Testing the survival of microfossils in artificial martian sedimentary meteorites during entry into Earth’s atmosphere: The STONE 6 experiment

If life ever appeared on Mars, could we find traces of primitive life embedded in sedimentary meteorites? To answer this question, a 3.5-byr-old volcanic sediment containing microfossils was embedded in the heat shield of a space capsule in order to test survival of the rock and the microfossils during entry into the Earth’s atmosphere (the STONE 6 experiment). The silicified volcanic sediment from the Kitty’s Gap Chert (Pilbara, Australia) is considered to be an excellent analogue for Noachian-age volcanic sediments. The microfossils in the chert are also analogues for potential martian life. An additional goal was to investigate the survival of living microorganisms (Chroococcidiopsis) protected by a 2-cm thick layer of rock in order to test whether living endolithic organisms could survive atmospheric entry when protected by a rocky coating.Mineralogical alteration of the sediment due to shock heating was manifested by the formation of a fusion crust, cracks in the chert due to prograde and retrograde changes of α quartz to β quartz, increase in the size of the fluid inclusions, and dewatering of the hydromuscovite-replaced volcanic protoliths. The carbonaceous microfossils embedded in the chert matrix survived in the rock away from the fusion crust but there was an increase in the maturity index of the kerogen towards the crust. We conclude that this kind of sediment can survive atmospheric entry and, if it contains microfossils, they could also survive. The living microorganisms were, however, completely carbonised by flame leakage to the back of the sample and therefore non-viable. However, using an analytical model to estimate the temperature reached within the sample thickness, we conclude that, even without flame leakage, the living organisms probably need to be protected by at least 5 cm of rock in order to be shielded from the intense heat of entry.     

Trace element partitioning between orthopyroxene and anhydrous silicate melt on the lherzolite solidus from 1.1 to 3.2 GPa and 1,230 to 1,535°C in the model system Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>O–CaO–MgO–Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

We determined experimentally the Nernst distribution coefficient between orthopyroxene and anhydrous silicate melt for trace elements i in the system Na₂O–CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (NCMAS) along the dry model lherzolite solidus from 1.1 GPa/1,230°C up to 3.2 GPa/1,535°C in a piston cylinder apparatus. Major and trace element composition of melt and orthopyroxene were determined with a combination of electron microprobe and ion probe analyses. We provide partitioning data for trace elements Li, Be, B, K, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Sm, Nd, Yb, Lu, Hf, Ta, Pb, U, and Th. The melts were chosen to be boninitic at 1.1 and 2.0 GPa, picritic at 2.3 GPa and komatiitic at 2.7 and 3.2 GPa. Orthopyroxene is Tschermakitic with 8 mol% Mg-Tschermaks MgAl[AlSiO₆] at 1.1 GPa while at higher pressure it has 18–20 mol%. The rare earth elements show a continuous, significant increase in compatibility with decreasing ionic radius from D _La^opx−melt ∼ 0.0008 to D _Lu^opx−melt ∼ 0.15. For the high-field-strength elements compatibility increases from D _Th^opx−melt ∼ 0.001 through D _Nb^opx−melt ∼ 0.0015, D _U^opx−melt ∼ 0.002, D _Ta^opx−melt ∼ 0.005, D _Zr^opx−melt ∼ 0.02 and D _Hf^opx−melt ∼ 0.04 to D _Ti^opx−melt ∼ 0.14. From mathematical and graphical fits we determined best-fit values for D ₀^M1, D ₀^M2, r ₀^M1, r ₀^M2, E ₀^M1, and E ₀^M2 for the two different M sites in orthopyroxene according to the lattice strain model and calculated the intracrystalline distribution between M1 and M2. Our data indicate extreme intracrystalline fractionation for most elements in orthopyroxene; for the divalent cations D _i ^M2−M1 varies by three orders of magnitude between D _Co^M2−M1 = 0.00098–0.00919 and D _Ba^M2−M1 = 2.3–28. Trivalent cations Al and Cr almost exclusively substitute on M1 while the other trivalent cations substitute on M2; D _La^M2−M1 reaches extreme values between 6.5 × 10⁷ and 1.4 × 10¹⁶. Tetravalent cations Ti, Hf, and Zr almost exclusively substitute on M1 while U and Th exclusively substitute on M2. Our new comprehensive data set can be used for polybaric-polythermal melting models along the Earth’s mantle solidus. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

On the influence of seeing on photospheric velocity measurements

It is shown that the short-period fluctuations of photospheric velocity records can be explained by the scanning effect of atmospheric seeing (image motion) and the velocity gradients present on the solar surface. Some observations supporting this explanation are presented.Mitteilungen aus dem Fraunhofer Institut Nr. 76.     

A new ophiolite occurrence in NW Sudan – constraints on Late Proterozoic tectonism

Mafic–ultramafic sequences in the Jebel Rahib fold-and-thrust belt of NW Sudan comprise the metamorphosed equivalents of obducted oceanic lithosphere. Primary features like pillow-structures, quenchtextures, igneous layering and primary minerals like chromian spinels and pyroxenes are partly preserved. Geochemical investigations confirm the field evidence and reveal the occurrence of harzburgites, ophiolitic chromites, gabbros, gabbroic cumulates and basalts of primitive tholeiitic compositions resembling transitional MORBs. The age of low-grade overprint of the basaltic rocks can be limited to 860–740 Myr (K–Ar). The existence of an ophiolite, as well as its close interfingering with highly deformed basin sediments, provides unambiguous evidence for a cycle of extensional and compressional tectonics in NW Sudan during Pan-African times. Consequently, the concept of an older, stable Proterozoic, or even Archaean, ‘African Craton’onto which the juvenile Pan-African Nubian Shield assemblages were accreted, needs revision.     

