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Mathematical models of long-term peatland development have been produced to analyse peatland behaviour. However, existing models ignore the mechanical processes that have the potential to provide important feedback. Here, we propose a one-dimensional model, MPeat, that couples mechanical, ecological and hydrological processes via poroelasticity theory, which couples fluid flow and solid deformation. Poroelasticity formulation in the MPeat is divided into two categories, fully saturated and unsaturated. To validate this formulation, we compare numerical solutions of the fully saturated case with analytical solutions of Terzaghi's problem. Two groups of MPeat simulations are run over 6,000 years using constant and variable climate, and the results are compared to those of two other peat growth models, DigiBog and the Holocene Peat Model. Under both climatic conditions, MPeat generates the expected changes in bulk density, active porosity and hydraulic conductivity at the transition from the unsaturated to the saturated zone. The range of values of peat physical properties simulated by MPeat shows good agreement with field measurement, indicating plausible outputs of the proposed model. Compared to the other peat growth models, the results generated by MPeat illustrate the importance of poroelasticity to the behaviour of peatland. In particular, the inclusion of poroelasticity produces shallower water table depth, accumulates greater quantities of carbon and buffers the effect of climate changes on water table depth and carbon accumulation rates. These results illustrate the importance of mechanical feedbacks on peatland ecohydrology and carbon stock resilience.

Gaseous impurities, such as O2, are expected to be present within CO2 captured for storage. This could stimulate microbial activity in a geological CO2 storage site which has the potential to lead to operational issues such as injection well blockages, corrosion and oil souring. A series of experiments were carried out to examine the effect of 10 ppm and 100 ppm O2 in an anoxic (CO2 or N2) atmosphere on microbial communities and microbial gas production in laboratory scale experiments. Experiments inoculated with sulphate reducing bacteria enrichments were compared to uninoculated controls. The results show that H2S production is delayed in a CO2 atmosphere compared to the N2 atmosphere. 100 ppm O2 in CO2 resulted in a spike of H2S production as well as greater bacterial biomass when compared to the 10 ppm O2 in CO2 atmosphere. The inoculated N2 experiments showed similar patterns in H2S production and biomass regardless of O2 concentration. These results suggest that a concentration of O2 lower than 100 ppm in CO2 could reduce the potential for microbial growth and H2S production in CO2 storage sites. CH4 production was observed in some microcosms subsequent to H2S production, highlighting the potential for microbial methanogenesis in the in CCS reservoirs.

Maintenance and enhancement of peatland carbon storage is a major policy objective towards meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) targets. Management interventions can influence both the storage capacity and the vulnerability of the stock to climate-change induced increases in drought frequency and severity, and incidence of wildfires. Quantification of these interactions is vital in informing best management practice, but is also challenging, given the ephemeral nature of climatic extremes and the usual paucity of high-quality ground-based observations within an area of interest capable of providing the necessary pre-impact and control data.Following a dry and warm spell in spring 2019, a large wildfire burnt approximately >60 km2 of blanket bog and wet heath within the Flow Country peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland, North Scotland. While the Flow Country is a site of global significance currently under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage Site Status, it has also been substantially modified in places by drainage and notably forestry (670 km2) and is now undergoing rapid and large-scale restoration. Serendipitously, the fire scar impacted the whole range of land-uses and occurred in an area actively used for research, and therefore where some baseline datasets were available.The NERC funded FireBlanket project used this opportunity to investigate how land-uses interacted with wildfire in terms of 1) InSAR-derived “bog breathing” patterns exhibited during the 2018 drought 2) immediate and longer-term effects on vegetation communities 3) export and fate of organic carbon from land to ocean. By understanding how different management strategies of forestry and forest-to-bog restoration influence fire risk and damage, we hope to inform decision-making in the future.Our preliminary results show that in near-natural and restored (drain-blocked) blanket bogs, the drought of 2018 led to a rapid surface compression that maintained near-surface moisture until 2019, in turn reducing the severity of the wildfire. In drained and degraded blanket bogs, this mechanical feedback is absent, due to higher bulk density and differences in vegetation assemblages, notably reduced cover of Sphagnum mosses. In those areas, the 2018 drought led to a rapid and sustained loss of moisture in the upper peat layers, associated with higher burn severity and more pronounced fire damage on vegetation. Furthermore, while DOM concentrations increased post-fire in streams receiving water from all burnt areas compared to unburnt ones, the changes were more pronounced in catchments with man-made drains.Whilst further data processing and analysis is still underway, our study currently suggests that restoration is likely to increase wildfire resilience and reduce wildfire severity. When taking management decisions at the landscape scale, strategic re-wetting around vulnerable areas (e.g. highly degraded or undergoing forest-to-bog management leading to large volumes of brash on the ground) may help reduce the risks of occurrence of large catastrophic wildfires, and help minimise the carbon losses associated with these events.

