Evolution In Europe Research Articles

Mammoths, sabertooths, and hominids: 65 million years of mammalian evolution in Europe

PrefaceThe Paleocene: The Dark EpochThe Eocene: Reaching the ClimaxThe Oligocene: A Time of ChangeThe Early to Middle Miocene: When the Continents CollideThe Late Miocene: The Beginning of the CrisisThe Pliocene: The End of a WorldThe Pleistocene: The Age of HumankindIndex

Mammals on the European Stage

Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Jordi Agustí and Mauricio Antón. Columbia University Press, New York, 2002. 325 pp. $39.50, £27.50. ISBN 0-231-11640-3. Agustí and Antón provide a broad overview of the Tertiary history of mammals in Europe: the evolutionary changes within the European fauna as well as the fates of immigrant taxa that arrived from other continents.

The Enlargement Challenge: Can Monetary Union Be Made to Work in an EU of 25 Members?

This article considers the evolution of Europe’s monetary union over the next five to ten years, concentrating on the most important likely change, namely the increased number and heterogeneity of participating states.

Human presence in the European Arctic nearly 40,000 years ago.

The transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic, approximately 40,000-35,000 radiocarbon years ago, marks a turning point in the history of human evolution in Europe. Many changes in the archaeological and fossil record at this time have been associated with the appearance of anatomically modern humans. Before this transition, the Neanderthals roamed the continent, but their remains have not been found in the northernmost part of Eurasia. It is generally believed that this vast region was not colonized by humans until the final stage of the last Ice Age some 13,000-14,000 years ago. Here we report the discovery of traces of human occupation nearly 40,000 years old at Mamontovaya Kurya, a Palaeolithic site situated in the European part of the Russian Arctic. At this site we have uncovered stone artefacts, animal bones and a mammoth tusk with human-made marks from strata covered by thick Quaternary deposits. This is the oldest documented evidence for human presence at this high latitude; it implies that either the Neanderthals expanded much further north than previously thought or that modern humans were present in the Arctic only a few thousand years after their first appearance in Europe.

Evoluzione storica delle “Carte dei diritti dei morenti”

L’intento perseguito dagli autori con questo lavoro è stato quello di ripercorrere l’evoluzione negli ultimi decenni delle “carte” in cui vengono indicati i diritti delle persone morenti. Una storia che si va a contrapporre, con una sorprendente coincidenza nella cronologia, ai successivi momenti della depenalizzazione, prima, e della legalizzazione, poi, dell’eutanasia. Tali “carte”, infatti, hanno sostanzialmente inteso contrapporre il right to death with dignity al right to death senza altre specificazioni, rivendicato dai movimenti e dalle società a favore dell’eutanasia volontaria e del suicidio assistito.
 Questo lavoro, quindi, trova il suo momento iniziale con l’identificazione e l’analisi delle motivazioni socio-culturali oltre che di quelle più propriamente scientifiche che hanno portato all’elaborazione della prima carta dei diritti del morente, capostipite in un certo senso di tutte quelle seguenti. Dopo di che mostra l’evoluzione peculiare che tali carte, c.d. di prima generazione hanno avuto in Europa, e da ultimo illustra come esse si sono evolute, sia in Europa sia negli Usa in anni più recenti.
 Da ultimo, a conclusione della “review” storica, gli autori hanno voluto presentare la Carta dei diritti del malato cronico in evoluzione di malattia elaborata nel 1999 all’interno del Policlinico Universitario “Agostino Gemelli” dell’Università Cattolica, esaminandone il contenuto e le ragioni che hanno portato alla sua elaborazione.

