In early writing, words were not separated by spaces, a format known as scriptura continua. Scribes wrote without breaks between words, reflecting the way language was originally spoken. Just as we don’t pause between every word when we speak, early writers didn’t think to insert spaces between words when writing. They were simply transcribing what they heard, with no established rules for word separation or word order. Similarly, young children today often write words together when they begin to write, following a natural inclination to mimic speech.
Scriptio Continua for unknown museum. For a translation of the above gravestone see the end of this post.
Craton margins are dipping discontinuities, wedge-shaped crustal and lithospheric geometries where younger, weaker rocks collide with stronger, older craton rocks.
They can be found in locations with high topography, higher metamorphic grade, and boundaries or transitions in lithospheric geometry found in geophysical data.
There are two types of craton margins, inward dipping and outward dipping.
Craton margins can be structurally complex because they may record multiple episodes of extension and inversion that can reactivate pre-existing structures.
The structures associated with craton margins act as pathways for fluid migration and circulation in the crust, contributing to mineral endowment.
Schematic illustration of the typical craton margin and its constituent parts. Note the variable vertical exaggeration (VE) on the right hand slide.
Rajendra Gupta from the University of Ottawa published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal based on a modified Lambda CDM + TL model which suggests an age of the universe since the Big Bang of 26.7 Gyr as compared with the consensus view of 13.8 Gyr.
Given that zircon age dates from metamorphosed rocks on this planet, can be reliably dated to ~3.8Gyr the age of the universe of 13.8Gyr always seemed to far too young. Far to young to have accounted for the age of our solar system and the heavy elements within it given their likely origin in pre-cursor supernovae. Far too young given the size of the universe and the current distribution of galaxies, even considering a period of early inflation. Far too young given the recent discovery by the Webb Space Telescope that galaxies as young as 300 Myr after the Big Bang with high red-shift appear to have a structure similar to that of the Milky Way.
1000-fold magnification of lenticular microbial cells stained with SYBR Green 1. SYBR Green I (SG) is an extremely sensitive asymmetrical cyanine dye used as a nucleic acid stain in molecular biology. SYBR Green I binds to DNA. The resulting DNA-dye-complex best absorbs 497 nanometer blue light (λmax = 497 nm) and emits green light (λmax = 520 nm). The stain preferentially binds to double-stranded DNA, but will stain single-stranded (ss)DNA with lower performance. SYBR Green can also stain RNA with a lower performance than ssDNA.
Emily J. Judd, Jessica E. Tierney, Daniel J. Lunt, Isabel P. Montañez, Brian T. Huber, Scott L. Wing, Paul J. Valdes, Science.DOI: 10.1126/science.adk3705
An interesting approach to palaeo-temperature modelling – produced by assimilating observational data during the last 485 million years with climate model predictions.
This paper introduces a new statistical estimate of global mean surface temperature (GMST) throughout the Phanerozoic Eon, called PhanDA. PhanDA was generated using a method known as paleoclimate data assimilation, which statistically integrates geological data with climate model simulations. This has produced some obvious differences to previous widely circulated models which only use observational data.
PhanDA reconstructed GMST for the past 485 million years. Black line shows the median, shading corresponds to the ensemble percentile. Blue rectangles show the maximum latitudinal ice extent, and orange dashed lines show the timing of the five major mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic
Purchase: Mitakoodi Traditional Medicinal Plant Uses of the Cloncurry Region can be purchased on-line Most photos are the copyright of Pearly Connelly & Lynley Wallis
The country around Cloncurry comprises the traditional lands of the Mitakoodi People. In this book, Mitakoodi Elder Pearl Connelly teams up with archaeologist Lynley Wallis to provide an overview of the local plants that are used to treat a range of ailments and illnesses. Drawing on available botanical, ethnohistorical and ethnographic accounts, and exploring how other Aboriginal groups also use these same plants, this book provides an excellent introduction to medicinal plant uses in the local region.
Kar Kar details more than 30 native plants that are still used by Aboriginal peoples in Australia and the following is a summary of the introduction and a couple of examples of specific species. If you are heading into the Cloncurry region then get a copy of this wonderful book.
This post does NOT contains images of deceased Australian Aboriginals – some Australian Aboriginal people find seeing the images and or hearing names of the deceased disturbing as it may disturb that person’s spirit.
Australian Aboriginals were hunter gatherers surviving on “Bush Tucker” and photographs of traditional tribal groups in the 1800s showed that they were impressively muscular, toned and lean.
The Aboriginal diet consisted of upwards of 6,000 indigenous herbs (Eastwood, 2012), spices, vegetables, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, fruits and flowers (Mooney, 2015). Flora that was consumed in the Indigenous diet included seeds, peppers, fruits, citrus, berries, and more. Mountain pepper, bush tomatoes, muntries, lemon myrtle, wattle-seed, native pepper berries, native mint and honey are just some of the native flora that gave flavour to Indigenous food (Eastwood, 2012).