Mathematical models of peatland growth have been developed for many purposes, including understanding the effect of past or future climate change on peatland carbon accumulation. This is important because peatland contains a vast amount of carbon and has a significant role in the global carbon cycle through carbon dioxide and methane exchange with the atmosphere. In general, the models produced so far suffer from the fact that the mechanical process has an essential role in the peatland carbon stock resilience because they only focus on ecohydrological feedback. We propose a one-dimensional mathematical model that includes ecological, hydrological, and mechanical feedback on the peatland through the poroelasticity concept, which coupling between fluid flow and solid deformation. The formulation is divided into two categories, fully saturated and unsaturated, to accommodate peatland characteristics. We compare the numerical solution of the fully saturated case with analytical solutions of Terzaghi’s problem for validation. We assume that peat is an elastic material with flat, impermeable, and stiff substrate properties. Based on the initial simulation results, we find that compression reduces the thickness of acrotelm, leading to the shorter residence time of plant litter, and consequently, higher cumulative carbon is obtained. Furthermore, mechanical deformation of the pore structure effectively maintains carbon stock in the peatland against climate change because it reduces water table depth fluctuations.

Peatland carbon may enter long-term storage in sedimentary basins preserved as either coal or lignite. To understand the process by which this happens requires extrapolation of our understanding of...

The Irish-born inhabitants of nineteenth-century Bristol have received no attention from historians, and the history of its nineteenth-century Catholicism has yet to be written. Andrew Carrick and John Addington Symonds, two leading Bristol doctors, who compiled a medical topography of the city in 1833, referred to ‘hordes of Irish adventurers’ living among Bristol’s poor and displaying a supremacy in the art of packing themselves into extremely exiguous accommodation. Communication between Ireland and Bristol substantially improved in the 1820s: regular steam packet services were instituted between Bristol |nd Cork. Dublin and Waterford in 1821. Since the Bristol Irish were relatively inconspicuous, it is far from easy to discover them. A glance at the very mixed registration district [no.330] of Clifton shows that it is easy to exaggerate the tendency of the Irish to live close to the harbour.

Peatlands are impacted by climate and land-use changes, with feedback to warming by acting as either sources or sinks of carbon. Expert elicitation combined with literature review reveals key drivers of change that alter peatland carbon dynamics, with implications for improving models. The carbon balance of peatlands is predicted to shift from a sink to a source this century. However, peatland ecosystems are still omitted from the main Earth system models that are used for future climate change projections, and they are not considered in integrated assessment models that are used in impact and mitigation studies. By using evidence synthesized from the literature and an expert elicitation, we define and quantify the leading drivers of change that have impacted peatland carbon stocks during the Holocene and predict their effect during this century and in the far future. We also identify uncertainties and knowledge gaps in the scientific community and provide insight towards better integration of peatlands into modelling frameworks. Given the importance of the contribution by peatlands to the global carbon cycle, this study shows that peatland science is a critical research area and that we still have a long way to go to fully understand the peatland-carbon-climate nexus.

