title: Exhumation history along the eastern Amundsen Sea coast, West Antarctica, revealed by low-temperature thermochronology

authors: Lindow, Julia

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: West Antarctica experienced a complex tectonic history, which is still poorly documented, in part due to extensive ice cover. Here we reconstruct the Cretaceous to present thermotectonic history of Pine Island Bay area and its adjacent coasts, based on a combination of apatite and zircon fission track and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology. In addition, we report petrographic information for the catchments of Pine Island, Thurston Island, and Thwaites glaciers. Our data suggest that the underlying bedrock of the Pine Island and Thwaites Glacier catchments are very different and vary from granitoids to (Cenozoic?) volcanogenic sequences and low-grade metamorphics. Our thermochronology data show that the upper crustal rocks of Pine Island Bay experienced very rapid cooling during the late Cretaceous. We attribute this rapid cooling of basement rocks and associated reduction in mean elevation to tectonic denudation driven by gravitational collapse of the Cretaceous orogen along the proto-Pacific Gondwana margin. Rapid Cretaceous crustal cooling was followed by very slow cooling during the Cenozoic, with no erosional response—within the limits of thermochronological methods—to the onset of glaciation and subsequent climatic changes. Cenozoic rifting within the West Antarctic Rift appears to have had little effect on erosion processes around Pine Island Bay; instead, our data suggest Cenozoic crustal tilting toward Pine Island Trough, a major geomorphic feature previously suggested to be a branch of the rift system.

text: Exhumation history along the eastern Amundsen Sea coast, West Antarctica, revealed by low-temperature thermochronology West Antarctica experienced a complex tectonic history, which is still poorly documented, in part due to extensive ice cover. Here we reconstruct the Cretaceous to present thermotectonic history of Pine Island Bay area and its adjacent coasts, based on a combination of apatite and zircon fission track and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology. In addition, we report petrographic information for the catchments of Pine Island, Thurston Island, and Thwaites glaciers. Our data suggest that the underlying bedrock of the Pine Island and Thwaites Glacier catchments are very different and vary from granitoids to (Cenozoic?) volcanogenic sequences and low-grade metamorphics. Our thermochronology data show that the upper crustal rocks of Pine Island Bay experienced very rapid cooling during the late Cretaceous. We attribute this rapid cooling of basement rocks and associated reduction in mean elevation to tectonic denudation driven by gravitational collapse of the Cretaceous orogen along the proto-Pacific Gondwana margin. Rapid Cretaceous crustal cooling was followed by very slow cooling during the Cenozoic, with no erosional response—within the limits of thermochronological methods—to the onset of glaciation and subsequent climatic changes. Cenozoic rifting within the West Antarctic Rift appears to have had little effect on erosion processes around Pine Island Bay; instead, our data suggest Cenozoic crustal tilting toward Pine Island Trough, a major geomorphic feature previously suggested to be a branch of the rift system.

year: 2016-10

title: Effects of higher-order driving skill training on young, inexperienced drivers’ on-road driving performance

authors: Isler, Robert B.

subjects: higher-order driving skill training

abstract: The aim of the current study was to compare the effects of training in higher-order driving skills (e.g., perceptual, motivational, insight) and vehicle handling skill training in relation to on-road driving performance, hazard perception, attitudes to risky driving and driver confidence levels in young, inexperienced drivers. Thirty-six young drivers (23 males and 13 females, average age 16.3 years), mostly on a restricted NZ driver licence, participated in a Driver Training Research camp. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three equally sized groups according to the type of driving skill training (5 days) they received: higher-order, vehicle handling or control (no training). Professional driver assessors conducted a comprehensive driving assessment before (Baseline) and after the training (Post Training). At both time points, participants also carried out a computerised hazard perception task, and completed self-report questionnaires to assess attitudes to risky driving and driver confidence. In terms of on road driving, the participants who received higher-order driving skill training showed a statistically significant improvement in relation to visual search and the composite driving measure. This was accompanied by an improvement in hazard perception, safer attitudes to close following and to dangerous overtaking and a decrease in driving related confidence. The participants who received vehicle handling skill training showed significant improvements in relation to their on-road direction control, speed choice and the composite driving score. However, this group showed no improvement in hazard perception, attitudes to risky driving or driver confidence. The findings will be discussed in the context of driver training as a viable crash prevention intervention in regard to young, inexperienced drivers.

text: Effects of higher-order driving skill training on young, inexperienced drivers’ on-road driving performance The aim of the current study was to compare the effects of training in higher-order driving skills (e.g., perceptual, motivational, insight) and vehicle handling skill training in relation to on-road driving performance, hazard perception, attitudes to risky driving and driver confidence levels in young, inexperienced drivers. Thirty-six young drivers (23 males and 13 females, average age 16.3 years), mostly on a restricted NZ driver licence, participated in a Driver Training Research camp. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three equally sized groups according to the type of driving skill training (5 days) they received: higher-order, vehicle handling or control (no training). Professional driver assessors conducted a comprehensive driving assessment before (Baseline) and after the training (Post Training). At both time points, participants also carried out a computerised hazard perception task, and completed self-report questionnaires to assess attitudes to risky driving and driver confidence. In terms of on road driving, the participants who received higher-order driving skill training showed a statistically significant improvement in relation to visual search and the composite driving measure. This was accompanied by an improvement in hazard perception, safer attitudes to close following and to dangerous overtaking and a decrease in driving related confidence. The participants who received vehicle handling skill training showed significant improvements in relation to their on-road direction control, speed choice and the composite driving score. However, this group showed no improvement in hazard perception, attitudes to risky driving or driver confidence. The findings will be discussed in the context of driver training as a viable crash prevention intervention in regard to young, inexperienced drivers.

year: 2011

title: Our Place in New Zealand Culture: How the Museum of New Zealand Constructs Biculturalism

authors: Goldsmith, Michael

subjects: museum

abstract: The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa opened in 1998 amidst controversy but has been a huge popular success and has become an icon of national identity. The controversy was confined to elite circles and stemmed from criticisms of the contrasting ways in which Maori and Pakeha (European) cultural items were displayed — the former in a reverential manner and the latter as a kind of 'amusement arcade' of supposedly incoherent, temporary and mocking exhibits. Through an analysis of these displays and of the representations surrounding them, this paper argues that the sacred/profane dichotomy promulgated by the Museum may be open to argument but is probably an inescapable feature of the official policy of biculturalism in a postcolonial setting.

text: Our Place in New Zealand Culture: How the Museum of New Zealand Constructs Biculturalism The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa opened in 1998 amidst controversy but has been a huge popular success and has become an icon of national identity. The controversy was confined to elite circles and stemmed from criticisms of the contrasting ways in which Maori and Pakeha (European) cultural items were displayed — the former in a reverential manner and the latter as a kind of 'amusement arcade' of supposedly incoherent, temporary and mocking exhibits. Through an analysis of these displays and of the representations surrounding them, this paper argues that the sacred/profane dichotomy promulgated by the Museum may be open to argument but is probably an inescapable feature of the official policy of biculturalism in a postcolonial setting.

year: 2003