Some studies of an unusual eucrite: Ibitira

The Ibitira eucrite is remarkable both for its vesicles and its unbrecciated nature. It consists of ~63 vol. % pyroxene (Wo₁₄En₃₈Fs₄₈), 31% plagioclase (An_95–96), ~2% of nickel-iron, troilite, ilmenite, titanian chromite, and 4% of a silica polymorph. It has a mean track density of 1.8 ± 0.3 × 10⁶ cm^?2, mainly due to cosmic rays. Its pre-atmospheric radius must have been at least 10 cm.The absence of complex radiation effects and presence of vesicles place constraints on the thickness of the Ibitira basalt flow. From the freezing time calculations of Provost and Bottinga, it appears that Ibitira came from a flow no less than 2.5 m and probably no more than 10 or 20 m thick. However, this estimate depends strongly on the viscosity of the melt, which is not well known.     

Sedimentology of a marine intermontane Pleistocene Gilbert-type fan-delta complex in the Crati Basin, Calabria, southern Italy

The Crati Basin is a Pliocene-Holocene extensional basin filled by the progradation of different types of marine fan-delta systems. Coarse-grained Gilbert-type fan-deltas developed during the Pleistocene. They represent the sedimentary response to a strong differential uplift involving the basin margins and the basin itself. The differential uplift was responsible for the fragmentation of the basin into several sub-basins, into which these fan-deltas prograded. The protection and lateral confinement by structural highs, steep coastlines and the absence of strong tidal action in the adjacent Ionian Sea, allowed the regular progradation of these fan-deltas in the restricted gulfs and narrow embayments of the Crati Basin. For the classical Gilbert-type (fan) deltas in lacustrine settings, homopycnal inflow favours a rapid mixing of water masses and deposition of sediment close to the river mouth. In the case of the example described here, the density contrast between the sea water and the inflowing river water caused the separation of the muddy fraction from the coarse sandy and conglomeratic part of the sediment. This allowed the development of steep mud-poor coarse-grained delta foresets. Slope instability features (slump scars, conglomeratic flow slides) are fairly scarce in the proximal parts of the San Lorenzo del Vallo system. Towards the north, where protection from the Ionian Sea was less, they increase in importance.     

Altering intertidal sediment topography: effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

Sedimentary marine systems are often highly productive and perform important nutrient regeneration functions as they efficiently decompose organic material. In recent years the role of habitat effects and of species composition in ecosystem functioning has become of interest. Estuarine environments are frequently subject to considerable anthropogenic pressures whilst supporting a variety of habitats ranging from well sorted soft muds through biogenically stable sediments to highly mobile coarse sands. There is therefore considerable spatial complexity in habitat type and faunal composition. This study set out to observe the effects of altering the topographical habitat features of an estuarine mudflat on a range of porewater nutrient concentrations (NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻, PO₄³⁻ and SiO) collected from four depths (3, 5, 9, and 12 cm) and on faunal composition. Two treatments (Shelled Nets and Net Controls) were used to alter the topography from simple mud to a mussel shell crumble and were compared to un-manipulated Control areas. Sediment granulometry and organic matter content analyses alongside biological traits analysis of the fauna were also conducted.
Differences were observed in porewater nutrient concentrations between the Control and both netted treatments at 5 cm depth only; the species diversity and abundance were also different in the netted treatments compared to the Controls, although no difference between the two manipulated treatments were observed. The changes in faunal composition were attributed solely to the altered topography and the observed nutrient changes were attributed to the faunal alteration rather than the topographical manipulation.     

Mudstone lithogeochemistry and formation conditions of Vendian deposits in the Shkapovo-Shikhan Basin

Variation of geochemical modules and indices in mudstones from the Upper Vendian Kairovo and Shkapovo groups of the Shkapovo-Shikhan Basin provides the comprehensive information on changes in maturity of the fine aluminosiliciclastic material delivered in the basin, characterizes the redox environment in bottom water, and makes it possible to reconstruct the rock composition in provenance and its evolution through time. The generally moderate maturity of the fine terrigenous clastic material suggests that a nearly semiarid-semihumid climate dominated in paleodrainage area throughout the Late Vendian. It has been established that reducing environment did not exist in bottom water of the central Shkapovo-Shikhan Basin throughout the Late Vendian. Intermediate rocks prevailed in the paleodrainage area. More silicic rocks could occur only in the early Staropetrovo and late Salikhovo times. Data points of mudstones from the Kairovo and Shkapovo Groups plotted on the Cr-Ni, Co-V, Co/Hf-Ce/Cr, La-Th, and La/Sm-Sc/Th diagrams indicate that both Archean and more mature Paleoproterozoic crustal blocks existed in different proportions in the Late Vendian within source areas.     

