Faculty Research and Publications

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    The 1999 Mallard fire: Lessons learned
    (The Faculty of Health Sciences - The University of Lethbridge, 2010) Kulig, Judith Celene; Kimmel, A.; Gullacher, A.; Reimer, B.; Townshend, Ivan; Edge, Dana; Lightfoot, Nancy; McKay, M.; Barnett, M.; Clague, J.; Coghlan, A.
    La Ronge is located in northern Saskatchewan on the shore of Lac La Ronge. It is adjacent to the Lac La Ronge Indian band and the northern village of Air Ronge. La Ronge is the largest community in northern Saskatchewan with over 2700 people residing in the town, 2000 people on the adjacent First Nations lands of the Lac la Ronge Indian band, and approximately 1000 people residing in the bordering Métis settlement of Air Ronge. La Ronge acts as the service centre for almost all of Northern Saskatchewan. Firefighters battled the Mallard Fire that caused the evacuation of the entire community of La Ronge on May 27, 1999. The fire, which was started by lightning, stretched over a distance of 8 kilometres and it took one week, 248 firefighters, and several water bombers to extinguish it. The damage included the destruction of 8 homes in Eagle Point, 1 trailer on Riese Drive and 1 bush home. Some commer-cial buildings were also destroyed within the town boundaries; however, no injuries were reported.
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    A bi-temporal airborne lidar shrub-to-tree aboveground biomass model for the taiga of western Canada
    (Taylor & Francis, 2024) Flade, Linda; Hopkinson, Christopher; Chasmer, Laura
    Monitoring aboveground biomass (AGB) is critical for carbon reporting and quantifying ecosystem change. AGB from field data can be scaled to the region using airborne lidar. However, lidar-based AGB products emphasize upland forests, which may not represent the conditions in rapidly changing peatland complexes in the southern Taiga of western Canada. In addition, to ensure that modeled AGB changes do not incorporate systematic error due to differences between older and newer lidar technologies, model transfer tests are required. The aim of this study was to develop one bi-temporal lidar-based AGB model applicable to (1) vegetation structures at varying vertical and horizontal continuity in this region and to (2) data collected with an earlier generation lidar system for which Canada-wide aerial coverage is available. Goodness-of-fit metrics show that AGB can be modeled with moderate (R2 = 48%–58% Taiga Shield, peatlands) to high accuracies (R2 = 83%–89% Taiga Plains, upland/permafrost plateau forests including ecotones) by using the point clouds average height and 90th height percentile within a weighted approach as function of modeled AGB and calibrating the earlier lidar data. These results are important for quantifying climate change effects on forest to peatland ecotones.
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    'A new politics of the city': locating the limits of hospitality and practicing the city-as-refuge
    (ACME Editorical Eollective University of British Columbia, 2011) Young, Julie
    Refuge is an ongoing, everyday process of contestation that takes and makes place in and through the city, its spaces and relations. The potential of a particular city as a space of refuge is not guaranteed; refuge must be constantly (re)claimed through spatial practices and tactics. The city holds promise as an emancipatory space not through invocations of hospitality but rather because it is struggled over by its various inhabitants; thinking about cities as spaces of ‘dissensus’ highlights how refuge is produced and denied in everyday and extraordinary ways. In looking to the potential of the city as a space of refuge, I take my cue from Derrida (2001) who argues the city should be able to serve as a refuge in ways the nation-state cannot and calls for the invention of ‘new cities of refuge.’ Drawing from empirical work to ground the theoretical framing, I argue that the ways in which school space is practiced by youth living with precarious legal status in Toronto, Canada, reveals how bureaucratic exercises and lived experiences of refuge are in tension and points to potential reframings of membership away from the nation-state.
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    A political ecology of home: attachment to nature and political subjectivity
    (Sage, 2015) Wood, Patricia B.; Young, Julie E. E.
    At the Joint Review Panel (JRP) for Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline across northern British Columbia, many participants presenting oral statements situated themselves as decidedly ‘ordinary’ people, with rich connections to the land and landscape. Without speaking of ownership, they nevertheless made claims to the area as their home through highly detailed articulations of knowledge and experience of its natural features. For some, it was also connected to a collective, indigenous territorial claim. In all cases, we argue that it is an articulation of ‘home,’ and that this formed the basis for the political subjectivity that led to their participation in the JRP hearings. Linking the scholarly literature on home with that of political ecology, in this paper we explore the significance of the assertion of experience and knowledge of the physical environment as the basis to claim it as ‘home’ and to assert a political right to defend it from perceived intrusion.
