10 research outputs found
Cenozoic evolution of the eastern Black Sea: a test of depth-dependent stretching models
No full textSubsidence analysis of the eastern Black Sea basin suggests that the stratigraphy of this deep, extensional basin can be explained by a predominantly pure-shear stretching history. A strain-rate inversion method that assumes pure-shear extension obtains good fits between observed and predicted stratigraphy. A relatively pure-shear strain distribution is also obtained when a strain-rate inversion algorithm is applied that allows extension to vary with depth without assuming its existence or form. The timing of opening of the eastern Black Sea, which occupied a back-arc position during the closure of the Tethys Ocean, has also been a subject of intense debate; competing theories called for basin opening during the Jurassic, Cretaceous or Paleocene/Eocene. Our work suggests that extension likely continued into the early Cenozoic, in agreement with stratigraphic relationships onshore and with estimates for the timing of arc magmatism. Further basin deepening also appears to have occurred in the last 20 myr. This anomalous subsidence event is focused in the northern part of the basin and reaches its peak at 15–10 Ma. We suggest that this comparatively localized shortening is associated with the northward movement of the Arabian plate. We also explore the effects of paleowater depth and elastic thickness on the results. These parameters are controversial, particularly for deep-water basins and margins, but their estimation is a necessary step in any analysis of the tectonic subsidence record stored in stratigraphy. <br/
The competitiveness of UK vehicle component manufacturers
No full textThis dissertation presents the results of using a
multidisciplinary "business policy" approach to examine the
competitive situation of UK vehicle component manufacturers.
With the cooperation of the companies involved in six
product sectors, detailed studies have been made comparing
the strategies and performances of UK competitors over
several years, as well as those of selected competitors in
Japan, Germany and the USA.
The UK vehicle component industry has undergone an
unprecedented decline in performance.
The causes of this decline are many. External factors
outside the control of the companies concerned include the
declining competitiveness of UK based vehicle manufacturers
and the exceptionally unfavourable UK business environment
including the pressure on real wages.
But the decline in competitiveness of UK vehicle
component manufacturers is not solely due to these factors
outside their own control. Just as important is the lack of
strategic management capability at the top management level
of the companies themselves. Before the recession many of
the companies failed to see the changes that were occurring
in the pattern of competition and that their competitive
position was slipping. Few recognised that competition was
becoming more European or even more global. Even fewer were
able to effectively analyse the situation, select a viable
long term strategy and pursue it with commitment. Such a
strategy required a choice of the part of the market in
which to compete as well as how to compete particularly as
far as longer term production strategy (productivity,
quality, flexible manufacturing systems etc) was concerned.
The recession only added to this problem and obscured
the underlying cause. Many companies were forced to
retrench but still have not recognised the longer term
strategic issues which must be addressed if the long term
decline is to be reversed
Re-Thinking Ritual Traditions: Interpreting Structured Deposition in Watery Contexts in Late Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain
No full textThis investigation seeks to define the strands of continuity and change in structured deposition across the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age to Early Roman transition in Britain, and interpret their significance in terms of cultural interaction. These interpretations not only examine and re-think structured deposition in relation to ritual traditions, but also explore how the continuity of such traditions was impacted by the transition between these two periods. Metalwork is a central focus but a wide range of other finds are also considered in order to take a holistic perspective on deposition. Watery deposits were an obvious starting point but comparisons with dry context deposits were necessary to provide a more complete understanding of these practices. The data were gathered from a number of individual sites throughout two contrasting case study zones defined by major waterways and labelled as such: the Severn-Thames Axis in the south and the Solway-Forth Axis in the north of Britain. Through the use of site reports as the main source of data, the analysis took a two-tiered approach. Individual episodes of structured deposition were examined and interpreted on a site-by-site basis. This then led to investigations on a broader scale by examining changes in the continuity of practices in the type of finds deposited, the contexts into which deposition took place and pre-deposition practices, such as deliberate breakage to determine patterns of deposition across the case study zones as a whole. With this comparative analysis it can be concluded that watery contexts were not a unique locus of structured deposition, and indeed that this practice is highly diverse across the zones studied. The tempora
The making of the British early Palaeolithic, 1880-1960
