What we know about elemental bulk chondrule and matrix compositions: Presenting the ChondriteDB Database

Chondrules and matrix are the major components of chondritic meteorites and represent a significant evolutionary step in planet formation. The formation and evolution of chondrules and matrix and, in particular, the mechanics of chondrule formation remain the biggest unsolved challenge in meteoritics. A large number of studies of these major components not only helped to understand these in ever greater detail, but also produced a remarkably large body of data. Studying all available data has become known as ?big data? analyses and promises deep insights – in this case – to chondrule and matrix formation and relationships. Looking at all data may also allow one to better understand the mechanism of chondrule formation or, equally important, what information we might be missing to identify this process. A database of all available chondrule and matrix data further provides an overview and quick visualisation, which will not only help to solve actual problems, but also enable students and future researchers to quickly access and understand all we know about these components. We collected all available data on elemental bulk chondrule and matrix compositions in a database that we call ChondriteDB. The database also contains petrographic and petrologic information on chondrules. Currently, ChondriteDB contains about 2388 chondrule and 1064 matrix data from 70 different publications and 161 different chondrites. Future iterations of ChondriteDB will include isotope data and information on other chondrite components. Data quality is of critical importance. However, as we discuss, quality is not an objective category, but a subjective judgement. Quantifiable data acquisition categories are required that allow selecting the appropriate data from a database in the context of a given research problem. We provide a comprehensive overview on the contents of ChondriteDB. The database is available as an Excel file upon request from the senior author of this paper, or can be accessed through MetBase.     

Use of the temperature–vegetation dryness index for remote sensing grassland moisture conditions in the vicinity of a lignite open-cast mine

Anthropogenic activities, especially resulting in changes in the water conditions, usually disturb biological and agricultural functions of grasslands, leading to their degradation, often on large areas. Remote sensing observations of such changes in grassland ecosystems evoke a great interest, but they are still a difficult task, especially when performed on industrial and mining areas. This paper presents a new effective method of remote sensing of grassland moisture conditions based on temperature–vegetation dryness index (TVDI) calculated from free Landsat imagery, and employing the TVDI spatial variability estimated from a semivariance analysis. The practical applicability of the method is demonstrated on the example of monitoring of the extensive neighborhood of lignite open-cast mine within a period of a few years. Besides, the developed method was validated at the studied area, using in situ information. Thus, we demonstrated that TVDI may serve as an effective indicator of grassland moisture conditions, even in problematic areas.     

Synthetic observations using POLARIS: an application to simulations of massive prestellar cores

Astrophysics and Space Science - Dynamical evolution of galaxies is a complex process, especially the centers. Gravitationally coupled gas and stellar discs have been observed to coexist in the...     

Timing of glacier advances and climate in the High Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians) during the Last Glacial Maximum

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), long valley glaciers developed on the northern and southern sides of the High Tatra Mountains, Poland and Slovakia. Chlorine-36 exposure dating of moraine boulders suggests two major phases of moraine stabilization, at 26–21 ka (LGM I — maximum) and at 18 ka (LGM II). The dates suggest a significantly earlier maximum advance on the southern side of the range. Reconstructing the geometry of four glaciers in the Sucha Woda, Pańszczyca, Mlynicka and Velicka valleys allowed determining their equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) at 1460, 1460, 1650 and 1700 m asl, respectively. Based on a positive degree-day model, the mass balance and climatic parameter anomaly (temperature and precipitation) has been constrained for LGM I advance. Modeling results indicate slightly different conditions between northern and southern slopes. The N–S ELA gradient finds confirmation in slightly higher temperature (at least 1 °C) or lower precipitation (15%) on the south-facing glaciers during LGM I. The precipitation distribution over the High Tatra Mountains indicates potentially different LGM atmospheric circulation than at the present day, with reduced northwesterly inflow and increased southerly and westerly inflows of moist air masses.     

