Iron isotope fractionation between pyrite (FeS2), hematite (Fe2O3) and siderite (FeCO3): A first-principles density functional theory study

In addition to equilibrium isotopic fractionation factors experimentally derived, theoretical predictions are needed for interpreting isotopic compositions measured on natural samples because they allow exploring more easily a broader range of temperature and composition. For iron isotopes, only aqueous species were studied by first-principles methods and the combination of these data with those obtained by different methods for minerals leads to discrepancies between theoretical and experimental isotopic fractionation factors. In this paper, equilibrium iron isotope fractionation factors for the common minerals pyrite, hematite, and siderite were determined as a function of temperature, using first-principles methods based on the density functional theory (DFT). In these minerals belonging to the sulfide, oxide and carbonate class, iron is present under two different oxidation states and is involved in contrasted types of interatomic bonds. Equilibrium fractionation factors calculated between hematite and siderite compare well with the one estimated from experimental data (ln α⁵⁷Fe/⁵⁴Fe = 4.59 ± 0.30‰ and 5.46 ± 0.63‰ at 20 °C for theoretical and experimental data, respectively) while those for Fe(III)_aq-hematite and Fe(II)_aq-siderite are significantly higher that experimental values. This suggests that the absolute values of the reduced partition functions (β-factors) of aqueous species are not accurate enough to be combined with those calculated for minerals. When compared to previous predictions derived from Mössbauer or INRXS data [Polyakov V. B., Clayton R. N., Horita J. and Mineev S. D. (2007) Equilibrium iron isotope fractionation factors of minerals: reevaluation from the data of nuclear inelastic resonant X-ray scattering and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta71, 3833-3846], our iron β-factors are in good agreement for siderite and hematite while a discrepancy is observed for pyrite. However, the detailed investigation of the structural, electronic and vibrational properties of pyrite as well as the study of sulfur isotope fractionation between pyrite and two other sulfides (sphalerite and galena) indicate that DFT-derived β-factors of pyrite are as accurate as for hematite and siderite. We thus suggest that experimental vibrational density of states of pyrite should be re-examined.     

喀喇昆仑断裂带走滑过程中伴随的快速隆升作用:热年代学证据

喀喇昆仑断裂带是青藏高原西部的一条大型右旋走滑断裂带,它是喜马拉雅山脉西段北侧重要的地质边界.本文在岩石学、变形构造的研究基础上,对喀喇昆仑断裂带东南段阿伊拉日居山-噶尔盆地地区的喀喇昆仑韧性剪切带中变质岩石的同构造矿物进行了40Ar/39Ar热年代学研究.显微构造研究表明,剪切带中的矿物记录了从高温(>600℃)到低温(<250℃)条件下的连续变形,表现为近水平的右旋剪切运动转变成斜向的右旋正滑,使绿片岩相的变形作用叠加在中-高温变形之上.暗示出走滑过程中存在隆升作用,热年代学结果显示其连续剪切变形作用从早中新世以来至少持续到4Ma,并且出现三个快速冷却阶段:第一个快速冷却阶段为从25～22Ma到21～18Ma期间,可能代表的是浅部高温剪切过程中变形局部停止或减慢的过程;第二个快速冷却时期为从15Ma到12～10Ma,是喀喇昆仑断裂带走滑过程中,阿伊拉日居山的快速隆升、噶尔盆地开始形成以及主要河流深切过程阶段;9Ma以来是第三个快速冷却过程,使阿伊拉日居山脉进一步快速隆升、噶尔盆地定形过程.根据不同年代地表地貌特征的右旋错位距离以及不同层次变形特征,估算出喀喇昆仑断裂带长期滑移速率为8～10mm/a,伴随的隆升速率为1mm/a.从显微构造和热年代学证据表明,晚第四纪以来该断裂经历了强烈的右旋走滑运动的同时伴随强烈的隆升作用.     

