Electron microscopy study of the iron meteorite Santa Catharina

Abstract— Characterization of the microstructural features of the metal of the Santa Catharina meteorite was performed using a variety of electron optical techniques. Sample USNM#6293 is chemically homogeneous on the micron scale and has a Ni content of 28.2 wt.%. Its microstructure is similar to that of the Twin City ataxite and contains clear taenite II, i.e., fcc taenite with domains of tetrataenite, < 10 nm in size. Sample USNM#3043 is a more typical Santa Catharina specimen with dark and light regions as observed with the light optical microscope. The dark regions are inhomogeneous and contain 45–50 wt.% Ni and 7–12 wt.% O. The light regions are homogeneous and contain 35 wt.% Ni and no detectable oxygen. The microstructure is that of cloudy zone, i.e., islands of tetrataenite, ～20 nm in size, in a honeycomb matrix. The honeycomb phase contains Ni rich oxide in the dark regions and contains metal, fcc taenite, in the light regions. The original metal structure of USNM#3043 is cloudy zone which formed during cooling into the low temperature miscibility gap of the Fe-Ni phase diagram. The dark regions were developed from the metal by selective corrosion of the honeycomb structure, transforming it into Ni containing oxides, possibly non-stoichiometric Fe₂NiO₄ while retaining the tetrataenite islands. Using the results of this study, many of the existing discrepancies concerning the microstructure of Santa Catharina can be explained.     

Organotemplate silica deposition in Neoproterozoic deep-marine environments: evidence from the Penganga Group, Adilabad, India

Silica in bedded cherts interstratified with manganese carbonates in a deep‐water carbonate ramp succession of the Neoproterozoic Penganga Group, India, displays film‐like, spherical to rod‐shaped, and tubular branching microstructures. The microstructures resemble mineralized extracellular polysaccharides, biofilms and bacterial morphologies. The microstructures suggest silicification by nucleation of silica on organic‐templates or indirectly as sorbed species accumulating on organic templates. Given that similar microstructures have also been documented in Archean cherts it is proposed that organotemplates might have been an important sink for the deposition of silica in Precambrian deep‐water marine environments.     

Slowness—time mapping of near offset seismic reflection data

Summary. The transformation of a set of seismograms to the delay time-slowness, τ—p, domain is presented as a sequence of Fourier and Bessel transforms, For a horizontally layered medium, this sequence gives an exact cylindrical wave decomposition of the response to a point source; correctly compensating for the phase shifting and geometrical spreading associated with transmission through the Earth. The resultant τ—p map or 'slant stack' contains true amplitude and phase information. The spatial aliasing properties of the transformation, when applied to a dataset, are greatly improved by the use of only outgoing waves in the Bessel transform. This is equivalent to using Hankel functions rather than Bessel functions, and is justified by the absence of incoming waves from most datasets. The WKBJ approximation to the medium response enables predictions to be made about the shape and amplitude variation with slowness of truncation effects. Theoretically the τ—p transformation is reversible, thus the τ—p domain is a suitable one in which to perform filtering operations before seismogram reconstruction.     

Fluid production and isograd reactions at contacts of carbonate-rich and carbonate-poor layers during progressive metamorphism

ABSTRACT With increasing temperature during prograde metamorphism reactions will occur first at the lithological contacts of mixed pelite and calcsilicate terranes. At these interfaces, a fluid of lower chemical potential of H₂O and CO₂ than that required to produce a fluid in either layer can be produced whether reaction is caused by fluid infiltration or is initially fluid absent. If the interface region does not allow fluid transport then as temperature increases, a fluid pressure greater than lithostatic can develop. At some degree of over-pressure relative to rock pressure, the fluid hydraulically fractures the rock and a gradient in fluid composition away from the contact can be produced. These phenomena occur at the compositional interfaces whenever univariant reactions in the differing layers cross on a temperature vs. mole fraction of CO₂ diagram with slopes of opposite sign. The first occurrence of these reaction products at lithological contacts delineates an isograd that defines temperature as well as the mole fraction of CO₂ at constant pressure in systems open to fluid transport. These isograds can be contrasted with fluid-producing isograds in closed systems. As an illustration of possible effects, the reactions quartz + clinozoisite + muscovite = anorthite + K-feldspar + H₂O and phlogopite + quartz + calcite = tremolite + K-feldspar + H₂O + CO₂ at 4 kbar are analysed and equations for fluid production and transport are developed.     

