Note on Selection of Coordinate Systems for Geodynamics

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 395-407
Author(s):  
S. Henriksen

The first question to be answered, in seeking coordinate systems for geodynamics, is: what is geodynamics? The answer is, of course, that geodynamics is that part of geophysics which is concerned with movements of the Earth, as opposed to geostatics which is the physics of the stationary Earth. But as far as we know, there is no stationary Earth – epur sic monere. So geodynamics is actually coextensive with geophysics, and coordinate systems suitable for the one should be suitable for the other. At the present time, there are not many coordinate systems, if any, that can be identified with a static Earth. Certainly the only coordinate of aeronomic (atmospheric) interest is the height, and this is usually either as geodynamic height or as pressure. In oceanology, the most important coordinate is depth, and this, like heights in the atmosphere, is expressed as metric depth from mean sea level, as geodynamic depth, or as pressure. Only for the earth do we find “static” systems in use, ana even here there is real question as to whether the systems are dynamic or static. So it would seem that our answer to the question, of what kind, of coordinate systems are we seeking, must be that we are looking for the same systems as are used in geophysics, and these systems are dynamic in nature already – that is, their definition involvestime.

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 4221-4227 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. McKenzie

Abstract. This paper provides an analysis of the combined theory of gravity-inertial-Rossby waves on a β-plane in the Boussinesq approximation. The wave equation for the system is fifth order in space and time and demonstrates how gravity-inertial waves on the one hand are coupled to Rossby waves on the other through the combined effects of β, the stratification characterized by the Väisälä-Brunt frequency N, the Coriolis frequency f at a given latitude, and vertical propagation which permits buoyancy modes to interact with westward propagating Rossby waves. The corresponding dispersion equation shows that the frequency of a westward propagating gravity-inertial wave is reduced by the coupling, whereas the frequency of a Rossby wave is increased. If the coupling is sufficiently strong these two modes coalesce giving rise to an instability. The instability condition translates into a curve of critical latitude Θc versus effective equatorial rotational Mach number M, with the region below this curve exhibiting instability. "Supersonic" fast rotators are unstable in a narrow band of latitudes around the equator. For example Θc~12° for Jupiter. On the other hand slow "subsonic" rotators (e.g. Mercury, Venus and the Sun's Corona) are unstable at all latitudes except very close to the poles where the β effect vanishes. "Transonic" rotators, such as the Earth and Mars, exhibit instability within latitudes of 34° and 39°, respectively, around the Equator. Similar results pertain to Oceans. In the case of an Earth's Ocean of depth 4km say, purely westward propagating waves are unstable up to 26° about the Equator. The nonlinear evolution of this instability which feeds off rotational energy and gravitational buoyancy may play an important role in atmospheric dynamics.


Traditio ◽  
1946 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Merlan

According to Aristotle all heavenly movement is ultimately due to the activity of forty-seven (or fifty-five) ‘unmoved movers'. This doctrine is highly remarkable in itself and has exercised an enormous historical influence. It forms part of a world-picture the outlines of which are as follows. The universe consists of concentric spheres, revolving in circles. The outermost of these bears the fixed stars. The other either bear planets or, insofar as they do not, contribute indirectly to the movements of the latter. Each sphere is moved by the one immediately surrounding it, but also possesses a movement of its own, due to its mover, an unmoved, incorporeal being. (It was these beings which the schoolmen designated as theintelligentiae separatae.) The seemingly irregular movements of the planets are thus viewed as resulting from the combination of regular circular revolutions. The earth does not move and occupies the centre of the universe. Such was Aristotle's astronomic system, essential parts of which were almost universally adopted by the Arabic, Jewish, and Christian philosophers of the Middle Ages.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Dalsgaard

This article refers to carbon valuation as the practice of ascribing value to, and assessing the value of, actions and objects in terms of carbon emissions. Due to the pervasiveness of carbon emissions in the actions and objects of everyday lives of human beings, the making of carbon offsets and credits offers almost unlimited repertoires of alternatives to be included in contemporary carbon valuation schemes. Consequently, the article unpacks how discussions of carbon valuation are interpreted through different registers of alternatives - as the commensuration and substitution of variants on the one hand, and the confrontational comparison of radical difference on the other. Through the reading of a wide selection of the social science literature on carbon markets and trading, the article argues that the value of carbon emissions itself depends on the construction of alternative, hypothetical scenarios, and that emissions have become both a moral and a virtual measure pitting diverse forms of actualised actions or objects against each other or against corresponding nonactions and non-objects as alternatives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Malykhin ◽  
Nataliia Oleksandrivna Aristova ◽  
Liudmyla Kalinina ◽  
Tetyana Opaliuk

The present paper addresses the issue of determining the best international practices for developing soft skills among students of different specialties through carrying out a theoretical review. Basing on literature on present-day theory the authors make an attempt to explain soft skills dichotomies, summarize existing approaches to classifying soft skills, consolidate and document best international practices for soft skills development among potential employees of different specialties including bachelor students, master students, doctoral and postdoctoral students. The data obtained in the theoretical analysis reveal that the possible ambiguities in the interpretation of the concept of “soft skills” are caused, on the one hand, by the dichotomic perception of their nature by present-day researchers and educators and, on the other hand, by the absence of the common language which makes it difficult to provide a more unified definition most satisfactory to all concerned. The authors are convinced that soft skills have a cross-cutting nature and regard them as personal and interpersonal meta-qualities and meta-abilities that are vital to any potential employee who is going to make positive contributions not only to his/her professional development but to the development of a company he/she is going to work for. The results of the conducted theoretical review clearly indicate that the absence of the unified understanding of the concept of “soft skills” is reflected in the existence of different approaches to classifying soft skills, let alone, the selection of didactic tools for developing soft skills among potential employees.


