Permian–polysulphide-siderite–barite–haematite deposit Rude in Samoborska Gora Mts., Zagorje–Transdanubian zone of the Inner Dinarides

Samoborska Gora Mts. is situated within westernmost part of the Zagorje–Mid–Transdanubian zone of the Inner Dinarides. The Samoborska Gora Mts. consists dominantly of Permian unmetamorphosed siliciclastic sediments and evaporites, overlain by Lower Triassic sediments. Rude mineralization is hosted by Permian siliciclastic sediments, beneath gypsum and anhydrite strata. Central part of the deposit consists of 1.5 km long stratabound mineralization, grading laterally into ferruginous sandstone and protruding vertically into a gypsum–anhydrite layer. Siderite–polysulfide–barite–quartz veins are located underneath the stratabound mineralization. Late stage galena–barite veins overprints the formerly formed mineralization types. The Rude ore deposit was generated by NaCl±CaCl2–H2O solutions. Stratabound mineralization was precipitated from solutions with salinities between 7 and 11 wt. % NaCl equ., homogenizing between 150°C to 230°C. Vein type mineralization derived from solutions with salinities between 4 and 20 wt. % NaCl equ., homogenizing between 80°C and 160°C, while late stage galena–barite veins were precipitated from solutions with salinities between 11 and 16 wt. % NaCl equ., homogenizing between 100°C to 140°C. Fluid inclusions bulk leachate chemistry recorded Na+>Mg2+>K+>Ca2+>Li+ and Cl–>SO42– ions. Sulfur isotope composition of barites and overlying gypsum steams from the Permian seawater sulfate, supported by increased Br– content, which follows successively the seawater evaporation line. The sulfur isotopic composition of sulfides varies between –0.2 and +12.5 ‰, as a result of thermal reduction of Permian marine sulfate. Ore–forming fluids were produced by hydrothermal convective cells (reflux brine model) and derived primarily from Permian seawater,- modified by evaporation and interaction with the Permian sedimentary rocks. Rude deposits in Samoborska Gora Mts. may be declared as a prototype of the Permian siderite–polysulfide–barite deposits, products of the rifting along the passive Gondwana margin, in the Inner Dinarides, and their equivalents in extension northeastward into Zagorje–Transdanubian Zone and Gemerides, and southeastward to Hellenide–Albanides.Samoborska Gora Mts. is situated within the westernmost part of the Zagorje–Mid–Transdanubian zone of the Inner Dinarides. The Samoborska Gora Mts. predominantly consists of Permian unmetamorphosed siliciclastic sediments and evaporites, overlain by Lower Triassic sediments. Rude mineralization is hosted by Permian siliciclastic sediments, below gypsum and anhydrite strata. The central part of the deposit consists of a 1.5 km long stratabound mineralization, grading laterally into ferruginous sandstone and protruding vertically into a gypsum–anhydrite layer. Siderite–polysulphide–barite–quartz veins are located below the stratabound mineralization. The stratiform part of the deposit is situated above the stratabound and consists of haematite lajer with barite concretions and veinlets. Late stage galena–barite veins overprint earlier types of mineralization. The Rude ore deposit was generated by predominantly NaCl ±} CaCl2–H2O solutions. Detrital quartz from stratiform mineralization was precipitated from solutions with salinities between 7 and 11 wt. % NaCl equ., homogenizing between 150 °C to 230 °C. Stratabound/siderite–polysulphide–barite–quartz vein type mineralization was derived from solutions with salinities between 5 and 19 wt. % NaCl equ., homogenizing between 80 °C and 160 °C, while late stage galena–barite veins were precipitated from solutions with salinities between 11 and 16 wt. % NaCl equ., homogenizing between 100 °C to 140 °C. Fluid inclusion bulk leachate chemistry recorded Na+>Mg2+>K+>Ca2+>Li+ and Cl–>SO4 2–ions. Sulphur isotope composition of barites and overlying gypsum stems from Permian seawater sulphate, supported by increased Br– content, which follows successively the seawater evaporation line. The sulphur isotopic composition of sulphides varies between –0.2 and +12.5 ‰, as a result of thermal reduction of Permian marine sulphate. Ore–forming fluids were produced by hydrothermal convective cells (reflux brine model), and were derived primarily from Permian seawater, modified by evaporation and interaction with Permian sedimentary rocks. Rude deposits in SamoborskaGora Mts. may be declared as a precursor? of the Permian siderite–polysulphide–barite deposits (products of rifting along the passive Gondwana margin), in the Inner Dinarides, and their equivalents extending northeastward into the Zagorje–Transdanubian Zone and the Gemerides, and southeastward to the Hellenide–Albanides

