Intragrain oxygen isotope zoning in titanite by SIMS: Cooling rates and fluid infiltration along the Carthage‐Colton Mylonite Zone,Adirondack Mountains,NY, USA

Oxygen isotopes are an attractive target for zoning studies because of the ubiquity of oxygen‐bearing minerals and the dependence of mineral ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios on temperature and fluid composition. In this study, subtle intragrain oxygen isotope zoning in titanite is resolved at the 10‐μm scale by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The patterns of δ¹⁸O zoning differ depending on microstructural context of individual grains and reflect multiple processes, including diffusive oxygen exchange, partial recrystallization, grain‐size reduction, and grain growth. Using the chronological framework provided by structural relations, these processes can be related to specific events during the Grenville orogeny. Titanite was sampled from two outcrops within the Carthage‐Colton Mylonite Zone (CCMZ), a long‐lived shear zone that ultimately accommodated exhumation of the Adirondack Highlands from beneath the Adirondack Lowlands during the Ottawan phase (1090–1020 Ma) of the Grenville orogeny. Titanite is hosted in the Diana metasyenite complex, which preserves three sequentially developed fabrics: an early NW‐dipping protomylonitic fabric (S₁) is crosscut by near‐vertical ultramylonitic shear zones (S₂), which are locally reoriented by a NNW‐dipping mylonitic fabric (S₃). Texturally early titanite (pre‐S₂) shows diffusion‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning that records cooling from peak Ottawan, granulite‐facies conditions. Numerical diffusion models in the program Fast Grain Boundary yield good fits to observed δ¹⁸O profiles for cooling rates of 50 ± 20 °C Ma^?1, which are considerably faster than the 1–5 °C Ma^?1 cooling rates previously inferred for the Adirondack Highlands from regional thermochronology. High cooling rates are consistent with an episode of rapid shearing and exhumation along the CCMZ during gravitational collapse of the Ottawan orogen at c. 1050 Ma. Texturally later titanite (syn‐S₂) has higher overall δ¹⁸O and shows a transition from diffusion‐dominated to recrystallization‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning, indicating infiltration of elevated‐δ¹⁸O fluids along S₂ shear zones and continued shearing below the blocking temperature for oxygen (~≤500 °C for grain sizes at the study site). The texturally latest titanite (post‐S₃) has growth‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning, consistent with porphyroblastic grain growth following cessation of shearing along the Harrisville segment of the CCMZ.     

Origin and composition of fluid responsible for metasomatic processes in shear zones of the Bolshie Keivy tectonic nappe,baltic shield: Carbon isotope composition of graphite

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

A Clinopyroxene Paragenesis of Albite--Epidote--Amphibolite Facies in Meta-Syenites from the South-East Tauern Window, Austria

Mineral assemblages and textures are described from clinopyroxene-bearingmeta-syenites and related rocks from a small area in the PenninicBasement Complex of the south-east Tauern Window. Evidence from mineral textures, mineral compositions and geobarometryindicate that the clinopyroxene, a sodic salite, crystallizedas part of an equilibrium albite-epidote-amphibolite faciesparagenesis in the 35–40 Ma meso-Alpine metamorphic event.Phase relations in co-facial quartz + albite + K-feldspar +sphene-bearing meta-syenites and meta-granites are examinedusing a projection from these minerals onto the plane (A1₂O₃+ Fe₂O₃)-CaO-(MgO + FeO + MnO). The projection demonstratesthat salitic clinopyroxene can only be a stable phase in suchrocks if the bulk-rock Al/Na + K ratios are low. This is confirmedby comparing the whole-rock analyses of clinopyroxene-bearingmeta-syenites with those of clinopyroxene-free meta-syenitesand meta-granites. Mineral assemblages in a variety of lithologies from the south-eastTauern Window are used to construct a generalized AKM diagramfor magnesian albite + epidote + quartz-bearing rocks of thealbite-epidote-amphibolite facies. Thermochemical calculations indicate that the meta-syeniteswere metamorphosed at temperatures close to 500 C and at a pressureof 6+2 –4 kb. Fluids in equilibrium with meta-syeniteand meta-granite mineral assemblages had X_H2O values of 0–95,assuming X_H2O + X_CO2O= 1.0.     

The GREGOR polarimetric calibration unit

The new Solar telescope GREGOR is designed to observe small‐scale dynamic magnetic structures below a size of 70 km on the Sun with high spectral resolution and polarimetric accuracy. For this purpose, the polarimetric concept of GREGOR is based on a combination of post‐focus polarimeters with pre‐focus equipment for high precision calibration. The Leibniz‐Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam developed the GREGOR calibration unit which is an integral part of the telescope. We give an overview of the function and design of the calibration unit and present the results of extensive testing series done in the Solar Observatory “Einsteinturm” and at GREGOR (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mid-infrared, spatially resolved spectroscopy of the nucleus of the Circinus galaxy

High spatial resolution spectroscopy at 8–13 μm with T-ReCS on Gemini-S has revealed striking variations in the mid-infrared emission and absorption in the nucleus of the Circinus galaxy (hereafter Circinus) on subarcsecond scales. The core of Circinus is compact and obscured by a substantial column of cool silicate dust. Weak extended emission to the east and west coincides with the coronal line region and arises from featureless dust grains which are probably heated by line emission in the coronal emission zone. The extended emission on the east side of the nucleus displays a much deeper silicate absorption than that on the west, indicating significant columns of cool material along the line of sight and corresponding to an additional extinction of   A_V ∼ 25 mag  . Emission bands from aromatic hydrocarbons are not subject to this additional extinction, are relatively weak in the core and in the coronal line region, and are much more spatially extended than the continuum dust emission; they presumably arise in the circumnuclear star-forming regions. These data are interpreted in terms of an inclined disc-like structure around the nucleus extending over tens of parsecs and possibly related to the inner disc found from observations of water masers by Greenhill et al..     

