Buried impact basins,the evolution of planetary surfaces and the Chicxulub multi‐ring crater

Impact craters are distinctive landforms on Moon, Mars, Venus and other bodies of the Solar System. In contrast, the Earth has few craters, due to the dynamic nature of the planet, where craters and other geological structures are destroyed, modified or covered. Planetary missions have also shown that in other worlds where craters are numerous and well preserved, the crater record has been modified, through the identification of buried structures. Studies of the concealed crater record have major implications for the crater‐size frequency distribution and crater‐counting chronologies. On Earth, Chicxulub is an example of a large multi‐ring buried basin. Its study provides clues for the investigation other planetary surfaces. In addition, geophysical surveys have unravelled its deep 3‐D structure, providing data and constraints for new planetary missions.     

月球火山作用的地貌学特征

火山活动是月球最主要的内动力地质作用之一,是研究月球地质历史和热演化的重要窗口,也是月球科学及探测的重点目标.本文概要总结了月球火山作用的基本原理,并重点介绍了"岩墙扩展"模型.基于此模型,列举了由于岩墙在月壳内部上升程度的不同,导致的不同形式的喷发活动,并在月表产生了一系列火山地貌特征:① 当岩墙仅扩展到浅月表、未能穿透月壳并引起喷发活动时,可能会在月表产生坑链构造、地堑或底部断裂型撞击坑;② 当岩墙穿透了整个月壳并引起爆裂式喷发活动时,会在月表产生小型火山锥、区域性火山碎屑堆积物、全月分布的微小火山玻璃、暗晕凹陷构造及环形火山碎屑堆积物;③ 当岩墙穿透了整个月壳并引起溢流式喷发活动时,随着岩浆喷发通量的逐步增高,会在月表产生小型熔岩流、月海穹窿、复合熔岩流、蜿蜒型月溪、巨型熔岩流及火山高原复合体.本文也简要介绍了在月表观测到的若干非典型火山地貌特征,包括不规则月海斑块、环形凹陷穹丘及非月海富硅质穹窿.近年来新的探月数据加深了对这些特殊火山地貌特征的认识,但是更多的地质特征及成因模型细节仍有待未来月球研究及探测去解决.     

撞击过程和内太阳系撞击历史

在太阳系的形成和演化过程中,发生在天体物质间的撞击作用是最重要的地质过程之一.撞击构造是地外天体表面最常见的地貌单元,大部分天体的地貌演化主要受撞击作用控制.撞击过程产生的温度、压力和应变速率比岩石圈内的其他地质过程高多个数量级,形成广泛分布的撞击产物,如气化物、熔融物、冲击变质和变形等.虽然撞击过程转瞬即逝,撞击作用向天体注入能量并改变其内、外结构,对天体的圈层系统产生长远影响.持续撞击在天体表面累积了大量的撞击坑,撞击坑的空间分布反映了受外来撞击的历史.内太阳系在～3. 8 Ga前的撞击频率更高,但是大量撞击盆地是否灾变式的密集形成仍在持续争议;～3. 8 Ga以来的撞击频率趋于稳定,但是缺乏具有明确事件指代性的标定样品.在同一天体上,撞击坑的空间密度指示了相应地质单元的形成时间,因此撞击坑统计常被用于估算地外天体表面地质单元的相对年龄.基于月球软着陆探测任务返回的样品,前人已约束了不同直径的月球撞击坑的形成频率,进而建立了使用撞击坑统计估算月球表面地质单元的绝对模式年龄的方法.另外,内太阳系天体可能经历了相似的撞击历史,因此地-月系统的撞击频率已被缩放至其他类地行星.撞击坑统计是探索太阳系天体的撞击历史、遥估地外天体表面的相对和绝对年龄的主要方法,也是行星地质研究的基本工具.该方法的整体可靠性已得到大量实验的验证.同时,该方法在理论基础和技术细节上还存在大量的不确定性.修正该方法是完善太阳系撞击历史的重要研究内容,也是未来采样返回探测任务的重要科学目标.     

