Speleothem master chronologies: combined Holocene O-18 and C-13 records from the North Island of New Zealand and their palaeoenvironmental interpretation

The stable isotope records of four stalagmites dated by 19 TIMS uranium series ages are combined to produce master chronologies for delta(18)O and delta(13)C The delta(18)O records display good overall coherence, but considerable variation in detail. Variability in the delta(13)C records is greater, but general trends can still be discerned. This implies that too fine an interpretation of the structure of individual isotopic records can be unreliable. Speleothem delta(18)O values are demonstrated to show a positive relationship with temperature by comparing trends with other proxy records, but also to respond negatively to rainfall amount. Speleothem delta(13)C is considered to be most influenced by rainfall. The postglacial thermal optimum occur-red around 10.8 ka BP, which is similar in timing to Antarctica but up to 2000 years earlier than most Northern Hemisphere sites. Increasingly negative delta(18)O values after 7.5 ka BP indicate that temperatures declined to a late mid-Holocene minimum centred around 3 ka BP, but more positive values followed to mark a warm peak about 750 years ago which coincided with the 'Mediaeval Warm Period' of Europe. Low 5110 values at 325 years BP suggest cooling coincident with the 'Little Ice Age'. A marked feature of the delta(13)C record is an asymmetric periodicity averaging c. 2250 years and amplitude of c. 1.9parts per thousand. It is concluded that this is mainly driven by waterbalance variations with negative swings representing particularly wet intervals. The 5110 record shows a higher-frequency cyclicity with a period of c. 500 years and an amplitude of c. 0.25 parts per thousand. This is most likely to be temperature-driven, but some swings may have been amplified by precipitation.

Comparison of the R-70 self-heating rate of New Zealand and Australian coals to Suggate rank parameter

Samples from New Zealand and Australia have been tested in an adiabatic oven to assess the effect of rank on the R-70 selfheating rate of coal. A non-linear relationship can be defined for coals from both countries using the revised Suggate rank (S-r) parameter. Subbituminous coals have the highest R-70 self-heating rate values, which are 20 times that of high volatile A bituminous coals on a dry mineral matter free basis (similar to 1 cf. 20 degrees C h(-1)). However, the moderating effects of moisture and mineral matter can reduce this difference to only 2-3 times for coal in-situ. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Provenance of long-travelled dust determined with ultra-trace-element composition: A pilot study with samples from New Zealand glaciers

We report high-precision inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) compositional data for 39 trace elements in a variety of dust deposits, trapped sediments and surface samples from New Zealand and Australia. Dusts collected from the surface of alpine glaciers in the Southern Alps, New Zealand, believed to have undergone long-distance atmospheric transport from Australia, are recognizable on account of their overabundances of Pb and Cu with respect to typical upper crustal values. Long-travelled dust from Australia therefore scavenges these and other metals (e.g. Zn, Sb and Cd) from the atmosphere during transport and deposition. Hence, due to anthropogenic pollution, long-travelled Australian dusts can be recognized by elevated metal contents. The relative abundance of 25 other elements that are not affected by atmospheric pollution, mineral sorting (Zr and Hf) and weathering/solubility (alkali and earth alkali elements) reflects the geochemistry of the dust source sediment. As a result, we are able to establish the provenance of dust using ultra-trace-element chemistry at regional scale. Comparison of long-travelled dust chemistry with potential Australian sources shows that fits of variable quality are obtained. We propose that the best fitting potential source chemistry most likely represents the major dust source area. A binary mixing model is used to demonstrate that admixture of small quantities of local dust provides an even better fitting dust chemistry for the long-travelled dusts. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reform of the New Zealand Health System:problematization, mobilization and change

This paper will seek to explicate the changes in the New Zealand health sector informed by the concepts of problematization, inscription and the construction of networks (Callon, 1986; Latour, 1987, 1993). This will involve applying a framework of interpretation based on the concepts of Latour's sociology of translation. Material on problematization and inscription will be incorporated into the paper in order to provide an explanatory frame of reference which will enable us to make sense of the processes of change in the New Zealand health sector. The sociology of translation will be used to explain the processes which underlie the changes and will be used to capture effects, such as changes in policy and structure, producing new networks within which 'allies' could be enrolled in support of the health reforms.

