Aqueous geochemistry on early Mars

A geochemical cycle model is presented for the interaction between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and regolith of Mars. It was developed to study how this interaction might have produced the present Martian environment from a primitive Martian environment much like that of the primitive Earth. The model is a simple system, consisting of an unweathered starting material (calcium-bearing and magnesium-bearing silicates), a CO2 atmosphere, an ocean of water in contact with both the atmosphere and the unweathering starting material, and both calcite and dolomite precipitates. Several interesting points arise from this model. A 1-bar CO2 atmosphere can be removed by carbonate precipitation alone in about half a billion years. This is roughly fifty times longer than earlier estimates, which were not based on time-varying models (Fanale et al., 1982; Carr, 1986; Pollack et al., 1987). One of the chief problems in Martian geology has been how to explain the large number and wide variety of surface features that were apparently formed by aqueous erosion. This longer atmospheric lifetime may be enough to explain the large number of channels seen on older Martian terrain. If the atmosphere started out with more than 1 bar of CO2, it would take correspondingly longer to remove it. If there should be no other means to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, this long time constant would indicate that the atmosphere could never have contained more than a few bars of CO2, or else there would still be remnants present today. The increase in alkalinity of the ocean as the atmosphere disappears, even without the effects of reduction in the amount of water available, indicates that evaporite deposits may have formed on Mars. If these deposits are still present, they may even yet contain some liquid water.     

Sedimentary environment dynamics and the formation of coal in the Pennsylvanian Variscan foreland in the Ruhr Basin (Germany, Western Europe)

During the Pennsylvanian, formation of coal was a phenomenon that was spread over many continents. It is the aim of this paper to illustrate factors that led to the formation of coal seams in paralic clastic sedimentary environments in the Ruhr Basin (German Variscan foreland) during the Pennsylvanian in terms of sequence stratigraphy and the structural evolution of the basin. Lithostratigraphic sections from exploration wells in the currently explored zone of the coal basin allowed the generation of volumetric lithofacies models, using geostastical methods. These models support the analysis of sedimentary facies and a sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the successions that are widely correlated throughout the basin. We then evaluate the relation of the sequence stratigraphic elements derived from the facies models with the abundance of coal seams.     

青藏高原若干地点的第四纪冰川年代学* ——深切怀念孙殿卿院士

青藏高原第四纪冰川时空演化问题广受关注。应用宇宙成因核素暴露年龄测定方法开展高原古冰川的年代学研究,对青藏高原聂拉木、唐古拉山、义敦海子山和折多山等4个地区的第四纪冰碛物进行了\{¹⁰ Be\},²⁶ Al和²¹ Ne暴露年龄测定,获得了青藏高原不同地点第四纪冰川发育的年代学数据,结果表明青藏高原出现了多期第四纪冰期,分别为YD事件、末次冰期晚阶段、末次冰期早阶段、倒数第2次冰期和倒数第3次冰期。     

Generation and migration of light hydrocarbons (C2C7) in sedimentary basins

Sixty-five samples from selected source bed-type shale sequences from three exploration wells were analysed for yield and detailed composition of light hydrocarbons(C₂C₇) by a new hydrogen stripping/capillary gas chromatographic technique. In spite of low maturation levels (0.35–0.55% vitrinite reflectance), significant generation of ethane and propane was recognized in a Jurassic source bed sequence bearing hydrogen-poor kerogens. Light hydrocarbon generation in another and mature Jurassic source rock sequence is controlled by kerogen quality. Associated with a change from hydrogen-poor to hydrogen-rich kerogens, yields of total and most individual hydrocarbons exhibit orders-of-magnitude increases. At the same time, iso/n-alkane ratios for butanes, pentanes and heptanes decrease significantly. A study of an interbedded marine/nonmarine coal-bearing sequence of Upper Carboniferous age from the Ruhr area, West Germany, revealed that a marine shale unit in comparison to the adjacent coal seam is more prolific in generating n-alkanes of increasing molecular size.A case history for migration of light hydrocarbons by means of diffusion through shales is presented. In two shallow core holes in Campanian/Maastrichtian shales in West Greenland, upward diffusion of ethane to pentane range hydrocarbons is an active process within the near-surface 3 m interval. Diffusive losses within this interval amount to 99.8% for propane, 85.6% for n-butane and 38.9% for n-pentane.     

A Low-Cost System to Remotely Measure Piezometric Head

Alow-cost rapid response system to remotely collect piezometric head data in compressible porous media has been constructed. The system is based on low-cost temperature compensated pressure transducers, standard low-cost CMOS logic devices, low-cost commercially available two-way radios and a portable microcomputer. The basic system operation involves encoding a pressure transducer output, which is then transmitted on command via two-way FM radios to a base station located up to one-half mile away. The base station includes a TRS-80 Model 100 microcomputer which controls the network of remote stations and decodes and stores the information. This information is partially processed in the microcomputer and may be readily transferred to a mainframe for further data analysis. The base station interrogates as many as 16 remote stations at a specified sampling rate. The versatility of the system also allows it to be used to operate any remote instrumentation system having a suitable voltage output.     

