Natural history of New Zealand

The natural history of New Zealand began when the landmass Zealandia broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana in the Cretaceous period. Before this time, Zealandia shared its past with Australia and Antarctica. Since this separation, the New Zealand biota and landscape has evolved in near-isolation. The exclusively natural history of the country ended in about 1300 AD, when humans first settled, and the country's environmental history began. The period from 1300 AD to today coincides with the extinction of many of New Zealand's unique species that had evolved there.
The break-up of Gondwana left the resulting continents, including Zealandia, with a shared ecology. Zealandia began to move away from the part of Gondwana which would become Australia and Antarctica approximately 85 million years ago (Ma). By about 70 Ma, the break up was complete. Zealandia has been moving northwards ever since, changing both in relief and climate. The present biota of New Zealand does include descendants of Gondwanan lineages, but has lost many others, such as the Saint Bathans mammal, and has received many immigrant populations. Several elements of Gondwana biota are present in New Zealand today: predominantly plants, such as the podocarps and the southern beeches, but also distinctive insects, birds, frogs and the tuatara.
In the Duntroonian stage of the Oligocene, the land area of Zealandia was at a minimum. It has been suggested that water covered all of it, but the consensus is that low-lying islands remained, perhaps a quarter of the modern land area of New Zealand.
Before the split (Gondwana, 85 million years ago).
In the late Cretaceous, Gondwana was a fraction of its original size, however, the landmasses that would become Australia, Antarctica and Zealandia were still attached. Most of the modern 'Gondwanan fauna' had its origin in the Cretaceous. During this time Zealandia was temperate and almost flat, with no alpine environments.
Gondwanan fauna.
Fossils found at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, suggest that 110 million years ago (Ma), Australia supported a number of different monotremes, but did not support any marsupials. Marsupials appear to have evolved during the Cretaceous in the contemporary northern hemisphere, to judge from a 100-million-year-old marsupial fossil, "Kokopellia", found in the badlands of Utah. Marsupials would then have spread to South America and Gondwana. The first evidence of mammals (both marsupials and placental) in Australia comes from the Tertiary, and was found at a 55-million-year-old fossil site at Murgon, in southern Queensland. As Zealandia had rifted away at this time it explains the lack of ground dwelling marsupials and placental mammals in New Zealand's fossil record.
Dinosaurs continued to prosper but, as the angiosperms diversified, conifers, bennettitaleans and pentoxylaleans disappeared from Gondwana 115 Ma together with the specialised herbivorous ornithischians, whilst generalist browsers, such as several families of sauropodomorph Saurischia, prevailed. The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event killed off all dinosaurs except birds, but plant evolution in Gondwana was hardly affected. Gondwanatheria is an extinct group of non-therian mammals with a Gondwanan distribution (South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, and Antarctica) during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene. Xenarthra and Afrotheria, two placental clades, are of Gondwanan origin and probably began to evolve separately when Africa and South America separated.
Gondwanan flora.
Angiosperms evolved in northern Gondwana/southern Laurasia during the Early Cretaceous and radiated worldwide. The southern beeches, Nothofagus, are prominent members of this early angiosperm flora. The Late Cretaceous pollen record show that some types of flora evolved across Gondwana, while others originated in Antarctica and spread to Australia. Fossils of Nothofagus have also recently been found in Antarctica.
The laurel forests of Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand have a number of species related to those of the laurissilva of Valdivia, through the connection of the Antarctic flora. These include gymnosperms and the deciduous species of "Nothofagus", as well as the New Zealand laurel, "Corynocarpus laevigatus", and "Laurelia novae-zelandiae". At this time Zealandia was mostly covered in forests of podocarps, araucarian pines and ferns.
Rafting away (latest Cretaceous 85–66 Ma).
The Australia-New Zealand continental part of Gondwana split from Antarctica in the late Cretaceous (95–90 Ma). This was followed by Zealandia separating from Australia (c.85 Ma). The split started from the Southern end and eventually formed the Tasman Sea. By about 70 Ma, the continental crust of Zealandia separated from Australia and Antarctica. However, it is not known when the division of land above sea level occurred, and for some time only shallow seas would have separated Zealandia and Australia in the north. Dinosaurs continued to live in New Zealand and had about had 10–20 million years to evolve unique species after it separated from Gondwana.
In the Cretaceous, New Zealand was much further south (c.80 degrees south) than it is today, however, it and much of Antarctica was covered in trees as the climate of 90 Ma was much warmer and wetter than today.
New Zealand's present native fauna does not contain land mammals (other than bats) or snakes. Neither marsupials nor placental mammals evolved in time to reach Australia before the split. The multituberculates, a primitive type of mammal, may have evolved in time to cross to New Zealand using the land bridge. The evolution and dispersal of snakes is less certain, due to their poor fossil record, it is uncertain as to whether they were in Australia before the opening of the Tasman Sea. Ratites evolved around c. 80 ma and may have been present in Zealandia at this time.
Swamps and rifting (Paleocene to Eocene 66 to 33.9 Ma).
At the start of the Paleocene New Zealand's biota was recovering from the extinction of dinosaurs and those species which survived were expanding into the empty niches. There was a slight decrease in mean temperature at the start of the Paleocene leading to a change in canopy species. Zealandia was largely covered by shallow seas with low-lying land and swamps. The oldest penguin fossil in the world and various other sea birds are found in New Zealand from this time.
The Tasman sea continued to expand until the early Eocene (53 Ma). The western half of Zealandia then along with Australia formed the Australian Plate (40 Ma). In response to this a new plate boundary was created within Zealandia between the Australian Plate and Pacific Plate. This led to the formation of a subduction arc with active volcanism forming islands north and west of present New Zealand. New Zealand was low lying due to this extension and swamps became widespread. Today these are recorded as large coal seams in the geological record.
The isolation of Antarctica and formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is credited by many researchers with causing the glaciation of Antarctica and global cooling in the Eocene epoch. Oceanic models have shown that the opening of these two passages limited polar heat convergence and caused a cooling of sea surface temperatures by several degrees; other models have shown that CO2 levels also played a significant role in the glaciation of Antarctica. Published estimates of the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current vary, but it is commonly considered to have started at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.
Whales were completely marine creatures by 40 Ma, while New Zealand oldest whale fossils are from 35 Ma.
New Zealand's shallow seas (Oligocene 33.9 to 23 Ma).
From the early Oligocene, at maximum submersion of the Zealandia landmass, almost all New Zealand's rocks are marine. Oligocene terrestrial sediments are few, scattered, and not well-dated. It has been suggested that at some point, Zealandia was entirely underwater, and consequently all land biota would be descended from later immigrants.
Molecular estimates of divergence times between 248 extant New Zealand lineages and their closest relatives elsewhere follow approximately a smooth exponential over the last 50 million years or more. Some 74 of these lineages appear to have survived the Oligocene in New Zealand. There is no evidence for a deficit of pre-Oligocene lineages, nor an excess of lineages arriving just afterwards. This strongly suggests that New Zealand was never submerged completely. Although there is no obvious peak of lineage extinction in the Oligocene, the limited diversity of mitochondrial DNA in kiwis, moas, and New Zealand wrens indicate that all three lineages underwent a genetic bottleneck (small effective populations) roughly coinciding with the maximum submersion; New Zealand at this time probably consisted of low-lying islands with a limited diversity of habitats.
Significant uplift occurred by the mid-Oligocene (~32–29 Ma) in the modern Canterbury Basin, where palaeochannels eroded through the early Oligocene Amuri Limestone lead eastwards to the present Bounty Trough.
The North and South island have been separate for most of the last 30 million years allowing for the development of separate sub species.
The Southern Alps, Foulden Maar and Saint Bathans Fauna (Miocene – Pliocene 23 to 2.6 Ma).
Major uplift occurred on the Alpine Fault, which started to form the hills and the mountains that became the Southern Alps.
Foulden Maar a maar-diatreme volcano preserved a high diversity of freshwater fish, arthropods, plants and fungi at a lake 23 Ma. It is the only known maar of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and is one of New Zealand's pre-eminent fossil sites. The fossil evidence derived from pollen and spores suggests a warm temperate or sub-tropical rain forest with canopy trees, with an understorey of shrubs, ferns and on the margins pioneer species. Climatically, the area resembled modern-day south-eastern Queensland a humid sub-tropical zone with species that no longer occur in the New Zealand flora. The lake contained small and large galaxiid fishes and eels, ducks (inferred from coprolites), and likely crocodiles as well.
The Saint Bathans Fauna represents a detailed record of New Zealand's terrestrial life in the Miocene. It shows that small land mammals and crocodile existed and have since become extinct. The earliest moa remains come from the Miocene Saint Bathans Fauna. Known from multiple eggshells and hindlimb elements, these represent at least two species of already fairly large sized species.
The boundaries defining the Pliocene are not set at an easily identified worldwide event but rather at regional boundaries between the warmer Miocene and the relatively cooler Pliocene. The upper boundary was set at the start of the Pleistocene glaciations. Uplift intensified on the Alpine Fault forming the Southern Alps. This global cooling coupled with an increase in elevation led to the local extinction of many groups of plants, which are now still found in New Caledonia. The new niches created in the mountains were filled with migrants from Australia and those species which could quickly evolve.
The Taupo Volcanic Zone and ice age (Pleistocene - Holocene 2.6 Ma to today).
The ice age began 2.6 Ma, at the start of the Pleistocene epoch, and is defined by the presence of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. During the warmer periods sea level was higher than today leading to raised beaches around New Zealand. New Zealand's flora is still recovering from the last glacial maximum. About 2 Ma, extension and subduction under the North Island formed the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Leading to the central North Island being covered in cobalt deficient soils which restrict forest development. One of the largest eruptions being the Lake Taupo eruption of 186 AD.
Since the last glacial maximum there have been three major climatic periods the coldest period from 28–18,000 years ago, an intermediate period from 18–11,000 years ago and our current climatic condition the warmer Holocene Inter Glacial over the last 11,000 years. In the first period global sea levels were about lower than today. This made most of New Zealand a single island and exposed great sections of the currently submerged continental shelf. Temperatures were about 4–5 °C lower than today. Much of the Southern Alps and Fiordland were glaciated and much of the rest of New Zealand was covered in grass or shrubs, due to the cold and dry climate. These vast tracks of exposed land with little vegetation cover increased wind erosion and the deposition of loess (windblown dust). This deforestation led to a reduction in the forest cover and many canopy species were restricted to the northern areas of the country. The Kauri was at the time only present in Northland but has progressively moved south from there over the last 7000 years, reaching its current limit about 2000 years ago.


