidated mafic or silicic Tertiary intrusions do not produce observed ranges of Nd- and Sr-isotopes, extreme depletions in Sr-concentration, and cogenetic spectra of intermediate rock compositions for both groups. Instead, least-squares mass-balance, energy-constrained assimilation and fractional crystallization modeling, and mineral thermobarometry can explain rhyolite production by 77% low-pressure fractional crystallization of a basaltic trachyandesite parent magma (~55% SiO2), accompanied by minor (0.03–7%) assimilation of Archean upper crust. We present a physical model that links the rhyolites and parental intermediate magmas to primitive olivine tholeiite by fractional crystallization. Assimilation, recharge, mixing and fractional melting occur to limited degrees, but are not essential parts of the rhyolite formation process.

Glacial refugium of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel in northeastern Siberia

One of the most glowing representatives of the Kolyma flora [1], ''Pinus pumila'' (Pall.) Regel (Japanese stone pine), is a typical shrub in larch forests of the northern Okhotsk region, basins of the Kolyma and Indigirka rivers, and high-shrub tundra of the Chukchi Peninsula. It also forms a pine belt in mountains above the forest boundary, which gives way to the grass-underbrush mountain tundra and bald mountains. In the southern Chukchi Peninsula, ''Pinus pumila'' along with ''Duschekia fruticosa'' (Rupr.) Pouzar and ''Betula middendorffii'' Trautv. et C. A. Mey form trailing forests transitional between tundra and taiga [2]. Pinus pumila pollen, usually predominating in subfossil spore-and-pollen spectra of northeastern Siberia, is found as single grains or a subordinate component (up 2-3%, rarely 10%) in spectra of lacustrine deposits formed during the last glacial stage (isotope stage 2) in the Preboreal and Boreal times of the Holocene. Sometimes, its content increases to 15-22% in spectra of lacustrine deposits synchronous to the last glacial stage near the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk [3], evidently indicating the proximity of Japanese stone pine thickets.

Promoting an endogenous approach to education at the local community level

A major postulate of this paper is that education is a subordinate component in a larger system of societies’ development. This means that any educational policy for any country should stem from a long‐term strategy to support this aim. The main focus of the study that this paper is based on is to develop a theoretical framework that identifies an educational model which would support endogenous development at the local community level. This framework is ‘indigenous community‐based education’. It is analysed in terms of its indigenous features and sharing applications, with reference to actual experiences of communities who have undertaken this type of programme.

ECG SIGNAL COMPRESSION USING COMBINED MODIFIED DISCRETE-COSINE AND DISCRETE-WAVELET TRANSFORMS

A new hybrid two-stage electrocardiogram (ECG) signals compression method based on the Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is proposed. The ECG signal is partitioned in blocks and the MDCT is applied to each block to decorrelate the spectral information. Then, the DWT is applied to each MDCT block of the signal. Removing spectral redundancy is achieved by compressing the subordinate components more than the dominant components. The resulting wavelet coefficients are then threshold and compressed using energy packing and binary-significant map coding technique for storage space saving. Experimenting on an ECG records from the MIT-BIH database is performed with various combinations of the MDCT and wavelet filters at different transformation levels, and quantization intervals. The decompressed signals are evaluated using percentage root mean square error (PRD) and zero-mean root mean square error (PRD1) measures. The results showed that the proposed method provides low bit-rate and high quality of the reconstructed signal. It offers a compressed ratio (CR) in between 12.6 and 21.5 average PRD of 5.89%, which would be suitable for most monitoring and diagnoses applications. Experiments with ECG signals used in results from the literature showed that the proposed method compares favorably with various state-of-the-art ECG compressors.

Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics (2nd edition)

Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics (2nd edition)

