Continental Drift Research Articles

Framework and Methods of State Monitoring-Based Positioning System on WIFI-RTT Clock Drift Theory

Framework and Methods of State Monitoring-Based Positioning System on WIFI-RTT Clock Drift Theory

How Islamic is Islamic Banking? Developing the Falah Scoring

Queries are often raised regarding the extent to which Islamic banks are Islamic. As the biggest Muslim country in the world, it is interesting to investigate that many employees of Indonesian Islamic banks have resigned because they no longer view their banks as Islamic. Many of them join 90-thousand-strong anti-riba movement known as the xBank community. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the Islamicity of Islamic banks from an internal perspective using mission drift and happiness theory. The study uses a mixed-method approach comprising of the Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) technique to analyse questionnaire data, and the qualitative data originated from focused group discussions to confirm the findings from the primary data. The study concludes that Islamic banks have become un-Islamic due to the demands of regulatory policies that force them to compete with conventional banks. Consequently, the research identified a minor mission drift of only around 7%. However, the Muslim society responded very sensitively, making big noises. Thus, the findings become evidence for a need of a falah scoring development necessary to maintain the Islamicity of Islamic banking.

Low temperature oxidation of diesel soot particles over one-dimensional 2 × 3 tunnel-structured Na2Mn5O10 catalysts

Tunnel-structured manganese oxides have drawn widespread research attention due to their excellent oxidation properties for the soot oxidation reaction. In this study, a series of romanechite Na2Mn5O10 catalysts with a 2 × 3 tunnel structure were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized catalysts were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, H2 and soot temperature-programmed reduction, O2 temperature-programmed desorption, NO temperature-programmed oxidation, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and other measurements. Among all the catalysts, the Na1MnyOδ-120 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance for soot combustion, with T10, T50, and T90 values of 281 ℃, 317 ℃, and 343 ℃, respectively, which were considerably reduced to 271 ℃, 310 ℃, and 335 ℃ in the existence of 10% H2O. The results of multiple characterization methods indicated that the Na2Mn5O10 catalysts exhibit good reducibility, strong oxygen adsorption and activation capacity, and NO to NO2 oxidation ability. Moreover, the active sites (Mn and oxygen vacancies) and reaction mechanism (Langmuir–Hinshelwood) were also revealed by in-situ DRIFT and density functional theory calculations results. This study details a new strategy for the design and synthesis of efficient soot oxidation catalysts with practical application prospects.

Theory of continental drift – causes of the motion. Outline of the theory

The theory of mantle convection currents as the cause of lithospheric plate movements has several major problems, including the absence of an adequate energy source. As shown in our previous contribution, an unbiased interpretation of geochemical data does not support the assumptions of a significant amount of radionuclides in the lower mantle or even in the core. It is our assertion that solar radiation is the primary energy source in the lithosphere. This energy is converted into mechanical energy via thermoelastic waves, even in depths with minimal temperature fluctuations. This has been confirmed by various methods of continuous stress measurement. The periodic and quasiperiodic thermoelastic reversible deformations, such as the circadian and annual cycles (including tidal periods), can also cause irreversible deformations due to the ratcheting mechanism. The 2D model showed that the strength limit is exceeded in 0.3 % of all diurnal cycles during the year. As a consequence, continents tend to extend while the oceanic lithosphere is pushed and overthrusted between continents. The middle-ocean ridges, similar to continental rifts, are filled by ascending magma which is one example of the ratcheting mechanism. The final plate movements are determined by the distribution of major continents and the overall westward drift of the lithosphere, which is slower for deep-rooted plates like the Indian one. Large asteroid impacts are important triggers (and possibly significant energy sources) of discrete events, like the formation of hotspots and large igneous provinces.