Antarasu

Antarasu (Quechua "anta" copper, Ancash Quechua "rasu" snow, ice, mountain with snow, "snow-covered copper mountain", Hispanicized spelling "Antarazo") is a mountain in the Chunta mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is located in the Huancavelica Region, Castrovirreyna Province, Santa Ana District and in the Huancavelica Province, Huancavelica District. Antarasu lies west of the mountain Qarwarasu "(Carhuarazo)" of the Huancavelica Region and southwest of the mountain Wamanrasu.


Anoual Formation

The Anoual Formation is a geological formation in the High Atlas of Morocco. It is early Bathonian in age. It consists of two members. The lower member is several hundred metres thick, and consists largely of mudstone with lens beds of cross bedded sandstone, with thin intercalations of limestone that was deposited in a continental setting. The upper member is several tens of metres thick and consists of limestone deposited in a shallow marine setting. The formation is fossiliferous, with several of the limestone intercalations yielding a diverse fauna, including amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals.


Nambija mine disaster

The Nambija mine disaster was a landslide which occurred in a remote mining settlement in the southeastern part of Ecuador on 9 May 1993. A part of the mountain above the countless mines gave way and buried about 300 people. A definite number will never be known, since there are no records about the number of people living or working in Nambija.
Location and slide.
The Nambija mining settlement is located in the southeastern part of Ecuador, high up in the mountains, in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, about 30 km east of Zamora, close to the Peruvian border. It can only be reached after a three-hour drive over a rough gravel road, which was only built in 1986. The town itself is situated in a valley, 2600m above sea level, built on the steep slopes of the mountains. Most of the houses are built right on the tunnel entrances to the mines, made from corrugated iron and tin. The mountains are riddled with adits and holes. The air is damp and full of toxic fumes from the mining process, making Nambija one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Torrential rains during the days before the disaster, softening the soil even more, made things worse.
Nambija has the title of being "The World's Most Dangerous Gold Town". This is due to the fact that violence and crime rate were very high, understandably, if you consider 10.000 people living on a patch of land about 1 square km in size. Working and living conditions played a role in this title, too. Every family had their own mine, mine shafts were hitting other mines, even basic principles of static went unobserved.
Thus, the mountains around Nambija were virtually hollow by 1990, and experts warned that further mining would drastically increase the probability of a landslide. Also, the vibrations from the huge rock crushing plant in the center of the town were a cause for fear.
Then, on the afternoon of May 9, 1993, Mother's Day, a large part of the mountain at the end of the valley, above the mines and part of the town, collapsed. About 80 homes were destroyed, with an estimated 200-250 people living in them. (The link to the Houston Chronicle which used to be here is dead and was thus removed) A lot of the homes doubled as entrance shacks to the mines, and people working in there were buried. Rescue operations were difficult, since the site is so hard to reach. For the people there though, the disaster is just a part of their daily life. In the unaffected parts of the settlement, mining went on.
Casualties.
A reliable number of casualties is nowhere to be found, and probably never will. Early estimates told of about 80 people being killed, later numbers went as high as 400. The location of the slide, clearly visible even today, is an official graveyard, and many of the people buried in the disaster still lie under the mountain. Since no one knows the number of people living and working in Nambija at any given time, an accurate account of the people killed is impossible. Still, apart from the catastrophic living and working conditions, the events of this single day represent one of the worst mining disasters ever, and remain virtually unknown due to the remoteness of the site.


Cueros de Purulla

Cueros de Purulla is a volcano in Argentina. It consists of a lava dome and an associated ignimbrite. A large eruption dated to c. 7820 BP deposited ash into the Valles Calchaquies.
Geography and geomorphology.
The volcano lies in Catamarca Province of Argentina southeast of Antofagasta de la Sierra. Cerro Blanco volcano lies south of Cueros de Purulla.
It is the northern of two lava domes which lie at the southern end of the Sierra de Calalaste. The dome is accompanied by ignimbrites and a debris deposit consisting of obsidian lies at the foot of the dome. Two volcanic fallout units are associated with Cueros de Purulla. A lower fallout unit consisting of lapilli and volcanic ash extends several kilometres from the volcano, and remnants occur as far as from it. The upper unit is formed by ignimbrites and pyroclastic density current deposits.
Composition and ores.
Volcanic rocks erupted at Cueros de Purulla include rhyolite. Mineralogically, the rocks contain allanite, amphibole, apatite, biotite, clinopyroxene, epidote, feldspar, ilmenite, magnetite, muscovite, quartz, titanite and zircon. For the past five millennia, the volcano has been used as a source of obsidian, which occurs at in the form of blocks and nodules of various colours, and is of high quality. Reportedly, gold and silver can be found at the volcano.
Eruption history.
The lava dome at Cueros de Purulla is 400,000 ± 100,000 years old. A large eruption occurred during the Holocene, 7820 years before present (i.e. about 5870 BC). Deposits from this eruption form the Cerro Paranilla Ash in the Calchaquí Valleys. The eruption was highly explosive, forming a buoyant cloud and depositing tephra as far as Cafayate in the Salta Province.


Ampatuyoc (Pachamarca)

Ampatuyoc (possibly from in the Quechua spelling "Hamp'atuyuq"; "hamp'atu" frog, "-yuq" a suffix, "the one with a frog (or frogs)") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru which reaches a height of approximately . It is located in the Huancavelica Region, Churcampa Province, Pachamarca District.


Sidobre

The Sidobre is a mountainous area located in the south of the Massif central, in central France. It is a 15.3 km long, 6.6 km wide plateau made of granite, covered with forests. Its highest point is in the "lieu-dit" “Le Patau” (707 m).
Location.
It is located in the Tarn department, at the South-Western end of the Massif central, between Lacrouzette, Ferrières, Saint-Salvy-de-la-Balme and Lafontasse, surrounded by the following natural regions :
Geology.
The granite of the Sidobre is a plutonic rock resulting from a Hercynian intrusion dated back (using the Rubidium-Strontium method) to 304 ± 8 Ma. The magma cooled down slowly and crystallised at a depth of 7.5 to 20 km. It eventually came to the surface with the erosion of the Cambrian metamorphic rocks.
In the central part of the "massif", the granite is a granodiorite slightly porphyric, hence its blue tints, while the outer part is essentially composed of monzonite.
Sites.
Originally composed by one single piece of rock, the Sidobre was cracked by the Pyrenean orogeny, thus becoming more exposed to the rhexistasy, which explain the remarkable natural forms and constructions of the site.
The Sidobre, while just adjacent to it, is totally independent from the Montagne Noire. They are separated by the sedimentary basin of Castres and the “Thoré trench”.
This stunning site, with its dozens of huge strange-shaped rocks, is unique in Europe (other sites exist in France, but in a much smaller scale), and has inspired many legends and tales.
Economy.
The Sidobre is an important zone of quarrying, representing half of the granite production in France, with about 1,200 employees and 100 companies. The number of quarries has been constantly decreasing since the 1950s, reaching barely fifteen nowadays, though the exploitations have grown bigger. The activity suffers from the competition with China.
Its granite being used for many purposes: pavements, airport runways, funerary art…
While mass tourism is still uncommon in the area, local tourism also contributes to the Sidobre's economy.
The site and its environment have been placed under the protection of the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park.


Karelides

The Karelides are an ancient mountain chain located between Eastern Finland and Lapland. It forms the current hill zone of Eastern Finland and Lapland's arctic hills, splitting central Finland. The Karelides formed about 2000 million years ago, when thick sandstone formations were tilted and folded during an orogeny involving a collision of continental plates. Subsequent erosion has left a ridge of resistant quartzite, which has stood there for millions of years.
The mountains in the north-west corner of Finnish Lapland belong to the more recent Scandinavian Mountains and are higher than other Finnish mountains. The third mountain group is the Svecofennides, which run from Southern Finland to Sweden.


Lion Rock (New Zealand)


Gymnagnostus

Gymnagnostus is a genus of trilobite in the order Agnostida, which existed in what is now Oaxaca, Mexico. It was described by Robison and Pantoja-Alor, in 1968, and the type species is "Gymnagnostus gongros".


Angascocha (mountain)

Angascocha (possibly from Quechua "anqas" blue, "qucha" lake) is a mountain in the northern part of the Chonta mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Huancavelica Region, Huancavelica Province, Acobambilla District, near the border with the Junín Region. Angascocha lies north of Huch'uy Anqas and northeast of the lake named Anqasqucha.


Pepemkay

Pepemkay is an extinct genus of lissoberycine trachichthyid fish in prehistoric North America.
The prehistoric ray-finned fish genus contains a single species, Pepemkay maya.
Fossil record.
"Pepemkay maya" is known from fossils in the Sierra Madre Formation, from the Cenomanian stage during the Late Cretaceous epoch.
The geologic formation is located in Chiapas state of southwestern Mexico.


