Investigating gully flow emplacement mechanisms using apex slopes

The origin of the martian gullies has been much debated since their discovery by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC, Malin, M.C., Edgett, K.S. [2000]. Science 288, 2330-2335). Several previous studies have looked at slope gradients in and around gullies, but none have used Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE, McEwen, A.S., and 14 colleagues [2007]. J. Geophys. Res. 112 (E05), E0505S02), which has a pixel scale down to 25 cm/pixel. We use five 1 m/post HiRISE DEMs to measure gully apex slopes, the local channel gradient at the upslope extent of the gully debris apron, which marks a shift from erosion to deposition. The apex slope provides information about whether a flow was likely a typical dry granular flow (begins depositing on slopes ∼21°) or fluidized by some extra mechanism (depositing on shallower slopes). We find that 72% of the 75 gully fans studied were likely emplaced by fluidized flows. Relatively old gullies appear more likely to have hosted fluidized flows than relatively fresh gullies. This suggests a time and location dependent fluidizing agent, possibly liquid water produced in a different climate as previously proposed. Our results do not provide evidence for water-rich flows in gullies today.     

Biogenic Sediments and Their Paleoceanographic Implication in West Pacific Warm Pool during the Pleistocene

Primary productivity has played an important role in the global carbon cycle during the Quaternary. The average Corg/N ratio was 7.0 from the core MD97-2140 in the West Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) over the last 1 755 ka, which indicates a main contribution of marine organic carbon to the organic matter in the sediments. Large fluctuations in mass accumulation rates (MARs) of biogenics and lithogenics from this core since the marine isotope stage (MIS) 6 reflected the moderate variability in oceanographic condi...     

Chemistry and genesis of garnets in metamorphic rocks

250 analyses of garnets in metamorphic pelitic, arkosic, and pyroclastic rocks from the Stavanger area have been made by means of a microprobe (ARL-EMX). The relations between chemistry and metamorphic grade are discussed. The dependence of the Mn content upon temperature, pressure, chemistry of the parent rocks and oxygen fugacity is a very sophisticated one.It is shown that the Mn content of the garnets depends on the oxygen fugacity of the system and that the oxygen fugacity is strongly linked to the behaviour of graphite during increasing metamorphism.Examples described by Miyashiro (1953) and Engel and Engel (1960) are in agreement with the model presented here.Some observations show an influence of primary sedimentary enrichments of manganese upon the first occurrence of garnets in the course of metamorphism.     

Chemical composition and stable carbon isotopic ratios of crude oils from Southern Germany

Thirty crude oils were sampled in the South German Molasse Basin. The crude oils were chemically separated into five component groups and their stable carbon isotopic ratios were determined by mass spectrometry. A distinct differentiation of four regionally connected groups can be inferred from the results of the δ¹³C values and chemical analyses. This grouping is in accordance with the present geologic information on the origin of crude oils in the Molasse Basin.The chemistry of crude oils seems to have been influenced by secondary processes in the eastern part of the Molasse Basin.     

A reconnaissance geochemical study of La Primavera geothermal area, Jalisco, Mexico

The Sierra La Primavera, a late Pleistocene rhyolitic caldera complex in Jalisco, México, contains fumaroles and large-discharge 65°C hot springs that are associated with faults related to caldera collapse and to later magma insurgence. The nearly-neutral, sodium bicarbonate, hot springs occur at low elevations at the margins of the complex, whereas the water-rich fumaroles are high and central.The Comisión Federal de Electricidad de México (CFE) has recently drilled two deep holes at the center of the Sierra (PR-1 and Pr-2) and one deep hole at the western margin. Temperatures as high as 285°C were encountered at 1160 m in PR-1, which produced fluids with 820 to 865 mg/kg chloride after flashing to one atmosphere. Nearby, PR-2 encountered temperatures to 307°C at 2000 m and yielded fluids with chloride contents fluctuating between 1100 and 1560 mg/kg after flashing. Neither of the high-temperature wells produced steam in commercial quantities. The well at the western margin of the Sierra produced fluids similar to those from the hot springs. The temperature reached a maximum of 100°C near the surface and decreased to 80°C at 2000 m.Various geothermometers (quartz conductive, Na/K, Na-K-Ca, δ¹⁸O(SO₄-H₂O) and D/H (steam-water) all yield temperatures of 170 ± 20°C when applied to the hot spring waters, suggesting that these spring waters flow from a large shallow reservoir at this temperature. Because the hot springs are much less saline than the fluids recovered in PR-1 and PR-2, the mixed fluid in the shallow reservoir can contain no more than 10–20% deep fluid. This requires that most of the heat is transferred by steam. There is probably a thin vapor-dominated zone in the central part of the Sierra, through which steam and gases are transferred to the overlying shallow reservoir. Fluids from this reservoir cool from 170°C to 65°C by conduction during the 5–7 km of lateral flow to the hot springs.     

The role of S in the evolution of the parental cores of the iron meteorites

Most iron meteorites presumably formed from the cores of parent bodies having more or less chondritic bulk compositions. Consideration of the behavior of S during condensation and core formation indicates that these cores, at least in the case of groups having high or moderate volatile contents (IIAB, IIIAB), contained a substantial amount of S. When elemental fractionations observed in these iron meteorite groups are compared to model calculations of fractional crystallization it becomes evident that at least the IIAB parent melt, and very likely the IIIAB parent melt as well, did not contain the full S complement of the parent body. We consider three possible scenarios to account for the S depletion: (1) Outgassing of S during parent body differentiation; this was probably only possible if the parent body contained organic material, which is improbable for IIIAB. (2) Liquid immiscibility. Our fractional crystallization model would predict curved log Xvs. log Ni relationships in this case, which for many elements are not observed. (3) Formation of metastable liquid layers by episodic melting during core formation. This is based on the fact that the difference in melting temperature between a FeFeS eutectic and FeNi metals is ～500 K. Two melting episodes would tend to form distinct liquid layers that maintain their identities over the crystallization lifetime of the core.Solidification of the cores parental to the main iron meteorite groups should also produce a significant number of sulfide meteorites. The scarcity of sulfide-rich meteorites can be attributed to their lower mechanical resistance to space attrition, higher ablation during atmospheric passage, and faster weathering on earth.