HOW CANADIAN OF US

Canadians appreciate Indigenous land acknowledgements, but don't think it applies to them: poll

OTTAWA — A new poll shows that while Canadians want politicians to acknowledge the Indigenous history of the land they’re standing on, they don’t think it applies to their own land.

Provided by National Post 

The Canadian flag stretched out in the wind on Monday, February 15, 2021.

Indigenous land acknowledgments in which speakers, usually politicians, mention the Indigenous history of the land they are speaking on have become common in recent years. As an example, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau often mentions when he is speaking from Ottawa that he is sitting on unceded Algonquin territory.

A new poll done by the Association for Canadian Studies, a not-for-profit focused on increasing Canadians’ understanding of our past, found that most people appreciate the statements coming from their political leaders.

In the poll, 50 per cent of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat agree that politicians should regularly make a land acknowledgement, in contrast to 34 per cent who disagree and 17 per cent who don’t know.

Support for the statements was generally highest among younger people, with 67 per cent of people in the age group agreeing with it.

Despite the support for having politicians say it, when asked if they personally are living on unceded Indigenous territory, only 25 per cent of people agreed.

Jack Jedwab, president of the association, said it shows there is work for people to do in understanding what the acknowledgements actually mean.

“People feel it’s okay for governments to make that acknowledgement, but a lot of people simply don’t feel that they’re not on their own territory, so to speak,” he said.

Jedwab said he believes many people interpret that as saying they don’t own their land, rather than simply acknowledging the history behind it. He said there is a need for more education on what land acknowledgments really mean.

“Optimally, the idea is to give meaning to these land acknowledgments. We don’t want them to be gratuitous land acknowledgments, we want people to understand what they are about,” he said.

Unceded Indigenous territory generally refers to lands that were controlled by Indigenous communities before French and British settlers arrived. Courts have since recognized those claims, and land claim settlements have been underway with Indigenous communities to compensate communities for the land.

Mostly in Western Canada, Indigenous communities entered into treaties with the Canadian government of the time. Land acknowledgments in the Prairies generally mention those treaties, which were often not fulfilled.

The government is engaged in negotiations over land claims with Indigenous communities across the country. Jedwab said these views could be a political barrier to those negotiations, but generally he believes Canadians just need to better understand the process.

“My conclusion from all this, is there’s more education and more understanding that’s required,” he said.

The poll used an online panel and reached out to 1,539 respondents between June 4 and June 6.

Twitter: RyanTumilty

Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com

Ottawa approves new truth and reconciliation legislation on National Indigenous Peoples Day

Nick Boisvert 

© Justin Tang/The Canadian Press People gather at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 30, 2021. Children's shoes were displayed there following the discovery of children's remains at a residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

New Canadians will soon have to affirm their commitment to respecting treaties with Indigenous peoples when they are sworn in as citizens.

Two pieces of legislation concerning the government's relationship with Indigenous peoples received royal assent and became law Monday evening.

One of them, Bill C-8, will change Canada's oath of citizenship to include a new line acknowledging the country's treaties with Indigenous communities.

New citizens will be asked to affirm their commitment to Canadian law, "including the Constitution, which recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples."

That change reflects the 94th and final recommendation in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's landmark 2015 report.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the change "will help new Canadians better understand the role of Indigenous peoples, the ongoing impact of colonialism and residential schools and our collective obligation to uphold the treaties."

The other legal change comes through Bill C-15, which will see Canada formally adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Both bills have been approved already by the House of Commons and the Senate, although Conservatives in both chambers said they were concerned by the UNDRIP bill and largely voted against it.

Richard Wagner, who is serving temporarily as the acting governor general, granted the bills royal assent on Monday evening, which enshrines them as law.

The legislation was approved on National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Grand chief notes 'abysmal' situation in Indigenous communities

Video: National Indigenous Peoples Day (Global News)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marked the occasion on social media earlier Monday by acknowledging that Canada has "much more work to do to advance truth and reconciliation."

Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip described the government's adoption of UNDRIP as a "significant development" before laying out numerous inequities that continue to plague Indigenous peoples in Canada.

"The true measure of reconciliation must be taken on the ground itself, and in that regard we still have abysmal rates of infant mortality, children are apprehended on an ever-increasing basis, we have an epidemic of youth suicides, Indigenous women are continuing to be kidnapped and murdered," Stewart said in an interview on CBC's Power & Politics.

"When one looks at the reality on the ground, we haven't really moved to where we need to be," Phillip added.
Singh, Qaqqaq say Liberals have nothing to be proud of

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday he believes the Liberal government is "hypocritical" for saying it wants to make reparations for past sins against Indigenous people while also facing tough criticism of its handling of a number of key files.

