Ancient Examples Research Articles

Sedimentology of Ancient Coastal Wetlands: Insights From A Cretaceous Multifaceted Depositional System

Coastal wetlands are prominent modern environments widely studied in geomorphology and ecology, but the term ‘‘coastal wetland’’ is still barely used for the sedimentological classification of ancient deposits. The depositional system studied here (Leza Formation, Cameros Basin, Early Cretaceous, N Spain) includes diverse carbonate and clastic facies deposited at the sea–land transition, and is an illustrative example of the wide array of sedimentary environments that may occur in coastal wetlands systems. The studied system was composed mainly of carbonate water bodies whose salinity ranged from fresh to brackish and near-marine, and which had variable input of clastic material due to their lateral connection with alluvial fans. In addition, the system also included carbonate water bodies with stronger marine influence, tide-influenced oolitic areas, and relatively restricted evaporative settings. The deposits of all these environments occur alternating with each other throughout a unit 30–280 m thick, and they range from continental to marine conditions in a relatively small area (approximately 10 km 3 30 km). Thus, this sedimentological study of the Leza Fm provides an ideal opportunity to investigate challenging ancient deposits with both continental and marine features. Comparison with other modern and ancient coastal settings allows the conclusion that ‘‘coastal wetland’’ may be the most accurate sedimentological classification for the Leza Fm, since it was not part of a major coastal system (e.g., delta or estuary). A series of general sedimentological characteristics of coastal wetland deposits are gathered from the Cretaceous case study and from the modern and ancient examples examined. These characteristics include: predominance of shallow-water facies; common subaerial exposure and edaphic features; great variety of interrelated continental, transitional, and marine environments with contrasting hydrodynamic and hydrochemical conditions; and low-diversity biotic communities, including both continental and marine fossils, as well as fossils of ambiguous affinities.

No Regrets. Remorse in Classical Antiquity by Laurel Fulkerson

BOOK REVIEWS 501 No Regrets. Remorse in Classical Antiquity. By LAUREL FULKERSON. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. xix + 263. Hardcover, $110.00. ISBN 978-0-19-966889-2. Emotion studies, the “affective turn,” contend that human emotions are not only interesting and potentially dangerous but deserve the attention allotted to scientific methods, mechanisms of legal reward and punishment, and theological geographies of hell. Recent volumes have explored the “rivalrous” emotions, eros, emotionsinartorhistoriography,andmiscellanies(pride,grief,anger,fear,gender differences, etc.), and the reviewer is organizing one on disgust. Limited by our own subjective experience and spotty awareness of past realities, can we now adequatelyunderstanddifferentcommunitiesoffeeling,thought,andperception? Regretandremorselacktheobvious,instinctual,anduniversalexternalsignals,the somatic markers thatreveal anger,joy, or fear. Some emotions are valorized by display, e.g. weeping and smiling.15 Other emotions, however, men (and women) keep, kept, or try to keep hidden. Therefore, remorse requires more words and clearer gestures to accompany penitent feelings. Men flourish most their remorse in rare eras that valorize acknowledging (or pretending to acknowledge) moral slippage, serious mistakes, and a change of heart, for example, Emperor Theodosius’ notorious massacre of riotingchariotracingfansin Thessalonica and his subsequentcontrition.16 In this book, Laurel Fulkerson offers a valuable fifty-page introduction examining ancient and modern vocabulary and concepts denoting responsibility acknowledged for bad outcomes. Then ten chapters reflect “emblematic” genres, authors,individuals,and groupsin order toexamine“the shape”oftheiremotions and their expression. The book’s goal (47) is to outline the shapes that ancient remorse took, its narrower limits, and its different “rules” that now obscure some ancient examples. Remorse had significant roles in antiquity, even if they are now “hypocognized.” Confessing a change of mind was problematic for them, then, although often a virtue for someof us, now. 15 Remorse, if a visibly marked, life-altering emotion, can now provide a source of power (cf. 218-19). 16 Fulkerson omits self-disgust and self-loathing. Neoptolemus the shame-filled ephebe, his character still forming, expresses a qualifying dyskhereia (Soph. Phil. 902-3, cf. 842, 1224, 1248-9). BOOK REVIEWS 502 Fulkerson contends that the expression of remorse experienced very little change in “pagan” antiquity. She shows that recorded feelings of μεταμέλεια, μετάνοια, and μετάγνοια17 suggest remorse (genuine and persistent moral perception of fault and willingness to pursue behavioral change). The author astutely examines ancient public processes and strategies of recognizing and acknowledging fault. Sometimes men were moving on and claiming to become better persons, but such postures could be merely status negotiations--not deep internal feelings (8). Public apologies, in any case, then and now, are often highly hedged, strategic verbal maneuvers. When, as usual, no genuine, perceptible mental pain or change of behavior occurs,one cannotdiscern remorse. The author demonstrates that presentations of penitence, redemptive actions, and moral progress were responses more likely to be felt, claimed, and acteduponbywomen,slaves,children,andotheroppressedparties,thatis,classes whose “weapons” lacked back-up. As she cleverly notes (12), the perceived inferiority of these groups reinforced pressing needs to express regret for disapproved deeds. She recognizes that people then and now manage emotions, rather than merelyendure them. In a chapter on the “Homeric roots of Remorse,” Fulkerson focuses on Achilles and Agamemnon’s very different performances. Achilles’ inclusion of all components of remorse persuades audiences, while Agamemnon’s face-saving excusesandpeculiar,over-the-topreparationsforhisclumsywrongsneverdeceive wary readers (Chryseis and Briseis, threats in assembly; cf. Odysseus’ reprimand of Agamemnon: Il. 19.181–3). How he conveys “sorry” to Achilles, what he says and does, and what he suppresses in person characterize merely regret, not remorse.Thus, the semanticsofapologydisallow Agamemnon’sshifty wordsand actions from the class “apology” and exclude him from a claim to “supplicant” (in Iliad IX and XIX).18 Consequently, Fulkerson’s “apologies” for Agamemnon’s remorse-freebehaviorsandunrefusable“deal”(54-6)inadequatelyanswerWalter Donlan’s and Donna Wilson’s persuasive analyses. They argue, from a fuller 17 Latinofferspaenitentia,andconscientia,bothpositiveandnegative.Remorse-relatedpudetand piget, like paenitet, are impersonal, for whatever reason, whether self-absolving or not. The witty author modestly claims to english all quotations with “effortless clumsiness.” Fulkerson locates examples of remorse “despite the absence of lexical markers,” since emotions are detectable in incidents lacking specific vocabulary (168). 18 William Miller’s...

