Petrological,petrofabric, and oxygen isotopic study of five ungrouped meteorites related to brachinites

Northwest Africa (NWA) 6112, Miller Range (MIL) 090206 (plus its pairs: MIL 090340 and MIL 090405), and Divnoe are olivine‐rich ungrouped achondrites. We investigated and compared their petrography, mineralogy, and olivine fabrics. We additionally measured the oxygen isotopic compositions of NWA 6112. They show similar petrography, mineralogy, and oxygen isotopic compositions and we concluded that these five meteorites are brachinite clan meteorites. We found that NWA 6112 and Divnoe had a c axis concentration pattern of olivine fabrics using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). NWA 6112 and Divnoe are suggested to have been exposed to magmatic melt flows during their crystallization on their parent body. On the other hand, the three MIL meteorites have b axis concentration patterns of olivine fabrics. This indicates that the three MIL meteorites may be cumulates where compaction of olivine grains was dominant. Alternatively, they formed as residues and were exposed to olivine compaction. The presence of two different olivine fabric patterns implies that the parent body(s) of brachinite clan meteorites experienced diverse igneous processes.     

A TEM and EELS study of carbon in a melt fragment from the Gardnos impact structure

A carbon‐rich melt fragment from the Gardnos impact structure has been studied for a better understanding of the preservation and structural form(s) of carbon that have been processed by impact melting. The carbon was analyzed in situ in its original petrographic context within the melt fragment, using high‐resolution techniques including focused ion beam‐transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Results show that the carbon is largely uniform and has a nanocrystalline grain size. The Gardnos carbon has a graphitic structure but with a large c/a ratio indicating disorder. The disorder could be a result of rapid heating to high temperatures during impact, followed by rapid cooling, with not enough time to crystallize into highly ordered graphite. However, temperature distribution during impact is extremely heterogenous, and the disordered Gardnos carbon could also represent material that avoided extreme temperatures, and thus, it was preserved. Understanding the structure of carbon during terrestrial impacts is important to help determine if the history of carbon within extraterrestrial samples is impact related. Furthermore, the degree of preservation of carbon during impact is key for locating and detecting organic compounds in extraterrestrial samples. This example from Gardnos, together with previous studies, shows that not all carbon is lost to oxidation during impact but that impact melting can encapsulate and preserve carbon where it is available.     

广州城区晚全新世环境变迁与人类活动

对广州市越秀区解放中路考古遗址剖面进行了年代学、岩性、硅藻和软体动物鉴定等研究,发现广州珠江北岸古城区南部在先秦时期为河道及河口湾湿地/洼地;因河流-河涌的淡水注入使河口盐度降低,故而沉积物中未见较高盐度的微体生物,仅发现了河口型咸水-半咸水硅藻;此时堆积的贝壳大多为淡水种,半咸水种少见,表明先秦(东周)时期,广州地区...     

Zoning and layering in diorites of the scottish caledonian appinite suite

Dioritic plugs (< 1 km across) are common associates of the late Caledonian, post-tectonic granites of the Scottish Highlands. These contain a very wide range of rock types from ultramafic through mesocratic diorites to anorthositic and granitic. These rocks form steeply dipping, wall-parallel layers and zones within the plugs. Outer layers are shown to form first, inner layers later. Mafic zones are composed of the minerals seen as phenocrysts in chilled margins and have the chemical characteristics of cumulates. The inner margins of the mafic zones reflect the onset of plagioclase crystallization. Core zones also show inward variations in mineralogy and texture which define vertical, wall-parallel cylinders. These variations are ascribed to fractional crystallization accompanying accretion of rock onto the pipe walls. Cores in different intrusions may be mafic, mesocratic, or leucocratic, which indicates vertical zonation in the bodies. The mafic cores additionally show that recharge with less evolved magma occurred in some cases. The few larger (> 1 km diameter) intrusions show examples of layering and lamination dipping at low to moderate angles. These indicate the beginning of a change from wall-dominated to floor-dominated crystallization as intrusion diameter increases. A comparison is made with the nature and origin of layering in other intrusions.     

