Magnetostratigraphy of the impact breccias and post‐impact carbonates from borehole Yaxcopoil‐1, Chicxulub impact crater,Yucatán,Mexico

Abstract— We report the magnetostratigraphy of the sedimentary sequence between the impact breccias and the post‐impact carbonate sequence conducted on samples recovered by Yaxcopoil‐1 (Yax‐1). Samples of impact breccias show reverse polarities that span up to ～56 cm into the post‐impact carbonate lithologies. We correlate these breccias to those of PEMEX boreholes Yucatán‐6 and Chicxulub‐1, from which we tied our magnetostratigraphy to the radiometric age from a melt sample from the Yucatán‐6 borehole. Thin section analyses of the carbonate samples showed a significant amount of dark minerals and glass shards that we identified as the magnetic carriers; therefore, we propose that the mechanism of magnetic acquisition within the carbonate rocks for the interval studied is detrital remanent magnetism (DRM). With these samples, we constructed the scale of geomagnetic polarities where we find two polarities within the sequence, a reverse polarity event within the impact breccias and the base of the post‐impact carbonate sequence (up to 794.07 m), and a normal polarity event in the last ～20 cm of the interval studied. The polarities recorded in the sequence analyzed are interpreted to span from chron 29r to 29n, and we propose that the reverse polarity event lies within the 29r chron. The magnetostratigraphy of the sequence studied shows that the horizon at 794.11 m deep, interpreted as the K/T boundary, lies within the geomagnetic chron 29r, which contains the K/T boundary.     

Teaching Numerical Groundwater Flow Modeling with Spreadsheets

Mathematical Geosciences - The use of spreadsheets for numerical groundwater flow modeling is not a novelty; however, its potential in the classroom has not been emphasized enough. This Teachers...     

Buried impact basins,the evolution of planetary surfaces and the Chicxulub multi‐ring crater

Impact craters are distinctive landforms on Moon, Mars, Venus and other bodies of the Solar System. In contrast, the Earth has few craters, due to the dynamic nature of the planet, where craters and other geological structures are destroyed, modified or covered. Planetary missions have also shown that in other worlds where craters are numerous and well preserved, the crater record has been modified, through the identification of buried structures. Studies of the concealed crater record have major implications for the crater‐size frequency distribution and crater‐counting chronologies. On Earth, Chicxulub is an example of a large multi‐ring buried basin. Its study provides clues for the investigation other planetary surfaces. In addition, geophysical surveys have unravelled its deep 3‐D structure, providing data and constraints for new planetary missions.     

New evidence of sea‐level lowstands and paleoenvironment during MIS 6 and 4 in the Cantabrian coastal karst: the Cobiheru cave (North Iberia)

The geomorphological evolution of the Cobiheru Cave shows the influence of the non‐carbonate coastal mountain ranges on coastal karst evolution, as well as the temporal distribution of the cold‐adapted fauna sites in the Cantabrian Coast. Geomorphological observation and uranium/thorium (U/Th) dating lead to the construction of an evolution model. The model comprises two episodes of cave deposition occurring at c. 60–70 and 130–150 ka, linked to cold climate conditions, global sea‐level lowstands and the erosion of alluvial fans that covered the karst. Moreover, the comparison between the Cobiheru record and some raised beaches identified in previous studies sets the beginning of the sea‐level lowering in the Cantabrian Sea during the marine isotope stages (MIS) 5–4 transition. Two palaeoenvironments are inferred based on finding Equus ferus and Elona quimperiana. A wet deciduous forest would have developed on the emerged marine terrace of the Cobiheru Cave since at least the Middle Pleistocene, and an open landscape with scarce vegetation would have been present at c. 65 ka. The erosional event identified in the Cobiheru Cave helps to understand the temporal distribution of cold‐adapted mammals located in the Asturias region. The probable sites of cold‐adapted fauna developed in caves and alluvial fans would have disappeared after 65 ka. Therefore, palaeontological and palaeoclimate research based on cold‐adapted mammals suggests the occurrence of an hiatus in the palaeontological record prior to 50 ka. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi-platform model assessment in the Western Mediterranean Sea: impact of downscaling on the surface circulation and mesoscale activity

Ocean Dynamics - In numerical ocean modeling, dynamical downscaling is the approach consisting in generating high-resolution regional simulations exploiting the information from coarser resolution...     

Simulation of Non-Gaussian Transmissivity Fields Honoring Piezometric Data and Integrating Soft and Secondary Information

The conditional probabilities (CP) method implements a new procedure for the generation of transmissivity fields conditional to piezometric head data capable to sample nonmulti-Gaussian random functions and to integrate soft and secondary information. The CP method combines the advantages of the self-calibrated (SC) method with probability fields to circumvent some of the drawbacks of the SC method—namely, its difficulty to integrate soft and secondary information or to generate non-Gaussian fields. The SC method is based on the perturbation of a seed transmissivity field already conditional to transmissivity and secondary data, with the perturbation being function of the transmissivity variogram. The CP method is also based on the perturbation of a seed field; however, the perturbation is made function of the full transmissivity bivariate distribution and of the correlation to the secondary data. The two methods are applied to a sample of an exhaustive non-Gaussian data set of natural origin to demonstrate the interest of using a simulation method that is capable to model the spatial patterns of transmissivity variability beyond the variogram. A comparison of the probabilistic predictions of convective transport derived from a Monte Carlo exercise using both methods demonstrates the superiority of the CP method when the underlying spatial variability is non-Gaussian.     

Very massive stars: Evolution with mass loss

The evolution of mass-losing very massive stars in the 500–10000M _⊙ range has been investigated for two different initial compositions, (X, Z)=(0.8,0.0) and (X, Z)=(1.0,0.0). The evolutionary tracks are governed by two opposing factors which are the increase in the mean molecular weight in the convective core and the effect of mass loss. Conservative evolution of stars with massM?10000M _⊙ is similar to that of massive stars (20–100M _⊙), always moving to lower effective temperatures. For low values of the standard mass loss parameterN (50?N?200) the two opposing factors are almost in balance and the star is forced to move in a series of loops. For higher mass loss rates the loops disappear. In the 10000M _⊙ case no loops are observed and the tracks always move to higher effective temperatures. For a given mass loss rate the transition between right and left moving tracks occurs at higher masses the lower is the mass loss rate.