The role of arcuate ridges and gullies in the degradation of craters in the Newton Basin region of Mars

A survey of craters in the vicinity of Newton Basin, using high-resolution images from Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey, was conducted to find and analyze examples of gullies and arcuate ridges and assess their implications for impact crater degradation processes. In the Phaethontis Quadrangle (MC-24), we identified 225 craters that contain these features. Of these, 188 had gullies on some portion of their walls, 118 had arcuate ridges at the bases of the crater walls, and 104 contained both features, typically on the same crater wall. A major result is that the pole-facing or equator-facing orientation of these features is latitude dependent. At latitudes >44° S, equator-facing orientations for both ridges and gullies are prevalent, but at latitudes <44° S, pole-facing orientations are prevalent. The gullies and arcuate ridges typically occupy craters between ∼2 and 30 km in diameter, at elevations between −1 and 3 km. Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) elevation profiles indicate that most craters with pole-facing arcuate ridges have floors sloping downward from the pole-facing wall, and some of these craters show asymmetry in crater rim heights, with lower pole-facing rims. These patterns suggest viscous flow of ice-rich materials preferentially away from gullied crater walls. Clear associations exist between gullies and arcuate ridges, including (a) geometric congruence between alcoves and sinuous arcs of arcuate ridges and (b) backfilling of arcuate ridges by debris aprons associated with gully systems. Chronologic studies suggest that gullied walls and patterned crater floor deposits have ages corresponding to the last few high obliquity cycles. Our data appear consistent with the hypothesis that these features are associated with periods of ice deposition and subsequent erosion associated with obliquity excursions within the last few tens of millions of years. Arcuate ridges may form from cycles of activity that also involve gully formation, and the ridges may be in part due to mass-wasted, ice-rich material transported downslope from the alcoves, which then interacts with previously emplaced floor deposits. Most observed gullies may be late-stage features in a degradational cycle that may have occurred many times on a given crater wall.     

Is the Universe a white-hole?

Pathria (1972) has shown, for a pressureless closed Universe, that it is inside a black (or white) hole. We show now, that the Universe with a cosmic pressure obeying Einstein’s field equations, can be inside a white-hole. In the closed case, a positive cosmological constant does the job; for the flat and open cases, the condition we find is not verified for the very early Universe, but with the growth of the scale-factor, the condition will be certainly fulfilled for a positive cosmological constant, after some time. We associate the absolute temperature of the Universe, with the temperature of the corresponding white-hole.     

Realization of Einstein’s Machian Program: the Pioneers and fly-by anomalies Part I

In a previous paper (Berman, in Astrophys. Space Sci., 2011), we showed how to prove the two Pioneers Anomalies, and now we add the fly-bys, by means of a rotating Universe. We discuss Einstein’s Machian program, which we find as being fullfilled. Godlowski et al. (Los Alamos Archives, 2003) idea for a rotating General Relativistic Universe, led us to the adopted model. Updated evidence on rotation is cited (Godlowski, in Los Alamos Archives, 2011; Ni in Phys. Rev. Lett. 107(5):051103, 2011). We conclude that a rotating and expanding Universe may be the unique solution to the apparent divergences between Einstein and Mach. This is cosmologically important.     

Transverse Aeolian Ridges (TARs) on Mars

Aeolian processes are probably the dominant ongoing surface process on Mars; Large Dark Dunes (LDDs), particularly common aeolian landforms, were first recognized in the early 1970s. Recent, higher resolution images have revealed another, morphologically distinct, large population of smaller, ripple-like aeolian bedforms that have been termed “Transverse Aeolian Ridges” (TARs) as it is unknown whether they formed as large ripples or small dunes. We have begun a new study of TARs that examines their distribution, orientation, and morphology using > 10,000 high-resolution Mars Orbiter Camera (1.5 to 8 m/pixel resolution) images in a 45° longitude wide, pole-to-pole survey. The aim of this study is to assess whether TARs are active, to identify possible sediment sources and pathways, and to determine the volumes of sediment that they comprise. We present results from the first half of this study, in which we examine the northern hemisphere, and describe a new three-part classification scheme used to aid the survey.Our results show that TARs are abundant but not ubiquitous: preferentially forming proximal to friable, layered terrains such as those found in Terra Meridiani — the location of the ongoing Mars Exploration Rover “Opportunity” mission. TAR distribution in the northern hemisphere shows a strong latitudinal dependence with very few TARs being found north of  30° N. We also find that in most cases TARs are less mobile than LDDs, a conclusion possibly explained by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity observations that show TAR-like ripples to have a core of fine material armored by a monolayer of granule-sized particles. This could disallow significant bedform movement under the current wind regime. That TARs are essentially inactive is confirmed by superposition relations with slope streaks and LDDs and by observations of superposed impact craters. We suggest that observations made by the Opportunity Rover in Terra Meridiani indicate that the small aeolian bedforms common here are ripples and not small dunes. Farther south, these bedforms transition into larger features indistinguishable from TARs, suggesting that TARs (in the Meridiani area at least) are ripples and not dunes.     