Public law regulation of aqueducts and water supply in ancient Rome

This paper tackles the sources of Roman law on construction and maintenance of public aqueducts and on the regulation of water usage. They show that in ancient Rome public aqueducts served public welfare (utilitas publica) because their primary purpose was to supplying the urban population with free drinking water. Given that these ancient rules also contributed to the overall health of the population by securing drinking water and water for personal hygiene, they can also be regarded a significant environmental measures. Although contemporary engineering of water supply network and technology of water purification overcame the ancient Romans, in certain aspects this ancient example deserves to be followed. First, there could be free drinking water for general use. Second, private water usage could be controlled and rationalized. This could be achieved by installing separate water meters for each apartment in residual bundling.

Clinoform geometry, geomorphology, facies character and stratigraphic architecture of a sand‐rich subaqueous delta: Jurassic Sognefjord Formation, offshore Norway

AbstractThe integration of core sedimentology, seismic stratigraphy and seismic geomorphology has enabled interpretation of delta‐scale (i.e. tens of metres high) subaqueous clinoforms in the upper Jurassic Sognefjord Formation of the Troll Field. Mud‐prone subaqueous deltas characterized by a compound clinoform morphology and sandy delta‐scale subaqueous clinoforms are common in recent tide‐influenced, wave‐influenced and current‐influenced settings, but ancient examples are virtually unknown. The data presented help to fully comprehend the criteria for the recognition of other ancient delta‐scale subaqueous clinoforms, as well as refining the depositional model of the reservoir in the super‐giant Troll hydrocarbon field. Two 10 to 60 m thick, overall coarsening‐upward packages are distinguished in the lower Sognefjord Formation. Progressively higher energy, wave‐dominated or current‐dominated facies occur from the base to the top of each package. Each package corresponds to a set of seismically resolved, westerly dipping clinoforms, the bounding surfaces of which form the seismic ‘envelope’ of a clinoform set and the major marine flooding surfaces recognized in cores. The packages thicken westwards, until they reach a maximum where the clinoform ‘envelope’ rolls over to define a topset–foreset–toeset geometry. All clinoforms are consistently oriented sub‐parallel to the edge of the Horda Platform (N005–N030). In the eastern half of the field, individual foresets are relatively gently dipping (1° to 6°) and bound thin (10 to 30 m) clinothems. Core data indicate that these proximal clinothems are dominated by fine‐grained, hummocky cross‐stratified sandstones. Towards the west, clinoforms gradually become steeper (5° to 14°) and bound thicker (15 to 60 m) clinothems that comprise medium‐grained, cross‐bedded sandstones. Topsets are consistently well‐developed, except in the westernmost area. No seismic or sedimentological evidence of subaerial exposure is observed. Deposition created fully subaqueous, near‐linear clinoforms that prograded westwards across the Horda Platform. Subaqueous clinoforms were probably fed by a river outlet in the north‐east and sculpted by the action of currents sub‐parallel to the clinoform strike.

