Two cycles of voluminous pyroclastic volcanism and sedimentation related to episodic granite emplacement during the late Archean : Eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

The thick piles of late-Archean volcaniclastic sedimentary successions that overlie the voluminous greenstone units of the eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, record the important transition from the cessation in mafic-ultramafic volcanism to cratonisation between about 2690 and 2655 Ma. Unfortunately, an inability to clearly subdivide the superficially similar sedimentary successions and correlate them between the various geological terranes and domains of the eastern Yilgarn Craton has led to uncertainty about the timing and nature of the region's palaeogeographic and palaeotectonic evolution. Here, we present the results of some 2025 U–Pb laser-ablation-ICP-MS analyses and 323 Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) analyses of detrital zircons from 14 late-Archean felsic clastic successions of the eastern Yilgarn Craton, which have enabled correlation of clastic successions. The results of our data, together with those compiled from previous studies, show that the post-greenstone sedimentary successions include two major cycles that both commenced with voluminous pyroclastic volcanism and ended with widespread exhumation and erosion associated with granite emplacement. Cycle One commences with an influx of rapidly reworked feldspar-rich pyroclastic debris. These units, here-named the Early Black Flag Group, are dominated by a single population of detrital zircons with an average age of 2690–2680 Ma. Thick (up to 2 km) dolerite bodies, such as the Golden Mile Dolerite, intrude the upper parts of the Early Black Flag Group at about 2680 Ma. Incipient development of large granite domes during Cycle One created extensional basins predominantly near their southeastern and northwestern margins (e.g., St Ives, Wallaby, Kanowna Belle and Agnew), into which the Early Black Flag Group and overlying coarse mafic conglomerate facies of the Late Black Flag Group were deposited. The clast compositions and detrital-zircon ages of the late Black Flag Group detritus match closely the nearby and/or stratigraphically underlying successions, thus suggesting relatively local provenance. Cycle Two involved a similar progression to that observed in Cycle One, but the age and composition of the detritus were notably different. Deposition of rapidly reworked quartz-rich pyroclastic deposits dominated by a single detrital-zircon age population of 2670–2660 Ma heralded the beginning of Cycle Two. These coarse-grained quartz-rich units, are name here the Early Merougil Group. The mean ages of the detrital zircons from the Early Merougil Group match closely the age of the peak in high-Ca (quartz-rich) granite magmatism in the Yilgarn Craton and thus probably represent the surface expression of the same event. Successions of the Late Merougil Group are dominated by coarse felsic conglomerate with abundant volcanic quartz. Although the detrital zircons in these successions have a broad spread of age, the principal sub-populations have ages of about 2665 Ma and thus match closely those of the Early Merougil Group. These successions occur most commonly at the northwestern and southeastern margins of the granite batholiths and thus are interpreted to represent resedimented units dominted by the stratigraphically underlying packages of the Early Merougil Group. The Kurrawang Group is the youngest sedimentary units identified in this study and is dominated by polymictic conglomerate with clasts of banded iron formation (BIF), granite and quartzite near the base and quartz-rich sandstone units containing detrital zircons aged up to 3500 Ma near the top. These units record provenance from deeper and/or more-distal sources. We suggest here that the principal driver for the major episodes of volcanism, sedimentation and deformation associated with basin development was the progressive emplacement of large granite batholiths. This interpretation has important implication for palaeogeographic and palaeotectonic evolution of all late-Archean terranes around the world.

The baby boomers and beyond report : physical activity levels of older Western Australians 2006

Participation in sufficient levels of physical activity provides significant health benefits, particularly in older adults. The monitoring of physical activity levels in the Western Australian population is therefore necessary for developing and implementing strategies and programs for increasing participation. The Premier’s Physical Activity Taskforce (PATF) conducted a survey in 2006 to measure physical activity levels among Western Australian adults to follow-up the 1999 and 2002 state physical activity surveys. There is now widespread agreement that many health problems of older life – including the onset of frailty and disability – can be postponed or delayed by adopting health-enhancing habits such as physical activity. Adults over 65 years are the most rapidly growing age group and will continue to rise as more persons turn 65. If older adults could be encouraged to be more active as they age, frailty and disability associated with falls would be reduced, and function and physical and mental health in older people would be improved thereby reducing the burden of disease and injury. Given that physical inactivity is one of the most important and modifiable risk factors contributing to ill health, particularly for people as they age, the overall aim of this study was to examine patterns of physical activity in those aged 45 years and over – referred to hereafter as baby boomers+ – in more detail.