The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A positive relationship is found between carbon accumulation and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season for mid- to high-latitude peatlands in both hemispheres. However, this relationship reverses at lower latitudes, suggesting that carbon accumulation is lower under the warmest climate regimes. Projections under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios indicate that the present-day global sink will increase slightly until around AD 2100 but decline thereafter. Peatlands will remain a carbon sink in the future, but their response to warming switches from a negative to a positive climate feedback (decreased carbon sink with warming) at the end of the twenty-first century.

Rapid population growth in South-East Asia has placed immense pressure upon lowland regions both to supply food and employment and space for residential, commercial and infrastructure development. This pressure has led to sites on tropical peatland previously considered unsuitable for development to be revisited. One such site, the KLIA2 terminal and runway, Kuala Lumpur International Airport which opened in May 2014 at a cost of 3.6 billion MYR has been beset by well documented subsidence problems. Coverage of the tropics by the Sentinel-1 satellite constellation presents an opportunity to monitor the ongoing subsidence at KLIA 2, identify potential knowledge gaps and help inform more sustainable infrastructure development in tropical peatland regions. Our results show that the ISBAS InSAR method produces reproducible ground deformation maps which can clearly identify the patterns of deformation across both urban infrastructure and adjacent rural plantations and tropical peat swamp. This is particularly well defined around the terminal building at KLIA-2 where different ground preparation and foundation design have resulted in stable terminal buildings and subsidence of surrounding pavement. Deformation is greatest in the runway area where alternate bands of uplift and subsidence presumably accompany the greatest loads associated with landing aircraft. In contrast, areas where peat replacement was the primary form of ground preparation, ground motion is stable, however this comes at high economic and environmental cost.

The Jurassic is an important period of global coal formation, including the development of several large coalfields in central Asia and northern China. Individual seams within these peatlands represent sustained periods of terrestrial carbon accumulation and a key environmental indicator attributed to this record is the rate of carbon accumulation. Determining the rate of carbon accumulation requires a measure of time contained within the coal and this study aimed at determining the rate via the identification of Milankovitch orbital cycles using spectral analysis. Spectral analyses of geophysical data from two thick coal seams, No. 43 (35.9 m) and No. 3 (13.2 m), of the Middle Jurassic of the southern Junggar coalfield were conducted to identify significant signals of variations in ash content. The results showed that the variations in ash content of the coal showed spatial cycles at 0.2, 0.7 and 1.1 m−1, which were interpreted to represent 123 ka (eccentricity), 37.1 ka (obliquity), and 21.2 ka (precession) orbital periodicities, respectively. Using this timeframe, the depositional time of the No. 43 and No. 3 coal seams were calculated to be 876–970 and 322–357 ka, respectively. In combination with an understanding of carbon loss during coalification, the carbon accumulation rates of these Middle Jurassic peatlands were calculated to be 58.6–64.9 and 60.3–66.8 g C m−2 a−1 for the No. 43 and No. 3 coal seams, respectively. Given that the net primary productivity ( NPP ) was 4.3 times the value of the carbon accumulation in a mid-latitude region of 40°–45°N, an NPP of 251.8–279.1 and 259.1–287.1 g C m−2 a−1 was calculated for the No. 43 and No. 3 coal seams, respectively. In the context of the same paleolatitude (40°–45°N) and peat type, the NPP values of the Middle Jurassic strata in the study area were higher than those of the peatlands of the Holocene and Permian, and were similar to the NPP values of Early Cretaceous peatlands. Considering the NPP of a peatland is predominantly controlled by atmospheric CO2 and O2 levels and temperature, the lower content of CO2 and an excessive O2 level in the temporal atmosphere would lead to a decrease in peatland NPP . Therefore, it is inferred that the CO2 level during the Middle Jurassic was higher than that of the icehouse Permian and Holocene periods, and it was similar to the CO2 level of the greenhouse Cretaceous period. The results are consistent with the global CO2 variation curve of Berner. In conclusion, Milankovitch orbital cycles calculated from geophysical logs can be used to infer the NPP of temporal peatlands during different geological periods, based on which the deep-time paleoclimates can be analyzed.

