Modern Gulf Research Articles

The legal politics of Islamic bioethics: drunk driving and the reconfiguration of privacy in the modern Gulf

ABSTRACT Science and technology have been long-standing dimensions of the political legitimation of monarchic, shaikhly and imperial rule in the modern Gulf. Scientific development has been supported by attendant sociotechnical imaginaries, but these imaginaries have not been without fissures or contradictions. In the modern Gulf sheikhdoms, sociotechnical imaginaries were fashioned at the intersection of local, regional, and imperial processes. A range of actors participated in these contestations, drawing on shifting cultural ideas about human frailty and progress, continuing social and economic exchanges across the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Ocean, and varying experiences of imperial constraint and possibility. This article examines how Islamic legal actors in Qatar shaped sociotechnical contestations in the course of the twentieth century. Focusing on medical technology and the problem of drunk driving in the 1960s, I show how Islamic procedural law became connected to new regimes of expertise and modern forms of power inextricably tied to the Qatari nation-state. I suggest that the Islamic legal concepts mobilized by the ulama, which initially served to protect a space of Muslim privacy against technological anonymity and the regulatory ambitions of the modern state, became increasingly unintelligible as the expansive logics of state bureaucracy were adopted and naturalized.

Integrated statistical analysis of calcareous nannofossil and elemental geochemistry of an outcrop from of the eastern Cenomanian Western Interior Seaway: Novel insights of shallow marine paleoceanography and nannoplankton paleoecology

Phytoplankton assemblages in shallow marine environments are being impacted by anthropogenic climate change, but long-term outcomes of these changes are uncertain. Investigation of past neritic calcareous nannoplankton can help us understand the fate these ecosystems face. In this study, a Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) of calcareous nannofossils and X-ray fluorescence geochemistry was used to determine how past planktonic ecosystems were influenced by paleoenvironmental parameters on the eastern side of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway in the Cenomanian (ca. 95–93 Ma). Samples were collected every 10 cm from the Graneros Shale Greenhorn Formation at an outcrop in northwestern Iowa to determine high resolution changes in assemblages and paleoenvironments. Nannofossil diversity outside of a few small intervals ranges is high (generally 30–60 species) with abundant small Biscutum constans, confirming other publications that show elevated diversity in Cretaceous nearshore settings. The CCA results imply assemblages were most influenced by terrigenous influence, wet vs. dry climate, and changes in water mass source. Cretaceous nannofossil paleoecology was also revised based on the CCA results. Size differentiation of nannofossil taxa may highlight more complexity in environmental preferences that have been largely overlooked. After the initial transgression of the Greenhorn Sea into the region, the climate became wetter and terrigenous influence in the area was high. The peak of terrigenous influence corresponds with elevated nannofossil diversity but a lack of microfauna, which may indicate a similar oceanographic setting to the modern Gulf of Mexico nearshore dead zone. As sea level continued to rise above this point, nannoplankton assemblages indicate a potential shift to a higher productivity, stratified water column. As the muddy Graneros Shale transitioned to a further offshore chalky Greenhorn Formation, a normal marine, cosmopolitan nannofloral assemblage became established. Nannofossil and geochemical evidence indicates high productivity from upwelling might be related to the change of deposition to chalk in the Greenhorn Formation. While only a single outcrop was investigated, the novel use of an integrated micropaleontological and geochemical analysis has shed light on the dynamics of how phytoplankton ecosystems were established and modified in shallow marine environments of the Cretaceous and could have important implications on modern shallow marine settings.