月表典型区撞击坑形态分类及分布特征

月球表面环形构造主要有撞击坑、火山口和月海穹窿3种,其中撞击坑分布最广泛,是研究月表环形构造的主要内容。由于月表撞击坑数量大、种类多及其形成伴随着整个月球地质的演化过程,因此这种月表地形地貌比较完整地记录了月球表面地貌随时间的改造过程以及改造类型。文中通过研究撞击坑遥感影像及形貌特征,总结归纳为简单型、碗型、平底型、中央隆起型、同心环型、复杂型及月海残留型7种撞击坑类型,用来描述月表典型区域撞击坑的形态特征。从结构和物质两方面进行了月表典型区域撞击坑的形态地貌参数提取,综合利用嫦娥一号CCD 影像数据、LROC数据,得到了该区域撞击坑形态数据(坑底、坑唇、坑壁、坑缘、溅射物覆盖层、中央峰)和形态测量数据(直径、深度、地理位置)。研究发现,LQ 4地区的撞击坑分布可分为月陆区和月海区,月陆区的撞击坑多以中小型撞击坑为主,其分布密度极高,形成年代较早,月海区撞击坑多为年轻的撞击坑,分化程度较低,分布密度也较低。     

月球构造新认识：基于60m高精度全月月形图的月球构造形态学研究

一直以来月球上都没有发现像地球上一样的全球板块构造现象,被认为是属于单板块构造的行星体并且是不活动的。随着月球地形探测精度的提高,人们逐渐发现了一些地质现象表明月球并不像之前想象的一样是不活动的。高精度的月形数据显示出了月球上除了存在众所周知的(撞击作用产生的)复杂的撞击构造外,仍然存在许多可能由内生作用产生的构造特征:如裂谷、山脊、火山群等。本文利用最新高精度月球激光高度数据(LOLA数据)建立了全月60m(相当于7秒网格)高精度月形图。由于数据量超大(TB级别),作者编写了基于并行架构的集群计算处理代码,其计算效率提高了近300倍。基于这些图件,作者在全球范围内找出许多重要的构造现象,并根据其构造及地质特征进行分类研究。研究结果表明并不像之前认识一样,月球上的确存在许多地质构造体是由月球的内生地质作用所产生,并建立对于月球结构和构造的新认识。此外,通过对比发现,像地球上全球尺度的线性山脉只是板块构造运动的结果;另一方面,在无板块构造的行星上,就像月球一样,会产生大面积的高地(月陆)和低地(月海地区),这种地质现象很有可能是行星地壳岩浆演化的直接结果。在文章最后,作者还将制作出的60m分辨率的全月月形系列图件附后并公开,以方便其他科研人员进一步开展相关研究;并以此敬献中国地质科学院60周年庆典。     

行星构造:寻求地球演化的踪迹

地质构造是记录地球内、外动力地质作用过程的标志.和地球相似,太阳系其他天体上也发育丰富的地质构造.以研究天体表面的地质构造及其动力学机制为目的的"行星构造学"是建立在构造地质学、遥感地质学和地球物理学等学科基础上的一门新兴前沿学科.由于天体的大小、组分和轨道位置不同,表面构造特征及其形成机制各异.对比研究地球和其他天体...     

地月系统不同成因环形构造及其影像特征

环形构造是一种常见的地质现象,特别是在月球上分布更为普遍。本文论述了三种成因的环形构造,即:侵入岩成因的环形构造,火山成因的环形构造,以及小天体撞击形成的撞击坑。文中详细介绍了它们的成因与结构特征,指出侵入岩成因的环形构造主要由岩浆冷凝收缩形成,在遥感影像上主要表现为影像色调的不同;火山成因的环形构造为火山口,在遥感影像上具有环形结构;而小天体撞击形成的撞击坑形态复杂,如碗形坑、中心锥环形坑与多环撞击坑,撞击坑的坑沿外缓内陡,遥感影像上表现为环形或弧形构造,有些撞击坑具有辐射纹。     

Accretion of Moon and Earth and the emergence of life.

