Seismic effects from major basin formations on the moon and mercury

Grooved and hilly terrains occur at the antipode of major basins on the Moon (Imbrium, Orientale) and Mercury (Caloris). Such terrains may represent extensive landslides and surface disruption produced by impact-generatedP-waves and antipodal convergence of surface waves. Order-of-magnitude calculations for an Imbrium-size impact (10³⁴ erg) on the Moon indicateP-wave-induced surface displacements of 10 m at the basin antipode that would arrive prior to secondary ejecta. Comparable surface waves would arrive subsequent to secondary ejecta impacts beyond 10³ km and would increase in magnitude as they converge at the antipode. Other seismically induced surface features include: subdued, furrowed crater walls produced by landslides and concomitant secondary impacts; emplacement and leveling of light plains units owing to seismically induced ‘fluidization’ of slide material; knobby, pitted terrain around old basins from enhancement of seismic waves in ancient ejecta blankets; and perhaps the production and enhancement of deep-seated fractures that led to the concentration of farside lunar maria in the Apollo-Ingenii region.     

Encystment ofChattonella antiqua in laboratory cultures

Cysts ofChattonella antiqua (Raphidophyceae) were obtained in laboratory cultures for the first time. They were formed on the surface of glass coverslips added to both P- and N- depleted mediums. The yield was 50–250 cysts cm^–2. Crossing experiments showed the highest cyst production in mixed cultures, although cysts were observed in clonal cultures as well. Cysts had approximately double the DNA content of synchronously growing vegetative cells (G₁ phase). The encystment process was also monitored: Under P-depleted conditions, small cells were formed that fused to become a triangle-shaped cell which in turn changed into a cyst.These results strongly suggest that cysts are the products of fusion and are diploid. Small cells, triangle-shaped cells, and cysts are considered to be gametes, planozygotes, and hypnozygotes, respectively. Significant mortality was observed in laboratory cysts stored in the cold and dark for five months, although those remaining were capable of germination to reestablish a motile, vegetative population.     

Experimental peridotite–melt reaction at one atmosphere: a textural and chemical study

Sieve-textured clinopyroxene and spinel are common in mantle xenoliths and have been interpreted to be the result of partial melting, mantle metasomatism and host magma–xenolith reaction during transport. In this paper, we test the latter hypothesis with a series of reduced and oxidized experiments at 1,200 and 1,156°C at one atmosphere using a synthetic leucitite melt and discs of natural peridotite. Our results show that sieve texture development on clinopyroxene and spinel in mantle xenoliths is the result of a multistage reaction process. In the first step, orthopyroxene undergoes incongruent dissolution to produce a silica and alkali-rich melt together with olivine. As this melt migrates along grain boundaries it causes incongruent dissolution of clinopyroxene and spinel. The incongruent dissolution mechanism involves complete dissolution of the clinopyroxene or spinel followed by nucleation and growth of a secondary clinopyroxene or spinel once the reacting melt is saturated. The reaction of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel with infiltrated host magma results in a range of melt compositions that are very similar to those interpreted to be due to very small degrees of partial melting. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Cloud Creek structure,central Wyoming,USA: Impact origin confirmed

Abstract— The circular Cloud Creek structure in central Wyoming, USA is buried beneath ?1200 m of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and has a current diameter of ?7 km. The morphology/morphometry of the structure, as defined by borehole, seismic, and gravity data, is similar to that of other buried terrestrial complex impact structures in sedimentary target rocks, e.g., Red Wing Creek in North Dakota, USA. The structure has a fault‐bordered central peak with minimum diameter of ?1.4 km, composed predominantly of Paleozoic carbonates thickened by thrust faulting and brecciation, and is elevated some 520 m above equivalent strata beyond the outer rim of the structure. There is a ?1.6 km wide annular trough sloping away from the central peak (maximum structural relief, 300 m) and terminated by a detached, fault‐bounded, rim anticline. The youngest rocks within the structure are Late Triassic (Norian?) clastics and these are overlain unconformably by post‐impact Middle Jurassic (Bathonian?) sandstones and shales. Thus, the formation of the Cloud Creek structure is dated chronostratigraphicly as ?190 ± 20 Ma. Reported here for the first time are measurements of planar deformation features (PDFs) in shocked quartz grains in thin sections made from drill cuttings recovered in a borehole drilled at the southern perimeter of the central peak. Other, less definitive microstructures consistent with impact occur in samples collected from boreholes drilled into the central peak and rim anticline. The shock‐metamorphic evidence confirms an impact origin for the Cloud Creek structure.     

