Numerical simulations of very large impacts on the Earth

Vertical impacts on the Earth of asteroids 500-3000 km in diameter at 15 km/s have been numerically modelled using the hydrodynamic SOVA code. This code has been modified for the spherical system of coordinates well suited for simulations of very large impacts when the entire Earth is involved in motion. The simulations include cratering process, upward motion of deep mantle layers, fall of ejecta on the Earth, escape of matter to space, and formation of rock vapour atmospheres. The calculations were made for the period preceding disappearance of rock vapour atmospheres caused by radiation several years after the largest impacts. For very large vertical impacts at 15 km/s, escaping masses proved to be negligibly small. Quantities of kinetic, internal, potential, and radiated away energies are obtained as functions of time and space. After the impacts, a global layer of condensed ejecta covers the whole of the Earth's surface and the ejecta energy is sufficient to vaporise an ocean 3 km deep. The mass of rock vapour atmosphere is 10-23% of the impactor mass. This atmosphere has a greater mass than the water atmosphere if impactor is 2000 km in diameter or larger.     

Design principles of descent vehicles with an inflatable braking device

A new type of descent vehicle (DVs) is described: a descent vehicle with an inflatable braking device (IBD DV). IBD development issues, as well as materials needed for the design, manufacturing, and testing of an IBD and its thermal protection, are discussed. A list is given of Russian integrated test facilities intended for testing IBD DVs. Progress is described in the development of IBD DVs in Russia and abroad.     

东昆仑三道湾流纹英安斑岩锆石U-Pb年龄及其地质意义

东昆仑格尔木河西三道湾流纹英安斑岩构成火山通道侵出相,侵入到纳赤台群哈拉巴依沟组碎屑岩系中,其形成时代对于造山带火山作用的研究和限定哈拉巴依沟组地层时代均具有重要的意义。采用激光烧蚀多接收器电感耦合等离子体质谱(LA-MC-ICP MS)方法,对三道湾流纹英安斑岩进行了锆石U-Pb定年,结果表明,流纹英安斑岩中25个岩浆锆石206Pb/238U加权平均年龄为425.9 ± 2.6 Ma,它被解释为流纹英安斑岩的结晶年龄,说明三道湾次火山岩所代表的火山通道为早古生代造山晚期牦牛山组火山岩形成时的火山喷发中心之一,而非晚侏罗世次火山岩。野外地质关系和次火山岩年龄可以限定哈拉巴依沟组形成于中志留世之前。      

The arrow of time

Why does time apparently fly one way, when the laws of physics are actually time-symmetrical? Paul Davies proposes a quantum solution, in the Whitrow Lecture 2004, given on 8 October 2004.     

Numerical experiments on the stability of preplanetary disks

Gravitational stability of gaseous protostellar disks is relevant to theories of planetary formation. Stable gas disks favor formation of planetesimals by the accumulation of solid material; unstable disks allow the possibility of direct condensation of gaseous protoplanets. We present the results of numerical experiments designed to test the stability of thin disks against large-scale, self-gravitational disruption. The disks are represented by a distribution of about 6 × 10⁴ point masses on a two-dimensional (r, φ) grid. The motions of the particles in the self-consistent gravity field are calculated, and the evolving density distributions are examined for instabilities. Two parameters that have major influences on stability are varied: the initial temperature of the disk (represented by an imposed velocity dispersion), and the mass of the protostar relative to that of the disk. It is found that a disk as massive as 1M_⊙, surrounding a 1M_⊙ protostar, can be stable against long-wavelength gravitational disruption if its temperature is about 300°K or greater. Stability of a cooler disk requires that it be less massive, but even at 100°K a stable disk can have an appreciable fraction ($\text{～}\text{1}\text{3}$) of a solar mass.     

The Cepheid impostor HD 18391 and its anonymous parent cluster

New and existing photometry for the G0 Ia supergiant HD 18391 is analyzed in order to confirm the nature of the variability previously detected in the star, which lies off the hot edge of the Cepheid instability strip. Small‐amplitude variability at a level of δV = 0.016 ± 0.002 is indicated, with a period of P = 123^d.04 ± 0^d.06. A weaker second signal may be present at P = 177^d.84 ± 0^d.18 with δV = 0.007 ± 0.002, likely corresponding to fundamental mode pulsation if the primary signal represents overtone pulsation (123.04/177.84 = 0.69). The star, with a spectroscopic reddening of E_B–V = 1.02 ± 0.003, is associated with heavily‐reddened B‐type stars in its immediate vicinity that appear to be outlying members of an anonymous young cluster centered ∼10′ to the west and 1661 ± 73 pc distant. The cluster has nuclear and coronal radii of r_n = 3.5′ and R_c = 14′, respectively, while the parameters for HD 18391 derived from membership in the cluster with its outlying B stars are consistent with those implied by its Cepheid‐like pulsation, provided that it follows the semi‐period‐luminosity relation expected of such objects. Its inferred luminosity as a cluster member is M_V = –7.76 ± 0.10, its age (9 ± 1) × 10⁶ years, and its evolutionary mass ∼19 M_⊙. HD 18391 is not a classical Cepheid, yet it follows the Cepheid period‐luminosity relation closely, much like another Cepheid impostor, V810 Cen (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The secondary history of Sutter's Mill CM carbonaceous chondrite based on water abundance and the structure of its organic matter from two clasts

