Geochemistry, petrology and ages of the lunar meteorites Kalahari 008 and 009: New constraints on early lunar evolution

Kalahari 008 and 009 are two lunar meteorites that were found close to each other in Botswana. Kalahari 008 is a typical lunar anorthositic breccia; Kalahari 009 a monomict breccia with basaltic composition and mineralogy. Based on minor and trace elements Kalahari 009 is classified as VLT (very-low-Ti) mare basalt with extremely low contents of incompatible elements, including the REE. The Lu-Hf data define an age of 4286 ± 95 Ma indicating that Kalahari 009 is one of the oldest known basalt samples from the Moon. It provides evidence for lunar basalt volcanism prior to 4.1 Ga (pre-Nectarian) and may represent the first sample from a cryptomare. The very radiogenic initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf (εHf = +12.9 ± 4.6), the low REE, Th and Ti concentrations indicate that Kalahari 009 formed from re-melting of mantle material that had undergone strong incompatible trace element depletion early in lunar history. This unusually depleted composition points toward a hitherto unsampled basalt source region for the lunar interior that may represent a new depleted endmember source for low-Ti mare basalt volcanism. Apparently, the Moon became chemically very heterogeneous at an early stage in its history and different cumulate sources are responsible for the diverse mare basalt types.Evidence that Kalahari 008 and 009 may be paired includes the similar fayalite content of their olivine, the identical initial Hf isotope composition, the exceptionally low exposure ages of both rocks and the fact that they were found close to each other. Since cryptomaria are covered by highland ejecta, it is possible that these rocks are from the boundary area, where basalt deposits are covered by highland ejecta. The concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides and trapped noble gases are unusually low in both rocks, although Kalahari 008 contains slightly higher concentrations. A likely reason for this difference is that Kalahari 008 is a polymict breccia containing a briefly exposed regolith, while Kalahari 009 is a monomict brecciated rock that may never have been at the surface of the Moon.Altogether, the compositions of Kalahari 008 and 009 permit new insight into early lunar evolution, as both meteorites sample lunar reservoirs hitherto unsampled by spacecraft missions. The very low Th and REE content of Kalahari 009 as well as the depletion in Sm and the lack of a KREEP-like signature in Kalahari 008 point to a possible source far from the influence of the Procellarum-KREEP Terrane, possibly the lunar farside.     

Northwest Africa 11024—A heated and dehydrated unique carbonaceous (CM) chondrite

Based on the high abundance of fine‐grained material and its dark appearance, NWA 11024 was recognized as a CM chondrite, which is also confirmed by oxygen isotope measurements. But contrary to known CM chondrites, the typical phases indicating aqueous alteration (e.g., phyllosilicates, carbonates) are missing. Using multiple analytical techniques, this study reveals the differences and similarities to known CM chondrites and will discuss the possibility that NWA 11024 is the first type 3 CM chondrite. During the investigation, two texturally apparent tochilinite–cronstedtite intergrowths were identified within two thin sections. However, the former phyllosilicates were recrystallized to Fe‐rich olivine during a heating event without changing the textural appearance. A peak temperature of 400–600 °C is estimated, which is not high enough to destroy or recrystallize calcite grains. Thus, calcites were never constituents of the mineral paragenesis. Another remarkable feature of NWA 11024 is the occurrence of unknown clot‐like inclusions (UCLIs) within fine‐grained rims, which are unique in this clarity. Their density and S concentration are significantly higher than of the surrounding fine‐grained rim and UCLIs can be seen as primary objects that were not formed by secondary alteration processes inside the rims. Similarities to chondritic and cometary interplanetary dust particles suggest an ice‐rich first‐generation planetesimal for their origin. In the earliest evolution, NWA 11024 experienced the lowest degree of aqueous alteration of all known CM chondrites and subsequently, a heating event dehydrated the sample. We suggest to classify the meteorite NWA 11024 as the first type 3 CM chondrite similar to the classification of CV3 chondrites (like Allende) that could also have lost their matrix phyllosilicates by thermal dehydration.     

