The new state flags as the iconographic symbols of the post-Soviet space

State flags may be appreciated as iconographic symbols according to Jean Gottmann's definition. Especially interesting is to analyze the state flags in the moment of their creation – as for example on the territory of the former Soviet Union where almost all the new independent states have to create or restore their state symbols. On many of these flags we can see the historical elements, the political and geographical situation of a new state or even religious beliefs of most of the inhabitants. On the state flags we can also observe the state ideology, but its interpretation may be ambiguous, e.g., the green color on the state flag means either that the state is proud of its rich nature or that Islam is a state religion. Ambitions are expressed on the flags of the entities, which are fighting for their independence.     

Stamps as iconography: Celebrating the independence of new European and Central Asian states

Stamps are products or `windows' of the state that illustrate how it wishes to be seen by its own citizens and those beyond its boundaries. The topics of the first issues reveal what messages the state considers most important. The first issues from nineteen new East European and Central Asian states illustrate the importance of maps, flags, coats of arms and prominent religious and political symbols; overt propaganda and ideology were lacking.     

Stamps as iconography: Celebrating the independence of new European and Central Asian states

Stamps are products or `windows' of the state that illustrate how it wishes to be seen by its own citizens and those beyond its boundaries. The topics of the first issues reveal what messages the state considers most important. The first issues from nineteen new East European and Central Asian states illustrate the importance of maps, flags, coats of arms and prominent religious and political symbols; overt propaganda and ideology were lacking.     

Rebel with a cause? Iconography and public memory in the Southern United States

Recent years have witnessed debates in the American South between traditional white Southerners and African American Southerners over whether and how symbols from the region's two defining historical events – the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement – are displayed on the region's landscape. This paper examines the most contentious of these debates, the conflict over government sanction for flying the various flags of the Confederate States of America. This article first discusses the concepts of iconography and public memory, and then the role of Confederate flags in traditional white Southern iconography. We then examine four recent attempts in the states of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, and within the chambers of the U.S. Senate to remove government sanction for flying Confederate flags. We conclude from these debates that while icons can act as centripetal forces binding a people together, they can also emerge as centrifugal forces, further splitting apart a region's population along major cultural and racial divisions.     

Rebel with a cause? Iconography and public memory in the Southern United States

Recent years have witnessed debates in the American South between traditional white Southerners and African American Southerners over whether and how symbols from the region's two defining historical events – the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement – are displayed on the region's landscape. This paper examines the most contentious of these debates, the conflict over government sanction for flying the various flags of the Confederate States of America. This article first discusses the concepts of iconography and public memory, and then the role of Confederate flags in traditional white Southern iconography. We then examine four recent attempts in the states of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, and within the chambers of the U.S. Senate to remove government sanction for flying Confederate flags. We conclude from these debates that while icons can act as centripetal forces binding a people together, they can also emerge as centrifugal forces, further splitting apart a region's population along major cultural and racial divisions.     

The latin American city and the symbolic impact of built environment

Cities as crystalisations of civilizations represent symbolic impact in their layout and architecture. Built environment in this sense has an symbolic impact. Intending to understand a civilization it can be helpful to look at these symbols. This article tries to demonstrate the changing symbols in different historic periods of Latin America. Symbols were to be found in the urban morphology of even the precolumbian cities. They changed within the colonial era, and again during the different influences of French, British or North American domination. Today there can be noticed a decline of the traditional symbolic elements of towns. On the other hand there are certain symptoms of a crisis of self-identity of the Latin Americans. So even the diverse ideas how to define a new image are to be seen in the built environment of main cities of various states. shortened version of a presentation to the Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers at Eugene, Oregon, September 12, 1986 I wish to thank my friend William S. Preston, Department of Geography, Calif. Polytechnic State Univ. San Luis Obispo, for his patience helping me to translate this article. It was a pleasure to have a competent translater and partner of discussion.     

