Ritwik Ganguly.’s Post

The #Paleomagnetism laboratory of #CCiTUB and Geociencias Barcelona - CSIC (GEO3BCN-CSIC) is contributing to two magnetostratographic studies, led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, to study the tectonosedimentary evolution of the South Pyrenean foreland basin during the #Paleogene. The laboratory has participated in the demagnetization and measurement of the remaining magnetization of nearly 800 samples obtained in the Conca d'Àger and the Ripoll syncline. The results obtained have made it possible to establish a new chronology for these basins and a solid correlation between them. The information has been synthesized in a series of palaeogeographic maps that show the evolution of the South Pyrenean basin between the Paleocene and the lower Eocene. Read the whole news here 👉 tweet.cat/2TbLd #recerca #recercaub #corefacilities #corefacility #research #uniBarcelona #researchinfrastructures #Geology

Could Gunung Padang be the oldest pyramid in the world? This controversial site is the current matter of debacle between the Archeology community. What is the current issue with Gunung Padang? The Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia, which includes a raised earth site. The paper’s authors—led by Danny Natawidjaja—claim that it is the remnants of a prehistoric pyramid from up to 27,000 years ago, far surpassing the oldest known pyramid in the world at a mere 4,700 years old. Now that is being retracted by from Wiley, the publishers of the journal Archaeological Prospection. Following publication of the article, concerns were raised by third parties with expertise in geophysics, archaeology, and radiocarbon dating, about the conclusions drawn by the authors based on the evidence reported. Back to the science: Danny's team based much of their findings on radiocarbon dating from core drilling. But the retraction says that the dating has no tie to human interaction, especially in a place not believed to have been inhabited at the time the paper’s authors say humans were hand-forming the pyramid. The team based much of their findings on radiocarbon dating from core drilling. But the retraction says that the dating has no tie to human interaction, especially in a place not believed to have been inhabited at the time the paper’s authors say humans were hand-forming the pyramid. Natawidjaja took the lead for the authors, arguing against the retraction, suggesting it represents a “severe form of censorship.” Now, there are other findings like studies of the structure using seismic tomography, electrical resistivity tomography and ground-penetrating radar which presents the possibilty that this site could have "undergorund chambers"(This is also a matter of debate). Are there chambers? Yes and no. It depends what one means by chambers. The data do indicate significant variations in density underground, as the graphs show clearly. Just how dense are the dense areas, and just how empty are the less dense areas would need to be determined by digging. Gunung Padang is a volcanic hill. It isn’t surprising that there would be tubes, voids, crevices, even chambers. In my opinion this site need to be fully excavated, if there is a possibility that this is the oldest pyramid in the world this could rewrite the books. Let's dig the damm site and be done with it!

Pompeii experts defend Pliny’s date for Vesuvius eruption. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii is reaffirming the date of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption as August 24, 79 C.E., as recorded by Pliny the Younger. A new study in the park’s e-journal rebuts claims suggesting the eruption occurred in October or November. Pliny’s letters to Tacitus (written between 107 and 108 C.E.) are the earliest eyewitness accounts of the disaster and the only sources providing a specific date. However, the original texts are lost, and subsequent translations have led to misinterpretations. The study outlines these errors, tracing alternative theories back to 1797, when Neapolitan bishop Carlo Maria Rosini proposed a November 23 date. This theory aligned with Cassius Dio’s claim that the eruption occurred in autumn. However, Romans of the time considered autumn to begin in early August. The debate reignited in 2018 after archaeologists discovered a charcoal inscription in Pompeii’s House of the Garden. Likely written by a worker, the note was dated October 17, 79 C.E. Experts argued the fragile charcoal couldn’t have lasted long, supporting an October eruption. To challenge this, park officials conducted an experiment in October 2023, recreating a charcoal inscription on the same wall. By August 2024, the note remained legible and fresh-looking, suggesting such inscriptions could endure up to a year. They concluded the original note might have been written in October 78 C.E., predating the eruption by ten months. Critics have also cited seasonal foods like chestnuts found in Pompeii to argue for a later eruption date. The study counters this by noting ancient climate variability and the possibility that foods like pomegranates were stored for household use, such as fabric dyeing. While the park stands by Pliny’s account, it acknowledges the debate isn’t settled. “Pliny the Younger may have been wrong,” the paper concedes, urging continued research to uncover a definitive answer. #artcollecting #artexhibition #artmuseum #artinvesting #artinvestment #artcollector #artnews #artworld #artmarket #artmarketnews #artauction #arthistory #worldrecord #modernart #impressionism #postwar #pompeii https://lnkd.in/eJ2nDf_8

