The realization that Earth may have lost heat more slowly in the past than at present has motivated the search for mechanisms to reduce the efficiency of plate tectonics in the past. Several mechanisms have been proposed, such as the resistance to subduction of thick plates (1) produced by deeper melting at higher mantle temperatures (2). We (3) proposed an alternative mechanism, namely subduct...

The recreation of historical battles next to old buildings, walls, churches, fortifications or historical facades belonging to the historical heritage of a city, has always been a source of controversy and discussion. In the absence of a clear legislation about how these buildings can be affected by the use of blunderbusses and pyrotechnics, it is necessary to carry out practical experiments to...

Airflow behavior and indoor/outdoor PM2.5 dispersion in different building–tree grouping patterns depend significantly on the building–tree layouts and orientation towards the prevailing wind. By using a standard k-ε model and a revised generalized drift flux model, this study evaluated airflow fields and indoor/outdoor relationships for PM2.5 resulting from partly wind-induced natural ventilat...

Marble is a natural material, used in the construction field since antiquity. It has always been used to communicate monumentality and solidity. Nowadays new technologies permit marble to express new languages: particularly, translucent marble technology overturns the concept of solidity. The main issue to address is the lack of thermal-energy performance of such a thin stone layer as the only ...

erosion phenomenon (plate tectonics process) CESA'98 Nabeul-Hammamet, Tunisia, April 1998 Thomas LEDUC September 1997

The Earth stands out in the solar system as the only planet with plate tectonics. This peculiarity is due not only to strong internal heating but also a lithosphere rheology characterized by brittle failure and localization, as a comparison with Venus clearly show. Localization in the ductile regime are manifested on Earth by ductile shear zones, which have proven difficult to explain theoretic...

This study examines the dominance of the D/H ratio as a design element for an enclosed urban square, long claimed by numerous urban designers. It claims that like the D/H ratio, other design elements significantly affect the perceptual quality of an enclosed square, but their impacts differ according to the context in which they are applied. The study reviews the literature pertaining to enclos...