Mass-transport deposits, olistostromes and soft-sediment deformation in modern and ancient continental margins, and associated natural hazards

Mass-transport deposits (MTDs), olistostromes and related softsediment deformation structures represent significant components of the geological architecture of both modern and ancient continental margins, including active, passive and hybrid margin types (Dilek and Rowland, 1993; Stoker et al., 1998; Dilek and Robinson, 2003; Lamarche et al., 2008; Madon, 2010; Ratzov et al., 2010; Anma et al., 2011; Pini et al., 2012; Festa et al., 2013), and are commonly associated with earthquakes and tsunamis (e.g., Tappin et al., 2008). These tsunamic events adversely affected the human populations, engineering infrastructures and global economy, and inflicted severe and locally irrecoverable damages on the coastal ecosystems (e.g., Yamada et al., 2012 and references therein). Improving our understanding of the mechanisms and processes of slope failure andMTDdevelopment, their spatial and temporal relationships with seismic events, and the dynamic equilibrium of active, passive and hybrid continental margins is one of the most urgent and challenging tasks faced by modern Earth science. To that end, a key approach to increase our scientific knowledge on these topics of both great scientific and societal importance is a comparative analysis of modern and ancient examples of MTDs, chaotic rock bodies and olistostromes (sensu Flores, 1955 or “sedimentary melanges” sensu Bettelli and Panini, 1985; Festa et al., 2012), and the processes of their formation. Interdisciplinary investigations in the last 30 years of modern passive and active continental margins through 3D-seismic reflection, multibeam sonar and submersible studies (including drilling, coring and in situ sampling) and analogue modeling played a major role in our comprehension of the mode, nature and scale of the formation of modern submarine MTDs with respect to their causative events. On the other hand, on-land studies of exhumed, ancient MTDs (or olistostromes) have provided useful information on their internal structure and stratigraphy at scales (meters to hundreds of meter) that are commonly difficult to obtain through marine studies mainly because of poor acoustic transparency below the standard seismic resolution. Hence, studies of modern and ancient MTDs/olistostromes are highly complementary and essential.

Margin collapse and slope failure along southwestern Great Bahama Bank

Steep convex-bankward embayments into carbonate platform margins, often called “scalloped margins”, have been observed in ancient examples and along modern platform of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean region and are interpreted as erosional features produced by large-scale margin failures. Multibeam bathymetry data from the southwestern corner of Great Bahama Bank (GBB) image four margin failures and their associated erosional products. The bankward-convex embayments range in diameter from 3 to 23km. The largest and southernmost collapse produces a scalloped margin while the other three are not changing the generally linear platform margin. The typical slope angle of the upper slope in this portion of GBB ranges from 20 to 40° with the margin break at ~60 to 65m water depth. But in the four areas of platform margin collapse the slope angle increases and the margin break is shallower. The largest collapse eroded more than 350m of the bank margin with an estimated ~15km3 of platform margin materials shed onto the adjacent slope. These margin collapses shed large debris blocks to the toe-of-slope and basin floor some tens of kilometers from the platform margin. In the southernmost segment margin collapse is followed by slope failures that produce mass transport complexes (MTC) that litter the lower slope and basin floor. The largest block in one MTC is 2000×800m in dimension and is displaced by 1.2km.The margin collapses are more common along the southwestern GBB than the northern portions of GBB where large-scale slope failures are more common. This lateral distribution is attributed to the tectonic activity in the vicinity of the Cuban fold and thrust belt. Faults breaking the modern seafloor and Holocene growth strata on the Santaren Anticline document neo-tectonic activity within the belt. Thus, tectonic activity and associated seismic shock might be the primary trigger for the margin collapse and occurrence of the scalloped margin along the Old Bahama Channel.