On the Machian origin of inertia

We examine Sciama’s inertia theory: we generalise it, by combining rotation and expansion in one unique model, we find the angular speed of the Universe, and we stress that the theory is zero-total-energy valued. We compare with other theories of the same null energy background. We determine the numerical value of a constant which appears in the Machian inertial force expression devised by Graneau and Graneau (In the Grip of the Distant Universe—the Science of Inertia, World Scientific, Singapore, 2006), by introducing the above angular speed. We point out that this last theory is not restricted to Newtonian physics as those authors stated but is, in fact, compatible with other cosmological and gravitational theories. An argument by Berry (Principles of Cosmology and Gravitation, Adam Hilger, Bristol, 1989) is shown in order to “derive” Brans-Dicke relation in the present context.     

Cloud condensation nuclei spectra derived from size distributions and hygroscopic properties of the aerosol in coastal south-west Portugal during ACE-2

In this work we propose and test a method to calculate cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) spectra based on aerosol number size distributions and hygroscopic growth factors. Sensitivity studies show that this method can be used in a wide variety of conditions except when the aerosol consist mainly of organic compounds. One crucial step in the calculations, estimating soluble ions in an aerosol particle based on hygroscopic growth factors, is tested in an internal hygroscopic consistency study. The results show that during the second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) the number concentration of inorganic ions analyzed in impactor samples could be reproduced from measured growth factors within the measurement uncertainties at the measurement site in Sagres, Portugal.
CCN spectra were calculated based on data from the ACE-2 field experiment at the Sagres site. The calculations overestimate measured CCN spectra on average by approximately 30%, which is comparable to the uncertainties in measurements and calculations at supersaturations below 0.5%. The calculated CCN spectra were averaged over time periods when Sagres received clean air masses and air masses influenced by aged and recent pollution. Pollution outbreaks enhance the CCN concentrations at supersaturations near 0.2% by a factor of 3 (aged pollution) to 5 (recent pollution) compared to the clean marine background concentrations. In polluted air masses, the shape of the CCN spectra changes. The clean spectra can be approximated by a power function, whereas the polluted spectra are better approximated by an error function.     

Garibaldi group volcanic rocks of the salal creek area, southwestern British Columbia: Alkaline lavas on the fringe of the predominantly calc-alkaline garibaldi (cascade) volcanic arc

The Salal Creek area, at the north end of the main group of vents for the Quaternary Garibaldi (Cascade) Volcanic Belt, southwestern British Columbia, was the site of several small eruptions of mafic lava during the past 1 Ma. In contrast to the calc-alkaline character of all other parts of the Garibaldi Belt and the geographically nearly coincident Miocene and older Pemberton Volcanic Belt, the Salal Creek area Quaternary lavas are predominantly alkaline basalt and hawaiite with typical alkaline volcanic petrography, chemistry, and fractionation trends. Trace elements Ti-Zr-Y show within-plate character for the suite. As for other Garibaldi Belt volcanic rocks, Rb is low, Rb/Sr very low, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio is low, averaging 0.7032. The oxygen isotopic composition average, ¹⁸O = 5.9, is normal for mantle-derived volcanic rocks.This distinct change in magma type at the end of a volcanic are may be the consequence of a smaller degree of melting, melting at a slightly greater depth than calc-alkaline magma production, or a descending-plate edge effect.Ponded flows and pillow-palagonite accumulations indicate that several Salal Creek area eruptions occurred in proximity to ice which filled major valleys during pre-Wisconsin glacial periods.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy of minerals

We compare two different approaches to fitting the Fe-57 Mössbauer spectra of paramagnetic state minerals: the widespread practice of using Lorentzian line doublets with adjustable Γ widths and a new method (Rancourt and Ping, 1991) based on quadrupole splitting distributions (QSDs). We argue that there is no physical justification for the former and that the latter is a theoretically correct approach. With the same number of free parameters, the QSD method performs better. The Lorentzian doublet method 1) significantly overestimates the background, 2) puts overly large wings or tails on the main absorption peaks, and 3) gives unphysically large values of Γ. Whereas Lorentzian doublets are often arbitrarily (and incorrectly) assigned to model sites in the average unit cell, QSDs represent the most information that can be distilled from the spectra and are caused by the various local and long-range structural and chemical environments acting concomitantly.     

Preparation of the sea water reference material for trace metals,NASS-1

The preparation of a sea water reference material, NASS-1, is described. The sea water is an open ocean sample, salinity 35.07‰, gathered at the 1300 metre level in the North Atlantic, south-east of Bermuda. It is acidified to pH 1.6 with nitric acid and bottled in 2 1 polyethylene bottles. Reliable values are available for 11 trace metals (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Mo, Ni and Zn). The results of a long-term sea water storage experiment are also described.