Geology of five small Australian impact craters

Here we present detailed geological maps and cross-sections of Liverpool, Wolfe Creek, Boxhole, Veevers and Dalgaranga craters. Liverpool crater and Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater are classic bowl-shaped, Barringer-type craters. Liverpool was likely formed during the Neoproterozoic and was filled and covered with sediments soon thereafter. In the Cenozoic, this cover was exhumed exposing the crater's brecciated wall rocks. Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater displays many striking features, including well-bedded ejecta units, crater-floor faults and sinkholes, a ringed aeromagnetic anomaly, rim-skirting dunes, and numerous iron-rich shale balls. Boxhole Meteorite Crater, Veevers Meteorite Crater and Dalgaranga crater are smaller, Odessa-type craters without fully developed, steep, overturned rims. Boxhole and Dalgaranga craters are developed in highly foliated Precambrian basement rocks with a veneer of Holocene colluvium. The pre-existing structure at these two sites complicates structural analyses of the craters, and may have influenced target deformation during impact. Veevers Meteorite Crater is formed in Cenozoic laterites, and is one of the best-preserved impact craters on Earth. The craters discussed herein were formed in different target materials, ranging from crystalline rocks to loosely consolidated sediments, containing evidence that the impactors struck at an array of angles and velocities. This facilitates a comparative study of the influence of these factors on the structural and topographic form of small impact craters.     

车里雅宾斯克(Chelyabinsk)陨石的岩石矿物特征与冲击变质作用

2013年2月15日,俄罗斯车里雅宾斯克(Chelyabinsk)发生了伴随罕见的空中爆炸的大规模陨石雨事件。本文对3块代表不同冲击变质程度的车里雅宾斯克陨石碎块进行了研究。它们都具有部分熔壳,其中1块仅出现碎裂,1块含有冲击熔融细脉,1块基本由冲击熔融囊和冲击熔脉组成。冲击变质程度最低的样品,代表了该陨石母体小行星的原始岩石矿物学特征:即具有粗粒的岩石结构和均一的矿物化学组成,但仍保留一些残余球粒,表明受到了明显的热变质作用,其岩石类型可划分为5型。铁镁质硅酸盐高的Fe O含量(橄榄石Fa:27.9mol%~28.2mol%,辉石Fs值:23.3mol%~23.7mol%)、以及较低的Fe-Ni金属含量,表明其化学群属于低铁低金属的LL群。我们所分析的样品与前人报导的结果相似,未发现不同岩性的岩屑,表明车里雅宾斯克陨石的原始岩矿特征较为均一。3块陨石碎块中,随着冲击程度的增强,其冲击变质特征依次表现为硅酸盐矿物的破碎、熔长石化更为普遍、陨硫铁与铁镍合金共熔、硅酸盐熔脉的形成、铬铁矿与长石共熔、以及大量熔融囊的发育等。但是,在冲击熔融囊和熔脉中,以及相邻围岩中均未发现高压矿物相。熔脉中的橄榄石晶屑和相邻围岩的橄榄石颗粒表现为化学成分的不均一,在背散射电子图像中呈不同灰度的结构。这与其他强烈冲击变质陨石中橄榄石的林伍德石或瓦茨利石相变相似。该陨石中林伍德石或瓦茨利石的缺失很可能是由于强烈撞击后高温产生的退变质。这也表明车里雅宾斯克陨石的母体小行星可能遭受了非常强烈的撞击事件。     

我国首批回收的四块南极陨石类型的确定

中国第15次南极考察队于1999年元月在格罗夫山实施首次考察时回收了四块陨石，填补了我国南极陨石回收的空白。根据国际陨石协会命名委员会新回收陨石的命名原则，这些陨石已分别命名为GRV98001，GRV98002，GRV98003和GRV98004。根据初步岩石、矿物以及全岩化学分析，这四块陨石分别属于石质球粒陨石（GRV98001），L5型球粒陨石（GRV98002），H4型球粒陨石（GRV98004）和极细粒八面体缺陨石（GRV98003）。     

