MONITORING POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN SEDIMENT POREWATER BY SPMD

A new mimic biological Semi-permeable Membrane Device (SPMD) introduced for sampling organic pollutants yielded satisfactory results when it was frrst used as a passive sampler to concentrate and determine 16 kinds of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by means of capillary GC on an HP 5890 GC-FID in coastal sediment perewater. The concentration of PAHs in sediment porewater for naphthalene(N), acenaphthlene(AL), acenaphthene (AE), fluorene (F), phenaphthene(P), anthracene(A), fluoranthene(FA), pyrene(Py), benzo[a]anthracene(B[a]A), chrysene(Chr), benzo[b] fluor- anthene(B[b]F), benzo[k]fluoranthene(B[k]F), benzo[a]pyrene(B[a]P),indeno[1,2,3,-cd]-Pyrene(I[123]P), dibenz[a,h]anthracene(D[ab]A) and benzo[g,h,i] perylene(B[ghi]P) were:50.36, under detection limits(UD), 18.19, 8.41, 8.40, 1.44, UD, 8.01, 524.15, 168.47, 50.13,123.66, 63.48, 27.40, 82.04 and 58,81 ng/L, respectively.     

Short- and long-term sediment transport in western Bohai Bay and coastal areas

Sediment cores (∼40–100 cm) were collected at 12 locations in the western Bohai Bay, the Haihe River estuary, the Yongding River estuary and the Tianjin Harbor, China, during 24–26 July 2007, and analyzed for ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb activities. Due to localized hydrodynamic patterns and frequent disturbance from dredging activities, steady-state sedimentation features were not observed in this study. As demonstrated in the ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb profiles, the temporal and spatial variations of these radionuclides support a non-steady state depositional environment in the study area. By comparing ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb inventories in the sediments with those of the atmospheric source, we found that: 1) sediments dredged from the Tianjin Harbor or eroded from nearby estuarine and coastal areas are retained in the western Bohai Bay for relatively short intervals (several months), as reflected in the relatively high ⁷Be inventories in the western Bohai Bay; 2) over the long-term (years to decades), ²¹⁰Pb inventories in the sediments imply that there is a net on-shore transport of sediments, and the sediments are mass-balanced in the entire study area. Overall, our results suggest that the sediments are retained in the estuaries and the western Bohai Bay despite local variability in sediment dynamics and disturbance due to human activities.     

Multiwavelength Observations of an Eruptive Flare: Evidence for Blast Waves and Break-Out

Images of an east-limb flare on 3 November 2010 taken in the 131 Å channel of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory provide a convincing example of a long current sheet below an erupting plasmoid, as predicted by the standard magnetic reconnection model of eruptive flares. However, the 171 Å and 193 Å channel images hint at an alternative scenario. These images reveal that large-scale waves with velocity greater than 1000 km?s^?1 propagated alongside and ahead of the erupting plasmoid. Just south of the plasmoid, the waves coincided with type-II radio emission, and to the north, where the waves propagated along plume-like structures, there was increased decimetric emission. Initially, the cavity around the hot plasmoid expanded. Later, when the erupting plasmoid reached the height of an overlying arcade system, the plasmoid structure changed, and the lower parts of the cavity collapsed inwards. Hot loops appeared alongside and below the erupting plasmoid. We consider a scenario in which the fast waves and the type-II emission were a consequence of a flare blast wave, and the cavity collapse and the hot loops resulted from the break-out of the flux rope through an overlying coronal arcade.     

Anomalous magnetic viscosity in accretion disks with q-distributed plasmas

Based on the equations of the self-generated magnetic field in the q-distributed plasmas, the studies show that the magnetic field is modulationally unstable by the perturbation method and the equations have self-similar collapse solution. The anomalous magnetic viscosity of accretion disks generates from highly spatially intermittent flux of the self-generated magnetic field. In addition, the anomalous viscosity coefficient is 8 orders more than the molecular viscosity and is modified by the adjustable index q, which may preferably explain the observations.     

Lunar atmospheric H2 detections by the LAMP UV spectrograph on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

We report on the detection of H₂ as seen in our analysis of twilight observations of the lunar atmosphere observed by the LAMP instrument aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Using a large amount of data collected on the lunar atmosphere between September 2009 and March 2013, we have detected and identified, the presence of H₂ in the native lunar atmosphere, for the first time. We derive a surface density for H₂ of 1.2 ± 0.4 × 10³ cm⁻³ at 120 K. This is about 10 times smaller than originally predicted, and several times smaller than previous upper limits from the Apollo era data.     

