A plume tectonics model for the Tharsis province, Mars

Morphological and structural data from the whole Tharsis province suggest that a number of shallow grabens radially oriented about the Tharsis bulge on Mars are underlain by dykes, which define giant radiating swarms similar to, e.g. the Mackenzie dyke swarm of the Canadian shield. Mechanisms for graben formation are proposed, and the depth, width, and height of the associated dykes are estimated. Structural mapping leads to define successive stages of dyke emplacement, and provide stress-trajectory maps that indicate a steady source of the regional stress during the whole history of the Tharsis province. A new tectonic model of Tharsis is presented, based on an analogy with dyke swarms on the Earth that form inside hot spots. This model successfully matches the following features: (1) the geometry of the South Tharsis Ridge Belt, which may have been a consequence of the compressional stress field at the boundary between the uplifted and non-uplifted areas in the upper part of the lithosphere at the onset of hot spot activity; (2) extensive lava flooding, interpreted as a consequence of the high thermal anomaly at the onset of plume (hot spot) activity; (3) wrinkle ridge geometry in the Tharsis hemisphere, the formation of which is interpreted as a consequence of buoyant subsidence of the brittle crust in response to the lava load; (4) Valles Marineris limited stretching by preliminary passive rifting, and uplift, viewed as a necessary consequence of adiabatic mantle decompression induced by stretching. The geometrical analysis of dyke swarms suggests the existence of a large, Tharsis-independent extensional state of stress during all the period of tectonic activity, in which the minimum compressive stress is roughly N---S oriented. Although magmatism must have loaded the lithosphere significantly after the plume activity ceased and be responsible for additional surface deformations, there is no requirement for further loading stress to explain surficial features. Comparison with succession of magmatic and tectonic events related to hot spots on the Earth suggests that the total time required to produce all the surface deformation observed in the Tharsis province over the last 3.8 Ga does probably not exceed 10 or 15 Ma.     

Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk,UK

Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north‐western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the ‘Sidestrand Unio‐bed’, here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio‐bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial – probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the ‘new glacial stratigraphy’ during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Swimming with…Devonian fish

Armoured jawless fish, or 'ostracoderms', lived 450–360 million years ago, and display unusual morphologies, unlike any modern fish group. Since they left no living descendants, their mode of swimming has, until recently, remained speculative, although this is a crucial question as the first true pectoral fins evolved within the 'ostracoderms'. The discovery of the oldest-known fish trails, from the Early Devonian (400 million year old) 'Lower Old Red Sandstone' of south-east Wales offers new insights into the swimming behaviour of these early fish, notably the osteostracan 'ostracoderms' (or cephalaspids), whose horseshoe-shaped head and paddle-shaped pectoral fins have remained a functional riddle.     

Benchmarking spatial joins a la carte

Spatial joins are join operations that involve spatial data types and operators. Spatial access methods are often used to speed up the computation of spatial joins. This paper addresses the issue of benchmarking spatial join operations. For this purpose, we first present a WWW-based benchmark generator to produce sets of rectangles. Using a Web browser, experimenters can specify the number of rectangles in a sample, as well as the statistical distributions of their sizes, shapes, and locations. Second, using the generator and a well-defined set of statistical models we define several tests to compare the performance of three spatial join algorithms: nested loop, scan-and-index, and synchronized tree traversal. We also added two real-life data sets from the Sequoia 2000 storage benchmark. Our results show that the relative performance of the different techniques mainly depends on the selectivity factor of the join predicate. All of the statistical models and algorithms are available on the Web, which allows for easy verification and modification of our experiments.     

Coupling mechanisms in double sandbar systems. Part 2: impact on alongshore variability of inner‐bar rip channels

Double sandbar systems are common morphological features along sandy, wave‐dominated, micro‐ to meso‐tidal coastlines. In the companion paper, we demonstrated how various alongshore inner‐bar rip‐channel patterns can develop through morphological coupling to an alongshore‐variable outer bar. The simulated coupling patterns are, however, scarcely observed in the field. Instead, inner‐bar rip channels more often possess remarkably smaller and more variable alongshore length scales, suggesting that coupling mechanisms do not play a substantial role in the overall double‐sandbar dynamics. Here we use a numerical model to show that the relative importance of self‐organization and morphological coupling changes in favour of the latter with an increase in waterdepth variability along the outer‐bar crest. Furthermore, we find that the typical alongshore variability in inner‐bar rip‐channel scale is indicative of a mixture of self‐organization and morphological coupling rather than self‐organization alone. Morphological coupling may thus be more important to understanding and predicting the evolution of inner‐bar rip channels than previously envisaged. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