Walter Mantell

Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell (11 March 1820 – 7 September 1895) was a 19th-century New Zealand naturalist, politician, and land purchase commissioner. He was a founder and first secretary of the New Zealand Institute, and a collector of moa remains.
Early life.
Mantell was born in Lewes, Sussex, England, the son of geologists Gideon Mantell and Mary Ann Mantell (née Woodhouse). He arrived in Wellington on the "Oriental" in 1840.
In 1848, Mantell was appointed to the office of commissioner for extinguishing native titles in the South Island. After his father committed suicide in 1852, much of his collection of fossils was inherited by Walter and consequently transported to New Zealand.
Mantell left New Zealand as he did not feel right about trying to convince the indigenous Māori people to undersell their land and returned to England in 1856, where he met Geraldine Jewsbury, a woman eight years his senior. When in New Zealand, the Maori people called Mantell "Matara". Jewsbury used this as a nickname for Mantell. When Mantell was in England he had difficulty finding work. He became restless at home as well as a tendency to act as a hypochondriac. Jewsbury encouraged him to write for the "Westminster Gazette" or to write a novel about New Zealand. Mantell eventually became tired of his friend's persistent advice. Jewsbury, however, wanted what was best for Mantell and felt deeply attached to him; she once proposed marriage to Mantell in a letter, but he declined her offer. By 1859 Jewsbury had ceased trying to win his love. Shortly thereafter, Mantell returned to New Zealand.
Political career.
Mantell represented the Wallace electorate from 1861 to 1866, when he retired. He was the Minister of Māori Affairs in 1861 and 1864–65, and Postmaster-General briefly in 1862. From 1866 until his death he was on the New Zealand Legislative Council.
In 1865, he donated the "prime specimen" of his father's fossil collection to Wellington's Colonial Museum (modern-day Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa), including the famous tooth that had led to the discovery of Iguanodon.
Personal life.
Mantell married Mary Sarah Prince on 5 August 1869. Mary was the daughter of Mary Ann Bevan and Edward Prince and was born in Wellington on 26 August 1845. She died of typhoid at the Mantell home in Sydney Street on 15 March 1873, aged twenty-seven, and was buried in the Bolton Street Cemetery. He had claimed to have married Mary Prince on 29 July 1863.
Mantell married Jane Hardwick a daughter of Benjamin Hardwick of Kent on 10 January 1876 and died in Wellington on 7 September 1895.
Mantell and Mary Prince's son, Walter Godfrey Mantell, was born on 30 April 1864 and legitimized in 1894. He became a dentist in Wellington and married on 28 November 1888 in Auckland Catherine Louise Marguerite Bucholz, daughter of Ernest Louis Bucholz, the late German, Belgian and Italian Consul in Auckland.
Legacy and commemoration.
Mantell's fossils remain in possession of the Museum of New Zealand to the present day. Mantell is commemorated in the names of the North Island brown kiwi "Apteryx mantelli" and the North Island takahē "Porphyrio mantelli".


Osorno (volcano)

Osorno Volcano is a tall conical stratovolcano lying between Osorno Province and Llanquihue Province, in Los Lagos Region of Chile. It stands on the southeastern shore of Llanquihue Lake, and also towers over Todos los Santos Lake. Osorno is considered a symbol of the local landscape, and is noted for its similar appearance to Mount Fuji.
Osorno is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with 11 historical eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869. The basalt and andesite lava flows generated during these eruptions reached both Llanquihue and Todos los Santos Lakes. The upper slopes of the volcano are almost entirely covered in glaciers despite its very modest altitude and latitude, sustained by the substantial snowfall in the very moist maritime climate of the region. This mountain also produces pyroclastic flow, since it is a composite volcano.
Osorno sits on top of a 250,000-year-old eroded stratovolcano, La Picada, with a 6-km-wide caldera.