亳县陨石矿物中包裹体的研究

通过对安徽亳县陨石矿物中包裹体的相态、成分和结构构造等研究可大致把它们分为晶质包裹体、熔融包裹体和气相包裹体三类。陨石的形成至少经历了星云凝聚—熔融—固态三个阶段。熔融阶段是陨石形成的一个重要阶段,其最低温度为1050℃～1200℃。各种类型包裹体成分的差异和分布不均匀性反映了原始熔浆成分的不均一性,也就是说“熔滴”在凝聚时化学成分和物理化学条件上的差异而导致陨石矿物中包裹体成分的差异,同时也反映了陨石矿物中包裹体在形成、演化过程中经历了多个阶段的特点。     

I-Xe dating: From adolescence to maturity

The I-Xe chronometer is based upon decay of now-extinct ¹²⁹I where the ratio of accumulated daughter ¹²⁹Xe to stable ¹²⁷I reflects the iodine isotopic ratio at closure of the host mineral. Since none of the parent remains, I-Xe is by nature a relative chronometer but, when referenced by a standard mineral of known age, the I-Xe system becomes an absolute chronometer reflecting true closure times. Most iodine hosts are secondary minerals so the I-Xe system is unique in providing details of post-formational chronometry not readily available with other chronometers. The short half-life of ¹²⁹I gives it exceptional precision. However, the secondary nature of iodine host minerals, combined with the inherent precision of I-Xe, were responsible for a large database of “whole-rock” I-Xe ages that were not easily interpreted. As this problem evolved historically, doubts were cast upon the viability of the I-Xe system as a chronometer which persisted until it was tested against other chronometers in single-mineral systems. Properly calibrated, absolute I-Xe ages reflect the true closure time of the host minerals, and sequences of closure times in different hosts provide cooling rates for the parent object.     

陨石氧同位素组成及其地学意义

介绍了各类陨石氧同位素组成的特点,对陨石氧同位素组成的主要成因观点进行了评述,结合地球的原始物质组成,讨论了陨石氧同位素组成的地球科学意义。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113001084

We report here for the first time the composition and mineralogical studies on a new meteorite,which fell in Dhayala ki Chappar(24°58'N,73°48'27"E) 5 km NW of Nathdwara in south Rajasthan,India,on Dec.25 th,2012.Mineralogical and compositional studies were carried out on a representative piece of the Nathdwara meteorite sample.The mineralogical composition of the meteorite has been found to be olivine(42-45 vol.%),feldspar(10-15 vol.%),orthopyroxene(23-25 vol.%),troilite(6-8 vol.%),and titanium bearing minerals(6-8 vol.%).Our investigations show that the Nathdwara meteorite belongs to H6 group of ordinary chondrites.     

天然顽火辉石的高分辨电镜观察

利用透射电镜研究了陨石和地幔岩中斜方辉石与斜顽辉石的多型转变:吉林陨石和清镇陨石顽火辉石中的斜顽辉石多型晶域宽度既有奇数倍也有偶数倍9A,双晶现象发育,出现频率高,是原顽火辉石转变而成。尖晶石和石榴子石二辉橄榄岩斜方辉石中的斜顽辉石仅具偶数倍9晶域宽度,未见双晶现象,出现频率低,是剪切应力作用下由斜方辉石转变而成。测量证实OREN向CLEN的相变按13.3°机制进行。在相应高温条件下,相变时应变率ε可能大于10~(-6)sec~(-1)。     

The Ordovician chondrite from Brunflo, central Sweden: III. Geochemistry of terrestrial alteration

