Mineralogy and Magnetic Properties of Basaltic Substrate Soils: Kaho'olawe and Big Island, Hawaii

Magnetic behavior of soils can seriously hamper the performance of geophysical sensors. Currently, we have little understanding of the types of minerals responsible for the magnetic behavior, as well as their distribution in space and evolution through time. This study investigated the magnetic characteristics and mineralogy of Fe-rich soils developed on basaltic substrate in Hawaii. We measured the spatial distribution of magnetic susceptibility (χlf) and frequency dependence (χfd%) across three test areas in a well-developed eroded soil on Kaho'olawe and in two young soils on the Big Island of Hawaii. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XFCF), chemical dissolution, thermal analysis, and temperature-dependent magnetic studies were used to characterize soil development and mineralogy for samples from soil pits on Kaho'olawe, surface samples from all three test areas, and unweathered basalt from the Big Island of Hawaii. The measurements show a general increase in magnetic properties with increasing soil development. The XRF Fe data ranged from 13% for fresh basalt and young soils on the Big Island to 58% for material from the B horizon of Kaho'olawe soils. Dithionite-extractable and oxalate-extractable Fe percentages increase with soil development and correlate with χlf-and χfd%, respectively. Results from the temperature-dependent susceptibility measurements show that the high soil magnetic properties observed in geophysical surveys in Kaho'olawe are entirely due to neoformed minerals. The results of our studies have implications for the existing soil survey of Kaho'olawe and help identify methods to characterize magnetic minerals in tropical soils.

Three of a kind? The special case of Australia's Island Councils

In common with many other countries, Australian local government policymakers have focussed heavily on improving financial sustainability and operational efficiency through structural change and other modes of systemic reform. However, this system-wide approach cannot adequately deal with small island councils due to their sui generis characteristics. In an effort to fill this gap in the literature, this article examines the financial sustainability of Australia’s three island councils – Flinders, Kangaroo and King – over the period 2008–2013 in order to determine whether alternative organisational arrangements may be better suited to their unique circumstances. In so doing, our study contributes to the literature by providing the first empirical analysis of the financial viability of Australia’s island councils while considering the need for an alternative organisation entity in an effort to enhance their long-term financial sustainability.

‘Beyond all the trends’: Torres Strait Island foods, past, present and future

While trends are cyclical, Indigenous perspectives offer continuity to life’s pathways. One of the current trends is the increasing culinary interest in Indigenous Australian foods, not just in restaurants, but also in home kitchens. This is a recent trend despite Indigenous foods being nutritious and wholesome, and sustaining Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Home Economics can support, foster and affirm Indigenous foods both within this current mainstream trend and in the future in life sustaining ways. In order to do so, Home Economics need’s to ensure it is prepared, and skilled, with the appropriate knowledge and regard for Indigenous ingredients, foods and foodways. This paper will focus on Torres Strait Islander foods from the Torres Strait and from mainland Australia. It will showcase Torres Strait foods is the past, present and the future. Some of what is presented here is part of a research case study, which involves a literature review, data collection, and photography. In documenting the history of Torres Strait Island food and foodways, the traditions and customs will be kept alive for future generations, and beyond any trends or fashions.

Alternate destinies for survey items destined for the island of misfit toys: An analysis of teachers' perceptions of NAPLAN

This is a methodological paper describing when and how manifest items dropped from a latent construct measurement model (e.g., factor analysis) can be retained for additional analysis. Presented are protocols for assessment for retention in the measurement model, evaluation of dropped items as potential items separate from the latent construct, and post hoc analyses that can be conducted using all retained (manifest or latent) variables. The protocols are then applied to data relating to the impact of the NAPLAN test. The variables examined are teachers’ achievement goal orientations and teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the test on curriculum and pedagogy. It is suggested that five attributes be considered before retaining dropped manifest items for additional analyses. (1) Items can be retained when employed in service of an established or hypothesized theoretical model. (2) Items should only be retained if sufficient variance is present in the data set. (3) Items can be retained when they provide a rational segregation of the data set into subsamples (e.g., a consensus measure). (4) The value of retaining items can be assessed using latent class analysis or latent mean analysis. (5) Items should be retained only when post hoc analyses with these items produced significant and substantive results. These suggested exploratory strategies are presented so that other researchers using survey instruments might explore their data in similar and more innovative ways. Finally, suggestions for future use are provided.

