Ureilitic breccias: clues to the petrologic structure and impact disruption of the ureilite parent asteroid

The majority of the 143 ureilite meteorites are monomict (unbrecciated) ultramafic rocks, which represent the mantle (olivine+low-Ca pyroxene residues and less abundant cumulates) of a partially melted (25–30%), carbon-rich asteroid 125 km in radius. Accumulated petrologic and geochemical studies of these meteorites have led to a picture of a ureilite parent body (UPB) that was stratified in mg#, pyroxene abundance and pyroxene type, due to the pressure dependence of carbon redox control, and which preserved a pre-magmatic heterogeneity in Δ¹⁷O. The absence, however, of ureilitic crustal rocks (i.e. basalts) in the meteorite record, leads to significant gaps in our knowledge of the geologic history of the UPB.

Ureilitic breccias provide considerable information that cannot be obtained from the monomict samples, and help to fill in those gaps. Fourteen ureilites are polymict breccias (at least three of which contain solar wind gases) that formed in a regolith. They contain a variety of clast types representing indigenous ureilitic lithologies not known among the monomict samples, as well as several types of non-indigenous impactor materials. In addition, one ureilite (FRO 93008) is a dimict breccia, consisting of two ultramafic lithologies that could not have formed in close proximity on the UPB.

Several feldspathic lithologies representing melts complementary to the monomict ureilite residues or cumulates have been recognized in polymict ureilites. From these lithologies we infer that melt extraction on the UPB was a rapid, fractional process in which trace element and oxygen isotopic equilibrium was not achieved. The majority of melts that reached the surface erupted explosively (due to high contents of CO/CO₂) and were lost into space. Thus, it is likely that the UPB never had an extensive basaltic crust. Melts generated at the shallowest depths and late fractionates, in which carbon had largely been consumed by reduction, were the most likely to have been preserved. Our sample of the UPB is limited to depths equivalent to 100 bars pressure or less, but minor augite-bearing feldspathic lithologies and related cumulates may represent melts derived from deeper.

In addition, we infer that the UPB was catastrophically disrupted, while still hot, by an impacting projectile. Meter-sized ejecta from this impact reaccreted into one or more daughter bodies, on which the brecciated ureilites formed. Ureilite meteorites are derived from these offspring, rather than from the UPB. The remnant of the original UPB may consist largely of olivine plus augite, and thus not resemble the majority of ureilites.     

The use of Roentgen stereophotogrammetry to study micromotion of orthopaedic implants

Roentgen stereophotogrammetry is the most accurate Roentgen technique for three-dimensional assessment of micromotion of orthopaedic implants. The reported accuracy of Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA) ranges between 0.05 and 0.5 mm for translations and between 0.15° and 1.15° for rotations. Because of the high accuracy of RSA, small patient groups are in general sufficient to study the effect on prosthetic fixation due to changes in implant design, addition of coatings, or new bone cements. By assessing micromotion of a prosthesis in a short-term (i.e. 2 years) clinical RSA study, a prediction can be made on the chance of long-term (i.e. 10 years) loosening of the prosthesis. Therefore, RSA is an important measurement tool to screen new developments in prosthetic design, and to prevent large groups of patients from being exposed to potentially inferior designs.In this article, the basics of the RSA technique are explained, and the importance of clinical RSA studies is illustrated with two examples of clinical RSA studies which RSA delivered very valuable information. Thereafter, two recent developments in RSA that have been implemented at Leiden University Medical Center are presented: digital automated measurements in RSA radiographs and model-based RSA.     