Structural geology of the proposed site area for a high-level radioactive waste repository, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Geologic mapping and fracture studies have documented the fundamental patterns of joints and faults in the thick sequence of rhyolite tuffs at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed site of an underground repository for high-level radioactive waste. The largest structures are north-striking, block-bounding normal faults (with a subordinate left-lateral component) that divide the mountain into numerous 1–4-km-wide panels of gently east-dipping strata. Block-bounding faults, which underwent Quaternary movement as well as earlier Neogene movement, are linked by dominantly northwest-striking relay faults, especially in the more extended southern part of Yucca Mountain. Intrablock faults are commonly short and discontinuous, except those on the more intensely deformed margins of the blocks. Lithologic properties of the local tuff stratigraphy strongly control the mesoscale fracture network, and locally the fracture network has a strong influence on the nature of intrablock faulting. The least faulted part of Yucca Mountain is the north-central part, the site of the proposed repository. Although bounded by complex normal-fault systems, the 4-km-wide central block contains only sparse intrablock faults. Locally intense jointing appears to be strata-bound. The complexity of deformation and the magnitude of extension increase in all directions away from the proposed repository volume, especially in the southern part of the mountain where the intensity of deformation and the amount of vertical-axis rotation increase markedly. Block-bounding faults were active at Yucca Mountain during and after eruption of the 12.8–12.7 Ma Paintbrush Group, and significant motion on these faults postdated the 11.6 Ma Rainier Mesa Tuff. Diminished fault activity continued into Quaternary time. Roughly half of the stratal tilting in the site area occurred after 11.6 Ma, probably synchronous with the main pulse of vertical-axis rotation, which occurred between 11.6 and 11.45 Ma. Studies of sequential formation of tectonic joints, in the context of regional paleo-stress studies, indicate that north- and northwest-striking joint sets formed coevally with the main faulting episode during regional east-northeast–west-southwest extension and that a prominent northeast-striking joint set formed later, probably after 9 Ma. These structural analyses contribute to the understanding of several important issues at Yucca Mountain, including potential hydrologic pathways, seismic hazards, and fault-displacement hazards.

Geochemistry of basalts from Manda Hararo, Ethiopia: LREE-depleted basalts in Central Afar

Major, trace element and isotopic (Sr, Nd and O) data are presented for a series of Quaternary basalts from the Manda Hararo Rift in the Afar depression of Ethiopia. Two types of basalts were erupted. The first and most abundant was a light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched type (La n /Sm n =1.5–3.0) with a restricted range in 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios from 0.70362 to 0.70373. These basalts display homogeneous 143Nd/ 144Nd ratios ( ε Nd=+5.2) and are comparable to those reported for the other Quaternary volcanics from Afar suggesting the involvement of similar mantle sources. More interestingly, the δ 18O values vary significantly between +5.15‰ and +6.1‰ and are strongly correlated with the Ta/Th ratios. It is proposed that this may be due to contamination by hydrothermally altered gabbroic cumulates. The second type of basalt is represented by the rare occurrence of LREE-depleted basalts, which are chemically and isotopically distinct from the N-MORB erupted by the nascent oceanic ridges of the Red Sea and the Aden Gulf. They display small positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*=1.03–1.08) and have high Ba/Rb and Sr/Ce ratios. Such anomalies have been previously reported for the strongly LREE-depleted olivine tholeiites and picrites from Iceland (e.g. [J. Geophys. Res. 98 (1993) 15803]) and in one Oligocene basalt from the Ethiopian Plateau [Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63 (1999) 2263]. Trace element, Sr and Nd isotope systematics suggest the involvement of a discrete but minor LREE-depleted component in the genesis of these basalts. The latter is not depleted MORB mantle but is possibly an intrinsic part of the plume. By analogy with the Icelandic case, we tentatively propose that this subordinate component could be a remnant of an old recycled oceanic lithosphere.

Internal orientalism in America: W.J. Cash’s The Mind of the South and the spatial construction of American national identity

This article is an attempt to establish a framework for investigating the spatial constructionof national identity, using the case of the US. The concept of internal orientalism is used toanalyze representations of the South as an internal spatial “other” in the US and to suggest a link between these representations and the construction of a privileged national identity. While scholars have explored the role of internal othering in the production of national identities, these studies have either ignored space or treated it as a subordinate component. I argue forthe utility of considering the primacy of space (in the sense of the imagined space of a region within the state) in the construction of national identity. Through an analysis of the influentialbook The Mind of the South I attempt to discern the relationship between the identity of the South and that of America. Portrayals of the South such as Cash’s denote the South as the repository of a set of negative characteristics (such as poverty, racism, violence, and backwardness), and I argue that as a result, these undesirable traits are excised from the national identity. According to this argument, the geographic ideas “America” and “the South”are opposite poles of a binary, and the identity of one cannot be understood except as linkedto the identity of the other; therefore, representations of a degenerate South inform an exalted national identity.

