The Eocene Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 34 million years ago. It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era; the name Eocene comes from the Ancient Greek ἠώς and καινός and refers to the "dawn" of modern fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch; the start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the Grande Coupure or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Siberia and in what is now Chesapeake Bay; as with other geologic periods, the strata that define the start and end of the epoch are well identified, though their exact dates are uncertain. The Eocene epoch is conventionally divided into early and late subdivisions.

The corresponding rocks are referred to as lower and upper Eocene. The Ypresian stage constitutes the lower, the Priabonian stage the upper; the Eocene Epoch contained a wide variety of different climate conditions that includes the warmest climate in the Cenozoic Era and ends in an icehouse climate. The evolution of the Eocene climate began with warming after the end of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum at 56 million years ago to a maximum during the Eocene Optimum at around 49 million years ago. During this period of time, little to no ice was present on Earth with a smaller difference in temperature from the equator to the poles. Following the maximum was a descent into an icehouse climate from the Eocene Optimum to the Eocene-Oligocene transition at 34 million years ago. During this decrease, ice began to reappear at the poles, the Eocene-Oligocene transition is the period of time where the Antarctic ice sheet began to expand. Greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide and methane, played a significant role during the Eocene in controlling the surface temperature.

The end of the PETM was met with large sequestration of carbon dioxide into the forms of methane clathrate and crude oil at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, that reduced the atmospheric carbon dioxide. This event was similar in magnitude to the massive release of greenhouse gasses at the beginning of the PETM, it is hypothesized that the sequestration was due to organic carbon burial and weathering of silicates. For the early Eocene there is much discussion; this is due to numerous proxies representing different atmospheric carbon dioxide content. For example, diverse geochemical and paleontological proxies indicate that at the maximum of global warmth the atmospheric carbon dioxide values were at 700–900 ppm while other proxies such as pedogenic carbonate and marine boron isotopes indicate large changes of carbon dioxide of over 2,000 ppm over periods of time of less than 1 million years. Sources for this large influx of carbon dioxide could be attributed to volcanic out-gassing due to North Atlantic rifting or oxidation of methane stored in large reservoirs deposited from the PETM event in the sea floor or wetland environments.

For contrast, today the carbon dioxide levels are at 400 ppm or 0.04%. At about the beginning of the Eocene Epoch the amount of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere more or less doubled. During the early Eocene, methane was another greenhouse gas that had a drastic effect on the climate. In comparison to carbon dioxide, methane has much greater effect on temperature as methane is around 34 times more effective per molecule than carbon dioxide on a 100-year scale. Most of the methane released to the atmosphere during this period of time would have been from wetlands and forests; the atmospheric methane concentration today is 0.000179% or 1.79 ppmv. Due to the warmer climate and sea level rise associated with the early Eocene, more wetlands, more forests, more coal deposits would be available for methane release. Comparing the early Eocene production of methane to current levels of atmospheric methane, the early Eocene would be able to produce triple the amount of current methane production; the warm temperatures during the early Eocene could have increased methane production rates, methane, released into the atmosphere would in turn warm the troposphere, cool the stratosphere, produce water vapor and carbon dioxide through oxidation.

Biogenic production of methane produces carbon dioxide and water vapor along with the methane, as well as yielding infrared radiation. The breakdown of methane in an oxygen atmosphere produces carbon monoxide, water vapor and infrared radiation; the carbon monoxide is not stable so it becomes carbon dioxide and in doing so releases yet more infrared radiation. Water vapor traps more infrared than does carbon dioxide; the middle to late Eocene marks not only the switch from warming to cooling, but the change in carbon dioxide from increasing to decreasing. At the end of the Eocene Optimum, carbon dioxide began decreasing due to increased siliceous plankton productivity and marine carbon burial. At the beginning of the middle Eocene an event that may have triggered or helped with the draw down of carbon dioxide was the Azolla event at around 49 million years ago. With the equable climate during the early Eocene, warm temperatures in the arctic allowed for the growth of azolla, a f

Sidi Ali Amhaouch was a Moroccan religious leader who opposed the French rule of Morocco. Amhaouch was descended from a long line of marabouts who were influential religious figures in Morocco from 1700. Amhaouch backed two rebellions against the Moroccan government and fought against the French occupying forces, he declared a defensive jihad against France during the Zaian War but died of natural causes in 1918, three years before the war ended in the tribesmen's defeat. His son, Sidi El Mekki Amhaouch, continued to fight the French until his defeat in 1932. Amhaouch's descendant is a leader of religion in modern-day Morocco. Amhaouch was a member of a dynasty of marabouts that dominated Morocco from around 1700 to the present day; the Amhaouchs were renowned for their "Koranic-inspired teaching, magic rites and doomsday prophecies". One of his ancestors was responsible for the capturing of Sultan Mulay Slimane in 1818. Ali Amhaouch was born in 1844 and became known as a religious figure who commanded respect across Morocco and was one of the few people capable of bringing peace to warring tribes.