A preliminary OSL chronology for coastal dunes on Moreton island, Queensland, Australia – Marginal deposits of A large-scale quaternary shelf sediment system

Moreton Island and several other large siliceous sand dune islands and mainland barrier deposits in SE Queensland represent the distal, onshore component of an extensive Quaternary continental shelf sediment system. This sediment has been transported up to 1000 km along the coast and shelf of SE Australia over multiple glacioeustatic sea-level cycles. Stratigraphic relationships and a preliminary Optically Stimulated Luminance (OSL) chronology for Moreton Island indicate a middle Pleistocene age for the large majority of the deposit. Dune units exposed in the centre of the island and on the east coast have OSL ages that indicate deposition occurred between approximately 540 ka and 350 ka BP, and at around 96±10 ka BP. Much of the southern half of the island has a veneer of much younger sediment, with OSL ages of 0.90±0.11 ka, 1.28±0.16 ka, 5.75±0.53 ka and <0.45 ka BP. The younger deposits were partially derived from the reworking of the upper leached zone of the much older dunes. A large parabolic dune at the northern end of the island, OSL age of 9.90±1.0 ka BP, and palaeosol exposures that extend below present sea level suggest the Pleistocene dunes were sourced from shorelines positioned several to tens of metres lower than, and up to few kilometres seaward of the present shoreline. Given the lower gradient of the inner shelf a few km seaward of the island, it seems likely that periods of intermediate sea level (e.g. ~20 m below present) produced strongly positive onshore sediment budgets and the mobilisation of dunes inland to form much of what now comprises Moreton Island. The new OSL ages and comprehensive OSL chronology for the Cooloola deposit, 100 km north of Moreton Island, indicate that the bulk of the coastal dune deposits in SE Queensland were emplaced between approximately 540 ka BP and prior to the Last Interglacial. This chronostratigraphic information improves our fundamental understanding of long-term sediment transport and accumulation on large-scale continental shelf sediment systems.

Mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of offshore islands in northern Australia? A reassessment of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Claims for mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation at the shell matrix site of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, are reassessed through an analysis of the excavated assemblage coupled with new surveys and an extensive dating program. Memmott et al. (2006, pp. 38, 39) reported basal ages of c.5000–5500 years from Wurdukanhan as 'the oldest date yet obtained for any archaeological site on the coast of the southern Gulf of Carpentaria' and used these dates to argue for 'a relatively lengthy occupation since at least the mid-Holocene'. If substantiated, with the exception of western Torres Strait, these claims make Mornington Island the only offshore island used across northern Australia in the mid-Holocene where it is conventionally thought that Aboriginal people only (re)colonised islands after sea-level maximum was achieved after the mid-Holocene. Our analysis of Wurdukanhan demonstrates high shellfish taxa diversity, high rates of natural shell predation and high densities of foraminifera throughout the deposit demonstrating a natural origin for the assemblage. Results are considered in the context of other dated shell matrix sites in the area and a geomorphological model for landscape development of the Sandalwood River catchment.

Understanding past climate variation and environmental change for the future of an iconic landscape – K'gari Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia

The unique combination of landscapes and processes that are present and operate on Fraser Island (K'gari) create a dynamic setting that is capable of recording past environmental events, climate variations and former landscapes. Likewise, its geographic position makes Fraser Island sensitive to those events and processes. Based on optically stimulated luminescence dating, the records archived within the world's largest sand island span a period that has the potential to exceed 750 ka and contain specific records that are of extremely high resolution over the past 40,000 years. This is due to the geographic position of Fraser Island, which lies in the coastal subtropical region of Queensland Australia. Fraser Island is exposed to the open ocean currents of the Coral Sea on the east coast and the waters of Hervey Bay on its western margin and is positioned to receive moisture from the Indo-Australian monsoon, southeast trade winds and experiences occasional tropical and ex-tropical cyclones. We review literature that presents the current level of understanding of sea level change, ecological variation and environmental change on Fraser Island. The previous works illustrate the importance of Fraser Island and may link processes, environments and climates on Fraser Island with global records.

