Combining pollen and charcoal: evaluating Holocene vegetation composition and dynamics

Pollen analysis reveals vegetation change on a local and regional level over (ideally) continuous time spans but with complications when it comes to the reconstruction of spatially precise species occurrence and composition. Wood charcoal analysis provides site-related information on species occurrence and woodland composition, especially when sediments containing pollen are lacking, but is normally discontinuously available and has the danger of human bias due to potential selection of certain species for e.g. fire making, house construction or charcoal making. Combining the two methods – assuming that suitable palaeoarchives are neighbouring – might compensate for their disadvantages and strengthen the interpretations on vegetation composition and dynamics on a local, extra-local and regional scale. Three examples are given where pollen analysis from “classical” archives – mires and lake sediments – was carried out, and where additionally species identification of wood charcoals was done on samples extracted from close-by archives. The first example (Kugelstattmoos, Bavarian Forest, Germany) combines a Holocene pollen diagram derived from a small mire with late medieval/early modern times charcoal spectra from charcoal production sites which are situated on the margin of the mire. Results show the local occurrence of the main woodland species Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba, and raises new questions on the montane species composition of the formerly natural forests in the Bavarian Forest. The second example (Bargstedter Moor, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) combines Holocene pollen diagrams from a peat bog with late medieval/early modern times charcoal spectra from charcoal production sites in a woodland close to the bog. It shows the role of Quercus, Fagus, Alnus and Carpinus in medieval and early modern times woodlands and its use by man. The third example (Kleiner Tornowsee, Brandenburg, Germany) combines pollen data from sediments of a small lake with charcoal data derived from Holocene colluvisols and soils. The examples show that anthracological and palynological data complement one another to create a more detailed picture of woodland history and landscape change than one method alone would provide.     

The Uncommon Man: Esquire and the Problem of the North American Male Consumer, 1957–63

This article examines  Esquire  magazine's editorial refashioning after the Second World War to analyse the production of the gendered consuming subject. At issue is the question of how the American male consumer is discursively legitimised and incorporated into the marketplace. While myriad studies exist that demonstrate the centrality of women to consumer culture, little has been written on how men come to identify themselves as consuming subjects. This article approaches the question by examining  Esquire 's cultivation of the 'Uncommon Man' as an idealised masculine consumer subject. Through this formula,  Esquire  opened a discursive space which legitimised the male consumer as a thoroughly modern and masculine figure.     

First records of Givetian and Frasnian (Devonian) Rugosa from the Pamir Mountains,Tadjikistan

Rugose corals are described for the first time from the Givetian and Frasnian of the central Pamir Mountains near the Rabatakbaytal area, Tadjikistan. In addition to Hexagonaria reedi sp. nov., Radiophyllum?, Temnophyllum and Disphyllum are recorded. The occurrence of a new species of Hexagonaria and a probable Radiophyllum suggest a possible faunal affinity with species known from Iran and Australia.

Aus dem Givetium und Frasnium der Umgebung von Rabatakbaytal, Tadjikistan, im Zentral-Pamir werden erstmals rugose Korallen beschrieben. Abgesehen von der neuen Art Hexagonaria reedi werden folgende Gattungen nachgewiesen: Radiophyllum?, Temnophyllum und Disphyllum. Der Nachweis der neuen Art von Hexagonaria und eines fraglichen Radiophyllum verweisen auf eine nahe Verwandtschaft mit Arten, die aus dem Iran und Australien bekannt geworden sind.     

Upper Cretaceous volcanoclastic deposits from the Haţeg basin,south Carpathians (Romania): K-Ar ages and intrabasinal correlation

In order to constrain the age of the Upper Cretaceous continental Densuş-Ciula Formation from the Haţeg basin, South Carpathians, and correlate it with the other continental unit that occurs in the region, the Sanpetru Formation, we separated and dated by the K-Ar method biotites and amphiboles from volcanoclastic deposits. The mineral phases analysed are from two tuff layers and volcanic bombs cropping out near Rachitova village. Two tuff layers from the Densuş-Ciula Formation give early Maastrichtian ages of 69.8±1.3 and 71.3±1.6 Ma, respectively. The ages determined for the tuff layers constrain the age of deposition for the Densuş-Ciula Formation and enable further correlations with the available palaeomagnetic data from the deposits occurring along the Sibişel Valley that belong to the Sanpetru Formation. The volcanic bombs collected near to Răchitova village are andesites and dacites. The age determined by K-Ar method on hornblende separated from a volcanic bomb is 82.7±1.5 Ma, which is older than the underlying Campanian marine deposits in turbidite facies. This suggests that the volcanic bombs were re-deposited during the early Maastrichtian. Thus, the volcanics found at Răchitova have at least two origins: one type is related to an explosive synsedimentary volcanic activity, and the other type is represented by older andesitic/dacitic bombs, which most probably originate from a volcanic centre situated in the Haţeg region.     

Innovation Governance Nexuses: Mapping Local Governments' University–Industry Relations and Specialization in High Technology in Sweden

In this paper, we take as a point of departure an assumption that innovation governance matters as a local and regional policy instrument, and consequently we investigate whether local policy can be linked to local industry. To do this, we use Swedish survey data on policy and high-tech agglomeration at the level of municipalities and present evidence on innovation governance nexuses, i.e. locations with greater industrial specialization paired with stronger formalization of innovation governance. Theoretically, this paper follows the literature on regional advantage, but a novel approach is used in which innovation governance literature is linked to that advantage. The findings indicate that these types of policy instruments are useful by creating networks that channel and direct resource and knowledge flows, particularly at locations with higher education institutions.