Noble gases in fossil micrometeorites and meteorites from 470 Myr old sediments from southern Sweden,and new evidence for the L‐chondrite parent body breakup event

Abstract— We present noble gas analyses of sediment‐dispersed extraterrestrial chromite grains recovered from ?470 Myr old sediments from two quarries (Hällekis and Thorsberg) and of relict chromites in a coeval fossil meteorite from the Gullhögen quarry, all located in southern Sweden. Both the sediment‐dispersed grains and the meteorite Gullhögen 001 were generated in the L‐chondrite parent body breakup about 470 Myr ago, which was also the event responsible for the abundant fossil meteorites previously found in the Thorsberg quarry. Trapped solar noble gases in the sediment‐dispersed chromite grains have partly been retained during ?470 Myr of terrestrial residence and despite harsh chemical treatment in the laboratory. This shows that chromite is highly retentive for solar noble gases. The solar noble gases imply that a sizeable fraction of the sediment‐dispersed chromite grains are micrometeorites or fragments thereof rather than remnants of larger meteorites. The grains in the oldest sediment beds were rapidly delivered to Earth likely by direct injection into an orbital resonance in the inner asteroid belt, whereas grains in younger sediments arrived by orbital decay due to Poynting‐Robertson (P‐R) drag. The fossil meteorite Gullhögen 001 has a low cosmic‐ray exposure age of ?0.9 Myr, based on new He and Ne production rates in chromite determined experimentally. This age is comparable to the ages of the fossil meteorites from Thorsberg, providing additional evidence for very rapid transfer times of material after the L‐chondrite parent body breakup.     

Geochemical Sourcing of Flint Artifacts from Western Belgium and the German Rhineland: Testing Hypotheses on Gravettian Period Mobility and Raw Material Economy

Identifying the geological and geographical origin of lithic raw materials is critical to effectively address prehistoric forager raw material economies and mobility strategies. Currently, Paleolithic archaeology in Belgium lacks a systematic sourcing strategy to effectively substantiate detailed interpretations of prehistoric hunter‐gatherer behavioral change across time and space. This pilot study evaluates the potential to “fingerprint” flint from the Mons Basin, western Belgium, using the laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) technique and a multivariate statistical analysis of 87 geological samples and 39 Gravettian period chipped stone artifacts. We reappraise two hypotheses raised by previous scholars based on visual raw material identification: (1) the Gravettian occupants of Maisières‐Canal supplied themselves with “black flint” from one single source; (2) the sites Rhens and Koblenz‐Metternich yielded artifacts indicative of long‐distance transfer of western Belgian flint into the German Rhineland, ca. 260 km from the primary source area. Our results demonstrate the validity of LA‐ICP‐MS data with flint and compositional data analysis for fingerprinting discrete geological formations from the Mons Basin. We suggest multiple source provisioning for Maisières‐Canal. Geochemical characterization of other potential flint sources is required to validate the long‐distance transfer hypothesis of western Belgian “black flint” into the German Rhineland.     

Improved antenna phase center models for GLONASS

Thanks to the increasing number of active GLONASS satellites and the increasing number of multi-GNSS tracking stations in the network of the International GNSS Service (IGS), the quality of the GLONASS orbits has become significantly better over the last few years. By the end of 2008, the orbit RMS error had reached a level of 3–4 cm. Nevertheless, the strategy to process GLONASS observations still has deficiencies: one simplification, as applied within the IGS today, is the use of phase center models for receiver antennas for the GLONASS observations, which were derived from GPS measurements only, by ignoring the different frequency range. Geo++ GmbH calibrates GNSS receiver antennas using a robot in the field. This procedure yields now separate corrections for the receiver antenna phase centers for each navigation satellite system, provided its constellation is sufficiently populated. With a limited set of GLONASS calibrations, it is possible to assess the impact of GNSS-specific receiver antenna corrections that are ignored within the IGS so far. The antenna phase center model for the GLONASS satellites was derived in early 2006, when the multi-GNSS tracking network of the IGS was much sparser than it is today. Furthermore, many satellites of the constellation at that time have in the meantime been replaced by the latest generation of GLONASS-M satellites. For that reason, this paper also provides an update and extension of the presently used correction tables for the GLONASS satellite antenna phase centers for the current constellation of GLONASS satellites. The updated GLONASS antenna phase center model helps to improve the orbit quality.     

