Photoelectric lightcurve and period of rotation of the asteroid 182 Elsa

Photoelectric observations on five consecutive nights yield a period of rotation of 80 ± 2 hr with an amplitude of 0.7 magnitude for 182 Elsa, making it the longest period of rotation known to date. 182 Elsa is classed as an S object with a diameter of 48 km.     

Asteroid rotation: III. 1978 Observations

Photoelectric observations of 32 asteroids observed from Table Mountain Observatory during the second half of 1978 are reported. Rotation periods were obtained for most objects. Absolute magnitudes and phase functions were not determined for any of these asteroids. The geometric mean rotation period of the 32 asteroids observed is 14.2 ± 1.6 hr, as compared to 9.38 ± 0.35 hr for 182 asteroids analyzed in Paper I (A. W. Harris and J. A. Burns, 1979, Icarus 40, 115–144). We attribute this difference to an observational selection effect which favors detection of fast rotation, as discussed in Paper I. If this is true, then the present sample contains the reverse bias, since it is complete in that a period (in some cases very approximate) was obtained for each object observed, but fast rotators are underrepresented due to prior discovery of their rotation properties.     

Interactive effects of the type of milling media and CuSO4 addition on the flotation performance of sulphide minerals from Merensky ore Part II: Froth stability

The limitations of pulp chemistry measurements in the flotation of a platinum group mineral (PGM) bearing Merensky ore were demonstrated in Part 1 of this article. In this paper the importance of the contribution of the froth structure due to changing froth stability is analysed using the batch flotation data. The effects of mild steel (MS) and stainless steel (SS) milling media and the addition of copper sulphate on the flotation performance of the sulphide minerals in Merensky ore have been evaluated in relation to the changes in stability of the froth phase. The effects of pulp chemistry and froth stability on the flotation of sulphide minerals were distinguished by using two different rate constants (k_t and k_w). The rate constant (k_w) calculated as a function of cumulative water recovery was used to describe characteristics of froth phase and k_t was calculated as a function of flotation time. The results revealed that the type of grinding media and copper sulphate addition had an interactive effect on the froth stability. While mild steel (MS) milling increased the froth stability due to the presence of hydrophilic iron hydroxides and colloidal metallic iron, the addition of copper sulphate reduced the stability, especially with stainless steel (SS) milling. Copper sulphate addition had a dual role in the flotation of Merensky ore in that it caused destabilisation of the froth zone as well as activation of selected sulphide minerals. The dominant effect was found to depend on the type of milling media and floatability of the mineral in question and this work has demonstrated the importance of using a combination of measurements to evaluate flotation performance holistically.     

Monazite behaviour and age significance in poly-metamorphic high-grade terrains: A case study from the western Musgrave Block, central Australia

Integrated, in situ textural, chemical and electron microprobe age analysis of monazite grains in a migmatitic metapelitic gneiss from the western Musgrave Block, central Australia has identified evidence for multiple events of growth and recrystallisation during poly-metamorphism in the Mesoproterozoic. Garnet + sillimanite-bearing metapelite underwent partial melting and segregation to palaeosome and leucosome during metamorphism between 1330 and 1296 Ma, with monazite grains in leucosome recording crystallisation at 1300 Ma. Monazite breakdown during melting is inferred to have occurred in the palaeosome. During a subsequent granulite facies event at 1200 Ma, deformation and metamorphism of leucosome and palaeosome resulted in partial disturbance of ages and potential minor growth on 1300 Ma monazite in leucosome. Growth of new, high-Y (+HREE) monazite in palaeosome domains occurred during garnet breakdown in the presence of sillimanite to cordierite and spinel, as a result of post-peak isothermal decompression. Diffusive enrichment of resorbed garnet rims in Y + HREE suggests garnet breakdown occurred slower than volume diffusion of REE. Monazite in both palaeosome and leucosome were subsequently partially to penetratively recrystallised during a retrogression event that is suggested to have occurred at 1150–1130 Ma. The intensity of recrystallisation and disturbance of ages appears linked to proximity to retrogressed garnet porphyroblasts and their occurrence in the relatively reactive or ‘fertile’ local environments provided by the palaeosome/mesosome volumes, which caused localised changes in retrogressive fluids towards compositions more aggressive to monazite. Like reaction textures, it is apparent that domainal equilibrium and reaction may control or at least strongly influence monazite REE and U–Th–Pb chemistry and hence ages.     