THE "LARGE BARYON PUMP OF THE EARTH" AS A NATURAL IMAGE OF THE "TREE OF LIFE" AND AN OBJECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, WHICH IS INTEGRATED WITH THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF MAN

THE "LARGE BARYON PUMP OF THE EARTH" AS A NATURAL IMAGE OF THE "TREE OF LIFE" AND AN OBJECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, WHICH IS INTEGRATED WITH THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF MAN

Wałęsanie się. Miastotwórcze efekty lubelskiej Nocy Kultury

This paper explores the wandering during the Night of Culture, which I consider an essential practice for the people's experience of this event. Looking at this particular form of movement of those participating in this initiative between various event locations also allows us to see the implications of the Night of Culture for urban public spaces. The empirical base of the paper is the visual documentation of the events carried out during the Night of Culture during the 2023 edition. While interpreting the material, I refer to the situationist theory of drift and then reconstruct the structure of the festival's wandering, its rhythm, the type of attention bestowed on the city by the participants, and the form of this ephemeral community. In conclusion, I propose that the atmosphere of places can be used to analyse the city-forming effects of the Night of Culture, to grasp better the specificity of the event and its risks and potentials.

The Coupling Effects Between Floating Insulation Plates and the Thermal Convection in their Bottoms---- An Understanding of Continental Drift

The phenomenon of dumpling drift was discovered during a cooking process, which triggered our thinking of the continental drift. After refining the existing common problems, an experiment on the thermal convection interaction between the floating heat insulation plates and the bottoms is designed. Through controlling variables, this paper investigates the floating patterns of floating insulation plates of different sizes on a thermally convective surface and the principles behind them. The findings show that the appropriate sizing of a floating plate can result in the manifestation of cyclic reciprocating movement on the water’s surface. The periodic movement observed in this phenomenon can be attributed to the obstruction of heat exchange between the water surface and the surrounding air by the floating plate. Consequently, alterations in the direction of water flow induce corresponding shifts in water temperature, which subsequently affect the movement direction of the floating plate. The final outcome is characterized by a periodic reciprocal movement of the floating plate as it interacts with the heat convection occurring at the bottom. Floating plates that are either undersized or oversized would remain stationary without exhibiting any cyclic drift. The decrease in water depth leads to a diminished thermal drive, thereby amplifying the cyclical nature of the motion shown by the floating plate. The above findings indicate that the dimensions of the continental plates present on the Earth's surface have an impact on both the velocity and duration of their movement. The observation that a plate that is too small stagnates on top of a subduction current, while a plate that is too large stagnates on top of an upwelling current, suggests that the smaller continent of New Zealand is likely to experience a decrease in elevation due to its location above a subduction current. Conversely, the larger continent of Africa is expected to undergo uplift and attain a higher elevation as a result of its position above an upwelling current.

An ancient cis-element targeted by Ralstonia solanacearum TALE-like effectors facilitates the development of a promoter trap that could confer broad-spectrum wilt resistance.

Ralstonia solanacearum, a species complex of bacterial plant pathogens that causes bacterial wilt, comprises four phylotypes that evolved when a founder population was split during the continental drift ~180 million years ago. Each phylotype contains strains with RipTAL proteins structurally related to transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors from the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas. RipTALs have evolved in geographically separated phylotypes and therefore differ in sequence and potentially functionality. Earlier work has shown that phylotype I RipTAL Brg11 targets a 17-nucleotide effector binding element (EBE) and transcriptionally activates the downstream arginine decarboxylase (ADC) gene. The predicted DNA binding preferences of Brg11 and RipTALs from other phylotypes are similar, suggesting that most, if not all, RipTALs target the Brg11-EBE motif and activate downstream ADC genes. Here we show that not only phylotype I RipTAL Brg11 but also RipTALs from other phylotypes activate host genes when preceded by the Brg11-EBE motif. Furthermore, we show that Brg11 and RipTALs from other phylotypes induce the same quantitative changes of ADC-dependent plant metabolites, suggesting that most, if not all, RipTALs induce functionally equivalent changes in host cells. Finally, we report transgenic tobacco lines in which the RipTAL-binding motif Brg11-EBE mediates RipTAL-dependent transcription of the executor-type resistance (R) gene Bs4C from pepper, thereby conferring resistance to RipTAL-delivering R. solanacearum strains. Our results suggest that cell death-inducing executor-type R genes, preceded by the RipTAL-binding motif Brg11-EBE, could be used to genetically engineer broad-spectrum bacterial wilt resistance in crop plants without any apparent fitness penalty.

