Hyperspectral mapping of alteration assemblages within a hydrothermal vug at the Haughton impact structure,Canada

Meteorite impacts on Earth and Mars can generate hydrothermal systems that alter the primary mineralogies of rocks and provide suitable environments for microbial colonization. We investigate a calcite–marcasite‐bearing vug at the ~23 km diameter Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, using imaging spectroscopy of the outcrop in the field (0.65–1.1 μm) and samples in the laboratory (0.4–2.5 μm), point spectroscopy (0.35–2.5 μm), major element chemistry, and X‐ray diffraction analyses. The mineral assemblages mapped at the outcrop include marcasite; marcasite with minor gypsum and jarosite; fibroferrite and copiapite with minor gypsum and melanterite; gypsum, Fe³⁺ oxides, and jarosite; and calcite, gypsum, clay, microcline, and quartz. Hyperspectral mapping of alteration phases shows spatial patterns that illuminate changes in alteration conditions and formation of specific mineral phases. Marcasite formed from the postimpact hydrothermal system under reducing conditions, while subsequent weathering oxidized the marcasite at low temperatures and water/rock ratios. The acidic fluids resulting from the oxidation collected on flat‐lying portions of the outcrop, precipitating fibroferrite + copiapite. That assemblage then likely dissolved, and the changing chemistry and pH resulting from interaction with the calcite‐rich host rock formed gypsum‐bearing red coatings. These results have implications for understanding water–rock interactions and habitabilities at this site and on Mars.     

Microstructure modifications of silicates induced by the collection in aerogel: Experimental approach and comparison with Stardust results

Abstract– Particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 were captured with silica aerogel during the flyby Stardust mission. A significant part of the collection was damaged during the impact at hypervelocity in the aerogel. In this study, we conducted impact experiments into aerogel of olivine and pyroxene powder using a light‐gas gun in similar conditions as that of the comet Wild 2 particles collection. The shot samples were investigated using transmission electron microscopy to characterize their microstructure. Both olivine and pyroxene samples show evidence of thermal alteration due to friction with the aerogel. All the grains have rounded edges after collection, whereas their shape was angular in the initial shot powder set. This is probably associated with mass loss of particles. The rims of the grains are clearly melted and mixed with aerogel. The core of olivine grains is fairly well preserved, but some grains contain dislocations in glide configuration. We interpret these dislocations as generated by the thermal stresses that have emerged due to the high temperature gradients between the core and the rim of the grains. Most of the pyroxene grains have been fully melted. Their high silica concentration reflects a strong impregnation with melted aerogel. The preferential melting of pyroxene compared with olivine is due to a difference in melting temperatures of 300°. This melting point difference probably induces a bias in the measurements of the ratio olivine/pyroxene in the Wild 2 comet. The proportion of pyroxene was probably higher on Wild 2 than expected from the samples collected into aerogel.     

Book Review

The aim of this book is to present techniques for the study of motion of solar system objects in highly eccentric orbits. Instead of using the usual anomalies (mean, true, eccentric), the authors define and use a new kind of anomaly, the elliptic anomaly.In this way, it is possible, in a theory using perturbation series expansions, to make the ratio: (accuracy)/(number of needed terms), higher than in the classical techniques. The book consists of six chapters. The first chapter deals with the elliptic anomaly in the two-body problem and the second chapter presents the general technique to construct first-order perturbation theory in elliptic function expansions. The next three chapters deal with applications of the new technique to artificial satellites and asteroids, in highly eccentric orbits. The last chapter describes the basic algorithms of the theory.The tools developed in the book demand the use of computer algebra, which is implemented by means of Mathematica 3.0.The book is well written and the new technique is clearly presented and related to the existing techniques, making it useful to all those who use analytical or semi-analytical methods for the study of highly eccentric motion. Celestial Mechanics at High Eccentricities, Gordon and Breach Publishers, US$95, GBP 59, EUR 79, ISBN 90-5699-212-0     

Hydrodynamic simulations of propagating warps and bending waves in accretion discs

We present the results of a study of propagating warp or bending waves in accretion discs. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations were performed using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and the results are compared with calculations based on the linear theory of warped discs.
We examine the response of a gaseous disc to an initially imposed warping disturbance under a variety of physical conditions. We consider primarily the physical regime in which the dimensionless viscosity parameter α < H r , where H r is the disc aspect ratio, so that bending waves are expected to propagate. We also performed calculations for disc models in which α > H r , where the warps are expected to evolve diffusively. Small-amplitude (linear) perturbations are studied in both Keplerian and slightly non-Keplerian discs, and we find that the results of the SPH calculations can be reasonably well fitted by those of the linear theory. The main results of these calculations are: (i) the warp in Keplerian discs when α < H r propagates with little dispersion, and damps at a rate expected from estimates of the code viscosity; (ii) warps evolve diffusively when α > H r ; (iii) the slightly non-Keplerian discs lead to a substantially more dispersive behaviour of the warps, which damp at a similar rate to the Keplerian case, when α < H r .
Initially imposed higher amplitude, non-linear warping disturbances were studied in Keplerian discs. The results indicate that non-linear warps can lead to the formation of shocks, and that the evolution of the warp becomes less wave-like and more diffusive in character.
This work is relevant to the study of the warped accretion discs that may occur around Kerr black holes or in misaligned binary systems, and is mainly concerned with discs in which α < H r . The results indicate that SPH can model the hydrodynamics of warped discs, even when using rather modest numbers of particles.     

Silicic differentiates of abyssal oceanic magmas: Evidence for late-magmatic vapor transport of potassium

Massive, nearly holocrystalline dolerites from DSDP Hole 417D contain from 0.5 to 1.5% of granophyric patches composed mainly of Na-plagioclase and quartz. These patches are compositionally similar to other crystalline silicic rocks from oceanic spreading centers and differ from rarer abyssal silicic glasses. Crystalline varieties withSiO₂60wt.% generally haveNa/K>10, whereas silicic glasses have Na/K in the range 3–6. While crystal fractionation readily accounts for the Na₂O and K₂O contents of abyssal silicic glasses, both the 417D granophyres and other crystalline abyssal silicic rocks have much lower K₂O than that predicted by any reasonable crystal-liquid fractionation model. We propose that high-temperature vapor phase transport is responsible for removal of potassium during late-stage crystallization of these rocks. This allows for the formation of cogenetic silicic glassy and crystalline rocks with greatly different Na/K ratios. These observations and interpretations lead to a more confident assignment of high Na/K silicic rocks of oceanic and ophiolitic environments to a cogenetic origin with basaltic oceanic crust.     

Correction: Guidelines and pitfalls of refraction microtremor surveys

Journal of Seismology -