Vicarious habitation – reinterpreting the role of peripheral living in a Nordic context

ABSTRACT

This article argues that some of the contemporary attention given to sustaining habitation of regions and communities beyond capacity and prospects of economic growth can be understood by introducing the concept of ‘vicarious habitation’. By this term is understood ‘the notion of rural habitation performed by an active minority but on behalf of a much larger number, who (implicitly at least) not only understand, but, quite clearly, approve of what the minority is doing’. In many late modern societies, a substantial portion of the population seems willing to pay symbolically and politically to let a minority act on their behalf as caretakers of rural peripheries left behind by structural transformations. Signs of vicarious habitation occur that may vary in form and importance from country to country. Empirically, the argument is substantiated by Norwegian examples.     

A new antiarch placoderm from the Emsian (Early Devonian) of Wuding,Yunnan, China

Pan, Z., Zhu, M., Zhu, Y. &; Jia, L., August 2017. A new antiarch placoderm from the Emsian (Early Devonian) of Wuding, Yunnan, China. Alcheringa 42, 10–21. ISSN 0311-5518.

Wufengshania magniforaminis, a new genus and species of the Euantiarcha (Placodermi: Antiarcha), is described from the late Emsian (Early Devonian) of Wuding, Yunnan, southwestern China. The referred specimens were three-dimensionally preserved in black shales, allowing a high-resolution computed tomography reconstruction of anatomical details. The new euantiarch is characterized by a large orbital fenestra, an arched exoskeletal band around the orbital fenestra and a developed obtected nuchal area of the skull roof. Maximum parsimony analysis, using a revised data-set of antiarchs with 44 taxa and 66 characters, resolves Wufengshania gen. nov. as a member of the Bothriolepididae, which is characterized by the presence of the infraorbital sensory canal diverging on the lateral plate, and the nuchal plate with orbital facets. New analysis supports a sister group relationship between Dianolepis and the Bothriolepididae. Luquanolepis, a coeval euantiarch from the neighboring site of the new form, is referred to the Asterolepidoidei and represents the basalmost and earliest member of the Asterolepidoidei.

Zhaohui Pan* [panzhaohui@ivpp.ac.cn], Min Zhu* [zhumin@ivpp.ac.cn], You’an Zhu^? [zhuyouan@ivpp.ac.cn] and Liantao Jia [jialiantao@ivpp.ac.cn] Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, PR China. *Also affiliated with University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China. ^?Also affiliated with Uppsala University, PO Box 256, 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden.     

Revision of the Early Devonian tabulate coral Pleurodictyum bifidum from New South Wales

Plusquellec, Y. &; Wright, A.J., October 2017. Revision of the Early Devonian tabulate coral Pleurodictyum bifidum from New South Wales. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The tabulate coral Pleurodictyum bifidum Jones, 1944 Jones, O.A., 1944. Tabulata and Heliolitida from the Wellington district, N.S.W. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 77, 33–39. [Google Scholar], from the Early Devonian (Pragian or lower Emsian) Garra Formation of central New South Wales, Australia is revised on the basis of the holotype and three other specimens. It is selected as the type species of the new monotypic genus Bifidomeria (Family Roemeriidae), which differs from Roemeria in its strictly cerioid corallum, its bifid septal spines and aspects of its microstructure. Study of the detailed microstructure of two other tabulate corals from the Devonian of New South Wales has led to the following revised generic assignments: Michelinia progenitor Chapman, 1921 Chapman, F., 1921. New or little known fossils in the National Museum. Part XXV—some Silurian tabulate corals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 33, 212–225. [Google Scholar], previously assigned to Roemeripora, is assigned to Roemeria, and Holacanthopora clarkei Wright &; Flory, 1980 Wright, A.J. &; Flory, R.A., 1980. A new Early Devonian tabulate coral from the Mount Frome Limestone, near Mudgee, New South Wales. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 104, 211–219. [Google Scholar] is assigned to Michelinia.

Yves Plusquellec [yves.plusquellec@univ-brest.fr], Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS-UMR 6538 ‘Domaines océaniques’, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, UFR Sciences et Techniques, 6 avenue Le Gorgeu, CS 98837, F-29283 Brest, France; Anthony Wright [tony.wright@optusnet.com.au], GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth &; Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia.     

