Western South Research Articles

Eddy variability east of Madagascar

A strong but variable western boundary current flows south along the east coast of Madagascar, and at the island's southern end it interacts with eddies propagating zonally from the east. These two routes of variability are compared using altimetric sea-surface-height data and dynamic height from a high-resolution numerical model. The effects on biological productivity are also discussed.

A taxonomic revision and morphological variation within Eucalyptus series Subulatae subseries Decussatae and Decurrentes (Myrtaceae) of Australia

Morphological variation within Eucalyptus series Subulatae subseries Decussatae and Decurrentes was assessed by adult and seedling characteristics for 321 individuals representing 91 populations from across the broad geographical distribution of both the subseries. All previously recognised taxa from the subseries are included. Based on examination of adult and seedling morphology and phenetic analyses of morphological variation, eleven taxa (eight species) are recognised within E. subser. Decussatae. Adult morphology is most important in distinguishing taxa in this subseries, although seedling characters are also useful discriminators of some taxa, most notably E. aspersa and E. yalatensis. The previously recognised E. eucentrica is weakly distinguished from E. socialis, and E. socialis s.l. (i.e. including E. eucentrica) forms four adjacent groups in ordination analyses based on adult characters and adult and seedling characters combined. Four subspecies of E. socialis are recognised. Eucalyptus socialis subsp. viridans Nicolle subsp. nov. is described to accommodate green-leaved populations of E. socialis from the Peninsulas and southern Murray Mallee regions in South Australia. Eucalyptus socialis subsp. victoriensis Nicolle subsp. nov. is described to accommodate coarse-leaved, budded and fruited populations of E. socialis from the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia and South Australia. A new combination is also made [E. socialis subsp. eucentrica (L.A.S. Johnson & K.D. Hill) Nicolle comb. nov.]. Based on the examination of variation in adult and seedling morphology and phenetic analyses of morphological variation, 11 or 12 taxa within E. subser. Decurrentes are recognised. Eucalyptus transcontinentalis subsp. semivestita is considered to be synonymous with E. moderata and the circumscription of this species is greatly modified. A new taxonomy for both the subseries is presented, based on extensive field, seedling and herbarium examination of all taxa in the series and phenetic analyses. Descriptions and keys to the taxa within the subseries are presented.

An approach to delivering sustainable teacher development in large science classes

The research reported here is the first stage of monitoring the sustainability of the ‘Teaching Science to Large Classes Project’. This project has been introducing teachers, in the Western Cape, South Africa, to paper and pencil ‘Translation Activities’ (TAs) as a strategy for learning science process skills within the new South African Outcomes Based Education curriculum. By January 2001, 24 sets of TAs complete with teachers' guidance notes had been produced and compiled into four Learning Area Programmes suitable for a complete year of work in the Senior Phase. Two thousand booklets of this resource were reproduced by the Western Cape Education Department and distributed to all primary and secondary schools during a series of training workshops. This paper reports, survey and interview data monitoring the uptake by teachers of this provision. The appropriateness of the intervention and modes of dissemination are discussed in the context of an evolutionary model of teacher development and in relation to future sustainability of the innovation.

LINKING BASEMENT AND BASIN FILL: IMPLICATIONS FOR HYDROCARBON PROSPECTIVITY IN THE OTWAY BASIN REGION

Since the offshore discoveries of economic gas accumulations at Geographe and Thylacine, the Otway Basin has become the focus of an exploration resurgence. Its proximity to major markets ensures the discoveries will be commercially valuable. The latest successes in the basin are mainly due to modern 3D-seismic techniques. While the upper sedimentary succession has been imaged at high resolution, details of the deeper successions, however, remained obscure.An integrated study of magnetic, gravimetric, bathymetric and deep seismic data-sets has outlined the way that pre-existing basement fractures controlled much of the later basin-evolution, the structural style and the distribution of hydrocarbon bearing structures.The Otway Basin formed by the profound interaction between crustal fabric in the Proterozoic and Palaeozoic basement and the extensional stresses during Gondwana break-up. Overall, three different rift systems can be distinguished:Early ENE-trending Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifts are an extension of the E-W rift system in Western Australia and South Australia, Early WNW Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifts are connected to the ENE set and include the western Otway Basin east of the Robe Trough and the Torquay Sub-basin, and Early Cretaceous NNW transtensional rifts in the southern part of the Shipwreck Trough. These control the La Bella, Thylacine and Geographe discoveries, all of which overlie the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Selwyn Block.Within these rift systems, the Jurassic to Cretaceous rifts along the continental shelf break coincide with the northern edge of the Voluta Trough, whilst the mid-slope rifts are part of the deep Voluta Trough and were possibly generated during the Late Cretaceous.Although the potential field data do not directly delineate hydrocarbon accumulations, when integrated with other data they provide powerful tools for exploration. For instance, it is possible to map the distribution of Paleocene channels that overlie the basement and represent likely reservoir facies, while data integration with palaeoenvironmental interpretations can highlight areas in which source rock facies developed.Regionally, the way the rifts have formed with respect to the basement fabric suggests that the dominant extension direction in the basin was N to NNW. Integrating the interpretation with regional studies in the western Tasmanian region supports the proposition that the western part of the south Tasman Rise was once the outer part of the upper plate adjacent to the deepwater parts of the Otway Basin SW of Cape Otway.