The star-forming content of the W3 giant molecular cloud

We have surveyed a ∼0.9 square degree area of the W3 giant molecular cloud (GMC) and star-forming region in the 850-μm continuum, using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. A complete sample of 316 dense clumps were detected with a mass range from around 13 to  2500 M_⊙  . Part of the W3 GMC is subject to an interaction with the H  ii region and fast stellar winds generated by the nearby W4 OB association. We find that the fraction of total gas mass in dense, 850-μm traced structures is significantly altered by this interaction, being around 5–13 per cent in the undisturbed cloud but ∼25–37 per cent in the feedback-affected region. The mass distribution in the detected clump sample depends somewhat on assumptions of dust temperature and is not a simple, single power law but contains significant structure at intermediate masses. This structure is likely to be due to crowding of sources near or below the spatial resolution of the observations. There is little evidence of any difference between the index of the high-mass end of the clump mass function in the compressed region and in the unaffected cloud. The consequences of these results are discussed in terms of current models of triggered star formation.     

Rotation curve and mass distribution in the Galaxy from the velocities of objects at distances up to 200 kpc

Three three-component (bulge, disk, halo) model Galactic gravitational potentials differing by the expression for the dark matter halo are considered. The central (bulge) and disk components are described by the Miyamoto–Nagai expressions. The Allen–Santillán (I), Wilkinson–Evans (II), and Navarro–Frenk–White (III) models are used to describe the halo. A set of present-day observational data in the range of Galactocentric distances R from 0 to 200 kpc is used to refine the parameters of thesemodels. For the Allen–Santillán model, a dimensionless coefficient γ has been included as a sought-for parameter for the first time. In the traditional and modified versions, γ = 2.0 and 6.3, respectively. Both versions are considered in this paper. The model rotation curves have been fitted to the observed velocities by taking into account the constraints on the local matter density ρ _⊙ = 0.1 M _⊙ pc^?3 and the force K _z =1.1/2πG = 77 M _⊙ pc^?2 acting perpendicularly to the Galactic plane. The Galactic mass within a sphere of radius 50 kpc, M _G (R ≤ 50 kpc) ≈ (0.41 ± 0.12) × 10¹² M _⊙, is shown to satisfy all three models. The differences between the models become increasingly significant with increasing radius R. In model I, the Galactic mass within a sphere of radius 200 kpc at γ = 2.0 turns out to be greatest among the models considered, M _G (R ≤ 200 kpc) = (1.45 ±0.30)× 10¹² M _⊙, M _G (R ≤ 200 kpc) = (1.29± 0.14)× 10¹² M _⊙ at γ = 6.3, and the smallest value has been found in model II, M _G (R ≤ 200 kpc) = (0.61 ± 0.12) × 10¹² M _⊙. In our view, model III is the best one among those considered, because it ensures the smallest residual between the data and the constructed model rotation curve provided that the constraints on the local parameters hold with a high accuracy. Here, the Galactic mass is M _G (R ≤ 200 kpc) = (0.75 ± 0.19) × 10¹² M _⊙. A comparative analysis with the models by Irrgang et al. (2013), including those using the integration of orbits for the two globular clusters NGC 104 and NGC 1851 as an example, has been performed. The third model is shown to have subjected to a significant improvement.     

UV-controlled physical and chemical structure of protoplanetary disks

We study details of the UV radiation transfer in a protoplanetary disk, paying attention to the influence of dust growth and sedimentation on the disk density and temperature. Also, we show how the dust evolution affects photoreaction rates of key molecules, like CN and CS.     

On the mass of M31

Recent work by several groups has established the properties of the dwarf satellites to M31. We reexamine the reported kinematics of this group employing a fresh technique we have developed previously. By calculating the distribution of a χ statistic (which we define in the paper) for the M31 system, we conclude that the total mass (disc plus halo) of the primary is unlikely to be as great as that of our own Milky Way. In fact the χ distribution for M31 indicates that, like NGC 3992, it does not have a massive halo. In contrast, the analysis of the satellites of NGC 1961 and NGC 5084 provides strong evidence for massive haloes surrounding both spiral galaxies.     

An exact solution of the equation of transfer with three-term scattering indicatrix in an exponential atmosphere

The general equation for radiative transfer in the Milne-Eddington model is considered here. The scattering function is assumed to be quadratically anisotropic in the cosine of the scattering angle and Planck's intensity function is assumed for thermal emission. Here we have taken Planck's function as a nonlinear function of optical depth, viz.,B _v(T)=b _o+b ₁ e ^–. The exact solution for emergent intensity from the bounding face is obtained by the method of the Laplace transform in combination with the Wiener-Hopf technique.