A subduction wedge origin for Paleoarchean peridotitic diamonds and harzburgites from the Panda kimberlite, Slave craton: evidence from Re–Os isotope systematics

An extensive study of peridotitic sulfide inclusion bearing diamonds and their prospective harzburgitic host rocks from the 53 Ma Panda kimberlite pipe, Ekati Mine, NWT Canada, has been undertaken with the Re–Os system to establish their age and petrogenesis. Diamonds with peridotitic sulfide inclusions have poorly aggregated nitrogen (<30% N as B centers) at N contents of 200–800 ppm which differs from that of chromite and silicate bearing diamonds and indicates residence in the cooler portion of the Slave craton lithospheric mantle. For most of the sulfide inclusions, relatively low Re contents (average 0.457 ppm) and high Os contents (average 339 ppm) lead to extremely low ¹⁸⁷Re/¹⁸⁸Os, typically << 0.05. An age of 3.52 ± 0.17 Ga (MSWD = 0.46) and a precise initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os of 0.1093 ± 0.0001 are given by a single regression of 11 inclusions from five diamonds that individually provide coincident internal isochrons. This initial Os isotopic composition is 6% enriched in ¹⁸⁷Os over 3.5 Ga chondritic or primitive mantle. Sulfide inclusions with less radiogenic initial Os isotopic compositions reflect isotopic heterogeneity in diamond forming fluids. The harzburgites have even lower initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os than the sulfide inclusions, some approaching the isotopic composition of 3.5 Ga chondritic mantle. In several cases isotopically distinct sulfides occur in different growth zones of the same diamond. This supports a model where C–O–H–S fluids carrying a radiogenic Os signature were introduced into depleted harzburgite and produced diamonds containing sulfides conforming to the 3.5 Ga isochron. Reaction of this fluid with harzburgite led to diamonds with less radiogenic inclusions while elevating the Os isotope ratios of some harzburgites. Subduction is a viable way of introducing such fluids. This implies a role for subduction in creating early continental nuclei at 3.5 Ga and generating peridotitic diamonds.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Kankan diamonds (Guinea) III: δ13C and nitrogen characteristics of deep diamonds

Diamonds from the Kankan area in Guinea formed over a large depth profile beginning within the cratonic mantle lithosphere and extending through the asthenosphere and transition zone into the lower mantle. The carbon isotopic composition, the concentration of nitrogen impurities and the nitrogen aggregation level of diamonds representing this entire depth range have been determined. Peridotitic and eclogitic diamonds of lithospheric origin from Kankan have carbon isotopic compositions ('¹³C: peridotitic -5.4 to -2.2‰; eclogitic -19.7 to -0.7‰) and nitrogen characteristics (N: peridotitic 17-648 atomic ppm; eclogitic 0-1,313 atomic ppm; aggregation from IaA to IaB) which are generally typical for diamonds of these two suites worldwide. Geothermobarometry of peridotitic and eclogitic inclusion parageneses (worldwide sources) indicates that both suites formed under very similar conditions within the cratonic lithosphere, which is not consistent with a derivation of diamonds with light carbon isotopic composition from subducted organic matter within subducting oceanic slabs. Diamonds containing majorite garnet inclusions fall to the isotopically heavy side ('¹³C: -3.1‰ to +0.9‰) of the worldwide diamond population. Nitrogen contents are low (0-126 atomic ppm) and one of the two nitrogen-bearing diamonds shows such a low level of nitrogen aggregation (30% B-centre) that it cannot have been exposed to ambient temperatures of the transition zone (̿,400 °C) for more than 0.2 Ma. This suggests rapid upward transport and formation of some Kankan diamonds pene-contemporaneous to Cretaceous kimberlite activity. Similar to these diamonds from the asthenosphere and the transition zone, lower mantle diamonds show a small shift towards isotopic heavy compositions (-6.6 to -0.5‰, mode at -3.5‰). As already observed for other mines, the nitrogen contents of lower mantle diamonds were below detection (using FTIRS). The mutual shift of sublithospheric diamonds towards isotopic heavier compositions suggests a common carbon source, which may have inherited an isotopic heavy composition from a component consisting of subducted carbonates.     

The future of geography

This paper is an attempt to assess the current state and future prospects of Geography especially but not only in Britain. It is quasi-polemical and should be read in that spirit. The paper looks first at the notable successes of physical and human geography. It then considers how these successes are being buttressed by current events taking place in the world. Next, the paper considers the main problems that beset geography. Finally, however, the paper ends on another positive note by considering some of the exciting new developments that are now taking place in the discipline which will allow it to relate to more of the many worlds that make up geography's vocation.     

Global heat budget, plate tectonics and climatic change

For the past 2000 Ma, the temperature of the Earth's surface has fluctuated around a mean similar to that of today, although individual locations have undergone long-term changes of ∼30°C at different times in different places. Water bodies absorb at least five times as much solar radiation as land surfaces, and ocean currents transport the excess heat absorbed in the tropics towards the poles. Changes in the distribution of land and sea due to plate tectonics explain the major temperature fluctuations (>25°C) around the globe in the last 350 Ma, and are first-order controls. Large-scale changes in ocean currents and thermohaline circulations are probably second-order controls (15–25°C). The Milankovitch orbital cycles are third-order controls producing variations in air temperature of the order of 10°C, while massive volcanic eruptions and changes in carbon dioxide are amongst the fourth-order controls producing minor perturbations (<5°C). The major climatic fluctuations are continuous but regional in effect and not global. Extraterrestrial factors may not cause major changes in climate when viewed from a geological perspective.