Screening Queensland University of Technology second year architecture student films

Research Statement: In 2011 The State Library of Queensland in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology School of Design held a screening of six student urban films shot on location in several inner-city sites under my supervision. The films are now a permanent "exhibit" on The Edge State Library electronic site. The students were directed to explore the realist film ethos, which forms a platform for the research project, in its focus on the nonrepresentational aesthetics of the street, the unfinished and the sensory. The research demonstrates that film is a powerful instrument for the urban imaginary, for screening the city.

The Brisbane Northbank Urban Film Studio : screening of shortlisted films

Research Statement: In this research project film groups of 4-5 students under my direction produced a 3-5 minute urban film that explored the Brisbane Northbank, and which would become the basis for an urban proposal and design of a small film studio for independent filmmakers in the site. The theoretical premise was that a film studio does not simply produce movies, it creates urban effects all around it and acts as a vortex of cultural activity and social life. For this modest facility where the cinema goes out into the street, the city itself becomes the studio. Students were called to observe the historical problematics of technique, image and effect that arise in the cinema, and to apply these to their own urban-film practice. A panel of judges working in film and architecture shortlisted the 12 best films in 2010 and a major public film screening event took place at the Tribal Cinema. The Shortlisted films today form a permanent "exhibit" in YouTube. The research project was funded by the Queensland University of Technology, School of Design and received accolades from film faculty in the Creative Industries Faculty. The diverse body of work that emanated from the screening contributed a unique analysis of the Northbank to Brisbane.

The 2013 creative industries statistical analysis for Western Australia

The Department of Culture and the Arts undertook the first mapping of Perth’s creative industries in 2007 in partnership with the City of Perth and the Departments of Industry and Resources and the Premier and Cabinet. The 2013 Creative Industries Statistical Analysis for Western Australia report has updated the mapping with the 2011 Census employment data to provide invaluable information for the State’s creative industries, their peak associations and potential investors. The report maps sector employment numbers and growth between the 2006 and 2011 Census in the areas of music, visual and performing arts, film, TV and radio, advertising and marketing, software and digital content, publishing, and architecture and design, which includes designer fashion.

Martha and her sisters : women in films about journalism

HBO's Hemingway and Gellhorn (Philip Kaufman, 2012), broadcast in May on US television and starring Nicole Kidman as the pioneering female foreign correspondent, hasn't been well reviewed by the majority of critics. Variety described the biopic (with Clive Owen as Hemingway) as “swollen and heavy-handed”, while the Huffington Post declared it an “expensive misfire … a gigantic missed opportunity, a jaw-droppingly trying waste of time”. Regardless of whether such criticisms are fair—as this essay went to press I had been unable to see the film, so I cannot judge one way or the other—Hemingway and Gellhorn should be viewed as a significant addition to the filmography of journalism, retrieving from history as it does the achievements of one of the most significant of the early female practitioners. Gellhorn was a pioneer in a patriarchal press universe, a foreign and war correspondent at a time when this branch of the profession was seen very much as man's work. She covered the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, and with just as much viscerality as any man.

Australian animated feature films

Building on and bringing up to date the material presented in the first installment of Directory of World Cinema : Australia and New Zealand, this volume continues the exploration of the cinema produced in Australia and New Zealand since the beginning of the twentieth century. Among the additions to this volume are in-depth treatments of the locations that feature prominently in the countries' cinema. Essays by leading critics and film scholars consider the significance in films of the outback and the beach, which is evoked as a liminal space in Long Weekend and a symbol of death in Heaven's Burning, among other films. Other contributions turn the spotlight on previously unexplored genres and key filmmakers, including Jane Campion, Rolf de Heer, Charles Chauvel, and Gillian Armstrong.

