Cosmic‐ray exposure age and preatmospheric size of the Bunburra Rockhole achondrite

Abstract– Bunburra Rockhole is the first meteorite fall photographed and recovered by the Desert Fireball Network in Australia. It is classified as an ungrouped achondrite similar in mineralogical and chemical composition to eucrites, but it has a distinct oxygen isotope composition. The question is if achondrites like Bunburra Rockhole originate from the same parent body as the howardite‐eucrite‐diogenite (HED) meteorites or from several separate, differentiated parent bodies. To address this question, we measured cosmogenic radionuclides and noble gases in the Bunburra Rockhole achondrite. The short‐lived radionuclides ²²Na and ⁵⁴Mn confirm that Bunburra Rockhole is a recent fall. The concentrations of ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al and ³⁶Cl as well as the ²²Ne/²¹Ne ratio indicate that Bunburra Rockhole was a relatively small object (R approximately 15 cm) in space, consistent with the photographic fireball observations. The cosmogenic ³⁸Ar concentration yields a cosmic‐ray exposure (CRE) age of 22 ± 3 Myr, whereas ²¹Ne and ³He yield approximately 30% and approximately 60% lower ages, respectively, due to loss of cosmogenic He and Ne, mainly from plagioclase. With a CRE age of 22 Myr, Bunburra Rockhole is the first anomalous eucrite that overlaps with the main CRE peak of the HED meteorites. The radiogenic K‐Ar age of 4.1 Gyr is consistent with the U‐Pb age, while the young U,Th‐He age of approximately 1.4 Gyr indicates that Bunburra Rockhole lost radiogenic ⁴He more recently.     

Meteoritic and bedrock constraints on the glacial history of Frontier Mountain in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

In 2001, a small H4 chondrite, Frontier Mountain (FRO) 01149, was found on a glacially eroded surface near the top of Frontier Mountain, Antarctica, about 600 m above the present ice level. The metal and sulphides are almost completely oxidized due to terrestrial weathering. We used a chemical leaching procedure to remove weathering products, which contained atmospheric ¹⁰Be and ³⁶Cl in a ratio similar to that found in Antarctic ice. The FRO 01149 meteorite has a terrestrial age of 3.0 ± 0.3 Myr based on the concentrations of the cosmogenic radionuclides ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al and ³⁶Cl. This age implies that FRO 01149 is the oldest stony meteorite (fossil meteorites excluded) discovered on Earth. The noble gas cosmic ray exposure age of FRO 01149 is ~ 30 Myr. The meteorite thus belongs to the 33 Myr exposure age peak of H-chondrites.The bedrock surface on which FRO 01149 was found has wet-based glacial erosional features recording a former high-stand of the East Antarctic ice sheet. This ice sheet evidently overrode the highest peaks (> 2800 m a.s.l.) of the inland sector of the Transantarctic Mountains in northern Victoria Land. We argue that FRO 01149 was a local fall and that its survival on a glacially eroded bedrock surface constrains the age of the last overriding event to be older than ~ 3 Myr. The concentrations of in-situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al and ²¹Ne in a glacially eroded bedrock sample taken from near the summit of Frontier Mountain yield a surface exposure age of 4.4 Myr and indicate that the bedrock was covered by several meters of snow. The exposure age is also consistent with bedrock exposure ages of other summit plateaus in northern Victoria Land.     

Composition of the first bulk melt sample from a volcanic region of Mars: Queen Alexandra Range 94201

Abstract— Antarctic meteorite Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201 is a 12 g basaltic achondrite dominated by plagioclase (now maskelynite) and zoned low‐ and high‐Ca pyroxene. Petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic analyses indicate that it is related to previously described basaltic and Iherzolitic shergottites, which are a group of igneous meteorites that are believed to be from Mars. Unlike previous shergottites, however, QUE 94201 represents a bulk melt rather than a cumulate fraction, meaning it can be used to infer magmatic source regions and the compositions of other melts on Mars. This melt has much more Fe and P than basaltic melts produced on Earth and formed at a much lower oxygen fugacity. This has altered the crystallization sequence of the melt, removing olivine from the liquidus to produce a plagioclase and 2‐pyroxene assemblage. If the high‐phosphorus and low‐oxygen fugacity conditions represented by QUE 94201 are common in magmatic regions of Mars, then olivine may be rare in marrian basalts. No solar cosmic ray effects were seen in the concentrations of ¹⁰Be, ²⁶A1, and ³⁶C1 with depth in the meteorite, implying at least 3 cm of ablation during entry to Earth. Significant excesses of neutron capture noble gas isotopes (^80,82Kr and ^128,131Xe) suggest that the QUE 94201 sample came from a depth >22 cm in a meteoroid of at least that radius. The meteorite also has very low ²¹Ne/²²Ne, which would often be interpreted to mean little ablation (contradicting above evidence) but, in this case, appears to reflect a very low abundance of Mg (the principal target element for Ne) in the meteorite, consistent with our bulk chemical analyses. The meteorite has a terrestrial ³⁶C1 age of 0.29 ± 0.05 Myr and a ¹⁰Be exposure age of 2.6 ± 0.5 Myr in a 47π geometry, implying an ejection age of 2.9 ± 0.5 Myr.     

