Thesis (M.S. in Physical Oceanography)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Wieslaw Maslowski, Stephen Okkonen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-93). Also available online.

This thesis traces the roots of the Chanak Crisis, which brought Britain and Turkey on the brink of war in September 1922. After the analysis of the British Near Eastern policy throughout the 19th century up until the Chanak Crisis, the author concludes that the confrontation at Chanak was basically a continuation of the Eastern Question, which had revolved around the Anglo-Russian rivalry over the control of the Turkish Straits. While Britain pursued the closure of the Straits until the World War I to prevent Russia accessing to the Mediterranean, the British post-war strategy focused on ensuring the “freedom of the Straits.” The Turkish advance toward Chanak after the victory over Greeks, however, posed a great threat to British plans. In the face of hints of the cooperation between the Turkish Nationalists and Russia, the British government, therefore, took a decision to hold Chanak at the risk of military confrontation.

A detailed petrologic study of the maximum assemblage, minimum variance pelitic units contained within The Straits Schist in western Connecticut was undertaken to provide data on the Acadian Orogeny in the northern half of the western highlands of Connecticut. The Straits Schist, contained within the Connecticut Valley synclinorium, is structurally involved in portions of both the Hartland and Gneiss Dome belts, outlining isoclinally refolded nappes plunging off the Waterbury Dome. The Straits Schist is believed to be of Silurian—Devonian age, based on proposed correlations with the Goshen and the Waits River Formations of Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively. Furthermore, the age of metamorphism is interpreted as being Acadian based on the proposed age and stratigraphy, simple metamorphic textures, and uniform grain sizes. Quantitative estimates of the pressure and temperature conditions under which the mineral assemblages of The Straits Schist equilibrated were calculated using calibrated mineral reactions and ion exchange equilibria. Temperatures range from 607° — 747°C, and pressures range from 6.4 — 8.9 kbar across the study area. Estimates of P_H₂0/P_total were obtained and range between 0.21 and 0.57. Although exchange mechanisms have not (or could not have) been determined exactly, biotite and muscovite do show deviation from ideal tri- and di-octahedral stoichiometry, up to 13.7% di-octahedral character and 2.2% tri-octahedral character, respectively. Compositional X-ray maps indicate that The Straits Schist underwent rapid cooling. Therefore, the Acadian Orogeny in western Connecticut is characterized as a high-pressure event that underwent rapid postmetamorphic uplift and cooling. / Master of Science

This thesis concerns the relationship between ideology, values, beliefs, politics, language, discourses, public policy and health outcomes. By examining the origins of federal health policy concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 1972-2001 I have explored the idea that the way a problem is constructed through language determines solutions enacted to solve that problem, and subsequent outcomes. Despite three decades of federal policy activity Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children born at the start of the 21st Century could expect to live almost 20 years less than non-Indigenous Australians. Explanations for the gap include that the colonial legacy of dispossession and disease continues to wreak social havoc and that both health policy and structures for health services have been fundamentally flawed. The research described in this thesis focuses on the role of senior Federal politicians in the health policy process. The research is grounded in theory which suggests that the values and beliefs of decision makers are perpetuated through language. Using critical discourse analysis the following hypotheses were tested: 1. That an examination of the language of Federal politicians responsible for the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples over three decades would reveal their beliefs, values and discourses concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their health 2. That the discourses of the Federal politicians contributed to policy discourses and frames in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy environment, and 3. That there is a relationship between the policy discourses of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy environment and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The hypotheses were proven. I concluded that there was a relationship between the publicly-expressed values and beliefs of politicians responsible for health, subsequent health policy and resulting health outcomes. However, a model in which theories of discourse, social constructions of people and problems, policy development and organisational decision-making were integrated did not adequately explain the findings. I developed the concept of &quotpolicy imagination&quot to explain the discrete mechanism by which ideology, politics, policy and health were related. My research suggests that the ideology and values which drove decision-making by Federal politicians responsible for the health of all Australians contributed to the lack of population-wide improvement in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the late 20th Century.

We investigate the effect of a 120 meter sea level drop on transport through the Caribbean Sea and the Florida Straits during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) relative to the present, using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). A geostrophic transport estimate for the Florida Straits suggests the LGM Florida Current was weaker than today by one third, inferring a likely decrease in the North Atlantic overturning circulation by 12-15 Sv. A possible impact of a shallower LGM Florida Straits sill depth on the Florida Current has been suggested. Our model results show that the volume transport through the Florida Straits is slightly reduced in a lower sea level model simulation when compared to a control sea level simulation (34.8 ± 2.0 Sv vs. 39.8 ± 2.3 Sv). The difference in transport is of the order of 5 Sv, representing a maximum limit to the LGM flow reduction due to sea level change. Therefore the change in sill depth between the LGM and the present is unlikely to have been a cause of the entire observed flow reduction.