Gas sensing of ruthenium implanted tungsten oxide thin films

Different amounts of Ru were implanted into thermally evaporated WO3 thin films by ion implantation. The films were subsequently annealed at 600oC for 2 hours in air to remove defects generated during the ion implantation. The Ru concentrations of four samples have been quantified by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry as 0.8, 5.5, 9 and 11.5 at%. The un-implanted WO3 films were highly porous but the porosity decreased significantly after ion implantation as observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The thickness of the films also decreased with increasing Ru-ion dose, which is mainly due to densification of the porous films during ion implantation. From Raman spectroscopy two peaks at 408 and 451 cm-1 (in addition to the typical vibrational peaks of the monoclinic WO3 phase) associated with Ru were observed. Their intensity increased with increasing Ru concentration. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy showed a metallic state of Ru with binding energy of Ru 3d5/2 at 280.1 eV. This peak position remained almost unchanged with increasing Ru concentration. The resistances of the Ru-implanted films were found to increase in the presence of NO2 and NO with higher sensor response to NO2. The effect of Ru concentration on the sensing performance of the films was not explicitly observed due to reduced film thickness and porosity with increasing Ru concentration. However, the results indicate that the implantation of Ru into WO3 films with sufficient film porosity and film thickness can be beneficial for NO2 sensing at temperatures in the range of 250°C to 350°C.

Developing sustainable fish farming in the Western Pacific : a viewpoint on potential reasons for why many attempts failed

Capture fisheries and aquaculture have been a major source of food and providers of economic benefits to many communities around the world for a very long time. While the history of aquaculture or fish farming can be traced back for more than 2000 years in some corners of the globe, notably in China, Japan and the Mediterranean, this is not true everywhere, where in general, fish farming is a relatively new industry. Rapid human population growth and increasing urbanisation over the last 20 to 40 years has meant that while fish consumption has doubled globally, returns from capture fisheries have remained static or have declined due to overexploitation and rising pollution levels, with some fisheries either closing or becoming economically unviable. Data from studies suggest that this trend is unlikely to be reversed unless appropriate fisheries management allows depleted wild stocks to rebuild. This has occurred during a time when demand for fish products has grown, in part due to improved purchasing power in some developing countries and changing dietary habits where fish are now considered to have a positive impact on health. Based on the projected population growth over the next two decades, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that at least an additional 40 million tonnes of aquatic food will be required to maintain the current per capita consumption (FAO 2006).

The mining boom and Western Australia's changing landscape : towards sustainability or business as usual?

The practices and public reputation of mining have been changing over time. In the past, mining operations frequently stood accused of being socially and environmentally disruptive, whereas mining today invests heavily in ‘socially responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ business practices. Changes such as these can be witnessed internationally as well as in places like Western Australia (WA), where the mining sector has matured into an economic pillar of the state, and indeed the nation in the context of the recent resources boom. This paper explores the role of mining in WA, presenting a multi-disciplinary perspective on the sector's contribution to sustainable development in the state. The perspectives offered here are drawn from community-based research and the associated academic literature as well as data derived from government sources and the not-for-profit sector. Findings suggest that despite noteworthy attitudinal and operational improvements in the industry, social, economic and environmental problem areas remain. As mining in WA is expected to grow in the years to come, these problem areas require the attention of business and government alike to ensure the long-term sustainability of development as well as people and place.

Moisture and tensile strength properties of starch-sugar cane nanofibre films

There is an increasing need for biodegradable, environmentally friendly plastics to replace the petroleum-based non-degradable plastics which litter and pollute the environment. Starch-based plastic film composites are becoming a popular alternative because of their low cost, biodegradability, the abundance of starch, and ease with which starch-based films can be chemically modified. This paper reports on the results of using sugar cane bagasse nanofibres to improve the physicochemical properties of starch-based polymers. The addition of bagasse nanofibre (2.5, 5, 10 or 20 wt%) to (modified) potato starch (‘Soluble starch’) reduced the moisture uptake by up to 17 % at 58 % relative humidity (RH). The film’s tensile strength and Young’s Modulus increased by up to 100 % and 200 % with 10 wt% and 20 wt% nanofibre respectively at 58% RH. The tensile strain reduced by up to 70 % at 20 wt% fibre loading. These results indicate that addition of sugar cane bagasse nanofibres significantly improved the properties of starch-based plastic films

