A potentially new type of nonchondritic interplanetary dust particle with hematite,organic carbon,amorphous Na,Ca‐aluminosilicate,and FeO‐spheres

Abstract– We used a combination of different analytical techniques to study particle W7190‐D12 using microinfrared spectroscopy, micro‐Raman spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS). The particle consists mainly of hematite (α‐Fe₂O₃) with considerable variations in structural disorder. It further contains amorphous (Na,K)‐bearing Ca,Al‐silicate and organic carbon. Iron‐bearing spherules (<150 nm in diameter) cover the surface of this particle. At local sites of structural disorder at the hematite surface, the hematite spheres were reduced to FeO in the presence of organic carbons forming FeO‐spheres. However, metallic Fe spheres cannot be excluded based on the available data. To the best of our knowledge, this particle is the first detection of such spherules at the surface of a stratospheric dust particle. Although there is no definitive evidence for an extraterrestrial origin of particle W7190‐D12, we suggest that it could be an IDP that had moved away from the asteroid‐forming region of the early solar system into the outer solar system of the accreting Kuiper Belt objects. After it was released from a Jupiter family comet, this particle became part of the zodiacal cloud. Atmospheric entry flash‐heating caused (1) the formation of microenvironments of reduced iron oxide when indigenous carbon materials reacted with hematite covering its surface resulting in the formation of FeO‐spheres and (2) Na‐loss from Na,Al‐plagioclase. The particle of this study, and other similar particles on this collector, may represent a potentially new type of nonchondritic IDPs associated with Jupiter family comets, although an origin in the asteroid belt cannot be ignored.     

Little River Experimental Watershed,a keystone in understanding of coastal plain watersheds

The US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory (SEWRL) initiated a hydrologic research program on the Little River Experimental Watershed (LREW) in 1967. Long-term (52 years) streamflow data are available for nine sites, including rainfall-runoff relationships and hydrograph characteristics regularly used in research on interactive effects of climate, vegetation, soils, and land-use in low-gradient streams of the US EPA Level III Southeastern Plains ecoregion. A summary of prior research on the LREW illustrates the impact of the watershed on building a regional understanding of hydrology and water quality. Climatic and streamflow data were used to make comparisons of scale across the nine nested LREW watersheds (LRB, LRF, LRI, LRJ, LRK, LRO, LRN, LRM, and LRO3) and two regional watersheds (Alapaha and Little River at Adel). Annual rainfall for the largest LREW, LRB, was 1200 mm while average annual streamflow was 320 mm. Annual rainfall, streamflow, and the ratio between annual streamflow and rainfall (Sratio) were similar (α = 0.05) across LREWs LRB, LRF, LRI, LRJ, LRK, and LRO. While annual rainfall within the 275 ha LRO3 was found to be similar to LRO and LRM (α = 0.05), annual streamflow and Sratio were significantly different (α = 0.05). Comparisons of annual rainfall, streamflow, and Sratio between LRB and the regional watersheds indicated no differences (α = 0.05). Based upon this analysis, most regional watersheds shared similar hydrologic characteristics. LRO3 was an exception, where increases in row crops and decreases in forest coverage resulted in increased streamflow. LREW data have been instrumental in building considerable scientific understanding of flow and transport processes for these stream systems. Continued operation of the LREW hydrologic network will support hydrologic research as well as environmental quality and riparian research programs that address emerging and high priority natural resource and environmental issues.     

Origin of peraluminous granites and granodiorites, Iberian massif, Spain: an experimental test of granite petrogenesis

