Diploria clivosa - fossil knobby brain coral colony in the reef facies of the Cockburn Town Member, upper Grotto Beach Formation at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, western margin of San Salvador Island.

 

The Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is a well-preserved, well-exposed Pleistocene fossil reef. It consists of non-bedded to poorly-bedded, poorly-sorted, very coarse-grained, aragonitic fossiliferous limestones (grainstones and rubblestones), representing shallow marine deposition in reef and peri-reef facies. Cockburn Town Member reef facies rocks date to the MIS 5e sea level highstand event (early Late Pleistocene).

 

Fossil reefs formed during the MIS 5e sea level highstand are exposed in several places in the Bahamas. This succession of fossiliferous reefal limestones is subdivided into a lower "Reef 1" and an upper "Reef 2", separated by a disconformity. That erosion surface formed during a brief, ~4000 year long regression called the Devil's Point Event (the unconformity is very well developed at Devil's Point on Great Inagua Island). The fossil brain coral shown above is from Reef 2 at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, and is the youngest dated specimen at the site. Isotopic dating has been done on 122 coral samples from this locality. The oldest is 127 ka and the youngest (= the above Diploria clivosa) is 114.3 ka. Including dates from San Salvador Island to Great Inagua Island, Reef 1 has an average age of 123.5 ka, and Reef 2 has an average age of 119.5 ka.

---------------------------------------

The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.

------------------------------

Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:

 

Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)

--------------------

Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)

--------------------

Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)

------------------------------

San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:

1) LIMESTONES

2) PALEOSOLS

 

The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.

 

Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):

 

1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.

 

2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)

 

3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.

 

During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.

----------------------------

Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:

 

The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.

 

In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.

 

Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:

- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)

- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)

- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)

- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)

- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)

- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)

- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)

 

The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.

----------------------------

The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.

----------------------------

Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.

 

Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.

 

Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.

 

Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.

 

Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.

 

Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.

 

1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.

 

1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.

 

1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.

 

Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.

 

1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.

 

1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.

 

1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.

 

Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.

 

Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.

 

1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.

 

Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.

 

1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.

 

Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.

 

Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.

 

Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.

 

1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.

 

1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.

 

1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.

 

1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.

 

1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.

 

Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.

 

1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.

 

Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.

 

1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.

 

2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.

 

2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.

 

Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.

 

Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.

 

Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.

 

Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.

 

Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.

 

2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.

 

2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.

 

2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.

 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.

 

2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.

 

2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.

 

2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.

 

2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.

 

2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.

 

2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.

 

2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.

 

Hippopotamuses love water, which is why the Greeks named them the "river horse." Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun. Hippos are graceful in water, good swimmers, and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes. However, they are often large enough to simply walk or stand on the lake floor, or lie in the shallows. Their eyes and nostrils are located high on their heads, which allows them to see and breathe while mostly submerged. Hippos also bask on the shoreline and secrete an oily red substance, which gave rise to the myth that they sweat blood. The liquid is actually a skin moistener and sunblock that may also provide protection against germs. At sunset, hippopotamuses leave the water and travel overland to graze. They may travel 6 miles (10 kilometers) in a night, along single-file pathways, to consume some 80 pounds (35 kilograms) of grass. Considering their enormous size, a hippo's food intake is relatively low. If threatened on land hippos may run for the water—they can match a human's speed for short distances. Hippo calves weigh nearly 100 pounds (45 kilograms) at birth and can suckle on land or underwater by closing their ears and nostrils. Each female has only one calf every two years. Soon after birth, mother and young join schools that provide some protection against crocodiles, lions, and hyenas. Hippos once had a broader distribution but now live in eastern central and southern sub-Saharan Africa, where their populations are in decline. A partially submerged hippopotamus tries to keep cool in the hot African sun. The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος), is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus.) After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest extant artiodactyl. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans (whales, porpoises, etc.) from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago. The earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago.

The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and mangrove swamps, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land. Hippos are recognizable by their barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. It is the third largest land mammal by weight (between 1½ and 3 tonnes), behind the white rhinoceros (1½ to 3½ tonnes) and the three species of elephant (3 to 9 tonnes). The hippopotamus is one of the largest quadrupeds and despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human. Hippos have been clocked at 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances. The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and is often regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. They are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth. There is also a colony of non-zoo hippos in Colombia introduced by Pablo Escobar. The most recent theory of the origins of Hippopotamidae suggests that hippos and whales shared a common semi-aquatic ancestor that branched off from other artiodactyls around 60 million years ago.[13][15] This hypothesized ancestral group likely split into two branches around 54 million years ago.[12] One branch would evolve into cetaceans, possibly beginning about 52 million years ago with the proto-whale Pakicetus and other early whale ancestors collectively known as Archaeoceti, which eventually underwent aquatic adaptation into the completely aquatic cetaceans.[17] The other branch became the anthracotheres, a large family of four-legged beasts, the earliest of whom in the late Eocene would have resembled skinny hippopotamuses with comparatively small and narrow heads. All branches of the anthracotheres, except that which evolved into Hippopotamidae, became extinct during the Pliocene without leaving any descendants.[15]

A rough evolutionary lineage can be traced from Eocene and Oligocene species: Anthracotherium and Elomeryx to the Miocene Merycopotamus and Libycosaurus and the very latest anthracotheres in the Pliocene.[18] Merycopotamus, Libycosaurus and all hippopotamids can be considered to form a clade, with Libycosaurus being more closely related to hippos. Their common ancestor would have lived in the Miocene, about 20 million years ago. Hippopotamids are therefore deeply nested within the family Anthracotheriidae. The Hippopotamidae are believed to have evolved in Africa; the oldest known hippopotamid is the genus Kenyapotamus which lived in Africa from 16 to 8 million years ago. While hippopotamid species spread across Asia and Europe, no hippopotamuses have ever been discovered in the Americas, although various anthracothere genera emigrated into North America during the early Oligocene. From 7.5 to 1.8 million years ago an ancestor to the modern hippopotamus, Archaeopotamus, lived in Africa and the Middle East.[19]

While the fossil record of hippos is still poorly understood, the two modern genera, Hippopotamus and Choeropsis (sometimes Hexaprotodon), may have diverged as far back as 8 million years ago. Taxonomists disagree whether or not the modern Pygmy Hippopotamus is a member of Hexaprotodon —an apparently paraphyletic genus also embracing many extinct Asian hippopotamuses that is more closely related to Hippopotamus, or Choeropsis —an older and basal genus.[18][19]

[edit]Extinct species

Three species of Malagasy Hippopotamus became extinct during the Holocene on Madagascar, one of them within the past 1,000 years. The Malagasy Hippos were smaller than the modern hippopotamus, likely through the process of insular dwarfism.[20] There is fossil evidence that many Malagasy Hippos were hunted by humans, a likely factor in their eventual extinction.[20] Isolated members of Malagasy Hippopotamus may have survived in remote pockets; in 1976, villagers described a living animal called the Kilopilopitsofy, which may have been a Malagasy Hippopotamus.[21]

Two species of Hippopotamus, the European Hippopotamus (H. antiquus) and H. gorgops ranged throughout continental Europe and the British Isles. Both species became extinct before the last glaciation. Ancestors of European Hippos found their way to many islands of the Mediterranean during the Pleistocene.[22] Both species were larger than the modern hippopotamus, averaging about 1 meter (3.3 feet) longer. The Pleistocene also saw a number of dwarf species evolve on several Mediterranean islands including Crete (H. creutzburgi), Cyprus (H. minor), Malta (H. melitensis) and Sicily (H. pentlandi). Of these, the Cyprus Dwarf Hippopotamus, survived until the end of the Pleistocene or early Holocene. Evidence from an archaeological site Aetokremnos, continues to cause debate on whether or not the species was encountered, and was driven to extinction, by man. Hippopotamuses are among the largest living mammals; only elephants and some rhinoceroses and whales are heavier. They can live in the water or on land. Their specific gravity allows them to sink and walk or run along the bottom of a river. Hippos are considered megafauna, but unlike all other African megafauna, hippos have adapted for a semi-aquatic life in freshwater lakes and rivers.[9]:3 A hippo's lifespan is typically 40–50 years.[6]:277 Donna the Hippo, 60, was the oldest living hippo in captivity. She lived at the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, Indiana, USA[24][25] until her death on August 1, 2012. The oldest hippo ever recorded was called Tanga; she lived in Munich, Germany, and died in 1995 at the age of 61.[26]

Because of their enormous size, hippopotamuses are difficult to weigh in the wild. Most estimates of the weight come from culling operations that were carried out in the 1960s. The average weights for adult males ranged between 1,500–1,800 kg (3,300–4,000 lb). Females are smaller than their male counterparts, with average weights measuring between 1,300–1,500 kg (2,900–3,300 lb).[9]:12 Older males can get much larger, reaching at least 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) with a few exceptional specimens exceeding 3,600 kg (7,900 lb).[27][28] The heaviest known hippopotamus weighed approximately 4,500 kg (9,900 lb).[29] Male hippos appear to continue growing throughout their lives; females reach a maximum weight at around age 25.[30]

Hippos measure 3.3 to 5.2 meters (11 to 17 ft) long, including a tail of about 56 centimeters (22 in) in length and average about 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall at the shoulder.[31][32] The range of hippopotamus sizes overlaps with the range of the white rhinoceros; use of different metrics makes it unclear which is the largest land animal after elephants. Even though they are bulky animals, hippopotamuses can run faster than a human on land. Estimates of their running speed vary from 30 km/h (18 mph) to 40 km/h (25 mph), or even 50 km/h (30 mph). The hippo can maintain these higher speeds for only a few hundred meters. Despite being semi-aquatic and having webbed feet, an adult hippo is not a particularly good swimmer nor can it float. It is rarely found in deep water; when it is, the animal moves by porpoise-like leaps from the bottom. The eyes, ears, and nostrils of hippos are placed high on the roof of the skull. This allows them to be in the water with most of their body submerged in the waters and mud of tropical rivers to stay cool and prevent sunburn. Their skeletal structure is graviportal, adapted to carrying the animals' enormous weight. Hippopotamuses have small legs (relative to other megafauna) because the water in which they live reduces the weight burden. Unlike most other semi-aquatic animals, the hippopotamus has very little hair.[6]:260 The skin is 6 in (15 cm) thick,[33] providing it great protection against conspecifics and predators. The animals's upper parts are purplish-gray to blue-black while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink.[6]:260 The testes of the males descend only partially and a scrotum is not present. In addition, the penis retracts into the body when not erect. The genitals of the female are unusual in that the vagina is ridged and two large diverticula protrude from the vulval vestibule. The function of these is unknown.[9]:28–29

The hippo's jaw is powered by a large masseter and a well developed digastric; the latter loops up behind the former to the hyoid.[6]:259 The jaw hinge is located far back enough to allow the animal to open its mouth at almost 180°.[9]:17 On the National Geographic Channel television program, "Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr", Dr. Brady Barr measured the bite force of an adult female hippo at 8100 N (1821 lbf); Barr also attempted to measure the bite pressure of an adult male hippo, but had to abandon the attempt due to the male's aggressiveness.[34] Hippopotamus teeth sharpen themselves as they grind together. The lower canines and lower incisors are enlarged, especially in males, and grow continuously. The incisors can reach 40 cm (16 in) while the canines reach up to 50 cm (20 in).[33]

Their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red-colored. The secretion is sometimes referred to as "blood sweat," but is neither blood nor sweat. This secretion is initially colorless and turns red-orange within minutes, eventually becoming brown. Two distinct pigments have been identified in the secretions, one red (hipposudoric acid) and one orange (norhipposudoric acid). The two pigments are highly acidic compounds. Both pigments inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria; as well, the light absorption of both pigments peaks in the ultraviolet range, creating a sunscreen effect. All hippos, even those with different diets, secrete the pigments, so it does not appear that food is the source of the pigments. Instead, the animals may synthesize the pigments from precursors such as the amino acid tyrosine. Hippopotamus amphibius was widespread in North Africa and Europe during the Eemian[36] and late Pleistocene until about 30,000 years ago. The species was common in Egypt's Nile region during antiquity but has since been extirpated. Pliny the Elder writes that, in his time, the best location in Egypt for capturing this animal was in the Saite nome;[37] the animal could still be found along the Damietta branch after the Arab Conquest in 639. Hippos are still found in the rivers and lakes of the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, north through to Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, west from Ghana to Gambia, and also in Southern Africa (Botswana, Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique). Genetic evidence suggests that common hippos in Africa experienced a marked population expansion during or after the Pleistocene Epoch, attributed to an increase in water bodies at the end of the era. These findings have important conservation implications as hippo populations across the continent are currently threatened by loss of access to fresh water.[10] Hippos are also subject to unregulated hunting and poaching. In May 2006 the hippopotamus was identified as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List drawn up by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), with an estimated population of between 125,000 and 150,000 hippos, a decline of between 7% and 20% since the IUCN's 1996 study. Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000–30,000) possess the largest populations.[1]

The hippo population declined most dramatically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[38] The population in Virunga National Park had dropped to 800 or 900 from around 29,000 in the mid 1970s.[39] The decline is attributed to the disruptions caused by the Second Congo War.[39] The poachers are believed to be former Hutu rebels, poorly paid Congolese soldiers, and local militia groups.[39] Reasons for poaching include the belief that hippos are harmful to society, and also for money.[40] The sale of hippo meat is illegal, but black-market sales are difficult for Virunga National Park officers to track. Invasive potential

In the late 1980s, Pablo Escobar kept four hippos in a private menagerie at his residence in Hacienda Napoles, 100 km east of Medellín, Colombia, after buying them in New Orleans. They were deemed too difficult to seize and move after Escobar's fall, and hence left on the untended estate. By 2007, the animals had multiplied to 16 and had taken to roaming the area for food in the nearby Magdalena River.[41] In 2009, two adults and one calf escaped the herd, and after attacking humans and killing cattle, one of the adults (called "Pepe") was killed by hunters under authorization of the local authorities.[42][43] It is unknown what kind of effects the presence of hippos might have on the ecosystem in Colombia. According to experts interviewed by W Radio Colombia, the animals could survive in the Colombian jungles. It is believed that the lack of control from the Colombian government, which is not used to dealing with this species, could result in human fatalities. Hippos spend most of their days wallowing in the water or the mud, with the other members of their pod. The water serves to keep their body temperature down, and to keep their skin from drying out. With the exception of eating, most of hippopotamuses' lives —from childbirth, fighting with other hippos, to reproduction— occur in the water. Hippos leave the water at dusk and travel inland, sometimes up to 8 kilometers (5 mi), to graze on short grass, their main source of food. They spend four to five hours grazing and can consume 68 kilograms (150 lb) of grass each night.[44] Like almost any herbivore, they will consume many other plants if presented with them, but their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass, with only minimal consumption of aquatic plants.[45] Hippos have (rarely) been filmed eating carrion, usually close to the water. There are other reports of meat-eating, and even cannibalism and predation.[46] The stomach anatomy of a hippo is not suited to carnivory, and meat-eating is likely caused by aberrant behavior or nutritional stress.[9]:84

The diet of hippos consists mostly of terrestrial grasses, even though they spend most of their time in the water. Most of their defecation occurs in the water, creating allochthonous deposits of organic matter along the river beds. These deposits have an unclear ecological function.[45] Because of their size and their habit of taking the same paths to feed, hippos can have a significant impact on the land they walk across, both by keeping the land clear of vegetation and depressing the ground. Over prolonged periods hippos can divert the paths of swamps and channels.[47]

Adult hippos move at speeds up to 8 km/h (5 mph) in water. Adult hippos typically resurface to breathe every three to five minutes. The young have to breathe every two to three minutes.[9]:4 The process of surfacing and breathing is automatic, and even a hippo sleeping underwater will rise and breathe without waking. A hippo closes its nostrils when it submerges into the water. As with fish and turtles on a coral reef, hippo occasionally visit cleaning stations and signal by wide-open mouth their readiness for being cleaned of parasites by certain species of fish. This situation is an example of mutualism in which the hippo benefits from the cleansing while the fish receive food.[ Studying the interaction of male and female hippopotamuses has long been complicated by the fact that hippos are not sexually dimorphic and thus females and young males are almost indistinguishable in the field.[49] Although hippos like to lie close to each other, they do not seem to form social bonds except between mothers and daughters, and are not social animals. The reason they huddle close together is unknown.[9]:49

Hippopotamuses are territorial only in water, where a bull presides over a small stretch of river, on average 250 meters in length, and containing ten females. The largest pods can contain over 100 hippos.[9]:50 Other bachelors are allowed in a bull's stretch, as long as they behave submissively toward the bull. The territories of hippos exist to establish mating rights. Within the pods, the hippos tend to segregate by gender. Bachelors will lounge near other bachelors, females with other females, and the bull on his own. When hippos emerge from the water to graze, they do so individually.[9]:4

Hippopotamuses appear to communicate verbally, through grunts and bellows, and it is thought that they may practice echolocation, but the purpose of these vocalizations is currently unknown. Hippos have the unique ability to hold their head partially above the water and send out a cry that travels through both water and air; hippos above and under water will respond.[ Female hippos reach sexual maturity at five to six years of age and have a gestation period of 8 months. A study of endocrine systems revealed that female hippopotamuses may begin puberty as early as 3 or 4 years of age.[51] Males reach maturity at around 7.5 years. A study of hippopotamus reproductive behavior in Uganda showed that peak conceptions occurred during the end of the wet season in the summer, and peak births occurred toward the beginning of the wet season in late winter. This is because of the female's estrous cycle; as with most large mammals, male hippopotamus spermatozoa is active year round. Studies of hippos in Zambia and South Africa also showed evidence of births occurring at the start of the wet season.[9]:60–61 After becoming pregnant, a female hippopotamus will typically not begin ovulation again for 17 months.[51]

Mating occurs in the water with the female submerged for most of the encounter,[9]:63 her head emerging periodically to draw breath. Baby hippos are born underwater at a weight between 25 and 45 kg (60–110 lb) and an average length of around 127 cm (50 in) and must swim to the surface to take their first breath. A mother typically gives birth to only one hippo, although twins also occur. The young often rest on their mothers' backs when in water that is too deep for them, and they swim underwater to suckle. They also will suckle on land when the mother leaves the water. Weaning starts between six and eight months after birth and most calves are fully weaned after a year.[9]:64 Like many other large mammals, hippos are described as K-strategists, in this case typically producing just one large, well-developed infant every couple of years (rather than large numbers of small, poorly developed young several times per year as is common among small mammals such as rodents. Hippopotamuses are by nature very aggressive animals, especially when young calves are present. Frequent targets of their aggression include crocodiles, which often inhabit the same river habitat as hippos. Nile crocodiles, lions and spotted hyenas are known to prey on young hippos.[53] Hippos are very aggressive towards humans, whom they commonly attack whether in boats or on land with no apparent provocation.[54] They are widely considered to be one of the most dangerous large animals in Africa.[55][56]

To mark territory, hippos spin their tails while defecating to distribute their excrement over a greater area.[57] Likely for the same reason, hippos are retromingent – that is, they urinate backwards.[58] When in combat, male hippos use their incisors to block each others attacks, and their lower canines to inflict damage.[6]:260 Hippos rarely kill each other, even in territorial challenges. Usually a territorial bull and a challenging bachelor will stop fighting when it is clear that one hippo is stronger. When hippos become overpopulated, or when a habitat starts to shrink, bulls will sometimes attempt to kill infants, but this behavior is not common under normal conditions.[52] Some incidents of hippo cannibalism have been documented, but it is believed to be the behavior of distressed or sick hippos, and not healthy behavior. The earliest evidence of human interaction with hippos comes from butchery cut marks upon hippo bones at Bouri Formation dated around 160,000 years ago.[59] Later rock paintings and engravings showing hippos being hunted have been found in the mountains of the central Sahara dated 4,000–5,000 years ago near Djanet in the Tassili n'Ajjer Mountains.[9]:1 The ancient Egyptians recognized the hippo as a ferocious denizen of the Nile.

The hippopotamus was also known to the Greeks and Romans. The Greek historian Herodotus described the hippopotamus in The Histories (written circa 440 BC) and the Roman Historian Pliny the Elder wrote about the hippopotamus in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia (written circa 77 AD).[37][60] Hippopotamus was one of the many exotic animals brought to fight gladiators in Rome by the emperor Philip I the Arab to commemorate Rome's 1000 years anniversary in 248 AD. Silver coins with hippo's image were minted that year.[citation needed]

Zulu warriors preferred to be as brave as a hippopotamus, since even lions were not considered as brave. "In 1888, Captain Baden-Powell was part of a column searching for the Zulu chief Dinizulu, who was leading the Usutu people in revolt against the British colonists. The column was joined by John Dunn, a white Zulu chief, who led an impi (army) of 2000 Zulu warriors to join the British." [61]

The words of the Zulu anthem sounded like this:

"Een-gonyama Gonyama! "Invooboo! Yah-bo! Yah-bo! Invooboo!"

"John Dunn was at the head of his impi. [Baden Powell] asked him to translate the Zulu anthem his men had been singing. Dunn laughed and replied: "He is a lion. Yes, he is better than a lion—he is a hippopotamus. Hippopotamuses have long been popular zoo animals. The first zoo hippo in modern history was Obaysch who arrived at the London Zoo on May 25, 1850, where he attracted up to 10,000 visitors a day and inspired a popular song, the Hippopotamus Polka.[63] Hippos have remained popular zoo animals since Obaysch, and generally breed well in captivity. Their birth rates are lower than in the wild, but this is attributed to zoos' not wanting to breed as many hippos as possible, since hippos are large and relatively expensive animals to maintain.[9]:129[63]

Like many zoo animals, hippos were traditionally displayed in concrete exhibits. In the case of hippos, they usually had a pool of water and patch of grass. In the 1980s, zoo designers increasingly designed exhibits that reflected the animals' native habitats. The best known of these, the Toledo Zoo Hippoquarium, features a 360,000 gallon pool for hippos.[64] In 1987, researchers were able to tape, for the first time, an underwater birth (as in the wild) at the Toledo Zoo. The exhibit was so popular that the hippos became the logo of the Toledo Zoo. A red hippo represented the Ancient Egyptian god Set; the thigh is the 'phallic leg of set' symbolic of virility. Set's consort Tawaret was also seen as part hippo.[66] The hippopotamus-headed Tawaret was a goddess of protection in pregnancy and childbirth, because ancient Egyptians recognized the protective nature of a female hippopotamus toward her young.[67] The Ijo people wore masks of aquatic animals like the hippo when practicing their water spirit cults.[68] The Behemoth from the Book of Job, 40:15–24 is also thought to be based on a hippo.[69]

Hippos have been the subjects of various African folktales. According to a Bushmen story; when the Creator assigned each animal their place in nature, the hippos wanted to live in the water, but were refused out of fear that they might eat all the fish. After begging and pleading, the hippos were finally allowed to live in the water on the conditions that they would eat grass instead of fish and would fling their dung so that it can be inspected for fish bones.[70] In a Ndebele tale, the hippo originally had long, beautiful hair but was set on fire by a jealous hare and had to jump into a nearby pool. The hippo lost most of his hair and was too embarrassed to leave the water.[70]

Ever since Obaysch inspired the Hippopotamus Polka, hippos have been popular animals in Western culture for their rotund appearance that many consider comical.[63] Stories of hippos like Huberta who became a celebrity in South Africa in the 1930s for trekking across the country;[71] or the tale of Owen and Mzee, a hippo and tortoise who developed an intimate bond; have amused people who have bought hippo books, merchandise, and many a stuffed hippo toy.[72][73] Hippos were mentioned in the novelty Christmas song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" that became a hit for child star Gayla Peevey in 1953.[74] They also feature in the songs "The Hippopotamus" and "Hippo Encore" by Flanders and Swann, with the famous refrain Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud. They even inspired a popular board game, Hungry Hungry Hippos. Hippos have also been popular cartoon characters, where their rotund frame is used for humorous effect. The Disney film Fantasia featured a ballerina hippopotamus dancing to the opera, La Gioconda.[38] Other cartoon hippos have included Hanna-Barbera's Peter Potamus, the book and TV series George and Martha, Flavio and Marita on the Animaniacs, Pat of the French duo Pat et Stanley, The Backyardigan's Tasha, and Gloria and Moto-Moto from the Madagascar franchise. A Sesame Street cartoon from the early 1970s features a hippo who lives in the country and likes it quiet, while being disturbed when the mouse who likes it loud moves in with her.[citation needed]

The hippopotamus characters "Happy Hippos" were created in 1988 by the French designer Andre Roche [77] based in Munich, to be hidden in the "Kinder Surprise egg" of the Italian chocolate company Ferrero SpA. These characters were not placid like real hippos[contradiction] but rather cute and lively, and had such a success that they reappeared several times in different products of this company in the following years, increasing their popularity worldwide each time.[citation needed] The Nintendo Company published in the years 2001 and 2007 Game Boy adventures of them. In the game of chess, the hippopotamus lends its name to the Hippopotamus Defense, an opening system, which is generally considered weak.The River Horse is a popular outdoor sculpture at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Botswana, Moremi National Park, Moremi Game reserve, private Reserve, Farm, chobe National park, Chobe Game Reserve, Zambia, Zambezi River, Livingstone, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Wildlife Conservation Project, Maramba River Lodge, South Africa, Krugger National Park. art beach blue bw california canada canon china city concert de england europe family festival film flower flowers food france friends green instagramapp iphoneography italy japan live london music nature new newyork night nikon nyc paris park party people photography portrait red sky snow square squareformat street summer sunset travel trip uk usa vacation water wedding white winter

The Postcard

 

A postally unused carte postale published by L. B. of Dijon and distributed by Ch. Macé of Versailles. The card has a divided back.

 

The Gardens of Versailles

 

The Gardens of Versailles are situated to the west of the palace. They cover some 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre.

 

Beyond the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas of Versailles to the east and Le Chesnay to the north-east, by the National Arboretum de Chèvreloup to the north, the Versailles plain (a protected wildlife preserve) to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.

 

In 1979, the gardens along with the château were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its cultural importance during the 17th. and 18th. centuries.

 

The gardens are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year.

 

The gardens contain 200,000 trees, 210,000 flowers planted annually, and feature meticulously manicured lawns and parterres, as well as many sculptures.

 

50 fountains containing 620 water jets, fed by 35 km. of piping, are located throughout the gardens. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique.

 

On weekends from late spring to early autumn, there are the Grandes Eaux - spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Designed by André Le Nôtre, the Grand Canal is the masterpiece of the Gardens of Versailles.

 

In the Gardens too, the Grand Trianon was built to provide the Sun King with the retreat that he wanted. The Petit Trianon is associated with Marie-Antoinette, who spent time there with her closest relatives and friends.

 

The Du Bus Plan for the Gardens of Versailles

 

With Louis XIII's purchase of lands from Jean-François de Gondi in 1632 and his assumption of the seigneurial role of Versailles in the 1630's, formal gardens were laid out west of the château.

 

Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson designed the gardens, which remained relatively unchanged until the expansion ordered under Louis XIV in the 1660's. This early layout, which has survived in the so-called Du Bus plan of c.1662, shows an established topography along which lines of the gardens evolved. This is evidenced in the clear definition of the main east–west and north–south axis that anchors the gardens' layout.

 

Louis XIV

 

In 1661, after the disgrace of the finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, who was accused by rivals of embezzling crown funds in order to build his luxurious château at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV turned his attention to Versailles.

 

With the aid of Fouquet's architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun, and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, Louis began an embellishment and expansion program at Versailles that would occupy his time and worries for the remainder of his reign.

 

From this point forward, the expansion of the gardens of Versailles followed the expansions of the château.

 

(a) The First Building Campaign

 

In 1662, minor modifications to the château were undertaken; however, greater attention was given to developing the gardens. Existing bosquets (clumps of trees) and parterres were expanded, and new ones created.

 

Most significant among the creations at this time were the Versailles Orangerie and the "Grotte de Thétys". The Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, was located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. It provided a protected area in which orange trees were kept during the winter months.

 

The "Grotte de Thétys", which was located to the north of the château, formed part of the iconography of the château and of the gardens that aligned Louis XIV with solar imagery. The grotto was completed during the second building campaign.

 

By 1664, the gardens had evolved to the point that Louis XIV inaugurated the gardens with the fête galante called Les Plaisirs de L'Île Enchantée. The event, was ostensibly to celebrate his mother, Anne d'Autriche, and his consort Marie-Thérèse but in reality celebrated Louise de La Vallière, Louis' mistress.

 

Guests were regaled with entertainments in the gardens over a period of one week. As a result of this fête - particularly the lack of housing for guests (most of them had to sleep in their carriages), Louis realised the shortcomings of Versailles, and began to expand the château and the gardens once again.

 

(b) The Second Building Campaign

 

Between 1664 and 1668, there was a flurry of activity in the gardens - especially with regard to fountains and new bosquets; it was during this time that the imagery of the gardens exploited Apollo and solar imagery as metaphors for Louis XIV.

 

Le Va's enveloppe of the Louis XIII's château provided a means by which, though the decoration of the garden façade, imagery in the decors of the grands appartements of the king and queen formed a symbiosis with the imagery of the gardens.

 

With this new phase of construction, the gardens assumed the design vocabulary that remained in force until the 18th. century. Solar and Apollonian themes predominated with projects constructed at this time.

 

Three additions formed the topological and symbolic nexus of the gardens during this phase of construction: the completion of the "Grotte de Thétys", the "Bassin de Latone", and the "Bassin d'Apollon".

 

The Grotte de Thétys

 

Started in 1664 and finished in 1670 with the installation of the statuary, the grotto formed an important symbolic and technical component to the gardens. Symbolically, the "Grotte de Thétys" related to the myth of Apollo - and by association to Louis XIV.

 

It represented the cave of the sea nymph Thetis, where Apollo rested after driving his chariot to light the sky. The grotto was a freestanding structure located just north of the château.

 

The interior, which was decorated with shell-work to represent a sea cave, contained the statue group by the Marsy brothers depicting the sun god attended by nereids.

 

Technically, the "'Grotte de Thétys" played a critical role in the hydraulic system that supplied water to the garden. The roof of the grotto supported a reservoir that stored water pumped from the Clagny pond and which fed the fountains lower in the garden via gravity.

 

The Bassin de Latone

 

Located on the east–west axis is the Bassin de Latone. Designed by André Le Nôtre, sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, and constructed between 1668 and 1670, the fountain depicts an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

 

Altona and her children, Apollo and Diana, being tormented with mud slung by Lycian peasants, who refused to let her and her children drink from their pond, appealed to Jupiter who responded by turning the Lycians into frogs.

 

This episode from mythology has been seen as a reference to the revolts of the Fronde, which occurred during the minority of Louis XIV. The link between Ovid's story and this episode from French history is emphasised by the reference to "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The revolts of the Fronde - the word fronde also means slingshot - have been regarded as the origin of the use of the term "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The Bassin d'Apollon

 

Further along the east–west axis is the Bassin d'Apollon. The Apollo Fountain, which was constructed between 1668 and 1671, depicts the sun god driving his chariot to light the sky. The fountain forms a focal point in the garden, and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal.

 

The Grand Canal

 

With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the Grand Canal, which was built between 1668 and 1671, prolongs the east–west axis to the walls of the Grand Parc. During the Ancien Régime, the Grand Canal served as a venue for boating parties.

 

In 1674 the king ordered the construction of Petite Venise (Little Venice). Located at the junction of the Grand Canal and the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice.

 

The Grand Canal also served a practical role. Situated at a low point in the gardens, it collected water that drained from the fountains in the garden above. Water from the Grand Canal was pumped back to the reservoir on the roof of the Grotte de Thétys via a network of windmill- and horse-powered pumps.

 

The Parterre d'Eau

 

Situated above the Latona Fountain is the terrace of the château, known as the Parterre d'Eau. Forming a transitional element from the château to the gardens below, the Parterre d'Eau provided a setting in which the symbolism of the grands appartements synthesized with the iconography of the gardens.

 

In 1664, Louis XIV commissioned a series of statues intended to decorate the water feature of the Parterre d'Eau. The Grande Command, as the commission is known, comprised twenty-four statues of the classic quaternities and four additional statues depicting abductions from the classic past.

 

Evolution of the Bosquets

 

One of the distinguishing features of the gardens during the second building campaign was the proliferation of bosquets. Expanding the layout established during the first building campaign, Le Nôtre added or expanded on no fewer that ten bosquets between 1670 and 1678:

 

-- The Bosquet du Marais

-- The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau, Île du Roi

-- The Miroir d'Eau

-- The Salle des Festins (Salle du Conseil)

-- The Bosquet des Trois Fontaines

-- The Labyrinthe

-- The Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

-- The Bosquet de la Renommée (Bosquet des Dômes)

-- The Bosquet de l'Encélade

-- The Bosquet des Sources

 

In addition to the expansion of existing bosquets and the construction of new ones, there were two additional projects that defined this era, the Bassin des Sapins and the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses.

 

-- The Bassin des Sapins

 

In 1676, the Bassin des Sapins, which was located north of the château below the Allée des Marmoset's was designed to form a topological pendant along the north–south axis with the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses located at the base of the Satory hill south of the château.

 

Later modifications in the gardens transformed this fountain into the Bassin de Neptune.

 

-- Pièce d'Eau des Suisses

 

Excavated in 1678, the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses - named after the Swiss Guards who constructed the lake - occupied an area of marshes and ponds, some of which had been used to supply water for the fountains in the garden.

 

This water feature, with a surface area of more than 15 hectares (37 acres), is the second largest - after the Grand Canal - at Versailles.

 

(c) The Third Building Campaign

 

Modifications to the gardens during the third building campaign were distinguished by a stylistic change from the natural aesthetic of André Le Nôtre to the architectonic style of Jules Hardouin Mansart.

 

The first major modification to the gardens during this phase occurred in 1680 when the Tapis Vert - the expanse of lawn that stretches between the Latona Fountain and the Apollo Fountain - achieved its final size and definition under the direction of André Le Nôtre.

 

Beginning in 1684, the Parterre d'Eau was remodelled under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Statues from the Grande Commande of 1674 were relocated to other parts of the garden; two twin octagonal basins were constructed and decorated with bronze statues representing the four main rivers of France.

 

In the same year, Le Vau's Orangerie, located to south of the Parterrre d'Eau was demolished to accommodate a larger structure designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

 

In addition to the Orangerie, the Escaliers des Cent Marches, which facilitated access to the gardens from the south, to the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, and to the Parterre du Midi were constructed at this time, giving the gardens just south of the château their present configuration and decoration.

 

Additionally, to accommodate the anticipated construction of the Aile des Nobles - the north wing of the château - the Grotte de Thétys was demolished.

 

With the construction of the Aile des Nobles (1685–1686), the Parterre du Nord was remodelled to respond to the new architecture of this part of the château.

 

To compensate for the loss of the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys and to meet the increased demand for water, Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed new and larger reservoirs situated north of the Aile des Nobles.

 

Construction of the ruinously expensive Canal de l'Eure was inaugurated in 1685; designed by Vauban it was intended to bring waters of the Eure over 80 kilometres, including aqueducts of heroic scale, but the works were abandoned in 1690.

 

Between 1686 and 1687, the Bassin de Latone, under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was rebuilt. It is this final version of the fountain that one sees today at Versailles.

 

During this phase of construction, three of the garden's major bosquets were modified or created. Beginning with the Galerie des Antiques, this bosquet was constructed in 1680 on the site of the earlier and short-lived Galerie d'Eau. This bosquet was conceived as an open-air gallery in which antique statues and copies acquired by the Académie de France in Rome were displayed.

 

The following year, construction began on the Salle de Bal. Located in a secluded section of the garden west of the Orangerie, this bosquet was designed as an amphitheater that featured a cascade – the only one surviving in the gardens of Versailles. The Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1685 with a ball hosted by the Grand Dauphin.

 

Between 1684 and 1685, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Colonnade. Located on the site of Le Nôtre's Bosquet des Sources, this bosquet featured a circular peristyle formed from thirty-two arches with twenty-eight fountains, and was Hardouin-Mansart's most architectural of the bosquets built in the gardens of Versailles.

 

(d) The Fourth Building Campaign

 

Due to financial constraints arising from the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession, no significant work on the gardens was undertaken until 1704.

 

Between 1704 and 1709, bosquets were modified, some quite radically, with new names suggesting the new austerity that characterised the latter years of Louis XIV's reign.

 

Louis XV

 

With the departure of the king and court from Versailles in 1715 following the death of Louis XIV, the palace and gardens entered an era of uncertainty.

 

In 1722, Louis XV and the court returned to Versailles. Seeming to heed his great-grandfather's admonition not to engage in costly building campaigns, Louis XV did not undertake the costly rebuilding that Louis XIV had.

 

During the reign of Louis XV, the only significant addition to the gardens was the completion of the Bassin de Neptune (1738–1741).

 

Rather than expend resources on modifying the gardens at Versailles, Louis XV - an avid botanist - directed his efforts at Trianon. In the area now occupied by the Hameau de la Reine, Louis XV constructed and maintained les Jardins Botaniques.