Sedimentation in a fluvially infilling, barrier-bound estuary on a wave-dominated, microtidal coast: the Ouémé River estuary, Benin, west Africa

The Ouémé River estuary is located on the seasonally humid tropical coast of Benin, west Africa. A striking feature of this microtidal estuary is the presence of a large sand barrier bounding a 120 km² circular central basin, Lake Nokoué, that is being infilled by heterogeneous fluvial deposits supplied by a relatively large catchment (50 000 km²). Borehole cores from the lower estuary show basal Pleistocene lowstand alluvial sediments overlain by Holocene transgressive–highstand lagoonal mud and by transgressive to probably early highstand tidal inlet and flood‐tidal delta sand deposited in association with non‐preserved transgressive sand barriers. The change in estuary‐mouth sedimentation from a transgressive barrier‐inlet system to a regressive highstand barrier reflects regional modifications in marine sand supply and in the cross‐barrier tidal flux associated with barrier‐inlet systems. As barrier formation west of the Ouémé River led to an increasingly rectilinear shoreline, the longshore drift cell matured, ensuring voluminous eastward transport of sand from the Volta Delta in Ghana, the major purveyor of sand, to the Ouémé embayment, 200 km east. Concomitantly, the number of tidal inlets, and the tidal flux associated with a hitherto interlinked lagoonal system on this coast, diminished. Complete sealing of Lake Nokoué has produced a large, permanently closed estuary, where tidal intrusion is assured through the interconnected coastal lagoon via an inlet located 60 km east. Since 1885, tides have entered the estuary directly through an artificial outlet cut across the sand barrier. Although precluding the seaward loss of fluvial sediments, permanent estuary‐mouth closure has especially deprived the highstand estuary of marine sand, a potentially important component in estuarine infill on wave‐dominated coasts. In spite of a significant fluvial sediment supply, estuarine infill has been moderate, because of the size of the central basin. Estuarine closure has resulted in two co‐existing highstand sediment suites, with limited admixture, the marine‐derived, estuary‐mouth barrier and upland‐derived back‐barrier sediments. This situation differs from that of mature barrier estuaries characterized by active fluvial‐marine sediment mixing and facies interfingering.     

A window on West Antarctic crustal boundaries: the junction between the Antarctic Peninsula, the Filchner Block, and Weddell Sea oceanic lithosphere

A new airborne magnetic survey of the southeastern Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent Weddell Sea embayment (WSE) region suggests a continuity of geological structure between the eastern Antarctic Peninsula and the attenuated continental crust of the Filchner Block. This has implications for the reconstructed position of the Ellsworth–Whitmore Mountains block in Gondwana, which is currently uncertain. Palaeomagnetic data indicate that it has migrated from a Palaeozoic position between South Africa and Coats Land to its current position as a microplate embedded in central West Antarctica. The most obvious route for migration is between the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea embayment. Evidence that geological structures are continuous across the boundary places constraints on the timing and pathway of migration. Magnetic textures suggest the presence of shallow features extending from the Beaumont Glacier Zone (BGZ) in the west for at least 200 km into the Weddell Sea embayment. These data suggest that the Eastern Domain of the Antarctic Peninsula and the stretched continental crust of the Filchner Block share a common recent, probably post-Early Jurassic, history. However, examination of deep anomalies indicates differences in the magnetic characteristics of the two blocks. The boundary may mark either the edge of extended continental crust, or a discontinuity between two, once separated, blocks. This discontinuity, or pre-Late Jurassic Antarctic Peninsula terrane boundaries to the west, may have allowed the passage of the Ellsworth–Whitmore Mountains block to its present location.     

Three-dimensional seismic modelling of crustal structure in the TESZ region based on POLONAISE''97 data

This paper reports the results of 3-D tomographic modelling of crustal structure in the Trans European Suture Zone region (TESZ) of Poland, eastern Germany and Lithuania. The data are the product of a large-scale seismic experiment POLONAISE'97, which was carried out in 1997. This experiment was designed to provide some 3-D coverage. The TESZ forms the boundary between the Precambrian crustal terranes of the East European Craton (EEC) and the younger Phanerozoic terranes to the southwest. The 3-D results generally confirm the earth models derived by earlier 2-D analyses, but also add some important details as well as a 3-D perspective on the structure. The velocity model obtained shows substantial horizontal variations of crustal structure across the study area. Seismic modelling shows low (<6.1 km/s) velocities suggesting the presence of sedimentary rocks down to a depth of about 20 km in the Polish basin. The shape of the basin in the vicinity of the profile P4 shows significant asymmetry. Three-dimensional modelling also allowed tracing of horizontal irregularities of the basin shape as well as variations of the Moho depth not only along profiles, but also between them. The slice between P2 and P4 profiles shows about 10-km variations of the Moho over a 100-km interval. The crustal thickness varies from about 30 km in SW, beneath the Palaeozoic platform, to about 42 km beneath East European Craton in NE. High seismic velocities of about 6.6 km/s were found in the depth range 2–10 km, which coincides with K trzyn anorthosite massif. The results of this 3-D seismic modelling of the POLONAISE'97 data will ultimately be supplemented by inversion of seismic data from previous experiments.     