Sutter's Mill is a regolith breccia composed of both heavily altered clasts and more reduced xenoliths. Here, we present a detailed investigation of fragments of SM18 and SM51. We have characterized the water content and the mineralogy by infrared (IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the structure of the organic compounds by Raman spectroscopy, to characterize the secondary history of the clasts, including aqueous alteration and thermal metamorphism. The three methods used in this study suggest that SM18 was significantly heated. The amount of water contained in phyllosilicates derived by TGA is estimated to be approximately 3.2 wt%. This value is quite low compared with other CM chondrites that typically range from 6 to 12 wt%. The infrared transmission spectra of SM18 show that the mineralogy of the sample is dominated by a mixture of phyllosilicate and olivine. SM18 shows an intense peak at 11.2 μm indicative of olivine (Fig. 1). If we compare SM18 with other CM and metamorphosed CM chondrites, it shows one of the most intense olivine signatures, and therefore a lower proportion of phyllosilicate minerals. The Raman results tend to support a short‐duration heating hypothesis. In the I_D/I_G versus FWHM‐D diagram, SM18 appears to be unusual compared to most CM samples, and close to the metamorphosed CM chondrites Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 91008 and PCA 02012. In the case of SM51, infrared spectroscopy reveals that olivine is less abundant than in SM18 and the 10 μm silicate feature is more similar to that of moderately altered CM chondrites (like Murchison or Queen Alexandra Range [QUE] 97990). Raman spectroscopy does not clearly point to a heating event for SM51 in the I_D/I_G versus FWHM‐D diagram. However, TGA analysis suggests that SM51 was slightly dehydrated as the amount of water contained in phyllosilicates is approximately 3.7 wt%, which is higher than SM18, but still lower than phyllosilicate water contents in weakly altered CM chondrites. Altogether, these results confirm that fragments with different secondary histories are present within the Sutter's Mill fall. The dehydration that is clearly observed for SM18 is attributed to a short‐duration heating based on the similarity of its Raman spectra to that of PCA 91008. Because of the brecciated nature of Sutter's Mill and the presence of adjacent clasts with different thermal histories, impacts that can efficiently fragment and heat porous materials are the preferred heat source.     

Accessory and opaque minerals in impact melt rocks of the Boltysh structure,Ukraine

Electron microprobe analyses of accessory and opaque minerals from the impact melt rocks of the Boltysh structure, in the central part of the Ukrainian Shield, are presented in this report. Our study establishes a variety of minerals represented by native metals, alloys, oxides, sulfides, phosphates, and silicates, formed during several stages of cooling and solidification of the thick impact melt sheet. Baddeleyite was determined to be the earliest high‐temperature mineral to occur in the impact melt rocks. Iron and titanium oxides crystallized earlier or simultaneously with the microliths of orthopyroxene and feldspars. High concentrations of TiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Cr₂O₃ were identified in some hematite varieties. Cu‐ and Ni‐bearing pyrrhotites occur in impact melt rocks with a glassy matrix. Native metals—copper, platinum, and silver—were likely formed due to the hydrothermal alteration of the upper unit of the impact melt sheet. Zircon is the only accessory mineral found in impact melt rocks that is preserved from the basement granites of the Boltysh structure.     

The ubiquitous presence of silica-rich glass inclusions in mafic minerals: Examples from Earth,Mars, Moon and the aubrite parent body

Abstract— Highly silicic glass inclusions are commonly present in mafic minerals of xenolithic terrestrial upper mantle rocks (Schiano and Clocchiatti, 1994). They are believed to be the products of volatile-rich silicic melts for which several sources have been proposed (Francis, 1976; Frey and Green, 1974; Schiano et al, 1995), but their origin(s) and, consequently, that of the glasses, remains unknown. However, in situ formation by very low-degree partial melting seems to be possible as has been shown by experiments (e.g., Baker et al, 1995; Draper and Green, 1997). Glass inclusions of silicic chemical composition are also present in some mafic minerals of achondritic meteorites (e.g., Fuchs, 1974; Okada et al, 1988; Johnson et al, 1991). The enstatite achondrites (aubrites) Aubres and Norton County, which record early planetesimal and planet formation in the solar nebula, and the olivine achondrite (chassignite) Chassigny, a rock believed to originate from Mars, contain abundant glass inclusions in their main minerals enstatite and olivine, respectively. Glasses of glass-bearing inclusions have a highly silicic and volatile-rich chemical composition similar, but not identical, to that of glass inclusions in terrestrial upper mantle peridotite minerals. Furthermore, glass inclusions in olivines from the Moon (e.g., Roedder and Weiblen, 1977) are also silica-rich. Because different physicochemical conditions prevail in the source regions of these rocks, the process of melting is, perhaps, not generally applicable for the generation of silica-rich glasses. Alternatively, the glasses could have been formed via precipitation from silicate-loaded fluids (Schneider and Eggler, 1986) or vapors. Another possible mechanism, not previously identified, could be dehydrogenation of nominally nonhydrous mafic minerals by heating or depressurization that should be accompanied by expulsion of excess silica and incompatible elements. This process will mimic low-temperature, very low-degree partial melting. It could account also for the highly variable glass/bubble ratios observed in glass inclusions in aubrite enstatites. We suggest that such a process could have been operating in the solar nebula, the Moon and Mars, and could be operating still on Earth.