Evidence for ocean water invasion into the Chicxulub crater at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary

Abstract— The possibility of ocean water invasion into the Chicxulub crater following the impact at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary was investigated based on examination of an impactite between approximately 794.63 and 894.94 m in the Yaxcopoil‐1 (Yax‐1) core. The presence of cross lamination in the uppermost part of the impactite suggests the influence of an ocean current at least during the sedimentation of this interval. Abundant occurrence of nannofossils of late Campanian to early Maastrichtian age in the matrices of samples from the upper part of the impactite suggests that the carbonate sediments deposited on the inner rim margin and outside the crater were eroded and transported into the crater most likely by ocean water that invaded the crater after its formation. The maximum grain size of limestone lithics and vesicular melt fragments, and grain and bulk chemical compositions show a cyclic variation in the upper part of the impactite. The upward fining grain size and the absence of erosional contact at the base of each cycle suggest that the sediments were derived from resuspension of units elsewhere in the crater, most likely by high energy currents association with ocean water invasion.     

Global mapping of the degree of space weathering on asteroid 25143 Itokawa by Hayabusa/AMICA observations

Abstract— We obtained color images of near‐Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa by the Hayabusa multiband imaging camera to characterize the regional color properties. Images were obtained for the whole disk from the gate position (GP) and home position (HP) at a spatial resolution of 0.8–3.7 m/pixel. Whole‐disk spectra are adjusted to the telescopic data obtained by the University of Hawai'i's 88‐inch telescope using the Eight Color Asteroid Survey (ECAS) system. The disk‐resolved measurements show large variations in the three visible channels. We present a map of an index related to the degree of space weathering, which has been newly developed based on laboratory measurements. We find large variations in the degree of space weathering on Itokawa. Fresh materials are observed in regions of steep slopes and craters, whereas mature materials are ubiquitously distributed. This result suggests that pristine ordinary chondrite‐like materials have been exposed through weathered layers by excavation. By also examining close‐up images obtained during touchdown rehearsal, we find that most rocks in Itokawa's rough terrains are weathered. Instead of a regolith blanket, the surface of this small asteroid is covered with weathered rocks and gravels.     

Soft X-Ray and White-Light Coronal Observations of the Post-Flare Arch on 2 November 1991

A giant post-flare arch observed on 2-3 November 1991 was analyzed using the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) on board Yohkoh and the Mark III (MK3) K-coronameter at the High Altitude Observatory/Mauna Loa Solar Observatory. The rising arch was observed in both soft X-ray and K-corona observations. The estimated rising speed from the MK3 observation was approximately 4 km s^-1. A V-shaped depression area was observed on the south side of the giant arch. Change in the K-corona observations was faint while the arch was rising. According to the solar wind observations by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Interplanetary Cometary Explorer, this giant arch event may have been associated with an interplanetary shock.     

Influence ofNoctiluca's predation on theAcartia population in Ise Bay,central Japan

The influence ofNoctiluca's predation on theAcartia population in Ise Bay was examined by taking samples at 27 stations once a month from May to December, 1974.The copepod eggs were found inNoctiluca mainly in May and June. Considering from various spawning types of copepods, the eggs were presumed to beAcartia, the most numerous species of all copepods in the bay.Noctiluca was dominant plankton in May and June whenAcartia was abundantly distributed.Acartia eggs were found in 33.2–39.3% of individuals ofNoctiluca in May and June.Noctiluca was more frequently observed to contain one egg ofAcartia per individual. It was suggested that 55.0 eggs perAcartia female per day were eaten by theNoctiluca population in May wherease 3.5 eggs in June. It was deduced that 74% of the eggs produced byAcartia was preyed on byNoctiluca (about 5% in June). The predation byNoctiluca as well as that by the sand-eel must influence greatly to the production ofAcartia in the bay.     