Climatic changes in central and eastern Canada inferred from deep borehole temperature data

We analyzed data from 23 boreholes at 19 sites in central and eastern Canada, for the purpose of estimating ground surface temperature (GST) histories. These boreholes were logged down to at least 550 m depth with thermistor probes. Thermal conductivity measurements had been previously made at small depth intervals for the entire depth ranges of most of the boreholes. The temperature profiles of these boreholes do not indicate water disturbance. We estimated terrain effects for each borehole using a time dependent solid-angle method. The thermal perturbations caused by lakes or deforestation near the borehole sites are insignificant in most cases. However, four of the holes were found to be severely influenced by terrain effects. GSTs estimated from the borehole data less influenced by the terraineffects form two groups. The first group, which are generally from data of better quality, show a cold period near the end of the last century before the recent warming trend; the second show it 80–100 years earlier. We consider the former typical of the climate of the Boreal climatic region of Canada. The difference between the two groups may reflect the spacial variability of the climate. Four GST estimates do not belong to either type, and the reasons are discussed.     

SHRIMP U–Pb ages of diagenetic and hydrothermal xenotime from the Archaean Witwatersrand Supergroup of South Africa

SHRIMP dating of xenotime overgrowths on detrital zircon grains can constrain maximum durations since diagenesis and therefore provide minimum dates of sediment deposition. Thus, xenotime dating has significant economic application to Precambrian sediment-hosted ore deposits, such as Witwatersrand Au–U, for which there are no precise depositional ages. The growth history of xenotime in the Witwatersrand Supergroup is texturally complex, with several phases evident. The oldest authigenic xenotime ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age obtained in sandstone underlying the Vaal Reef is 2764 ± 5 Myr (1 σ), and most likely represents a mixture of diagenetic and hydrothermal growth. Nevertheless, this represents the oldest authigenic mineral age yet recorded in the sequence and provides a minimum age of deposition. Other xenotime data record a spread of ages that correspond to numerous post-diagenetic thermotectonic events (including a Ventersdorp event at ≈ 2720 Ma) up to the ≈2020 Ma Vredefort event.     

The mass ratio of Nova Muscae 1991

We report intermediate resolution H spectroscopy of the black hole candidate Nova Muscae 1991 during quiescence. We classify the companion star as a K3-K4V which contributes 85±6 percent to the total flux from the binary. The photospheric absorption lines are broadened by 106±13 kms⁻¹ with respect to template field stars, leading to a system mass ratio of q =M₁/M₂ = 7.8_−2.0^+3.4. Doppler imaging of the H line shows strong emission coming from the secondary star (EW=3.1±0.6Å) which we associate with chromospheric activity. However, the hot-spot is not detected and this may indicate a lower mass transfer rate than in other X-ray transients of comparable orbital periods. The surface brightness distribution of the accretion disk in H follows a relation I∝R^−1.1, less steep than typically observed in cataclysmic variables. Updated system parameters are also presented.     

Dynamics of the Nuclear Outflow in NGC 1068

A short survey is presented of dynamical (and thermodynamical) issues relevant to outflows in Seyfert galaxies like NGC 1068. Numerical simulations incorporating both realistic radiative heating and cooling, and angular momentum, show that the fraction of injected gas which escapes in a wind is very sensitive to both the injection pressure and the gas's angular momentum. Radiation pressure acting through a variety of atomic opacity processes may also be important. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectral Study of Ionized Xenon Using a Capillary Pulsed Discharge

This work presents preliminaries spectroscopic results about ionized xenon and xenon-helium mixture using a capillary pulsed discharge under several experimental results.