"Aftermath": Using Research to Understand the Social and Economic Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness

“Aftermath: The Social and Economic Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness" study is an example of undertaking research to link with policy development. Much evaluation research (for example, assessing the impact of workplace illness and injury) isolates one area or perspective to study: clinical, functional, psychological, or financial outcomes. This study aimed to explore both quantifiable and non-quantifiable costs, and presents social and economic consequences case studies. This allowed the inter-connections between various areas and perspectives to be included, to present an overall picture of the visible as well as hidden costs. Behind the eventual products from this study are some lessons learnt about the research process, and how this contributes to policy development

Wet-Based Glaciation on Mars

Mars is a glacial planet. It hosts water ice in large polar ice caps, and in thousands of ‘viscous flow features’ in its mid latitudes that are thought to be debris-covered water ice glaciers. These ice deposits range between a few million to ~1 billion years in age and formed during Mars’ most recent epoch, the late Amazonian. The late Amazonian was characterised by extremely cold and arid climate conditions that are not conducive to melting of ice. Consequently, late-Amazonian glaciation has been dominated by cold-based glacier thermal regimes. However, the recent discovery of an esker (a ridge of sediment deposited by meltwater flowing through a tunnel within or beneath glacial ice) associated with a viscous flow feature in the Phlegra Montes region of Mars’ northern mid latitudes provided the first indicative evidence that wet-based glaciation occurred in at least one location during the late Amazonian. In this thesis, I present the discovery of a second candidate esker associated with a viscous flow feature, in the NW Tempe Terra region of Mars’ northern mid latitudes. I argue that the remarkably similar geologic settings of the NW Tempe Terra and Phlegra Montes candidate eskers (both within tectonic rift/graben valleys) suggests that geothermal heating, possibly with an additional component of viscous strain heating within the basal ice, was a prerequisite for basal melting under cold climate conditions. I then characterise the 2D and 3D morphometries of these candidate eskers, undertake comparisons with the morphometries of ancient putative eskers on Mars and eskers on Earth, and develop conceptual models for the dynamics of esker formation in NW Tempe Terra. Finally, I present a geomorphic map of Chukhung crater, Mars, which hosts esker-like sinuous ridges associated with viscous flow features and provides a case study of the ongoing challenges for esker identification on Mars

"Aftermath": Using Research to Understand the Social and Economic Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness

“Aftermath: The Social and Economic Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness" study is an example of undertaking research to link with policy development. Much evaluation research (for example, assessing the impact of workplace illness and injury) isolates one area or perspective to study: clinical, functional, psychological, or financial outcomes. This study aimed to explore both quantifiable and non-quantifiable costs, and presents social and economic consequences case studies. This allowed the inter-connections between various areas and perspectives to be included, to present an overall picture of the visible as well as hidden costs. Behind the eventual products from this study are some lessons learnt about the research process, and how this contributes to policy development

Are the Dorsa Argentea on Mars eskers?

The Dorsa Argentea are an extensive assemblage of ridges in the southern high latitudes of Mars. They have previously been interpreted as eskers formed by deposition of sediment in subglacial meltwater conduits, implying a formerly more extensive south polar ice sheet. In this study, we undertake the first large-scale statistical analysis of aspects of the geometry and morphology of the Dorsa Argentea in comparison with terrestrial eskers in order to evaluate this hypothesis. The ridges are re-mapped using integrated topographic (MOLA) and image (CTX/HRSC) data, and their planar geometries compared to recent characterisations of terrestrial eskers. Quantitative tests for esker-like relationships between ridge height, crest morphology and topography are then completed for four major Dorsa Argentea ridges. The following key conclusions are reached: (1) Statistical distributions of lengths and sinuosities of the Dorsa Argentea are similar to those of terrestrial eskers in Canada. (2) Planar geometries across the Dorsa Argentea support formation of ridges in conduits extending towards the interior of an ice sheet that thinned towards its northern margin, perhaps terminating in a proglacial lake. (3) Variations in ridge crest morphology are consistent with observations of terrestrial eskers. (4) Statistical tests of previously observed relationships between ridge height and longitudinal bed slope, similar to those explained by the physics of meltwater flow through subglacial meltwater conduits for terrestrial eskers, confirm the strength of these relationships for three of four major Dorsa Argentea ridges. (5) The new quantitative characterisations of the Dorsa Argentea may provide useful constraints for parameters in modelling studies of a putative former ice sheet in the south polar regions of Mars, its hydrology, and mechanisms that drove its eventual retreat.FEGB is funded by STFC grant ST/N50421X/1 and is grateful for bursaries provided by The Open University, The Ogden Trust and the British Society for Geomorphology. SJC was funded by a Leverhulme Trust Grant RPG-397. We would like to thank Peter Fawdon for his technical advice. We are grateful to RD Storrar for providing raw data for the Canadian eskers, and to both RD Storrar and H Bernhardt for their insightful reviews of the manuscript.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.icarus.2016.03.02

Reporting on Occupational Health and Safety in Annual Reports: A Look at Disclosure Practices in New Zealand