Mind the uncertainty: Global plate model choice impacts deep‐time palaeobiological studies

Abstract Global plate models (GPMs) aim to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of the Earth by modelling the motion of the plates and continents through time. These models enable palaeobiologists to study the past distribution of extinct organisms. However, different GPMs exist that vary in their partitioning of the Earth's surface and the modelling of continental motions. Consequently, the preferred use of one GPM will influence palaeogeographic reconstruction of fossil occurrences and any inferred palaeobiological and palaeoclimatic conclusion. Here, using five open‐access GPMs, we reconstruct the palaeogeographic distribution of cell centroids from a global hexagonal grid and quantify palaeogeographic uncertainty across the entire Phanerozoic (540–0 Ma). We measure uncertainty between reconstructed coordinates using two metrics: (1) palaeolatitudinal standard deviation and (2) mean pairwise geodesic distance. Subsequently, we evaluate the impact of GPM choice on palaeoclimatic reconstructions when using fossil occurrence data. To do so, we use two climatically sensitive entities (coral reefs and crocodylomorphs) to infer the palaeolatitudinal extent of subtropical climatic conditions for the last 240 million years. Our results indicate that differences between GPMs increase with the age of reconstruction. Specifically, cell centroids rotated to older intervals show larger differences in palaeolatitude and geographic spread than those rotated to younger intervals. However, high palaeogeographic uncertainty is also observed in younger intervals within tectonically complex regions (i.e. in the vicinity of terrane and plate boundaries). We also show that when using fossil data to infer the distribution of subtropical climatic conditions across the last 240 Ma, estimates vary by 6–7° latitude on average, and up to 24° latitude in extreme cases. Our findings confirm that GPM choice is an important consideration when studying past biogeographic patterns and palaeoclimatic trends. We recommend using GPMs that report true palaeolatitudes (i.e. use a palaeomagnetic reference frame) and incorporating palaeogeographic uncertainty into palaeobiological analyses.

Phylogenomics reveals the history of host use in mosquitoes

Mosquitoes have profoundly affected human history and continue to threaten human health through the transmission of a diverse array of pathogens. The phylogeny of mosquitoes has remained poorly characterized due to difficulty in taxonomic sampling and limited availability of genomic data beyond the most important vector species. Here, we used phylogenomic analysis of 709 single copy ortholog groups from 256 mosquito species to produce a strongly supported phylogeny that resolves the position of the major disease vector species and the major mosquito lineages. Our analyses support an origin of mosquitoes in the early Triassic (217 MYA [highest posterior density region: 188–250 MYA]), considerably older than previous estimates. Moreover, we utilize an extensive database of host associations for mosquitoes to show that mosquitoes have shifted to feeding upon the blood of mammals numerous times, and that mosquito diversification and host-use patterns within major lineages appear to coincide in earth history both with major continental drift events and with the diversification of vertebrate classes.

Andean-type orogenic plateau as a trigger for aridification in the arcs of northeast Pangaea

The interplay between continental motions during the assembly of Pangaea and late Palaeozoic climate change, including severe glaciation and global aridification, remains enigmatic. Here we identify the provenance of Permian–Early Triassic sediments that recorded climate change of North China and estimate palaeoelevation to constrain tectonic-climate interaction during the assembly of northeast Pangaea. Detrital zircon U-Pb-Hf analysis indicates the sediments were locally sourced from the ancient basement and associated with a late Palaeozoic (410–260 million years ago) continental arc, devoid of input from juvenile arcs of the Altaids. These sediments were interpreted as deposited in a retroarc foreland basin ascribed to subduction of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean. Crustal thickness estimated from whole-rock La/Yb yields an average value of 58 ± 11 km, which corresponds to a palaeoelevation of 3.8 ± 0.7 km. The results reveal the existence in North China of an orogenic plateau comparable to the Altiplano of the Andes that blocked moisture transport from the ocean and served as an important orographic barrier to trigger Permian aridification.