Sedimentologic-magnetic record of western Pangean climate in upper Paleozoic loessite (lower Cutler beds, Utah)

Sedimentologic, pedologic, and magnetic data within the upper Paleozoic lower Cutler beds of the southwestern Paradox basin (Utah) record high- and low-frequency climate changes that operated at equatorial latitudes of western Pangea. The lower Cutler beds consist of ∼250 m of lithified eolian silt (loessite) and marine-reworked and fluvially reworked loessite, with abundant intercalated paleosols comprising Protosols, Argillisols, and Calcisols. The evolution from loessite and marine-reworked loessite with abundant Calcisols in the lower section to loessite and fluvially reworked loessite with abundant Argillisols in the upper section records a long-term transition from semiarid conditions in western equatorial Pangea in latest Pennsylvanian time to seasonally wet conditions in earliest Permian time. This shift could record intensification of the Pangean megamonsoon and associated seasonal incursions of moisture-laden westerlies. Paleosols record relatively high-frequency fluctuations between drier, dustier glacials and wetter interglacials of the late Paleozoic. Bulk magnetic-susceptibility values in paleosols exhibit variations that track paleosol type and are significantly elevated relative to parent loessite, attributable to the occurrence of both ultrafine-grained (superparamagnetic) and coarser-grained (remanence-carrying) magnetite. This signature reflects in situ pedogenic production of ferrimagnetic phases and a subordinate component of allochthonous, magnetic dust influx during pedogenesis, analogous to processes inferred for the magnetic signature in the Pliocene–Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequences of, e.g., the Chinese Loess Plateau. Integration of sedimentologic, geochemical, and magnetic data further suggests that enhancement of magnetic susceptibility in loessitic paleosols of this section relates primarily to climatic conditions and secondarily to durations of pedogenesis. Whereas peak susceptibility values in mature paleosols (Argillisols and Calcisols) do not vary significantly through the study section, peak values for Protosols track facies evidence for wetter conditions through time. Accordingly, relative changes in paleosol susceptibility values can provide paleoclimatic information, but should be integrated with other data to fully assess the origin of the signature. Overall, our data document the applicability of analytical approaches used on recent loess to very ancient loessite; this result is significant, because loess commonly records high- resolution evidence of terrestrial climate and climate change.

Electrophysiology and behavior feedback of diamondback moth,Plutella xylostella, to volatile secondary metabolites emitted by Chinese cabbage

The volatiles, absorbed by Porapak Q and eluted by hexane, from Chinese cabbage,Brassica campestris chinesis (L.) Makino. var.communis Tsen et Lee, have been identified as allyl isothiocyanate, Z-3-hexenyl acetate, 3,7-dimethyl-l,3,6-octatriene, 2,5-hexanediol, Z-3-hexen-1-ol, nonanol, β-myrcene, α-pinene, E-2-hexen-1-ol, D-limonene, Z-3-hexenyl propanoate, linalool, geraniol, E-4-hexen-1-ol, Z-3-hexenyl isovalerate, α-terpinene, β-caryophyllene, 3-carene and α-caryophyllene, by their mass spectra and retention times in comparison with authentic samples. The first five chemicals are the main components. All components can elicite electroantennogram (EAG) responses of dia-mondback moth (DBM),Plutella xylostella, in which allyl isothiocyanate and C6alcohols and esters, i.e. Z-3-hexen-l-ol, E-2-hexen-1-ol, E-4-hexen-1-ol, Z-3-hexenyl isovalerate and 2,5-hexanediol elicite stronger EAG responses than other components, and EAG responses of female moths to them are slightly larger than those of male moths. However, EAG responses elicited by terpenes are smaller, and EAG responses from females to terpenes are smaller than those from males, but β-myrcene can evoke stronger EAG responses from both females and males. Volatiles from intact Chinese cabbage, allyl isothiocyanate, 2,5-hexanediol and Z-3-hexenyl isovalerate intensely cause DBM directional flying and landing in wind tunnel, in which volatiles from intact Chinese cabbage have the strongest activity, and the next is allyl isothiocyanate. Allyl isothiocyanate is more attractive to females than to males a bit. As for α-terpinene and other subordinate components, EAG and wind tunnel test make sure they have weak activity.