Singh said the Liberals are hoping to turn the page and celebrate their achievements on reconciliation with First Peoples, but he believes they should instead be taken to task over their record.

The Liberals have faced several weeks of challenging questions following the discovery of what are believed to be the remains of 215 children at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

A number of Indigenous groups also condemned Ottawa's action plan responding to the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, saying the development process was not consultative enough and calling the plan "fragmented."© Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian Press NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said appropriate action has not yet been taken to address Canada's 'genocidal policies that targeted Indigenous families and communities.'

Ottawa was also in Federal Court last week challenging two Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rulings that found the federal government discriminated against Indigenous children by not properly funding child and family services.

Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq acknowledged National Indigenous Peoples Day while speaking to the House of Commons on Monday.

She said the federal government ought to be ashamed of its record on serving Indigenous communities.

"It should be a day of celebration, of culture and history. But I am filled with a tremendous amount of sadness and anger," Qaqqaq said.

"There is nothing for Indigenous peoples to be proud of in this institution."

CANADA
Two Catholic churches burn to ground on First Nations' land
David Carrigg 

VANCOUVER SUN

© JAMES MILLER Firefighters' jackets hang Monday on the fence outside what used to be Sacred Heart Church on the Penticton Indian Reserve. The church was destroyed by a fire around 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Two Catholic churches on Indigenous land in the southern Okanagan were destroyed by fire early Monday, as shock waves continue from the discovery of 215 unidentified graves near the old Kamloops Indian Residential School.

According to Penticton South Okanagan RCMP spokesman Sgt. Jason Bayda, an officer on patrol spotted fire coming from the Sacred Heart Church on Penticton Indian Band land at around 1:20 a.m.

Penticton Fire and Rescue were called and arrived to find the church fully engulfed in flames.

Bayda said that less than two hours later — at 3:10 a.m. — Oliver RCMP and the Oliver Fire Department were notified that St. Gregory’s Church on Osoyoos Indian Band land was ablaze.

Oliver is a 40-minute drive south of Penticton on Highway 97.

“Both churches burned to the ground and police are treating the fires as suspicious,” Bayda said.

The wooden churches were each at least 100 years old and are the responsibility of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nelson.

“Investigators have and continue to liaise with both the Penticton and Osoyoos Indian bands as we investigate these fires,” Bayda said.

“Should our investigations deem these fires as arson, the RCMP will be looking at all possible motives and allow the facts and evidence to direct our investigative action. We are sensitive to the recent events, but won’t speculate on a motive.”

© ROY WOOD The remains of St. Gregory Church on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve. It was destroyed by fire at around 3 a.m. on Monday.

Bayda was referring to the discovery of the remains of the 215 kids found late last month. This discovery has sparked outrage directed toward the Catholic Church that operated the majority of B.C.’s 28 residential schools, and the federal government that created the policy and funded the institutions, where children were systematically degraded and abused.

June 21 was National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada.

Father Thomas Kakkaniyil, the priest in charge of St. Gregory’s Church, said Sunday had been the first mass at the church in over a year — due to COVID-19. He said the church had daytime security for the mass, but there was no security overnight.

“Somebody from outside came and burned it as I understand it,” Kakkaniyil said. “It was done on the Osoyoos First Nation land but not by those people. It was somebody else.”

A spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver said there would be no comment on Monday’s fires.

“We do not consider this as cause for concern for churches locally,” Makani Marquis said.

Chief Greg Gabriel of the Penticton Indian Band said the Sacred Heart Church was a community fixture that hosted weddings and funerals but many people also feel pain due to the Roman Catholic Church’s role operating abusive residential schools.

“There’s a lot of anger, a lot of hurt in every First Nations, Indigenous community throughout Canada,” he said, adding that he was not speculating on the cause of the fire.

Gabriel said he was awoken by a staff member calling at 2 a.m. to report the church was on fire.

“I quickly rushed down to the church site and by the time I got there it was already gone. It was a very old church and didn’t take very much time for it to completely burn down,” he said.

The church was built around 1912, he said.

The Penticton Indian Band is also asking that band members not be approached to ask how they felt about the fires.

dcarrigg@postmedia.com

— with a file from Canadian Press

First Nations, political leaders mark Indigenous Peoples Day, recognizing dark truths

Ottawa— As many settler Canadians gain greater awareness of the dark and disturbing truths about the country's mistreatment of Indigenous populations, political leaders struck conciliatory tones in recognizing National Indigenous People's Day Monday.