He made his own prophecies and considered the Jbel Toujjit mountain, the source of the Moulouya River, to be a sacred site. Amhaouch supported the Ait Sokhman tribe against the rival Zaian Confederation in intermittent warfare lasting from 1877 to 1909. Amhaouch was a key backer of Si Mhand Laârbi, a member of the Alaouite dynasty, against Moroccan government forces in the 1880s. Laârbi's men were able to defeat a force commanded by Moulay Srou, the uncle of Sultan Hassan I, in battle in 1888. Amhaouch met with the French explorer René de Segonzac in 1904-5 and gave him documents detailing the mountains and tribes of Aghbala and a Tamazight prophecy; the prophecy was written in the 12th century of Islam by Amhaouch's great uncle, Bou Beker, was said to foretell the 1818 victory over Sultan Hassan. Segonzac described Amhaouch as a strong and influential man, one of the "great spiritual leaders of Morocco" and the "most powerful religious personality of the south east". Amhaouch supported another revolt against the Moroccan sultan in 1908, leading troops of the Melwiya to join the uprising led by Moulay Lahssen el Sabaâ in the east of the country until forced to return home due to Sabaâ's defeat at the hands of the French troops in Menhaba and Boudenib.

Following the declaration of the French protectorate over Morocco after the signing of the Treaty of Fez in 1912 French troops began occupying the inland portion of Morocco. Following the 1914 fall of Khénifra he joined forces with his former enemy, Mouha ou Hammou Zayani, tribal leader Moha ou Said to form a "powerful Berber trinity" that contested the Zaian War against the French. Amhaouch declared a defensive jihad against the French upon the outbreak of the First World War; this extended from the Dades Gorges to the desert beyond the Anti-Atlas mountains and was part of a plan to exploit the withdrawal of French troops from Morocco for the defence of France. Amhaouch's men were engaged and defeated by French columns commanded by Colonels Noël Garnier-Duplessix and Henri Claudel in late 1914. Amhaouch himself died of natural causes in 1918. Hammou and Said continued to fight the French and, though they lost the Zaian War in 1921, pacification of Morocco was not completed until 1934 - years after their deaths.

Amhaouch's eldest son, Sidi Lmekki Amhaouch, said to have inherited a magical rifle cartridge from his father fought against the French. In August/September 1932 he held out for more than a month with just 1,000 tribesmen against two French columns. Amhaouch's descendant, Sidi Mohand Amhaouch, is a religious leader in modern Morocco. O jackal of Anergui, you, companion of Mourik, carry yourselves to Tafza.

Dolorian is a doom metal band from Oulu, Finland. Their early recordings are viewed as some of the earliest examples of blackened doom metal. Recordings mixed dark ambient music with the traditional doom metal style; the band was founded in mid-1997 as a duo consisting of A. Kukkohovi, their combination of varied songs and melodies, several vocal styles, obscure spiritual lyrics set the band apart from many others in their genre. Dolorian recorded their first demos in autumn 1997 at Tico-Tico Studios with temporary keyboard player H. Riihinen, they were subsequently signed with Wounded Love Records. In April 1998 the band, along with their new keyboard player J. Ontero, recorded the debut album When All the Laughter Has Gone; the album was released in 1999. The following year, the band recorded their second album. Entitled Dolorian, it was a continuation of the black doom sound of their debut, although with much quieter vocals; the self-titled album, considering the raw black/doom sound of the first album, blurs the boundaries of clear classification by instilling a more psychedelic and ambient backdrop.

In 2002, Dolorian recorded songs for a split release with Shining, but record label problems delayed its release until 2004. In 2006, the band released their third album, which demonstrated a further shift in their sound and included the usage of dark ambient elements, their latest album is a blend of sounds from their previous releases. On the one hand there are long passages of ambient, psychedelic rock, with heavy flange, clean vocals: on the other hand, there are loud blackened doom metal passages to contrast the atmospheric stylations, with a blend of two harsh vocals, heavy distortion, blaring synthesizers; the band's website has been updated infrequently since 2006. All of its members are involved in dark ambient projects, which has shifted their concentration away from Dolorian. Anti Ittna Haapapuro – vocals, electric guitar Ari Kukkohovi – bass guitar, electric guitar Jussi Ontero – keyboard 1999 – When All the Laughter Has Gone 2001 – Dolorian 2004 – Dolorian / Shining 2006 – Voidwards Dolorian official website Dolorian on Encyclopaedia Metallum Dolorian on Last.fm Helixes musical collective