 

In 1761, Louis XV commissioned Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build the Petit Trianon as a residence that would allow him to spend more time near the Jardins Botaniques. It was at the Petit Trianon that Louis XV fell fatally ill with smallpox; he died at Versailles on the 10th. May 1774.

 

Louis XVI

 

Upon Louis XVI's ascension to the throne, the gardens of Versailles underwent a transformation that recalled the fourth building campaign of Louis XIV. Engendered by a change in outlook as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Philosophes, the winter of 1774–1775 witnessed a complete replanting of the gardens.

 

Trees and shrubbery dating from the reign of Louis XIV were felled or uprooted with the intent of transforming the French formal garden of Le Nôtre and Hardouin-Mansart into a version of an English landscape garden.

 

The attempt to convert Le Nôtre's masterpiece into an English-style garden failed to achieve its desired goal. Owing largely to the topology of the land, the English aesthetic was abandoned and the gardens replanted in the French style.

 

However, with an eye on economy, Louis XVI ordered the Palisades - the labour-intensive clipped hedging that formed walls in the bosquets - to be replaced with rows of lime trees or chestnut trees. Additionally, a number of the bosquets dating from the time of the Sun King were extensively modified or destroyed.

 

The most significant contribution to the gardens during the reign of Louis XVI was the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon. The rockwork grotto set in an English style bosquet was the masterpiece of Hubert Robert in which the statues from the Grotte de Thétys were placed.

 

Revolution

 

In 1792, under order from the National Convention, some of the trees in the gardens were felled, while parts of the Grand Parc were parcelled and dispersed.

 

Sensing the potential threat to Versailles, Louis Claude Marie Richard (1754–1821) – director of the Jardins Botaniques and grandson of Claude Richard – lobbied the government to save Versailles. He succeeded in preventing further dispersing of the Grand Parc, and threats to destroy the Petit Parc were abolished by suggesting that the parterres could be used to plant vegetable gardens, and that orchards could occupy the open areas of the garden.

 

These plans were never put into action; however, the gardens were opened to the public - it was not uncommon to see people washing their laundry in the fountains and spreading it on the shrubbery to dry.

 

Napoléon I

 

The Napoleonic era largely ignored Versailles. In the château, a suite of rooms was arranged for the use of the empress Marie-Louise, but the gardens were left unchanged, save for the disastrous felling of trees in the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines. Massive soil erosion necessitated planting of new trees.

 

Restoration

 

With the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the gardens of Versailles witnessed the first modifications since the Revolution. In 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the conversion of the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau into an English-style garden - the Jardin du Roi.

 

The July Monarchy; The Second Empire

 

While much of the château's interior was irreparably altered to accommodate the Museum of the History of France (inaugurated by Louis-Philippe on the 10th. June 1837), the gardens, by contrast, remained untouched.

 

With the exception of the state visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, at which time the gardens were a setting for a gala fête that recalled the fêtes of Louis XIV, Napoléon III ignored the château, preferring instead the château of Compiègne.

 

Pierre de Nolhac

With the arrival of Pierre de Nolhac as director of the museum in 1892, a new era of historical research began at Versailles. Nolhac, an ardent archivist and scholar, began to piece together the history of Versailles, and subsequently established the criteria for restoration of the château and preservation of the gardens, which are ongoing to this day.

 

Bosquets of the Gardens

 

Owing to the many modifications made to the gardens between the 17th. and the 19th. centuries, many of the bosquets have undergone multiple modifications, which were often accompanied by name changes.

 

Deux Bosquets - Bosquet de la Girondole - Bosquet du Dauphin - Quinconce du Nord - Quinconce du Midi

 

These two bosquets were first laid out in 1663. They were arranged as a series of paths around four salles de verdure and which converged on a central "room" that contained a fountain.

 

In 1682, the southern bosquet was remodeled as the Bosquet de la Girondole, thus named due to spoke-like arrangement of the central fountain. The northern bosquet was rebuilt in 1696 as the Bosquet du Dauphin with a fountain that featured a dolphin.

 

During the replantation of 1774–1775, both the bosquets were destroyed. The areas were replanted with lime trees and were rechristened the Quinconce du Nord and the Quinconce du Midi.

 

Labyrinthe - Bosquet de la Reine

 

In 1665, André Le Nôtre planned a hedge maze of unadorned paths in an area south of the Latona Fountain near the Orangerie. In 1669, Charles Perrault - author of the Mother Goose Tales - advised Louis XIV to remodel the Labyrinthe in such a way as to serve the Dauphin's education.

 

Between 1672 and 1677, Le Nôtre redesigned the Labyrinthe to feature thirty-nine fountains that depicted stories from Aesop's Fables. The sculptors Jean-Baptiste Tuby, Étienne Le Hongre, Pierre Le Gros, and the brothers Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy worked on these thirty-nine fountains, each of which was accompanied by a plaque on which the fable was printed, with verse written by Isaac de Benserade; from these plaques, Louis XIV's son learned to read.

 

Once completed in 1677, the Labyrinthe contained thirty-nine fountains with 333 painted metal animal sculptures. The water for the elaborate waterworks was conveyed from the Seine by the Machine de Marly.

 

The Labyrinthe contained fourteen water-wheels driving 253 pumps, some of which worked at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.

 

Citing repair and maintenance costs, Louis XVI ordered the Labyrinthe demolished in 1778. In its place, an arboretum of exotic trees was planted as an English-styled garden.

 

Rechristened Bosquet de la Reine, it would be in this part of the garden that an episode of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which compromised Marie-Antoinette, transpired in 1785.

 

Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau - Bosquet de l'Étoile

 

Originally designed by André Le Nôtre in 1661 as a salle de verdure, this bosquet contained a path encircling a central pentagonal area. In 1671, the bosquet was enlarged with a more elaborate system of paths that served to enhance the new central water feature, a fountain that resembled a mountain, hence the bosquets new name: Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau.

 

The bosquet was completely remodeled in 1704 at which time it was rechristened Bosquet de l'Étoile.

 

Bosquet du Marais - Bosquet du Chêne Vert - Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon - Grotte des Bains d'Apollon

 

Created in 1670, this bosquet originally contained a central rectangular pool surrounded by a turf border. Edging the pool were metal reeds that concealed numerous jets for water; a swan that had water jetting from its beak occupied each corner.

 

The centre of the pool featured an iron tree with painted tin leaves that sprouted water from its branches. Because of this tree, the bosquet was also known as the Bosquet du Chêne Vert.

 

In 1705, this bosquet was destroyed in order to allow for the creation of the Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon, which was created to house the statues had once stood in the Grotte de Thétys.

 

During the reign of Louis XVI, Hubert Robert remodeled the bosquet, creating a cave-like setting for the Marsy statues. The bosquet was renamed the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon.

 

Île du Roi - Miroir d'Eau - Jardin du Roi

 

Originally designed in 1671 as two separate water features, the larger - Île du Roi - contained an island that formed the focal point of a system of elaborate fountains.

 

The Île du Roi was separated from the Miroir d'Eau by a causeway that featured twenty-four water jets. In 1684, the island was removed and the total number of water jets in the bosquet was significantly reduced.

 

The year 1704 witnessed a major renovation of the bosquet, at which time the causeway was remodelled and most of the water jets were removed.

 

A century later, in 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau to be completely remodeled as an English-style garden. At this time, the bosquet was rechristened Jardin du Roi.

 

Salle des Festins - Salle du Conseil - Bosquet de l'Obélisque

 

In 1671, André Le Nôtre conceived a bosquet - originally christened Salle des Festins and later called Salle du Conseil - that featured a quatrefoil island surrounded by a channel containing fifty water jets. Access to the island was obtained by two swing bridges.

 

Beyond the channel and placed at the cardinal points within the bosquet were four additional fountains. Under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the bosquet was completely remodeled in 1706. The central island was replaced by a large basin raised on five steps, which was surrounded by a canal. The central fountain contained 230 jets that, when in play, formed an obelisk – hence the new name Bosquet de l'Obélisque.

 

Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau - Bosquet du Rond-Vert

 

The central feature of this bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre between 1671 and 1674, was an auditorium/theatre sided by three tiers of turf seating that faced a stage decorated with four fountains alternating with three radiating cascades.

 

Between 1680 and Louis XIV's death in 1715, there was near-constant rearranging of the statues that decorated the bosquet.

 

In 1709, the bosquet was rearranged with the addition of the Fontaine de l'Île aux Enfants. As part of the replantation of the gardens ordered by Louis XVI during the winter of 1774–1775, the Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was destroyed and replaced with the unadorned Bosquet du Rond-Vert. The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was recreated in 2014, with South Korean businessman and photographer Yoo Byung-eun being the sole patron, donating €1.4 million.

 

Bosquet des Trois Fontaines - Berceau d'Eau

 

Situated to the west of the Allée des Marmousets and replacing the short-lived Berceau d'Eau (a long and narrow bosquet created in 1671 that featured a water bower made by numerous jets of water), the enlarged bosquet was transformed by Le Nôtre in 1677 into a series of three linked rooms.

 

Each room contained a number of fountains that played with special effects. The fountains survived the modifications that Louis XIV ordered for other fountains in the gardens in the early 18th. century and were subsequently spared during the 1774–1775 replantation of the gardens.

 

In 1830, the bosquet was replanted, at which time the fountains were suppressed. Due to storm damage in the park in 1990 and then again in 1999, the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines was restored and re-inaugurated on the 12th. June 2004.

 

Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

 

This bosquet was originally planned in 1672 as a simple pavillon d'eau - a round open expanse with a square fountain in the centre. In 1676, this bosquet was enlarged and redecorated along political lines that alluded to French military victories over Spain and Austria, at which time the triumphal arch was added - hence the name.

 

As with the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, this bosquet survived the modifications of the 18th. century, but was replanted in 1830, at which time the fountains were removed.

 

Bosquet de la Renommée - Bosquet des Dômes

 

Built in 1675, the Bosquet de la Renommée featured a fountain statue of Fame. With the relocation of the statues from the Grotte de Thétys in 1684, the bosquet was remodelled to accommodate the statues, and the Fame fountain was removed.

 

At this time the bosquet was rechristened Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. As part of the reorganisation of the garden that was ordered by Louis XIV in the early part of the 18th. century, the Apollo grouping was moved once again to the site of the Bosquet du Marais - located near the Latona Fountain - which was destroyed and was replaced by the new Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon.

 

The statues were installed on marble plinths from which water issued; and each statue grouping was protected by an intricately carved and gilded baldachin.

 

The old Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon was renamed Bosquet des Dômes due to two domed pavilions built in the bosquet.

 

Bosquet de l'Encélade

 

Created in 1675 at the same time as the Bosquet de la Renommée, the fountain of this bosquet depicts Enceladus, a fallen Giant who was condemned to live below Mount Etna, being consumed by volcanic lava.

 

From its conception, this fountain was conceived as an allegory of Louis XIV's victory over the Fronde. In 1678, an octagonal ring of turf and eight rocaille fountains surrounding the central fountain were added. These additions were removed in 1708.

 

When in play, this fountain has the tallest jet of all the fountains in the gardens of Versailles - 25 metres.

 

Bosquet des Sources - La Colonnade

 

Designed as a simple unadorned salle de verdure by Le Nôtre in 1678, the landscape architect enhanced and incorporated an existing stream to create a bosquet that featured rivulets that twisted among nine islets.

 

In 1684, Jules Hardouin-Mansart completely redesigned the bosquet by constructing a circular arched double peristyle. The Colonnade, as it was renamed, originally featured thirty-two arches and thirty-one fountains – a single jet of water splashed into a basin center under the arch.

 

In 1704, three additional entrances to the Colonnade were added, which reduced the number of fountains from thirty-one to twenty-eight. The statue that currently occupies the centre of the Colonnade - the Abduction of Persephone - (from the Grande Commande of 1664) was set in place in 1696.

 

Galerie d'Eau - Galerie des Antiques - Salle des Marronniers

 

Occupying the site of the Galerie d'Eau (1678), the Galerie des Antiques was designed in 1680 to house the collection of antique statues and copies of antique statues acquired by the Académie de France in Rome.

 

Surrounding a central area paved with colored stone, a channel was decorated with twenty statues on plinths, each separated by three jets of water.

 

The Galerie was completely remodeled in 1704 when the statues were transferred to Marly and the bosquet was replanted with horse chestnut trees - hence the current name Salle des Marronniers.

 

Salle de Bal

 

This bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre and built between 1681 and 1683, features a semi-circular cascade that forms the backdrop for a salle de verdure.

 

Interspersed with gilt lead torchères, which supported candelabra for illumination, the Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1683 by Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, with a dance party.

 

The Salle de Bal was remodeled in 1707 when the central island was removed and an additional entrance was added.

 

Replantations of the Gardens

 

Common to any long-lived garden is replantation, and Versailles is no exception. In their history, the gardens of Versailles have undergone no less than five major replantations, which have been executed for practical and aesthetic reasons.

 

During the winter of 1774–1775, Louis XVI ordered the replanting of the gardens on the grounds that many of the trees were diseased or overgrown, and needed to be replaced.

 

Also, as the formality of the 17th.-century garden had fallen out of fashion, this replantation sought to establish a new informality in the gardens - that would also be less expensive to maintain.

 

This, however, was not achieved, as the topology of the gardens favored the Jardin à la Française over an English-style garden.

 

Then, in 1860, much of the old growth from Louis XVI's replanting was removed and replaced. In 1870, a violent storm struck the area, damaging and uprooting scores of trees, which necessitated a massive replantation program.

 

However, owing to the Franco-Prussian War, which toppled Napoléon III, and the Commune de Paris, replantation of the garden did not get underway until 1883.

 

The most recent replantations of the gardens were precipitated by two storms that battered Versailles in 1990 and then again in 1999. The storm damage at Versailles and Trianon amounted to the loss of thousands of trees - the worst such damage in the history of Versailles.

 

The replantations have allowed museum and governmental authorities to restore and rebuild some of the bosquets that were abandoned during the reign of Louis XVI, such as the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, which was restored in 2004.

 

Catherine Pégard, the head of the public establishment which administers Versailles, has stated that the intention is to return the gardens to their appearance under Louis XIV, specifically as he described them in his 1704 description, Manière de Montrer les Jardins de Versailles.

 

This involves restoring some of the parterres like the Parterre du Midi to their original formal layout, as they appeared under Le Nôtre. This was achieved in the Parterre de Latone in 2013, when the 19th. century lawns and flower beds were torn up and replaced with boxwood-enclosed turf and gravel paths to create a formal arabesque design.

 

Pruning is also done to keep trees at between 17 and 23 metres (56 to 75 feet), so as not to spoil the carefully designed perspectives of the gardens.

 

Owing to the natural cycle of replantations that has occurred at Versailles, it is safe to state that no trees dating from the time of Louis XIV are to be found in the gardens.

 

Problems With Water

 

The marvel of the gardens of Versailles - then as now - is the fountains. Yet, the very element that animates the gardens, water, has proven to be the affliction of the gardens since the time of Louis XIV.

 

The gardens of Louis XIII required water, and local ponds provided an adequate supply. However, once Louis XIV began expanding the gardens with more and more fountains, supplying the gardens with water became a critical challenge.

 

To meet the needs of the early expansions of the gardens under Louis XIV, water was pumped to the gardens from ponds near the château, with the Clagny pond serving as the principal source.

 

Water from the pond was pumped to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys, which fed the fountains in the garden by means of gravitational hydraulics. Other sources included a series of reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau south of the château.

 

The Grand Canal

 

By 1664, increased demand for water necessitated additional sources. In that year, Louis Le Vau designed the Pompe, a water tower built north of the château. The Pompe drew water from the Clagny pond using a system of windmills and horsepower to a cistern housed in the Pompe's building. The capacity of the Pompe 600 cubic metres per day - alleviated some of the water shortages in the garden.

 

With the completion of the Grand Canal in 1671, which served as drainage for the fountains of the garden, water, via a system of windmills, was pumped back to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys.

 

While this system solved some of the water supply problems, there was never enough water to keep all of the fountains running in the garden in full-play all of the time.

 

While it was possible to keep the fountains in view from the château running, those concealed in the bosquets and in the farther reaches of the garden were run on an as-needed basis.

 

In 1672, Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a system by which the fountaineers in the gardens would signal each other with whistles upon the approach of the king, indicating that their fountain needed to be turned on. Once the king had passed a fountain in play, it would be turned off and the fountaineer would signal that the next fountain could be turned on.

 

In 1674, the Pompe was enlarged, and subsequently referred to as the Grande Pompe. Pumping capacity was increased via increased power and the number of pistons used for lifting the water. These improvements increased the water capacity to nearly 3,000 cubic metres of water per day; however, the increased capacity of the Grande Pompe often left the Clagny pond dry.

 

The increasing demand for water and the stress placed on existing systems of water supply necessitated newer measures to increase the water supplied to Versailles. Between 1668 and 1674, a project was undertaken to divert the water of the Bièvre river to Versailles. By damming the river and with a pumping system of five windmills, water was brought to the reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau. This system brought an additional 72,000 cubic metres water to the gardens on a daily basis.

 

Despite the water from the Bièvre, the gardens needed still more water, which necessitated more projects. In 1681, one of the most ambitious water projects conceived during the reign of Louis XIV was undertaken.

 

Owing to the proximity of the Seine to Versailles, a project was proposed to raise the water from the river to be delivered to Versailles. Seizing upon the success of a system devised in 1680 that raised water from the Seine to the gardens of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, construction of the Machine de Marly began the following year.

 

The Machine de Marly was designed to lift water from the Seine in three stages to the Aqueduc de Louveciennes some 100 metres above the level of the river. A series of huge waterwheels was constructed in the river, which raised the water via a system of 64 pumps to a reservoir 48 metres above the river. From this first reservoir, water was raised an additional 56 metres to a second reservoir by a system of 79 pumps. Finally, 78 additional pumps raised the water to the aqueduct, which carried the water to Versailles and Marly.

 

In 1685, the Machine de Marly came into full operation. However, owing to leakage in the conduits and breakdowns of the mechanism, the machine was only able to deliver 3,200 cubic metres of water per day - approximately one-half the expected output. The machine was nevertheless a must-see for visitors. Despite the fact that the gardens consumed more water per day than the entire city of Paris, the Machine de Marly remained in operation until 1817.

 

During Louis XIV's reign, water supply systems represented one-third of the building costs of Versailles. Even with the additional output from the Machine de Marly, fountains in the garden could only be run à l'ordinaire - which is to say at half-pressure.

 

With this measure of economy, the fountains still consumed 12,800 cubic metres of water per day, far above the capacity of the existing supplies. In the case of the Grandes Eaux - when all the fountains played to their maximum - more than 10,000 cubic metres of water was needed for one afternoon's display.

 

Accordingly, the Grandes Eaux were reserved for special occasions such as the Siamese Embassy visit of 1685–1686.

 

The Canal de l'Eure

 

One final attempt to solve water shortage problems was undertaken in 1685. In this year it was proposed to divert the water of the Eure river, located 160 km. south of Versailles and at a level 26 m above the garden reservoirs.

 

The project called not only for digging a canal and for the construction of an aqueduct, it also necessitated the construction of shipping channels and locks to supply the workers on the main canal.

 

Between 9,000 to 10,000 troops were pressed into service in 1685; the next year, more than 20,000 soldiers were engaged in construction. Between 1686 and 1689, when the Nine Years' War began, one-tenth of France's military was at work on the Canal de l'Eure project.

 

However with the outbreak of the war, the project was abandoned, never to be completed. Had the aqueduct been completed, some 50,000 cubic metres of water would have been sent to Versailles - more than enough to solve the water problem of the gardens.

 

Today, the museum of Versailles is still faced with water problems. During the Grandes Eaux, water is circulated by means of modern pumps from the Grand Canal to the reservoirs. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal.

 

Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents the need to tap into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles.

 

The Versailles Gardens In Popular Culture

 

The creation of the gardens of Versailles is the context for the film 'A Little Chaos', directed by Alan Rickman and released in 2015, in which Kate Winslet plays a fictional landscape gardener and Rickman plays King Louis XIV.

NGC7538

Still early on this, so data is a bit scant, but it is close enough for government work until the clouds clear.

Equipment:

Mount-Paramount ME

Camera - STL 6303 Astrodon 3nm Ha,3nm Oiii, 3nm Sii

OTA - C14HD @3896.8/F10.94

Plate solve:

RA 23h 13m 29s, Dec +61° 30' 14"

Pos Angle +187° 33', FL 3901.8 mm, 0.95"/Pixel

Exposure: Bin2, Oct 15,17 2011

4 X 1 hour Ha(3nm) ( 4 hours)

Total time 4 hours

False color Ha

 

Imaging and guiding thru Maxim DL, Guided thru MOAG 0.2 hrz

Process: Calibration/Assembly Maxim DL, post processing PixInsite/Photohop

A long rubber tube, closed in a loop, is animated by contortions and undulations like an invertebrate body. Surrounded by a group of four dumb human beings equipped with sound halberds, the creature seems to try to release itself from this disturbing presence in vain. Its efforts and sufferings excite the curiosity of the four human beings and become the subject of primary and sophisticated polyphonic rituals only constituted by synthesized voices.

 

credit: Xavier Voirol

my music, with pictures from Flickr artist That Camel Woman. www.flickr.com/photos/thatcamelwoman/

 

Catch the entire slideshow on Youtube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJbCM_SYD6k

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultanahmet Camii) is a historical mosque in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

 

It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.

 

Architecture

The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. It has 6 minarates along with 8 domes and 1 main one.

 

Interior

At its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses. More than 20,000 tiles were made under the supervision of the Iznik master potter Kasap Haci and Baris Efendi from Avanos (Cappadocia). The price to be paid for each tile was fixed by the sultan's decree, while tile prices in general increased over time. As a result, the quality of the tiles used in the building decreased gradually. Their colours have faded and changed (red turning into brown and green into blue, mottled whites) and the glazes have dulled. The tiles on the back balcony wall are recycled tiles from the harem in the Topkapı Palace, when it was damaged by fire in 1574.

 

The upper levels of the interior are dominated by blue paint. More than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light, today assisted by chandeliers. On the chandeliers, ostrich eggs are found that were meant to avoid cobwebs inside the mosque by repelling spiders. The decorations include verses from the Qur'an, many of them made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time. The floors are covered with carpets, which are donated by faithful people and are regularly replaced as they wear out. The many spacious windows confer a spacious impression. The casements at floor level are decorated with opus sectile. Each exedra has five windows, some of which are blind. Each semi-dome has 14 windows and the central dome 28 (four of which are blind). The coloured glass for the windows was a gift of the Signoria of Venice to the sultan. Most of these coloured windows have by now been replaced by modern versions with little or no artistic merit.

 

The most important element in the interior of the mosque is the mihrab, which is made of finely carved and sculptured marble, with a stalactite niche and a double inscriptive panel above it. The adjacent walls are sheathed in ceramic tiles. But the many windows around it make it look less spectacular. To the right of the mihrab is the richly decorated minber, or pulpit, where the Imam stands when he is delivering his sermon at the time of noon prayer on Fridays or on holy days. The mosque has been designed so that even when it is at its most crowded, everyone in the mosque can see and hear the Imam.

 

The royal kiosk is situated at the south-east corner. It comprises a platform, a loggia and two small retiring rooms. It gives access to the royal loge in the south-east upper gallery of the mosque. These retiring rooms became the headquarters of the Grand Vizier during the suppression of the rebellious Janissary Corps in 1826. The royal loge (hünkâr mahfil) is supported by ten marble columns. It has its own mihrab, that used to be decorated with a jade rose and gilt and one hundred Qurans on inlaid and gilded lecterns.

 

The many lamps inside the mosque were once covered with gold and gems. Among the glass bowls one could find ostrich eggs and crystal balls. All these decorations have been removed or pillaged for museums.

 

The great tablets on the walls are inscribed with the names of the caliphs and verses from the Quran, originally by the great 17th-century calligrapher Ametli Kasım Gubarım, but they have frequently been restored.

 

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - version 09Mar2012

 

See also in my flickr albums: Hagia Sophia, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultanahmet Camii) is an historical mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.

 

The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. It has one main dome, six minarets, and other eight secondary domes.

 

- Wikipedia -

 

PLEASE, no multi invitations, glitters or self promotion in your comments. My photos are FREE for anyone to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know. Thanks

 

No pictures are allowed in the Sistine Chapel, they just appear in the camera..... (I have to upload 3 sets)

 

One of the most famous places in the world, the Sistine Chapel is the site where the conclave for the election of the popes and other solemn pontifical ceremonies are held. Built between 1475 and 1481, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who commissioned it.

 

The frescoes on the long walls illustrate parallel events in the Lives of Moses and Christ and constitute a complex of extraordinary interest executed between 1481 and 1483 by Perugino, Botticelli, Cosimo Rosselli and Domenico Ghirlandaio, with their respective groups of assistants, who included Pinturicchio, Piero di Cosimo and others; later Luca Signorelli also joined the group.

 

The barrel-vaulted ceiling is entirely covered by the famous frescoes which Michelangelo painted between 1508 and 1512 for Julius II. The original design was only to have represented the Apostles, but was modified at the artist's insistence to encompass an enormously complex iconographic theme which may be synthesized as the representation of mankind waiting for the coming of the Messiah. More than twenty years later, Michelangelo was summoned back by Paul III (1534-49) to paint the Last Judgement on the wall behind the altar. He worked on it from 1536 to 1541.

For my son's fourth birthday, we decided on a fire truck theme. We started the party with a tour of a fire station and then went back to the house for a firefighters' obstacle course and the creation of several Duplo fire trucks (and of course, cake, ice cream, and fellowship). In keeping with the theme, my wife made several firefighter-themed treats and props.

Being largely unable to bake, my most significant party theme contribution was repurposing my old car launcher invention (www.flickr.com/photos/8190411@N07/4390842256) to be used as a MatchBox-scale fire station.

I originally made the car launcher to live at the bottom of our coat closet and accept car-dispensing commands from distant relatives via our family blog. For our fire-themed party, I mounted it in the bottom of our living room entertainment center and built a cardboard fire station facade. I swapped out the old PHP/Processing/AppleScript/BS2 control scheme for a an Arduino-based radio-monitoring scheme. I mounted a trunk-tracking radio scanner (from one of my other hobbies, amateur radio) on the underside of the car launcher. I programmed the scanner to scan the Alert talk groups for our county fire department, our city fire department, and our county emergency medical service. The Alert talk groups are just for relaying dispatch orders with a computer-synthesized voice. No human voices are transmitted there, just a brief alert warble followed by the orders to get moving. Sticking to merely the fire department talk groups would have been ideal, but there might not have been enough fire calls during the party to dispatch all of our toy trucks.

I programmed the Arduino to monitor the voltage of the scanner's audio and operate the fire truck launcher when a call comes through. I have the scanner's internal speaker muted and the Arduino controls a relay that feeds an external speaker only when a call comes through for which it is dispatching a truck. I have a minimum-time-between-launches set in the code so the launcher doesn't empty itself too fast. The launcher uses a single continuous-rotation servo to open a door that is mounted on a drawer slide. An IR emitter and detector are used to sense each stopping point, and small switches are used to detect full open and full close.

I mounted a couple red LEDs on the cardboard fire station facade to add to the affect and to warn nearby partygoers that a fire truck is forthcoming.

The net effect of all this is that when a real fire truck or ambulance is dispatched in Wake County, our tiny fire station plays the same radio call the firefighters hear, at the same time they hear it, and shoots out a toy fire truck into our living room for the entertainment of our party guests.

 

I have since made a Junior version for Gavin's younger brother: www.flickr.com/photos/8190411@N07/8316813546/

Opening scene

 

It is late in the 22nd Century. United Planet cruiser C57D a year out from Earth base on the way to Altair for a special mission. Commander J.J Adams (Leslie Neilsen) orders the crew to the deceleration booths as the ship drops from light speed to normal space.

 

Adams orders pilot Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly) to lay in a course for the fourth planet. The captain then briefs the crew that they are at their destination, and that they are to look for survivors from the Bellerophon expedition 20 years earlier.

 

As they orbit the planet looking for signs of life, the ship is scanned by a radar facility some 20 square miles in area. Morbius (Walter Pigeon) contacts the ship from the planet asking why the ship is here. Morbius goes on to explain he requires nothing, no rescue is required and he can't guarantee the safety of the ship or its crew.

 

Adams confirms that Morbius was a member of the original crew, but is puzzled at the cryptic warning Morbius realizes the ship is going to land regardless, and gives the pilot coordinates in a desert region of the planet. The ship lands and security details deploy. Within minutes a high speed dust cloud approaches the ship. Adams realizes it is a vehicle, and as it arrives the driver is discovered to be a robot (Robby). Robby welcomes the crew to Altair 4 and invites members of the crew to Morbious residence.

 

Adams, Farman and Doc Ostrow (Warren Stevens) arrive at the residence and are greeted by Morbius. They sit down to a meal prepared by Robbys food synthesizer and Morbius shows the visitors Robbys other abilities, including his unwavering obedience. Morbius then gives Robby a blaster with orders to shoot Adams. Robby refuses and goes into a mechanical mind lock, disabling him till the order is changed.

 

Morbius then shows the men the defense system of the house (A series of steel shutters). When questioned, Morbius admits that the Belleraphon crew is dead, Morbius and his wife being the only original survivors. Morbius's wife has also died, but months after the others and from natural causes. Morbius goes on to explain many of the crew were torn limb from limb by a strange creature or force living on the planet. The Belleraphon herself was destroyed when the final three surviving members tried to take off for Earth.

 

Adams wonders why this force has remained dormant all these years and never attacked Morbius. As discussions continue, a young woman Altaira (Anne Francis) introduces herself as Morbius daughter. Farman takes an immediate interest in Altaira, and begins to flirt with her . Altaira then shows the men her ability to control wild animals by petting a wild tiger. During this display the ship checks in on the safety of the away party. Adams explains he will need to check in with Earth for further orders and begins preparations for sending a signal. Because of the power needed the ship will be disabled for up to 10 days. Morbius is mortified by this extended period and offers Robby's services in building the communication facility

 

The next day Robby arrives at ship as the crew unloads the engine to power the transmitter. To lighten the tense moment the commander instructs the crane driver to pick up Cookie (Earl Holliman) and move him out of the way. Quinn interrupts the practical joke to report that the assembly is complete and they can transmit in the morning.

 

Meanwhile Cookie goes looking for Robby and organizes for the robot to synthesize some bourbon. Robby takes a sample and tells Cookie he can have 60 gallons ready the next morning for him.

 

Farman continues to court Altair by teaching her how to kiss, and the health benefits of kissing. Adams interrupts the exercise, and is clearly annoyed with a mix of jealous. He then explains to Altair that the clothes she wears are inappropriate around his crew. Altair tries to argue till Adams looses patience and order Altair to leave the area.

 

That night, Altair, still furious, explains to her father what occurred. Altair takes Adams advice to heart and orders Robby to run up a less revealing dress. Meanwhile back at the ship two security guards think they hear breathing in the darkness but see nothing.

 

Inside the ship, one of the crew half asleep sees the inner hatch opened and some material moved around. Next morning the Captain holds court on the events of the night before. Quinn advises the captain that most of the missing and damaged equipment can be replaced except for the Clystron monitor. Angry the Capt and Doc go back to Morbius to confront him about what has occurred.

 

Morbius is unavailable, so the two men settle in to wait. Outside Adams sees Altair swimming and goes to speak to her. Thinking she is naked, Adams becomes flustered and unsettled till he realizes she wants him to see her new dress. Altair asks why Adams wont kiss her like everyone else has. He gives in and plants one on her. Behind them a tiger emerges from the forest and attacks Altair, Adams reacts by shooting it. Altair is badly troubled by the incident, the tiger had been her friend, but she can't understand why acted as if she was an enemy.

 

Returning to the house, Doc and Adams accidently open Morbius office. They find a series of strange drawings but no sign of Morbius. He appears through a secret door and is outraged at the intrusion. Adams explains the damage done to the ship the previous night and his concern that Morbius was behind the attack.

 

Morbius admits it is time for explanations. He goes on to tell them about a race of creatures that lived on the planet called the Krell. In the past they had visited Earth, which explains why there are Earth animals on the planet. Morbius believes the Krell civilization collapsed in a single night, right on the verge of their greatest discovery. Today 2000 centuries later, nothing of their cities exists above ground.

 

Morbius then takes them on a tour of the Krell underground installation. Morbius first shows them a device for projecting their knowledge; he explains how he began to piece together information. Then an education device that projects images formed in the mind. Finally he explains what the Krell were expected to do, and how much lower human intelligence is in comparison.

 

Doc tries the intelligence tester but is confused when it does not register as high as Morbius. Morbius then explains it can also boost intelligence, and that the captain of the Belleraphon died using it. Morbius himself was badly injured but when he recovered his IQ had doubled.

 

Adams questions why all the equipment looks brand new. It is explained that all the machines left on the planet are self repairing and Morbius takes them on a tour of the rest of the installation. First they inspect a giant air vent that leads to the core of the planet. There are 400 other such shafts in the area and 9200 thermal reactors spread through the facilities 8000 cubic miles.

 

Later that night the crew has completed the security arrangements and tests the force field fence. Cookie asks permission to go outside the fence. He meets Robby who gives him the 60 gallons of bourbon. Outside, something hits the fence and shorts it out. The security team checks the breach but finds nothing. A series of foot like depressions begin forming leading to the ship. Something unseen enters the ship. A scream echos through the compound.

 

Back at the Morbius residence he argues that only he should be allowed to control the flow of Krell technology back to Earth. In the middle of the discussion, Adams is paged and told that the Chief Quinn has been murdered. Adams breaks of his discussions and heads back to the ship.

 

Later that night Doc finds the footprints and makes a cast. The foot makes no evolutionary sense. It seems to have elements of a four footed and biped creature; also it seems a predator and herbivore. Adams questions Cookie who was with the robot during the test and decides the robot was not responsible.

 

The next day at the funeral for Chief Morbius again warns him of impending doom facing the ship and crew. Adams considers this a challenge and spends the day fortifying the position around the ship. After testing the weapons and satisfied all that could be done has, the radar station suddenly reports movement in the distance moving slowly towards the ship.

 

No one sees anything despite the weapons being under radar fire control. The controller confirms a direct hit, but the object is still moving towards the ship. Suddenly something hits the force field fence, and a huge monster appears outlined in the energy flux. The crew open fire, but seem to do little good. A number of men move forward but a quickly killed.

 

Morbious wakes hearing the screams of Altair. Shes had a dream mimicking the attack that has just occurred. As Morbious is waking the creature in the force field disappears. Doc theories that the creature is made of some sort of energy, renewing itself second by second.

 

Adams takes Doc in the tractor to visit Morbius intending to evacuate him from the planet. He leaves orders for the ship to be readied for lift off. If he and Doc dont get back, the ship is to leave without them. They also want to try and break into Morbious office and take the brain booster test.

 

They are met at the door by Robby, who disarms them. Altair appears and countermands the orders given to Robby by her father. Seeing a chance Doc sneaks into the office. Altair argues with Adams about trying to make Morbius return home, she ultimately declares her love for him.

 

Robby appears carrying the injured Doc. Struggling to speak and heavy pain, Doc explains that the Krell succeeded in their great experiment. However they forgot about the sub conscious monsters they would release. Monsters from the id.

 

Morbius sees the dead body of Doc, and makes a series of ugly comments. His daughter reminds him that Doc is dead. Morbius lack of care convinces Altair she is better off going with Adams. Morbius tries to talk Adams out of taking Altair.

 

Adams demands an explanation of the id. Morbius realizes he is the source of the creature killing everyone. The machine the Krell built was able to release his inner beast, the sub conscious monster dwelling deep inside his ancestral mind.

 

Robby interrupts the debate to report something approaching the house. Morbius triggers the defensive shields of the house, which the creature begins to destroy. Morbius then orders Robby to destroy the creature, however Robby short circuits. Adams explained that it was useless; Robby knew it was Morbius self.

 

Adams, Altair and Morbius retreat to the Krell lab and sealed themselves in by sealing a special indestructible door. Adams convinces Morbius that he is really the monster, and that Morbius can not actually control his subconscious desires.

 

The group watch as the creature beings the slow process of burning through the door. Panicked Morbius implores Altair to say it is not so. Suddenly the full realization comes, and he understands that he could endanger or even kill Altair.

 

As the creature breaks through Morbius rushes forward and denies its existence. Suddenly the creature disappears but Morbius is mortally wounded. With his dying breath he instructs Adams to trigger a self destruct mechanism linked to the reactors of the great machine. The ship and crew have 24 hours to get as far away from the planet as possible

 

The next day we see the ship deep in space. Robby and Altair are onboard watching as the planet brightens and is destroyed. Adams assures Altair that her fathers memory will shine like a beacon.

The Postcard

 

A postally unused carte postale published by E. Papeghin of 24, Rue des Petites Écuries, Paris.

 

Papeghin

 

Papeghin of Paris and Tours was a publisher of black and white and monochrome collotype postcards between 1900 and 1931.

 

The firm's output largely depicted local views of amusement areas and sporting events, including the Olympics. Most of the subjects found on their cards were centred around Paris. In fact they published a photo book of Paris in 1919.