Dhofar 081: A new lunar highland meteorite

Abstract— The lunar meteorite Dhofar 081, found as a single fragment of 174 g in the Dhofar region of Oman, is a shocked feldspathic fragmental highland breccia dominated by anorthosite‐rich lithic and mineral clasts embedded into a fine‐grained mostly shock melted clastic matrix. Major mineral phases in the bulk rock are Ca‐rich plagioclase (An_96.5–99.5), pyroxene (FS_21.9–46.2Wo_3.0–41.4), and olivine (Fa_29.3–47.8); accessory phases include Fe‐Ni metal, ilmenite, and Ti‐Cr‐rich spinel. Dhofar 081 contains subordinate crystalline fragments of large anorthosites, intersertal impact‐melt rocks, microporphyritic impact‐melt breccias, dark fine‐grained impact‐melt breccias, large cataclastic feldspars, and irregularly shaped brown glass clasts. Mafic components are rare and no genuine regolith components were found in the sections studied. Minerals in Dhofar 081 show homogeneously distributed shock features: intergranular recrystallization, strong fracturing and mosaicism in feldspar as well as a high density of mostly irregular fractures in pyroxene and olivine. Localized impact melting caused by one or several impacts led to a strong lithification. Based on these effects an equilibration shock pressure of about 15–20 GPa is estimated for the strongest shock event in Dhofar 081. Devitrification of the “glassy” material in the rock indicates thermal annealing after shock melting suggesting that the 15–20 GPa shock event predated the ejection event. According to the concentrations of implanted solar noble gases Dhofar 081 represents a polymict clastic breccia deposit with possibly a minor regolith component. A similar noble gas record of Dhofar 081 and MacAlpine Hills 88104/05 suggests the possibility of a source crater pairing of both meteorites. As indicated by noble gas measurements pairing of Dhofar 081 with the other lunar meteorites found in Oman, Dhofar 025 and Dhofar 026, is unlikely.     

Grain-size trends, basin subsidence and sediment supply in the Campanian Castlegate Sandstone and equivalent conglomerates of central Utah

Reconstructions of grain-size trends in alluvial deposits can be used to understand the dominant controls on stratal architecture in a foreland basin. Different initial values of sediment supply, tectonic subsidence and base-level rise are investigated to constrain their influence on stratal geometry using the observed grain-size trends as a proxy of the goodness of fit of the numerical results to the observed data. Detailed measurements of grain-size trends, palaeocurrent indicators, facies and thickness trends, channel geometries and palynological analyses were compiled for the middle Campanian Castlegate Sandstone of the Book Cliffs and its conglomerate units in the Gunnison and Wasatch plateaus of central Utah. They define the initial conditions for a numerical study of the interactions between large-scale foreland basin and small-scale sediment transport processes. From previous studies, the proximal foreland deposits are interpreted as recording a middle Campanian thrusting event along the Sevier orogenic belt, while the stratal architecture in the Book Cliffs region is interpreted to be controlled by eustatic fluctuation with local tectonic influence. Model results of stratal geometry, using a subsidence curve with a maximum rate of ≈45 m Myr^?1 for the northern Wasatch Plateau region predict the observed grain-size trends through the northern Book Cliffs. A subsidence curve with a maximum rate of ≈30 m Myr^?1 in the Gunnison–Wasatch Plateaus best reproduces the observed grain-size trends in the southern transect through the southern Wasatch Plateau. Eustasy is commonly cited as controlling Castlegate deposition east of the Book Cliffs region. A eustatic rise of 45 m Myr^?1 produces grain-size patterns that are similar to the observed, but a rate of eustatic rise based on Haq et al. (1988) will not produce the observed stratal architecture or grain-size trends. Tectonic subsidence alone, or a combined rate of tectonic subsidence and a Haq et al. (1988) eustatic rise, can explain the stratal and grain-size variations in the proximal and downstream regions.     

Oxygen Uptake During Repeated Exposure to Temperature Change: Physiological Divergence in Panamanian Cognate Pairs and Latitudinally Distant Populations of Decapod Crustacea

Abstract. The emergence of the Isthmus of Panama subdivided the amphi-American biota. In the present study, Pacific and Atlantic populations of four cognate pairs of crabs were used to discern whether exposure to different thermal regimes in habitats, in the putative absence of gene flow, has resulted in physiological divergence. Populations that potentially form a common genetic pool were also used; these were populations of the Atlantic Panama cognate that occur in Belize and Florida. Decreases in water temperature occur periodically in Pacific Panama and Florida, but not in Atlantic Panama or Belize. In this study, physiological divergence in oxygen uptake was assessed in response to repeated exposure to either control and decreased temperature or control and increased temperature. Results indicate that, in only some of the genera tested, exposure to decreases in habitat temperature has resulted in divergence. Partial support is found for the corollary that adaptation to an environment with periods of decreased temperature results in reduced compensation during exposure to elevated temperature.     

Mid and late Holocene forest fires and deforestation in the subalpine belt of the Iberian range,northern Spain

The conversion of subalpine forests into grasslands for pastoral use is a well-knownphenomenon, although for most mountain areas the timing of deforestation has not been determined. The presence of charcoal fragments in soil profiles affected by shallow landsliding enabled us to date the occurrence of fires and the periods of conversion ofsubalpine forest into grasslands in the Urbión Mountains, Iberian Range, Spain. We found that the treeline in the highest parts of the northwestern massifs of the Iberian Range(the Urbión, Demanda, Neila, and Cebollera massifs) is currently between 1500 and 1600 m a.s.l., probably because of pastoral use of the subalpine belt, whereas in the past it would have reached almost the highest divides(at approximately 2100–2200 m a.s.l.). The radiocarbon dates obtained indicate that the transformation of the subalpine belt occurred during the Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Middle Ages. Forest clearing was probably moderate during fires prior to the Middle Ages, as the small size of the sheep herds and the local character of the markets only required small clearings, and therefore more limited fires. Thus, it is likely that the forest recovered burnt areas in a few decades; this suggests the management of the forest and grasslands following a slash-andburn system. During the Middle and Modern Ages deforestation and grassland expansion affected most of the subalpine belt and coincided with the increasing prevalence of transhumance, as occurred in other mountains in the Iberian Peninsula(particularly the Pyrenees). Although the occurrence of shallow landslides following deforestation between the Neolithic and the Roman Period cannot be ruled out, the most extensive shallow landsliding processes would have occurred from the Middle Ages until recent times.