Existence of karsts into silicated non-carbonated crystalline rocks in Sahelian and Equatorial Africa, hydrogeological implications

Various cavities studied in western Niger and South Cameroon show the existence of important karstic phenomena into metagabbros and gneisses. These large-sized caves resulted from generalized dissolution of silicate formations in spite of their low solubility. Karstification is produced by deep hydrous transfer along lithological discontinuities and fracture net works. The existence of such caves has major implications in geomorphology, under either Sahelian and Equatorial climate, and in hydrogeology and water supply, particularly in the Sahel area

The Third Way diffusion of social democracy: Western Europe and South Africa compared

The article argues that there are a great many parallels between the South African ANC (African National Congress) and the European Third Way social democrats, both in principle and in praxis. While there are obvious differences in terms of levels of economic activity, human and industrial development, the size and scope of the welfare state, in terms of the principles driving social and economic policy there is a great deal of overlap and compatibility. We suggest that the Third Way is a response to a rapidly changing international environment that has limited the ability of governments to affect social and economic policy, as well as an expression of the art of the possible given philosophical commitments to the principles of equality, liberty and solidarity under conditions of uncertainty.

EA WM-Related Air-Sea-Land Interaction and the Asian Summer Monsoon Circulation

Based on the data analysis, this study further explores the characteristics of East Asian winter monsoon (hereafter, EAWM, for brevity) as well as the related air-sea-land system, and illustrates how and to what degree anomalous signals of the subsequent Asian summer monsoon are rooted in the preceding EAWM activity. We identified an important air-sea coupled mode, i.e., the EAWM mode illustrated in Section 3. In cold seasons, strong EAWM-related air-sea two-way interaction is responsible for the development and persistence of the SSTA pattern of EAWM mode. As a consequence, the key regions, i.e., the western Pacific and South China Sea (hereafter, SCS, for brevity), are dominated by such an SSTA pattern from the winter to the following summer. In the strong EAWM years, the deficient snow cover dominates eastern Tibetan Plateau in winter, and in spring, this anomaly pattern is further strengthened and extended to the northwestern side of Tibetan Plateau. Thus, the combined effect of strong EAWM-related SSTA and Tibetan snow cover constitutes an important factor in modulating the Asian monsoon circulation. The active role of the EAWM activity as well as the related air-sea-land interaction would, in the subsequent seasons, lead to: 1) the enhancement of SCS monsoon and related stronger rainfall; 2) the northward displacement of subtropical high during Meiyu period and the related deficient rainfall over Meiyu rainband; 3) above-normal precipitation over the regions from northern Japan to northeastern China in summer; 4) more rainfall over the Arabian Sea and Northeast India, while less rainfall over southwest India and the Bay of Bengal. The strong EAWM-related air-sea interaction shows, to some degree, precursory signals to the following Asian summer monsoon. However, the mechanism for the variability of Indian summer monsoon subsequent to the strong EAWM years remains uncertain.

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Book Review: Paths toward democracy: the working class and elites in western Europe and South America

Book Review: Paths toward democracy: the working class and elites in western Europe and South America

Ruth Berins Collier: Paths Toward Democracy. The Working Class and Elites in Western Europe and South America

Ruth Berins Collier: Paths Toward Democracy. The Working Class and Elites in Western Europe and South America

Students and independent midwifery practice in Australia.

