Kuwaiti national assembly — 1992 a study in electoral geography

The study of electoral geography in Kuwait has proven to be an interesting field for its reflection of a regional and national democratic approach in governing the state. The first consultative council was established in 1920, to be followed by the first legislative council in 1938 formed by means of elections. These two councils gave way to the first formation of a state parliament in 1963. Its history was faltered a number of times firstly in 1976 and secondly in 1986.Following the liberation, Kuwait restored its parliamentary life and elections took place on October, 5th 1992. Elections results were different to those of the previous ones where tribalism and sectarianism (Sunnis vis-a-vis Shiites) had little effect on the final results of the votes. Nevertheless, religious fundamentalist movements succeeded in winning more seats than in the past.Kuwaitis in general have become convinced that democracy is the right path for ruling the country, therefore Kuwaitis are very eager to see the success of their parliamentary experience not just for them but for the sake of the entire Gulf region.     

Mesozoic interaction of the Kula plate and the western margin of north america

Oceanic crust west of North America at the beginning of the Jurassic belonged to the Kula plate. The development of the western margin of North America since the Jurassic reflects interaction with the Kula plate, the Kula-Farallon spreading center and the Farallon plate. The Kula plate ceased to exist in the Paleocene and later developments were caused by interaction of the Farallon plate and, subsequently, collision with the East Pacific Rise.At the beginning of the Jurassic, when spreading between North and South America began, the Kula-Farallon-Pacific triple junction moved to the north relative to North America, and the eastern end of the Kula-Farallon spreading center swept northwards along the continental margin.During the Paleocene, Kula-Pacific spreading ceased and the Kula plate fused to the Pacific plate. Throughout the Mesozoic, subduction of the Kula plate took place along the Alaskan continental margin. When the Kula plate joined the Pacific plate a new subduction zone formed along the line of the present Aleutian chain.Wrangellia and Stikinia, anomalous terrains in Alaska and northwestern Canada respectively, were emplaced by transport on the Kula plate from lower latitudes. Hypotheses which require transport of these plates in the Mesozoic from the “far reaches of the Pacific” ignore the problem of transport across either the Kula-Pacific or Kula-Farallon spreading centers. The interaction of the Kula plate and western North America throughout the Jurassic and the Cretaceous should result in emplacement of these terrains by motion oblique to the continental margin. Tethyan faunas in Stikinia must come from the western end of Tethys between North and South America, not the Indonesian region at the eastern end of Tethys.As the northeastern end of the Kula-Farallon ridge moved northward, the sense of motion changed from right lateral shear between the Kula and North American plates to collision or left lateral shear between the Farallon and North American plates. Left lateral shear along zones analogous to the Mojave-Sonora megashear may have been the means by which anomalous terrains were transported to the southeast into the gap between North and South America forming present day Central America. Such a model overcomes the overlap difficulties suffered in previous attempts to reconstruct the Mesozoic paleogeography of Central America.     

Biogeochemistry, a prospecting tool in the search for mercury mineralization

Summary of biogeochemical prospecting for mercury mineralization in the Pinchi Fault is given. One thousand two hundred and eight plant samples were collected and analyzed for mercury. In mineralized areas the typical mercury content of dried plants was not less than 0.2 and 0.4 μg/g and even concentrations between 0.6 and 1.6 μg/g were observed. In nonmineralized zones at least 90% of the plants contained no more than 0.15 μg/g of mercury. Analytical and sampling procedures are described.     

Fission tracks in minerals: Annealing kinetics,track structure and age correction

It is shown that the annealing kinetics of fission tracks in apatite can be described by a sum of exponential decay functions. From an analysis of the temperature dependence of this annealing law it is concluded that the etchability of fission tracks is due to extended defects, i.e. systems of dislocation loops. The multiexponential annealing law is also applied to prove that the plateau correction method is basically correct, but rather as a method for determining a lower limit than the “true” fission track age.     

Quantitative studies of weathering in saprolitized charnockites associated with a landslip zone at the porthimund dam,India

Studies on saprolitized charnockites associated with a landslip observed in the Blue Mountains in close proximity of the Porthimund Dam (11°22'E 76°34′30″N), Nilgiris District, Tamilnadu State, South India, are reported.Laboratory investigations of the geotechnical properties were carried out to evaluate the nature and degree of weathering quantitatively for estimating the soundness of the charnockites constituting the slip zone. The results of per cent decomposed product of the crest, scarp and toe portions of the slip denote positive correlations with porosity and compressibility; and negative correlations against density, wave velocity, Young's modulus, compressive strength and tensile strength. It is also seen that in the absence of the information on decomposed product, weatherability could still be evaluated considering the per cent change of any physical parameter.Such studies should prove valuable in the mapping of weatherability zones and the assessment and determination of foundation conditions.     

Large-Scale Instability in Supernovae and the Neutrino Spectrum

Astronomy Reports - A large fraction of the energy released during the gravitational collapse of the core of a massive star is carried by neutrinos. Neutrinos play the main role in explaining...     

Peri-Gondwanan Blocks in the Structure of the Southern and Southeastern Framing of the East European Platform

Geotectonics - Synthesis of the results of U–Pb dating of detrital zircons (dZr) from the Uppermost Precambrian–Phanerozoic strata of the southern and southeastern framing of the East...     

The Structure and Formation Conditions of the Callovian–Oxfordian Deposits of Sudak Bay (Crimea)

The composition and origin of the Callovian–Oxfordian deposits of the Sudak Bay were characterized on the basis of the generalization and analysis of our own results, as well as published and unpublished data. The botanical future was first implemented for the geological mapping of the Oxfordian deposits.