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Developed Article Mauna Kea Drew R. Smith, Joe Quick 2
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Developed Article Mauna Kea: One of the three main volcanic mountains on Hawaii, the biggest island in Hawaii (U.S. state). [e]
Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea observatories Mauna Kea observatories
Elevation 13,796 ft (4205 m)
Location United States of America

Hilo, Hawaii

Coordinates 19°49'14.39"N 155°28'05.04"W
Range Hawaiʻian-Emperor seamount chain
Type Shield volcano
Last Eruption About 2460 BC ± 100 years
Approximate age About 400,000 years old

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano in the U.S. state of Hawaii (U.S. state), one of five volcanoes which together form the island of Hawaiʻi. Mauna kea means "white mountain" in the Hawaiʻian language, a reference to its summit being regularly covered by snow in winter.

The peak of Mauna Kea is 13,796 ft (4205 m) above sea level but about 33,000 ft (10000 m) above its base on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It is the world's tallest mountain by this measure, taller than Mount Everest, which is the highest mountain above sea level.

Pu`u Wēkiu is the highest of the numerous cinder cones on the summit plateau. It is also the highest point in the state. Mauna Kea can be reached via the Saddle Road.

Physical Resources

Mauna Kea stands approximately 13,796 ft (4205 m), or 33,000 ft (10000 m) from the ocean floor. Three cinder cones (pu`u) make up the summit of Mauna Kea (Pu`u Hau`oki, Pu`u Wēkiu, Pu`u Haukea), collectively referred to as Pu`u o Kūkahau`ula. Mauna Kea is the highest point in the Pacific Basin and the highest island-mountain in the world. Mauna Kea was listed as a National Natural Landmark in 1972. There is also evidence of glaciers that covered nearly 27-square miles of the summit region during the Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Ages) approximately 18,000 years ago.

Geology

Magma pushed up through the oceanic crust began building Mauna Kea approximately 750,000 years ago. Throughout its building stages, lava flowed from three main rift zones, forming a volcano resembling a warrior's shield. At the end of the shield stage eruptions became more explosive, discharging magma referred to as tephra. These eruptions created the numerous cinder cones dotted across the highest elevations of Mauna Kea.

During the Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Ages) the summit region of Mauna Kea, was covered with glaciers. It is believed that melting of the glaciers was the first source of water for Lake Waiau.

Climate

Above 7,000 ft (2100 m), the upper slopes and summit region of Mauna Kea are classified as high alpine desert, above the trade wind inversion, where the air is dry and cool. During winter months (November-April) low-pressure systems tend to inhibit formation of the inversion layer, permitting increased precipitation, including snowfall at the summit. Annual precipitation ranges from 7-18 inches (18-46 cm) in the summit area to 12-20 inches (30-51 cm) at Hale Pōhaku.

Flora and Fauna

Mauna Kea can generally be divided into two ecosystems; the subalpine ecosystem, which is at 5,600 ft (1700 m) to 9,500 ft (2900 m), and the alpine ecosystem, which is occurs above 9,500 ft (2900 m). Hale Pōhaku occurs in the upper reaches of the subalpine ecosystem, while the Mauna Kea Science Reserve occurs in the alpine ecosystem.

Subalpine Flora and Fauna (Hale Pōhaku and Access Road)

The subalpine pant life consists of māmane forests and understory plants including; alpine hairgrass, pili uka, `āheahea, pūkiawe, nohoanu, kalamoho, `iwa`iwa, olali`i, littleleaf stenogyne, and mā`ohi`ohi. Hawai`i catchfly, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), has been observed there as well. Invasive weeds such as grasses and common mullein also inhabit the area and appear to be increasing in abundance.

Māmane forests once ranged from sea level on the leeward side of Mauna Kea up to the tree line, however they have been pushed back, and greatly decreased due to habitat alteration, and invasive plant and animal species that inhibit the growth of Māmane trees.

The subalpine animal life consists of a wide variety of native arthropods (insects, spiders), palila, `amakihi, `apapane, `elepaio, `kiapola`au, `i`iwi, as well as many species of non-native birds and mammals (e.g. cats, rats, barn owls, and mongoose).