Petrology and shock history of the first depleted-like poikilitic shergottite Asuka 12325

Asuka (A) 12325 is the first poikilitic shergottite having a depleted pattern in light rare earth elements (REE). Compared with known poikilitic shergottites, A 12325 has smaller but more abundant pyroxene oikocrysts with remarkable Fe-rich pigeonite rims, indicating that A 12325 cooled relatively faster at a shallower part of the crust. The redox condition (logfO₂ = IW + 0.6-IW + 1.7) and Fe-rich chemical compositions of each mineral in A 12325 are close to enriched shergottites. The intermediate shergottites could not form by a simple mixing between parent magmas of A 12325 and enriched shergottites. Although A 12325 contains various high-pressure minerals such as majorite and ringwoodite, plagioclase is only partly maskelynitized. Therefore, the maximum shock pressure may be within 17–22 GPa. Thermal conduction and ringwoodite growth calculation around a shock vein revealed that the shock dwell time of A 12325 is at least 40 ms. The weaker shock pressure and longer shock dwell time in A 12325 may be attained by an impact event similar to those of nakhlites and Northwest Africa (NWA) 8159. Such a weak shock ejection event may be as common on Mars as a severe shock event recorded in shergottites. Alteration of sulfide observed in A 12325 may imply the presence of magmatic fluid in its reservoir on Mars. A 12325 expands a chemical variety of Martian rocks and has a unique shock history among poikilitic shergottites while A 12325 also implies that poikilitic shergottites are common rocks on Mars regardless of their sources.     

High-rate precise point positioning (PPP) to measure seismic wave motions: an experimental comparison of GPS PPP with inertial measurement units

High-rate GPS has been widely used to construct displacement waveforms and to invert for source parameters of earthquakes. Almost all works on internal and external evaluation of high-rate GPS accuracy are based on GPS relative positioning. We build an experimental platform to externally evaluate the accuracy of 50-Hz PPP displacement waveforms. Since the shake table allows motion in any of six degrees of freedom, we install an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to measure the attitude of the platform and transform the IMU displacements into the GPS coordinate system. The experimental results have shown that high-rate PPP can produce absolute horizontal displacement waveforms at the accuracy of 2–4 mm and absolute vertical displacement waveforms at the sub-centimeter level of accuracy within a short period of time. The significance of the experiments indicates that high-rate PPP is capable of detecting absolute seismic displacement waveforms at the same high accuracy as GPS relative positioning techniques, but requires no fixed datum station. We have also found a small scaling error of IMU and a small time offset of misalignment between high-rate PPP and IMU displacement waveforms by comparing the amplitudes of and cross-correlating both the displacement waveforms.     

Diurnal Cycle of Sound Scatterers and Measurements of Turbidity Using ADCP in Beppu Bay

From September 20 to 22 in 1994, the vertical profiles of echo intensity and three-component velocities were measured with a bottom-mounted 300 kHz broadband acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) in Beppu Bay in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. A very strong thermocline was observed from 50 to 60 m. A pronounced diurnal cycle of backscatter strength (BS) was found above the thermocline. However, it was not found under the thermocline where there was a lack of dissolved oxygen. We suggest that the diurnal cycle of BS is caused by the vertical migration of zooplankton. The downward and upward migration occurred in early morning and late afternoon, respectively. The migration speeds estimated from BS isopleth displacements were about 1 cm s^–1. Further, the contribution of turbidity (Tur) to BS was examined by separating out the effect of migrating zooplankton. There was a significant correlation between BS and turbidity under the thermocline. The maximum contributions of the Tur, migrating zooplankton and non-migrating plankton on BS were estimated at 3, 12, 25 dB, respectively. These data suggest that when using an ADCP to estimate Tur, it is very important to consider carefully the backscatter signal from zooplankton.     

Magnetic detection of heated soils at paleolithic sites in Japan

We present a methodological approach to detect heated soil on ancient sites, using magnetic measurements. The method is based on changes in magnetic signals of soil by heating. The following three types of soil were used for testing the method: silty soil (SS), weathered volcanic ash (WVA, = loam) and fairly fresh volcanic ash (VA) called Odori tephra. On heating above 250–600°C, the magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization intensity increased for the SS and WVA samples, reflecting chemical alteration of magnetic minerals (from goethites to magnetites through hematites). The VA sample showed no susceptibility change suggesting the absence of goethites within it. On heating below 250°C, only the intensities of all the samples increased. This is possibly due to acquisition of thermal remanent magnetization. The largest change of the magnetic signals was identified for the SS sample and the smallest one was seen for the VA sample. Therefore, the in situ susceptibility measurement, which is the nondestructive and indirect method, seems to be effective to detect heated soil for sites of aqueous deposits as the SS. On the other hand, for sites of aeolian deposits as the WVA (loam) and VA, the intensity measurement of collected soils seems to be the most reliable method to detect evidence of heating. The degree of the magnetic stability (coercivity) against progressive alternating-field demagnetization was also an important parameter, indicating whether the investigated soils were heated or unheated. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.