The first SHRIMP zircon U–Pb ages from coal beds close to the end-Permian mass extinction are reported from the C1 coal seam in the Yantang Mine in Laibin Town, Xuanwei County, eastern Yunnan Province. Zircons were extracted from kaolinite claystone layers, defined as tonsteins (volcanic ash deposits), in the sub-seam B1 and B3 of the coal seam C1. The U–Pb ages are 252.0 ± 2.3 Ma and 250.3 ± 2.1 Ma for the sub-seam B1 and B3, respectively. Within analytical uncertainties, these U–Pb ages include the time period of the onset of the mass extinction at 251.941 ± 0.037 Ma, which was obtained from the marine Meishan section in Zhejiang Province, ∼1600 km away from the Yantang Mine. These new ages represent not only the first and closest ages to the PTB mass extinction in terrestrial coal beds, but also ages from the nearest site to the Emeishan volcanoes investigated so far. Therefore these new data provide the most accurate stratigraphic horizon of terrestrial facies of the end-Permian extinction in South China. The Emeishan volcanoes were likely the source of volcanic ash in the coal seams at the Xuanwei County and broader areas in South China. Furthermore, the minerals and geochemistry characteristics of the C1 coal seam also implied the influences of contemporaneous volcanic activities. Keywords: PTB mass extinction, C1 coal seam, SHRIMP U–Pb isotope age, Xuanwei County, Yunnan Province

Pore structure and network configuration in shales greatly impacts physical processes important for hydrocarbon migration, methane extraction, gas storage, or carbon sequestration. The multi-scale nature of the porosity in shales presents significant challenges to its comprehensive and accurate characterisation. The under-used gas overcondensation technique can bridge characterisation of micropores, below the detection limit of mercury porosimetry and many imaging methods, to that of macroporosity undetected by conventional adsorption experiments. Further, gas sorption scanning curves revealed advanced condensation effects that allowed the probing of the inter-relation and juxtaposition of multi-scale porosities. It was found that the changeover period, from primarily clay to carbonaceous deposits in the Utica shale, was associated with growth in the disorder of the pore network over particular key length-scales highlighted by percolation processes in the gas overcondensation and scanning curves. Critical path theory suggests that the marked percolation knee that developed in overcondensation data at the depositional transition would identify a particular pore size that is characteristic of the wider network, and would control mass transport. The peak in pore network disorder was also associated with a peak in total organic carbon content and the accessible porosity was shown to be dominated by the organic carbon phase. Complementary mercury porosimetry combined with computerised X-ray tomography has shown substantial changes in the type, and super-micron-scale spatial distribution, of the nanoporosity down to approximately 3 nm, accessible to mercury, across the depositional transition, probably related to the amount and disposition of carbonate minerals.

80% of peatlands in Indonesia and Malaysia (15% of Earth's soil carbon) are now drained for production of pulp wood and palm oil. Associated increased peat decomposition and large-scale forest fires are now significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. However, carbon losses from these processes and the impact of peatland drainage remain poorly quantified across SE Asia because of the challenging scale and inaccessibility of dense tropical peatland forests.Space-based platforms offer the opportunity for regular and efficient pan-regional monitoring and overcome inaccessibility of tropical peatland environments. A development in satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) in monitoring surface motion has the potential to solve this problem. A new ‘intermittent small baseline subset’ (ISBAS) modelling technique provides excellent coverage across almost all land surfaces irrespective of ground cover, enabling long-term measurement of peatland surface motion across whole catchments, regions and countries. Importantly, the ISBAS technique is able to determine surface deformation under tropical forest canopy using C-band InSAR, enabling continuous monitoring of surface motion ranging from 0.1–40cm/yr at spatial scales ≥90x90m.This project aims to determine whether rate of subsidence of the peat surface measured by ISBAS-InSAR is a proxy for rate of carbon loss in tropical peatlands in SE Asia. ISBAS-InSAR time series and field measurements of subsidence will be used to monitor and characterise seasonal tropical peat surface oscillations over time and field radar experiments will investigate C-band radar signal attenuation with the peat surface at different moisture contents.