In recent years many organizations in New Zealand have begun to voluntarily disclose health and safety information in their annual reports. This paper considers the rationales for such disclosures and reviews the disclosure practices of 100 of New Zealand's largest employers. It utilizes an index adapted from Morhardt (2002) and good practice guidance developed by the Health and Safety Commission in the United Kingdom (HSC 2000) to evaluate both the quantity and quality of reporting. Benchmarked against these indicators, the authors conclude that there is considerable scope for improving the overall standard of health and safety reporting in New Zealand. The paper notes some current initiatives and offers suggestions to progress developments in this area

Recent Basal Melting of a Mid-Latitude Glacier on Mars

Evidence for past basal melting of young (late Amazonian), debris-covered glaciers in Mars’ mid-latitudes is extremely rare. Thus, it is widely thought that these viscous flow features (VFFs) have been perennially frozen to their beds. We identify an instance of recent, localized wet-based mid-latitude glaciation, evidenced by a candidate esker emerging from a VFF in a tectonic rift in Tempe Terra. Eskers are sedimentary ridges deposited in ice-walled meltwater conduits and are indicative of glacial melting. We compare the candidate esker to terrestrial analogues, present a geomorphic map of landforms in the rift, and develop a landsystem model to explain their formation. We propose that the candidate esker formed during a transient phase of wet-based glaciation. We then consider the similarity between the geologic setting of the new candidate esker and that of the only other candidate esker to be identified in association with an existing mid-latitude VFF; both are within tectonic graben/rifts proximal to volcanic provinces. Finally, we calculate potential basal temperatures for a range of VFF thicknesses, driving stresses, mean annual surface temperatures, and geothermal heat fluxes, which unlike previous studies, include the possible role of internal strain heating. Strain heating can form an important additional heat source, especially in flow convergence zones, or where ice is warmer due to elevated surface temperatures or geothermal heat flux. Elevated geothermal heat flux within rifts, perhaps combined with locally-elevated strain heating, may have permitted wet-based glaciation during the late Amazonian, when cold climates precluded more extensive wet-based glaciation on Mars

Modelling Esker Formation on Mars

International audience<p><strong>Introduction:</strong>  Eskers are sinuous sedimentary ridges that are widespread across formerly glaciated landscapes on Earth. They form when sediment in subglacial tunnels is deposited by meltwater. Some sinuous ridges on Mars have been identified as eskers; whilst some are thought to have formed early in Mars’ history beneath extensive ice sheets, smaller, younger systems associated with extant glaciers in Mars’ mid latitudes have also been identified. Elevated geothermal heating and formation during periods with more extensive glaciation have been suggested as possible prerequisites for recent Martian esker deposition.</p><p>Here, we adapt a model of esker formation with g and other constants altered to Martian values, using it initially to investigate the impact of Martian conditions on subglacial tunnel systems, before investigating the effect of varying water discharge on esker deposition.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> To investigate the effect of these values on the operation of subglacial tunnel systems we first conduct a series of model experiments with steady water discharge, varying the assumed liquid density (r<sub>w</sub>) from 1000 kgm<sup>-3</sup> to 1980 kgm<sup>-3</sup> (the density of saturated perchlorate brine) and ice hardness (A) from 2.4x10<sup>-24</sup> Pa<sup>-3</sup>s<sup>-1</sup> to 5x10<sup>-27</sup> Pa<sup>-3</sup>s<sup>-1</sup> (a temperature range of 0°C to -50°C). We then investigate the impact of variable water discharge on esker formation to simulate very simply a possible release of meltwater from an assumed geothermal event beneath a Martian glacier or ice cap.</p><p><strong>Results and Discussion:</strong>  A key aspect of model behaviour is the decrease in sediment carrying capacity towards the ice margin due to increased tunnel size as ice thins. Our results suggest that Martian parameters emphasise this effect, making deposition more likely over a greater length of the conduit. Lower gravity has the largest impact; it reduces the modeled closure rate of subglacial tunnels markedly as this varies with overburden stress (and hence g) cubed. Frictional heating from flowing water also drops, but much less sensitively. Thus, for a given discharge, the tunnels tend to be larger, leading to lower water pressure and a reduction in flow power. This effect is amplified for harder ice. Higher inferred fluid density raises the flow power, but by a smaller amount.</p><p>These effects are clearly seen in the variable discharge experiments. Sediment is deposited on the falling limb of the hydrograph, when the tunnels are larger than the equivalent steady-state water discharge would produce. Sediment deposition occurs much further upglacier from the glacier snout, and occurs earlier on the falling limb leading to longer periods in which deposition occurs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Our results suggest that esker formation within a subglacial meltwater tunnel would be more likely on Mars than Earth, primarily because subglacial tunnels tend to be larger for equivalent water discharges, with consequent lower water flow velocities. This allows sediment deposition over longer lengths of tunnel, and to greater depths, than for terrestrial systems. Future work will use measured bed topography of a mid-latitude esker to assess the impact of topography on deposition patterns and esker morphology, and we will expand the range of discharges and sediment supply regimes investigated.</p&gt