Production of a molybdophore during metal-targeted dissolution of silicates by soil bacteria

Although many bioessential metals are scarce in natural water and rock systems, microbial secretion of high-affinity ligands for metal extraction from solid phases has only been documented for Fe. However, we have discovered that Mo is extracted from a silicate by a high-affinity ligand (a possible “molybdophore”) secreted by an N₂-fixing soil bacterium. The putative molybdophore, aminochelin, is secreted as a siderophore under Fe-depleted conditions, but is also secreted under Fe-sufficient, Mo-depleted conditions. Presumably, molybdophore production facilitates uptake of Mo for use in Mo enzymes. In contrast, an Fe-requiring soil bacterium without a special Mo requirement only enhances the release of Fe from the silicate. Fractionation of Mo stable isotopes during uptake to cells may provide a “fingerprint” for the importance of chelating ligands in such systems. Many such metal-specific ligands secreted by prokaryotes for extraction of bioessential metals, their effects on Earth materials, and their possible utility in the recovery of economic metals remain to be discovered.     

Iodine-xenon analysis of Chainpur (LL3.4) chondrules

We present I-Xe analyses of ten chondrules from Chainpur LL3.4 by IR laser-stepped heating. Five chondrules provided isochrons of varying quality, giving a range of ages from 0.5 Ma before Shallowater to 17.8 after Shallowater. This confirms the extended range of Chainpur chondrule ages determined by previous data. We discuss evidence for fluid alteration, shock, and thermal events in explaining the chondrule ages and suggest that chondrule remelting events, presumably from bombardment of the parent body surface, are responsible for resetting the I-Xe chronometer. Previous data show a negative correlation between ¹³²Xe/¹²⁹Xe of the trapped Xe component and ¹²⁷I/¹²⁹I of an initial iodine component. This behaviour that requires the presence of a component with trapped ¹²⁹Xe/¹³²Xe lower than the planetary value has been cited as evidence for closed system evolution of the I-Xe system. We find no evidence of an unambiguous trapped component lower than planetary and no evidence of a negative correlation in our data. Therefore we suggest that open system behaviour more suitably explains the I-Xe systematics of Chainpur chondrules.     

Negative δO values in Allan Hills 84001 carbonate: Possible evidence for water precipitation on mars

The Martian meteorite ALH84001 contains ∼1% by weight of carbonate formed by secondary processes on the Martian surface or in the shallow subsurface. The major form of this carbonate is chemically and isotopically zoned rosettes which have been well documented elsewhere. This study concentrates upon carbonate regions ∼200 μm across which possess previously unobserved magnesium rich inner cores, interpreted here as rosette fragments, surrounded by a later stage cement containing rare Ca-rich carbonates (up to Ca₈₁Mg₀₇Fe₀₄Mn₀₇) intimately associated with feldspar. High spatial resolution ion probe analyses of Ca-rich carbonate surrounding rosette fragments have δ¹⁸O_V-SMOW values as low as −10‰. These values are not compatible with deposition from a global Martian atmosphere invoked to explain ALH84001 rosettes. The range of δ¹⁸O values are also incompatible with a fluid that has equilibrated with the Martian crust at high temperature or from remobilisation of carbonate of rosette isotopic composition. At Martian atmospheric temperatures, the small CO₂(gas)-CO₂(ice) fractionation makes meteoric CO₂ an unlikely source for −10‰ carbonates. In contrast, closed system Rayleigh fractionation of H₂O can generate δ¹⁸O_H2O −30‰, as observed at high latitudes on Earth. We suggest that atmospheric transport and precipitation of H₂O in a similar fashion to that on Earth provides a source of suitably ¹⁸O depleted water for generation of carbonate with δ¹⁸O_V-SMOW = −10‰.     

Stratigraphy of Pleistocene glaciations in the St Elias Mountains,southwest Yukon,Canada

At least five Middle to Late Pleistocene advances of the northern Cordilleran Ice Sheet are preserved at Silver Creek, on the northeastern edge of the St Elias Mountains in southwest Yukon, Canada. Silver Creek is located 100 km up‐ice of the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 McConnell glacial limit of the St Elias lobe. This site contains ~3 km of nearly continuous lateral exposure of glacial and non‐glacial sediments, including multiple tills separated by thick gravel, loess and tilted lake beds. Infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and AMS radiocarbon dating constrain the glacial deposits to MIS 2, 4, either MIS 6 or mid‐MIS 7, and two older Middle Pleistocene advances. This chronology and the tilt of the lake beds suggest Pleistocene uplift rates of up to 1.9 mm a^?1 along the Denali Fault since MIS 7. The non‐glacial sediment consists of sand, gravel, loess and organic beds from MIS 7, MIS 3 and the early Holocene. The MIS 3 deposits date to between 30–36 ¹⁴C ka BP, making Silver Creek one of the few well‐constrained MIS 3‐aged sites in Yukon. This confirms that ice receded close to modern limits in MIS 3. Pollen and macrofossil analyses show that a meadow‐tundra to steppe‐tundra mosaic with abundant herbs and forbs and few shrubs or trees, dominated the environment at this time. The stratigraphy at Silver Creek provides a palaeoclimatic record since at least MIS 8 and comprises the oldest direct record of Pleistocene glaciation in southwest Yukon.     

Hominins without fellow travellers? First appearances and inferred dispersals of Afro-Eurasian large-mammals in the Plio-Pleistocene

Discoveries of fossil Homo outside Africa predating 1.0 Ma have generated much discussion about hominin dispersal routes. However, tool-using bipeds were only one element of the inter-continental mammalian dispersals that occurred during the climatic changes of the Pliocene and Pleistocene. This paper will place hominin movements in the context of those of the wider mammalian fauna, which includes carnivores, bovids and non-human primates. The distribution of these different taxa suggests that species moved individually when the environmental conditions were right for them, rather than in multi-species waves of dispersal, and allows evaluation of the contextual evidence for the newly emerging ‘Out of Asia’ paradigm as well as the established ‘Out of Africa’ model.     

Are peatlands in different states with respect to their thermodynamic behaviour? A simple test of peatland energy and entropy budgets

Whilst all ecosystems must obey the second law of thermodynamics, these physical bounds and controls on ecosystem evolution and development are largely ignored across the ecohydrological literature. To unravel the importance of these underlying restraints on ecosystem form and function, and their power to inform our scientific understanding, we have calculated the entropy budget of a range of peat ecosystems. We hypothesize that less disturbed peatlands are ‘near equilibrium’ with respect to the second law of thermodynamics and thus respond to change by minimizing entropy production. This ‘near equilibrium’ state is best achieved by limiting evaporative losses. Alternatively, peatlands ‘far-from-equilibrium’ respond to a change in energy inputs by maximizing entropy production which is best achieved by increasing evapotranspiration. To test these alternatives this study examined the energy balance time series from seven peatlands across a disturbance gradient. We estimate the entropy budgets for each and determine how a change in net radiation (ΔR_n) was transferred to a change in latent heat flux (ΔλE). The study showed that: (i) The transfer of net radiation to latent heat differed significantly between peatlands. One group transferred up to 64% of the change in net radiation to a change in latent heat flux, while the second transferred as little as 27%. (ii) Sites that transferred the most energy to latent heat flux were those that produced the greatest entropy. The study shows that an ecosystem could be ‘near equilibrium’ rather than ‘far from equilibrium’.