The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, by Rosemarie Said Zahlan

«صناعة دول الخليج الحديثة؛ الكويت والبحرين وقطر والإمارات العربية المتحدة وسلطنة عمان» لروزماري سعيد زحلان

Plio‐Pleistocene Ocean Circulation Changes in the Gulf of Alaska and Its Impacts on the Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles and the Cordilleran Ice Sheet Development

AbstractThe modern Gulf of Alaska (GOA) is a Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) region, estimated to be important for nutrient cycling and CO2 exchange. Little is known of the GOA evolution over the Pliocene and Pleistocene as well as its impact on the CIS development, when other evidence for changing North Pacific circulation has emerged. We analyzed Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 341 Site U1417 sediments, which extend through the Plio‐Pleistocene transition (4–1.7 Ma), focusing on productivity‐related biomarkers (alkenones, brassicasterol), siliceous microfossils and bulk carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Our results show two dominant water column regimes: one characterized by high silica and low organic matter (OM) preservation, containing microorganism remains from a mix of habitats (4–3.7 Ma) and a second characterized by low biogenic silica and increased OM preservation of microorganisms from dominantly open ocean habitats (3.33–3.32 Ma and 2.8–1.66 Ma). An increase of phytoplankton diversity (3.7–3.35 Ma, 3.19–2.82 Ma) characterizes the two transitions of water column conditions, from oxygenated to reductive, that we attribute to a change from ocean mixing to strong stratified conditions with some occasional mixing. The biogeochemical changes in the GOA follow 400 and 100 kyr eccentricity cycles which are also reflected in changes in the CIS. We conclude that the CIS expansion created high nutrient low chlorophyll conditions in the GOA during the Mid Piacenzian Warm Period and the early Pleistocene. In turn, positive feedbacks increased marine productivity export, atmospheric CO2 drawdown and further CIS expansion.

The first Miocene chiton fauna from the northeastern Pacific

AbstractAn assemblage of 34 chiton valves collected from rocks of the “Imperial” Formation sensu lato at Super Creek near Palm Springs, California, is described here. The sedimentary rocks exposed at Super Creek were deposited in the proto-Gulf of California during the Late Miocene. This chiton assemblage represents the first reported Miocene chitons from western North America. The chiton valves are classified asCallistochitoncf.C.elenensis,Chaetopleuracf.C.lanuginosa mixta,Calloplax roederin. sp.,Chiton solarisn. sp., Callistoplacidae sp. indet., and Chaetopleuridae sp. indet. Thick valves dominate the assemblage. The chiton fossils reflect the overall faunal pattern from the “Imperial” Formation s.l. of a strong similarity to taxa in the modern Gulf of California, with a Caribbean component as well. This assemblage fills a gap in the chiton fossil record and preserves details of the adaptive radiation of the Polyplacophora that occurred at the time in concert with the onset of an upwelling regime.UUID:http://zoobank.org/9947bfc9-84a3-4358-bac7-e660b936b067

Violations of civil use of drones in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and their penalties: مخالفات الاستخدام المدني للطائرة بدون طيار في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي وعقوباتها

A drone is a small flying machine that it could fly in the air at law altitude with small engines and remotely could be piloted. It doesn’t need to inform the control towers or a helipads. Actually It began with military experiments and later on has been used by civilians, recreational and commercial means, and even a criminal tool. Laws has been set out to prevent it, and then gradually regulated its various uses for it. Its use has spread throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and that made an urgent need to study the old aviation laws and regulations that did not mention the drone. The modern Gulf laws and regulations stipulated the criminalization of drone uses, and punishments for violators has been set.. The policy of these countries in criminalization and punishment has been varied Penalties (, financial fines and some administrative penalties) were imposed on them. The research methods: We followed the comparative analytical descriptive method aiming to identify the violations and the penalties of procession and use of the drone in civilian areas.

Holocene sea levels at the Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea

