Late Glacial to Holocene relative sea-level change in Assynt, northwest Scotland, UK

Relative sea-level change (RSL), from the Late Glacial through to the late Holocene, is reconstructed for the Assynt region, northwest Scotland, based on bio- and lithostratigraphical analysis. Four new radiocarbon-dated sea-level index points help constrain RSL change for the Late Glacial to the late Holocene. These new data, in addition to published material, capture the RSL fall during the Late Glacial and the rise and fall associated with the mid-Holocene highstand. Two of these index points constrain the Late Glacial RSL history in Assynt for the first time, reconstructing RSL falling from 2.47 ± 0.59 m OD to 0.15 ± 0.59 m OD at c. 14,000–15,000 cal yr BP. These new data test model predictions of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), particularly during the early deglacial period which is currently poorly constrained throughout the British Isles. Whilst the empirical data from the mid- to late-Holocene to present matches quite well with the recent GIA model output, there is a relatively poor fit between the timing of the Late Glacial RSL fall and early Holocene RSL rise. This mismatch, also evident elsewhere in northwest Scotland, may result from uncertainties associated with both the global and local ice components of GIA models.</jats:p

Austerity, personalisation and the degradation of voluntary sector employment conditions

This qualitative study of two social care organisations, explores how public sector austerity and policies to personalise social care services through introducing individual budgets in the UK combine to reshape employment conditions. It further explores how these new market relations impact on staff morale and commitment. The individual case summaries reveal a remarkable degree of similarity in terms of employment outcomes, with social care workers experiencing an erosion of the standard employment relationship. Workers experience greater insecurity in areas of pay and conditions, working time, training and development, career prospects, along with work intensification. Worker morale appeared vulnerable as employees struggled to cope with worsening working conditions, but also expressed concerns with quality of care in an era of austerity

Ипотека морского судна в контексте восстановление отечественного торгового флота в Украине

Торговельне мореплавство – одна з тих галузей світової економіки, яка має найбільш швидкий розвиток у наш час. Перш за все, це пов’язано із прискоренням міжнародного товарообміну. Наростання обсягів міжнародної торгівлі, у якій прагне приймати участь також Україна, обумовлює необхідність адекватно швидкого зростання її транспортної галузі. Попри значний транспортний потенціал, що має Україна, багато в чому завдячуючи її географічному положенню, стан вітчизняного транспортного комплексу й, особливо, його морської ланки, потребує покращення. Це, в свою чергу, безпосередньо залежить від правового регулювання, що впорядковує такі процеси

Quaternary time scales for the Pontocaspian domain: interbasinal connectivity and faunal evolution

The Pontocaspian (Black Sea - Caspian Sea) region has a very dynamic history of basin development and biotic evolution. The region is the remnant of a once vast Paratethys Sea. It contains some of the best Eurasian geological records of tectonic, climatic and paleoenvironmental change. The Pliocene-Quaternary co-evolution of the Black Sea-Caspian Sea is dominated by major changes in water (lake and sea) levels resulting in a pulsating system of connected and isolated basins. Understanding the history of the region, including the drivers of lake level and faunal evolution, is hampered by indistinct stratigraphic nomenclature and contradicting time constraints for regional sedimentary successions. In this paper we review and update the late Pliocene to Quaternary stratigraphic framework of the Pontocaspian domain, focusing on the Black Sea Basin, Caspian Basin, Marmara Sea and the terrestrial environments surrounding these large, mostly endorheic lake-sea systems

Growing into participation? Influences on youth’s plans to engage socially or politically and their changes over time;

peer reviewedIn the social sciences, adolescents’ interest in social and political issues and their participation has been a subject of controversy. While there is an ongoing public debate about young people’s lack of political engagement, many social and political processes depend on participation. For this reason, we should consider whether and how young people get involved socially or politically and how important future participation is to them. In this study, we analysed whether young people in Vienna are politically or socially engaged and how different factors shape their aim of social and political participation for the future. Therefore, we used data from a five-wave panel study with young people in Vienna. At the beginning of the study period about 3000 respondents participated, the students were attending 8th grade at the Neue Mittelschule (the lower track of lower secondary school) in the 2017–2018 academic year and they were then surveyed annually over the next four years (2019–2022). For the analysis, we used cross-sectional data from the fourth wave (the survey year 2021) to explore the way in which young people considered their political and social engagement. In addition, we used longitudinal data from five waves of the panel survey (2018–2022) to determine how the subjective importance of social and political participation changes over time. Our results show that the different forms of social and political participation varied widely and, based on linear multilevel models with a repeated measurement design, we argue that while sociodemographic factors such as gender and social class are crucial for the youth’s social and political participation, engagement is also shaped by their family resources. In contrast to previous research findings, we found that the importance young people attach to engaging socially and politically decreases between the ages of 15 and 19 years. Our findings reveal new insights for achieving future social and political participation by young people. © 2023, The Author(s)

Upwelling couples chemical and biological dynamics across the littoral and pelagic zones of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa

