Convection currents in the Earth's mantle and the spherical harmonic development of the topography of the earth

Summary A system of simple principles concerning the kinematics of the convection currents in the Earth's mantle was postulated as the starting point. The mantle is supposed to become more and more homogeneous downward. Here it is essential, for the reason of symmetry, that the current system has a degree of regularity as high as possible and is modified only in the upper part, mainly due to the distribution of continents and oceans. The adequate system is chosen by the help of the theory of point groups. Evaluating the distribution to be expected of the coefficients of the spherical harmonic development of the Earth's theoretical topography by means of electronic computers, accordance is found for the extrema to the 31 st order, i.e. as far as they have been determined until now. — The system yields the seismic discontinuities of the Earth's mantle as a secondary product. That does not mean that the system explains them, but it is absolutely consistent with them. That seems to be aquantitative proof of the system regarded as probable on the strength of group-theoretic considerations.Report No. 74, lectured in Potsdam, May 7, 1970.     

Tellurium isotopic composition of the early solar system—A search for effects resulting from stellar nucleosynthesis, Sn decay, and mass-independent fractionation

New precise Te isotope data acquired by multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) are presented for selected extraterrestrial and terrestrial materials. Bulk samples of carbonaceous, ordinary and enstatite chondrites as well as the metal and sulfide phases of iron meteorites were analyzed to search for nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies and to find evidence of formerly live ¹²⁶Sn, which decays to ¹²⁶Te with a half-life of 234,500 yr. None of the meteorites show evidence of mass dependent Te isotope fractionations larger than 2‰ for δ^126/128Te. Following internal normalization of the data to ¹²⁵Te/¹²⁸Te, the Te isotope ratios of all analyzed meteorites were found to be identical to a terrestrial standard, within uncertainties. This provides evidence that the regions of the solar disk that were sampled during accretion of the meteorite parent bodies were well mixed and homogeneous on a large scale, with respect to Te isotopes. The data acquired for bulk carbonaceous chondrites indicate that the initial ¹²⁶Sn/¹¹⁸Sn ratio of the solar system was <4 × 10⁻⁵, but this is dependent on the assumption that no redistribution of Sn and Te occurred since the start of the solar system. Five Archean sedimentary sulfides that display both mass dependent and mass-independent isotope effects for S yield internally normalized Te isotope data, which indicate that mass-independent Te isotope effects are absent. The mass dependent fractionations in these samples are constrained to be less than ∼1‰ for δ^126/128Te.     

Late Quaternary glacial and climate history of the Pamir Mountains derived from cosmogenic Be exposure ages

Moraines southwest of Lake Yashilkul, Pamir, Tajikistan, were dated using ¹⁰Be exposure ages of boulder surfaces. We found evidence for (1) an extensive glaciation ∼60,000 yr ago; (2) a less extensive glacial advance, which deposited a characteristic hummocky moraine lobe with exposure ages ranging from ∼11,000 to 47,000 yr, probably deposited at or before 47,000 yr ago; and (3) lateral moraines with exposure ages of ∼40,000 yr, 27,000 yr and 19,000 yr, respectively. Increasing aridity in the Pamir is most likely responsible for the progressively limited extent of the glaciers during the Late Pleistocene.     

In-situ Measurements of Tropospheric Hydroxyl Radicals by Folded Long-Path Laser Absorption During the Field Campaign POPCORN

Absolutely calibrated in-situ measurements of tropospheric hydroxyl radicals, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, and naphthalene (C10H8) were performed by long-path laser absorption spectroscopy during the field campaign POPCORN. The absorption light path was folded into an open optical multiple reflection cell with a mirror separation of 38.5 m. Using a light path length of 1848 m and an integration time of 200 s, the average 1-detection limits of OH, HCHO, SO2 and C10H8 during POPCORN were 8.7 · 105 cm–3, 8.3 · 109 cm–3, 2.4 · 109 cm–3, 1.5 · 108 cm–3, respectively. In total, 392 identifications of OH in air spectra were made in a rural environment between August 5 and August 23, 1994. We present and discuss OH absorption spectra and diurnal OH concentration profiles of three days which are representative for measurements under different pollution conditions during POPCORN. The observed maximum and median OH radical concentrations are 1.3 · 107 OH/cm3 and 4.0 · 106 OH/cm3, respectively. The measured diurnal variation of the OH concentration shows a good correlation with the primary formation reaction of OH radicals which is the photolysis of ambient ozone. Deviations from this correlation in the morning and evening hours, when the OH concentration is higher than expected from the ozone photolysis, demonstrate the importance of other photochemical HOx production pathways during POPCORN.     

A numerical simulation scheme for the albedo of city street canyons

A numerical scheme is described for the calculation of effective albedo values of long city street canyons. The method is based on a generalization of the radiation model for inclined surfaces recently presented by Brühl and Zdunkowski (1983). Calculated albedo values are compared with Aida's (1982) experimentally determined results. It is found that experiment and theory are in reasonable and in some cases in excellent agreement. Additional results obtained by varying the geometry of the street canyon as well as the surface reflectivities are shown to demonstrate the versatility of the calculation scheme.     