A new relative sea level (RSL) curve is presented for the Holocene Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea. The curve is based on U–Th ages of corals retrieved from leveled fossil reefs comprising the Tur Yam Terrace at the shore of the city of Elat, Israel and the Aqaba reef terraces, Jordan, located respectively east and west of the northern tip of the gulf. Both terrace tops are submerged under high tide and subaerial at low tide. The fossil corals are in growth position between two beachrock units. The corals comprise 100% aragonite, show pristine textures with no secondary aragonite cements and yield initial 234U/238U activity ratios of 1.146 ± 0.004, similar to the values of live corals and modern Gulf of Aqaba (GoA) waters. Sixteen U–Th ages of corals from the Tur Yam Terrace span the time interval of 6.8 to 5.5 ka, and are ordered along the growth direction of the terrace. Detailed mapping of the terrace, the distribution of corals’ genera and the order of their ages on the terrace, suggest that the exposed terrace was the back reef/lagoon zone, a very close to shore environment of a fringing reef. Identification of this reef zone was based on a detailed ecological study that we conducted on the Nature Reserve Reef (NRR), a modern fringing reef located several hundred meters to the south. A morpho-tectonic analysis of the Elat shore indicates that the Tur Yam Terrace lies on top of the footwall of the active Elat Fault and has remained at its original level, with negligible vertical shift. Thus, it appears that during the time interval of formation of the Tur Yam corals, sea level at GoA reached a maximum stand that was 1–2 m above the modern elevation. A similar figure is shown by Mid-Holocene corals from the Aqaba fossil reefs and shore indicators from the Red Sea. The relative sea level (RSL) curve deduced from the Gulf of Aqaba corals and from the Red Sea indicators resembles those of precisely-dated stable reefs off west and east Australia and a few other well dated reefs in the Indo-Pacific. This similarity calls for coeval response of the Indo-Pacific oceans to ice melting during the early to mid- Holocene, and a similar pattern of decline to the present level during the late Holocene. Such a coeval rise of distant parts of the Indo-Pacific oceans is consistent with dominance of melt waters releases over the oceans with minor effects of all other “sea level drivers".

Orbital and Suborbital‐Scale Variations of Productivity and Sea Surface Conditions in the Gulf of Alaska During the Past 54,000 Years: Impact of Iron Fertilization by Icebergs and Meltwater

AbstractAs a high‐nutrient and low‐chlorophyll region, the modern Gulf of Alaska (GoA) is strongly impacted by the limitation of iron. Paleostudies along the Alaskan slope have mainly focused on reconstructing environmental conditions over the past 18 ka. Based on micropaleontological, biogeochemical, and sedimentological parameters, we explore a sediment record covering the past 54 ka at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1419 to understand the impact of orbital‐ and suborbital‐scale climate variability on productivity and sea‐surface conditions. Close to the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS), Site U1419 is ideally located to elucidate how the evolution of a large ice mass and glacial processes affected orbital‐ and suborbital‐scale changes in nutrients (e.g., iron) supply. Meltwater discharge from the northern CIS impacted sea surface dynamics of GoA coastal waters. The corresponding increases in bulk biogenic concentrations during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and MIS 2 (54–17 ka) suggests a direct impact from iron fertilization. The lack of a consistent relationship between productivity and SST suggests that cooling of surface waters was not the dominant control on primary producers. The inundation of the subaerially exposed continental shelf during the last deglacial (17–10 ka) warming could have served as a major micronutrient source, accounting for a deglacial peak in production. Low productivity after the last deglaciation suggests reduced iron availability, which we link to reduced meltwater inputs from smaller ice masses onshore. Our multiproxy approach reveals a more comprehensive picture of late Quaternary productivity variations compared to earlier studies along the Alaskan margin. The impact of tidewater glaciers and meltwater discharge on past marine productivity and nutrient budget dynamics of high‐latitude coastal regions is discussed.

Modern Heritage and the Living City: Arab Identity and Modernization in the Architecture of Abu Dhabi

Our work analyzes some key public, late modernist and contemporary buildings in Abu Dhabi in order to examine how the capital of this Arab country has dealt with issues of local tradition versus modernization, at a time of rapid economic and social change. Modernist and contemporary interpretations of Arab architectural tradition are deliberated as well as, design strategies to create spaces of social inclusion and provide sustainable solutions appropriate for the harsh regional climatic conditions. Our article also argues that recognition and integration of buildings from the late modernist era, such as the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, are essential elements for a city of sparse historical references, playing the role of “modern heritage”. Preservation of such buildings and resilient architecture can guide contemporary architectural discourse and reconcile local tradition and modern design strategies, thus counteracting uncritical importation of iconic projects in the modern Gulf cities.