The discrepancy between the impact records on the Earth and Moon in the time period, 4.0-3.5 Ga calls for a re-evaluation of the cause and localization of the late lunar bombardment. As one possible explanation, we propose that the time coverage in the ancient rock record is sufficiently fragmentary, so that the effects of giant, sterilizing impacts throughout the inner solar system, caused by marauding asteroids, could have escaped detection in terrestrial and Martian records. Alternatively, the lunar impact record may reflect collisions of the receding Moon with a series of small, original satellites of the Earth and their debris in the time period about 4.0-3.5 Ga. The effects on Earth of such encounters could have been comparatively small. The location of these tellurian moonlets has been estimated to have been in the region around 40 Earth radii. Calculations presented here, indicate that this is the region that the Moon would traverse at 4.0-3.5 Ga, when the heavy and declining lunar bombardment took place. The ultimate time limit for the emergence of life on Earth is determined by the effects of planetary accretion--existing models offer a variety of scenarios, ranging from low average surface temperature at slow accretion of the mantle, to complete melting of the planet followed by protracted cooling. The choice of accretion model affects the habitability of the planet by dictating the early evolution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere. Further exploration of the sedimentary record on Earth and Mars, and of the chemical composition of impact-generated ejecta on the Moon, may determine the choice between the different interpretations of the late lunar bombardment and cast additional light on the time and conditions for the emergence of life.     

Cones and craters on Mount Pavagadh,Deccan Traps: Rootless cones?

Rootless cones, also (erroneously) called pseudocraters, form due to explosions that ensue when a lava flow enters a surface water body, ice, or wet ground. They do not represent primary vents connected by vertical conduits to a subsurface magma source. Rootless cones in Iceland are well studied. Cones on Mars, morphologically very similar to Icelandic rootless cones, have also been suggested to be rootless cones formed by explosive interaction between surface lava flows and ground ice. We report here a group of gentle cones containing nearly circular craters from Mount Pavagadh, Deccan volcanic province, and suggest that they are rootless cones. They are very similar morphologically to the rootless cones of the type locality of Myvatn in northeastern Iceland. A group of three phreatomagmatic craters was reported in 1998 from near Jabalpur in the northeastern Deccan, and these were suggested to be eroded cinder cones. A recent geophysical study of the Jabalpur craters does not support the possibility that they are located over volcanic vents. They could also be rootless cones. Many more probably exist in the Deccan, and volcanological studies of the Deccan are clearly of value in understanding planetary basaltic volcanism.     

冈底斯南缘泽当地区林子宗群典中组火山岩相和火山机构分析

冈底斯南缘泽当地区林子宗群典中组火山岩极为发育。文章根据泽当地区典中组火山岩地质特征,结合地质剖面测制和岩石学、矿物学研究,对火山岩相和火山机构进行分类,将典中组火山岩分为爆发相、溢流相、火山通道相、过渡相和火山沉积相。根据火山活动喷发旋回特征,将研究区典中组火山作用分为下亚旋回和上亚旋回,下亚旋回包含3个喷发期次,4个喷发韵律,上亚旋回包含3个喷发期次、6个喷发韵律。根据火山岩岩性组合、岩相特征及其相互叠置关系,在研究区识别出1个破火山机构,2个层状火山机构,即结巴乡东破火山机构、多颇章西层状火山机构和擦结日层状火山机构。     