Small-scale sedimentary structures and their implications in recognizing large-scale ancient tidal bedforms. Example from Dur At Talah outcrop, Late Eocene, Sirt Basin, Libya

The Dur At Talah escarpment (150m thick and 150km long) is exposed at the southern side of the Sirt Basin, central Libya. This outcrop exposes an Upper Eocene succession, composed by highly bioturbated fine grained sandstones to claystones at the base (New Idam Unit; 80–100m thick), overlain by medium grained to microconglomeratic sandstones at the top (Sarir Unit; 60m thick). The latter is split into two subunits of nearly equal thickness: the lower Sarir subunit, composed of medium to coarse cross-bedded sandstones; and the upper Sarir subunit, composed of very coarse to microconglomeratic sandstones.The whole succession evolves from shallow marine estuarine (the New Idam Unit) to fluvial deposits (the upper Sarir subunit). The sandstone of the lower Sarir subunit, which is the focus of this article, is previously misinterpreted as being deposited in a purely fluvial environment. However, close observations revealed that the depositional environment is largely tide-influenced. It is notably marked by conspicuous subaqueous dune cross-stratifications that bear a variety of discrete, multi-scale, sedimentary structures evidencing their deposition in tidal rather than fluvial setting. Mud drapes, tidal bundles, and perpendicularly draining and oppositely climbing ripples are largely developed. Among these structures, the most diagnostic are of millimetric to centimetric scale.As a prime aim of this article, all these sedimentary structures are described, interpreted, and discussed for the first time from this outcrop. Their style of association and the quality of their preservation provide an outstanding ancient example of tide-dominated siliciclastic systems. Such structures are rarely found together in one outcrop as they are in Dur At Talah, and they provide a significant indicators in identifying ancient bedforms of tidal origin. Evidences of subtidal and intertidal depositional environments are afforded by these structures. Criteria indicative of semidiurnal regime of the tide are also presented. These criteria are especially well-preserved in the bundled foresets of the spring tides, the neap tide record is also distinguishable but it provides no discernible structures. Moreover, sedimentary features that can be used to infer a macrotidal range during the depositional time are also afforded by a combination of these structures. Above all, this study also concludes that one of the most reliable sedimentary structures for recognizing the tidal bedforms are the ripple-scale (centimetric) sedimentary structures. These are preserved inside and at the base of the cross-sets.

Late Oligocene–early Miocene olistostromes (sedimentary mélanges) as tectono-stratigraphic constraints to the geodynamic evolution of the exhumed Ligurian accretionary complex (Northern Apennines, NW Italy)

In the Northern Apennines of Italy, mud-rich olistostromes (sedimentary mélanges) occur at different stratigraphic levels within the late Oligocene–early Miocene sedimentary record of episutural/wedge-top basins. They are widely distributed along the exhumed outer part of the Ligurian accretionary complex, atop the outer Apenninic prowedge, over an area about 300 km long and 10–15 km wide. Olistostromes represent excellent examples of ancient submarine mass-transport complexes (MTCs), consisting of stacked cohesive debris flows that can be directly compared to some of those observed in modern accretionary wedges. We describe the internal arrangement of olistostrome occurrences in the sector between Voghera and the Monferrato area, analysing their relationships with mesoscale liquefaction features, which are commonly difficult to observe in modern MTCs. Slope failures occurred in isolated sectors along the wedge front, where out-of-sequence thrusting, seismicity, and different pulses of overpressured tectonically induced fluid flows acted concomitantly. Referring to the Northern Apennines regional geology, we also point out a gradual lateral rejuvenation (from late Oligocene to early Miocene) toward the SE and an increasing size and thickness of the olistostromes along the strike of the frontal Apenninic prowedge. This suggests that morphological reshaping of the outer prowedge via mass-transport processes balanced, with different pulses over a short time span, the southeastward migration and segmentation of accretionary processes. The latter were probably favoured by the occurrence in the northwestern part of the Northern Apennines of major, inherited palaeogeographic features controlling the northward propagation of the prowedge. Detailed knowledge of olistostromes, as ancient examples of MTCs related to syn-sedimentary tectonics and shale diapirism, and of their lateral variations in term of age and size, provides useful information in regard to better understanding of both the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Apenninic prowedge and the submarine slope failures in modern accretionary wedges.

