Formation of a small impact structure discovered within the Agoudal meteorite strewn field,Morocco

A relic impact structure was recognized within the strewn field of the Agoudal iron meteorite. The heavily eroded structure has preserved shatter cones in a limestone basement, and remnants of autochthonous and allochthonous breccias. Fragments of iron incorporated into the allochthonous breccia have a chemical composition (Ni = 5.16 wt%, Ir = 0.019 ppm) similar to that of the Agoudal meteorite, supporting a syngenetic origin of the strewn field and the impact structure. The total recovered mass of Agoudal meteorite fragments is estimated at approximately 500 kg. The estimated size of the SE–NW‐oriented strewn field is 6 × 2 km. Model calculations with minimal preatmospheric size show that a similar meteorite strewn field plus one small crater with observed shock effects could be formed by fragmentation of a meteoroid approximately 1.4 m in diameter with an impact angle of approximately 60° from the horizontal. However, the most probable is an impact of a larger, 3–4 m diameter meteoroid, resulting a strewn field with approximately 10 craters, 10–30 m in diameter each, plus numerous meteorite fragments. The calculated scattering area of meteorite shrapnel ejected from these impact craters could completely cover the observed strewn field of the Agoudal meteorite.     

Determining Titan surface topography from Cassini SAR data

A technique, referred to as SARTopo, has been developed for obtaining surface height estimates with 10 km horizontal resolution and 75 m vertical resolution of the surface of Titan along each Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) swath. We describe the technique and present maps of the co-located data sets. A global map and regional maps of Xanadu and the northern hemisphere hydrocarbon lakes district are included in the results. A strength of the technique is that it provides topographic information co-located with SAR imagery. Having a topographic context vastly improves the interpretability of the SAR imagery and is essential for understanding Titan.SARTopo is capable of estimating surface heights for most of the SAR-imaged surface of Titan. Currently nearly 30% of the surface is within 100 km of a SARTopo height profile. Other competing techniques provide orders of magnitude less coverage.We validate the SARTopo technique through comparison with known geomorphological features such as mountain ranges and craters, and by comparison with co-located nadir altimetry, including a 3000 km strip that had been observed by SAR a month earlier. In this area, the SARTopo and nadir altimetry data sets are co-located tightly (within 5-10 km for one 500 km section), have similar resolution, and as expected agree closely in surface height. Furthermore the region contains prominent high spatial resolution topography, so it provides an excellent test of the resolution and precision of both techniques.     

Major and trace elements in German bottled water,their regional distribution,and accordance with national and international standards

The market for mineral water has been growing steadily over the last few years. Germany is the country with the highest number of bottled mineral water brands (908 bottled water samples from 502 wells/brands were analyzed). The per capita consumption of mineral water in Germany in 2003 was 129 L. A wide range of values of one to seven orders of magnitude was determined for 71 elements in the bottled water samples analyzed by ICP-QMS, ICP-AES, IC, titration, photometric, conductometric and potentiometric methods. A comparison of the element concentrations and the legal limits for both bottled and tap water (EU, Germany, US EPA, WHO) shows that only 70% of the 908 mineral water samples fulfill the German and EU drinking water (i.e., tap water) regulations for all parameters (not including pH) for which action levels are defined. Nearly 5% of the bottled water samples not fulfill the German and EU regulations for mineral and table water. Comparison of our results with the current German and European action levels for mineral and table water shows that only 42 of the bottled water samples exceed the limits for one or more of the following elements: arsenic, nitrate, nitrite, manganese, nickel and barium concentrations. Ten of the bottled water samples contain uranium concentrations above the 10 μg/L recommended limit.     

The role of the Kupferschiefer in the formation of hydrothermal base metal mineralization in the Spessart ore district, Germany: insight from detailed sulfur isotope studies

