Characterization of Mason Gully (H5): The second recovered fall from the Desert Fireball Network

Mason Gully, the second meteorite recovered using the Desert Fireball Network (DFN), is characterized using petrography, mineralogy, oxygen isotopes, bulk chemistry, and physical properties. Geochemical data are consistent with its classification as an H5 ordinary chondrite. Several properties distinguish it from most other H chondrites. Its 10.7% porosity is predominantly macroscopic, present as intergranular void spaces rather than microscopic cracks. Modal mineralogy (determined via PS‐XRD, element mapping via energy dispersive spectroscopy [EDS], and X‐ray tomography [for sulfide, metal, and porosity volume fractions]) consistently gives an unusually low olivine/orthopyroxene ratio (0.67?0.76 for Mason Gully versus ~1.3 for typical H5 ordinary chondrites). Widespread “silicate darkening” is observed. In addition, it contains a bright green crystalline object at the surface of the recovered stone (diameter ≈ 1.5 mm), which has a tridymite core with minor α‐quartz and a rim of both low‐ and high‐Ca pyroxene. The mineralogy allows the calculation of the temperatures and ?(O₂) characterizing thermal metamorphism on the parent body using both the two‐pyroxene and the olivine‐chromite geo‐oxybarometers. These indicate that MG experienced a peak metamorphic temperature of ~900 °C and had a similar ?(O₂) to Kernouvé (H6) that was buffered by the reaction between olivine, metal, and pyroxene. There is no evidence for shock, consistent with the observed porosity structure. Thus, while Mason Gully has some unique properties, its geochemistry indicates a similar thermal evolution to other H chondrites. The presence of tridymite, while rare, is seen in other OCs and likely exogenous; however, the green object itself may result from metamorphism.     

Facies controls on the distribution of diagenesis and compaction in fluvial-deltaic deposits

The Upper Triassic – Lower Jurassic Åre Formation comprising the deeper reservoir in the Heidrun Field offshore mid-Norway consists of fluvial channel sandstones (FCH), floodplain fines (FF), and sandy and muddy bay-fill sediments (SBF, MBF) deposited in an overall transgressive fluvial to lower delta plain regime. The formation has been investigated to examine possible sedimentary facies controls on the distribution of cementation and compaction based on petrography and SEM/micro probe analyses of core samples related to facies associations and key stratigraphic surfaces. The most significant authigenic minerals are kaolinite, calcite and siderite. Kaolinite and secondary porosity from dissolution of feldspar and biotite are in particular abundant in the fluvial sandstones. The carbonate minerals show complex compositional and micro-structural variation of pure siderite (Sid I), Mg-siderite (Sid II), Fe-dolomite, ankerite and calcite, displaying decreasing Fe from early to late diagenetic carbonate cements. An early diagenetic origin for siderite and kaolinite is inferred from micro-structural relations, whereas pore filling calcite and ankerite formed during later diagenesis. The Fe-dolomite probably related to mixing-zone dolomitization from increasing marine influences, and a regional correlatable calcite cemented layer has been related to a flooding event. Porosity values in non-cemented sandstone samples are generally high in both FCH and SBF facies associations averaging 27%. Differential compaction between sandstone and mudstone has a ratio of up to 1:2 and with lower values for MBF. We emphasize the role of eogenetic siderite cementation in reducing compactability in the fine-grained, coal-bearing sediments most prominent in MBF facies. This has implications for modeling of differential compaction between sandstone and mudstones deposited in fluvial-deltaic environments.     

Currents in a small channel on a sandy tidal flat

Channels affect drainage and bed stresses on tidal flats. Here, near-bottom currents observed on a sandy tidal flat are compared with those observed 35 m away inside a shallow (≈0.3 m deep) channel. For water depths between 0.5 and 2.5 m (when both current meters are submerged), current speeds 0.13 m above the bed on the flat are about 30% greater than those observed 0.13 m above the bed in the channel, and are approximately equal to those observed 0.58 m above the channel bed (0.26 m above the flat elevation). Flow directions on the flat are similar to those in the channel. For flows directed across the channel axis, the ratio of speeds increases from about 1.3 to about 2.2 with increasing water depth. The corresponding ratio of the vertical velocity variances (a proxy for turbulence) decreases from about 1.5 to about 0.2, suggesting that the turbulence near the bed of the channel is greater than that near the bed of the flat for water depths greater than about 1.0 m. Drag coefficients estimated with the vertical velocity variance are approximately 70% larger in the channel than over the visually smoother flat, consistent with prior studies suggesting that channels may increase tidal-flat roughness. For flows directed along the channel axis (in the cross-flat direction), the ratio of speeds (1.2) is similar to the ratio predicted by a cross-flat momentum (along-channel) balance.     