 Provided by The Canadian Press

The normally colourful and celebratory day — which has been marked in Canada since 1996 — came on the heels of several weeks of emotional events that have highlighted the need to reform institutions and policies that perpetuate systemic racism and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement celebrating the "vibrant and diverse cultures, languages and beautiful traditions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples," but he also acknowledged there is more work to do on reconciliation efforts because "saying sorry is not enough."

He pointed to the recent discovery of what are believed to be the remains of 215 children at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

"We must never forget those innocent souls lost — this must be our collective commitment toward reconciliation," Trudeau said in his statement.

"We need to right past wrongs and address ongoing challenges, and we can only accomplish this with action."

But NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh accused the Liberal government of being "hypocritical" for saying it wants to make reparations for past sins against Indigenous people while continuing some actions that have sparked strong rebuke from Indigenous communities.

He pointed specifically to the ongoing legal challenge by Ottawa, which is asking the Federal Court to set aside two rulings by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rulings that found the federal government discriminated against Indigenous children by not properly funding child and family services.

"To me it really speaks of incredible hypocrisy that, on one hand at the federal level, we would celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, and on the other hand, we've got a Liberal government that's now fighting them and continues to fight these kids in court," Singh said.

A number of Indigenous groups also condemned Ottawa's action plan responding to the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, calling the development process not consultative enough and the plan “fragmented.”

Inuk NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq did not mince words when she told the House of Commons that Monday should have been a celebration of Indigenous culture and history, but instead it filled with her with sadness and anger.

"This place pats themselves on the back while denying Inuit access to safe, livable space that keeps them alive. There is nothing, nothing to be proud of for Indigenous Peoples in this institution," she said.

"You should all feel extreme shame. I feel shame that Inuit are continuously being denied the right to live, the right to self-determination."

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet stressed the importance of acknowledging historic truths, however painful, to help the process of healing for families and grieving for nations.

He successfully received unanimous consent for a motion calling on the federal government to fund the identification of other residential school burial sites and to investigate the potential presence of other remains of children across the country.

The federal government recently said it would make $27 million urgently available to locate and memorialize children in unmarked graves, money that was originally earmarked in the 2019 budget. Saskatchewan committed $2 million to support searches in that province last week and on Monday, Manitoba committed $2.5 million toward these efforts.

Across the country, political leaders and Canadians shared tributes to Indigenous Peoples and cultures and recognized the need to do more to take responsibility for wrongs perpetrated by the state against the First Peoples of this land.

Indigenous leaders, meanwhile, shared words of mourning and calls for greater accountability for those past wrongs.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said National Indigenous Peoples Day coming in the wake of the discovery in Kamloops highlights the "pain, trauma and hurt that continues to be inflicted by practices of colonialism."

Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council Grand Chief John Boudrias said he considers it positive that governments are now recognizing the mistakes of the past, apologizing and promising reconciliation, but without a real process to repair these mistakes — especially in the management of Indigenous territories — these remain "empty phrases."

“If Mr. Trudeau recognizes that he is in Algonquin territory when he is in Ottawa, he should also recognize that as the owner of this territory, the Algonquins have the right to participate in its management and benefit from it,” Boudrias said.

He also called on Quebec Premier François Legault to recognize that systemic racism exists against Indigenous people in his province.

In Eastern Canada, about 150 people gathered on the front lawn of the New Brunswick legislature in an event meant to convey the need for more "allyship" with First Nations.

St. Mary's First Nation Chief Allan Polchies Jr. offered prayers of healing to First Nations communities, especially to those that didn't have the opportunity to have closure — like the families of the 215 children.

"For many Canadians this was an eye-opener, a revelation that confirmed what Indian residential school survivors were telling us for centuries, but nobody was listening."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2021.

With files from Kevin Bissett in Fredericton, Kelly Geraldine Malone in Winnipeg and Beth Leighton in Vancouver

Teresa Wright, The Canadian Press

A for Quebec, F for Alberta: Study rates Canadian governments on conservation


A new report grades Canadian governments in how they responded to the country's international promise to conserve at least 17 per cent of its land mass and 10 per cent of its oceans by 2020. © Provided by The Canadian Press

The report, released today by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, says Quebec and the federal government are the only jurisdictions to come close to meeting the 17 per cent conservation target.


The society says Alberta performed the worst, cancelling previously planned protections, delisting parks and attempting to open the Rocky Mountains for open-pit coal mining.

"A lot of it has to do with political will," said society spokeswoman Alison Woodley.

The group chose to examine how close different Canadian jurisdictions came to meeting its Aichi targets, an international agreement signed by Canada in 2010. The idea, said Woodley, was to learn how to better meet the next set of conservation goals — 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.

The report used internationally recognized standards of what constitutes protection and federal data on the amount of land covered.