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    Aboveground biomass allocation of boreal shrubs and short-stature trees in northwestern Canada
    (MDPI, 2021) Flade, Linda; Hopkinson, Christopher; Chasmer, Laura
    In this follow-on study on aboveground biomass of shrubs and short-stature trees, we provide plant component aboveground biomass (herein ‘AGB’) as well as plant component AGB allometric models for five common boreal shrub and four common boreal short-stature tree genera/species. The analyzed plant components consist of stem, branch, and leaf organs. We found similar ratios of component biomass to total AGB for stems, branches, and leaves amongst shrubs and deciduous tree genera/species across the southern Northwest Territories, while the evergreen Picea genus differed in the biomass allocation to aboveground plant organs compared to the deciduous genera/species. Shrub component AGB allometric models were derived using the three-dimensional variable volume as predictor, determined as the sum of line-intercept cover, upper foliage width, and maximum height above ground. Tree component AGB was modeled using the cross-sectional area of the stem diameter as predictor variable, measured at 0.30 m along the stem length. For shrub component AGB, we achieved better model fits for stem biomass (60.33 g ≤ RMSE ≤ 163.59 g; 0.651 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.885) compared to leaf biomass (12.62 g ≤ RMSE ≤ 35.04 g; 0.380 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.735), as has been reported by others. For short-stature trees, leaf biomass predictions resulted in similar model fits (18.21 g ≤ RMSE ≤ 70.0 g; 0.702 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.882) compared to branch biomass (6.88 g ≤ RMSE ≤ 45.08 g; 0.736 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.923) and only slightly better model fits for stem biomass (30.87 g ≤ RMSE ≤ 11.72 g; 0.887 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.960), which suggests that leaf AGB of short-stature trees (<4.5 m) can be more accurately predicted using cross-sectional area as opposed to diameter at breast height for tall-stature trees. Our multi-species shrub and short-stature tree allometric models showed promising results for predicting plant component AGB, which can be utilized for remote sensing applications where plant functional types cannot always be distinguished. This study provides critical information on plant AGB allocation as well as component AGB modeling, required for understanding boreal AGB and aboveground carbon pools within the dynamic and rapidly changing Taiga Plains and Taiga Shield ecozones. In addition, the structural information and component AGB equations are important for integrating shrubs and short-stature tree AGB into carbon accounting strategies in order to improve our understanding of the rapidly changing boreal ecosystem function.
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    Aeolian dune field geomorphology modulates the stabilization rate imposed by climate
    (Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2012-06-14) Barchyn, Thomas E.; Hugenholtz, Chris H.
    The activity of inland aeolian dune fields is typically related to the external forcing imposed by climate: active (bare) dunes are associated with windy and/or arid settings, and inactive (vegetated) dunes are associated with humid and/or calm environments. When a climate shifts the dune field reacts; however, the behavior, rate, and potential impact of diverse dune geomorphologies on these transitions are poorly understood. Here, we use a numerical model to systematically investigate the influence of dune field geomorphology (dune height, organization and collisions) on the time a dune field takes to stabilize. To generate diverse initial un-vegetated dune field geomorphologies under unidirectional winds, we varied pre-stabilization growth time and initial sediment thickness (termed equivalent sediment thickness: EST). Following dune field development from a flat bed, we introduced vegetation (simulating a climate shift) and transport-vegetation feedbacks slowly stabilized the dune fields. Qualitatively, very young and immature dune fields stabilized quickly, whereas older dune fields took longer. Dune fields with greater EST stabilized quicker than those with less EST. Larger dunes stabilized quicker because of low celerity, which facilitated higher vegetation growth rates. Extended stabilization times were associated with the extension of parabolic dunes. Dune-dune collisions resulted in premature stabilization; the frequency of collisions was related to dune spacing. Quantitatively comparing the distribution of deposition rates in a dune field to the deposition tolerance of vegetation provides a promising predictor of relative stabilization time. Dune fields with deposition rates dominantly above the deposition tolerance of vegetation advanced unimpeded and prolonged stabilization as parabolic dunes. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions or predictions of dune field activity should not assume that dune activity directly translates to climate, considerable lags to stabilizing climate shifts may exist in unidirectional dune forms.
