Organisation et contrôle de l’espace dans l’aire culturelle aja-fon (Sud-Togo et Bénin – XVIIe-XIXe siècle The organization and control of territory in the aja-fon cultural zone (southern Togo and Benin, 17th-19th centuries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominique Juhé-Beaulaton

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Les migrations des populations, la fondation de nouveaux villages conduisent les hommes à appréhender leur environnement, leur nouveau territoire et leurs occupants en s’appuyant sur des principes religieux à la base du fonctionnement des sociétés de l’aire culturelle aja-fon, ou aja-tado. Les traditions orales, la toponymie, les sources écrites européennes montrent comment l’espace s’est structuré à partir de la perception de l’environnement. Le contrôle du milieu naturel par l’organisation sociale aboutit à sa territorialisation. Les migrants ou les conquérants (selon les contextes déploient des stratégies pour maîtriser l’espace et les hommes qui l’occupent par le biais concomitant des alliances matrimoniales et des déplacements de divinités. Dans le cadre des royaumes de la côte des Esclaves (Ouidah, Allada, Dahomey, un réseau d’implantations royales, toujours associées à des divinités installées dans l’objectif de contrôler les mouvements des hommes et des biens, permettait d’assurer la domination politique sur l’ensemble du territoire dominé.Human migrations and the foundation of new villages led people to reckon with their environment, with the new territory and its occupants, by referring to the religious principles that underlay the social organization of Aja-Tado societies. Oral traditions, toponyms and writings by Europeans provide evidence about how this territory took shape out of a perception of this environment. The control of the natural environment exercised by the society led to its territorialization. Migrants or conquerors, depending on the context, adopted strategies that involved making matrimonial alliances and moving divinities so as to control a territory and its occupants. Among the Slave Coast kingdoms (Ouidah, Allada, Dahomey, a network of royal settlements, likewise associated with divinities, controlled the movement of people and goods, and thus asserted political

Geostatistical exploration of dataset assessing the heavy metal contamination in Ewekoro limestone, Southwestern Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kehinde D. Oyeyemi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The dataset for this article contains geostatistical analysis of heavy metals contamination from limestone samples collected from Ewekoro Formation in the eastern Dahomey basin, Ogun State Nigeria. The samples were manually collected and analysed using Microwave Plasma Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (MPAS. Analysis of the twenty different samples showed different levels of heavy metals concentration. The analysed nine elements are Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium, Cobalt, Chromium, Nickel, Lead, Vanadium and Zinc. Descriptive statistics was used to explore the heavy metal concentrations individually. Pearson, Kendall tau and Spearman rho correlation coefficients was used to establish the relationships among the elements and the analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference in the mean distribution of the heavy metals concentration within and between the groups of the 20 samples analysed. The dataset can provide insights into the health implications of the contaminants especially when the mean concentration levels of the heavy metals are compared with recommended regulatory limit concentration.

Research activities in the fields of radiochemistry and neutron activation analysis using the LENA nuclear plant in Pavia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caramella-Crespi, V.; Case, M. Di; Gallorini, M.; Ganzerli-Valentini, M.

1976-01-01

The activity of the Radiochemistry Laboratory and National Research Council Center for Radiochemistry and Activation Analysis in the past two years has been mainly devoted to the following subjects: Several elements (V, Mn, Cu, Cd, Zn, Cr, Co, Fe, Cs, Rb, Sc) have been determined in biological, geological and cosmological matrices (as sediments, river waters, vegetables, foods, Italian condritic meteorites). Comparative measurements have been carried out using different techniques, such as atomic absorption and X-ray fluorescence; comparative investigations have been developed with different radioanalytical methods for Cr trace determination. A new rapid separation procedure of Hg, Se and As has been set up, based on selective behaviour toward granular copper. The evaluation of trace elements amount in Sardinian coal samples has been also accomplished. In the field of biomedical applications levels of trace elements were determined in the principal usual foods used by people of the lower Dahomey to the purpose of studying the correlation between the food content of these elements and the population's intake. Inorganic exchangers studies have been carried out on molybdenum dibromide, tantalum carbide and metallic copper retention properties and on the related absorption mechanism. X-ray fluorescence has been used as an analytical tool to integrate neutron activation analysis in the determination of Cr, Zn, Fe in environmental matrices. (author)

La culture de l'amarante, légume-feuilles tropical : avec référence spéciale au sud-Dahomey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grubben, G.J.H.