Nationally, Canada met and exceeded its 2020 ocean goals, but fell short by more than three percentage points on land. That was good enough for a B-plus and an A-minus respectively, the report says.

The report credits funding — the 2021 federal budget included $2.3 billion for conservation — as well as a willingness to work with Indigenous groups for Ottawa's progress.

Quebec nearly met its land conservation goals, conserving 16.7 per cent of its territory.

"The province worked with communities and First Nations to identify and deliver on new protected areas," said Woodley.

Alberta, not so much. Although the province has more than 15 per cent of its land mass protected, the report points out Alberta has attempted to delist parks, open its Rocky Mountains to coal mining and walked away from plans that would have created some of the biggest new protected areas in the country.

"It's not just about areas of protections," said report author Anna Pidgorna. "Alberta's going backwards in many ways."

Alberta Environment did not immediately respond to a request to outline conservation measures taken by the United Conservative governme
Ontario and Newfoundland share Alberta's F grade. Ontario has protected less than one per cent of its lands over the last decade, with a similar story in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the percentage of protected land is among the lowest in Canada.

The rest of the country is a mix, said Woodley.

Saskatchewan is criticized for having protected less than 10 per cent of its land and weakening protections on native grasslands, but praised for working with Indigenous groups and granting interim protection to one new area. Manitoba made early progress, the report says, but has lately discussed selling off park land.

British Columbia has almost 20 per cent of its land under protection. But the province is criticized for no recent progress and underfunding the parks it does have.

The Northwest Territories get a B-plus for creating large new protected areas and working with Indigenous groups to define and manage them.

Woodley said the study shows that funding makes a big difference to creating protected areas. So does time and patience.

"Conservation takes time," she said.

"A major barrier to delivering on the 17-per-cent target was a lack of time. If we're going to meet the 30-per-cent target, we need to start now."

Woodley said conserving land is the best way to address the loss of species and shrinking biodiversity around the world.

"Habitat loss is the primary driver of nature's decline. Protecting habitat has to be a core part of the solution."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2021.

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Anti-gay statements trigger elevated stress in lesbian, gay and bisexual study participants

New research provides strongest evidence to date that the stress of discrimination causes physiological changes that can contribute to health problems for lesbian, gay and bisexual people

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: A STUDY PUBLISHED TODAY FINDS THAT WHEN LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL ADULTS ARE EXPOSED TO EVEN MILD ANTI-GAY PREJUDICE, IT TRIGGERS BODILY CHANGES SUCH AS INCREASES IN BLOOD PRESSURE THAT... view more 

CREDIT: PEXELS/GW

WASHINGTON (June 21, 2021)--Previous research has suggested that the stress of discrimination may play a role in the development of health problems that disproportionately affect lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals. A study published today finds that when lesbian, gay and bisexual adults are exposed to even mild anti-gay prejudice, it triggers bodily changes such as increases in blood pressure that can contribute to heart disease.

"This study provides strong evidence that when LGB people experience anti-gay prejudice, their bodies respond with increases in heart rate and blood pressure, and in the stress hormone cortisol," David M. Huebner, a professor of prevention and community health at the George Washington University and lead author of the study, said. "When the body responds like this repeatedly, it can contribute to cardiovascular disease and other illnesses that develop over time."

Scientists know that the body's fight or flight response is triggered in response to a physical danger or psychological threat. Previous studies have shown that self-reports of discrimination are correlated with various health problems. However, in the past, researchers could not show that discrimination actually caused bodily changes that lead to such health problems.

To help change that, Huebner and his colleagues designed a laboratory study in which 134 lesbian, gay and bisexual adults participated in a stressful task -- an interview. Before the interview, participants were given a sheet of paper that purported to tell them about the person conducting the interview. People in the experimental group learned that the person supposedly interviewing them was opposed to same-sex marriage. In reality, the researchers drafted the anti-gay statement and showed it to the experimental group to expose them to discriminatory statements in the laboratory. Participants in the control group were not exposed to such statements.

The researchers prerecorded the interview questions so that there was no variability in the questions or in the tone of voice. The participants had to answer a series of standard questions while the researchers measured any changes in heart rate, blood pressure and other markers of the stress response.

Because interviews are generally stressful, the team found that all of the participants experienced signs of physiological reactivity when asked to take part. However, the experimental group, those who had been exposed to the anti-gay statement, showed an even stronger physiologic response:

• Blood pressure rose higher in the group exposed to anti-gay statements and recovered more slowly than the control group;
• Heart rates rose higher for the experimental group and went back to normal more slowly than the control group;
• Participants in the experimental group had higher levels of cortisol, a hormone released by the body in response to a dangerous or threatening situation.

