Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
A temporary network of 10 broad-band seismic stations has been installed in French Polynesia for the Polynesian Lithosphere and Upper Mantle Experiment (PLUME). All the seismic stations were installed either on volcanic islands or on atolls of the various archipelagos of French Polynesia in a manner which complements the geographic coverage provided by the regional permanent stations. The primary aim of PLUME is to image the upper mantle structures related to plate motion and hotspot activity. However, because of its proximity to all sites, the ocean is responsible for a high level of noise in the seismic data and we show that these data can also be used to analyse ocean wave activity. The power spectral density (PSD) analyses of the seismic data recorded in French Polynesia show clear peaks in the 0.05– 0.10 Hz band (periods between 10 and 20 s), which corresponds to swell frequencies. Clear peaks in this frequency band are also observed in infrasonic data recorded on Tahiti. Ground motion analysis shows that the swell-related seismic noise (SRSN) is linearly polarized in the horizontal plane and its amplitude decreases rapidly with the distance from the shore. The microseismic and the infrasonic 'noise' amplitudes show very similar variations from station to station and both are strongly correlated with the swell amplitudes predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), wind-forced, 'WaveWatch' models. The swell direction can be estimated from SRSN polarization analysis but this has to be done with care since, for some cases, the ground motions are strongly controlled by the islands' anisometric shapes and by swell refraction processes. We find cases, however, such as Tahiti or roughly circular Tuamotu atolls, where the azimuth of the swell is in good agreement with the seismic estimates. We, therefore, demonstrate that the SRSN and the infrasonic signal observed in French Polynesia can be used in such cases as a proxy for swell amplitude and azimuth. From the continuous analysis of the data recorded in 2003 at the permanent seismic station PPTL in Tahiti, transfer functions have been obtained. This could provide a way to quantify the swell activity during the last two decades and, therefore, assist in the investigation of climate changes.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01323691
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01323691
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01323691/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01323691/file/Barruol_et_al_2006.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02871.x

Résumé : Qu’est ce qui explique la faiblesse d’un Etat qui s’est engagé depuis plus de vingt ans à rompre avec les pratiques de l’autoritarisme et du néo-patrimonialisme ? Pourquoi les promesses d’une démocratisation réussie, malgré le soutien massif des acteurs de la « société internationale » ont paradoxalement débouché sur la déstabilisation de l’Etat dans un contexte de crises récurrentes ? Ce sont les interrogations principales qui orientent cette recherche qui se donne pour ambition d’étudier les processus par lesquels les élites et les masses haïtiennes s’approprient la démocratie. De ce point de vue, la démocratisation s’analyse comme une ressource politique et institutionnelle revendiquée par ces dernières comme élément probant de leur adhésion à la grammaire démocratique. Dès lors, il s’agit de scruter les routes sinueuses et chaotiques empruntées par la démocratisation en Haïti, en interrogeant les diverses séquences marquantes de l’histoire politique haïtienne. L’accent est mis sur l’importation des technologies institutionnelles d’origine occidentale, notamment durant la période ouverte en 1994 avec la réinstallation de Jean-Bertrand Aristide dans ses fonctions de président et celle qui commence en 2004 avec son départ forcé du pouvoir. Ces deux séquences historiques, sous-tendues par des plans de reconstruction de l’Etat, sont marquées par la mobilisation de ressources diverses, en vue de jeter les bases d’une nouvelle gouvernance politique et économique. Elles circonscrivent également un champ de représentations conflictuelles, caractérisé par la compétition entre les Etats occidentaux et la lutte pour la répartition des enjeux de puissance entre les organisations internationales et les élites locales. L’analyse du processus de démocratisation conduit à des observations paradoxales : l’exacerbation de la violence, l’actualisation de l’autoritarisme, la multiplication des situations déviantes découlant des stratégies des acteurs locaux. Ces derniers tentent d’échapper aux contraintes imposées par des acteurs externes qui interviennent afin de sanctionner, d’arbitrer et d’imposer des décisions aux factions en luttes pour le pouvoir. Ainsi, la démocratisation passe par des crises d’adaptation, des phases contradictoires de recomposition, d’hybridation des institutions importées et parfois de contournement des normes et procédures. Entre les acteurs internes et externes s’établit et s’organise une dynamique interactive qui influence l’Etat dont la configuration finale est loin de correspondre aux objectifs affichés à travers les réformes engagées. Afin de mieux mettre en évidence les traits distinctifs de cet Etat forgé dans l’incertitude et l’imprécision, la thèse propose de restituer les dynamiques et l’historicité propres à la société haïtienne, en privilégiant l’hypothèse de la réinvention de l’Etat. Paradoxalement, l’État peut être le produit de processus de violence et la part chaotique que comporte la situation en Haïti peut recéler les prémices de sa construction.
What does explain the weakness of a State which has committed more than 20 years to break with the practices of authoritarianism and neo-patrimonialism? Why the promises of a successful democratization, despite the massive support of the actors of the “international society” paradoxically led to the destabilization of the State in the context of recurrent crises? These are the key questions guiding this research, whose ambition is to study the processes by which elites and the Haitian masses appropriate democracy. From this point of view, democratization is analyzed as a political and institutional resource claimed by them as convincing evidence of their adherence to democratic grammar. Therefore, it is scrutinizing the winding roads and chaotic way borrowed by democratization in Haiti, by querying various striking sequences of Haitian political history. Emphasis is placed on the importation of institutional technologies of Western origin, particularly during the period opened in 1994 with the resettlement of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in his duties as president and on the period which starts in 2004 with his forced departure from power. These two historical sequences, underpinned by plans for the reconstruction of the State, are marked by the mobilization of various resources, with a view to laying the foundations for new political and economic governance. They also define a field of conflicting representations, characterized by competition between Western States and the struggle for the distribution of power between the international organizations and local elites issues.The analysis of the process of democratization leads to paradoxical representations: the exacerbation of violence, the updating of authoritarianism, the multiplication of deviant situations arising from the strategies of local actors. The latter are trying to escape from the constraints imposed by external actors involved in order to punish, to arbitrate and to impose decisions on the factions struggling for power. Thus, democratization goes hand in hand with crises of adaptation, contradictory phases of re-composition, hybridization of the imported institutions and, sometimes with circumvention of the standards and procedures. Between internal and external actors are settled and organized interactive dynamics that influence the State of which the final configuration is far short of the objectives set out through the aimed reforms. In order to better highlight the distinguishing features of this State forged in uncertainty and vagueness, the thesis proposes to analyze the dynamics and historicity of Haitian society, privileging, the hypothesis of the reinvention of the State. Paradoxically, the State may be the product of process of violence and the chaotic part that includes the situation in Haiti can conceal the beginning of its construction.

http://www.theses.fr/2014AGUY0849/document