Explosive erosion during the Phoenix landing exposes subsurface water on Mars

While steady thruster jets caused only modest surface erosion during previous spacecraft landings on the Moon and Mars, the pulsed jets from the Phoenix spacecraft led to extensive alteration of its landing site on the martian arctic, exposed a large fraction of the subsurface water ice under the lander, and led to the discovery of evidence for liquid saline water on Mars. Here we report the discovery of the ‘explosive erosion’ process that led to this extensive erosion. We show that the impingement of supersonic pulsed jets fluidizes porous soils and forms cyclic shock waves which propagate through the soil and produce erosion rates more than an order of magnitude larger than that of other jet-induced processes. The understanding of ‘explosive erosion’ allows the calculation of bulk physical properties of the soils altered by it, provides insight into a new behavior of granular flow at extreme conditions and explains the rapid alteration of the Phoenix landing site’s ground morphology at the northern arctic plains of Mars.     

The Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour); A NASA Discovery Mission

In 1997, the COmet Nucleus TOUR (CONTOUR) was selected byNASA for a new start as part of the Discovery line. In this paper, we review the status of the mission, the mission timeline and the instruments to be flown. Detail is given of the science goals and how they are to be accomplished.     

The Lyngen Gabbro: the lower crust of an Ordovician Incipient Arc

We present evidence for the origin of the Lyngen Gabbro of the Ordovician Lyngen Magmatic Complex in Troms, Northern Norway. The two magmatic suites of the Lyngen Gabbro strike parallel NNE-SSW, and have distinct magmatic signatures. We define these signatures by using major and trace-element analyses together with selected major- and trace-element mineral analyses and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd-isotope whole-rock analyses of gabbroic to tonalitic plutonic rocks from seven detailed cross-sections from this large gabbro-complex. The Western suite of the Lyngen Gabbro precipitated from magma that may have been derived from the same system as the associated volcanic rocks. The gabbros have high An-content (An_>90) of their plagioclases relative to co-existing mafic minerals. Together with somewhat high _Nd(t) values (+6), this implies that the parental magmas were hydrous tholeiites similar to those found in back arc basins today. The Eastern suite, on the other hand, consist of cumulates that were precipitated from melts resembling those of ultra-depleted high-Ca boninitic magmas found in fore-arcs. Extremely high-An plagioclases (An_>95) co-exist with evolved mafic minerals and oxides, and the _Nd(t) values are lower (+4) than in the Western suite. The Eastern suite has no volcanic counterpart, but dikes intersecting the suites have compositions that possibly represent its parental magma. The oceanic Rypdalen Shear Zone generally separates the two suites in the north, but several non-tectonic transitions from boninitic to tholeiitic signatures southwards advocate that the magmatism happened concurrently. The magmatic proximity between the suites, the hydrous magmatism and the absence of a silicic or calc-alkaline mature arc section, suggests that the Lyngen Gabbro formed in the Iapetus Ocean under conditions presently found in incipient arcs later emplaced as outer arc highs.     

Climate change and hydrology at the prairie margin: Historic and prospective future flows of Canada's Red Deer and other Rocky Mountain rivers

The South Saskatchewan River Basin of southern Alberta drains the transboundary central Rocky Mountains region and provides the focus for irrigation agriculture in Canada. Following extensive development, two tributaries, the Oldman and Bow rivers, were closed for further water allocations, whereas the Red Deer River (RDR) remains open. The RDR basin is at the northern limit of the North American Great Plains and may be suitable for agricultural expansion with a warming climate. To consider irrigation development and ecological impacts, it is important to understand the regional hydrologic consequences of climate change. To analyse historic trends that could extend into the future, we developed century‐long discharge records for the RDR, by coordinating data across hydrometric gauges, estimating annual flows from seasonal records, and undertaking flow naturalization to compensate for river regulation. Analyses indicated some coordination with the Pacific decadal oscillation and slight decline in summer and annual flows from 1912 to 2016 (?0.13%/year, Sen's slope). Another forecasting approach involved regional downscaling from the global circulation models, CGCMI‐A, ECHAM4, HadCM3, and NCAR‐CCM3. These projected slight flow decreases from the mountain headwaters versus increases from the foothills and boreal regions, resulting in a slight increase in overall river flows (+0.1%/year). Prior projections from these and other global circulation models ranged from slight decrease to slight increase, and the average projection of ?0.05%/year approached the empirical trend. Assessments of other rivers draining the central and northern Rocky Mountains revealed a geographic transition in flow patterns over the past century. Flows from the rivers in Southern Alberta declined (around ?0.15%/year), in contrast to increasing flows in north‐eastern British Columbia and the Yukon. The RDR watershed approaches this transition, and this study thus revealed regional differentiation in the hydrological consequences from climate change.     

Probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment for Messina Strait Area (Sicily, Italy)

The general modular Bayesian procedure is applied to provide a probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) for the Messina Strait Area (MSA), Italy. This is the first study in an Italian area where the potential tsunamigenic events caused by both submarine seismic sources (SSSs) and submarine mass failures (SMFs) are examined in a probabilistic assessment. The SSSs are localized on active faults in MSA as indicated by the instrumental data of the catalogue of the Italian seismicity; the SMFs are spatially identified using their propensity to failure in the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas on the basis of mean slope and mean depth, and using marine geology background knowledge. In both cases the associated probability of occurrence is provided. The run-ups were calculated at key sites that are main cities and/or important sites along the Eastern Sicily and the Southern Calabria coasts where tsunami events were recorded in the past. The posterior probability distribution combines the prior probability and the likelihood calculated in the MSA. The prior probability is based on the physical model of the tsunami process, and the likelihood is based on the historical data collected by the historical catalogues, background knowledge, and marine geological information. The posterior SSSs and SMFs tsunami probabilities are comparable and are combined to produce a final probability for a full PTHA in MSA.     

