Mars: fretted terrain as eroded ejecta from the borealis mega-impact origin for the crustal dichotomy

The proximity of unconsolidated fretted terrain to the proposed basin result of the mega-impact theory for the crustal dichotomy on Mars implies the possibility this unconsolidated fretted terrain may be eroded deposits of a large ejecta blanket emplaced by the Borealis mega-impact origin for the crustal dichotomy.     

The soft X-ray polychromator for the Solar Maximum Mission

The 1.4–22.4 Å range of the soft X-ray spectrum includes a multitude of emission lines which are important for the diagnosis of plasmas in the 1.5–50 million degree temperature range. In particular, the hydrogen and helium-like ions of all abundant solar elements with Z > 7 have their primary transitions in this region and these are especially useful for solar flare and active region studies. The soft X-ray polychromator (XRP) is a high resolution experiment working in this spectral region. The XRP consists of two instruments with a common control, data handling and power system. The bent crystal spectrometer is designed for high time resolution studies in lines of Fe i-Fe xxvi and Ca xix. The flat crystal scanning spectrometer provides for 7 channel polychromatic mapping of flares and active regions in the resonance lines of O viii, Ne ix, Mg xi, Si xiii, S xv, Ca xix, and Fe xxv with 14 spatial resolution. In its spectral scanning mode it covers essentially the entire 1.4–22.5 Å region.This paper summarizes the scientific objectives of the XRP experiment and describes the characteristics and capabilities of the two instruments. Sufficient technical information for experiment feasibility studies is included and the resources and procedures planned for the use of the XRP within the context of the Solar Maximum Mission is briefly discussed.     

Measuring low concentrations of Th in water and sediment

²³⁴Th/²³⁸U disequilibria have been used extensively in studies of particle dynamics and the fate and transport of particle-reactive matter in marine environments. Similar work in low salinity, estuarine, and freshwater systems has not occurred primarily because the lower concentrations of both parent and daughter nuclides that are typical of these systems often render established methods for the analysis of ²³⁴Th inadequate. The application of this radionuclide tracer technique to these systems, however, has great potential. To this end, we present a method for measuring low activities of ²³⁴Th in relatively small samples (<200 l) using low background gas-flow proportional counters, a ²²⁹Th yield monitor, and empirical corrections for the interferences from real and apparent betas that are emitted by other thorium isotopes and their progeny. For samples with low ²³⁴Th/²²⁸Th activity ratios, we improve upon current beta counting methodologies that rely on immediate sample counting, weak beta absorption, or multiple beta counts so that, using the analytical approach outlined here, it should be possible to measure ²³⁴Th activities (i) as low as 1.5 dpm/total sample, (ii) up to 2 weeks after radiochemical purification of thorium, and (iii) with only one sample count for alpha and beta activity.     

TTGs and adakites: are they both slab melts?

Although both high-Al TTG (tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite) and adakite show strongly fractionated REE and incompatible element patterns, TTGs have lower Sr, Mg, Ni, Cr, and Nb/Ta than most adakites. These compositional differences cannot be easily related by shallow fractional crystallization. While adakites are probably slab melts, TTGs may be produced by partial melting of hydrous mafic rocks in the lower crust in arc systems or in the Archean, perhaps in the root zones of oceanic plateaus. It is important to emphasize that geochemical data can be used to help constrain tectonic settings, but it cannot be used alone to reconstruct ancient tectonic settings.

Depletion in heavy REE and low Nb/Ta ratios in high-Al TTGs require both garnet and low-Mg amphibole in the restite, whereas moderate to high Sr values allow little, if any, plagioclase in the restite. To meet these requirements requires melting in the hornblende eclogite stability field between 40- and 80-km deep and between 700 and 800 °C.

Some high-Al TTGs produced at 2.7 Ga and perhaps again at about 1.9 Ga show unusually high La/Yb, Sr, Cr, and Ni. These TTGs may reflect catastrophic mantle overturn events at 2.7 and 1.9 Ga, during which a large number of mantle plumes bombarded the base of the lithosphere, producing thick oceanic plateaus that partially melted at depth.     

Geochemistry of the Archean Bulawayan Group,Midlands greenstone belt,Rhodesia

The Bulawayan Group in the Midlands greenstone belt can be divided into three formations. The Mafic Formation is composed principally of pillowed, low-K tholeiites and minor bedded chert. The Maliyami Formation and conformably overlying Felsic Formation are composed of calc-alkaline tholeiites, andesites, and dacites with andesites dominating in the Felsic Formation. Minor rhyolite quartz porphyries and ultramafic bodies also occur in the section. The Bulawayan Group near Que Que is perhaps the least altered and metamorphosed Archean greenstone succession known. The absence of andesite and related rocks, the association of bedded chert, and the consistently low K₂O, Rb, and Sr contents of Mafic Formation tholeiites suggest that they represent Archean oceanic rise tholeiites. The compositions of tholeiites and andesites of the Maliyami Formation, however, suggest that they represent an emerging arc system. The Felsic Formation is interpreted as a more advanced stage in the evolution of this arc system.Trace-element model calculations favor an origin for Mafic Formation tholeiites involving about 30% partial melting of a lherzolite source. Similar calculations are consistent with an origin for Maliyami Formation tholeiites, Maliyami and Felsic Formation andesites, and Midlands rhyolites involving, respectively, 50, 20–30, and 10% equilibrium melting of eclogite or garnet amphibolite (of Mafic Formation tholeiite composition). The low K₂O, Rb, and Sr contents of Mafic Formation tholeiites suggest that they were derived from an upper mantle source as depleted in these elements as the oceanic upper mantle is today.A plate tectonic model is proposed for the Bulawayan Group in which the Mafic Formation is derived from a depleted lherzolite source beneath a spreading center in a marginalsea basin and the Maliyami and Felsic Formations and associated rhyolites are produced by partial melting of eclogite in a descending slab located west of the basin.     

Geochronology and geochemistry of Palaeozoic intrusive rocks in the Rockvale region,southern New England Orogen,New South Wales

Palaeozoic intrusive rocks of the New England Batholith from the Rockvale district in the southern New England Orogen form three distinct associations: (i) the Carboniferous Rockvale Adamellite, a member of the Hillgrove Suite of deformed S‐type granitoids; (ii) a small I‐type igneous complex on the northwestern margin of the Rockvale Adamellite: several members of this complex have similar chemical compositions to the most mafic members of the Moonbi Suite of New England Batholith I‐types; and (iii) a suite of dyke rocks ranging in composition from calc‐alkaline lamprophyre through hornblende and biotite porphyrite to aplite. Ion‐microprobe U‐Pb zircon analysis indicates intrusion of the Rockvale Adamellite at 303 ±3 Ma (weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age; 95% confidence limits). Preliminary investigation of zircon inheritance within the Rockvale Adamellite is consistent with chemical and isotopic indications of derivation of New England Batholith S‐type granitoids from a relatively juvenile protolith. Deformation of the Rockvale Adamellite occurred after complete crystallization of the pluton and prior to emplacement of dykes and I‐type intrusives. K‐Ar biotite and hornblende ages show broadly synchronous intrusion of I‐type magmas and lamprophyre dykes at ca 255 Ma, indicating that mantle magmatism associated with lamprophyres was contemporaneous with the crustal production of I‐type melts. Chemical similarities between the most mafic Moonbi Suite members and calc‐alkaline lamprophyres may also indicate a direct mantle contribution to some I‐type magmas.