Eldfell

Eldfell is a volcanic cone just over high on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. It formed in a volcanic eruption, which began without warning on the eastern side of Heimaey, in the Westman Islands, on 23 January 1973. The name means "Hill of Fire" in Icelandic.
The eruption caused a major crisis for the island and led to its temporary evacuation. Volcanic ash fell over most of the island, destroying around 400 homes, and a lava flow threatened to close off the harbour, the island's main income source via its fishing fleet. An operation was mounted to cool the advancing lava flow by pumping sea water onto it, which was successful in preventing the loss of the harbour.
After the eruption, the islanders used heat from the cooling lava flows to provide hot water and to generate electricity. They also used some of the extensive tephra, fall-out of airborne volcanic material to extend the runway at the island's small airport and as landfill on which 200 new houses were built.
Background.
Iceland is a region of frequent volcanic activity, due to its location astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian Plates are moving apart, and also over the Iceland hotspot, which greatly enhances the volcanic activity. It is estimated that a third of all the basaltic lava erupted in the world in recorded history has been produced by Icelandic eruptions.
The Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) archipelago lies off the south coast of Iceland, and consists of several small islands, all formed by eruptions in the Holocene epoch. Heimaey, the largest island in the group and the only inhabited one, also contains some material from the Pleistocene era. The most prominent feature on Heimaey before 1973 was Helgafell, a 200 meters (650 ft) high volcanic cone formed in an eruption about 5,000 years ago.
The Vestmannaeyjar archipelago was settled in about 874 AD, originally by escaped Irish slaves belonging to Norse settlers on the mainland. These settlers gave the islands their name, Ireland being west of mainland Scandinavia. Although plagued by poor water supplies and piracy during much of its history, Heimaey became the most important center of the Icelandic fishing industry, having one of the few good harbors on the southern side of the country, and being situated in very rich fishing grounds.
The eruption begins.
At about 20:00 on 21 January 1973, a series of small tremors began to occur around Heimaey. They were too weak to be felt by the residents of the island, but a seismic station away, near the mainland, recorded over 100 large tremors between 01:00 and 03:00 on 22 January that appeared to be emanating from south of Heimaey. The tremors continued at a reduced rate until 11:00 that day, after which they stopped until 23:00 that evening. From 23:00 until 01:34 on 23 January, seven tremors were detected that grew shallower and more intense, while the epicenter moved closer to the town of Vestmannaeyjar.
The largest tremor measured 2.7 on the Richter scale.
Small tremors are very common at plate boundaries, and nothing here indicated that they heralded a major eruption. The onset of the eruption was therefore almost entirely unexpected. At about 01:55 on 23 January, a fissure opened up on the eastern side of the island, barely a kilometre away from the centre of the town of Heimaey, approximately 200 metres (650 ft) east of Kirkjubær ("Church farm"), where the island's church had once been located.
The fissure rapidly extended from 300 metres to a length of , crossing the island from one shore to the other. Submarine activity also occurred just offshore at the northern and southern ends of the fissure. Spectacular lava fountaining 50 to 150 metres high occurred along the whole fissure, which reached a maximum length of about during the first few hours of the eruption, but activity soon became concentrated on one vent, about north of the old volcanic cone of Helgafell and just outside the eastern edge of the town.
During the early days of the eruption, the rate of lava and tephra emission from the fissure was estimated to be 100 cubic metres per second (3,500 cubic feet per second), and within two days, the lava fountains had built a cinder cone over 100 metres (330 ft) high. The name initially given to the new volcano was Kirkjufell ("Church Mountain"), owing to its proximity to Kirkjubær. This name was not adopted by the official Icelandic place-naming committee, who chose Eldfell ("Fire Mountain") instead, despite local opposition. The fountains' Strombolian eruptions continued until 19 February, depositing thick tephra over the northern half of the island and adding to the cone until it was 200 metres (660 ft) high.
The eruption column that caused the air fall "occasionally rose to 9,000 metres (30,000 ft), or nearly to the tropopause". Lava flows from the cone traveled north and east to produce a "continuously expanding lava delta" along the east coast of the island and into the harbor, where small explosions built up a diminutive island that was soon overtaken by the advancing delta.
The first lavas erupted by Eldfell had a mugearitic chemical composition but within a few weeks the volcano was erupting less fractionated lavas which had a hawaiitic composition.
By early May, the lava flow was between and in height. It averaged more than and in some places was as much as thick. The flow carried off large blocks from the main cone that had broken off, as well as volcanic bombs. "The viscosity of the lava fragments ejected by the blasts was, for basalt, relatively high. Very little spatter was produced and scoria bombs sometimes broke up explosively in flight (presumably due to rapid vesiculation), and by rapid impact on landing." The high viscosity led to a "massive, blocky aā lava flow which moved slowly but relentlessly toward the north, northeast, and east."
Volcanic gases were collected from several locations. Gases collected at sea along the submerged part of active eruptive fissure were dominantly carbon dioxide and gases from cooling submerged lava flows were about 70 percent hydrogen. (Richard & James, 1983) Poisonous gas was found at low areas on the eastern part of Vestmannaeyjar. A wall was constructed between the vent and town to divert the gas, and a long trench was excavated for the steam to escape. However, none of these measures were completely effective. (Richard & James, 1983)
Evacuation.
In the early hours of the eruption, the Icelandic State Civil Defence Organisation evacuated the entire population of Heimaey, having previously developed evacuation plans for an emergency such as this. The evacuation was necessary because lava flows were already moving slowly into the eastern side of town, and the whole of the small island was threatened by the likelihood of heavy ash fall.
Because of severe storms in the days before the eruption, almost the entire fishing fleet was in the harbour, a stroke of luck which greatly assisted the organisation of the rapid evacuation. The population was alerted to the situation by fire engines sounding their sirens, and gathered by the harbour with just the small amount of possessions they were able to carry. The first boats left for Þorlákshöfn at about 02:30, just half an hour after the start of the eruption.
Most of the population left the island by boat. Fortunately, the lava flows and tephra fall did not at first affect the island's airstrip (Vestmannaeyjar Airport), and a few people who were unable to travel by boat were evacuated by air—primarily the elderly and patients from the hospital. Planes were sent from Reykjavík and Keflavik to help speed the process. Within six hours of the onset of the eruption, almost all of the 5,300 people of the island were safely on the mainland. A few people remained to carry out essential functions and to salvage belongings from threatened houses. Cattle, horses and sheep on the island were slaughtered. On the mainland, friends, relatives and strangers offered shelter and housing. By the end of the day, all 5,300 people were spread around cities and towns on the mainland.
Destruction of houses, creation of land.
Houses close to the rift were soon destroyed by lava flows and tephra fall. A few days after the eruption began, the prevailing wind direction moved to the west, resulting in extensive tephra falls over the rest of the island, causing extensive property damage. Many houses were destroyed by the weight of the ash fall, but crews of volunteers working to clear the ash from roofs and board up windows saved many more. By the end of January, tephra covered most of the island, reaching 5 metres (16 ft) deep in places. Apart from falling ash, some houses were also burned down by fires caused by lava bombs, or overridden by advancing lava flows.
By early February, the heavy tephra fall had abated, but lava flows began to cause serious damage. Submarine activity just north of the fissure severed an electric power cable and a water pipeline which supplied electrical power and water from the Icelandic mainland, and lava began to flow towards the harbour, a situation which caused serious concerns - if the harbour was destroyed, the island's fishing industry would be devastated. By early May, about 300 buildings had been engulfed by lava flows or gutted by fire and 60-70 homes had been buried by tephra.(Richard & James, 1983) As Heimaey was responsible for some 3% of Iceland's GNP, the effect on the whole country's economy would be significant. Efforts to prevent the loss of the harbour are described further below.
Lava flows also moved into the sea east of the island, creating new land that would eventually add over to the island, and into the eastern parts of town, destroying several hundred houses. The flows were thick and blocky aā lava (Icelandic: apalhraun) flows, and covered the ground to average depths of about 40 metre (130 ft), reaching 100 metre (330 ft) thick in places. Later on in the eruption, a surge of lava destroyed one fish processing plant and damaged two others, and also demolished the town's power generating plant.
Despite the eruption's close proximity to the town and the extensive property damage, only one fatality could be attributed to the eruption - a man who had broken into a chemist's store to acquire drugs was suffocated by toxic fumes. Carbon dioxide, with small amounts of poisonous gases, became concentrated in many buildings partially buried by tephra, and several other people were affected when entering these buildings.
Efforts to mitigate the hazards presented by the accumulation of poisonous gas included the building of a large tephra wall to divert gases away from the town, and the digging of a trench to channel away the CO2 (carbon dioxide). These defences were only partially effective, as they relied on the assumption that the gases were produced at the vent, and flowed into the town from there. It is believed that as least some of the CO2 originated deep within the volcanic conduit and percolated through older volcanic rocks, rising directly into the town.
Lava-cooling operations.
The possibility of lava flows cutting off the harbour was the most significant threat facing the town. One contingency plan devised, should the harbour be closed off, was to cut through a low sand spit on the north side of the island to provide a new channel into the harbour, but it was hoped that if the lava flow could be slowed, this would not be necessary. Lava flows had been sprayed with water in attempts to slow them in Hawaii and on Mount Etna, but these had been rather small-scale operations with limited success. However, Professor Þorbjörn Sigurgeirsson carried out an experiment that proved that further advances of the lava could be impeded by prematurely solidifying the advancing lava-flow front.
The first attempt to slow the lava flow by spraying the leading edge with sea water began on 6 February, and although the volume of water being pumped on was rather small at 100 litres per second (26 US (liquid) gallons per second), the flow was noticeably affected. The lava changed as water poured on it. Before cooling, the flow of the lava was blocky, covered with volcanic bombs and was a reddish oxidised colour. After cooling, the surface became more jagged and was much more difficult to walk on, and the flow surface turned from black to grey. (Richard & James, 1983) Water cooling of the lava was slow but efficient, with almost all the water converted to steam. Once the viability of lava cooling had been proven, efforts to halt the flows were increased.
The pumping capacity was increased in early March, when a large chunk of the crater wall broke away from the summit of Eldfell and began to be carried along the top of the lava flow towards the harbour. The chunk, dubbed Flakkarinn ("The Wanderer"), would have seriously threatened the viability of the harbour if it had reached it, and the dredging boat "Sandey" was brought in on 1 March to prevent its advance. Professor Þorbjörn Sigurgeirsson provided advice to the pumping crews on where to direct their efforts to most efficiently slow the flows. Eventually the Wanderer broke up into two pieces which both stopped approximately 100 metres (330 ft) from the harbour mouth.
The ensuing lava-cooling operations were the most ambitious that had ever been undertaken. "Sandey" was able to spray up to 400 litres per second (105 US gallons per second) onto the advancing flow, and a network of pipes was laid on top of the lava to distribute the seawater over as wide an area as possible. Wooden supports for the pipes caught fire where the lava was hottest, and even aluminium supports melted, but the pipes themselves were prevented from melting by the cold seawater flowing through them. Up to 12,000 square metres (3 acres) of lava flow could be cooled at one time, with internal barriers then being created within the flow, which thickened and piled up upon itself.
The work involved in laying pipes over an active lava flow was highly dangerous, with low visibility due to the extensive emission of steam. Rough tracks were made onto the flow by bulldozing tephra, but these tracks quickly became very uneven and moved several metres a day. The pipelayers used bulldozers and walkie-talkies to advance through the steam to lay more pipes. The workers dubbed themselves 'The Suicide Squad', and managed to lay pipes up to 130 metres (430 ft) inward from the flow front, directly over the advance. Although several men sustained minor burns, no serious injuries were received.
By the end of March, a fifth of the town had been covered by lava flows, and increased pumping capacity was required. Thirty-two pumps, each with a capacity of up to 1000 litres per second (265 US gallons per second), were brought in from the United States. After these pumps began to cool the flow advancing towards the town, its movement slowed dramatically and soon stopped. Failure of pump shafts became a problem after a few weeks, probably because they were designed for pumping oil rather than water, and new and improved shafts had to be manufactured in Reykjavík and brought in.
One notable feature of the lava cooling operation was the deposit of large amounts of salt where seawater was sprayed onto the lava. Large expanses of flow became encrusted with extensive white deposits, and it was estimated that up to 220,000 tonnes (240,000 short tons) of salt was deposited in total.
Sigurgeirsson called these protective measures "undoubtedly the most extensive that have ever been used in a volcanic eruption" and said that "had it not been for the cooling, the lava tongue [into the harbor] could be expected to…extend further along its direction of movement…for a whole month longer than it actually did. It failed by only about 100 meters to block the entrance to the harbor".
The cooling operation ended on 10 July 1973, and approximately 7.3 million cubic metres of seawater were pumped. This eruption was a special case where the method used to control the lava was suited to local conditions. Firstly, the initial eruption was only 1100 yards from the centre of town and harbour. Next, the flow of lava was slow and allowing time to plan and carry out control. Thirdly, sea water was available in its nearby harbour and lastly, it was easy to move pipes and pump equipment as the transport system by sea and road was good. (Richard & James, 1983) The entire operation cost a total of US$1,447,742 at the time.
The eruption made headlines around the world when it began, and was covered constantly by Icelandic news crews throughout. In Europe, the eruption was one of the biggest news items while it continued, competing for front page space with breakthroughs then being made in the Vietnam War peace talks in Paris. The efforts of the islanders to halt the lava flows received particular attention, with coverage in publications such as National Geographic.
The attention focused on the island as a result of the eruption led to a later upsurge in tourism once the eruption was over.
The eruption dies down.
The volume of lava being emitted during the eruption fell steadily after the first few days. From its initial rate of 100 cubic metres per second (3500 cubic feet per second), the emission rate fell to about 60 cubic metres per second (2100 cubic feet per second) by 8 February, and just 10 cubic metres per second (350 cubic feet per second) by the middle of March. The decline was slower after that, but by the middle of April the flow rate had fallen to about 5 cubic metres per second (180 cubic feet per second).
Short-lived submarine activity was discovered by a fishing vessel on 26 May, about north-east of Heimaey and off the coast of the mainland. The eruption finally came to an end in early July, when flowing lava was no longer visible, although subsurface flows may have continued for a few days longer. Shortly before the end of the eruption, a tiltmeter 1150 metres (3750 ft) from the crater which had been measuring ground deformation throughout the eruption detected subsidence towards the crater, implying that the shallow magma chamber which had fed the eruption was emptying out.
In total, the volume of lava and tephra emitted during the five-month eruption was estimated to be about 0.25 of a cubic kilometre (0.06 of a cubic mile). About of new land was added to the island, increasing its pre-eruption area by some 20%. In the end, the harbour entrance was narrowed considerably but not closed off, and the new lava flow acted as a breakwater, improving the shelter afforded by the harbour. Flakkarinn rafted several hundred metres towards the harbour along the top of the lava flow, but came to a halt well away from the water's edge.
Heimaey since the eruption.
By the end of 1975, the population of the Westman Islands had returned to roughly 85% of its pre-eruption level. 42% among those with destroyed houses did not return before the end of 1975, while the rate was only 27% among those whose houses were not destroyed. By 1974, fishing companies in the Westman Islands were back to normal production levels. Counter-intuitively, the new lava field actually improved the harbour in Westman Islands. Also counter-intuitive, the forced displacement had a large positive causal effect on both the earnings and education for those who were younger than 25 years old at the time of the eruption.
The insides of lava flows can remain at temperatures of several hundred degrees for many years due to the very low thermal conductivity of rock. Following the end of the eruption, scientists began to assess the feasibility of extracting geothermal heat from the gradually cooling flows. Experimental heating systems were soon devised, and by 1974 the first house was connected. The scheme was extended to several more houses and the hospital, and in 1979 construction began of four larger plants to extract heat from the flows. Each plant extracted energy from a square 100 metres (330 ft) on each side, by percolating water down into the hot parts and collecting the resulting steam. Up to 40 megawatts (MW) of power could be generated by the plants, which also then supplied hot water to nearly every house on the island.
The tephra produced by the eruption was used to extend the runways at the island's small airport, and also as landfill on which 200 new homes were built. By mid-1974, about half the pre-eruption population had returned to the island, and by March 1975, about 80% had returned. The recovery and reconstruction of Heimaey was paid for by all Icelanders via a hypothecated sales tax, as well as through international aid totalling US$ 2.1 million primarily from Denmark but with substantial contributions from the United States and several international organisations. With the harbour improved by the new lava breakwater, the fishing industry regained its former vigour and the island today remains the most important fishing centre in the nation, as over a third of Iceland's total fish catch is from this harbour.
By the end of the eruption, Eldfell stood about 220 metres (720 ft) above sea level. Since then, its height has dropped by 18 to 20 metres (60 to 65 feet), due to slumping and compacting of the unconsolidated gravelly tephra as well as wind erosion. The islanders have planted grass around the lower slopes of the otherwise bare hill, to stabilise it against further erosion, and eventually it is expected that most of the volcano will be covered by grass, as neighbouring Helgafell is. Eldfell is one of the best known volcanic eruptions in the world.