The use of the term 'independent' in this paper refers to midwifery practice in which the midwife acts as primary caret, through pregnancy, birth and thereafter, and takes professional responsibility including attendance at the birth. In most States and Territories that usuaUy means homebirth, or i f hospital is needed the midwife accompanies the woman transferring to hospital. At this point the independent midwife may be expected to assume the rote of support person. In Western Australia and South Australia there is public health funding available for a Limited number of midwife-attended births, most of which are planned homebirths. Where there is no public funding the woman engages a midwife in private practice and pays an agreed sum. It is the absence of funding for midwife primary care, either in the public or private health systems, that restricts access to this option for women, and effectively prevents many midwives from acting as independent primary caregivers.

Elites, Democracy, and Market Reforms in Latin America

Collier, Ruth. Paths Toward Democracy: The Working Class and Elites in Western Europe and South America. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 242 pages; hardcover $49.95, paperback $17.95. Dominguez, Jorge I., ed. Technopols: Freeing Politics and Markets in Latin America in the 1990s. University Park: Penn State University Press, 1997. Tables, index, 298 pages; hardcover $67.50, paperback $21.50. Durand, Francisco, and Eduardo Silva, eds. Organized Business, Economic Change, and Democracy in Latin America. Coral Gables: North-South Center Press, 1998. Index, 299 pages; paperback $24.95. Dogan, Mattei, and John Higley, eds. Elites, Crises, and the Origins of Regimes. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998. Index, 271 pages; hardcover $70, paperback $24.95. Higley, John, and Richard Gunther, eds. Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Index, 368 pages; hardcover $74.95, paperback $24.95.

The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture.

Journal Article The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture. By Neil Foley. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. xvi, 326 pp. Cloth, $29.95, ISBN 0-520-20723-8. Paper, $17.95, ISBN 0-520-20724-6.) Get access Tomas Almaguer Tomas Almaguer University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 86, Issue 4, March 2000, Pages 1743–1745, https://doi.org/10.2307/2567594 Published: 01 March 2000

Genetic structure of Quechua-speakers of the Central Andes and geographic patterns of gene frequencies in South Amerindian populations.

A sample of 141 Quechua-speaking individuals of the population of Tayacaja, in the Peruvian Central Andes, was typed for the following 16 genetic systems: ABO, Rh, MNSs, P, Duffy, AcP1, EsD, GLOI, PGM1, AK, 6-PGD, Hp, Gc, Pi, C3, and Bf. The genetic structure of the population was analyzed in relation to the allele frequencies available for other South Amerindian populations, using a combination of multivariate and multivariable techniques. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed independently for 13 alleles to identify patterns of gene flow in South America as a whole and in more specific geographic regions. We found a longitudinal cline for the AcP1*a and EsD*1 alleles which we interpreted as the result of an ancient longitudinal expansion of a putative ancestral population of modern Amerindians. Monmonnier's algorithm, used to identify areas of sharp genetic discontinuity, suggested a clear east-west differentiation of native South American populations, which was confirmed by analysis of the distribution of genetic distances. We suggest that this pattern of genetic structures is the consequence of the independent peopling of western and eastern South America or to low levels of gene flow between these regions, related to different environmental and demographic histories.

Carex mckittrickensis (Cyperaceae), a New Species from Western Texas

Carex mckittrickensis (Cyperaceae), a New Species from Western Texas

Book Review: Review Article: Slavery in the Western Hemisphere and South Africa: Legacy of European Colonialism: Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System, Slavery in South Africa: Captive Labor on the Dutch Frontier, Breaking the Chains: Slavery and its Legacy in the Nineteenth-Century Cape Colony, Breaking the Chains: Labour in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s

Book Review: Review Article: Slavery in the Western Hemisphere and South Africa: Legacy of European Colonialism: Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System, Slavery in South Africa: Captive Labor on the Dutch Frontier, Breaking the Chains: Slavery and its Legacy in the Nineteenth-Century Cape Colony, Breaking the Chains: Labour in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s

Orographically trapped disturbances in the lower atmosphere: Scale analysis and simple models

Orographically trapped disturbances (OTD) in the lower atmosphere propagate along sufficiently large mountain barriers and are trapped vertically by stable stratification and, laterally, by Coriolis effects against the mountains. Observed events have occurred along the coastal mountains of western North and South America, the Southern African coastal escarpment, the Australian Great Dividing Range, the Rockies and the Himalayas. Scale analysis indicates that, during generation, the fundamental parameters are the Rossby number and the ratio of the Rossby to the Froude number where the length scales in these numbers are the mountain half-width and height. Evaluation of these parameters indicates that only the Southern African case possibly remains in the quasi-geostrophic regime. For propagating disturbances, the observed asymmetry in the horizontal length scales implies that only the momentum balance in the across-mountain direction is likely to be geostrophic. In the along-mountain direction, the inertial, advective and frictional terms are also significant in the momentum balance.