Salt tectonics in the Cap Boujdour Area,Aaiun Basin,NW Africa

Seismic reflection data indicate the Moroccan salt basin extends to the Cap Boujdour area in the Aaiun Basin. Two salt diapir structures have been identified and several areas of collapsed strata indicate probable salt removal at the shelf edge. The presence of salt in this area correlates to the conjugate southern George's Bank Basin and the Baltimore Canyon area, and it is suggested that the salt extends southward from the known salt diapir province in the George's Bank Basin southward to the Great Stone Dome. The paucity of salt diapirs is attributed to the thick carbonate and anhydrite sequence, which was deposited soon after salt deposition that inhibited halokinesis. The presence of salt along this large segment of the Atlantic margin should increase its hydrocarbon potential with traps created around salt diapirs and provision of migration pathways from deep potential source rocks in the early Cretaceous and Jurassic strata to shallower levels.     

Interactions between submarine channel systems and deformation in deepwater fold belts: Examples from the Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean sea

Submarine channel levee systems form important hydrocarbon reservoirs in many deep marine settings and are often deposited within a structurally active setting. This study focuses on recent submarine channels that developed within a deepwater fold and thrust belt setting from the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean Sea. Compressional deformation within the study area is driven by the up-dip collapse of the Nile cone above the ductile Messinian Evaporites. Structures such as folds and strike slip faults exert a strong control on channel location and development over time. From this study four end-member submarine channel–structure interactions can be defined: Confinement, diversion, deflection and blocking. Each of these channel–structure interactions results in a distinct submarine channel morphology and pattern of development compared to unconfined channel levee systems. Each interaction can also be used to assess timing relationships between submarine channel development and deformation.     

The divergent environmental characteristics of permanently-open,seasonally-open and normally-closed estuaries of south-western Australia

This study has compared the environmental characteristics of the basins and saline lower reaches of the tributaries of eight estuaries on the south coast of Western Australia, which differ in their degree of connectivity with the ocean. Although four estuaries between 115.1° and 121.8° E along that coast remain permanently open to the ocean, the others only become open when the volume of river discharge is sufficient to breach the prominent sand bars at their mouths, which occurs annually following heavy winter and early spring rainfall in some estuaries (seasonally open) and infrequently in others (normally closed). Estuaries to the west of 118.5° E are predominantly permanently open, e.g. Oyster Harbour, or seasonally open, e.g. Broke, Irwin and Wilson inlets, whereas those further east, e.g. Wellstead Estuary and Hamersley, Culham and Stokes inlets, where annual rainfall and thus discharge are much lower, only become open after exceptionally heavy discharge. In permanently and seasonally-open estuaries, pronounced haloclines and oxyclines are present in the narrow rivers but not the wide basins where the waters are subjected to wind-driven mixing. The extent of cyclical seasonal fluctuations in environmental conditions differed markedly among the three seasonally-open estuaries and between years in one of those systems. These differences reflected variations in the relationship between the volume of fluvial discharge, which is determined by a combination of the amount of local rainfall, catchment size and extent of clearing of native vegetation, and the amount of intrusion by marine waters, which is largely controlled by the size and duration of the opening of the estuary mouth. The mean seasonal salinities in the basins of the three normally-closed estuaries increased over three years of very low rainfall to 64 in the deepest of these estuaries (Stokes Inlet) to 145 in Hamersley Inlet and to 296 in the shallowest estuary (Culham Inlet). These results demonstrate that the environmental characteristics of estuaries on the south coast of Western Australia differ markedly, even among those of the same type, e.g. seasonally-open estuaries or normally-closed estuaries.     