Phanerozoic Geodynamic Evolution of the Circum-Italian Realm

The Phanerozoic geodynamic evolution of Europe is reviewed for the purpose of identifying its bearing on the petrogenesis of the Cenozoic European Volcanic Province. Several events capable of modifying the chemistry and mineralogy of the mantle, such as subduction of oceanic crust, continent-continent collision, and ocean formation are emphasized. The area now occupied by the Mediterranean Sea and, in general, all of Europe, underwent a complex geodynamic evolution, involving large relative crustal movements. The Paleozoic to Recent evolution of the circum-Mediterranean Sea area can be summarized as follows: (1) extension during the Precambrian (presence of ∼3000 to 4000 km wide oceanic crust between Laurussia (consisting of the Laurentian and Baltica-Fenno-scandian cratons) and Gondwana (South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica); (2) collisional movements with the formation of “Andean-type” margins during the Late Precambrian to Middle Paleozoic, followed by “Himalayan-type” margins during the Carboniferous (Hercynian orogeny sensu stricto); (3) change of plate movements and development of tensional (transtensive) stresses at the end of the Paleozoic, as indicated by the formation of the North Atlantic-Tethys rift system, with the Cretaceous formation of the Ligurian-Piedmontese and the Mesogean Ocean; (4) the Alpine orogeny, with a two-stage compressive cycle-(a) Eoalpine (Paleogene closure of the Ligurian-Piedmontese Ocean; formation of the Betic Cordillera, western-northern Alps, and Carpatho-Balkan Arc), with Europe-verging thrusts; and (b) Neoalpine (Neogene-Pleistocene formation of the Apennine, Maghrebide, Dinaride, and Hellenide chains, plus the backthrusted southern Alps, all with African vergence; opening of two diachronous backarc basins-the Ligurian-Provencal Basin and the Tyrrhenian Sea-in the western Mediterranean). Hercynian-age modifications (the most important of which are subduction-related) led to almost unique isotopic ratios, such as low 143Nd/144Nd, 206Pb/204Pb, 3He/4He, and slightly radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios. During the Cenozoic and Quaternary, widespread magmatic activity developed throughout Europe. These products, mainly represented by mildly to strongly alkaline rocks with sodic affinity and tholeiitic mafic rocks (basanite, alkali basalts, tholeiitic basalts), show quite uniform geochemical and isotopic compositions typical of a within-plate tectonic setting. Moreover, subduction-related magmatism (mainly represented by low-to high-K calc-alkaline and shoshonitic series + ultrapotassic rocks such as lamproites) developed in response to the subduction systems of the Alpine orogeny. With respect to the circum-Italian realm, the igneous rocks emplaced during the last 30 Ma are essentially related to the Alpine orogeny. This activity is represented by rocks of extremely variable composition (alkaline-both sodic and potassic to ultrapotassic-and subalkaline [tholeiitic and calc-alkaline]) and probably carbonatitic.

The Effects of Integration on Regional Disparities: Convergence, Divergence or Both?

In this paper, I identify some stylized facts characterizing regional evolution in Europe during the eighties. In particular, I provide evidence of the existence of convergence clubs based on regional specialization. Afterward, I give an explanation of this empirical evidence based on the process of deeper integration and the different specialization of European regions. In my model, I explore the effects of integration between two symmetric countries characterized by strong regional disparities that originate from a lower productivity in the high-tech sector. If regions with different industrial structure do not benefit in the same measure from international knowledge spillovers, economic integration exacerbates disparities among the regions of a country, even if it accelerates growth and brings convergence between countries. Moreover, regions with a consistent high-tech sector grow faster and converge even if they have initially different productivity levels.

Stability, Asymmetry, and Discontinuity: The Launch of European Monetary Union

ALTHOUGH STILL LESS than one year old as this volume goes to press, European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is already under trial, charged with at least three offenses. The first is false advertising: Europeans, it is claimed, did not get the strong, stable currency they were promised, for within seven months of its birth the euro had lost 13.5 percent of its value against the dollar. The second is obfuscation: markets are finding the signals from the new monetary institutions confusing and inconsistent, and a scarcity of relevant information--from delays in releasing reliable euro area--wide statistics to lack of access to the deliberations of the Governing Council--makes it difficult to forecast economic developments and to understand the policy conduct of the new European Central Bank (ECB). The third is lack of impartiality: the ECB's new policies are claimed to be exacerbating asymmetries between fast-growing and slow-growing countries and validating the presumption that the costs and benefits of monetary cohabitation are unfairly distributed among small and large member states. This paper espouses a rather different thesis. In terms of its impact on financial market integration and the ability of its institutions to cope with cyclical contingencies, EMU is performing well above expectations. And it is doing so even though persistent asymmetries across countries represent a threat to the ability of the new policy framework to guarantee economic stability and promote further integration in Europe. It is clearly premature to attempt even a first assessment of the new European monetary architecture--it will take quite a few years before the track record of the ECB becomes sufficiently long and rich for such an evaluation. This paper is instead devoted to the more modest task of casting light on early developments in the euro area and their potential implications for the future of EMU, surveying the main points in the current debate, noting contrasting positions, and evaluating those positions in light of the available evidence. Our synthetic but comprehensive overview of the first few months in the life of the euro is thus aimed at disentangling those facts, empirical evidence, and institutional details that we consider useful toward a balanced interpretation of the current monetary and financial evolution in Europe. The paper is organized as follows. We begin by placing our analysis of the swift launch of the euro in the context of the macroeconomic convergence and integration that took place in Europe following the 1992-93 crisis of the European Monetary System (EMS). We then discuss the monetary strategies of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), reviewing the official positions taken and the main criticisms leveled in the recent debate. Next we focus on the instruments of monetary policy in the euro area and on liquidity management and money market integration. We then present an update of developments in the bond and equity markets and a preliminary assessment of public debt management strategies by the eleven independent sovereign states coexisting in the euro area. We go on to deal with some open issues in the euro area banking sector, comment on the behavior of the euro in the currency markets, and analyze asymmetries across European regions and their implications for centralized monetary policy. Finally, we review the process of fiscal consolidation and the debate on the code of budgetary discipline in Europe.(1) The Launch of the Euro in Historical Perspective From a technical standpoint, the euro was born on December 31, 1998. That was the date when the fixed conversion rates among euro area currencies were determined, and thus when the national currencies were demoted to nondecimal denominations of the new currency.(2) It was also the start of the changeover weekend, during which clearing and settlement systems were retooled and trading positions and accounts redenominated from the old currencies into euros. …

