Integration of vitrinite reflectance (R o) and apatite fission track (AFT) data from well sequences can provide a direct estimate of the geothermal gradient at the time of maximum palaeotemperatures and the time at which sequences began to cool from maximum palaeotemperatures. These values, plus an understanding of the effects of cooling in response to long-term climatic changes, are particularly important when estimating the amount of denudation experienced by the sequences during cooling from maximum palaeotemperatures. In this case study, AFT data have been generated for subsurface samples from eight wells drilled within the North Slope foreland basin of northern Alaska in an effort to study the thermal history of the basin. The combination of R o and AFT data establish that maximum palaeotemperatures were attained within the North Slope foreland basin prior to cooling beginning in the Palaeocene. Furthermore, they indicate that palaeogeothermal gradients when cooling began were close to the present-day values, and that Cenozoic surface cooling resulted in a significant amount of 'apparent' denudation. These results suggest that heating throughout the basin was largely due to deeper burial, and that cooling was due to both removal of section by denudation and a drop in the mean annual surface temperature. analysis outlined by Bray et al. (1992) and Duddy et al.

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Child protection social work in Ireland has been expanding at a significant pace over the past decade, particularly since the implementation of the 1991 Child Care Act and the emergence of a number of child abuse ‘scandals’ since the early 1990s. One health board area in Ireland, itself subject to one of the most controversial child abuse inquiries, commissioned a research study into the nature of child protection practices in the area. The aim of the research was to evaluate the overall child protection system and to consider what impact, if any, new practice guidelines and procedures, implemented in the aftermath of the inquiry, had made on the service. This paper considers some of the key findings from the research and considers these in the context of the overall Irish child protection system. Three particular aspects of the research are focused on: the use of procedures and guidelines, the nature of interagency cooperation and the position of social workers within this, and the overall nature and direction of the child care system.

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