洪湖人类活动的沉积物记录

对洪湖150cm长的沉积物样芯进行了TOC、TN、TP、Ca、硫化物测试和AMS定年,在此基础上对洪湖地区人类活动的湖泊沉积响应进行了讨论.TOC和TN的含量呈现相似的变化规律,它们在样芯顶部和底部都出现显著峰值,而中部变化平坦,表示1500年来洪湖环境变演的三个显著不同的阶段;TP从过去到现在总体呈上升的趋势,但上升的幅度不大,这与磷在沉积物中复杂的循环机制有关;Ca的剖面变化显示为底部含量高上部低,其变化情况较复杂;硫化物在顶部15cm的含量比背景值略高,可能指示了上个世纪人类对铁矿和矿物燃料开采强度的增大.     

Unusually low seismic activity in the focal region of the great Kanto earthquake of 1923

The epicenters of earthquakes which occurred in the vicinity of Tokyo during the period 1926–1967 have been plotted by an IBM 360/40 computer at the Earthquake Prediction Observation Center. As a result, a seismically quiescent area is found to the south of Tokyo. The area coincides with the shallower part of the focal plane of the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 as obtained from the analyses of seismological and geodetic data. In historical times, many large earthquakes having a magnitude of 7.0 or greater took place in this area. If it is assumed that the strain energy has been constantly accumulated in this area, an energy potentially equivalent to that of a large earthquake of which the magnitude exceeds 7.7 seems to be stored in the crust there.     

Development of polygon shift method for generating 3D view map of buildings

The authors have developed a new method termed “Polygon Shift Method” that enables the generation of a 3D view map of a city with tall buildings with a simplified procedure to shift a polygon and check the overlap between the original and shifted polygon. Boolean operations are applied with a newly defined “Fore or Aft” side and a “Depth Distance” that functionally express the visibility criteria or hidden point processing in the 3D view. Since the polygon shift method can be operated with a raster-based structure, the computer processing for generation of a 3D view map of buildings with shadow is simple and efficient.     

东海岛屿风尘地层中火山玻璃的发现及环境意义

近年来通过对东海诸岛屿第四纪风尘沉积的研究表明 ,东海嵊泗列岛上广泛接受晚更新世以来的风尘堆积[1] 。嵊山岛是浙江沿海舟山群岛最外缘的岛屿之一 ,位于 30°4 5′N、12 2°5 0′E的东海海域 ;岛屿面积约 4 2 5km2 ,该岛屿主要由花岗岩基岩组成 ,岛屿最高点海拔达 10 0多米。岛屿大部分地区基岩直接出露地表 ,厚达数米的风尘黄土直接覆盖在基岩之上。该岛风尘堆积地层较为典型 ,保存较为完好 ,风尘地层记录诸多古气候、古环境变化的信息 ,是研究中国东部第四纪风尘沉积、第四纪环境演变和全球变化区域响应的良好载体。通过对岛屿风尘…     

Assessment of the effects of vegetation on soil erosion risk by water: a case of study of the Batta watershed in Tunisia

Soil erosion by water is a serious environmental problem which affects particularly the agriculture of developing countries. Due to specific factors, such as high rainfall intensity, steep slopes and vegetation scarcity, Tunisia is prone to soil erosion. Taking this into account, the main objective of this study was to estimate the soil erosion risk in the Batta watershed in Tunisia using qualitative and quantitative erosion model with remote sensing data and geographic information system (GIS). Moreover, a developed method that deals with evaluating the impact of vegetation on soil erosion by water is also applied. This method used multi-temporal satellite images with seasonal variability and the transformed soil adjusted vegetation index (TSAVI) which is appropriate in arid and semi-arid areas. For both erosion models, the results show that a large area of the Batta watershed is seriously affected by erosion. This potentially high risk is due especially to severe slopes, poor vegetation coverage and high soil erodibility in this watershed. Furthermore, the use of multi-temporal satellite images and vegetation index show that the effect of vegetation is a significant factor to protect the soil against erosion. The risk is especially serious in the summer season, but it decreases with the growth of vegetation cover in spring. Erosion model, combined with a GIS and remote sensing, is an adequate method to evaluate the soil erosion risk by water. The findings can be used by decision makers as a guideline to plan appropriate strategies for soil and water conservation practices.     

Quantitative mapping of a precursory seismic quiescence to the Izu–Oshima 1990 (M6.5) earthquake, Japan

A highly significant seismic quiescence with a standard deviate Z = 10.1. corresponding to a 99 per cent confidence level, lasted from 1987.7 up to the 1990 February 20 Izu-Oshima M 6.5 earthquake. The quiescent volume had dimensions of 30 km N-S and 10 km E-W and was centred below 14 km depth. Within the recently upgraded seismograph network of the Earthquake Research Institute (ERI), this main shock was the only one with a magnitude M > 5.8 in the upper 30 km of the crust for which the precursory quiescence hypothesis could be tested. Within a radius of 50 km, and during the observation period (1983.5–1995.9), there were no other 1.5 yr or longer periods of quiescence that were rated Z > 6.5 in the declustered earthquake catalogue, except one that was associated with volcanic activity. The total space-time covered by alarms, including the volcanic one, was less than 1 per cent at the Z = 6.5 level. The rarity of highly significant episodes of quiescence, and the correlation in space and time suggest that a precursory seismic quiescence started 2.5 yr before the Izu-Oshima 1990 earthquake in its source volume and to the north of it, and that it can be recognized with an alarm level of Z = 6.0, generating no false alarms. During the 1.5 yr quiescence window, only 10 earthquakes occurred in the quiet volume, whereas 50 events were expected based on the rate seen at other times. In randomly selected volumes containing 50, 100 and 200 events, the anomaly scored Z = 6.1 to 10.1. On the basis of the data from May 1983 to 1995, there is no highly significant quiescence currently present in the Izu-Oshima area.