Alpine Flora and Fauna (Mauna Kea Science Reserve)

Alpine plant and animal communities on Mauna Kea begin just above the treeline, at approximately 9,500 ft (2895.6 m), and rise to the summit of the mountain at 13,796 ft (4205 m). The alpine communities can be divided in shrublands, grasslands, and desert, though they all can be described as barren, and no clear line exists between any of the groups.

Alpine Shrublands and Grasslands

Alpine shrublands are inhabited mainly by pūkiawe, ōhelo, Mauna Kea dubautia, Hawaiʻian bentgrass, pili uka, Douglas' bladderfern, kalamoho, `olali`i, `iwa`iwa. Now rare, historically common species included `āhinahina (Mauna Kea Silversword), lava dubautia, `ōhelo papa (Hawaiʻian strawberry), `ena `ena, nohoanu and alpine tetramolopium. Non-Native invasive species include hairy cat's ear, sheep sorrel, common mullein, and fireweed.

Relatively few animals have been documented to frequent this region.

Mauna Kea Summit – Alpine Stone Desert

The plant community at the summit consists of mosses, lichens, and algae, and a limited number of vascular plants, predominantly the same species found in the alpine shrublands and grasslands.

Lichens and mosses have the most diversity of any of the plant life found at the summit. A survey of the summit found 21 species of lichens, plus five possible others. Around half of the lichen species found on Mauna Kea are endemic (found only in Hawai`i), two of which (Pseudephebe pubescens and Umbilicaria pacifica) are limited to Mauna Kea alone. Mosses occur where water availability is more consistent, such as under overhanging rocks and in shaded crevices or caves where snow melts slowly. A survey identified approximately 12 species most of which are indigenous to the Hawaiʻian Islands.

The animal community at the summit consists almost completely of arthropods. The arthropod community on the summit is highly unusual in that it is mostly made up of predators and scavengers, and there are very few species that rely on plants as their sole food source. Surveys conclude that 21 resident species, and 14 species of undetermined origin have been observed in this region.

Cultural Significance

Sacredness of Mauna Kea

As with other cultures throughout the world, early Polynesians believed their highest points of land were the most sacred. In Hawaiʻi, tradition tells us that the highest and most sacred places were Mauna Wai`ale`ale on Kaua`i; Mauna Ka`ala on O`ahu; Mauna Haleakalā on Maui; and Mauna Kea on Hawaiʻi. Mauna Kea, being the highest point throughout the Pacific, has been considered by many to be the most sacred of all. Mauna Kea was host to religious practices, study of the heavens, and tool making in the Keanakāko‘i Adze Quarry.

The Highest Portal to the Hawaiʻian Universe

Mauna Kea is the mountain altar of Wākea, also known as the celestial father. Wākea is the ancestor of the indigenous Hawaiʻian race.

A Sacred Spiritual Burial Ground

According to traditional accounts, Pu`u Lilinoe, named for the goddess of mists and Lilinoe, was buried in a cave near the summit of Mauna Kea. Aside from this legend, there are many confirmed and suspected burial grounds of Kahuna (chiefs) and Ali`i (priests) on the upper slopes, and the summit platuea of Mauna Kea.

The Source of Life

Mauna Kea makes up a large part of the islands aquifer. It is believed that Poli`ahu (snow), Lilinoe (mist) and Waiau (ice) are the female waters in perpetual intercourse with Wākea for the furtherance of all life.

Telescopes

There are currently thirteen telescopes near the summit of Mauna Kea. Nine of them are for optical and infrared astronomy, three are for submillimeter wavelength astronomy and one for radio astronomy. They include the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world (the Keck telescopes), the largest dedicated infrared telescope (UKIRT) and the largest submillimeter telescope in the world (the JCMT).

Viewing Time

The University of Hawai`i receives 10 to 15 percent of each telescope’s viewing time in place of a monetary rental fee. This telescope time is allotted to UH scientists to conduct research. Telescope organizations pay for operational and infrastructure development costs on Mauna Kea, such as roadway improvements, installation of fiber optics, operation of the Visitor Information Station, and snow removal.

