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“The huge greate Oke was once a plant.” This observation, found in Timothy Kendall’s anthology Flower of epigrammes (1577), seems to state the obvious: trees do grow out of smaller (and frailer) plants and are subject to time. Yet this image is far from the emblematic representation of the oak, inherited from the Bible, which was often used in early modern poetry or political theory. Traditionally, the oak was the tree of Jupiter and connoted strength, immutability, and majesty, thus making it an ideal royal symbol (with the cedar). However, as Andrew McRae notes, “the politics of the oak—and of trees more generally—were [then] by no means as settled as it would become in a later period.” (2012) This then allowed for all sorts of rhetorical and semantic play, in particular in late Elizabethan history plays which depict the troubled reigns of contested kings. With a focus on the anonymous play Thomas of Woodstock (c. 1591-1595), I would like to explore how royal symbols such as the oak (and the cedar) are manipulated and subverted on stage. Like Kendall’s epigram, the play insists on the precarious nature of trees, both real and symbolic, showing how inadequate and artificial rhetorical tropes can be. Deprived of its emblematic and specific quality, the actual tree reappears behind the symbol. That symbol can then be reassigned to other potential candidates, which allows the play to challenge essential tenets of royal orthodoxy such as the king’s uniqueness., Dans l’anthologie Flowers of epigrammes, publiée en 1577 par Timothy Kendall, l’une des épigrammes consacrées au passage du temps s’ouvre par ce qui peut sembler une évidence : « The huge greate Oke was once a plant ». Mais ce premiers vers, qui rappelle les âge de la vie du chêne en soulignant sa faiblesse initiale, n’est pas sans originalité à cette époque. L’imagerie végétale est fréquemment utilisée dans les discours poétiques et politiques mais reste en effet fortement caractérisée par une stylisation emblématique héritée de la Bible qui tend à figer les éléments naturels en symboles immuables (Harrison, 1998). Le chêne notamment – l’arbre de Jupiter, robuste et majestueux – y est ainsi fréquemment associée à la figure royale. Mais comme le rappelle Andrew McRae, à cette époque, « the politics of the oak—and of trees more generally—were by no means as settled as it would become in a later period. » (2012) Si l’arbre est un trope rhétorique, il n’est ainsi pas étonnant qu’il soit soumis à toute forme de manipulation voire de détournement. Or c’est précisément cette instabilité sémantique dont se saisissent bon nombre de pièces historiques de la fin de l’ère élisabéthaine, notamment la pièce anonyme Thomas of Woodstock (c. 1591-1595). Souvent lue comme un préquel du Richard II de Shakespeare, cette pièce propose un discours sur les arbres, qu’ils soient réels ou symboliques, qui met en évidence non pas leur force mais leur fragilité. Je souhaite notamment montrer que cette pièce ne se cantonne pas à l’image stylisée et immuable du chêne comme emblème d’une royauté solide et majestueuse mais la complexifie et l’enrichit. D’une part, elle en montre l’artificialité rhétorique : il s’agit d’une représentation voire d’un modèle qui ne correspond que peu à la personne du souverain, ici le jeune Richard II. D’autre part elle témoigne de ses possibilités de réappropriation – potentiellement subversive – par le langage : l’image perd de sa singularité en se voyant réattribuée à d’autres figures non royales voire en étant diluée dans une masse arboricole indifférenciée.