Shales experience heat treatment concurrent with the presence of water or steam during reservoir engineering interventions, such as high pressure water fracking and in-situ combustion of hydrocarbons. This work utilises a novel technique, which is a combination of gas sorption overcondensation and integrated mercury porosimetry experiments, not used before for any type of porous material, to study the pore structure of a shale rock, and its evolution following thermal treatment in the presence of water. Overcondensation allows the extension of gas sorption beyond the limits of conventional experiments to enable direct study of macroporosity. Scanning curve experiments, initiated from the complete boundary desorption isotherm, that can only be obtained for macropores by overcondensation experiments, has revealed details of the relative pore size spatial disposition within the network. In particular, it has been found that the new large voids formed by treatment are shielded by relatively much narrower pore windows. Use of a range of different adsorbates, with differing polarity, has allowed the chemical nature of the pore surface before and after treatment to be probed. Integrated rate of gas sorption and mercury porosimetry experiments have determined the level of the particular contribution to mass transport rates of the newly introduced porosity generated by thermal treatment. Combined CXT and mercury porosimetry have allowed the mapping of the macroscopic spatial distribution of even the new mesoporosity, and revealed the degree of pervasiveness of the new voids that leads to a thousand-fold increase in mass transport on thermal treatment.

Peatland surface motion is a key property of peatland that relates to condition. However, field‐based techniques to measure surface motion are not cost‐effective over large areas and long time periods. An alternative method that can quantify peatland surface motion over large areas is interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Although field validation of the accuracy of this method is difficult, the value of InSAR as a means of quantifying peat condition can be tested. To achieve this the characteristics of InSAR time series measured over an18‐month period at 22 peatland sites in the Flow Country northern Scotland were compared to site condition assessment based on plant functional type and site management history. Sites in good condition dominated by Sphagnum display long‐term stability or growth and a seasonal cycle with maximum uplift and subsidence in Aug‐Nov and April‐June respectively. Drier and partially drained sites dominated by shrubs display long‐term subsidence with maximum uplift and subsidence in July‐Oct and Feb‐June respectively. Heavily degraded sites with large bare peat extent display subsidence with no distinct seasonal oscillations. Seasonal oscillation in surface motion at sites with a dominant non‐vascular plant community is interpreted as resulting from changes in seasonal evaporative demand. On sites with extensive vascular plants cover and falling water table, surface oscillations are interpreted as representing sustained drawdown during the growing season and subsequent recharge in late winter. This study highlights the potential to use InSAR to characterize peatland condition and provide a new view of the surface dynamics of peatland landscapes.

