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Ferricrete, landscape development and tectonics in southern India and western Africa — A comparative geography. The Dharwar Craton of Karnataka, on the backslope of the Western Ghats in southern India, is a flat-lying upland region subjected to a particularly steep environmental gradient between the humid tropical climatic conditions at the western edge of the plateau, where the Ghats are seasonally hit by the westerly monsoon, and the semi-arid Deccan interior. The rainfall range is comparable to the gradient found in western Africa between the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel and, as in the African case, gives rise to a pattern of parallel landform, soil, and vegetation belts. However, a major difference between the African and Indian tropical landscapes is that ferricrete, abundant in soil profiles and landforms in Africa, remains surprisingly scarce in southern India. The distribution, origin and variety of ferricrete remains found in the Karnataka uplands is presented, and our synthesis suggests that the occurrence of well preserved ferricrete landforms in western Africa can be attributed to a lesser degree of mechanical denudation and to a greater extent of Quaternary climatic oscillation. In the Indian context, the higher degree of denudation is attributed to the Tertiary uplift of the Western Ghats, a high-elevation rifted margin which also acts today as an effective climatic barrier to monsoon influences.

The commercial cultivation of seeweeds has allowed substantial increases in annual production, still essentially Asiatic. Howewer, alongside the traditionnal producers (China, Japan and Korea), new nations are emerging (Chili, Indonesia and Philippines). Human consumption remains the principal use but processing industries are diversifying. Primary transformation is carried out in Western nations. Algae production is thereby increasingly subject to external constraints at global scale (supply markets and demand) as well at the national and regional scales (ecological, social, cultural, juridical).

The geographical expansion strategy of Fiat in the automobile industry has long rested on its close relations with national state governments. In the past, this has led to a marked monopolistic tendency, reinforced during the 1980s, and to a particular view of the company's relevant market. This audacious but at the same time restrictive geographical positioning has led to some setbacks during recent years, particularly in the most competitive markets. These unexpected effects could increase in the future, even if the group seeems to have cleared its most difficult period.

Booming Sunbelt metropolises are major elements of the restructuring of the U.S. urban system and the reshaping of the national economic landscape. In Atlanta, the city that was once the capital of the Deep South, Coca-Cola and C.N.N. epitomize the structuring of economic processes on a planetary scale. Manufacturing never played a major role in Atlanta ; transportation accessibility was the underlying reason for its birth and growth. Atlanta's economic base is mainly composed of communication, banking and producer services activities. More and more strongly linked with the centers of the world economy, Atlanta exemplifies the informational city. Atlanta also reflects the changing face of the American city. The traditional C.B.D. no longer monopolizes headquarters and other high-order activities, which are now increasingly found in new metropolitan-level suburban centers. These edge cities completely reshape the modern American metropolis. But the accumulation of problems in the core and the deepening gap between social groups is probably the main issue confronting contemporary America.