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651.More information
An examination of Erasmus' changing views of Epicureanism must primarily rely on statements by himself that refer to Epicurus or indicate awareness of, and perhaps affinity with, some aspects of his philosophy. A brief first part will survey the intermediate sources for Epicurus' system, classical and patristic, appreciative or critical, with which Erasmus was familiar. Thereafter the procedure will be chronological, examining first the early traces of Erasmus' acquaintance with Epicurus, leading to an attempt to reconcile his moral philosophy with the Gospel teachings. Next Erasmus' years in Italy are considered. Italy had recently experienced a marked revival of interest in Epicurean thought, leading to a positive revaluation. Here Erasmus' familiarity with the work of Lorenzo Valla obtains a crucial importance. Valla turned Erasmus, to put it boldly, into a sort of convert to Epicureanism, as will be shown by a fresh look at his Moriae encomium. After the Moria Erasmus' statements relevant to Epicureanism tend to be more casual and inconsistent. In the end, however, we notice a reawakening of concern and almost a return to his initial endorsement of a Christian Epicureanism. The history of Epicureanism is an ongoing, often radical, quest for enduring felicity, although not always proceeding from the same intellectual premises. Finally, a brief attempt is made to assign Erasmus his modest place in that history.
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653.More information
Most pingos have grown in residual ponds left behind by rapid lake drainage through erosion of ice-wedge polygon systems. The field studies (1969-78) have involved precise levelling of numerous bench marks, extensive drilling, detailed temperature measurements, installation of water pressure transducers below permafrost and water (ice) quality, soil, and many other analyses. Precise surveys have been carried out on 17 pingos for periods ranging from 3 to 9 years. The field results show that permafrost aggradation in saturated lake bottom sediments creates the high pore water pressures necessary for pingo growth. The subpermafrost water pressures frequently approach that of the total litho-static pressure of permafrost surrounding a pingo. The water pressure is often great enough to lift a pingo and intrude a sub-pingo water lens beneath it. The basal diameter of a pingo is established in early youth after which time the pingo tends to grow higher, rather than both higher and wider. The shutoff direction of freezing is from periphery to center. When growing pingos have both through going taliks and also permeable sediments at depth, water may be expelled downwards by pore water expulsion from freezing and consolidation from self loading on saturated sediments. Pingos can rupture from bursting of the sub-pingo water lens. Otherwise, pingo failure is at the top and periphery. Hydraulic fracturing is probably important in some pingo failures. Water loss from sub-pingo water lenses causes subsidence with the subsidence pattern being the mirror image of the growth pattern; i.e. greatest subsidence at the top. Small peripheral bulges may result from subsidence. Old pingos collapse from exposure of the ice core to melting by overburden rupture, by mass wasting, and by permafrost creep of the sides.
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