Historical diversification of Pseudonympha Wallengren, 1857 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae)

ABSTRACT The butterfly genus Pseudonympha and several related genera are endemic to southern Africa. Although many of the species are montane, some inhabit the arid interior of South Africa, offering an opportunity to study the palaeobiogeography of this biome. Morphological data (for all species of Pseudonympha and allied African and Asian genera) and molecular data (WG and COI genes for nine of the 15 species of Pseudonympha and all of the southern African endemic genera of Ypthimina) were compiled. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Pseudonympha apparently originated in the Cape Fold Mountains about 15 Mya ago and spread steadily eastwards and northwards along the Great Escarpment during the aridification of the region, perhaps assisted by orogeny in the east and oceanic cooling in the west. Aridification cycles seem to have intermittently isolated some early lineages in elevated habitats in the interior, so that those lineages show lower speciation rates (or perhaps higher extinction rates) than those in the east. Four species delineation techniques indicated that some species are taxonomically oversplit. Based on genetic polyphyly and morphological similarity, we propose that the status of P. swanepoeli be reduced to that of a subspecies of P. varii, such that all the north-eastern populations from Harrismith to Tzaneen fall under P. varii swanepoeli van Son stat. n., and all the southern populations fall under P. varii varii van Son stat. n. Ultimately, the diversification of both of these lineages seems tied to their host plants’ response to aridification brought on by continental drift and orogeny. Sympatric organisms (eg cicadas) with biologies focused around different resources (eg savanna trees) show other patterns of diversification. The phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Ypthimina also supports the monophyly of Paternympha, paraphyly of Ypthima, recognition of Thymipa Moore stat. rev. as a phylogenetic independent genus, and new relationships for Strabena. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C3B34CBC-4BC2-44F3-8349-9DBC82FFBBF3

Prophets Without Honor: From Galileo to Looney

There are many ideas in the annals of science that were once ridiculed because they deviated from established “truth,” only to be rehabilitated with the passage of time. Among them: Galileo (1564-1642), punished by the Pope with house arrest for challenging the Ptolemaic theory -- a theory taught by Aristotle -- that the sun revolves around the earth; Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), who developed the theory of the movement of continental drift (later known as tectonic plates), to explain why matching prehistoric fossils could be found in places such as Europe and South America, with no known land bridges connecting them; J. Harlan Bretz (1882-1981) who showed that only cataclysmic floods could explain erosion and land formation in the Pacific Northwest, rather than the then-current theory of gradualism and “uniformitarianism.” Senior scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey in 1927 humiliated him in public; Ignaz Semelweiss (1818-1865) observed that the incidence of “childbed fever” could be significantly reduced by the use of hand disinfectant in obstetrical clinics, c. 1847. He could not provide a medical explanation beyond his observation that maternal mortality was reduced to only 1% when hand washing with disinfectant was used. He was ridiculed for going against received medical practice and committed to an asylum by colleagues after supposedly suffering a nervous breakdown. There he was beaten by guards and died from an untreated gangrenous wound. It was not until Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory of disease and Joseph Lister showed the benefits of surgery using hygienic methods that his life-saving observations were credited. One can add to this list the name of J. Thomas Looney (1870-1944) who began researching the question of whether the name “Shakespeare” could be a pseudonym and, if so, who the author really was. Basing his work on attributes in the plays that might match little-known poets of the Elizabethan era with the real author, he identified Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, as the man responsible in his book Shakespeare Identified published in 1920. Criticized almost immediately, his research has nevertheless stood the test of time, with more and more people worldwide now arguing for Oxford in a debate that continues unabated. This paper looks at these personal histories as well as the psychology of why “authorities” feel a need to immediately reject challenges to established positions.