 

The Gardens of Versailles

 

The Gardens of Versailles are situated to the west of the palace. They cover some 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre.

 

Beyond the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas of Versailles to the east and Le Chesnay to the north-east, by the National Arboretum de Chèvreloup to the north, the Versailles plain (a protected wildlife preserve) to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.

 

In 1979, the gardens along with the château were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its cultural importance during the 17th. and 18th. centuries.

 

The gardens are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year.

 

The gardens contain 200,000 trees, 210,000 flowers planted annually, and feature meticulously manicured lawns and parterres, as well as many sculptures.

 

50 fountains containing 620 water jets, fed by 35 km. of piping, are located throughout the gardens. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique.

 

On weekends from late spring to early autumn, there are the Grandes Eaux - spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Designed by André Le Nôtre, the Grand Canal is the masterpiece of the Gardens of Versailles.

 

In the Gardens too, the Grand Trianon was built to provide the Sun King with the retreat that he wanted. The Petit Trianon is associated with Marie-Antoinette, who spent time there with her closest relatives and friends.

 

The Du Bus Plan for the Gardens of Versailles

 

With Louis XIII's purchase of lands from Jean-François de Gondi in 1632 and his assumption of the seigneurial role of Versailles in the 1630's, formal gardens were laid out west of the château.

 

Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson designed the gardens, which remained relatively unchanged until the expansion ordered under Louis XIV in the 1660's. This early layout, which has survived in the so-called Du Bus plan of c.1662, shows an established topography along which lines of the gardens evolved. This is evidenced in the clear definition of the main east–west and north–south axis that anchors the gardens' layout.

 

Louis XIV

 

In 1661, after the disgrace of the finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, who was accused by rivals of embezzling crown funds in order to build his luxurious château at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV turned his attention to Versailles.

 

With the aid of Fouquet's architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun, and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, Louis began an embellishment and expansion program at Versailles that would occupy his time and worries for the remainder of his reign.

 

From this point forward, the expansion of the gardens of Versailles followed the expansions of the château.

 

(a) The First Building Campaign

 

In 1662, minor modifications to the château were undertaken; however, greater attention was given to developing the gardens. Existing bosquets (clumps of trees) and parterres were expanded, and new ones created.

 

Most significant among the creations at this time were the Versailles Orangerie and the "Grotte de Thétys". The Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, was located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. It provided a protected area in which orange trees were kept during the winter months.

 

The "Grotte de Thétys", which was located to the north of the château, formed part of the iconography of the château and of the gardens that aligned Louis XIV with solar imagery. The grotto was completed during the second building campaign.

 

By 1664, the gardens had evolved to the point that Louis XIV inaugurated the gardens with the fête galante called Les Plaisirs de L'Île Enchantée. The event, was ostensibly to celebrate his mother, Anne d'Autriche, and his consort Marie-Thérèse but in reality celebrated Louise de La Vallière, Louis' mistress.

 

Guests were regaled with entertainments in the gardens over a period of one week. As a result of this fête - particularly the lack of housing for guests (most of them had to sleep in their carriages), Louis realised the shortcomings of Versailles, and began to expand the château and the gardens once again.

 

(b) The Second Building Campaign

 

Between 1664 and 1668, there was a flurry of activity in the gardens - especially with regard to fountains and new bosquets; it was during this time that the imagery of the gardens exploited Apollo and solar imagery as metaphors for Louis XIV.

 

Le Va's enveloppe of the Louis XIII's château provided a means by which, though the decoration of the garden façade, imagery in the decors of the grands appartements of the king and queen formed a symbiosis with the imagery of the gardens.

 

With this new phase of construction, the gardens assumed the design vocabulary that remained in force until the 18th. century. Solar and Apollonian themes predominated with projects constructed at this time.

 

Three additions formed the topological and symbolic nexus of the gardens during this phase of construction: the completion of the "Grotte de Thétys", the "Bassin de Latone", and the "Bassin d'Apollon".

 

The Grotte de Thétys

 

Started in 1664 and finished in 1670 with the installation of the statuary, the grotto formed an important symbolic and technical component to the gardens. Symbolically, the "Grotte de Thétys" related to the myth of Apollo - and by association to Louis XIV.

 

It represented the cave of the sea nymph Thetis, where Apollo rested after driving his chariot to light the sky. The grotto was a freestanding structure located just north of the château.

 

The interior, which was decorated with shell-work to represent a sea cave, contained the statue group by the Marsy brothers depicting the sun god attended by nereids.

 

Technically, the "'Grotte de Thétys" played a critical role in the hydraulic system that supplied water to the garden. The roof of the grotto supported a reservoir that stored water pumped from the Clagny pond and which fed the fountains lower in the garden via gravity.

 

The Bassin de Latone

 

Located on the east–west axis is the Bassin de Latone. Designed by André Le Nôtre, sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, and constructed between 1668 and 1670, the fountain depicts an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

 

Altona and her children, Apollo and Diana, being tormented with mud slung by Lycian peasants, who refused to let her and her children drink from their pond, appealed to Jupiter who responded by turning the Lycians into frogs.

 

This episode from mythology has been seen as a reference to the revolts of the Fronde, which occurred during the minority of Louis XIV. The link between Ovid's story and this episode from French history is emphasised by the reference to "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The revolts of the Fronde - the word fronde also means slingshot - have been regarded as the origin of the use of the term "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The Bassin d'Apollon

 

Further along the east–west axis is the Bassin d'Apollon. The Apollo Fountain, which was constructed between 1668 and 1671, depicts the sun god driving his chariot to light the sky. The fountain forms a focal point in the garden, and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal.

 

The Grand Canal

 

With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the Grand Canal, which was built between 1668 and 1671, prolongs the east–west axis to the walls of the Grand Parc. During the Ancien Régime, the Grand Canal served as a venue for boating parties.

 

In 1674 the king ordered the construction of Petite Venise (Little Venice). Located at the junction of the Grand Canal and the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice.

 

The Grand Canal also served a practical role. Situated at a low point in the gardens, it collected water that drained from the fountains in the garden above. Water from the Grand Canal was pumped back to the reservoir on the roof of the Grotte de Thétys via a network of windmill- and horse-powered pumps.

 

The Parterre d'Eau

 

Situated above the Latona Fountain is the terrace of the château, known as the Parterre d'Eau. Forming a transitional element from the château to the gardens below, the Parterre d'Eau provided a setting in which the symbolism of the grands appartements synthesized with the iconography of the gardens.

 

In 1664, Louis XIV commissioned a series of statues intended to decorate the water feature of the Parterre d'Eau. The Grande Command, as the commission is known, comprised twenty-four statues of the classic quaternities and four additional statues depicting abductions from the classic past.

 

Evolution of the Bosquets

 

One of the distinguishing features of the gardens during the second building campaign was the proliferation of bosquets. Expanding the layout established during the first building campaign, Le Nôtre added or expanded on no fewer that ten bosquets between 1670 and 1678:

 

-- The Bosquet du Marais

-- The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau, Île du Roi

-- The Miroir d'Eau

-- The Salle des Festins (Salle du Conseil)

-- The Bosquet des Trois Fontaines

-- The Labyrinthe

-- The Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

-- The Bosquet de la Renommée (Bosquet des Dômes)

-- The Bosquet de l'Encélade

-- The Bosquet des Sources

 

In addition to the expansion of existing bosquets and the construction of new ones, there were two additional projects that defined this era, the Bassin des Sapins and the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses.

 

-- The Bassin des Sapins

 

In 1676, the Bassin des Sapins, which was located north of the château below the Allée des Marmoset's was designed to form a topological pendant along the north–south axis with the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses located at the base of the Satory hill south of the château.

 

Later modifications in the gardens transformed this fountain into the Bassin de Neptune.

 

-- Pièce d'Eau des Suisses

 

Excavated in 1678, the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses - named after the Swiss Guards who constructed the lake - occupied an area of marshes and ponds, some of which had been used to supply water for the fountains in the garden.

 

This water feature, with a surface area of more than 15 hectares (37 acres), is the second largest - after the Grand Canal - at Versailles.

 

(c) The Third Building Campaign

 

Modifications to the gardens during the third building campaign were distinguished by a stylistic change from the natural aesthetic of André Le Nôtre to the architectonic style of Jules Hardouin Mansart.

 

The first major modification to the gardens during this phase occurred in 1680 when the Tapis Vert - the expanse of lawn that stretches between the Latona Fountain and the Apollo Fountain - achieved its final size and definition under the direction of André Le Nôtre.

 

Beginning in 1684, the Parterre d'Eau was remodelled under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Statues from the Grande Commande of 1674 were relocated to other parts of the garden; two twin octagonal basins were constructed and decorated with bronze statues representing the four main rivers of France.

 

In the same year, Le Vau's Orangerie, located to south of the Parterrre d'Eau was demolished to accommodate a larger structure designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

 

In addition to the Orangerie, the Escaliers des Cent Marches, which facilitated access to the gardens from the south, to the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, and to the Parterre du Midi were constructed at this time, giving the gardens just south of the château their present configuration and decoration.

 

Additionally, to accommodate the anticipated construction of the Aile des Nobles - the north wing of the château - the Grotte de Thétys was demolished.

 

With the construction of the Aile des Nobles (1685–1686), the Parterre du Nord was remodelled to respond to the new architecture of this part of the château.

 

To compensate for the loss of the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys and to meet the increased demand for water, Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed new and larger reservoirs situated north of the Aile des Nobles.

 

Construction of the ruinously expensive Canal de l'Eure was inaugurated in 1685; designed by Vauban it was intended to bring waters of the Eure over 80 kilometres, including aqueducts of heroic scale, but the works were abandoned in 1690.

 

Between 1686 and 1687, the Bassin de Latone, under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was rebuilt. It is this final version of the fountain that one sees today at Versailles.

 

During this phase of construction, three of the garden's major bosquets were modified or created. Beginning with the Galerie des Antiques, this bosquet was constructed in 1680 on the site of the earlier and short-lived Galerie d'Eau. This bosquet was conceived as an open-air gallery in which antique statues and copies acquired by the Académie de France in Rome were displayed.

 

The following year, construction began on the Salle de Bal. Located in a secluded section of the garden west of the Orangerie, this bosquet was designed as an amphitheater that featured a cascade – the only one surviving in the gardens of Versailles. The Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1685 with a ball hosted by the Grand Dauphin.

 

Between 1684 and 1685, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Colonnade. Located on the site of Le Nôtre's Bosquet des Sources, this bosquet featured a circular peristyle formed from thirty-two arches with twenty-eight fountains, and was Hardouin-Mansart's most architectural of the bosquets built in the gardens of Versailles.

 

(d) The Fourth Building Campaign

 

Due to financial constraints arising from the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession, no significant work on the gardens was undertaken until 1704.

 

Between 1704 and 1709, bosquets were modified, some quite radically, with new names suggesting the new austerity that characterised the latter years of Louis XIV's reign.

 

Louis XV

 

With the departure of the king and court from Versailles in 1715 following the death of Louis XIV, the palace and gardens entered an era of uncertainty.

 

In 1722, Louis XV and the court returned to Versailles. Seeming to heed his great-grandfather's admonition not to engage in costly building campaigns, Louis XV did not undertake the costly rebuilding that Louis XIV had.

 

During the reign of Louis XV, the only significant addition to the gardens was the completion of the Bassin de Neptune (1738–1741).

 

Rather than expend resources on modifying the gardens at Versailles, Louis XV - an avid botanist - directed his efforts at Trianon. In the area now occupied by the Hameau de la Reine, Louis XV constructed and maintained les Jardins Botaniques.

 

In 1761, Louis XV commissioned Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build the Petit Trianon as a residence that would allow him to spend more time near the Jardins Botaniques. It was at the Petit Trianon that Louis XV fell fatally ill with smallpox; he died at Versailles on the 10th. May 1774.

 

Louis XVI

 

Upon Louis XVI's ascension to the throne, the gardens of Versailles underwent a transformation that recalled the fourth building campaign of Louis XIV. Engendered by a change in outlook as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Philosophes, the winter of 1774–1775 witnessed a complete replanting of the gardens.

 

Trees and shrubbery dating from the reign of Louis XIV were felled or uprooted with the intent of transforming the French formal garden of Le Nôtre and Hardouin-Mansart into a version of an English landscape garden.

 

The attempt to convert Le Nôtre's masterpiece into an English-style garden failed to achieve its desired goal. Owing largely to the topology of the land, the English aesthetic was abandoned and the gardens replanted in the French style.

 

However, with an eye on economy, Louis XVI ordered the Palisades - the labour-intensive clipped hedging that formed walls in the bosquets - to be replaced with rows of lime trees or chestnut trees. Additionally, a number of the bosquets dating from the time of the Sun King were extensively modified or destroyed.

 

The most significant contribution to the gardens during the reign of Louis XVI was the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon. The rockwork grotto set in an English style bosquet was the masterpiece of Hubert Robert in which the statues from the Grotte de Thétys were placed.

 

Revolution

 

In 1792, under order from the National Convention, some of the trees in the gardens were felled, while parts of the Grand Parc were parcelled and dispersed.

 

Sensing the potential threat to Versailles, Louis Claude Marie Richard (1754–1821) – director of the Jardins Botaniques and grandson of Claude Richard – lobbied the government to save Versailles. He succeeded in preventing further dispersing of the Grand Parc, and threats to destroy the Petit Parc were abolished by suggesting that the parterres could be used to plant vegetable gardens, and that orchards could occupy the open areas of the garden.

 

These plans were never put into action; however, the gardens were opened to the public - it was not uncommon to see people washing their laundry in the fountains and spreading it on the shrubbery to dry.

 

Napoléon I

 

The Napoleonic era largely ignored Versailles. In the château, a suite of rooms was arranged for the use of the empress Marie-Louise, but the gardens were left unchanged, save for the disastrous felling of trees in the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines. Massive soil erosion necessitated planting of new trees.

 

Restoration

 

With the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the gardens of Versailles witnessed the first modifications since the Revolution. In 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the conversion of the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau into an English-style garden - the Jardin du Roi.

 

The July Monarchy; The Second Empire

 

While much of the château's interior was irreparably altered to accommodate the Museum of the History of France (inaugurated by Louis-Philippe on the 10th. June 1837), the gardens, by contrast, remained untouched.

 

With the exception of the state visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, at which time the gardens were a setting for a gala fête that recalled the fêtes of Louis XIV, Napoléon III ignored the château, preferring instead the château of Compiègne.

 

Pierre de Nolhac

With the arrival of Pierre de Nolhac as director of the museum in 1892, a new era of historical research began at Versailles. Nolhac, an ardent archivist and scholar, began to piece together the history of Versailles, and subsequently established the criteria for restoration of the château and preservation of the gardens, which are ongoing to this day.

 

Bosquets of the Gardens

 

Owing to the many modifications made to the gardens between the 17th. and the 19th. centuries, many of the bosquets have undergone multiple modifications, which were often accompanied by name changes.

 

Deux Bosquets - Bosquet de la Girondole - Bosquet du Dauphin - Quinconce du Nord - Quinconce du Midi

 

These two bosquets were first laid out in 1663. They were arranged as a series of paths around four salles de verdure and which converged on a central "room" that contained a fountain.

 

In 1682, the southern bosquet was remodeled as the Bosquet de la Girondole, thus named due to spoke-like arrangement of the central fountain. The northern bosquet was rebuilt in 1696 as the Bosquet du Dauphin with a fountain that featured a dolphin.

 

During the replantation of 1774–1775, both the bosquets were destroyed. The areas were replanted with lime trees and were rechristened the Quinconce du Nord and the Quinconce du Midi.

 

Labyrinthe - Bosquet de la Reine

 

In 1665, André Le Nôtre planned a hedge maze of unadorned paths in an area south of the Latona Fountain near the Orangerie. In 1669, Charles Perrault - author of the Mother Goose Tales - advised Louis XIV to remodel the Labyrinthe in such a way as to serve the Dauphin's education.

 

Between 1672 and 1677, Le Nôtre redesigned the Labyrinthe to feature thirty-nine fountains that depicted stories from Aesop's Fables. The sculptors Jean-Baptiste Tuby, Étienne Le Hongre, Pierre Le Gros, and the brothers Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy worked on these thirty-nine fountains, each of which was accompanied by a plaque on which the fable was printed, with verse written by Isaac de Benserade; from these plaques, Louis XIV's son learned to read.

 

Once completed in 1677, the Labyrinthe contained thirty-nine fountains with 333 painted metal animal sculptures. The water for the elaborate waterworks was conveyed from the Seine by the Machine de Marly.

 

The Labyrinthe contained fourteen water-wheels driving 253 pumps, some of which worked at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.

 

Citing repair and maintenance costs, Louis XVI ordered the Labyrinthe demolished in 1778. In its place, an arboretum of exotic trees was planted as an English-styled garden.

 

Rechristened Bosquet de la Reine, it would be in this part of the garden that an episode of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which compromised Marie-Antoinette, transpired in 1785.

 

Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau - Bosquet de l'Étoile

 

Originally designed by André Le Nôtre in 1661 as a salle de verdure, this bosquet contained a path encircling a central pentagonal area. In 1671, the bosquet was enlarged with a more elaborate system of paths that served to enhance the new central water feature, a fountain that resembled a mountain, hence the bosquets new name: Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau.

 

The bosquet was completely remodeled in 1704 at which time it was rechristened Bosquet de l'Étoile.

 

Bosquet du Marais - Bosquet du Chêne Vert - Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon - Grotte des Bains d'Apollon

 

Created in 1670, this bosquet originally contained a central rectangular pool surrounded by a turf border. Edging the pool were metal reeds that concealed numerous jets for water; a swan that had water jetting from its beak occupied each corner.

 

The centre of the pool featured an iron tree with painted tin leaves that sprouted water from its branches. Because of this tree, the bosquet was also known as the Bosquet du Chêne Vert.

 

In 1705, this bosquet was destroyed in order to allow for the creation of the Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon, which was created to house the statues had once stood in the Grotte de Thétys.

 

During the reign of Louis XVI, Hubert Robert remodeled the bosquet, creating a cave-like setting for the Marsy statues. The bosquet was renamed the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon.

 

Île du Roi - Miroir d'Eau - Jardin du Roi

 

Originally designed in 1671 as two separate water features, the larger - Île du Roi - contained an island that formed the focal point of a system of elaborate fountains.

 

The Île du Roi was separated from the Miroir d'Eau by a causeway that featured twenty-four water jets. In 1684, the island was removed and the total number of water jets in the bosquet was significantly reduced.

 

The year 1704 witnessed a major renovation of the bosquet, at which time the causeway was remodelled and most of the water jets were removed.

 

A century later, in 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau to be completely remodeled as an English-style garden. At this time, the bosquet was rechristened Jardin du Roi.

 

Salle des Festins - Salle du Conseil - Bosquet de l'Obélisque

 

In 1671, André Le Nôtre conceived a bosquet - originally christened Salle des Festins and later called Salle du Conseil - that featured a quatrefoil island surrounded by a channel containing fifty water jets. Access to the island was obtained by two swing bridges.

 

Beyond the channel and placed at the cardinal points within the bosquet were four additional fountains. Under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the bosquet was completely remodeled in 1706. The central island was replaced by a large basin raised on five steps, which was surrounded by a canal. The central fountain contained 230 jets that, when in play, formed an obelisk – hence the new name Bosquet de l'Obélisque.

 

Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau - Bosquet du Rond-Vert

 

The central feature of this bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre between 1671 and 1674, was an auditorium/theatre sided by three tiers of turf seating that faced a stage decorated with four fountains alternating with three radiating cascades.

 

Between 1680 and Louis XIV's death in 1715, there was near-constant rearranging of the statues that decorated the bosquet.

 

In 1709, the bosquet was rearranged with the addition of the Fontaine de l'Île aux Enfants. As part of the replantation of the gardens ordered by Louis XVI during the winter of 1774–1775, the Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was destroyed and replaced with the unadorned Bosquet du Rond-Vert. The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was recreated in 2014, with South Korean businessman and photographer Yoo Byung-eun being the sole patron, donating €1.4 million.

 

Bosquet des Trois Fontaines - Berceau d'Eau

 

Situated to the west of the Allée des Marmousets and replacing the short-lived Berceau d'Eau (a long and narrow bosquet created in 1671 that featured a water bower made by numerous jets of water), the enlarged bosquet was transformed by Le Nôtre in 1677 into a series of three linked rooms.

 

Each room contained a number of fountains that played with special effects. The fountains survived the modifications that Louis XIV ordered for other fountains in the gardens in the early 18th. century and were subsequently spared during the 1774–1775 replantation of the gardens.

 

In 1830, the bosquet was replanted, at which time the fountains were suppressed. Due to storm damage in the park in 1990 and then again in 1999, the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines was restored and re-inaugurated on the 12th. June 2004.

 

Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

 

This bosquet was originally planned in 1672 as a simple pavillon d'eau - a round open expanse with a square fountain in the centre. In 1676, this bosquet was enlarged and redecorated along political lines that alluded to French military victories over Spain and Austria, at which time the triumphal arch was added - hence the name.

 

As with the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, this bosquet survived the modifications of the 18th. century, but was replanted in 1830, at which time the fountains were removed.

 

Bosquet de la Renommée - Bosquet des Dômes

 

Built in 1675, the Bosquet de la Renommée featured a fountain statue of Fame. With the relocation of the statues from the Grotte de Thétys in 1684, the bosquet was remodelled to accommodate the statues, and the Fame fountain was removed.

 

At this time the bosquet was rechristened Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. As part of the reorganisation of the garden that was ordered by Louis XIV in the early part of the 18th. century, the Apollo grouping was moved once again to the site of the Bosquet du Marais - located near the Latona Fountain - which was destroyed and was replaced by the new Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon.

 

The statues were installed on marble plinths from which water issued; and each statue grouping was protected by an intricately carved and gilded baldachin.

 

The old Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon was renamed Bosquet des Dômes due to two domed pavilions built in the bosquet.

 

Bosquet de l'Encélade

 

Created in 1675 at the same time as the Bosquet de la Renommée, the fountain of this bosquet depicts Enceladus, a fallen Giant who was condemned to live below Mount Etna, being consumed by volcanic lava.

 

From its conception, this fountain was conceived as an allegory of Louis XIV's victory over the Fronde. In 1678, an octagonal ring of turf and eight rocaille fountains surrounding the central fountain were added. These additions were removed in 1708.

 

When in play, this fountain has the tallest jet of all the fountains in the gardens of Versailles - 25 metres.

 

Bosquet des Sources - La Colonnade

 

Designed as a simple unadorned salle de verdure by Le Nôtre in 1678, the landscape architect enhanced and incorporated an existing stream to create a bosquet that featured rivulets that twisted among nine islets.

 

In 1684, Jules Hardouin-Mansart completely redesigned the bosquet by constructing a circular arched double peristyle. The Colonnade, as it was renamed, originally featured thirty-two arches and thirty-one fountains – a single jet of water splashed into a basin center under the arch.

 

In 1704, three additional entrances to the Colonnade were added, which reduced the number of fountains from thirty-one to twenty-eight. The statue that currently occupies the centre of the Colonnade - the Abduction of Persephone - (from the Grande Commande of 1664) was set in place in 1696.

 

Galerie d'Eau - Galerie des Antiques - Salle des Marronniers

 

Occupying the site of the Galerie d'Eau (1678), the Galerie des Antiques was designed in 1680 to house the collection of antique statues and copies of antique statues acquired by the Académie de France in Rome.

 

Surrounding a central area paved with colored stone, a channel was decorated with twenty statues on plinths, each separated by three jets of water.

 

The Galerie was completely remodeled in 1704 when the statues were transferred to Marly and the bosquet was replanted with horse chestnut trees - hence the current name Salle des Marronniers.

 

Salle de Bal

 

This bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre and built between 1681 and 1683, features a semi-circular cascade that forms the backdrop for a salle de verdure.

 

Interspersed with gilt lead torchères, which supported candelabra for illumination, the Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1683 by Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, with a dance party.

 

The Salle de Bal was remodeled in 1707 when the central island was removed and an additional entrance was added.

 

Replantations of the Gardens

 

Common to any long-lived garden is replantation, and Versailles is no exception. In their history, the gardens of Versailles have undergone no less than five major replantations, which have been executed for practical and aesthetic reasons.

 

During the winter of 1774–1775, Louis XVI ordered the replanting of the gardens on the grounds that many of the trees were diseased or overgrown, and needed to be replaced.

 

Also, as the formality of the 17th.-century garden had fallen out of fashion, this replantation sought to establish a new informality in the gardens - that would also be less expensive to maintain.

 

This, however, was not achieved, as the topology of the gardens favored the Jardin à la Française over an English-style garden.

 

Then, in 1860, much of the old growth from Louis XVI's replanting was removed and replaced. In 1870, a violent storm struck the area, damaging and uprooting scores of trees, which necessitated a massive replantation program.

 

However, owing to the Franco-Prussian War, which toppled Napoléon III, and the Commune de Paris, replantation of the garden did not get underway until 1883.

 

The most recent replantations of the gardens were precipitated by two storms that battered Versailles in 1990 and then again in 1999. The storm damage at Versailles and Trianon amounted to the loss of thousands of trees - the worst such damage in the history of Versailles.

 

The replantations have allowed museum and governmental authorities to restore and rebuild some of the bosquets that were abandoned during the reign of Louis XVI, such as the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, which was restored in 2004.

 

Catherine Pégard, the head of the public establishment which administers Versailles, has stated that the intention is to return the gardens to their appearance under Louis XIV, specifically as he described them in his 1704 description, Manière de Montrer les Jardins de Versailles.

 

This involves restoring some of the parterres like the Parterre du Midi to their original formal layout, as they appeared under Le Nôtre. This was achieved in the Parterre de Latone in 2013, when the 19th. century lawns and flower beds were torn up and replaced with boxwood-enclosed turf and gravel paths to create a formal arabesque design.

 

Pruning is also done to keep trees at between 17 and 23 metres (56 to 75 feet), so as not to spoil the carefully designed perspectives of the gardens.

 

Owing to the natural cycle of replantations that has occurred at Versailles, it is safe to state that no trees dating from the time of Louis XIV are to be found in the gardens.

 

Problems With Water

 

The marvel of the gardens of Versailles - then as now - is the fountains. Yet, the very element that animates the gardens, water, has proven to be the affliction of the gardens since the time of Louis XIV.

 

The gardens of Louis XIII required water, and local ponds provided an adequate supply. However, once Louis XIV began expanding the gardens with more and more fountains, supplying the gardens with water became a critical challenge.

 

To meet the needs of the early expansions of the gardens under Louis XIV, water was pumped to the gardens from ponds near the château, with the Clagny pond serving as the principal source.

 

Water from the pond was pumped to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys, which fed the fountains in the garden by means of gravitational hydraulics. Other sources included a series of reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau south of the château.

 

The Grand Canal

 

By 1664, increased demand for water necessitated additional sources. In that year, Louis Le Vau designed the Pompe, a water tower built north of the château. The Pompe drew water from the Clagny pond using a system of windmills and horsepower to a cistern housed in the Pompe's building. The capacity of the Pompe 600 cubic metres per day - alleviated some of the water shortages in the garden.

 

With the completion of the Grand Canal in 1671, which served as drainage for the fountains of the garden, water, via a system of windmills, was pumped back to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys.

 

While this system solved some of the water supply problems, there was never enough water to keep all of the fountains running in the garden in full-play all of the time.

 

While it was possible to keep the fountains in view from the château running, those concealed in the bosquets and in the farther reaches of the garden were run on an as-needed basis.

 

In 1672, Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a system by which the fountaineers in the gardens would signal each other with whistles upon the approach of the king, indicating that their fountain needed to be turned on. Once the king had passed a fountain in play, it would be turned off and the fountaineer would signal that the next fountain could be turned on.

 

In 1674, the Pompe was enlarged, and subsequently referred to as the Grande Pompe. Pumping capacity was increased via increased power and the number of pistons used for lifting the water. These improvements increased the water capacity to nearly 3,000 cubic metres of water per day; however, the increased capacity of the Grande Pompe often left the Clagny pond dry.

 

The increasing demand for water and the stress placed on existing systems of water supply necessitated newer measures to increase the water supplied to Versailles. Between 1668 and 1674, a project was undertaken to divert the water of the Bièvre river to Versailles. By damming the river and with a pumping system of five windmills, water was brought to the reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau. This system brought an additional 72,000 cubic metres water to the gardens on a daily basis.

 

Despite the water from the Bièvre, the gardens needed still more water, which necessitated more projects. In 1681, one of the most ambitious water projects conceived during the reign of Louis XIV was undertaken.

 

Owing to the proximity of the Seine to Versailles, a project was proposed to raise the water from the river to be delivered to Versailles. Seizing upon the success of a system devised in 1680 that raised water from the Seine to the gardens of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, construction of the Machine de Marly began the following year.

 

The Machine de Marly was designed to lift water from the Seine in three stages to the Aqueduc de Louveciennes some 100 metres above the level of the river. A series of huge waterwheels was constructed in the river, which raised the water via a system of 64 pumps to a reservoir 48 metres above the river. From this first reservoir, water was raised an additional 56 metres to a second reservoir by a system of 79 pumps. Finally, 78 additional pumps raised the water to the aqueduct, which carried the water to Versailles and Marly.

 

In 1685, the Machine de Marly came into full operation. However, owing to leakage in the conduits and breakdowns of the mechanism, the machine was only able to deliver 3,200 cubic metres of water per day - approximately one-half the expected output. The machine was nevertheless a must-see for visitors. Despite the fact that the gardens consumed more water per day than the entire city of Paris, the Machine de Marly remained in operation until 1817.

 

During Louis XIV's reign, water supply systems represented one-third of the building costs of Versailles. Even with the additional output from the Machine de Marly, fountains in the garden could only be run à l'ordinaire - which is to say at half-pressure.

 

With this measure of economy, the fountains still consumed 12,800 cubic metres of water per day, far above the capacity of the existing supplies. In the case of the Grandes Eaux - when all the fountains played to their maximum - more than 10,000 cubic metres of water was needed for one afternoon's display.

 

Accordingly, the Grandes Eaux were reserved for special occasions such as the Siamese Embassy visit of 1685–1686.

 

The Canal de l'Eure

 

One final attempt to solve water shortage problems was undertaken in 1685. In this year it was proposed to divert the water of the Eure river, located 160 km. south of Versailles and at a level 26 m above the garden reservoirs.

 

The project called not only for digging a canal and for the construction of an aqueduct, it also necessitated the construction of shipping channels and locks to supply the workers on the main canal.

 

Between 9,000 to 10,000 troops were pressed into service in 1685; the next year, more than 20,000 soldiers were engaged in construction. Between 1686 and 1689, when the Nine Years' War began, one-tenth of France's military was at work on the Canal de l'Eure project.

 

However with the outbreak of the war, the project was abandoned, never to be completed. Had the aqueduct been completed, some 50,000 cubic metres of water would have been sent to Versailles - more than enough to solve the water problem of the gardens.

 

Today, the museum of Versailles is still faced with water problems. During the Grandes Eaux, water is circulated by means of modern pumps from the Grand Canal to the reservoirs. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal.

 

Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents the need to tap into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles.

 

The Versailles Gardens In Popular Culture

 

The creation of the gardens of Versailles is the context for the film 'A Little Chaos', directed by Alan Rickman and released in 2015, in which Kate Winslet plays a fictional landscape gardener and Rickman plays King Louis XIV.

I shot in China! .. just kidding. I tried to synthesize it.

The Postcard

 

A postally unused carte postale bearing no publisher's name.

 

The Gardens of Versailles

 

The Gardens of Versailles are situated to the west of the palace. They cover some 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre.

 

Beyond the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas of Versailles to the east and Le Chesnay to the north-east, by the National Arboretum de Chèvreloup to the north, the Versailles plain (a protected wildlife preserve) to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.

 

In 1979, the gardens along with the château were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its cultural importance during the 17th. and 18th. centuries.

 

The gardens are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year.

 

The gardens contain 200,000 trees, 210,000 flowers planted annually, and feature meticulously manicured lawns and parterres, as well as many sculptures.

 

50 fountains containing 620 water jets, fed by 35 km. of piping, are located throughout the gardens. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique.

 

On weekends from late spring to early autumn, there are the Grandes Eaux - spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Designed by André Le Nôtre, the Grand Canal is the masterpiece of the Gardens of Versailles.

 

In the Gardens too, the Grand Trianon was built to provide the Sun King with the retreat that he wanted. The Petit Trianon is associated with Marie-Antoinette, who spent time there with her closest relatives and friends.

 

The Du Bus Plan for the Gardens of Versailles

 

With Louis XIII's purchase of lands from Jean-François de Gondi in 1632 and his assumption of the seigneurial role of Versailles in the 1630's, formal gardens were laid out west of the château.

 

Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson designed the gardens, which remained relatively unchanged until the expansion ordered under Louis XIV in the 1660's. This early layout, which has survived in the so-called Du Bus plan of c.1662, shows an established topography along which lines of the gardens evolved. This is evidenced in the clear definition of the main east–west and north–south axis that anchors the gardens' layout.

 

Louis XIV

 

In 1661, after the disgrace of the finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, who was accused by rivals of embezzling crown funds in order to build his luxurious château at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV turned his attention to Versailles.

 

With the aid of Fouquet's architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun, and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, Louis began an embellishment and expansion program at Versailles that would occupy his time and worries for the remainder of his reign.

 

From this point forward, the expansion of the gardens of Versailles followed the expansions of the château.

 

(a) The First Building Campaign

 

In 1662, minor modifications to the château were undertaken; however, greater attention was given to developing the gardens. Existing bosquets (clumps of trees) and parterres were expanded, and new ones created.

 

Most significant among the creations at this time were the Versailles Orangerie and the "Grotte de Thétys". The Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, was located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. It provided a protected area in which orange trees were kept during the winter months.

 

The "Grotte de Thétys", which was located to the north of the château, formed part of the iconography of the château and of the gardens that aligned Louis XIV with solar imagery. The grotto was completed during the second building campaign.

 

By 1664, the gardens had evolved to the point that Louis XIV inaugurated the gardens with the fête galante called Les Plaisirs de L'Île Enchantée. The event, was ostensibly to celebrate his mother, Anne d'Autriche, and his consort Marie-Thérèse but in reality celebrated Louise de La Vallière, Louis' mistress.

 

Guests were regaled with entertainments in the gardens over a period of one week. As a result of this fête - particularly the lack of housing for guests (most of them had to sleep in their carriages), Louis realised the shortcomings of Versailles, and began to expand the château and the gardens once again.

 

(b) The Second Building Campaign

 

Between 1664 and 1668, there was a flurry of activity in the gardens - especially with regard to fountains and new bosquets; it was during this time that the imagery of the gardens exploited Apollo and solar imagery as metaphors for Louis XIV.

 

Le Va's enveloppe of the Louis XIII's château provided a means by which, though the decoration of the garden façade, imagery in the decors of the grands appartements of the king and queen formed a symbiosis with the imagery of the gardens.

 

With this new phase of construction, the gardens assumed the design vocabulary that remained in force until the 18th. century. Solar and Apollonian themes predominated with projects constructed at this time.

 

Three additions formed the topological and symbolic nexus of the gardens during this phase of construction: the completion of the "Grotte de Thétys", the "Bassin de Latone", and the "Bassin d'Apollon".

 

The Grotte de Thétys

 

Started in 1664 and finished in 1670 with the installation of the statuary, the grotto formed an important symbolic and technical component to the gardens. Symbolically, the "Grotte de Thétys" related to the myth of Apollo - and by association to Louis XIV.

 

It represented the cave of the sea nymph Thetis, where Apollo rested after driving his chariot to light the sky. The grotto was a freestanding structure located just north of the château.

 

The interior, which was decorated with shell-work to represent a sea cave, contained the statue group by the Marsy brothers depicting the sun god attended by nereids.

 

Technically, the "'Grotte de Thétys" played a critical role in the hydraulic system that supplied water to the garden. The roof of the grotto supported a reservoir that stored water pumped from the Clagny pond and which fed the fountains lower in the garden via gravity.

 

The Bassin de Latone

 

Located on the east–west axis is the Bassin de Latone. Designed by André Le Nôtre, sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, and constructed between 1668 and 1670, the fountain depicts an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

 

Altona and her children, Apollo and Diana, being tormented with mud slung by Lycian peasants, who refused to let her and her children drink from their pond, appealed to Jupiter who responded by turning the Lycians into frogs.

 

This episode from mythology has been seen as a reference to the revolts of the Fronde, which occurred during the minority of Louis XIV. The link between Ovid's story and this episode from French history is emphasised by the reference to "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The revolts of the Fronde - the word fronde also means slingshot - have been regarded as the origin of the use of the term "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The Bassin d'Apollon

 

Further along the east–west axis is the Bassin d'Apollon. The Apollo Fountain, which was constructed between 1668 and 1671, depicts the sun god driving his chariot to light the sky. The fountain forms a focal point in the garden, and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal.