The cold event 8200 years ago documented in oxygen isotope records of precipitation in Europe and Greenland

Stable oxygen isotope ratios of ostracod valves in Late Glacial and Holocene sediments of core AS 92-5 from deep lake Ammersee (southern Germany) reflect variations of mean oxygen isotope ratios in past atmospheric precipitation. The record reconfirms the strong similarity of climate evolution in Europe and Greenland during the last deglaciation. For the first time in Europe, we find a 200-year-long negative δ18O-excursion, which is contemporaneous with the strongest negative δ18O-excursion in the Greenland ice around 8.2 ky before present. The 8.2 ky isotopic event on both sides of the North Atlantic ocean is interpreted as a cold period, most probably induced by a perturbation of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. We discuss two possible triggering mechanisms: (1) weak forcing (as proposed by Alley et al.), and (2) forcing by a strong and sudden freshwater pulse from the collapse of the Hudson Ice Dome.

New models explaining regional evolution in Europe. Contributions to an international conference in honour of Professor J.H.P. Paelinck Tinbergen Institute, Rotterdam, June 16-17, 1995

At the end of the academic year 1994-95, Professor J.Paelinck left the chair of spatial theory he occupied at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam for several decades. On this occasion, his disciples – in particular, Hans KUIPER and Riccardo GIRARDI - and numerous colleagues and friends organised on June 16-17 an International Conference held at the Tinbergen Institute. About forty spatial analysts and regional science specialists, belonging to 10 different countries, were present at this even...

Micro- to mesoscale evolution of beaches in response to climatic shift: observation and conceptual modelling (Brittany, France)

In the framework of the European project 'Climate change and coastal evolution in Europe', the microscale (< 1 year) morphological evolution of beaches in Brittany (W France) has been monitored for some years and linked to immediate forcings, the first one being tides (with a 13-m tidal range), and the second storm intensity. For the same sites, a mesoscale (decades) evolution was reconstructed from air photographs and historical data. The evolution is forced first of all by human activities, and secondly by climatic shift: wind direction changes and average wind velocity evolution. These results were used to build and calibrate a model of coastal behaviour. The model is based on a simple sediment cell (input – transit – output) and simulates the movements of volumes of sands under successive morphodynamic processes. Each of these processes is modelled (in terms of volume exchanges) and parameterized by the relevant atmospheric element. Thus, the model is not deterministic but simulates different probabilities for atmospheric events and morphological response. The model runs for one year and produces realistic sediment accumulation values and coastal retreat rates. When run for half a century, results are also quite comparable to the field data. Storm frequency changes appear to be an important element for the evolution, but the main and first forcing is the availability of sediment.

Eurasian mammal biochronology: an overview

Abstract Late Cenozoic Eurasian mammal biochronology has achieved a new and higher level of resolution. This has been accomplished by correlation of Eurasian mammal biochronology with an independent time frame, the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS). The result is a tentative calibration for MN zones and their boundaries for the late Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene; spanning MN zones 8 through 17 (Vallesian through Villanyian-Villafranchian), an interval of about 10 my (2 to 12 Ma, more or less). An overview of papers presented in this special issue is organized under the following headings: Paleomagnetism and Biochronology in Spain, Chronologic Resolution of Eurasian Mammal Chronology, and Late Cenozoic Mammal Chronology in Asia (excluding the Siwaliks sequence of southern Asia). The chronologic framework presented in this issue should serve as a reliable temporal setting for late Cenozoic mammal evolution in Europe and Asia; it is not the last word in Eurasian late Cenozoic mammal biochronology, but must be tested and revised as our knowledge advances.