The discrimination between potential source materials involved in the genesis of Iberian granites and granodiorites, as well as the role of mantle-crust interactions, are examined using constraints imposed by melting experiments, melting-assimilation experiments and Sr-Nd isotope systematics. The Sr-Nd isotope relationships indicate the existence of different genetic trends in which juvenile mantle materials are involved by different mechanisms: (1) a source trend, traced by a particular evolution of the pre-Hercynian basement and indicating mantle participation at the time of sedimentation; (2) a set of magmatic trends traced by gabbro-tonalite-enclave-granodiorite associations, implying the incorporation of new mantle material at the time of granite generation. These relationships strongly support a pure crustal origin for the peraluminous leucogranites, derived from partial melting of crustal protoliths, and a hybrid origin for the peraluminous granodiorites. These granodiorites are the most abundant granitic rocks of the Central Iberian zone (CIZ) of the Iberian massif, implying that processes of hybridisation by assimilation and/or magma mixing played an important role in granitoid production during the Hercynian orogeny. These hypotheses have been tested by means of melting and assimilation experiments. Melting experiments in the range 800–900 °C and at pressures of 3, 6, 10 and 15 kbar indicate that: (1) several potential source materials such as Bt-Ms gneisses and metagreywackes are suitable for the production of peraluminous leucogranite melts; (2) the melt compositions are always leucogranitic, regardless of pressure; (3) pressure exerts a strong influence on the fertility of the source: experiments at 3 kbar produce more than 20 vol% of melt, compared with less than 5 vol% of melt produced at 10 and 15 kbar and at the same temperature. The melting-assimilation experiments carried out at 1000 °C and 4, 7 and 10 kbar and using a proportion of 50% gabbro and 50% gneiss give high melt proportions (more than 50 vol.%) and noritic residues. These melts have the composition of leucogranodiorites, and overlap with part of the compositional range of peraluminous granodiorites of the Iberian massif. The generation of more mafic granodiorites may be explained by the incorporation of some residual orthopyroxene to the granodiorite magmas. The low solubility of Fe + Mg prevents the generation of granodiorite melts with more than 3 wt% of MgO + FeO at all crustal pressures. The large volumes of peraluminous, hybrid granodiorites, produced by assimilation of crustal rocks by mantle magmas, imply that an important episode of crustal growth took place during the Late-Palaeozoic Hercynian orogeny in the Iberian massif. Received: 30 June 1998 / Accepted: 27 November 1998     

Reconstruction of fluvio-lacustrine landscapes and settlement history in the Texcoco region,Mexico, using a modern geomorphic analog

Located in the Basin of Mexico, the eastern shore of former Lake Texcoco sustained a variety of human occupations throughout the Holocene, including preceramic hunter-gatherers, incipient agriculturalists, and a variety of settlements in the ceramic periods. Nonetheless, the environmental dynamics of occupations on the lakeshore have not been fully addressed. The Archaic preagricultural Texcoco Man site (>5000 B.C.E.) and the Late Formative TX-LF-14 site (c. 550-200 B.C.E.), among others, occupy this fluvio-lacustrine transitional environment. Few stratigraphic works in and around the sites have been performed. Consequently, it is difficult to understand the dynamics of the sedimentary system in space and time. This work highlights and describes the fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary dynamics and the resulting landscape that past societies inhabited on the eastern shore of Texcoco Lake. Because the study area has been altered by historic and modern draining, our work employs Lake Santiaguillo and its main tributary, the Tejamen River in the Durango state, as a modern analog to study their sedimentary dynamics. The analyses of surface geomorphology in the Texcoco study area were employed to corroborate the modern analog interpretation. To achieve these goals, we conducted a GIS-based morphometric analysis and LANDSAT-8 imagery to study the variations in landforms through wet and dry events. The results indicate an increase in the lake volume, low bifurcation in the active fluvial channels, few inundated surfaces, and the presence of bird-foot deltaic channels during high precipitation events. In contrast, low precipitation events are characterized by reduced lake volume, increased fluvial channel bifurcation, and expanded floodplains. This heterogeneous landscape thus provided a rich source of diverse natural resources of saline and freshwater aquatic habitats. Simultaneously, constant or recurring flooding events generated a challenging landscape for prehistoric settlers who implemented diverse technologies, such as the construction of tlateles, on the levees of deltaic channels to reduce the risk and impact of flooding events.     

Residual Exchange Flows in Subtropical Estuaries

Observations of residual exchange flows at the entrance to four subtropical estuaries, two of them semiarid, indicate that these flows are mainly tidally driven, as they compare favorably with theoretical patterns of tidal residual flows. In every estuary examined, the tidal behavior was that of a standing or near-standing wave, i.e., tidal elevation and tidal currents were nearly in quadrature. The pattern of exchange flow that persisted at every estuary exhibited inflow in the channel and outflow over the shoals. Curiously, but also fortuitously, this pattern coincides with the exchange pattern driven by density gradients in other estuaries. The tidal stresses and the residual elevation slopes should be the dominant mechanisms that drive such tidal residual pattern because the Stokes transport mechanism is negligible for standing or near-standing waves. Time series measurements from the semiarid estuaries showed fortnightly modulation of the residual flow by tidal forcing in such a way that the strongest net exchange flows developed with the largest tidal distortions, i.e., during spring tides. This modulation is opposite to the modulation that typically results in temperate estuaries, where the strongest net exchange flows tend to develop during neap tides. The fortnightly modulation on tidal residual currents could be inferred from previous theoretical results because residual currents arise from tidal distortions but is made explicit in this study. The findings advanced herein should allow the drawing of generalities about exchange flow patterns in subtropical estuaries where residual flows are mainly driven by tides.