Hubble observations of Jupiter’s north–south conjugate ultraviolet aurora

Comparisons of the northern and southern far ultraviolet (UV) auroral emissions of Jupiter from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) or any other ultraviolet imager have mostly been made so far on a statistical basis or were not obtained with high sensitivity and resolution. Such observations are important to discriminate between different mechanisms responsible for the electron acceleration of the different components of the aurora such as the satellite footprints, the «main oval» or the polar emissions. The field of view of the ACS and STIS cameras on board HST is not wide enough to provide images of the full jovian disk. We thus compare the morphology of the north and south aurora observed 55 min apart and we point out similarities and differences. On one occasion HST pointed successively the two polar regions and auroral images were seen separated by only 3 min. This makes it possible to compare the emission structure and the emitted FUV power of corresponding regions. We find that most morphological features identified in one hemisphere have a conjugate counterpart in the other hemisphere. However, the power associated with conjugate regions of the main oval, diffuse or discrete equatoward emission observed quasi-simultaneously may be different in the two hemispheres. It is not directly nor inversely proportional to the strength of the B-field as one might expect for diffuse precipitation or field-aligned acceleration with equal ionospheric electron density in both hemispheres. Finally, the lack of symmetry of some polar emissions suggests that some of them could be located on open magnetic field lines.     

Evidence for silicate dissolution on Mars from the Nakhla meteorite

Veins containing carbonates, hydrous silicates, and sulfates that occur within and between grains of augite and olivine in the Nakhla meteorite are good evidence for the former presence of liquid water in the Martian crust. Aqueous solutions gained access to grain interiors via narrow fractures, and those fractures within olivine whose walls were oriented close to (001) were preferentially widened by etching along [001]. This orientation selective dissolution may have been due to the presence within olivine of shock‐formed [001](100) and [001]{110} screw dislocations. The duration of etching is likely to have been brief, possibly less than a year, and the solutions responsible were sufficiently cool and reducing that laihunite did not form and Fe liberated from the olivine was not immediately oxidized. The pores within olivine were mineralized in sequence by siderite, nanocrystalline smectite, a Fe‐Mg phyllosilicate, and then gypsum, whereas only the smectite occurs within augite. The nanocrystalline smectite was deposited as submicrometer thick layers on etched vein walls, and solution compositions varied substantially between and sometimes during precipitation of each layer. Together with microcrystalline gypsum the Fe‐Mg phyllosilicate crystallized as water briefly returned to some of the veins following desiccation fracturing of the smectite. These results show that etching of olivine enhanced the porosity and permeability of the nakhlite parent rock and that dissolution and secondary mineralization took place within the same near‐static aqueous system.     

Petrography,mineral chemistry,and crystallization history of olivine‐phyric shergottite NWA 6234: A new melt composition

Knowledge of Martian igneous and mantle compositions is crucial for understanding Mars' mantle evolution, including early differentiation, mantle convection, and the chemical alteration at the surface. Primitive magmas provide the most direct information about their mantle source regions, but most Martian meteorites either contain cumulate olivine or crystallized from fractionated melts. The new Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 6234 is an olivine‐phyric shergottite. Its most magnesian olivine cores (Fo₇₈) are in Mg‐Fe equilibrium with a magma of the bulk rock composition, suggesting that it represents a melt composition. Thermochemical calculations show that NWA 6234 not only represents a melt composition but is a primitive melt derived from an approximately Fo₈₀ mantle. Thus, NWA 6234 is similar to NWA 5789 and Y 980459 in the sense that all three are olivine‐phyric shergottites and represent primitive magma compositions. However, NWA 6234 is of special significance because it represents the first olivine‐phyric shergottite from a primitive ferroan magma. On the basis of Al/Ti ratio of pyroxenes in NWA 6234, the minor components in olivine and merrillite, and phosphorus zoning of olivine, we infer that the rock crystallized completely at pressures consistent with conditions in Mars' upper crust. The textural intergrowths of the two phosphates (merrillite and apatite) indicate that at a very last stage of crystallization, merrillite reacted with an OH‐Cl‐F‐rich melt to form apatite. As this meteorite crystallized completely at depth and never erupted, it is likely that its apatite compositions represent snapshots of the volatile ratios of the source region without being affected by degassing processes, which contain high OH‐F content.     

Heavily‐hydrated lithic clasts in CH chondrites and the related,metal‐rich chondrites Queen Alexandra Range 94411 and Hammadah al Hamra 237

Abstract— Fine‐grained, heavily‐hydrated lithic clasts in the metal‐rich (CB) chondrites Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94411 and Hammadah al Hamra 237 and CH chondrites, such as Patuxent Range (PAT) 91546 and Allan Hills (ALH) 85085, are mineralogically similar suggesting genetic relationship between these meteorites. These clasts contain no anhydrous silicates and consist of framboidal and platelet magnetite, prismatic sulfides (pentlandite and pyrrhotite), and Fe‐Mn‐Mg‐bearing Ca‐carbonates set in a phyllosilicate‐rich matrix. Two types of phyllosilicates were identified: serpentine, with basal spacing of ?0.73 nm, and saponite, with basal spacings of about 1.1–1.2 nm. Chondrules and FeNi‐metal grains in CB and CH chondrites are believed to have formed at high temperature (>1300 K) by condensation in a solar nebula region that experienced complete vaporization. The absence of aqueous alteration of chondrules and metal grains in CB and CH chondrites indicates that the clasts experienced hydration in an asteroidal setting prior to incorporation into the CH and CB parent bodies. The hydrated clasts were either incorporated during regolith gardening or accreted together with chondrules and FeNi‐metal grains after these high‐temperature components had been transported from their hot formation region to a much colder region of the solar nebula.