Early core formation in asteroids and late accretion of chondrite parent bodies: Evidence from Hf-W in CAIs, metal-rich chondrites, and iron meteorites

The ¹⁸²Hf-¹⁸²W isotopic systematics of Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs), metal-rich chondrites, and iron meteorites were investigated to constrain the relative timing of accretion of their parent asteroids. A regression of the Hf-W data for two bulk CAIs, various fragments of a single CAI, and carbonaceous chondrites constrains the ¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf and ε_W at the time of CAI formation to (1.07 ± 0.10) × 10⁻⁴ and −3.47 ± 0.20, respectively. All magmatic iron meteorites examined here have initial ε_W values that are similar to or slightly lower than the initial value of CAIs. These low ε_W values may in part reflect ¹⁸²W-burnout caused by the prolonged cosmic ray exposure of iron meteorites, but this effect is estimated to be less than ∼0.3 ε units for an exposure age of 600 Ma. The W isotope data, after correction for cosmic ray induced effects, indicate that core formation in the parent asteroids of the magmatic iron meteorites occurred less than ∼1.5 Myr after formation of CAIs. The nonmagmatic IAB-IIICD irons and the metal-rich CB chondrites have more radiogenic W isotope compositions, indicating formation several Myr after the oldest metal cores had segregated in some asteroids.Chondrule formation ∼2-5 Myr after CAIs, as constrained by published Pb-Pb and Al-Mg ages, postdates core formation in planetesimals, and indicates that chondrites do not represent the precursor material from which asteroids accreted and then differentiated. Chondrites instead derive from asteroids that accreted late, either farther from the Sun than the parent bodies of magmatic iron meteorites or by reaccretion of debris produced during collisional disruption of older asteroids. Alternatively, chondrites may represent material from the outermost layers of differentiated asteroids. The early thermal and chemical evolution of asteroids appears to be controlled by the decay of ²⁶Al, which was sufficiently abundant (initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al >1.4 × 10⁻⁵) to rapidly melt early-formed planetesimals but could not raise the temperatures in the late-formed chondrite parent asteroids high enough to cause differentiation. The preservation of the primitive appearance of chondrites thus at least partially reflects their late formation rather than their early and primitive origin.     

Lu-Hf garnet geochronology of eclogites from the Balma Unit (Pennine Alps): implications for Alpine paleotectonic reconstructions

Three samples of eclogite from the Balma Unit, an ophiolite sheet on top of the Monte Rosa Nappe in the Pennine Alps, were investigated in terms of their P-T evolution, geochemistry, and Lu-Hf geochronology. The paleogeographic origin of this unit is controversial (North Penninic vs. South Penninic). It has been interpreted as a piece of Late Cretaceous oceanic crust, on the basis of ca. 93 Ma U-Pb SHRIMP ages of synmagmatic zircon cores in an eclogite. Trace element and isotope data suggest a mid ocean ridge (MOR) rather than an intraplate or OIB setting for the protoliths of the eclogites. Electron microprobe analyses of representative garnets show typical prograde zoning profiles. Estimated peak metamorphic temperatures of 550–600 Cº most likely did not exceed the closure temperature of the Lu-Hf system. Hence, Lu-Hf ages most likely reflect garnet growth in the studied samples. To minimize inclusion effects on age determinations, a selective digestion procedure for garnet was applied, in which zircon and rutile inclusions are not dissolved. The ages obtained for three samples, 42.3 ± 0.6 Ma (MSWD: 0.47), 42 ± 1 Ma (MSWD: 3.0) and 45.5 ± 0.3 Ma (MSWD: 0.33), are younger than all Lu-Hf ages reported so far for South Penninic Units. Metamorphic zircon domains of the 42.3 Ma sample (PIS1) were previously dated by U-Pb SHRIMP at 40.4 ± 0.7 Ma, indicating that the growth of metamorphic zircon post-dated the onset of garnet growth.These new data put important constraints on the paleogeographic reconstruction of the Alps. The MORB character of the rocks, together with their previously published protolith age, imply that oceanic spreading was still taking place in the Late Cretaceous. This supports a North Penninic origin for our samples because plate tectonic models predict Cretaceous spreading in the North Penninic but not in the South Penninic Ocean. If the Balma Unit is indeed North Penninic, the new Lu-Hf data, in combination with published geochronological data, require that two independent subduction zones consumed the South and North Penninic oceans.     