地质符号的计算机图形学定义

地质符号一般均有其特定的图形特征和表示意义，用以表达地质制图中所涉及的具体或抽象的地质对象。本文对地质符号（尤其是岩性符号）的有关计算机图形学方法进行了分析和比较，并在对各种地质符号的分析研究基础上提出了一种地质符号（岩性符号）的计算机图形学定义的新的综合性方法—图元组合法及其分区编码方案     

High-Frequency Sequence Stratigraphy Using Syntactic Methods and Clustering Applied to the Upper Limestone Coal Group (Pendleian, E1) of the Kincardine Basin, United Kingdom

We define a distance between sedimentary successions to compare their dissimilarity formally. Distance definition is based on attributed syntactic representation. One-dimensional successions can be represented by a string of lithofacies symbols sequentially or vertically. Each symbol can also have a vector of attributes that can provide other information on lithofacies such as thickness. The distance of any two successions is then defined consisting of its syntactic and attribute subdistances. Syntactic distance measures difference of vertical lithofacies change between two successions and attribute distance measures difference of thickness of corresponding lithofacies. Clustering is used to test validity of distance definition and its potential application to analysis of cycle-dominated sedimentary successions. Example is from the Namurian-A succession in Kincardine basin, central Scotland. There are 56 cycles in intervals of about 300 m each in two boreholes. Recognition of intermediate cycles depends on correctly determining of types of these short cycles and their vertical stacking pattern. Intermediate cycles have better potential in high-resolution stratal correlation regionally. Syntactic clustering results show that 56 short cycles can be classified into four groups with distinctive geological interpretation, which further helps reveal hierarchical cyclic architecture of the whole succession.     

天水市麦积区税湾地震黄土滑坡特征及其形成机制

以天水市税湾地震黄土滑坡为例, 依据野外调查和室内测试结果, 总结天水地区历史地震黄土滑坡特点, 剖析地震黄土滑坡发生的力学机制, 初步提出历史地震黄土滑坡的识别标志。税湾滑坡及柳沟右岸滑坡群属典型的地震黄土滑坡, 具有规模大、滑动面切割深、滑坡坡度小、成群成带分布和高位下滑等特点, 可作为识别历史地震黄土滑坡的重要标志。税湾滑坡及柳沟右岸滑坡群坡体具有明显的黄土/泥岩二元斜坡结构, 极易沿黄土/泥岩接触面滑动。当坡体受到地震力作用时, 地震产生的循环动荷载一方面降低滑坡岩土体的抗剪强度, 另一方面改变滑坡体的力学状态, 坡体应力平衡遭到破坏, 地震力增加坡体下滑力、减小坡体抗滑力, 导致坡体失稳发生滑坡。目前, 税湾滑坡处于欠稳定状态, 遇地震或强降雨有可能再次失稳下滑, 因而有必要进一步开展地震黄土滑坡的成灾模式研究, 为潜在强震区防灾减灾提供科学依据。      

关于固体地球系统与地质作用的三点认识

文中讨论了作为极复杂巨系统的固体地球内部运动规律的 3条推论 :(1)地球系统在偏离平衡态时 ,有选择能量耗散最小方式的“惯性” ,在系统内禀熵急增时或者回到一种准稳定的定态 ,或者通过自组织迅速减少内禀熵增加率。换言之 ,地球系统可能有种尽量保存自身内能不受大量耗散的惯性 ,使其总体内禀熵产生率对时空的积分取极小值。我们把这一认识称为总体熵产生率取极小准则 ,对于孤立与渐变的地质过程 ,它等同于热力学第二定律与普里高津最小熵产生原理 ,对于极复杂地球巨系统及远离平衡态情况加了“总体”两字 ,意思是在局部或短期突变时熵产生率可能是大的 ,但它对全球与长时间的积分而言仍然取极小。换句话说 ,作为一个巨系统 ,固体地球在其局部远离平衡状态时 ,仍然能保持总体上内能消耗取极小的惯性 ,维持对全部固体地球时空系统总体熵产生率取极小准则。 (2 )关于地质作用过程演化的定态遍历准则。地球系统的复杂性不仅表现在其非线性 ,即同时存在着多种可能的定态作为其演化的趋势 ,而且表现在其时空发展过程中将经历尽可能多的定态。非线性非平衡态动力学的一般规律符合大多数包含激变事件的地质作用过程。将来在地球系统偏离平衡态足够远时 ,它可能会具有无穷多个耗散结构 ,因而使系统进入完全?     