The fossil H chondrite Brunflo, found in a slab of Ordovician limestone from central Sweden, is pervasively altered to an assemblage dominated by calcite and barite. The meteorite is surrounded by a 15–20 cm wide zone of lighter colors than the unaffected limestone due to dissolution of hematite. Here we present detailed geochemical analyses of two meteorite samples, 14 limestone samples at distances from 0 to 29 cm along two profiles from the meteorite, and a reference sample of Brunflo limestone. Element concentrations in Brunflo and surrounding bleached limestone have been strongly disturbed during two stages of alteration (early oxygenated and deep burial). In the meteorite, the Ni/Co ratio has changed from an initial value of 20 to 0.8 and redox sensitive elements like V, As, Mo, Re and U are strongly enriched. The sulfur isotope composition of barite from Brunflo (δ³⁴S=+35‰) indicates initial loss of meteoritic sulfide, followed by later accumulation of sea water sulfate as barite. During deep burial under more reducing conditions, reduction processes supported by an externally derived reductant possibly derived from alum shale underlying the limestone, were largely responsible for the observed redox phenomena. In spite of massive redistribution of many elements, concentrations of Pt, Ir and Au remain at chondritic levels. The geochemistry and mineralogy of alteration determined for Brunflo are similar to those in “reduction spots” in red beds, where accumulation of a similar suite of elements (except Mo, Re) occurred as a result of isolated reduction activity.     

Evolution of the sublayer of the Sudbury Igneous Complex: geochemical, Sm–Nd isotopic and petrologic evidence

The mineralized sublayer at the base of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) consists of two variants, the noritic contact sublayer and radial and concentric quartz dioritic offset dykes. Both are characterized by the presence of significant quantities of Ni–Cu–PGE sulphides and by a prominent population of recrystallized diabasic-textured and melanocratic to ultramafic fragments. The two variants of the sublayer contain compositionally distinct inclusion populations and inclusion-bearing matrices. Contact sublayer and offset dykes hosted by north range granitoid footwall can be distinguished from those hosted by south range basaltic and metasedimentary footwall environments. The compositional variation in SIC rocks can be described in terms of contributions from exposed crustal rocks and differentiation of the resultant melt(s).

The basaltic inclusion population is characterized by hornfels recrystallization of the plagioclase, and is geochemically and isotopically identified with Huronian basalts which comprise the south range footwall, with (Ce/Yb)_N ratios of around 2.5 and _Nd¹⁸⁵⁰ between −2 to −5. The melanocratic inclusions in the sublayer are typically coarse-grained and undeformed, with incompatible element contents and radiogenic isotopic compositions intermediate between those of the basaltic inclusions and those of the melt sheet, which has (Ce/Yb)_N ratios of around 10 and _Nd¹⁸⁵⁰ around −9. Calculated crystallization models are consistent with derivation of the ultramafic inclusions by crystallization from a magma produced by mixing of molten basaltic footwall with basal melt sheet. It is proposed that the sublayer appeared as the marginal facies of a meteorite impact melt sheet as a result of footwall melting following the impact. This basal layer was progressively enriched in sulphides and mafic cumulates from above through differentiation during cooling. Offset dykes were emplaced and the magmas effectively removed from the system. Subsequently, continued evolution of the marginal facies produced the more mafic inclusions in the contact sublayer. No extracrustal (e.g., mantle) component is envisioned in this model to explain the silicate compositional distributions in the SIC, and mafic crustal rocks in the target zone are implicated as the metal source for the SIC deposits.     

滇西南发现石英面状变形构造

采自云南省西南部澜沧江中游临景大桥以东约2km、勐戛河下游北岸的岩石样品的薄片中发现了非常清晰的石英面状变形构造(PDFs)。根据伦敦大学矿物岩石与冰物理实验室费氏台(universalstage)测量分析结果、样品所在地地层时代特征和航卫遥感图像特征的综合分析,认为该PDFs属陨击成因,其陨击事件大约发生在白垩/第三纪边界(距今65Ma),所引起的冲击变质作用已接近最高级阶段的高压二氧化硅相,样品位置接近陨击坑的中心。     

亳县陨石物理力学性质的实验研究

本文对亳县陨石的物理力学特性进行了多种实验方法的探讨。在MTS伺服控制材料试验机上测得了陨石的全程应力—应变曲线。同时,通过单轴压缩试验确定了抗压强度、弹性模量和泊松比,并运用频谱振幅比法对应力波衰减特性进行了研究,给出了品质因子。此外,还采用脉冲法给出了弹性波速度;液体浸透法给出了密度和孔隙度。文中还将亳县陨石的测试结果与其它陨石物理力学参数进行了比较分析。最后,还根据亳县陨石与岩石物理力学性质的对比,推演出亳县陨石在其母体所处的环境类似于地球上地幔的顶部。     