Late Paleozoic orogeny in Alaska's Farewell terrane

Evidence is presented for a previously unrecognized late Paleozoic orogeny in two parts of Alaska's Farewell terrane, an event that has not entered into published scenarios for the assembly of Alaska. The Farewell terrane was long regarded as a piece of the early Paleozoic passive margin of western Canada, but is now thought, instead, to have lain between the Siberian and Laurentian (North American) cratons during the early Paleozoic. Evidence for a late Paleozoic orogeny comes from two belts located 100–200 km apart. In the northern belt, metamorphic rocks dated at 284–285 Ma (three ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar white-mica plateau ages) provide the main evidence for orogeny. The metamorphic rocks are interpreted as part of the hinterland of a late Paleozoic mountain belt, which we name the Browns Fork orogen. In the southern belt, thick accumulations of Pennsylvanian-Permian conglomerate and sandstone provide the main evidence for orogeny. These strata are interpreted as the eroded and deformed remnants of a late Paleozoic foreland basin, which we name the Dall Basin. We suggest that the Browns Fork orogen and Dall Basin comprise a matched pair formed during collision between the Farewell terrane and rocks to the west. The colliding object is largely buried beneath Late Cretaceous flysch to the west of the Farewell terrane, but may have included parts of the so-called Innoko terrane. The late Paleozoic convergent plate boundary represented by the Browns Fork orogen likely connected with other zones of plate convergence now located in Russia, elsewhere in Alaska, and in western Canada.     

Public climate-change skepticism,energy preferences and political participation

Many studies have shown a general decline of public concern about climate change or vice versa a rise in public climate-change skepticism, in particular in the U.S. and other Anglo-Saxon countries. There is a vivid debate on whether this is a global phenomenon, on which factors explain the decline, and on the broader societal implications of these trends in the context of the transformation toward a low-carbon society. We add to this literature by presenting the results of a recent general population survey in Germany in which we looked for systematic linkages between public climate-change skepticism on one hand, and energy preferences and political participation on the other. Germany is an interesting testbed as it is currently involved in a large-scale restructuring of its system of energy supply toward renewable energy sources (the “Energiewende”). Our results indicate that climate-change skepticism has not diffused widely in Germany, but that it correlates with less support of renewable energy sources. However, skepticism correlates negatively with political participation, and there is no strong political outlet for public climate-change skepticism in Germany. Alternative potential barriers for the successful implementation of the “Energiewende” are also discussed.     

Multi-Wavelength Observations of an Unusual Impulsive Flare Associated with Cme

We present the results of a detailed analysis of multi-wavelength observations of a very impulsive solar flare 1B/M6.7, which occurred on 10 March, 2001 in NOAA AR 9368 (N27 W42). The observations show that the flare is very impulsive with a very hard spectrum in HXR that reveal that non-thermal emission was most dominant. On the other hand, this flare also produced a type II radio burst and coronal mass ejections (CME), which are not general characteristics for impulsive flares. In H we observed bright mass ejecta (BME) followed by dark mass ejecta (DME). Based on the consistency of the onset times and directions of BME and CME, we conclude that these two phenomena are closely associated. It is inferred that the energy build-up took place due to photospheric reconnection between emerging positive parasitic polarity and predominant negative polarity, which resulted as a consequence of flux cancellation. The shear increased to >80 due to further emergence of positive parasitic polarity causing strongly enhanced cancellation of flux. It appears that such enhanced magnetic flux cancellation in a strongly sheared region triggered the impulsive flare.     

Correlation of welded ignimbrites on Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily) using paleomagnetism

Although the oldest volcanic rocks exposed at Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily) are older than 300 ka, most of the island is covered by the 45–50 ka Green Tuff ignimbrite, thought to be related to the Cinque Denti caldera, and younger lavas and scoria cones. Pre-50 ka rocks (predominantly rheomorphic ignimbrites) are exposed at isolated sea cliffs, and their stratigraphy and chronology are not completely resolved. Based on volcanic stratigraphy and K/Ar dating, it has been proposed that the older La Vecchia caldera is related to ignimbrite Q (114 ka), and that ignimbrites F, D, and Z (106, 94, and 79 ka, respectively) were erupted after caldera formation. We report here the paleomagnetic directions obtained from 23 sites in ignimbrite P (133 ka) and four younger ignimbrites, and from an uncorrelated (and loosely dated) welded lithic breccia thought to record a caldera-forming eruption. The paleosecular variation of the geomagnetic field recorded by ignimbrites is used as correlative tool, with an estimated time resolution in the order of 100 years. We find that ignimbrites D and Z correspond, in good agreement with recent Ar/Ar ages constraining the D/Z eruption to 87 ka. The welded lithic breccia correlates with a thinner breccia lying just below ignimbrite P at another locality, implying that collapse of the La Vecchia caldera took place at ~130–160 ka. This caldera was subsequently buried by ignimbrites P, Q, F, and D/Z. Paleomagnetic data also show that the northern caldera margin underwent a ~10° west–northwest (outwards) tilting after emplacement of ignimbrite P, possibly recording magma resurgence in the crust.