"This work really begins to connect the dots between exposure to discrimination and physical health in a way that hasn't been done before," Huebner said. "For years, researchers have been showing correlations between reports of discrimination and poorer health. This study is one of the first to show how exposure to anti-gay prejudice really causes changes in physiological processes that can affect long-term health."

One limitation to the study is that the sample consisted of mostly young, white lesbian, gay and bisexual participants. Future research will have to find out how the stress of anti-gay discrimination affects Black or other ethnic minorities who are also lesbian, gay or bisexual, as well as older and younger people, Huebner points out.

Currently, very little research exists to show how people can lessen the specific impacts that discrimination might have on the body. Huebner suggests strategies for coping with other forms of stress, such as exercise, a healthy diet, and increasing mindfulness, would likely be helpful. He also suggests that people who find themselves struggling in the face of discrimination might seek the support of a skilled therapist. Research suggests that talk therapy can help people more effectively manage stressful events and reduce their negative health effects.

In the end, however, public policies aimed at banning discrimination toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will go a long way toward creating a healthy environment for all, Huebner said. The recent executive order providing protection to transgender people in the United States military is an example of solutions that can be enacted now, he said.

The study, "Cardiovascular and Cortisol Responses to Experimentally-Induced Minority Stress," was published June 21, 2021 in the journal Health Psychology.

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Bee-impersonating flies show pollinator potential

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

PULLMAN, Wash. - A tiny bee imposter, the syrphid fly, may be a big help to some gardens and farms, new research from Washington State University shows.

An observational study in Western Washington found that out of more than 2,400 pollinator visits to flowers at urban and rural farms about 35% of were made by flies--most of which were the black-and-yellow-striped syrphid flies, also called hover flies. For a few plants, including peas, kale and lilies, flies were the only pollinators observed. Overall, bees were still the most common, accounting for about 61% of floral visits, but the rest were made by other insects and spiders.

"We found that there really were a dramatic number of pollinators visiting flowers that were not bees," said Rae Olsson, a WSU post-doctoral fellow and lead author of the study published in Food Webs. "The majority of the non-bee pollinators were flies, and most of those were syrphid flies which is a group that commonly mimics bees."

Syrphid flies' bee-like colors probably help them avoid predators who are afraid of getting stung, but they are true flies with two wings as opposed to bees which have four. The flies might have additional benefits for plants, Olsson added, since as juveniles they eat pests like aphids. As adults, they consume nectar and visit flowers so have the potential to move pollen the same way that bees do, though it is less intentional than bees who collect pollen to feed their young.

For the study, the researchers surveyed plants and pollinating insects and spiders on 19 rural farms and 17 urban farms and gardens along the Interstate 5 corridor in Western Washington. They conducted surveys six separate times over two years. In addition to the visits by bees and syrphid flies, they also catalogued more rare visits by other arthropods including wasps, lacewings, spiders, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles and ants--all with visits of less than 4%.

Olsson first noticed the many different non-bee pollinators while working on a bee-survey project led by Elias Bloom, a recent WSU doctoral graduate. The results of this study underscore the need for researchers as well as gardeners and farmers to pay more attention to alternative pollinators, Olsson said, and hoped that similar studies would be conducted in other regions of the country.

"Bee populations are declining, and we are trying to help them, but there's room at the table for all the pollinators," Olsson said. "There are a lot of conservation and monitoring efforts for bees, but that doesn't extend to some of the other pollinators. I think people will be surprised to find that there are a lot more different types of pollinating insects - all we really need to do is to start paying a little more attention to them."

The study also noted pollinator differences between rural and urban spaces. Observations sites in urban areas showed a greater diversity of pollinators corresponding with the wider range of plants grown in city gardens and smaller-sized farms. Rural farms with their larger fields of plants had a greater abundance.

For every grower, urban or rural, who is interested in increasing the number and diversity of pollinators visiting their fields or gardens, Olsson recommended increasing the variety of flowering plants.

Making sure that something is flowering all throughout the season, even if on the edge of a field, will support the biodiversity of pollinators because their different life stages happen at different times of the year.

"Some pollinators like certain butterflies and moths are only present in a pollinating form for a small period of time," Olsson said. "They may only live for a few days as adults, so when they emerge and are ready to pollinate, it's good to make sure that you have something for them to eat."