The main source of protein was the abundant and varied Australia wildlife including Kangaroos, Wild Turkeys, Possums, Emus, Anteaters, Lizards and Snakes and fish and shellfish along the coast and in rivers.
For 40,000-50,000 years, plants played a supplementary role in the diet of Australian Aboriginal (AA) hunter-gatherers. Recent insights into nutrient composition and physiological effects of AA foods contribute to the debate on the ‘prudent’ diet and human evolution. A 1998 study by Brand-Miller and Holt evaluated over 800 Aboriginal plant foods, comparing them with modern cultivated foods. Their findings are summarized below.
A typical 12,500 kJ/3000 kcal diet was characterized as follows
Energy contribution from plants ~20-40%
Protein: 22-44 g
Fat: 18-36 g
Carbohydrate: 101-202 g
Fiber: 40-80 g
Vitamin C: 90-180 mg
Composition of the Traditional AA Diet:
Low in carbohydrates, especially starch
High in dietary fiber
Carbohydrate Sources:
Over half from sugars derived from fruit and honey
Low Glycemic Index:
Traditional Carbohydrate foods had a low glycemic index
Resulting in a relatively low demand for insulin secretion
Potential Protective Effect:
Low demand for insulin secretion may have protected AA from genetic predisposition to insulin resistance.
Potential prevention of consequences like non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and obesity.
Dietary Pattern and Lifestyle:
The dietary pattern and active lifestyle of recent hunter-gatherers like AA could serve as a reference standard for modern human nutrition.
It may act as a model for defense against diseases of affluence.
Australian Aboriginal Model Diet
While there is little nutritional information on traditional foods, I have created a diet model based upon Kangaroo and insect meats, seeds and berries. It consists of 450g of roast kangaroo, 50g of Witchetty Grubs, 325g of seeds and 250g of berries for a target caloric intake of ~3,000 kCal reflecting an active lifestyle using 50% of BMI calories. This results in a diet consisting by caloric intake of 30% protein, 22% carbs and 48% fat with more than 100g of fiber. On this basis and considering their active lifestyle they would have been very healthy with intentional and unintentional injury being the major health risks.
Below is the dietary model for the Australian Aboriginal before the arrival of Europeans.
This model diet would have resulted in near optimal potassium, Omega 3, fat, carbs and iron but likely low sodium by modern standards. As with desert dwelling native peoples of SW Africa, Australian Aboriginals would have adapted to a low sodium diet.
Australian Aboriginals may have adapted over a long period of time to a low GI diet resulting in efficient and sparing insulin production. Many Australian Aboriginals now suffer from the health effects of a high carbohydrate diet and diabetes has become a serious issue. It is possible that they are now genetically predisposed to excessive insulin production from a diet which is now high in refined carbohydrates.
Interestingly many in the west are now pursing not dissimilar low GI diets but likely with significantly less fibre. I suspect that cancer rates in Australian Aboriginals were likely very low before the arrival of Europeans.
WARNING: This post contains images of deceased Australian Aboriginals – some Australian Aboriginal people find seeing the images and or hearing names of the deceased disturbing as it may disturb that person’s spirit.
Australian Aboriginals were hunter gatherers surviving on “Bush Tucker” and photographs of traditional tribal groups in the 1800s showed that they were impressively muscular, toned and lean.
The Aboriginal diet consisted of upwards of 6,000 indigenous herbs (Eastwood, 2012), spices, vegetables, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, fruits and flowers (Mooney, 2015). Flora that was consumed in the Indigenous diet included seeds, peppers, fruits, citrus, berries, and more. Mountain pepper, bush tomatoes, muntries, lemon myrtle, wattle-seed, native pepper berries, native mint and honey are just some of the native flora that gave flavour to Indigenous food (Eastwood, 2012).
The main source of protein was the abundant and varied Australia wildlife including Kangaroos, Wild Turkeys, Possums, Emus, Anteaters, Lizards and Snakes and fish and shellfish along the coast and in rivers.
Brisbane River Indigenous inhabitants, 1890’s. Source: John Oxley Library
For 40,000-50,000 years, plants played a supplementary role in the diet of Australian Aboriginal (AA) hunter-gatherers. Recent insights into nutrient composition and physiological effects of AA foods contribute to the debate on the ‘prudent’ diet and human evolution. A 1998 study by Brand-Miller and Holt evaluated over 800 Aboriginal plant foods, comparing them with modern cultivated foods. Their findings are summarized below.
