A climatic control on the accretion of meteoric and super-chondritic iridium–platinum to the Antarctic ice cap

Meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) form through the vaporization of meteoroids and the subsequent re-condensation of metallic species in the mesosphere. Recently, iridium and platinum enrichments have been identified in Greenland ice layers and attributed to the fallout of MSPs supplying polar latitudes with cosmic matter during the Holocene. However, the MSP fallout to Antarctica during the Earth's climatic history remains essentially unknown.

We have determined iridium and platinum in deep Antarctic ice from Dome C and Vostok dated back to 240 kyrs BP. We find high super-chondritic fluxes during warm periods and low meteoric accretion during glacial times, a pattern that is opposite to any known climatic variation in dust fallout to polar regions. The proposed explanation of this accretion regime is a weaker polar vortex during warm periods, allowing peripheral air masses enriched in volcanic iridium and platinum to penetrate inland to Antarctica. The MSP signal emerges only during cold phases and is four times lower than in the Greenland ice cap where more snow accumulates. This suggests that wet deposition is an important route of cosmic material to the Earth's surface.     

Remote and in situ plume measurements of acid gas release from La Soufrière volcano, Guadeloupe

This paper presents the first remote measurements of La Soufrière gas emissions since the fumarolic and seismic reactivation in 1992. The chemical composition of the plumes has been measured from May 2003 to September 2004 using an Open Path Fourier Transform InfraRed (OP-FTIR) spectrometer, up to 15 m downwind the South Crater. HCl is clearly detected (concentration between 2.4 and 12 ppmv) whereas SO₂ and H₂S generally remain below the detection limit of the OP-FTIR. Direct measurements of SO₂ and H₂S near the South Crater with a Lancom III analyzer show a fast decrease of their concentrations with the distance. Calculated Cl / S mass ratios are high: from 9.4 ± 1.7 at 15 m from the vent to 2.8 ± 0.6 at 140 m. The enrichment in HCl of the gas emitted at La Soufrière, observed since 1998, corresponds to the degassing of a magma enriched in Cl and depleted in S. This result agrees with isotopic measurements which suggest a magmatic origin of the gases. Readjustments inside the volcanic system may have taken place during the seismic activity beginning in 1992 and enhance the transfer of magmatic gases to the summit.     

Radiation-enhanced release of uranium from accessory minerals in crystalline rocks

Implantation of low energy (~ 1 keV/amu) Pb ions, simulating α-recoils, greatly increases the dissolution rate of U-bearing minerals in aqueous solutions above a critical dose $\text{~5 × 10}{}^{12}\text{ions·cm}{}^{\mathrm{?2}}$. A Monte-Carlo code of etching indicates that this phenomenon corresponds to a percolation threshold due to the accumulation of ion-induced defects above a critical concentration. Such a radiationenhanced dissolution could be produced by α-recoil damage in U-rich accessory minerals of sufficient U-content and/or age. Therefore, this process could be the primary source of this element in the formation of U ores associated with crystalline rocks.     

An Assessment of the RAIM Performance of a Combined Galileo/GPS Navigation System Using the Marginally Detectable Errors (MDE) Algorithm

Integrity relates to the trust that can be placed in the correctness of information supplied by a navigation system. It includes the ability of the navigation system to provide timely warning to users when the system fails to meet its stated accuracy. Specifically, a navigation system is required to deliver a warning (alarm) when the error in the derived user position solution exceeds an allowable level (alarm limit). This warning must be issued to the user within a given period of time (time-to-alarm) and with a given probability (integrity risk). The two main approaches to monitoring the integrity of satellite navigation systems are Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM), and monitoring based on an independent network of integrity monitoring stations and a dedicated Ground Integrity Channel (GIC). More recently Satellite Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (SAIM) methods have also been investigated. This article presents the results of a study to assess the RAIM capability of the Galileo system when used alone and when combined with the Global Positioning System (GPS). The assessment was based on the Marginally Detectable Error (MDE) algorithm. The results show a significant improvement in the capability to perform RAIM using a combined Galileo/GPS system compared to the performance using the Galileo system alone. This study was supported by Alcatel Space and was a contribution to the Galileo definition studies carried out for the European Community under the GALA project. ? 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Glacial to Holocene implications of the new 27000-year dust record from the EPICA Dome C (East Antarctica) ice core

Insoluble dust concentrations and volume-size distributions have been measured for the new 581 m deep Dome C-EPICA ice core (Antarctica). Over the 27000 years spanned by the record, microparticle measurements from 169 levels, to date, confirm evidence of the drastic decrease in bulk concentration from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the Holocene (interglacial) by a factor of more than 50 in absolute value and of about 26 in flux. Unique new features revealed by the EPICA profile include a higher dust concentration during the Antarctic Cold Reversal phase (ACR) by a factor of 2 with respect to the Holocene average. This event is followed by a well-marked minimum that appears to be concomitant with the methane peak that marks the end of the Younger Dryas in the Northern Hemisphere. Particle volume-size distributions show a mode close to 2 7m in diameter, with a slight increase from the LGM to the Holocene; the LGM/Holocene concentration ratio appears to be dependent on particle size and for diameters from 2 to 5 7m it changes from 50 to 6. Glacial samples are characterised by well-sorted particles and very uniform distributions, while the interglacial samples display a high degree of variability and dispersion. This suggests that different modes of transport prevailed during the two climatic periods with easier penetration of air masses into Antarctica in the Holocene than during Glacial times. Assuming that southern South America remained the main dust source for East Antarctica over the time period studied, the higher dust content recorded during the ACR which preceded the Younger Dryas period, represents evidence of a change in South America environmental conditions at this time. A wet period and likely mild climate in South America is suggested at circa 11.5-11.7 kyr BP corresponding to the end of the Younger Dryas. The Holocene part of the profile also shows a slight general decrease in concentration, but with increasingly large particles that may reflect gradual changes at the source.     