 

The Grand Canal

 

With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the Grand Canal, which was built between 1668 and 1671, prolongs the east–west axis to the walls of the Grand Parc. During the Ancien Régime, the Grand Canal served as a venue for boating parties.

 

In 1674 the king ordered the construction of Petite Venise (Little Venice). Located at the junction of the Grand Canal and the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice.

 

The Grand Canal also served a practical role. Situated at a low point in the gardens, it collected water that drained from the fountains in the garden above. Water from the Grand Canal was pumped back to the reservoir on the roof of the Grotte de Thétys via a network of windmill- and horse-powered pumps.

 

The Parterre d'Eau

 

Situated above the Latona Fountain is the terrace of the château, known as the Parterre d'Eau. Forming a transitional element from the château to the gardens below, the Parterre d'Eau provided a setting in which the symbolism of the grands appartements synthesized with the iconography of the gardens.

 

In 1664, Louis XIV commissioned a series of statues intended to decorate the water feature of the Parterre d'Eau. The Grande Command, as the commission is known, comprised twenty-four statues of the classic quaternities and four additional statues depicting abductions from the classic past.

 

Evolution of the Bosquets

 

One of the distinguishing features of the gardens during the second building campaign was the proliferation of bosquets. Expanding the layout established during the first building campaign, Le Nôtre added or expanded on no fewer that ten bosquets between 1670 and 1678:

 

-- The Bosquet du Marais

-- The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau, Île du Roi

-- The Miroir d'Eau

-- The Salle des Festins (Salle du Conseil)

-- The Bosquet des Trois Fontaines

-- The Labyrinthe

-- The Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

-- The Bosquet de la Renommée (Bosquet des Dômes)

-- The Bosquet de l'Encélade

-- The Bosquet des Sources

 

In addition to the expansion of existing bosquets and the construction of new ones, there were two additional projects that defined this era, the Bassin des Sapins and the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses.

 

-- The Bassin des Sapins

 

In 1676, the Bassin des Sapins, which was located north of the château below the Allée des Marmoset's was designed to form a topological pendant along the north–south axis with the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses located at the base of the Satory hill south of the château.

 

Later modifications in the gardens transformed this fountain into the Bassin de Neptune.

 

-- Pièce d'Eau des Suisses

 

Excavated in 1678, the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses - named after the Swiss Guards who constructed the lake - occupied an area of marshes and ponds, some of which had been used to supply water for the fountains in the garden.

 

This water feature, with a surface area of more than 15 hectares (37 acres), is the second largest - after the Grand Canal - at Versailles.

 

(c) The Third Building Campaign

 

Modifications to the gardens during the third building campaign were distinguished by a stylistic change from the natural aesthetic of André Le Nôtre to the architectonic style of Jules Hardouin Mansart.

 

The first major modification to the gardens during this phase occurred in 1680 when the Tapis Vert - the expanse of lawn that stretches between the Latona Fountain and the Apollo Fountain - achieved its final size and definition under the direction of André Le Nôtre.

 

Beginning in 1684, the Parterre d'Eau was remodelled under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Statues from the Grande Commande of 1674 were relocated to other parts of the garden; two twin octagonal basins were constructed and decorated with bronze statues representing the four main rivers of France.

 

In the same year, Le Vau's Orangerie, located to south of the Parterrre d'Eau was demolished to accommodate a larger structure designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

 

In addition to the Orangerie, the Escaliers des Cent Marches, which facilitated access to the gardens from the south, to the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, and to the Parterre du Midi were constructed at this time, giving the gardens just south of the château their present configuration and decoration.

 

Additionally, to accommodate the anticipated construction of the Aile des Nobles - the north wing of the château - the Grotte de Thétys was demolished.

 

With the construction of the Aile des Nobles (1685–1686), the Parterre du Nord was remodelled to respond to the new architecture of this part of the château.

 

To compensate for the loss of the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys and to meet the increased demand for water, Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed new and larger reservoirs situated north of the Aile des Nobles.

 

Construction of the ruinously expensive Canal de l'Eure was inaugurated in 1685; designed by Vauban it was intended to bring waters of the Eure over 80 kilometres, including aqueducts of heroic scale, but the works were abandoned in 1690.

 

Between 1686 and 1687, the Bassin de Latone, under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was rebuilt. It is this final version of the fountain that one sees today at Versailles.

 

During this phase of construction, three of the garden's major bosquets were modified or created. Beginning with the Galerie des Antiques, this bosquet was constructed in 1680 on the site of the earlier and short-lived Galerie d'Eau. This bosquet was conceived as an open-air gallery in which antique statues and copies acquired by the Académie de France in Rome were displayed.

 

The following year, construction began on the Salle de Bal. Located in a secluded section of the garden west of the Orangerie, this bosquet was designed as an amphitheater that featured a cascade – the only one surviving in the gardens of Versailles. The Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1685 with a ball hosted by the Grand Dauphin.

 

Between 1684 and 1685, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Colonnade. Located on the site of Le Nôtre's Bosquet des Sources, this bosquet featured a circular peristyle formed from thirty-two arches with twenty-eight fountains, and was Hardouin-Mansart's most architectural of the bosquets built in the gardens of Versailles.

 

(d) The Fourth Building Campaign

 

Due to financial constraints arising from the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession, no significant work on the gardens was undertaken until 1704.

 

Between 1704 and 1709, bosquets were modified, some quite radically, with new names suggesting the new austerity that characterised the latter years of Louis XIV's reign.

 

Louis XV

 

With the departure of the king and court from Versailles in 1715 following the death of Louis XIV, the palace and gardens entered an era of uncertainty.

 

In 1722, Louis XV and the court returned to Versailles. Seeming to heed his great-grandfather's admonition not to engage in costly building campaigns, Louis XV did not undertake the costly rebuilding that Louis XIV had.

 

During the reign of Louis XV, the only significant addition to the gardens was the completion of the Bassin de Neptune (1738–1741).

 

Rather than expend resources on modifying the gardens at Versailles, Louis XV - an avid botanist - directed his efforts at Trianon. In the area now occupied by the Hameau de la Reine, Louis XV constructed and maintained les Jardins Botaniques.

 

In 1761, Louis XV commissioned Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build the Petit Trianon as a residence that would allow him to spend more time near the Jardins Botaniques. It was at the Petit Trianon that Louis XV fell fatally ill with smallpox; he died at Versailles on the 10th. May 1774.

 

Louis XVI

 

Upon Louis XVI's ascension to the throne, the gardens of Versailles underwent a transformation that recalled the fourth building campaign of Louis XIV. Engendered by a change in outlook as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Philosophes, the winter of 1774–1775 witnessed a complete replanting of the gardens.

 

Trees and shrubbery dating from the reign of Louis XIV were felled or uprooted with the intent of transforming the French formal garden of Le Nôtre and Hardouin-Mansart into a version of an English landscape garden.

 

The attempt to convert Le Nôtre's masterpiece into an English-style garden failed to achieve its desired goal. Owing largely to the topology of the land, the English aesthetic was abandoned and the gardens replanted in the French style.

 

However, with an eye on economy, Louis XVI ordered the Palisades - the labour-intensive clipped hedging that formed walls in the bosquets - to be replaced with rows of lime trees or chestnut trees. Additionally, a number of the bosquets dating from the time of the Sun King were extensively modified or destroyed.

 

The most significant contribution to the gardens during the reign of Louis XVI was the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon. The rockwork grotto set in an English style bosquet was the masterpiece of Hubert Robert in which the statues from the Grotte de Thétys were placed.

 

Revolution

 

In 1792, under order from the National Convention, some of the trees in the gardens were felled, while parts of the Grand Parc were parcelled and dispersed.

 

Sensing the potential threat to Versailles, Louis Claude Marie Richard (1754–1821) – director of the Jardins Botaniques and grandson of Claude Richard – lobbied the government to save Versailles. He succeeded in preventing further dispersing of the Grand Parc, and threats to destroy the Petit Parc were abolished by suggesting that the parterres could be used to plant vegetable gardens, and that orchards could occupy the open areas of the garden.

 

These plans were never put into action; however, the gardens were opened to the public - it was not uncommon to see people washing their laundry in the fountains and spreading it on the shrubbery to dry.

 

Napoléon I

 

The Napoleonic era largely ignored Versailles. In the château, a suite of rooms was arranged for the use of the empress Marie-Louise, but the gardens were left unchanged, save for the disastrous felling of trees in the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines. Massive soil erosion necessitated planting of new trees.

 

Restoration

 

With the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the gardens of Versailles witnessed the first modifications since the Revolution. In 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the conversion of the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau into an English-style garden - the Jardin du Roi.

 

The July Monarchy; The Second Empire

 

While much of the château's interior was irreparably altered to accommodate the Museum of the History of France (inaugurated by Louis-Philippe on the 10th. June 1837), the gardens, by contrast, remained untouched.

 

With the exception of the state visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, at which time the gardens were a setting for a gala fête that recalled the fêtes of Louis XIV, Napoléon III ignored the château, preferring instead the château of Compiègne.

 

Pierre de Nolhac

With the arrival of Pierre de Nolhac as director of the museum in 1892, a new era of historical research began at Versailles. Nolhac, an ardent archivist and scholar, began to piece together the history of Versailles, and subsequently established the criteria for restoration of the château and preservation of the gardens, which are ongoing to this day.

 

Bosquets of the Gardens

 

Owing to the many modifications made to the gardens between the 17th. and the 19th. centuries, many of the bosquets have undergone multiple modifications, which were often accompanied by name changes.

 

Deux Bosquets - Bosquet de la Girondole - Bosquet du Dauphin - Quinconce du Nord - Quinconce du Midi

 

These two bosquets were first laid out in 1663. They were arranged as a series of paths around four salles de verdure and which converged on a central "room" that contained a fountain.

 

In 1682, the southern bosquet was remodeled as the Bosquet de la Girondole, thus named due to spoke-like arrangement of the central fountain. The northern bosquet was rebuilt in 1696 as the Bosquet du Dauphin with a fountain that featured a dolphin.

 

During the replantation of 1774–1775, both the bosquets were destroyed. The areas were replanted with lime trees and were rechristened the Quinconce du Nord and the Quinconce du Midi.

 

Labyrinthe - Bosquet de la Reine

 

In 1665, André Le Nôtre planned a hedge maze of unadorned paths in an area south of the Latona Fountain near the Orangerie. In 1669, Charles Perrault - author of the Mother Goose Tales - advised Louis XIV to remodel the Labyrinthe in such a way as to serve the Dauphin's education.

 

Between 1672 and 1677, Le Nôtre redesigned the Labyrinthe to feature thirty-nine fountains that depicted stories from Aesop's Fables. The sculptors Jean-Baptiste Tuby, Étienne Le Hongre, Pierre Le Gros, and the brothers Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy worked on these thirty-nine fountains, each of which was accompanied by a plaque on which the fable was printed, with verse written by Isaac de Benserade; from these plaques, Louis XIV's son learned to read.

 

Once completed in 1677, the Labyrinthe contained thirty-nine fountains with 333 painted metal animal sculptures. The water for the elaborate waterworks was conveyed from the Seine by the Machine de Marly.

 

The Labyrinthe contained fourteen water-wheels driving 253 pumps, some of which worked at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.

 

Citing repair and maintenance costs, Louis XVI ordered the Labyrinthe demolished in 1778. In its place, an arboretum of exotic trees was planted as an English-styled garden.

 

Rechristened Bosquet de la Reine, it would be in this part of the garden that an episode of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which compromised Marie-Antoinette, transpired in 1785.

 

Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau - Bosquet de l'Étoile

 

Originally designed by André Le Nôtre in 1661 as a salle de verdure, this bosquet contained a path encircling a central pentagonal area. In 1671, the bosquet was enlarged with a more elaborate system of paths that served to enhance the new central water feature, a fountain that resembled a mountain, hence the bosquets new name: Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau.

 

The bosquet was completely remodeled in 1704 at which time it was rechristened Bosquet de l'Étoile.

 

Bosquet du Marais - Bosquet du Chêne Vert - Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon - Grotte des Bains d'Apollon

 

Created in 1670, this bosquet originally contained a central rectangular pool surrounded by a turf border. Edging the pool were metal reeds that concealed numerous jets for water; a swan that had water jetting from its beak occupied each corner.

 

The centre of the pool featured an iron tree with painted tin leaves that sprouted water from its branches. Because of this tree, the bosquet was also known as the Bosquet du Chêne Vert.

 

In 1705, this bosquet was destroyed in order to allow for the creation of the Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon, which was created to house the statues had once stood in the Grotte de Thétys.

 

During the reign of Louis XVI, Hubert Robert remodeled the bosquet, creating a cave-like setting for the Marsy statues. The bosquet was renamed the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon.

 

Île du Roi - Miroir d'Eau - Jardin du Roi

 

Originally designed in 1671 as two separate water features, the larger - Île du Roi - contained an island that formed the focal point of a system of elaborate fountains.

 

The Île du Roi was separated from the Miroir d'Eau by a causeway that featured twenty-four water jets. In 1684, the island was removed and the total number of water jets in the bosquet was significantly reduced.

 

The year 1704 witnessed a major renovation of the bosquet, at which time the causeway was remodelled and most of the water jets were removed.

 

A century later, in 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau to be completely remodeled as an English-style garden. At this time, the bosquet was rechristened Jardin du Roi.

 

Salle des Festins - Salle du Conseil - Bosquet de l'Obélisque

 

In 1671, André Le Nôtre conceived a bosquet - originally christened Salle des Festins and later called Salle du Conseil - that featured a quatrefoil island surrounded by a channel containing fifty water jets. Access to the island was obtained by two swing bridges.

 

Beyond the channel and placed at the cardinal points within the bosquet were four additional fountains. Under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the bosquet was completely remodeled in 1706. The central island was replaced by a large basin raised on five steps, which was surrounded by a canal. The central fountain contained 230 jets that, when in play, formed an obelisk – hence the new name Bosquet de l'Obélisque.

 

Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau - Bosquet du Rond-Vert

 

The central feature of this bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre between 1671 and 1674, was an auditorium/theatre sided by three tiers of turf seating that faced a stage decorated with four fountains alternating with three radiating cascades.

 

Between 1680 and Louis XIV's death in 1715, there was near-constant rearranging of the statues that decorated the bosquet.

 

In 1709, the bosquet was rearranged with the addition of the Fontaine de l'Île aux Enfants. As part of the replantation of the gardens ordered by Louis XVI during the winter of 1774–1775, the Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was destroyed and replaced with the unadorned Bosquet du Rond-Vert. The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was recreated in 2014, with South Korean businessman and photographer Yoo Byung-eun being the sole patron, donating €1.4 million.

 

Bosquet des Trois Fontaines - Berceau d'Eau

 

Situated to the west of the Allée des Marmousets and replacing the short-lived Berceau d'Eau (a long and narrow bosquet created in 1671 that featured a water bower made by numerous jets of water), the enlarged bosquet was transformed by Le Nôtre in 1677 into a series of three linked rooms.

 

Each room contained a number of fountains that played with special effects. The fountains survived the modifications that Louis XIV ordered for other fountains in the gardens in the early 18th. century and were subsequently spared during the 1774–1775 replantation of the gardens.

 

In 1830, the bosquet was replanted, at which time the fountains were suppressed. Due to storm damage in the park in 1990 and then again in 1999, the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines was restored and re-inaugurated on the 12th. June 2004.

 

Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

 

This bosquet was originally planned in 1672 as a simple pavillon d'eau - a round open expanse with a square fountain in the centre. In 1676, this bosquet was enlarged and redecorated along political lines that alluded to French military victories over Spain and Austria, at which time the triumphal arch was added - hence the name.

 

As with the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, this bosquet survived the modifications of the 18th. century, but was replanted in 1830, at which time the fountains were removed.

 

Bosquet de la Renommée - Bosquet des Dômes

 

Built in 1675, the Bosquet de la Renommée featured a fountain statue of Fame. With the relocation of the statues from the Grotte de Thétys in 1684, the bosquet was remodelled to accommodate the statues, and the Fame fountain was removed.

 

At this time the bosquet was rechristened Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. As part of the reorganisation of the garden that was ordered by Louis XIV in the early part of the 18th. century, the Apollo grouping was moved once again to the site of the Bosquet du Marais - located near the Latona Fountain - which was destroyed and was replaced by the new Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon.

 

The statues were installed on marble plinths from which water issued; and each statue grouping was protected by an intricately carved and gilded baldachin.

 

The old Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon was renamed Bosquet des Dômes due to two domed pavilions built in the bosquet.

 

Bosquet de l'Encélade

 

Created in 1675 at the same time as the Bosquet de la Renommée, the fountain of this bosquet depicts Enceladus, a fallen Giant who was condemned to live below Mount Etna, being consumed by volcanic lava.

 

From its conception, this fountain was conceived as an allegory of Louis XIV's victory over the Fronde. In 1678, an octagonal ring of turf and eight rocaille fountains surrounding the central fountain were added. These additions were removed in 1708.

 

When in play, this fountain has the tallest jet of all the fountains in the gardens of Versailles - 25 metres.

 

Bosquet des Sources - La Colonnade

 

Designed as a simple unadorned salle de verdure by Le Nôtre in 1678, the landscape architect enhanced and incorporated an existing stream to create a bosquet that featured rivulets that twisted among nine islets.

 

In 1684, Jules Hardouin-Mansart completely redesigned the bosquet by constructing a circular arched double peristyle. The Colonnade, as it was renamed, originally featured thirty-two arches and thirty-one fountains – a single jet of water splashed into a basin center under the arch.

 

In 1704, three additional entrances to the Colonnade were added, which reduced the number of fountains from thirty-one to twenty-eight. The statue that currently occupies the centre of the Colonnade - the Abduction of Persephone - (from the Grande Commande of 1664) was set in place in 1696.

 

Galerie d'Eau - Galerie des Antiques - Salle des Marronniers

 

Occupying the site of the Galerie d'Eau (1678), the Galerie des Antiques was designed in 1680 to house the collection of antique statues and copies of antique statues acquired by the Académie de France in Rome.

 

Surrounding a central area paved with colored stone, a channel was decorated with twenty statues on plinths, each separated by three jets of water.

 

The Galerie was completely remodeled in 1704 when the statues were transferred to Marly and the bosquet was replanted with horse chestnut trees - hence the current name Salle des Marronniers.

 

Salle de Bal

 

This bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre and built between 1681 and 1683, features a semi-circular cascade that forms the backdrop for a salle de verdure.

 

Interspersed with gilt lead torchères, which supported candelabra for illumination, the Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1683 by Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, with a dance party.

 

The Salle de Bal was remodeled in 1707 when the central island was removed and an additional entrance was added.

 

Replantations of the Gardens

 

Common to any long-lived garden is replantation, and Versailles is no exception. In their history, the gardens of Versailles have undergone no less than five major replantations, which have been executed for practical and aesthetic reasons.

 

During the winter of 1774–1775, Louis XVI ordered the replanting of the gardens on the grounds that many of the trees were diseased or overgrown, and needed to be replaced.

 

Also, as the formality of the 17th.-century garden had fallen out of fashion, this replantation sought to establish a new informality in the gardens - that would also be less expensive to maintain.

 

This, however, was not achieved, as the topology of the gardens favored the Jardin à la Française over an English-style garden.

 

Then, in 1860, much of the old growth from Louis XVI's replanting was removed and replaced. In 1870, a violent storm struck the area, damaging and uprooting scores of trees, which necessitated a massive replantation program.

 

However, owing to the Franco-Prussian War, which toppled Napoléon III, and the Commune de Paris, replantation of the garden did not get underway until 1883.

 

The most recent replantations of the gardens were precipitated by two storms that battered Versailles in 1990 and then again in 1999. The storm damage at Versailles and Trianon amounted to the loss of thousands of trees - the worst such damage in the history of Versailles.

 

The replantations have allowed museum and governmental authorities to restore and rebuild some of the bosquets that were abandoned during the reign of Louis XVI, such as the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, which was restored in 2004.

 

Catherine Pégard, the head of the public establishment which administers Versailles, has stated that the intention is to return the gardens to their appearance under Louis XIV, specifically as he described them in his 1704 description, Manière de Montrer les Jardins de Versailles.

 

This involves restoring some of the parterres like the Parterre du Midi to their original formal layout, as they appeared under Le Nôtre. This was achieved in the Parterre de Latone in 2013, when the 19th. century lawns and flower beds were torn up and replaced with boxwood-enclosed turf and gravel paths to create a formal arabesque design.

 

Pruning is also done to keep trees at between 17 and 23 metres (56 to 75 feet), so as not to spoil the carefully designed perspectives of the gardens.

 

Owing to the natural cycle of replantations that has occurred at Versailles, it is safe to state that no trees dating from the time of Louis XIV are to be found in the gardens.

 

Problems With Water

 

The marvel of the gardens of Versailles - then as now - is the fountains. Yet, the very element that animates the gardens, water, has proven to be the affliction of the gardens since the time of Louis XIV.

 

The gardens of Louis XIII required water, and local ponds provided an adequate supply. However, once Louis XIV began expanding the gardens with more and more fountains, supplying the gardens with water became a critical challenge.

 

To meet the needs of the early expansions of the gardens under Louis XIV, water was pumped to the gardens from ponds near the château, with the Clagny pond serving as the principal source.

 

Water from the pond was pumped to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys, which fed the fountains in the garden by means of gravitational hydraulics. Other sources included a series of reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau south of the château.

 

The Grand Canal

 

By 1664, increased demand for water necessitated additional sources. In that year, Louis Le Vau designed the Pompe, a water tower built north of the château. The Pompe drew water from the Clagny pond using a system of windmills and horsepower to a cistern housed in the Pompe's building. The capacity of the Pompe 600 cubic metres per day - alleviated some of the water shortages in the garden.

 

With the completion of the Grand Canal in 1671, which served as drainage for the fountains of the garden, water, via a system of windmills, was pumped back to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys.

 

While this system solved some of the water supply problems, there was never enough water to keep all of the fountains running in the garden in full-play all of the time.

 

While it was possible to keep the fountains in view from the château running, those concealed in the bosquets and in the farther reaches of the garden were run on an as-needed basis.

 

In 1672, Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a system by which the fountaineers in the gardens would signal each other with whistles upon the approach of the king, indicating that their fountain needed to be turned on. Once the king had passed a fountain in play, it would be turned off and the fountaineer would signal that the next fountain could be turned on.

 

In 1674, the Pompe was enlarged, and subsequently referred to as the Grande Pompe. Pumping capacity was increased via increased power and the number of pistons used for lifting the water. These improvements increased the water capacity to nearly 3,000 cubic metres of water per day; however, the increased capacity of the Grande Pompe often left the Clagny pond dry.

 

The increasing demand for water and the stress placed on existing systems of water supply necessitated newer measures to increase the water supplied to Versailles. Between 1668 and 1674, a project was undertaken to divert the water of the Bièvre river to Versailles. By damming the river and with a pumping system of five windmills, water was brought to the reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau. This system brought an additional 72,000 cubic metres water to the gardens on a daily basis.

 

Despite the water from the Bièvre, the gardens needed still more water, which necessitated more projects. In 1681, one of the most ambitious water projects conceived during the reign of Louis XIV was undertaken.

 

Owing to the proximity of the Seine to Versailles, a project was proposed to raise the water from the river to be delivered to Versailles. Seizing upon the success of a system devised in 1680 that raised water from the Seine to the gardens of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, construction of the Machine de Marly began the following year.

 

The Machine de Marly was designed to lift water from the Seine in three stages to the Aqueduc de Louveciennes some 100 metres above the level of the river. A series of huge waterwheels was constructed in the river, which raised the water via a system of 64 pumps to a reservoir 48 metres above the river. From this first reservoir, water was raised an additional 56 metres to a second reservoir by a system of 79 pumps. Finally, 78 additional pumps raised the water to the aqueduct, which carried the water to Versailles and Marly.

 

In 1685, the Machine de Marly came into full operation. However, owing to leakage in the conduits and breakdowns of the mechanism, the machine was only able to deliver 3,200 cubic metres of water per day - approximately one-half the expected output. The machine was nevertheless a must-see for visitors. Despite the fact that the gardens consumed more water per day than the entire city of Paris, the Machine de Marly remained in operation until 1817.

 

During Louis XIV's reign, water supply systems represented one-third of the building costs of Versailles. Even with the additional output from the Machine de Marly, fountains in the garden could only be run à l'ordinaire - which is to say at half-pressure.

 

With this measure of economy, the fountains still consumed 12,800 cubic metres of water per day, far above the capacity of the existing supplies. In the case of the Grandes Eaux - when all the fountains played to their maximum - more than 10,000 cubic metres of water was needed for one afternoon's display.

 

Accordingly, the Grandes Eaux were reserved for special occasions such as the Siamese Embassy visit of 1685–1686.

 

The Canal de l'Eure

 

One final attempt to solve water shortage problems was undertaken in 1685. In this year it was proposed to divert the water of the Eure river, located 160 km. south of Versailles and at a level 26 m above the garden reservoirs.

 

The project called not only for digging a canal and for the construction of an aqueduct, it also necessitated the construction of shipping channels and locks to supply the workers on the main canal.

 

Between 9,000 to 10,000 troops were pressed into service in 1685; the next year, more than 20,000 soldiers were engaged in construction. Between 1686 and 1689, when the Nine Years' War began, one-tenth of France's military was at work on the Canal de l'Eure project.

 

However with the outbreak of the war, the project was abandoned, never to be completed. Had the aqueduct been completed, some 50,000 cubic metres of water would have been sent to Versailles - more than enough to solve the water problem of the gardens.

 

Today, the museum of Versailles is still faced with water problems. During the Grandes Eaux, water is circulated by means of modern pumps from the Grand Canal to the reservoirs. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal.

 

Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents the need to tap into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles.

 

The Versailles Gardens In Popular Culture

 

The creation of the gardens of Versailles is the context for the film 'A Little Chaos', directed by Alan Rickman and released in 2015, in which Kate Winslet plays a fictional landscape gardener and Rickman plays King Louis XIV.

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Mudcracks along the western shoreline of Storr's Lake, eastern San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas.

 

San Salvador Island has numerous inland bodies of water (see map - newton.newhaven.edu/sansalvador/ssmap_11x17.PDF). Christopher Columbus remarked upon them during his visit in October 1492. These ponds and lakes can have freshwater, brackish water, hyposaline water, normal marine-salinity water, or hypersaline water. Many of these lakes have aquatic biotas quite distinctive from adjacent lakes.

 

Storr's Lake is a moderately large, elongated body of water that represents a cutoff lagoon/estuary. This depression was formerly connected to the ocean, essentially identical to modern day North Pigeon Creek, a tidal estuary in the southeastern part of the island. Storr's Lake does have a few conduits (connections with the modern ocean), but they have little impact on the lake (little seawater enters). Before it was even a lagoon, before the Holocene highstand, this feature was a terrestrial depression.

 

Storr's Lake is shallow (less than 2 meters deep) and has very salty water (60 to over 80 ppt, or 6 to over 8%, cf. normal marine salinity of 35 ppt, or 3.5%). The high salinity is the result of dry seasonal conditions and high evaporation rates. The water is frequently turbid, with a brownish or light greenish or greenish-brown color. The turbidity is due to suspended organic matter - algae, halophilic bacteria, dinoflagellate cysts, diatoms, etc. The high turbidity allows very little light to reach the lakefloor.

 

Storr's Lake is famous for being a stromatolite locality. Mineralized microbial buildups are common in the lake - they form by bacteria inducing local precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals, not by trapping or binding of sediments. The general term for mineralized microbial buildups is "microbialites". If microbialites are layered, they are stromatolites. If they are massive (non-layered), with a clotted fabric, they are thrombolites. If they are non-layered, and have meso-scale bundled branching structures, they are dendrolites. Storr's Lake has stromatolites and thrombolites (see above photo). The dominant mineral in these microbial buildups is high-magnesian calcite, plus minor aragonite. Five microbialite morphologies are present in the lake, and have been characterized as: 1) calcareous knobs; 2) plateau-shaped structures; 3) pinnacle mound structures; 4) "sharpy"-shaped structures; and 5) mushroom-shaped structures.

 

Traditional stromatolites are constructed by photosynthesizing cyanobacteria. They are common in the Proterozoic fossil record, but are uncommon to scarce in the Phanerozoic. Living stromatolites occur at few localities - reported examples include Shark Bay, Australia; the Gulf of California; and the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas. The water of Storr's Lake is frequently turbid, resulting in little light reaching even shallow depths (light penetration here is 10 to 20 cm deep). It's been speculated that some or many of Storr's Lake's microbialites were constructed by non-photosynthesizing microbes, such as sulfate-reducing bacteria (the lake is stinky - there's lots of sulfur activity & the water there has 3.3 times more sulfate than seawater). Light measurements taken at the bottom of the lake show that small levels of light do reach the substrate, so photosynthesizing cyanobacteria could be responsible for the microbialites. Suspended cyanobacteria occur in the lake, but stromatolites at deeper depths (>10 cm) may be constructed, at least in part, by heterotrophic bacteria (aphotic microbial activity). Five genera of sulfate-reducing bacteria have been identified in Storr's Lake microbialites.

 

Other organisms in Storr's Lake include >20 species of ostracods, known from modern lakefloor sediments and cores of Holocene, shallow subsurface sediments (see list & photos in Corwin, 1985). Gastropods at Storr's Lake include Cerithidea costata (costate horn snail) and Cerithium eburneum aliceae.

 

The mudcracks shown above are some of the most spectacular examples I've ever seen. Mudcracks are sedimentary structures that form under alternating wet and dry conditions - they typically develop in fine-grained sediments (clay and mud). They are often preserved in the nonmarine sedimentary rock record. The examples shown above have especially wide cracks and thick polygon crusts.

---------------

Much of the above is synthesized from info. provided by Lisa Park and Varun Paul and Russel Shapiro and:

 

Corwin, B.N. 1985. Paleoenvironments, using Holocene Ostracoda, in Storr's Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. M.S. thesis. University of Akron.

 

Paul, V. 2012. Characterization of modern microbialiates and the Storr's Lake ecosystem. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program: 39-40.

 

Paul, V., D.J. Wronkiewicz, M.R. Mormile & C. Sanchez Botero. 2012. A biogeochemical investigation of the ecosystem and the microbialites in Storr's Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 44(7): 74.

 

Maize (/meɪz/ MAYZ; Zea mays subsp. mays, from Spanish: maíz after Taino: mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The leafy stalk of the plant produces pollen inflorescences and separate ovuliferous inflorescences called ears that yield kernels or seeds, which are fruits.

 

Maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat or rice. In addition to being consumed directly by humans (often in the form of masa), maize is also used for corn ethanol, animal feed and other maize products, such as corn starch and corn syrup. The six major types of maize are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are usually grown for human consumption as kernels, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, various corn-based human food uses (including grinding into cornmeal or masa, pressing into corn oil, and fermentation and distillation into alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey), and as chemical feedstocks. Maize is also used in making ethanol and other biofuels.

 

Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2014, total world production was 1.04 billion tonnes. Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 361 million metric tons grown in the United States alone in 2014. Genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009. Subsidies in the United States help to account for its high level of cultivation of maize and its position as the largest producer in the world.

 

HISTORY

PRE-COLUMBIAN DEVELOPMENT

Maize is a cultigen; human intervention is required for it to propagate. Whether or not the kernels fall off the cob on their own is a key piece of evidence used in archaeology to distinguish domesticated maize from its naturally-propagating teosinte ancestor. Genetic evidence can also be used to determine when various lineages split.

 

Most historians believe maize was domesticated in the Tehuacán Valley of Mexico. Recent research in the early 21st century has modified this view somewhat; scholars now indicate the adjacent Balsas River Valley of south-central Mexico as the center of domestication.

 

An influential 2002 study by Matsuoka et al. has demonstrated that, rather than the multiple independent domestications model, all maize arose from a single domestication in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. The study also demonstrated that the oldest surviving maize types are those of the Mexican highlands. Later, maize spread from this region over the Americas along two major paths. This is consistent with a model based on the archaeological record suggesting that maize diversified in the highlands of Mexico before spreading to the lowlands.

 

Archaeologist Dolores Piperno has said:

 

A large corpus of data indicates that [maize] was dispersed into lower Central America by 7600 BP [5600 BC] and had moved into the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia between 7000 and 6000 BP [5000–4000 BC].

— Dolores Piperno, The Origins of Plant Cultivation and Domestication in the New World Tropics: Patterns, Process, and New Developments

 

Since then, even earlier dates have been published.

 

According to a genetic study by Embrapa, corn cultivation was introduced in South America from Mexico, in two great waves: the first, more than 6000 years ago, spread through the Andes. Evidence of cultivation in Peru has been found dating to about 6700 years ago. The second wave, about 2000 years ago, through the lowlands of South America.

 

The earliest maize plants grew only small, 25-millimetre-long (1 in) corn cobs, and only one per plant. In Jackson Spielvogel's view, many centuries of artificial selection (rather than the current view that maize was exploited by interplanting with teosinte) by the indigenous people of the Americas resulted in the development of maize plants capable of growing several cobs per plant, which were usually several centimetres/inches long each. The Olmec and Maya cultivated maize in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica; they cooked, ground and processed it through nixtamalization. It was believed that beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of the Americas. Research of the 21st century has established even earlier dates. The region developed a trade network based on surplus and varieties of maize crops.

 

Mapuches of south-central Chile cultivated maize along with quinoa and potatoes in pre-Hispanic times; however, potato was the staple food of most Mapuches, "specially in the southern and coastal [Mapuche] territories where maize did not reach maturity". Before the expansion of the Inca Empire maize was traded and transported as far south as 40°19' S in Melinquina, Lácar Department. In that location maize remains were found inside pottery dated to 730 ± 80 BP and 920 ± 60 BP. Probably this maize was brought across the Andes from Chile. The presence of maize in Guaitecas Archipelago (43°55' S), the southernmost outpost of pre-Hispanic agriculture, is reported by early Spanish explorers. However the Spanish may have misidentified the plant.

 

COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

After the arrival of Europeans in 1492, Spanish settlers consumed maize, and explorers and traders carried it back to Europe and introduced it to other countries. Spanish settlers far preferred wheat bread to maize, cassava, or potatoes. Maize flour could not be substituted for wheat for communion bread, since in Christian belief only wheat could undergo transubstantiation and be transformed into the body of Christ. Some Spaniards worried that by eating indigenous foods, which they did not consider nutritious, they would weaken and risk turning into Indians. "In the view of Europeans, it was the food they ate, even more than the environment in which they lived, that gave Amerindians and Spaniards both their distinctive physical characteristics and their characteristic personalities." Despite these worries, Spaniards did consume maize. Archeological evidence from Florida sites indicate they cultivated it as well.

 

Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates. It was cultivated in Spain just a few decades after Columbus's voyages and then spread to Italy, West Africa and elsewhere. Widespread cultivation most likely began in southern Spain in 1525, after which it quickly spread to the rest of the Spanish Empire including its territories in Italy (and, from there, to other Italian states). Maize had many advantages over wheat and barley; it yielded two and a half times the food energy per unit cultivated area, could be harvested in successive years from the same plot of land, and grew in wildly varying altitudes and climates, from relatively dry regions with only 250 mm (10 in) of annual rainfall to damp regions with over 5,000 mm (200 in). By the 17th century it was a common peasant food in Southwestern Europe, including Portugal, Spain, southern France, and Italy. By the 18th century, it was the chief food of the southern French and Italian peasantry, especially in the form of polenta in Italy.

Names

 

The word maize derives from the Spanish form of the indigenous Taíno word for the plant, mahiz. It is known by other names around the world.

 

The word "corn" outside the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand refers to any cereal crop, its meaning understood to vary geographically to refer to the local staple. In the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, corn primarily means maize; this usage started as a shortening of "Indian corn". "Indian corn" primarily means maize (the staple grain of indigenous Americans), but can refer more specifically to multicolored "flint corn" used for decoration.

 

In places outside the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, corn often refers to maize in culinary contexts. The narrower meaning is usually indicated by some additional word, as in sweet corn, sweetcorn, corn on the cob, baby corn, the puffed confection known as popcorn and the breakfast cereal known as corn flakes.

 

In Southern Africa, maize is commonly called mielie (Afrikaans) or mealie (English), words derived from the Portuguese word for maize, milho.

 

Maize is preferred in formal, scientific, and international usage because it refers specifically to this one grain, unlike corn, which has a complex variety of meanings that vary by context and geographic region. Maize is used by agricultural bodies and research institutes such as the FAO and CSIRO. National agricultural and industry associations often include the word maize in their name even in English-speaking countries where the local, informal word is something other than maize; for example, the Maize Association of Australia, the Indian Maize Development Association, the Kenya Maize Consortium and Maize Breeders Network, the National Maize Association of Nigeria, the Zimbabwe Seed Maize Association.

 

STRUCTURE AND PHYSIOLOGY

The maize plant is often 3 m (10 ft) in height, though some natural strains can grow 13 m (43 ft). The stem is commonly composed of 20 internodes of 18 cm (7 in) length. The leaves arise from the nodes, alternately on opposite sides on the stalk. A leaf, which grows from each node, is generally 9 cm (3+1⁄2 in) in width and 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) in length.