基于线性拟合的颗粒材料破碎状态表征

在荷载等因素作用下发生颗粒破碎是岩土材料的固有属性,选择合适的颗粒破碎状态表征指标是颗粒破碎问题研究中首先要解决的问题。基于颗粒破碎导致细颗粒含量增加,级配曲线抬升并趋向于分形的客观事实,提出了利用级配曲线的拟合直线的斜率和相关系数的变化规律描述颗粒破碎状态及其演化的新方法。在该基础上,提出了表征颗粒破碎状态的破碎分形指数及破碎分形相关性指数的概念,阐述了二者随颗粒破碎的发展规律。与试验结果对比表明,提出的状态指标与试验结果能够很好的吻合,颗粒破碎状态存在明确的对应关系,能够表征颗粒破碎难易程度及其发展趋势,为研究颗粒破碎问题提供了新思路。     

Boundaries and transborder relations,or the hole in the prison wall: On the necessity of superfluous limits and boundaries

Boundaries can be seen as barriers or as places of contact. It has been suggested that we are “prisoners of borders”, of all kinds of borders (political, religious, social, cultural, linguistic etc.). While this statement appears to be somewhat exaggerated, it holds some truth. Boundaries are elements in spatial organization, and they influence daily life in many ways (not only for people living right along them). The paper addresses the question if we must call ourselves “prisoners” or if we simply have to live with all kinds of borders. Departing from theoretical observations, the paper discusses the various aspects boundaries assume in the European context before looking at a few concrete Swiss examples. They reveal that even regions at a certain distance of the state border will feel its effects (the case of Zurich airport), but the most important benefit can been drawn by people living in the border area itself (through price differences between the two countries, as exemplified by the Swiss-Italian border). There may be asymmetry on state borders, but this asymmetry can also swing around: the advantages often lie on both sides. The paper concludes by pointing to the persistence of the boundary concept. They are a necessity for the organization of space and society, but they are not absolute. There are always holes in these prison walls, and the examples where boundaries were impermeable are probably rare.     

Chromium Transformations in Natural Environments: The Role of Biological and Abiological Processes in Chromium(VI) Reduction

Chromium is a redox-dynamic element that has many industrial uses. As a consequence, it is often introduced at elevated levels into the surface environment through human activity. Additionally, ultramafic rocks such as serpentinite are commonly enriched in chromium, and thus can also lead to appreciable levels of this element within soils and waters. In the trivalent state, it poses little hazard to biological activity, but, unfortunately, in the hexavalent state it is very toxic to living matter. One must therefore assess the oxidation state of Cr in a given system and determine the potential for transformation between valence states. The objective of this paper to is review and provide new insight on reduction reactions of Cr(VI) within natural environments. A number of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria demonstrate the enzymatic ability to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III); two species can even grow using Cr(VI) as the terminal electron acceptor in respiration. The ability to reduce chromium in itself is not evidence that the process will take place at appreciable levels in natural environments, however. Reduced materials such as ferrous iron or hydrogen sulfide may compete with biological pathways in the reduction of Cr(VI). On the basis of measured reaction rates and derived rate expressions, we demonstrate that biological pathways are not likely to contribute to the reduction of chromate in anaerobic systems. Ferrous iron will dominate the reduction of chromate at pH values greater than ～ 5.5, whereas hydrogen sulfide will dominate at pH values below this value. In contrast, bacteria may be the principal means by which Cr(VI) is converted to Cr(III) in aerobic environments. Thus, the process by which Cr(VI) is reduced will depend primarily on the aeration status of the system, and secondarily on pH and the concentrations of specific reduced phases.     