Geomorphic/Tectonic Control of Sediment Discharge to the Ocean: The Importance of Small Mountainous Rivers

Analysis of data from 280 rivers discharging to the ocean indicates that sediment loads/yields are a log-linear function of basin area and maximum elevation of the river basin. Other factors controlling sediment discharge (e.g., climate, runoff) appear to have secondary importance. A notable exception is the influence of human activity, climate, and geology on the rivers draining southern Asia and Oceania. Sediment fluxes from small mountainous rivers, many of which discharge directly onto active margins (e.g., western South and North America and most high-standing oceanic islands), have been greatly underestimated in previous global sediment budgets, perhaps by as much as a factor of three. In contrast, sediment fluxes to the ocean from large rivers (nearly all of which discharge onto passive margins or marginal seas) have been overestimated, as some of the sediment load is subaerially sequestered in subsiding deltas. Before the proliferation of dam construction in the latter half of this century, rivers probably discharged about 20 billion tons of sediment annually to the ocean. Prior to widespread farming and deforestation (beginning 2000-2500 yr ago), however, sediment discharge probably was less than half the present level. Sediments discharged by small mountainous rivers are more likely to escape to the deep sea during high stands of sea level by virtue of a greater impact of episodic events (i.e., flash floods and earthquakes) on small drainage basins and because of the narrow shelves associated with active margins. The resulting delta/fan deposits can be distinctly different than the sedimentary deposits derived from larger rivers that discharge onto passive margins.

Relict back-arc basins of Eurasia and their hydrocarbon potentials

Large petroliferous basins in the continental interior are characterized by very thick sedimentary sequences. It is suggested that these are not intracratonic basins, but areas underlain by oceanic crust. These include the Western Siberian, Pre-Caspian, South Caspian, North and South Kara Basins of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Tarim, junggar and Qaidam Basins of China. The relict ocean basins are distinguished by their basement topography, by their magnetic signatures and by their elevated Moho. Their sedimentary history is distinguished by an abrupt subsidence, followed by isostastic subsidence under sedimentary load. Two circumstances have contributed to the genesis of giant hydrocarbon deposits in these basins: (1) the geochemical environment in those basins was at one time oxygen-deficient as they evolved from the open marine, through restricted marine to become inland alluvial basins; and (2) the sedimentary in-fill provide thick reservoir beds. Oil has accumulated in older structures, folds, faults, unconformities etc. on the margin of the basins, trapping early migrated hydrocarbons.

Generic Realignment and Synopsis of Subtribe Castillejinae (Scrophulariaceae-Tribe Pediculareae)

The taxonomy of subtribe Castillejinae, comprising approximately 250 hemiparasitic species principally of western North and South America, is re-evaluated on the generic and sub- generic levels. Based on studies of chromosome number, seed and seed coat morphology, inter- generic hybridizations, and floral morphology, six genera are recognized. The circumscription of three genera remains the same: Clevelandia (one species); Cordylanthus (18 species); Ophiocephalus (one species). The species of Orthocarpus, a highly heterogeneous and probably polyphyletic genus as constituted, are distributed to three genera: 1) Orthocarpus (with affinities to Cordylanthus) is restricted to the type section and subgenus; 2) sects. Castillejoides and Cordylanthoides of subg. Orthocarpus (closely allied to the Castilleja pilosa group) are placed in Castilleja; 3) subg. Triphysaria is raised to generic status. The genus Gentrya is given subgeneric status in Castilleja. The large and expanded genus Castilleja is subdivided into three subgenera: Colacus (with three sections); Gentrya; and Castilleja, which includes the majority of species in the genus. A phylogenetic chart depicts our view of evolutionary relationships within the subtribe. Keys to genera of subtribe Castillejinae and keys to subgenera and sections (excluding sections of subg. Castilleja) of genus Castilleja are provided. New combinations are proposed in Castilleja (two subgenera: Colacus and Gentrya, one section: Oncorhynchus, 11 species and 8 subspecies: C. ambigua subspp. humboldtiensis and insalutata, C.