Petrology and geochemistry of LaPaz Icefield 02205: A new unique low-Ti mare-basalt meteorite

LaPaz Icefield 02205 (LAP 02205) is a new low-Ti mare-basalt meteorite that was discovered in the LaPaz Ice Field in Antarctica. This is the first crystalline lunar basalt in the US Antarctic collection and the only 5th unbrecciated mare-basalt meteorite to be discovered to date. The rock has a typical basaltic texture with tabular and elongated pyroxene and plagioclase crystals, and minor olivine grains commonly rimmed by pyroxenes. Core- to rim-zoning in terms of Fe and Mg is present in almost all pyroxene grains. Accessory minerals include ilmenite, chromite, ulvöspinel, troilite, and FeNi metal. This rock is highly enriched in late-stage mesostasis. Free silica is also abundant. In terms of texture and mineralogy, LAP 02205 displays features of low-Ti mare basalts, with similarities to some low-Ti Apollo 12 and Apollo 15 basalts. Whole-rock major- and trace-element compositions confirm the highly fractionated nature of this basalt. The whole-rock REE contents of the meteorite are the highest among all known low-Ti mare basalts. The platinum group element (PGE) contents in LAP are also enriched suggesting the possibility of endogenously enriched source regions or the PGEs generally behaved as incompatible elements during crystal fractionation under low fO₂ conditions. Trace-element contents of mineral grains in LAP 02205 display wide variations, suggesting extensive non-equilibrium crystallization. The REE concentrations in the earliest-formed minerals provide constraints on the composition of the parental liquid, which is similar to the measured whole-rock composition. Crystallization modeling of the LAP 02205 bulk composition yields a reasonable fit between predicted and observed mineral phases and compositions, except for the high-Mg olivine cores, which are observed in the rock but not predicted by the modeling. An isochron age of 2929 ± 150 Ma for phosphate minerals makes this rock one of the youngest lunar basalts known to date. The young age and specific geochemical characteristics of LAP distinguish it from those of most other low-Ti mare basalts. However, the low-Ti mare basalt meteorite, NWA 032, has a similar young age, and the two meteorites also appear to be closely related from some geochemical perspectives and might have originated from similar source regions on the Moon.     

Compression behavior of reconstituted soils mixed with bentonite for a cutoff wall in a landfill site

Soil-bentonite (SB) backfill is used extensively in cutoff walls at landfill sites; the walls are used as engineered geotechnical barriers for contaminant control. With increasing bentonite content, the coefficient of consolidation and hydraulic conductivity of the SB decrease. However, when the bentonite content is increased beyond a certain percentage, the hydraulic conductivity of the SB decreases very little. One of the aims of this paper is to introduce the concept of optimal bentonite content (OBC) for SB cutoff walls, in which the hydraulic conductivity (k_h) is expected to be lower than 1?×?10^?9 m/s. Additionally, the paper introduces a new index consolidation stress ratio, c_vσ′, which is used to obtain the OBC. For this study, the initial water contents of the SB backfill material are selected to be 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2 times their corresponding liquid limits. The clayey soils are amended with different bentonite contents, 0, 5, 8, and 10% (by dry weight basis) for the oedometer tests. Then, piezocone penetration test (CPTU) is applied in SB cutoff wall at a landfill site in Jingjiang city, China. The results of the laboratory and field studies show that the introduction of a new index, c_vσ′, is very useful for calculating the OBC and for evaluating the coefficient of consolidation and hydraulic conductivity of SB backfill. The advantage of SB backfill with OBC is that it can achieve the design requirement of very low hydraulic conductivity and improve the safety reserves.     

The equilibrium and stability of uniformly rotating gaseous systems in hydromagnetics

The theory for investigating the equilibrium and stability of a uniformly rotating gaseous system with a prevalent magnetic field is developed by using the virial tensor approach. Most of the discussion in this paper depends on the assumption that on the surface of the system, the magnetic field is zero. In Appendix A, however, we have considered the case in which the surface magnetic field is non-zero.We have obtained the nine modes of oscillations, grouped into the transverse shear, toroidal and pulsation modes. From this analysis have also found the conditions under which the sequence of a uniformly rotating axially symmetric configuration in the presence of a magnetic field should have a point of bifurcation, that is, a point where objects with genuine triplanar symmetry branch off. This condition is also generalized in the Appendix to include the effects of differential rotation and non-zero surface magnetic field.Applications to the cosmogonic fission problem, the study of the pulsation of rotating magnetic stars and some radio astrophysical problems are briefly discussed.     

Tolerance and accumulation of hexavalent chromium by two seaweed associated aspergilli

Marine seaweed (Eucheuma sp.) associated strains of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger were tested for their Cr(VI) tolerance. Both the isolates showed luxuriant growth in different concentrations of Cr(VI), i.e., 25, 50 and 100 ppm. There was no marked variation in the dry weight of control and test isolates, which indicated that both the isolates can tolerate a wide range of hexavalent chromium and their application for bioremediation purpose can be envisaged as XRF data revealed both the isolates accumulated more than 25% of the chromium supplied. A. flavus invariably exhibited higher accumulation potential.     