Die tektonische Evolution der Erde von Pangäa zur Gegenwart ein plattentektonisches Modell

Zusammenfassung Das hier vorgestellte Modell basiert auf der Annahme, daß sich unter großen Landmassen, wie Pangäa zum Beispiel, in tektonischen Ruheperioden Wärme aus dem Erdinneren anstaut. Infolgedessen entwickelte sich vom Perm bis zur Kreide ein weites Konvektionstumorsystem; Pangäa zersplitterte und die kontinentalen Platten bewegten sich vom afrikanischen Zentrum weg. Die ozeanischen Rücken des Atlantiks und Indiks folgten den abwandernden Platten wie sich »öffnende Ringe«. Panthalassa, der Eo-Pazifik, wurde von allen Seiten überdriftet. Es muß einen Gegenstrom vom Pazifik im Mantel geben, welcher für die Auffüllung der zwischen den Pangäabruchstücken entstehenden ozeanischen Räume mit Mantelmaterial sorgt. Auch die ozeanischen Platten des Pazifiks bewegen sich vom zentralen »Darwin-Rise« weg. Der ostpazifische Rükken folgte der Bewegung und bildet heute einen ausgedehnten ostwärts gekrümmten Bogen. In den ozeanischen »Außenbögen« bildeten sich infolge der Dehnung Querrifts. Die Transformstörungen sind in beiden Systemen radial angeordnet. Die Terrains an Nordamerikas Westküste können nur östlich eines ostpazifischen Rückens aus ihrer ursprünglichen Position im zentralen Pazifik herausgewandert sein, also synchron mit dem sich öffnenden Pazifik. Die Kontinente bewegen sich möglicherweise solange von ihrer ursprünglichen Position weg, bis erneut eine große Landmasse zusammengedriftet ist. Unterhalb einer solchen »Neogäa« könnte sich wieder ein Konvektionstumor infolge von Wärmestau entfalten. Das findet vielleicht in Intervallen von einigen hundert Millionen Jahren statt und könnte die WILSON-Zyklen der Erdgeschichte erklären.

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The tectonic evolution of the earth from Pangea to the present a plate tectonic model

The model proposed here is based on the assumption that beneath giant landmasses (e.g. Pangea) heat from the inner earth is stored up and accumulated during periods of tectonic inactivity. Consequently below Pangea a huge convection bulge system developed from the Permian to the Cretaceous; Pangea split up and the continental plates moved away from the African centre. The oceanic ridges of the Atlantic and the Indic also followed the movement of the withdrawing continents like »opening rings«. The oceanic ridges always maintained their position in the middle of the spreading oceans above unidirectional flows in the upper mantle. Panthalassa which surrounded Pangea, was over-drifted from all sides. Since the »expansion« of Pangea is continuing even today, there must be a counter current of mantle material from the Pacific area, compensating the gaps between the fragments of Pangea. Consequently at the subduction zones a suction should exist, which pulls the Pacific plates under the advancing plates of the former Pangean continent. In the centre of Panthalassa another bulge from the upper mantle developed simultaneously with the bulge under Pangea. The Pacific oceanic plates moved away outwards from this central »Darwin rise«. The Eastpacific ridge also followed this movement eastwards and forms today a wide, ringlike arc. In the outer arcs of the Pangean and Pacific spreading ocean systems transverse ridges developed as a result of the extension of the older oceanic crust. The transform faults are radial structures in both »expanding« systems. The hotspot spurs of the Hawaii and Polynesian islands can be explained as the result of material derived from an independent slowly ESE moving deeper part of the mantle. The terrains on North Americas West cost moved away from their original position in the central Pacific ocean synchronously with the opening ocean on the east side of the advancing East Pacific ridge.The energy which drives the whole system is residual plus radioactive heat. Kinetic movements compensate the heat surplus of the earth. The continental plates of the Pangean system are moving away from their original position until a new giant landmass is formed by collision. Below such a stationary »Neogea« a heat bulge can develop again. This may take place perhaps in intervals of hundred of million years, explaining the WILSON-cycles in earth history.

