The microwave spectrum of Mars: An analysis

A weighted least squares fit to the best available data on the Martian microwave spectrum indicates that the brightness temperature decreases from long to short wavelengths, rather than increasing as expected from the solution of the one-dimensional equation of heat conduction. Reasonable assumptions on the ratio of electrical to thermal skin depths, on internal heat sources, on ferromagnetic materials, on radiative conduction, on compaction with depth, and on surface rpughness all fail in reproducing the deduced spectrum. A thin near-surface layer of a material with high dielectric constant and high millimeter wave absorption is needed. Since Mars exhibits marked surface overturn, a condensible material, namely liquid water, seems indicated. A layer of liquid water some tens of microns thick, on the average, localized in the top few millimeters of a Martian epilith with refractive index ? 1.6 fits the microwave spectrum, and the infrared and radar data as well. The origin of such a layer of liquid water and its possible exobiological significance are discussed. The distribution of water should be nonuniform over the disk and may help explain discordant microwave observations and the anomalous variation of infrared brigthness temperature with latitude. Further millimeter wave radio and radar studies of Mars are needed.     

Variation of the UBV colors of S-class asteroids with semimajor axis and diameter

The mean UBV color of S-class asteroids varies markedly with distance from the Sun and may also vary with diameter, implying either that the surface properties of the asteroids have been modified by space weathering or, as suggested here, that there are least two major subclasses of S-class asteroids with different mean locations.     

More seismic evidence on the location of Grenville basement beneath the Appalachians of Quebec-Maine

Summary. High-quality multichannel seismic (=133 fold) and refraction/wide- angle reflection (1 to 3 km receiver spacing and 30 to 60 km shot spacing) data have been collected across the northern Appalachians in Quebec, and Maine. An integrated interpretation of the seismic data from the southeastern Quebec-western Maine region provides strong evidence that the rocks of the predominantly oceanic "Dunnage" zone are allochthonous having been thrust westwards over Precambrian Grenville basement during and subsequent to the closing of the Iapetus Ocean.     

Ureilite Compaction

Abstract— Experimental partial melting of Allende in a modest thermal gradient produces compacted crystalline residues on the cold side and silicate liquid segregations on the hot side of the gradient. The mechanism leading to this segregation is a type of zone refining: thermal migration. Chemical diffusion produces relative migration of phases along a saturation gradient induced by a temperature gradient. The compacted crystals have many features reminiscent of ureilite meteorites: olivine major element compositions, surface-equilibrium-controlled adcumulus textures, ripened grain sizes, virtually complete silicate melt removal, and textural elongation. Sulfide melt fails to segregate from crystals by this mechanism. If thermal migration is responsible for the textural features of ureilite compaction, then often-assumed constraints about ambient gravity fields and cooling regimes do not apply to ureilite origins irrespective of whether the compaction is of a melting residue or a cumulus crystal pile. Certain ingrained expectations relating the geochemistry of complementary liquids to these crystals also will be unsatisfied. Because virtually any crystal consolidation regime operates through a thermal gradient, it is likely that thermal migration must play at least a small role in the process. It would be a particularly appropriate mechanism for consolidating ureilites within planetesimals undergoing vigorous primordial heating by radioactivity or electromagnetic induction—circumstances in which the efficacy of the process is not truncated by cooling. The possible existence of this mechanism does not invalidate less unusual suggestions for the origin of ureilites. However, some of the constraints on ureilite origin and complementary liquid geochemistry are now considerably relaxed.     

Glacier Retreat, Mass-Balance and Thinning: Sermilik Glacier, South Greenland

This study documents thinning and retreat of the South Greenland ice margin and discusses possible reasons in the light of mass‐balance and change of dynamic conditions. Analyses of satellite images have shown that the glacier tongue of Sermilik glacier disintegrated within the past 15 years. Furthermore, the observed thinning close to the Sermilik glacier front was as much as 120 m water equivalent during this period. This figure was derived by comparing surface elevation data from a digital elevation model (1985) and laser altimeter measurements from the year 2000, showing surface elevation changes along a flow line of Sermilik glacier. Mass‐balance data from in situ measurements performed at a centre flow line of the glacier are presented. These data are compared to results from remote sensing analyses of the study area. Net ablation reconstruction over the last 41 years from positive‐degree‐day modelling, at various locations along the Sermilik glacier massbalance transect, shows an increase during the past decades. These analyses indicate that only 55% of the total thinning in this area can be explained by mass‐balance changes. The remaining 45% of the thinning is attributed to changes in the dynamic behaviour of the glacier, such as an increase of creep towards the end of the twentieth century. The significant thinning along the Qagssimiut lobe can also be explained as a combination of mass‐balance changes and changes in ice dynamic behaviour.     

Late glacial palaeoceanography of Hinlopen Strait, northern Svalbard

Timing and structure of the Late and post-glacial development of the northern Svalbard margin, together with the initial influx of Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean are still very poorly constrained. We investigated a sediment core (NP94-51) from a high accumulation area on the continental shelf north of Hinlopen Strait with the purpose of resolving the timing and structure of the last deglaciation. Detailed analyses of ice-rafted detritus, benthic and planktonic foraminiferal fauna, diatom flora, grain size and radiocarbon dates are used to reconstruct the palaeoceanographic evolution of the area. Our results indicate that the disintegration of Hinlopen Strait ice and possibly the northern margin of the Svalbard Ice Sheet commenced between 13.7 and 13.9 ¹⁴C Ky BP. Influx of subsurface Atlantic waters into the area (12.6 ¹⁴C Ky BP) and the retreat of the sea ice cover, with the accompanying opening of the surface waters (10.8 ¹⁴C Ky BP), happened at different times and both much later than the disintegration of the ice sheets. The transition into the Holocene shows a two-step warming.     

Effects of igneous intrusions on coalbed methane potential, Gunnedah Basin, Australia

The Gunnedah Basin, NSW, Australia, contains more than 500 Gt of coal, and has been the subject of recent coalbed methane exploration. Large areas of the basin contain igneous intrusions and large areas of coal have been heat-affected as a consequence. A detailed study has been undertaken of coal seams intersected in a cored coalbed methane exploration drillhole in which two sill-form igneous intrusions are present. Comparisons are made between coals that are unaltered and coals that have been heat-affected, using petrographic and chemical data, coal seam gas desorption data, and gas chemical analysis data.Results demonstrate that the two igneous intrusions have had a very positive effect on coalbed methane development. The gas content in a number of heat-affected coal seams within thermal aureoles above and below the sills is substantially higher than in adjacent unaffected coal seams. In addition, the intrusions have had little effect on gas quality. The coals in the heat-affected zone were found to contain gas with approximately 95% methane. The coals in the thermal aureoles were found, under the microscope, to contain characteristic micropores and slits, which collectively may serve to enhance gas adsorption capacity, permeability, and gas desorption. Gas contents below each of the sills is substantially higher than above the sill, confirming earlier results that the sills appear to have acted as a reservoir seal, during and for some time after intrusion. The background coal rank in ACM Yannergee DDH 1 is in the high-volatile bituminous range. The igneous intrusions have resulted in an increase in rank such that large areas of coal have moved into the optimal thermogenic gas generation window. This rank increase has affected a major part of the coal-bearing sequence.