Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 1990. / Includes tables. Title from title screen (viewed November 06, 2009). Bibliography: leaves 360-369. Also available in print form.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Inaug.-diss.--Berlin. / Cover title. "Die bisherige Literatur des Devonshire-Dialektes": p. [7]-35. "Kapitel I-IV." " ... Kommt hier nur der erste Teil der ganzen Arbeit zum Abdruck. Diese wird in der Palaestra erscheinen."

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 120 p. : ill. (some col.), maps. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-109).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-166). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

published_or_final_version / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

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Shale is often the most difficult of all formations to maintain a stable wellbore in when drillincr ::> for oil and gas. Time and money spent overcoming this problem during drilling, together with overall reduced profit margins. has led the oil industry to devote considerable time and effort to solve the problem of unstable boreholes in shales. It has long been established that the moisture adsorption (or desorption) of shale rocks can be controlled by the salinity of drilling fluid. When compacted shale (under constant compaction stress) adsorbs moisture, its total volume increases and swelling strains develop. Developed swelling strains then become an integral part of the effective radial stress acting on the shale formation contributing to borehole failure. A mathematical model has been developed for predicting the swelling behaviour of shale when placed in contact with water under moderate pressures and the effect of the swelling on borehole (in)stability. The model is based on thermodynamic theory which suggests that fluid movement into or out of a shale is driven by an imbalance in the partial molar free energy of the shale and the contacting fluid. Conversion of the free energy of each system (fluid and shale) into "total swelling pressure" made it possible to model transient pressures and strains generated in shale. The analytical solution of the radial diffusivity equation is reduced to a simpler form for the model. The model was validated using equipment and experimental techniques which allow continuous monitoring of shale swelling as function of time and distance from the wetting end. It was found that increasing the compaction stress acting on the shale reduced the rate of swelling, and increasing the hydraulic pressure of the fluid on the shale's wetted surface increased the rate of swelling. This behaviour was adequately described by the model which therefore represents a new method for predicting shale swelling as function of time and radial distance under different environments. Swelling strains are then used to predict related changes in shale mechanical properties (failure criteria) and well (in)stability. Several well-site index tests have been developed to study shale-drilling fluid interaction at wellsite. These index tests can provide input data for the mathematical model. Drilling fluids can be screened for their ability to control shale swelling, thus minimising the risk of well bore instability.

This thesis seeks to consider the relationship between 'rock' and 'Irishness' • between transnational pop and the nation-state • challenging the 'orthodox' view that Irish rock embodies uniquely Irish characteristics. It is about Irish popular music and identity and is primarily concerned with the relationship between culture and meaning. It argues that the study of popular music as 'text' is important to the more general study of culture (even though the notion of text in popular music is problematic). The thesis seeks to explore how meaning is made in popular music culture across a shifting and unstable textual matrix. Authenticity is a central concept here and I examine discourses of Irish authenticity and essentialism and their relationship to authenticity in rock. The study of Irish rock is, I argue, important to wider debates about identity and globalisation, especially in debates about the relationship between national music cultures and an increasingly globalised market. I undertake an exploration of the concept of cultural hybridity and assess both its strengths and its limitations to tbe study of popular music and debates about national identity. Hybridity, I argue, is important in that it helps break down the essentialising force of both the main discourses of authenticity outlined, becoming useful in moving beyond discourses of cultural purity. Howeve~ hybridity discourse also has problems and frequently there is a Jack of discrimination between different types of hybrid text which may result ina simple celebration of hybrids and hybridity. Thus, the complex relationship between popular music, the articulation of identity in pop songs (and across pop's mobile textuality) and in discourse about pop is overlooked. In this way, the thesis argues that the study of popular music culture in specific contexts may reveal the limitations of existing cultural studies work on hybridity, textuality and meaning. This is part of a broader project of arguing for more detailed consideration of music, meaning and pleasure in regional and peripheral national contexts.

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