Distribution and evolution of scalloped terrain in the southern hemisphere, Mars

Scalloped depressions are a unique martian surface morphology found in the northern and southern hemisphere latitude-dependent dust and ice-rich surface mantles. These features exhibit a distinct asymmetric north-south slope profile, characterized by steep pole-facing scarps, flat floors and gentle equator-facing slopes. We examined High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) images of the southern hemisphere to determine their longitudinal distribution, which revealed that a majority of scalloped terrain is located in the region of the southern wall of the Hellas Basin and northern Malea Planum. A detailed map of this area was produced where scallops were found to contour the southern wall of the basin, and where the ice-rich mantle was seen to be thickest. Scalloped terrain is concentrated along the topographic highs near the Amphitrites and Peneus Paterae and areal extent and depth decreases with increasing depth into the basin. We also examined existing hypothesis for the formation and evolution of scalloped depressions using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images and data from the Thermal Emission Imaging System-Infrared (THEMIS-IR) and the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). Our approach provides regional context for the development of scalloped terrains within the southern hemisphere, and offers detailed evidence of scallop depressions forming around small cracks, presumably caused by thermal contraction. Morphometric measurements show that scalloped depressions can be as much as 40 m deep, with typical depths of between 10 and 20 m. Our observations of scallop formation and development in the southern hemisphere support a solar-insolation model proposed by previous researchers (e.g. [Morgenstern, A., Hauber, E., Reiss, D., van Gasselt, S., Grosse, G., Schirrmeister, L., 2007. J. Geophys. Res. 112, CiteID E06010; Lefort, A., Russell, P.S., Thomas, N., McEwen, A.S., Dundas, C.M., Kirk, R.L., 2009a. J. Geophys. Res. 114, E04005; Lefort, A., Russell, P.S., Thomas, N., 2009b. Icarus, in press]). Observations made using HiRISE images suggest that scalloped depressions most likely form from small cracks in the mantle, which become larger and deeper through sublimation of interstitial ice from within the mantle. Sublimation is likely enhanced on equator-facing slopes because of increased solar insolation, which accounts for the asymmetric slope profile and hemispherical orientation and is demonstrated by THEMIS-IR images. We suggest that sublimation lag deposits can possibly be removed by dust devils or strong slope winds related to the Hellas Basin, offering an explanation as to why scalloped terrain is so abundant only in this area of the southern hemisphere. Daytime maximum summer temperatures suggest that sublimation in the study area of Malea Planum is possible under current conditions if the sublimation lag is removed. While it cannot be ruled out that scalloped terrain in Malea Planum is presently evolving, we attribute the extensive distribution to geologically recent obliquity excursions when conditions were more conducive to mesoscale modification of the ice-rich mantle.     

The seismogenic zone in the Central Costa Rican Pacific margin: high-quality hypocentres from an amphibious network

Transition from subduction of normal to thickened oceanic crust occurs in the central portion of the Costa Rican margin, where large interplate earthquakes (M ~ 7) and abundant interseismic seismicity have been associated with subduction of bathymetric highs. We relocated ~1,300 earthquakes recorded for 6 months by a combined on- and offshore seismological network using probabilistic earthquake relocation in a 3D P-wave velocity model. Most of the seismicity originated at the seismogenic zone of the plate boundary, appearing as an 18° dipping, planar cluster from 15 to 25–30 km depth, beneath the continental shelf. Several reverse focal mechanisms were resolved within the cluster. The upper limit of this interseismic interplate seismicity seems to be controlled primarily by the overlying-plate thickness and coherency, which in turn is governed by the erosional processes and fluid release and escape at temperatures lower than ~100 to 120 °C along the plate boundary. The downdip limit of the stick–slip behaviour collocates with relative low temperatures of ~150 to 200 °C, suggesting that it is controlled by serpentinization of the mantle wedge. The distribution of the interseismic interplate seismicity is locally modified by the presence of subducted seamounts at different depths. Unlike in northern Costa Rica, rupture of large earthquakes in the last two decades seems to coincide with the area defined by the interseismic interplate seismicity.     

Deep 3D thermal modelling for the city of Berlin (Germany)

This study predicts the subsurface temperature distribution of Germany’s capital Berlin. For this purpose, a data-based lithosphere-scale 3D structural model is developed incorporating 21 individual geological units. This model shows a horizontal grid resolution of (500 × 500) m and provides the geometric base for two different approaches of 3D thermal simulations: (1) calculations of the steady-state purely conductive thermal field and (2) simulations of coupled fluid flow and heat transport. The results point out fundamentally different structural and thermal configurations for potential geothermal target units. The top of the Triassic Middle Buntsandstein strongly varies in depth (159–2,470 m below sea level) and predicted temperatures (15–95 °C), mostly because of the complex geometry of the underlying Permian Zechstein salt. The top of the sub-salt Sedimentary Rotliegend is rather flat (2,890–3,785 m below sea level) and reveals temperatures of 85–139 °C. The predicted 70 °C-isotherm is located at depths of about 1,500–2,200 m, cutting the Middle Buntsandstein over large parts of Berlin. The 110 °C-isotherm at 2,900–3,700 m depth widely crosscuts the Sedimentary Rotliegend. Groundwater flow results in subsurface cooling the extent of which is strongly controlled by the geometry and the distribution of the Tertiary Rupelian Clay. The cooling effect is strongest where this clay-rich aquitard is thinnest or missing, thus facilitating deep-reaching forced convective flow. The differences between the purely conductive and coupled models highlight the need for investigations of the complex interrelation of flow- and thermal fields to properly predict temperatures in sedimentary systems.     