Three needs are famously fundamental to survival: food, water, and shelter. According to new research, ancient humans had at least two of those three needs met by a nearly mile-long lava tube about 77 miles (125 kilometers) north of Medina, Saudi Arabia, for at least 7,000 years. ‘It’s About Reporting, It’s About Doing Good Journalism’ | Civil War Interview The lava tube in question is named Umm Jirsan, the longest of the lava tubes in Saudi Arabia’s volcanic field, Harrat Khaybar. Today, wolves, foxes, and snakes inhabit the cave, but it was once a popular spot for human pastoralists and their domesticated animals. The new study, published today in the journal PLoS One, examined faunal remains and rock art in the region and adds to a growing body of research into the system. “The findings at Umm Jirsan provide a new type of archaeological site in the region, and one where organic material like bone and deeply layered sediments are much better preserved,” said Mathew Stewart, a zooarchaeologist at Griffith University in Australia and the study’s lead author, in an email to Gizmodo. “We had no expectations to find archaeology at Umm Jirsan. In fact, we were mostly interested in seeing the large caches of bones that had been previously reported.” Indeed, a team that included Stewart found evidence in 2021 that striped hyenas were creating bone caches in the back of the cave. There are hundreds of thousands of bones in Umm Jirsan, the team found, belonging to at least 40 species and dating from the Neolithic to as recently as the Victorian Era. Though the oldest dated faunal remains in the cave are about 7,000 years old, Stewart told Gizmodo that animals have likely used the lava tubes since they formed, millions of years ago. Seven of the lava flows in Harrat Khaybar are less than 1,500 years old, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program, and the region still has the potential for activity, according to a 2022 study. The interior of the lava tube.Photo: Green Arabia Project In their new paper, the researchers reported evidence for human occupation of the lava tube between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age—in other words, humans made use of the tube for millennia. Isotopic analysis of the human remains in the cave revealed an increase of foods in their diet that had high levels of a certain isotope of carbon associated with oasis agriculture. But the team concluded that Umm Jirsan was probably not permanently occupied. Rather, they think it was a convenient spot for herders to stop and provide their flocks with shade and water. Based on human use of the surrounding area—evinced by nearby rock art and other faunal records—the team posited that the lava tube “was situated along a pastoral route linking key oases.” So you can think of Umm Jirsan more as an ancient truck stop than a place of residence. The rock art described by the team was found at a nearby collapsed

Pompeii experts defend Pliny’s date for Vesuvius eruption. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii is reaffirming the date of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption as August 24, 79 C.E., as recorded by Pliny the Younger. A new study in the park’s e-journal rebuts claims suggesting the eruption occurred in October or November. Pliny’s letters to Tacitus (written between 107 and 108 C.E.) are the earliest eyewitness accounts of the disaster and the only sources providing a specific date. However, the original texts are lost, and subsequent translations have led to misinterpretations. The study outlines these errors, tracing alternative theories back to 1797, when Neapolitan bishop Carlo Maria Rosini proposed a November 23 date. This theory aligned with Cassius Dio’s claim that the eruption occurred in autumn. However, Romans of the time considered autumn to begin in early August. The debate reignited in 2018 after archaeologists discovered a charcoal inscription in Pompeii’s House of the Garden. Likely written by a worker, the note was dated October 17, 79 C.E. Experts argued the fragile charcoal couldn’t have lasted long, supporting an October eruption. To challenge this, park officials conducted an experiment in October 2023, recreating a charcoal inscription on the same wall. By August 2024, the note remained legible and fresh-looking, suggesting such inscriptions could endure up to a year. They concluded the original note might have been written in October 78 C.E., predating the eruption by ten months. Critics have also cited seasonal foods like chestnuts found in Pompeii to argue for a later eruption date. The study counters this by noting ancient climate variability and the possibility that foods like pomegranates were stored for household use, such as fabric dyeing. While the park stands by Pliny’s account, it acknowledges the debate isn’t settled. “Pliny the Younger may have been wrong,” the paper concedes, urging continued research to uncover a definitive answer. #artcollecting #artexhibition #artmuseum #artinvesting #artinvestment #artcollector #artnews #artworld #artmarket #artmarketnews #artauction #arthistory #worldrecord #modernart #impressionism #postwar #pompeii

🔥⚒ Types of Metamorphism in Metamorphic Rocks ⚒🔥 ♦️ **Contact Metamorphism:** #Geology #Metamorphism #ThermalMetamorphism Contact metamorphism, sometimes known as thermal metamorphism, occurs in rocks where they come into contact with magma. Typically, the magma is accompanied by hot vapors and solutions. The heat effect of these interacting materials is most intense in the adjacent areas and gradually decreases away from the contact zone. The extent of this influence depends on the mass of the magma, its temperature, and the type of surrounding rocks. Smaller intrusions lead to subtle changes, while larger ones can cause significant transformations extending far into the surrounding rocks. Due to the heat and fluids present in the rocks, the small crystals in the original rock before metamorphism grow into large, uniform crystals, forming a texture known as granular. This process, called recrystallization, increases crystal size with higher degrees of metamorphism. 🔹️ **Notable Rocks Formed by Heat:** 1. **Hornfels:** A rock resulting from the thermal alteration of clay rocks, characterized by a fine-grained texture. 2. **Marble:** Formed from the metamorphism of limestone, marble is a metamorphic rock with a granular texture composed of calcite grains. Its color varies, including white for pure marble and other hues like gray, green, red, or black due to impurities. 3. **Quartzite:** Formed by the metamorphism of quartz-rich sandstones, quartzite is extremely hard, with a granular texture and a yellowish-white color when pure. ♦️ **Regional Metamorphism:** #Geology #Metamorphism #RegionalMetamorphism Regional metamorphism occurs over large areas under high pressure and temperature conditions, typically associated with mountain-building processes and continental movements. The rearrangement of minerals under both pressure and heat forms new structures suitable for the new conditions. This transformation can be so intense that the original rock's features may completely disappear, resulting in the development of foliation. Minerals within the rock may align in thin layers, bands, or sheets parallel to the direction of pressure, forming a texture known as foliation. 🔹️ **Prominent Rocks Formed by Pressure and Heat:** 1. **Slate:** A metamorphic rock derived from shale under high pressure and relatively low temperatures. It can be easily split into thin sheets due to its cleavage, and its color ranges from black to gray, red, or green due to carbonaceous or iron impurities. Slate is commonly used in construction for roofing tiles. 2. **Schist:** Formed from igneous or sedimentary rocks under pressure and heat, schist is characterized by medium-sized grains and thin, parallel layers. It contains minerals such as mica, talc, or hornblende, interspersed with fine-grained, recrystallized minerals like quartz. The texture of schist is known as schistosity. #MetamorphicRocks #GeologicalProcesses #GeologicalFormations 🌋💎