Flood Basalts, Basalt Floods or Topless Bushvelds? Lunar Petrogenesis Revisited

There is a conspicuous dichotomy in the conventional model oflunar petrogenesis between the total intra-crustal differentiationpostulated for the products of feldspathic volcanism in thelunar highlands and the near absence of differentiation postulatedfor the products of mare volcanism. Both the cumulate mantlemodel, and the selenotherm postulated to accompany genesis ofalleged ‘primary’ mare magmas by remelting of thosecumulates, imply supra-adiabatic thermal gradients in near-solidusmaterials throughout the lunar mantle 4·3–3·2Ga ago. This should have resulted in vigorous convective motion,which has not occurred. There is no positive europium anomalyin the average lunar highland crust. That crust cannot, therefore,have formed by plagioclase flotation from a lunar magma ocean,for which there is no other requirement. There is no negativeeuropium anomaly in the average mantle to be inherited by latermare basalts. Other rocky bodies of lunar size in the SolarSystem have accreted at rates that allowed incorporation ofplenty of volatiles and without forming global magma oceans.Partial melting in the presence of water, followed by near-surfacefractionation and volatile losses can explain the feldspathiccharacter, high incompatible element concentrations and lackof Eu anomaly in the lunar highlands. Volcanic eruption on theMoon must have been accompanied by selective volatilizationlosses of sodium, sulphur and other elements similar to theprocess seen on Io, which can account for the major differencesbetween terrestrial and lunar basalts. Siderophile element depletionin lunar lavas may reflect immiscible sulphide liquid and metalseparation, rather than global impoverishment in such elements,and large ore bodies may have formed close to the lunar surface.Mare basalt volcanism appears to have been a protracted, lowmagma productivity event with few similarities to terrestrialocean-floor, ocean-island, continental flood basalt or komatiitevolcanism. At low pressure the crystallization of plagioclasewell before pyroxene typifies those terrestrial mid-ocean ridgebasalt, ocean-island basalt and continental flood basalt magmas.A similar sequence is demanded of the postulated lunar primarymagmas. Mare basalt hand-specimen and pyroclastic glass beadcompositions do not, however, display the required crystallizationsequence and cannot represent the required primary melt compositions.The true erupted lava compositions which gave rise to the regolithcompositions across all the maria are much more feldspathicthan the majority of large hand specimens and, in common withbasalts on other planets, they are close to low-pressure plagioclase-saturatedcotectic residual liquids which have evolved by removal of gabbrosin crustal magma chambers, or perhaps in giant lava lakes akinto topless Bushveld complexes. Any further debate could be resolvedby a 100 m drill core in a few mare locations. Field provenanceof samples from Mars, a planet half covered by flood basaltsand products of central volcanoes, will be little better thanfor those from the Moon. It will be important to encourage multipleworking hypotheses, rather than to rush to a consensus. KEY WORDS: lunar; basalt; highland; magma ocean; europium     

Indirect perturbation influence of planets on the variation of the instantaneous angular velocity of the rigid Earth in the lunar-solar gravitational field

The differential equation and its solution for indirect influence of the planetary perturbation on the variation of the rotational angular velocity of the rigid Earth in the lunar-solar gravitational field are obtained by using Euler’s dynamic equations. The theoretical results show that the angular velocity of the Earth varies with the periodic and mixed periodic variation under the lunar and solar gravitational field due to the planetary perturbation on the Earth orbit. The numerical results for the amplitudes of the periodic terms and the coefficient of the mixed periodic terms are presented.     

Hydrothermal Processes in the Solar System:A Review

最近美国航空与空间计划署(NASA)开展的卡西尼-惠更斯外空探测计划发现,在直径为500 km的卫星--土卫二上存在水冰和间隙泉的喷发活动.这一现象和在火星上工作的"机遇号"和"勇气号"漫游车所发现的液态水一起,证明了除地球以外的其他星球上过去和现在都存在水,其中的一些星体还有火山活动的证据,这意味着这些星球上可能存在过热液活动地质过程.讨论了火星、木卫二和土卫二可能存在的热液系统类型.这些热液系统类型是根据地球上的构造背景进行相似性研究后得出的,例如海底、火山和裂谷系统.将东非裂谷和贝加尔湖裂谷系统与火星Tharsis高原上巨大的水手大峡谷进行了对比,这些地区都是由地幔柱作用下构造-热液活动导致的地壳抬升、火山和裂谷作用.在火星上,地下冰或低温层会在火山活动和(或)小行星或彗星撞击作用下溶解而形成热液对流.     