Multi-stage metasomatism of diamondiferous eclogite xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe,Yakutia, Siberia

The primary garnet (pyrope-almandine)-omphacite (Cpx 1, 6.5–7 wt% Na₂O)-sulfide (Fe-Ni-Co mss) assemblage of the two diamondiferous eclogite xenoliths studied (U33/1 and UX/1) experienced two mantle metasomatic events. The metasomatic event I is recorded by the formation of platy phlogopite (~ 10 wt% K₂O), prior to incorporation of the xenoliths in the kimberlite. The bulk of the metasomatic alteration, consisting of spongy-textured clinopyroxene (Cpx 2A, 1–3 wt% Na₂O), coarser-grained clinopyroxene (Cpx 2B, 2–5 wt% Na₂O), pargasitic amphibole (~ 0.8 wt% K₂O; 3–3.5 wt% Na₂O), kelyphite (Cpx 3, mostly <1 wt% Na₂O; and zoned Mg-Fe-Al spinel), sodalite, calcite, K-feldspar, djerfisherite (K_5.95Na_0.02Fe_18.72Ni_2.36Co_0.01Cu_4.08S₂₆Cl ) and a small amount of K-Ca-Fe-Mg glass, is ascribed to the metasomatic event II that occurred also in the upper mantle, but after the xenoliths were incorporated in the kimberlite. A pervasive chloritic alteration (mainly clinochlore + magnetite) that overprints earlier assemblages probably took place in the upper crustal environment. The diamonds are invariably associated with secondary clinopyroxene and chlorite, but the diamonds formed before the entrainment of the xenoliths in the Udachnaya kimberlite.Editorial Responsibility: T.L. Grove     

Nonlinear coupling between pulsation and convection in late type stars

A simple idealized nonlinear model applicable to long period variable stars has been formulated that assumes the convective envelope ofM giants is composed of giant convection cells, which are comparable in size to the stellar radius. The simplicity of this model essentially constitutes a physical analog to the strong dynamic coupling that occurs if the convective envelope of the star undergoes both modes of motion. As shown implicitly in the time scales associated with these motions, the coupling produces asymmetrical fluctuations of the entire star, the mean velocity of which is comparable to the escape velocity of the star at particular values of the ratio of the pulsation and convection time scales. It is suggested that this can account for the mass loss from late type stars, and the circumstellar dust shells that are associated extensively with long period variables.For critical values of the pulsation and convection time scales, the solutions correspond to the rapid expansion of the entire convective envelope, and is the basis of a new mechanism that simulates the manner in which pulsating stars ballistically accelerate their convective shells to form planetary nebulae.     

Crustal Magnetic Studies over Krishna-Godavari Basin in Eastern Continental Margin of India

Total field magnetic data were collected over the Krishna-Godavari basin covering 20, 000 sq.km with an average spacing of 8.5 km. This was mainly to study the long wavelength features related with the deep structures. Aeromagnetic map of the region compared well with the ground maps. The anomaly maps show a combination of NE-SW, NS/NNE-SSW and NW-SE trends. The anomalies of ground data are transformed to isolate the sources at different depths. The second vertical derivative and downward continuation maps bring out clearly the NE-SW and NS/NNE-SSW trends related to the coastal basin and Eastern Ghats implying that they are shallow. These are probably superposed on much deeper NW-SE trending structural features of Pre-Gondwana breakup as evidenced in the Horizontal Gradient of Pseudogravity and upward continuation maps. From the offshore magnetic data it appears that these trends extend up to the Ocean Continent Boundary. It is inferred that the deeper features are associated with rifting of Dharwar and Bastar cratons within the Indian plate, prior to the rifting of India from Gondwanaland. The superposed horst and graben structures are related to the formation of the pull-apart Krishna-Godavari basin as a result of rifting and drifting of India from Gondwanaland. These two structural features are associated with two different tectonic events.     

Non-circular beam correction to the CMB power spectrum

In the era of high precision CMB measurements, systematic effects are beginning to limit the ability to extract subtler cosmological information. The non-circularity of the experimental beam has become progressively important as CMB experiments strive to attain higher angular resolution and sensitivity. The effect of non-circular beam on the power spectrum is important at multipoles larger than the beam-width. For recent experiments with high angular resolution, optimal methods of power spectrum estimation are computationally prohibitive and sub-optimal approaches, such as the Pseudo-C_l method are used. We provide an analytic framework for correcting the power spectrum for the effect of beam non-circularity and non-uniform sky coverage (including incomplete/masked sky maps). The approach is perturbative in the distortion of the beam from non-circularity allowing for rapid computations when the beam is mildly non-circular. We advocate that when the non-circular beams are important, it is computationally advantageous to employ ‘soft’ azimuthally apodized masks whose spherical harmonic transforms die down fast with m.