Local resistance to extractivism: community mobilisation in the case of Chile

This research aims to understand socio-environmental conflicts and mobilisations generated by extractive projects. Theoretically, this research locates itself within the contentious politics perspective. It seeks to understand socio-environmental conflicts taking into consideration the interaction between political opportunities, organisational resources and discursive frames developed by communities that oppose extractive projects. The study argues that socio-environmental conflicts are reproductions of power relations between companies, state and communities over territories and the environment. The environmental and political-economy transformations provoked by extractive projects allow the generation of discourses and frames about environment and community which usually end up in forms of direct mobilisation and protest. In line with recent developments in the social movements literature, I complement the understanding of social mobilisation by analysing the mechanism at work, i.e. the micro foundations of contentious politics, specifically analysing how the geographical location, phase of the project and constituents of the movement, shape the aims, means and capacities of communities that mobilise against extractive projects. As one of Latin America’s most institutionally stable countries, Chile represents the paradigmatic case for exploring the micro foundations of contentious politics that lies at the heart of this study. Precisely because of the economic and political stability and low levels of threats when compared to other countries in the region, and the historical economic and political dependence on extractivism, we should expect to find a strong case of social mobilisations. Thus, Chile offers an ideal, or ‘most likely’, case for evaluating patterns of mobilisation. More specifically, the exploratory aim of this work is to advance a broader theoretical argument about the distinctiveness of the socio-environmental movement, developed through the analysis of three social contestation pocesses in the country (Caimanes, No Alto Maipo and Chiloé). These are cases that offer variation in terms of geographical location, aims, means of mobilisation and resources; in other words, they offer a useful variation on the dimensions of theoretical interest for this thesis. The comparison of the empirical cases adds important subtleties and empirical evidence to complement classical theories of social mobilisation, such as the role of counter-mobilisation in closing political opportunities, and the role that territory and environment plays in generating resources and frames. The study also lays the groundwork for future extensions of this framework by briefly examining how well the main propositions work in explaining socio-environmental mobilisation in other Latin American countries

Geomechanical behavior evolution of the rock mass involved in the Arteara rock avalanche, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

In Arteara (Canary Island), a Holocene rock avalanche comprises accumulation of large reddish blocks which cover the Fataga ravine. This course, is entrenched into the Phonolitic Formation, an alternating sequence of lava flows and ignimbrites. The avalanche defines an elongated deposit of variable thickness. A low friction angle was deduced, which is related to an easily weathered bedrock favorable to the rolling of the blocks. The movement would have been a dry granular flow with a component of saltation at the head and of turbulent flow at the intermediate and distal areas. The deposit varies widely in size and is structured in bands of blocks with a polymodal distribution and low selection. The geomechanical properties of the rocks involved vary substantially in each block and along a longitudinal profile of the deposit. Schmidt Hammer rebound measured in 233 blocks show a polymodal dispersion. Some facies have been differentiated in the blocks, not only by their appearance, but also by their rebound index (R). The different hardness reflects the differences in density and porosity. The hardness zoning shows the differential weathering of the blocks, which depends on the rock anisotropy and the flow turbulence, which determines the influence of abrasion and punching of the blocks. The rebound shows a direct correlation with the bulk density and an inverse correlation with the distance to the source area

Revisiting the issue of democratic deterioration in Venezuela, 1974-1998

This article examines the issue of democratic deterioration by revisiting the Venezuelan case (1974-1998). Using sequence elaboration and alternative case-focused theories, it tests and confirms the hypothesis that presidential partyarchy was the main contextual explanatory factor behind the crisis that led to Venezuela’s democratic deterioration. Building on elite conflict theory, it also aims to integrate previous studies' insights and better explain the timing of factors to illustrate how economic presidentialism (the highly autonomous executive control of a state-controlled economy) was the main mechanism leading to democratic deterioration.Este artículo examina la cuestión del deterioro de la democracia a través de una revisión del caso venezolano (1974-1988). Usando ‘elaboración de secuencias' y teorías alternativas enfocadas en el caso, el artículo prueba y confirma que la "partidocracia presidencialista" fue el principal factor explicativo contextual detrás de la crisis que condujo al deterioro de la democracia de Venezuela. Elaborando sobre la base de la teoría del conflicto de elites, el artículo también apunta a integrar las contribuciones de estudios previos, así como a explicar mejor la temporalidad ("timing") de los factores explicativos para ilustrar cómo el "presidencialismo económico" (el control autónomo del poder ejecutivo sobre una economía controlada por el Estado) fue el principal factor conducente al deterioro de la democracia

The destabilisation of existing regimes in socio-technical transitions: theoretical explorations and in-depth case studies of the British coal industry (1880-2011)