New insights from IODP Expedition 340 offshore Montserrat: First drilling of large volcanic island landslides

Montserrat now provides one of the most complete datasets for understanding the character and tempo of hazardous events at volcanic islands. Much of the erupted material ends up offshore, and this offshore record may be easier to date due to intervening hemiplegic sediments between event beds. The offshore dataset includes the first scientific drilling of volcanic island landslides during IODP Expedition 340, together with an unusually comprehensive set of shallow sediment cores and 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys. Most recently in 2013, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives mapped and sampled the surface of the main landslide deposits. This contribution aims to provide an overview of key insights from ongoing work on IODP Expedition 340 Sites offshore Montserrat.Key objectives are to understand the composition (and hence source), emplacement mechanism (and hence tsunami generation) of major landslides, together with their frequency and timing relative to volcanic eruption cycles. The most recent major collapse event is Deposit 1, which involved ~1.8 km cubed of material and produced a blocky deposit at ~12-14ka. Deposit 1 appears to have involved not only the volcanic edifice, but also a substantial component of a fringing bioclastic shelf, and material locally incorporated from the underlying seafloor. This information allows us to test how first-order landslide morphology (e.g. blocky or elongate lobes) is related to first-order landslide composition. Preliminary analysis suggests that Deposit 1 occurred shortly before a second major landslide on the SW of the island (Deposit 5). It may have initiated English's Crater, but was not associated with a major change in magma composition. An associated turbidite-stack suggests it was emplaced in multiple stages, separated by at least a few hours and thus reducing the tsunami magnitude. The ROV dives show that mega-blocks in detail comprise smaller-scale breccias, which can travel significant distances without complete disintegration. Landslide Deposit 2 was emplaced at ~130ka, and is more voluminous (~8.4km cubed). It had a much more profound influence on the magmatic system, as it was linked to a major explosive mafic eruption and formation of a new volcanic centre (South Soufriere Hills) on the island. Site U1395 confirms a hypothesis based on the site survey seismic data that Deposit 2 includes a substantial component of pre-existing seafloor sediment. However, surprisingly, this pre-existing seafloor sediment in the lower part of Deposit 2 at Site U1395 is completely undeformed and flat lying, suggesting that Site U1395 penetrated a flat lying block. Work to date material from the upper part of U1396, U1395 and U1394 will also be summarised. This work is establishing a chronostratigraphy of major events over the last 1 Ma, with particularly detailed constraints during the last ~250ka. This is helping us to understand whether major landslides are related to cycles of volcanic eruptions.

Submarine record of volcanic island construction and collapse in the Lesser Antilles arc: First scientific drilling of submarine volcanic island landslides by IODP Expedition 340

IODP Expedition 340 successfully drilled a series of sites offshore Montserrat, Martinique and Dominica in the Lesser Antilles from March to April 2012. These are among the few drill sites gathered around volcanic islands, and the first scientific drilling of large and likely tsunamigenic volcanic island-arc landslide deposits. These cores provide evidence and tests of previous hypotheses for the composition and origin of those deposits. Sites U1394, U1399, and U1400 that penetrated landslide deposits recovered exclusively seafloor sediment, comprising mainly turbidites and hemipelagic deposits, and lacked debris avalanche deposits. This supports the concepts that i/ volcanic debris avalanches tend to stop at the slope break, and ii/ widespread and voluminous failures of preexisting low-gradient seafloor sediment can be triggered by initial emplacement of material from the volcano. Offshore Martinique (U1399 and 1400), the landslide deposits comprised blocks of parallel strata that were tilted or microfaulted, sometimes separated by intervals of homogenized sediment (intense shearing), while Site U1394 offshore Montserrat penetrated a flat-lying block of intact strata. The most likely mechanism for generating these large-scale seafloor sediment failures appears to be propagation of a decollement from proximal areas loaded and incised by a volcanic debris avalanche. These results have implications for the magnitude of tsunami generation. Under some conditions, volcanic island landslide deposits composed of mainly seafloor sediment will tend to form smaller magnitude tsunamis than equivalent volumes of subaerial block-rich mass flows rapidly entering water. Expedition 340 also successfully drilled sites to access the undisturbed record of eruption fallout layers intercalated with marine sediment which provide an outstanding high-resolution data set to analyze eruption and landslides cycles, improve understanding of magmatic evolution as well as offshore sedimentation processes.

