Devon's desert ‘worms’

Worm‐like trace fossils, sometimes of large size, have regularly been reported from the otherwise generally poorly‐fossiliferous Permo‐Triassic continental red beds of the East Devon coast, southwest England. Selected examples are discussed here to outline the difficulties involved in elucidating the true producers of these burrows and interpreting their significance in the local palaeoenvironment.     

Piltdown Man's ‘Treasure Map’

The ‘Maresfield Map’ is a map that purports to show features pertinent to the old iron industry in the Sussex Weald of southern England in 1724. It first appeared in a journal published by the Sussex Archaeological Society in early 1913, at roughly the same time as the formal publication by the Geological Society of London of papers introducing the discovery of the ‘remains’ of what became known as ‘Piltdown Man’ to the world. Piltdown Man was eventually revealed as fraudulent in 1953, followed by the Maresfield Map in 1974. Experiments in replication now show that the Maresfield Map is a sort of ‘treasure map’ (in a negative sense), which points fairly accurately to the supposed find‐spot of Piltdown Man, along with a coded accusation against Charles Dawson. The map's compiler is thought to have been L.F. Salzmann, the editor of the journal in which the map appeared. As such, the map represents the only such denunciation to have been published in the open literature in Dawson's lifetime, albeit a cryptic one. Mr Salzmann's possible motives are explored.     

Neoproterozoic ‘anomalous’ kimberlites of Guaniamo, Venezuela: Mica kimberlites of ‘isotopic transitional’ type

In Venezuela, kimberlites have so far only been found in the Guaniamo region, where they occur as high diamond grade sheets in massive to steeply foliated Paleoproterozoic granitoid rocks. The emplacement age of the Guaniamo kimberlites is 712±6 Ma, i.e., Neoproterozoic. The Guaniamo kimberlites contain a high abundance of mantle minerals, with greater than 30% olivine macrocrysts. The principal kimberlite indicator minerals found are pyrope garnet and chromian spinel, with the overwhelming majority of the garnets being of the peridotite association. Chrome-diopside is rare, and picroilmenite is uncommon. Chemically, the Guaniamo kimberlites are characterized by high MgO contents, with low Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ contents and higher than average FeO and K₂O contents. These rocks have above average Ni, Cr, Co, Th, Nb, Ta, Sr and LREE concentrations and very low P, Y and, particularly, Zr and Hf contents. The Nb/Zr ratio is very distinctive and is similar to that of the Aries, Australia kimberlite. The Guaniamo kimberlites are similar in petrography, mineralogy and mantle mineral content to ilmenite-free Group 2 mica kimberlites of South Africa. The Nd-Sr isotopic characteristics of Guaniamo kimberlites are distinct from both kimberlite Group 1 and Group 2, being more similar to transitional type kimberlites, and in particular to diamondiferous kimberlites of the Arkhangelsk Diamond Province, Russia. The Guaniamo kimberlites form part of a compositional spectrum between other standard kimberlite reference groups. They formed from metasomatised subcontinental lithospheric mantle and it is likely that subduction of oceanic crust was the source of this metasomatised material, and also of the eclogitic component, which is dominant in Guaniamo diamonds.     

Late Miocene fish otoliths from the Colombacci Formation (Northern Apennines,Italy): implications for the Messinian ‘Lago‐mare’ event

A fish otolith assemblage from the Messinian ‘Lago‐mare’ deposits of the Colombacci Formation cropping out in the Montecalvo in Foglia Syncline, Marche, central Italy, is described. The assemblage displays a low diversity and consists of seven taxa belonging to three families: the Gobiidae, Myctophidae and Sciaenidae. Sciaenid otoliths are the most abundant elements representing 88% of the entire assemblage. The palaeoecological analysis reveals a coastal shallow marine environment strongly influenced by continental outflow. The low diversity and high abundance of the euryecious sciaenids are indicative of a very simplified food web, which probably represented an ecological response to the fluctuating environmental parameters and available food resources. The fish remains documented here provide an unambiguous evidence that normal marine conditions were present in the Mediterranean, at least in the upper part of the ‘Lago‐mare’ event, and unquestionably demonstrate that the marine refilling preceded the Mio‐Pliocene boundary. These findings clearly demonstrate that fishes, because of their mobility and migratory behaviour, represent a useful tool for the large‐scale interpretation of the environmental conditions of the Messinian Mediterranean water body. The necessity of a new scenario of palaeoenvironmental evolution for the post‐evaporitic Messinian of the Mediterranean is also discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geographies of generosity: Beyond the ‘moral turn’