Lateral circulation driven by boundary mixing and the associated transport of sediments in idealized partially mixed estuaries

A three-dimensional, hydrostatic, primitive equation numerical model with modern turbulence closures is used to explore lateral circulation and the associated transport of sediments in idealized, moderately to highly stratified estuaries. The model results suggest that boundary mixing on a sloping bottom can drive a significant amount of lateral circulation. This mechanism has received little attention to date in the estuarine literature. Good agreement with an analytical solution and similar vertical structures of lateral flows to observations from the Hudson River estuary support the importance of the boundary mixing mechanism. Boundary mixing is at least as important as differential advection for the modeled scenarios, when the two mechanisms are evaluated using the salt balance equation for model runs without rotation. Linearly superposing analytical solutions for lagged boundary mixing lateral flow and Ekman-forced lateral flow yields a good representation of the near-bottom lateral flow from the model with rotation. The 2 h lag required for the boundary mixing solution is roughly equal to the vertical diffusion time scale, indicating that lateral flow adjustment depends on development of a bottom mixed layer. Sediment dynamics at cross sections seaward and landward of the salt intrusion are very different. Seaward of the salt intrusion, sediments are eroded in the channel and preferentially deposited on the right slope (looking seaward), mainly due to the combination of high sediment concentration in the channel during flood with strong up-slope transport on that side (tidal pumping). Lateral sediment re-distribution landward of the salt intrusion is negligible due to weak residual lateral circulation.     

Black ordinary chondrites: An analysis of abundance and fall frequency

Abstract— Black ordinary chondrite meteorites sample the spectral effects of shock on ordinary chondrite material in the space environment. Since shock is an important regolith process, these meteorites may provide insight into the spectral properties of the regoliths on ordinary chondrite parent bodies. To determine how common black chondrites are in the meteorite collection and, by analogy, the frequency of shock-alteration in ordinary chondrites, several of the world's major meteorite collections were examined to identify black chondrites. Over 80% of all catalogued ordinary chondrites were examined and, using an optical definition, 61 black chondrites were identified. Black chondrites account for approximately 13.7% of ordinary chondrite falls. If the optically altered gas-rich ordinary chondrites are included, the proportion of falls that exhibit some form of altered spectral properties increases to 16.7%. This suggests that optical alteration of asteroidal material in the space environment is a relatively common process.     

Pore size distribution in an uncompacted equilibrated ordinary chondrite

The extraordinarily uncompacted nature of the ordinary L chondrite fall Baszkówka gives a unique opportunity to investigate the potentially pre-compaction pore size distribution in an equilibrated ordinary chondrite. Using X-ray microtomography and helium pycnometry on two samples of Baszkówka, we have found that on average, two-thirds of the 19.0% porosity resides in inter- and intra-granular voids with volumes between 3×10⁻⁵ and 3 mm³. We show the cumulative number density of pore volumes observable by X-ray microtomography obeys a power law distribution function in this equilibrated ordinary chondrite. We foresee these data adding to our understanding of the impact processing of chondrites and their parent asteroids, where porosity and pore size play significant roles in the parameterization of impact events.     

Narrow associated quasi-stellar object absorbers: clustering, outflows and the line-of-sight proximity effect

Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 3 (SDSS DR3), we investigate how narrow (<700 km s⁻¹) C  iv and Mg  ii quasar absorption-line systems are distributed around quasars. The C  iv absorbers lie in the redshift range 1.6 < z < 4 and the Mg  ii absorbers in the range 0.4 < z < 2.2. By correlating absorbers with quasars on different but neighbouring lines of sight, we measure the clustering of absorbers around quasars on comoving scales between 4 and 30 Mpc. The observed comoving correlation lengths are   r _o∼ 5 h ⁻¹Mpc  , similar to those observed for bright galaxies at these redshifts. Comparing correlations between absorbers and the quasars, in whose spectra they are identified, then implies: (i) that quasars destroy absorbers to comoving distances of ∼300 kpc (C  iv ) and ∼800 kpc (Mg  ii ) along their lines of sight; (ii) that ≳40 per cent of C  iv absorbers within 3000 km s⁻¹ of the quasi-stellar object are not a result of large-scale clustering but rather are directly associated with the quasar itself; (iii) that this intrinsic absorber population extends to outflow velocities of the order of 12 000 km s⁻¹; (iv) that this outflow component is present in both radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars and (v) that a small high-velocity outflow component is also observed in the Mg  ii population. We also find an indication that absorption systems within 3000 km s⁻¹ are more abundant for radio-loud quasars than for radio-quiet quasars. This suggests either that radio-loud objects live in more massive haloes, or that their radio activity generates an additional low-velocity outflow, or both.