Devonian operculate corals (Calceolidae,Cnidaria) from the Massif Armoricain,France

Wright, A.J., Plusquellec, Y. &; Gourvennec, R., February 2016. Devonian operculate corals (Calceolidae, Cnidaria) from the Massif Armoricain, France. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

The operculate coral Calceola gervillei Bayle, 1878 Bayle, E., 1878. Fossiles principaux des terrains de la France. Explication de la Carte Géologique de France 4(1), 1–158. [Google Scholar] is described for the first time on the basis of the type material from the Cotentin region of Normandy (North Armorican Domain), from Early Devonian (likely upper Lochkovian to lower Pragian) strata, and is chosen as the type species of the monotypic new genus Gerviphyllum. The new genus is also present in the l’Armorique Formation (lower Pragian) of the Plougastel Peninsula (Central Armorican Domain) as Gerviphyllum sp. cf. G. gervillei. One locality in the upper Emsian (Polygnathus serotinus Conodont Zone) Le Fret Formation, on the northern coast of the Crozon Peninsula, has yielded operculate coral specimens described here as ?Chakeola sp., the first (tentative) record of the genus outside eastern Australia, south China and Vietnam. The operculate coral Calceola collini sp. nov. is described from six localities in the early Middle Devonian (Eifelian: Polygnathus costatus Conodont Zone) Saint-Fiacre Formation of the Plougastel and Crozon Peninsulas (Central Armorican Domain), despite the fact that knowledge of the internal characters, especially of the operculum, of the type species Calceola sandalina is very limited. From an extensive review of published references to Calceola from France, we conclude that only the record of Collin (1929 Collin, L., 1929. Un nouveau gisement à calcéoles dans le Dévonien de la Presqu’île de Crozon (Finistère). Bulletin de la Société Géologique et Minéralogique de Bretagne 7(3/4), 201–208. [Google Scholar]) is valid.

Anthony Wright (tony.wright@optusnet.com.au), GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth &; Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia; Yves Plusquellec (yves.plusquellec@univ-brest.fr) and Rémy Gourvennec (remy.gourvennec@univ-brest.fr), Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS-UMR 6538 ‘Domaines océaniques’, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, UFR Sciences et Techniques, 6 avenue Le Gorgeu, CS 98837, F-29283, Brest, France. Received 1.10.2015; revised 8.12.2015; accepted 14.12.2015.     

Morphological analysis of Ozarkodina prolata Mawson and Ozarkodina midundenta (Wang & Ziegler) (Emsian conodonts) from South China

Lu, J.-F., November 2015. Morphological analysis of Ozarkodina prolata Mawson and Ozarkodina midundenta (Wang & Ziegler) (Emsian conodonts) from South China. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Investigations of conodonts from Emsian (Lower Devonian) strata at Bahe, Liujing and Daliantang in Guangxi and Yunnan, South China, provide new data on the morphological variability and phylogenetic affinity of Ozarkodina midundenta, a species initially assigned to Pandorinellina but transferred to Ozarkodina herein. Morphological analysis suggests that O. midundenta probably developed from O. prolata by progressive fusion of denticles in the middle third of the blade above the basal cavity in the Pa element.

Jian-feng Lu [lujfivan@sina.cn], Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China. Also affiliated with University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.     

In situ Measurements of Oxygen Dynamics in Unsaturated Archaeological Deposits

Oxygen is a key parameter in the degradation of archaeological material, but little is known of its dynamics in situ. In this study, 10 optical oxygen sensors placed in a 2 m deep test pit in the cultural deposits at Bryggen in Bergen have monitored oxygen concentrations every half hour for more than a year. It is shown that there is a significant spatial and temporal variation in the oxygen concentration, which is correlated to measured soil characteristics, precipitation, soil water content and degradation of organic material. In these deposits oxygen typically occurs when the air content of the soil exceeds 10–15% vol, while oxygen dissolved in infiltrating rainwater is of less importance for the supply of oxygen in the unsaturated zone.     

Contesting scale: A space of the political in a post-disaster context

Disasters create spaces for the political to unfold. This paper contributes to the recurring debates on space and the political in geography by providing a novel empirical focus: following a fire in Lærdal, Norway in 2014, contesting discourses on how emergency services should be spatially organized revealed themselves. A scalar discourse of the local, situated in discourses on periphery and rurality in Norway, emerged to contest a neoliberal discourse promoted by the government. I illustrate the scalar discourse of the local through four identified narratives in Norwegian newspapers that emphasize different aspects of the local. This demonstrates how scalar categories are meshed with everyday vocabulary, and hence are important to study. Although a space of the political was realized following the fire, in the last part of the paper I reflect on why the scalar discourse of the local has not gained recognition as legitimate contestation, as reforms aiming to centralize and/or merge continue to be rolled out in Norway.     

Urban concentration and labour market linkages in the Norwegian ICT services sector

Building on research that emphasizes the dependence of services firms on the networks and experiences of individual employees, this paper investigates the urban concentration of information and communication technology services employment in Norway from the perspective of labour market linkages. It finds that urban regions generally provide firms with access to sector-specific expertise. Beyond this, intrinsic region characteristics determine the position of individual firms in national labour markets for expertise: Firms in the dominant university town have strong contact points to academic labour markets, whereas firms in the industrial stronghold of the Western Capital region exploit a broader range of recruitment channels than firms in any of the other urban and non-urban locations. The results illustrate how capability building through recruitment is influenced by local conditions, and imply that the industry will continue to concentrate in the large-city regions where surrounding organizations provide firms with priveliged access to expertise. Implications for research, innovation policy and societal development more generally are drawn.