1975-01-01

1. INTRODUCTION

Amaranth is the most cultivated leaf vegetable of the humid tropics and as such comparable to spinach in the temperate regions. Efforts to improve the crop are hampered by a shortage of knowledge. The object of this study is to fill up a part of this gap. The

Characterization of African Bush Mango trees with emphasis on the differences between sweet and bitter trees in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vihotogbe, R.

2012-01-01

 African bush mango trees (ABMTs) are economically the most important species within the family of Irvingiaceae. They are priority trees producing non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and widely distributed in the humid lowland forests of West and Central Africa. To boost their production and

Synoptic Lithostratigraphy of The Niger Delta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nwajide, C.S.

2002-01-01

The Tertiary Niger Delta is stratigraphically framed by the Dahomey, Anambra, Abakaliki, Afikpo and Calabar Flank basins. From the apex at Onitsha a fluvial plain splays southwards and translates progressively into a freshwater swamp, succeeded by a mangrove swamp belt. Along the coast is a strip of wave-washed barrier bars indented by large estuaries, fronted by submerged moth bars. Habitation in the delta is on levees, point bars, and barrier bars. These landforms provided the firm salients for buildings the ports that facilitated international trade from the pre-colonial times.There are four lithofacies-clean, pebbly, and muddy sandstones, and mudstones. Their subdivision, based on sedimentary structures, textures and fossil content yields twenty reservoir and seven nonreservoir classes. Their environments of deposition, identified using facies associations, fall into fluvial, wave-and tide-dominated, marginal, and shallow marine, with localised canyons incised into the delta front and filled with deeper marine facies.The reservoirs are composed of 70 90% quartz, 4 15% feldspar, and 3 13% clay matrix, with minor mica, bioclasts, carbonaceous debris, glauconite, and heavy minerals. Grain size varies from very fine to coarse and pebbly, implying the presence of sands of varying textural and compositional maturities. Silica, K-feldspar, and carbonates constitute the cements.Porosity in the reservoirs has remained about the same as at deposition due to low mechanical compaction occasioned by shallow burial. Meteoric water-flushed progradational sequence are characterised by cementation with quartz and kaolinite. In contrast, marine water-flushed transgressive sands show grain coating illite-smectite, chlorite and K-feldspar overgrowths

West Africa - A Safe Haven for Frogs? A Sub-Continental Assessment of the Chytrid Fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)

Science.gov (United States)

Penner, Johannes; Adum, Gilbert B.; McElroy, Matthew T.; Doherty-Bone, Thomas; Hirschfeld, Mareike; Sandberger, Laura; Weldon, Ché; Cunningham, Andrew A.; Ohst, Torsten; Wombwell, Emma; Portik, Daniel M.; Reid, Duncan; Hillers, Annika; Ofori-Boateng, Caleb; Oduro, William; Plötner, Jörg; Ohler, Annemarie; Leaché, Adam D.; Rödel, Mark-Oliver

2013-01-01

A putative driver of global amphibian decline is the panzootic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). While Bd has been documented across continental Africa, its distribution in West Africa remains ambiguous. We tested 793 West African amphibians (one caecilian and 61 anuran species) for the presence of Bd. The samples originated from seven West African countries - Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone - and were collected from a variety of habitats, ranging from lowland rainforests to montane forests, montane grasslands to humid and dry lowland savannahs. The species investigated comprised various life-history strategies, but we focused particularly on aquatic and riparian species. We used diagnostic PCR to screen 656 specimen swabs and histology to analyse 137 specimen toe tips. All samples tested negative for Bd, including a widespread habitat generalist Hoplobatrachus occipitalis which is intensively traded on the West African food market and thus could be a potential dispersal agent for Bd. Continental fine-grained (30 arc seconds) environmental niche models suggest that Bd should have a broad distribution across West Africa that includes most of the regions and habitats that we surveyed. The surprising apparent absence of Bd in West Africa indicates that the Dahomey Gap may have acted as a natural barrier. Herein we highlight the importance of this Bd-free region of the African continent - especially for the long-term conservation of several threatened species depending on fast flowing forest streams (Conraua alleni (“Vulnerable”) and Petropedetes natator (“Near Threatened”)) as well as the “Critically Endangered” viviparous toad endemic to the montane grasslands of Mount Nimba (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis). PMID:23426141

West Africa - a safe haven for frogs? A sub-continental assessment of the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Penner