Coastal barriers, northern Gulf - Last Eustatic Cycle; genetic categories and development contrasts. A review

A large body of chronologically well-constrained and detailed Quaternary data accumulated in the last decades from the coastal-shelf region of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, a preliminary synthesis of major aspects of the late Quaternary barrier and mainland coastal development on the northern Gulf of Mexico is timely. Several major factors account for the striking differences between barrier size and development styles in the three northern Gulf coast regions. Barriers are nearly continuous in the NW where they dominate by the greatest dimensions and continuity. Sand supply from shelf and mainland sources, continued at variable rates throughout six stages of the Last Eustatic Cycle (LEC). Differences in antecedent topography, in fluvial runoff volumes and relative sea level rise, including rapid overstepping-flooding events were critical in the regional distinctions. Leaving fewer and smaller relict fluvial delta behind, drowned shore and nearshore landforms on the shelf, only two large fluvial systems impacted the NE. The NW shelf and nearshore received abundant sediment supply from the Mississippi and lesser streams; indirectly by ravinement erosion of relict landforms and landward-directed cross-shelf sediment transfer. Sands originated mainly in relict deltas, fluvial, tidal channel, and inlet fill, as well as from submerged shore ridge remnants on the continental shelf. Shelf-margin deltas represented major secondary sources. Barrier formation categories and their respective importance in specific areas represent critical aspects of coastal development. The authorship of various formation concepts (e.g., Penck, Gilbert, McGee, Haage, Ganong, and Keilhack) often is still miscredited or remains unrecognized in the literature. Recognition of the stratigraphic and sedimentological diagnostic characteristics of the basic genetic barrier categories plays a key role in testing the validity of barrier evolution models.Closely-knit process-form relationships prevail between hydrodynamic (sea level change, storm, tidal current, overwash), sedimentary (shoal and island aggradation, rollover, and eolian accumulation) processes, and the resulting landform morphology. The most detailed accounts that deal with the development of the Alabama-Louisiana and Apalachicola barrier chains are particularly instructive. Almost all modern Gulf barriers with identifiable genetic background formed by shoal aggradation between 5.5 and 2.0 ka, during a marked deceleration in sea level rise. Concurrently, a sizable mainland strand plain complex extended the NE coastal plain. Tide- and storm-driven sediment transport to the large Mobile Bay ebb-delta, the focal role of composite east Dauphin Island in establishing the MS-LA island chain and the island-blocking role of Mississippi Delta advance were prime factors in a complex barrier history. Migration, paradoxically, may also occur by transgressive rollover concurrently with regressive landward progradation of island strand plains. Stream discharge and sand reworked from relict lithosomes on the shelf were insufficient in compensating for wave- and tide-related sediment loss. Gulf levels stayed below the present throughout the mid- and late Holocene.

New didemnid ascidian spicule records calibrated to the nannofossil data chronostratigraphically in the Quaternary marine deposits of Lake İznik (NW Turkey) and their paleoenvironmental interpretations

This study discusses the detailed chronobiostratigraphic history and paleoenvironmental features in the Quaternary period at Lake İznik (NW Turkey) based on fossil ascidian spicules and nannofossil records. New ascidian spicule data and nannofossils were identified in three lake bottom mud cores, K-1, K-2, and K-3, and in the muddy sediments of two drilled samples, SK-1 and SK-2. In the samples, eleven fossil ascidian spicule species, including two new species, were recorded: Bonetia acuta Varol & Houghton, Bonetia brevis Varol & Houghton, Bonetia quasitruncata Varol & Houghton, Micrascidites vulgaris Deflandre & Deflandre-Rigaud, M. gothicus sp. nov., Monniotia aciformis Varol & Houghton, M. fasciculata Varol & Houghton, M. minutula sp. nov., Rigaudia multiradiata Varol & Houghton, and R. praecisa Varol & Houghton. Ascidian spicules in the core muds probably released from the Didemnum species (i.e., D. candidum) were compared to Holocene nannofossil data, such as Alisphaera sp., Coronosphaera mediterranea, Emiliania huxleyi, small Gephyrocapsa spp., and Scyphosphaera spp., representing the NN21 Emiliania huxleyi zone. Drilling core sediments also include the same ascidian fossils, and also one nannofossil species, Gephyrocapsa oceanica, indicating the NN21 zone of upper Pleistocene stage, as found in sample SK-1.Based on the ascidian spicules and nannofossil records of the coring/drilled muds of Lake İznik was marine, as an inlet or lagoon connected to the modern Gulf of Gemlik, during the Pleistocene to Upper Holocene. It was likely separated from the Marmara Sea and turned into a freshwater lake after the upper Holocene.

