Significance Of Rocks Research Articles

The rock and the hunter. The significance of rocks and boulders in rock art production in the western Himalayas

AbstractThis paper is an addition to the recent advances in the field of rock art research and aims to accentuate the significance of rocks and boulders in the production of rock art. I argue that the rock itself must be recognized as an important element in rock art production even in cases where there are no discernible connections between the rock art images and the irregularities found in the rock surface. The paper concerns rock carvings from the Taru Thang site in Ladakh in northern India and builds on ethnography drawn from the Dardic-speaking people of the western Himalayas. I argue that the rocks must be understood as devices of communication between hunters and their supernatural allies, and that the images represent messages conveyed through the rock interface. In these acts of communication, the geological irregularities of the rock surface serve no purpose and have been avoided rather than included in the compositions.

The Fugs, the Lower East Side, and the Slum Aesthetic in 1960s Rock

AbstractDuring the mid-to-late 1960s, impoverished urban districts throughout the United States witnessed an influx of white middle-class youth who attempted to remake society and themselves against a backdrop of inner-city grit and decay. This article focuses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to explore the significance of slumming in the creation and reception of 1960s rock. Lower East Side rock musicians drew little overt influence from their neighborhood's longstanding ethnic communities, which included eastern Europeans, Puerto Ricans, and African Americans. Rather, these musicians were fascinated with the concept of the “slum” itself as a more abstract signifier of authenticity, adventure, and nonconformity. I propose that a “slum aesthetic” emphasizing dirt, obscenity, and willful amateurism, exemplified by local band the Fugs, was crucial to the Lower East Side rock scene. Examining this “slum aesthetic” helps paint a more nuanced picture of both the political significance of rock and the connections between popular music and urban life. As the Lower East Side's musicians sought both radical social change and a large audience, they represented their neighborhood in ways that combined thoughtful engagement with broad caricature, a contradiction that inspired both musical creativity and social tension.

The southern limit of Archean crust and significance of rocks with Paleoproterozoic model ages: Nd model age mapping in the Grenville Province of western Quebec

Detailed Nd model age mapping in the Grenville Province of western Quebec has identified biotite gneisses with crustal formation age intervals of 2.5-2.9 Ga and 1.8-2.0 Ga. Although the presence of Archean crust in the Grenville Parautochthonous Belt has been known for some time, the results of Nd model age mapping, combined with geochemical and aeromagnetic data, indicate that the Archean parautochthon extends more than 20 km to the south of the Renzy Shear Belt. This belt, which was previously defined as the southern limit of Archean crust, corresponds to an isolated allochthon with Nd model ages ranging from 2.0 to 1.4 Ga and does not demarcate the Allochthon Boundary Thrust. Rocks with model ages of 1.8-2.0 Ga exposed to the south of the Archean crust geochemically possess an arc affinity and are interpreted as a Paleoproterozoic arc. A model age boundary between Archean crust and this arc has been defined by this study. The age boundary probably represents a suture along which the southern margin of Laurentia and the arc converged.

Origins and significance of rocks in an imbricate thrust zone beneath the Pindos ophiolite, northwestern Greece

Summary Major zones of imbrication under the Pindos ophiolite of northwestern Greece relate to the formation of frontal and oblique ramp structures. These are marked by a northwest-trending line of tectonic windows in the ophiolite and a northeast-trending anticlinal structure which folds thrust contacts. The simplified structural sequence from top to bottom is: (1) Ophiolite lithologies, mainly pillow basalts and basal serpentinite; (2) Metabasites and meta-sediments of the ophiolite dynamothermal aureole ranging up to lower amphibolite facies; (3) A complex sequence of basalt, gabbro, pelagic sediments, olistostromes, debris flows and breccias interpreted as a sea floor sequence (the Perivoli Complex); (4) Early Cretaceous calcareous flyschoid sediments; and (5) Tertiary Pindos Flysch and melange. All the greenschist facies and the higher grade metamorphic rocks are interpreted as part of the metamorphic aureole and not as Palaeozoic basement. The generalized sequence of major deformational episodes is: (A) Thrusting within the sea floor with concurrent metamorphism causing polyphase deformation and juxtaposition of the ophiolite, the dynamothermal aureole and the Perivoli Complex. (B) The main imbrication along NNW-trending, E-dipping planes, involving all the lithologies and associated with the formation of major frontal and oblique ramp structures. (A) occurred during the Middle Jurassic ‘displacement’ of the ophiolite sheet. ‘Emplacement’-related deformation may have occurred in (1), (2) and (3), but is difficult to isolate due to the intensity of episode (B) which occurred during westward overthrusting in the Late-Tertiary and may have been related to an E-dipping subduction zone.