Full Text Available A putative driver of global amphibian decline is the panzootic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd. While Bd has been documented across continental Africa, its distribution in West Africa remains ambiguous. We tested 793 West African amphibians (one caecilian and 61 anuran species for the presence of Bd. The samples originated from seven West African countries - Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone - and were collected from a variety of habitats, ranging from lowland rainforests to montane forests, montane grasslands to humid and dry lowland savannahs. The species investigated comprised various life-history strategies, but we focused particularly on aquatic and riparian species. We used diagnostic PCR to screen 656 specimen swabs and histology to analyse 137 specimen toe tips. All samples tested negative for Bd, including a widespread habitat generalist Hoplobatrachus occipitalis which is intensively traded on the West African food market and thus could be a potential dispersal agent for Bd. Continental fine-grained (30 arc seconds environmental niche models suggest that Bd should have a broad distribution across West Africa that includes most of the regions and habitats that we surveyed. The surprising apparent absence of Bd in West Africa indicates that the Dahomey Gap may have acted as a natural barrier. Herein we highlight the importance of this Bd-free region of the African continent - especially for the long-term conservation of several threatened species depending on fast flowing forest streams (Conraua alleni ("Vulnerable" and Petropedetes natator ("Near Threatened" as well as the "Critically Endangered" viviparous toad endemic to the montane grasslands of Mount Nimba (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis.

Benin.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-11-01

Focus in this discussion of Benin is on the following: the people; geography; history; government and political conditions; economy; defense; foreign relations; and relations between the US and Benin. The population totaled 3.8 million in 1983 with an annual growth rate of 2.6%. The infant mortality rate is 45/1000 and life expectancy 46.9 years. The population comprises about 20 sociocultural groups. 4 groups -- the Fon, Aja, Bariba, and Yoruba -- account for more than half of the population. The name was changed from Dahomey to the People's Republic of Benin in 1975. 2 years after the military coup d'etat in 1972, Marxism-Leninism was declared the guiding philosophy of the new government. Marxism-Leninism remains the official doctrine, but the government has moved to take account of popular resistance to a radical social transformation, as well as problems encountered in attempting to establish a centrally directed economy. Benin is ranked as 1 of the world's 35 poorest countries. The commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors are all experiencing severe problems. The government's newest 5 year plan for 1983-88 places a stronger emphasis on developing agriculture. In so doing, the government hopes to assure its own domestic needs and to become a supplier of basic foodstuffs to the region. Benin's Armed Forces number about 3000 personnel. Benin is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of African Unity. Relations with France are important because of historical, cultural, economic, and aid links. After 1972, relations between the US and Benin became strained as Benin moved to strengthen its ties with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries and mounted harsh propaganda attacks on the US.

Geology and total petroleum systems of the Gulf of Guinea province of West Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Brownfield, Michael E.; Charpentier, Ronald R.

2006-01-01

The Gulf of Guinea Province as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) consists of the coastal and offshore areas of Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, and the western part of the coast of Nigeria, from the Liberian border east to the west edge of the Niger Delta. The province includes the Ivory Coast, Tano, Central, Saltpond, Keta, and Benin Basins and the Dahomey Embayment. The area has had relatively little hydrocarbon exploration since 1968, with only 33 small to moderate-sized oil and gas fields having been discovered prior to the USGS assessment. Most discoveries to 1995 have been located in water depths less than 500 m. Since 1995, only eight new offshore discoveries have been made, with four of the discoveries in the deep-water area of the province. Although as many as five total petroleum systems exist in the Gulf of Guinea Province, only one, the Cretaceous Composite Total Petroleum System, and its assessment unit, the Coastal Plain and Offshore Assessment Unit, had sufficient data to allow assessment. The province shows two important differences compared to the passive-margin basins south of the Niger Delta: (1) the influence of transform tectonics, and (2) the absence of evaporites and salt deformation. The province also lacks long-lived, large deltaic systems that typically result in rapid source rock burial and abundant high-quality hydrocarbon reservoirs. The USGS assessed the potential for undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Guinea Province as part of its World Petroleum Assessment 2000, estimating a mean of 1,004 million barrels of conventional undiscovered oil, 10,071 billion cubic feet of gas, and 282 million barrels of natural gas liquids. Most of the hydrocarbon potential is postulated to be in the offshore, deeper waters of the province. Gas resources may be large, as well as accessible, in areas where the zone of hydrocarbon generation is relatively shallow.

Impacts of the diversity of traditional uses and potential economic value on food tree species conservation status: case study of African bush mango trees (Irvingiaceae) in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vihotogbé, R.; Kakai, R.G.; Bongers, F.; Andel, van T.; Berg, van den R.G.; Sinsin, B.; Sosef, M.S.M.