Low‐energy helium ion irradiation‐induced amorphization and chemical changes in olivine: Insights for silicate dust evolution in the interstellar medium

Abstract— We present the results of irradiation experiments aimed at understanding the structural and chemical evolution of silicate grains in the interstellar medium. A series of He+ irradiation experiments have been performed on ultra‐thin olivine, (Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄, samples having a high surface/volume (S/V) ratio, comparable to the expected S/V ratio of interstellar dust. The energies and fluences of the helium ions used in this study have been chosen to simulate the irradiation of interstellar dust grains in supernovae shock waves. The samples were mainly studied using analytical transmission electron microscopy. Our results show that olivine is amorphized by low‐energy ion irradiation. Changes in composition are also observed. In particular, irradiation leads to a decrease of the atomic ratios O/Si and Mg/Si as determined by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by x‐ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. This chemical evolution is due to the differential sputtering of atoms near the surfaces. We also observe a reduction process resulting in the formation of metallic iron. The use of very thin samples emphasizes the role of surface/volume ratio and thus the importance of the particle size in the irradiation‐induced effects. These results allow us to account qualitatively for the observed properties of interstellar grains in different environments, that is, at different stages of their evolution: chemical and structural evolution in the interstellar medium, from olivine to pyroxene‐type and from crystalline to amorphous silicates, porosity of cometary grains as well as the formation of metallic inclusions in silicates.     

Integrating Indoor and Outdoor Spaces for Pedestrian Navigation Guidance: A Review

In light of the many improvements within 3D urban modeling and Location‐Based Services, this article provides a timely review of the state‐of‐the‐art on integrating indoor and outdoor spaces in pedestrian navigation guidance aids. With people moving seamlessly between buildings and surrounding areas, navigation guidance tools should extend from merely outdoor or indoor guidance, to provide support in the combined indoor‐outdoor context. This article first examines the challenges and complexities of integrating indoor and outdoor spaces into a single navigation system. Next, by using objective selection criteria, 36 relevant studies were withheld and further reviewed on their specific developments in data model requirements, and algorithmic and context support for integrated IO navigation systems. This review shows that the challenges of dealing with both indoor and outdoor space structures, while taking into account pedestrian's freer use of space, currently complicate the proposition of a unified IO space concept for navigation. However, there are some ongoing developments (e.g. context definitions, algorithmic extensions, increased data availability, growing awareness of pedestrians’ perception during wayfinding) that will help to bring outdoor and indoor spaces closer together in the realm of combined geospatial analysis.     

中国北方地区春季气溶胶光学特性地基遥感研究

基于中国北方地区地基太阳直接/散射辐射计观测,分析了2001年春季气溶胶光学厚度、尺度和吸收特性。沙尘期间,气溶胶光学厚度显著升高,而尺度上升,粗粒子浓度显著增加,大气气溶胶表现出中性或异常消光特征。除沙尘活动之外,中国华北地区人为排放也是导致气溶胶光学厚度偏高的一个重要原因。中国沙尘源区气溶胶单次散射反照率小于以往观测和模式结果。北京和香河两地气溶胶光学厚度、Angstrom指数和尺度谱基本相似,说明华北地区人为排放与沙尘活动类似,也表现出区域尺度的特点。由于沙尘气溶胶与人为排放气溶胶相比,折射指数实部偏大、虚部偏小,从而北京地区沙尘期间单次散射反照率明显大于非沙尘期间,特别是在近红外波段,说明沙尘活动不仅可以通过增加气溶胶光学厚度,同时也通过改变气溶胶物理、辐射特性来影响下游地区的气溶胶辐射强迫。     

Pilot Point Optimization of Mining Boundaries for Lateritic Metal Deposits: Finding the Trade-off Between Dilution and Ore Loss

Natural Resources Research - Geological contacts in lateritic metal deposits (footwall topographies) often delineate the orebody boundaries. Spatial variations seen in such contacts are frequently...