We studied the effects of upwelling on nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics in the pelagic and littoral zones of Lake Tanganyika near Kigoma, Tanzania. During the dry season of 2004, a rise in the thermocline and sudden drop in surface water temperatures indicated a substantial upwelling event. Increases in concentrations of nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus, and silica in the surface waters occurred simultaneously after the temperature drop. Within days, chlorophyll a concentrations increased and remained elevated, while inorganic nutrient concentrations returned to preupwelling levels and organic nutrient concentrations peaked. We observed parallel temporal patterns of water temperature, nutrient concentrations, and phytoplankton chlorophyll in both the pelagic and the littoral zones, demonstrating that upwelling strongly affects the nearshore ecosystem as well as the pelagic zone. Concurrent records from 12 littoral sites indicated spatial variation in the timing, magnitude, and biological response to upwelling. There was no discernable latitudinal pattern in the timing of upwelling, suggesting that mixing did not result from a progressive wave. Our monitoring, as well as other multiyear studies, suggests that dry-season upwelling occurs during most years in northern Lake Tanganyika. The observed sensitivity of littoral nutrients and phytoplankton to upwelling suggests that reductions in upwelling due to global climate change could strongly affect the dynamics of the spectacular nearshore ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika, as has been proposed for the pelagic zone

Balancing renewable energy and river resources by moving from individual assessments of hydropower projects to energy system planning

As governments and non-state actors strive to minimize global warming, a primary strategy is the decarbonization of power systems which will require a massive increase in renewable electricity generation. Leading energy agencies forecast a doubling of global hydropower capacity as part of that necessary expansion of renewables. While hydropower provides generally low-carbon generation and can integrate variable renewables, such as wind and solar, into electrical grids, hydropower dams are one of the primary reasons that only one-third of the world’s major rivers remain free-flowing. This loss of free-flowing rivers has contributed to dramatic declines of migratory fish and sediment delivery to agriculturally productive deltas. Further, the reservoirs behind dams have displaced tens of millions of people. Thus, hydropower challenges the world’s efforts to meet climate targets while simultaneously achieving other Sustainable Development Goals. In this paper, we explore strategies to achieve the needed renewable energy expansion while sustaining the diverse social and environmental benefits of rivers. These strategies can be implemented at scales ranging from the individual project (environmental flows, fish passage and other site-level mitigation) to hydropower cascades to river basins and regional electrical power systems. While we review evidence that project-level management and mitigation can reduce environmental and social costs, we posit that the most effective scale for finding balanced solutions occurs at the scale of power systems. We further hypothesize that the pursuit of solutions at the system scale can also provide benefits for investors, developers and governments; evidence of benefits to these actors will be necessary for achieving broad uptake of the approaches described in this paper. We test this hypothesis through cases from Chile and Uganda that demonstrate the potential for system-scale power planning to allow countries to meet low-carbon energy targets with power systems that avoid damming high priority rivers (e.g., those that would cause conflicts with other social and environmental benefits) for a similar system cost as status quo approaches. We also show that, through reduction of risk and potential conflict, strategic planning of hydropower site selection can improve financial performance for investors and developers, with a case study from Colombia

Maritime Heritage in the Sultanate of Oman

With over 1700 km of coastline, the inhabitants of Oman have had a deep and enduring relationship with the sea for millennia. Located between the Arabian Gulf and the western Indian Ocean, its fishermen have relied on the sea for sustenance. Its mariners were involved in developing long-distance maritime trade from at least the Bronze Age and continued sailing the monsoonal trade routes well into the twentieth century. Periodically, its rulers have established maritime polities extending to Zanzibar and the Makran coast, creating sea-based migrations in the process. With such a rich and enduring seafaring past, it is therefore not surprising that the modern nation-state of Oman has had an active interest in studying and preserving its MUCH.This chapter explores the historical sources, archaeological finds and experimental activities that have allowed researchers to understand Oman’s maritime past and contribute to its current efforts to conserve and showcase its rich maritime connections

Spectral comparison of remote sensing reflectance in fishponds in the Legal Amazonia.

Remote sensing has emerged as a promising tool for environmental monitoring, offering a synoptic view, which contrasts with the time-consuming and costly in situ measurements. This study compares hyperspectral, multispectral, and broadband remote sensing data collected from fishponds in Palmas, Tocantins State, using a combination of field measurements, satellite imagery from PlanetScope SuperDove and smartphone applications called Hydrocolor, respectively. Results showed significant correlations between longer wavelength bands, across different datasets. However, weaker correlations in shorter wavelengths suggest the need for periodic adjustments, especially for lower-spectral-resolution sensors. Additionally, limitations such as cloud cover in satellite imagery highlight the importance of multi-sensor approaches, integrating satellite data with smartphone-based monitoring, to track small water bodies. The findings highlight the potential of citizen science in environmental management, although challenges related to data validation across platforms remain. Further studies are required to improve data integration and promote the adoption of emerging technologies in water monitoring

Atypical Forms of Employment in the Public Sector Are There Any?

The paper deals with various forms of atypical employment in the public sector that are widely neglected in existing research; its specific focus is on their development, scope, distribution and structural features. In the first part we break down the purely statistical category and differentiate between the disparate forms (part-time, marginal employment or minijobs, midijobs, fixed-term, agency work). In the second part we address the question if these forms are not only atypical, but also have to be classified as precarious. We distinguish various risks operative in the short, medium and long term (income, stability of employment and employability, pensions). Finally, we differentiate between employment in the private as well as the public sector and draw parallels and indicate specific differences in their development and situation. Our basic finding is that atypical forms of employment are also widespread in the public sector but are all in all less precarious than in the private sector. The distribution of individual forms shows major differences between both sectors whereas the over-all percentages are similar