Rate of growth of the preserved North American continental crust: Evidence from Hf and O isotopes in Mississippi detrital zircons

Detrital zircons from the Mississippi River have been analyzed for U-Th-Pb, Lu-Hf and O isotopes to constrain the rate of growth of the preserved North American continental crust. One hundred and forty two concordant zircon U/Pb dates on grains mounted in epoxy, obtained by Excimer laser ablation ICP-MS method, resolved six major periods of zircon crystallization: 0-0.25, 0.3-0.6, 0.95-1.25, 1.3-1.5, 1.65-1.95 and 2.5-3.0 Ga. These age ranges match the ages of the recognized lithotectonic units of the North American continent in the hinterland of the Mississippi River. Ninety-six zircons mounted on tape, which show no age zonation and were within 7.5% of concordance, were selected to represent the six U/Pb age time intervals and analyzed for Lu-Hf and O isotope by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS and SHRIMP II, respectively. The δ¹⁸O values of the zircons show a small step increase in the maximum δ¹⁸O values at the Archean-Proterozoic boundary from 7.5‰ in the Archean to 9.5‰, and rarely 13‰, in the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. However, the average value of δ¹⁸O in zircons changes little with time, showing that the increase in the maximum δ¹⁸O values between 2.5 and 2.0 Ga, which can be attributed to an increase in the sediment content of the source regions of younger granitoids, is largely balanced by an increase in zircons with anomalously low δ¹⁸O, which can be attributed to hydrothermally altered crust in the granitoid source region.εHf_i values for the zircons range from 13.1 to −26.9. Zircons derived from juvenile crust, which we define as having mantle δ¹⁸O (4.5-6.5‰) and lying within error of the Hf depleted mantle growth curve, are rare or absent in the Mississippi basin. The overwhelming majority of zircons crystallized from melted pre-existing continental crust, or mantle-derived magmas that were contaminated by continental crust. The average time difference between primitive crust formation and remelting for each of the recognized lithotectonic time intervals, which is defined as crustal incubation time in this study, is 890 ± 460 Myr. There is also a suggestion that the crustal incubation time increases with decreasing age in the Mississippi basin, which is consistent with the declining role of radioactive heat production in the lower crust with time.The average Hf model age (1.94 Ga), weighted by fraction of zircons in the river load is in reasonable agreement with the Nd model age (1.7 Ga) for the Mississippi River. However, if the zircons are weighted by the area of North America covered by the six recognized periods of zircon crystallization the average model age is 2.35 Ga, which compares favorably with an area weighted Nd model age of 2.36 Ga. Our preferred approach is to use the measured O isotope values to constrain variations in the ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratio of the granitic source region from which the zircons crystallized, making the assumption that zircons with mantle-like O isotopic ratios have higher ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf than zircons with higher O isotope values. This method gives an average Hf model age of 2.53 Ga, which is 180 Myr older than the constant ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf calculation.The area weighted zircon Hf model ages show two distinct periods of crust formation for the North American continent, 1.6-2.2 and 2.9-3.4 Ga. At least 50% of the preserved North American continental crust was extracted from the mantle by 2.9 Ga and 90% by 1.6 Ga. Two similar periods of crustal growth are also recognized in Gondwana (Hawkesworth C. J. and Kemp A. I. S. (2006) Using hafnium and oxygen isotopes in zircons to unravel the record of crustal evolution. Chem. Geol.226, 144-162.), suggesting that these may be periods of global continental crustal growth. However, we stress that more data from other continents are required before the hypothesis of episodic global continental growth can be accepted with confidence.     

Long term storage of relativistic particles in the solar corona

A model is presented which shows that large numbers of energetic electrons (0.3-> 10 MeV) and protons (1–30 MeV) can be stored in the solar corona at altitudes around 3 × 10⁵ km for periods in excess of 5 days. Specific reference is made to the time period July 6–16 1968 as an excellent example of energetic solar particle storage. Time histories of interplanetary charged particle intensities observed by the IMP-4 and Pioneer 8 satellites are used to substantiate this contention. Detailed reference is also made to solar X-ray, optical and radio data obtained during the period in question, in addition to interplanetary magnetometer data. This model provides a unique solution to many hitherto unexplained solar particle events, and can also account for the lack of prompt particle emission from certain large solar flares recorded in the past.     

The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite: A preserved record of atmospheric entry processes

Fusion crusts form during the atmospheric entry heating of meteorites and preserve a record of the conditions that occurred during deceleration in the atmosphere. The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite closely resembles that of other stony meteorites, and in particular CM2 chondrites, since it is dominated by olivine phenocrysts set in a glassy mesostasis with magnetite, and is highly vesicular. Dehydration cracks are unusually abundant in Winchcombe. Failure of this weak layer is an additional ablation mechanism to produce large numbers of particles during deceleration, consistent with the observation of pulses of plasma in videos of the Winchcombe fireball. Calving events might provide an observable phenomenon related to meteorites that are particularly susceptible to dehydration. Oscillatory zoning is observed within olivine phenocrysts in the fusion crust, in contrast to other meteorites, perhaps owing to temperature fluctuations resulting from calving events. Magnetite monolayers are found in the crust, and have also not been previously reported, and form discontinuous strata. These features grade into magnetite rims formed on the external surface of the crust and suggest the trapping of surface magnetite by collapse of melt. Magnetite monolayers may be a feature of meteorites that undergo significant degassing. Silicate warts with dendritic textures were observed and are suggested to be droplets ablated from another stone in the shower. They, therefore, represent the first evidence for intershower transfer of ablation materials and are consistent with the other evidence in the Winchcombe meteorite for unusually intense gas loss and ablation, despite its low entry velocity.     

