Glacial advances constrained by Be exposure dating of bedrock landslides, Kyrgyz Tien Shan

Numerous large landslide deposits occur in the Tien Shan, a tectonically active intraplate orogen in Central Asia. Yet their significance in Quaternary landscape evolution and natural hazard assessment remains unresolved due to the lack of "absolute" age constraints. Here we present the first ¹⁰Be exposure ages for three prominent (> 10⁷ m³) bedrock landslides that blocked major rivers and formed lakes, two of which subsequently breached, in the northern Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Three ¹⁰Be ages reveal that one landslide in the Alamyedin River occurred at 11–15 ka, which is consistent with two ¹⁴C ages of gastropod shells from reworked loess capping the landslide. One large landslide in Aksu River is among the oldest documented in semi-arid continental interiors, with a ¹⁰Be age of 63–67 ka. The Ukok River landslide deposit(s) yielded variable ¹⁰Be ages, which may result from multiple landslides, and inheritance of ¹⁰Be. Two ¹⁰Be ages of 8.2 and 5.9 ka suggest that one major landslide occurred in the early to mid-Holocene, followed by at least one other event between 1.5 and 0.4 ka. Judging from the regional glacial chronology, all three landslides have occurred between major regional glacial advances. Whereas Alamyedin and Ukok can be considered as postglacial in this context, Aksu is of interglacial age. None of the landslide deposits show traces of glacial erosion, hence their locations and ¹⁰Be ages mark maximum extents and minimum ages of glacial advances, respectively. Using toe-to-headwall altitude ratios of 0.4–0.5, we reconstruct minimum equilibrium-line altitudes that exceed previous estimates by as much as 400 m along the moister northern fringe of the Tien Shan. Our data show that deposits from large landslides can provide valuable spatio-temporal constraints for glacial advances in landscapes where moraines and glacial deposits have low preservation potential.     

IGU Commission on the Organisation of Industrial Space

The International Geographical Union Reports

IGU Commission on the Organisation of Industrial Space     

Correction of the ionospheric distortion on the MARSIS surface sounding echoes

Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) on the Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft has made numerous measurements of the Martian surface and subsurface. However, all of these measurements are distorted by the ionosphere and must be compensated before any analysis. We have developed a technique to compensate for the ionospheric distortions. This technique provides a powerful tool to derive the total electron content (TEC) and other higher-order terms of the limited expansion of the plasma dispersion function that are related to overall shape of the electron column profile. The derived parameters are fitted by using a Chapman model to derive ionospheric parameters like n₀, electron density primary peak (maximum for solar zenith angle (SZA) equal 0), and the neutral height scale H.

Our estimated ionospheric parameters are in good agreement with Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) radio-occultation data. However, since MARSIS does not have the observation geometry limitations of the radio occultation measurements, our derived parameters extend over a large range of SZA for each MEX orbit.

The first results from our technique have been discussed by Safaeinili et al. [2007, Estimation of the total electron content of the Martian ionosphere using radar sounder surface echoes. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L23204, doi:10.1029/2007GL032154].     

华北东部地幔改造作用和置换作用:单斜辉石激光探针研究

对山东蒙阴古生代金伯利岩中石榴石方辉橄榄岩、河南鹤壁新生代玄武岩中 铬尖晶石方辉橄榄岩、山东栖霞新生代玄武岩中央晶石二辉橄榄岩和山东山旺新生代 玄武岩中尖晶石（富ＣｐＸ）二辉橄榄岩单斜辉石的常量、微量元素的研究和对比表明：华 北地块古生代稳定存在的克拉通岩石圈地幔在中、新生代其东部被具大洋地幔性质的 显生宙地幔不均匀地发生了置换作用,残存于南北重力梯度带（岩石圈减薄过渡带）上 的鹤壁浅部克拉通地幔除保存有置换作用前改造作用的丰富信息外,也包含有其深部 被置换后的地幔改造作用信息;郯庐断裂带东部栖霞的新生地幔仍保留有较多的大洋 地幔成分特征,而郯庐断裂带内山旺的新生地幔受后续地幔改造作用的影响有向大陆 地幔演化的趋向．发生于华北地块东部中、新生代的岩石圈巨厚减薄作用与地幔的置换 作用有关,由渐进的富ＣＯ_２流体或碳酸岩熔体对岩石圈地幔的交代改造作用以及由此 所引起的熔体抽取作用是完成新生地幔对古老地幔置换作用的关键．郯庐断裂带等岩 石圈深大断裂为地幔改造作用和地幔置换作用提供了良好的通道作用．     

MoisturEC: A New R Program for Moisture Content Estimation from Electrical Conductivity Data

Noninvasive geophysical estimation of soil moisture has potential to improve understanding of flow in the unsaturated zone for problems involving agricultural management, aquifer recharge, and optimization of landfill design and operations. In principle, several geophysical techniques (e.g., electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and nuclear magnetic resonance) offer insight into soil moisture, but data‐analysis tools are needed to “translate” geophysical results into estimates of soil moisture, consistent with (1) the uncertainty of this translation and (2) direct measurements of moisture. Although geostatistical frameworks exist for this purpose, straightforward and user‐friendly tools are required to fully capitalize on the potential of geophysical information for soil‐moisture estimation. Here, we present MoisturEC, a simple R program with a graphical user interface to convert measurements or images of electrical conductivity (EC) to soil moisture. Input includes EC values, point moisture estimates, and definition of either Archie parameters (based on experimental or literature values) or empirical data of moisture vs. EC. The program produces two‐ and three‐dimensional images of moisture based on available EC and direct measurements of moisture, interpolating between measurement locations using a Tikhonov regularization approach.     