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Crustal block tectonics offer clues to Venus' geology, study finds

New study that includes contributions by Baylor planetary geophysicist Peter James, identifies previously unrecognized pattern of tectonic deformation on Venus

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PLANETARY PHYSICIST PETER JAMES, PH.D., PROVIDED CALCULATIONS OF THE VARIOUS MECHANISMS THAT COULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FORCE DRIVING THE GEOLOGIC ACTIVITY ON VENUS view more 

CREDIT: ROBERT ROGERS, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

WACO, Texas (June 21, 2021) - A new analysis of Venus' surface shows evidence of tectonic motion in the form of crustal blocks that have jostled against each other like broken chunks of pack ice. Published in the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), the study -- which includes contributions by Baylor University planetary physicist Peter James, Ph.D. -- found that the movement of these blocks could indicate that Venus is still geologically active and give scientists insight into both exoplanet tectonics and the earliest tectonic activity on Earth.

"We have identified a previously unrecognized pattern of tectonic deformation on Venus, one that is driven by interior motion just like on Earth," said Paul Byrne, Ph.D., associate professor of planetary science at North Carolina State University and lead and co-corresponding author of the work. "Although different from the tectonics we currently see on Earth, it is still evidence of interior motion being expressed at the planet's surface."

Venus had long been assumed to have an immobile solid outer shell, or lithosphere, just like Mars or Earth's moon. In contrast, Earth's lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates, which slide against, apart from, and underneath each other on top of a hot, weaker mantle layer.

James, an assistant professor of planetary geophysics and founder of Baylor University's Planetary Research Group, was part of the international group of researchers involved with the study. He has taken part in three NASA missions and specializes in using of spacecraft data to study the crusts and mantles of planets and moons.

"Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics, so our planet is quite exceptional in that regard," James said. "That is particularly interesting when it comes to Venus: Why does a planet like Venus -- roughly the same size as Earth and made of the same types of rocks -- not behave the same way as Earth geologically?"

To answer that question, the team used radar images from NASA's Magellan mission to map the surface of Venus. In examining the extensive Venusian lowlands that make up most of the planet surface, they saw areas where large blocks of the lithosphere seem to have moved: pulling apart, pushing together, rotating and sliding past each other like broken pack ice over a frozen lake.

James provided calculations of the various mechanisms that could be responsible for the force driving the geologic activity on Venus. NASA's Magellan spacecraft measured the gravity field of Venus -- the subtle changes in the strength of gravity in different places on the planet. James was able to use this gravity field to demonstrate that viscous mantle flow, or slow churning, is strongly coupled to the crust.

"The mantle inside Venus pushes and pulls on the surface of the planet more strongly than Earth's mantle does. These calculations of the driving forces corroborated the discovery of block motion and helped us have a better understanding of how it works," James said.

The interior mantle flow found by the study's calculations is significant because it hasn't been demonstrated on a global scale previously. The movement of these crustal blocks could also indicate that Venus is still geologically active.

"We know that much of Venus has been volcanically resurfaced over time, so some parts of the planet might be really young, geologically speaking," Byrne said. "But several of the jostling blocks have formed in and deformed these young lava plains, which means that the lithosphere fragmented after those plains were laid down. This gives us reason to think that some of these blocks may have moved geologically very recently - perhaps even up to today."

The researchers are optimistic that Venus' newly recognized "pack ice" pattern could offer clues to understanding tectonic deformation on planets outside of our solar system, as well as on a much younger Earth.

"One of the neat things about planet research like this is that it helps us understand why our own planet works the way it does," James said. "The theme of our Planetary Research Group at Baylor is a quote from C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity: 'Aim at heaven and you will get Earth thrown in.' That quote is intended in a spiritual context -- we should seek the kingdom of God before all else, and then this kingdom-mindset can even bear fruit in a secular sense. We like the double meaning of using space research to understand our own planet better."

Science related to Venus is especially timely -- NASA recently announced that it would be sending two new spacecrafts to Venus, VERITAS and DAVINCI+. These will be the first NASA missions launched to Venus since the 1980s. Additionally, the European Space Agency announced last week that it would be sending its own spacecraft called Envision to Venus.

"Strategically, this research is positioning Baylor to be involved with upcoming spacecraft missions. Venus is becoming a bigger priority for space agencies around the world, and we're plugged in to the exciting science opportunities that are on the horizon," James said.

Baylor will continue to be part of Venus research through James' lab. Rudger Dame, a Ph.D. candidate in James' lab, is focusing on Venus for his dissertation research. He has an internship this summer with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under the advisement of Sue Smrekar, the principal investigator for the recently announced VERITAS spacecraft.

In addition, James is collaborating with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to study the planet Mercury's crust. He also led a recent study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters about the discovery of a mysterious huge mass of material on the far side of the Moon -- beneath the largest crater in our solar system. The mass -- at least five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii -- may contain metal from an asteroid that may have crashed into the Moon and formed the crater.

