Search

The Himalaya orogen evolved since the Eocene as the Tethyan‐, Greater‐, Lesser‐ and Sub‐Himalaya thrust sheets were uplifted and exhumed in sequence. Reconstructing the provenance of sediment in Himalayan River systems can inform on stages in the tectonic history of the orogen. Here, we analyze the oxygen, carbon and "clumped" isotope compositions of carbonate minerals from Himalayan bedrock, Ganga River sediments and Bengal Fan turbidite deposits. We demonstrate that river sediments consist of a mixture of Himalayan‐derived and authigenic calcite precipitated in the river system. The relative abundance and clumped isotope apparent temperatures of detrital calcite in turbidite deposits decreased between the Late Miocene and Pliocene, while chemical weathering intensity did not increase during this interval. Considered together, these results reflect the establishment of the Lesser Himalaya as an important carbonate sediment source for Himalayan rivers, driven by the uplift and exhumation of this thrust sheet. Plain Language Summary: The Himalaya Range consists of a series of tectonic units that accreted during the last 50 million years as the Indian and Asian continents collided. Sediment provenance analyses are commonly used to reconstruct stages in tectonic evolution of mountain‐belts, but often capture local conditions and/or are altered by various sediment‐transport processes. We overcome these complexities by measuring oxygen, carbon and "clumped" isotope compositions of carbonate minerals in turbidite deposits cored from the Bengal Fan, to constrain sediment provenance at a Himalaya‐wide scale since the Early Miocene. Considered together with records describing weathering intensity, our data suggests that the Lesser Himalaya became the dominant source for detrital carbonate as this tectonic‐unit was uplifted and exhumed between the Late Miocene and Pliocene. Key Points: Detrital calcite in Himalayan river systems derives from Himalayan‐bedrock and authigenic sourcesTΔ47 values of detrital calcite in the Bengal Fan drop between the Late Miocene and Pliocene while weathering intensity remains invariantOn a Himalayan‐wide scale, the Lesser Himalaya became an important source of detrital carbonate between the Late Miocene and Pliocene [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constitution has sixty-three financial terms. These financial terms include, for instance, "compensation," "expenditures," "debt," "coin," "revenue," "securities," and "bankruptcies"--all of which determine the elementary building blocks of our governmental makeup. When the Supreme Court interprets the meaning of these financial terms, it does so in isolation and without a consistent framework. This Article proposes a unified framework for the interpretation of financial terms in the Constitution which comprises two fundamental canons of construction. First, this Article proposes that all financial terms in the Constitution should be interpreted with fiscal and monetary neutrality--interpreting financial terms in a way that does not favor one kind of economic policy over another. The Supreme Court is not the right institution to manage the economy, as it lacks the expertise to do so. Moreover, fiscal and monetary policy is a governmental object that is intended to be governed by, and is best left to, the political process. The Supreme Court should thus interpret all financial terms in the Constitution in a manner that will leave fiscal and monetary policy open for implementation by either the legislative and executive branches, or the various states, as appropriate. Second, this Article proposes that if the Supreme Court is able to avoid deciding the meaning of a constitutional financial term, and, instead, decide the relevant case on another basis (such as either federal or state law, or procedural grounds), it should do so. In other words, the Supreme Court should invoke the constitutional avoidance doctrine when facing a constitutional financial term. Together, fiscal and monetary neutrality, coupled with the constitutional avoidance doctrine, provides a consistent framework for the Supreme Court's treatment of financial terms that serves both the intended meaning of these terms and their continued utility in today's modern economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA methylation is environment-sensitive and can mediate stress responses. In trees, changes in the environment might cumulatively shape the methylome landscape over time. However, because high-resolution methylome studies usually focus on single environmental cues, the stress-specificity and long-term stability of methylation responses remain unclear. Here, we studied the methylome plasticity of a Populus nigra cv. 'Italica' clone widely distributed across Europe. Adult trees from different geographic locations were clonally propagated in a common garden experiment and exposed to cold, heat, drought, herbivory, rust infection, and salicylic acid treatments. