A propensity for n‐ω‐amino acids in thermally altered Antarctic meteorites

Abstract– Asteroids and their fragments have impacted the Earth for the last 4.5 Gyr. Carbonaceous meteorites are known to contain a wealth of indigenous organic molecules, including amino acids, which suggests that these meteorites could have been an important source of prebiotic organic material during the origins of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere. We report the detection of extraterrestrial amino acids in thermally altered type 3 CV and CO carbonaceous chondrites and ureilites recovered from Antarctica. The amino acid concentrations of the thirteen Antarctic meteorites ranged from 300 to 3200 parts‐per‐billion (ppb), generally much less abundant than in amino acid‐rich CI, CM, and CR carbonaceous chondrites that experienced much lower temperature aqueous alteration on their parent bodies. In contrast to low‐temperature aqueously altered meteorites that show complete structural diversity in amino acids formed predominantly by Strecker–cyanohydrin synthesis, the thermally altered meteorites studied here are dominated by small, straight‐chain, amine terminal (n‐ω‐amino) amino acids that are not consistent with Strecker formation. The carbon isotopic ratios of two extraterrestrial n‐ω‐amino acids measured in one of the CV chondrites (δ¹³C approximately ?25‰) are consistent with ¹³C‐depletions observed previously in hydrocarbons produced by Fischer‐Tropsch type reactions. The predominance of n‐ω‐amino acid isomers in thermally altered meteorites hints at cosmochemical mechanisms for the preferential formation and preservation of a small subset of the possible amino acids.     

Environmental Change and Terrestrial Resource Use by the Thule and Inuit of Labrador,Canada

The object of this study is to document how the Inuit on the northern coast of Labrador, Canada used terrestrial resources such as peat and wood during the Little Ice Age (LIA; A.D. 1500–1870). Paleoecological investigations consisting of pollen and macrofossil analyses were undertaken in conjunction with archaeological excavations at the Inuit winter settlement sites of Oakes Bay 1, located in the Nain region of north‐central Labrador. Our data indicate that the major changes in terrestrial ecosystems of this coastal region were triggered by climate change. From ca. 5700 to 3000 cal. yr B.P., climatic conditions were relatively warm and moist. At ca. 3000 cal. yr B.P. conditions became significantly drier and colder, which corresponds to broader climatic trends during the Neoglacial period. At ca. 1000 cal. yr B.P., the reappearance of hygrophilic species and the establishment of Larix laricina provide evidence of a return to more humid conditions that in turn triggered the onset of the paludification of sandy terraces in the Dog Island region. Peat accumulation persisted after ca. 580 cal. yr B.P. likely due to the elevation of the frost table during the LIA. Elevated frost tables contributed to water saturation of the surface during the spring, creating conditions that were conducive to the preservation of organic material. Natural resources such as trees and peat were therefore readily available and more abundant during the LIA and extensively used by the Inuit for house construction and heating in the Dog Island region.     

Geophysical fingerprints of hyper-extended,exhumed and embryonic oceanic domains: the example from the Iberia–Newfoundland rifted margins

This study investigates the magnetic and gravity signatures and associated seismic character of hyper-extended, exhumed and embryonic oceanic domains along the conjugate Iberia–Newfoundland rifted margins. As these margins have been drilled down to basement along their distal parts, it is possible to explore and test different geophysical techniques and interpretations. The aims of this work are twofold: (1) to investigate the location and nature of the two main marginal boundaries—the necking zone and the J Anomaly, which define the limits of major domains; and (2) to map the lateral variations of gravity and magnetic signatures and their detailed correlation with seismic data, from the proximal margin until the first unequivocal oceanic magnetic anomaly (e.g. C34 Anomaly). The results point out that the J Anomaly corresponds to a first-order tectono-magmatic boundary, with a basement formed by polyphase magmatism. It marks the boundary between the exhumed mantle domain, with little magmatic additions, from a domain oceanwards that reveals comparable trends, frequencies and a general magnetic pattern at both sides of the Atlantic, suggesting a coeval evolution. We propose that the domain between the J and the C34 Anomalies was formed by an embryonic spreading system, with intermittent budgets of magma, similar to those observed at very slow spreading systems. The J Anomaly may thus correspond to the location of lithospheric breakup though its origin and the nature of the domain oceanwards remains to be constrained.     

Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under cashews

Land degradation is becoming a serious problem in the west coast region of India where one of the world's eight biodiversity hotspots,the‘Western Ghats’,is present.Poor land management practices and high rainfall have led to increasing problems associated with land degradation.A long-term(13-year)experiment was done to evaluate the impact of soil and water conservation measures on soil carbon sequestration and soil quality at three different depths under cashew nut cultivation on a 19%slope.Five soil and water conservation measures-continuous contour trenches,staggered contour trenches,halfmoon terraces,semi-elliptical trenches,and graded trenches all with vegetative barriers of Stylosanthes scabra and Vetiveria zizanoides and control were evaluated for their influence on soil properties,carbon sequestration,and soil quality under cashews.The soil and water conservation measures improved significantly the soil organic carbon,soil organic carbon stock,carbon sequestration rate and microbial activity compared to the control condition(without any measures).Among the measures tested,continuous contour trenches with vegetative barriers outperformed the others with respect to soil organic carbon stock,sequestration rate,and microbial activity.The lower metabolic quotient with the measures compared to the control indicated alleviation of environmental stress on microbes.Using principal component analysis and a correlation matrix,a minimum dataset was identified as the soil available nitrogen,bulk density,basal soil respiration,soil pH,acid phosphatase activity,and soil available boron and these were the most important soil properties controlling the soil quality.Four soil quality indices using two summation methods(additive and weighted)and two scoring methods(linear and non-linear)were developed using the minimum dataset.A linear weighted soil quality index was able to statistically differentiate the effect of soil and water conservation measures from that of the control.The highest value of the soil quality index of 0.98 was achieved with continuous contour trenches with a vegetative barrier.The results of the study indicate that soil and water conservation measures for cashews are a potential strategy to improve the soil carbon sequestration and soil quality along with improving crop productivity and reducing the erosion losses.     

Extended time series measurements of submarine groundwater discharge tracers (222Rn and CH4) at a coastal site in Florida

We report the results of an experiment in which we measured ²²²Rn (15,000 observations), CH₄ (40,000 observations), and associated variables in seawater nearly continuously at a coastal site in the Gulf of Mexico for almost two years. Significant correlations between ²²²Rn and CH₄ imply that they are derived from a common source, most likely groundwater. However, we were unable to explain the overall tracer variability as a single function of groundwater table height, temperature, tidal range, and wind speed, indicating multiple, overlapping controls on SGD dynamics at this site. Methane and radon concentrations may vary 2-fold in a given well in the subterranean estuary over tidal time scales, demonstrating the complexity of determining SGD endmember concentrations and suggesting that unaccounted for temporal changes in groundwater may explain some of the patterns observed in seawater. Surprisingly, the variability of ²²²Rn and CH₄ in seawater over short (e.g., hourly) time scales was generally comparable to or even more pronounced than fluctuations over much longer (e.g., monthly) scales. While high tracer concentrations usually occurred during low tide and low tracer concentrations during high tide, this pattern was occasionally inverted or absent indicating that no single model can be used to describe the entire data set. We also describe a sequence of events in which SGD tracers were depleted in coastal waters during storms and regenerated afterwards. We found no increase in radon activities immediately after the largest storm (75 mm rainfall) perhaps because of the short residence times of groundwater in contrast to the ingrowth time of radon. Marine controls appeared to be the most important SGD drivers with only minor influence relating to the shallow and deep aquifers. This implies that seasonal investigations of SGD tracers in the coastal ocean may be masked by short-term variability.     

Cumberland batholith,Trans-Hudson Orogen,Canada: Petrogenesis and implications for Paleoproterozoic crustal and orogenic processes

Large volume, plutonic belts, such as the ～ 221,000 km², ca. 1.865–1.845 Ga Cumberland batholith (CB) of the Trans-Hudson Orogen in Canada, are major components of Paleoproterozoic orogenic belts. In many cases, they have been interpreted as continental arc batholiths. The petrogenesis and tectonic context of the CB and implications for crustal growth and recycling are interpreted herein based on a 900 km geochemical-isotopic (Nd–O) transect across it and into granitoid plutons within bounding Archean cratons in central and southern Baffin Island.The mainly granulite grade CB, emplaced over an age span of between 14 and 24 Ma, consists mainly of high-K to shoshonitic monzogranite and granodiorite, but also includes low- and medium-K granitoid rocks. Metaluminous to slightly peraluminous compositions and δ¹⁸O (VSMOW) values (+ 6 to + 10‰) indicate derivation from infracrustal (I-type) sources. ε_Nd 1.85 Ga signatures (? 12 to ? 2) of both mafic and felsic units suggest a dominance of evolved sources. Isotopic signatures in the interior of the CB (? 2 to ? 7) are more radiogenic than those within Archean domains in central (? 8 to ? 15) and southern (? 5 to ? 19) Baffin Island. The isotopic transect is interpreted as ‘imaging’ an accreted microcontinental block (Meta Incognita) and bounding Archean cratons. The CB includes granites of arc, within-plate (A-type) and post-collisional affinity and volumetrically minor mafic rocks with both arc and non-arc features. (La/Yb)_CN and Sr/Y values range from < 1 to 225 and < 1 to 611, respectively. In these respects, some CB granitoid rocks resemble Paleozoic adakitic granites, interpreted as partial melts of greatly thickened crust within post-collisional settings, such as Tibet. Thus, the CB likely encompasses various non-consanguineous magmatic suites generated at deep- to mid-crustal depths. Although CB granitoid rocks undoubtedly had important crustal sources, it is hard to assess the relative contribution of mantle-derived magmas.The CB is best interpreted as a post-accretion batholith resulting from large-scale lithospheric mantle delamination followed by the upwelling of hot asthenospheric mantle leading to voluminous crustal partial melting. Contributors to crustal instability which may have facilitated such delamination included: (a) a collage of recently assembled small cratons underlain by hot, weak lithosphere with mantle-depth structural breaks within this segment of the Trans-Hudson Orogen; (b) the gabbro-eclogite phase transformation, and (c) a greatly thickened crustal section (> 60 km), as evidenced by adakitic granites.     