The Eocene Oligocene Transition (EOT) 34 million years ago (Ma), was characterized by a climate shift from a largely ice-free greenhouse world to an icehouse climate. The colder Oligocene period included several cooling episodes, defining the bases of a s-Atlantic region, some of these cooling episodes are associated with appearance intervals of the dinocyst species Svalbardella clausii, and Svalbardella cooksoniae. Here we present newly generated dinocyst, calcareous nannofossil, XRF and TEX86 proxy records across the upper Eocene to upper Oligocene from DSDP Site 112, southern Labrador Sea (latitude 54°N; Cores 13 to 5). The studied cores penetrate a deep-sea pelagic succession representing an interval of ~40 to 26.5 Ma. Our study reveals major depositional changes in the region of Site 112 across the EOT, including a decrease in the relative abundance of oceanic dinocysts (Impagidinium spp.), a decrease in carbonate content, higher siliciclastic delivery and grain coarsening. Furthermore, in the early Chattian we observe a high abundance of the potentially cold-water dinocyst S. clausii (up to 16% of the total dinocyst assemblage), possibly related to the Oi-2b cooling event. The preliminary results of micro-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (a method for identifying macromolecular cell compositions in algal cells, and thus nutritional ecologies) in three morphologically similar Eocene and Oligocene dinocyst taxa (S. clausii, S. cooksoniae and Palaeocystodinium golzowense) suggest that they had similar feeding strategies. However, subtle differences in the resulting FTIR spectra indicate some geochemical distinctions between them. The affinity of S. clausii to colder surface waters is tested by comparison of its distribution to the TEX86-derived sea surface temperature record.

The Lower Cretaceous Tuxen (lower Hauterivian – upper Barremian) and Sola (upper Barremian – Albian) Formations in the Danish Central Graben (North Sea) constitute one of the oldest chalk successions recorded globally, but have received little attention with regards to sedimentary facies and depositional processes. This study presents the first comprehensive carbonate facies analysis of the succession, retrieved from seven drill cores from the Valdemar and Adda Fields. A total of 50 facies are identified, based on a continuum of six lithologies ranging from chalk to marlstone and tuffaceous siltstone to sandstone that display eight different sedimentary structures or fabrics, and two redox-associated lithological color variations (green and red) in the Adda Field. The eight sedimentary structures record: (i) comprehensive bioturbation of homogeneous sediment during fully oxygenated benthic conditions and low sedimentation rates; (ii) a similar bioturbation process but in heterogeneous sediment with lithological contrasts permitting visible burrows to form, perhaps due to rhythmic alternation between pelagic (clay-poor) and hemipelagic (clay-rich) sedimentation; (iii) pelagic to hemipelagic suspension settling in dysoxic to anoxic bottom-water conditions; (iv) patchy cementation of the shallow sea bed during incipient hardground formation; (v) reworking of bioclasts and chalk intraclasts by bottom or wave-induced currents and cohesive debris flows; (vi) pressure solution during late burial diagenesis; (vii) shear deformation by intense plastic deformation of unlithified sediment from limited lateral displacement; and (viii) silicification during burial diagenesis. The facies distribution indicates that active tectonism took place prior to the onset of anoxia that resulted in deposition of the Munk Marl Bed, which in the Valdemar Field was followed by tectonic waning and repeated anoxia. The Valdemar Field constituted a basinal depocenter and was flanked to the east by an early inversion high in the Adda Field characterized by condensation and bypass. The Fischschiefer Member represents a return to prevailing anoxia, consistent with global records of the early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE-1a).

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) have caused significant environmental perturbations, including global warming and oceanic anoxia. At least five mass extinction events throughout Earth’s history temporally coincide with the occurrence of LIPs. Geochemical proxies for volcanism in sediments deposited at the time of LIP events can potentially link the volcanic record with the record of environmental change and extinction at We present ICP-MS trace element data from the Fur section in Denmark, where ash layers related to NAIP volcanism are interbedded with sediments deposited immediately after the PETM carbon isotope excursion. Systematic differences in trace element concentrations between ash layers and sediments indicate the potential value of arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), tellurium (Te), rhenium (Re), and thallium (Tl) as volcanic proxies. These elements are enriched in the sediment layers compared to the ashes and correlate with Hg/TOC. In particular, we observe elevated concentrations in Te (up to 600 ppb), compared to the average continental crustal value of about 3 ppb. Leaching of samples with dilute acid suggests that ash particles have degassed Te during eruption, whereas the sediments which were deposited more slowly, incorporate Te in a loosely bound form consistent with an atmospheric origin. We conclude that these trace elements are valuable proxies for the reconstruction of past volcanism.