Chopicalqui

Chopicalqui or Chopicallqui (possibly from Huaylas Quechua "Chawpi" "center" "kallki" "ravine") is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca area in the Andes of Peru. With a summit elevation of above sea level it is one of the highest peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. It lies in Yungay Province, Ancash, between the mountains Huascarán and Contrahierbas.
Climbing.
The standard climbing route is the Southwest Ridge, a moderate snow climb that is popular with climbers and can be crowded at times. It possesses a difficulty rating of PD+/AD- on the French System for grading alpine routes but deep snow on the summit slopes causes most failures for parties attempting the ridge.
Other established climbing routes include the following:


Janusaurus

Janusaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic Slottsmøya
Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of Central Spitsbergen. The holotype consists of a partial skull.


San Marcos Formation

The San Marcos Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period.


Geology of the Nelson Region


Jomfruland

Jomfruland is a small elongated Norwegian island located off the coast of mainland Kragerø in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, about 2 km south of the island of Stråholmen. It measures about 7.5 km by 1 km. Jomfruland provides shelter to the many islands of the Kragerø archipelago from the Skagerrak seas.
Approximately on the island's center there are two white lighthouses – one old and one new. Only the newer is in use today. The lighthouses are most characteristic and can be seen from all sides. These towers are often referred to as the characterizing feature of Kragerø and the archipelago.
Access to Jomfruland is by water taxi, car ferry, or by private vessel. The island has several guest harbours. The island has several attractions, among which are splendid beaches, developed docks with restaurant and kiosk facilities, rolling stone beaches on the island's north side, as well as good hiking possibilities for tourists and residents alike.
Name etymology.
The meaning of the name is 'virgin (is)land' (probably The Blessed/Holy Virgin Mary, but also possibly because the island 'dives', like the virgins, in high sea.) - but this is a poetic name first mentioned in 1520. The name of the island in Norse time was "Aur" (from Norse "aurr" 'gravel, shingle' - the whole island is a moraine that was made during the ice age).
Plant and animal life.
Jomfruland is famous for it abundance of European thimbleweed, a feature which made it a location for the 1995 Norwegian movie production of Sigrid Undset's "Kristin Lavransdatter". Every spring, in the beginning of May, the white thimbleweed spreads out like a blanket across the island.
The island is also known for its rich bird life, with more than 300 species having been spotted. Jomfruland Bird Station ("Jomfruland Fuglestasjon") is a facility run by the Telemark chapter of the Norwegian Ornithological Society. The station which was established in 1969 is located at Øitangen on the northern peak of the island. Much of the bird migration each spring and autumn follows the coastline and passes by the island's northern peak. From March through November the stations is manned continuously. Many civilian servicemen have been deployed here since the 1990s, and these together with other persons in short-term employment have provided the backbone of the service which however also benefits from many volunteer workers.
Due to the island's diverse plant life, a relatively large number of nesting bird species have been documented. As of March 2006, 92 species were breeding, and of these, approximately 40-50 every year. The barred warbler is one of the regular species with Jomfruland perhaps being the only location in Norway where this bird breeds. Also thrush nightingale, common rosefinch and red-backed shrike are regular breeding species, whereas more irregular finds are of greenish warbler (1992 – only breeding observation in Norway), stock pigeon, northern shoveler and barnacle goose (the latter two on nearby islands). A vast number of birds breed on islets and skerries around Jomfruland, one of these being the black guillemot.
Geology.
Geologically, Jomfruland is part of a large residual moraine from the Ice Age called the Ra step. Jomfruland is the product of the back parts of the moraine (Ra) sticking out of the water. Eastward, the moraine remains underwater from Jomfruland to Mølen in Brunlanes, before it reappears after crossing Tromøy. Where the Ra is connected to the mainland it forms pebble beaches. Between Jomfruland and Tromøy there are shallow waters in places where the moraine almost reaches the water surface.


Pajapan

Pajapan is a municipality and city in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in south zone of the State of Veracruz, about from the state capital of Xalapa. It has a surface of , and is located at .
Geographic limits.
The municipality of Pajapan is delimited to the north by Mecayapan to the east by the Gulf of Mexico and Coatzacoalcos, to the south by Chinameca and Cosoleacaque and to the west by Mecayapan. By decree of June 22, 1889, the limits were established between the municipalities of Mecayapan and Pajapan. By a decree of October 6, 1898, Pajapan was annexed as a community within the municipality of Minzapan.
Agriculture.
It produces principally maize, beans, rice, watermelon, mango and orange fruit.
Celebrations.
In Pajapan, in May takes place the celebration in honor to San Juan de Dios, Patron of the town.
Weather.
The weather in Pajapan is warm all year with rains in summer and autumn.


Northern Mountain Range (Albania)

The Northern Mountain Range () is a geographical region in northern Albania. It is one of the four main regions of Albania, the others being Central Mountain Range, Southern Mountain Range, and Western Lowlands. The northern range encompasses the Albanian Alps extending from the Lake Shkodër shared with Montenegro in the northwest through the Valbonë Valley to the Drin Valley in the east. The area falls within the Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Balkan mixed forests terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests.
Inside the Northern Mountain Range, there are two national parks and a nature reserve, namely Theth National Park, Valbonë Valley National Park and Gashi River Nature Reserve. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the nature reserve as Category I, while the national parks as Category II. In 2017, the Gashi River was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe.
Geology.
Albanian Alps.
The composition of the great tectonic units reflects the history of the formation of the Albanian Alps. The Albanian Alps (Bjeshkët e Nemuna or Prokletije) are the southernmost and highest part of the Dinaric Alps. However, Albania encompasses the significant portion of the Albanian Alps with a surface area of . They extend more than from Lake Shkodër in the west along the border between Albania and Montenegro towards to Kosovo in the east.
References.


Eotebenna

Eotebenna is a genus of helcionellid from the Early to Middle Cambrian of Greenland, Denmark and Australia, with sail-like "snorkels", similar to "Latouchella".


Apujirca Punta

Apujirca Punta (possibly from Quechua "apu" an Andean deity, "hirka" mountain, "punta" horn) is a mountain in the Andes of Peru which reaches a height of approximately . It is located in the Huánuco Region, Huánuco Province, Churubamba District. Apujirca Punta lies northwest of Sagrahuagra and south of Machay.


Anta Ranra

Anta Ranra (quechua "anta" copper, "ranra" stony, stony place, "stony copper place", also spelled "Antarangra") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru which reaches an altitude of approximately . It is located in the Lima Region, Huarochirí Province, Huanza District. Anta Ranra lies south of a lake named P'itiqucha.


Videle oil field

The Videle oil field is an oil field located in Videle, Teleorman County, Romania. It was discovered in 1958 and developed by Petrom. It began production in 1961 and produces oil. The total proven reserves of the Videle oil field are around 300 million barrels (41×106tonnes), and production is centered on .


Acuminatella

Acuminatella is a genus of gondolellid conodonts. Fossils have been found in the Pardonet Formation in the Schooler Creek Group in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.


Pasternakevia

Pasternakevia is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. "Pasternakevia" was regarded as part of the clade Planaterga. Fossils of the single and type species, "P. podolica", have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian period in Podolia, Ukraine.
The prosoma of "Pasternakevia" covered by a smooth, semicircular carapace with rounded genal cornua (posterolateral corner of carapace). Within the 10-segmented opisthosoma, tergite of the first segment is reduced and usually hidden under the preceding carapace, while the second one is significantly arched and well-developed. All but the first tergite possess well-developed pleurae (lateral extension). A complete telson is yet to be discovered.


Chilecebus

Chilecebus is an extinct genus of New World monkeys that lived in what is now Chile (Abanico Formation) during the Early Miocene some 20 million years ago. The type species is "C. carrascoensis". It had a body mass of about .


Christchurch Art Gallery

The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New Zealand and international exhibitions. It is funded by Christchurch City Council. The gallery opened on 10 May 2003, replacing the city's previous public art gallery, the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, which had opened in 1932.
The Māori elements of the name are explained as follows: "Te Puna" honours waipuna, the artesian spring beneath the gallery and "Waiwhetu" refers to one of the tributaries in the immediate vicinity, which flows into the River Avon. "Waiwhetu" may also be translated as ‘water in which stars are reflected’.
History.
The previous public art gallery, the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, opened on 16 June 1932 and closed on 16 June 2002. It was located in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, adjacent to Canterbury Museum, where the building still stands unused, as of 2019.
Christchurch City Council committed funds to buying land for a new gallery in 1995 and purchased the Christchurch Art Gallery site in 1996. A competition to design the new gallery was launched in 1998.
The building.
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū was designed by the Buchan Group. The gallery's forecourt has a large sculpture, "Reason for Voyaging", which was the result of a collaboration between the sculptor Graham Bennett and the architect David Cole.
The building was used as Civil Defence headquarters for Christchurch following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, and again after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The gallery was designed to deal with seismic events. The gallery's foundation, a concrete raft slab that sits on the surface of the ground, evenly distributes earthquake forces. However, it sustained some damage during the earthquake. The gallery building was used as a Civil Defence headquarters for seven months after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and did not reopen until 19 December 2015 due to the need for extensive refurbishments and improvements.
Directors.
Although the Robert McDougall Art Gallery opened in 1932, the first paid director, William Baverstock, was appointed in 1960 (he had previously served as honorary curator from 1949).


