'Small places like St Helena have big questions to ask': the inaugural lecture of a Professor of Island Geography

This publication takes the form of a written version of my inaugural lecture, which was presented at Queen’s University Belfast on 10 March 2010. It is more personal and considerably more self-indulgent than would normally be acceptable in an article, with more of my own experiences and also my own references than would usually be considered proper. However, the bestowal of such a title as Professor of Island Geography is something of a marker of the maturity not just of myself but maybe also for island studies. After a section describing my path into island geography, the lecture deals with the negativities of islands and the seeming futility of studying them only then to identify a new or at least enhanced regard for islands as places with which to interact and to examine. Reference is made to islands throughout the world, but with some focus on the small islands off Ireland. The development of island studies as a discipline is then briefly described before the lecture concludes with reference to its title quotation on St Helena by considering that place’s islandness and how this affected/affects it in both the 17th and 21st centuries.

Effect of resonance frequency, power input, and saturation gas type on the oxidation efficiency of an ultrasound horn

The sonochemical oxidation efficiency (eta(ox)) of a commercial titanium alloy ultrasound horn has been measured using potassium iodide as a dosimeter at its main resonance frequency (20 kHz) and two higher resonance frequencies (41 and 62 kHz). Narrow power and frequency ranges have been chosen to minimise secondary effects such as changing bubble stability, and time available for radical diffusion from the bubble to the liquid. The oxidation efficiency, eta(ox), is proportional to the frequency and to the power transmitted to the liquid (275 mL) in the applied power range (1-6 W) under argon. Luminol radical visualisation measurements show that the radical generation rate increases and a redistribution of radical producing zones is achieved at increasing frequency. Argon, helium, air, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide have been used as saturation gases in potassium iodide oxidation experiments. The highest eta(ox) has been observed at 5 W under air at 62 kHz. The presence of carbon dioxide in air gives enhanced nucleation at 41 and 62 kHz and has a strong influence on eta(ox). This is supported by the luminol images, the measured dependence of eta(ox). on input power, and bubble images recorded under carbon dioxide. The results give insight into the interplay between saturation gas and frequency, nucleation, and their effect on eta(ox). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

'Ascendency's ... last big jamboree':Big house society in Northern Ireland 1921-69

Thie examines the continuing role that the landed class enjoyed in Northern Ireland in contrast to the experience of their fellow landlords in the rest of Ireland following Partition. It argues that the senses of tradition and continuity which the unionist population in particular attributed to the old landed elite gave them an important role in bolstering the newly created state of Northern Ireland. In turn this allowed them to continue acting as a social elite long after the economic and political foundations of their ascendancy had been removed.

Late Quaternary tephrostratigraphy, Ahklun Mountains, SW Alaska

Radiocarbon-dated sediment cores from six lakes in the Ahklun Mountains, south-western Alaska, were used to interpolate the ages of late Quaternary tephra beds ranging in age from 25.4 to 0.4ka. The lakes are located downwind of the Aleutian Arc and Alaska Peninsula volcanoes in the northern Bristol Bay area between 159° and 161°W at around 60°N. Sedimentation-rate age models for each lake were based on a published spline-fit procedure that uses Monte Carlo simulation to determine age model uncertainty. In all, 62 C ages were used to construct the six age models, including 23 ages presented here for the first time. The age model from Lone Spruce Pond is based on 18 ages, and is currently the best-resolved Holocene age model available from the region, with an average 2s age uncertainty of about±109 years over the past 14.5ka. The sedimentary sequence from Lone Spruce Pond contains seven tephra beds, more than previously found in any other lake in the area. Of the 26 radiocarbon-dated tephra beds at the six lakes and from a soil pit, seven are correlated between two or more sites based on their ages. The major-element geochemistry of glass shards from most of these tephra beds supports the age-based correlations. The remaining tephra beds appear to be present at only one site based on their unique geochemistry or age. The 5.8ka tephra is similar to the widespread Aniakchak tephra [3.7±0.2 (1s) ka], but can be distinguished conclusively based on its trace-element geochemistry. The 3.1 and 0.4ka tephras have glass major- and trace-element geochemical compositions indistinguishable from prominent Aniakchak tephra, and might represent redeposited beds. Only two tephra beds are found in all lakes: the Aniakchak tephra (3.7±0.2ka) and Tephra B (6.1±0.3ka). The tephra beds can be used as chronostratigraphic markers for other sedimentary sequences in the region, including cores from Cascade and Sunday lakes, which were previously undated and were analyzed in this study to correlate with the new regional tephrostratigraphy. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.