Beach nourishments at Coolangatta Bay over the period 1987–2005: Impacts and lessons

Erosion of the southern Gold Coast beaches (SE Queensland, Australia) was exacerbated after the extension of the Tweed River training walls in the early 1960s. To achieve the objective of restoring and maintaining beach amenity, significant nourishment works have been undertaken in Coolangatta Bay over the past 30 years. Particularly, under the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project (TRESBP) since 1995, a number of nourishment campaigns and the implementation of a permanent sand bypass system in 2001 have resulted in significant changes of Coolangatta Bay morphology. The present case study investigates the influence of both wave climate and nourishment works on the area extending from the updrift Snapper Rocks area to downdrift Kirra Beach. SWAN spectral wave model is implemented at Coolangatta Bay area and forced by the global wave model WW3 to estimate wave forcing and the potential natural longshore drift entering in Coolangatta. Specific transects extracted from accurate bathymetric surveys are used to investigate and quantify Coolangatta Bay sedimentation for the period 1987–2005. A network of Argus video stations provides high sample rate information on the shoreline evolution. Results show that, over the past 10 years, Coolangatta Bay has infilled rapidly. Sedimentation reached up to 6 m in some areas between 1995 and 2005, with beach width increasing by 200 m at Kirra Beach. Rapid seaward shoreline migration is consistent with the intense over-pumping of sand relative to the natural potential to move sand alongshore. The nourishment strategy used during this project has successfully delivered large amounts of sand to the southern Gold Coast embayment, although it has been up to now controversial from many community perspectives. The artificial sand bypassing process proved to be much more efficient than depositing the dredged sand in the nearshore area which requires a significant period of low energy condition in order for the deposited sediment to migrate shoreward and weld to the shore. This case study confirms that, when carefully undertaken, sand bypassing is a sustainable and flexible soft engineering approach which can work in concert with natural processes.     

Distribution and spatial variation of hydrothermal faunal assemblages at Lucky Strike (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) revealed by high-resolution video image analysis

Whilst the fauna inhabiting hydrothermal vent structures in the Atlantic Ocean is reasonably well known, less is understood about the spatial distributions of the fauna in relation to abiotic and biotic factors. In this study, a major active hydrothermal edifice (Eiffel Tower, at 1690 m depth) on the Lucky Strike vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR)) was investigated. Video transects were carried out by ROV Victor 6000 and complete image coverage was acquired. Four distinct assemblages, ranging from dense larger-sized Bathymodiolus mussel beds to smaller-sized mussel clumps and alvinocaridid shrimps, and two types of substrata were defined based on high definition photographs and video imagery. To evaluate spatial variation, faunal distribution was mapped in three dimensions. A high degree of patchiness characterizes this 11 m high sulfide structure. The differences observed in assemblage and substratum distribution were related to habitat characteristics (fluid exits, depth and structure orientation). Gradients in community structure were observed, which coincided with an increasing distance from the fluid exits. A biological zonation model for the Eiffel Tower edifice was created in which faunal composition and distribution can be visually explained by the presence/absence of fluid exits.     

The application of remote sensing to environmental archaeology

An area in the Fenlands of Eastern England was used to assess the spectral, spatial, and seasonal requirements of airborne multispectral data for identifying wetland archaeological features by detecting crop and soil marks. Ordination of data from a scanner with 11 spectral channels was achieved using the Sheffield method, which calculates the wavebands that produce a 3 band composite image with optimum contrast using band variances and interband correlations. the spatial detail requirements for multispectral data were investigated by applying an edge enhancing filter to single waveband images. the loss of feature clarity with increased levels of spatial smoothing is visually apparent. Seasonal variation in crop mark visibility was quantified by cross tabulating feature visibility in fields known to contain features with time period and sensor type. If remote sensing is to be used for repeated operational archaeological survey then the quality and quantity of information which can be gained from the data must be evaluated. This study attempts to define some of the necessary operational requirements for the use of multispectral data for archaeology.