Chondritic ingredients: I. Usual suspects and some oddballs in the Leoville CV3 meteorite

Abstract– Reduced CV3 chondrites are relatively pristine rocks and prime candidates for studies exploring processes that predated planet formation. We closely examined the petrographic features and trace elemental composition of different CV3 constituents in the accretionary breccia Leoville. The petrographic results are presented here. Our sample (2.2 cm²) is not brecciated. The main ingredient—about 65 area%—is fine‐ to coarse‐grained ferromagnesian type I chondrules. Minor constituents (in order of 2‐D abundance) include refractory inclusions, Al‐rich chondrules, and very fine‐crystalline clasts of moderately volatile composition. Type II chondrules and metal nuggets occur sporadically. The chondrule–matrix ratio is approximately 3:1. Medium‐ and coarse‐grained chondrules exhibit porphyritic textures, probably caused by incomplete melting, and frequent, partial or continuous, recrystallized dust rims. The fine‐grained population most likely represents randomly sectioned dust rims. The rim material and some of the medium‐grained objects are relatively troilite‐rich. Iron‐nickel metal is rare. In addition, almost all constituents show strikingly ragged or convoluted outlines. Only a few, rim‐less components exhibit smooth contours. Evidence for incomplete melting and the formation of recrystallized or igneous rims in carbonaceous chondrites is well established, suggesting that both processes were widespread events. The observed features in Leoville support this conclusion. In addition, our findings indicate that surface abrasion in a turbulent dust‐filled regime may have taken place after the consolidation of dust rims. Alternatively, the irregular, convoluted nature of at least the rimmed chondrules may have been inherent to the dust accretion event and was not erased by subsequent heating.     

Mothering urban space,governing migrant women: the construction of intersectional positions in area-based interventions in Berlin

In this paper, we investigate new ways of governing migrant populations in Germany brought forth by social policies on the local level of inner-city neighborhoods. In recent years, numerous initiatives on the local level have constituted the ‘migrant neighborhood’ as a site of governmental attention. One initiative that policymakers consider particularly innovative is the neighborhood mothers program in Berlin, a program that instructs migrant women as agents of neighborhood improvement and encourages them to establish peer-to-peer relations to other migrant women in order to pass on social norms. In the paper, we combine governmentality and intersectionality theory to critically examine the modes of behavior change promoted by the neighborhood mothers program and the political rationalities that are used to justify the governing of (and through) migrant women. We draw particular attention to the spatial dimensions of the neighborhood mothers program, to the ways in which it targets domestic and intimate spaces as sites of inspection and intervention and appoints migrant women as ‘door openers’ for entry of the state into the regulation of families and communities.     

Population structure,growth and production of a recent brachiopod from the Chilean fjord region

Magellania venosa, the largest recent brachiopod, occurs in clusters and banks in population densities of up to 416 ind m^?2 in Comau Fjord, Northern Chilean fjord region. Below 15 m, it co‐occurs with the mytilid Aulacomya atra and it dominates the benthic community below 20 m. To determine the question of why M. venosa is a successful competitor, the in situ growth rate of the brachiopod was studied and its overall growth performance compared with that of other brachiopods and mussels. The growth in length was measured between February 2011 and March 2012 after mechanical tagging and calcein staining. Settlement and juvenile growth were determined from recruitment tiles installed in 2009 and from subsequent photocensus. Growth of M. venosa is best described by the general von Bertalanffy growth function, with a maximum shell length (L_∞) of 71.53 mm and a Brody growth constant (K) of 0.336 year^?1. The overall growth performance (OGP index = 5.1) is the highest recorded for a rynchonelliform brachiopod and in the range of that for Mytilus chilensis (4.8–5.27), but lower than that of A. atra (5.74). The maximal individual production (P_Ind) is 0.29 g AFDM ind^?1 year^?1 at 42 mm shell length and annual production ranges from 1.28 to 89.25 g AFDM year^?1 m^?2 (1–57% of that of A. atra in the respective fjords). The high shell growth rate of M. venosa, together with its high overall growth performance may explain the locally high population density of this brachiopod in Comau Fjord. However, the production per biomass of the population (‐ratio) is low (0.535) and M. venosa may play only a minor role in the food chain. Settling dynamics indicates that M. venosa is a pioneer species with low juvenile mortality. The coexistence of the brachiopod and bivalve suggests that brachiopod survival is affected by neither the presence of potential brachiopod predators nor that of space competitors (i.e. mytilids).     