Conductometric gas sensors based on nanostrutured WO3 thin films

Nanostructured WO3 thin films have been prepared bythermal evaporation to detect hydrogen at low t emperatures. The influence of heat treatment on the physical, chemical and electronic properties of these films has been investigated. The films were annealed at 400oC for 2 hours in air. AFM and TEM analysis revealed that the as-deposited WO3 film is high amorphous and made up of cluster of particles. Annealing at 400oC for 2 hours in air resulted in very fine grain size of the order of 5 nm and porous structure. GIXRD and Raman analysis revealed that annealing improved the crystallinity of WO3 film. Gas sensors based on annealed WO3 films have shown a high response towards various concentrations (10-10000 ppm) H2 at an operating temperature of 150oC. The improved sensing performance at low operating temperature is due to the optimum physical, chemical and electronic properties achieved in the WO3 film through annealing. - See more at: http://dl4.globalstf.org/?wpsc-product=conductometric-gas-sensors-based-on-nanostructured-wo3-thin-films-2#sthash.IrfhlZ6H.dpuf

Resource Curse or Cure?: On the Sustainability of Development in Western Australia

Addresses often unanswered questions about the costs and benefits of resource-based development The first book to offer a suitably comprehensive critique of Western Australia's development path Provides a multi-facetted perspective thanks to its truly cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional authorship Globalisation and rapid social and environmental change in recent decades have brought into sharper focus not only the benefits but also the costs of economic development. The once assumed link between economic development and societal well-being is being increasingly questioned in the face of growing social and environmental problems and unfulfilled expectations concerning political and commercial decision-makers. The orthodox development dogma is being tested in particular in resource-based economies such as Western Australia, where globalisation pressures and the concomitant rise in the demand for natural resources highlight the difficulties of effectively balancing broader societal interests with those of industry and the state. This book provides a critical review of the socio-political, environmental and cultural state of play in Western Australia, offering an analysis of how resource-based developments are shaping the state and its people.

Mining and (sustainable) local communities : transforming Ravensthorpe, Western Australia

This chapter examines local community experiences, understandings and changes attending the presence of mining activity, in particular as occurred in the Shire of Ravensthorpe in the South West of Western Australia (WA). It does so by drawing on an extensive ethnographic study spanning the development, opening, and closure of BHP Billiton’s Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation (RNO). Given that the negative consequences of mining activity are most evident and complex at the local level, it is crucial that we understand and address how communities (and the individuals and families who are both part of and are shaped by communities) experience the impacts of mining. Though difficult to measure, social and cultural dimensions of mining at the local scale, as this chapter demonstrates, are central to our understanding of mining as a curse or cure.

The Hollywood effect : a comparative study of costume in Australia and the Proposition

This paper compares costuming practices in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia (2008) and John Hillcoat’s The Proposition (2005) and argues that high production values, such as in the blockbuster Australia, are not neutral mechanisms of production, but powerful prescriptive elements which do not result in a successful representation of cultural specificity. Australia is a typical blockbuster, it employs a large number of extras, it features compelling landscape shots, has been shot across four different locations and sets, and, importantly, is an international production with the 20th Century Fox. The film’s costumes were designed by Catherine Martin, who received an Oscar nomination in 2009. While global exposure of fashion in film and through celebrities’ endorsements has consolidated a historical synergy between the fashion industry and Hollywood, the Australian film and fashion industries have had a very limited exchange. Baz Luhrmann’s film is Australia’s first instance of promo-costuming and use of tie-in labels (Ferragamo, R.M.Williams, Prada, Paspaley). Catherine Martin thoroughly researched 1930s women’s wear, indigenous and stockmen’s clothing, and set up to make all costumes with a large team of costumiers and seamstresses, striving for authenticity. The Proposition won its costume designer Margot Wilson an AFI in 2005 for best costume, but compared to Australia the story, location and costumes are far harsher. Filmed around Winton in far west Queensland, the director John Hillcoat and Director of Photography Benoit Delhomme were insistent about realism, and emphasising the harshness of the Australian landscape. The realism of the costumes was derived from the fabrics and manufacturing, as well as the way they were shot, with the actors often wearing two or three layers of heavy wool during days of shooting in 50 degree heat, and the details of making and breaking down. The implication is that both films are culturally specific as they both deal with an Australian story. However, Australia is clearly produced according to a Hollywood blockbuster model, and closely matches Hollywood’s narrative and aesthetic characteristics, while The Proposition is a more modest film that eschews these conventions of beauty and glossed history. Despite its western genre-orientation, The Proposition is more successful than Australia when it comes to costuming, because its costumes are not only functional to the narrative, but, in Roland Barthes’ words, they also fulfil a prestation. This prestation highlights the social and cultural conflicts on which colonial Australia was founded, instead of gilding, and gliding, over them.