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 Drew R. Smith, Joe Quick 2


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Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400[1], two of them in prose, the rest in verse. The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.[2] The Canterbury Tales are remarkable for having been written in the vernacular, Middle English, rather than the language of courtiers (French) or of the church (Latin). From the earliest days of their appearance to the present moment, they have been recognized as a foundational pillar of English literature. The Oxford English Dictionary says that "in later times" the phrase "Canterbury Tale" is "often taken as" being "a long tedious story, a fable, a cock-and-bull story".[3]

Poetic structure

Much of The Canterbury Tales is in iambic pentameters with an AABB rhyming scheme, but a few tales were written in other forms, among them the ballad stanza.

The individual tales

The themes of the tales vary, and include topics such as courtly love, treachery, and avarice. The genres also vary, and include romance, Breton lai, sermon, beast fable, and fabliau. The characters, introduced in the General Prologue of the book, tell tales of great cultural relevance.

The Tales include:

Some of the tales are serious and others humorous; however, all are very precise in describing the traits and faults of human nature. Antifraternal and anti-clerical themes abound, along with instances of courtly romance, fabliaux, and the traditional ballad. The work is incomplete, at least if we take at face value the claim in the General Prologue that each character would tell four tales, two on the way to Canterbury and two on the return journey. This would have meant a possible one hundred and twenty tales which would have dwarfed the twenty-six tales actually written. The missing tales inspired many, some quite soon after Chaucer's death in 1400, to write their own additional tales, among them the spurious Plowman's Tale and the Tale of Beryn, a continuation of the narrative which includes the pilgrims' eventual arrival in Canterbury itself as well as the beginning of the return journey.

From the 14th century to the present, readers have found political overtones within the tales, particularly as Chaucer himself was a significant courtier and political figure at the time, close to the corridors of power. Chaucer's wife Philippa (de) Roet was the sister of John of Gaunt's favourite mistress (afterwards third wife), Katherine Swynford, and Chaucer had close ties with the so-called Lollard Knights. There are many hints at contemporary events, although few are proven, and the theme of marriage common in the tales is presumed to allude to several different marriages, most often those of John of Gaunt. In addition to Chaucer himself, Harry Bailly of the Tabard Inn was a real person and the Cook has been identified as quite likely to be Roger Knight de Ware, a contemporary London, United Kingdom cook.

The complete work

The work was probably begun in the 1380s with Chaucer stopping work at some point in the late 1390s prior to his death in 1400. It was not written down fully conceived: it seems to have had many revisions with the addition of new tales at various times. The plan for one hundred and twenty tales is from the general prologue. It is announced by Harry Bailly, the host, that there will be four tales each. This is not necessarily the opinion of Chaucer himself, who appears as the only character to tell more than one tale. It has been suggested that the unfinished state was deliberate on Chaucer's part.

The structure of The Canterbury Tales is a frame narrative and easy to find in other contemporary works, such as The Book of Good Love by Juan Ruiz and Boccaccio's Decameron, which may have been one of Chaucer's main sources of inspiration. Chaucer indeed adapted several of Boccaccio's stories to put in the mouths of his own pilgrims, but what sets Chaucer's work apart from his contemporaries' is his characters. Compared to Boccaccio's main characters - seven women and three men, all young, fresh and well-to-do, and given Classical names - the characters in Chaucer are of extremely varied stock, including representatives of most of the branches of the middle classes at that time. Not only are the participants very different, but they tell very different types of tales, with their personalities showing through both in their choices of tales and in the way they tell them.

The idea of a pilgrimage appears to have been mainly a useful device to get such a diverse collection of people together for literary purposes. The Monk would probably not be allowed to undertake the pilgrimage and some of the other characters would be unlikely ever to want to attend. Also all of the pilgrims ride horses, there is no suggestion of them suffering for their religion. None of the popular shrines along the way are visited and there is no suggestion that anyone attends mass, so that it seems much more like a tourist's jaunt.

Chaucer does not pay that much attention to the progress of the trip. He hints that the tales take several days but he does not detail any overnight stays. Although the journey could be done in one day this speed would make telling tales difficult and three to four days was the usual duration for such pilgrimages. The 18th of April is mentioned in the tales and Walter William Skeat, a 19th-century editor, determined 17 April 1387 as the probable first day of the tales.

