Mojave Mars simulant—Characterization of a new geologic Mars analog

We have identified and characterized a basaltic Mars simulant that is available as whole rocks, sand and dust. The source rock for the simulant is a basalt mined from the Tertiary Tropico Group in the western Mojave Desert. The Mojave Mars Simulant (MMS) was chosen for its inert hygroscopic characteristics, its availability in a variety of forms, and its physical and chemical characteristics. The MMS dust and MMS sand are produced by mechanically crushing basaltic boulders. This is a process that more closely resembles the weathering/comminution processes on Mars where impact events and aerodynamic interactions provide comminution in the (relative) absence of water and organics. MMS is among the suite of test rocks and soils that was used in the development of the 2007/8 Phoenix Scout and is being used in the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) missions. The MMS development team is using the simulant for research that centers on sampling tool interactions in icy soils. Herein we describe the physical properties and chemical composition of this new Mars simulant.     

Solar variability and the levels of Lake Victoria,East Africa,during the last millenium

A new diatom series with 1–6 year resolution from Lake Victoria, East Africa, shows that lake level minima occurred ca. 820–760, 680–660, 640–620, 370–340, and 220–150 calendar years BP. Inferred lake levels were exceptionally high during most of the Little Ice Age (ca. 600–200 calendar years BP). Synchrony between East African high lake levels and prolonged sunspot minima during much of the last millenium may reflect solar variabilitys effects on tropical rainfall, but those relationships reversed sign ca. 200 years ago. Historical records also show that Victoria lake levels rose during every peak of the ca. 11-year sunspot cycle since the late 19th century. These findings suggest that, if these apparent tropical sun–climate associations during the last millenium were real, then they were subject to abrupt sign reversals.Electronic Supplementary Material to this article is available at .     

Age modeling of young non-varved lake sediments: methods and limits. Examples from two lakes in Central Chile

High-resolution and highly precise age models for recent lake sediments (last 100–150 years) are essential for quantitative paleoclimate research. These are particularly important for sedimentological and geochemical proxies, where transfer functions cannot be established and calibration must be based upon the relation of sedimentary records to instrumental data. High-precision dating for the calibration period is most critical as it determines directly the quality of the calibration statistics. Here, as an example, we compare radionuclide age models obtained on two high-elevation glacial lakes in the Central Chilean Andes (Laguna Negra: 33°38′S/70°08′W, 2,680 m a.s.l. and Laguna El Ocho: 34°02′S/70°19′W, 3,250 m a.s.l.). We show the different numerical models that produce accurate age-depth chronologies based on ²¹⁰Pb profiles, and we explain how to obtain reduced age-error bars at the bottom part of the profiles, i.e., typically around the end of the 19th century. In order to constrain the age models, we propose a method with five steps: (i) sampling at irregularly-spaced intervals for ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs depending on the stratigraphy and microfacies, (ii) a systematic comparison of numerical models for the calculation of ²¹⁰Pb-based age models: constant flux constant sedimentation (CFCS), constant initial concentration (CIC), constant rate of supply (CRS) and sediment isotope tomography (SIT), (iii) numerical constraining of the CRS and SIT models with the ¹³⁷Cs chronomarker of AD 1964 and, (iv) step-wise cross-validation with independent diagnostic environmental stratigraphic markers of known age (e.g., volcanic ash layer, historical flood and earthquakes). In both examples, we also use airborne pollutants such as spheroidal carbonaceous particles (reflecting the history of fossil fuel emissions), excess atmospheric Cu deposition (reflecting the production history of a large local Cu mine), and turbidites related to historical earthquakes. Our results show that the SIT model constrained with the ¹³⁷Cs AD 1964 peak performs best over the entire chronological profile (last 100–150 years) and yields the smallest standard deviations for the sediment ages. Such precision is critical for the calibration statistics, and ultimately, for the quality of the quantitative paleoclimate reconstruction. The systematic comparison of CRS and SIT models also helps to validate the robustness of the chronologies in different sections of the profile. Although surprisingly poorly known and under-explored in paleolimnological research, the SIT model has a great potential in paleoclimatological reconstructions based on lake sediments.     

