Phytolith analysis from the archaeological site of Kush, Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Despite the wealth of archaeological sites and excellent conditions for preservation, few phytolith investigations have been undertaken from the Arabian Gulf region. The results from the Sasanian and Islamic archaeological tell of Kush, Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, are presented. Kush is situated just inside the Gulf on an important trade route. The occupation sequence dates from the 4^th century A.D. until the 13^th century A.D., recording the development of the site in the Sasanian period, followed by the arrival of Islam in the 7^th century A.D. and the final abandonment of the site in the late 13^th century when the nearby site of al-Mataf (Julfar) began to develop closer to the present day coastline. All the samples analyzed contained abundant phytoliths (short cells, elongated cells, and groups of elongated cells) of various types. They included date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), papillae (possibly from barley (Hordeum)), and hair cells possibly from species of canary grass (Phalaris spp.). Some researchers have suggested that groups of elongated cells may indicate the presence of irrigation in semiarid environments. The present results for this class of phytoliths appeared to imply that intensive irrigation was unlikely to have taken place around Kush.     

Monumental space and the uncanny

This paper takes up the attempt to theorize the relation between the subjectivity of the political actor and the ideological aura of the monumental site. It does this with reference to the spatial history of Strijdom Square in Pretoria, South Africa, a cultural precinct and monumental space which was the site of a series of brutal racist killings committed by the Square’s unrelated namesake, militant right-winger Barend Strydom. This troubling intersection of subjectivity, space and ideology represents something of an explanatory limit for spatio-discursive approaches, certainly in as much as they are ill-equipped to conceptualize the powerfully affective, bodily and fantasmatic qualities of monumental spaces. In contrast to such approaches I offer a psychoanalytically informed account which grapples with the individualized and imaginative identities of space, with space as itself a form of subjectivity. I do this so as understand the ideological aura of monuments as importantly linked to the ‘intersubjectivity’ of subject and personified space. I then turn to Freud’s notion of the uncanny as a theory able to explain a series of disturbing affects of monuments, such as those of ‘embodied absence’ and ‘disembodied presence’. These and similar affects of ‘ontological dissonance’ (such as unexplained instances of doubling or repetition) may function in an ideological manner, both so as to impose a ‘supernaturalism of power’, and to effect an uncanny form of interpellation.     

Influence of tectonic structures on the Hope Slide, British Columbia, Canada

The Hope Slide, which occurred on January 9, 1965, involved an estimated 47-Mm³ of meta-volcanics and intrusive rocks. Previous workers reported the presence of tectonic structures (faults and shear zones) along the failure surface at the Hope Slide. These tectonic features were investigated in detail to assess their effects on rock-mass quality and the related implications for slope stability. This paper integrates basic field and laboratory concepts from structural and engineering geology. Subdividing the failure area into structural domains allowed distinct discontinuity sets to be associated with specific tectonic structures. The Geological Strength Index (GSI) was used to estimate the rock-mass damage related to the tectonic structures. Low GSI values were seen to outline tectonic damage zones. Point-load tests were used to characterise the compressive strength of rocks adjacent to the tectonic structures. Strength anisotropy, tentatively attributed to damage caused by a large shear zone, was observed in greenstone samples. Seepage zones along the failure surface were observed preferentially along shallow discontinuities that dipped downslope and in rock masses of good quality (GSI > 40). An alternative morphology of the slope failure is proposed by distinguishing between the extent of the surficial damage due to the rock-slope failure and the zone of failed material (depletion zone). For the first time, a kinematic mechanism for the Hope Slide is proposed, based on a preliminary 3-dimensional block model. A pre-1965 DEM was produced from estimates of material lost and gained as reported by previous workers. The pre-1965 DEM revealed that the tectonic structures recognised during fieldwork bounded the material that failed in the 1965 event.     

Martian Topography: Scaling, Craters, and High-Order Statistics

The high-order structure functions of Mars topography reveal three specific ranges of scales: (1) scaling range at small scales where the structure functions exhibit scaling behavior; (2) transition range where the structure functions continue to grow but do not reveal scaling; and (3) saturation range at large scales where the structure functions saturate. The scaling and saturation ranges are explored in detail in respect to scaling and intermittency. Analysis of the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data and computer simulations suggest that there are two potential contributors to the small-scale scaling: (i) scale-invariant surface formation; and (ii) effects of discrete morphological forms such as craters. The crater effect also provides an explanation for the large-scale intermittency revealed using the normalized structure functions within the saturation range, which cannot be explained by the ‘scale-invariant’ concept. Overall, the obtained results suggest that the “crater” contribution to the structure function behavior often dominates over the effect of the scale-invariant surface formation.     

