S-type asteroids,ordinary chondrites,and space weathering: The evidence from Galileo's fly-bys of Gaspra and Ida

Abstract— New observations of the S-type asteroids Gaspra and Ida, especially, by the Galileo spacecraft demonstrate that a “space weathering” process operates, which modifies the reflectance spectra of fresh material to be redder, straighter, and have shallower absorption bands. The weathering process appears similar to but less potent than that observed on the Moon. It operates in the sense that it would tend to convert spectra of ordinary chondrites (OC) to having the spectral traits of S-type asteroids. These results appear to resolve the major obstacles of the long standing “S-type conundrum” about the provenance of ordinary chondrite meteorites. A wide body of recent research, which is reviewed here, builds on previous meteoritical evidence to support a new, developing consensus that the larger S-type asteroids are a diverse assortment of silicaceous assemblages, which includes the ordinary chrondite parent bodies. Recent fairly realistic laboratory simulations of space weathering processes have changed OC spectra to resemble S-type spectra. J. F. Bell's highly regarded earlier paradigm that OC parent bodies would be found only among sub-10 km main-belt asteroids has been tested by an extensive observational survey by R. Binzel and his proteges; the result is that no small, main-belt analog for the OCs has been found, not even the somewhat OC-like object Boznemcová. This article reviews the history of the S-type conundrum, which set the stage for Galileo's historic flybys. I review the findings about Gaspra and Ida, including results about their geology, their geophysical structure and probable origins, and about Ida's small moonlet, Dactyl. Density constraints on Ida set by Dactyl's orbit rule out (for Ida, at least) the classic view of S-types as metallic, stripped cores of differentiated precursor asteroids. New analysis of the Galileo spectral images of Ida is presented that provides strong evidence that space weathering occurs on Ida, and that Ida, and the Koronis family asteroids in general, are plausibly OC-like in composition. After reviewing 1990s developments on the S-type conundrum, I advocate a new perspective that the ordinary chondrite parent bodies are among the S-type asteroids, a diverse grouping that also contains other silicaceous and silicate/metal assemblages, presumably including various stony-irons and primitive achondrites represented in meteorite collections; Gaspra may be such a metal-rich assemblage.     

CATASTROPHIC ECO-ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN THE SONGNEN PLAIN, NORTHEASTERN CHINA SINCE 1900S

Although the Songnen Plain in the northeastern China was developed relatively late in the temperate zone of the world, its eco-environment has changed greatly. This paper analyzes the changes of land cover and the rates and trends ofdesertification during the past 100 years in the Songnen Plain. According to the macroscopic analysis, we find that the eco-environment in the plain has reached to the threshold of catastrophic change since the 1950s. The Thorn Needle Catastrophic Model was used to determine and validate this conclusion. Human activities, including large-scale construction projects, such as huge dams and dikes, and excessive grazing were the primary factors contributing to regional eco-environmental catastrophe. And irrational reclamation of the wilderness also affected the eco-environmental change. The results reveal the complex human-land interactions.     

Neutron capture measurements on radioactive93Zr

Neutron capture measurements made on a sample of fission-product zirconium containing 20%⁹³Zr(t _1/2=1.5×10⁶a) at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator time-of-flight facility resulted in the identification of 138 resonance peaks for the⁹³Zr isotope at neutron energies up to 21.5 keV. Average capture cross sections from 20 to 300 keV were derived by subtracting neutron capture yields of the stable zirconium isotopes^{90, 91, 92, 94, 96}Zr and additional backgrounds. The average cross sections found were significantly less than those of JENDL-1. While generally 30% higher than those of ENDF/B —V below 60 keV, the binned data overlapped the smooth ENDF/B —V curve. The average for a Maxwellian neutron spectrum withkT=30 keV is (95±10) mb and the resonance contribution to the capture resonance integral is (15.0±0.5)b.Research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract DE-AC05-840R21400 with the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.     

Deep-ocean piezometer probe technology for geotechnical investigations

Two single-sensor piezometer probes, 8 mm in diameter, were developed for deep-ocean geotechnical investigations. These probes were tested in a hyperbaric chamber pressurized to 55 MPa (8000 psi). Testing was performed for a period of five weeks under high hydrostatic pressure with the probes inserted in reconstituted illitic marine sediment. Small differential pore-water pressures were generated in response to both mechanically and thermally generated forcing functions. During deep-ocean simulated pressure tests, the sensors exhibited excellent sensitivity and stability. These developments in piezometer-probe technology provide a quantitative means of assessing important geotechnical parameters of fine-grained seabed deposits.     