Becoming-lithic: elemental utopian possibility in the contemporary ecocatastrophe

ABSTRACT This article explores an emerging cluster of ecocatastrophe narratives that locate utopian possibility within the Earth’s sub-crustal lithosphere. Texts such as N. K. Jemisin’s “Broken Earth” trilogy (2015–2017), J. G. Ballard’s The Crystal World (1966), Lars von Trier’s film Melancholia (2011), Irene Solà’s Catalan novel When I Sing, Mountains Dance (2019), and the first season of the Icelandic TV series Katla (Netflix, June 2021) uncover an inhuman ecology whose vibrant, lively agency can be discerned within the geologic temporalities of deep time. Unlike their “Hollow Earth” precursors (a late nineteenth-century subgenre of the literary utopia), in which human protagonists ventured below the Earth’s surface to discover rich worlds of utopian alterity, these contemporary lithic texts revoke their characters’ human sovereignty in images of encroaching human-lithic intimacy: a process that I call becoming-lithic. In conveying the lively potentialities of geological processes such as the rock cycle, plate tectonics, continental drift, orogenesis and subduction, igneous activity, these lithic texts encourage readers and viewers to reconsider our relationship between the geosphere and the biosphere. I trace their emerging elemental aesthetics, asking how we might parse their inhuman moments of possibility and, in the process, undertake the urgent task of decolonising utopian studies.

Analysis of the cylindrical plasma antenna system modes in a wide frequency range

Plasma antennas have promising prospects for practical use with quick changes in their parameters in a wide frequency range. In this work, the radiation pattern of a plasma antenna system, which consists of a short linear antenna surrounded by fluorescent lamps, is analyzed in a frequency range of 0.5–1.5 GHz. In numerical simulation, the parameters of the gas-discharge plasma were used, which were obtained using the drift theory. In addition, an analysis of the radiation patterns using a simple and intuitive ring antenna array model was carried out, and the limit of its applicability was demonstrated. The experimental data were compared with those of simulation and theoretical analysis. Finally, a simulation was performed to compare the plasma antenna system with its metal counterpart. The results obtained are important for a whole class of nested antenna systems.

Charles Darwin's discovery of Devonian fossils in the Falkland Islands, 1833, and its controversial consequences

Abstract In March 1833 Charles Darwin discovered Devonian fossils in the Falkland Islands. He was excited by his find but could have had little premonition of the long-running geological controversy that he was initiating. Darwin's fossils matched a coeval South African fauna and, as further collections were made, the association was apparently strengthened. A particularly important contribution arose around 1910 through collaborations between a local collector, Constance Allardyce, and professional palaeontologists: Ernest Schwarz in South Africa and John Clarke in the USA. The accumulating evidence was seized upon by the early proponents of ‘displacement theory’ – continental drift – notably Alexander Du Toit, who relocated the Falkland Islands northward for his 1927 South Atlantic reconstruction. A more radical, but geologically sounder proposal arose in 1952 when Ray Adie suggested that the Falkland Islands, rotated through 180°, had originated as the eastward culmination of the Cape Fold Belt and Karoo Basin. In effect, Adie had presciently described a rotated microplate, perhaps the first on record. An opposing view saw the Falkland Islands as part of a fixed, South American promontory, and argument around these two contrasting interpretations of South Atlantic geology continues to the present day.

The Neutral Theory (Theory of Genetic Drift) and the Nearly Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution are Opposite to Evolution

The Neutral theory (also known as the theory of genetic drift) means genetic drift and vice-versa. But the Nearly Neutral theory means genetic drift plus natural selection. However, genetic drift changes the gene frequency randomly and thus it is non-additive, directionless and thus valueless for evolution. Again, genetic drift works only in small populations and thus, genetic drift means small population. But small populations have to inbreed and produce homozygous organisms. Consequently, those populations suffer from various diseases and abnormalities and finally may suddenly extinct. Moreover, any homozygous organism means zero variation, mutation-genetic drift equilibrium also creates zero variation. But variation is the raw material of evolution; so, no evolution occurs by the genetic drift. So, evolutionary biologists rejected both the genetic drift and the small populations for any kind of evolution. Hence, the Neutral theory is opposite to any kind of evolution. Again, recent experiments of ecological genetics with small populations, 12 biochemical tests, and the data of the DNA sequence, fossil evidence oppose the Neutral theory. Furthermore, the rate of evolution by the Neutral theory is equal to the rate of mutation. But mutations are opposite to any kind of evolution. So, biologists rejected the Neutral theory. As the natural selection is not justified in Nearly Neutral theory; so, Neutral theory=Nearly Neutral theory. Consequently, the rejection of the Neutral theory means the rejection of the Nearly Neutral theory. Thus, both the Neutral theory and the Nearly Neutral theory are opposite to any kind of evolution.