The Spessart district (SW Germany), located at the southwestern margin of the Permian Kupferschiefer basin in Central Europe, hosts abundant stratabound and structurally controlled base metal mineralization. The mineralization styles identified are (1) stratabound Cu-Pb-Zn-(Ag) ores in Zechstein sedimentary rocks, (2) structurally controlled Cu-As-(Ag) ores in Zechstein sedimentary rocks, (3) crosscutting Co-Ni-(Bi)-As and Cu-Fe-As veins, (4) stratabound metasomatic Fe-Mn carbonate ores in Zechstein dolomite, (5) barren barite veins, and (6) Fe-Mn-As veins in Permian rhyolites. Building on previous work that involved mineralogical, textural, and chemical characterization of the major mineralization types, we have performed a comprehensive sulfur isotope study that applied both conventional and novel laser-ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. The δ³⁴S values of sulfide minerals from the different ore types are consistently negative and highly variable, in the range between −44.5‰ and −3.9‰, whereas the δ³⁴S values of barite are all positive in the range between 4.7‰ and 18.9‰. Remarkably, stratabound and structurally controlled mineralization in Zechstein sedimentary rocks has the least negative δ³⁴S values, whereas vein-type deposits have consistently more negative δ³⁴S values. The observed pattern of sulfide δ³⁴S values can be best interpreted in terms of fluid mixing at the basement-cover interface. Hydrothermal fluids originating from the crystalline basement migrated upward along subvertical fault zones and were periodically injected into groundwaters that were flowing in the post-Variscan sedimentary cover. These groundwaters had interacted with the Zechstein sedimentary rocks, resulting in fluids characterized by elevated concentrations of reduced sulfur (with negative δ³⁴S values) and alkaline pH. Repeated mixing between both chemically contrasting fluids caused rapid and efficient precipitation of sulfide ore minerals in hydrothermal veins with highly variable but distinctly negative δ³⁴S values.     

A 3 km atmospheric boundary layer on Titan indicated by dune spacing and Huygens data

Some 20% of Titan’s surface is covered in large linear dunes that resemble in morphology, size and spacing (1-3 km) those seen on Earth. Although gravity, atmospheric density and sand composition are very different on these two worlds, this coincident size scale suggests that the controlling parameter limiting the growth of giant dunes, namely the boundary layer thickness (Andreotti et al., 2009). Nature, 457, 1120-1123], is similar. We show that a ∼3 km boundary layer thickness is supported by Huygens descent data and is consistent with results from Global Circulation Models taking the distinctive thermal inertia and albedo of the dune sands into account. While the boundary layer thickness on Earth controlling dunes can vary by an order of magnitude depending on the proximity of oceans, which have very different thermal properties from dry land, the relative invariance of dune spacing on Titan is consistent with relatively uniform thermal properties near the dunes and no prominent variation with latitude is seen.     

Threshold of wave generation on Titan’s lakes and seas: Effect of viscosity and implications for Cassini observations

Motivated by radar and near-infrared data indicating that Titan’s polar lakes are extremely smooth, we consider the conditions under which a lake surface will be ruffled by wind to form capillary waves. We evaluate laboratory data on wind generation and derive, without scaling for surface tension effects, a threshold for pure methane/ethane of ∼0.5-1 m/s. However, we compute the physical properties of predicted Titan lake compositions using the National Institute for Standards Technology (NIST) code and note that dissolved amounts of C3 and C4 compounds are likely to make Titan lakes much more viscous than pure ethane or methane, even without allowing for suspended particulates which would increase the viscosity further. Wind tunnel experiments show a strong dependence of capillary wave growth on liquid viscosity, and this effect may explain the apparent absence so far of waves, contrary to prior expectations that generation of gravity waves by wind should be easy on Titan. On the other hand, we note that winds over Titan lakes predicted with the TitanWRF Global Circulation Model indicate radar observations so far have in any case been when winds have been low (∼0.5-0.7 m/s), possibly below the wave generation threshold, while peak winds during summer may reach 1-2 m/s. Thus observations of Titan’s northern lakes during the coming years by the Cassini Solstice mission offer the highest probability of observing wind-roughening of lake surfaces, while observations of Ontario Lacus in the south will likely continue to show it to be flat and smooth.     

Penetrometry of granular and moist planetary surface materials: Application to the Huygens landing site on Titan

The Huygens probe landed on the then unknown surface of Titan in January 2005. A small, protruding penetrometer, part of the Surface Science Package (SSP), was pushed into the surface material measuring the mechanical resistance of the ground as the probe impacted the landing site. We present laboratory penetrometry into room temperature surface analogue materials using a replica penetrometer to investigate further the nature of Titan’s surface and examine the sensor’s capabilities. The results are then compared to the flight instrument’s signature and suggest the Titan surface substrate material consists of sand-sized particles with a mean grain size ～2 mm. A possible thin 7 mm coating with mechanical properties similar to terrestrial snow may overlie this substrate, although due to the limited data we are unable to detect any further layering or grading within the near-surface material. The unusual weakening with depth of the signature returned from Titan has, to date, only been reproduced using a damp sand target that becomes progressively wetter with depth, and supports the suggestion that the surface may consist of a damp and cohesive material with interstitial liquid contained between its grains. Comparison with terrestrial analogues highlights the unusual nature of the landing site material.     

