title: The Parker problem revisited: Response to the interpretation of Low (2010)

authors: Craig, Ian J.D.

subjects: Parker problem

abstract: This paper responds to points made by Low (Solar Phys. 2010. doi: 10.1007/s11207-010-9619-z ) with regard to the Parker problem as formulated in Craig and Sneyd (Solar Phys. 232, 41, 2005). We first point out that, since Low focuses mainly on interpreting approximate linearized solutions to the Parker problem, his approach cannot address key issues relating to the finite amplitude stability and dynamic accessibility of potential equilibria. Further difficulties are shown to surround Low’s assertion that non-linear equilibria derived by magneto-frictional relaxation of the Parker problem should be discounted. We conclude that both linear and non-linear approaches to the Parker problem appear remarkably consistent: they demonstrate the development of smooth 3D equilibria as opposed to the routine collapse to singular current sheets. 
The online version of the article of B.C. Low “The Craig–Sneyd Analytic Solutions to the Parker Problem” can be found under doi: 10.1007/s11207-010-9619-z .

text: The Parker problem revisited: Response to the interpretation of Low (2010) This paper responds to points made by Low (Solar Phys. 2010. doi: 10.1007/s11207-010-9619-z ) with regard to the Parker problem as formulated in Craig and Sneyd (Solar Phys. 232, 41, 2005). We first point out that, since Low focuses mainly on interpreting approximate linearized solutions to the Parker problem, his approach cannot address key issues relating to the finite amplitude stability and dynamic accessibility of potential equilibria. Further difficulties are shown to surround Low’s assertion that non-linear equilibria derived by magneto-frictional relaxation of the Parker problem should be discounted. We conclude that both linear and non-linear approaches to the Parker problem appear remarkably consistent: they demonstrate the development of smooth 3D equilibria as opposed to the routine collapse to singular current sheets. 
The online version of the article of B.C. Low “The Craig–Sneyd Analytic Solutions to the Parker Problem” can be found under doi: 10.1007/s11207-010-9619-z .

year: 2010

title: Hypolithic microbial communities of quartz rocks from Miers Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

authors: Khan, Nuraan

subjects: Hypolith

abstract: The McMurdo Dry Valleys region of eastern Antarctica is a cold desert that presents extreme challenges to life. Hypolithic microbial colonisation of the subsoil surfaces of translucent quartz rocks represent a significant source of terrestrial biomass and productivity in this region. Previous studies have described hypoliths as dominated by cyanobacteria. However, hypoliths that occur in the lower Dry Valleys such as the Miers, Garwood and Marshall Valleys are unusual as they are not necessarily cyanobacteria-dominated. These hypoliths support significant eukaryal colonisation by fungi and mosses in addition to cyanobacteria- dominated bacterial assemblages and so have considerable ecological value in this barren landscape. Here, we characterise these novel hypoliths by analysis of environmental rRNA gene sequences. The hypolithic community was demonstrated to be distinct from the surrounding soil and non-translucent rocks. Hypoliths supported cyanobacterial signatures from the Oscillatoriales and Nostocales. Other heterotrophic bacterial signatures were also recovered, and these were phylogenetically diverse and spanned 8 other bacterial phyla. Archaeal phylotypes recovered were phylogenetically aYliated with the large group of unclassified, uncultured Crenarcheota. Eukaryal phylotypes indicated that free-living ascomycetous fungi, chlorophytes and mosses (Bryum sp.) were all supported by these hypoliths, and these are thought to be responsible for the extensive eukaryotic biomass that develops around quartz rocks.

text: Hypolithic microbial communities of quartz rocks from Miers Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica The McMurdo Dry Valleys region of eastern Antarctica is a cold desert that presents extreme challenges to life. Hypolithic microbial colonisation of the subsoil surfaces of translucent quartz rocks represent a significant source of terrestrial biomass and productivity in this region. Previous studies have described hypoliths as dominated by cyanobacteria. However, hypoliths that occur in the lower Dry Valleys such as the Miers, Garwood and Marshall Valleys are unusual as they are not necessarily cyanobacteria-dominated. These hypoliths support significant eukaryal colonisation by fungi and mosses in addition to cyanobacteria- dominated bacterial assemblages and so have considerable ecological value in this barren landscape. Here, we characterise these novel hypoliths by analysis of environmental rRNA gene sequences. The hypolithic community was demonstrated to be distinct from the surrounding soil and non-translucent rocks. Hypoliths supported cyanobacterial signatures from the Oscillatoriales and Nostocales. Other heterotrophic bacterial signatures were also recovered, and these were phylogenetically diverse and spanned 8 other bacterial phyla. Archaeal phylotypes recovered were phylogenetically aYliated with the large group of unclassified, uncultured Crenarcheota. Eukaryal phylotypes indicated that free-living ascomycetous fungi, chlorophytes and mosses (Bryum sp.) were all supported by these hypoliths, and these are thought to be responsible for the extensive eukaryotic biomass that develops around quartz rocks.

year: 2011

title: Five imperial adventures in the Waikato

authors: Moffat, Kirstine

abstract: Some late nineteenth-century exponents of the 'Novel of Adventure', or imperial adventure-romance, regarded colonial New Zealand as an attractive canvas for their tales of masculine daring in an exotic, rugged environment.3 Five such authors set their narratives, in part or in full, in the Waikato of the 1860s, drawn to the backdrop of inter-racial conflict provided by the New Zealand Wars. While references to specific events and people associated with colonial Waikato do ground many of these texts in historical reality, it has to be said that, regardless of whether the authors write from experience, careful research, or flights of imaginative fantasy, the Waikato that is described in their narratives has been selected for its frontier possibilities rather than its distinctive geography.

text: Five imperial adventures in the Waikato Some late nineteenth-century exponents of the 'Novel of Adventure', or imperial adventure-romance, regarded colonial New Zealand as an attractive canvas for their tales of masculine daring in an exotic, rugged environment.3 Five such authors set their narratives, in part or in full, in the Waikato of the 1860s, drawn to the backdrop of inter-racial conflict provided by the New Zealand Wars. While references to specific events and people associated with colonial Waikato do ground many of these texts in historical reality, it has to be said that, regardless of whether the authors write from experience, careful research, or flights of imaginative fantasy, the Waikato that is described in their narratives has been selected for its frontier possibilities rather than its distinctive geography.

year: 2013