The South Pole-Aitken basin -- thought to have been created about 4 billion years ago -- is "one of the best natural laboratories for studying catastrophic impact events, an ancient process that shaped all of the rocky planets and moons we see today."

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*Sean Solomon of Columbia University is co-corresponding author. Richard Ghail of the University of London, Surrey; A. M. Celâl ?engör of Istanbul Technical University; and Christian Klimczak of the University of Georgia also contributed to the work.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
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Researchers trace dust grain's journey through newborn solar system

Combining atomic-scale sample analysis and models simulating likely conditions in the nascent solar system, the study revealed clues about the origin of crystals that formed more than 4.5 billion years ago

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

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IMAGE: ARTIST'S ILLUSTRATION OF THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM, AT A TIME WHEN NO PLANETS HAD FORMED YET. A SWIRLING CLOUD OF GAS AND DUST SURROUNDED THE YOUNG SUN. THE CUTAWAY THROUGH... view more 

CREDIT: HEATHER ROPER

A research team led by the University of Arizona has reconstructed in unprecedented detail the history of a dust grain that formed during the birth of the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. The findings provide insights into the fundamental processes underlying the formation of planetary systems, many of which are still shrouded in mystery.

For the study, the team developed a new type of framework, which combines quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, to simulate the conditions to which the grain was exposed during its formation, when the solar system was a swirling disk of gas and dust known as a protoplanetary disk or solar nebula. Comparing the predictions from the model to an extremely detailed analysis of the sample's chemical makeup and crystal structure, along with a model of how matter was transported in the solar nebula, revealed clues about the grain's journey and the environmental conditions that shaped it along the way.

The grain analyzed in the study is one of several inclusions, known as calcium-aluminum rich inclusions, or CAIs, discovered in a sample from the Allende meteorite, which fell over the Mexican state of Chihuahua in 1969. CAIs are of special interest because they are thought to be among the first solids that formed in the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago.

Similar to how stamps in a passport tell a story about a traveler's journey and stops along the way, the samples' micro- and atomic-scale structures unlock a record of their formation histories, which were controlled by the collective environments to which they were exposed.

"As far as we know, our paper is the first to tell an origin story that offers clues about the likely processes that happened at the scale of astronomical distances with what we see in our sample at the scale of atomic distances," said Tom Zega, a professor in the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and the first author of the paper, published in The Planetary Science Journal.

Zega and his team analyzed the composition of the inclusions embedded in the meteorite using cutting-edge atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopes - one at UArizona's Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility, and its sister microscope located at the Hitachi factory in Hitachinaka, Japan.

The inclusions were found to consist mainly of types of minerals known as spinel and perovskite, which also occur in rocks on Earth and are being studied as candidate materials for applications such as microelectronics and photovoltaics.

Similar kinds of solids occur in other types of meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites, which are particularly interesting to planetary scientists as they are known to be leftovers from the formation of the solar system and contain organic molecules, including those that may have provided the raw materials for life.

Precisely analyzing the spatial arrangement of atoms allowed the team to study the makeup of the underlying crystal structures in great detail. To the team's surprise, some of the results were at odds with current theories on the physical processes thought to be active inside protoplanetary disks, prompting them to dig deeper.

"Our challenge is that we don't know what chemical pathways led to the origins of these inclusions," Zega said. "Nature is our lab beaker, and that experiment took place billions of years before we existed, in a completely alien environment."

Zega said the team set out to "reverse-engineer" the makeup of the extraterrestrial samples by designing new models that simulated complex chemical processes, which the samples would be subjected to inside a protoplanetary disk.

"Such models require an intimate convergence of expertise spanning the fields of planetary science, materials science, mineral science and microscopy, which was what we set out to do," added Krishna Muralidharan, a study co-author and an associate professor in the UArizona's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Based on the data the authors were able to tease from their samples, they concluded that the particle formed in a region of the protoplanetary disk not far from where Earth is now, then made a journey closer to the sun, where it was progressively hotter, only to later reverse course and wash up in cooler parts farther from the young sun. Eventually, it was incorporated into an asteroid, which later broke apart into pieces. Some of those pieces were captured by Earth's gravity and fell as meteorites.

The samples for this study were taken from the inside of a meteorite and are considered primitive - in other words, unaffected by environmental influences. Such primitive material is believed to not have undergone any significant changes since it first formed more than 4.5 billion years ago, which is rare. Whether similar objects occur in asteroid Bennu, samples of which will be returned to Earth by the UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission in 2023, remains to be seen. Until then, scientists rely on samples that fall to Earth via meteorites.