Analytical extension of lunar libration tables

Tables of lunar physical libration defining the analytical dependence upon the parameters of the lunar gravitational field are presented. The tables are obtained on the framework of the main problem in lunar libration by integration of the Hamilton equations reduced to the harmonic oscillator equations.The variables of physical libration have been obtained in the form of Poisson series. The distinguishing feature of the tables is that these series are the analytical extension of semianalytical solution computed for a number of dynamical parameters LURE2.A comparison with the Eckhardt's solution is briefly presented. The previously revealed disagreement of the mean inclination of lunar equator to ecliptic with that in Eckhardt's solution 500 has been maintained.     

Ecology and population structure of theArtemia parthenogenetica,population inhabiting a major saltern in Sri Lanka

The structure of the naturally occurringArtemia parthenogenetica population inhabiting the Mahalewaya Saltern in Sri Lanka was studied over an annual cycle, together with accompanying variations in the physico-chemical characteristics of its pond waters.Artemia was found only in the serially connected earthen ponds that serve as condenser pans in the saltern. Over the 12-month period of study, salinities in these ponds ranged from 81.5 to 199.6 ppt, temperatures from 28.2 to 33.6°C, pH from 7.9 to 9.1 and dissolved oxygen from, 1.1 to 9.0 mg L^–1. The physico-chemical characters varied along a gradient across the three ponds, with salinity and temperature increasing with proximity of the condenser pans to the crystallizers of the saltern and dissolved, oxygen values showing the opposite trend. The ponds containingArtemia were shallow and had a maximum depth of 37 cm. Gross primary productivity ranged from negative values to 686.4 mg C m^–2 day^–1. Rainfall was distributed non-uniformly almost throughout the year, most of it being experienced from August to October, with a 254 mm maximum in October and lesser rainfall from December to May. Population numbers ranged from zero to 125 individuals L^–1 and declined with increasing salinities and temperatures which related, spatilly, to increasing proximity of ponds to crystallizers and temporally, to the dry weather periods. Recruitment was best at low salinities and temperatures (104 to 114 ppt and 28.2 to 30.5°C) but also took place, although, at reduced intensities, up to 174 ppt salinity and 32.2°C temperature. Populations were mostly dominated by instar I stage nauplii with adult stages predominating only during periods of high salinity and temperature. Water management practices for salt production in the salterns included maintaining shallow depths that lead to high water temperatures and pond irrigation procedures that resulted in abrupt salinity changes. Such practices limited the size of theArtemia population as well as prevented its spread into the numerous ponds of the saltern.     

Geophysical and Hydrologic Studies of Lake Seepage Variability

Variations in lake seepage were studied along a 130 m shoreline of Mirror Lake NH. Seepage was downward from the lake to groundwater; rates measured from 28 seepage meters varied from 0 to ?282 cm/d. Causes of this variation were investigated using electrical resistivity surveys and lakebed sediment characterization. Two‐dimensional (2D) resistivity surveys showed a transition in lakebed sediments from outwash to till that correlated with high‐ and low‐seepage zones, respectively. However, the 2D survey was not able to predict smaller scale variations within these facies. In the outwash, fast seepage was associated with permeability variations in a thin (2 cm) layer of sediments at the top of the lakebed. In the till, where seepage was slower than that in the outwash, a three‐dimensional resistivity survey mapped a point of high seepage associated with heterogeneity (lower resistivity and likely higher permeability). Points of focused flow across the sediment–water interface are difficult to detect and can transmit a large percentage of total exchange. Using a series of electrical resistivity geophysical methods in combination with hydrologic data to locate heterogeneities that affect seepage rates can help guide seepage meter placement. Improving our understanding of the causes and types of heterogeneity in lake seepage will provide better data for lake budgets and prediction of mass transfer of solutes or contaminants between lakes and groundwater.