Chemical contamination, toxicity, and benthic community indices in sediments of the lower Miami River and adjoining portions of Biscayne Bay, Florida

A large-scale survey of sediment quality in Biscayne Bay, Florida, was conducted in 1995–1996 to characterize the relative degree, geographic patterns, and spatial extent of degraded sediment quality. Chemical analyses and multiple toxicity tests were performed on 226 surficial sediment samples collected over an area of 484 km² in greater Biscayne Bay, including saltwater reaches of several tributaries. Benthic samples were collected and analyzed at one-third of the locations. One or more chemical concentrations exceeded effects range median (ERM) values in 35 samples, representing an area of 5.4 km² (1.1% of the survey area). Highly toxic conditions in amphipod survival tests occurred in 24 of the samples, representing 62 km² (13% of the area). Highly significant results were more frequently observed in three sub-lethal tests: sea urchin fertilization (affecting 47% of the area), sea urchin embryological development (84% of the area), and microbial bioluminescence (51% of the area). The highest levels of chemical contamination (range in mean ERM quotients of 0.2 to 2.0, average 0.76) were observed in samples from the lower Miami River. The high degree of contamination in the river contrasted sharply with conditions in the bay, where chemical concentrations generally were much lower (range in mean ERM quotients of 0.005 to 0.21, average 0.04). Amphipod survival tests showed a very high degree of correspondence with a gradient in chemical contamination in the river and adjoining reaches of the bay. Correlation analyses, scatter plots, and principal component analyses indicated that both amphipod survival in the laboratory tests and the abundance and diversity of the benthos decreased sharply with increasing concentrations of mixtures of organic compounds and trace metals in the sediments. The triad of analyses provided a strong weight of evidence of pollution-induced degradation of sediment quality in the riverine locations.     

Critical factors for the formation of a nickel–copper deposit in an evolved magma system: lessons from a comparison of the Pants Lake and Voisey's Bay sulfide occurrences in Labrador, Canada

The Voisey's Bay nickel–copper deposit and the Pants Lake sulfide occurrences are the most important mineral systems discovered to date within the Nain Plutonic Suite in northern Labrador. There are many intriguing similarities at both locations. Both are hosted by relatively small troctolite/gabbro bodies that intrude the sulfide-bearing paragneiss of the Churchill Province, and these intrusions contain inclusions of the paragneiss. Similar chemical reactions of the gneissic inclusions with the host magmas are observed at both locations. The reactions resulted in the addition of SiO₂, K₂O, Na₂O and sulfur to the magmas, and are responsible for sulfide-saturation and resultant segregation of immiscible sulfide liquids from the magmas. The initial sulfide liquids in both cases were relatively poor in metals, containing <2.5 wt% Ni and 2 wt% Cu. The sulfides at Pants Lake remained poor in metals because of a lack of subsequent interaction with new, chalcophile-undepleted magma. At Voisey's Bay, the initial sulfides segregated in a dynamic conduit, and were subsequently upgraded in metals to ∼6 wt% Ni and 3 wt% Cu by a new surge of undepleted magma using the same conduit. These sulfides were then concentrated to form large sulfide bodies in the wider parts of the conduit and its entry to an upper chamber in response to a sudden change of liquid velocity in these environments. This study confirms three of the most important factors for the formation of magmatic sulfide deposits in an evolved magma system: (1) contamination of magma with sulfide-bearing country rock to achieve sulfide saturation; (2) a dynamic magmatic system such as a magma conduit to transport large volume of sulfide liquid and to concentrate them in limited localities, and (3) upgrading of metals in the sulfide by new, chalcophile-undepleted magma. Received: 20 February 2000 / Accepted: 14 September 2000     