The Halaesa landscape (III B.C.) as ancient example of the complex and bio-diverse traditional Mediterranean polycultural landscape

ABSTRACTSouthern Europe and the whole Mediterranean area are distinguished by landscape types whose characters result from countless, long and complex cultural and historical processes that developed in an equally complex and varied environment. The Mediterranean rural landscape would keep these same distinctive characteristics until the crisis of the mixed crops, and the phenomena of urbanisation in the1960s/70s.This paper identifies the characteristics of the Mediterranean polycultural and polyspecific (coltura promiscua) landscape, characterised by the presence of trees (both wild and cultivated), starting from a historical overview of the central Mediterranean. The analysed case-study of the Halaesa landscape (Sicily), as one of the first historical detailed descriptions of a complex Mediterranean cultural landscape, is the result of a polycultural agro-silvo-pastoral system which guarantees complexity and richness (in terms of structural and biological diversity), as well as with reference to others environmental, cultural and economic multi-functionality. The analysis of these polycultural landscapes reveals a rich spatial configuration and the patchiness of the land mosaic. The presence of historical features, of traditional crops and land use, of traditional land management, and the conservation of the rural architecture and other material cultural heritage related to agricultural activity, as well as the non-material cultural heritage, are particularly important aspects considered by international and European organisations towards their valorisation and conservation. The pressure on these landscapes and their rapid transformation into more modern forms call out for a better knowledge of the more complex forms of traditional land use and their relative rural landscapes.

The role of protected areas in supplying ten critical ecosystem services in drylands: a review

Well-designed and effectively managed protected areas can be a key component of strategies to address the breakdown of ecosystem services in drylands. Environmental degradation has led to food and water insecurity, dust storms and desertification. Protected areas allow maintenance and where necessary restoration of natural vegetation regimes, thus reducing erosion, reviving aquifers and maintaining sustainable livelihoods for local communities. Protected areas in drylands embrace a full range of management approaches, from strict protection to ‘protected landscapes’ where conservation is integrated with traditional lifestyles; a certain amount of grazing is often beneficial to vegetation management for instance. They vary from government-run national parks to ancient examples of community conserved areas, such as the hima of the Arabian Peninsula, which are closely linked to Islam and are currently being revived. A detailed review of options is presented, with numerous examples from dryland regions of the world, along with a typology of ecosystem services maintained. Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Programme of Work on Protected Areas and establishment of effective protected area networks in drylands would address many of the challenges identified by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. But this implies new attitudes to protected areas, involving greater willingness to consider community-led approaches and different and more diverse governance structures, alongside government efforts.

Planform architecture, stratigraphic signature and morphodynamics of an exhumed Jurassic meander plain (Scalby Formation, Yorkshire, UK)

AbstractModern fluvial meander plains exhibit complex planform transformations in response to meander‐bend expansion, downstream migration and rotation. These transformations exert a fundamental control on lithology and reservoir properties, yet their stratigraphic record has been poorly evaluated in ancient examples due to the lack of extensive three‐dimensional exposures. Here, a unique exhumed meander plain exposed to the north of Scarborough (Yorkshire, UK) is analysed in terms of architecture and morphodynamics, with the aim of developing a comprehensive model of facies distribution. The studied outcrop comprises tidal platforms and adjacent cliffs, where the depositional architecture of un‐tilted deposits was assessed on planform and vertical sections, respectively. In its broader perspective, this study demonstrates the potential of architectural mapping of extensive planform exposures for the reconstruction of ancient fluvial morphodynamics. The studied exhumed meander plain is part of the Scalby Formation of the Ravenscar Group, and originally drained small coastal incised valleys within the Jurassic Cleveland Basin. The meander plain is subdivided into two storeys that contain in‐channel and overbank architectural elements. In‐channel elements comprise expansional and downstream‐migrating point bars, point‐bar tails and channel fills. Overbank elements comprise crevasse complexes, levées, floodplain fines and lake fills. The evolution of the point bars played a significant role in dictating preserved facies distributions, with high flood‐stage nucleation and accretion of meander scrolls later reworked during waning flood‐stages. At a larger scale, meander belt morphodynamics were also a function of valley confinement and contrasts in substrate erodibility. Progressive valley infilling decreased the valley confinement, promoting the upward transition from prevalently downstream migrating to expansional meander belts, a transition associated with enhanced preservation of overbank elements. Strikingly similar relations between valley confinement, meander‐bend transformations and overbank preservation are observed in small modern meandering streams such as the Beaver River of the Canadian prairies and the Powder River of Montana (USA).