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing revealed stress-induced and naturally occurring DNA methylation variants. In CG/CHG contexts, the same genomic regions were often affected by multiple stresses, suggesting a generic methylome response. Moreover, these variants showed striking overlap with naturally occurring methylation variants between trees from different locations. Drought treatment triggered CHH hypermethylation of transposable elements, affecting entire superfamilies near drought-responsive genes. Thus, we revealed genomic hotspots of methylation change that are not stress-specific and that contribute to natural DNA methylation variation, and identified stress-specific hypermethylation of entire transposon superfamilies with possible functional consequences. Our results underscore the importance of studying multiple stressors in a single experiment for recognizing general versus stress-specific methylome responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the rhetoric and argumentation of two prominent environmental activists, Greta Thunberg and Chris Packham. From the perspective of Ecolinguistics, Thunberg has given voice to a generational movement for change, galvanising young people everywhere through high-profile protests and speeches. Packham represents British mainstream environmentalism, notably as the presenter of the acclaimed nature documentary 'Springwatch'. We argue that their influence partially stems from their alignment with dominant cultural narratives: Thunberg's emphasis on intergenerational discord and Packham's connection to the natural world. We analyse both figures via the lens of the 'emotionalisation of media discourse', highlighting argumentation strategies that feature expressions of negative emotions of which anger is a type. Thunberg's famous 'How dare you?' outburst at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit and Packham's statement to Novara Media, 'I am more angry now than at any point since my 20s', exemplify this trend. We explore the pragmatic implications of their argumentative and discursive strategies, suggesting that while both have significantly elevated the profile of ecological activism, their discourse may also have a potentially divisive aspect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the preparation method of the mixture catalyst/polymer on the linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) pyrolysis is studied by comparing the results obtained when the polymer and the catalyst (Hβ or HZSM‐5) are extruded or simply mixed in powder form. By improving the polymer/catalyst contact through extrusion, the polymer degradation took place at lower temperature. The effect of extrusion is more pronounced with Hβ compared to HZSM‐5 owing to the highest external surface of Hβ. While the yields of gas/liquid/coke do not differ with the preparation method when HZSM‐5 is used as catalyst, more significant amount of liquid phase and high production of paraffins are observed when Hβ/LLDPE mixture is extruded, according to random scission pathway reactions. The subsequent reactions are limited by the size of the pore, which impede hydrogenation reactions, producing high molecular weight molecules. Regardless of zeolite type, the micropores of the zeolite are more affected by deactivation by coke when extrusion method is used, this effect being much more important for HZSM‐5. This result is a consequence of a polymer pre‐degradation during the extrusion process in which the first cracks of the polymer at low temperature and the first pore blockages can be generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Cloning can be induced in larvae of numerous echinoderm species under laboratory conditions; however, natural asexual reproduction of larvae in the wild has been reported for only a few [...], The identity of wild cloning sea star larvae has been a mystery since they were first documented in the Caribbean. The most commonly collected cloning species was thought to belong to the Oreasteridae, on the basis of similarity with sequences from Oreaster reticulums and Oreaster clavatus. This larval form has recently been linked to a rare benthic juvenile. As part of two larger DNA barcoding projects, we collected cloning asteroid larvae from the Caribbean coast of Panama and compared them to a large reference database of tropical echinoderms. Morphological and DNA barcode data from the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene demonstrated that Panamanian larvae belonged to the same operational taxonomic unit as those recovered in previous studies of cloning larvae from the Caribbean. Much to our surprise, sequences from these larvae clearly identified them as belonging to Valvaster striatus, a species typically considered to be endemic to the Indo-West Pacific. A lineage of Mithrodia clavigera that occurs in both the Caribbean and the Indo-West Pacific also has cloning larvae, suggesting that this unusual life history has allowed larvae to pass around the Cape of Good Hope and the Benguela upwelling region, which is a barrier to dispersal for most tropical marine invertebrates.