Effect of the supercontinent cycle on the longest-term sea-level change from a simple conceptual and theoretical model

The longest-term (first-order) sea-level change is considered to be within ∼ 200–300 million years, which is roughly half or less of the period of the supercontinent cycle of ∼ 500–700 Myr. It is recognized that the assembly of supercontinents involves either the closure of the “interior ocean” that resulted from the breakup of the supercontinent or the closure of the “exterior ocean” that surrounded the supercontinent. The former process is termed “extroversion,” while the latter is termed “introversion,” both of which are an end-member scenario of the supercontinent cycle. A “combination” process is also proposed to explain the complex behavior of continental drift on the actual Earth. Despite recent advances in a time-dependent mantle convection model, some difficulties still remain in self-consistently recovering plate tectonics and continental drift of the past Earth. Therefore, it is worth addressing the fundamental physics of the effects of the history of plate motion and the associated continental drift on the longest-term sea-level change from the perspevtive of the supercontinent cycle in a timescale of the order of 100 million years. In this study, a simple conceptual model of mantle convection with various supercontinent cycle processes was constructed, and the effects of the supercontinent cycle on the longest-term sea-level change were addressed. The sea-level change is estimated from bathymetry over the oceanic plates under different free parameters that control the fluctuation of the sea-level change. The present analytical results suggest that the asymptotic bathymetry due to the plate flattening effect of oceanic plates in the exterior and interior oceans is essential to recover the realistic magnitude of sea-level fluctuations that is comparable to the sea-level curve of the past Earth. In addition, the absolute volume change in the seawater due to its recycling into the mantle may be important to fit the observed sea-level curves from stratigraphic studies since 200 million years ago.

The Visayan Drift to English Language in the Social Media Era

This content analysis study aimed to illustrate the specific aspects of Filipino-Visayan English by analyzing 30 selected posts from Facebook. Lexical and grammatical aspects, as well as graphology, syntax, and lexicon semantics, were explored in the posts. To describe the advancement of Filipino-Visayan English, the Language Drift Theory was employed as a foundation. Descriptive qualitative research was used to illuminate the posted statements. Textual analysis indicated the most prevalent lexical, grammatical, and linguistic qualities, which were displayed from most to least dominant linguistic features. The internet influenced the drift of English localization in the Visayan region of the Philippines as the data revealed. From a pedagogical view, teachers need to examine the innovative characteristics, variations, and distinctiveness of Philippine English, particularly Filipino-Visayan English, in comparison to other World Englishes. This study guided the teachers not to evaluate their students’ outputs solely based on Standard in American and British English. The syntactical and semantical distinctions of Filipino-Visayan English are no longer viewed as flaws, but rather as emergent characteristics that distinguish Regional PE variety from other world English varieties. Hence, teachers need to take proactive initiatives to expose students to authentic English usage, including non-native English literature. Keywords: Language Drift, Filipino-Visayan English, World Englishes, English Variety

Theory of continental drift – causes of the motion. Historical review and observations

The theory of continental drift was published as early as 1912, but the mechanism and energy source of this motion has not yet been elucidated. In many cases, the generally accepted model of convection currents in the mantle contradicts observations such as the spreading of the ocean floor, the extension of rifts from triple points to all sides, the more or less unilateral movement of the lithosphere relative to the mantle, and others. In the first part of the double article, the evolution of views on this issue is shown, as well as measured data that document the important role of extraterrestrial energy sources for the movement of lithospheric plates in daily, annual and long-term climate cycles. In the second part of the two-part article, the entire theory of the mechanism of lithospheric plate motion will be outlined, based on the accumulation of incoming energy from the Sun in crustal rocks, the ratcheting mechanism, and the thermoelastic wave penetrating from the Earth's surface through the entire crust.