火成岩中的超临界流体晶及其研究意义

流行火成岩理论中,岩浆被默认为自然熔体,因而火成岩中的矿物晶体都形成于熔体的结晶作用,可称为熔体晶。许多证据表明,火成岩中也可以含有从超临界流体析出的晶体,被称为超临界流体晶(文中简称为流体晶)。根据三个典型实例分析,流体晶既可以从超临界流体直接析出,类似于从热液析出晶体的过程;也可以由超临界流体浓缩产生的熔体结晶形成。不管是哪一种晶出方式,流体晶产生的前提都是岩浆达到流体过饱和态;而满足这一前提的基本条件则是透岩浆流体过程和岩浆快速上升。结合前人关于熔体流体平衡条件的研究进展,以及熔体黏度对挥发分含量和岩浆上升速度对熔体黏度的依赖,发现透岩浆流体过程与岩浆上升过程之间具有耦合关系,这种关系可以用来阐明岩浆系统行为非线性变化的原因。流体晶的研究具有重要意义,可用于：(1)提供一种研究岩浆系统流体条件的新途径;(2)揭示岩浆系统偏离理想态的程度;(3)为反演岩浆系统动力学过程提供新的约束;(4)为识别致矿侵入体和评估侵入体的找矿潜力提供新的矿物学标志;(5)理解火成岩理论中一些长期得不到解决的问题,如岩浆中挥发分溶解度问题、冻结岩浆的活化问题、岩浆成矿专属性问题。     

What’s in a name? Epistemic perspectives and Payments for Ecosystem Services policies in Nicaragua

As Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) continues to gain attention as a policy tool for securing efficient and effective environmental governance, a rising tide of criticism warns of the potentially detrimental social–ecological consequences of nature commodification and ‘green neoliberalism’. These concerns are also expressed at international policy fora, where the market rhetoric has met with political resistance from countries belonging to the ‘Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America’ (ALBA). But despite this ideological opposition, some ALBA countries are increasingly integrating PES into their environmental policies. In this article we consider the reasons underlying this apparent contradiction and relate it to the notion of ‘epistemic circulation’. On the basis of a study on the evolution of PES-thinking in Nicaragua (an ALBA member) and a reassessment of the supposed ‘success’ of an influential pilot project, we shed light on the forces driving the adoption of particular PES modes and contextualise practical difficulties to endorsing more critical approaches to the tool. Instead of either ideologically rejecting PES as a neoliberal evil or embracing it uncritically as the new panacea, we argue that it is precisely through the socio-political processes surrounding environmental governance debates that the application of PES is shaped. In practice, it may either contribute to an imposed and dispossessing form of capitalism, or tend towards a more negotiated and socio-culturally embedded version of it. Only through its reconceptualisation based on political–cultural primacy rather than market-fetishism can PES achieve its true potential within a broader strategy towards improved environmental governance.     

Crystallographic control on the development of foam textures in quartz, plagioclase and analogue material

The shape, pattern and crystallographic orientation of grain boundaries represent important characteristics of crystalline material and contain information about its deformation and annealing history. The present study includes measurements of grain boundaries from experimentally annealed analogue material as well as natural foam texture of quartz and plagioclase. The main subject is the relation between the development of a foam texture and the crystallographic orientation of its grain boundaries and their geometry. (1) During annealing, grain sizes stabilize at certain values. On a statistical basis, these values can be applied as a geothermometer. (2) On the light-microscope scale, the grain boundaries in foam textures commonly consist of two or several planar facets. They are preferentially oriented along specific crystallographic planes, namely in relation to both neighbouring crystals; for quartz they tend to be rhombohedral. (3) Even highly misoriented facets and dihedral angles largely deviating from the 'equilibrium angle' of 120° may be stable over long periods of annealing. (4) Parts of single boundaries may migrate, whereas other parts are stationary during annealing. The results of the present study suggest that the anisotropy of surface energy has a considerable influence on the development of foam textures and that modelling of texture development should include the influence of the crystallographic orientation of grain boundaries.     