Real-time drilling mud gas monitoring for qualitative evaluation of hydrocarbon gas composition during deep sea drilling in the Nankai Trough Kumano Basin

Background

Riverine particles undergo a rapid transformation when they reach estuaries. The rapid succession of hydrodynamic and biogeochemical regimes forces the particles to flocculate, settle and enter the sediment pool. The rates and magnitudes of flocculation depend on the nature of the particles which are primarily affected by the types and quantities of organic matter (OM). Meanwhile, the OM characteristics vary widely between environments, as well as within a single environment due to seasonal climate and land use variability. We investigated the effect of the OM types and quantities through laboratory experiments using natural estuarine particles from the Mississippi Sound and Atchafalaya Bay as well as model mixtures of montmorillonite and organic molecules (i.e., biopolymers (guar/xanthan gums) and humic acid).

Results

Biopolymers promote flocculation but the magnitude depends on the types and quantities. Nonionic guar gum yields much larger flocs than anionic xanthan gum, while both of them exhibit a nonlinear behavior in which the flocculation is the most pronounced at the intermediate OM loading. Moreover, the effect of guar gum is independent of salinity whereas the effect of xanthan gum is pronounced at higher salinity. Meanwhile, humic acid does not affect flocculation at all salinity values tested in this study. These results are echoed in the laboratory manipulation of the natural estuarine particles. Flocculation of the humic acid-rich Mississippi Sound particles is unaffected by the OM, whereas that of biopolymer-rich Atchafalaya Bay particles is enhanced by the OM.

Conclusions

Flocculation is positively influenced by the presence of biopolymers that are produced as the result of marine primary production. Meanwhile, humic acid, which is abundant in the rivers that drain the agricultural soils of Southeastern United States, has little influence on flocculation. Thus, it is expected that humic acid-poor riverine particles (e.g., Mississippi River, and Atchafalaya River, to a lesser degree) may be prone to rapid flocculation and settling in the immediate vicinity of the river mouths when mixed with biopolymer-rich coastal waters. It is also expected that humic acid-rich riverine particles (e.g., Pearl River) may resist immediate flocculation and be transported further away from the river mouth.     

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.     

Food production and climate protection—What abandoned lands can do to preserve natural forests

Approaches to reconciling food production with climatic and environmental protection often require agricultural intensification. The production of more food per unit of agricultural land through “sustainable intensification” is intended to enable the protection of natural ecosystems elsewhere (land sparing). However, there are problems associated with agricultural intensification; such as soil erosion, eutrophication or pollution of water bodies with chemicals, landscape homogenization and loss of biodiversity; for which solutions have not yet been found. Reuse of abandoned agricultural lands – which are abundant throughout the world – to address the rising demand for food is a potentially important alternative, which up to now has been widely ignored. To test the power of this alternative, equilibrium economic land allocation to various land-use practices by risk-avoiding tropical farmers in Ecuador was simulated. The reestablishment of pastures on abandoned cattle lands lowered prices for pasture products, and also triggered conversion of existing pasture into cropland. The resulting land-use change increased total annual food production in a moderate scenario from the current level of 17.8–23.1 petacalories (10¹⁵ calories), which amounted to a production increase of 30%. At the same time, there was a 19% reduction in the amount of payments to farmers required to preserve tropical forests – one of the world's greatest terrestrial carbon stores.     

Spatio-temporal microseismicity clustering in the Cretan region

Spatio-temporal clustering of microseismicity in the central forearc of the Hellenic Subduction Zone in the area of Crete is investigated. Data for this study were gathered by temporary short period networks which were installed on the islands of Crete and Gavdos between 1996 and 2004. The similarity of waveforms is quantified systematically to identify clusters of microseismicity. Waveform similarities are calculated using an adaptive time window containing both the P- and S-wave onsets. The cluster detection is performed by applying a single linkage approach. Clusters are found in the interplate seismicity as well as in the intraplate seismicity of the continental crust in the region of the transtensional Ptolemy structure. The majority of the clusters are off the southern coast of Crete, in a region of elevated intraplate microseismic activity within the Aegean plate. Clusters in the Gavdos region are located at depths compatible with the plate interface while cluster activity in the region of the Ptolemy trench is distributed along a nearly vertical structure throughout the crust extending down to the plate interface. Most clusters show swarm-like behaviour with seismic activity confined to only a few hours or days, without a dominant earthquake and with a power law distribution of the interevent times.For the largest cluster, precise relocations of the events using travel time differences of P- and S-waves derived from waveform cross correlations reveal migration of the hypocenters. This cluster is located in the region of the Ptolemy trench and migration occurs along the strike of the trench at  500 m/day.Relocated hypocenters as well as subtle differences in the waveforms suggest an offset between the hypocenters and thus the activation of distinct patches on the rupture surface. The observed microseismicity patterns may be related to fluids being transported along the plate interface and escaping towards the surface in zones of crustal weakness (Ptolemy structure), triggering swarm-like cluster activity along its way.