2014-01-01

Background and aims – Bitter and sweet African bush mango trees belong to the family Irvingiaceae and produce valuable non-timber forest products in humid lowland areas of West and Central Africa. The bitter and sweet types are treated as distinct taxa at the variety or species level. They have not

Very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and electrical resistivity (ER) investigation for groundwater potential evaluation in a complex geological terrain around the Ijebu-Ode transition zone, southwestern Nigeria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osinowo, Olawale O; Olayinka, A Idowu

2012-01-01

Groundwater exploration in either a basement or sedimentary environment is often fairly well defined and focuses on delineating weathered/fractured rocks or saturated formations, respectively. Conversely, unique geological structures, the complex coexistence of different rock types and poorly defined basal/lateral contacts between basement and sedimentary rocks make groundwater development in a geological transition environment very challenging. Ijebu-Ode and its environs lie within such a problematic transition zone, between the Precambrian basement rocks and Cretaceous sediments of the Dahomey Basin, in southwestern Nigeria, where associated acute groundwater development challenges require adequate subsurface information to maximize its groundwater resource potential. This study integrated very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and electrical resistivity (ER) geophysical prospecting techniques for a detailed terrain study of Ijebu-Ode in order to establish the reasons for the low groundwater resource potential in the area. Thirty five VLF-EM profiles, 140 vertical electrical soundings (VES) and relevant hydrogeological data were acquired along grids and profiles. Data were filtered, inverted and enhanced using appropriate software packages. The current density and geoelectric parameters of the VLF-EM and VES data were employed to generate terrain maps, the conductivity distribution and a subsurface basement model of the study area. Current density plots and geoelectric parameters identified up to three layers in the basement complex terrain which comprised lateritic topsoil, weathered basement and fresh basement rocks. The five layers encountered in the sedimentary terrain were topsoil, a lateritic unit, a dry sandy unit, a saturated sandy unit and fresh basement rocks. The hydraulic conductivity of the thick (3–18 m) lateritic unit was determined to be 1.32 × 10 −5 mm s −1 , while that of the underlying sandy units ranged from 2.65 × 10 −4 to 1

Book Reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. van Baal

1965-01-01

Full Text Available - R.J. Mohr, Bernard J. Siegel, Biennial Review of Anthropology 1963. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California, 1963. 306 pp. - P.E. de Josselin de Jong, Jean Poirier, Guide d’enquête monographique appliquée aux sociétés malgaches. Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines de Madagascar, Tananarive 1962. - P.E. de Josselin de Jong, Jean Poirier, L’inventaire ethno-topographique. Departement des sciences humaines, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines, Université de Madagascar, Tananarive 1963. - H.Th. Fischer, P. van Emst, Panorama der Volken, I (Volken van Amerika en Oceanië, onder redactie van P. van Emst. Romen en zonen, Roermond 1964. 515 blz., vele ills. - C. Nooteboom, W. Frölich, Völkerkundliche Forschungen, Martin Heydrich zum 70. Geburtstag überreicht von Freunden und Schülern, herausgegeben von W. Frölich (Ethnologica, Neue Folge, Band 2, Köln, 1960. 557 S., 46 Tafeln, 116 Abb. - J. van Baal, Claude Levi-Strauss, Totemism. Translated from the French by Rodney Needham. Beacon Press, Boston, 1963. 116 pp. - J.J. Fahrenfort, Luc de Heusch, Le Pouvoir et le Sacré. Annales de Centre d’ Etude des Religions I. Université de Bruxelles. Institut de Sociologie (Solvay 1962. 228 pp. - H.J.M. Claessen, Montserrat Palau Marti, Le Roi-Dieu au Bénin, Sud Togo, Dahomey, Nigeria Occidentale. Collection Mondes d’Outre-mer, Série: Nations. Berger Levrault, Paris 1964. - P.E. de Josselin de Jong, F. Sierksma, Profiel van een incarnatie. G.A. van Oorschot, Amsterdam 1964. 244 blz. - B.A.L. Cranstone, Carl A. Schmitz, Wantoat: Art and religion of the Northeast New Guinea Papuans. Translated from the German by Mrs. G.E. van Baaren-Pape. Mouton (the Hague, Paris, 1963. 159 pp. 47 plates. - A.A. Gerbrands, William Fagg, Nigerian images. Lund Humphries, London, 1963. 47 pages, 144 plates by Herbert List. - A.A. Gerbrands, Marcelle Urbain-Faublée, L’art malgache. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1963. 141 pag. 100