War on Terror,work in progress: security,surveillance and the configuration of the US workfare state

This paper evaluates the impact of recent shifts in the geopolitical outlook of the United States—specifically the ‘Global War on Terror’ and its domestic ramifications—on the prior project of reconfiguring the US state to an after-Fordist ‘workfare’ paradigm. In particular, the paper attempts to situate recent developments in the reconfiguration of the American welfare state within the context of debates over the ‘exceptional’ nature of US politics post-9/11. The extent to which this has had a bearing on work practices, welfare provision and workfarism is investigated, citing examples from the post-9/11 era. On the basis of such examples it has been suggested that the project of reconfiguring the US welfare state and labour relations does overlap and intersect with the emergency practices that the US state has instituted domestically as part of the War on Terror. However, the reconfiguration of the US welfare state towards a neoliberal or workfarist paradigm is, we argue, largely part of the ‘normal’ (as opposed to exceptional) fabric of US politics. The project of reconfiguring the US welfare state is ongoing and largely autonomous (although not entirely removed) from the use of exceptional practices in relation to the US security state. Investigation of this relationship, we assert, provides a potentially fruitful ‘new direction’ for both critical geopolitics and political economic geography, and grounds for interaction between the two.     

Patterns in the sand: A pleistocene hominin signature along the South African coastline?

The Cape south coast of South Africa boasts one of the richest Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological records in the world. Here coastal caves and rock shelters contain well-documented archives of early humans, including early evidence of human adornment and jewelry, rock engraving and rock paSabstextinting. It has been suggested that palaeoenvironmental conditions in the area were critical to the survival of the human species. Humans travelled over dune surfaces, interdune areas and beaches during this period. These are now preserved as palaeosurfaces in aeolianites and cemented foreshore deposits, through which the ancient landscapes can be interpreted. Such contemporary sand surfaces may have formed potential canvases on which foraging behaviour or the creation of patterns or symbols could have been recorded. We question whether MSA humans left evidence of their presence other than their footprints when moving over these surfaces, and if so, whether such evidence can be discerned and interpreted today, as a hominin signature preserved in exposures of aeolianite and cemented foreshore deposits. We discuss other agents that could have caused similar patterns, and we consider the merits of eight sites that we have identified on the Cape south coast. In combination they encapsulate the complexity, challenges and potential of such study. We conclude that evidence at some of these sites suggests an anthropic origin, potentially constituting a previously undocumented form of MSA hominin expression and activity.     

Toponymy and the Communist city: Street names in Bucharest, 1948–;1965

Past studies of the Socialist/Communist city have paid only limited attention to the ways in which Communist regimes mobilised a wide variety of symbols in the urban landscape in order to legitimate and institutionalise the ideology of revolutionary socialism. This paper considers the role of street names in this process with particular reference to Bucharest, Romania during the 1948–1965 period. When the Communist regime came to power it embarked on widespread renaming of streets as one means of both `decommemorating' the pre-socialist regime and proclaiming the agenda and ideology of the Communist state. The new street names commemorated a variety of events and personalities from the history of Romanian and Soviet Communism. The impact of street names was amplified further through practices such as multiple namings and the spatial clustering of street names of high ideological resonances. The paper argues that Bucharest's street names can be `read' as a mirror of ideological change, changing constructions of national identity, and Romania's macro-political orientation (especially its changing relations with the Soviet Union).     

Maps, newspapers and nationalism: The Finnish historical experience

Cartography has usually been perceived as an objective and exact science. Maps have been seen as actual presentations of the world or the area they depict. But another angle is also possible: they may be interpreted as social or political statements and tools for policy making. Therefore, it is important to aim at interpreting maps as products of their own time, in their own social and historical context. Iconology and hermeneutic interpretation may prove to be useful tools, especially when historical press maps are concerned. I will explore the ways in which maps were used in the Finnish newspapers, magazines and humorous magazines, with examples from the early 1900's to 1941. In many cases, the map was an essential part of the article or caricature, along with the text and other figures. They were often aimed to affect people's opinions and images, and to support Finland's territorial hopes in the Eastern Karelia. Among the other national symbols, such as the flag, national anthem or coat of arms, the map of Finland can be considered as a symbol of nationhood.