POLIS: A spectropolarimeter for the VTT and for GREGOR

The polarimetric Littrow Spectrograph POLIS is designed for vector polarimetry at high angular and spectral resolution. It measures the magnetic field simultaneously in the photosphere and the chromosphere of the sun. Both branches of the polarimetry unit are dual beam systems with a single rotating modulator for both wavelengths and polarizing beam splitters in front of each CCD camera. POLIS has been installed at the VTT on Tenerife and has seen First Light on 17 May 2002. A modified version of POLIS will be developed for the balloon mission Sunrise . That version will have UV capabilities down to 200 nm.     

Impact melt rocks from the Late Paleocene Hiawatha impact structure,northwest Greenland

Impact melt rocks formed during hypervelocity impact events are ideal for studying impact structures. Here, we describe impact melt rock samples collected proximal to the 31 km wide 58 Ma Hiawatha impact structure, northwest Greenland, which is completely covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet. The melt rocks contain diagnostic shock indicators (e.g., planar deformation features [PDF] in quartz and shocked zircon) and form three groups based on melt textures and chemistry: (i) hypocrystalline, (ii) glassy, and (iii) carbonate-based melt rocks. The exposed foreland directly in front of the structure consists of metasedimentary successions and igneous plutons; however, the carbonate-based impactites indicate a mixed target sequence with a significant carbonate-rich component. Well-preserved organic material in some melt rocks indicates that North Greenland at the time of impact was host to abundant organic material, likely a dense high-latitude temperate forest. Geochemical signatures of platinum-group elements in selected samples indicate an extraterrestrial component and support previous identification of a highly fractionated iron impactor in glaciofluvial sand. Our results illustrate the possibility to study impact structures hidden beneath a thick ice sheet based on transported samples and this opens a new avenue for identifying other potential impact craters in Greenland and Antarctica.