Phase relations inferred from field data for mn pyroxenes and pyroxenoids

Electron microprobe analysis of manganese silicates from Balmat, N.Y., has helped elucidate phase relations for Mn-bearing pyroxenes and pyroxenoids. A compilation of these data along with published and unpublished analyses for phases plotting on the CaSiO₃-MgSiO₃-MnSiO₃ and CaSiO₃-FeSiO₃-MnSiO₃ faces of the RSiO₃ tetrahedron has constrained the subsolidus phase relations. For the system CaSiO₃-FeSiO₃-MnSiO₃, the compositional gaps between bustamite/hedenbergite, bustamite/ rhodonite and rhodonite/pyroxmangite are constrained for middle-upper amphibolite facies conditions and extensive solid solutions limit possible three phase fields. For the CaSiO₃-MgSiO₃-MnSiO₃ system much less data are available but it is clear that the solid solutions are much more limited for the pyroxenoid structures and a continuum of compositions is inferred for clinopyroxenes from diopside to kanoite (MnMgSi₂O₆) for amphibolite facies conditions (T=650° C). At lower temperatures, Balmat kanoites are unstable and exsolve into C2/c calciumrich (Ca_0.68Mn_0.44Mg_0.88Si₂O₆) and C2/c calciumpoor (Ca_0.12Mn_1.02Mg_0.86Si₂O₆) phases. At temperatures of 300–400° C the calcium-poor phase subsequently has undergone a transformation to a P2₁/c structure; this exsolution-inversion relationship is analogous to that relating augites and pigeonites in the traditional pyroxene quadrilateral. Rhodonite coexisting with Mn-clinopyroxenes is compositionally restricted to Mn_0.75–0.95Mg_0.0–0.15Ca_0.05–0.13SiO₃. For the original pyroxene+rhodonite assemblage, the Mg and Ca contents of the rhodonite are fixed for a specific P (6kbars)-T (650° C)-X(H₂O)-X(CO₂) by the coexistence of talc+quartz and calcite+quartz respectively.Contribution No. 363, from the Mineralogical Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 48109, USA     

Source of sediments and metal fractionation in two Chinese estuarine marshes

The Changjiang and the Jiulong Estuaries, located in eastern and southeastern China, respectively, have different geomorphologic and tidal processes as well as anthropogenic development in their associated watersheds. Sediments in the Changjiang estuary mostly consist of SiO₂, CaO and MgO (mean percentages of 63.9, 4.34 and 2.35%), whereas sediments from the Jiulong estuary mostly consist of Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃ and organic matter (mean percentages 19.2, 6.82 and 4.14%). The Jiulong estuarine sediments contain more than twice the concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, than those from the Changjiang estuary. In the Jiulong estuary, these heavy metals are associated with carbonates and organic matter, whereas in the Changjiang estuary, they are associated with residual fractions or clay. Sediments from the Changjiang estuary, mostly sediments with little organic matter, do not efficiently sequester anthropogenic-derived trace metals. In contrast, sediments from the Jiulong estuary consist of a mixture of fluvial and marine matter which can sequester heavy metals contributed by larger landscapes with industrial and municipal wastewater.     