 

Ears develop above a few of the leaves in the midsection of the plant, between the stem and leaf sheath, elongating by around 3 mm (1⁄8 in) per day, to a length of 18 cm (7 in) with 60 cm (24 in) being the maximum alleged in the subspecies. They are female inflorescences, tightly enveloped by several layers of ear leaves commonly called husks. Certain varieties of maize have been bred to produce many additional developed ears. These are the source of the "baby corn" used as a vegetable in Asian cuisine.

 

The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. When the tassel is mature and conditions are suitably warm and dry, anthers on the tassel dehisce and release pollen. Maize pollen is anemophilous (dispersed by wind), and because of its large settling velocity, most pollen falls within a few meters of the tassel.

 

Elongated stigmas, called silks, emerge from the whorl of husk leaves at the end of the ear. They are often pale yellow and 18 cm (7 in) in length, like tufts of hair in appearance. At the end of each is a carpel, which may develop into a "kernel" if fertilized by a pollen grain. The pericarp of the fruit is fused with the seed coat referred to as "caryopsis", typical of the grasses, and the entire kernel is often referred to as the "seed". The cob is close to a multiple fruit in structure, except that the individual fruits (the kernels) never fuse into a single mass. The grains are about the size of peas, and adhere in regular rows around a white, pithy substance, which forms the ear. The maximum size of kernels is reputedly 2.5 cm (1 in). An ear commonly holds 600 kernels. They are of various colors: blackish, bluish-gray, purple, green, red, white and yellow. When ground into flour, maize yields more flour with much less bran than wheat does. It lacks the protein gluten of wheat and, therefore, makes baked goods with poor rising capability. A genetic variant that accumulates more sugar and less starch in the ear is consumed as a vegetable and is called sweet corn. Young ears can be consumed raw, with the cob and silk, but as the plant matures (usually during the summer months), the cob becomes tougher and the silk dries to inedibility. By the end of the growing season, the kernels dry out and become difficult to chew without cooking them tender first in boiling water.

 

Planting density affects multiple aspects of maize. Modern farming techniques in developed countries usually rely on dense planting, which produces one ear per stalk. Stands of silage maize are yet denser,[citation needed] and achieve a lower percentage of ears and more plant matter.

 

Maize is a facultative short-day plant and flowers in a certain number of growing degree days > 10 °C (50 °F) in the environment to which it is adapted. The magnitude of the influence that long nights have on the number of days that must pass before maize flowers is genetically prescribed and regulated by the phytochrome system.

Photoperiodicity can be eccentric in tropical cultivars such that the long days characteristic of higher latitudes allow the plants to grow so tall that they do not have enough time to produce seed before being killed by frost. These attributes, however, may prove useful in using tropical maize for biofuels.

 

Immature maize shoots accumulate a powerful antibiotic substance, 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA). DIMBOA is a member of a group of hydroxamic acids (also known as benzoxazinoids) that serve as a natural defense against a wide range of pests, including insects, pathogenic fungi and bacteria. DIMBOA is also found in related grasses, particularly wheat. A maize mutant (bx) lacking DIMBOA is highly susceptible to attack by aphids and fungi. DIMBOA is also responsible for the relative resistance of immature maize to the European corn borer (family Crambidae). As maize matures, DIMBOA levels and resistance to the corn borer decline.

 

Because of its shallow roots, maize is susceptible to droughts, intolerant of nutrient-deficient soils, and prone to be uprooted by severe winds.

 

While yellow maizes derive their color from lutein and zeaxanthin, in red-colored maizes, the kernel coloration is due to anthocyanins and phlobaphenes. These latter substances are synthesized in the flavonoids synthetic pathway from polymerization of flavan-4-ols by the expression of maize pericarp color1 (p1) gene which encodes an R2R3 myb-like transcriptional activator of the A1 gene encoding for the dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (reducing dihydroflavonols into flavan-4-ols) while another gene (Suppressor of Pericarp Pigmentation 1 or SPP1) acts as a suppressor. The p1 gene encodes an Myb-homologous transcriptional activator of genes required for biosynthesis of red phlobaphene pigments, while the P1-wr allele specifies colorless kernel pericarp and red cobs, and unstable factor for orange1 (Ufo1) modifies P1-wr expression to confer pigmentation in kernel pericarp, as well as vegetative tissues, which normally do not accumulate significant amounts of phlobaphene pigments. The maize P gene encodes a Myb homolog that recognizes the sequence CCT/AACC, in sharp contrast with the C/TAACGG bound by vertebrate Myb proteins.

 

The ear leaf is the leaf most closely associated with a particular developing ear. This leaf and above contribute 70% to 75% to 90% of grain fill. Therefore fungicide application is most important in that region in most disease environments.

 

ABNORMAL FLOWERS

Maize flowers may sometimes exhibit mutations that lead to the formation of female flowers in the tassel. These mutations, ts4 and Ts6, prohibit the development of the stamen while simultaneously promoting pistil development. This may cause inflorescences containing both male and female flowers, or hermaphrodite flowers.

 

GENETICS

Maize is an annual grass in the family Gramineae, which includes such plants as wheat, rye, barley, rice, sorghum, and sugarcane. There are two major species of the genus Zea (out of six total): Zea mays (maize) and Zea diploperennis, which is a perennial type of teosinte. The annual teosinte variety called Zea mays mexicana is the closest botanical relative to maize. It still grows in the wild as an annual in Mexico and Guatemala.

 

Many forms of maize are used for food, sometimes classified as various subspecies related to the amount of starch each has:

 

Flour corn: Zea mays var. amylacea

Popcorn: Zea mays var. everta

Dent corn : Zea mays var. indentata

Flint corn: Zea mays var. indurata

Sweet corn: Zea mays var. saccharata and Zea mays var. rugosa

Waxy corn: Zea mays var. ceratina

Amylomaize: Zea mays

Pod corn: Zea mays var. tunicata Larrañaga ex A. St. Hil.

Striped maize: Zea mays var. japonica

 

This system has been replaced (though not entirely displaced) over the last 60 years by multivariable classifications based on ever more data. Agronomic data were supplemented by botanical traits for a robust initial classification, then genetic, cytological, protein and DNA evidence was added. Now, the categories are forms (little used), races, racial complexes, and recently branches.

 

Maize is a diploid with 20 chromosomes (n=10). The combined length of the chromosomes is 1500 cM. Some of the maize chromosomes have what are known as "chromosomal knobs": highly repetitive heterochromatic domains that stain darkly. Individual knobs are polymorphic among strains of both maize and teosinte.

 

Barbara McClintock used these knob markers to validate her transposon theory of "jumping genes", for which she won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Maize is still an important model organism for genetics and developmental biology today.

 

The centromeres have two types of structural components, both of which are found only in the centromeres: Large arrays of CentC, a short satellite DNA; and a few of a family of retrotransposons. The B chromosome, unlike the others, contains an additional repeat which extends into neighboring areas of the chromosome. Centromeres can accidentally shrink during division and still function, although it is thought this will fail if it shrinks below a few hundred kilobase. Kinetochores contain RNA originating from centromeres. Centromere regions can become inactive, and can continue in that state if the chromosome still has another active one.

 

The Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center, funded by the USDA Agricultural Research Service and located in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a stock center of maize mutants. The total collection has nearly 80,000 samples. The bulk of the collection consists of several hundred named genes, plus additional gene combinations and other heritable variants. There are about 1000 chromosomal aberrations (e.g., translocations and inversions) and stocks with abnormal chromosome numbers (e.g., tetraploids). Genetic data describing the maize mutant stocks as well as myriad other data about maize genetics can be accessed at MaizeGDB, the Maize Genetics and Genomics Database.

 

In 2005, the US National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) formed a consortium to sequence the B73 maize genome. The resulting DNA sequence data was deposited immediately into GenBank, a public repository for genome-sequence data. Sequences and genome annotations have also been made available throughout the project's lifetime at the project's official site.

 

Primary sequencing of the maize genome was completed in 2008. On November 20, 2009, the consortium published results of its sequencing effort in Science. The genome, 85% of which is composed of transposons, was found to contain 32,540 genes (By comparison, the human genome contains about 2.9 billion bases and 26,000 genes). Much of the maize genome has been duplicated and reshuffled by helitrons—group of rolling circle transposons.

 

In Z. mays and various other angiosperms the MADS-box motif is involved in floral development. Early study in several angiosperm models including Z. mays was the beginning of research into the molecular evolution of floral structure in general, as well as their role in nonflowering plants.

 

EVOLUTION

As with many plants and animals, Z. mays has a positive correlation between effective population size and the magnitude of selection pressure. Z. m. having an EPS of ~650,000, it clusters with others of about the same EPS, and has 79% of its amino acid sites under selection.

 

Recombination is a significant source of diversity in Z. mays. (Note that this finding supersedes previous studies which showed no such correlation.)

 

This recombination/diversity effect is seen throughout plants but is also found to not occur – or not as strongly – in regions of high gene density. This is likely the reason that domesticated Z. mays has not seen as much of an increase in diversity within areas of higher density as in regions of lower density, although there is more evidence in other plants.

 

Some lines of maize have undergone ancient polyploidy events, starting 11m years ago. Over that time ~72% of polyploid duplicated genes have been retained, which is higher than other plants with older polyploidy events. Thus maize may be due to lose more duplicate genes as time goes along, similar to the course followed by the genomes of other plants. If so - if gene loss has merely not occurred yet - that could explain the lack of observed positive selection and lower negative selection which are observed in otherwise similar plants, i.e. also naturally outcrossing and with similar effective population sizes.

 

Ploidy does not appear to influence EPS or magnitude of selection effect in maize.

 

BREEDING

Maize reproduces sexually each year. This randomly selects half the genes from a given plant to propagate to the next generation, meaning that desirable traits found in the crop (like high yield or good nutrition) can be lost in subsequent generations unless certain techniques are used.

 

Maize breeding in prehistory resulted in large plants producing large ears. Modern breeding began with individuals who selected highly productive varieties in their fields and then sold seed to other farmers. James L. Reid was one of the earliest and most successful developing Reid's Yellow Dent in the 1860s. These early efforts were based on mass selection. Later breeding efforts included ear to row selection (C. G. Hopkins c. 1896), hybrids made from selected inbred lines (G. H. Shull, 1909), and the highly successful double cross hybrids using four inbred lines (D. F. Jones c. 1918, 1922). University supported breeding programs were especially important in developing and introducing modern hybrids. By the 1930s, companies such as Pioneer devoted to production of hybrid maize had begun to influence long-term development. Internationally important seed banks such as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the US bank at the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign maintain germplasm important for future crop development.

 

Since the 1940s the best strains of maize have been first-generation hybrids made from inbred strains that have been optimized for specific traits, such as yield, nutrition, drought, pest and disease tolerance. Both conventional cross-breeding and genetic modification have succeeded in increasing output and reducing the need for cropland, pesticides, water and fertilizer. There is conflicting evidence to support the hypothesis that maize yield potential has increased over the past few decades. This suggests that changes in yield potential are associated with leaf angle, lodging resistance, tolerance of high plant density, disease/pest tolerance, and other agronomic traits rather than increase of yield potential per individual plant.

 

Tropical landraces remain an important and underutilized source of resistance alleles for for disease and for herbivores. Notable discoveries of rare alleles for this purpose were made by Dao et al 2014 and Sood et al 2014.

 

GLOBAL PROGRAM

CIMMYT operates a conventional breeding program to provide optimized strains. The program began in the 1980s. Hybrid seeds are distributed in Africa by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project.

 

GENETIC MODIFICATION

Genetically modified (GM) maize was one of the 26 GM crops grown commercially in 2016. The vast majority of this is Bt maize. Grown since 1997 in the United States and Canada, 92% of the US maize crop was genetically modified in 2016 and 33% of the worldwide maize crop was GM in 2016. As of 2011, Herbicide-tolerant maize varieties were grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, El Salvador, the European Union, Honduras, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. Insect-resistant maize was grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, the European Union, Honduras, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States, and Uruguay.

 

In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of food products were recalled due to the presence of Starlink genetically modified corn, which had been approved only for animal consumption and had not been approved for human consumption, and was subsequently withdrawn from the market.

 

ORIGIN

Maize is the domesticated variant of teosinte. The two plants have dissimilar appearance, maize having a single tall stalk with multiple leaves and teosinte being a short, bushy plant. The difference between the two is largely controlled by differences in just two genes, called grassy tillers-1 (gt1, A0A317YEZ1) and teosinte branched-1 (tb1, Q93WI2).

 

Several theories had been proposed about the specific origin of maize in Mesoamerica:

 

It is a direct domestication of a Mexican annual teosinte, Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, native to the Balsas River valley in south-eastern Mexico, with up to 12% of its genetic material obtained from Zea mays ssp. mexicana through introgression.

It has been derived from hybridization between a small domesticated maize (a slightly changed form of a wild maize) and a teosinte of section Luxuriantes, either Z. luxurians or Z. diploperennis.

It has undergone two or more domestications either of a wild maize or of a teosinte. (The term "teosinte" describes all species and subspecies in the genus Zea, excluding Zea mays ssp. mays.)

It has evolved from a hybridization of Z. diploperennis by Tripsacum dactyloides.

 

In the late 1930s, Paul Mangelsdorf suggested that domesticated maize was the result of a hybridization event between an unknown wild maize and a species of Tripsacum, a related genus. This theory about the origin of maize has been refuted by modern genetic testing, which refutes Mangelsdorf's model and the fourth listed above. 

 

The teosinte origin theory was proposed by the Russian botanist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov in 1931 and the later American Nobel Prize-winner George Beadle in 1932.: 10  It is supported experimentally and by recent studies of the plants' genomes. Teosinte and maize can cross-breed and produce fertile offspring. A number of questions remain concerning the species, among them:

 

how the immense diversity of the species of sect. Zea originated,

how the tiny archaeological specimens of 3500–2700 BC could have been selected from a teosinte, and

how domestication could have proceeded without leaving remains of teosinte or maize with teosintoid traits earlier than the earliest known until recently, dating from ca. 1100 BC.

 

The domestication of maize is of particular interest to researchers—archaeologists, geneticists, ethnobotanists, geographers, etc. The process is thought by some to have started 7,500 to 12,000 years ago. Research from the 1950s to 1970s originally focused on the hypothesis that maize domestication occurred in the highlands between the states of Oaxaca and Jalisco, because the oldest archaeological remains of maize known at the time were found there.

Connection with 'parviglumis' subspecies

Genetic studies, published in 2004 by John Doebley, identified Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, native to the Balsas River valley in Mexico's southwestern highlands, and also known as Balsas teosinte, as being the crop wild relative that is genetically most similar to modern maize. This was confirmed by further studies, which refined this hypothesis somewhat. Archaeobotanical studies, published in 2009, point to the middle part of the Balsas River valley as the likely location of early domestication; this river is not very long, so these locations are not very distant. Stone milling tools with maize residue have been found in an 8,700 year old layer of deposits in a cave not far from Iguala, Guerrero.

 

Doebley was part of the team that first published, in 2002, that maize had been domesticated only once, about 9,000 years ago, and then spread throughout the Americas.

 

A primitive corn was being grown in southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America 7,000 years ago. Archaeological remains of early maize ears, found at Guila Naquitz Cave in the Oaxaca Valley, date back roughly 6,250 years; the oldest ears from caves near Tehuacan, Puebla, 5,450 B.P.

 

Maize pollen dated to 7,300 B.P. from San Andres, Tabasco, on the Caribbean coast has also been recovered.

 

As maize was introduced to new cultures, new uses were developed and new varieties selected to better serve in those preparations. Maize was the staple food, or a major staple – along with squash, Andean region potato, quinoa, beans, and amaranth – of most pre-Columbian North American, Mesoamerican, South American, and Caribbean cultures. The Mesoamerican civilization, in particular, was deeply interrelated with maize. Its traditions and rituals involved all aspects of maize cultivation – from the planting to the food preparation. Maize formed the Mesoamerican people's identity.

 

It is unknown what precipitated its domestication, because the edible portion of the wild variety is too small, and hard to obtain, to be eaten directly, as each kernel is enclosed in a very hard bivalve shell.

 

In 1939, George Beadle demonstrated that the kernels of teosinte are readily "popped" for human consumption, like modern popcorn. Some have argued it would have taken too many generations of selective breeding to produce large, compressed ears for efficient cultivation. However, studies of the hybrids readily made by intercrossing teosinte and modern maize suggest this objection is not well founded.

 

SPREADING TO THE NORTH

Around 4,500 ago, maize began to spread to the north; it was first cultivated in what is now the United States at several sites in New Mexico and Arizona, about 4,100 ago.

 

During the first millennium AD, maize cultivation spread more widely in the areas north. In particular, the large-scale adoption of maize agriculture and consumption in eastern North America took place about A.D. 900. Native Americans cleared large forest and grassland areas for the new crop.

 

In 2005, research by the USDA Forest Service suggested that the rise in maize cultivation 500 to 1,000 years ago in what is now the southeastern United States corresponded with a decline of freshwater mussels, which are very sensitive to environmental changes.

 

CULTIVATION

PLANTING

Because it is cold-intolerant, in the temperate zones maize must be planted in the spring. Its root system is generally shallow, so the plant is dependent on soil moisture. As a plant that uses C4 carbon fixation, maize is a considerably more water-efficient crop than plants that use C3 carbon fixation such as alfalfa and soybeans. Maize is most sensitive to drought at the time of silk emergence, when the flowers are ready for pollination. In the United States, a good harvest was traditionally predicted if the maize was "knee-high by the Fourth of July", although modern hybrids generally exceed this growth rate. Maize used for silage is harvested while the plant is green and the fruit immature. Sweet corn is harvested in the "milk stage", after pollination but before starch has formed, between late summer and early to mid-autumn. Field maize is left in the field until very late in the autumn to thoroughly dry the grain, and may, in fact, sometimes not be harvested until winter or even early spring. The importance of sufficient soil moisture is shown in many parts of Africa, where periodic drought regularly causes maize crop failure and consequent famine. Although it is grown mainly in wet, hot climates, it has been said to thrive in cold, hot, dry or wet conditions, meaning that it is an extremely versatile crop.

 

Maize was planted by the Native Americans in hills, in a complex system known to some as the Three Sisters. Maize provided support for beans, and the beans provided nitrogen derived from nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria which live on the roots of beans and other legumes; and squashes provided ground cover to stop weeds and inhibit evaporation by providing shade over the soil. This method was replaced by single species hill planting where each hill 60–120 cm (2 ft 0 in–3 ft 11 in) apart was planted with three or four seeds, a method still used by home gardeners. A later technique was "checked maize", where hills were placed

 

1 m (40 in) apart in each direction, allowing cultivators to run through the field in two directions. In more arid lands, this was altered and seeds were planted in the bottom of 10–12 cm (4–4+1⁄2 in) deep furrows to collect water. Modern technique plants maize in rows which allows for cultivation while the plant is young, although the hill technique is still used in the maize fields of some Native American reservations. When maize is planted in rows, it also allows for planting of other crops between these rows to make more efficient use of land space.

 

In most regions today, maize grown in residential gardens is still often planted manually with a hoe, whereas maize grown commercially is no longer planted manually but rather is planted with a planter. In North America, fields are often planted in a two-crop rotation with a nitrogen-fixing crop, often alfalfa in cooler climates and soybeans in regions with longer summers. Sometimes a third crop, winter wheat, is added to the rotation.

 

Many of the maize varieties grown in the United States and Canada are hybrids. Often the varieties have been genetically modified to tolerate glyphosate or to provide protection against natural pests. Glyphosate is an herbicide which kills all plants except those with genetic tolerance. This genetic tolerance is very rarely found in nature.

 

In the midwestern United States, low-till or no-till farming techniques are usually used. In low-till, fields are covered once, maybe twice, with a tillage implement either ahead of crop planting or after the previous harvest. The fields are planted and fertilized. Weeds are controlled through the use of herbicides, and no cultivation tillage is done during the growing season. This technique reduces moisture evaporation from the soil, and thus provides more moisture for the crop. The technologies mentioned in the previous paragraph enable low-till and no-till farming. Weeds compete with the crop for moisture and nutrients, making them undesirable.

 

HARVESTING

Before the 20th century, all maize harvesting was by manual labour, by grazing, or by some combination of those. Whether the ears were hand-picked and the stover was grazed, or the whole plant was cut, gathered, and shocked, people and livestock did all the work. Between the 1890s and the 1970s, the technology of maize harvesting expanded greatly. Today, all such technologies, from entirely manual harvesting to entirely mechanized, are still in use to some degree, as appropriate to each farm's needs, although the thoroughly mechanized versions predominate, as they offer the lowest unit costs when scaled to large farm operations. For small farms, their unit cost can be too high, as their higher fixed cost cannot be amortized over as many units.[citation needed]

 

Before World War II, most maize in North America was harvested by hand. This involved a large number of workers and associated social events (husking or shucking bees). From the 1890s onward, some machinery became available to partially mechanize the processes, such as one- and two-row mechanical pickers (picking the ear, leaving the stover) and corn binders, which are reaper-binders designed specifically for maize (for example, Video on YouTube). The latter produce sheaves that can be shocked. By hand or mechanical picker, the entire ear is harvested, which then requires a separate operation of a maize sheller to remove the kernels from the ear. Whole ears of maize were often stored in corn cribs, and these whole ears are a sufficient form for some livestock feeding use. Today corn cribs with whole ears, and corn binders, are less common because most modern farms harvest the grain from the field with a combine and store it in bins. The combine with a corn head (with points and snap rolls instead of a reel) does not cut the stalk; it simply pulls the stalk down. The stalk continues downward and is crumpled into a mangled pile on the ground, where it usually is left to become organic matter for the soil. The ear of maize is too large to pass between slots in a plate as the snap rolls pull the stalk away, leaving only the ear and husk to enter the machinery. The combine separates the husk and the cob, keeping only the kernels.

When maize is a silage crop, the entire plant is usually chopped at once with a forage harvester (chopper) and ensiled in silos or polymer wrappers. Ensiling of sheaves cut by a corn binder was formerly common in some regions but has become uncommon. For storing grain in bins, the moisture of the grain must be sufficiently low to avoid spoiling. If the moisture content of the harvested grain is too high, grain dryers are used to reduce the moisture content by blowing heated air through the grain. This can require large amounts of energy in the form of combustible gases (propane or natural gas) and electricity to power the blowers.

 

PRODUCTION

Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2018, total world production was 1.15 billion tonnes, led by the United States with 34.2% of the total (table). China produced 22.4% of the global total.

 

UNITED STATES

In 2016, maize production was forecast to be over 380 million metric tons (15 billion bushels), an increase of 11% over 2014 American production. Based on conditions as of August 2016, the expected yield would be the highest ever for the United States. The area of harvested maize was forecast to be 35 million hectares (87 million acres), an increase of 7% over 2015. Maize is especially popular in Midwestern states such as Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois; in the latter, it was named the state's official grain in 2017.

 

STORAGE

Drying is vital to prevent or at least reduce mycotoxin contamination. Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. are the most common mycotoxin sources, but there are others. Altogether maize contaminants are so common, and this crop is so economically important, that maize mycotoxins are among the most important in agriculture in general.

 

USES

HUMAN FOOD

Maize and cornmeal (ground dried maize) constitute a staple food in many regions of the world. Maize is used to produce cornstarch, a common ingredient in home cooking and many industrialized food products. Maize starch can be hydrolyzed and enzymatically treated to produce syrups, particularly high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener; and also fermented and distilled to produce grain alcohol. Grain alcohol from maize is traditionally the source of Bourbon whiskey. Corn flour is used to make cornbread and other baked products.

 

In prehistoric times Mesoamerican women used a metate to process maize into ground cornmeal, allowing the preparation of foods that were more calorie dense than popcorn. After ceramic vessels were invented the Olmec people began to cook maize together with beans, improving the nutritional value of the staple meal. Although maize naturally contains niacin, an important nutrient, it was not bioavailable without the process of nixtamalization. The Maya used nixtamal meal to make varieties of porridges and tamales. The process was later used in the cuisine of the American South to prepare corn for grits and hominy.

 

Maize is a staple of Mexican cuisine. Masa (cornmeal treated with limewater) is the main ingredient for tortillas, atole and many other dishes of Central American food. It is the main ingredient of corn tortilla, tamales, pozole, atole and all the dishes based on them, like tacos, quesadillas, chilaquiles, enchiladas, tostadas and many more. In Mexico the fungus of maize, known as huitlacoche, is considered a delicacy.

 

Coarse maize meal is made into a thick porridge in many cultures: from the polenta of Italy, the angu of Brazil, the mămăligă of Romania, to cornmeal mush in the US (or hominy grits in the South) or the food called mieliepap in South Africa and sadza, nshima, ugali and other names in other parts of Africa. Introduced into Africa by the Portuguese in the 16th century, maize has become Africa's most important staple food crop. These are commonly eaten in the Southeastern United States, foods handed down from Native Americans, who called the dish sagamite.

 

Maize can also be harvested and consumed in the unripe state, when the kernels are fully grown but still soft. Unripe maize must usually be cooked to become palatable; this may be done by simply boiling or roasting the whole ears and eating the kernels right off the cob. Sweet corn, a genetic variety that is high in sugars and low in starch, is usually consumed in the unripe state. Such corn on the cob is a common dish in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Cyprus, some parts of South America, and the Balkans, but virtually unheard of in some European countries. Corn on the cob was hawked on the streets of early 19th-century New York City by poor, barefoot "Hot Corn Girls", who were thus the precursors of hot dog carts, churro wagons, and fruit stands seen on the streets of big cities today.

 

Within the United States, the usage of maize for human consumption constitutes only around 1/40th of the amount grown in the country. In the United States and Canada, maize is mostly grown to feed livestock, as forage, silage (made by fermentation of chopped green cornstalks), or grain. Maize meal is also a significant ingredient of some commercial animal food products.

 

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

Raw, yellow, sweet maize kernels are composed of 76% water, 19% carbohydrates, 3% protein, and 1% fat (table). In a 100-gram serving, maize kernels provide 86 calories and are a good source (10–19% of the Daily Value) of the B vitamins, thiamin, niacin (but see Pellagra warning below), pantothenic acid (B5) and folate (right table for raw, uncooked kernels, USDA Nutrient Database). In moderate amounts, they also supply dietary fiber and the essential minerals, magnesium and phosphorus whereas other nutrients are in low amounts (table).

 

Maize has suboptimal amounts of the essential amino acids tryptophan and lysine, which accounts for its lower status as a protein source. However, the proteins of beans and legumes complement those of maize.

 

FEED AND FODDER FOR LIVESTOCK

Maize is a major source of both grain feed and fodder for livestock. It is fed to the livestock in various ways. When it is used as a grain crop, the dried kernels are used as feed. They are often kept on the cob for storage in a corn crib, or they may be shelled off for storage in a grain bin. The farm that consumes the feed may produce it, purchase it on the market, or some of both. When the grain is used for feed, the rest of the plant (the corn stover) can be used later as fodder, bedding (litter), or soil amendment. When the whole maize plant (grain plus stalks and leaves) is used for fodder, it is usually chopped all at once and ensilaged, as digestibility and palatability are higher in the ensilaged form than in the dried form. Maize silage is one of the most valuable forages for ruminants. Before the advent of widespread ensilaging, it was traditional to gather the corn into shocks after harvesting, where it dried further. With or without a subsequent move to the cover of a barn, it was then stored for weeks to several months until fed to the livestock. Today ensilaging can occur not only in siloes but also in silage wrappers. However, in the tropics, maize can be harvested year-round and fed as green forage to the animals.

 

CHEMICALS

Starch from maize can also be made into plastics, fabrics, adhesives, and many other chemical products.

 

The corn steep liquor, a plentiful watery byproduct of maize wet milling process, is widely used in the biochemical industry and research as a culture medium to grow many kinds of microorganisms.

 

Chrysanthemin is found in purple corn and is used as a food coloring.

 

BIO-FUEL

"Feed maize" is being used increasingly for heating; specialized corn stoves (similar to wood stoves) are available and use either feed maize or wood pellets to generate heat. Maize cobs are also used as a biomass fuel source. Maize is relatively cheap and home-heating furnaces have been developed which use maize kernels as a fuel. They feature a large hopper that feeds the uniformly sized maize kernels (or wood pellets or cherry pits) into the fire.[citation needed]

 

Maize is increasingly used as a feedstock for the production of ethanol fuel. When considering where to construct an ethanol plant, one of the site selection criteria is to ensure there is locally available feedstock. Ethanol is mixed with gasoline to decrease the amount of pollutants emitted when used to fuel motor vehicles. High fuel prices in mid-2007 led to higher demand for ethanol, which in turn led to higher prices paid to farmers for maize. This led to the 2007 harvest being one of the most profitable maize crops in modern history for farmers. Because of the relationship between fuel and maize, prices paid for the crop now tend to track the price of oil.

 

The price of food is affected to a certain degree by the use of maize for biofuel production. The cost of transportation, production, and marketing are a large portion (80%) of the price of food in the United States. Higher energy costs affect these costs, especially transportation. The increase in food prices the consumer has been seeing is mainly due to the higher energy cost. The effect of biofuel production on other food crop prices is indirect. Use of maize for biofuel production increases the demand, and therefore price of maize. This, in turn, results in farm acreage being diverted from other food crops to maize production. This reduces the supply of the other food crops and increases their prices.

 

Maize is widely used in Germany as a feedstock for biogas plants. Here the maize is harvested, shredded then placed in silage clamps from which it is fed into the biogas plants. This process makes use of the whole plant rather than simply using the kernels as in the production of fuel ethanol.

 

A biomass gasification power plant in Strem near Güssing, Burgenland, Austria, began in 2005. Research is being done to make diesel out of the biogas by the Fischer Tropsch method.

 

Increasingly, ethanol is being used at low concentrations (10% or less) as an additive in gasoline (gasohol) for motor fuels to increase the octane rating, lower pollutants, and reduce petroleum use (what is nowadays also known as "biofuels" and has been generating an intense debate regarding the human beings' necessity of new sources of energy, on the one hand, and the need to maintain, in regions such as Latin America, the food habits and culture which has been the essence of civilizations such as the one originated in Mesoamerica; the entry, January 2008, of maize among the commercial agreements of NAFTA has increased this debate, considering the bad labor conditions of workers in the fields, and mainly the fact that NAFTA "opened the doors to the import of maize from the United States, where the farmers who grow it receive multimillion-dollar subsidies and other government supports. ... According to OXFAM UK, after NAFTA went into effect, the price of maize in Mexico fell 70% between 1994 and 2001. The number of farm jobs dropped as well: from 8.1 million in 1993 to 6.8 million in 2002. Many of those who found themselves without work were small-scale maize growers."). However, introduction in the northern latitudes of the US of tropical maize for biofuels, and not for human or animal consumption, may potentially alleviate this.

 

COMMODITY

Maize is bought and sold by investors and price speculators as a tradable commodity using corn futures contracts. These "futures" are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) under ticker symbol C. They are delivered every year in March, May, July, September, and December.

 

ORNAMENTAL AND OTHER USES

Some forms of the plant are occasionally grown for ornamental use in the garden. For this purpose, variegated and colored leaf forms as well as those with colorful ears are used.

 

Corncobs can be hollowed out and treated to make inexpensive smoking pipes, first manufactured in the United States in 1869.

 

An unusual use for maize is to create a "corn maze" (or "maize maze") as a tourist attraction. The idea of a maize maze was introduced by the American Maze Company who created a maze in Pennsylvania in 1993. Traditional mazes are most commonly grown using yew hedges, but these take several years to mature. The rapid growth of a field of maize allows a maze to be laid out using GPS at the start of a growing season and for the maize to grow tall enough to obstruct a visitor's line of sight by the start of the summer. In Canada and the US, these are popular in many farming communities.

 

Maize kernels can be used in place of sand in a sandboxlike enclosure for children's play.

 

Stigmas from female maize flowers, popularly called corn silk, are sold as herbal supplements.

 

Maize is used as a fish bait, called "dough balls". It is particularly popular in Europe for coarse fishing.

 

Additionally, feed corn is sometimes used by hunters to bait animals such as deer or wild hogs.

 

UNITED STATES USAGE BREAKDOWN

The breakdown of usage of the 12.1-billion-bushel (307-million-tonne) 2008 US maize crop was as follows, according to the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report by the USDA.In the US since 2009/2010, maize feedstock use for ethanol production has somewhat exceeded direct use for livestock feed; maize use for fuel ethanol was 5,130 million bushels (130 million tonnes) in the 2013/2014 marketing year.A fraction of the maize feedstock dry matter used for ethanol production is usefully recovered as DDGS (dried distillers grains with solubles). In the 2010/2011 marketing year, about 29.1 million tonnes of DDGS were fed to US livestock and poultry. Because starch utilization in fermentation for ethanol production leaves other grain constituents more concentrated in the residue, the feed value per kg of DDGS, with regard to ruminant-metabolizable energy and protein, exceeds that of the grain. Feed value for monogastric animals, such as swine and poultry, is somewhat lower than for ruminants.

 

HAZARDS

PELLAGRA

When maize was first introduced into farming systems other than those used by traditional native-American peoples, it was generally welcomed with enthusiasm for its productivity. However, a widespread problem of malnutrition soon arose wherever maize was introduced as a staple food. This was a mystery, since these types of malnutrition were not normally seen among the indigenous Americans, for whom maize was the principal staple food.

 

It was eventually discovered that the indigenous Americans had learned to soak maize in alkali — water (the process now known as nixtamalization) — made with ashes and lime (calcium oxide) since at least 1200–1500 BC by Mesoamericans. They did this to liberate the corn hulls, but (unbeknownst to natives or colonists) it coincidentally liberates the B-vitamin niacin, the lack of which was the underlying cause of the condition known as pellagra.

 

Maize was introduced into the diet of non-indigenous Americans without the necessary cultural knowledge acquired over thousands of years in the Americas. In the late 19th century, pellagra reached epidemic proportions in parts of the southern US, as medical researchers debated two theories for its origin: the deficiency theory (which was eventually shown to be true) said that pellagra was due to a deficiency of some nutrient, and the germ theory said that pellagra was caused by a germ transmitted by stable flies. A third theory, promoted by the eugenicist Charles Davenport, held that people only contracted pellagra if they were susceptible to it due to certain "constitutional, inheritable" traits of the affected individual.

 

Once alkali processing and dietary variety were understood and applied, pellagra disappeared in the developed world. The development of high lysine maize and the promotion of a more balanced diet have also contributed to its demise. Pellagra still exists today in food-poor areas and refugee camps where people survive on donated maize.

 

ALLERGY

Maize contains lipid transfer protein, an indigestible protein that survives cooking. This protein has been linked to a rare and understudied allergy to maize in humans. The allergic reaction can cause skin rash, swelling or itching of mucous membranes, diarrhea, vomiting, asthma and, in severe cases, anaphylaxis. It is unclear how common this allergy is in the general population.

 

MYCOTOXINS

Fungicide application does not reduce fungal growth or mycotoxin dramatically, although it can be a part of a successful reduction strategy. Among the most common toxins are those produced by Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. The most common toxins are aflatoxins, fumonisins, zearalenone, and ochratoxin A. Bt maize discourages insect vectors and by so doing it dramatically reduces concentrations of fumonisins, significantly reduces aflatoxins, but only mildly reduces others.

 

ART

Maize has been an essential crop in the Andes since the pre-Columbian era. The Moche culture from Northern Peru made ceramics from earth, water, and fire. This pottery was a sacred substance, formed in significant shapes and used to represent important themes. Maize was represented anthropomorphically as well as naturally.

 

In the United States, maize ears along with tobacco leaves are carved into the capitals of columns in the United States Capitol building. Maize itself is sometimes used for temporary architectural detailing when the intent is to celebrate the fall season, local agricultural productivity and culture. Bundles of dried maize stalks are often displayed along with pumpkins, gourds and straw in autumnal displays outside homes and businesses. A well-known example of architectural use is the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, which uses cobs and ears of colored maize to implement a mural design that is recycled annually. Another well-known example is the Field of Corn sculpture in Dublin, Ohio, where hundreds of concrete ears of corn stand in a grassy field.

 

A maize stalk with two ripe ears is depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 1 lipa coin, minted since 1993.

 

WIKIPEDIA

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The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

 

It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.

 

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Aga, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.

 

At its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses. More than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light, today assisted by chandeliers.

Kunstraum Richard Sorge presents the first large overview in Germany of Dutch artist Gert-Jan Akerboom’s ink drawings on paper. The artist executed several large murals, turning the presentation into an immersive experience.

 

Eschewing easily interpretable statements in his work, Gert-Jan Akerboom prefers ambiguous signals, dreamlike in nature; they can be interpreted in myriad ways, none of them right or wrong. His drawings take their energy from this unfixed, shifting view of reality, synthesizing precise observation and associative speculation about alternative possibilities.

 

Akerboom’s drawings are filled with the objects and themes that trigger his “dreamwatching” state of mind: Architecture, archeology, ruins, mystic or religious sites and ritual. Collaging the possibilities and impossibilities of these inspirations, wedding them with fragments of popular culture, like Manga, computer graphics, photography and Street-art, the artist lets us witness candid, highly obsessive, painstakingly precise results that are proof of an unique sensibility and imagination.