Acid mine drainage at Cerro Rico de Potosí I: unabated high-strength discharges reflect a five century legacy of mining

Intensive mining and processing of Ag, Sn, Pb and Zn ores have occurred in various locations within and around the city of Potosí, Bolivia since 1545. Surface and subsurface waters, stream sediments and soils are contaminated with various ecotoxic metals in the headwaters of the economically vital, yet highly impacted, upper Rio Pilcomayo watershed. Previous studies have documented downstream trace metal contamination, however, not addressed specific sources. The AMD discharges identified in this study help link downstream pollution to primary origins. The majority of AMD would be considered high-strength due to metal concentrations and acidity orders of magnitude greater than typical AMD. Discharges from both operating and abandoned portals as well as tailings-related deposits displayed a high degree of heterogeneity with total metal concentrations ranging from 0.11 to 7480, <0.022 to 889, <0.0006 to 65.3, <0.001 to 310, 0.12 to 72,100, 0.3 to 402, <0.012 to 34.8, and 0.24 to 19,600 mg/L of Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn, respectively. Net acidity and pH ranged from −10 to 246,000 mg/L as CaCO₃ equivalent and 0.90–6.94 standard units, respectively. Data were gathered during two sampling events centered around the most extreme periods of the dry and wet seasons of one water-year. Loadings to local streams were marginally greater for most metals in the wet season. If observed loadings are historically representative, Cerro Rico AMD has contributed thousands of tonnes of ecotoxic metals to the upper Rio Pilcomayo over the last five centuries. Metal and hydrogen ion concentrations in the majority of AMD sampled were several orders of magnitude above discharge limits set by the Bolivian government, yet no action has historically or contemporarily been taken.     

Comparison of the LEW88516 and ALHA77005 martian meteorites: Similar but distinct

Abstract By mineral and bulk compositions, the Lewis Cliff (LEW) 88516 meteorite is quite similar to the ALHA77005 martian meteorite. These two meteorites are not paired because their mineral compositions are distinct, they were found 500 km apart in ice fields with different sources for meteorites, and their terrestrial residence ages are different. Minerals in LEW88516 include: olivine, pyroxenes (low- and high-Ca), and maskelynite (after plagioclase); and the minor minerals chromite, whitlockite, ilmenite, and pyrrhotite. Mineral grains in LEW88516 range up to a few mm. Texturally, the meteorite is complex, with regions of olivine and chromite poikilitically enclosed in pyroxene, regions of interstitial basaltic texture, and glass-rich (shock) veinlets. Olivine compositions range from Fo₆₄ to Fo₇₀, (avg. Fo₆₇), more ferroan and with more variation than in ALHA77005 (Fo₆₉ to Fo₇₃). Pyroxene compositions fall between En₇₇Wo₄ and En₆₅Wo₁₅ and in clusters near En₆₃Wo₉ and En₅₃Wo₃₃, on average more magnesian and with more variation than in ALHA77005. Shock features in LEW88516 range from weak deformation through complete melting. Bulk chemical analyses by modal recombination of electron microprobe analyses, instrumental neutron activation, and radiochemical neutron activation confirm that LEW88516 is more closely related to ALHA77005 than to other known martian meteorites. Key element abundance ratios are typical of martian meteorites, as is its non-chondritic rare earth pattern. Differences between the chemical compositions of LEW88516 and ALHA77005 are consistent with slight differences in the proportions of their constituent minerals and not from fundamental petrogenetic differences. Noble gas abundances in LEW88516, like those in ALHA77005, show modest excesses of ⁴⁰Ar and ¹²⁹Xe from trapped (shock-implanted) gas. As with other ALHA77005 and the shergottite martian meteorites (except EETA79001), noble gas isotope abundances in LEW88516 are consistent with exposure to cosmic rays for 2.5–3 Ma. The absence of substantial effects of shielding from cosmic rays suggest LEW88516 spent this time as an object no larger than a few cm in diameter.     

Tellurides from Sunrise Dam gold deposit, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: a new occurrence of nagyágite

Summary The Cu–Fe–Au–Mo (W) deposits in southeastern Hubei are an important component of the Middle–Lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt. Molybdenite from the Fengshandong Cu- (Mo), Ruanjiawan W–Cu- (Mo), Qianjiawan Cu–Au, Tongshankou Cu–Mo and Tonglüshan Cu- (Fe) deposits yielded Re–Os ages of 144.0 ± 2.1 Ma, 143.6 ± 1.7 Ma, 137.7 ± 1.7 Ma, 142.3 ± 1.8–143.7 ± 1.8 Ma and 137.8 ± 1.7–138.1 ± 1.8 Ma, respectively. Phlogopite from the Tieshan Fe- (Cu) deposit yielded an Ar–Ar age of 140.9 ± 1.2 Ma. These data and other published isotopic ages (Re–Os molybdenite and Ar–Ar mica ages) for the Cu–Fe–Au–Mo (W) deposits in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt show that Cu–Fe–Au–Mo (W) mineralisation in the Tongling, Anqing, Jiurui and Edong ore districts developed in a narrow time span between 135.5 and 144.9 Ma, reflecting an important regional metallogenic event. An integrated study of available petrological and geochronological data, together with relationships to magmatism and the regional geodynamic framework, indicate that the Cu–Fe–Au–Mo (W) mineralisation in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River belt occurred during a regime of lithospheric extension. This extension is probably related to Late Mesozoic processes of lower crustal delamination and lithospheric thinning in East China.