Indigenous Māori values and perspectives to inform freshwater management in Aotearoa-New Zealand

In response to widespread water quality and quantity issues, the New Zealand Government has recently embarked on a number of comprehensive freshwater management reforms, developing a raft of national discussion and policy documents such as “Freshwater Reform 2013 and Beyond” and a National Policy Statement for freshwater management (NPS-FM 2014). Recent resource management reforms and amendments (RMA 2014), based on previous overarching resource management legislation (RMA 1991), set out a new approach and pathway to manage freshwater nationwide. Internationally, there is an increasing trend to engage with indigenous communities for research and collaboration, including indigenous groups as active participants in resource management decision making. What is driving this change toward more engagement and collaboration with indigenous communities is different for each country, and we document the progress and innovation made in this area in New Zealand. The indigenous rights of Māori in New Zealand are stated in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and in many forms of New Zealand's legislation. Local and central governments are eager to include local indigenous Māori groups (iwi/hapū) in freshwater management planning processes through meaningful engagement and collaboration. Key to the success of collaborative planning processes for Māori are enduring relationships between local government and Māori, along with adequate resourcing for all partners contributing to the collaborative process. A large number of shared governance and management models for natural resource management have emerged in New Zealand over the past 20 years, and some recent examples are reviewed. We provide some discussion to improve understanding and use of the terms used in these management models such as cogovernance, comanagement, and coplanning, and describe some of the more important frameworks and tools being developed with Māori groups (e.g., iwi/hapū), to strengthen Māori capacity in freshwater management and to support good collaborative process and planning.

Destination Positioning Slogans - Analysis of Themes used by New Zealand Regional Tourism Organisations

A significant gap in the tourism and travel literature exists in the area of tourism destination branding. Although brands have been used as sources of differentiation in consumer goods markets for over a century, academic research attention towards destination branding has only been reported since the late 1990s. Three important components of the brand construct are brand identity, brand position and brand image. While interest in applications of brand theory to practise in tourism is increasing, there is a paucity of published research in the literature to guide destination marketing organisations (DMOs). In particular there have been few reported analyses of destination brand positioning slogans. The focus of this paper is on destination brand position slogans, which represent the interface between brand identity and brand image. Part of a wider investigation of DMO slogans worldwide, and in keeping with the conference location, the paper focuses on analysis of slogans used by New Zealand RTOs. The slogans are examined in terms of the extent to which they have been limited to ephemeral indifference. In other words, have they stood the test of time and do they effectively differentiate through a meaningful proposition? Analysis of the slogans indicates very few could be characterised as memorably distinctive. This reflects the complexity involved in capturing the essence of a multi-attributed destination in a succinct and focused positioning slogan, in a way that is both meaningful to the target audience and effectively differentiates the destination from competitors offering the same benefits.

The influence of ad model ethnicity and self-referencing on attitudes evidence from New Zealand

This paper examines consumers self-referencing as a mechanism for explaining ethnicity effects in advertising. Data was collected from a 2 (model ethnicity: Asian, white) x 2 (product stereotypicality: stereotypical, non-stereotypical) experiment. Measured independent variables included participant ethnicity and self-referencing. Results shows that (1) Asian exhibit greater self-referencing of Asian models than whites do; (2) self-referencing mediates ethnicity effects on attitude ( ie, attitude towards the model, attitude toward the add, brand attitude, and purchase intentions); (3) high self-referencing Asian have more favourable attitude towards the add and purchase intentions than low self referencing Asians; and (4) Asian models advertising atypical products generate more self-referencing and more favourable attitudes toward the model, A, and purchase intentions for both Asians and whites.