天门山震旦系/寒武系界线事件沉积序列的初步观察与对比分析

湖南省早寒武世石煤层的铱异常发现之后,人们纷纷从地球化学方面推测一次陨石撞击事件的可能性。本文进一步分析了天门山晚震旦世—早寒武世的沉积构造特征,与Ｅｌｔａｎｉｎ小行星撞击Ｂｅｌｌｉｎｇｓｈａｕｓｅｎ海形成的各个沉积单元对比,认为天门山上震旦统灯影组—下寒武统牛蹄塘组是一个完整的海洋撞击事件沉积序列。应进一步在武陵山区寻找这次撞击事件的发生地点,确定陨石撞击坑。这对寻找撞击型金刚石矿具有重要意义。     

Grove Mountains (GRV) 020043: Insights into acapulcoite-lodranite genesis from the most primitive member

Although acapulcoites and lodranites played a key role in understanding partial differentiation of asteroids, the lack of samples of the chondritic precursor limits our understanding of the processes that formed these meteorites. Grove Mountains (GRV) 020043 is a type 4 chondrite, with abundant, well-delineated, pyroxene-rich chondrules with an average diameter of 690 μm, microcrystalline mesostasis, polysynthetically striated low-Ca pyroxene, and slightly heterogeneous plagioclase compositions. Similarities in mineralogy, mineral composition, and oxygen isotopic composition link GRV 020043 to the acapulcoite-lodranite clan. These features include a high low-Ca pyroxene to olivine ratio, high kamacite to taenite ratio, and relatively FeO-poor mafic silicates (Fa_10.3, Fs_10.4) relative to ordinary chondrites, as well as the presence of ubiquitous metal and sulfide inclusions in low-Ca pyroxene and ƒO₂ typical of acapulcoites. GRV 020043 shows that evidence of partial melting is not an essential feature for classification within the acapulcoite-lodranite clan. GRV 020043 experienced modest thermal metamorphism similar to type 4 ordinary chondrites. GRV 020043 suggests a range of peak temperatures on the acapulcoite-lodranite parent body similar to that of ordinary chondrites, but shifted to higher temperatures, perhaps consistent with earlier accretion. The mineralogy and mineral compositions of GRV 020043, despite modest thermal metamorphism, suggests that most features of acapulcoites previously attributed to reduction were, instead, inherited from the precursor chondrite. Although partial melting was widespread on the acapulcoite-lodranite parent body, ubiquitous Fe,Ni-FeS blebs in the cores of silicates were not implanted by shock or trapped during silicate melting, but were inherited from the precursor chondrite with subsequent overgrowths during metamorphism.     

微量陨石激光熔样稀有气体测定方法

微量陨石激光熔样稀有气体测定方法是一种可以在微米尺度上对几毫克陨石样品进行准确稀有气体同位素分析的方法,克服了传统全岩熔融法在测量时存在样品用量大、前处理过程复杂和样品稀有气体分布不均导致不同组分的宇宙射线暴露历史无法进一步区分等问题。但是由于该方法所用样品体积小和样品用量低,要求实验室具有超低本底的稀有气体提取系统,目前国内在微量陨石稀有气体分析技术方面尚处于起步阶段。本文采用金刚石激光样品窗成功研制了超低本底的气体提取系统,通过系统体积标定和天平称量误差、热本底、干扰元素、质量歧视及质谱灵敏度等参数的校正,在中国科学院地质与地球物理研究所建立了微量陨石激光熔样稀有气体测定方法,并对毫克级微量钙长辉长无球粒陨石Millbillillie粉末标样进行了稀有气体同位素含量和比值测定,计算获得准确一致的宇宙暴露年龄。该方法的建立,将为我国迅速发展的比较行星学和深空探测提供重要技术支撑。     

Reconstructing the Wolfe Creek meteorite impact: deep structure of the crater and effects on target rock

The Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater is an impact structure 880 m in diameter, located in the Tanami Desert near Halls Creek, Western Australia. The crater formed?<?300 000 years ago, and is the second largest crater from which fragments of the impacting meteorite (a medium octahedrite) have been recovered. We present the results of new ground-based geophysical (magnetics and gravity) surveys conducted over the structure in July?–?August 2003. The results highlight the simple structure of the crater under the infilling sediments, and forward modelling is consistent with the true crater floor being 120 m beneath the present surface. The variations in the dip of the foliations around the crater rim confirm that the meteorite approached from the east-northeast, as is also deduced from the ejecta distribution. Crater scaling arguments suggest a projectile diameter of?>?12.0 m, a crater formation time of 3.34 s, and an energy of impact of ～0.235 Mt of TNT. We also use the distribution of shocked quartz in the target rock (Devonian sandstones) to reconstruct the shock loading conditions of the impact. The estimated maximum pressures at the crater rim were between 5.59 and 5.81 GPa. We also use a Simplified Arbitrary Langrangian–Eulerian hydrocode (SALE 2) to simulate the propagation of shock waves through a material described by a Tillotson equation of state. Using the deformational and PT constraints of the Wolfe Creek crater, we estimate the maximum pressures, and the shock-wave attenuation, of this medium-sized impact.     

Meteoritic zircon – Occurrence and chemical characteristics

In common with the remarkable variation in the bulk rock Zr content of distinct meteorite groups, ranging from <1 ppm to >800 ppm, the occurrence and abundance of accessory zircon is also highly diverse and limited to certain meteorite classes. A detailed literature study on the occurrence of meteoritic zircon, along with other Zr-bearing phases reveals that lunar rocks, eucrites and mesosiderites are the prime sources of meteoritic zircon. Rare zircon grains occur in chondrites, silicate-bearing iron meteorites and Martian meteorites, with grain sizes of >5 μm allowing chemical and chronological studies at high spatial resolution using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) technique. Grain sizes, crystal habits, structural and chemical characteristics of zircon grains derived from various meteorite types, including their REE abundances, minor element concentrations, and Zr/Hf values is diverse. Superchondritic Zr/Hf values (47 ± 8; s.d. with n = 97), i.e., typical for zircon in eucrites and mesosiderites, indicate crystallization from a fractionated, incompatible-element-rich (residual) melt. Differences in REE abundances, occurrence or absence of Ce- and Eu-anomalies, and overall REE patterns that are often fractionated with a depletion in LREE, might be primarily controlled by variable formation conditions of individual grains and/or differences in the residual melt compositions on a small, local scale within single samples. Subsequent fractionation/modification of the chemical fingerprint of meteoritic zircon can involve high-temperature annealing processes during thermal metamorphic reactions and/or impact events along with mixing of lithic fragments since many samples are breccias.     

Noble gases,nitrogen and cosmic ray exposure age of the Sulagiri chondrite

The Sulagiri meteorite fell in India on 12 September 2008,LL6 chondrite class is the largest among all the Indian meteorites.Isotopic compositions of noble gases(He,Ne,Ar,Kr and Xe) and nitrogen in the Sulagiri meteorite and cosmic ray exposure history are discussed.Low cosmogenic(~(22)Ne/~(21)Ne)_c ratio is consistent with irradiation in a large body.Cosmogenic noble gases indicate that Sulagiri has a 4πcosmic-ray exposure(CRE) age of 27.9 ± 3.4 Ma and is a member of the peak of CRE age distribution of IX chondrites.Radiogenic ~4He and ~(40)Ar concentrations in Sulagiri yields the radiogenic ages as 2.29 and4.56 Ca,indicating the loss of He from the meteorite.Xenon and krypton are mixture of Q and spallogenic components.     

南极绕极波研究综述

南极绕极波是近年来发现的海洋现象。关于南极绕极波的研究历史虽然很短,但是对南极绕极波的变化规律和生成机制的研究却已取得了许多重要进展,对南极绕极波在全球变化中的作用研究日益深入,成为海洋和大气科学领域的前沿研究内容。根据南极绕极波的主要研究成果,评述了有关南极绕极波的研究进展和发展方向,以促进我国关于南极绕极波及相关海洋和大气过程的研究。