This paper questions Geographers debates about ‘caring at a distance’ and the ‘geographies of responsibility’, focussing on the treatment of the theme of partiality in ethics and justice. Debates in Geography often present partial commitments as morally or politically problematic on the grounds that they prioritize self-interest, exclusionary, and geographically restricted ways of relating to others. We outline how debates about caring at a distance and the geographies of responsibility frame partiality as a problem to be overcome. We argue that Geography’s engagements with moral philosophy are premised on faulty assumptions about the sorts of influences people are liable to act upon (one’s that privilege causal knowledge as the primary motivating force), and also flawed assumptions about the sorts of problems that academic reasoning about normative issues is meant to address (the assumption that people are too egoistical and not altruistic enough). We use the theme of generosity as an entry point to argue that partiality and finitude might be the conditions for any ethical–political project that de-centres the motivation of practical action away from the sovereign self towards responsive and attentive relations of encounter with the needs of others. Understanding generosity as a modality of power suggests a revised programme for geographical investigations of the intersection between ethics, morality and politics: one which looks at how opportunities to address normative demands in multiple registers are organized and transformed; at the ways in which dispositions to respond and to be receptive to others are worked up; and how opportunities for acting responsively on these dispositions are organized.     

Concerning the notion of ‘sub-region’: the French case

At least in France the sub-region is a living spatial entity. It is partly the heir of structures established in the pre-industrial epoch, receiving from the ancient ‘pays’ and old administrative structures the sense of belonging to a certain social cadre held by a population. For a long period the weak development of an hierarchy of urban services made most towns of equal standing, limiting the growth of commercial relationships and the dimensions of functional spaces. With the growth of an hierarchy of urban services, and improvement in accessibility the functional units have enlarged, breaking unequally the former cadres, and creating polarisations of various scales. Where the metropolises have not become dominant the sub-regions remain sufficiently autonomous, around a town of medium size. More often, in every case where local polarisations have been progressively effaced, and economic spaces have enlarged immeasurably and where the administrative region is seeking identity, the sub-region is reasserted as a social functional space in the pattern of customary life-style, and appears acceptable as a level in the operation of spatial management.     

On the non-linear ‘squeezing’ effects around circular tunnels

An analysis is presented of the non-linear creep effects around a deep circular tunnel driven in ‘squeezing’ ground. The time-dependent behaviour of the geotechnical medium is described by means of a simple viscoplastic rheological model capable of approximating primary, secondary and tertiary creep behaviours. It is shown that tertiary creep can be allowed for by providing a suitable law governing the variation of some material parameters (such as viscosity) with stresses and strains. The basic operations of the ‘evolutive’ procedure adopted for time integration are outlined. Along each time integration step, quadratic variations of the stress and strain fields and linear variations of the material parameters are assumed. The results of various finite element analyses are presented concerning both lined and unlined cases. For the lined cases, the influence of the liner stiffness and of the time elapsed between the end of excavation and the liner installation is considered.     

A Late Hauterivian short-lived anoxic event in the Mediterranean Tethys: the ‘Faraoni Event’

A Late Hauterivian interval (127.5 Ma), called the ‘Faraoni Event’, which is characterised by the deposition of deep-marine black shales in the Mediterranean Tethys, is demonstrably of sufficient geological brevity to be qualified as an anoxic event. This event lies within the Pseudothurmannia catulloi ammonite subzone, coincides with the extinction of the calcareous nannofossil species Lithraphidites bollii, and records an increase in a globular planktonic foraminifer. High quantities of marine organic matter were preserved in pelagic successions from northern and central Italy, Switzerland, southeastern France, southern Spain and probably elsewhere in the Mediterranean Tethys and Atlantic Ocean. Carbon-isotope stratigraphy from Tethyan and Atlantic sections shows a minor positive excursion in the uppermost part of the Hauterivian and Lowermost Barremian, suggesting accelerated extraction of organic carbon from the ocean reservoir just after the ‘Faraoni Event’. The duration of this short event is less than 100 ka according to cyclostratigraphy and coincides with a third-order sea-level rise. It is likely that similar forcing mechanisms responsible for global OAEs operated during this short time interval. To cite this article: F. Baudin, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

