View from the Norse: applying island theory to the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-65
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Pierce
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
British Isles ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

The study of islands in archaeology was originally biased toward the view that island societies were isolated, a stereotype that continues to be perpetuated in books and television. However, recent research has acknowledged that island societies are generally part of a network and exposed to outside influences. This paper applies island theory to the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland, specifically during the Norse settlement from the 9th century AD onward. Although today these areas are considered on the periphery of Britain, these islands were once at the heart of the Norse settlement of the North Atlantic. The settlement remains of the period in the Northern and Western Isles indicate the inhabitants kept their focus towards the sea, and their success as a central stop-over point within the North Atlantic zone is due partly to the fact that they are islands. This paper will examine to what extent the Northern and Western Isles fit into modern island theory and whether the Norse considered them islands. The paper finishes with a discussion of whether the British Isles and Ireland are, from a theoretical point of view, islands.

I.—On the Eastern Margin of the North Atlantic Basin

1899 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfrid H. Hudleston
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Physical Geography ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Atlantic Basin ◽  
Eastern Margin ◽  
North Atlantic Basin ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

In offering a few remarks on a subject which belongs, in the first instance, to the province of physical geography, it will be necessary forme to point out certain hydrographical details, whilst, endeavouring to deduce from these details conclusions having a geological bearing. Oceanography is almost a science in itself, especially if we regard it from a geological point of view, as something more than a mere description of water-spaces and soundings. Ever since the days when the deep oceans were first explored for the purpose of laying the telegraph cables some of the leading facts were made known, and have since become familiar to all students of physical geography.

Bathyal benthic polychaetes from the N.E. Atlantic Ocean, S.W. of the British Isles

1983 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen B. Kirkegaard
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
New Genus ◽  
New Combination ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
British Isles ◽  
The North ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Pacific

From bathyal depths in the Bay of Biscay, southwest of the British Isles, 89 species of polychaetes are described, among which are two new species, one new genus, and one new Combination, i.e. Pholoe fauveli sp. nov., Paracapitella southwardi n.gen., n. sp., and Galathowenia oculata, new combination. Of the species taken, 52 % are also known from abyssal depths. The bathyal polychaete fauna of the North Atlantic seems to be common with that of the Arctic and the North Pacific.

scholarly journals An Attempt to Correlate the Glacial and Post-Glacial Deposits of the British Isles, and to Determine their Order of Succession

The Geologist ◽  
1863 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 168-178
Author(s):  
William King
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
British Isles ◽  
East Side ◽  
The West ◽  
Relative Level ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Glacial Periods

The classification given in the sequel is based on the following premises:—1st. The entire area of the British Isles has undergone at different times, during the Glacial and Post-Glacial periods, a succession of secular elevating and subsiding movements.2nd. At the close of the Pliocene period, the relative level of land and sea over the British area was approximately the same as at present.3rd. The edge of the two-hundred-fathoms submarine plateau, on the east side of the North Atlantic, formed the west coast-line of a continent (now represented by Europe) during the earliest time (epoch) of the Glacial period.4th. The climate of the British area was frigid in the extreme during the Glacial period, allowing epochs of amelioration.5th. Rock-surfaces undergo enormous degradation when they are above the sea-level, during the prevalency of glaciation.

North Atlantic Multidecadal Climate Variability: An Investigation of Dominant Time Scales and Processes

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (13) ◽  
pp. 3626-3638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leela M. Frankcombe ◽  
Anna von der Heydt ◽  
Henk A. Dijkstra
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Multidecadal Variability ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract The issue of multidecadal variability in the North Atlantic has been an important topic of late. It is clear that there are multidecadal variations in several climate variables in the North Atlantic, such as sea surface temperature and sea level height. The details of this variability, in particular the dominant patterns and time scales, are confusing from both an observational as well as a theoretical point of view. After analyzing results from observational datasets and a 500-yr simulation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) climate model, two dominant time scales (20–30 and 50–70 yr) of multidecadal variability in the North Atlantic are proposed. The 20–30-yr variability is characterized by the westward propagation of subsurface temperature anomalies. The hypothesis is that the 20–30-yr variability is caused by internal variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) while the 50–70-yr variability is related to atmospheric forcing over the Atlantic Ocean and exchange processes between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

The Reduction of Consol Bearings for Plotting

1950 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-415
Author(s):  
R. E. G. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
British Isles ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

The use of Consol at long ranges in ships is hampered by the lack of facilities for accurate plotting. Of necessity ocean charts (scale 1:1,000,000 to 1:12,000,000) are used; and on these it is not practicable to plot running fixes, lay off position lines from celestial observations or to compare a succession of cross bearings with any degree of accuracy.When Consol bearings can be plotted on a large scale chart and used in conjunction with other position lines, such as Marcq. St. Hilaire, lines of soundings, m.f./d.f., &c, they are of assistance in defining an observed position; this is especially so in conditions of poor visibility, such as prevail in the approaches to the British Isles and in the North Atlantic.