Early diagenetic processes during Mn-carbonate formation: evidence from the isotopic composition of authigenic Ca-rhodochrosites of the Baltic Sea

The formation of authigenic Ca-rich rhodochrosite (ACR) in sapropelic sediments of the Gotland Basin, Baltic Sea, is governed by deepwater renewal processes whereby saline water from the North Atlantic flushes the brackish anoxic Baltic Deeps. The carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of these Mn-carbonates suggest that ACR formation takes place just below the sediment surface and that dissolved compounds from the deepwater column, such as water and bicarbonate molecules, were incorporated in ACR during authigenesis. Porewaters near the sediment surface display δ¹⁸O values of −5.4‰ (VSMOW) and are generally depleted in ¹⁸O, compared to the oxygen isotopic composition of water in equilibrium with Mn-carbonate solid solutions (ACR δ¹⁸O values are −4.6‰). This suggests that early burial diagenetic processes significantly modify the initial isotopic composition of water during Mn-carbonate formation. The reduction of sulfate having δ¹⁸O values of +8.4‰ accounts for a permanent enrichment of porewater ¹⁸O and observed δ¹⁸O values at depth equal to −4.6‰. However, this process does not explain the observed disequilibrium in the oxygen isotopic composition between water and ACR close to the sediment surface where Mn-carbonate formation takes place. Based on isotopic mass balance calculations, we suggest that MnO₂ with δ¹⁸O values of +8.9‰ released oxygen enriched in ¹⁸O into the anoxic porewaters close below the sediment surface. This process should occur after oxygenation events during deepwater renewal when MnO₂ accumulates at the surface of anoxic sediments. Manganese carbonates formed in these waters display δ¹⁸O values of ∼1.0‰ heavier than values expected solely from the initial deepwater composition. This quantitatively explains the discrepancy between paleosalinities calculated from ACR δ¹⁸O based on Mn-carbonate/water isotopic equilibrium fractionation and direct observations for the same period. Our results emphasize the important role of microbial MnO₂ reduction during rhodochrosite authigenesis and suggest that Mn(II) activity, rather than alkalinity, is the limiting component for sedimentary Mn-carbonate formation.     

Cathodoluminescence, electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy of experimentally shock-metamorphosed zircon

Thorough understanding of the shock metamorphic signatures of zircon could be the basis for the use of this mineral as a powerful tool for the study of old, deeply eroded, and metamorphically overprinted impact structures and formations. This study of the cathodoluminescence (CL) and Raman spectroscopic signatures of experimentally (20-60 GPa) shock-metamorphosed zircon single crystals contributes to the understanding of high-pressure microdeformation in zircon. For all samples, an inverse relationship between the brightness of the backscattered electron (BSE) signal and the corresponding cathodoluminescence intensity was observed. The unshocked sample shows crosscutting, irregular fractures. The 20 GPa sample displays some kind of mosaic texture of CL brighter and darker domains, but does not exhibit any shock metamorphic features in BSE or CL images. The 40 GPa sample shows a high density of lamellar features, which might be explained by the phase transformation between zircon- and scheelite-structure phases of zircon and resulting differences in the energy levels of the activator elements. The CL spectra of unshocked and shocked (20, 40, and 60 GPa) zircon samples are dominated by narrow emission lines and broad bands in the region of visible light and in the near-UV range. The emission lines result from rare earth element activators and the broad bands might be associated with lattice defects. Raman spectra revealed that the unshocked and 20 GPa samples represent zircon-structure material, whereas the 40 GPa sample yielded additional peaks with relatively high peak intensities, which are indicative of the presence of the scheelite-type high-pressure phase. The 60 GPa sample has a Raman signature that is similar to that of an amorphous phase, in contrast to the observations of an earlier TEM study that the crystalline scheelite-structure phase is stable at this shock pressure. The 60 GPa Raman signature cannot be explained at this stage. The results show a clear dependence of the CL and Raman properties of zircon on shock pressure, which confirm the possible usage of these methods as shock indicators.     

Insights about the formation of a complex impact structure formed in basalt from numerical modeling: The Vista Alegre structure,southern Brazil

We present the outcomes of simulations of the formation of the Vista Alegre impact structure, Paraná Basin, Brazil. The target comprised a thick sequence of volcanic rocks of predominantly basaltic composition of the Serra Geral Formation that had been deposited on top of sedimentary rocks (sandstones) of the Pirambóia/Botucatu formations. The cratering process was modeled using the iSALE shock physics code. Our best‐fit model suggests that (1) the crater was originally ~10 km in size; (2) it was formed in ~115 s by a stony projectile of 1000 m in diameter, for an assumed impact velocity of 12 km s^?1; (3) target rocks underwent a peak pressure of ~20 GPa, in agreement with previous petrographic investigations of shock deformation. Furthermore, the model points out that the sedimentary strata below the layer of volcanic rocks were raised by ~650 meters at the central part of the crater, which resulted in the current partial exposure of the sandstones at the surface. The outcomes of our modeling suggest that parameters like cohesion and strength of the target rocks, after shock compression, determined the final morphology of the crater, especially the absence of a topographically prominent central peak. Finally, the results of the numerical modeling are roughly in agreement with gravity data over the structure, in particular with respect to the presence of the uplifted sedimentary strata, which are responsible for a low gravity signature at the center of the structure.