Author(s):  
Konstantin V. Grigorichev ◽  
Natalia P. Koptseva

The article provides a selection of studies on the problem of developing languages for the mutual description of migrants and the host society. The authors consider the problem, on the one hand, through the prism of heterogeneity of the language for describing migrants in the host society, and on the other, through the absence of legitimate representatives of migrants representing them in the dialogue with the Russian society. It offers a point of view on the reasons for the dominance of ethnic discourse in the description of migrants and the migration situation, and wide pluralism in the use of ethnic categories in describing migration. It is shown that migrants do not participate in the development of rhetoric of organisations recognised by the authorities as their legitimate representatives. The article raises the question about the formation of new representatives of migrant groups, whose legitimacy is based not on powers delegated by the authorities, but on recognition by horizontal communities. It is assumed that, on the basis of the network representations, a mechanism is being formed for the humanisation of the image of migrants through the return of subjectivity in communication with the host society


2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
Andrey Kurtenkov

It is related leg problems to the realization of the necessity of doing a detailed analysis of the phenotype correlations between body weight and exterior measurements. As a result of the study, lower coefficients have been obtained of the correlation between the girth of the tarso metatarsus on one hand, and the body weight and the girth behind the wings, on the other hand (respectively 0.563 and 0.608), compared with the one between the body weight and the girth behind the wings (0.898). It is advisable in the selection of ostriches to take into consideration the necessity of a higher phenotypic correlation between the girth of the tarso metatarsus on the one hand, and the body weight and the girth behind the wings on the other hand, with a view to preventing leg problems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-42
Author(s):  
Isabelle Génin

The article discusses the interaction between reading and translating, in the case of the first unabridged translation of Moby-Dick into French by Jean Giono, Lucien Jacques and Joan Smith, published by Gallimard in 1941. After a brief survey of the status of that translation—an important cultural landmark in France—the paper examines what the paratext (Giono’s diary, notes and letters) and the typescripts reveal about a seemingly paradoxical situation: Giono’s keen reading of Moby-Dick on the one hand and the simplification and clarification strategies adopted in the translation on the other hand. A selection of stylistic analyses illustrates both the choices made by the translators and the part played by each participant in the project. It appears that Giono did not necessarily misread Moby-Dick, underestimating its scope and significance. Instead, after reading the novel, he grew indifferent to its translation and concentrated his energy on his own writing in which he re-invested his reading experience. As to the other co-translators, Joan Smith provided a word-for-word translation of the text that made no attempt at interpreting the text, while Lucien Jacques strove to re-write Smith’s literal first draft, in spite of his difficult position as a non-reader (albeit an enthusiastic one) of Moby-Dick.


Author(s):  
Filippo Del Lucchese

This chapter examines Empedocles’s idea of monstrosity in the early generation of life, when the earth spontaneously produces all sort of monstrous beings, only some of which will survive and generate viable forms of life. Empedocles intends to establish the norms of life on the process of generation and selection of monstrosities. Nature is not an artist that shapes normal life after many unsuccessful attempts. Empedocles rather sees Nature itself as the successful result of spontaneuous events that create limits and boundaries for viable life. The other major philosopher of the pre-Platonic period is Democritus. I explore his materialism and its relationship with necessity and chance. Atomists have been accused of paradoxically grounding their universe on both necessity and chance. I show that the paradox, however, is only such from the Aristotelian perspective, which aims at establishing teleology as the highest form of causality, in particular in the biological realm. Through the idea of monstrosity, Democritus grounds its atomism on the concept of the spontaneous formation of life. Beyond Empedocles, Democritus flattens even further the material ontology of nature, grounding it on the epigenetical production of normal and mostrous life alike. Through a reading of the agonistic process of life formation, monstrosity becomes the antidote to teleology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-137
Author(s):  
Boris Shoshitaishvili

The scientific discovery of our universe’s immense cosmological history and Earth’s vast geologic history has radically altered common perceptions of time, prompting us to think in terms of millions and billions of years rather than hundreds and thousands. Meanwhile human societies impact the Earth System at accelerating rates and more comprehensively than ever before, leading scientists to propose the new geological epoch of the Anthropocene. These two contrasting temporal transformations have mostly been considered separately: the expanding awareness of cosmological and geologic duration, on the one hand, and the acute sense of swift technological change, on the other. However, their contrast and coexistence are important to recognize. The challenge of understanding the Anthropocene’s complex timescales is partly due to the inability of human institutions to reconcile this twofold disruption whereby time has both expanded (into deep time) and compressed (in techno-social acceleration). After theorizing this transformation, I evaluate the current cosmic stories helping human beings reconceptualize the new timescape.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-24
Author(s):  
Kamel Khaldi

Abstract Research students usually encounter great difficulties in setting up a viable research project mainly because, on the one hand they lack familiarity with the philosophical underpinnings of major paradigms used in educational research: quantitative, qualitative or mixed, and on the other hand , they do not associate the corresponding research types with these paradigms : experimental, non experimental for the former, and interactive or non interactive for the second and the for the latter whether it is explanatory or exploratory, in addition to the importance of triangulation in any research study . These paradigms determine not only the formulation of the problem chosen for research and the associated research questions or hypothesis but also and more importantly, the sampling procedure as well as the selection of the appropriate research tools and the way the collected data is analysed and discussed. This survey of the major paradigms in educational research and their implications for the design of any research study will hopefully provide them with the necessary guidance to approach their research project with more confidence et more efficiency.


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