Common polygenic variation contributes to risk of migraine in the Norfolk Island population

Migraine has been defined as a common disabling primary headache disorder. Epidemiology studies have provided with the undeniable evidence of genetic components as active players in the development of the disease under a polygenic model in which multiple risk alleles exert modest individual effects. Our objective was to test the contribution of a polygenic effect to migraine risk in the Norfolk Island population using a panel of SNPs reported to be disease associated in published migraine GWAS. We also investigated whether individual SNPs were associated with gene expression levels measured in whole-blood. Polygenic scores were calculated in a total of 285 related individuals (74 cases, 211 controls) from the Norfolk Island using 51 SNPs previously reported to be associated with migraine in published GWAS. The association between polygenic score and migraine case-control status was tested using logistic regression. Results indicate that a migraine polygenic risk score was associated with migraine case-control status in this population (P=0.016). This supports the hypothesis that multiple SNPs with weak effects collectively contribute to migraine risk in this population. Amongst the SNPs included in the polygenic model, 4 were associated with the expression of the USMG5 gene, including rs171251 (P = 0.012). Results from this study provide evidence for a polygenic contribution to migraine risk in an isolated population and highlight specific SNPs that regulate the expression of USMG5, a gene critical for mitochondrial function.

A road safety strategy for Norfolk Island, an Australian external territory

Norfolk Island is an Australian external territory in Oceania. The significant road safety reforms in Australia from the 1970s onward bypassed the island, and most road safety ‘silver bullets’ adopted in other Australian jurisdictions were not introduced. While legislative amendments in 2010 introduced mandatory seat belt wearing for vehicle occupants on Norfolk Island, other critical issues face the community including drink driving by residents and visitors, occupant protection for vehicle passengers, and the provision of a more protective road environment. The release of the first Norfolk Island road safety strategy 2014-2016 proposed, inter alia: • a lower BAC of 0.05 and the introduction of compulsory driver alcohol and drug testing by police; • targeted enforcement of occupant protection for vehicle passengers, particularly for passengers riding on vehicle tray backs; • education interventions to challenge values held by some members of the community that support unsafe road use; • ensuring that driver information, training and testing is adequate for all drivers; • identification and rectification of hazardous roadside infrastructure, particularly barrier protection at “high drop locations” within the road network; and • developing a specification for vehicle standards for vehicles imported into Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island is engaging in a process of integration with the Australian community, and wider issues relating to funding and resources have impacted on the implementation of the road safety strategy. The response to the strategy will be discussed, particularly in terms of current attempts to address drink driving and the provision of a safer road environment.

Using an ‘interpretative model’ for contextual design of heritage landscape databases: The case of St Helena Island National Park in Queensland, Australia

Due to the increasing speed of landscape changes and the massive development of computer technologies, the methods of representing heritage landscapes using digital tools have become a worldwide concern in conservation research. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how an ‘interpretative model’ can be used for contextual design of heritage landscape information systems. This approach is explored through building a geographic information system database for St Helena Island national park in Moreton Bay, South East Queensland, Australia. Stakeholders' interpretations of this landscape were collected through interviews, and then used as a framework for designing the database. The designed database is a digital inventory providing contextual descriptions of the historic infrastructure remnants on St Helena Island. It also reveals the priorities of different sites in terms of historic research, landscape restoration, and tourism development. Additionally, this database produces thematic maps of the intangible heritage values, which could be used for landscape interpretation. This approach is different from the existing methods because building a heritage information system is deemed as an interpretative activity, rather than a value-free replication of the physical environment. This approach also shows how a cultural landscape methodology can be used to create a flexible information system for heritage conservation. The conclusion is that an ‘interpretative model’ of database design facilitates a more explicit focus on information support, and is a potentially effective approach to user-centred design of geographic information systems.