Sandy contourite drift in the late Miocene Rifian Corridor (Morocco): Reconstruction of depositional environments in a foreland-basin seaway

The Rifian Corridor was a seaway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea during the late Miocene. The seaway progressively closed, leading to the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the key palaeogeographic importance of the Rifian Corridor, patterns of sediment transport within the seaway have not been thoroughly studied.In this study, we investigated the upper Miocene sedimentation and bottom current pathways in the South Rifian Corridor. The planktic and benthic foraminifera of the upper Tortonian and lower Messinian successions allow us to constrain the age and palaeo-environment of deposition. Encased in silty marls deposited at 150–300m depth, there are (i) 5 to 50m thick, mainly clastic sandstone bodies with unidirectional cross-bedding; and (ii) 50cm thick, mainly clastic, tabular sandstone beds with bioturbation, mottled silt, lack of clear base or top, and bi-gradational sequences. Furthermore, seismic facies representing elongated mounded drifts and associated moat are present at the western mouth of the seaway.We interpret these facies as contourites: the products of a westward sedimentary drift in the South Rifian Corridor. The contourites are found only on the northern margin of the seaway, thus suggesting a geostrophic current flowing westward along slope and then northward. This geostrophic current may have been modulated by tides. By comparing these fossil examples with the modern Gulf of Cadiz, we interpret these current-dominated deposits as evidence of late Miocene Mediterranean overflow into the Atlantic Ocean, through the Rifian Corridor. This overflow may have affected late Miocene ocean circulation and climate, and the overflow deposits may represent one of the first examples of mainly clastic contourites exposed on land.

Benthic foraminiferal faunas reveal transport dynamics and no-analog environments on a glaciated margin (Gulf of Alaska)

Paleoecological and faunal-based paleoenvironmental studies rely on fossil assemblages that have high fidelity to the once-living faunas and to the target environment. However, many sedimentary records contain multiple depositional facies, transported sediments with their associated fossils, and varying degrees of taphonomic alteration, which can confound interpretations. Here we combine measures of compositional fidelity, modern analog faunal methods, sedimentary analyses, and taphonomic scoring to examine the history of sediment transport and environmental change in a ~60,000year continental slope record from the Gulf of Alaska using benthic foraminiferal assemblages. These assemblages generally have good compositional fidelity to modern faunas in the Gulf of Alaska, but are not necessarily faithful to the modern continental slope. Fossil benthic foraminiferal assemblages with modern analogs from shelf and slope environments are intercalated downcore suggesting episodes of sedimentary transport to the slope site. Fossil assemblages without modern analogs in this record appear ecologically, rather than taphonomically, derived and thus suggest that the range of past environmental variation in the Gulf of Alaska is not captured by modern spatial variation. These no-analog fossil assemblages are allied with analog assemblages using similarity in taxonomic and sedimentary characteristics, permitting analysis of environmental change in shelf and slope settings from a single core. The faunal composition of the no-analog assemblages suggests the Gulf of Alaska slope experienced lower oxygen conditions in the past than observed in the modern gulf. Lower productivity is also suggested for some shelf samples, however geochemical proxy data are necessary to fully interpret the no-analog assemblages.