Flow structure over square bars at intermediate submergence: Large Eddy Simulation study of bar spacing effect

Turbulent open-channel flow over 2D roughness elements is investigated numerically by Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The flow over square bars for two roughness regimes (k-type roughness and transitional roughness between d-type and k-type) at a relative submergence of H/k = 6.5 is considered, where H is the maximum water depth and k is the roughness height. The selected roughness configurations are based on laboratory experiments, which are used for validating numerical simulations. Results from the LES, in turn, complement the experiments in order to investigate the time-averaged flow properties at much higher spatial resolution. The concept of the double-averaging (DA) of the governing equations is utilized to quantify roughness effects at a range of flow properties. Double-averaged velocity profiles are analysed and the applicability of the logarithmic law for rough-wall flows of intermediate submergence is evaluated. Momentum flux components are quantified and roughness effect on their vertical distribution is assessed using an integral form of the DA-equations. The relative contributions of pressure drag and viscous friction to the overall bed shear stress are also reported.     

Effects of a fully submerged boulder within a boulder array on the mean and turbulent flow fields: Implications to bedload transport

The objective of this coupled experimental and numerical study is to provide insight into the mean and turbulent flow fields within an array of fully submerged, isolated, immobile boulders. Our study showed that the velocity defect law performed well for describing the mean flow around the boulder within the array. A prerequisite, however, was to accurately estimate the spatial variability of u* around the boulder, which was achieved via the boundary characteristics method. The u* exhibited considerable spatial variability within the array and form roughness was shown to be up to 2 times larger than the skin roughness in the boulder near-wake region. Because the boulders bear a significant amount of the flow shear, the available bed shear stress for entrainment of the mobile sediment, ?? _ols , near the boulders was roughly 50% lower than the ambient ?? _ols . The ?? _ols variability induced by the boulders could lead to a threefold overestimation of the sediment transport rate.     

Understanding the time‐varying importance of different uncertainty sources in hydrological modelling using global sensitivity analysis

Simulations from hydrological models are affected by potentially large uncertainties stemming from various sources, including model parameters and observational uncertainty in the input/output data. Understanding the relative importance of such sources of uncertainty is essential to support model calibration, validation and diagnostic evaluation and to prioritize efforts for uncertainty reduction. It can also support the identification of ‘disinformative data’ whose values are the consequence of measurement errors or inadequate observations. Sensitivity analysis (SA) provides the theoretical framework and the numerical tools to quantify the relative contribution of different sources of uncertainty to the variability of the model outputs. In traditional applications of global SA (GSA), model outputs are aggregations of the full set of a simulated variable. For example, many GSA applications use a performance metric (e.g. the root mean squared error) as model output that aggregates the distances of a simulated time series to available observations. This aggregation of propagated uncertainties prior to GSA may lead to a significant loss of information and may cover up local behaviour that could be of great interest. Time‐varying sensitivity analysis (TVSA), where the aggregation and SA are repeated at different time steps, is a viable option to reduce this loss of information. In this work, we use TVSA to address two questions: (1) Can we distinguish between the relative importance of parameter uncertainty versus data uncertainty in time? (2) Do these influences change in catchments with different characteristics? To our knowledge, the results present one of the first quantitative investigations on the relative importance of parameter and data uncertainty across time. We find that the approach is capable of separating influential periods across data and parameter uncertainties, while also highlighting significant differences between the catchments analysed. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Hydrological Processes. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Biodegradation of forest floor organic matter bound to minerals via different binding mechanisms