Tropical peatlands represent an important source of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) to the atmosphere. However, we do not know where in the peat profile these gases are produced and how controlling factors, such as substrate quality, which can vary substantially with peat age, and anoxic-oxic conditions, interact to determine production rates. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigated if substrate limitation of CO 2 and CH 4 production differs under anoxic-oxic peat conditions using entire peat profiles, from tropical peatlands in Panama. We determined the variation in peat organic chemistry through stratigraphic profiles using tetramethylammonium-pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TMAH-Py-GC/MS). To explore how variation in peat organic chemistry through the depth profile impacted on CO 2 and CH 4 production rates under anoxic-oxic conditions we carried out a series of incubation experiments. The TMAH-Py-GC/MS analysis showed high concentrations of long chain fatty acids (>C 20 ) in surface peat, and variation in the distribution of the lignin monomers through the peat profile. Both anoxic CH 4 and CO 2 production was greatest from the surface of the peat profile with surface peat accounting for 92 ± 1.7 and 54 ± 2.9% of the cumulative CH 4 and CO 2 production, respectively. The high CO 2 and CH 4 production rate under anoxic conditions, in surface peat, was strongly related to greater concentrations of lignin, but also long chain fatty acids and polysaccharides, in this section of the peat profile. As expected, CH 4 production decreased, and became decoupled from peat organic chemistry, following peat aeration. In contrast, aeration dramatically increased CO 2 emissions throughout the entire peat profile. This demonstrates that the recalcitrance of buried peat does not protect C stocks in tropical peatlands, if their water tables are lowered in response to drainage or prolonged drought. In conclusion, our work highlight that information on both labile substrate availability and water table fluctuation are needed to predict CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes from tropical peatlands.

Roofing slate has its own regulations and standards, as with other natural stones. The two main markets for roofing slate are USA/Canada and Europe. Given the very long tradition of slate mining in these two areas, it is no surprise that the first regulations for roofing slate were developed there. In the USA and Canada, the technical requirements are compiled in the standard ASTM C406 , while in Europe test methods and requirements are defined in EN 12326. There are also standards from China (GB/T 18600) and India (IS 6250), the emerging production countries in the slate market. This review article analyses and compares the current test methods for roofing slate. Also, new test methods are proposed in order to complement the information of the official standards.

In the version of this Analysis originally published, the following affiliation for A. Lohila was missing: ‘Finnish Meteorological Institute, Climate System Research, Helsinki, Finland’. This affiliation has now been added, and subsequent affiliations renumbered accordingly, in the online versions of the Analysis.

Decomposition of plant litter is a key control over carbon (C) storage in the soil. The biochemistry of the litter being produced, the environment in which the decomposition is taking place, and the community composition and metabolism of the decomposer organisms exert a combined influence over decomposition rates. As deciduous shrubs and trees are expanding into tundra ecosystems as a result of regional climate warming, this change in vegetation represents a change in litter input to tundra soils and a change in the environment in which litter decomposes. To test the importance of litter biochemistry and environment in determining litter mass loss, we reciprocally transplanted litter between heath (Empetrum nigrum), shrub (Betula nana), and forest (Betula pubescens) at a sub‐Arctic treeline in Sweden. As expansion of shrubs and trees promotes deeper snow, we also used a snow fence experiment in a tundra heath environment to understand the importance of snow depth, relative to other factors, in the decomposition of litter. Our results show that B. pubescens and B. nana leaf litter decomposed at faster rates than E. nigrum litter across all environments, while all litter species decomposed at faster rates in the forest and shrub environments than in the tundra heath. The effect of increased snow on decomposition was minimal, leading us to conclude that microbial activity over summer in the productive forest and shrub vegetation is driving increased mass loss compared to the heath. Using B. pubescens and E. nigrum litter, we demonstrate that degradation of carbohydrate‐C is a significant driver of mass loss in the forest. This pathway was less prominent in the heath, which is consistent with observations that tundra soils typically have high concentrations of “labile” C. This experiment suggests that further expansion of shrubs and trees may stimulate the loss of undecomposed carbohydrate C in the tundra.