Dynamics of continental accretion

Subduction zones become congested when they try to consume buoyant, exotic crust. The accretionary mountain belts (orogens) that form at these convergent plate margins have been the principal sites of lateral continental growth through Earth's history. Modern examples of accretionary margins are the North American Cordilleras and southwest Pacific subduction zones. The geologic record contains abundant accretionary orogens, such as the Tasmanides, along the eastern margin of the supercontinent Gondwana, and the Altaïdes, which formed on the southern margin of Laurasia. In modern and ancient examples of long-lived accretionary orogens, the overriding plate is subjected to episodes of crustal extension and back-arc basin development, often related to subduction rollback and transient episodes of orogenesis and crustal shortening, coincident with accretion of exotic crust. Here we present three-dimensional dynamic models that show how accretionary margins evolve from the initial collision, through a period of plate margin instability, to re-establishment of a stable convergent margin. The models illustrate how significant curvature of the orogenic system develops, as well as the mechanism for tectonic escape of the back-arc region. The complexity of the morphology and the evolution of the system are caused by lateral rollback of a tightly arcuate trench migrating parallel to the plate boundary and orthogonally to the convergence direction. We find geological and geophysical evidence for this process in the Tasmanides of eastern Australia, and infer that this is a recurrent and global phenomenon.

Facies architecture of asymmetrical branching distributary channels: Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone, Utah, USA

AbstractDistributary channel systems are an important component of deltaic systems, but details of their branching pattern, stream‐order, internal variability and relation with adjacent levée, bay and bayhead delta are rather poorly documented in ancient examples. Photomosaic and measured sections collected along a gooseneck‐shaped canyon in southern Utah allow direct mapping of the branching pattern of an ancient distributary system. The main channel belt is ca 250 m wide and narrows to ca 200 m downstream of the branching point. A subordinate channel belt, ca 80 m wide, branches off of the main channel, forming a distinctly asymmetrical branching pattern. Water discharge in the main channel is estimated to be 85 to 170 m3 sec−1. Comparison with palaeodischarge estimates of trunk rivers mapped in previous studies suggests that the branching documented in this study probably is a fourth‐order split. The distributary channels are characterized by a U‐shaped geometry filled with medium‐grained, cross‐bedded sandstone, and are dominated by lateral accretion, suggesting limited lateral migration and moderate sinuosity. Tidally influenced facies and limited trace fossils indicate direct marine influence. The distributary channels erode into adjacent levée and underlying heterolithic bay‐fill deposits, and the marine influence suggests that they were deposited on a lower delta plain, rather than on a non‐marine floodplain. The subordinate channel fed a bayhead delta, suggesting that it was formed by a partial avulsion, rather than bifurcation around a mouth bar, as is more characteristic of terminal distributary channels. Channel‐floor drapes, bar‐accretion drapes and abandoned channel fills within the sandstone channel belts represent the most important heterogeneity from the perspective of reservoir characterization.