Petrogenesis of the Barcroft pluton, northern White-Inyo Mountains, east-central California

The White-Inyo Range lies within the regional transition from Paleozoic-Precambrian North American continental basement to outboard Mesozoic and younger accreted terranes and a superimposed Andean-type arc. In the central White Mountains, the metaluminous Barcroft granodiorite invaded a major NE-striking, SE-dipping high-angle reverse fault—the Barcroft break. Because it is a relatively isolated igneous body and is well exposed over an elevation range of 1,500–4,000 m, its thermal history and that of the surrounding superjacent section are clearer than those of nearly coeval, crowded plutons emplaced in the hotter Sierra Nevada belt. The Barcroft pluton was emplaced as a compositionally heterogeneous series of areally scattered melt pulses episodically injected over the approximate interval 167–161 Ma. The oldest dated rocks are relatively quartzofeldspathic, whereas the youngest is more ferromagnesian, suggesting progressive partial fusion of a relatively mafic protolith. Heavy rare earth-enriched zircons indicate that Barcroft melts were derived at mid-crustal depths from a previously emplaced metabasaltic protolith containing plagioclase but lacking garnet. Granodioritic magma genesis involved the possible mixing of mafic and felsic melts, as well as very minor assimilation of country rocks, but mainly by fractional fusion and crystallization. Bulk chemical, rare earth, and isotopic data suggest that analyzed Barcroft rocks are members of a single suite. Granodioritic rocks are slightly more magnetite-rich at higher elevations on the NE, nearer the roof of the pluton. Earlier thermobarometry chronicled cooling and re-equilibration of the Barcroft pluton from its margins inward, as well as from mid-crustal generation depths of ~25 km through ascent and stalling at ~10–12 km. Refractory phase assemblages crystallized along the pluton margins, whereas subsolidus minerals in the interior of the of body continued to exchange with upper crustal deuteric and surficial aqueous fluids during exhumation and cooling.     

Origin and flatness of ponds on asteroid 433 Eros

NEAR‐Shoemaker Multi‐Spectral Imager data reveal several hundred “ponds” on 433 Eros: smooth deposits that sharply embay the bounding depressions in which they lie, and whose spectra appear blue relative to that of the surrounding terrain. We investigate the topography of these ponds on Eros using a new shape model derived from stereophotoclinometric analysis, and validated against altimetry from the NEAR Laser Rangefinder, to constrain the mode of pond formation from three existing models. We update the locations of 55 pond candidates identified in images registered to the new shape model. We classify the flatness of these features according to the behavior of the first and second derivatives of the topography. We find that less than half of pond candidates have clearly flat floors. Based on the pond topography, we favor an external origin for the ponds' deposits. We suggest that fine dust may be transported into bounding depressions by electrostatic levitation, but may adhere to slopes, and that seismic shaking may not be sufficient to bring the deposits to an equipotential surface. Disaggregation of a central boulder should result in an obvious break in slope, such a variation is only observed in roughly half the pond candidates.     

Die südalbanische Erdbebenperiode 1930/32 und ihr Zusammenhang mit dem Gebirgsbau

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Manganese-chromium systematics in sulfides of unequilibrated enstatite chondrites

Abstract— We measured with a secondary ion mass spectrometer Mn/Cr ratios and Cr isotopes in individual grains of Mn-bearing sulfides (i.e., sphalerites, ZnS; alabandites, MnS; and niningerites, MgS) in nine unequilibrated enstatite chondrites (UECs). The goals were to determine whether live ⁵³Mn (half-life ～3.7 Ma) was incorporated in these objects at the time of their isotopic closure and to establish whether Mn-Cr systematics in sulfides in UECs can be used as a high-resolution chronometer to constrain formation time differences between these meteorites. Sulfide grains analysed in four of these UECs, MAC 88136 (EL3), MAC 88184 (EL3), MAC 88180 (EL3), and Indarch (EH4), have clear ⁵³Cr excesses. These ⁵³Cr excesses can be very large (δ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr ranges up to ～18,400%, the largest ⁵³Cr excess measured so far) and, in some grains, are well correlated with the Mn/Cr ratios. Thus, they were most likely produced by the in situ decay of ⁵³Mn in the meteorite samples. In the remaining five meteorites, no detectable excesses of ⁵³Cr were found, and only upper limits on the initial ⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn ratios could be established. The four meteorites with ⁵³Cr excesses show variations in the inferred ⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn ratios in various sulfide grains of the same meteorite. The Mn-Cr systematics in these sulfides were disturbed (during and/or after the decay of ⁵³Mn) by varying degrees of reequilibration. Provided ⁵³Mn was homogeneously distributed in the region of the early solar system where these objects formed, the data suggest that the time of the last isotopic equilibration of sulfides in EL chondrites occurred at least 3 Ma after a similar episode in EH chondrites.