Dense Gas, Chemistry and Star Formation in Luminous Galaxies

The molecular phase of the ISM constitutes the main source of fuel for the activity in starburst and AGNs. The physical conditions and chemical constitution of the molecular gas will change with, and respond to, the evolution of the activity. This paper includes a short discussion of the ¹²CO/¹³CO 1–0 line intensity ratio as a diagnostic tool of the molecular gas properties of luminous galaxies – paired with examples of high-resolution studies of how the line ratio varies within galaxies. A possible connection between the OH megamasers and galaxies with unusually high ¹²CO/¹³CO 1–0 line intensity ratios are also briefly discussed.The relative intensities of the dense gas tracers HNC, HCN, HCO⁺ and CN are a result of both chemistry and starburst evolution. The discussion on the interpretation of HNC 1–0 emission includes the importance of ion-neutral chemistry in a luminous starburst region. Finally, simple cartoon ISM models and how they can be applied to LIRGs and ULIRGs, are presented.     

Textural and mineralogical biosignatures in an unusual microbialite from Death Valley, California

For in situ astrobiological studies of Mars or other planets, we must employ strategies that will enable us to verify whether our approach and prototype instruments are actually capable of distinguishing life from non-life. This must be done against a background of rigorously conducted scientific characterization of the environment or sample types being considered for measurement by the instruments under development. In this study we show how a combination of mineralogical and textural features can be considered a biosignature in an early Mars analogue environment, Death Valley, California. We propose that it is a combination of features in context of the geologic matrix which allows determination of biogenicity to be made. Polymineralic microbialites (organosedimentary formations constructed by microorganisms) from a spring pool at Badwater, within Death Valley National Park, are composed of alternating biogenic and abiogenic minerals in a distinct triplet sequence related to wet and dry seasons. A microbial community, occurring as a black biofilm, produced paired layers of two different mineral types: manganese oxyhydroxides and calcite. These biogenic layers are separated from the next pair by a gypsum layer and appear to be laid down in the wet season, with the gypsum (a mineral positively identified on Mars) precipitating in the dry part of the year, abiogenically (i.e., not dependent on microbial metabolic activity for its deposition). In addition, textural features (smaller grain size and less geometric morphology) unique to the biogenic vs the abiogenic layers, were consistently observed so that texture served as a biosignature in this environment.     

Towards an integration of process measurements, archive analysis and modelling in geomorphology — the Kärkevagge experimental site, Abisko area, northern Sweden

The analysis of Holocene geomorphic process activity demands long–term data sets, which are available for the Kärkevagge catchment due to 50 years of intensive geomorphologic field studies. This data set is used in combination with additional field measurements, remote sensing and digital elevation model (DEM) analysis to provide input data for modelling Holocene valley development. On the basis of this information, geomorphic process units (GPUs) are defined by means of GIS modelling. These units represent areas of homogeneous process composition that transfer sediments. Since the data base enables the quantification of single processes, the interaction of processes within the units can also be quantified. Applying this concept permits calculation of recent sediment transfer rates and hence leads to a better understanding of actual geomorphic landscape development activity. To extrapolate these data in time and space the process–related sediments in the valley are analysed for depth and total volume, primarily using geophysical methods. In this fashion the validity of measured process rates is evaluated for the Holocene time scale. Results from this analysis are exemplified in a cross–profile showing some of the principal sediment units in the valley. For example, the measured modern rates on a slush torrent debris fan seem to represent the Holocene mean rate. This approach should also be suitable for revealing Holocene geomorphic landscape development in terms of climate change.     

