(U-Th)/He and 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of Weathering, Hamersley Province, Australia: Implications for weathering history and landscape Evolution

(U–Th)/He dating of goethite, when combined with quantification of diffusive 4He loss by the 4He/3He methodology, provides reliable corrected ages for minerals precipitated in weathering profiles. We have combined (U–Th)/He dating of supergene goethite with 40Ar/39Ar dating of supergene manganese oxides to study the weathering history and landscape evolution in the Hamersley Province, northwestern Australia. Incremental heating 40Ar/39Ar analysis of 187 grains of Mn oxides from 65 samples (44 hand specimens) collected from weathering profiles at seven field sites across the Hamersley Province yield precipitation ages ranging from 63.4 ± 0.9 to 1.5 ± 0.2 Ma. These results, combined with previous results of 40Ar/39Ar dating of Mn oxides (Vasconcelos, 1998 Vasconcelos, P.V., 1998. Unpub. report, pp. 1–278.Vasconcelos, 1998 and Cochrane, 2003), reveal a protracted and episodic history of weathering and landscape evolution, which was already ongoing in Late Cretaceous and spans the Palaeogene and Neogene. Seventy-three grains of goethite from 39 samples extracted from 21 hand specimens, collected from the same field sites where the Mn oxides originated, were dated by the (U–Th)/He method. Internally consistent (U–Th)/He ages, which range from 84.3 ± 12.2 to 3.3 ± 0.5 Ma, have been obtained for most samples when corrections are applied for 10% helium diffusive loss. The geochronological results obtained show remarkable similarity in the distribution of ages associated with supergene mineral precipitation. The widespread occurrence of iron oxides such as goethite in soils and weathering profiles and the successful application of (U–Th)/He dating of goethite offers great opportunities for extracting the wealth of palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental information recorded by these profiles on the surface of terrestrial planets such as Earth and Mars.

Australia, Korea and the Korean Question in the United Nations, 1946-1991

One previously unrecognised feature of the history of the political relationship between Australia and Korea is the role played by Australia as a member of the United Nations Organization in respect to the so-called Korea Question. Drawing on source documents from UN Resolutions and Australian Archives this article examines the changing positions of Australia as the Korea Question developed in the UN General Assembly. This spanned a period from the beginnings of the UN Organization until the time when both Koreas were admitted as members in 1991. The article proposes the Australian positions as responses to changing domestic and international political contexts.

Electronic workplace surveillance and employee privacy : a comparative analysis of privacy protection in Australia and the United States

More than a century ago in their definitive work “The Right to Privacy” Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis highlighted the challenges posed to individual privacy by advancing technology. Today’s workplace is characterised by its reliance on computer technology, particularly the use of email and the Internet to perform critical business functions. Increasingly these and other workplace activities are the focus of monitoring by employers. There is little formal regulation of electronic monitoring in Australian or United States workplaces. Without reasonable limits or controls, this has the potential to adversely affect employees’ privacy rights. Australia has a history of legislating to protect privacy rights, whereas the United States has relied on a combination of constitutional guarantees, federal and state statutes, and the common law. This thesis examines a number of existing and proposed statutory and other workplace privacy laws in Australia and the United States. The analysis demonstrates that existing measures fail to adequately regulate monitoring or provide employees with suitable remedies where unjustifiable intrusions occur. The thesis ultimately supports the view that enacting uniform legislation at the national level provides a more effective and comprehensive solution for both employers and employees. Chapter One provides a general introduction and briefly discusses issues relevant to electronic monitoring in the workplace. Chapter Two contains an overview of privacy law as it relates to electronic monitoring in Australian and United States workplaces. In Chapter Three there is an examination of the complaint process and remedies available to a hypothetical employee (Mary) who is concerned about protecting her privacy rights at work. Chapter Four provides an analysis of the major themes emerging from the research, and also discusses the draft national uniform legislation. Chapter Five details the proposed legislation in the form of the Workplace Surveillance and Monitoring Act, and Chapter Six contains the conclusion.