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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Anomalous Textures In Porphyritic Granite Of Andhra Pradesh (India), Eric R. Force Jan 2015

Anomalous Textures In Porphyritic Granite Of Andhra Pradesh (India), Eric R. Force

Eric R Force

Apparently perthitic textures of microcline phenocrysts in this rock are not due to exsolution but to deformation. Microscopic fracture planes show no offset, however, and are restricted to feldspar crystals, i.e. absent in quartz. A hypothesis of depth formation is presented, and possible shock origin discussed.


Sea-Cliff Erosion With Rising Sea-Level Along Shores Exposing Glacial Material In Atlantic Canada, Eric R. Force Jan 2013

Sea-Cliff Erosion With Rising Sea-Level Along Shores Exposing Glacial Material In Atlantic Canada, Eric R. Force

Eric R Force

Rapid retreat rates of sea cliffs exposing glacial material are a widespread problem, especially in Atlantic Canada, and one that will continue. Prediction of retreat rates at specific sites involves many variables, but a factor that has commonly been overlooked in such prediction is the slope of the bedrock surface under the glacial material. A glaciated bedrock platform is generally necessary to establish a stable situation of temporary equilibrium, and as sea- level rises, the bedrock slope determines the location of the new equilib- rium position. An example from Nova Scotia shows that bedrock slope is so low on some …


Influences Of Active Tectonism On Human Development: A Review And Neolithic Example, Eric R. Force, Bruce G. Mcfadgen Jan 2012

Influences Of Active Tectonism On Human Development: A Review And Neolithic Example, Eric R. Force, Bruce G. Mcfadgen

Eric R Force

Two groups of researchers have independently studied the effects of active tectonism on human development. The first group focuses on tectonically influenced topography in providing varied food sources, security, natural hunting traps, and water resources through Paleolithic times. The second group suggests that active tectonism forced the pace of cultural change in antiquity, accelerating the development of cultural complexity in comparison to neighbors in tectonically quiescent areas. Economic, political, religious, and other modern evidence indicates that this may still be the case. Similarly, the effects of tectonically influenced topography can be traced into ancient agricultural societies and into some segments …


Provenance Of The Lower Carboniferous Horton Group, Petit-Degrat Island, Nova Scotia, As Revealed By Detrital Zircon Ages, Eric R. Force, Sandra M. Barr Jan 2012

Provenance Of The Lower Carboniferous Horton Group, Petit-Degrat Island, Nova Scotia, As Revealed By Detrital Zircon Ages, Eric R. Force, Sandra M. Barr

Eric R Force

A quartz sandstone bed in a dominantly conglomeratic section in the central part of the Lower Carboniferous Horton Group on Petit-de-Grat Island, offshore southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, contains detrital zircon grains with ages ranging from mid-Devonian to Archean. The similarity of the Devonian and Neoproterozoic age spectrum to ages of igneous units in the adjacent Avalonian Mira terrane, in particular the Coastal belt, indicates that it was the main source area. This interpretation is supported by the similarity of the Neoproterozoic and older detrital zircon age spectrum to that of the detrital zircon age spectrum in a Cambrian …


Tectonic Environments Of Ancient Civilizations: Opportunities For Archaeoseismological And Anthropological Studies, Eric R. Force, Bruce G. Mcfadgen Jan 2010

Tectonic Environments Of Ancient Civilizations: Opportunities For Archaeoseismological And Anthropological Studies, Eric R. Force, Bruce G. Mcfadgen

Eric R Force

The close spatial relation between ancient civilizations and active tectonic boundaries is robust in the Eastern Hemisphere but counterintuitive given the seismic dis- advantages it implies. Explanations for the observation remain debatable, and no single explanation seems sufficient. Some possibly important factors are unrelated to seismicity, e.g., the influence of tectonism on local water resources and on resource diversity. When examined on finer spatial scales, the relation is still robust. A quan- tifiable influence of tectonism on civilization locations even along Mediterranean shores is suggested by their distribution. The stronger links of tectonism with derivative civilizations suggests a role of …


A Lower Carboniferous Two-Stage Extensional Basin Along The Avalon-Meguma Terrane Boundary: Evidence From Southeastern Isle Madame, Nova Scotia, Eric R. Force, Sandra M. Barr Jan 2006

A Lower Carboniferous Two-Stage Extensional Basin Along The Avalon-Meguma Terrane Boundary: Evidence From Southeastern Isle Madame, Nova Scotia, Eric R. Force, Sandra M. Barr

Eric R Force

ABSTRACT Anomalously thick and coarse clastic sedimentary successions, including over 5000 m of conglomerate, are ex- posed on Isle Madame off the southern coast of Cape Breton Island. Two steeply to moderately dipping stratigraphic packages are recognized: one involving Horton and lower Windsor groups (Tournasian–Visean); the other involving upper Windsor and Mabou (Visean–Namurian) groups. Also anomalous on Isle Madame are three long narrow belts of “basement” rocks, together with voluminous chloritic microbreccia and minor semi-ductile mylonite, which are separated from the conglomerate-dominated successions by faults. The angular relations between the cataclastic rocks and the conglomerate units, combined with the presence …