The organic composition of Comet C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) revealed through infrared spectroscopy

We investigated the parent volatile composition of the Oort cloud Comet C/2000 WM₁ (LINEAR) on 23-25 November 2001, using the Near Infrared Echelle Spectrograph on the Keck II telescope. Flux-calibrated spectra, absolute production rates, and mixing ratios are presented for H₂O, HCN, CH₄, C₂H₂, C₂H₆, H₂CO, CH₃OH and CO. Compared with “organics-normal” comets, WM₁ is moderately depleted in HCN, CH₄ and CH₃OH, and is even more depleted in C₂H₂ and CO. Its composition is thus intermediate to comets that are severely depleted in their organic volatile composition and those that exhibit “normal” organic volatile abundances. We argue that WM₁ may have formed closer to the young Sun than “organics-normal” comets, but at greater distance than the severely depleted comets, before its ejection to the Oort cloud. The mixing ratios of the above-listed organic volatiles agree day-by-day for 23-25 November 2001. Thus, there is no evidence of macroscopic heterogeneity in chemistry of this comet’s nucleus at the achieved measurement accuracy. As the first comet to show moderate organic depletion in parent volatiles, WM₁ represents an important addition to the emerging taxonomic classification based on chemical composition.     

Use of cyanobacteria for in-situ resource use in space applications

The regolith of other planetary bodies, such as the Moon and Mars, is rich in inorganic elements that could potentially be exploited for space applications. Lithotrophic microorganisms that are capable of utilising rocks as a growth substrate, and facilitate the extraction of elements, are ideal candidates for in-situ resource use. Of particular interest are the cyanobacteria, which have been suggested for applications, such as oxygen, fuel and biomass production, nutrient acquisition, and feedstock provisions. In this study, Gloeocapsa strain OU_20, isolated from a rock-dwelling community exposed to low Earth orbit; Leptolyngbya strain OU_13 and Phormidium strain OU_10, both isolated from a rock-dwelling community exposed to Mars simulated conditions; Chroococcidiopsis 029; Arthrospira platensis; Synechococcus elongatus; and Anabaena cylindrica, were examined as potential organisms for space in-situ resource use. Volcanic rocks, including basalt (low in SiO₂) analogous to martian and lunar basalt, rhyolite (high in SiO₂), and anorthosite analogous to lunar regolith were used as growth substrates. The growth rate and rock dissolution were significantly lower with rhyolite demonstrating the importance of silica content in defining the potential for in-situ resource use. Biological weathering resulted in the release of bio-essential elements from the rock matrix, highlighting the potential of cyanobacteria for applications such as bio-mining and nutrient acquisition, on other planets. A. cylindrica produced the maximum biomass with the three rock-types and the optimal value was obtained with the basalt. Exposure experiments demonstrated that A. cylindrica, Chroococcidiopsis 029, Gloeocapsa strain OU_20, Phormidium strain OU_10, and Leptolyngbya strain OU_13 were able to survive 28 days of exposure to desiccation and Mars simulated conditions, which is beneficial in case of system malfunction and for storage. The results from this study indicate that cyanobacteria can potentially be used for in-situ planetary resource acquisition.     

Dual-polarized ratio algorithm for retrieving Arctic sea ice concentration from passive microwave brightness temperature

We present a new algorithm for retrieving sea ice concentration from the AMSR-E data, the dual-polarized ratio (DPR) algorithm. The DPR algorithm is developed using vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures at the same channel of 36.5 GHz. It depends on the ratio of dual-polarized emissivity, α, which is determined empirically at about 0.92 by remotely sensed brightness temperature in winter and used for the other seasons as well. The ice concentration retrieved by the DPR is compared with those by the NT2 and ABA algorithms. Since the main difference among these algorithms takes place in marginal ice zones, 17 marginal ice zones are chosen. The retrieved ice concentrations in these zones are examined by the ice concentration obtained by the MODIS data. The mean error, root-mean-square error and mean absolute error of the DPR algorithm are relatively better than those from the other two algorithms. The results of this study illustrate that the DPR algorithm is a more accurate algorithm for retrieving sea ice concentration from the AMSR-E brightness temperature, and can be used for operational purposes.     

Freshwater Contributions and Nitrogen Sources in a South Texas Estuarine Ecosystem: a Time-Integrated Perspective from Stable Isotopic Ratios in the Eastern Oyster (<Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Crassostrea virginica</Emphasis>)

Freshwater inflows to Texas estuaries vary widely due to regional climate fluctuations and are being substantially altered by human activities. The natural abundance stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in oyster adductor muscle were used to acquire a time-integrated view of freshwater and nitrogen contributions to the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve in South Texas. The study objective was to determine the influence of inputs from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, which deliver approximately 1.6 km³ of water to the mid-Texas coastal region annually. A transect of sampling stations extending from the head of San Antonio Bay (northeast of the Reserve boundary) to the Aransas Pass ship channel (roughly 70 km to the southwest) was visited multiple times between 2009 and 2011. Carbon isotopic values increased from approximately ?25 to ?17‰ while δ¹⁵N values decreased from approximately +16 to +10‰ between the bay and ship channel. This range of carbon isotope values translates into time-integrated freshwater fractions as high as 0.8 (1 = 100% fresh) at the most inland sampling station to freshwater fractions around zero approaching the Gulf of Mexico. Contributions from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers to waters of the reserve vary between wet and dry years, but overall, the data suggest that these rivers are persistent and substantial sources of fresh water and nitrogen to the reserve. This study emphasizes the importance of connectivity and lateral exchanges among bays/lagoons when considering potential sources of fresh water and nitrogen that control ecosystem structure and function.     