The morphology and evolution of tidal sand bodies in the macrotidal Gulf of Khambhat, western India

Tidal sand bars and tidal sand ridges are extensively developed in the macrotidal Gulf of Khambhat, offshore western India. The inner and outer regions of the gulf are characterised by the development distinct tidal sand bodies with discrete geometries and dimensions. The outer gulf ridges are long, narrow, curvilinear and several metres high (∼20 m). They are asymmetric in cross-section and migratory in nature, forming ‘ribbon’ like sand bodies separated by tidal channels. Active dunes on these ridges indicate the presence of sand and their orientation parallel to palaeo-shorelines supports a tidal origin. In contrast to the outer gulf tidal sand ridges, sand bars associated with macrotidal estuaries flanking the Gulf of Khambhat typically have an elongate to diamond shape and are only hundreds of metres in width and a few kilometres length. These tidal sand bars occur in the estuary mouths and within the tidally influenced fluvial reaches of the rivers flowing into the gulf. The height of these sand bars is in the range ∼1–3 m. Due to high tidal ranges and bi-directional flow the sand bars do not develop significant height and are formed between the mutually evasive ebb and flow channels. Their bi-directional foresets and the presence of abundant mud drapes associated with the dunes within in-channel sand bars indicate a tidal origin.The Gulf of Khambhat acquired the present configuration in the last few thousand years since the Pleistocene sea-level lowstand (last glacial maximum, ∼18 ka) when the entire continental shelf was subaerially exposed and rivers down-cut into the coastal plain. With increasing sea-level rise, the exposed shelf was drowned, flooding parts of the Modern western Indian peninsula, and large tidal sand ridges formed in the outer gulf. After the fall of sea-level at 2 ka the gulf acquired the Modern configuration with multiple estuaries on both coastlines, rivers supplied the embayment with sandy sediment, and tidal sand bars formed in the Modern estuaries.Quantitative data gathered from the Modern Gulf of Khambhat indicates that for the P50 case, a vertical drill hole will encounter tidal sand bodies (ridges and bars combined) of approximate dimensions 1700 m long, 470 m wide and 1.5 m high, with a spacing of 400 m. In subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs, where data is sparse and only limited amount of core is available, this quantitative dataset can be useful to constrain subsurface geocellular models. Also, the overall geometry, distribution and aspect ratio of the tidal sand ridges and tidal sand bars can be used to identify ancient counterparts through seismic geomorphology or in core.

Palaeoenvironmental and biostratigraphic implications of microbial mat-related structures: Examples from the modern Gulf of Cambay and the Precambrian Vindhyan Basin, India

A stretch of the modern hypersaline coastal plain of the Gulf of Cambay was chosen to examine the distribution of the microbial mat-related structures (MRS) on siliciclastic sediments in the intertidal and supratidal zones. The abundance of MRS increases from the lower intertidal zone to the upper supratidal zone while the type of MRS records a systematic change. While the lower intertidal zone exhibits wrinkle structures, sieve-like surfaces and patchy ripples in places, the upper intertidal zone exhibits diverse MRS related to reduced current activity on the mat layer and intermittent exposure. MRS in the upper intertidal zone include wrinkle structures, sieve-like surfaces, gas domes, reticulated surfaces, multi-directional ripples, patchy ripples, rolled-up mat fragments, setulfs and occasional petee ridges and cracked mat surfaces. The lower supratidal zone is characterized by increased occurrence of petee ridges, gas domes and cracked mat surfaces compared to the upper intertidal zone. The upper supratidal zone is distinguished by the presence of abundant cracked mat surfaces, petee ridges, gas domes and wrinkle structures. The presence of cm-scale, disc-shaped microbial colonies (DMC) with a variety of internal structures is a unique feature of the Gulf of Cambay study area. While wrinkle structures occur in all the coastal zones, setulfs occur close to the boundary between the upper intertidal and lower supratidal zones. An attempt has been made to compare the distribution of MRS in this modern environment with those in the ~1.6Ga Chorhat Sandstone of the Vindhyan Supergroup for high-resolution palaeoenvironmental interpretation. The upper part of the intertidal segment of the Chorhat Sandstone is distinguished from its lower part by the presence of abundant cracked mat surfaces, petee ridges and gas domes in the former, while wrinkle structures, Kinneyia, rolled-up mat fragments, patchy ripples and multi-directional ripples are equally abundant in both parts. The lower part of the intertidal segment of the Chorhat Sandstone is thus analogous to the upper intertidal zone of the modern Gulf of Cambay environment, while the upper part of the Chorhat intertidal segment reflects prolonged exposure close to the high tide line. The bottom-most part of the intertidal segment of the Chorhat Sandstone with fewer MRS corresponds to the lower intertidal zone at Cambay. Inferred disc-shaped microbial fossils within Vindhyan sandstones are analogous to the DMC found in the modern environment and these features do not have any biostratigraphic implication.

Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor

Foraminiferal assemblages in the stratigraphically lower part of the Bouse Formation in the Blythe basin (lower Colorado River corridor, western USA) indicate marine conditions, whereas assemblages in the upper part of the Bouse Formation indicate lacustrine conditions and suggest the presence of a saline lake. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the lower part of the Bouse Formation are similar to lagoonal and inner neritic biofacies of the modern Gulf of California. Evidence suggesting a change from marine to lacustrine conditions includes the highest occurrence of planktic foraminifers at an elevation of 123 m above sea level (asl), the change from low diversity to monospecific foraminiferal assemblages composed only of Ammonia beccarii (between 110 and 126 m asl), an increase in abundance of A. beccarii specimens (above ∼110 m asl), increased number of deformed tests (above ∼123 m asl), first appearance of Chara (at ∼85 m asl), lowest occurrence of reworked Cretaceous coccoliths (at ∼110 m), a decrease in strontium isotopic values (between 70 and 120 m), and δ18O and δ13C values similar to seawater (between 70 and 100 m asl). Planktic foraminifers indicate a late Miocene age between 8.1 and 5.3 Ma for the oldest part of the Bouse Formation in the southern part of the Blythe basin. Benthic and planktic foraminifers correlate with other late Miocene sections in the proto–Gulf of California and suggest that the basal Bouse Formation in the Blythe basin was deposited at the northern end of this proto-gulf. After the marine connection was restricted or eliminated, the Colorado River flowed into the Blythe basin, forming a saline lake. This lake supported a monospecific foraminiferal assemblage of A. beccarii until the lake spilled into the Salton Trough and the Colorado River became a through-flowing river.

The Marvel of Islam: Reconciling Muslim Epistemologies through a New Islamic Origin Saga in Naif al-Mutawa’s The 99

Abstract: Since its inception in 2006, Islam’s most popular comic strip, The 99, and its creator, Naif al-Mutawa, have both been the subject of much media scrutiny. Despite eschewing references to the most significant texts, figures, and symbols of Islam—readers of the comic find no mention of the Qur’an or the Prophet—neither its fiercest critics nor its most fervent supporters doubt the essentially Islamic nature of The 99. Drawing on the responses of students at the American University in Dubai (AUD), this paper explores how and why, within this modern Gulf setting, The 99 resonates as a profoundly Islamic publication. Attention is paid, first, to The 99’s origin saga, through which Muslim history is smoothed over, then re-spun in ways familiar to our students; and, second, to a number of special editions of The 99, through which al-Mutawa offers a new understanding of Islam’s role—with remarkable implications for political leadership—in contemporary society, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

Morphologic and seismic features of the Gulf of Gökova, SW Anatolia: evidence of strike-slip faulting with compression in the Aegean extensional regime