A group of Spanish researchers has applied techniques that allow Paleolithic archaeological findings to be dated with an accuracy of only decades: “Here we report high-resolution time differences between six Middle Palaeolithic hearths from El Salt Unit X (Spain) obtained through archaeomagnetic and archaeostratigraphic analyses. The set of hearths covers at least around 200–240 years with 99% probability, having decade- and century-long intervals between the different hearths. Our results provide a quantitative estimate of the time framework for the human occupation events included in the studied sequence. This is a step forward in Palaeolithic archaeology, a discipline in which human behaviour is usually approached from a temporal scale typical of geological processes, whereas significant change may happen at the smaller scales of human generations. Here we reach a timescale close to a human lifespan.” https://lnkd.in/e_9khUJ6 #OnScienceAndSociety

Capture the Connection: People and Geology – Snap a Photo, Win Big Prizes! 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐎 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 #EarthVisualOdyssey photo contest, organized by the Global Geopark Network (GGN), is a tribute to the profound bond between humans and Earth’s geological wonders. It’s not just about the landscapes, rocks, fossils, and minerals that grace the 213 UNESCO Geoparks, but about the human stories they tell. This contest invites you to capture the intimate dance between #people and #geology. It’s about the silent whispers of the rocks, the tales fossils tell, and the memories etched in the landscapes. It’s about how these elements shape our lives, our cultures, and our identities. 📷 Your photograph is a chapter in Earth’s grand narrative, a testament to our shared journey with nature. It’s a celebration of our collective curiosity, our thirst for understanding, and our commitment to preserving our precious home. So, let’s honor these geological marvels and our shared heritage. Every snapshot tells a story, every perspective adds depth, and together, we can inspire change. This contest is not just a journey through space, but a journey of the heart, a celebration of our shared bonds with Earth’s silent narrators of the heart, a celebration of our shared bonds with Earth’s silent narrators. 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 1. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 The contest is open to all photographers worldwide, regardless of age. Employees of a UNESCO Global Geopark, their immediate family members, and anyone involved in the organization or judging of the contest can't participate. 2. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 All photos must have been taken within an UNESCO Global Geopark and should be the original work of the entrants. No third party may own or control any materials the photo contains. The photo must not infringe upon the trademark, copyright, moral rights, intellectual rights, or rights of privacy of any entity or person. Images should be submitted in PDF, PNG or JPEG format at high-resolution. No RAW images or TIFF images will be accepted. File size should not exceed 5 megapixels. The photo must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or tall (if a vertical image). Images should also be identified and dated with the name of the place and ”Geopark Sunnhordland”. The photo must be sent by mail to post@geoparksunnhordland.no by 30.11.2024. 1𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞: An overnight stay in Stormhyttene, Gullvegen Gardstun in Lykling. Value NOK 2.500,- 2𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞: 1 ticket for a guided tour with equipment in Via Ferrata Kyrkjeveggen with Åkrafjorden Nature. Value kr. 1.450,- 3𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞: The book " Ville blomar i Sunnhordland" by Jan Rabben and Kari Lønning Aarø. Value NOK 500,- #photocontest #Sunnhordland #geopark #GlobalGeoparkNetwork #GGN

Anyone else like archaeology? Of course, Indiana Jones is my favorite archaeologist, but the real ones are doing some amazing work! Archaeologists are using cutting-edge satellite technology to discover Mayan ruins hidden for centuries in the dense jungles of Central America. 🌳 This incredible breakthrough provides valuable insights into the Mayan civilization, their advanced knowledge of astronomy and mathematics, and how they adapted to their environment. Did you know that the Maya developed a sophisticated writing system and a complex calendar system? Who knows what secrets we'll unearth next? 🤔 #MayanRuins #Archaeology #SpaceExploration #LidarTechnology #AncientCivilization Source: https://lnkd.in/gFqGQ7aw