Mineralbestand und Genesis des Eisgarner Granits im niederösterreichischen Waldviertel

Zusammenfassung Der jüngste Granit im österreichischen Moldanubikum ist der im nordwestlichen Waldviertel aufgeschlossene Eisgarner Granit.Das Gestein ist ein Zweiglimmergranit. Der Plagioklas (20–28 Vol.-%), selten zonar gebaut, hat einen durchschnittlichen An-Gehalt von 13%; daneben treten basischere Plagioklase (An bis 30%) als Einschlüsse im Mikroklin auf. Der Alkalifeldspat (25–38 Vol.-%) ist ein gegitterter, perthitisch entmischter Mikroklin mit Or 67–72%, Ab 24–28%, An 1,8–2,8%. Durch den Gehalt an Spurenelementen unterscheidet er sich stark von dem der älteren moldanubischen Granite. Die Triklinität liegt meist unter 0,90. Quarz tritt stellenweise als frühes Kristallisat auf, gehört aber im allgemeinen zu den Letztausscheidungen. Biotit (4–7 Vol.-%) bildel 2M-Polymorphe, ebenso Muskowit (6,5–7,5%), der entweder durch Reaktion von Andalusit mit der Schmelze oder aus Alkalifeldspat durch Reaktion mit der fluiden Phase hervorgegangen ist. Die Akzessorien Spinell, Rutil, Granat und Andalusit weisen darauf hin, daß der Granit durch Anatexis hochmetamorpher Gesteine (Silimanitgneise?) entstanden ist. Die Kristallisation verlief im Temperaturbereich zwischen ca 700° und 600°C bei einem Wasserdampfdruck von ca 5000 bar.

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Summary The youngest granite in the Moldanubian zone of Austria is theEisgarn granite which is exposed in the northwestern part of the Lower Austrian Waldviertel.The rock is a two-mica granite. The plagioclase (20–28 vol.-%) has an average An-content of 13% and shows only a weak zonary structure. Also more basic plagioclases (up to An 30) occur as inclusions in microcline. The alkalifeldspar (25–38 vol.-%) is a cross-hatched microcline perthite with the composition Or 67–72, Ab 24–28, An 1,8–2,8. It is distinguished from the microcline perthites of older granites by its content in trace elements. Its obliquity lies below 0,90. Partly the quartz is an early crystallisate, it is commonly a very late product, however. Biotite (4–7 vol.-%) forms the 2M polymorphe, as well as muscovite (6,5–7,5 vol.-%) which may develop by reaction of andalusite with the melt or from alkalifeldspar by reaction with the fluid phase. The accessories rutile, spinel, garnet and andalusite indicate a development of the granite by anatexis of high-metamorphic rocks (sillimanite-bearing gneisses?). Crystallization took place in the temperature range of 700° to 600°C under a water-vapor-pressure of 5000 bars.

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Mit 11 Texiabbildungen

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Herrn Prof. Dr.H. Leitmeier zum 80. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Neutron capture cross-sections of stable xenon isotopes and their application in stellar nucleosynthesis

The neutron capture cross-sections of^{124, 132, 134}Xe have been measured by the activation technique at 25 keV neutron energy. These data were supplemented by calculated capture cross-sections for^{128, 129, 130, 131}Xe via the statistical model. The complete set of capture cross-sections obtained in this way served to determine the solar xenon abundance throughs-process systematics and to study a variety of isotopic anomalies.     

Hydrological behaviour of a small catchment in the dehesa landuse system (Extremadura, SW Spain)

Investigations of the hydrological processes operating in a small experimental catchment representative of the dehesa ecosystem were carried out. The dehesa constitutes a system of agro-silvo-pastoral landuse, which is characterized by a Mediterranean, semi-arid climate. The study includes an analysis of the relationships between rainfall, soil water content and discharge, as well as the establishment of the annual water budget. The results demonstrate a complex hydrological response. The relationships between the factors involved and the operating processes are difficult to explain because of the decisive role played by the valley bottoms. These areas typically possess a sediment fill, and contrast with the shallow soils developed on the hillslopes. Genesis and quantity of runoff (Hortonian or saturation) measured at the outlet depend on the antecedent moisture conditions of the valley bottoms because of their water-retention capacity. Annual runoff coefficients are similar to those reported from other semi-arid areas. The analysis of the annual water budget shows that rainfall is positively related with both actual evapotranspiration and discharge.