No full textThis historical study explores the character of interpretations of the British Palaeolithic record between c. 1880 and c. 1960, focusing on attempts to classify and order the Early Palaeolithic industries. Interpretations were developed through complex interactions between individuals and groups, who were influenced by a range of aims, expectations and research opportunities. The impact of their contributions was partly dependent upon academic standing and the style of approach taken within the competitive arena of day-to-day research. General expectations of industrial patterning were founded upon the Early Palaeolithic industrial sequence from Western Europe, particularly the chronological succession from the Somme Valley, France, where the hand-axe was the most notable artefact. The assumption of progression and the use of prominent type-fossils such as the hand-axe in classifying and ordering industries coloured interpretations of the British Early Palaeolithic sequence. This is evident even in the approaches to the naturally-fractured stones known as 'eoliths’. The idea of a single, progressive line of industries also fuelled argument over the position and affinities of the flake-rich Clactonian industry in the 1910s and 1920s. In the wake of rising uncertainties, the parallel culture scheme proposed by Henri Breuil achieved great popularity in the 1930s. The value of the Palaeolithic industrial sequence as a relative Quaternary chronology encouraged a complex interdependence between interpretations of the Palaeolithic and of the Quaternary sequence which helped to promote and to reinforce the new range of expectations that had been generated by Breui’s scheme. However, by the mid.l940s, the rigid chronological order of industries proposed by Breuil had been weakened. By the late 1940s, researchers doubtful of the accuracy, scale and value of his scheme, expressed a desire to move away from the constraints of chronology and typology and towards more ecological and anthropological interpretations
Urban communities and the crown : relations between Bristol, York, and the royal government, 1350-1400.
No full textSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN031085 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Integrated rural development in England: unrealised or unrealistic?
No full textIn recent years, integrated rural development (IRD) has become accepted as a panacea to rectify shortcomings in the sectoral, largely uncoordinated, rural development system currently operating in England. IRD may be defined as a multi-sectoral approach to rural development. Individual and disparate policies are brought together and coordinated in order to form a comprehensive rural development strategy which takes account of, and where necessary, reconciles the social, economic and environmental needs of rural areas. This thesis examines, from an organisational perspective, the feasibility of pursuing integrated rural development. The primary task was to create a coherent conceptual model framework of IRD. The objectives were two fold: first, to identify the common parameters of IRD; the basic principles and strategies engendered in this development approach; second, to develop from these a critical platform from which to determine the relevance of the IRD concept to England's rural development system, with all its administrative complexity. Much of the enquiry has centred upon the study of inter-organisational behaviour, looking particularly at 'integrated' rural development initiatives in progress. The aim has been to identify the key factors which govern the relationships between organisations, especially those which appear to facilitate or hinder inter-organisational coordination. This institutional approach to the study of rural development has much to offer, both in terms of improving our understanding of the dynamics of England’s present administrative system and in the assessment of the potential for integrated rural development in the future. On this basis it is evident that IRD is in reality, far less convincing than the ideas which underpin it. Indeed, when taking into account contemporary organisational processes it becomes apparent that integrated rural development is not a viable development approach
Locality, culture and identity in late medieval Yorkshire, c.1270 - c.1540
No full textAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN054480 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
Cults of political martyrs in late medieval England
No full textPhDA number of prominent men who lost their lives during political struggles were
posthumously venerated as martyrs in later medieval England. This dissertation aims
to recreate some of the context - religious and cultural as well as political - in which
these cults developed, and to chronicle and evaluate the activities and representations
which they produced.
It will be argued that political martyrdom formed part of a distinctive religious
culture in which suffering for a cause could be highly valued as a form of martyrdom.
The three cases studied here bring us in contact with different aspects of late
medieval English society. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (d. 1322) was regarded
posthumously as Christi miles, and represented ideas linked to knighthood and
chivalry, treason and betrayal. Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York (d. 1405), was
portrayed in contemporary hagiographic sources as pastor populi, representing the
ideal ecclesiastical shepherd, dedicated to justice in both religious and political
affairs. King Henry VI (d. 1471) was seen as a pious victim already in his lifetime,
represented in the hagiography as an innocent, Job-like, child-martyr.
Cults of political martyrs formed an organic part of late medieval lives, which
were commnunal and private, local and regional, devotional and social. They
demonstrate the flexibility with which religious symbols - chastity, martyrdom, virtue
- formed part of political language, and were available to people at different levels of
society, and with different degrees of access to liturgy, clerical assistance and power
of patronage. These cults - created rather than imported - offer us an insight into
fourteenth and fifteenth century English society, its modes of thoughts, belief,
worship, as well as political culture and language