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    Air and surface temperature modelling across a temperate mountain landscape: an investigation of microclimatic influences on surface offsets viewed within the context of epigaeic arthropod thermal habitat
    (Wiley, 2025) Hassink, Nick; Bonnaventure, Philip; Johnson, Dan L.
    Development of high-resolution temperature models in mountain environments must include consideration of the influence of complex topography and seasonality on thermal distribution across horizontal and vertical scales. Small-bodied organisms, including arthropods, in montane and alpine ecosystems inhabit environments for which local microclimate and heat transfer is especially important. We developed and applied high-resolution air and surface temperature models for a remote mountain environment using in-situ data for interpolation procedures in ArcGIS Pro. This approach requires recording directional and time-period specific lapse rates to aid in the development of air temperature models. Also examined is the offset between air temperature and surface temperature and to what extent air temperature alone is a reliable indicator of ground-level thermal conditions. We describe an environmentally inclusive surface temperature modelling method that allows for the addition of explanatory layers (landcover, elevation, aspect, slope, and topographic position index) aiding in the interpolation process. These models are used to delineate thermally defined ecological zones and model unique thermal properties of relevance to arthropods across the southern Alberta study area.
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    Allometric equations for shrubs and short-stature tree aboveground biomass within boreal ecosystems of northwestern Canada
    (MDPI, 2020) Flade, Linda; Hopkinson, Christopher; Chasmer, Laura
    Aboveground biomass (AGB) of short-stature shrubs and trees contain a substantial part of the total carbon pool within boreal ecosystems. These ecosystems, however, are changing rapidly due to climate-mediated atmospheric changes, with overall observed decline in woody plant AGB in boreal northwestern Canada. Allometric equations provide a means to quantify woody plant AGB and are useful to understand aboveground carbon stocks as well as changes through time in unmanaged boreal ecosystems. In this paper, we provide allometric equations, regression coefficients, and error statistics to quantify total AGB of shrubs and short-stature trees. We provide species- and genus-specific as well as multispecies allometric models for shrub and tree species commonly found in northwestern boreal forest and peatland ecosystems. We found that the three-dimensional field variable (volume) provided the most accurate prediction of shrub multispecies AGB (R2 = 0.79, p < 0.001), as opposed to the commonly used one-dimensional variable (basal diameter) measured on the longest and thickest stem (R2 = 0.23, p < 0.001). Short-stature tree AGB was most accurately predicted by stem diameter measured at 0.3 m along the stem length (R2 = 0.99, p < 0.001) rather than stem length (R2 = 0.29, p < 0.001). Via the two-dimensional variable cross-sectional area, small-stature shrub AGB was combined with small-stature tree AGB within one single allometric model (R2 = 0.78, p < 0.001). The AGB models provided in this paper will improve our understanding of shrub and tree AGB within rapidly changing boreal environments.
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    Applying remote sensing for large-landscape problems: inventorying and tracking habitat recovery for a broadly distributed Species At Risk
    (Wiley, 2023) Dickie, Melanie; Hricko, Branislav; Hopkinson, Christopher; Tran, Victor; Kohler, Monica; Toni, Sydney; Serrouya, Robert; Kariyeva, Johan
    1. Anthropogenic habitat alteration is leading to the reduction of global biodiversity. Consequently, there is an imminent need to understand the state and trend of habitat alteration across broad areas. In North America, habitat alteration has been linked to the decline of threatened woodland caribou. As such, habitat protection and restoration are critical measures to support recovery of self-sustaining caribou populations. Broad estimates of habitat change through time have set the stage for understanding the status of caribou habitat. However, the lack of updated and detailed data on post-disturbance vegetation recovery is an impediment to recovery planning and monitoring restoration effectiveness. Advances in remote sensing tools to collect high-resolution data at large spatial scales are beginning to enable ecological studies in new ways to support ecosystem-based and species-based management. 2. We used semi-automated and manual methodologies to fuse photogrammetry point clouds (PPC) from high-resolution aerial imagery with wide-area light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to quantify vegetation structure (height, density, class) on disturbances associated with caribou declines. We also compared vegetation heights estimated from the semi-automated PPC-LiDAR fusion to heights estimated in the field, using stereoscopic interpretation, and using multi-channel TiTAN LiDAR. 3. Vegetation regrowth was occurring on many of the disturbance types, though there was local variability in the type, height and density of vegetation. Heights estimated using PPC-LiDAR fusion were highly correlated (r ≥ 0.87 in all cases) with heights estimated using stereomodels, TiTAN multi-channel LiDAR and field measurements. 4. We demonstrated that PPC-LiDAR fusion can be operationalized over large areas to collect comprehensive and consistent vegetation data across landscape levels, providing opportunities to link fine-resolution remote sensing to landscape-scale ecological studies. Crucially, these data can be used to estimate rates of habitat recovery at resolutions that are not feasible using more commonly used satellite-based sensors, bridging the gap between resolution and extent. Such data are needed to achieve effective and efficient habitat monitoring to support caribou recovery efforts, as well as a myriad of additional forest management needs.
