Remelting of refractory inclusions in the chondrule‐forming regions: Evidence from chondrule‐bearing type C calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions from Allende

Abstract— We describe the mineralogy, petrology, oxygen, and magnesium isotope compositions of three coarse‐grained, igneous, anorthite‐rich (type C) Ca‐Al‐rich inclusions (CAIs) (ABC, TS26, and 93) that are associated with ferromagnesian chondrule‐like silicate materials from the CV carbonaceous chondrite Allende. The CAIs consist of lath‐shaped anorthite (An₉₉), Cr‐bearing Al‐Ti‐diopside (Al and Ti contents are highly variable), spinel, and highly åkermanitic and Na‐rich melilite (Åk_63–74, 0.4–0.6 wt% Na₂O). TS26 and 93 lack Wark‐Lovering rim layers; ABC is a CAI fragment missing the outermost part. The peripheral portions of TS26 and ABC are enriched in SiO₂ and depleted in TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ compared to their cores and contain relict ferromagnesian chondrule fragments composed of forsteritic olivine (Fa_6–8) and low‐Ca pyroxene/pigeonite (Fs₁Wo_1–9). The relict grains are corroded by Al‐Ti‐diopside of the host CAIs and surrounded by haloes of augite (Fs_0.5Wo_30–42). The outer portion of CAI 93 enriched in spinel is overgrown by coarse‐grained pigeonite (Fs_0.5–2Wo_5–17), augite (Fs_0.5Wo_38–42), and anorthitic plagioclase (An₈₄). Relict olivine and low‐Ca pyroxene/pigeonite in ABC and TS26, and the pigeonite‐augite rim around 93 are ¹⁶O‐poor (Δ17O ～ ?1‰ to ?8‰). Spinel and Al‐Ti‐diopside in cores of CAIs ABC, TS26, and 93 are ¹⁶O‐enriched (Δ17O down to ?20‰), whereas Al‐Ti‐diopside in the outer zones, as well as melilite and anorthite, are ¹⁶O‐depleted to various degrees (Δ17O = ?11‰ to 2‰). In contrast to typical Allende CAIs that have the canonical initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratio of ～5 × 10^?5 ABC, 93, and TS26 are ²⁶Al‐poor with (²⁶Al/²⁷Al)₀ ratios of (4.7 ± 1.4) × 10^?6 (1.5 ± 1.8) × 10^?6 <1.2 × 10^?6 respectively. We conclude that ABC, TS26, and 93 experienced remelting with addition of ferromagnesian chondrule silicates and incomplete oxygen isotopic exchange in an ¹⁶O‐poor gaseous reservoir, probably in the chondrule‐forming region. This melting episode could have reset the ²⁶Al‐²⁶Mg systematics of the host CAIs, suggesting it occurred ～2 Myr after formation of most CAIs. These observations and the common presence of relict CAIs inside chondrules suggest that CAIs predated formation of chondrules.     

Grenvillian and Caledonian evolution of eastern Svalbard – a tale of two orogenies

Svalbard is located in the north-west corner of the Barents Sea shelf and the Eurasian Plate, in a key area for interpreting Caledonian and older orogens in the Arctic region. Recent U–Pb dating in the Nordaustlandet Terrane of eastern Svalbard shows this terrane to consist of a Grenville-age basement, overlain by Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic platformal sediments, and intruded by Caledonian anatectic granites. Deformation, metamorphism and crustal anatectic magmatism occurred both during the Grenvillian (960–940 Ma) and Caledonian (450–410 Ma) orogenies. This evolution shows great similarities with that of eastern Greenland. In the classical model, eastern Svalbard is placed outboard of central east Greenland in pre-Caledonian time. Alternatively, it may have been located north-east of Greenland and transferred west and rotated anticlockwise during Caledonian continent–continent collision. In the Neoproterozoic, easternmost Svalbard may have been part of a wider area of Grenville-age crust, now fragmented and dispersed around the Arctic.     