Blazing the Trail

1966 ◽  
Vol 70 (661) ◽  
pp. 268-269
Author(s):  
Alan Cobham
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
First World War ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
Design Point ◽  
The North ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
First World

At the end of the First World War, from a design point of view, aviation seemed to slow down compared with the tempo of progress during the war years. From the practical flying angle, there were brave efforts by a few to create flying records, such as the first crossing of the North Atlantic by air. Hawker and Grieve took off from Newfoundland and accomplished a remarkable feat of landing in mid-Atlantic and being picked up by a steamer. Alcock and Brown, in a war-time Vickers Vimy made a successful crossing, but unfortunately ended up in a bog in Northern Ireland.

Miogeoclines and suspect terranes of the Caledonian–Appalachian Orogen: tectonic patterns in the North Atlantic region

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 887-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Williams
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
North American ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
British Isles ◽  
The North ◽  
Northwest Africa ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Appalachian Orogen ◽  
The North Atlantic

The Caledonian–Appalachian Orogen was formed by the closing of a Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean. The continental margins of Iapetus are identified in the deformed early Paleozoic miogeoclines of the Caledonian–Appalachian Orogen. Ophiolitic vestiges of Iapetus, its oceanic plateaus, microcontinents, and volcanic arcs are Caledonian–Appalachian suspect terranes. These were assembled in interior parts of the orogen and locally they were emplaced structurally upon the adjacent miogeoclines.The modern North Atlantic Ocean opened along an axis that traversed the Paleozoic orogen longitudinally. Its opening dispersed the elements of the Paleozoic orogen and led to the present arrangement of disjunct Paleozoic miogeoclines and suspect terranes throughout the North Atlantic borderlands.The western or North American margin of Iapetus is represented by the miogeoclines along the west flank of the North American Appalachians and Caledonides of east Greenland. A small North American miogeoclinal segment occurs in the British Isles, and suspect terranes with North American faunal affinities occur in Scandinavia. The eastern margin of Iapetus is represented by the miogeoclines of the Scandinavian Caledonides and the Mauritanides of northwest Africa. Ophiolitic vestiges of Iapetus and suspect terranes occur in the Appalachians, the Caledonides of Scandinavia and the British Isles, and the Variscan foldbelt of Morocco, Iberian Peninsula, and western France.In the scenario of a closing Iapetus and opening North Atlantic, the Paleozoic margin of eastern North America expanded by the acquisition of Appalachian suspect terranes, the Paleozoic margins of Greenland and Scandinavia remained essentially unchanged, and Africa lost parts of its Paleozoic margin.Modern continental margins and the geometry of the North Atlantic mimic Paleozoic miogeoclines and the geometry of Iapetus. The Paleozoic miogeoclines, in turn, follow Grenvillian deformed zones of the Precambrian North Atlantic craton. Thus, patterns for the opening of the North Atlantic may have been set by the geometry of the Grenvillian deformed zones.

scholarly journals Classification and Synoptic Analysis of Subtropical Cyclones within the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 3331-3352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. González-Alemán ◽  
Francisco Valero ◽  
Francisco Martín-León ◽  
Jenni L. Evans
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Synoptic Pattern ◽  
Eastern Basin ◽  
Meridional Component ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Northeastern Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Northeastern Atlantic

Abstract Since more research is needed on subtropical cyclones (STCs) formed within the North Atlantic eastern basin, this survey analyzes them from a synoptic point of view, on a climatological basis, with the main aims of studying their common features, complementing other studies of these storms in the North Atlantic, and aiding the forecasting community. Fifteen cases of STCs were identified during the period 1979–2011 by applying a set of criteria from two databases. Composite analysis reveals that an extratropical depression acts as a precursor when it is isolated from the westerlies and then suffers a deepening when becoming subtropical instead of decaying through occlusion. This process is accompanied by an atmospheric circulation, within the North Atlantic, whose main feature is characterized by notable departures from the climatological pattern with a statistically significant anomalous high pressure to the north of the STCs. Three conceptual models of synoptic pattern of subtropical cyclogenesis are derived and show that these departures appeared because the westerly circulation moves poleward and/or the flow has a great meridional component, with the possibility of a blocked flow pattern occurring. Moreover, the identified STCs predominantly formed in a highly sheared (>10 m s−1) environment with low sea surface temperature values (<25°C), which differs from the dominant features of STCs in the North Atlantic, especially within its western region. Finally, a recent (2010) STC, identified by the authors, is synoptically discussed in order to achieve a better interpretation of the general results.

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