Tales from the ‘global’ economy: Cross-national production networks and the reorganization of the European economy

This essay considers the reorganization of the European economy in light of the fundamental new phenomena emerging in the international market economy: cross-national production networks in economically heterogeneous regions. Cross-national production networks have emerged as part of a reconstitution of competition and production best characterized as ‘Intelism’, visible especially in the cutting-edge electronics sector. The East Asian regional case is used here to illustrate how cross-national production networks operate in practice. Cross-national production arrangements may become decisive elements in the Eastern transition to a market economy, the reintegration of Europe and the evolution of Europe's regional position in the ‘global’ economy. Underpinning the discussion is the assertion that core attributes of the new ‘global’ economy may be found in national foundations, regional architecture and an ‘Intelist’ production influence.

Virulence spectrum in populations of the barley powdery mildew pathogen, Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei in Tunisia and Morocco in 1992

The virulence of 57 single colonies of Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei from Tunisia and Morocco was investigated using the Pallas near‐isogenic differential set. Virulence patterns in general were similar in both countries. Va8, Va10+Du2, V41/145, VLa and VRu2 appear to be common in the region. The resistance alleles Mla7 and Mla9, in combination with other resistances, were highly effective against the isolates tested. No virulence against mlo and Mla9 + k was detected in Tunisia. No virulence on Mla7 and Mla9 was detected in Morocco. The frequency of virulence against several resistances was significantly higher in Morocco than in Tunisia. On the other hand, virulence against other resistances was higher in Tunisia than in Morocco. Three isolates from Morocco infected mlo to an extent greater than previously described. All pathotypes were unique. An attempt is made to interpret the results by comparison with pathotype evolution in Europe.

The contribution of landslides to landscape evolution in Europe

After a review of some analytical and conceptual models of slope evolution with the intervention of mass movements, a proposal is made of a series of indicators for the quantitative description of landscape evolution in relation to mass movements. The ratio between landslide mobilisation rate and downwearing rate is proposed as a quantitative measure of the significance of mass movements in landscape evolution. A subdivision of European regions with respect to their susceptibility to landsliding as a process of landscape evolution is proposed. The role of landsliding for the evolution of landscape in some regions is described. The data presented show that landsliding may in some cases be the main contributor to landscape change.

Nickel-cadmium battery recycling evolution in Europe

After a brief introduction on the structure of SNAM (Société Nouvelle d'Affinage des Métaux), the role of the nickel-cadmium batteries in the consumer electronic market is illustrated. Finally, the procedures and the cost for collecting and recycling nickel-cadmium battery waste are discussed.

Harmonisation of specialist training in Europe: is it a mirage?

For the past 18 years there has been a proliferation of European committees, boards, associations, colleges, and working groups set up to promote the harmonisation of specialist training in Europe. It has been taken as read that this objective is desirable. The fact that these bodies have achieved remarkably little is telling, and it is time to question their activity. There are good practical reasons behind the evolution of Europe's disparate training schemes, and the arguments for retaining diversity rather than continuing to strive for homogeneity are persuasive.

Aspects of power electronics evolution in Europe

Aspects of power electronics evolution in Europe

Rescue or Retreat? The Nation State in Western Europe, 1945–93

‘My first guideline is this: willing and active cooperation between independent sovereign states is the best way to build a successful European Community. To try to suppress nationhood and concentrate power at the centre of a European conglomerate would be highly damaging. … Europe will be stronger precisely because it has France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its own customs, traditions and identity.’ Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, speech to College of Europe in Bruges, 20 September 1988. ‘The nation state was the twin of the industrial society, and like industrial society it is becoming outworn. … The evolution of Europe in the next decades will be shaped by the phasing in of the information society to replace the industrial culture and industrial technology which have served us so well for almost two hundred years. Poul Schluter, Danish Prime Minister, speech to the America–European Community Association, London, 20 September 1988. ‘Nations are not everlasting. They have a beginning, they will have an end. Probably a European confederation will replace them.’ Ernest Renan, Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? Lecture to Sorbonne, Paris, 11 March 1882. ‘Both the nation state and integration appear as fortunate accidents of the time, fundamentally contradictory tendencies, which nevertheless in promoting economic growth fortuitously complemented each other.’ Alan Milward, The European Rescue of the Nation State (London, Routledge, 1992), p. 24.

The History of European Archives and the Development of the Archival Profession in Europe

The history of European archives or the development of the European archival profession can only be discussed superficially as single entities. Nevertheless, there is a tendency recently to harmonize European archival legislation and practices, if not to unify them. The author discusses the genesis and history of the evolution of archival theory and practice in the major European countries through the creation of the great archival repositories, the birth of archival science, and the development of modern archives. He ends the article with an overview of current archival evolution in Europe and suggests the areas in which archival harmonization is likely to be most successful.