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Résumé Le modèle présenté ici est basé sur l'hypothèse qu'endessous des grandes masses continentales — comme la Pangée p.ex. - il s'accumule, pendant les périodes de calme tectonique, de la chaleur d'origine interne. En conséquence, depuis le Permien jusqu'au Crétacé, un vaste système de convection s'est développé; la Pangée s'est morcelée et les plaques continentales se sont éloignées du centre africain. Les dorsales océaniques circum-africaines ont suivi le mouvement de ces plaques à la manière d'»anneaux concentriques«. La Panthalassa, précurseur du Pacifique, a été chevauchée de tous les côtés. Il doit s'être établi, dans le manteau, à partir du Pacifique, un contre-courant qui compense l'ouverture des océans en formation entre les fragments de la Pangée. Le Pacifique a donné lieu, lui aussi, à une expansion centrifuge; la dorsale est-pacifique a suivi le mouvement et forme aujourd'hui un arc bombé vers l'est. Dans les arcs océaniques extérieurs, l'expansion a provoqué la formation de dorsales transverses. Les failles transformantes montrent, dans les deux systèmes, des dispositions radiales. Les terrains de la côte W de l'Amérique du N ne peuvent provenir que d'une région située à l'Est de la dorsale est-pacifique dans sa position d'origine. Les continents s'éloigment et forme aujourd'hui un arc bombé vers l'est. Dans les arcs océaniques extérieurs, l'expansion a provoqué la forSous une telle »Néogée«, une nouvelle cellule de convection pourrait ensuite se développer. Ces phénomènes pourraient se dérouler dans un intervalle de quelques centaines de millions d'années, expliquant ainsi les cycles de Wilson dans l'histoire de la Terre.

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The Transiometer: An Alternative Method of Soil Moisture Measurement in Slowly Permeable Soils

The union of a piezoresistive pressure transducer and a porous ceramic cup was termed "transiometer." The transiometer was constructed from economical and readily available materials. It could be used to measure soil water potentials in both saturated and unsaturated conditions, and was well suited to continuous monitoring with data acquisition equipment.
Transiometer testing was conducted at two sites, one of moderate permeability and the other of slow permeability. The slowly permeable site was instrumented with four replications of the following: (1) transiometers installed at four depths, (2) a transi-ometerwithout the ceramic cup, (3) apiezometer, and (4) access tubes for monitoring soil moisture with a neutron probe. The moderately permeable site was instrumented with a transiometer, two piezometers, and an access tube for monitoring with a neutron probe.
In saturated conditions the transiometer had a faster response time after installation than the piezometer. Faster response makes the transiometer more desirable for use in slowly permeable soils, especially when monitoring dynamic soil water.
Calculated random error of the transiometer measuring system, including a digital voltmeter and a scanner, was typically 0.09 feet (2.8cm), with a maximum calculated to be 0.38 feet (11.5cm). The two most significant components were imprecision of the scanner card and calibration shift. The transiometer was sensitive to atmospheric pressure fluctuations, with sensitivity to atmospheric pressure change increasing with installation depth.     

The solubility of quartz in aqueous sodium chloride solution at 350°C and 180 to 500 bars

The solubility of quartz in 2, 3, and 4 molal NaCl was measured at 350°C and pressures ranging from 180 to 500 bars. The molal solubility in each of the salt solutions is greater than that in pure water throughout the measured pressure range, with the ratio of solubility in NaCl solution to solubility in pure water decreasing as pressure is increased. The measured solubilities are significantly higher than solubilities calculated using a simple model in which the water activity in NaCl solutions decreases either in proportion to decreasing vapor pressure of the solution as salinity is increased or in proportion to decreasing mole fraction of water in the solvent.     

Lithification of gas-rich chondrite regolith breccias by grain boundary and localized shock melting

We studied the fine-grained matrices (< 150 μm) of 14 gas-rich ordinary chondrite regolith breccias in an attempt to decipher the nature of the lithification process that converted loose regolith material into consolidated breccias. We find that there is a continuous gradation in matrix textures from nearly completely clastic (class A) to highly cemented (class C) breccias in which the remaining clasts are completely surrounded by interstitial, shock-melted material. We conclude that this interstitial material formed by shock melting in the porous regolith. In general, the abundances of solar-wind-implanted ⁴He and ²⁰Ne are inversely correlated with the abundance of interstitial, shock-melted, feldspathic material. Chondrites with the highest abundance of interstitial, melted material (class C) experienced the highest shock pressures and temperatures and suffered the most extensive degassing. It is this interstitial, feldspathic melt that lithifies and cements the breccias together; those breccias with very little interstitial melt (class A) are the most porous and least consolidated.     