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    Benchmarking tree species classification from proximally sensed laser scanning data: introducing the FOR-species20K dataset
    (Wiley, 2025) Pulti, Stefano; Lines, Emily R.; Mullerova, Jana; Frey, Julian; Schindler, Zoe; Straker, Adrian; Allen, Matthew J.; Winiwarter, Lukas; Rehush, Nataliia; Hristova, Hristina; Murray, Brent; Calders, Kim; Coops, Nicholas; Hofle, Bernhard; Irwin, Liam; Junttila, Samuli; Krucek, Martin; Krok, Grzegorz; Kral, Kamil; Levick, Shaun R.; Luck, Linda; Missarov, Azim; Mokros, Martin; Owen, Harry J. F.; Sterenczak, Krzysztof; Pitkanen, Timo P.; Puletti, Nicola; Saarinen, Ninni; Hopkinson, Christopher; Terryn, Louise; Torresan, Chiara; Tomelleri, Enrico; Weiser, Hannah; Astrup, Rasmus
    1. Proximally sensed laser scanning presents new opportunities for automated forest ecosystem data capture. However, a gap remains in deriving ecologically pertinent information, such as tree species, without additional ground data. Artificial intelligence approaches, particularly deep learning (DL), have shown promise towards automation. Progress has been limited by the lack of large, diverse, and, most importantly, openly available labelled single-tree point cloud datasets. This has hindered both (1) the robustness of the DL models across varying data types (platforms and sensors) and (2) the ability to effectively track progress, thereby slowing the convergence towards best practice for species classification. 2. To address the above limitations, we compiled the FOR-species20K benchmark dataset, consisting of individual tree point clouds captured using proximally sensed laser scanning data from terrestrial (TLS), mobile (MLS) and drone laser scanning (ULS). Compiled collaboratively, the dataset includes data collected in forests mainly across Europe, covering Mediterranean, temperate and boreal biogeographic regions. It includes scattered tree data from other continents, totaling over 20,000 trees of 33 species and covering a wide range of tree sizes and forms. Alongside the release of FOR-species20K, we benchmarked seven leading DL models for individual tree species classification, including both point cloud (PointNet++, MinkNet, MLP-Mixer, DGCNNs) and multi-view 2D-based methods (SimpleView, DetailView, YOLOv5). 3. 2D Image-based models had, on average, higher overall accuracy (0.77) than 3D point cloud-based models (0.72). Notably, the performance was consistently >0.8 across scanning platforms and sensors, offering versatility in deployment. The top-scoring model, DetailView, demonstrated robustness to training data imbalances and effectively generalized across tree sizes. 4. The FOR-species20K dataset represents an important asset for developing and benchmarking DL models for individual tree species classification using proximally sensed laser scanning data. As such, it serves as a crucial foundation for future efforts to classify accurately and map tree species at various scales using laser scanning technology, as it provides the complete code base, dataset, and an initial baseline representative of the current state-of-the-art of point cloud tree species classification methods.
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    Biostratigraphic evidence relating to the age-old question of Hannibal's invasion of Italy, I: history and geological reconstruction
    (Wiley, 2016) Mahaney, William C.; Allen, Christopher C. R.; Pentlavalli, Prasanna; Kulakova, Anna; Young, Jonathan M.; Dirszowsky, Randy W.; West, Allen; Kelleher, Brian; Jordan, Sean; Pulleyblank, C; O'Reilly, Shane; Murphy, B. T.; Lasberg, Katrin; Somelar, Peeter; Garneau, Michelle; Finkelstein, S. A.; Sobol, M. K.; Kalm, Volli; Costa, Pedro J. M.; Hancock, Ronald G. V.; Hart, Kris M.; Tricart, Pierre; Barendregt, René W.; Bunch, Ted E.; Milner, Michael W.