 

Located at a romantically crumbling historic Berlin brewery, host of many art & event spaces and music studios, Kunstraum Richard Sorge reaches a young, and international audience, but adventurous discerning art lovers as well. The bountiful space is snugly hidden inside the building's Street-art covered walls. The artist-run art space has so far focused its exhibitions on subversive crafts and subcultures. Like the spy Richard Sorge, it independently works from a marginal, yet cosmopolitan position to ultimately save the world.

 

Exhibition duration: July 8 - July 31, 2009

Open Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, 3 - 7 pm, and by appointment

Opening Reception: July 8, 7 pm

Closing reception: July 31, 7 pm

 

Kunstraum Richard Sorge, Landsberger Allee 54, 10249 Berlin-Friedrichshain

This composite Hubble Space Telescope image captures the positions of Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) and Mars in a never-before-seen close passage of a comet by the Red Planet, which happened at 2:28 p.m. EDT October 19, 2014. On that date the comet passed by Mars at approximately 87,000 miles (about one-third the distance between Earth and the Moon).

 

The Mars and comet images have been added together to create a single picture to illustrate the angular separation between the comet and Mars at closest approach.

 

This is a composite image because a single exposure of the stellar background, Comet Siding Spring, and Mars would be problematic. Mars is actually 10,000 times brighter than the comet, and so could not be properly exposed to show detail in the Red Planet. The comet and Mars were also moving with respect to each other and so could not be imaged simultaneously in one exposure without one of the objects being motion blurred. Hubble had to be programmed to track on the comet and Mars separately in two different observations.

 

The background starfield in this composite image is synthesized from ground-based telescope data provided by the Palomar Digital Sky Survey, which has been reprocessed to approximate Hubble's resolution.

 

For more information, visit: hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2014/45/3441-Image.html

 

Image credit: NASA, ESA, J.-Y. Li (PSI), C.M. Lisse (JHU/APL), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

 

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Man From Uranus : Amazing Science Friction Vol 1

FRVM59

 

manfromuranus.bandcamp.com/album/amazing-science-friction...

www.freaksvillerec.com/

 

[EN]

 

When Man From Uranus shimmies onstage, he announces that he'd probably have preferred to call himself Rockhausen. While this certainly would have saved him from the endless innuendo the name he's stuck with brings, Phil Uranus still cuts an eccentric figure in his Sun Ra t-shirt and scientist-gone-bad-on-experimental-drugs demeanour. No-one could accuse him of not engaging with his audience, and Phil annotates each number with footnotes before tending to his machines with the air of someone who loves and cares for them, but really, really wants to abuse the sounds they can make.

 

So there are gurgling and droning loops, beats made manifestly unhinged, analogue bass thumps and some hardcore avantgarde interference with the notion of the straightahead four-four rhythm, mostly selected from MFU's new Amazing Science Friction Volume One CD.

 

No sound is left unstoned, the mood shifting between happy-go-lucky toytown electronica and a scattering of heaving stabs fried enough to bring the electricians in to check the wiring. Phil brings in various boxes of tricks into play in his best electronic rock star manner, twisting them to his midriff and wrenching further sparks from their innards; the best buzzing coming from a Stylophone amped up to eleven and used to strip paint from the walls.

 

All the time he is obviously enthralled by the malformed sounds the various devices are capabale of having coaxed from them - and anyone still so misguided as to believe that electronic music is dry or devoid of emotion should come and see Man From Uranus some time for a lesson in applied synthesized dementia.

 

[FR]

 

Certaines sources affirment que Man From Uranus ne viendrait pas de l’espace mais de Floride. Peu importe les rumeurs, puisque c’est depuis l’excentrique Cambridge (UK) qu’il a composé ses morceaux d’electro-vintage, à l’aide d’une armée de synthétiseurs, oscillateurs ou samplers, son Theremin et ses walkmans à cassettes.

 

On trouve dans ces pièces bricolées des bouts de Space Jazz , de Krautrock et de Stockhausen, l’energie de Sun Ra, des Stooges ou The Fall, le tout lié par une folie garage communicative. Sans connexion avec la musique électronique contemporaine, ce savant fou concocte dans le secret de son laboratoire des potions sonores au goût unique, The Wire le décrivant même comme un “scientifique dissident au paysage musical immense”.

 

Depuis 2000, Man From Uranus a tourné avec Felix Kubin, Faust et Pram, et collaboré avec Ann Shenton (Add N to X ) et Broadcast, joué à la Tate Modern de Londres et au Royal College of Art, et accompli une résidence de Thereministe à Glastonbury.

 

Amazing Science friction vol.1 est la première sortie de son label Outer Music, relayée en France par le label liégeois Freaksville Records. Recueil de morceaux jusque là épars, collaborations avec Broadcast, ou Agaskodo Teliverek, c’est “la musique que ferait un ordinateur surpuissant des années 70 à un bal de promo”.

 

Man From Uranus a récemment quitté Cambridge pour s’installer à Londres. Il a participé à de nombreuses productions Freaksville, a sorti plusieurs albums sur le label et a réalisé quelques clips pour les Loved Drones, Dragon Noir ou Rockhausen.

 

[Quotes]

 

"MFU is a quintessentially English phenomenon - in fact, it's tempting to be more specific and describe him as a quintessentially Cambridge phenomenon. A maverick boffin oblivious to the wider musical landscape, MFU constructs appealingly eccentric snippets of fizzing analogue psychedelia which seems to owe as much to the quirky, Moogtastic sounds of 70s cult TV as they do to groups like Stereolab or Broadcast (who make a couple of guest appearances here). This album anthologises recordings made over the last four years and for the most part it's a volley of brief, breezy and barely-suppressed giggles, complete with comedy titles and whimsical samples. But a couple of tracks suggest greater substance: "New Planet Professor" revels in a soaring, consciousness-expanding keyboard solo which coould have been excised from some mystical Caravan bootleg, while the closing "Space Station 3 On The Shores Of Infinity" stretches out through 12 minutes of cosmic, Radiophonic space"

The Wire

 

"This rules.... bonkers electronics in a library music styling which I think is gonna appeal to folks who like the Radiophonic Workshop gear as well as Ghost Box shenanigans. It's probably a bit more playful than those folks though..... think of the music a 1970's super computer would be making on an Open University special. It does go a bit spazzed out and fans of Agoskodo Teliverek will recognise a song from their album on here played with MFA. It's a lot of fun though and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Lots of spaceship whirring noises and outer space weirdness pervade this 23 track funstick but as a child brought up on Sapphire & Steel this rules my world. Well recommended!!"

Norman Records

 

"Faut-il préciser que les amateurs de bizarreries cosmiques, de pétages de plomb semi-contrôlés, d'objets musicaux non identifiés sont cordialement invités à se ruer sur ce disque ?"

Kweb

 

"Man from Uranus tente rationnellement d’expliquer au monde que l’invasion des toasters géants à déjà débuté. Entre les lignes de code, un seul message: protégez-vous derrière mon Roland, je sauverai le monde"

Gonzai

 

"L'homme d'Uranus recourt aux synthés vintage, à quelques instruments acoustiques… Le résultat est assez attachant et quelques morceaux très habiles"

RifRaf

 

"Ces «Amazing Science friction» sonnent comme un cartoon SF, absurde et intemporel"

Hinu

 

"Amazing science friction rassemble ainsi 23 morceaux tour à tour azimutés, intrigants, croquignolets et insupportables. Prêt pour le décollage ?"

Le Focus-Vif

 

"Dans le monde du rock Colgate où les disques ne se vendent plus, où les groupies crient plus fort que le chanteur, Man From Uranus fait tache: il est moche, talentueux et hors des modes. Le petit prince du synthe(xupery) est définitivement l'homme à abattre"

Technikart

. . . look at the faces: every soldier has a different face! Not two are similar!

______________________________________

 

The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.

 

The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

 

HISTORY

The construction of the tomb was described by historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE) in his most noted work Shiji, written a century after the mausoleum's completion. Work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne, and the project eventually involved 700,000 workers. Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First Emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology, "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". Sima Qian wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 flowing rivers were simulated using mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the land. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations"; however, those words were not used in the original text, which makes no mention of the terracotta army. High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian's account. Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor. However, there are indications that the tomb may not have been plundered.

 

DISCOVERY

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 by farmers digging a water well approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis – roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists, including Zhao Kangmin, to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found. A museum complex has since been constructed over the area, the largest pit being enclosed by a roofed structure.

 

NECROPOLIS

The Terracotta Army is part of a much larger necropolis. Ground-penetrating radar and core sampling have measured the area to be approximately 98 square kilometers.

 

The necropolis was constructed as a microcosm of the emperor's imperial palace or compound, and covers a large area around the tomb mound of the first emperor. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape, and is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. The necropolis consists of several offices, halls, stables, other structures as well as an imperial park placed around the tomb mound.

 

The warriors stand guard to the east of the tomb. Up to 5 metres of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

 

TOMB

The tomb appears to be a hermetically sealed space roughly the size of a football pitch (c. 100 × 75 m). The tomb remains unopened, possibly due to concerns over preservation of its artifacts. For example, after the excavation of the Terracotta Army, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade. The lacquer covering the paint can curl in fifteen seconds once exposed to Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in just four minutes.

 

EXCAVATION S'ITE

PITS

Four main pits approximately 7 metres deep have been excavated. These are located approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The soldiers within were laid out as if to protect the tomb from the east, where the Qin Emperor's conquered states lay.

 

PIT 1

Pit 1, which is 230 metres long and 62 metres wide, contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures. Pit 1 has eleven corridors, most more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level when completed.

 

OTHERS

Pit 2 has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard. Pit 3 is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit 4 is empty, perhaps left unfinished by its builders.

 

Some of the figures in Pits 1 and 2 show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found. These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.

 

Other pits that formed the necropolis have also been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burial sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.

 

WARRIOR FIGURES

TYPES AND APPEARANCE

The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Their faces appear to be different for each individual figure; scholars, however, have identified 10 basic face shapes. The figures are of these general types: armored warriors; unarmored infantrymen; cavalrymen who wear a pillbox hat; helmeted drivers of chariots with more armor protection; spear-carrying charioteers; kneeling archers who are armored; standing archers who are not; as well as generals and other lower-ranking officers. There are, however, many variations in the uniforms within the ranks: for example, some may wear shin pads while others not; they may wear either long or short trousers, some of which may be padded; and their body armors vary depending on rank, function, and position in formation. There are also terracotta horses placed among the warrior figures.

 

Originally, the figures were painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish and individual facial features would have given the figures a realistic feel. However, much of the colour coating had flaked off or become greatly faded.

 

Some scholars have speculated a possible Hellenistic link to these sculptures, because of the lack of life-sized and realistic sculptures before the Qin dynasty. They argued that potential Greek influence is particularly evident in some terracotta figures such as those of acrobats, combined with findings of European DNA and rare bronze artifacts made with a lost wax technique known in Greece and Egypt.. However, this idea is disputed by scholars who claim that there is "no substantial evidence at all" for contact between ancient Greeks and Chinese builders of the tomb. They argue that such speculations rest on flawed and old "Eurocentric" ideas that assumed other civilizations were incapable of sophisticated artistry and thus foreign artistry must be seen through western traditions.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled by luting the pieces together. When completed, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

 

The faces were created using molds, and at least ten face molds may have been used. Clay was then added after assembly to provide individual facial features to make each figure appear different. It is believed that the warriors' legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would classify the process as assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it. In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying which workshops were commandeered to make tiles and other mundane items for the terracotta army.

 

WEAPONRY

Most of the figures originally held real weapons, which would have increased their realism. The majority of these weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army or have rotted away. Despite this, over 40,000 bronze items of weaponry have been recovered, including swords, daggers, spears, lances, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and crossbow triggers. Most of the recovered items are arrowheads, which are usually found in bundles of 100 units. Studies of these arrowheads suggests that they were produced by self-sufficient, autonomous workshops using a process referred to as cellular production or Toyotism. Some weapons were coated with a 10–15 micrometer layer of chromium dioxide before burial that has protected them from any form of decay for the last 2200 years. The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date their manufacture to between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating that they were used before burial.

 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

In 2007, scientists at Stanford University and the Advanced Light Source facility in Berkeley, California reported that powder diffraction experiments combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the process of producing terracotta figures colored with Chinese purple dye consisting of barium copper silicate was derived from the knowledge gained by Taoist alchemists in their attempts to synthesize jade ornaments.

 

Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze arrowheads bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metal impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows’ chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of the automobile industry, was employed.

 

Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope provide evidence for the earliest industrial use of lathes for polishing.

 

EXHIBITIONS

The first exhibition of the figures outside of China was held at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne in 1982.

 

A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 12 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the 400,000 advance tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.

 

Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever. From December 2009 to May 2010, the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.

 

The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently, the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to 16 November 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were displayed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 were exposed nine warriors in Milan, at the Royal Palace, at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires". The group consisted of a horse, a counselor, an archer and six lancers. The "Treasures of Ancient China" exhibition, showcasing two terracotta soldiers and other artifacts, including the Longmen Grottoes Buddhist statues, was held between 19 February 2011 and 7 November 2011 in four locations in India: National Museum of New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and National Library of India in Kolkata.

 

Soldiers and related items were on display from 15 March 2013 to 17 November 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.

 

Several Terracotta Army figures were on display, along with many other objects, in an exhibit entitled "Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from 3 April 2017, to 16 July 2017 An exhibition featuring ten Terracotta Army figures and other artifacts, "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor," was on display at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, from 8 April 2017 to 4 September 2017 before traveling to The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be exhibited from 30 September 2017 to 4 March 2018 with the addition of augmented reality.

 

An exhibition entitled "China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors" is at the World Museum in Liverpool from 9 February 2018 to 28 October 2018. This is the first time in more than 10 years that the warriors have travelled to the UK.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Fluorite from Illinois, USA.

 

Deep purple = fluorite

Dark yellow = fluorite

 

A mineral is a naturally-occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline substance having a fairly definite chemical composition and having fairly definite physical properties. At its simplest, a mineral is a naturally-occurring solid chemical. Currently, there are over 5500 named and described minerals - about 200 of them are common and about 20 of them are very common. Mineral classification is based on anion chemistry. Major categories of minerals are: elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, and silicates.

 

The halides are the "salt minerals", and have one or more of the following anions: Cl-, F-, I-, Br-.

 

Fluorite is a calcium fluoride mineral (CaF2). The most diagnostic physical property of fluorite is its hardness (H≡4). Fluorite typically forms cubic crystals and, when broken, displays four cleavage planes (also quite diagnostic). When broken under controlled conditions, the broken pieces of fluorite form double pyramids. Fluorite is a good example of a mineral that can be any color. Common fluorite colors include clear, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and brown. The stereotypical color for fluorite is purple. Purple is the color fluorite "should be". A mineral collector doesn't have fluorite unless it's a purple fluorite (!).

 

Fluorite occurs in association with some active volcanoes. HF emitted from volcanoes can react with Ca-bearing rocks to form fluorite crystals. Many hydrothermal veins contain fluorite. Much fluorite occurs in the vicinity of southern Illinois (Mississippi Valley-type deposits).

 

The fluorite specimen shown above is from a Mississippi Valley-type deposit in southern Illinois. Commonly abbreviated "MVT", Mississippi Valley-type deposits are named for a series of mineral deposits that occur in non-deformed platform sedimentary rocks along the Upper Mississippi River Valley, USA. Many specific minerals occur in MVT deposits, but are dominated by galena, sphalerite, barite, and fluorite. These minerals occur in caves and karst, paleokarst structures, in collapse fabrics, in pull-apart structures, etc. MVT deposits in America are mined as important, large sources of lead ore and zinc ore. The classic areas for MVT deposits are southern Illinois, the tristate area of Oklahoma-Missouri-Kansas, northern Kentucky, southwestern Wisconsin, and southeastern Missouri. The minerals are hydrothermal in origin and were precipitated from basinal brines that were flushed out to the edges of large sedimentary basins (e.g., the Illinois Basin and the Black Warrior Basin). In basin edge areas, the brines came into contact with Mississippian-aged carbonate rocks (limestone and dolostone), which caused mineralization. The brines were 15% to 25% salinity with temperatures of 50 to 200 degrees Celsius (commonly 100 to 150 degrees C). MVT mineralization usually occurs in limestone and dolostone but can also be hosted in shales, siltstones, sandstones, and conglomerates. Gangue minerals include pyrite, marcasite, calcite, aragonite, dolomite, siderite, and quartz. Up to 40 or 50 pulses of brine fluids are recorded in banding of mineral suites in MVT deposits (for example, sphalerite coatings in veins have a stratigraphy - each layer represents a pulse event). Each pulse of water was probably expelled rapidly - overpressurization and friction likely caused the water to heat up. Some bitumen (crystallized organic matter) can occur, which is an indication of the basinal origin of the brines. The presence of asphalt-bitumen indicates some hydrocarbon migration occurred. Some petroleum inclusions are found within fluorite crystals and petroleum scum occurs on fluorite crystals. MVT deposits are associated with oil fields and the temperature of mineral precipitation matches the petroleum window. The brines may simply have accompanied hydrocarbon fluids as they migrated updip.

 

The high temperatures of these basin periphery deposits wasn't necessarily influenced by igneous hydrothermal activity. Hot fluids can occur in basins that are deep enough for the geothermal gradient to be ~100 to 150 degrees Celsius. If a permeable conduit horizon is present in a succession of interbedded siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, migration of hot, deep basinal brines may be quick enough to get MVT deposit conditions at basin margins.

 

MVT deposits occur in the Upper Mississippi Valley of America as well as in northern Africa, Scandinavia, northwestern Canada, at scattered sites in Europe, and at some sites in the American Cordillera. Some of these occurrences are in deformed host rocks. MVT deposits have little to no precious metals - maybe a little copper (Cu). Mineralization is usually associated with limestone or dolostone in fracture fillings and vugs. Little host rock alteration has occurred - usually only dolomitization of limestones.

 

The age of the host rocks in the Mississippi Valley area varies - it ranges from Cambrian to Mississippian. Dating of mineralization has been difficult, but published ages indicate a near-latest Paleozoic to Mesozoic timing.

 

MVT deposits in the Upper Mississippi River area are often divided into three subtypes based on the dominant mineral: 1) lead-rich (galena dominated); 2) zinc-rich (sphalerite dominated); and 3) fluorite-rich.

 

The fluorite shown here is from the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District ("fluorspar" is a very old name for fluorite), which is an MVT fluoritic subtype. Fluorite and fluorite-rich rocks are mined for the fluorine, which is principally used by the chemical industry to make HF - hydrofluoric acid. Fluorite mineralization in this district occurred at about 277 Ma, during the Early Permian, according to one published study (Chesley et al., 1994). Another study concluded that fluorite mineralization was much later, during the Late Jurassic (see Symons, 1994).

 

Locality: Crystal Victory Mine, near the town of Cave-in-Rock, Hardin County, far-southern Illinois, USA

------------------------

Photo gallery of fluorite:

www.mindat.org/gallery.php?min=1576

-----------------------

Some info. on Mississippi Valley-type deposits was synthesized from:

 

Chesley et al. (1994) - Direct dating of Mississippi Valley-type mineralization: use of Sm-Nd in fluorite. Economic Geology 89: 1192-1199.

 

Symons (1994) - Paleomagnetism and the Late Jurassic genesis of the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar deposits. Economic Geology 89: 438-449.

 

Rakovan (2006) - Mississippi Valley-type deposits. Rocks & Minerals 81(January/February 2006): 69-71.

 

Fisher et al. (2013) - Fluorite in Mississippi Valley-type deposits. Rocks & Minerals 88(January/February 2013): 20-47.

Diploria strigosa - fossil symmetrical brain coral colony in the reef facies of the Cockburn Town Member, upper Grotto Beach Formation at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, western margin of San Salvador Island.

 

The Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is a well-preserved, well-exposed Pleistocene fossil reef. It consists of non-bedded to poorly-bedded, poorly-sorted, very coarse-grained, aragonitic fossiliferous limestones (grainstones and rubblestones), representing shallow marine deposition in reef and peri-reef facies. Cockburn Town Member reef facies rocks date to the MIS 5e sea level highstand event (early Late Pleistocene). Dated corals in the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef range in age from 114 to 127 ka.

---------------------------------------

The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.

------------------------------

Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:

 

Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)

--------------------

Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)

--------------------

Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)

------------------------------

San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:

1) LIMESTONES

2) PALEOSOLS

 

The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.

 

Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):

 

1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.

 

2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)

 

3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.

 

During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.

----------------------------

Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:

 

The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.

 

In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.

 

Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:

- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)

- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)

- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)

- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)

- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)

- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)

- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)

 

The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.

----------------------------

The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.

----------------------------

Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.

 

Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.

 

Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.

 

Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.

 

Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.

 

Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.

 

1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.

 

1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.

 

1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.

 

Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.

 

1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.

 

1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.

 

1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.

 

Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.

 

Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.

 

1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.

 

Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.

 

1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.

 

Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.

 

Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.

 

Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.

 

1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.

 

1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.

 

1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.

 

1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.

 

1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.

 

Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.

 

1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.

 

Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.

 

1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.

 

2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.

 

2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.

 

Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.

 

Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.

 

Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.

 

Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.

 

Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.

 

2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.

 

2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.

 

2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.

 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.

 

2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.

 

2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.

 

2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.

 

2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.

 

2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.

 

2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.

 

2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.

 

The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

 

BACKGROUND

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province by farmers digging a water well approximately 1.6 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis – roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.

 

NECROPROLIS

In addition to the warriors, an entire necropolis built for the emperor was found surrounding the first emperor's tomb mound. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape with Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace or compound.

 

It consists of several offices, halls, stables, and other structures placed around the tomb mound, which is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. Up to 5 metres of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

 

HISTORY

According to the writings of historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE), work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne. The project eventually involved 700,000 workers. Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First Emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology, "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". Sima Qian, in his most noted work, Shiji, finished a century after the mausoleum's completion, wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 rivers had their flow simulated by mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the land. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations," however those words were not used in the original text, which makes no mention of the terracotta army.

 

High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian's account.

 

Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor, however, there are indications that the tomb may not have been plundered.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled. Eight face moulds were most likely used, with clay added after assembly to provide individual facial features.

 

It is believed that the warriors' legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would classify the process as assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it. In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying which workshops were commandeered to make tiles and other mundane items for the terracotta army. Upon completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

 

The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Most originally held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows. Originally, the figures were also painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish, individual facial features, and weapons used in producing these figures increased the figures' realism. Most of the original weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army, or have rotted away, while the colour coating flaked off or greatly faded.

 

THE TOMB

The tomb appears to be a hermetically-sealed space the size of a football pitch. The tomb remains unopened, given concerns about preserving its artifacts. For example, after their excavation, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade. The lacquer covering the paint can curl in fifteen seconds once exposed to Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in just four minutes. There is speculation of a possible Hellenistic link to these sculptures, due to the lack of life-sized and realistic sculptures prior to the Qin dynasty according to some scholars.

 

EXCAVATION SITE

PITS

Four main pits approximately 7 metres deep have been excavated. These are located approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The soldiers within were laid out as if to protect the tomb from the east, where all the Qin Emperor's conquered states lay.

 

PIT ONE

Pit one, which is 230 metres long and 62 metres wide,contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures. Pit one has 11corridors, most of which are more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level when completed.

 

OTHERS

Pit two has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard. Pit three is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit four is empty, perhaps left unfinished by its builders.

 

Some of the figures in pit one and two show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found.

These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.Other pits that formed the necropolis also have been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burials sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.

 

WEAPONRY

Weapons such as swords, spears, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and arrowheads were found in the pits. Some of these weapons, such as the swords are sharp and were coated with a 10–15 micrometre layer of chromium dioxide and kept the swords rust-free for 2,000 years. The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date manufacture between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating they were used as weapons before their burials.

 

An important element of the army is the chariot, of which four types were found. In battle the fighting chariots form pairs at the head of a unit of infantry. The principal weapon of the charioteers was the ge or dagger-axe, an L-shaped bronze blade mounted on a long shaft used for sweeping and hooking at the enemy. Infantrymen also carried ge on shorter shafts, ji or halberds and spears and lances. For close fighting and defence, both charioteers and infantrymen carried double-edged straight swords. The archers carried crossbows, with sophisticated trigger mechanisms, capable of firing arrows farther than 800 metres.

 

EXHIBITIONS

A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 20 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the initial batch of tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight on Thursdays to Sundays. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.

 

Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever. From December 2009 to May 2010 the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.

 

The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to November 16, 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were exposed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 were exposed nine warriors in Milan, at the Royal Palace, at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires". The group consisted of a horse, a counselor, an archer and 6 Lancers. The "Treasures of Ancient China" exhibition, showcasing two terracotta soldiers and other artifacts, including the Longmen Grottoes Buddhist statues, was held between 19 February 2011 and 7 November 2011 in four locations in India: National Museum of New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and National Library of India in Kolkata.

 

Soldiers and related items were on display from March 15, 2013, to November 17, 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.

 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

In 2007, scientists at Stanford University and the Advanced Light Source facility in Berkeley, California reported that powder diffraction experiments combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the process of producing Terracotta figures colored with Chinese purple dye consisting of barium copper silicate was derived from the knowledge gained by Taoist alchemists in their attempts to synthesize jade ornaments.

 

Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze arrowheads bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metal impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows’ chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of automobile industry, was employed.

 

Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope provide evidence for the earliest industrial use of lathes for polishing.

 

WIKIPEDIA

From 4,000 feet over Burke County, NC.

 

Synthesized IRG-->RGB cross-sampled image from a single exposure. Converted camera, Tiffen 12 filter, Asahi 35mm lens. Worked up in Pixelbender and Photoshop.

Model: Gisele Tavarossi.

 

Location: model shop studio.

 

© 2009 2012 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography for Halo Media Group

 

Lloyd-Thrap-Creative-Photography

 

All works subject to applicable copyright laws. This intellectual property MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED except by normal viewing process of the browser. The intellectual property may not be copied to another computer, transmitted , published, reproduced, stored, manipulated, projected, or altered in any way, including without limitation any digitization or synthesizing of the images, alone or with any other material, by use of computer or other electronic means or any other method or means now or hereafter known, without the written permission of Lloyd Thrap and payment of a fee or arrangement thereof.

 

No images are within Public Domain. Use of any image as the basis for another photographic concept or illustration is a violation of copyright.

Lloyd Thrap's Public Portfolio

Nanotyrannus lancensis (Gilmore, 1946) theropod dinosaur skull (60 cm long) from the Cretaceous of Montana, USA (public display, CMNH 5741, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, USA).

 

A remarkable “pygmy” tyrannosaurid dinosaur was proposed in 1988 by Bob Bakker, Philip Currie, and Michael Williams on the basis of a well-preserved skull housed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (specimen CMNH 5741).

 

The skull of Nanotyrannus lancensis (Gilmore, 1946) was first discovered in 1942 in Carter County, southeastern Montana, USA, by a team from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Nanotyrannus was found in the Hell Creek Formation of late Maastrichtian age (near-latest Late Cretaceous - 67 million years). The original published description placed this species in the theropod genus Gorgosaurus, which is now a junior synonym of Tyrannosaurus.

 

Re-examination (including CT-scanning) of this skull by dinosaurologist Bob Bakker in 1987 and 1988 resulted in taxonomic reassignment to a new genus altogether - Nanotyrannus (“pygmy tyrant”). For a while, the new genus was being referred to as “Clevelanotyrannus”!

 

The skull is small for a tyrannosaurid dinosaur (60 centimeters long), but paleontologists have noted the well developed ossification of the skull (the head bones are tightly sutured), which is widely perceived to be a feature diagnostic of an adult individual. Other perceived adult aspects of the skull convinced Bakker that this was not a juvenile specimen of an otherwise large theropod dinosaur, but an adult of a miniature theropod (extrapolated to be about 5 meters total body length). If correctly interpreted, Nanotyrannus represents a clade of tyrannosaurid theropods that underwent evolutionary dwarfism very late in the history of dinosaurs.

 

This biologic validity of Nanotyrannus has not been universally accepted. Gregory Paul (1988) was inclined to assign the species to Albertosaurus. Thomas Carr (1999) perceived that Nanotyrannus has morphologic features consistent with juvenile Albertosaurus. Philip Currie (2003) suggested that Nanotyrannus possibly represents an early ontogenetic stage (juvenile) of Tarbosaurus or Tyrannosaurus. A re-examination of the skull by CT-scanning in the 2000s has shown that the skull morphology is not consistent with it being a juvenile individual (see Witmer & Ridgeley, 2010).

 

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Tyrannosauridae

------------

Theropods were small to large, bipedal dinosaurs. Almost all known members of the group were carnivorous (predators and/or scavengers). They represent the ancestral group to the birds, and some theropods are known to have had feathers. Some of the most well known dinosaurs to the general public are theropods, such as Tyrannosaurus, Allosaurus, and Spinosaurus.

-----------

Mostly synthesized from info. provided by:

 

Bakker, R.T., M. Williams & P.J. Currie. 1988. Nanotyrannus, a new genus of pygmy tyrannosaur, from the latest Cretaceous of Montana. Hunteria 1: 1-30.

 

Bakker, R.T. 1992. Inside the head of a tiny T. rex. Discover 13: 58-69.

 

Carr, T.D. 1999. Craniofacial ontogeny in Tyrannosauridae (Dinosauria: Coelurosauria). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19: 497-520.

 

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

 

Currie, P.J. 2003. Allometric growth in tyrannosaurids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Amercia and Asia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 40: 661-665.

 

Paul, G.S. 1988. Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York. Simon & Schuster. 464 pp.

 

Witmer, L.M. & R.C. Ridgely. 2010. The Cleveland tyrannosaur skull (Nanotyrannus or Tyrannosaurus): new findings based on CT scanning, with special reference to the braincase. Kirtlandia 57: 61-81.

 

The mosque was to be built on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors, facing the Hagia Sophia (at that time the most venerated mosque in Istanbul) and the hippodrome, a site of great symbolic significance. Large parts of the southern side of the mosque rest on the foundation and vaults of the Great Palace. Several palaces had already built there, most notably the palace of Sokollu Mehmet Paşa, so these first had to be bought at a considerable cost and pulled down. Large parts of the Sphendone (curved tribune with U-shaped structure of the hippodrome) were also removed to make room for the new mosque.

 

Construction of the mosque started in August 1609 when the sultan himself came to break the first sod. It was his intention that this would become the first mosque of his empire. He appointed his royal architect Sedefhar Mehmet Ağa, a pupil and senior assistant of the famous architect Mimar Sinan to be in charge of the construction. The organization of the work was described in meticulous detail in eight volumes, now found in the library of the Topkapı Palace. The opening ceremonies were held in 1617 (although the inscription on the gate of the mosque says 1616). The sultan could now pray in the royal box (hünkâr mahfil). The building was not yet finished in this last year of his reign, as the last accounts were signed by his successor Mustafa I. Known as the Blue Mosque, Sultan Ahmed Mosque is one of the most impressive monuments in the world.

 

The mosque was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 500 lira banknotes of 1953-1976.[1]

 

Architecture; The mosque seen from the upper gallery of Hagia SophiaThe design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.

Exterior; The façade of the spacious forecourt was built in the same manner as the façade of the Süleymaniye Mosque, except for the addition of the turrets on the corner domes. The court is about as large as the mosque itself and is surrounded by a continuous, rather monotonous, vaulted arcade (revak). It has ablution facilities on both sides. The central hexagonal fountain is rather small in contrast with the dimensions of the courtyard. The monumental but narrow gateway to the courtyard stands out architecturally from the arcade. Its semi-dome has a fine stalactite structure, crowned by a rather small ribbed dome on a tall tholobate.

 

A heavy iron chain hangs in the upper part of the court entrance on the western side. Only the sultan was allowed to enter the court of the mosque on horseback. The chain was put there, so that the sultan had to lower his head every time he entered the court in order not to get hit. This was done as a symbolic gesture, to ensure the humility (smallness) of the ruler.

 

Interior; The prayer area of the mosque is lit up by a chandelier hanging from the ceiling

The main dome and some of the blue tiles that have given the mosque its nicknameAt its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses. More than 20,000 tiles were made under the supervision of the Iznik master potter Kasap Haci,and Baris Efendi from Avanos(Cappadocia). The price to be paid for each tile was fixed by the sultan's decree, while tile prices in general increased over time. As a result, the quality of the tiles used in the building decreased gradually. Their colours have faded and changed (red turning into brown and green into blue, mottled whites) and the glazes have dulled. The tiles on the back balcony wall are recycled tiles from the harem in the Topkapı Palace, when it was damaged by fire in 1574.

 

The upper levels of the interior are dominated by blue paint, but it is of poor quality. More than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light, today assisted by chandeliers. On the chandeliers, ostrich eggs are found that were meant to avoid cobwebs inside the mosque by repelling spiders[2]. The decorations include verses from the Qur'an, many of them made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time. The floors are covered with carpets, which are donated by faithful people and are regularly replaced as they wear out. The many spacious windows confer a spacious impression. The casements at floor level are decorated with opus sectile. Each exedra has five windows, some of which are blind. Each semi-dome has 14 windows and the central dome 28 (four of which are blind). The coloured glass for the windows was a gift of the Signoria of Venice to the sultan. Most of these coloured windows have by now been replaced by modern versions with little or no artistic merit.

 

The most important element in the interior of the mosque is the mihrab, which is made of finely carved and sculptured marble, with a stalactite niche and a double inscriptive panel above it. The adjacent walls are sheathed in ceramic tiles. But the many windows around it make it look less spectacular. To the right of the mihrab is the richly decorated minber, or pulpit, where the Imam stands when he is delivering his sermon at the time of noon prayer on Fridays or on holy days. The mosque has been designed so that even when it is at its most crowded, everyone in the mosque can see and hear the Imam.

 

The royal kiosk is situated at the south-east corner. It comprises a platform, a loggia and two small retiring rooms. It gives access to the royal loge in the south-east upper gallery of the mosque. These retiring rooms became the headquarters of the Grand Vizier during the suppression of the rebellious Janissary Corps in 1826. The royal loge (hünkâr mahfil) is supported by ten marble columns. It has its own mihrab, that used to be decorated with a jade rose and gilt [3] and one hundred Qurans on inlaid and gilded

 

The Postcard

 

A postally unused carte postale published by E. Papeghin of 24, Rue des Petites Écuries, Paris.

 

Papeghin

 

Papeghin of Paris and Tours was a publisher of black and white and monochrome collotype postcards between 1900 and 1931.

 

The firm's output largely depicted local views of amusement areas and sporting events, including the Olympics. Most of the subjects found on their cards were centred around Paris. In fact they published a photo book of Paris in 1919.

 

The Gardens of Versailles

 

The Gardens of Versailles are situated to the west of the palace. They cover some 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre.

 

Beyond the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas of Versailles to the east and Le Chesnay to the north-east, by the National Arboretum de Chèvreloup to the north, the Versailles plain (a protected wildlife preserve) to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.

 

In 1979, the gardens along with the château were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its cultural importance during the 17th. and 18th. centuries.

 

The gardens are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year.

 

The gardens contain 200,000 trees, 210,000 flowers planted annually, and feature meticulously manicured lawns and parterres, as well as many sculptures.

 

50 fountains containing 620 water jets, fed by 35 km. of piping, are located throughout the gardens. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique.

 

On weekends from late spring to early autumn, there are the Grandes Eaux - spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Designed by André Le Nôtre, the Grand Canal is the masterpiece of the Gardens of Versailles.

 

In the Gardens too, the Grand Trianon was built to provide the Sun King with the retreat that he wanted. The Petit Trianon is associated with Marie-Antoinette, who spent time there with her closest relatives and friends.

 

The Du Bus Plan for the Gardens of Versailles

 

With Louis XIII's purchase of lands from Jean-François de Gondi in 1632 and his assumption of the seigneurial role of Versailles in the 1630's, formal gardens were laid out west of the château.

 

Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson designed the gardens, which remained relatively unchanged until the expansion ordered under Louis XIV in the 1660's. This early layout, which has survived in the so-called Du Bus plan of c.1662, shows an established topography along which lines of the gardens evolved. This is evidenced in the clear definition of the main east–west and north–south axis that anchors the gardens' layout.

 

Louis XIV

 

In 1661, after the disgrace of the finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, who was accused by rivals of embezzling crown funds in order to build his luxurious château at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV turned his attention to Versailles.

 

With the aid of Fouquet's architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun, and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, Louis began an embellishment and expansion program at Versailles that would occupy his time and worries for the remainder of his reign.

 

From this point forward, the expansion of the gardens of Versailles followed the expansions of the château.

 

(a) The First Building Campaign

 

In 1662, minor modifications to the château were undertaken; however, greater attention was given to developing the gardens. Existing bosquets (clumps of trees) and parterres were expanded, and new ones created.

 

Most significant among the creations at this time were the Versailles Orangerie and the "Grotte de Thétys". The Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, was located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. It provided a protected area in which orange trees were kept during the winter months.

