In Situ Geochemistry of Middle Ordovician Dolomites of the Upper Mississippi Valley: Evaluation of the Dorag Model and New Implications for Dolomitizing Fluids

The dolomitization and diagenetic history of Ordovician carbonates of southern Wisconsin has been studied for over a century. Previous studies attributed dolomitization to various single or multiple diagenetic factors and environments. The goal of the study was to resolve arguments regarding dolomitization models, including Badiozamani’s often cited but recently questioned mixing zone model, using LA-ICP-MS focusing on REE to determine the nature of dolomitizing fluids. Analysis revealed that particulate material incorporated into the dolomite affected the geochemical results of many of the samples. Integrating geochemical data with petrographic evidence for diagenetic history, the studied Decorah Formation dolomites were assigned to two realms: shallow burial and hydrothermal. Shallow burial dolomites exhibit three distinct REE patterns. Dolomite from the middle portion of the Guttenberg formed inside a trilobite fossil maintained a seawater-like REE pattern, while dolomite in lime mud inside this fossil and dolomite in micrite from another sample in this interval exhibit LREE enrichment consistent with early burial. Carimona, Specht’s Ferry, and Lower Guttenberg dolomites are often burrow associated and exhibit MREE enrichment associated with Fe-oxide desorption in anoxic porewaters. The proximity of these dolomites to samples to K-bentonite beds is interpreted as having been the result of Mg leaching from the volcanic ash during alteration. Extensively dolomitized samples in the upper Guttenberg and Ion Member exhibit evidence of hydrothermal dolomitization. The relation of these heavily dolomitized samples to interbedded limestones provides evidence for a recently proposed hydrothermal dolomitization model invoking pressure solution of calcite and precipitation of dolomite. These early burial and hydrothermal depositional models are consistent with models proposed for overlying and underlying Ordovician dolomites. This study revealed no evidence of extensive dolomitization due to Badiozamani’s mixing zone model. Due to the location of this outcrop relative to the Wisconsin Arch, this study cannot directly disprove that dolomitization in eastern Wisconsin is the result of Badiozamani’s Dorag dolomitization. Despite this, Luczaj’s argument that the Dorag model should not have been widely applied to dolomites of the southern Wisconsin area seems appropriate

Institutional corruption and election fraud: evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan

We investigate the relationship between political networks, weak institutions, and election fraud during the 2010 parliamentary election in Afghanistan combining: (i) data on political connections between candidates and election officials; (ii) a nationwide controlled evaluation of a novel monitoring technology; and (iii) direct measurements of aggregation fraud. We find considerable evidence of aggregation fraud in favor of connected candidates and that the announcement of a new monitoring technology reduced theft of election materials by about 60 percent and vote counts for connected candidates by about 25 percent. The results have implications for electoral competition and are potentially actionable for policymakers

Does Revolution Work? Evidence from Nepal’s People’s War

In 2015, after a decade-long conflict and nine years of negotiation, Nepal promulgated a constitution that replaced its 240-year-old monarchy by a federal republic. The subsequent 2017 local elections ushered more than 30,000 first-time politicians into office. Using a census of 3.68 million Nepalis (2.56 million of whom are of voting age) covering eleven districts, party nomination lists and party candidate selection committee surveys, electoral data and information on conflict incidence, we document that castes that were historically excluded from political representation achieved representation without a significant representation-ability trade-off: improved social representation among politicians is accompanied by positive selection on education and income. Triangulating across multiple data sources, we show that the entry of the revolutionary Maoist group as a post-conflict mainstream party played an important role. Finally, political representation of non-elite castes improved their policy inclusion as measured by individual access to earthquake reconstruction transfers. These gains, however, vary with the extent of social connections to the elected mayor and point to a continuing need to balance power by supporting institutions that provide all citizens political voice

Proof of Rounding by Quenched Disorder of First Order Transitions in Low-Dimensional Quantum Systems

We prove that for quantum lattice systems in d<=2 dimensions the addition of quenched disorder rounds any first order phase transition in the corresponding conjugate order parameter, both at positive temperatures and at T=0. For systems with continuous symmetry the statement extends up to d<=4 dimensions. This establishes for quantum systems the existence of the Imry-Ma phenomenon which for classical systems was proven by Aizenman and Wehr. The extension of the proof to quantum systems is achieved by carrying out the analysis at the level of thermodynamic quantities rather than equilibrium states.Comment: This article presents the detailed derivation of results which were announced in Phys. Rev. Lett. 103 (2009) 197201 (arXiv:0907.2419). v3 incorporates many corrections and improvements resulting from referee comment

Choosing Ungoverned Space: The Removal of Pakistan’s Frontier Crimes Regulation

Why do administratively competent states sometimes leave substantial swathes of their territory ungoverned? We explore this question in the context of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) in Pakistan, a British Colonial law only abrogated in 2018, that left legal decisions up to local customary councils. This contrasts with areas where the British and Pakistani state built modern political and bureaucratic institutions. Using primary legal documents we create a dataset of when and where FCR applied between 1901 and 2012. Exploiting spatial variation in the Green Revolution’s impact in the 1960s, we show that governance was preferentially extended to places where the state stood to benefit the most in terms of land revenue. Our results show that technological changes which shift the returns to control influence where states choose to govern

Do Working Men Rebel? Insurgency and Unemployment in Iraq and the Philippines

Most aid spending by governments seeking to rebuild social and political order is based on an opportunity-cost theory of distracting potential recruits. The logic is that gainfully employed young men are less likely to participate in political violence, implying a positive correlation between unemployment and violence in locations with active insurgencies. We test that prediction in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines, using survey data on unemployment and two newly-available measures of insurgency: (1) attacks against government and allied forces; and (2) violence that kills civilians. Contrary to the opportunity-cost theory, the data emphatically reject a positive correlation between unemployment and attacks against government and allied forces (p

Direct Observation of Broadband Coating Thermal Noise in a Suspended Interferometer

We have directly observed broadband thermal noise in silica/tantala coatings in a high-sensitivity Fabry-Perot interferometer. Our result agrees well with the prediction based on indirect, ring-down measurements of coating mechanical loss, validating that method as a tool for the development of advanced interferometric gravitational-wave detectors.Comment: Final version synchronized with publication in Phys. Lett.

The Influence of World-Sheet Boundaries on Critical Closed String Theory

This paper considers interactions between closed strings and open strings satisfying either Neumann or constant (point-like) Dirichlet boundary conditions in a BRST formalism in the critical dimension. With Neumann conditions this reproduces the well-known stringy version of the Higgs mechanism. With Dirichlet conditions the open-string states correspond to either auxiliary or Lagrange multiplier target-space fields and their coupling to the closed-string sector leads to constraints on the closed-string spectrum.Comment: 15 pages, QMW-92-18;NI9201

The role of election competition in strengthening Pakistan’s fledgling local democracy

Using results and original survey data from the November 2015 local government elections in the Sargodha District of rural Punjab, Pakistan, insights are offered into the institutional and organisational responses that can help strengthen local democracy. These results form part of a larger research project being conducted by the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), which examines how voters make choices broadly. It explores the relative weight voters give to party performance vs. candidates’ political and bureaucratic connections. It highlights the need for reporting, debate and a rule-based separation of functions and finances to strengthen local democracy in Pakistan