Fredric Jameson on the Unnamed and Naming in Fictions

Fredric Jameson on the Unnamed and Naming in Fictions Frances Ferguson (bio) Someone once described a novel as “a long piece of prose with something wrong with it.” George Saunders Late in The Antinomies of Realism Fredric Jameson speaks of a problem, and then recalls that a problem is something we used to call a problematic, or even the problematic. This gesture of synonymization, immediately followed by a suggested desynonymization, is emblematic of the way Jameson’s critical work moves. In The Antinomies of Realism Jameson takes up tales and novels (along with films and, occasionally, music) written over three centuries and thousands of miles. He first mentions a restrictive account. One might see the “something wrong” in novelistic narrative as the absence of good Proppian narratology. One might urge “something wrong” as a reliable opening ploy for would-be writers, part of the commodification of intellectual goods and services that prevails in the world of writing workshops. While Jameson is alert to such associations, he continues to have much to say about the uses of form in exploding the restrictions that narrative has generated. Novels might always begin with something wrong, but their greatest contribution is in ending less with solutions and satisfactions than with new problems and unresolved dissatisfactions. The constraints that come with fairy-tale happy endings and the evil characters of melodrama drive narrative realism to change. Jameson has developed a formalism that tracks transformations at a variety of scales: in changing metaphors and names, characterizations and collectives, scenes and economic systems. [End Page 97] One of the strongest animating drives of The Antinomies of Realism is Jameson’s commitment to honoring what he calls Georg Lukács’s warning that “the ‘novel’ as a form is never a successful solution to any of its problems” (210). And it is precisely in the limitations on the success of novelistic solutions that Jameson finds the realist novel as a literary form to be historical—or in history, in the sense of being open to a present in which it changes shape. Many literary historians would chronicle the rise of the novel, in modernity, in Western Europe (“It starts with Defoe”; “We must qualify the story of the rise of the novel in Britain; it must start with Cervantes, or with ancient examples”). Many literary historians of the novel, or of realism, would provide something that looks like an orals list for various subgenres, complete with an exhaustive catalog of the traits associated with each and a list of novels that exemplify them. Jameson, however, notes how easy it is to be diverted in trying to talk about “the phenomenon of realism”: “It is as though the object of our meditation began to wobble, and the attention to it to slip insensibly away from it in two opposite directions, so that at length we find we are thinking, not about realism, but about its emergence; not about the thing itself but about its dissolution” (1). Another critic would produce such a sentence as part of a diatribe against the very idea of tracking realism’s emergence or dissolution. Jameson instead produces a history of realism that will not speak merely of the datable events of world history or the hard facts of the material world, but will also register “a transformation of the sensorium” around the middle of the nineteenth century, “literary representation furnishing the most comprehensive evidence as to a momentous yet impossibly hypothetical historical transformation of this kind” (32). Literary realism takes a number of different forms in his discussion, sometimes pushing a character who has the requisite blandness for a supporting role into a principal part, sometimes revealing how a scene can include a sweeping array of characters. But Jameson’s presentation of various things that have counted (and ought to count) as realisms looks at “the thing itself” partly in order to reaffirm the emergence and decline of realist narrative. Jameson’s is, in short, a history that works differently from both the processional histories of monarchs and heroes, and from the Annales approach of marshalling abundant information about the activities of daily life among persons whose names have not been preserved. His [End...

Transcriptomic analysis of the lesser spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) pancreas, liver and brain reveals molecular level conservation of vertebrate pancreas function.

BackgroundUnderstanding the evolution of the vertebrate pancreas is key to understanding its functions. The chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays) have often been suggested to possess the most ancient example of a distinct pancreas with both hormonal (endocrine) and digestive (exocrine) roles. The lack of genetic, genomic and transcriptomic data for cartilaginous fish has hindered a more thorough understanding of the molecular-level functions of the chondrichthyan pancreas, particularly with respect to their “unusual” energy metabolism (where ketone bodies and amino acids are the main oxidative fuel source) and their paradoxical ability to both maintain stable blood glucose levels and tolerate extensive periods of hypoglycemia. In order to shed light on some of these processes, we carried out the first large-scale comparative transcriptomic survey of multiple cartilaginous fish tissues: the pancreas, brain and liver of the lesser spotted catshark, Scyliorhinus canicula.ResultsWe generated a mutli-tissue assembly comprising 86,006 contigs, of which 44,794 were assigned to a particular tissue or combination of tissues based on mapping of sequencing reads. We have characterised transcripts encoding genes involved in insulin regulation, glucose sensing, transcriptional regulation, signaling and digestion, as well as many peptide hormone precursors and their receptors for the first time. Comparisons to mammalian pancreas transcriptomes reveals that mechanisms of glucose sensing and insulin regulation used to establish and maintain a stable internal environment are conserved across jawed vertebrates and likely pre-date the vertebrate radiation. Conservation of pancreatic hormones and genes encoding digestive proteins support the single, early evolution of a distinct pancreatic gland with endocrine and exocrine functions in jawed vertebrates. In addition, we demonstrate that chondrichthyes lack pancreatic polypeptide (PP) and that reports of PP in the literature are likely due cross-reaction with PYY and/or NPY in the pancreas. A three hormone islet organ is therefore the ancestral jawed vertebrate condition, later elaborated upon only in the tetrapod lineage.ConclusionsThe cartilaginous fish are a great untapped resource for the reconstruction of patterns and processes of vertebrate evolution and new approaches such as those described in this paper will greatly facilitate their incorporation into the rank of “model organism”.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1074) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Uxoricide in Pregnancy: Ancient Greek Domestic Violence in Evolutionary Perspective

Previous studies of ancient Greek examples of uxoricide in pregnancy have concluded that the theme is used to suggest tyrannical abuse of power and that the violence is a product of the patriarchal nature of ancient society. This article uses evolutionary analyses of violence during pregnancy to argue that the themes of sexual jealousy and uncertainty over paternity are as crucial as the theme of power to an understanding of these examples and that the examples can be seen as typical instances of spousal abuse as it occurs in all types of society.

