Digital Geological Mapping of Sinus Iridum Area of the Moon Based on the Chang’E-I Data

Based on the CCD images,IIM data and DEM data of China＇s lunar exploration project （Chang＇E-Ⅰ） and related processed and analytic results,an integrated study of regional geology of Sinus Iridum and its adjacent area was conducted,and a series of relevant researches and analyses were carried out,including analysis of impact craters and their extrusive and accumulative materials,division of stratigraphic and tectonic units and classification of rock types,integrated analysis of chronology and lunar evolution history.In consideration of crater＇s shape features,quantity and preserving status of filling materials,the lunar impact craters can be divided into 7 types and 11 subtypes,and the accumulative materials of craters are divided into 6 types and 9 accumulative groups.According to the content and distribution of TiO2 and image characteristics,the basalts are divided into high-TiO2,medium-TiO2 and low-TiO2 basalts.Discussion was made on division of tectonic units and evolution features in the study area.The geological map of the Sinus Iridum Quadrangle （LQ-4） at a scale of 1∶2.5 M was preliminarily compiled with the ArcGIS system,and the spatial database of the map was established.Related technical specification,procedure and method for lunar geological mapping have been worked out,so as to lay a foundation for the forthcoming geological mapping of the global Moon in China by using the data of Chang＇E-Ⅱ and also for comprehensive study and geological mapping of other celestial bodies in the future.     

Effect of redox conditions on iron metal phase segregation during experimental high-temperature centrifuge modeling of the origin of the Moon’s core

The possible origin of the Moon’s metallic core at the precipitation of iron–sulfide phases during the partial melting of ultramafic material under various redox conditions was experimentally modeled by partially melting the model system olivine (85 wt %) + ferrobasalt (10 wt %) + metallic phase Fe₉₅S₅ (wt %) in a high-temperature centrifuge at 1430–1450°C. The oxygen fugacity fO₂ was determined from the composition of the quenched experimental silicate melts (glasses). A decrease in fO₂ is proved to be favorable for the segregation of iron–sulfide melt from the silicate matrix. The metallic phase is most effectively segregated in the form of melt droplets, and these droplets are accumulated in the lower portions of the samples under strongly reduced conditions, at fO₂ ～ 4.5–5.5 orders of magnitude lower than the iron–wüstite buffer.     

Experimental modeling of the origin of the Moon’s metallic core at partial melting

Geochemical criteria of the Moon’s composition as deficient in Fe and depleted in volatile components and the distribution of siderophile elements in the planet offer the possibility of correlating, under certain conditions, the origin of the Moon and its core from an initial material of composition close to CI carbonaceous chondrites. In order to verify the model of the percolation of liquid metallic Fe through a silicate matrix of chondritic composition at low degrees of melting, we have experimentally modeled Fe movement and deposition in the course of high-temperature centrifugation. The starting experimental mixture had the composition 85% Ol, 10% ferropicrite, and 5% Fe-S (95% Fe and 5% S); the experimental conditions were 4000 g “gravity”, T = 1440°C, Δ log fO₂(IW) ～ ?5.5. In our experiments, Fe was segregated in systems with Fe sulfide and silicate melts at partial melting under reduced conditions and the deformation of the silicate framework. Our results indicate that the Moon could be produced from a material of composition close to CI carbonaceous chondrite.     

Proceedings of the Special Meeting of the Geological Society on the 3rd November, 1931. With a Half-tone Block of the Pictures of the Grabau Medal.

In opening the meeting, the chairman made the following address: "It is my agreable duty to announce and make the award of the Grabau Medal to two members of our Society, Drs. J. S. Lee and Davidson Black. "The Grabau Medal was founded in 1925 by Mr. C. Y. Wang. the then President of the Geological Society. It was so named in honor of Dr. Grabau     

Reply to the discussion by F. Gutiérrez,P. Lucha,J. Guerrero,M. Gutiérrez and D. Carbonel on the article ‘Paleoseismological analysis of an intraplate extensional structure: the Concud fault (Iberian Chain,eastern Spain)’

This reply tackles the three main points of discussion of the comment, carefully distinguishing those constructive contributions from the potentially confusing ones. (1) We accept that we should have utilised previously published datings of the middle terrace, even if we consider them to be less reliable than the used ones, so broadening the slip-rate range from 0.23–0.33 mm/y to 0.16–0.33 mm/y. Nevertheless, their revision of the post-middle terrace slip rate charges us two contradictory imputations: that we underestimate the throw in a 25% (36 m vs. 47 m) and that this results in ‘anomalously high slip rates’. We analyse the adduced error, and we confirm our initial estimate based on our more reliable stratigraphic marker, so rejecting both criticisms. (2) About the paleoseismological interpretation at Los Baños trench, we appreciate the hint about displacement partitioning on the master fault and in our hypothetical blind normal fault during the last three events; however, such partitioning was already considered in our retrodeformation analysis. We believe that there is enough evidence for the two events questioned by the commenters, as well as for the interpretation of the colluvial wedge that evidences one of them. (3) With respect to the fault affecting the youngest terrace: (a) both traces exposed on orthogonal road-cut slopes belong to the same normal fault, and we prove it by means of basic structural constructions, and (b) it does not exhibit any feature suggesting a non-tectonic origin, as the commenters state.     

Experimental Study on the Effects of Organic Acids on the Dissolution of REE in the Weathering Crust of Granite

The results of REE leached by some organic acids with various concentrations and water/rock ratios for different durations from a mixed samples of the weathering crust of a granite in Gonghe,Guangdong,China,showed that:1)the contents of REE leached increase with increasing concentrations of the organic acids;2) the contents of REE leached by 0.01mol/L organic acids increase with increasing water/rock ration;3) the interaction between the organic acids and the samples enhances the pH value of the medium and the contents of REE leached tend to increase with decreasing pH value;and 4) compared with those leached by ammonia sulfate,the REE leached by the organic acids are characterized by a weaker negative C e anomaly,a stronger negative Eu anomaly,and lower(La/Sm)N and (Gd/Yb)N ratios,indicating that the organic acids have made contributions to the fractionation of REE in the weathering crust.     

A. V. Peyve — the founder of the concept of deep faults

The further development of Peyve’s concept of deep faults in the Earth’s crust and brittle part of the lithosphere is discussed. Three aspects are accentuated in this paper: (1) the modern definition of the term deep fault; (2) the parameters of deep faults as ruptures of the geological medium and three-dimensional, often boundary, geological bodies; and (3) reactivation of deep faults, including the development of this process in real time. Peyve’s idea of deep faults readily fitted into the concept of new global tectonics (plate tectonics). This was facilitated, first of all, by the extensive efforts made to elaborate Peyve’s ideas by a large group of researchers at the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GIN RAS) and other scientists. At present, the term deep fault has been extended and transformed to cover three-dimensional geological bodies; the geological and geophysical properties and parameters of these bodies, as well as their reactivation (recurrent activation) in real time, have been studied.