Thin intergranular melt films and melt pockets in spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Rhön area (Germany): early stage of melt generation by grain boundary melting

Optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on a porphyroclastic high temperature spinel peridotite from the Rhön area reveal fine, irregular glass layers and pockets along mineral interfaces, cracks in olivine, inside olivine crystals and in spongy rims of clinopyroxene. The chemical composition of the glass deviates significantly from the composition of the host basanite. Electron diffraction technique confirms the amorphous nature of the glass, thus classifying it as a former melt. Every grain or phase boundary shows amorphous intergranular glass layers of variable thickness and characteristic chemical composition with distinct chemical inhomogeneities. Olivine grain boundaries, as the most common type of interfaces, exhibit two different types of melt glasses: (1) Type I melt at olivine grain boundaries, which is characterized by low contents of SiO₂ (～37?wt%) and Al₂O₃ (～5?wt%) and elevated contents of MgO (～31?wt%) and FeO (～22?wt%), is supposed to have formed prior to or during the thermal overprint and the dynamic recrystallisation of the xenolith in the mantle. Melt inclusions inside olivine grains with an average composition of type I melt are suggested to be earlier melt droplets at olivine interfaces, overgrown by migrating olivine grain boundaries during recrystallization in the mantle prior to the uplift of the xenolith. (2) Type II melt, the most common type of melt in the xenolith, shows higher contents of SiO₂ (～48?wt%) and Al₂O₃ (～17?wt%) but lower contents of MgO (～20?wt%) and FeO (～11?wt%). The observation of different types of glass within a single xenolith indicates the development of different chemical melt equilibria at interfaces or triple junctions in the xenolith. The absence of geochemical trends in bivariate plots excludes a unifying process for the genesis of these glasses. Melt inclusions in the spongy rims of clinopyroxene are interpreted to be the product of a potassium-rich metasomatism. The formation of most amorphous intergranular melt layers and pockets at the mineral interfaces including type II melt at olivine grain boundaries is suggested to result from decompression melting during the uplift with the basalt magma. We suggest that these glasses were produced by grain boundary melting due to lattice mismatch and impurity segregation. The observed intergranular amorphous layers or melts represent the very beginning of mineral melting by grain boundary melting.     

Chemistry of glass inclusions in olivines of the CR chondrites Renazzo, Acfer 182, and El Djouf 001

Glass inclusions in olivines of the Renazzo, El Djouf 001, and Acfer 182 CR-type chondrites are chemically divers and can be classified into Al-rich, Al-poor, and Na-rich types. The chemical properties of the glasses are independent of the occurrence of the olivine (isolated or part of an aggregate or chondrule) and its composition. The glasses are silica-saturated (Al-rich) or oversaturated (Al-poor, 24% normative quartz). All glasses have chondritic CaO/Al₂O₃ ratios, unfractionated CI-normalized abundances of refractory trace elements and are depleted in moderately volatile and volatile elements. Thus the glasses are likely to be of a primitive condensate origin whose chemical composition has been established before chondrule formation and accretion, rather then the product of either crystal fractionation from chondrule melts or part melting of chondrules. Rare Na-rich glasses give evidence for elemental exchange between the glass and a vapor phase. Because they have Al₂O₃ contents and trace element abundances very similar to those of the Al-rich glasses, they likely were derived from the latter by Ca exchange (for Na) with the nebula. Elemental exchange reactions also have affected practically all olivines (e.g., exchange of Mg of olivine for Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Cr³⁺). Glasses formed contemporaneously with the host olivine. As the most likely process for growing nonskeletal olivines from a vapor we consider the VLS (vapor-liquid-solid) growth process, or liquid-phase epitaxy. Glasses are the possible remnants of the liquid interface between growing crystal and the vapor. Such liquids can form stably or metastably in regions with enhanced oxygen fugacity as compared to that of a nebula of solar composition.     

Photometry of Dione,Tethys, and Enceladus on the UBV system

UBV measurements of Dione, Tethys, and Enceladus were made with an area-scanning photometer on several nights during the 1972/1973 and 1973/1974 apparitions of Saturn. The observed brightness variations have been separated into two components—one a function of orbital position, the other a function of solar phase angle. Dione and Tethys are brightest near greatest eastern elongation and faintest near greatest western elongation. The reverse is true of Enceladus. Opposition surges are observed for Dione and Tethys.     

Distribution and Migrations of two Cerithid Snails on a Sand Flat in Bermuda

Abstract. Two species of cerithid prosobranchs live on a sand flat in Bermuda. At low tide during day light Batillaria minima is found on the surface whereas Cerithium lutosum remains buried in the sediment. This correlates with much higher lethal and coma temperatures, as well as much greater resistance to desiccation, of the former species. However, at other diurnal or tidal stages the two species co-occur in the same layer of sand. Despite greater resistance to physical factors the population of B. minima seems to be declining since in 1980 juveniles of this species were rare on Tuckers Town Flat whereas the population of C. lutosum was thriving.     

Ammothea hilgendorfi (Böhm, 1879), an Adventitious Pycnogonid new for the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract. The authors demonstrate the probable immigration and stable settling of the pycnogonid Ammothea hilgendorfi (B öhm , 1879) at one station in the lagoon of Venice. The species is widely distributed naturally on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and has probably immigrated on ship hulls through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean. Two more cases (the pycnogonid Anoplodactylus portus and the amphipod Elasmopus pectenicrus ) of adventitious species in this sea are compared.