Carbon pools in an arid shrubland in Chile under natural and afforested conditions

The pattern of carbon (C) allocation among the different pools is an important ecosystem structural feature, which can be modified as a result of changes in environmental conditions that can occur gradually (e.g., climatic change) or abruptly (e.g., management practices). This study quantified the C pools of plant biomass, litter and soil in an arid shrubland in Chile, comparing the natural condition (moderately disturbed by grazing) vs. the afforested condition (two-year-old plantation with Acacia saligna (Labill.) H.L. Wendl.), each represented by a 60 ha plot. To estimate plant biomass, allometric functions were constructed for the four dominant woody species, based on the volume according to their shape, which showed high correlation (R² > 0.73). The soil was the largest C pool in both natural and afforested conditions (89% and 94%, respectively) and was significantly lower in the afforested than natural condition at all five soil depths. The natural condition had in total 36.5 ton (t) C ha⁻¹ compared to 21.1 t C ha⁻¹ in the afforested condition, mainly due to C loss during soil preparation, prior to plantation of A. saligna. These measurements serve as an important baseline to assess long-term effects of afforestation on ecosystem C pools.     

Landslide hazard and risk assessment and their application in risk management and landuse planning in eastern flank of Menoreh Mountains,Yogyakarta Province,Indonesia

The Menoreh Mountains in Yogyakarta are severely affected by landslides. Due to the high population densities, mass movements are generally damaging and fatal. More than other Javanese mountains, the Menoreh Mountains cumulate several factors causing landslides. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the ways to map landslide risk in order to improve the risk mitigation. The objectives of this paper are to provide landslide hazard and risk assessment that will be useful for risk prevention and landuse planning in the Menoreh Mountains. So far, risk management has been developed by the Research Centre for Disasters Gadjah Mada University in collaboration with the Regional Development Planner (BAPPEDA), which carries out fundamental and applied researches. The results of the studies have been integrated in the risk prevention and landuse planning in order to improve the integrated landslide mitigation programme.     

Eclipsing binary Trojan asteroid Patroclus: Thermal inertia from Spitzer observations

We present mid-infrared observations of the binary L5-Trojan system (617) Patroclus-Menoetius before, during, and after two shadowing events, using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. For the first time, we effectively observe changes in asteroid surface temperature in real time, allowing the thermal inertia to be determined very directly. A new detailed binary thermophysical model is presented which accounts for the system’s known mutual orbit, arbitrary component shapes, and thermal conduction in the presence of eclipses.We obtain two local thermal-inertia values, representative of the respective shadowed areas: and . The average thermal inertia is estimated to be , potentially with significant surface heterogeneity. This first thermal-inertia measurement for a Trojan asteroid indicates a surface covered in fine regolith. Independently, we establish the presence of fine-grained (<a few μm) silicates on the surface, based on emissivity features near 10 and similar to those previously found on other Trojans.We also report V-band observations and report a lightcurve with complete rotational coverage. The lightcurve has a low amplitude of peak-to-peak, implying a roughly spherical shape for both components, and is single-periodic with a period equal to the period of the mutual orbit, indicating that the system is fully synchronized.The diameters of Patroclus and Menoetius are 106±11 and , respectively, in agreement with previous findings. Taken together with the system’s known total mass, this implies a bulk mass density of , significantly below the mass density of L4-Trojan asteroid (624) Hektor and suggesting a bulk composition dominated by water ice.All known physical properties of Patroclus, arguably the best studied Trojan asteroid, are consistent with those expected in icy objects with devolatilized surface (extinct comets), consistent with what might be implied by recent dynamical modeling in the framework of the Nice Model.     