No water, no plate tectonics: convective heat transfer and the planetary surfaces of Venus and Earth

We consider the influence of water on the near-surface rheology of Venusian and terrestrial rocks and hence the way their heat transfer processes have been able to shape their planetary surfaces. We suggest that Earth is now unique in having plate-like surface movements at velocities characteristic of ‘deep’ material in self-regulating convective states (～ few cm/year) only because liquid water is there available to facilitate mechanical failure of its lithosphere (sic). The relative absence of free water on Venus is thought to more than compensate for the effect of higher temperatures on the deformability of its surface rocks and is interpreted as the reason for an absence of Earth-like platetectonics and the distinctive distributions of volcanism and seismicity accompanying such a process for > 109 years. The characteristics of Venusian volcanism in its post plate-tectonic era are now expected to be similar to Earth's intraplate (‘hotspot’) volcanism.     

Geoheritage values of one of the largest maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula: the Al Wahbah Crater and other volcanoes (Harrat Kishb, Saudi Arabia)

Al Wahbah Crater is one of the largest and deepest Quaternary maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula. It is NW-SE-elongated, ～2.3 km wide, ～250 m deep and surrounded by an irregular near-perpendicular crater wall cut deeply into the Proterozoic diorite basement. Very few scientific studies have been conducted on this unique site, especially in respect to understanding the associated volcanic eruption processes. Al Wahbah and adjacent large explosion craters are currently a research subject in an international project, Volcanic Risk in Saudi Arabia (VORiSA). The focus of VORiSA is to characterise the volcanic hazards and eruption mechanisms of the vast volcanic fields in Western Saudi Arabia, while also defining the unique volcanic features of this region for use in future geoconservation, geoeducation and geotourism projects. Al Wahbah is inferred to be a maar crater that formed due to an explosive interaction of magma and water. The crater is surrounded by a tephra ring that consists predominantly of base surge deposits accumulated over a pre-maar scoria cone and underlying multiple lava flow units. The tephra ring acted as an obstacle against younger lava flows that were diverted along the margin of the tephra ring creating unique lava flow surface textures that recorded inflation and deflation processes along the margin of the post-maar lava flow. Al Wahbah is a unique geological feature that is not only a dramatic landform but also a site that can promote our understanding of complex phreatomagmatic monogenetic volcanism. The complex geological features perfectly preserved at Al Wahbah makes this site as an excellent geotope and a potential centre of geoeducation programs that could lead to the establishment of a geopark in the broader area at the Kishb Volcanic Field.     

Environmental conditions as the cause of the great mass extinction of marine organisms in the Late Devonian

During the Late Devonian extinction, 70–82% of all marine species disappeared. The main causes of this mass extinction include tectonic activity, climate and sea-level fluctuations, volcanism, and the collision of the Earth with cosmic bodies (impact events). The major causes are considered to be volcanism accompanying formation of the Viluy traps and, probably, basaltic magmatism in the Southern Urals, alkaline magmatism within the East European platform, and volcanism in northern Iran and northern and southern China. Several large impact craters of Late Devonian age have been documented in different parts of the world. The available data indicate that this time period on the Earth was marked by two major sequences of events: terrestrial events that resulted in extensive volcanism and cosmic (or impact) events. They produced similar effects such as emissions of harmful chemical compounds and aerosols to cause greenhouse warming and the darkening of the atmosphere, which prevented photosynthesis and cause ocean stagnation and anoxia. This disrupted the food chain and reduced ecosystem productivity. As a result, all vital processes were disturbed and a large part of the marine biota became extinct.     

A possible anorthositic continent of early Mars and the role of planetary size for the inception of Earth-like life