La géographie de la mer Noire n’a jamais été favorable à l’application sans condition du principe de la liberté de la navigation. Durant des siècles, elle fut, et elle reste encore, l’objet de la réglementation spéciale qui tient à cette particularité et à l’importance géopolitique de la région. Le régime de la navigation dans cette région est donc l’adaptation du principe de la liberté de la navigation à ses particularités, ce qui explique la révision quasi permanente du régime établi. Parmi plusieurs accords internationaux, seule la Convention de Montreux s’est avérée intangible, mais là encore, il semble que la géographie de la région et à présent la nécessité du respect de l’environnement la fragilisent aujourd’hui. La thèse dévoile cette fragilité et montre que la navigation dans la mer Noire se heurte elle aussi au même problème. Cette thèse évoque donc la nécessité de combler le vide juridique laissé par l’absence des règles de la sécurité de la navigation et de la protection de l’environnement marin dans la Convention de Montreux, ainsi que dans le régime juridique de la mer Noire. L’étude comparée des droits internes des États riverains et des textes à vocation régionale montre également les mesures prises par les États concernés, mais aussi le problème de l’adaptation du régime de la navigation dans cette région aux exigences d’aujourd’hui du droit international de la mer, notamment en matière de sécurité de la navigation et de la protection de l’environnement maritime. / The geography of the Black Sea never was the most suitable to apply unconditionally the principle of free navigation. During centuries, it was, and still remains, under specific rules due to the particular strategic geopolitical importance of this region. So the navigation regime in this region is the adaptation of the principle of free navigation to it s specifics, which explains the almost permanent reviewing of the established regime. Among several international agreements, only the Convention of Montreux appeared to be most sustainable, but even in this case the geography of the region seems to weaken it nowadays. The Thesis reveals this frailty and shows that navigation on the Black Sea encounters the same problem. Consequently it shows the need to fill the juridical gap coming from the lack of rules of security and of environment protection in the Convention of Montreux, as in the regime of navigation of the Black Sea. The comparative study of the internal law of each of the waterfronts States and of the texts with regional focus points out as well the measures taken by the concerned States, but also the problem of adaptation of the regime of navigation in this region according to the current requirements of international law of the sea, especially concerning the security of navigation and the protection of marine environment.

This thesis examines Malay identity construction by focusing on the complex processes of self-identification among queer-identified Malays living in Malaysia and beyond. By analysing representations of queer Malays in the works of contemporary Malaysian Malay writers, scholars, and filmmakers, as well as queer Malays on the internet and in the diaspora, the thesis demonstrates how self-identifying gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Malays create and express their identities, and the ways in which hegemonic Malay culture, religion, and the state affect their creation and expression. This is especially true when queer-identified Malays are officially conflated with being “un-Malay” and “un-Islamic” because queer sexualities contravene Malay cultural and religious values. This thesis begins by discussing the politics of Malay identity, particularly the tension between “authority-defined” and “everyday-defined” notions of being Malay that opens up a space for queer-identified Malays to formulate narratives of Malayness marked by sexual difference. The thesis then discusses how queer-identified Malays specifically construct their identities via various strategies, including strategic renegotiations of ethnicity, religiosity, and queer sexuality, and selective reappropriations of local and western forms of queerness. The ways in which “gay Melayu” identity is a hybrid cultural construction, produced through transnational and transcultural interactions between local and western forms of gayness under current conditions of globalization is also examined, as well as the material articulation of queer narratives of Malayness and its diverse implications on queer-identified Malays' everyday lives and sense of belonging. The thesis concludes with a critical reflection on the possibilities and limitations of queerness in the context of queer Malay identity creation. Such reflection is crucial in thinking about the future directions for research on queerness and the politics of queer Malay identity. It is hoped that this study will show that queer-identified Malays reshape and transform received ideas about “Malayness” and “queerness” through their own invention of new and more nuanced ways of being “queer” and “Malay.” This study also fills up the lacunae in the scholarship on Malay identity and queer Malays by addressing the productions of Malay ethnicity and sexual identity among queer-identified Malays within and beyond Malaysia's borders.

The Gulf Stream current in the Straits is typically dominated by a strong northerly current, associated shear, and eddies. The water column also includes a prominent thermocline and periodically features internal waves centered on the upper or lower edges of the thermocline. Despite numerous previous related studies, there is limited available field data on internal waves in the Straits of Florida. Here, study and analysis of velocity, temperature and conductivity data acquired in the Straits over a period of time are described, in support of identifying presence of internal waves in the flow. A systematic procedure is employed in modifying the universal Garrett- Munk spectrum for internal waves in the open ocean for application to flow in the Straits of Florida. Using this process, identified internal waves are characterized and related velocity fluctuations in the time series are isolated to facilitate consideration of their correlations with simultaneously observed magnetic fields. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