"This material is our only record of what happened 4.567 billion years ago in the solar nebula," said Venkat Manga, a co-author of the paper and an assistant research professor in the UArizona Department of Materials Science and Engineering. "Being able to look at the microstructure of our sample at different scales, down to the length of individual atoms, is like opening a book."

The authors said that studies like this one could bring planetary scientists a step closer to "a grand model of planet formation" - a detailed understanding of the material moving around the disk, what it is composed of, and how it gives rise to the sun and the planets.

Powerful radio telescopes like the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, in Chile now allow astronomers to see stellar systems as they evolve, Zega said.

"Perhaps at some point we can peer into evolving disks, and then we can really compare our data between disciplines and begin answering some of those really big questions," Zega said. "Are these dust particles forming where we think they did in our own solar system? Are they common to all stellar systems? Should we expect the pattern we see in our solar system - rocky planets close to the central star and gas giants farther out - in all systems?

"It's a really interesting time to be a scientist when these fields are evolving so rapidly," he added. "And it's awesome to be at an institution where researchers can form transdisciplinary collaborations among leading astronomy, planetary and materials science departments at the same university."

CAPTION

A slice through an Allende meteorite reveals various spherical particles, known as chondrules. The irregularly shaped "island" left of the center is a calcium-aluminum rich inclusion, or CAI. The grain in this study was isolated from such a CAI.

CREDIT

Shiny Things/Wikimedia Commons

The study was co-authored by Fred Ciesla at the University of Chicago and Keitaro Watanabe and Hiromi Inada, both with the Nano-Technology Solution Business Group at Hitachi High-Technologies Corp. in Japan.

Funding was provided through NASA's Emerging Worlds Program; NASA's Origins Program; and NASA's Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research coordination network, which is sponsored by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. NASA and the National Science Foundation provided the funding for the instrumentation in LPL's Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility.

CAPTION

Illustration of the dynamic history that the modeled particle could have experienced during the formation of the solar system. Analyzing the particle's micro- and atomic-scale structures and combining them with new models that simulated complex chemical processes in the disk revealed its possible journey over the course of many orbits around the sun (callout box and diagram on the right). Originating not far from where Earth would form, the grain was transported into the inner, hotter regions, and eventually washed up in cooler regions.

CREDIT

Heather Roper/Tom Zega et al.

 

Ancient bones provide clues about Kangaroo Island's past and future

A Curtin University-led study of ancient bones on South Australia's Kangaroo Island has provided new information about the Island's past fauna and an insight into how species may live there in the future

CURTIN UNIVERSITY

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IMAGE: STOCK IMAGE OF KANGAROO ISLAND IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. view more 

CREDIT: N/A

A Curtin University-led study of ancient bones on South Australia's Kangaroo Island has provided new information about the Island's past fauna and an insight into how species may live there in the future.

Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, the researchers analysed around 2,000 bone fragments with the aim of eventually being able to establish a more complete picture of past biodiversity on the Island.

Lead researcher Dr Frederik Seersholm from Curtin's School of Molecular and Life Sciences said DNA studies on such a large scale have never been done on the Island before.

"We identified 33 species, 10 of which are extinct on the island today. We also found DNA traces from both the Eastern and the Western grey kangaroos- which is interesting given it was previously thought that only the Western used to roam the Island," Dr Seersholm said.

"Our research also discovered an extinct population of spotted-tailed quoll, different from both the modern mainland and Tasmanian populations, indicating that it once lived on Kangaroo Island and perhaps other parts of South Australia too.

"While Kangaroo Island is a renowned biodiversity hotspot, and natural haven for several threatened and endemic species, it has been continuously losing species richness since European arrival on the Island 200 years ago.

"From excavations of these ancient fossil bones, we now know more about the species that used to roam the Island before this human-caused decimation."

Dr Seersholm said this research was particularly important in the wake of the major bushfires of 2019/2020 which had a devastating impact on Kangaroo Island's pristine ecosystem.

"We hope our work in accurately identifying species can aid conservation and restoration efforts and help to restore the biodiversity on Kangaroo Island," Dr Seersholm said.

"While more research is needed in this area, our study has confirmed that Kangaroo Island could be a potential haven for the reintroduction of some species.

"If a quoll population should be introduced to the island, it is essential to get a detailed picture of the extinct quoll population. The research has also added the eastern grey kangaroo to the list of potential reintroduction candidates

"More data from similar cave sites is needed to generate a complete picture of the genetic diversity before European arrival and further samples of the spotted-tailed quoll from mainland South Australia will help to clarify whether they were unique to the island."

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The full paper titled Ancient DNA from bulk bone reveals past genetic diversity of vertebrate fauna on Kangaroo Island, Australia is available online here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379121001694