The ancient history of flamenco is pure hypothesis, partly owing to the “ Dark Ages “ which shrouded the folk expression of a large portion of Andalusia from soon after the victory of the Catholic Kings at Granada in 1492 until the emancipation laws of Charles III in 1783. Although flamenco as such is a product of the nineteenth century, the hypothesis may be taken right back to pre-Iberian days when there was a flourishing civilization in the south of Spain, with its capital, Tartessos, more or less where Seville—or Cadiz—is now, perhaps the first Empire in the West. The Iberians inhabited the north and the east but the towns along the Andalusian coast were founded by Phoenicians from Tyre (Cadiz) and Phocaeans from Asia Minor (Málaga). During the Celtic invasions the south was held by Carthage until Andalusia finally became Roman as a result of the Punic wars.

In situ elemental imaging of planetary surface regolith at a spatial resolution of 100s to 1000s of microns can provide evidence of the provenance of rocks or sediments and their habitability, and can identify post-depositional diagenetic alteration affecting preservation. We use high-resolution elemental maps and XRF spectra from MapX, a flight prototype in situ X-ray imaging instrument, to demonstrate this technology in rock types relevant to astrobiology. Examples are given for various petrologies and depositional/diagenetic environments, including ultramafic/mafic rocks, serpentinites, hydrothermal carbonates, evaporites, stromatolitic cherts and diagenetic concretions.

This study uses data from a shoe-repair shop, supplemented by data from medical and mundane contexts, to analyze three progressively minimal grammatical formats used to implement offers and requests in interaction (i.e. do you want…?, you want…?, and want…?). We argue that this cline of minimality reflects a cline of the action-initiator's stance, from relatively weak to strong (respectively), regarding their expectation that the action will be accepted or complied with. In doing so, we illustrate that, as part of the design of requests and offers, participants rely on more granular distinctions than a simple binary between interrogative and declarative morphosyntax. We conclude with a discussion of the interactional logic that undergirds the normative use of these grammatical formats, and of our findings’ implications for action formation and preference organization. (Conversation analysis, interactional linguistics, offer, request, stance, grammar, morphosyntax)*

The origins of the magnetic susceptibility variations of the Chinese loess and paleosols are explored by scanning and transmission electron microscopy of magnetic extracts, and by magnetic modeling of magnetic hysteresis data, to provide quantified estimates of the major magnetic components. Microscopy identifies several distinct size and shape characteristics in the magnetic carriers. Lithogenic magnetites, intact and abraded, dominate the coarse-grained magnetic fraction. The smallest of the coarse grains is ∼ 2 μm. The remaining magnetic materal is ultrafine in size, with two types of magnetite particles present. Type A particles strongly resemble soil magnetites produced by inorganic precipitation. Type B particles, which occur rarely, are probably bacterial in origin. Quantitative modeling of these magnetic assemblages shows that over 90% of the susceptibility variations is accounted for by the superparamagnetic magnetite component. Compared to the loess units, the paleosols are richer in magnetite, particularly of superparamagnetic size, and have a threefold higher ratio of magnetite to hematite. We identify pedogenic formation of magnetite as the major contributor to the loess magnetic record. Matching this record against other paleoclimatic records, we find an extremely high correlation with the standard 18O record. The Chinese loess sequences record a very high resolution magnetic stratigraphy directly related to changing climate.

The rock magnetic properties of the Chinese loess and paleosols constitute a unique and sensitive record of East Asian paleoclimate through the Quaternary Period. Systematic variations in the concentration and grain size of the magnetic minerals in these sediments have produced systematic variations in the magnetic susceptibility signal, which can be easily and rapidly measured at many sites across the Loess Plateau. Variations in many other rock magnetic properties can be used to identify the key shifts in ferrimagnetic grain size, but magnetic susceptibility alone is sufficiently sensitive to record stadial and interstadial climate stages, as well as glaciations and interglaciations. Past changes in rainfall and monsoon activity for this region are reconstructed from the susceptibility variations. The susceptibility record is calibrated using the modern relationship between rainfall and pedogenic susceptibility on the Loess Plateau. Our rainfall reconstructions identify enhanced summer monsoonal activity in the Chinese Loess Plateau region in the early Holocene and the last interglaciation. In the presently semiarid western area of the plateau, annual precipitation in interglacial times was up to 80% higher than at present; in the more humid southern and eastern areas, values were up to 20% higher than today's levels. During the last glaciation, precipitation decreased across the entire plateau, typically by ∼25%. The relationship between pedogenic susceptibility, climate, and weathering age was examined over the Northern Hemisphere temperate zone and the observed positive correlation between rainfall and susceptibility indicates that climate, rather than soil age, is the predominant factor that controls pedogenic susceptibility enhancement in loess soils.

The final effort of the CLIMAP project was a study of the last interglaciation, a time of minimum ice volume some 122,000 yr ago coincident with the Substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum. Based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean, last interglacial sea-surface temperatures (SST) were compared with those today. There are small SST departures in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (warmer) and the Gulf of Mexico (cooler). The eastern boundary currents of the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans are marked by large SST anomalies in individual cores, but their interpretations are precluded by no-analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups. In general, the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean. The relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the Stage 6/5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the Stage 5e/5d transition was also studied. In most of the Southern Hemisphere, the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded (led) the global ice-volume response marked by the oxygen-isotope signal by several thousand years. The reverse pattern is evident in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years. As a result, the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years. These regional lead-lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long-term phase relationships; they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals.

Illegal killing/taking of birds is a growing concern across the Mediterranean. However, there are few quantitative data on the species and countries involved. We assessed numbers of individual birds of each species killed/taken illegally in each Mediterranean country per year, using a diverse range of data sources and incorporating expert knowledge. We estimated that 11–36 million individuals per year may be killed/taken illegally in the region, many of them on migration. In each of Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Lebanon and Syria, more than two million birds may be killed/taken on average each year. For species such as Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, Common Quail Coturnix coturnix, Eurasian Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, House Sparrow Passer domesticus and Song Thrush Turdus philomelos, more than one million individuals of each species are estimated to be killed/taken illegally on average every year. Several species of global conservation concern are also reported to be killed/taken illegally in substantial numbers: Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata, Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca and Rock Partridge Alectoris graeca. Birds in the Mediterranean are illegally killed/taken primarily for food, sport and for use as cage-birds or decoys. At the 20 worst locations with the highest reported numbers, 7.9 million individuals may be illegally killed/taken per year, representing 34% of the mean estimated annual regional total number of birds illegally killed/taken for all species combined. Our study highlighted the paucity of data on illegal killing/taking of birds. Monitoring schemes which use systematic sampling protocols are needed to generate increasingly robust data on trends in illegal killing/taking over time and help stakeholders prioritise conservation actions to address this international conservation problem. Large numbers of birds are also hunted legally in the region, but specific totals are generally unavailable. Such data, in combination with improved estimates for illegal killing/taking, are needed for robustly assessing the sustainability of exploitation of birds.