Geoarchaeological Evidence of a Chola-Period Tsunami from an Ancient Port at Kaveripattinam on the Southeastern Coast of India

Literature of the ancient Chola Dynasty (A.D. 9th-11th centuries) of South India and recent archaeological excavations allude to a sea flood that crippled the ancient port at Kaveripattinam, a trading hub for Southeast Asia, and probably affected the entire South Indian coast, analogous to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami impact. We present sedimentary evidence from an archaeological site to validate the textual references to this early medieval event. A sandy layer showing bed forms representing high-energy conditions, possibly generated by a seaborne wave, was identified at the Kaveripattinam coast of Tamil Nadu, South India. Its sedimentary characteristics include hummocky cross-stratification, convolute lamination with heavy minerals, rip-up clasts, an erosional contact with the underlying mud bed, and a landward thinning geometry. Admixed with 1000-year-old Chola period artifacts, it provided an optically stimulated luminescence age of 1091 perpendicular to 66 yr and a thermoluminescence age of 993 perpendicular to 73 yr for the embedded pottery sherds. The dates of these proxies converge around 1000 yr B. P., correlative of an ancient tsunami reported from elsewhere along the Indian Ocean coasts. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

El proceso de donación trasplante : una mirada interdisciplinaria

El trasplante de órganos es hoy un tratamiento habitual pero que tiene su limitación más importante en el total de órganos donados, que si bien va aumentando año tras año, no alcanza para satisfacer las demandas cada vez más crecientes, tornándose en un problema sanitario mundial. No es redundante precisar que el proceso de donación trasplante es sumamente complejo y que requiere la actuación de un número importante de sujetos, de las instituciones asistenciales y de la sociedad en general. En este artículo se intenta realizar un resumen esquemático de un proceso de donación a corazón batiente, que inicia con la llamada de detección; pasando por el diagnóstico de muerte bajo criterios neurológicos; selección, evaluación y mantenimiento del potencial donante; distribución de órganos y tejidos; y finalmente el punto más complejo que es el abordaje familiar en un contexto de altísima crisis.

Manifestación del ethos cultural vasco ante la muerte violenta de Aitor Zabaleta

El ethos vasco se activa una vez producida la muerte cuyo detonante es el sacrificio de un miembro de la cultura vasca. A partir de aquí ésta comienza a simbolizar para reconstruirse a sí misma, ésta reconstrucción se va a producir a varios niveles de la sociedad: en el estamento deportivo, en el familiar y en el social en general. La confluencia del estudio se hará en la familia de Aitor Zabaleta.

The economic contribution of whalewatching to regional economies: Perspectives from two National Marine Sanctuaries

Whenever human beings have looked out on the sea, they have seen whales. First from the shore and later from ships when humanity entered the ocean realm as seafarers, we have responded to seeing these creatures with awe and wonder. Even when we hunted whales, a period well chronicled both in history and in literature, the sight of a whale brought an adrenaline rush that was not totally linked to potential economic gain. The first trips on boats specifically to watch, rather than hunt, whales began around 45 years ago in Southern California where the migrating gray whales, seen in the distance from land, drew vessels out for a closer look. Since that time whalewatching has boomed, currently conducted in over 40 countries around the world, including Antarctica, and estimated by economists at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society to have a 1999 worldwide economic value of around $800 million USD. The economic contribution to local coastal communities is particularly significant in developing countries and those where declining fish populations (and in some cases like the Japanese, international bans on whaling) have driven harvesters to look for viable alternatives. Clearly, whalewatching is now, in many places around the world, a small but thriving part of the regional economy. Like in the days of whaling, we still get the rush, but for some, money is back contributing to the physiological response. (PDF contains 90 pages.)