The Sudbury Structure (Ontario,Canada): a tectonically deformed multi-ring impact basin

The occurrence of shock metamorphic features substantiates an impact origin for the 1.85 Ga old Sudbury Structure, but this has not been universally accepted. Recent improvements in knowledge of large-scale impact processes, combined with new petrographic, geochemical, geophysical (LITHOPROBE) and structural data, allow the Sudbury Structure to be interpreted as a multi-ring impact structure. The structure consists of the following lithologies: Sudbury Breccia —dike breccias occurring up to 80 km from the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC); Footwall rocks and Footwall Breccia — brecciated, shocked crater floor materials, in part thermally metamorphosed by the overlying SIC; Sublayer and Offset Dikes, Main Mass of the SIC and Basal Member of the Onaping Formation (OF) — geochemically heterogeneous coherent impact melt complex ranging from inclusion-rich basal unit through a dominantly inclusion-free to a capping inclusion-rich impact melt rock; Grey Member of OF — melt-rich impact breccia (suevite); Green Member of OF — thin layer of fall back ejecta; Black Member of OF — reworked and redeposited breccia material; Onwatin and Chelmsford Formations — post-impact sediments. Observational and analytical data support an integrated step-by-step impact model for the genesis of these units. Analysis of the present spatial distribution of various impact-related lithologies and shock metamorphic effects result in an estimated original rim-to-rim diameter of the final crater of 200 or even 280 km for the Sudbury Structure, prior to tectonic thrusting and deformation during the Penokean orogeny.     

Ferromanganoan sediments in the equatorial East Pacific

Ferromanganoan sediments containing little or no CaCO₃ have been found to occur extensively throughout the region between the East Pacific Rise and the Galapagos Rise. Concentrations of Fe and Mn of up to 18 and 6.5%, respectively, accompany low concentrations of Al and Ti. The concentrations of Cu, Ni, and Zn are also high relative to more typical pelagic sediments.While chemically similar to the non-carbonate fraction of metalliferous sediments previously described from the East Pacific Rise, the mineralogy is markedly different. A non-detrital smectite makes up the bulk of sediment (70 to 90%) and is the most important iron bearing phase. Fe and Mn oxides, occurring primarily as micro-nodules, comprise 10 to 20% of the sediment. Detrital material is relatively rare, amounting to less than 10% in all samples.     

Seawater sulfate reduction and sulfur isotope fractionation in basaltic systems: Interaction of seawater with fayalite and magnetite at 200–350°C

Sulfate reduction during seawater reaction with fayalite and with magnetite was rapid at 350°C, producing equilibrium assemblages of talc-pyrite-hematite-magnetite at low water/rock ratios and talc-pyrite-hematite-anhydrite at higher water/rock ratios. At 250°C, seawater reacting with fayalite produced detectable amounts of dissolved H₂S, but extent of reaction of solid phases was minor after 150 days. At 200°C, dissolved H₂S was not detected, even after 219 days, but mass balance calculations suggest a small amount of pyrite may have formed. Reaction stoichiometry indicates that sulfate reduction requires large amounts of H⁺, which, in subseafloor hydrothermal systems is provided by Mg metasomatism. Seawater contains sufficient Mg to supply all the H⁺ necessary for quantitative reduction of seawater sulfate.Systematics of sulfur isotopes in the 250 and 350°C experiments indicate that isotopic equilibrium is reached, and can be modeled as a Rayleigh distillation process. Isotopic composition of hydrothermally produced H₂S in natural systems is strongly dependent upon the seawater/basalt ratio in the geothermal system, which controls the relative sulfide contributions from the two important sulfur sources, seawater sulfate and sulfide phases in basalt. Anhydrite precipitation during geothermal heating severely limits sulfate ingress into high temperature interaction zones. Quantitative sulfate reduction can thus be accomplished without producing strongly oxidized rocks and resultant sulfide sulfur isotope values represent a mixture of seawater and basaltic sulfur.     

Magnesium removal in reducing marine sediments by cation exchange

Cation exchange capacity determinations on sediments of the California Borderland indicate that exchange capacities are increased under highly reducing conditions, and result in magnesium removal from the pore water. Calculations indicate the removal process may account for 5–10 per cent of the magnesium brought to the sea by rivers.