Sand blows as a potential tool for magnitude estimation of pre-instrumental earthquakes

A worldwide database of liquefaction-induced sand blows has been compiled to generate empirical relationships between earthquake parameters and sand blow geometries. Curves resulting from these empirical relationships can be used afterwards for the study of historic and pre-historic earthquakes that formed sand blows. This database only incorporates instrumental earthquakes inducing sand blows, characterised in terms of magnitude (Mw), hypocentral location and focal mechanism solution. Two relationships are herein presented. The first curve, minimum likelihood of liquefaction occurrence (magnitude/epicentral distance), displays a logarithmic behaviour, as others already proposed. The second curve of sand-blow diameter vs epicentral distance is the first proposal of this kind, whose shape follows a negative power-law. Magnitude estimations of (pre-)historic earthquakes then may be attempted through these empirical relationships. Resulting magnitudes derived from these curves should be mostly considered as underestimated. The curves will reflect actual magnitudes only if, correspondingly, the farthest and largest blow has ever been reported during the after-earthquake survey. Following the same principle, a magnitude estimation resulting from the measuring of a sand blow can only be considered as minimal because it is almost impossible to ascertain that the measured feature is the biggest one produced by the earthquake under evaluation. Finally, these results call for thorough surveys of induced effects after every future moderate-to-large earthquake, as any empirical relationship simply improves by incorporating new data.     

CO2-Laser Extraction-Static Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Ultra-Low Concentrations of Nitrogen in Silicates

A new installation for the analysis of picomole quantities of nitrogen has been designed and constructed. It permits the simultaneous analysis of N and rare gases extracted from silicates by heating. The extraction procedure involves the use of a CO₂ laser as a heater, and the analysis is made by static mass spectrometry using a high sensitivity, high resolution mass spectrometer. Procedural blanks of 2 picomoles N₂ (60 picogram N) allow us to analyse routinely N in mg-sized samples such as mantle-derived and meteoritic minerals, and Lunar soil grains.     

The hierarchical stability of the seven known large size ratio triple asteroids using the empirical stability parameters

In this study, the hierarchical stability of the seven known large size ratio triple asteroids is investigated. The effect of the solar gravity and primary’s J ₂ are considered. The force function is expanded in terms of mass ratios based on the Hill’s approximation and the large size ratio property. The empirical stability parameters are used to examine the hierarchical stability of the triple asteroids. It is found that the all the known large size ratio triple asteroid systems are hierarchically stable. This study provides useful information for future evolutions of the triple asteroids.     

热带印度-太平洋浮游有孔虫Pulleniatina obliquiloculata的B/Ca和Cd/Ca指标：次表层海水碳化学参数计算的应用

Pulleniatina obliquiloculata shells from 16 core-top samples from the tropical Indo-Pacific Oceans are analyzed for the ratios of boron and cadmium to calcium(B/Ca and Cd/Ca). The B/Ca ratios show a very weak positive relationship with [B(OH)_4~-] and the dissolved carbonate species at the apparent calcification depth of P.obliquiloculata. The boron partition coefficients(K_D) between P. obliquiloculata B/Ca and seawater[B(OH)_4~-]/[HCO_3~-] distribute around 1.1×10~(-3)-1.3×10~(-3) with a mean value of(1.19±0.12)×10~(-3),and are significantly related to the nutrient concentration, especially phosphate. The lack of any clear correlation between the P. obliquiloculata B/Ca and seawater carbonate chemical parameters suggests that the physiochemical controls on boron incorporation are masked by the complexity of natural seawater condition. But the significant dependence of Ku on nutrient may likely be explained by a nutrient related growth-rate effect. Cd/Ca of P.obliquiloculata shows significant correlation with seawater phosphate concentration, and its partition coefficients(D_(cd)) are significantly related to temperature. A first-principle methodology of P. obliquiloculata B/Ca is applied;with the aid of Cd/Ca as a phosphate proxy and a constraint on K_D, to estimating sea water carbonate chemistry(e.g., pH). The results are fairly promising and allow us to propose the possibility to apply the combination of B/Ca and Cd/Ca proxies(and also Mg/Ca and δ~(18)O for estimating temperature and salinity) for the paleoreconstruction of seawater carbonate chemistry.