Composition of soluble organic matter in coals: relation to rank and liptinite fluorescence

Study of a series of twenty-six German high volatile bituminous B to low volatile bituminous coals of Upper Carboniferous age by recently refined analytical methods (‘flow-blending’ extraction, medium pressure liquid chromatography, HPLC, glass capillary gas chromatography and spectral fluorescence microscopy) reveals that yield and composition of soluble organic matter are strongly controlled by rank. In particular, the following points of inflection are noted in rank trends around 0.9% vitrinite reflectance: a maximum in yields of total soluble organic matter, aromatic hydrocarbons and n-alkanes; the most pronounced change in aromatic hydrocarbon composition; a trend reversal for pristane/ phytane ratios; a gradient change in the odd/even-predominance of long chain n-alkanes; appearance of a bimodal n-alkane distribution; and a sharp drop in concentration of individual n-, and isoprenoid alkanes. This discontinuity in rank trends around 0.9% Rm is interpreted to reflect a major change in reaction types, i.e. a shift from predominantly hydrocarbon generating to predominantly fragmentation reactions. Rank trends of maceral fluorescence exhibit the following pronounced changes over a similar but broader rank range: Different types of the maceral sporinite show a relatively abrupt shift of the fluorescence colour from yellow towards red between 0.8–0.9% Rm while up to about 1.0% Rm a sharp increase is recorded in the proportion of fluorescent vitrinite. This coincidence at a near-equal rank stage suggests a common cause for changes in yield and composition of the soluble organic matter and the maceral fluorescence of these coals.     

Calibration of the in situ cosmogenic 14C production rate in New Zealand's Southern Alps

In situ cosmogenic ¹⁴C (in situ ¹⁴C) analysis from quartz‐bearing rocks is a novel isotopic tool useful for quantifying recent surface exposure histories (up to ～25 ka). It is particularly powerful when combined with longer‐lived cosmogenic isotopes such as ¹⁰Be. Recent advances in the extraction of in situ ¹⁴C from quartz now permit the routine application of this method. However, only a few experiments to calibrate the production rate of in situ ¹⁴C in quartz have been published to date. Here, we present a new in situ ¹⁴C production rate estimate derived from a well‐dated debris flow deposit in the Southern Alps, New Zealand, previously used to calibrate ¹⁰Be production rates. For example, based on a geomagnetic implementation of the Lal/Stone scaling scheme we derive a spallogenic production rate of 11.4 ± 0.9 atoms ¹⁴C (g quartz)^?1 a^?1 and a ¹⁴C/¹⁰Be spallogenic production rate ratio of 3.0 ± 0.2. The results are comparable with production rates from previous calibrations in the northern hemisphere. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Status of the ROTSE‐III telescope network

ROTSE‐III is a homogeneous worldwide array of 4 robotic telescopes. They were designed to provide optical observations of γ ‐ray burst (GRB) afterglows as close as possible to the start of γ ‐ray emission. ROTSE‐III is fulfilling its potential for GRB science, and provides optical observations for a variety of astrophysical sources in the interim between GRB events. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nereid: Light curve for 1999-2006 and a scenario for its variations

Nereid is a small irregular moon of Neptune that displays large-, moderate-, and small-amplitude photometric variations on both fast and slow time scales. The central mystery of Nereid is now to explain the physical mechanism of these unique brightness changes and why they change with time. To characterize Nereid's variability, we have been using the SMARTS telescopes on Cerro Tololo for synoptic monitoring from 1999 to 2006. We present a well-sampled photometric time series of 493 magnitudes on 246 nights mostly in the V-band. In combination with our earlier data (for 774 magnitudes over 362 nights), our 20-year data set is the most comprehensive for any small icy body in our Solar System. Our yearly light curves show that Nereid displays various types of behaviors: large amplitude brightenings and fadings (1987 to 1990); moderate-amplitude variation about the average phase curve (1993-1997, 2003, 2005), moderate-amplitude variation and systematically brighter by roughly one-quarter magnitude throughout the entire season (2004); and nearly constant light curves superimposed on a surprisingly large-amplitude opposition surge (1998, 1999, 2000, 2006). Other than in 2004, Nereid's variations were closely centered around a constant phase curve that is well fit with a Hapke model for the coherent backscattering opposition surge mechanism with angular scale of 0.7°±0.1°. In our entire data set from 1987-2006, we find no significant periodicity. We propose that the year-to-year changes in the variability of Nereid are caused by forced precession (caused by tidal forces from Neptune) on the spin axis of a nonspherical Nereid, such that cross-sectional areas and average albedos change as viewed from Earth.