A typical 12,500 kJ/3000 kcal diet was characterized as follows
Energy contribution from plants ~20-40%
Protein: 22-44 g
Fat: 18-36 g
Carbohydrate: 101-202 g
Fiber: 40-80 g
Vitamin C: 90-180 mg
Composition of the Traditional AA Diet:
Low in carbohydrates, especially starch
High in dietary fiber
Carbohydrate Sources:
Over half from sugars derived from fruit and honey
Low Glycemic Index:
Traditional Carbohydrate foods had a low glycemic index
Resulting in a relatively low demand for insulin secretion
Potential Protective Effect:
Low demand for insulin secretion may have protected AA from genetic predisposition to insulin resistance.
Potential prevention of consequences like non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and obesity.
Dietary Pattern and Lifestyle:
The dietary pattern and active lifestyle of recent hunter-gatherers like AA could serve as a reference standard for modern human nutrition.
It may act as a model for defense against diseases of affluence.
Australian Aboriginal Model Diet
While there is little nutritional information on traditional foods, I have created a diet model based upon Kangaroo and insect meats, seeds and berries. It consists of 450g of roast kangaroo, 50g of Witchetty Grubs, 325g of seeds and 250g of berries for a target caloric intake of ~3,000 kCal reflecting an active lifestyle using 50% of BMI calories. This results in a diet consisting by caloric intake of 30% protein, 22% carbs and 48% fat with more than 100g of fiber. On this basis and considering their active lifestyle they would have been very healthy with intentional and unintentional injury being the major health risks.
Below is the dietary model for the Australian Aboriginal before the arrival of Europeans.
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This model diet would have resulted in near optimal potassium, Omega 3, fat, carbs and iron but likely low sodium by modern standards. As with desert dwelling native peoples of SW Africa, Australian Aboriginals would have adapted to a low sodium diet.
Australian Aboriginals may have adapted over a long period of time to a low GI diet resulting in efficient and sparing insulin production. Many Australian Aboriginals now suffer from the health effects of a high carbohydrate diet and diabetes has become a serious issue. It is possible that they are now genetically predisposed to excessive insulin production from a diet which is now high in refined carbohydrates.
Interestingly many in the west are now pursing not dissimilar low GI diets but likely with significantly less fibre. I suspect that cancer rates in Australian Aboriginals were likely very low before the arrival of Europeans.
Australian Aboriginals: Source Unknown Circa 1890s
This article from the Brisbane Courier of Saturday, December 22nd, 1923, puts our modern world of global and near earth communications in perspective – this was a mere 100 years ago.
TELEPHONIC CHAIN.LINKING UP.
FOUR STATES CONNECTED.
SYDNEY, December 21.
There Is now a complete chain of telephone lines along the Australian coast from Mackay, In Queensland, to Port Augusta, In South Australia.
A new trunk line between Sydney and Lismore has just been completed, and conversation is easier than between Sydney and Redfern. Brisbane now talks to Sydney, and Brisbane can talk to Melbourne, but commercial calls are not yet a practical proposition.
However, the lines between Sydney and Melbourne are being tuned up to make this possible The coast line is not used for this, though the main trunk line follows the railway It will be a matter of time only before the four States are linked up. Communication is possible now, but only under difficulties.
The atlas has been updated with images from the Onto Deposit in Indonesia courtesy of David Burrows. The Onto deposit currently has an indicated resource of 0.76 billion tonnes (Gt) at 0.93% Cu, 0.56 g/t Au, 5 g/t Ag, and 350 ppm As (7 Mt contained Cu, 13 Moz Au) and an inferred resource of 0.96 Gt at 0.87% Cu, 0.44 g/t Au, 3 g/t Ag and 350 ppm As (8.3 Mt contained Cu, 14 Moz Au). In addition to these resources, an exploration target of 0.6 to 1.7 Gt at 0.4 to 0.7% Cu and 0.2 to 0.3 g/t Au has been delineated in a sur- rounding envelope based on drilling at approximately 200 × 200- to 400 × 400-m centers. Also recent samples are included from the Khvav Project in Cambodia.
Residual vuggy silica clasts in a fine-grained siliceous matrix from the Cliffs Prospect, Khvav, Cambodia.Onto, Indonesia: Drill hole VHD034 at 845m which was the end of the drill hole in discovery hole VHD034. Last 2-m interval grades 0.6% Cu and 2 g/t Au. Vuggy residual quartz alteration with well-preserved A-B veinlet stockwork in the early porphyry. Not pyrite filling vug space in top left, with covellite filling vugs closer to the pencil. CREDIT: David Burrows
Vuggy silica textures are formed by the dissolution of phenocrysts and entire clasts by hot and strongly acidic fluids that are generated during the cooling and crystallization of near surface intrusive bodies. Vuggy silica is often mineralized but is also a strong indicator of a very active hydrothermal system and epithermal Cu-Au-Ag and porphyry Cu-Au deposits at depth.
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