Esjan

Esja, more commonly called Esjan ("the Esja", ), is a mountain situated in the south-west of Iceland, about 10 km to the north of Iceland's capital city Reykjavík.
Esja is not a single mountain, but a volcanic mountain range, made from basalt and tuff.
Etymology.
The name is likely related to an archaic word, , meaning rock flake or carving stone.
In the "Kjalnesinga saga", there is a rich widow among Irish settlers named Esja, but it is likely that the woman's name is derived from the mountain and not vice versa.
"Esja" can be used as a given name in Iceland.
Formation.
Esja was built up at the end of the Pleistocene with the beginning of the Ice Age. During the warm periods lava flowed, and in the cold periods ridges of tuff were built up under the glacier. The western part of the mountain range is the oldest (about 3.2 million years) and the eastern part is the youngest (about 1.8 million years). The movements of the plate boundaries cutting diagonally through Iceland are continually pushing the strata to the west and away from the active volcanic zone. Intrusions, i.e. large magma channels coming from the old central volcanoes at Kjalarnes and Stardal, found entrances into the strata. The result was a series of large lava fields, one above the other, which the Ice Age glacier ground down. It left only the highest summits, like the mountain ranges of Esja or Akrafjall.
Physical features.
The easternmost summits of the mountain range, called Móskarðshnúkar, are of an unusually light colour. An Icelandic writer in the 19th century, so goes the story, hoped to see the sun there after a long period of rain. But when he looked closer, it was only the mountaintops with their colours. In reality, it is the rhyolite stone, often to be found in Icelandic nature near old (and also active) central volcanos.
Hiking and climbing.
Within easy reach of the capital, Esja is a very popular recreation area for hikers and climbers. The best known hiking paths lead to the summits Þverfellshorn (780 m) and Kerhólakambur (851 m). Þverfellshorn is also easily accessible by public transport.
The path is divided into sections, marked with signs along the way. Each sign gives an indication of the difficulty of the path ahead with a grade system ranging from 1 boot (easy) to 3 boots (challenging). At the third sign experienced climbers can choose to climb directly to the peak, instead of following the path which goes off to the right. After approximately 6.6 kilometers of walking and 597 meters altitude gain is a big rock called Steinn. It is here that most inexperienced climbers choose to go down again, as the path becomes increasingly difficult from there.
The highest point, at 914 m, is called Hábunga. From Þverfellshorn, reaching Hábunga requires another three-kilometer trek northeast, across a rocky plateau with no directional signs or clear path. As of August 2011, Hábunga was marked only by a large cairn with a wooden stick at the top.
There is danger of avalanches in the wintertime, last fatality was in 2020


Ojos del Salado

Nevado Ojos del Salado is an active stratovolcano in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border and the highest active volcano in the world at . It is also the second highest mountain in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere behind Aconcagua at approximately 7,000 meters (23,000 ft) and it is the highest in Chile.
Due to its location near the Atacama Desert, the mountain has very dry conditions, with snow usually remaining on the peak only during winter, though heavy storms can cover the surrounding area with a few feet of snow even in summer. Despite the generally dry conditions, there is a permanent crater lake about in diameter at an elevation of on the eastern side of the mountain. This is most likely the highest lake of any kind in the world.
The ascent of Ojos del Salado is mostly a hike until the final section to the summit, which is a difficult scramble that may require ropes. The first ascent was made in 1937 by Jan Alfred Szczepański and Justyn Wojsznis, members of a Polish expedition in the Andes.
An international highway between Chile and Argentina runs north of the mountain.
Name.
"Nevado" ("permanently snowbound') is a toponym sometimes used for stratovolcanoes. "Ojos del Salado" could be translated as "Eyes of the Salty One"; it comes from the enormous deposits of salt that, in the form of lagoons or “eyes”, appear in its glaciers.
Geology and geomorphology.
Regional.
Ojos del Salado, along with several other high volcanoes such as El Muerto, El Solo, Nevado Incahuasi and Nevado Tres Cruces lies at the southern end of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes.
Volcanic activity in the region commenced 26 million years ago in the Cordillera Claudio Gay at the same time as the neighbouring Maricunga Belt volcanoes were active. Starting 18 million years ago, local subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate became increasingly shallower, and this caused volcanism to shift from the Maricunga Belt to the Ojos del Salado region.
The Paleozoic basement crops out only northwest of Nevado Tres Cruces. Other geologic units in the region are Oligocene sedimentary units and volcanic rocks ranging from Oligocene age to less than 1.5 million years old. The area is part of a tectonic boundary between a volcanically active region north of the boundary and a less volcanically active region south of the boundary, which is also characterized by geographical differences, e.g. the presence of transverse valleys.
Local.
Ojos del Salado, like other major neighbouring mountains, is a complex of lava domes and lava flows, with the main summit surrounded by peripheral domes such as El Solo and El Fraile and many other lateral centres. Fumaroles are encountered at the summit of Ojos del Salado within a depression. Potassium-argon dating has yielded ages of 1.2 ± 0.3 million years ago and less than 1 million years ago from rocks north of Ojos del Salado.
There are glaciers on the mountain, in the crater and in the form of penitentes which reach heights of . Other reports indicate the absence of glaciers on Ojos del Salado. The melting of permafrost on the mountain nourishes several lakes, one of which, fed by a creek, lies at altitude.
Ojos del Salado is an active volcano, but the question of whether it should be considered "currently" (or "historically") active is arguable. According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the most recent known eruption was about 1,300 years ago, an estimate with large margin of uncertainty; there is, however, some evidence for a minor ash emission in 1993, which would definitely qualify the volcano as historically active. The presence of fumaroles high on the mountain and recent-looking lava flows, albeit of uncertain age, also argues in favor of a categorization as "active." By these definitions, Ojos del Salado is the highest historically active volcano on Earth. If the older date is accepted, the title of "highest historically active volcano" might reside instead with the somewhat lower Llullaillaco volcano, which erupted most recently in 1877 and is considered active.
Composition.
Salado's rock is predominantly potassium-rich dacite and rhyodacite. Its lavas are high in biotite, hornblende, plagioclase, and opaques, with lower levels of augite, quartz, and hypersthene.
Elevation.
The elevation of Ojos del Salado has been the subject of debate. The mountain is hidden behind other peaks, and thus its height was not appreciated in early research until 1937 when the mountain was climbed by Polish climbers.
A 2006 article in Andes Magazine proposed that Ojos del Salado may be higher than Aconcagua, an argument premised on old altitude surveys of questionable accuracy which assigned Ojos del Salado an elevation of , nearly higher than Aconcagua. A 1955 estimate set the elevation of Ojos del Salado at , but that was "simply [...] based on the altitude of the final camp, and the hours of ascent to the summit." In 1956 the first Chilean expedition, led by the retired lieutenant René Gajardo, using a pocket pressure altimeter, measured the height of Ojos del Salado as . Compounding the inexact quality of this method is the fact that the measurement was taken when the team reached the summit in the afternoon, when air pressure generally decreases, which resulted in a reading far too high.
An expedition to the area in the 1990s claimed that nearby Monte Pissis was even higher than Ojos del Salado. Later measurements using more precise equipment showed that Ojos del Salado is about higher than Pissis; furthermore, a 2007 Chilean–Argentine–European expedition organized by Andes Magazine and Azimut 360, using even more accurate instruments and performing surveys on both Ojos del Salado and Monte Pissis, found the former to be and the latter Although this fits within recent handheld GPS surveys which have estimated the mountain to be between and , the vertical error margin of the expedition's equipment , leaves the mountain's precise altitude uncertain.
A DGPS study from Phillipe Reuter in 2007, measured Ojos del Salado as 6,891.7 meters (SIRGAS).
Ojos del Salado has two summits, one in Argentina and the other in Chile (the border between the two countries runs between the two summits). The difference in elevation of the two summits is less than 1m (less than 3 ft 3 in).
Motorized partial ascent.
Ojos del Salado has been a popular mountain for attempts to attain the highest altitude aboard a land vehicle.
The previous long-standing record altitude for a four-wheeled vehicle was set on April 21, 2007 by the Chilean duo of Gonzalo Bravo G. and Eduardo Canales Moya. Reaching an altitude of 6,688 meters (21,942 ft.) with a modified Suzuki Samurai, the duo beat the previous record of 6,646 m which had been set on March 13, 2007 by German Matthias Jeschke in a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.
Jeschke set the high altitude record for trucks reaching a height of 6,675 meters (21,899 ft) with a Mercedes-Benz Zetros truck on March 6, 2015. This is also a world record for a diesel-powered engine.
On April 19, 2015 Chilean Gianfranco Bianchi reached an altitude of 6,472 m (21,233 ft) with a Suzuki RMZ 450, setting the altitude record for a motorcycle.
On November 6, 2017, Matthias Jeschke, again, attempted to gain two world records, one for construction at altitude and the other by beating the then current 6,688 m record. A refuge hut was built at 6,100 m (a record), but on December 19 it was announced the altitude record attempt had been called off at a height of 6,150 m for a combination of factors including an insurmountable rock barrier and adverse weather conditions.
On December 13, 2019, a 10-person team led once again by Matthias Jeschke finally succeeded in breaking long-standing record. They reached an altitude of 6,694 m (21,962 ft) in a modified Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5023. It was part of an expedition to set up an emergency radio system on top of the volcano.


Paralitherium

Paralitherium was an early sea cow from the late Eocene of Hungary (Felsotarkany).
Etymology.
The species name "tarkanyense" honors Felsotarkany, Hungary, where the type specimen was collected.


Boleopsis

Boleopsis is an extinct genus of beetles from the Eocene aged Oise amber of France.