Characterization and molecular analysis of hepatic microsomal UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in the marine fish, Pleuronectes platessa

Here we report the results of the first molecular enzymological study of fish UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT). UDPGT activities of plaice liver microsomes were greatest for planar phenols and there was low but measurable conjugation of bilirubin, testosterone and androsterone. A highly purified preparation was isolated which possessed activities towards 1-naphthol, bilirubin and testosterone, containing several molecular weight species of M_r 52–56 kDa. On immunoblot analysis these proteins cross-reacted with a polyspecific anti-rat UDPGT antibody, suggesting that a number of plaice UDPGT isoforms with epitopes in common with the corresponding rat enzymes had been purified.     

Application of HVSR to estimating thickness of laterite weathering profiles in basalt

Lateritic weathering profiles (LWPs) are widespread in the tropics and comprise an important component of the Critical Zone (CZ). The Hawaiian Islands make an excellent natural laboratory for examining the tropical CZ, where the bedrock composition (basalt) is nearly uniform and rainfall varies greatly. This natural laboratory is employed to assess the utility of the HVSR (horizontal/vertical spectral ratio) method to characterize the shear-wave velocity (V_s) structure of LWPs, particularly the depth to the contact between saprolite and basalt bedrock. LWP thicknesses determined from HVSR provide good agreement with multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW) profiles, well logs and outcrop. LWP thicknesses may be estimated from the fundamental mode equation or through forward models. Prior knowledge about the subsurface from well, outcrop, and MASW profiles may greatly aid modeling in some cases. For the 3.2 to 1.8 Ma Koolau Volcano on Oahu, the downward rate of advance of the weathering front varies from 0.004 to 0.041 m/ka. For the 0.44 to 0.10 Ma Kohala Volcano (Big Island of Hawaii) rates vary from 0.013 to 0.047 m/ka. Simple H/V spectra develop in areas where the combined effects of time and elevated rainfall produce thick LWPs with a flat base and a general absence of core stones with an ideal layered geometry. Abundant buried core stones violate the assumption of simple layered geometries and scatter acoustic energy, leading to uninterpretable results. This is common where low rainfall and a young basaltic substrate leave abundant core stones as well as an undulating contact between saprolite and bedrock. Velocity inversions (high V_s intervals within low V_s saprolite) may also be present and originate from relatively intact bedrock horizons or mineralogical changes within saprolite. At Kohala, a gibbsite-rich horizon produces such a velocity inversion due to enhanced weathering and subsequent collapse of saprolite in a discrete horizon. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NIGHTGLOW: an instrument to measure the Earth’s nighttime ultraviolet glow—results from the first engineering flight

We have designed and built an instrument to measure and monitor the “nightglow” of the Earth’s atmosphere in the near ultraviolet (NUV). In this paper we describe the design of this instrument, called NIGHTGLOW. NIGHTGLOW is designed to be flown from a high altitude research balloon, and circumnavigate the globe. NIGHTGLOW is a NASA, University of Utah, and New Mexico State University project. A test flight took place from Palestine, Texas on July 5, 2000, lasting about 8 h. The instrument performed well and landed safely in Stiles, Texas with little damage. The resulting measurements of the NUV nightglow are compared with previous measurements from sounding rockets and balloons.     

Updated Expressions for Determining Temperatures and Emission Measures from Goes Soft X-Ray Measurements

{We investigate the conversion of the 0.5–4 and 1–8 Å soft X-ray flux measurements made by detectors on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) into temperature and emission measures of coronal plasma using modern spectral models and modern understanding of coronal abundances. In particular, the original analysis by Thomas, Starr and Crannell (1985) is updated to take into account the realization that coronal abundances may be quite different from photospheric abundances. An important result of this analysis is that the derived temperatures and emission measures depend strongly on the assumed abundances even at high temperatures where continuum rather than spectral lines dominates the Sun’s X-ray spectrum. This occurs because the higher coronal abundances mean that most of the continuum is due to free–bound emission processes, not free–free emission, and thus is abundance-dependent. We find significant differences between modern calculations of the temperature response of the flux measurements and the versions currently in use: for a typical flare, emission measures may be up to a factor of 4 smaller than the current software suggests. Derived temperatures are similar for both photospheric and coronal abundances for cool flares (e.g., 15 MK), but for hot flares (e.g., 35 MK) coronal abundances can lead to significantly (~25%) lower temperatures being derived.