Correction to: The enhanced element enrichment in the supercritical states of granite–pegmatite systems

Acta Geochimica - In the original publication, there are some missing data in Table&nbsp;1 and incorrect data in Table&nbsp;2.     

Correlation of late Holocene terrestrial and marine tephra markers, north Iceland: implications for reservoir age changes

The tephrochronology of the last 3000 years has been investigated in soil sections in north Iceland and in a marine sediment core from the north Icelandic shelf, 50 km offshore. Tephra markers, identified with major element geochemical analysis of volcanic glass shards, serve to correlate the marine and terrestrial records. Hekla 3, the largest Holocene tephra marker from the volcano Hekla, in south Iceland, dated to 2980 years BP, is used as the basal unit in the tephra stratigraphy. AMS ¹⁴C dating of molluscs in the sediment core shows variable deviation from the tephrochronological age model, indicating that the reservoir age of the seawater mass at the coring site has varied with time. A standard marine reservoir correction of 400 ¹⁴C years appears to be reasonable at the present day in the coastal and shelf waters around Iceland, which are dominated by the Irminger Current. However, values over 500 years are observed during the last 3000 years. We suggest that the intervals with increased and variable marine reservoir correction reflect incursions of Arctic water masses derived from the East Greenland Current to the area north of Iceland.     

The Sinusoidal Projection: A New Importance in Relation to Global Image Data

The reprojection of image data causes the loss or duplication of original pixel values. This research investigated the feasibility of using the sinusoidal projection for global image database construction. Specifically, reprojection accuracies were tested with geographic latitude and longitude coordinates, and the Hammer‐Aitoff, Eckert IV, Mollweide, and sinusoidal projections. Reprojections between these five global projections and the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection and referencing system were performed using fifty‐four sample datasets. A statistical analysis of categorical accuracy, a measure describing the omission of pixel values during reprojection, was conducted. Geographic coordinates and the sinusoidal projection both showed very high accuracy rates (100.0 percent and 99.5 percent respectively) when sample datasets were reprojected from UTM. The geographic coordinates, however, showed very low accuracy (65.3 percent) when sample datasets were reprojected to the UTM projection, while the sinusoidal projection showed the highest accuracy (98.4 percent). The results strongly suggest that the sinusoidal projection is very accurate and efficient for building global image databases.     

Grain-size sensitive deformation of a stretched conglomerate from Plymouth, Vermont

The finite strain of clasts (maximum aspect ratio varying from 2 to 40) in a deformed conglomerate from Dry Hill, Plymouth, Vermont, correlates inversely with the average grain size (300-150 μm) in the clast, suggesting that the operative deformation mechanism was grain-size sensitive. In a general way, the average quartz grain size appeared to be smaller in those clasts with higher volume of minerals other than quartz. Dislocation densities varied by as much as a factor of 10 from grain to grain within a clast, but the average dislocation density was relatively constant from clast to clast. If grain-size sensitivity of strength is accepted as a working hypothesis, other elements of the microstructure, such as grain flattening, grain morphology, and dislocation structure can be reconciled as happening either through a late, low strain, high stress pulse—if the current palaeostress indicators are correct to within a factor of 10 or as happening concurrently with the grain-size sensitive mechanism if the current palaeostress estimates are in error. The evidence from this study agrees with several previously published suggestions that grain-size sensitive deformation occurs in the crust for quartzose rocks with grain size of 100 to 300 μm at temperatures of 350 to 420°C.     

SiSSi and SiOSi bonds in molecules and solids: A comparison

Ab initio STO-3G molecular orbital calculations completed for various silicon sulfide molecules have reproduced bridging bond length and angle variations of molecular and solid state thiosilicates. Calculated potential energy curves for SiSSi and SiOSi bonds conform with the narrow range of angles (106°–115°) observed for thiosilicates and the wide range (120°–180°) observed for silicates. In addition, the limited range of angles of the SiSSi bond agrees with the limited range of topologies and configurations exhibited by molecular and solid thiosilicates as compared to the wider range of angles, topologies and configurations exhibited by siloxanes and silicates. Quadratic stretching and bending force constants calculated for the silicon sulfide molecules agree with experimental values. The close correspondence of bond length and angle variations in molecular and solid thiosilicate systems indicates that the local bonding forces in both systems are practically the same notwithstanding the long range forces of the solid.