Palaeoecological Evidence for the Prehistoric Settlement of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, Southwest England. Part I: The Status of Woodland and Early Human Impacts

Bodmin Moor is one of the most complete and best preserved upland prehistoric landscapes in Britain. The field archaeology has been described in some detail, although on the basis of comparatively little excavation, but this has nevertheless been used to generate hypotheses concerning the nature and timing of human settlement and impacts on the Moor. In contrast, there has been relatively little palaeoenvironmental work, due to a perceived lack of suitable deposits. These two articles present new palynological data from a series of recently discovered undisturbed profiles. This first paper describes the physical and archaeological settings of the sites and discusses the nature of the early Holocene vegetation on the Moor. Although previous work has suggested a dominance of open moorland throughout the Holocene, the two high-altitude (280m OD) profiles presented here show that dense woodland dominated by Corylus avellana and Quercus was present until around 6500 BP and probably extended to the very highest points of the Moor. Other taxa, such as Ulmus, Betula, and Tilia cordata, were also subordinate components of the vegetation. Alnus glutinosa became established later, possibly after disturbance to the vegetation by human activity, although the nature and extent of Mesolithic disturbance to the vegetation is unclear. Thus, the early Holocene vegetation of the Moor was not predominantly open heath or grassland as has previously been assumed, but more probably a dense cover of hazel and oak woodland.

Environmental conservation and restoration ecology: two facets of the same problem

Abstract. Restoration ecology has often been regarded as a subordinate component of conservation biology and yet the two disciplines differ from each other. Conservation aims at staving off extinction, i.e. preserving ecological structures and services which still exist, however endangered they may be. On the other hand, the principal objective of restoration is re-building ecological structures and services that have been destroyed. The most distinct focus of conservation is on population response to exploitation, whereas restoration is principally concerned with over-exploited sites and landscapes in which communities/ecosystems are to be re-built. Conservation aims at preserving as many species as possible; on the other hand, the biodiversity approach in restoration may be addressed on three levels viz. 1) initial species diversity, 2) post-restoration increase of diversity via spontaneous species immigration, and 3) age-state diversity of developing plant cover. The conceptual framework in conservation biology differs from that in restoration ecology. The two basic paradigms used in conservation biology are 1) small-population paradigm and 2) declining-population paradigm, and one of its useful concepts is population viability assessment (PVA). The two principal paradigms used in restoration ecology are 1) nature-in-balance paradigm and 2) nature-in-flux paradigm. Interfaces between conservation and restoration may be recognized when e.g., recovery strategies for threatened species include habitat/ecosystem restoration, or when population processes in non-threatened species are studied to verify their usefulness as restoration material. Integration of species and ecosystem approaches is already recognizable in ecology. It is to be hoped that in future conservation and restoration become integrated components of ecosystem management, but for the time being they remain two different facets of the same problem which is the negative human impact upon environment.

Provenance and tectonic implications of Palaeoproterozoic (c. 1740 Ma) quartz porphyry clasts in the basal Old Red Sandstone (Lilljeborgfjellet Conglomerate Formation) of northwestern Svalbard's Caledonides

The Lilljeborgfjellet Conglomerate Formation composes the lower part of the alluvial Siktefjellet Group of northwestern Spitsbergen's Old Red Sandstone succession. Siktefjellet strata are of late Silurian or early Devonian age, but lack precise age-diagnostic fossils. They are unconformably overlain by conglomerates and sandstones of the Red Bay Group, which contain a well established fish fauna of Lochkovian age. The Lilljeborgfjellet Conglomerate rests with a major unconformity on high-grade (with eclogites) schists and gneisses, with associated corona gabbros and granitic gneisses. Previous isotope-age studies have shown that these igneous rocks yield U/Pb ages of c. 950 Ma, and that the eclogite facies metamorphism may be of Caledonian or late Neoproterozoic age. The high P/high T rocks are intercalated with and overlain by schists affected only by Caledonian amphibolite facies metamorphism, recorded by 40Ar/39Ar and Rb/Sr cooling ages of 400–430 Ma.In the Lochkovian Red Bay Group of the Raudfjorden Graben, two horizons of tuffites occur, interbedded with sandstones. New studies of eight zircons from these volcanic rocks have provided single-zircon lead-evaporation ages of c. 950 and c. 1350 Ma; one yielded 440 Ma. All these zircons are probably derived from the underlying basement rocks, the ages being significantly older than the Devonian host strata (c. 410 Ma).The clasts in the Lilljeborgfjellet Conglomerate are generally angular to subrounded and derived locally from the underlying high-grade metamorphic complex. A subordinate (usually less than 1%, but up to about 10%) component of the clasts is a quartz porphyry that is not known in the exposed bedrock anywhere in northwestern Spitsbergen. The quartz porphyries are better rounded than the other clasts; however, the maximum diameter reaches 1.5 metres, indicating that transport distances are unlikely to have exceeded a few kilometres. Three quartz porphyry boulders have been dated by the single-zircon lead-evaporation method and shown to be of Palaeoproterozoic age, yielding ages of 1735±4, 1736±5 and 1739±5 Ma that have not previously been detected in the northwestern part of Svalbard's Caledonides.The quartz porphyry clasts show no evidence of the widespread high-grade tectonothermal activity of Mesoproterozoic and early Palaeozoic age that influenced northwestern Spitsbergen. It is therefore concluded that the most probable source of these clasts lies to the east in the unexposed basement beneath the Old Red Sandstones of the Andrèeland–Dicksonland Graben. The Lilljeborgfjellet quartz porphyry clasts are closely similar in age to the granitic rocks of Ny Friesland. Whereas the latter were subject to Caledonian high amphibolite facies metamorphism, the quartz porphyry clasts have only been affected by a low greenschist facies overprint. Nevertheless, the similarity in age suggests an affinity to Ny Friesland and it is proposed here that the Breibogen–Bockfjorden Fault defines the most important boundary between Svalbard's Caledonian terranes.