The decline and recovery of a persistent Texas brown tide algal bloom in the Laguna Madre (Texas, USA)

The Laguna Madre has experienced a persistent bloom ofAureoumbra lagunensis for over eight years. The persistence of this bloom may be due in part to the often hypersaline conditions in Laguna Madre (40–60 psu) that favor the growth ofA. lagunensis. Above-normal rainfall in the fall of 1997 reduced the salinities in Baffin Bay from >40 to<20 psu.A. lagunensis cell densities dropped from>10⁶ cells ml⁻¹ in July 1997 to c. 200 cells ml⁻¹ in January 1998. During this time of low brown tide density, phytoplankton biomass generally remained high and the Laguna Madre experienced successive blooms of diatoms (Rhizosolenia spp.) and cyanobacteria. Hypersaline conditions returned in 1998 and brown tide densities increased to>0.5 × 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹ by summer. The extraordinary persistence of the brown tide and the unusual sequence of intense blooms may be related in part to the reduction of zooplankton populations. Microzooplankton populations declined following the above-normal rain in the fall of 1997; populations did not recover until fall 1998. Copepod populations also declined sharply and remained low in Laguna Madre, but recovered by summer 1998 in Baffin Bay. Dilution experiments indicated that microzooplankton grazing and phytoplankton growth were usually balanced when measured during our cruises. The rapid recovery of theA. lagunensis bloom suggests that this alga may be a more resilient component of the Laguna Madre flora than previously suspected.     

Annual regime of bedforms, roughness and flow resistance, Lillooet River, British Columbia, BC

A field study to examine the statistical character of dune morphology and the correlation among dune morphology, discharge, and flow resistance was conducted in a meandering reach of Lillooet River, near Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada. The field season spanned the 1995/1996 hydrologic year with sample day discharge events ranging between 33 and 425 m³ s⁻¹. Surveys of the bed morphology along the thalweg in two dune fields (A and B) were completed using an echo sounder with chart recorder that enabled the measurement of more than 4000 dunes. Dune height ranged between 0.08 and 0.96 m, length between 2.01 and 20.99 m, and steepness between 0.02 and 0.10. Histograms of each dune shape (height, length, steepness) sample most often displayed positive skewness and non-Gaussian distributions (Gamma, Beta, and Weibull); median sample height and length histograms displayed positive skewness; and steepness was nearly Gaussian. Histograms of all dimensionless dunes (i.e., measurement divided by average measurement of sample) were Gaussian and slightly leptokurtic. Neither the height nor length of dunes measured in this investigation were successfully predicted by the empirical models of Allen [Allen, J.R.L., 1984. Developments in Sedimentology. Sedimentary Structures: Their Character and Physical Basis, 2nd edn. Elsevier, New York, vol. 30 (A and B), 1256 pp.], Fredsøe [J. Hydraul. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng. 108(HY8) (1982) 932.], or Yalin [J. Hydraul. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng. 90(HY5) (1964) 105.]. Least-squares regression models for dune–height relations produced here are similar to models published by other field researchers; regression models for dune length only conform to those developed elsewhere if the discharge of the study rivers was similar. The energy gradient in dune field A varied within a smaller range than in field B, enabling dune size to become more fully equilibrated with respect to flow environment. Although the average Froude numbers were much less than critical, dunes appeared to wash out towards a plane bed as discharge increased due to a change from a bedload to suspended-load dominated sediment-transport regime. Flow resistance increased most rapidly during changes in base flow and at the beginning and end of the seasonal flood; resistance tended to be smaller in field A than B, reflecting local differences in energy gradient. Flow resistance increased until a dune steepness of 0.070 was attained and then decreased. The steepness value was considered to be coincident with kolk generation [Dyer, K.R., 1986. Coastal and Estuarine Sediment Dynamics. Wiley, NY, 342 pp.], suggesting that macroturbulent flow structures play an important role in defining the roughness of dunes on a channel bed.