XRD, INAA and Mössbauer characterisation of some antartic soil cores from Wood bay

Marine, lacustrine and terrestrial soil cores, sampled in a restricted area of Wood Bay in Antarctica, were characterised by X-ray diffraction, instrumental neutron activation analysis and 57Fe Móssbauer spectroscopy. The soils, formed from mechanical disgregation and weathering of rocks of volcanic origin from Mt. Melbourne, consist of alkaline feldspar, olivine, augitic clinopvroxene, and iron oxides such as haematite, goethite, and magnetite. Lacustrine and terrestrial soils are richer in clinopyroxene whereas marine soils are richer in olivine. This finding shows that the soils retain a content in olivine and clinopyroxene comparable to that found in the parent lava outcropping in the Mt. Melbourne volcano. The soils appeal' at the initial stage of weathering. Two main weathering effects are observed: 1) atmospheric oxygen determines the oxidation of the iron(Il) present in olivine and clinopyroxene and the neo-formed iron(III) is mainly retained in silicate sites as structural iron(lll). 2) A part of magnetite, present as a primary constituent of the volcanic rocks, is oxidised to bulk haematite and goethit

The inherent instability of national monetary power in the 21st century : the Triffin dilemma revisited

International audienceRecent research in mainstream economics, before as well as since the 2008 crisis, has stressed the importance of growing current account imbalances among countries, particularly the imbalances between the United States and some Asian countries. While some have seen in these imbalances proof of the efficient work done by liberalized financial markets, as well as a sign of the great dynamism of the US economy, others have warned about the possible threats to the global economic stability arising from potential speculation against the dollar. These latter writers see the international imbalances as a contemporary version of the Triffin Dilemma. In this paper, we argue that both views are mistaken because they both focus on net capital flows. Recent research suggests, on the contrary, the importance of international gross capital flows related to financial liberalization. However, our argument goes further in order to demonstrate that the analysis of the consequences of international gross capital flows were already at the core of the Triffin dilemma, as well as in wider debates about the inherent instability of the international monetary power of individual countries, before and after World War II