High-resolution aquifer analog of fluvial–aeolian sediments of the Guarani aquifer system

The Guarani aquifer system (GAS) represents one of the biggest aquifers in the world and is the most relevant groundwater resource in South America. For the first time, by combining field and laboratory measurements, a high-resolution aquifer analog model of fluvial–aeolian sediments of the GAS in São Paulo State (Brazil) is constructed. Three parallel sections of frontal outcrops, 28 m × 5.8 m, and two parallel sections of lateral outcrops, 7 m × 5.8 m, are recorded during open-pit mining of sandy sediments and describe in detail the three-dimensional distribution of the local lithofacies and hydrofacies. Variations of hydraulic conductivity, K, and porosity, n, are resolved on the centimeter scale, and the most permeable units of the fluvial–aeolian facies association are identified. The constructed aquifer analog model shows moderate hydraulic heterogeneity and a mean K value of 1.36 × 10^?4 m/s, which is greater than the reported range of K values for the entire GAS in São Paulo State. The results suggest that the examined sedimentary unit constitutes a relevant portion of the GAS in São Paulo State in the context of groundwater extraction and pollution. Moreover, the constructed aquifer analog is considered an ideal basis for future numerical model experiments, aiming at in-depth understanding of the groundwater flow and contaminant transport patterns at this GAS portion or at comparable fluvial–aeolian facies associations.     

Coronal Mass Ejections Associated with Slow Long Duration Flares

It is well known that there is a temporal relationship between coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and associated flares. The duration of the acceleration phase is related to the duration of the rise phase of a flare. We investigate CMEs associated with slow long duration events (LDEs), i.e. flares with the long rising phase. We determined the relationships between flares and CMEs and analyzed the CME kinematics in detail. The parameters of the flares (GOES flux, duration of the rising phase) show strong correlations with the CME parameters (velocity, acceleration during main acceleration phase, and duration of the CME acceleration phase). These correlations confirm the strong relation between slow LDEs and CMEs. We also analyzed the relation between the parameters of the CMEs, i.e. a velocity, an acceleration during the main acceleration phase, a duration of the acceleration phase, and a height of a CME at the end of the acceleration phase. The CMEs associated with the slow LDEs are characterized by high velocity during the propagation phase, with the median equal to 1423 km?s^?1. In half of the analyzed cases, the main acceleration was low (a<300 m?s^?2), which suggests that the high velocity is caused by the prolonged acceleration phase (the median for the duration of the acceleration phase is equal 90 minutes). The CMEs were accelerated up to several solar radii (with the median ≈?7 R _⊙), which is much higher than in typical impulsive CMEs. Therefore, slow LDEs may potentially precede extremely strong geomagnetic storms. The analysis of slow LDEs and associated CMEs may give important information for developing more accurate space-weather forecasts, especially for extreme events.     

EPR and magnetism of the nanostructured natural carbonaceous material shungite

The X-band EPR and magnetic susceptibility in the temperature range 4.2–300 K study of the shungite-I, natural nanostructured material from the deposit of Shunga are reported. Obtained results allow us to assign the EPR signal to conduction electrons, estimate their number, N _P, and evaluate the Pauli paramagnetism contribution to shungite susceptibility. A small occupation (~5%) of the localized nonbonding π states in the zigzag edges of the open-ended graphene-like layers and/or on σ (sp ^2+x ) orbitals in the curved parts of the shungite globules has been also revealed. The observed temperature dependence of the EPR linewidth can be explained by the earlier considered interaction of conduction π electrons with local phonon modes associated with the vibration of peripheral carbon atoms of the open zigzag-type edges and with peripheral carbon atoms cross-linking different nanostructures. The relaxation time T ₂ and diffusion time T _D are found to have comparable values (2.84 × 10⁻⁸ and 1.73 × 10⁻⁸ s at 5.2 K, respectively), and similar dependence on temperature. The magnetic measurements have revealed the suppression of orbital diamagnetism due to small amount of large enough fragments of the graphene layers.