THE ‘NEW IMPLICIT METHOD’ FOR TUNNEL ANALYSIS

Tunnel excavation is a coupled three-dimensional problem dealing with two different structures: lining and rockmass. For a simple application it is useful to develop simplified methods by treating the problem as plane strain. If the problem of tunnel face advance presents an axisymmetric geometry, then we show that the major parameter governing the ground–interface–lining interaction is the convergence of the tunnel U₀ at the moment of the lining installation. The ‘New Implicit Method’ (NIM) presented in this paper makes use of principles similar to those of the ‘convergence–confinement’ method, but it provides a better appreciation of the coupled behaviour of rockmass and lining. For independent time constitutive laws (elasticity and plasticity), we point out that the convergence U₀ depends not only on the mechanical behaviour of the rockmass and on the distance from the tunnel face, as predicted by the ‘convergence–confinement’ method, but also on the stiffness of the lining previously set. We present the ‘NIM’ for elastic and perfect elastoplastic rockmasses without dilatancy for many criteria. The development of this new method is based on the results of tunnel calculations with an axisymmetric FEM numerical model that takes into account the three-dimensional aspect of the problem. Using this method is simple and its results agree well with the FEM numerical results. Its accuracy is highly satisfactory for a geotechnical study.     

‘Now that the dust has settled…’ the impacts of Icelandic volcanic eruptions

Volcanic eruptions generate hazards, are potent agents of landscape change and have the power to alter global climate. Recent events in Iceland have emphasised the multi‐scale and trans‐boundary nature of hazards from ice‐volcano interactions and have highlighted their local, national and international impacts. Prompted by these recent events, this article reviews a selection of Icelandic volcanic eruptions in order to demonstrate the diversity of hazards and impacts generated by Icelandic volcanic activity. Some of the challenges associated with managing risks from Icelandic volcanic hazards are discussed and future prospects are outlined.     

Limitations of ‘Rock-Eval’ pyrolysis for typing organic matter

Laboratory experimentation on whole-rock ‘Rock-Eval’ pyrolysis has shown that the characterization of organic matter through the use of a modified van Krevelen diagram, in which the hydrogen and oxygen indices are substituted for the atomic H/C and O/C ratios, produces questionable results. The hydrogen and oxygen indices have been found to be strongly affected by both matrix mineralogy and level of organic enrichment. It appears, therefore, that although the modified van Krevelen diagram maybe useful for tracing evolutionary pathways as organic matter matures, it can be very misleading when used to assess kerogen type.     

Pyrite—‘fool's gold’ or misunderstood mineral?

Pyrite (FeS₂) is the most abundant sulphide mineral in the Earth's crust, and with its characteristic shape and appearance, is easily one of the most recognizable. Yet, pyrite has a somewhat tarnished reputation with many considering it to be waste material and of little economic importance, never-mind interest. This assessment however, is misleading and a considerable volume of current research focuses upon the unique characteristics and formation of pyrite. Indeed, with its potential for revealing the very foundations of life, as well as maximizing the discovery and exploitation of society's future metallic resources, pyrite may be of much greater interest and benefit than many geologists realize.     

Gesher Benot Ya'aqov—the ‘Bar’: An acheulian assemblage

The renewed investigations of the Benot Ya'aqov site resulted in the discovery of a bar-like depositional structure located on the eastern bank of the Jordan River (southern Hula Valley, Israel). Its interdisciplinary study resulted in the identification of four lithofacial fluvial units, all tilted (20–25 degrees dip) and all containing archaeological and paleontological finds. The structure, caused by diverse resistance of the local lithology and tectonic activity, is assigned to the Benot Ya'aqov Formation. The material culture is assigned to the Acaheulian Industrial Complex and is indicative of a continuous occupation of the Benot Ya'aqov embayment during Middle Pleistocene times.