9: Processes of tectonism, magmatism and mineralization: Lessons from Europe

Metallogenic provinces in Europe range in age from the Archaean to the Neogene. Deposit types include porphyry copper and epithermal Cu–Au, volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VMS), orogenic gold, Fe-oxide–Cu–Au, anorthosite Fe–Ti-oxide and sediment-hosted base-metal deposits. Most of them formed during short-lived magmatic events in a wide range of tectonic settings; many can be related to specific tectonic processes such as subduction, hinge retreat, accretion of island arcs, continental collision, lithosphere delamination or slab tear. In contrast, most sediment-hosted deposits in Europe evolved in extensional, continental settings over significant periods of time. In Europe, as elsewhere, ore formation is an integral part of the geodynamic evolution of the Earth's crust and mantle. Many tectonic settings create conditions conducive to the generation of water-rich magma, but the generation of ore deposits appears to be restricted to locations and short periods of change in temperature and stress, imposed by transitory plate motions. Crustal influence is evident in the strong structural controls on the location and morphology of many ore deposits in Europe. Crustal-scale fault–fracture systems, many involving strike-slip elements, have provided the fabric for major plumbing systems. Rapid uplift, as in metamorphic core complexes, and hydraulic fracturing can generate or focus magmatic–hydrothermal fluid flow that may be active for time spans significantly less than a million years. Once a hydrologically stable flow is established, ore formation is strongly dependent on the steep temperature and pressure gradients experienced by the fluid, particularly within the upper crust. In Europe, significant fracture porosity deep in the crystalline basement (1%) is not only important for magmatic–hydrothermal systems, but allows brines to circulate down through sedimentary basins and then episodically upward, expelled seismically to produce sediment-hosted base-metal deposits and Kupferschiefer copper deposits. Emerging research, stimulated by GEODE, can improve the predicting power of numerical simulations of ore-forming processes and help discover the presence of orebodies beneath barren overburden.     

Stratigraphy of Pleistocene glaciations in the St Elias Mountains,southwest Yukon,Canada

At least five Middle to Late Pleistocene advances of the northern Cordilleran Ice Sheet are preserved at Silver Creek, on the northeastern edge of the St Elias Mountains in southwest Yukon, Canada. Silver Creek is located 100 km up‐ice of the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 McConnell glacial limit of the St Elias lobe. This site contains ~3 km of nearly continuous lateral exposure of glacial and non‐glacial sediments, including multiple tills separated by thick gravel, loess and tilted lake beds. Infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and AMS radiocarbon dating constrain the glacial deposits to MIS 2, 4, either MIS 6 or mid‐MIS 7, and two older Middle Pleistocene advances. This chronology and the tilt of the lake beds suggest Pleistocene uplift rates of up to 1.9 mm a^?1 along the Denali Fault since MIS 7. The non‐glacial sediment consists of sand, gravel, loess and organic beds from MIS 7, MIS 3 and the early Holocene. The MIS 3 deposits date to between 30–36 ¹⁴C ka BP, making Silver Creek one of the few well‐constrained MIS 3‐aged sites in Yukon. This confirms that ice receded close to modern limits in MIS 3. Pollen and macrofossil analyses show that a meadow‐tundra to steppe‐tundra mosaic with abundant herbs and forbs and few shrubs or trees, dominated the environment at this time. The stratigraphy at Silver Creek provides a palaeoclimatic record since at least MIS 8 and comprises the oldest direct record of Pleistocene glaciation in southwest Yukon.     

The spectacular fossils of the ‘water margin’: the Cambrian biota of Chengjiang,Yunnan, China

Shi Nai'an's fourteenth century Chinese epic ‘Water Margin’ tells of the release of 36 heavenly spirits and 72 baleful stars from their captivity beneath a tablet of stone at Mount Longhu in Jiangxi Province. They are reincarnated as the 108 heroes of the Liangshan marsh in Shandong Province, who rise against an unjust world. The virtuous exploits of the ‘108’ were brought to life through the cathode‐ray screens of 1970s television sets, as the TV series The Water Margin introduced heroes like Lin Chong battling his evil nemesis Gao Qiu. Far to the west of Jiangxi Province and several hundred years after the Water Margin during the summer of 1984, a young scientist from Nanjing was working amongst the hills and lakes of southern Yunnan Province. He too overturned a stone slab, releasing from their half‐billion year captivity a cornucopia of new Chinese legends. His name was Xianguang Hou and he had made one of the most momentous fossil discoveries in history, uncovering the exceptionally preserved marine fossils of the Chengjiang biota from the ancient water margin of Cambrian seas.     

Late Quaternary sea‐level change and evolution of Belfast Lough,Northern Ireland: new offshore evidence and implications for sea‐level reconstruction

The interplay of eustatic and isostatic factors causes complex relative sea‐level (RSL) histories, particularly in paraglacial settings. In this context the past record of RSL is important in understanding ice‐sheet history, earth rheology and resulting glacio‐isostatic adjustment. Field data to develop sea‐level reconstructions are often limited to shallow depths and uncertainty exists as to the veracity of modelled sea‐level curves. We use seismic stratigraphy, 39 vibrocores and 26 radiocarbon dates to investigate the deglacial history of Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland, and reconstruct past RSL. A typical sequence of till, glacimarine and Holocene sediments is preserved. Two sea‐level lowstands (both max. ?40 m) are recorded at c. 13.5 and 11.5k cal a bp . Each is followed by a rapid transgression and subsequent periods of RSL stability. The first transgression coincides temporally with a late stage of Meltwater Pulse 1a and the RSL stability occurred between c. 13.0 and c. 12.2k cal a bp (Younger Dryas). The second still/slowstand occurred between c. 10.3 and c. 11.5k cal a bp . Our data provide constraints on the direction and timing of RSL change during deglaciation. Application of the Depth of Closure concept adds an error term to sea‐level reconstructions based on seismic stratigraphic reconstructions.     

It’s Time To Learn About Learning: Where Should the Environmental and Natural Resource Governance Field Go Next?

This Commentary reflects on the state of the scholarship on learning for environmental and natural resource policy and governance. How have we been learning about learning? We highlight theoretical and empirical advancements related to learning, as well as areas of divergence between learning theories and frameworks, and underdeveloped knowledge around processes and outcomes. To address these limitations and improve progress in both theory and practice, we offer recommendations for learning scholarship by focusing on how to collectively engage in ‘learning about learning’.