 

The "Grotte de Thétys", which was located to the north of the château, formed part of the iconography of the château and of the gardens that aligned Louis XIV with solar imagery. The grotto was completed during the second building campaign.

 

By 1664, the gardens had evolved to the point that Louis XIV inaugurated the gardens with the fête galante called Les Plaisirs de L'Île Enchantée. The event, was ostensibly to celebrate his mother, Anne d'Autriche, and his consort Marie-Thérèse but in reality celebrated Louise de La Vallière, Louis' mistress.

 

Guests were regaled with entertainments in the gardens over a period of one week. As a result of this fête - particularly the lack of housing for guests (most of them had to sleep in their carriages), Louis realised the shortcomings of Versailles, and began to expand the château and the gardens once again.

 

(b) The Second Building Campaign

 

Between 1664 and 1668, there was a flurry of activity in the gardens - especially with regard to fountains and new bosquets; it was during this time that the imagery of the gardens exploited Apollo and solar imagery as metaphors for Louis XIV.

 

Le Va's enveloppe of the Louis XIII's château provided a means by which, though the decoration of the garden façade, imagery in the decors of the grands appartements of the king and queen formed a symbiosis with the imagery of the gardens.

 

With this new phase of construction, the gardens assumed the design vocabulary that remained in force until the 18th. century. Solar and Apollonian themes predominated with projects constructed at this time.

 

Three additions formed the topological and symbolic nexus of the gardens during this phase of construction: the completion of the "Grotte de Thétys", the "Bassin de Latone", and the "Bassin d'Apollon".

 

The Grotte de Thétys

 

Started in 1664 and finished in 1670 with the installation of the statuary, the grotto formed an important symbolic and technical component to the gardens. Symbolically, the "Grotte de Thétys" related to the myth of Apollo - and by association to Louis XIV.

 

It represented the cave of the sea nymph Thetis, where Apollo rested after driving his chariot to light the sky. The grotto was a freestanding structure located just north of the château.

 

The interior, which was decorated with shell-work to represent a sea cave, contained the statue group by the Marsy brothers depicting the sun god attended by nereids.

 

Technically, the "'Grotte de Thétys" played a critical role in the hydraulic system that supplied water to the garden. The roof of the grotto supported a reservoir that stored water pumped from the Clagny pond and which fed the fountains lower in the garden via gravity.

 

The Bassin de Latone

 

Located on the east–west axis is the Bassin de Latone. Designed by André Le Nôtre, sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, and constructed between 1668 and 1670, the fountain depicts an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

 

Altona and her children, Apollo and Diana, being tormented with mud slung by Lycian peasants, who refused to let her and her children drink from their pond, appealed to Jupiter who responded by turning the Lycians into frogs.

 

This episode from mythology has been seen as a reference to the revolts of the Fronde, which occurred during the minority of Louis XIV. The link between Ovid's story and this episode from French history is emphasised by the reference to "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The revolts of the Fronde - the word fronde also means slingshot - have been regarded as the origin of the use of the term "mud slinging" in a political context.

 

The Bassin d'Apollon

 

Further along the east–west axis is the Bassin d'Apollon. The Apollo Fountain, which was constructed between 1668 and 1671, depicts the sun god driving his chariot to light the sky. The fountain forms a focal point in the garden, and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal.

 

The Grand Canal

 

With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the Grand Canal, which was built between 1668 and 1671, prolongs the east–west axis to the walls of the Grand Parc. During the Ancien Régime, the Grand Canal served as a venue for boating parties.

 

In 1674 the king ordered the construction of Petite Venise (Little Venice). Located at the junction of the Grand Canal and the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice.

 

The Grand Canal also served a practical role. Situated at a low point in the gardens, it collected water that drained from the fountains in the garden above. Water from the Grand Canal was pumped back to the reservoir on the roof of the Grotte de Thétys via a network of windmill- and horse-powered pumps.

 

The Parterre d'Eau

 

Situated above the Latona Fountain is the terrace of the château, known as the Parterre d'Eau. Forming a transitional element from the château to the gardens below, the Parterre d'Eau provided a setting in which the symbolism of the grands appartements synthesized with the iconography of the gardens.

 

In 1664, Louis XIV commissioned a series of statues intended to decorate the water feature of the Parterre d'Eau. The Grande Command, as the commission is known, comprised twenty-four statues of the classic quaternities and four additional statues depicting abductions from the classic past.

 

Evolution of the Bosquets

 

One of the distinguishing features of the gardens during the second building campaign was the proliferation of bosquets. Expanding the layout established during the first building campaign, Le Nôtre added or expanded on no fewer that ten bosquets between 1670 and 1678:

 

-- The Bosquet du Marais

-- The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau, Île du Roi

-- The Miroir d'Eau

-- The Salle des Festins (Salle du Conseil)

-- The Bosquet des Trois Fontaines

-- The Labyrinthe

-- The Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

-- The Bosquet de la Renommée (Bosquet des Dômes)

-- The Bosquet de l'Encélade

-- The Bosquet des Sources

 

In addition to the expansion of existing bosquets and the construction of new ones, there were two additional projects that defined this era, the Bassin des Sapins and the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses.

 

-- The Bassin des Sapins

 

In 1676, the Bassin des Sapins, which was located north of the château below the Allée des Marmoset's was designed to form a topological pendant along the north–south axis with the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses located at the base of the Satory hill south of the château.

 

Later modifications in the gardens transformed this fountain into the Bassin de Neptune.

 

-- Pièce d'Eau des Suisses

 

Excavated in 1678, the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses - named after the Swiss Guards who constructed the lake - occupied an area of marshes and ponds, some of which had been used to supply water for the fountains in the garden.

 

This water feature, with a surface area of more than 15 hectares (37 acres), is the second largest - after the Grand Canal - at Versailles.

 

(c) The Third Building Campaign

 

Modifications to the gardens during the third building campaign were distinguished by a stylistic change from the natural aesthetic of André Le Nôtre to the architectonic style of Jules Hardouin Mansart.

 

The first major modification to the gardens during this phase occurred in 1680 when the Tapis Vert - the expanse of lawn that stretches between the Latona Fountain and the Apollo Fountain - achieved its final size and definition under the direction of André Le Nôtre.

 

Beginning in 1684, the Parterre d'Eau was remodelled under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Statues from the Grande Commande of 1674 were relocated to other parts of the garden; two twin octagonal basins were constructed and decorated with bronze statues representing the four main rivers of France.

 

In the same year, Le Vau's Orangerie, located to south of the Parterrre d'Eau was demolished to accommodate a larger structure designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

 

In addition to the Orangerie, the Escaliers des Cent Marches, which facilitated access to the gardens from the south, to the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, and to the Parterre du Midi were constructed at this time, giving the gardens just south of the château their present configuration and decoration.

 

Additionally, to accommodate the anticipated construction of the Aile des Nobles - the north wing of the château - the Grotte de Thétys was demolished.

 

With the construction of the Aile des Nobles (1685–1686), the Parterre du Nord was remodelled to respond to the new architecture of this part of the château.

 

To compensate for the loss of the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys and to meet the increased demand for water, Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed new and larger reservoirs situated north of the Aile des Nobles.

 

Construction of the ruinously expensive Canal de l'Eure was inaugurated in 1685; designed by Vauban it was intended to bring waters of the Eure over 80 kilometres, including aqueducts of heroic scale, but the works were abandoned in 1690.

 

Between 1686 and 1687, the Bassin de Latone, under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was rebuilt. It is this final version of the fountain that one sees today at Versailles.

 

During this phase of construction, three of the garden's major bosquets were modified or created. Beginning with the Galerie des Antiques, this bosquet was constructed in 1680 on the site of the earlier and short-lived Galerie d'Eau. This bosquet was conceived as an open-air gallery in which antique statues and copies acquired by the Académie de France in Rome were displayed.

 

The following year, construction began on the Salle de Bal. Located in a secluded section of the garden west of the Orangerie, this bosquet was designed as an amphitheater that featured a cascade – the only one surviving in the gardens of Versailles. The Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1685 with a ball hosted by the Grand Dauphin.

 

Between 1684 and 1685, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Colonnade. Located on the site of Le Nôtre's Bosquet des Sources, this bosquet featured a circular peristyle formed from thirty-two arches with twenty-eight fountains, and was Hardouin-Mansart's most architectural of the bosquets built in the gardens of Versailles.

 

(d) The Fourth Building Campaign

 

Due to financial constraints arising from the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession, no significant work on the gardens was undertaken until 1704.

 

Between 1704 and 1709, bosquets were modified, some quite radically, with new names suggesting the new austerity that characterised the latter years of Louis XIV's reign.

 

Louis XV

 

With the departure of the king and court from Versailles in 1715 following the death of Louis XIV, the palace and gardens entered an era of uncertainty.

 

In 1722, Louis XV and the court returned to Versailles. Seeming to heed his great-grandfather's admonition not to engage in costly building campaigns, Louis XV did not undertake the costly rebuilding that Louis XIV had.

 

During the reign of Louis XV, the only significant addition to the gardens was the completion of the Bassin de Neptune (1738–1741).

 

Rather than expend resources on modifying the gardens at Versailles, Louis XV - an avid botanist - directed his efforts at Trianon. In the area now occupied by the Hameau de la Reine, Louis XV constructed and maintained les Jardins Botaniques.

 

In 1761, Louis XV commissioned Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build the Petit Trianon as a residence that would allow him to spend more time near the Jardins Botaniques. It was at the Petit Trianon that Louis XV fell fatally ill with smallpox; he died at Versailles on the 10th. May 1774.

 

Louis XVI

 

Upon Louis XVI's ascension to the throne, the gardens of Versailles underwent a transformation that recalled the fourth building campaign of Louis XIV. Engendered by a change in outlook as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Philosophes, the winter of 1774–1775 witnessed a complete replanting of the gardens.

 

Trees and shrubbery dating from the reign of Louis XIV were felled or uprooted with the intent of transforming the French formal garden of Le Nôtre and Hardouin-Mansart into a version of an English landscape garden.

 

The attempt to convert Le Nôtre's masterpiece into an English-style garden failed to achieve its desired goal. Owing largely to the topology of the land, the English aesthetic was abandoned and the gardens replanted in the French style.

 

However, with an eye on economy, Louis XVI ordered the Palisades - the labour-intensive clipped hedging that formed walls in the bosquets - to be replaced with rows of lime trees or chestnut trees. Additionally, a number of the bosquets dating from the time of the Sun King were extensively modified or destroyed.

 

The most significant contribution to the gardens during the reign of Louis XVI was the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon. The rockwork grotto set in an English style bosquet was the masterpiece of Hubert Robert in which the statues from the Grotte de Thétys were placed.

 

Revolution

 

In 1792, under order from the National Convention, some of the trees in the gardens were felled, while parts of the Grand Parc were parcelled and dispersed.

 

Sensing the potential threat to Versailles, Louis Claude Marie Richard (1754–1821) – director of the Jardins Botaniques and grandson of Claude Richard – lobbied the government to save Versailles. He succeeded in preventing further dispersing of the Grand Parc, and threats to destroy the Petit Parc were abolished by suggesting that the parterres could be used to plant vegetable gardens, and that orchards could occupy the open areas of the garden.

 

These plans were never put into action; however, the gardens were opened to the public - it was not uncommon to see people washing their laundry in the fountains and spreading it on the shrubbery to dry.

 

Napoléon I

 

The Napoleonic era largely ignored Versailles. In the château, a suite of rooms was arranged for the use of the empress Marie-Louise, but the gardens were left unchanged, save for the disastrous felling of trees in the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines. Massive soil erosion necessitated planting of new trees.

 

Restoration

 

With the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the gardens of Versailles witnessed the first modifications since the Revolution. In 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the conversion of the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau into an English-style garden - the Jardin du Roi.

 

The July Monarchy; The Second Empire

 

While much of the château's interior was irreparably altered to accommodate the Museum of the History of France (inaugurated by Louis-Philippe on the 10th. June 1837), the gardens, by contrast, remained untouched.

 

With the exception of the state visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, at which time the gardens were a setting for a gala fête that recalled the fêtes of Louis XIV, Napoléon III ignored the château, preferring instead the château of Compiègne.

 

Pierre de Nolhac

With the arrival of Pierre de Nolhac as director of the museum in 1892, a new era of historical research began at Versailles. Nolhac, an ardent archivist and scholar, began to piece together the history of Versailles, and subsequently established the criteria for restoration of the château and preservation of the gardens, which are ongoing to this day.

 

Bosquets of the Gardens

 

Owing to the many modifications made to the gardens between the 17th. and the 19th. centuries, many of the bosquets have undergone multiple modifications, which were often accompanied by name changes.

 

Deux Bosquets - Bosquet de la Girondole - Bosquet du Dauphin - Quinconce du Nord - Quinconce du Midi

 

These two bosquets were first laid out in 1663. They were arranged as a series of paths around four salles de verdure and which converged on a central "room" that contained a fountain.

 

In 1682, the southern bosquet was remodeled as the Bosquet de la Girondole, thus named due to spoke-like arrangement of the central fountain. The northern bosquet was rebuilt in 1696 as the Bosquet du Dauphin with a fountain that featured a dolphin.

 

During the replantation of 1774–1775, both the bosquets were destroyed. The areas were replanted with lime trees and were rechristened the Quinconce du Nord and the Quinconce du Midi.

 

Labyrinthe - Bosquet de la Reine

 

In 1665, André Le Nôtre planned a hedge maze of unadorned paths in an area south of the Latona Fountain near the Orangerie. In 1669, Charles Perrault - author of the Mother Goose Tales - advised Louis XIV to remodel the Labyrinthe in such a way as to serve the Dauphin's education.

 

Between 1672 and 1677, Le Nôtre redesigned the Labyrinthe to feature thirty-nine fountains that depicted stories from Aesop's Fables. The sculptors Jean-Baptiste Tuby, Étienne Le Hongre, Pierre Le Gros, and the brothers Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy worked on these thirty-nine fountains, each of which was accompanied by a plaque on which the fable was printed, with verse written by Isaac de Benserade; from these plaques, Louis XIV's son learned to read.

 

Once completed in 1677, the Labyrinthe contained thirty-nine fountains with 333 painted metal animal sculptures. The water for the elaborate waterworks was conveyed from the Seine by the Machine de Marly.

 

The Labyrinthe contained fourteen water-wheels driving 253 pumps, some of which worked at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.

 

Citing repair and maintenance costs, Louis XVI ordered the Labyrinthe demolished in 1778. In its place, an arboretum of exotic trees was planted as an English-styled garden.

 

Rechristened Bosquet de la Reine, it would be in this part of the garden that an episode of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which compromised Marie-Antoinette, transpired in 1785.

 

Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau - Bosquet de l'Étoile

 

Originally designed by André Le Nôtre in 1661 as a salle de verdure, this bosquet contained a path encircling a central pentagonal area. In 1671, the bosquet was enlarged with a more elaborate system of paths that served to enhance the new central water feature, a fountain that resembled a mountain, hence the bosquets new name: Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau.

 

The bosquet was completely remodeled in 1704 at which time it was rechristened Bosquet de l'Étoile.

 

Bosquet du Marais - Bosquet du Chêne Vert - Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon - Grotte des Bains d'Apollon

 

Created in 1670, this bosquet originally contained a central rectangular pool surrounded by a turf border. Edging the pool were metal reeds that concealed numerous jets for water; a swan that had water jetting from its beak occupied each corner.

 

The centre of the pool featured an iron tree with painted tin leaves that sprouted water from its branches. Because of this tree, the bosquet was also known as the Bosquet du Chêne Vert.

 

In 1705, this bosquet was destroyed in order to allow for the creation of the Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon, which was created to house the statues had once stood in the Grotte de Thétys.

 

During the reign of Louis XVI, Hubert Robert remodeled the bosquet, creating a cave-like setting for the Marsy statues. The bosquet was renamed the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon.

 

Île du Roi - Miroir d'Eau - Jardin du Roi

 

Originally designed in 1671 as two separate water features, the larger - Île du Roi - contained an island that formed the focal point of a system of elaborate fountains.

 

The Île du Roi was separated from the Miroir d'Eau by a causeway that featured twenty-four water jets. In 1684, the island was removed and the total number of water jets in the bosquet was significantly reduced.

 

The year 1704 witnessed a major renovation of the bosquet, at which time the causeway was remodelled and most of the water jets were removed.

 

A century later, in 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau to be completely remodeled as an English-style garden. At this time, the bosquet was rechristened Jardin du Roi.

 

Salle des Festins - Salle du Conseil - Bosquet de l'Obélisque

 

In 1671, André Le Nôtre conceived a bosquet - originally christened Salle des Festins and later called Salle du Conseil - that featured a quatrefoil island surrounded by a channel containing fifty water jets. Access to the island was obtained by two swing bridges.

 

Beyond the channel and placed at the cardinal points within the bosquet were four additional fountains. Under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the bosquet was completely remodeled in 1706. The central island was replaced by a large basin raised on five steps, which was surrounded by a canal. The central fountain contained 230 jets that, when in play, formed an obelisk – hence the new name Bosquet de l'Obélisque.

 

Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau - Bosquet du Rond-Vert

 

The central feature of this bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre between 1671 and 1674, was an auditorium/theatre sided by three tiers of turf seating that faced a stage decorated with four fountains alternating with three radiating cascades.

 

Between 1680 and Louis XIV's death in 1715, there was near-constant rearranging of the statues that decorated the bosquet.

 

In 1709, the bosquet was rearranged with the addition of the Fontaine de l'Île aux Enfants. As part of the replantation of the gardens ordered by Louis XVI during the winter of 1774–1775, the Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was destroyed and replaced with the unadorned Bosquet du Rond-Vert. The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was recreated in 2014, with South Korean businessman and photographer Yoo Byung-eun being the sole patron, donating €1.4 million.

 

Bosquet des Trois Fontaines - Berceau d'Eau

 

Situated to the west of the Allée des Marmousets and replacing the short-lived Berceau d'Eau (a long and narrow bosquet created in 1671 that featured a water bower made by numerous jets of water), the enlarged bosquet was transformed by Le Nôtre in 1677 into a series of three linked rooms.

 

Each room contained a number of fountains that played with special effects. The fountains survived the modifications that Louis XIV ordered for other fountains in the gardens in the early 18th. century and were subsequently spared during the 1774–1775 replantation of the gardens.

 

In 1830, the bosquet was replanted, at which time the fountains were suppressed. Due to storm damage in the park in 1990 and then again in 1999, the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines was restored and re-inaugurated on the 12th. June 2004.

 

Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe

 

This bosquet was originally planned in 1672 as a simple pavillon d'eau - a round open expanse with a square fountain in the centre. In 1676, this bosquet was enlarged and redecorated along political lines that alluded to French military victories over Spain and Austria, at which time the triumphal arch was added - hence the name.

 

As with the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, this bosquet survived the modifications of the 18th. century, but was replanted in 1830, at which time the fountains were removed.

 

Bosquet de la Renommée - Bosquet des Dômes

 

Built in 1675, the Bosquet de la Renommée featured a fountain statue of Fame. With the relocation of the statues from the Grotte de Thétys in 1684, the bosquet was remodelled to accommodate the statues, and the Fame fountain was removed.

 

At this time the bosquet was rechristened Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. As part of the reorganisation of the garden that was ordered by Louis XIV in the early part of the 18th. century, the Apollo grouping was moved once again to the site of the Bosquet du Marais - located near the Latona Fountain - which was destroyed and was replaced by the new Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon.

 

The statues were installed on marble plinths from which water issued; and each statue grouping was protected by an intricately carved and gilded baldachin.

 

The old Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon was renamed Bosquet des Dômes due to two domed pavilions built in the bosquet.

 

Bosquet de l'Encélade

 

Created in 1675 at the same time as the Bosquet de la Renommée, the fountain of this bosquet depicts Enceladus, a fallen Giant who was condemned to live below Mount Etna, being consumed by volcanic lava.

 

From its conception, this fountain was conceived as an allegory of Louis XIV's victory over the Fronde. In 1678, an octagonal ring of turf and eight rocaille fountains surrounding the central fountain were added. These additions were removed in 1708.

 

When in play, this fountain has the tallest jet of all the fountains in the gardens of Versailles - 25 metres.

 

Bosquet des Sources - La Colonnade

 

Designed as a simple unadorned salle de verdure by Le Nôtre in 1678, the landscape architect enhanced and incorporated an existing stream to create a bosquet that featured rivulets that twisted among nine islets.

 

In 1684, Jules Hardouin-Mansart completely redesigned the bosquet by constructing a circular arched double peristyle. The Colonnade, as it was renamed, originally featured thirty-two arches and thirty-one fountains – a single jet of water splashed into a basin center under the arch.

 

In 1704, three additional entrances to the Colonnade were added, which reduced the number of fountains from thirty-one to twenty-eight. The statue that currently occupies the centre of the Colonnade - the Abduction of Persephone - (from the Grande Commande of 1664) was set in place in 1696.

 

Galerie d'Eau - Galerie des Antiques - Salle des Marronniers

 

Occupying the site of the Galerie d'Eau (1678), the Galerie des Antiques was designed in 1680 to house the collection of antique statues and copies of antique statues acquired by the Académie de France in Rome.

 

Surrounding a central area paved with colored stone, a channel was decorated with twenty statues on plinths, each separated by three jets of water.

 

The Galerie was completely remodeled in 1704 when the statues were transferred to Marly and the bosquet was replanted with horse chestnut trees - hence the current name Salle des Marronniers.

 

Salle de Bal

 

This bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre and built between 1681 and 1683, features a semi-circular cascade that forms the backdrop for a salle de verdure.

 

Interspersed with gilt lead torchères, which supported candelabra for illumination, the Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1683 by Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, with a dance party.

 

The Salle de Bal was remodeled in 1707 when the central island was removed and an additional entrance was added.

 

Replantations of the Gardens

 

Common to any long-lived garden is replantation, and Versailles is no exception. In their history, the gardens of Versailles have undergone no less than five major replantations, which have been executed for practical and aesthetic reasons.

 

During the winter of 1774–1775, Louis XVI ordered the replanting of the gardens on the grounds that many of the trees were diseased or overgrown, and needed to be replaced.

 

Also, as the formality of the 17th.-century garden had fallen out of fashion, this replantation sought to establish a new informality in the gardens - that would also be less expensive to maintain.

 

This, however, was not achieved, as the topology of the gardens favored the Jardin à la Française over an English-style garden.

 

Then, in 1860, much of the old growth from Louis XVI's replanting was removed and replaced. In 1870, a violent storm struck the area, damaging and uprooting scores of trees, which necessitated a massive replantation program.

 

However, owing to the Franco-Prussian War, which toppled Napoléon III, and the Commune de Paris, replantation of the garden did not get underway until 1883.

 

The most recent replantations of the gardens were precipitated by two storms that battered Versailles in 1990 and then again in 1999. The storm damage at Versailles and Trianon amounted to the loss of thousands of trees - the worst such damage in the history of Versailles.

 

The replantations have allowed museum and governmental authorities to restore and rebuild some of the bosquets that were abandoned during the reign of Louis XVI, such as the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, which was restored in 2004.

 

Catherine Pégard, the head of the public establishment which administers Versailles, has stated that the intention is to return the gardens to their appearance under Louis XIV, specifically as he described them in his 1704 description, Manière de Montrer les Jardins de Versailles.

 

This involves restoring some of the parterres like the Parterre du Midi to their original formal layout, as they appeared under Le Nôtre. This was achieved in the Parterre de Latone in 2013, when the 19th. century lawns and flower beds were torn up and replaced with boxwood-enclosed turf and gravel paths to create a formal arabesque design.

 

Pruning is also done to keep trees at between 17 and 23 metres (56 to 75 feet), so as not to spoil the carefully designed perspectives of the gardens.

 

Owing to the natural cycle of replantations that has occurred at Versailles, it is safe to state that no trees dating from the time of Louis XIV are to be found in the gardens.

 

Problems With Water

 

The marvel of the gardens of Versailles - then as now - is the fountains. Yet, the very element that animates the gardens, water, has proven to be the affliction of the gardens since the time of Louis XIV.

 

The gardens of Louis XIII required water, and local ponds provided an adequate supply. However, once Louis XIV began expanding the gardens with more and more fountains, supplying the gardens with water became a critical challenge.

 

To meet the needs of the early expansions of the gardens under Louis XIV, water was pumped to the gardens from ponds near the château, with the Clagny pond serving as the principal source.

 

Water from the pond was pumped to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys, which fed the fountains in the garden by means of gravitational hydraulics. Other sources included a series of reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau south of the château.

 

The Grand Canal

 

By 1664, increased demand for water necessitated additional sources. In that year, Louis Le Vau designed the Pompe, a water tower built north of the château. The Pompe drew water from the Clagny pond using a system of windmills and horsepower to a cistern housed in the Pompe's building. The capacity of the Pompe 600 cubic metres per day - alleviated some of the water shortages in the garden.

 

With the completion of the Grand Canal in 1671, which served as drainage for the fountains of the garden, water, via a system of windmills, was pumped back to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys.

 

While this system solved some of the water supply problems, there was never enough water to keep all of the fountains running in the garden in full-play all of the time.

 

While it was possible to keep the fountains in view from the château running, those concealed in the bosquets and in the farther reaches of the garden were run on an as-needed basis.

 

In 1672, Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a system by which the fountaineers in the gardens would signal each other with whistles upon the approach of the king, indicating that their fountain needed to be turned on. Once the king had passed a fountain in play, it would be turned off and the fountaineer would signal that the next fountain could be turned on.

 

In 1674, the Pompe was enlarged, and subsequently referred to as the Grande Pompe. Pumping capacity was increased via increased power and the number of pistons used for lifting the water. These improvements increased the water capacity to nearly 3,000 cubic metres of water per day; however, the increased capacity of the Grande Pompe often left the Clagny pond dry.

 

The increasing demand for water and the stress placed on existing systems of water supply necessitated newer measures to increase the water supplied to Versailles. Between 1668 and 1674, a project was undertaken to divert the water of the Bièvre river to Versailles. By damming the river and with a pumping system of five windmills, water was brought to the reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau. This system brought an additional 72,000 cubic metres water to the gardens on a daily basis.

 

Despite the water from the Bièvre, the gardens needed still more water, which necessitated more projects. In 1681, one of the most ambitious water projects conceived during the reign of Louis XIV was undertaken.

 

Owing to the proximity of the Seine to Versailles, a project was proposed to raise the water from the river to be delivered to Versailles. Seizing upon the success of a system devised in 1680 that raised water from the Seine to the gardens of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, construction of the Machine de Marly began the following year.

 

The Machine de Marly was designed to lift water from the Seine in three stages to the Aqueduc de Louveciennes some 100 metres above the level of the river. A series of huge waterwheels was constructed in the river, which raised the water via a system of 64 pumps to a reservoir 48 metres above the river. From this first reservoir, water was raised an additional 56 metres to a second reservoir by a system of 79 pumps. Finally, 78 additional pumps raised the water to the aqueduct, which carried the water to Versailles and Marly.

 

In 1685, the Machine de Marly came into full operation. However, owing to leakage in the conduits and breakdowns of the mechanism, the machine was only able to deliver 3,200 cubic metres of water per day - approximately one-half the expected output. The machine was nevertheless a must-see for visitors. Despite the fact that the gardens consumed more water per day than the entire city of Paris, the Machine de Marly remained in operation until 1817.

 

During Louis XIV's reign, water supply systems represented one-third of the building costs of Versailles. Even with the additional output from the Machine de Marly, fountains in the garden could only be run à l'ordinaire - which is to say at half-pressure.

 

With this measure of economy, the fountains still consumed 12,800 cubic metres of water per day, far above the capacity of the existing supplies. In the case of the Grandes Eaux - when all the fountains played to their maximum - more than 10,000 cubic metres of water was needed for one afternoon's display.

 

Accordingly, the Grandes Eaux were reserved for special occasions such as the Siamese Embassy visit of 1685–1686.

 

The Canal de l'Eure

 

One final attempt to solve water shortage problems was undertaken in 1685. In this year it was proposed to divert the water of the Eure river, located 160 km. south of Versailles and at a level 26 m above the garden reservoirs.

 

The project called not only for digging a canal and for the construction of an aqueduct, it also necessitated the construction of shipping channels and locks to supply the workers on the main canal.

 

Between 9,000 to 10,000 troops were pressed into service in 1685; the next year, more than 20,000 soldiers were engaged in construction. Between 1686 and 1689, when the Nine Years' War began, one-tenth of France's military was at work on the Canal de l'Eure project.

 

However with the outbreak of the war, the project was abandoned, never to be completed. Had the aqueduct been completed, some 50,000 cubic metres of water would have been sent to Versailles - more than enough to solve the water problem of the gardens.

 

Today, the museum of Versailles is still faced with water problems. During the Grandes Eaux, water is circulated by means of modern pumps from the Grand Canal to the reservoirs. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal.

 

Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents the need to tap into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles.

 

The Versailles Gardens In Popular Culture

 

The creation of the gardens of Versailles is the context for the film 'A Little Chaos', directed by Alan Rickman and released in 2015, in which Kate Winslet plays a fictional landscape gardener and Rickman plays King Louis XIV.

location : Tofuku-ji Komyo-in temple ,Kyoto city,Kyoto prefecture,Japan

 

Hashin-tei garden 波心庭　

created by Mirei SHIGEMORI重森三玲

 

京都 東福寺 光明院 波心庭

  

This temple was founded by Kinzan Myosho in 1391 and the garden called "the garden of Hashin" was designed by modern landscape architect Mirei Shigemori in 1939.

 

The significant feature of the garden is its strong stone foundation and modern style allotment of land by moss ,especially the placement of stones attracts attention and has some meanings

 

We can see the triad stone arrangement at the rear of the garden ,in which the central stone symbolizes Buddhist Mount Meru,

It is so- called "Sanzon-seki "三尊石 in Japanese and in this case

selectively placed on artificial moss hill and regarded as a kind of the light source from which the lights are radiating.

And the other stones represent the radiated lights itself from the Sanzon-seki stones.

 

So in other words ,the garden depicts the lights source and lights beams by using 75 stones, that is based on the Buddhist thought and connected with the name of the temple "Komyo" 光明[Kou or Ko 光 means the lights ,Myo 明 means bright.

 

Thank you for your interest and seeing my photo.

Masako Ishida ( maco-nonch ★R)

 

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Mirei Shigemori (重森三玲 Shigemori Mirei, 1896–1975) was a notable modern Japanese landscape architect and historian of Japanese gardens.

Mirei Shigemori was a garden designer who actively participated in many areas of Japanese art and design. Shigemori was born in Kayō, Jōbō District, Okayama Prefecture, and in his youth was exposed to lessons in traditional tea ceremony and flower arrangement, as well as landscape ink and wash painting. In 1917, he entered the Tokyo Fine Arts School to study nihonga, or Japanese painting, and later completed a graduate degree from the Department of Research. In the early 1920s, he tried extensively to found a school of Japanese Culture, Bunka Daigakuin to synthesize the teaching of culture, but was foiled by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, which forced him to move back to his hometown near Kyoto.

 

He also intended to create a new style of ikebana,or flower arrangement, and produced art criticism and history writings, including the Complete Works of Japanese Flower Arrangement Art published in 1930, and the New Ikebana Declaration written with Sofu Teshigahara and Bunpo Nakayama in 1933. Throughout his later gardening career, he maintained a voice in avant garde criticism of ikebana through publishing Ikebana Geijutsu magazine beginning in 1950, and through the founding of an ikebana study group called Byakutosha in 1949.

 

At the same time, he cultivated an interest and knowledge in traditional Japanese gardens. He co-founded the Kyoto Rinsen Kyokai with others in 1932. After the destruction caused by the Muroto typhoon in 1934, he began a survey of significant gardens in Japan. In 1938, he finished publishing the 26-volume Illustrated Book on the History of the Japanese Garden, an unprecedented and meticulous documentation of major gardens in the country which he revised in 1971, shortly before his death.

 

He began practicing as a garden designer in 1914 with a garden and tea room on his family’s property. His first major work was a design for the garden at Tofuku-ji Temple in 1939. He designed 240 gardens, and worked mostly in karesansui, or dry landscape gardens. Many of his gardens are on existing religious sites, but a few of his works are in cultural or commercial settings. He also collaborated with Isamu Noguchi in choosing stones for the UNESCO Garden in Paris.

- wikipedia

 

If you are interested ,please check out my album - Mirei SHIGEMORI's Garden

www.flickr.com/photos/100016856@N08/albums/72157684515441366

 

Canon EOS M5/EF-M22mm f/2 STM/ƒ/2.0 22.0 mm 1/125sec ISO400 / all manual /no editing

 

This temple has an explicit no-tripod policy, so tripods, including monopods, are usually prohibited.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

 

It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.

 

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Aga, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.

 

At its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses. More than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light, today assisted by chandeliers.

PLEASE, no multi invitations, glitters or self promotion in your comments. My photos are FREE for anyone to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know. Thanks

 

No pictures are allowed in the Sistine Chapel, they just appear in the camera..... (I have to upload 3 sets)

 

One of the most famous places in the world, the Sistine Chapel is the site where the conclave for the election of the popes and other solemn pontifical ceremonies are held. Built between 1475 and 1481, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who commissioned it.

 

The frescoes on the long walls illustrate parallel events in the Lives of Moses and Christ and constitute a complex of extraordinary interest executed between 1481 and 1483 by Perugino, Botticelli, Cosimo Rosselli and Domenico Ghirlandaio, with their respective groups of assistants, who included Pinturicchio, Piero di Cosimo and others; later Luca Signorelli also joined the group.

 

The barrel-vaulted ceiling is entirely covered by the famous frescoes which Michelangelo painted between 1508 and 1512 for Julius II. The original design was only to have represented the Apostles, but was modified at the artist's insistence to encompass an enormously complex iconographic theme which may be synthesized as the representation of mankind waiting for the coming of the Messiah. More than twenty years later, Michelangelo was summoned back by Paul III (1534-49) to paint the Last Judgement on the wall behind the altar. He worked on it from 1536 to 1541.

The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

 

BACKGROUND

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province by farmers digging a water well approximately 1.6 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis – roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.

 

NECROPROLIS

In addition to the warriors, an entire necropolis built for the emperor was found surrounding the first emperor's tomb mound. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape with Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace or compound.

 

It consists of several offices, halls, stables, and other structures placed around the tomb mound, which is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. Up to 5 metres of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

 

HISTORY

According to the writings of historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE), work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne. The project eventually involved 700,000 workers. Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First Emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology, "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". Sima Qian, in his most noted work, Shiji, finished a century after the mausoleum's completion, wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 rivers had their flow simulated by mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the land. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations," however those words were not used in the original text, which makes no mention of the terracotta army.

 

High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian's account.

 

Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor, however, there are indications that the tomb may not have been plundered.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled. Eight face moulds were most likely used, with clay added after assembly to provide individual facial features.

 

It is believed that the warriors' legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would classify the process as assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it. In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying which workshops were commandeered to make tiles and other mundane items for the terracotta army. Upon completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

 

The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Most originally held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows. Originally, the figures were also painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish, individual facial features, and weapons used in producing these figures increased the figures' realism. Most of the original weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army, or have rotted away, while the colour coating flaked off or greatly faded.

 

THE TOMB

The tomb appears to be a hermetically-sealed space the size of a football pitch. The tomb remains unopened, given concerns about preserving its artifacts. For example, after their excavation, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade. The lacquer covering the paint can curl in fifteen seconds once exposed to Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in just four minutes. There is speculation of a possible Hellenistic link to these sculptures, due to the lack of life-sized and realistic sculptures prior to the Qin dynasty according to some scholars.

 

EXCAVATION SITE

PITS

Four main pits approximately 7 metres deep have been excavated. These are located approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The soldiers within were laid out as if to protect the tomb from the east, where all the Qin Emperor's conquered states lay.

 

PIT ONE

Pit one, which is 230 metres long and 62 metres wide,contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures. Pit one has 11corridors, most of which are more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level when completed.

 

OTHERS

Pit two has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard. Pit three is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit four is empty, perhaps left unfinished by its builders.

 

Some of the figures in pit one and two show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found.

These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.Other pits that formed the necropolis also have been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burials sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.

 

WEAPONRY

Weapons such as swords, spears, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and arrowheads were found in the pits. Some of these weapons, such as the swords are sharp and were coated with a 10–15 micrometre layer of chromium dioxide and kept the swords rust-free for 2,000 years. The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date manufacture between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating they were used as weapons before their burials.

 

An important element of the army is the chariot, of which four types were found. In battle the fighting chariots form pairs at the head of a unit of infantry. The principal weapon of the charioteers was the ge or dagger-axe, an L-shaped bronze blade mounted on a long shaft used for sweeping and hooking at the enemy. Infantrymen also carried ge on shorter shafts, ji or halberds and spears and lances. For close fighting and defence, both charioteers and infantrymen carried double-edged straight swords. The archers carried crossbows, with sophisticated trigger mechanisms, capable of firing arrows farther than 800 metres.