    Controversy over the alpine route that Hannibal of Carthage followed from the Rhône Basin into Italia has raged amongst classicists and ancient historians for over two millennia. The motivation for identifying the route taken by the Punic Army through the Alps lies in its potential for identifying sites of historical archaeological significance and for the resolution of one of history's most enduring quandaries. Here, we present stratigraphic, geochemical and microbiological evidence recovered from an alluvial floodplain mire located below the Col de la Traversette (~3000 m asl—above sea level) on the French/Italian border that potentially identifies the invasion route as the one originally proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer (de Beer 1974). The dated layer is termed the MAD bed (mass animal deposition) based on disrupted bedding, greatly increased organic carbon and key/specialized biological components/compounds, the latter reported in Part II of this paper. We propose that the highly abnormal churned up (bioturbated) bed was contaminated by the passage of Hannibal's animals, possibly thousands, feeding and watering at the site, during the early stage of Hannibal's invasion of Italia (218 bc).
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    Biostratigraphic evidence relating to the age-old question of Hannibal's invasion of Italy, II: chemical biomarkers and microbial signatures
    (Wiley, 2017) Mahaney, William C.; Allen, Christopher C. R.; Pentlavalli, Prasanna; Kulakova, Anna; Young, Jonathan M.; Dirszowsky, Randy W.; West, Allen; Kelleher, Brian; Jordan, Sean; Pulleyblank, C.; O'Reilly, Shane; Murphy, B. T.; Lasberg, Katrin; Somelar, Peeter; Garneau, Michelle; Finkelstein, S. A.; Sobol, M. K.; Kalm, Volli; Costa, Pedro J. M.; Hancock, Ronald G. V.; Hart, Kris M.; Tricart, Pierre; Barendregt, René W.; Bunch, Ted E.; Milner, Michael W.
    As discussed in Part I, a large accumulation of mammalian faeces at the mire site in the upper Guil Valley near Mt. Viso, dated to 2168 cal 14C yr., provides the first evidence of the passage of substantial but indeterminate numbers of mammals within the time frame of the Punic invasion of Italia. Specialized organic biomarkers bound up in a highly convoluted and bioturbated bed constitute an unusual anomaly in a histosol comprised of fibric and hemist horizons that are usually expected to display horizontal bedding. The presence of deoxycholic acid and ethylcoprostanol derived from faecal matter, coupled with high relative numbers of Clostridia 16S rRNA genes, suggests a substantial accumulation of mammalian faeces at the site over 2000 years ago. The results reported here constitute the first chemical and biological evidence of the passage of large numbers of mammals, possibly indicating the route of the Hannibalic army at this time. Combined with the geological analysis reported in Part I, these data provide a background supporting the need for further historical archaeological exploration in this area.
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    A bloody offal nuisance: The persistence of private slaughter-houses in nineteenth century London
    (Cambridge University Press, 2007) MacLachlan, Ian
    British slaughter-house reformers campaigned to abolish private urban slaughter-houses and establish public abattoirs in the nineteenth century. Abolition of London’s private slaughter-houses was motivated by the congestion created by livestock in city streets, the nuisance of slaughter-house refuse in residential neighbourhoods and public health concerns about diseased meat in the food supply. The butchers successfully defended their private slaughter-houses, illustrating the persistence of the craftsman’s workshop and the importance of laissez-faire sentiments in opposition to municipalization in Victorian London.
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    Borders for profit: transnational social exclusion and the production of the NAFTA border
    (Inderscience, 2019) Gingrich, Luann G.; Young, Julie E. E.
    The focus of this paper is the production of the 'North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)' border that defines a trans/national social field and directs the day-to-day lives of migrant women who organise their livelihoods around the Mexico-Guatemala border. We document and investigate emerging transnational spaces and practices of social exclusion and symbolic violence (Bourdieu) that boost domestic economic interests, externalise social responsibility, privatise social risk, and reinforce national boundaries. We argue that policies and practices in this transnational social field are directed by market logic and that, accordingly, trade agreements and migration management regimes organise place and space to make the most of global inequalities through the simultaneous facilitation and restriction of mobility. Crucially, the coordinated ambivalent control of borders in this transnational marketised social field produces an entrepreneurial context that makes possible a range of profits through the selective symbolic dispossession of nation-states, nationalities, and migrant bodies: economic, political, and social.