The Moon has an anorthositic primordial continental crust. Recently anorthosite has also been discovered on the Martian surface. Although the occurrence of anorthosite is observed to be very limited in Earth's extant geological record,both lunar and Martian surface geology suggest that anorthosite may have comprised a primordial continent on the early Earth during the first 600 million years after its formation. We hypothesized that differences in the presence of an anorthositic continent on an Earthlike planet are due to planetary size. Earth likely lost its primordial anorthositic continent by tectonic erosion through subduction associated with a kind of proto-plate tectonics(PPT). In contrast, Mars and the Moon, as much smaller planetary bodies, did not lose much of their anorthositic continental crust because mantle convection had weakened and/or largely stopped, and with time, they had appropriately cooled down. Applying this same reasoning to a super-Earth exoplanet suggests that, while a primordial anorthositic continent may briefly form on its surface, such a continent will be likely transported into the deep mantle due to intense mantle convection immediately following its formation. The presence of a primordial continent on an Earth-like planet seems to be essential to whether the planet will be habitable to Earth-like life. The key role of the primordial continent is to provide the necessary and sufficient nutrients for the emergence and evolution of life. With the appearance of a "trinity" consisting of(1) an atmosphere,(2) an ocean, and(3) the primordial continental landmass, material circulation can be maintained to enable a "Habitable Trinity" environment that will permit the emergence of Earth-like life. Thus, with little likelihood of a persistent primordial continent, a super-Earth affords very little chance for Earth-like life to emerge.     

Styles of mantle convection and their influence on planetary evolution

Mantle convection is the method of heat elimination for silicate mantles in terrestrial bodies, provided they are not too small or too hot. Bodies that are small (～Moon or smaller, possibly even Mercury) may rely largely on conduction or melt migration, and bodies that are very hot (Io, very early Earth) may use massive melt migration (magma oceans) and heat pipes. In the standard, simple picture, we can use scaling laws to determine the secular cooling of a planet, likelihood and form of volcanism, and the possibility of a core dynamo. Contrary to popular belief, small planets do not cool faster than larger planets (provided they convect) but they do tend to have a slightly lower internal temperature at all times and thus may cease to be volcanically active at an earlier epoch. On the other hand, a larger volume fraction of a small planet may be involved in melt generation. However, our understanding of heat transfer by mantle convection is limited by three very important, largely unsolved problems: The complexities of rheology, the effects of compositional gradients, and the effects of phase transitions, especially melting. The most striking manifestation of the role of rheology lies in the difference between a mobile lid mode (plate tectonics for Earth) and a stagnant lid mode (other large terrestrial bodies). This difference may arise because of the role of water, but perhaps also because of melting, or size (gravity), or the vagaries of history. It has profound effects for the differences in history of Earth, Venus and Mars, including their surface geology, volatile reservoirs and magnetic fields. Since thermal convection is driven by small density differences, it can also be greatly altered or limited by compositional or phase effects. Melt migration introduces additional complications to the heat transport as well as being a source for the irreversible differentiation that might promote layering. Our limited understanding and ability to model these processes continues to limit the development of a predictive framework for the differences among the terrestrial planets.     

河南汝阳熊耳群古火山机构地质特征及意义

河南豫西中元古界熊耳群火山岩系广泛分布,且遭受多次构造活动、岩浆侵入及剥蚀的影响。在汝阳一带依据岩石中残留的原生构造、古断裂构造、岩石学和岩相学标志、岩层产状及地貌形态等特征识别出高水泉、关家、草立扒、十八盘、双园沟等一系列古火山口。火山活动早期为NEE向裂隙式喷溢,中期演化为中心式喷发、伴有裂隙式喷发,晚期为中心式喷发。区域火山活动贯穿整个熊耳期,时间自NE向SW由早到晚。古火山口及受其控制的次火山岩为区域找矿信息。     

河南嵩县-汝州熊耳群古火山机构与矿产的关系

河南嵩县黄庄-汝州高水泉一带熊耳群火山岩分布区属构造变动强烈的中深剥蚀区。依据岩石岩相标志、断裂构造形迹、火山岩的产状以及地貌标志等,首次识别出活动于许山期、鸡蛋坪期及马家河期的五个古火山口和一个古裂隙喷发带。熊耳群火山活动早期为NEE向裂隙式喷溢,中期演化为中心式喷发、伴有裂隙式喷发,晚期为中心式喷发。区域火山活动贯穿整个熊耳期,时间自NE向SW由早到晚。古火山口及受其控制的次火山岩与区域矿产关系密切。