Vittorio Simonelli

Vittorio Simonelli (May 1860, in Arezzo – 9 February 1929, in San Quirico d'Orcia) was an Italian geologist and paleontologist.
Biography.
He studied natural sciences at the University of Pisa as a pupil of Giuseppe Meneghini. From 1883 he taught classes in physical geography at Pisa, later travelling to Munich, where in 1889/90 he studied paleontology with Karl von Zittel and August Rothpletz. From 1891 to 1895 he was an assistant to the chair of geology at the University of Bologna, then relocated to University of Parma as an instructor of geology and mineralogy.
In 1903 he returned to Bologna as a teacher of geology at the Royal School of Engineers (""Regia Scuola d'Applicazione per gli Ingegneri"), and during the following year took on additional duties as an instructor of geology and mineralogy at the Royal School of Agriculture ("Regia Scuola Superiore di Agraria""), also in Bologna. In 1904 Giovanni Capellini appointed Simonelli as curator of the "Museo Geologico" at the university. During his career, he travelled widely, taking scientific trips throughout Italy, and to Crete, Cephalonia, Podolia, Palestine, Galicia and North Africa.
In 1893 he was the first to identify the remains of prehistoric elephants on Crete, being located in three cave sites near the city of Rethymno. Also on Crete he discovered the remains of prehistoric deer, which he described as "Anoglochis cretensis".
The mineral simonellite commemorates his name.
Published works.
He was the author of sixty published works that included treatises on the geology of Monte Cetona, fossils of La Verna and the geology of Heraklion, to name a few. He was a founding editor, with Carlo Fornasini, of the journal "Rivista italiana di paleontologia".
The following are some of his significant writings:


Sarmatian Craton

The Sarmatian Craton or Sarmatia is the southern segment/region of the East European Craton or Baltica, also known as Scythian Plateau. The craton contains Archaean rocks 2.8 to 3.7 billion years old (Ga). During the Carboniferous the craton was rifted apart by the Dnieper-Donets rift. As a result, geomorphologically the cratonic area is split by the Donbass Fold Belt, also known as a part of the large Pripyat-Dniepr-Donets aulacogen, which transects Sarmatia, dividing it into the Ukrainian Massif or shield on the southwest and the Voronezh Massif to the northeast.
Sarmatia is made up of several once-independent Archaean land masses that formed respectively at 3.7–2.9, 3.6–2.8, 3.2–3.0, and 2.7–2.6 Ga. These are separated by a series of 2.2–2.1 Ga orogenic belts. Sarmatia's northwestern margin has an extensive continental magmatic arc dating back to 2.0–1.95 Ga.
The Ukrainian Shield and Voronezh Massif are the exposed areas of the Sarmatian Craton. The craton can be divided into Archaean ( 3.7–2.7 ) terranes separated by Palaeoproterozoic (c. 2.2–2.1 Ga and 2.0–1.9 Ga) belts.
The Osnitsk-Mikashevichi Belt in the northwest is -wide and extends for more than from the Trans-European Suture Zone to Moscow. It is exposed only in the northwest corner of the Ukrainian Shield and in the Pripyat Trough (west of the Devonian Dniepr–Donets Aulacogen). Although mostly hidden beneath Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks the belt can be traced magnetically. The presence of granitic batholiths intruded by diorites and gabbros at c. 1.98–1.95 Ga and hypabbysal and metavolcanic rocks dated to 2.02 Ga indicate the Osnitsk-Mikashevichi Belt formed at an Andes-type active margin along which 2.0–1.95 Ga-old oceanic crust subducted. This subduction was followed by a calm period after which Sarmantia and Fennoscandia collided c. 1.84–1.82 Ga.
The Palaeoproterozoic Volyn Domain is made of 2.06–2.02 Ga-old granitoids emplaced within the 2.2 Ga-old, strongly deformed rocks of the Teterev–Belaya Tserkov belt. The area was strongly deformed at 1.98–1.95 Ga but it can be interpreted as a setting of intense volcanism and sedimentation in a coastal-marine environment in which island arcs reused detritus from Archaean sources.
The 1.80–1.74 Ga-old Korosten pluton in northern Ukraine formed from a succession of volcanism. It was originally believed to be an anorogenic process fueled by mantle underplating. More recently, however, it has been demonstrated that the Korosten pluton is not made of mantle-derived igneous material but from the lower crust of the Osnitsk-Mikashevichi Belt extruded in the Central Belarus Suture Zone.
The Podolian Domain in southern Sarmantia is made mostly of Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic granulites (up to 3.7 Ga) and divided by major faults into the Vinnitsa and Gayvoron regions.
Archaean charnockite intrusions are common in the southeast. Exposed rocks in western Sarmantia are -thick Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic crust. Granulites in southern Sarmantia were exhumed from a depth of at least . The Golovanevsk Suture Zone in the east contains almost 3.0 Ga-old igneous rocks. The oldest rocks are probably derived from early Archaean oceanic crust.


Claudia Roth (paleobiologist)

Claudia Roth is a research scientist in the field of paleobiology. She is associated with Institute of Sciences of Evolution, Lille University of Science and Technology, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France and the Institute of Geosciences-Palaeontology, University of Mainz, Germany. Roth and Legendre have both contributed as a team to the Paleobiology Database, an online closed scientific database.


Vicente Guerrero Formation

The Vicente Guerrero Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.


Tapejara wellnhoferi

Tapejara (from a Tupi word meaning "the old being") is a genus of Brazilian pterosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Santana Formation, dating to about 112 million years ago). "Tapejara" crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head.
Species and classification.
The type species and only one currently recognized as valid by most researchers, is "T. wellnhoferi". The specific name honors German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer. Two larger species, originally named "Tapejara imperator" and "Tapejara navigans", were later classified in the genus "Tapejara". However, several studies have shown that "T. imperator" and "T. navigans" are significantly different from "T. wellnhoferi" and therefore were reclassified into new genera. The species "T. imperator" was given its own genus, "Tupandactylus", by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. Unwin and Martill found that "T. imperator" and "T. navigans" belong in the same genus, and named them "Ingridia imperator" and "I. navigans", respectively. This genus name honored Wellnhofer's late wife Ingrid.
Because "Tupandactylus" was named first, it retained priority over the name "Ingridia". To complicate matters, both the name "Tupandactylus" and "Ingridia" used the former "Tapejara imperator" as their type species. The scientists who described "Tupandactylus" did not name a "Tupandactylus navigans" (but instead suggested it was synonymous to "Tupandactylus imperator"), and "Tapejara navigans" was not formally reclassified as a distinct species of "Tupandactylus" until 2011.
The cladogram below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Kellner, the describer of "Tapejara", and colleagues in 2019. They recovered "Tapejara" within the Tapejarini (a tribe within the family Tapejaridae), sister taxon to three other genera: "Europejara", "Caiuajara", and "Tupandactylus".
Paleobiology.
Comparisons between the scleral rings of "Tapejara" and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been cathemeral, active throughout the day at short intervals.


Melanorosaurus

Melanorosaurus (meaning "Black Mountain Lizard", from the Greek "melas/", "black", "oros/", "mountain" + "/", "lizard") is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period. A herbivore from South Africa, it had a large body and sturdy limbs, suggesting it moved about on all fours. Its limb bones were massive and weighty, like sauropod limb bones.
Description.
"Melanorosaurus" had a skull which measured approximately 250 mm. The snout was somewhat pointed, and the skull was somewhat triangular when seen from above or below. The premaxilla had four teeth on each side, a characteristic of primitive sauropodomorphs. The maxilla had 19 teeth on each side of the jaw.
"Melanorosaurus" was around long, with a weight of .
Discovery and species.
The type specimens, syntypes SAM 3449 and SAM 3450, were described and named in 1924 by Haughton. They were collected from the Triassic Lower Elliot Formation, dating to the early Norian, on the north slope of the Thaba 'Nyama (Black Mountain) in Transkei, South Africa. The first complete skull referred to "Melanorosaurus", NM QR3314, was described in 2007. However, this specimen comes from the Upper Elliot, unlike the "Melanorosaurus" type material and NM QR1551, rendering its referral to the genus untenable.
"Melanorosaurus thabanensis" was named in 1993 by Gauffre, based on holotype MNHN LES-16, a femur found in the Upper Triassic lower Elliot Formation. However, a recent review of the material demonstrated that the femur, along with six other bones, can't be referred to the genus "Melanorosaurus", and a new combination ("Meroktenos thabanensis") was created.
Classification.
"Melanorosaurus" was once classified as a prosauropod, but Prosauropoda no longer appears to be a natural group. According to some definitions of Sauropoda, "Melanorosaurus" is an early sauropod. However, these definitions also take in many other former "prosauropods", and Adam Yates has proposed a definition of Sauropoda that will specifically exclude "Melanorosaurus" (Sauropoda as all sauropodomorphs closer to "Saltasaurus" than "Melanorosaurus"). This definition would allow Sauropoda to retain its traditional concept.


Kardamaina

Kardámaina or Kardámena (), is a small Greek town 7 km from Kos Island International Airport at Antimacheia, situated mid-way along the south coast of the island of Kos. It lies in the municipal unit of Irakleides, in the Dodecanese. Once a small fishing village, it has been a popular summer destination for the past two decades, offering pubs, restaurants, bars, night clubs and watersports facilities. According to the 2011 census, there were 1,650 inhabitants census and a land area of 35.150 km². Between June and September the town population triples due to the influx of tourists.
History.
Kardamaina is built on the site of the ancient settlement of Alasarna. During the 2nd century BC, Alasarna was an important urban center with a thousand citizens (excluding slaves).
Archaeological excavations have brought to light some impressive ruins, such as a temple of Apollo, an extensive Early Christian settlement (one of the few known in Greece), and four basilicas that belong to the same period. Stone objects of everyday use (millstones, tools, vases, vessels), mostly made of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, have been recovered.