Scholars divide the tales into ten fragments. The tales that make up a fragment are directly connected, usually with one character speaking to and handing over to another character, but there is no connection between most of the other fragments. This means that there are several possible permutations for the order of the fragments and consequently the tales themselves. The above listing is perhaps the most common in modern times, with the fragments numbered I-X, but an alternative order lists them A-G, with the tales from the Physician's until the Nun's Priest's placed before the Wife of Bath's. The exception to the independence between fragments are the last two. The Manciple's tale is the last tale in IX but fragment X starts with the Parson's prologue by saying that the Manciple had finished his tale. The reason that they are kept as two different fragments is that the Manciple starts his short tale in the morning but the Parson's tale is told at four in the afternoon. It is assumed that Chaucer would have amended his manuscript or inserted more tales to fill the time.

Two early manuscripts of the tale are the Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript and the Ellesmere manuscript. Altogether, the Tales survives in eighty-four manuscripts and four printed editions dating from before 1500. The Canterbury Tales Project is transcribing the whole text of all these versions, comparing them to attempt to uncover how they are related, and publishing transcripts, images and analyses of all this: see further the links in References, below.

Significance

Like Dante, Chaucer's greatest contribution that this work made to English literature was in popularising the literary use of the vernacular language, English (rather than French or Latin). Some of Chaucer's contemporaries, such as John Gower, also wrote some of their literary output in English, and yet only Chaucer staked his all on English, while at the same time taking inspiration from continental writers in the vernacular, such as Dante and Boccaccio. Within the tradition of English verse, Chaucer's output helped to assure the predominance of continental verse forms, in particular rhymed verse, over the traditional alliterative form.

The pilgrims' route and real locations

The pilgrims would probably have travelled along Watling Street, a route ancient even in Chaucer's time. Used by the Celts, paved by the Romans and named by the Anglo-Saxons, the stretch from London to Canterbury and then Dover is now the A2 road.

The City of Canterbury has a museum dedicated to The Canterbury Tales".[4]

The postulated return journey has intrigued many and continuations have been written as well as tales written for the characters who are mentioned but not given a chance to speak. The Tale of Beryn is a story by an anonymous author within a 15th-century manuscript of the work. The tales are rearranged and there are some interludes in Canterbury, which they had finally reached, and Beryn is the first tale on the return journey, told by the Merchant. John Lydgate's Siege of Thebes is also a depiction of the return journey but the tales themselves are actually prequels to the tale of classical origin told by the Knight in Chaucer's work.

Miscellanea

The title of the work has become an everyday phrase in the language and has been variously adapted and adopted. Recently an animated version of some of the tales has been produced for British television. As well as a version with Modern English dialogue, there were versions in the original Middle English and Welsh.

Evolutionist Richard Dawkins used The Canterbury Tales as a structure for his 2004 book about evolution - The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution. His animal pilgrims are on their way to find the common ancestor, each telling a tale about evolution.

In the U.S., The Canterbury Tales has been expurgated since its first appearance; it was subjected to revisions as late as 1928. In 1995, the book was challenged at Eureka Illinois High School for its lewd content and banned.

Idries Shah in The Sufis wrote of evidence that the work was based on Fariduddin Attar's 12th-century work The Parliament Of The Birds citing various similarities between the two works[5]. Like Attar, Chaucer had thirty participants in his pilgrimage and both works are an allegory of inner development. "The Pardoner's Tale" occurs in Attar's work, whilst the pear-tree story is found in Book IV of the Mathnawi by the 13th century author Rumi[5].

Stage and film adaptations and allusions

Notes

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia Brittanica (online) https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Canterbury-Tales, last access 9/1/2020
  2. ↑ The shrine was destroyed in the 16th century during the dissolution of the monasteries.
  3. ↑ The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Volume 1, A–0, Oxford, England, 26th U.S. printing, July 1987, page 330, Library of Congress Catalogue Card #76-188038
  4. ↑ Canterbury Tales Museum, Canterbury.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.apnaorg.com/book-chapters/rumi/

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