Applying Recent Argumentation Methods to Some Ancient Examples of Plausible Reasoning

Plausible (eikotic) reasoning known from ancient Greek (late Academic) skeptical philosophy is shown to be a clear notion that can be analyzed by argumentation methods, and that is important for argumentation studies. It is shown how there is a continuous thread running from the Sophists to the skeptical philosopher Carneades, through remarks of Locke and Bentham on the subject, to recent research in artificial intelligence. Eleven characteristics of plausible reasoning are specified by analyzing key examples of it recognized as important in ancient Greek skeptical philosophy using an artificial intelligence model called the Carneades Argumentation System (CAS). By applying CAS to ancient examples it is shown how plausible reasoning is especially useful for gaining a better understanding of evidential reasoning in law, and argued that it can also be applied to everyday argumentation. Our analysis of the snake and rope example of Carneades is also used to point out some ways CAS needs to be extended if it is to more fully model the views of this ancient philosopher on argumentation.

Contrasts between wave- and tide-dominated oolitic systems: Holocene of Crooked–Acklins Platform, southern Bahamas

As the stratigraphic record is neither homogenous nor isotropic, a fundamental challenge in sedimentary geology is characterizing and predicting the nature of variability. Although many nearshore to shallow-marine siliciclastic depositional systems have been grouped into wave-dominated and tide-dominated classes, many facies models of carbonate systems have not recognized or applied this distinction. To fill this gap, the purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the hydrodynamic processes, sedimentology, geomorphology, and stratigraphy of an oolitic tide-dominated shoal complex and an oolitic wave-dominated shoreline system from the same area (Crooked–Acklins Platform, southern Bahamas). Field, petrographic, granulometric, remote-sensing, and hydrodynamic data illustrate marked contrasts between the two end members. The wave-dominated shoreface system near French Wells on the leeward margin is influenced by small (Hs <30 cm) waves and only weak, wave-driven currents (<15 cm/s, net southward flow); the passage of Hurricane Irene (in 2011) had only a local impact on the shoreface. The low-energy setting favors generation and alongshore transport of ooids and peloids of fine- to medium-sized sand, and has facilitated nearly 1 km of shoreface progradation, forming geomorphic bodies with margin-parallel geometry. The stratigraphic record of the area includes a coarsening- and shoaling-upward succession. In contrast, the ~7-km-wide, tide-dominated shoal on the southwestern margin is dominated by vigorous tidal currents (in excess of 50 cm/s, and reversing twice daily). These currents generate margin-normal bars and channels consisting of oolitically coated grains of medium to coarse sand size. Stratigraphically, above a basal clast-rich deposit, sediment size and sorting vary across the shoal. The open-ocean and the platformward flanks of the shoal, most impacted by tide and wave energy, include the cleanest oolitic sand, with fines accumulating in the stabilized shoal interior. Overall, the oolitic shoal aggraded and expanded platformward over bioturbated peloid–ooid sand. These results reveal how sediment, geomorphology, and stratigraphy differ between tide- and wave-dominated end members, patterns broadly analogous to several ancient examples. These data collectively illustrate the processes that create multi-scale linkages among stratigraphic patterns, geological facies bodies, and granulometry (e.g., depositional porosity and permeability). These linkages provide information that could be used to predict sedimentological and geomorphical trends in ancient analogues.

SUBDUCTION POLARITY REVERSAL: ANCIENT EXAMPLES

Subduction polarity reversal refers to change in the direction of a subducting lithospheric plate into the mantle. The mechanism for this has been attributed to both a slab break off and slab roll back driven by collision of tectonic plates especially when arc and rifted continental margins collide. Magmatic and metamorphic event related to and postdating the collision are major characteristic of subduction polarity reversal and if collision continued much more deformation my results in seismicity. The integration of geologic data and seismic are used to delineate and make model to understand how it occurred. Ancient examples and geographical area of subduction polarity reversal have been enumerated. Some of the geological ages associated with subduction polarity reversal include; Proterozoic. Mid-proterozoic and Ordivician–Early Siluria. Also presented is case study of the Farwell Mountain - Lester Mountain suture zone of the south-western United States continental lithosphere.

Introduction: the unfolded protein response’s role in disease pathophysiology

Introduction: the unfolded protein response’s role in disease pathophysiology