Evidence for enhanced hydration on the northern flank of Olympus Mons, Mars

In this paper we report about a small region on the northern scarp of Olympus Mons showing an increase of the 3 μm hydration band in the OMEGA spectra, together with low superficial temperatures. Although water ice clouds can occurs on the flank of big martian volcanoes, radiative transfer modeling indicates that atmospheric water ice alone cannot justify the shape of the observed band. A fit of the 1.9–3 μm absorption features is obtained by hypothesizing that the study region consists of a mixture of dust and water ice covered by an optically thin (τ=0.08 at 3 μm) layer of dust. Thermal modeling also suggests that water ice in this region may be stable during most of the martian year due to the saturation of the atmosphere. If water ice is responsible for the observed spectral behavior, it might consist of a number of ice or snow patches possibly deposited in small depressions.     

Filamentary structures in planetary nebulae

We have studied small-scale, filamentary features in 14 planetary nebulae and found that some structures are recurrent and shaped like the letters V and Y, with the apex or stem pointing toward the central parts of the nebula. Two such filaments containing dust, one in NGC 3132 and one in NGC 7293, were investigated in more detail. The mass and density of the filaments were obtained from extinction measurements, and their physical properties were derived. We propose that the structures are confined by magnetic fields, and derive magnetic field strengths of about 10⁻⁸ T, in line with earlier estimates. We also estimate the magnitude of the electric currents that we expect are generated in these dynamic systems. We propose a theory where the magnetic fields control the sculpting and evolution of small-scale filaments. This theory demonstrates how the substructures may form magnetized flux ropes that are twisted around each other, in the shape of double helices. Similar structures, and with similar origin, are found in many other astrophysical environments.     

A parallel global-implicit 2-D solver for reactive transport problems in porous media based on a reduction scheme and its application to the MoMaS benchmark problem

In this article, an approach for the efficient numerical solution of multi-species reactive transport problems in porous media is described. The objective of this approach is to reformulate the given system of partial and ordinary differential equations (PDEs, ODEs) and algebraic equations (AEs), describing local equilibrium, in such a way that the couplings and nonlinearities are concentrated in a rather small number of equations, leading to the decoupling of some linear partial differential equations from the nonlinear system. Thus, the system is handled in the spirit of a global implicit approach (one step method) avoiding operator splitting techniques, solved by Newton’s method as the basic algorithmic ingredient. The reduction of the problem size helps to limit the large computational costs of numerical simulations of such problems. If the model contains equilibrium precipitation-dissolution reactions of minerals, then these are considered as complementarity conditions and rewritten as semismooth equations, and the whole nonlinear system is solved by the semismooth Newton method.     

The Pleistocene evolution of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Prydz bay region: stable isotopic evidence from ODP Site 1167

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 188, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica is part of a larger initiative to explore the Cenozoic history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet through direct drilling and sampling of the continental margins. In this paper, we present stable isotopic results from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1167 located on the Prydz Channel Trough Mouth Fan (TMF), the first Antarctic TMF to be drilled. The foraminifer-based δ¹⁸O record is interpreted along with sedimentary and downhole logging evidence to reconstruct the Quaternary glacial history of Prydz Bay and the adjacent Lambert Glacier Amery Ice Shelf System (LGAISS). We report an electron spin resonance age date of 36.9±3.3 ka at 0.45 m below sea floor and correlate suspected glacial–interglacial cycles with the global isotopic stratigraphy to improve the chronology for Site 1167. The δ¹⁸O record based on planktonic (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s.)) and limited benthic results (Globocassidulina crassa), indicates a trend of ice sheet expansion that was interrupted by a period of reduced ice volume and possibly warmer conditions during the early–mid-Pleistocene (0.9–1.38 Ma). An increase in δ¹⁸O values after 900 ka appears to coincide with the mid-Pleistocene climate transition and the expansion of the northern hemisphere ice sheet. The δ¹⁸O record in the upper 50 m of the stratigraphic section indicates as few as three glacial–interglacial cycles, tentatively assigned as marine isotopic stages (MIS) 16–21, are preserved since the Brunhes/Matuyama paleomagnetic reversal (780 ka). This suggests that there is a large unconformity near the top of the section and/or that there may have been few extreme advances of the ice sheet since the mid-Pleistocene climate transition resulting in lowered sedimentation rates on the Prydz Channel TMF. The stable isotopic record from Site 1167 is one of the few available from the area south of the Antarctic Polar Front that has been linked with the global isotopic stratigraphy. Our results suggest the potential for the recovery of useful stable isotopic records in other TMFs.     