This thesis, which addresses an innovation studies audience, deals with a neglected topic in the study of socio-technical transitions: the destabilisation and decline of established industries. While most of the transitions literature focuses on the emergence of novelty, this thesis investigates the productive role of destabilisation and processes of unlocking of existing regimes. The research question is: How can we understand the unfolding of industry destabilisation processes? To answer this question, this thesis aims to make theoretical contributions by developing an integrative framework that overcomes shortcomings in existing views of destabilisation. Insights from a number of different approaches are mobilised as ‘building blocks’ for theoretical elaboration. Destabilisation is understood as a process involving: 1) multiple interacting pressures, 2) industry strategies and responses to (economic and legitimacy) challenges, and 3) decreasing commitment to industry regime rules. The theoretical perspective addresses: a) destabilisation as a long-term unfolding process, b) the multi-dimensional and co-evolutionary nature of destabilisation, and c) the role of normative problems in destabilisation. To assess the robustness of the conceptual perspective, the thesis studies three cases of destabilisation: - The destabilisation of the British coal industry in the transition from the omnipresence of coal to a four-fuel economy (1880-1967) - The destabilisation and decline of British deep coal mining in the electricity sector (1967-1997) - The destabilisation of coal use in the transition towards low-carbon electricity (1990-2011). Possible revival? The case studies show the usefulness of the conceptual framework. The analysis of patterns and causal mechanisms further identifies similarities and differences of destabilisation pathways in the cases. Specificities in the kinds, rates, interaction and timing of these dynamics produce different destabilisation patterns

Markovian-based clustering of internet addiction trajectories

A hidden Markov clustering procedure is applied to a sample of n=185 longitudinal Internet Addiction Test trajectories collected in Switzerland. The best solution has 4 groups. This solution is related to the level of emotional wellbeing of the subjects, but no relation is observed with age, gender and BMI

A discussion on hidden Markov models for life course data

This is an introduction on discrete-time Hidden Markov models (HMM) for longitudinal data analysis in population and life course studies. In the Markovian perspective, life trajectories are considered as the result of a stochastic process in which the probability of occurrence of a particular state or event depends on the sequence of states observed so far. Markovian models are used to analyze the transition process between successive states. Starting from the traditional formulation of a first-order discrete-time Markov chain where each state is liked to the next one, we present the hidden Markov models where the current response is driven by a latent variable that follows a Markov process. The paper presents also a simple way of handling categorical covariates to capture the effect of external factors on the transition probabilities and existing software are briefly overviewed. Empirical illustrations using data on self reported health demonstrate the relevance of the different extensions for life course analysis

Using dynamic microsimulation to understand professional trajectories of the active Swiss population

Within the social and economic sciences and of particular interest to demographers are life course events. Looking at life sequences we can better understand which states, or life events, precede or are precursors to vulnerability. A tool that has been used for policy evaluation and recently has been gaining ground in life course sequence simulation is dynamic microsimulation. Within this context dynamic microsimulation consists in generating entire life courses from the observation of portions of the trajectories of individuals of different ages. In this work, we aim to use dynamic microsimulation in order to analyse individual professional trajectories with a focus on vulnerability. The primary goal of this analysis is to deepen upon current literature by providing insight from a longitudinal perspective on the signs of work instability and the process of precarity. The secondary goal of this work which is to show how, by using microsimulation, data collected for one purpose can be analysed under a different scope and used in a meaningful way. The data to be used in this analysis are longitudinal and were collected by NCCR-LIVES IP207 under the supervision of Prof. Christian Maggiori and Dr. Gregoire Bollmann. Individuals aged 25 to 55 residing in the German-speaking and French-speaking regions of Switzerland were followed annually for four years. These individuals were questioned regarding, amongst their personal, professional and overall situations and well-being. At the end of the fourth wave, there were 1131 individuals who had participated in all waves. The sample remained representative of the Swiss population with women and the unemployed slightly over represented. Using the information collected from these surveys, we use simulation to construct various longitudinal data modules where each data module represents a specific life domain. We postulate the relationship between these modules and layout a framework of estimation. Within certain data modules a set of equations are created to model the process therein. For every dynamic (time-variant) data module, such as the labour-market module, the transition probabilities between states (ex. labour market status) are estimated using a Markov model and then the possible outcomes are simulated. The benefit of using dynamic microsimulation is that longitudinal sample observations instead of stylised profiles are used to model population dynamics. This is one of the main reasons large-scale dynamic microsimulation models are employed by many developed nations. There has been limited use, however, of such approaches with Swiss data. This work contributes to the analysis of professional trajectories of the active Swiss population by utilising dynamic microsimulation methods