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    Celluloid Esther: the literary carnivalesque as transformed through the lens of the cinematic epic
    (De Gruyter, 2017) McGeough, Kevin M.
    The reception of Esther has often been fraught with attempts to make the book more palatable to the audience receiving it and to interpret the book in a manner more consistent with the values of that community. This is evidence in cinematic adaptations of the book, where the story is transformed to better suit the genre expectations of the Biblical epic and the perspectives of the intended viewers. By examining two films based on Esther – Esther and the King (1960) and One Night with the King (2006) – some of the interpretive issues surrounding the tone and content of the Biblical source become apparent. If Esther is best understood as a carnivalesque work, as many scholars have suggested, then the expectations of this kind of work have not been met in the cinematic adaptations. Given the importance of film in contemporary Biblical reception, these new readings of Esther are perhaps particularly influential, at least within the restricted communities who view these movies. Likewise, analysis of these changes highlights the values of the makers of these films and the audiences who consume them.
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    Changing livestock geographies and global meat consumption: what are the implications
    (University of Lethbridge, 2014) MacLachlan, Ian
    Examines the local livestock industry and the effects of current global meat consumption trends on Canada’s economy
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    Characterization of Lower and Middle Pleistocene tephra beds in the southern plains of western Canada
    (Canadian Science Publishing, 2022) Westgate, John A.; Naeser, Nancy D.; Barendregt, René W.; Pearce, Nicholas J. G.
    Wellsch Valley tephra, near Swift Current, southwestern Saskatchewan, and Galt Island tephra, near Medicine Hat, southeastern Alberta, have been referenced in the literature since the 1970s, but little is available on their physical and chemical attributes — necessary information if they are to be recognized elsewhere. This study seeks to remedy this situation. Both have a calc-alkaline rhyolitic composition with hornblende, biotite, plagioclase, pyroxene, and Fe–Ti oxides being dominant. They have a similar composition but are not the same. Wellsch Valley tephra has a glass fission-track age of 0.75 ± 0.05 Ma, a reversed magnetic polarity, and was deposited at the close of the Matuyama Chron. Galt Island tephra has an age of 0.49 ± 0.05 Ma, a normal magnetic polarity, and was deposited during the early Brunhes Chron. Rich fossil vertebrate faunas occur in sediments close to them. Major- and trace-element concentrations in their glass shards indicate a source in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, USA, but differences in trace-element ratios suggest they are not consanguineous.
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    Chronology and extent of late Cenozoic ice sheets in North America: a magnetostratigraphical assessment
    (Elsevier, 2011) Barendregt, René W.; Duk-Rodkin, Alejandra
    This paper summarises the advances which have been made in the magnetostratigraphic assessment of glacial and interglacial events of the past 3.0 million years, to facilitate the assignment of sediments to the Chrons and subchrons of the geomagnetic polarity timescale. In the absence of absolute dating tools, magnetostratigraphy affords a valuable means of assigning terrestrial ice age deposits to the geologic timescale, and most importantly, allows a correlation to be made with the more complete marine sedimentary record, where oxygen isotopic data also provide a robust paleotemperature record.
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    Counter-archive as methodology: activating oral histories of the contested Canada-US border
    (2023) Reynolds, Johanna; Wu, Grace; Young, Julie
    Remembering Refuge: Between Sanctuary and Solidarity is a counter-archive based on oral history interviews with people who crossed the Canada-US border to seek refuge and advocacy groups working at this border in two moments of crisis: the 1980s Central American crisis and the 2017-19 crisis at Roxham Road. This paper foregrounds counter-archiving as a methodology, building from the oral histories to illustrate how borders and bordering practices are navigated and contested and how these lived experiences push back at state-directed logics and narratives of migration. By drawing connections across past and present struggles over mobilities and borders, we offer a critical genealogy of refuge around the Canada-US border. The oral histories collectively and individually contest state-led narratives of migration as a ‘crisis,’ the need for borders to be further securitized, and specifically of the Canadian state’s generous humanitarianism towards a select few. We introduce the methodological choices, contexts, and limitations of the project’s research design, and present two themes that emerged from the oral histories: the contested element of ‘choice’ in migration movements and the important roles played by resistance and refusal in the working out of borders. Finally, we emphasize that relationships between borders are crucial to understanding the histories of asylum around this border, and the political shift activated by the counter-archive of centering borders as lived, experienced, contested or refused.