Despite widespread evidence for atmospheric dust deposition prior to the Quaternary, quantitative rate data remains sparse. As dust influences both climate and biological productivity, the absence of quantitative dust data limits the comprehensiveness of models of pre-Quaternary climate and biogeochemical cycles. Here, we propose that inorganic matter contained in coal primarily records atmospheric dust deposition. To test this, we use the average concentration of inorganic matter in Permian coal to map global patterns and deposition rates of atmospheric dust over Pangea. The dust accumulation rate is calculated assuming Permian peat carbon accumulation rates in temperate climates were similar to Holocene rates and accounting for the loss of carbon during coalification. Coal-derived rates vary from 0.02 to 25 g m− 2 year− 1, values that fall within the present-day global range. A well-constrained East–West pattern of dust deposition corresponding to expected palaeoclimate gradients extends across Gondwana with maximum dust deposition rates occurring close to arid regions. A similar pattern is partially defined over the northern hemisphere. Patterns are consistent with the presence of two large global dust plumes centred on the tropics. The spatial patterns of dust deposition were also compared to dust cycle simulations for the Permian made with the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). Key differences between the simulations and the coal data are the lack of evidence for an Antarctic dust source, higher than expected dust deposition over N and S China and greater dust deposition rates over Western Gondwana. This new coal-based dust accumulation rate data expands the pre-Neogene quantitative record of atmospheric dust and can help to inform and validate models of global circulation and biogeochemical cycles over the past 350 Myr.

Litter decomposition is an important control on carbon accumulation in tropical peatlands. We investigated the contribution of different litter tissues from two peatland tree species (Raphia taedigera and Campnosperma panamensis) to peat formation in four lowland tropical peatlands in the Republic of Panama. Leaves, stems, and roots decomposed at different rates; with roots being the slowest to decompose among tissues. The position of litter in the peat profile strongly influenced the decomposition rate of all tissue types. Roots decomposed up to five times faster at the surface than at 50 cm depth. Molecular characterization of litter and peat profiles by tetramethylammonium-pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TMAH-Py-GC/MS) revealed that the peat is formed predominantly of decomposed roots and stems, as indicated by the high lignin, low methylated fatty acids and carbohydrate concentrations in these litter types. Taken together, these data demonstrate that roots play a fundamental role in the formation of lowland Neotropical peatlands.

Abundant oil prone coal (Type III kerogen) deposits are preserved within the high latitude, middle Palaeocene, Todalen member of the Central Tertiary Basin, Spitsbergen Island, Norwegian Arctic. The coals (Svea, Longyear, Svarteper and Askeladden seams) have been subjected to only minor previous geochemical characterisation. Focussing upon the Longyear seam, this paper characterises the present, prospective and economic oil potential of the Svalbard coals. Organic biomarker parameters, Fe–S chemistry and coal maceral analysis are then applied to understand the provenance and environmental origins of this unusual source rock. The upper Todalen Mbr. coals (Longyear, Svarteper and Askeladden seams) have significantly more oil potential than the Lower Svea seams with estimated retortion yields of 170–190 kg/tonne vs. 24 kg/tonne respectively. The Longyear seam exhibits relatively high HI values (ca. 300–400 mg/g TOC) consistent with a hydrogen rich mixed Type II/III kerogen source. Greatest oil potential is shown to be favoured by formation within a fen environment, with high bacterial degradation (> 100 μg/g TOC hopanes), marine influence (> 0.5 wt.% sulfur, Fe/S < 0.9) and the unique temperate high latitude Palaeocene climate of Svalbard leading to preservation of hydrogen rich organic matter via organo-sulfur bond formation.

In April 2012 the National Health Service in England introduced the Trauma Network system with the aim of improving the quality of trauma care. In this study we wished to determine how the introduction of the Trauma network has affected patient flow, hospital finances and orthopaedic trauma training across our region.The overall pattern of trauma distribution was not greatly affected, reflecting the relative rarity of major trauma in the UK.A small decrease in the total number of operations performed by trainees was noted in our region. Trainees at units designated as Major Trauma Centres gained slightly more operative experience in trauma procedures overall, and specifically in those associated with high energy, such as long bone nail insertion and external fixation procedures. However, there have been no significant changes in this pattern since the introduction of the Trauma Networks. Falling operative numbers presents a challenge for delivering high quality training within a surgical training programme, and each case should be seen as a vital educational opportunity.Best practice tariff targets for trauma were delivered for 99% of cases at our MTCs. Future audit and review to analyse the evolving role of the MTCs is desirable.

