Clash of pans: pan-Africanism and pan-Anglo-Saxonism and the global colour line, 1919–1945

The article demonstrates both conceptually and empirically that pan-Anglo-Saxonist knowledge networks reconstructed and reimagined an apparently de-racialised, scientific, sober and liberal world order that outwardly abandoned, but did not eradicate the twin phenomena of racism and imperialism. Rather the new liberal (imperial) internationalists, organised in newly formed “think tanks” such as Chatham House and the Council on Foreign Relations, and through their increasingly global elite networks, mounted a top-down battle for minds at home and in the wider world. Operating in state-private elite networks, they drove the movement to manage change and develop a new liberal world order particularly to contain pan-Africanists who combatted the domination and exploitation of Africans worldwide. More broadly, we indicate that the pragmatic response to the extremes of Nazi ideology and a countering movement from the cadres of Asian, African and African American intellectuals, anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles within the national and global context, forced the Anglo-centric elites to promote change, albeit limited

420,000 year assessment of fault leakage rates shows geological carbon storage is secure

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is routinely cited as a cost effective tool for climate change mitigation. CCS can directly reduce industrial CO2 emissions and is essential for the retention of CO2 extracted from the atmosphere. To be effective as a climate change mitigation tool, CO2 must be securely retained for 10,000 years (10 ka) with a leakage rate of below 0.01% per year of the total amount of CO2 injected. Migration of CO2 back to the atmosphere via leakage through geological faults is a potential high impact risk to CO2 storage integrity. Here, we calculate for the first time natural leakage rates from a 420 ka paleo-record of CO2 leakage above a naturally occurring, faulted, CO2 reservoir in Arizona, USA. Surface travertine (CaCO3) deposits provide evidence of vertical CO2 leakage linked to known faults. U-Th dating of travertine deposits shows leakage varies along a single fault and that individual seeps have lifespans of up to 200 ka. Whilst the total volumes of CO2 required to form the travertine deposits are high, time-averaged leakage equates to a linear rate of less than 0.01%/yr. Hence, even this natural geological storage site, which would be deemed to be of too high risk to be selected for engineered geologic storage, is adequate to store CO2 for climate mitigation purposes

In situ redeposition of trace metals mobilized by CO2-charged brines

Mobilization of contaminants by CO2-charged brines is one concern relating to injection of CO2 as part of carbon capture and storage projects. This study monitors the mobility of trace metals in an exhumed CO2-charged aquifer near the town of Green River, Utah (USA), where CO2-charged brines have bleached red sandstones, and concentrated trace metals at the bleaching reaction front. Mass balance calculations on the trace metal enrichments are used to calculate time-integrated fluid fluxes and show that a significant fraction of the metals mobilized by the CO2-rich brines are redeposited locally. A sequential extraction procedure on metal-enriched samples shows that these metals are incorporated into secondary carbonate and oxide phases which have been shown to grow at the CO2-promoted bleaching reaction front. We argue that while CO2-charged brines are capable of mobilizing trace metals, local metal redeposition implies that the potential for contamination of overlying freshwater aquifers is low

Uneven Power and the Pursuit of Peace: How Regional Power Transitions Motivate Integration. CES Working Paper, no. 150, 2007

This paper addresses two related puzzles confronting students of regional and international integration: Why do states willingly pool and delegate sovereignty within international institutions? What accounts for the timing and content of regional integration agreements? Most theories of integration suggest that states integrate in order to solve problems of incomplete information and reduce transaction costs and other barriers to economic growth. In contrast I argue that integration can serve to establish a credible commitment that rules out the risk of future conflict among states of unequal power. Specifically, I suggest that integration presents an alternative to preventive war as a means to preclude a rising revisionist power from establishing a regional hegemony. The implication is that it is not countries enjoying stable and peaceful relations that are most likely to pursue integration, but rather countries that find themselves caught in a regional security dilemma, which they hope to break out of by means of institutionalized cooperation. I evaluate this proposition against evidence from two historical cases of regional integration: the German Zollverein and the European Communities

Man-made versus natural CO2 leakage: a 400 k.y. history of an analogue for engineered geological storage of CO2

To evaluate sites for long-term geological storage of CO2 and optimize techniques for monitoring the fate of injected CO2, it is crucial to investigate potential CO2 migration pathways out of a reservoir and surface leakage magnitudes. For the first time, we calculate CO2 leakage rates and volumes from ancient fault-related travertines and from an abandoned borehole. U-Th–dated travertine along two faults near Green River, Utah (western United States), shows that leakage has occurred in this area for over 400 k.y. and has switched location repeatedly over kilometer-scale distances. One individual travertine was active for at least 11 k.y. Modern leakage is predominantly through the active Crystal Geyser, which erupts from an abandoned exploration well. Using age data and travertine volume, we calculate magnitudes and rates of CO2 emission. Fault-focused leakage volume is twice as great than diffuse leakage through unconfined aquifers. The leakage rate from a poorly completed borehole is 13 times greater than the long-term time averaged fault-focused leakage. Although magnitudes and rates of any leakage from future storage sites will be highly dependent on local geology and pressure regime, our results highlight that leakage from abandoned wells is likely to be more significant than through faults

The Management of Arable Land from Prehistory to the Present: Case Studies from the Northern Isles of Scotland

The arable soils from two multiperiod settlements were analyzed to identify changes in agricultural methods over time. The settlement middens were also analyzed to determine whether potential fertilizers were discarded unused. Results suggest that in the Neolithic period (~4000–2000 B.C. in the UK) the arable soils at Tofts Ness, Orkney, and Old Scatness, Shetland, were created by flattening and cultivating the settlements’ midden heaps in situ. The arable area at Tofts Ness was expanded in the Bronze Age (~2000–700 B.C. in the UK), and the new land was improved by the addition of ash, nightsoil, and domestic waste. Cultivation continued briefly after the fields were buried in windblown sand in the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, but by the Early Iron Age cultivation ceased and organic-rich material was allowed to accumulate within the settlement. By contrast, at Old Scatness, arable production was increased in the Iron Age (~700 B.C.–A.D. 550 in Scotland) by the intensive use of animal manures. The results indicate that during the lifespan of the two settlements the arable soils were fertilized to increase production, which was intensified over time

Dating and constraining leakage rates from a natural analogue for CO2 storage - the little grand wash and salt wash fault

Capture and Storage of CO2 could decrease global carbon emissions on short time scales. Leakage rates from geological formations are poorly constrained, and are therefore an unknown factor in CCS feasibility studies. Natural CO2 reservoirs in the Colorado Plateau, USA, are analogues for geological storage. In places CO2 has migrated to the surface along fault zones, forming CO2-charged springs and geysers. Recent drilling for oil and water has also provided rapid pathways for CO2 migration. Uranium-series dating of travertine mounds along two fault zones in Utah has provided insight to the timing and rates of leakage along these faults. A continuous record of leakage has been preserved over the last 315ka, with the oldest dated mound at 413ka. The position of leakage has switched through time, and individual pathways have been utilised more than once for flow. Combining dates with volume measurements from these mounds it is possible to calculate the rates and volumes of flow in individual pathways and the long-term time-averaged CO2 leakage rate for the entire system. The observation that leakage of CO2-rich groundwater from a fault can occur for hundreds of thousands of years has implications for geological storage of CO2