 

EXHIBITIONS

A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 20 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the initial batch of tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight on Thursdays to Sundays. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.

 

Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever. From December 2009 to May 2010 the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.

 

The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to November 16, 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were exposed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 were exposed nine warriors in Milan, at the Royal Palace, at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires". The group consisted of a horse, a counselor, an archer and 6 Lancers. The "Treasures of Ancient China" exhibition, showcasing two terracotta soldiers and other artifacts, including the Longmen Grottoes Buddhist statues, was held between 19 February 2011 and 7 November 2011 in four locations in India: National Museum of New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and National Library of India in Kolkata.

 

Soldiers and related items were on display from March 15, 2013, to November 17, 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.

 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

In 2007, scientists at Stanford University and the Advanced Light Source facility in Berkeley, California reported that powder diffraction experiments combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the process of producing Terracotta figures colored with Chinese purple dye consisting of barium copper silicate was derived from the knowledge gained by Taoist alchemists in their attempts to synthesize jade ornaments.

 

Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze arrowheads bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metal impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows’ chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of automobile industry, was employed.

 

Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope provide evidence for the earliest industrial use of lathes for polishing.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Diploria - in-situ fossil brain coral colony on the Devil's Point Hardground in the reef facies of the Cockburn Town Member, upper Grotto Beach Formation at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, western margin of San Salvador Island.

 

The Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is a well-preserved, well-exposed Pleistocene fossil reef. It consists of non-bedded to poorly-bedded, poorly-sorted, very coarse-grained, aragonitic fossiliferous limestones (grainstones and rubblestones), representing shallow marine deposition in reef and peri-reef facies. Cockburn Town Member reef facies rocks date to the MIS 5e sea level highstand event (early Late Pleistocene).

 

Notice that the fossil brain coral shown above is encrusting an irregular surface. This surface is an unconformity and is traceable throughout the outcrop. It represents a limestone hardground surface that formed during a short-lived, mid-5e regression called the Devil's Point Event, dated to somewhere between 120 and 123 ka. After the event, high sea level returned. This coral was one of the earliest inhabitants of this locality’s shallow seafloor after the mid-5e regression. The Devil's Point Unconformity is present on most Bahamian islands and is traceable to Florida and Mexico. The more deeply flooded carbonate platforms in the Bahamas, such as Mayaguana Island, were not significantly affected by the mid-5e regression.

 

The rocks and fossils below the unconformity are referred to as "Reef 1". The rocks and fossils above are called "Reef 2". Isotopic dating has been done on 122 coral samples from the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef. The oldest is 127 ka and the youngest is 114.3 ka. Including dates from San Salvador Island to Great Inagua Island, Reef 1 has an average age of 123.5 ka, and Reef 2 has an average age of 119.5 ka.

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The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.

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Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:

 

Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)

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Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)

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Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)

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San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:

1) LIMESTONES

2) PALEOSOLS

 

The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.

 

Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):

 

1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.

 

2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)

 

3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.

 

During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.

----------------------------

Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:

 

The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.

 

In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.

 

Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:

- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)

- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)

- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)

- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)

- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)

- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)

- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)

 

The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.

----------------------------

The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.

----------------------------

Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.

 

Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.

 

Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.

 

Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.

 

Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.

 

Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.

 

1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.

 

1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.

 

1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.

 

Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.

 

1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.

 

1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.

 

1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.

 

Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.

 

Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.

 

1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.

 

Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.

 

1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.

 

Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.

 

Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.

 

Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.

 

1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.

 

1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.

 

1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.

 

1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.

 

1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.

 

Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.

 

1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.

 

Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.

 

1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.

 

2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.

 

2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.

 

Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.

 

Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.

 

Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.

 

Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.

 

Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.

 

2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.

 

2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.

 

2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.

 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.

 

2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.

 

2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.

 

2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.

 

2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.

 

2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.

 

2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.

 

2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.

 

Chaffee County, CO.

 

Synthesized IRG-->RGB cross-sampled image from a single exposure.

Converted camera, Tiffen #12 filter. Worked up in Pixelbender and Photoshop.

Visit us at www.vpxsports.com

Shop at shop.vpxsports.com

Best view large

  

The Great Mosque of Xian is the largest and best preserved of the early mosques of China. Built primarily in the Ming Dynasty when Chinese architectural elements were synthesized into mosque architecture, the mosque resembles a fifteenth century Buddhist temple with its single axis lined with courtyards and pavilions.

 

Like the Great Mosques at Hangzhou, Quanzhou and Guangzhou, the Great Mosque of Xian is thought to have existed as early as the seventh century. The mosque that stands today, however, was begun in 1392 in the twenty-fifth year of the Ming Dynasty. It was ostensibly founded by naval admiral and hajji Cheng Ho, the son of a prestigious Muslim family and famous for clearing the China Sea of pirates. Since the fourteenth century, the mosque has undergone numerous reconstructions. Most of the buildings extant today are from the Ming and Qing Dynasties of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The mosque was constructed on Hua Jue Lane just outside the city walls built by the Ming Dynasty, in what was once the jiao-fang neighborhood for foreigners to the northwest of the city. Today, this neighborhood is part of Xian proper, with the city's famous Drum Tower a block away.

 

The mosque occupies a narrow lot about 48 meters by 248 meters, and the precinct walls enclose a total area of 12,000 square meters. Unlike many Chinese mosques, it has the layout of a Chinese temple: successive courtyards on a single axis with pavilions and pagodas adapted to suit Islamic function. Unlike a typical Buddhist temple, however, the grand axis of the Great Mosque of Xian is aligned from east to west, facing Mecca. Five successive courtyards, each with a signature pavilion, screen, or freestanding gateway, lead to the prayer hall located at the western end of the axis.

 

Ref: www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=9146

Sea oats & seashells on Sanibel Island, Florida, USA. (summer 2009)

 

Sanibel Island is one of dozens of barrier islands in the West-Central Florida Barrier Chain. This 191-mile long, slightly sinuous stretch of islands is located along the Gulf of Mexico coast of southern Florida. The southern-most island in the chain is Cape Romano Island. The northern-most islands are the Anclote Keys.

 

Sanibel Island is located between Captiva Island and mainland Florida, just offshore from the towns of Fort Myers and Cape Coral, Florida. Much of Sanibel Island is developed, but significant tracts have been allowed to become wilderness - especially Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Sanibel is on the southern side of Pine Island Sound, a large lagoon just south of Charlotte Harbor. A tidal inlet occurs on the island's western side - Blind Pass (a man-made construct). To the east of Sanibel is a moderately broad waterway - San Carlos Pass.

 

Sanibel Island and nearby Captiva Island, North Captiva Island, and Cayo Costa Island are Holocene barriers that rim the southern and western sides of a Late Miocene depression that is now Pine Island Sound. Middle Miocene limestone bedrock was subject to significant dissolution and karst/cave development. The Pine Island Sound area was a large karst depression in the Late Miocene. It is now filled with sediments - most of modern Pine Island Sound is significantly shallow.

 

Sanibel is famous for its shell-rich marine beaches. The Sanibel Island area has the 3rd-richest seashell beaches on Earth and the # 1 richest shell beaches in the Western Hemisphere. Shell collecting is best after a storm. The beach shown above is Bowman's Beach, which is on the southern shoreline of western Sanibel Island. About 99% of the shells on Sanibel Island beaches are bivalves (clams). Relatively few snails (gastropods) are present, but they are more common and conspicuous after storm events. Other marine remains observed on these beaches include sea urchins (echinoids), starfish (asteroids), crabs (decapods), horseshoe crabs (xiphosurans), sponges (poriferans), stony corals (anthozoan cnidarians), sea squirts (tunicates), sea hares (anaspidean opisthobranch gastropods), worm tubes, fish & fish skeletons, and stingray barbs.

 

The tall grasses shown above are sea oats (Uniola paniculata), a common type of grass in subtropical, vegetated back-beach facies along the eastern and Gulf of Mexico coasts of America, Mexico, and on Caribbean islands. As such, it is tolerant of saline conditions (sea spray). It’s root systems are deep and extensive, resulting in well-stabilized back-beach sediment surfaces.

 

Classification: Plantae, Angiospermophyta, Poales, Poaceae

 

Locality: Bowman's Beach, southern shore of western Sanibel Island, Gulf of Mexico coast of southwestern Florida, USA (vicinity of 26° 27' 34.02" North latitude, 82° 09' 26.49" West longitude)

--------------------

More sea oats info. at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniola_paniculata

---------------

West-Central Florida Barrier Chain geologic info. synthesized from:

 

Evans et al. (1985) - Bedrock controls on barrier island development: west-central Florida coast. Marine Geology 63: 263-283.

 

Davis (1989) - Morphodynamics of the West-Central Florida barrier system: the delicate balance between wave- and tide-domination. Proceedings, Koninklijk Nederlands Geologisch Mijnbouwkundig Genootschap Symposium, 'Coastal Lowlands, Geology and Geotechnology', 1987: 225-235.

 

Evans et al. (1989) - Quaternary stratigraphy of the Charlotte Harbor estuarine-lagoon system, southwest Florida: implications of the carbonate-siliciclastic transition. Marine Geology 88: 319-348.

. . . look at the faces: every soldier has a different face! Not two are similar!

______________________________________

 

The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.

 

The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

 

HISTORY

The construction of the tomb was described by historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE) in his most noted work Shiji, written a century after the mausoleum's completion. Work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne, and the project eventually involved 700,000 workers. Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First Emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology, "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". Sima Qian wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 flowing rivers were simulated using mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the land. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations"; however, those words were not used in the original text, which makes no mention of the terracotta army. High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian's account. Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor. However, there are indications that the tomb may not have been plundered.

 

DISCOVERY

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 by farmers digging a water well approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis – roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists, including Zhao Kangmin, to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found. A museum complex has since been constructed over the area, the largest pit being enclosed by a roofed structure.

 

NECROPOLIS

The Terracotta Army is part of a much larger necropolis. Ground-penetrating radar and core sampling have measured the area to be approximately 98 square kilometers.

 

The necropolis was constructed as a microcosm of the emperor's imperial palace or compound, and covers a large area around the tomb mound of the first emperor. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape, and is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. The necropolis consists of several offices, halls, stables, other structures as well as an imperial park placed around the tomb mound.

 

The warriors stand guard to the east of the tomb. Up to 5 metres of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

 

TOMB

The tomb appears to be a hermetically sealed space roughly the size of a football pitch (c. 100 × 75 m). The tomb remains unopened, possibly due to concerns over preservation of its artifacts. For example, after the excavation of the Terracotta Army, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade. The lacquer covering the paint can curl in fifteen seconds once exposed to Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in just four minutes.

 

EXCAVATION S'ITE

PITS

Four main pits approximately 7 metres deep have been excavated. These are located approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The soldiers within were laid out as if to protect the tomb from the east, where the Qin Emperor's conquered states lay.

 

PIT 1

Pit 1, which is 230 metres long and 62 metres wide, contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures. Pit 1 has eleven corridors, most more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level when completed.

 

OTHERS

Pit 2 has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard. Pit 3 is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit 4 is empty, perhaps left unfinished by its builders.

 

Some of the figures in Pits 1 and 2 show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found. These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.

 

Other pits that formed the necropolis have also been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burial sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.

 

WARRIOR FIGURES

TYPES AND APPEARANCE

The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Their faces appear to be different for each individual figure; scholars, however, have identified 10 basic face shapes. The figures are of these general types: armored warriors; unarmored infantrymen; cavalrymen who wear a pillbox hat; helmeted drivers of chariots with more armor protection; spear-carrying charioteers; kneeling archers who are armored; standing archers who are not; as well as generals and other lower-ranking officers. There are, however, many variations in the uniforms within the ranks: for example, some may wear shin pads while others not; they may wear either long or short trousers, some of which may be padded; and their body armors vary depending on rank, function, and position in formation. There are also terracotta horses placed among the warrior figures.

 

Originally, the figures were painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish and individual facial features would have given the figures a realistic feel. However, much of the colour coating had flaked off or become greatly faded.

 

Some scholars have speculated a possible Hellenistic link to these sculptures, because of the lack of life-sized and realistic sculptures before the Qin dynasty. They argued that potential Greek influence is particularly evident in some terracotta figures such as those of acrobats, combined with findings of European DNA and rare bronze artifacts made with a lost wax technique known in Greece and Egypt.. However, this idea is disputed by scholars who claim that there is "no substantial evidence at all" for contact between ancient Greeks and Chinese builders of the tomb. They argue that such speculations rest on flawed and old "Eurocentric" ideas that assumed other civilizations were incapable of sophisticated artistry and thus foreign artistry must be seen through western traditions.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled by luting the pieces together. When completed, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

 

The faces were created using molds, and at least ten face molds may have been used. Clay was then added after assembly to provide individual facial features to make each figure appear different. It is believed that the warriors' legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would classify the process as assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it. In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying which workshops were commandeered to make tiles and other mundane items for the terracotta army.

 

WEAPONRY

Most of the figures originally held real weapons, which would have increased their realism. The majority of these weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army or have rotted away. Despite this, over 40,000 bronze items of weaponry have been recovered, including swords, daggers, spears, lances, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and crossbow triggers. Most of the recovered items are arrowheads, which are usually found in bundles of 100 units. Studies of these arrowheads suggests that they were produced by self-sufficient, autonomous workshops using a process referred to as cellular production or Toyotism. Some weapons were coated with a 10–15 micrometer layer of chromium dioxide before burial that has protected them from any form of decay for the last 2200 years. The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date their manufacture to between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating that they were used before burial.

 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

In 2007, scientists at Stanford University and the Advanced Light Source facility in Berkeley, California reported that powder diffraction experiments combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the process of producing terracotta figures colored with Chinese purple dye consisting of barium copper silicate was derived from the knowledge gained by Taoist alchemists in their attempts to synthesize jade ornaments.

 

Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze arrowheads bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metal impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows’ chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of the automobile industry, was employed.

 

Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope provide evidence for the earliest industrial use of lathes for polishing.

 

EXHIBITIONS

The first exhibition of the figures outside of China was held at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne in 1982.

 

A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 12 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the 400,000 advance tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.

 

Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever. From December 2009 to May 2010, the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.

 

The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently, the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to 16 November 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were displayed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 were exposed nine warriors in Milan, at the Royal Palace, at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires". The group consisted of a horse, a counselor, an archer and six lancers. The "Treasures of Ancient China" exhibition, showcasing two terracotta soldiers and other artifacts, including the Longmen Grottoes Buddhist statues, was held between 19 February 2011 and 7 November 2011 in four locations in India: National Museum of New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and National Library of India in Kolkata.

 

Soldiers and related items were on display from 15 March 2013 to 17 November 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.

 

Several Terracotta Army figures were on display, along with many other objects, in an exhibit entitled "Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from 3 April 2017, to 16 July 2017 An exhibition featuring ten Terracotta Army figures and other artifacts, "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor," was on display at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, from 8 April 2017 to 4 September 2017 before traveling to The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be exhibited from 30 September 2017 to 4 March 2018 with the addition of augmented reality.

 

An exhibition entitled "China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors" is at the World Museum in Liverpool from 9 February 2018 to 28 October 2018. This is the first time in more than 10 years that the warriors have travelled to the UK.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The ABC's of Bauhaus traces the origins and impact of the Bauhaus in relation to design, graphic design, and typography. The book, designed by the authors, invokes the Bauhaus ideal of synthesizing editorial concept, typography, and format. The essays address such issues as modernist design theory in relation to the nineteenth-century kindergarden movement and Bauhaus graphic design in relation to the idea of a universal "language" of vision. Additional essays address psychoanalysis, fractal geometry, and Weimar culture. This book includes two essays by Mike Mills.

Fossiliferous limestone of the Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene) along a trail due west of Pain Pond, northeastern San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas.

 

The fossiliferous limestone shown above is dominated by fossil bivalves, principally Codakia orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) - the tiger lucine clam. This is part of the Cockburn Town Member of the Grotto Beach Limestone (lower Upper Pleistocene, Sangamonian, MIS 5e, 119-131 ka).

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The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.

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Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:

 

Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)

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Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)

--------------------

Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)

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San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:

1) LIMESTONES

2) PALEOSOLS

 

The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.

 

Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):

 

1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.

 

2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)

 

3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.

 

During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.

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Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:

 

The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.

 

In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.

 

Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:

- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)

- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)

- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)

- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)

- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)

- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)

- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)

 

The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.

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The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.

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Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.

 

Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.

 

Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.

 

Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.

 

Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.

 

Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.

 

1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.

 

1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.

 

1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.

 

Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.

 

1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.

 

1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.

 

1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.

 

Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.

 

Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.

 

1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.

 

Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.

 

1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.

 

Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.

 

Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.

 

Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.

 

1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.

 

1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.

 

1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.

 

1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.

 

1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.

 

Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.

 

1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.

 

Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.

 

1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.

 

2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.

 

2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.

 

Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.

 

Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.

 

Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.

 

Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.

 

Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.

 

2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.

 

2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.

 

2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.

 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.

 

2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.

 

2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.

 

2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.

 

2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.

 

2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.

 

2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.

 

2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.

 

. . . look at the faces: every soldier has a different face! Not two are similar!

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The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.

 

The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

 

HISTORY

The construction of the tomb was described by historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE) in his most noted work Shiji, written a century after the mausoleum's completion. Work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne, and the project eventually involved 700,000 workers. Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First Emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology, "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". Sima Qian wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 flowing rivers were simulated using mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the land. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations"; however, those words were not used in the original text, which makes no mention of the terracotta army. High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian's account. Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor. However, there are indications that the tomb may not have been plundered.

 

DISCOVERY

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 by farmers digging a water well approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis – roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists, including Zhao Kangmin, to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found. A museum complex has since been constructed over the area, the largest pit being enclosed by a roofed structure.

 

NECROPOLIS

The Terracotta Army is part of a much larger necropolis. Ground-penetrating radar and core sampling have measured the area to be approximately 98 square kilometers.

 

The necropolis was constructed as a microcosm of the emperor's imperial palace or compound, and covers a large area around the tomb mound of the first emperor. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape, and is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. The necropolis consists of several offices, halls, stables, other structures as well as an imperial park placed around the tomb mound.

 

The warriors stand guard to the east of the tomb. Up to 5 metres of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

 

TOMB

The tomb appears to be a hermetically sealed space roughly the size of a football pitch (c. 100 × 75 m). The tomb remains unopened, possibly due to concerns over preservation of its artifacts. For example, after the excavation of the Terracotta Army, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade. The lacquer covering the paint can curl in fifteen seconds once exposed to Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in just four minutes.

 

EXCAVATION S'ITE

PITS

Four main pits approximately 7 metres deep have been excavated. These are located approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The soldiers within were laid out as if to protect the tomb from the east, where the Qin Emperor's conquered states lay.

 

PIT 1

Pit 1, which is 230 metres long and 62 metres wide, contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures. Pit 1 has eleven corridors, most more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level when completed.

 

OTHERS

Pit 2 has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard. Pit 3 is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit 4 is empty, perhaps left unfinished by its builders.

 

Some of the figures in Pits 1 and 2 show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found. These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.

 

Other pits that formed the necropolis have also been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burial sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.

 

WARRIOR FIGURES

TYPES AND APPEARANCE

The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Their faces appear to be different for each individual figure; scholars, however, have identified 10 basic face shapes. The figures are of these general types: armored warriors; unarmored infantrymen; cavalrymen who wear a pillbox hat; helmeted drivers of chariots with more armor protection; spear-carrying charioteers; kneeling archers who are armored; standing archers who are not; as well as generals and other lower-ranking officers. There are, however, many variations in the uniforms within the ranks: for example, some may wear shin pads while others not; they may wear either long or short trousers, some of which may be padded; and their body armors vary depending on rank, function, and position in formation. There are also terracotta horses placed among the warrior figures.

 

Originally, the figures were painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish and individual facial features would have given the figures a realistic feel. However, much of the colour coating had flaked off or become greatly faded.

 

Some scholars have speculated a possible Hellenistic link to these sculptures, because of the lack of life-sized and realistic sculptures before the Qin dynasty. They argued that potential Greek influence is particularly evident in some terracotta figures such as those of acrobats, combined with findings of European DNA and rare bronze artifacts made with a lost wax technique known in Greece and Egypt.. However, this idea is disputed by scholars who claim that there is "no substantial evidence at all" for contact between ancient Greeks and Chinese builders of the tomb. They argue that such speculations rest on flawed and old "Eurocentric" ideas that assumed other civilizations were incapable of sophisticated artistry and thus foreign artistry must be seen through western traditions.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled by luting the pieces together. When completed, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

 

The faces were created using molds, and at least ten face molds may have been used. Clay was then added after assembly to provide individual facial features to make each figure appear different. It is believed that the warriors' legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would classify the process as assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it. In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying which workshops were commandeered to make tiles and other mundane items for the terracotta army.

 

WEAPONRY

Most of the figures originally held real weapons, which would have increased their realism. The majority of these weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army or have rotted away. Despite this, over 40,000 bronze items of weaponry have been recovered, including swords, daggers, spears, lances, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and crossbow triggers. Most of the recovered items are arrowheads, which are usually found in bundles of 100 units. Studies of these arrowheads suggests that they were produced by self-sufficient, autonomous workshops using a process referred to as cellular production or Toyotism. Some weapons were coated with a 10–15 micrometer layer of chromium dioxide before burial that has protected them from any form of decay for the last 2200 years. The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date their manufacture to between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating that they were used before burial.

 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

In 2007, scientists at Stanford University and the Advanced Light Source facility in Berkeley, California reported that powder diffraction experiments combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the process of producing terracotta figures colored with Chinese purple dye consisting of barium copper silicate was derived from the knowledge gained by Taoist alchemists in their attempts to synthesize jade ornaments.

 

Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze arrowheads bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metal impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows’ chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of the automobile industry, was employed.

 

Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope provide evidence for the earliest industrial use of lathes for polishing.

 

EXHIBITIONS

The first exhibition of the figures outside of China was held at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne in 1982.

 

A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 12 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the 400,000 advance tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.

 

Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever. From December 2009 to May 2010, the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.

 

The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently, the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to 16 November 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were displayed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 were exposed nine warriors in Milan, at the Royal Palace, at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires". The group consisted of a horse, a counselor, an archer and six lancers. The "Treasures of Ancient China" exhibition, showcasing two terracotta soldiers and other artifacts, including the Longmen Grottoes Buddhist statues, was held between 19 February 2011 and 7 November 2011 in four locations in India: National Museum of New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and National Library of India in Kolkata.

 

Soldiers and related items were on display from 15 March 2013 to 17 November 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.

 

Several Terracotta Army figures were on display, along with many other objects, in an exhibit entitled "Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from 3 April 2017, to 16 July 2017 An exhibition featuring ten Terracotta Army figures and other artifacts, "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor," was on display at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, from 8 April 2017 to 4 September 2017 before traveling to The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be exhibited from 30 September 2017 to 4 March 2018 with the addition of augmented reality.

 

An exhibition entitled "China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors" is at the World Museum in Liverpool from 9 February 2018 to 28 October 2018. This is the first time in more than 10 years that the warriors have travelled to the UK.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Uncut Pressbooks (2) (Multiple Pages, 12" X 17").

With stellar performances by Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, and Leslie Nielsen and state-of-the-art special effects, this film is one of the most beloved sci-fi classics of all time. Based loosely on the Shakespeare play The Tempest, the story, set in the early 2200s, involves the crew of a United Planets cruiser who find Dr. Morbius, his daughter Altaira, and Robby the Robot living on what they thought was a deserted planet. The very rare, uncut pressbook offered here includes two heralds, one of which advertises a coloring contest inspired by the film. Also included is a pressbook from The Invisible Boy (MGM, 1957), which was the other film to star Robby the Robot, and includes a two-color herald.

Opening scene

 

It is late in the 22nd Century. United Planet cruiser C57D a year out from Earth base on the way to Altair for a special mission. Commander J.J Adams (Leslie Neilsen) orders the crew to the deceleration booths as the ship drops from light speed to normal space.

 

Adams orders pilot Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly) to lay in a course for the fourth planet. The captain then briefs the crew that they are at their destination, and that they are to look for survivors from the Bellerophon expedition 20 years earlier.

 

As they orbit the planet looking for signs of life, the ship is scanned by a radar facility some 20 square miles in area. Morbius (Walter Pigeon) contacts the ship from the planet asking why the ship is here. Morbius goes on to explain he requires nothing, no rescue is required and he can't guarantee the safety of the ship or its crew.

 

Adams confirms that Morbius was a member of the original crew, but is puzzled at the cryptic warning Morbius realizes the ship is going to land regardless, and gives the pilot coordinates in a desert region of the planet. The ship lands and security details deploy. Within minutes a high speed dust cloud approaches the ship. Adams realizes it is a vehicle, and as it arrives the driver is discovered to be a robot (Robby). Robby welcomes the crew to Altair 4 and invites members of the crew to Morbious residence.

 

Adams, Farman and Doc Ostrow (Warren Stevens) arrive at the residence and are greeted by Morbius. They sit down to a meal prepared by Robbys food synthesizer and Morbius shows the visitors Robbys other abilities, including his unwavering obedience. Morbius then gives Robby a blaster with orders to shoot Adams. Robby refuses and goes into a mechanical mind lock, disabling him till the order is changed.

 

Morbius then shows the men the defense system of the house (A series of steel shutters). When questioned, Morbius admits that the Belleraphon crew is dead, Morbius and his wife being the only original survivors. Morbius's wife has also died, but months after the others and from natural causes. Morbius goes on to explain many of the crew were torn limb from limb by a strange creature or force living on the planet. The Belleraphon herself was destroyed when the final three surviving members tried to take off for Earth.

 

Adams wonders why this force has remained dormant all these years and never attacked Morbius. As discussions continue, a young woman Altaira (Anne Francis) introduces herself as Morbius daughter. Farman takes an immediate interest in Altaira, and begins to flirt with her . Altaira then shows the men her ability to control wild animals by petting a wild tiger. During this display the ship checks in on the safety of the away party. Adams explains he will need to check in with Earth for further orders and begins preparations for sending a signal. Because of the power needed the ship will be disabled for up to 10 days. Morbius is mortified by this extended period and offers Robby's services in building the communication facility

 

The next day Robby arrives at ship as the crew unloads the engine to power the transmitter. To lighten the tense moment the commander instructs the crane driver to pick up Cookie (Earl Holliman) and move him out of the way. Quinn interrupts the practical joke to report that the assembly is complete and they can transmit in the morning.

 

Meanwhile Cookie goes looking for Robby and organizes for the robot to synthesize some bourbon. Robby takes a sample and tells Cookie he can have 60 gallons ready the next morning for him.

 

Farman continues to court Altair by teaching her how to kiss, and the health benefits of kissing. Adams interrupts the exercise, and is clearly annoyed with a mix of jealous. He then explains to Altair that the clothes she wears are inappropriate around his crew. Altair tries to argue till Adams looses patience and order Altair to leave the area.

 

That night, Altair, still furious, explains to her father what occurred. Altair takes Adams advice to heart and orders Robby to run up a less revealing dress. Meanwhile back at the ship two security guards think they hear breathing in the darkness but see nothing.

 

Inside the ship, one of the crew half asleep sees the inner hatch opened and some material moved around. Next morning the Captain holds court on the events of the night before. Quinn advises the captain that most of the missing and damaged equipment can be replaced except for the Clystron monitor. Angry the Capt and Doc go back to Morbius to confront him about what has occurred.

 

Morbius is unavailable, so the two men settle in to wait. Outside Adams sees Altair swimming and goes to speak to her. Thinking she is naked, Adams becomes flustered and unsettled till he realizes she wants him to see her new dress. Altair asks why Adams wont kiss her like everyone else has. He gives in and plants one on her. Behind them a tiger emerges from the forest and attacks Altair, Adams reacts by shooting it. Altair is badly troubled by the incident, the tiger had been her friend, but she can't understand why acted as if she was an enemy.

 

Returning to the house, Doc and Adams accidently open Morbius office. They find a series of strange drawings but no sign of Morbius. He appears through a secret door and is outraged at the intrusion. Adams explains the damage done to the ship the previous night and his concern that Morbius was behind the attack.

 

Morbius admits it is time for explanations. He goes on to tell them about a race of creatures that lived on the planet called the Krell. In the past they had visited Earth, which explains why there are Earth animals on the planet. Morbius believes the Krell civilization collapsed in a single night, right on the verge of their greatest discovery. Today 2000 centuries later, nothing of their cities exists above ground.

 

Morbius then takes them on a tour of the Krell underground installation. Morbius first shows them a device for projecting their knowledge; he explains how he began to piece together information. Then an education device that projects images formed in the mind. Finally he explains what the Krell were expected to do, and how much lower human intelligence is in comparison.

 

Doc tries the intelligence tester but is confused when it does not register as high as Morbius. Morbius then explains it can also boost intelligence, and that the captain of the Belleraphon died using it. Morbius himself was badly injured but when he recovered his IQ had doubled.

 

Adams questions why all the equipment looks brand new. It is explained that all the machines left on the planet are self repairing and Morbius takes them on a tour of the rest of the installation. First they inspect a giant air vent that leads to the core of the planet. There are 400 other such shafts in the area and 9200 thermal reactors spread through the facilities 8000 cubic miles.

 

Later that night the crew has completed the security arrangements and tests the force field fence. Cookie asks permission to go outside the fence. He meets Robby who gives him the 60 gallons of bourbon. Outside, something hits the fence and shorts it out. The security team checks the breach but finds nothing. A series of foot like depressions begin forming leading to the ship. Something unseen enters the ship. A scream echos through the compound.

 

Back at the Morbius residence he argues that only he should be allowed to control the flow of Krell technology back to Earth. In the middle of the discussion, Adams is paged and told that the Chief Quinn has been murdered. Adams breaks of his discussions and heads back to the ship.

 

Later that night Doc finds the footprints and makes a cast. The foot makes no evolutionary sense. It seems to have elements of a four footed and biped creature; also it seems a predator and herbivore. Adams questions Cookie who was with the robot during the test and decides the robot was not responsible.

 

The next day at the funeral for Chief Morbius again warns him of impending doom facing the ship and crew. Adams considers this a challenge and spends the day fortifying the position around the ship. After testing the weapons and satisfied all that could be done has, the radar station suddenly reports movement in the distance moving slowly towards the ship.

 

No one sees anything despite the weapons being under radar fire control. The controller confirms a direct hit, but the object is still moving towards the ship. Suddenly something hits the force field fence, and a huge monster appears outlined in the energy flux. The crew open fire, but seem to do little good. A number of men move forward but a quickly killed.

 

Morbious wakes hearing the screams of Altair. Shes had a dream mimicking the attack that has just occurred. As Morbious is waking the creature in the force field disappears. Doc theories that the creature is made of some sort of energy, renewing itself second by second.

 

Adams takes Doc in the tractor to visit Morbius intending to evacuate him from the planet. He leaves orders for the ship to be readied for lift off. If he and Doc dont get back, the ship is to leave without them. They also want to try and break into Morbious office and take the brain booster test.

 

They are met at the door by Robby, who disarms them. Altair appears and countermands the orders given to Robby by her father. Seeing a chance Doc sneaks into the office. Altair argues with Adams about trying to make Morbius return home, she ultimately declares her love for him.

 

Robby appears carrying the injured Doc. Struggling to speak and heavy pain, Doc explains that the Krell succeeded in their great experiment. However they forgot about the sub conscious monsters they would release. Monsters from the id.

 

Morbius sees the dead body of Doc, and makes a series of ugly comments. His daughter reminds him that Doc is dead. Morbius lack of care convinces Altair she is better off going with Adams. Morbius tries to talk Adams out of taking Altair.

 

Adams demands an explanation of the id. Morbius realizes he is the source of the creature killing everyone. The machine the Krell built was able to release his inner beast, the sub conscious monster dwelling deep inside his ancestral mind.

 

Robby interrupts the debate to report something approaching the house. Morbius triggers the defensive shields of the house, which the creature begins to destroy. Morbius then orders Robby to destroy the creature, however Robby short circuits. Adams explained that it was useless; Robby knew it was Morbius self.

 

Adams, Altair and Morbius retreat to the Krell lab and sealed themselves in by sealing a special indestructible door. Adams convinces Morbius that he is really the monster, and that Morbius can not actually control his subconscious desires.

 

The group watch as the creature beings the slow process of burning through the door. Panicked Morbius implores Altair to say it is not so. Suddenly the full realization comes, and he understands that he could endanger or even kill Altair.

 

As the creature breaks through Morbius rushes forward and denies its existence. Suddenly the creature disappears but Morbius is mortally wounded. With his dying breath he instructs Adams to trigger a self destruct mechanism linked to the reactors of the great machine. The ship and crew have 24 hours to get as far away from the planet as possible

 

The next day we see the ship deep in space. Robby and Altair are onboard watching as the planet brightens and is destroyed. Adams assures Altair that her fathers memory will shine like a beacon.

 

Diploria strigosa - fossil symmetrical brain coral colony in the reef facies of the Cockburn Town Member, upper Grotto Beach Formation at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, western margin of San Salvador Island.

 

The Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is a well-preserved, well-exposed Pleistocene fossil reef. It consists of non-bedded to poorly-bedded, poorly-sorted, very coarse-grained, aragonitic fossiliferous limestones (grainstones and rubblestones), representing shallow marine deposition in reef and peri-reef facies. Cockburn Town Member reef facies rocks date to the MIS 5e sea level highstand event (early Late Pleistocene). Dated corals in the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef range in age from 114 to 127 ka.

---------------------------------------

The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.

------------------------------

Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:

 

Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)

--------------------

Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)

--------------------

Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)

------------------------------

San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:

1) LIMESTONES

2) PALEOSOLS

 

The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.

 

Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):

 

1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.

 

2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)

 

3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.

 

During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.

----------------------------

Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:

 

The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.

 

In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.

 

Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:

- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)

- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)

- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)

- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)

- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)

- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)

- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)

 

The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.

----------------------------

The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.

----------------------------

Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.

 

Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.

 

Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.

 

Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.

 

Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.

 

Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.

 

1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.

 

1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.

 

1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.

 

Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.

 

1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.

 

1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.

 

1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.

 

Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.

 

Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.

 

1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.

 

Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.

 

1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.

 

Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.

 

Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.

 

Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.

 

1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.

 

1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.

 

1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.

 

1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.

 

1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.

 

Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.

 

1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.

 

Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.

 

1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.

 

2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.

 

2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.

 

Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.

 

Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.

 

Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.

 

Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.

 

Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.

 

2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.

 

2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.

 

2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.

 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.

 

2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.

 

2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.

 

2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.

 

2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.

 

2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.

 

2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.

 

2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.

 

Borings in the Devil's Point Hardground (reef facies of the Cockburn Town Member, upper Grotto Beach Formation at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, western margin of San Salvador Island).

 

The Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is a well-preserved, well-exposed Pleistocene fossil reef. It consists of non-bedded to poorly-bedded, poorly-sorted, very coarse-grained, aragonitic fossiliferous limestones (grainstones and rubblestones), representing shallow marine deposition in reef and peri-reef facies. Cockburn Town Member reef facies rocks date to the MIS 5e sea level highstand event (early Late Pleistocene).

 

The subcircular borings shown above are incised into a limestone hardground surface that represents an unconformity traceable throughout the outcrop. The surface formed during a short-lived, mid-5e regression called the Devil's Point Event, dated to somewhere between 120 and 123 ka. After the event, high sea level returned. The Devil's Point Unconformity is present on most Bahamian islands and is traceable to Florida and Mexico. The more deeply flooded carbonate platforms in the Bahamas, such as Mayaguana Island, were not significantly affected by the mid-5e regression.

 

The rocks and fossils below the unconformity are referred to as "Reef 1". The rocks and fossils above are called "Reef 2". Isotopic dating has been done on 122 coral samples from the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef. The oldest is 127 ka and the youngest is 114.3 ka. Including dates from San Salvador Island to Great Inagua Island, Reef 1 has an average age of 123.5 ka, and Reef 2 has an average age of 119.5 ka.

---------------------------------------

The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.

------------------------------

Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:

 

Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)

--------------------

Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)

--------------------

Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)

------------------------------

San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:

1) LIMESTONES

2) PALEOSOLS

 

The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.

 

Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):

 

1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.

 

2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)

 

3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene

 

Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.

 

During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.

----------------------------

Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:

 

The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.

 

In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.

 

Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:

- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)

- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)

- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)

- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)

- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)

- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)

- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)

 

The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.

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The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.

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Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.

 

Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.

 

Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.

 

Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.

 

Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.

 

Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.

 

1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.

 

1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.

 

1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.

 

Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.

 

1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.

 

1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.

 

1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.

 

Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.

 

Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.

 

1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.

 

Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.

 

1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.

 

Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.

 

Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.

 

Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.

 

1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.

 

1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.

 

1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.

 

1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.

 

1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.

 

Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.

 

1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.

 

Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.

 

1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.

 

2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.

 

2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.

 

Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.

 

Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.

 

Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.

 

Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.

 

Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.

 

2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.

 

2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.

 

2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.

 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.

 

2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.

 

2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.

 

Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.

 

2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.

 

2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.

 

2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.

 

2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.

 

2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.

 

2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.