Microlensing in dark matter haloes

Using eight dark matter haloes extracted from fully self-consistent cosmological N -body simulations, we perform microlensing experiments. A hypothetical observer is placed at a distance of 8.5 kpc from the centre of the halo measuring optical depths, event durations and event rates towards the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud. We simulate 1600 microlensing experiments for each halo. Assuming that the whole halo consists of massive astronomical compact halo objects (MACHOs),   f = 1.0  , and a single MACHO mass is   m _M= 1.0 M_⊙  , the simulations yield mean values of  τ= 4.7^+5.0_−2.2× 10⁻⁷  and  Γ= 1.6^+1.3_−0.6× 10⁻⁶  events star⁻¹ yr⁻¹. We find that triaxiality and substructure can have major effects on the measured values so that τ and Γ values of up to three times the mean can be found. If we fit our values of τ and Γ to the MACHO collaboration observations, we find   f = 0.23^+0.15_−0.13  and   m _M= 0.44^+0.24_−0.16  . Five out of the eight haloes under investigation produce f and m _M values mainly concentrated within these bounds.     

Preliminary studies concerning subsurface probes for the exploration of icy planetary bodies

It is well-known that the permanent terrestrial ice sheets (glaciers and polar caps) contain a lot of information about the recent geological history and in particular about climatic changes. Extrapolating this fact to other ice sheets in the solar system (e.g. the Mars polar regions, the icy moons of the outer planets, etc.), we may expect a similar wealth of information. To obtain this information it is possible to drill holes or melt the ice by a heated probe, which in this way is able to penetrate the surface and investigate the deeper layers in situ. In the latter case the driving agent is the heating power and the weight of the probe. In this paper we consider the application of such “melting probes” for exploring the structure of ice sheets in extraterrestrial environments. We describe several laboratory experiments with simple melting probes performed under cryo-vacuum conditions and compare the results with tests in a terrestrial environment. The experiments revealed that under space conditions the downward motion of a heated probe in an ice sheet is characterized by intermittent periods of sublimation and melting of the surrounding ice, sometimes interrupted by periods where a part of the probe's outer surface is frozen to the surrounding ice. This leads to a temporary blocking of the probe's downward motion. A similar situation can occur when the trailing tether is frozen in behind the probe. During the periods of ice sublimation the penetration process is significantly more power consuming, due to the large difference between the latent heat of sublimation and the latent heat of melting for water ice.     

Consistent tangent operators for constitutive rate equations

A general approach for obtaining the consistent tangent operator for constitutive rate equations is presented. The rate equations can be solved numerically by the user's favourite time integrator. In order to obtain reliable results, the substepping in integration should be based on a control of the local error. The main ingredient of the consistent tangent operator, namely the derivative of the stress with respect to the strain increment must be computed simultaneously with the same integrator, applied to a numerical approximation of the variational equations. This information enables finite‐element packages to assemble a consistent tangent operator and thus guarantees quadratic convergence of the equilibrium iterations. Several numerical examples with a hypoplastic constitutive law are given. As numerical integrator we used a second‐order extrapolated Euler method. Quadratic convergence of the equilibrium iteration is shown. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Galileo star scanner observations at Amalthea

In November of 2002, the Galileo spacecraft passed within 250 km of Jupiter's moon Amalthea. An onboard telescope, the star scanner, observed a series of bright flashes near the moon. It is believed that these flashes represent sunlight reflected from 7 to 9 small moonlets located within about 3000 km of Amalthea. From star scanner geometry considerations and other arguments, we can constrain the diameter of the observed bodies to be between 0.5 m to several tens of kilometers. In September of 2003, while crossing Amalthea's orbit just prior to Galileo's destruction in the jovian atmosphere, a single additional body seems to have been observed. It is suspected that these bodies are part of a discrete rocky ring embedded within Jupiter's Gossamer ring system.