In this paper the authors consider two contrasting viewpoints; Complex responsive processes which deal with interactions in the present, and complex adaptive systems which focus on learning through the production of what are called mental models. The paper shows that rather than being contradictory, these viewpoints are – at least in some respects - complementary. From the resulting perspective we are able to identify qualitative synergies between the two approaches. Complex responsive processes involve reflections on interactions that take place in time. But you cannot stop time so these present reflections always refer back to a present now gone. Complex adaptive systems are analytic tools. They are not explicitly in the present or in time at all, but they shape our thoughts and actions which are in the present. They shape how people behave, respond and think in a context. In this way people can combine, or reorganise, the approach to complex responsive processes and complex adaptive systems to show how humans address the complex notions of our world.

Central Tertiary Basin (CTB) coals from a variety of palaeogeographic conditions within the Longyear and Verkhnij seams, were sampled to assess the relationship between the petroleum present, the remaining generation potential and coal geochemistry in order to improve the spatial predictability of petroleum resources within the basin. Vitrinite reflectance (VR) values from the CTB coals have been shown to be suppressed (Marshall et al., 2015b). This study attempts to quantify and correct for this suppression effect by applying the Lo (1993) method (LoVR), which uses Hydrogen Index (HI) values to modify VR data, and the coal Rank(Sr) scale of Suggate (2000, 2002), a technique not affected by suppression. In addition, the oil generation and expulsion thresholds for the CTB coals were investigated, with discussions on oil potential versus marine influence upon the mires in which the coals formed. A pseudo-van Krevelen diagram shows that the majority of the coals plot on the Type II kerogen line, while the remainder plot between the Types II and III kerogen lines, with HI between 151 and 410 mg HC/g TOC; however, maceral analysis shows that Type III kerogen predominates. This is attributed to the presence of abundant fluorescing (oil-prone) vitrinites. The LoVR, Tmax and Rank(Sr) parameters all show that maturity increases from basin margins towards basin centre (i.e. from Bassen to Lunckefjellet, to Breinosa and Colesdalen) and indicate that all the coals are within the oil generation window. The marginal samples at Bassen are within the early mature stage of the oil window (i.e. ~ 0.7% RO); meaning the threshold for oil generation in the basin could not be clearly defined. However, the observed maturation trend somewhat parallels the maturation pathway of the New Zealand Coal Band (NZ Coal Band) and the “envelope” of the Sykes and Snowdon (2002) NZ coal data-set; therefore, it is considered that the oil generation threshold for the CTB coals is likely at Rank(Sr) ~ 9–10, Tmax ~ 420–430 °C in line with the observed rise in Bitumen Index (BI). Some of the Lunckefjellet coals and all the Breinosa and Colesdalen coals have either reached or progressed beyond the threshold for oil expulsion as indicated by the peak in HI at Rank(Sr) ~ 11–12, LoVR ~ 0.75–0.85% RO, Tmax ~ 430–440 °C. The peak in BI at Rank(Sr) ~ 12.5–13.5 suggests that some of the Lunckefjellet and Breinosa coals, and all the Colesdalen coals have reached the “effective oil window”. Total sulphur (ST) contents range between 0.46 and 12.05% indicating non-marine to strong marine influence upon precursor peats, with ST contents of the Longyear seam appearing to record instances of coastal retreat associated with base level rise. Marine deposition seems to significantly control the distribution of oil-prone coals within seams and across the CTB. The levels of marine influence (as indicated by ST content) show clear positive relationships between BI and HI within the Bassen samples because they have not started expelling oil. Conversely, the levels of marine influence show clear negative relationships with BI and HI within the Colesdalen samples because they have commenced oil expulsion, and probably reached the “effective oil window”. The more marine influenced coals appear to have commenced petroleum generation relatively earlier, which is a plausible explanation why the coals from the Lunckefjellet locality appear to be at different stages within the oil window.