Petroleum geoscience in Norden - exploration, production and organization

Offshore exploration in Norway and Denmark-in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea-has involved drilling about 850 wildcat wells, resulting in about 300 oil and gas finds, of which 84 are fields with production. The recoverable resources of all these finds total about 65 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Almost all these hydrocarbons come from a Jurassic source and the main reservoirs and traps are Jurassic sandstones in fault blocks and Paleocene sandstones or Cretaceous chalks in gentle domes. The article describes four major fields-Ekofisk, Gullfaks, Ormen Lange and SnФhvitto illustrate some of the many challenges in developing and producing the hydrocarbons.
Elsewhere in Norden, there has been much less exploration. Drilling results have mostly been negative in mainland Sweden, onshore Denmark, onshore Svalbard and on- and offshore West Greenland. Minor oil finds have been made in Palaeozoic rocks in the Baltic Sea. The first wells have recently been drilled off the Faroe Islands, resulting in one discovery. No drilling has taken place on- or offshore East Greenland.
As a result of the hydrocarbon activities in Norway and Denmark, petroleum geoscience there has flourished, with 2000 geoscientists currently employed in the industry, many technical innovations made, a wealth of publically available information and a great increase in the understanding of the geology.     

Putative Meteoritic Craters in Río Cuarto (Central Argentina) Interpreted as Eolian Structures

Ten oblong aligned depressions in the Río Cuarto area (provincia de Córdoba, Argentina) were supposed to be the result of very-low-angle Holocene meteoroid impacts. However, we consider that authors that studied the structures did not demonstrated their extraterrestrial origin. We suggest that an eolian origin for the structures of Río Cuarto is more likely. Actually, these landforms integrate large systems of similar deflation/accumulation geoforms aligned according to predominant winds during different periods.     

Towards a 4D topographic view of the Norwegian sea margin

The present-day topography/bathymetry of the Norwegian mainland and passive margin is a product of complex interactions between large-scale tectonomagmatic and climatic processes that can be traced back in time to the Late Silurian Caledonian Orogeny. The isostatic balance of the crust and lithosphere was clearly influenced by orogenic thickening during the Caledonian Orogeny, but was soon affected by post-orogenic collapse including overprinting of the mountain root, and was subsequently affected by a number of discrete extensional events eventually leading to continental break-up in Early Eocene time. In the mid-Jurassic the land areas experienced deep erosion in the warm and humid climate, forming a regional paleic surface. Rift episodes in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, with differential uplift along major fault zones, led to more pronounced topographic contrasts during the Cretaceous, and thick sequences of clastic sediments accumulated in the subsiding basins on the shelf. Following renewed extension in the Late Cretaceous, a new paleic surface developed in the Paleocene. Following break-up the margin has largely subsided thermally, but several Cenozoic shortening events have generated positive contraction structures. On the western side of the on-shore drainage divide, deeper erosion took place along pre-existing weakness zones, creating the template of the present day valleys and fjords. In the Neogene the mainland and large portions of the Barents Sea were uplifted. It appears that this uplift permitted ice caps to nucleate and accumulate during the Late Pliocene northern hemisphere climatic deterioration. The Late Pliocene to Pleistocene glacial erosion caused huge sediment aprons to be shed on to the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea margins. Upon removal of the ice load the landmass adjusted isostatically, and this still continues today.     

Marginal formation of De Geer moraines and their implications to the dynamics of grounding‐line recession

De Geer moraine ridges occur in abundance in the coastal zone of northern Sweden, preferentially in areas with proglacial water depths in excess of 150 m at deglaciation. From detailed sedimentological and structural investigations in machine‐dug trenches across De Geer ridges it is concluded that the moraines formed due to subglacial sediment advection to the ice margin during temporary halts in grounding‐line retreat, forming gradually thickening sediment wedges. The proximal part of the moraines were built up in submarginal position as stacked sequences of deforming bed diamictons, intercalated with glaciofluvial canal‐infill sediments, whereas the distal parts were built up from the grounding line by prograding sediment gravity‐flow deposits, distally interfingering with glaciolacustrine sediments. The rapid grounding‐line retreat (ca. 400 m yr^?1) was driven by rapid calving, in turn enhanced by fast iceflow and marginal thinning of ice due to deforming bed conditions. The spatial distribution of the moraine ridges indicates stepwise retreat of the grounding line. It is suggested that this is due to slab and flake calving of the ice cliff above the waterline, forming a gradually widening subaqueous ice ledge which eventually breaks off to a new grounding line, followed by regained sediment delivery and ridge build‐up. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

INTEGRAL observations of TeV plerions

Amongst the sources seen in very high gamma-rays several are associated with Pulsar Wind Nebulae (“TeV plerions”). The study of hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray emission is providing an important insight into the energetic particle population present in these objects. The unpulsed emission from pulsar/pulsar wind nebula systems in the energy range accessible to the INTEGRAL satellite is mainly synchrotron emission from energetic and fast cooling electrons close to their acceleration site. Our analyses of public INTEGRAL data of known TeV plerions detected by ground based Cherenkov telescopes indicate a deeper link between these TeV plerions and INTEGRAL detected pulsar wind nebulae. The newly discovered TeV plerion in the northern wing of the Kookaburra region (G313.3+0.6 powered by the middle aged PSR J1420-6048) is found to have a previously unknown INTEGRAL counterpart which is besides the Vela pulsar the only middle aged pulsar detected with INTEGRAL. We do not find an INTEGRAL counterpart of the TeV plerion associated with the X-ray PWN “Rabbit” G313.3+0.1 which is possibly powered by a young pulsar.