An ice-core based history of Siberian forest fires since AD 1250

Forest fires play a key role in the global carbon cycle and thus, can affect regional and global climate. Although fires in extended areas of Russian boreal forests have a considerable influence on atmospheric greenhouse gas and soot concentrations, estimates of their impact on climate are hampered by a lack of data on the history of forest fires. Especially regions with strong continental climate are of high importance due to an intensified development of wildfires. In this study we reconstruct the fire history of Southern Siberia during the past 750 years using ice-core based nitrate, potassium, and charcoal concentration records from Belukha glacier in the continental Siberian Altai. A period of exceptionally high forest-fire activity was observed between AD 1600 and 1680, following an extremely dry period AD 1540–1600. Ice-core pollen data suggest distinct forest diebacks and the expansion of steppe in response to dry climatic conditions. Coherence with a paleoenvironmental record from the 200 km distant Siberian lake Teletskoye shows that the vegetational shift AD 1540–1680, the increase in fire activity AD 1600–1680, and the subsequent recovery of forests AD 1700 were of regional significance. Dead biomass accumulation in response to drought and high temperatures around AD 1600 probably triggered maximum forest-fire activity AD 1600–1680. The extreme dry period in the 16th century was also observed at other sites in Central Asia and is possibly associated with a persistent positive mode of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). No significant increase in biomass burning occurred in the Altai region during the last 300 years, despite strongly increasing temperatures and human activities. Our results imply that precipitation changes controlled fire-regime and vegetation shifts in the Altai region during the past 750 years. We conclude that high sensitivity of ecosystems to occasional decadal-scale drought events may trigger unprecedented environmental reorganizations under global-warming conditions.     

Neue Wege in die Ökotoxikologie: Quantitative Verhaltensmessungen an Fischen als Toxizitätsendpunkt

New Ways to Ecotoxicology: Quantitative Recording of Behaviour of Fish as Toxicity Endpoint The BehavioQuant system will be introduced which uses the integrative whole-organism response by automatized recording and quantifying the spontaneous behaviour of fish and other test organisms. While moving unrestricted within the test chamber, the movements of each single fish are recorded by video imaging, and their traces are digitized numerically by x-/y-coordinates. From the object traces several test parameters are calculated which give information about behavioural changes of the observed fishes. These various parameters are: the average swimming velocity (motility), the average swimming depth below surface, the inconstancy of motility, the frequency of turns, the standard frequency distributions of vertical and horizontal positions (can be used for quantification of a preference for dark or light habitats), and the distance behaviour. A continuously monitoring of up to 16 aquaria is possible. The statistic comparison between treated groups and control groups is done for each test parameter separately. The automatical evaluation of the continuous observation of surface waters results from a comparison of the actual behaviour data to the data of a reference period. Some examples for the applications of the BehavioQuant system will be demonstrated (effects of atrazine), and their results will be discussed. Behavioural changes of a single species can finally cause changes in biocenotic structures and functions. Therefore, it is necessary to include the results of quantitative behaviour measurements in ecotoxicological hazard assessment.     

Sedimentation patterns of diatoms in Lake Holzmaar, Germany - (on the transfer of climate signals to biogenic silica oxygen isotope proxies)

The seasonal sedimentation pattern of diatom valves in Lake Holzmaar was investigated during 1995 by deploying sediment traps at three different lake depths. According to the sedimentation pattern, the major reproduction zone of diatoms was restricted to the upper 6 m of the water body. The population growth started late in April and blooms of Cyclotella cf. comensis Grun., which dominates the plankton diatoms, and Fragilaria crotonensis Kitton were collected in traps during June and September, and July, respectively. During summer, the seasonal sedimentation pattern of each taxon, as collected in the upper traps, was reflected in the concentrations in the lowest trap. However, in May and from September onwards, the community composition in the lowest trap and augmented trapping rates suggest both sediment focusing and resuspension of bottom sediments.The temperature signals as recorded by 18O values of diatom valves should, therefore, reflect integrated temperatures between 0 and 6 m depth. However, temperatures during summer and autumn are expected to be accentuated in the sedimentary record since the isotopic signal is weighted by both the number and the weight-mass of the valves. During summer, the transfer of these signals by the sedimenting diatoms retains the information pattern recorded, while in spring and autumn/winter additional influxes caused by resuspension may somewhat alter those temperature informations. The proxy signals finally stored in the sediments, may, therefore, not precisely represent the successive temperatures currently recorded during 1995 within mid-lake.