He and Ne in individual chromite grains from the regolith breccia Ghubara (L5): Exploring the history of the L chondrite parent body regolith

We analyzed He and Ne in chromite grains from the regolith breccia Ghubara (L5), to compare it with He and Ne in sediment‐dispersed extraterrestrial chromite (SEC) grains from mid‐Ordovician sediments. These SEC grains arrived on Earth as micrometeorites in the aftermath of the L chondrite parent body (LCPB) breakup event, 470 Ma ago. A significant fraction of them show prolonged exposure to galactic cosmic rays for up to several 10 Ma. The majority of the cosmogenic noble gases in these grains were probably acquired in the regolith of the LCPB (Meier et al. 2010 ). Ghubara, an L chondritic regolith breccia with an Ar‐Ar shock age of 470 Ma, is a sample of that regolith. We find cosmic‐ray exposure ages of up to several 10 Ma in some Ghubara chromite grains, confirming for the first time that individual chromite grains with such high exposure ages indeed existed in the LCPB regolith, and that the >10 Ma cosmic‐ray exposure ages found in recent micrometeorites are thus not necessarily indicative of an origin in the Kuiper Belt. Some Ghubara chromite grains show much lower concentrations of cosmogenic He and Ne, indicating that the 4π (last‐stage) exposure age of the Ghubara meteoroid lasted only 4–6 Ma. This exposure age is considerably shorter than the 15–20 Ma suggested before from bulk analyses, indicating that bulk samples have seen regolith pre‐exposure as well. The shorter last‐stage exposure age probably links Ghubara to a small peak of ⁴⁰Ar‐poor L5 chondrites of the same exposure age. Furthermore, and quite unexpectedly, we find a Ne component similar to presolar Ne‐HL in the chromite grains, perhaps indicating that some presolar Ne can be preserved even in meteorites of petrologic type 5.     

Petrographic classification of Middle Ordovician fossil meteorites from Sweden

Abstract— The maximum diameter of chromite (FeCr₂O₄) grains within L chondrites reflects the petrographic type of the sample. On the basis of our measurements of nine recent L chondrites, L3 chromite D_max = 34–50 μm, L4 = 87–150 μm, L5 = 76–158 μm, and L6 = 253–638 μm. This variation reflects the crystallization of the chromite grains during parent body thermal metamorphism. We use this calibration to classify six fossil meteorites from the Middle Ordovician in Sweden as type 3 (or 4) to 6. The high flux of L chondrites at 470 Ma contained a range of petrographic types and may have had a higher proportion of lower petrographic type meteorites than are found in recent L chondrite falls. The fossil meteorites have in places preserved recognizable chondrule textures, including porphyritic olivine, barred olivine, and radiating pyroxene. A large relict clast and fusion crust have also been tentatively identified in one fossil meteorite. Apart from chromite, all of the original meteorite minerals have been replaced by carbonate (and sheet silicate and sulfate) during diagenesis within the limestone host. The preservation of chondrule definition has allowed us to measure the mean diameters of relict chondrules. The range (0.4–0.6 mm) is consistent with measurements made in the same way on recent L chondrites.     

Strontium isotope zoning in garnet: implications for metamorphic matrix equilibration,geochronology and phase equilibrium modelling