Use of IGS products in TAI applications

The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) is in charge of producing International Atomic Time TAI. In this aim, it uses clock data from more than 60 laboratories spread worldwide. For two decades, GPS has been an essential tool to link these clocks, and products from the International GNSS Service (IGS) have been used to improve the quality of these time links since its creation in the early 1990s. This paper reviews the various interactions between the IGS and time activities at the BIPM, and shows that TAI has greatly benefited from IGS products so that their availability is now an essential need for the quality of TAI links. On the other hand, IGS has also benefited from introducing time laboratories equipped with highly stable clocks in its network of stations. In the future, similar products will be needed for an ensemble of satellite systems, starting with GLONASS and GALILEO. It will be a major challenge to the IGS to obtain a consistent set of products, particularly for what concerns satellite clocks and inter-system bias values.     

Holocene Climate Variability in Antarctica Based on 11 Ice-Core Isotopic Records

A comparison is made of the Holocene records obtained from water isotope measurements along 11 ice cores from coastal and central sites in east Antarctica (Vostok, Dome B, Plateau Remote, Komsomolskaia, Dome C, Taylor Dome, Dominion Range, D47, KM105, and Law Dome) and west Antarctica (Byrd), with temporal resolution from 20 to 50 yr. The long-term trends possibly reflect local ice sheet elevation fluctuations superimposed on common climatic fluctuations. All the records confirm the widespread Antarctic early Holocene optimum between 11,500 and 9000 yr; in the Ross Sea sector, a secondary optimum is identified between 7000 and 5000 yr, whereas all eastern Antarctic sites show a late optimum between 6000 and 3000 yr. Superimposed on the long time trend, all the records exhibit 9 aperiodic millennial-scale oscillations. Climatic optima show a reduced pacing between warm events (typically 800 yr), whereas cooler periods are associated with less-frequent warm events (pacing >1200 yr).     

Water circulation control on carbonate-δO records in a low permeability clay formation and surrounding limestones: The Upper Dogger–Oxfordian sequence from the eastern Paris basin, France

Upper Dogger to Oxfordian Formations in the eastern part of the Paris basin (France) are currently being investigated by the French nuclear waste management agency (Andra), testing the feasibility of long-term deep nuclear waste disposal in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystones. Characterising the hydrogeological behaviour of the Callovo-Oxfordian claystones is, therefore, essential in evaluating its potential as a geological barrier. In order to evaluate and quantify water/rock interactions experienced over geological time by these Formations, bulk carbonate δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O were measured and calculations of water-rock ratios were used to explain carbonate-δ¹⁸O changes. Meteoric porewater and a maximum temperature reached of about 40 °C were considered. The Jurassic marine carbonate δ¹³C was preserved in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystones and in the overlying limestones (−0.28‰ to 3.39‰/PDB), while the δ¹⁸O values are lower by 0-5‰ (−6.25‰ to −1.32‰/PDB). Calculations show that Upper Dogger and Oxfordian Limestone δ¹⁸O data:

(i)

have random-like distribution through theoretical δ¹⁸O-W/R curves and

(ii)

suggest that water/rock ratios (0.08-0.4) needed to explain δ¹⁸O changes are higher by a factor of about 2-20 compared to the present-day water/rock ratio.

These features indicate advection in both aquifers. According to the history of the Paris basin, this hydrogeological behaviour could have been effective since Jurassic/Cretaceous transition times. Inversely, the carbonate-δ¹⁸O content trends observed for the Callovo-Oxfordian data show that changes were controlled by post-depositional fluid-rock interaction with water/rock ratio (0.02-0.15) similar to the present-day porewater/rock ratio. The 130 m thick Callovo-Oxfordian claystone appears remarkably homogenous regarding its hydrogeological properties. This study suggests an initial marine porewater replacement by meteoric water only after porosity was reduced to its present value, thus demonstrating that the Callovo-Oxfordian clay has mainly been isolated from advective meteoric water circulation. Only the upper 20 m of the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone Formation underwent heterogeneous water-rock exchange (W/R from 0.01 to 0.3), probably as a result of its mineralogical heterogeneity and proximity to the advective Oxfordian Limestone aquifer.This study of carbonate-δ¹⁸O confirms the hydrogeological barrier properties of the Callovo-Oxfordian clay and suggests that it has been a natural hydrological barrier since the earliest times of its diagenesis.     

Fragment ejection velocities and the collisional evolution of asteroids

We have applied the algorithm developed by Petit and Farinella (Celest. Mech. 57, 1–28, 1993) to model the outcomes of impacts between asteroids of different sizes, to show that a crucial feature of these models is the assumed relationship between velocity and mass of fragments ejected after a shattering impact. Not only how the mean velocity depends upon mass is important to determine the extent of fragment reaccumulation, but also the distribution of velocities about the mean values. The available experimental evidence on this issue is still sparse, and does not constrain the collisional models well enough to allow us to make reliable predictions on the outcomes of impacts between bodies of size much larger than the laboratory targets. As a consequence, when the collisional outcome models are used as an input for simulations of the asteroid collisional history since the origin of the solar system, the results show a strong sensitivity to the assumed velocity vs mass relationship. This sensitivity is stronger in the diameter range (a few tens to a few hundreds of km) where the self-gravitational reaccumulation of fragments is most effective, but may also extend to much smaller sizes.