Bow Valley Provincial Park

Bow Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada. Established in 1959 in the arch of the Bow River at its confluence with the Kananaskis River, the park is one park of many within the Kananaskis Country park system.
This park is located at the eastern edge of Alberta's Rocky Mountains in the Bow Valley, and it features trout fishing in the Bow River and spectacular mountain scenery. It includes forested areas, meadows, lakes, and an area of unusual "warm" springs. There are also glacial landforms such as eskers, kames, moraines, and kettle lakes that formed during the retreat of the Bow Valley glacier in the late Pleistocene.
Geologic Setting.
The spectacular mountains that flank the park, such as Mount Yamnuska, consist of resistant Cambrian to Devonian age carbonate rocks that have been placed on top of softer Late Cretaceous sandstones and shales by the McConnell Thrust Fault. That fault also provides a conduit for some of the spring water that surfaces in the Many Springs area of the park.
The spring water at Many Springs has a year-round temperature of about and does not freeze in the winter. It originates as precipitation in the surrounding mountains and percolates down to a depth of about where it is warmed by geothermal heat. It then circulates up along the plane of the McConnell Thrust, which passes under the park beneath Many Springs. After mixing with water from the sand and gravel deposits that underlie the Bow Valley, the spring water flows into the lake at a rate of about 100 L/sec (26 gal/sec).
The park also features good examples of fluvioglacial landforms that formed during the retreat of the Bow River valley glacier in the late Pleistocene. These include Middle Lake, which is a kettle lake that was formed by a large block of ice that had become detached from the retreating glacier. The block became surrounded by glacial outwash, and when it melted it left the depression that now holds the lake. There is also a variety of kames, eskers and moraines in the park.
Flora and fauna.
After the glacier retreated, the park area was colonized by shrubby pioneer plants that were subsequently replaced by a coniferous forest. The vegetation in the park today is a mix of forested areas and open meadows, and is adapted to cold winters, strong Chinook winds, and hot dry summers.
The forest is dominated by pines and includes spruce, fir, and poplars. Due to strong winds from the west, trees exposed on the tops of ridges commonly lean to the east and lack branches on the windward side. Drier areas of the park are covered by grasses, a wide variety of wildflowers, and low, mat-like juniper shrubs ("Juniperus horizontalis"). Consistently damp, humid areas like Many Springs host moisture-loving plants like yellow lady's slipper ("Cypripedium parviflorum"), butterwort ("Pinguicula vulgaris"), and elephant's head ("Pedicularis groenlandica").
Because of the relatively warm water from the springs, the lake at Many Springs does not freeze completely in winter, which makes it attractive to beavers and other animals. Animals are also attracted by the sodium chloride in the spring water that creates salt licks for them. The small blind aquatic isopod "Salmasellus steganothrix", which is usually found in caves, lives under rocks in the lake at Many Springs.
Bow Valley Wildland.
A much larger area, the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, contains the 575 km2 "Yamnuska Natural Area" that protects the sub-alpine ecosystem of the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains between the Kananaskis park system and Banff National Park, which it borders to the west.
Activities.
The following activities are available in the park:


Pteronisculus

Pteronisculus is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Early Triassic and Middle Triassic epochs of the Triassic period. The preoccupied genus name "Glaucolepis" Stensiö, 1921 (non "Glaucolepis" Braun, 1917) is a synonym of "Pteronisculus" White, 1933.
"Pteronisculus" was originally referred to the family Palaeoniscidae, but was removed due to differences to "Palaeoniscum". Based on similarities with "Turseodus" it was provisionally included in Turseoidae. A synapomorphy of "Pteronisculus" and "Turseodus" is the tooth-bearing lachrymal.
"Pteronisculus" had a wide geographic range during the Early Triassic. Fossils were collected in Greenland, Madagascar, Spitsbergen and the United States (possibly also British Columbia). From the Middle Triassic, it is only known from South China. Its occurrence in the Permian of South Africa has been questioned. About 12 species have been described to date, ranging from to in length.


Ferdinand Broili

Ferdinand Broili (11 April 1874 in Mühlbach – 30 April 1946 in Mühlbach) was a German paleontologist.
He studied natural sciences at the universities of Würzburg and Munich, where his influences were Karl von Zittel and August Rothpletz. In 1899 he received his doctorate from Munich with a dissertation on "Eryops megacephalus", titled "Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis von Eryops megacephalus". In 1903 he obtained his habilitation, and in 1908 became an associate professor at the university. In 1919 he was appointed director of the "Staatssammlung fur Palaontologie und historische Geologie" ("State Collection for Paleontology and Historical Geology") in Munich.
In 1901 he traveled to the Texas Red Beds, where with Charles Hazelius Sternberg, he collected and studied fossil vertebrates of the Permian period. Later on in his career, he carried out significant investigations of pterosaur fossils from the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria. In the 1930s, with Joachim Schröder, he published a 28 volume series on vertebrates of the Karoo Formation of South Africa ("Beobachtungen an Wirbeltieren der Karroo Formation"; 1934–37). The Permian amphibian genus "Broiliellus" commemorates his name.


Kaolin deposits of the Charentes Basin

The Kaolin deposits of the Charentes Basin in France are clay deposits formed sedimentarily and then confined by other geological structures.
Overview.
The geological unit called Charentes basin is composed of Eocene and Oligocene deposits, laid above karstic limestone formations of the Campanian, in the north of the Aquitaine Basin. The Charentes basin is named after the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. The kaolin clays of Charentes belong to this mainly continental formation often referred as "siderolithic", of which the principal outcrop is situated in the South of the Charente-Maritime department, going north-east from Bordeaux city. The quarries are scattered along a long, wide, north - south band.
The clay concentrations of economic value are composed of a succession of clays, sands and pebbles. This torrential-stream deposit, close to enlaced rivers, laid to the deposition of sandy-clayey materials, with a variable iron content, coming from a lateritic weathering, of the French “Massif Central” granites. The presence of numerous lignite rich levels indicates that the deposit was performed in the presence of abundant organic matter, leading to important pedogenetic and diagenetic possibilities of evolutions. These chemical and mineralogical evolutions (dissolution–crystallization) allow the neo-formation of kaolin and gibbsite, as well as iron sulfide.
At their basement, highly enlaced and with channel shapes, those deposits often fill karstic depressions, leading to the formation of "clay wells". The juxtaposition of features are sometimes without explanations using the deposition laws, probably in relation with post-sedimentary strain phenomena, eventually linked to substratum collapse. In the upper part of the series, the deposits are more regular, with lateral extensions up to several hundreds of meters.
Those complex geometries, with structures smaller than 20 meters, lead to particularly difficult recognition, estimation and exploitation phases. To this complex geometry, one should notice important lithology variations. The AGS company uses no less than 24 description codes and 8 colour codes, for its samples description. Those classes are subdivided to take into account the grade in organic matter, iron, titanium, potassium, the colour, and the aptitude to flow.
Geometry of the retaining structures.
The uncertainty in estimating the tonnage of mineral resources or ore reserves depends on a number of factors, and the uncertainty of definition of the deposit boundaries is one of them.
In deposits with sharp contacts, the geometry may be relatively simple, nevertheless, there is always uncertainty caused by lack of information and large drill hole grid. Generally, these boundaries are determined by mineral grade rather than geological properties: deposit boundaries are chosen based on the cut-off grade. Changing the important factor of cut-off grade, the boundaries of the deposit can be extended or contracted.
For this reason, even for the deposits with sharp boundaries, a clear definition of the cut-off grade and distinction between ore and gangue due to dilution during mining, the presence of intermediate layer and the limitation of mining in a selective way are essential.
However, in the case of the exploitation of soft materials, extraction can be done more selectively and it would be easier to take into account the geological and geometrical limits.
On the other hand, sometimes the uncertainty on the estimation of grades is bigger than the uncertainty on the boundaries definition. Estimation is then performed inside predefined boundaries.
One can imagine that the anisotropy and structural complexity of the deposit are due to its geometrical form, while the geometrical dimension of the deposit help us to guess about its economical value.
Geometrical features can appear in variographic studies and usually they affect, or hide, grade distribution structures. The presence of a series of nearly homogeneous kaolin areas, linked together in "zones", creates a mosaic effect. This phenomenon is due to the existence of periodical settling regimes of the rivers. The size of these "zones" can affect the form of the variogram and increase the nugget effect due to high differences of values in the edge of the "zones". A hole effect is one of the other known phenomena caused by the presence of two or more separated lenses with low difference in grade and shape. The distance between these lenses can thus be estimated.
Transformation during and after sedimentation.
Thiry has mentioned that the actual geological setting of kaolin depositions cannot be explained with only transportation and sedimentation cycles. He also stated that the mineralogical sequences cannot be interpreted without local geochemical transformations. Kulbicki has proved the existence of vermicular minerals (kaolinite and dickite) incompatible with normal sedimentary sequences.
Influence of the organic materials.
Lignite formations are relatively frequent in Charentes clay deposits. Their thickness changes between some decimeters in lenses, to metric scale in continuous forms. These organic materials had some influences on kaolin deposited layers. Some of the observed influences are as follow:
In gathered samples close to these organic materials, clays generally do not contain mica minerals, and especially in the neighborhood of Cuisian lignite, kaolinite is very well-ordered and the clay does not contain swelling clays with hydrazine. Occurrence of gibbsite is always associated with these well-ordered kaolinites. Normally occurrence of hyper-aluminous clays due to the existence of gibbsite is one of the interesting subjects in the history of these kaolins. This causes many discussions about the origin of this mineral. The existence of gibbsite has been mentioned in the studies of Languine and Halm (1951), Caillere and Jourdain (1956), Kulbickie (1956), Dubreuilh et al. (1984) and Delineau (1994).
Sandy overburden and intermediate sands.
Generally, kaolin deposits have been covered with colored sequences of sand. In some quarries, we can observe red, green and some times black sands. The black color might be due to the existence of pyrite and organic materials. Sometimes fossil woods (floated branches and trunks of trees) can be found and with the coarse size of pebbles (several millimeters) are evidence of a high energy transportation. This type of sand can have some influences on the leaching by mineral and organic acids produced by pyrite and organic materials, of the lower kaolin deposits. Thiry has found that generally these kaolins contain rather well-ordered kaolinite. Obviously, the level of crystallization can control technical properties of kaolinite as well as the structural impurities.
The high energy current can interrupt the continuity of the settled layers of kaolin and reduce the simplicity of the estimation methods.
Gibbsite.
Gibbsite is not stable in presence of quartz and it will be changed into kaolinite minerals, so gibbsite has formed after the deposition and we can call it neo-formation gibbsite. Now, the main question is about gibbsite formation in the middle of kaolin series. Due to the pH of leaching, a dissolution of Al2O3 or SiO2 can occur (podzol or laterite profile) The first theory tries to describe this with podzol profiles: it assumes the leaching of silica from minerals and accordingly the gibbsite formation from leached kaolin. We thus should find the hyper-aluminous materials, containing gibbsite in the lower series of kaolin. On the other hand, a second theory proposes the procedure of aluminium leaching in a very acid medium, in deposited organic materials (lignite) with clay. The organic materials can accelerate the solubilization and transportation of aluminium ions with intervention of organic complex. proposed the following scenarios for this dissolved aluminium.
Dissolved aluminium can be transported with complex to a less acidic medium.
This theory alone cannot explain what is observed in-situ in the some samples of the “BD” deposit, where gibbsite was found in sandy layers containing quartz.