In principle, garnet growth rates may be calculated from ⁸⁷Rb/⁸⁶Sr and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr measurements in garnet subsamples and the surrounding rock matrix. Because of low Rb/Sr, garnet should passively record the matrix decay of ⁸⁷Rb to ⁸⁷Sr as a progressive increase in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from core to rim. This concept was tested by collecting Rb‐Sr data for five garnet grains from four major orogenic belts: eastern Vermont (c. 380 Ma), western New Hampshire (c. 320 Ma), southern Chile (c. 75 Ma) and northwestern Italy (c. 35 Ma). Both normal Sr isotope zoning (increasing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from core to rim) and inverse Sr zoning (decreasing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from core to rim) were observed. Garnet and matrix isotope data commonly yielded grossly inaccurate model ages. Incomplete Rb and Sr equilibration among matrix minerals is invoked to explain the deviations between theoretical v. measured zoning patterns and the age disparities. Initially, the reactive matrix is dominated by rapidly equilibrating Rb‐rich mica, which imparts high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values in garnet cores. Progressive participation of slower equilibrating Sr‐rich plagioclase buffers or even reduces ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, possibly leading to flat or decreasing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from garnet cores to rims. Unusually high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in garnet in combination with bulk matrix compositions causes erroneously young apparent ages, so metamorphic ages, growth rates, and associated heating and loading rates are likely suspect. Although Rb‐Sr may be the most susceptible because of the profound disparities between mica and feldspar, zircon reactivity might influence the Lu‐Hf system by up to a few per cent. The Sm‐Nd system seems generally immune to these effects. Pseudosection analysis and conventional garnet geochronology, which presume complete matrix equilibration during metamorphism, may require modification to account for differences between whole‐rock v. reactive matrix compositions.     

A shear flow instability in cylindrical geometry

Conclusion The results show, that this model experiment is useful for studying the interaction between two parallel shear layers in a rotating system. The structures of the observed instabilities exhibit some similarities with the wake flow behind cylindrical obstacles. Additional investigations in analyzing the dynamical behaviour of the shear instabilities are necessary to get a deeper insight into the physical mechanism. Up to that it is an open question, whether the physical effects described by Meiburg (1987), play an important role in these shear layer instabilities.     

Optimal planning and operation of irrigation systems under water resource constraints in Oman considering climatic uncertainty

In this contribution, we introduce a stochastic framework for decision support for optimal planning and operation of water supply in irrigation. This consists of (1) a weather generator for simulating regional impacts of climate change on the basis of IPCC scenarios, (2) a tailor-made evolutionary optimization algorithm for optimal irrigation scheduling with limited water supply, (3) a mechanistic model for simulating water transport and crop growth in a sound manner, and (4) a kernel density estimator for estimating stochastic productivity, profit, and demand functions by a nonparametric method. As a result of several simulation/optimization runs within the framework, we present stochastic crop-water production functions (SCWPF) for different crops which can be used as a basic tool for assessing the impact of climate variability on the risk for the potential yield for specific crops and specific agricultural areas. A case study for an agricultural area in the Al Batinah region of the Sultanate of Oman is used to illustrate these methodologies. In addition, microeconomic impacts of climate change and the vulnerability of the agro-ecological system are discussed.     

Development of a long-term wellbore sealing concept based on numerical simulations and in situ-testing in the Altmark natural gas field

This paper presents an innovative well abandonment concept developed for the long-term containment of CO₂ in depleted Rotliegend gas reservoirs. The new concept aims at amending the conventional standard well abandonment procedure, taking advantage of the natural creeping ability of the thick, homogeneous Zechstein rock salt formation located around 3,000?m in depth (Altmark area) and consists of four main sealing units: (1) a standard sealing element with cement from the reservoir to the impermeable caprock, (2) a salt plug created in the formerly reamed section of casing within the plastic Zechstein (Upper Permian) rock salt formation, (3) two bridge plugs at the bottom and top of the salt plug and (4) a standard sealing element with cement from the top bridge plug until the ground surface. This site-specific study mainly lays emphasis on the development and field testing of the naturally created salt plug, as a key component of the long-term wellbore sealing concept. Comprehensive numerical simulations conducted prior to and during the field test in 2010 and 2011 successfully predicted the evolution of convergence using downhole measurement data. Preliminary results comprise (1) proven convergence of the rock salt formation, (2) a successful coring and (3) restored integrity of Zechstein salt formation, as proven by the formation integrity test. Based on these results, the new long-term sealing concept has been successfully tested at the Altmark natural gas field and successful application of the concept on other sites with similar geological conditions is foreseen to be likely.