Recently acquired (2005) multi-beam bathymetric and high-resolution seismic reflection data from the E–W-oriented Gulf of Gokova off SW Anatolia were evaluated in order to assess the uneven seafloor morphology and its evolution in terms of present-day active regional tectonics. Stratigraphically, the three identified seismic units, i.e., the basement, deltaic sediments deposited during Quaternary glacial periods, and modern gulf deposits, are consistent with those observed in previous studies. Structurally, the folds and faults with strike-slip and reverse components have been regionally mapped for the first time. Of these, NE–SW-oriented left-lateral strike-slip faults with compressional components forming the so-called Gokova Fault Zone intersect and displace two WNW–ESE-oriented submarine ridges and deep submarine plains. Thus, strike-slip faults are the youngest major structures in the gulf, and control present-day active tectonism. E–W-oriented folds on the inner and outer shelf, which are generally accompanied by reverse faults, delimit the margins of these submarine ridges, and deform the young basin deposits. These features also reveal the concomitant existence of a compressional tectonic regime. The compressional structures probably represent pressure ridges along left-lateral strike-slip fault segments. However, some E–W-oriented normal faults occur on the northwestern and partly also southern shelf, and along the borders of the adjacent deep submarine plains. They are intersected and displaced by the strike-slip faults. The lower seismicity along the normal faults relative to the NE–SW-oriented strike-slip faults suggests that the former are at present inactive or at least less active.

Biodiversity and community structure of Late Pleistocene foraminifera from Kish Island, Persian Gulf (Iran)

The raised coral reef sequences at Kish Island provide a rare window into the depositional setting and paleoenvironment of a high-latitude, shallow-water coral reef that developed under turbid conditions in the Persian Gulf during Marine Isotope Stage 7 (~200 to 250 ka). Six sedimentary facies and eight foraminiferal assemblages can be identified throughout the sequence. A ninth assemblage can be defined for the modern subtidal realm. At the base of the sequence is a marl rich in hyaline foraminifera (Elphidium, Ammonia, Asterorotalia, Bulimina, Nonion, and Quinqueloculina) and ostracods, which was deposited in about 30–40 m water depth in a turbid deltaic setting. Shallowing resulted in the marl becoming sandy, and changing to a mollusc-rich facies with rare foraminifera (mostly smaller miliolid taxa) that formed the substrate for coral recruitment. The coral marl layer contains many large corals embedded in situ in an aggregate and coralline algae-rich marl. Two abundance peaks in the foraminifera occur at the base and mid-way through this layer, which also correspond to a change from Murrayinella-dominated to Placopsilina-dominated assemblages, indicating deepening and more open-marine conditions, but elevated turbidity. Towards the top of the layer, abundance of foraminifera decreases and miliolid foraminifera become dominant. The top-most layer is dominated by coral and mollusc fragments and has an Amphistegina-rich reef-related assemblage. Of the Late Pleistocene foraminiferal assemblages, the Murrayinella-, Pararotalia-, and Placopsilina-dominated assemblages are no longer present in the modern gulf for unknown reasons. Of the other five assemblages, only the Amphistegina assemblage is found within proximity to the modern Kish Island. The Elphidium and Asterorotalia-Bulimina assemblages are from deeper areas of the gulf. The Ammonia and Quinqueloculina assemblages occur in lagoonal sediments on the Arabian side of the gulf. Like the modern Persian Gulf, the diversity of foraminifera was low (~80 common species) during the Pleistocene and does not correlate with foraminiferal abundance.

El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability from the Late Cretaceous Marca Shale of California

Changes in the possible behavior of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with global warming have provoked interest in records of ENSO from past “greenhouse” climate states. The latest Cretaceous laminated Marca Shale of California permits a seasonal-scale reconstruction of water column flux events and hence interannual paleoclimate variability. The annual flux cycle resembles that of the modern Gulf of California with diatoms characteristic of spring upwelling blooms followed by silt and clay, and is consistent with the existence of a paleo–North American Monsoon that brought input of terrigenous sediment during summer storms and precipitation runoff. Variation is also indicated in the extent of water column oxygenation by differences in lamina preservation. Time series analysis of interannual variability in terrigenous sediment and diatom flux and in the degree of bioturbation indicates strong periodicities in the quasi-biennial (2.1–2.8 yr) and low-frequency (4.1–6.3 yr) bands both characteristic of ENSO forcing, as well as decadal frequencies. This evidence for robust Late Cretaceous ENSO variability does not support the theory of a “permanent El Nino,” in the sense of a continual El Nino–like state, in periods of warmer climate.