Mineral-associated organic matter (OM) represents a large reservoir of organic carbon (OC) in natural environments. The factors controlling the extent of the mineral-mediated OC stabilization, however, are poorly understood. The protection of OM against biodegradation upon sorption to mineral phases is assumed to result from the formation of strong bonds that limit desorption. To test this, we studied the biodegradation of OM bound to goethite (α-FeOOH), pyrophyllite, and vermiculite via specific mechanisms as estimated from OC uptake in different background electrolytes and operationally defined as ‘ligand exchange’, ‘Ca²⁺ bridging’, and ‘van der Waals forces’. Organic matter extracted from an Oa forest floor horizon under Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) was reacted with minerals at dissolved OC concentrations of ∼5-130 mg/L at pH 4. Goethite retained up to 30.1 mg OC/g predominantly by ‘ligand exchange’; pyrophyllite sorbed maximally 12.5 mg OC/g, largely via ‘van der Waals forces’ and ‘Ca²⁺ bridging’, while sorption of OM to vermiculite was 7.3 mg OC/g, mainly due to the formation of ‘Ca²⁺ bridges’. Aromatic OM components were selectively sorbed by all minerals (goethite ? phyllosilicates). The sorption of OM was strongly hysteretic with the desorption into 0.01 M NaCl being larger for OM held by ‘Ca²⁺ bridges’ and ‘van der Waals forces’ than by ‘ligand exchange’. Incubation experiments under aerobic conditions (initial pH 4; 90 days) revealed that OM mainly bound to minerals by ‘ligand exchange’ was more resistant against mineralization than OM held by non-columbic interactions (‘van der Waals forces’). Calcium bridges enhanced the stability of sorbed OM, especially for vermiculite, but less than the binding via ‘ligand exchange’. Combined evidence suggests that the extent and rate of mineralization of mineral-associated OM are governed by desorption. The intrinsic stability of sorbed OM as related to the presence of resistant, lignin-derived aromatic components appears less decisive for the sorptive stabilization of OM than the involved binding mechanisms. In a given environment, the type of minerals present and the solution chemistry determine the operating binding mechanisms, thereby the extent of OM sorption and desorption, and thus ultimately the bioavailability of mineral-associated OM.     

Mixed-phase clouds cause climate model biases in Arctic wintertime temperature inversions

Temperature inversions are a common feature of the Arctic wintertime boundary layer. They have important impacts on both radiative and turbulent heat fluxes and partly determine local climate-change feedbacks. Understanding the spread in inversion strength modelled by current global climate models is therefore an important step in better understanding Arctic climate and its present and future changes. Here, we show how the formation of Arctic air masses leads to the emergence of a cloudy and a clear state of the Arctic winter boundary layer. In the cloudy state, cloud liquid water is present, little to no surface radiative cooling occurs and inversions are elevated and relatively weak, whereas surface radiative cooling leads to strong surface-based temperature inversions in the clear state. Comparing model output to observations, we find that most climate models lack a realistic representation of the cloudy state. An idealised single-column model experiment of the formation of Arctic air reveals that this bias is linked to inadequate mixed-phase cloud microphysics, whereas turbulent and conductive heat fluxes control the strength of inversions within the clear state.     

Warm winds from the Pacific caused extensive Arctic sea-ice melt in summer 2007

During summer 2007 the Arctic sea-ice shrank to the lowest extent ever observed. The role of the atmospheric energy transport in this extreme melt event is explored using the state-of-the-art ERA-Interim reanalysis data. We find that in summer 2007 there was an anomalous atmospheric flow of warm and humid air into the region that suffered severe melt. This anomaly was larger than during any other year in the data (1989?C2008). Convergence of the atmospheric energy transport over this area led to positive anomalies of the downward longwave radiation and turbulent fluxes. In the region that experienced unusual ice melt, the net anomaly of the surface fluxes provided enough extra energy to melt roughly one meter of ice during the melting season. When the ocean successively became ice-free, the surface-albedo decreased causing additional absorption of shortwave radiation, despite the fact that the downwelling solar radiation was smaller than average. We argue that the positive anomalies of net downward longwave radiation and turbulent fluxes played a key role in initiating the 2007 extreme ice melt, whereas the shortwave-radiation changes acted as an amplifying feedback mechanism in response to the melt.