A one-dimensional model for the interaction between continental-scale ice sheets and atmospheric stationary waves

 The great continental ice sheets of the Pleistocene represented a significant topographic obstacle to the westerly winds in northern midlatitudes. This work explores how consequent changes in the atmospheric stationary wave pattern might have affected the shape and growth of the ice sheets themselves. A one dimensional (1-D) model is developed which permits an examination of the types and magnitudes of the feedbacks that might be expected. When plausible temperature perturbations are introduced at the ice-sheet margin which are proportional to the stationary wave amplitude, the equilibrium shape of the ice sheet is significantly altered, and depends on the sign of the perturbation. The proposed feedback also affects the response of the ice sheet to time-varying climate forcing. The results suggest that the evolution of a continental-scale ice sheet with a land-based margin may be significantly determined by the changes it induces in the atmospheric circulation. Received: 1 October 1999 / Accepted: 17 July 2000     

New developments in eclipsing binary light curve modeling

The light curve modeling of binary stars has continued to evolve since its founding by Henry Norris Russell (see Russell and Merrill 1952 and citations therein) nearly a century ago, accelerated in the 1950s by Kopal's introduction of Roche geometry into models and by the development of synthetic light curve computer code in the 1970's. Improved physics and the use of more kinds of observational input are providing another round of important advances that promise to enlarge our knowledge of both binary stars and ensembles containing them. Here we discuss the newer horizons of light curve modeling and the steps being taken toward them.     

Metamorphism in Archaean greenstone belts: calculated fluid compositions and implications for gold mineralization

An inescapable consequence of the metamorphism of greenstone belt sequences is the release of a large volume of metamorphic fluid of low salinity with chemical characteristics controlled by the mineral assemblages involved in the devolatilization reactions. For mafic and ultramafic sequences, the composition of fluids released at upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies conditions for the necessary relatively hot geotherm corresponds to those inferred for greenstone gold deposits (X_CO2= 0.2–0.3). This result follows from the calculation of mineral equilibria in the model system CaO–MgO–FeO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–CO₂, using a new, expanded, internally consistent dataset. Greenstone metamorphism cannot have involved much crustal over-thickening, because very shallow levels of greenstone belts are preserved. Such orogeny can be accounted for if compressive deformation of the crust is accompanied by thinning of the mantle lithosphere. In this case, the observed metamorphism, which was contemporaneous with deformation, is of the low-P high-T type. For this type of metamorphism, the metamorphic peak should have occurred earlier at deeper levels in the crust; i.e. the piezothermal array should be of the ‘deeper-earlier’type. However, at shallow crustal levels, the piezothermal array is likely to have been of ‘deeper-later’type, as a consequence of erosion. Thus, while the lower crust reached maximum temperatures, and partially melted to produce the observed granites, mid-crustal levels were releasing fluids prograde into shallow crustal levels that were already retrograde. We propose that these fluids are responsible for the gold mineralization. Thus, the contemporaneity of igneous activity and gold mineralization is a natural consequence of the thermal evolution, and does not mean that the mineralization has to be a consequence of igneous processes. Upward migration of metamorphic fluid, via appropriate structurally controlled pathways, will bring the fluid into contact with mineral assemblages that have equilibrated with a fluid with significantly lower X_CO2. These assemblages are therefore grossly out of equilibrium with the fluid. In the case of infiltrated metabasic rocks, intense carbonation and sulphidation is predicted. If, as seems reasonable, gold is mobilized by the fluid generated by devolatilization, then the combination of processes proposed, most of which are an inevitable consequence of the metamorphism, leads to the formation of greenstone gold deposits predominantly from metamorphic fluids.     

Response of circular footings and anchor plates in non-homogeneous elastic soils

The axisymmetric elastic response of circular footings and anchor plates in a linearly non-homogeneous elastic soil is analysed. It is assumed that footings/anchors are flexible and subjected to axisymmetric vertical loads. The response of the footing/anchor is modelled by using the classical Poisson–Kirchhoff thin plate theory. A variational technique is used to analyse the interaction problem. A representation for the contact stress is established by using a fundamental solution corresponding to a unit vertical pressure acting over an annular region in the interior of the non-homogeneous soil. The fundamental solution can be derived by using rigorous analytical procedures. The influence of the footing flexibility and the degree of soil non-homogeneity on the displacements, bending moments and contact stresses of a surface footing is examined over a wide range of governing parameters. In the case of anchor plates the influence of depth of embedment, degree of soil non-homogeneity and anchor flexibility on the anchor displacement is investigated.     

Double starbursts triggered by mergers in hierarchical clustering scenarios

We use cosmological smooth particle hydrodynamical (SPH) simulations to study the effects of mergers in the star formation history of galactic objects in hierarchical clustering scenarios. We find that during some merger events, gaseous discs can experience two starbursts: the first one during the orbital decay phase, owing to gas inflows driven as the satellite approaches, and the second one when the two baryonic clumps collide. A trend for these first induced starbursts to be more efficient at transforming the gas into stars is also found. We detect that systems that do not experience early gas inflows have well-formed stellar bulges and more concentrated potential wells, which seem to be responsible for preventing further gas inward transport triggered by tidal forces. The potential wells concentrate owing to the accumulation of baryons in the central regions and of dark matter as the result of the pulling in by baryons. The coupled evolution of the dark matter and baryons would lead to an evolutionary sequence during which systems with shallower total potential wells suffer early gas inflows during the orbital decay phase that help to feed their central mass concentration, pulling in dark matter and contributing to build up more stable systems. Within this scenario, starbursts triggered by early gas inflows are more likely to occur at early stages of evolution of the systems and to be an important contributor to the formation of stellar bulges. Our results constitute the first proof that bulges can form as the product of collapse, collisions and secular evolution in a cosmological framework, and they are consistent with a rejuvenation of the stellar population in bulges at intermediate z with, at least, 50 per cent of the stars (in SCDM) being formed at high z .