A Phenomic Scan of the Norfolk Island Genetic Isolate Identifies a Major Pleiotropic Effect Locus Associated with Metabolic and Renal Disorder Markers

Multiphenotype genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may reveal pleiotropic genes, which would remain undetected using single phenotype analyses. Analysis of large pedigrees offers the added advantage of more accurately assessing trait heritability, which can help prioritise genetically influenced phenotypes for GWAS analysis. In this study we performed a principal component analysis (PCA), heritability (h2) estimation and pedigree-based GWAS of 37 cardiovascular disease -related phenotypes in 330 related individuals forming a large pedigree from the Norfolk Island genetic isolate. PCA revealed 13 components explaining >75% of the total variance. Nine components yielded statistically significant h2 values ranging from 0.22 to 0.54 (P<0.05). The most heritable component was loaded with 7 phenotypic measures reflecting metabolic and renal dysfunction. A GWAS of this composite phenotype revealed statistically significant associations for 3 adjacent SNPs on chromosome 1p22.2 (P<1x10-8). These SNPs form a 42kb haplotype block and explain 11% of the genetic variance for this renal function phenotype. Replication analysis of the tagging SNP (rs1396315) in an independent US cohort supports the association (P = 0.000011). Blood transcript analysis showed 35 genes were associated with rs1396315 (P<0.05). Gene set enrichment analysis of these genes revealed the most enriched pathway was purine metabolism (P = 0.0015). Overall, our findings provide convincing evidence for a major pleiotropic effect locus on chromosome 1p22.2 influencing risk of renal dysfunction via purine metabolism pathways in the Norfolk Island population. Further studies are now warranted to interrogate the functional relevance of this locus in terms of renal pathology and cardiovascular disease risk.

Remembering the Peel Island Lazaret through re-imagining the Teerk Roo Ra forest

This paper discusses my current research which aims to re-member the site of the Peel Island Lazaret through re-imagining the Teerk Roo Ra forest as a series of animated artworks. Teerk Roo Ra National Park (formally known as Peel Island) is a small island in Moreton Bay, Queensland and is visible on the ferry journey from Cleveland to Stradbroke Island. The island has an intriguing history, and is the site of a former Lazaret and quarantine station. The Lazaret treated patients diagnosed with Hansen’s disease (or Leprosy), and operated between 1907 and 1959. In this paper I will discuss conceptions of the non-indigenous historical context of the Peel Island Lazaret and the notion of the liminal state (Turner,1967). Through this discussion conceptions of place from Australian cultural theorist Ross Gibson are also examined. The concept of two overlapping realms is then explored through the clues and shared stories about the people who inhabited the site. There is then an explanation of my own approach to re-member this place through re-imagining the forest that witnessed the events of the Lazaret. I then draw on theories of the uncanny from German Psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch, Austrian Neurologist Sigmund Freud and South African animation theorist Meg Rickards to argue that my experience of the forest of Teerk Roo Ra was an uncanny experience where two worlds or states of mind existed simultaneously and overlapped, causing a viscerally unsettling uncanny experience. Through an analysis of Czech Surrealist Animator Jan Švankmajer’s cinematic narrative Down to the cellar (1982), my creative work Structure #24(2011), and Australian Artist Patricia Piccinini’s cinematic artwork The Gathering (2007), I discuss the situation of the inanimate and the animate co-existing simultaneously. Using this approach I propose an understanding of the uncanny as an intellectual uncertainty as outlined by Jentsch (1906). I also develop the notion of the familiar being concealed and becoming unfamiliar through mimicry (Freud, 1919). These discussions form an introduction to my creative work Nocturne #5(2014) which re-members the forests of Teerk Roo Ra as an uncanny place primarily expressed through animation.