Paleoenvironmental implications of a late glacial insect assemblage from northwestern New York

The Winter Gulf site near North Collins, New York is a 0.8-m sequence of organic detritus dated at approximately 12,700 yr B.P. A 260-kg sample produced over 500 identified individuals representing five orders of insects. Three insect zones were recognized, the lowest representing an open mire with sparse numbers of carices and other sedges; aquatic beetles were rare, and no trees were in the vicinity of the sample site. The middle zone indicated an extensive marsh or moist meadow environment with spruce nearby. The upper zone represented a mixed riparian and spruce forest insect assemblage.The results of the Winter Gulf insect analyses support published hypotheses that the site was probably a protected embayment of early lake Warren. Although the flora at the site has been previously interpreted as representing parkland tundra, temperature analyses of the fauna indicate that the thermal conditions were much warmer than parkland tundra regions of North America today. These results have important significance for the region immediately south of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during this period of the Late Wisconsinan.     

Low salinity residual ballast discharge and exotic species introductions to the North American Great Lakes

Exotic species introductions to the North American Great Lakes have continued even though ballast water management strategies were implemented in the early 1990s. Overseas vessels that arrive with little or no exchangeable ballast on board have been suspected to be an important source for discharging low salinity ballast containing low salinity tolerant organisms in this region. Residual ballast averaged 18.1+/-13.4 per thousand salinity among 62 samples taken primarily from bottom tanks on 26 vessels that entered the Great Lakes in 1999 and 2000. Sampling of 2-4 tanks each on nine vessels indicated all carried at least one tank of residual ballast of 相似文献   

Groundwater-supported evapotranspiration within glaciated watersheds under conditions of climate change

This paper analyzes the effects of geology and geomorphology on surface-water/-groundwater interactions, evapotranspiration, and recharge under conditions of long-term climatic change. Our analysis uses hydrologic data from the glaciated Crow Wing watershed in central Minnesota, USA, combined with a hydrologic model of transient coupled unsaturated/saturated flow (HYDRAT2D). Analysis of historical water-table (1970–1993) and lake-level (1924–2002) records indicates that larger amplitude and longer period fluctuations occur within the upland portions of watersheds due to the response of the aquifer system to relatively short-term climatic fluctuations. Under drought conditions, lake and water-table levels fell by as much as 2–4 m in the uplands but by 1 m in the lowlands. The same pattern can be seen on millennial time scales. Analysis of Holocene lake-core records indicates that Moody Lake, located near the outlet of the Crow Wing watershed, fell by as much as 4 m between about 4400 and 7000 yr BP. During the same time, water levels in Lake Mina, located near the upland watershed divide, fell by about 15 m. Reconstructed Holocene climate as represented by HYDRAT2D gives somewhat larger drops (6 and 24 m for Moody Lake and Lake Mina, respectively). The discrepancy is probably due to the effect of three-dimensional flow. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to study how aquifer hydraulic conductivity and land-surface topography can influence water-table fluctuations, wetlands formation, and evapotranspiration. The models were run by recycling a wet year (1985, 87 cm annual precipitation) over a 10-year period followed by 20 years of drier and warmer climate (1976, 38 cm precipitation). Model results indicated that groundwater-supported evapotranspiration accounted for as much as 12% (10 cm) of evapotranspiration. The aquifers of highest hydraulic conductivity had the least amount of groundwater-supported evapotranspiration owing to a deep water table. Recharge was even more sensitive to aquifer hydraulic conductivity, especially in the lowland regions. These findings have important implications for paleoclimatic studies, because the hydrologic response of a surface-water body will vary across the watershed to a given climate signal.     

Aggregation Methodology for the Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal

This paper presents a methodology that intends to aggregate the results of a recent assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Arctic by the U.S. Geological Survey. The assessment occurred in 48 geologically defined regions called assessment units. The methodology includes using assessor specified pair-wise correlations as the basis to construct a correlation matrix. Sampling from this matrix generates more realistic uncertainty estimates of aggregated resources than if assumptions of total independence or total dependence are made. The latter two assumptions result in overly narrow or overly broad estimates. Aggregation results for resources in regions north of the Arctic Circle are presented.