During 1996 and 1997 an Australian parliamentary committee conducted an inquiry into greater autonomy for Torres Strait Islanders, but by 2000 the future of the issue seemed unclear. This thesis explores what the notion of autonomy has meant for Torres Strait and for Torres Strait Islanders in the past, and what it might mean in the future. The thesis uses material from the period before European contact to just after the end of the parliamentary inquiry. ¶ Several analytical tools were utilised to explore the concept of autonomy. Major among these to propose and then analyse the relationship between autonomy’s economic and political components. The thesis also introduces the paired concepts of negative and positive autonomy to provide a counterpoint to ideas of welfare colonialism. Cross cutting these economic and political elements is a consideration of both regional and corporate forms of autonomy. The thesis argues that it is necessary to consider the factors which people can use to legitimise a case for autonomy and these are identified and discussed. ¶ Although previous research and historical material are utilised, unique parts of the thesis include an analysis of: the formal submissions and hearings associated with the parliamentary inquiry; the Torres Strait’s location between Australia and Papua New Guinea; and the Strait’s small-island make-up. In this latter regard, comparisons are made with models and examples of autonomy found in small island states and territories in the Pacific. ¶ The findings include that we must consider two groups of Torres Strait Islanders, those in Torres Strait and those on mainland Australia. Whereas those in the Strait have been able to legitimise a case for a form of autonomy those on the mainland have not. Islanders in the Strait have achieved a degree of regional autonomy; those on the mainland are unable to make a case to be part of this regional autonomy, or to achieve a form of corporate autonomy. The status of Islanders in the Strait is influenced by several factors including the Strait’s location on the border with Papua New Guinea, the associated Treaty with that country, and the nature and the accessibility of the in-shore fishery. A major finding however is that although Islanders have achieved a degree of regional political autonomy, which may be progressed yet further, they have been unable to embrace non-Indigenous people within this. Their present aspiration for regional political autonomy therefore is limited to one that would apply only to Indigenous-specific affairs. This stands in some conflict with their aspiration for regional economic autonomy which would include their control over the entire regional fishery which they presently share with non-Islanders. ¶ Though Islanders have achieved some degree of political autonomy, they depend on substantial government financial transfers to the region. Despite this they have also achieved some economic autonomy, particularly through being involved in the region’s fishery. Juxtaposing negative and positive autonomy with political and economic autonomy shows that a dependence on government economic transfers does not preclude gains in political autonomy. This can be contrasted with the notion of welfare colonialism.

The processes influencing larval fish survival in the low-latitude open ocean are poorly understood, especially with regard to feeding. As part of a large-scale study that included two years of monthly sampling in the Straits of Florida (SOF), the objectives of this dissertation were to elucidate the larval fish feeding behaviors and strategies of 1) istiophorid billfishes, 2) tunas, and 3) coral reef fishes, while also 4) characterizing the feeding environment, synthesizing the dominant trophic pathways to fish larvae, and reviewing the literature for evidence of latitudinal distinctions in larval fish trophodynamics. Larval billfishes exhibited highly selective feeding, and their diets were numerically dominated (90%) by two genera of crustaceans, Farranula copepods and Evadne cladocerans. These prey were consumed throughout early larval ontogeny, from first-feeding through piscivorous lengths (> 5 mm), until piscivory became exclusive near 12 mm. High feeding incidence (0.94) and rapid digestion (~3.5 hrs) suggests frequent and successful feeding by billfish larvae. For tunas, nearly all larvae examined (>98%) contained prey. Thunnus spp. exhibited a mixed diet, while skipjack, little tunny, and Auxis spp. nearly exclusively consumed appendicularians. All four tuna taxa co-occurred in the western SOF where prey was more abundant, while in the central and eastern SOF (where prey availability was lower), only Thunnus spp. and skipjack were present. Additionally, these two taxa exhibited significantly different vertical distributions. Estimates of predatory impact indicated the potential for depletion of resources in the absence of the spatial and dietary niches of larval tunas. Coral reef fish families examined included Serranidae, Lutjanidae, Mullidae, Pomacentridae, Labridae, Scaridae, and Acanthuridae. Feeding incidences were high (0.94 to 1.0) for all taxa except scarids (0.04), and diets were narrow and predator-specific. Cluster analysis yielded clear groupings based on the selective feeding exhibited by the taxa, while within taxa, canonical correspondence analysis illustrated the change in diet with a variety of variables. The physical and biological environment varied markedly across the SOF, largely influenced by the Florida Current. Characteristics examined included thermocline depth, fluorescence, and abundances of total plankton and copepod nauplii. The feeding ecologies of the 21 taxa of fish larvae in this work were synthesized into qualitative and quantitative webs that illustrate the variable trophodynamic strategies of larvae in the SOF and the levels of community reliance upon zooplankton prey types. A review of 170 investigations on larval fish feeding revealed notable distinctions between high- and low-latitude regions, highlighting the substantial variability across environments in the role of larval fishes within the planktonic food web.