Malaysia: Challenges and Upsets in Politics and Other Contestations

Towards 1996 As 1995 approached its end, many Malaysia watchers might have been led by several factors to expect the year 1996 to be full of political excitement. To begin with, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's attempt to replace Osman Aroff with Sanusi Junid as the Menteri Besar of Kedah had reached an impasse when Osman Aroff pointedly refused to resign from his post. That impasse coincided with the failure of some of Mahathir's staunchest allies in his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to gain control of their divisions in the state party structure. It hovered like a prelude to further and desperate manoeuvering by the parties to the conflict. In addition, UMNO was due to hold its triennial party election in late 1996. Already there had been persistent rumours of impending battles for high positions in the party hierarchy as a result of the break-up of the triumvirate of party vice-presidents assembled by Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, when he successfully challenged then UMNO Deputy President, Ghafar Baba, in 1993. Two subordinate component parties of Malaysia's ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional ? the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) ?were also scheduled to hold their party elections in 1996. For the MCA, there was the possibility of contests for high party positions, although the party was not expected to repeat the MCA's torridly divisive experience of the mid-1980s. But equally as 1995 came to an end there were at least three fundamental reasons why it would have been quite safe for anyone to predict that 1996 would be a staid year for mainstream Malaysian politics. First, the April 1995 general election had resulted in such a huge triumph for the Barisan Nasional, and had so depleted the strength of the opposition parties that the latter were unlikely to trouble the ruling coalition (at any rate not until the next general election). Second, the 1995 UMNO General Assembly had resolved not to accept any contest for the party's presidency and deputy presidency in the party election of the following year. That resolution effectively

Lanthanide Geochemistry and Fluid Inclusion Peculiarities of the Fluorite from the Barite Deposits South of Kresevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Strata-bound barite deposits occur in Devonian dolomites, situated in the Mid-Bosnian Palaeozoic Schist Mountains. These contain barite as the main ore mineral (5.9 wt% SrSO4 on average and d34S= +8.3‰) which comprises 90-99 wt% of the bulk ores. The subordinate components are calcite, fluorite, Hg-Sb-tetrahedrite, pyrite and quartz. Analysis of REE by INAA revealed an extremely low content of lanthanides (1.584 ppm), negative Eu anomalies (Eu3+/Eu+ = 0.7398), and (Tb)N/(La)N = 6.2 indicating late-stage mineralization. Primary fluid inclusions show a uniform number of infilling phases (L+V+S), and persistent volume ratio. This indicates homogeneity of the hydrothermal ore-forming fluids and an absence of boiling phenomena at the time of fluorite formation. Th is between 200° and 310°C, with a distinctive maximum at 250°C. Tfm -20.3°C predominates but careful examinations of the early melting behaviour of the inclusions warrants the existence of Tfm -51°C, and the presence of CaCl2. High salinity between 25 and 26 wt% eq. NaCl was determined from the hydrohalite melting temperature (Tmh). Some additional daughter minerals are also present. Fluorite, barite and calcite formed from the high saline waters probably originated by mixing of heated hydrothermal fluids with the highly evolved post-Variscan Upper Permian formation waters. This is supported by the study of the isotopic composition of the carbon, oxygen and sulphur of the paragenetic carbonates and sulphides.