The End of the Gamble: The Termination of the Virginia Lotteries in March 1621*

The sudden cancellation of the Virginia lotteries during the first sitting of the parliament of 1621 was not part of a general parliamentary attack on monopolies but a calculated political act intended to pressure the Virginia Company of London to pay more taxes than required by its charter of 1612. The appropriate context for considering the cancellation is the financial difficulties of James I and the search for funds by Sir Lionel Cranfield. The cancellation coincided with a rejection of a new charter for the company, possibly incited by Count Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador in England. The cancellation of the lotteries was the most important turning point in the history of Jamestown and started the company on its downward spiral.     

Meteorological influences on the spatial and temporal variability of NO2 in Toronto and Hamilton

The spatial and temporal variability of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations and their relationships with meteorology was evaluated in the Toronto–Hamilton urban airshed. NO₂ concentrations were highest in the early morning and late evening. Mean concentrations were highest in winter, although individual one-hour NO₂ concentrations were found to be highest in summer. Wind direction was the strongest control on hourly NO₂ concentration, and temperature and wind speed also had an effect. Our analysis of NO₂ concentration variation by wind direction showed that areas downwind of major highways, urban centres and industry were exposed to higher pollutant concentrations. Seasonal patterns of NO₂ concentration displayed significant spatial heterogeneity, in particular, in Toronto. Onshore winds sheltered coastal inhabitants from the full extent of NO₂ exposure they would otherwise experience. Seasonal variations in meteorology and emissions mean that the degree of spatial variability in NO₂ concentrations changes from season to season. This study will help to improve existing land-use regression-based NO₂ prediction models by incorporating meteorological controls on NO₂ distributions for health effect studies.     

Refractions and recombinations of the ‘economic’ and the ‘social’: a personalized reflection on challenges by—and to—feminist urban geographies

This invited essay responds to requests by the Suzanne Mackenzie Memorial Lecture Nominating Committee and by the former Editor of this journal to take stock of and provide intellectual‐historical context for the major preoccupations that characterized feminist urban geography in its early years, by means of a personalized reflection in light of the author's own positioning in those debates and interventions. The thread running through the article is that of the relationship between the ‘economic’ and the ‘social’ in urban geography. The last section briefly considers new challenges that neoliberalism poses for critical feminist urban geographies.     

On modeling of chemical stimulation of an enhanced geothermal system using a high pH solution with chelating agent

Dissolution of silica and calcite in the presence of a chelating agent (NTA) at a high pH was successfully demonstrated in laboratory experiments using a high-temperature flow reactor. (Note that the term 'silica' used here includes amorphous silica, quartz, and silicate glass bead.) The mineral dissolution and associated porosity enhancement in the experiments were reproduced by reactive transport modeling using TOUGHREACT. The chemical stimulation method was applied by numerical modeling to a field geothermal injection well system to investigate its effectiveness. Parameters applicable to the quartz monzodiorite unit at the Enhanced Geothermal Systems site at Desert Peak (Nevada) were used. Results indicate that the injection of a high pH chelating solution results in dissolution of both calcite and plagioclase, while avoiding precipitation of calcite at high temperature conditions. Consequently, reservoir porosity and permeability can be enhanced especially near the injection well. Injection at a lower temperature of 120°C (temperature is over 160°C in the base-case) results in a porosity increase that is smaller close to the injection point, but extends to a larger radial distance. A slower kinetic rate results in less aggressive mineral dissolution close to the injection point and larger extent along the flow path, which is favorable for chemical stimulation.