The Anoka,Minnesota, Iron Meteorite*

Abstract The Anoka, Minnesota, meteorite was found on the Joe Fields Farm at location coordinates 45° 12′ N, 93° 26′ W. It is a fine octahedrite distinguished by large fields of dense plessite. The chemical analysis of the meteorite is 84.9 percent iron, 11.75 nickel and 0.51 cobalt.     

ESTIMATION OF ERRORS IN ABSORBANCE RATIO MEASUREMENTS

Ratio measurements are commonly used to address a variety of analytical problems in environmental,forensic and pharmaceutical laboratories.In absorbance ratioing techniques,analytical chemists rely onthe spectral features of the analyte(s)of interest.The absorbances at two wavelengths are monitored andthe ratio of these two absorbances is computed.This ratio is then used to confirm the identity of theanalyte(s)of interest,the purity of a product or the overlap of chromatographic peaks.These decisionsoften have far-reaching consequences(e.g.the identification of the source,biogenic or petrogenic,ofhydrocarbons in biological tissues or water).Given the cost and the liabilities associated with suchdecisions,it is unfortunate that these ratios are seldom reported with any statistical confidence.Thepurpose of this study is to delineate the parameters that affect absorbance ratio measurements.Themodels that can be used to estimate the statistical confidence in these measurements are derived andevaluated experimentally.The results show that these models can estimate the relative standard deviationsin absorbance ratios accurately.They can also estimate the effect of signal-to-noise ratio and the choiceof wavelengths on the precision of absorbance ratios.     

Metamorphism and Anatexis in the Mafic Complex Contact Aureole, Ivrea Zone, Northern Italy

Emplacement of mantle-derived magma (magmatic accretion) isoften presumed or inferred to be an important cause of regionalgranulite facies metamorphism and crustal anatexis. The juxtapositionof mafic cumulates and regionally distributed granulite faciesrocks has led some to consider the Ivrea zone (northern Italy,Southern Alps) as an important exposure that demonstrates thiscausal relationship. However, regional PTt paths indicated bymetamorphic reaction textures and PT conditions inferred fromgeothermobarometry indicate that the emplacement of mafic plutonicrocks (Mafic Complex) at the Ivrea zone occurred during decompressionfrom ambient pressures at the regional thermal maximum. Fieldand petrographic observations, supported by PT estimates, indicatethat regional retrograde decompression and emplacement of theupper parts of the Mafic Complex probably accompanied extensionduring the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian. A spatiallyrestricted decompression-melting event accompanied final emplacement,depleting supracrustal rocks enclosed by an     

The South Range Breccia Belt of the Sudbury Impact Structure: A possible terrace collapse feature

Abstract— The South Range Breccia Belt (SRBB) is an arcuate, 45 km long zone of Sudbury Breccia in the South Range of the 1.85 Ga Sudbury Impact Structure. The belt varies in thickness between tens of meters to hundreds of meters and is composed of a polymict assemblage of Huronian Supergroup (2.49–2.20 Ga), Nipissing Diabase (2.2 Ga), and Proterozoic granitoid breccia fragments ranging in size from a few millimeters to tens of meters. The SRBB matrix is composed of a fine‐grained (～100 μm) assemblage of biotite, quartz, and ilmenite, with trace amounts of plagioclase, zircon, titanite, epidote, pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and occasionally chlorite. The SRBB hosts the Frood‐Stobie, Vermilion, and Kirkwood quartz diorite offset dykes, the former being associated with one of the largest Ni‐Cu‐PGE sulphide deposits in the world. Optical petrography and whole‐rock geochemistry concur with previous studies that have suggested that the matrix of the SRBB is derived from comminution and at least partial frictional melting of the wall rock Huronian Supergroup lithologies. Rare earth element (REE) data from all sampled lithologies associated with the SRBB exhibit crustal signatures when normalized to C1 chondrite values. Additionally, REE data from the quartz diorites, disseminated sulphides in Sudbury Breccia, and a sample of an aphanitic biotite‐hornblende tonalite dyke exhibit flat slopes when compared to the mafic and felsic norites, quartz gabbro, and granophyre units of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC), which suggests that these lithologies are representative of bulk SIC melt. We suggest that the SRBB was formed by high strain‐rate (>1 m/s), gravity‐driven seismogenic slip of the inner ring of the Sudbury Impact Structure during postimpact crustal readjustment (crater modification stage). Failure of the hanging wall may have facilitated the injection of bulk SIC melt into the SRBB, along with the Ni‐Cu‐PGE sulphides of the Frood‐Stobie deposit. Postimpact Penokean (1.9–1.7 Ga) tectonism, particularly northwest‐directed shearing along the South Range Shear Zone and associated thrust faulting, could account for the present subvertical orientation of the SRBB, and the apparent lack of a connection at depth with the SIC.     

'What Goes Around Comes Around': Informal Activities and Reciprocity Networks in Westport, New Zealand

The article reports the results of a survey into the informal activities of 47 households in the unemployment‐affected small town of Westport, New Zealand. Overall levels of household informal participation are found to be fairly high across all income groups. There is an abundance of informal resources in the surrounding area and a longstanding local culture encouraging participation. However, differentiated ‘established local’ and ‘new local’ reciprocity networks, reflecting broader scale processes of social and economic fragmentation, have emerged since a major round of state and private sector restructuring occurred in 1987.     

安徽铜陵地区幔源镁铁质团块研究及其地质意义

幔源岩石包体研究,是认识上地幔岩石圈物质组成、幔源岩浆演化及壳幔动力学过程的重要手段。铜陵地区小铜官山石英二长闪长岩中发育有微粒闪长质包体,并且这些微粒闪长质包体中不均匀地分布着镁铁质团块,三者的形成过程可视为铜陵地区岩浆演化的缩影,为了解本区深部岩浆作用过程提供了有力的证据。在前人研究的基础上,笔者借助电子探针、扫描电镜、电镜能谱和二次飞行时间离子探针(Tof-SIMS)对产于铜陵地区微粒闪长质包体中的镁铁质团块进行了详细的研究,首次获得了一套精确的矿物化学资料和元素分布图,总结了镁铁质团块的特征,并讨论了本区的深部岩浆作用过程。矿物学研究表明,镁铁质团块中的角闪石和辉石均已发生了不同程度的透闪石化和阳起石化蚀变,蚀变过程中,从镁钙闪石到镁角闪石,再到透闪石,随着Si的增加,角闪石呈现出Mg的富集和Ti、Al贫化的特点。团块中的富Cr磁铁矿、Ti磁铁矿和少量的铝直闪石指示了其具有深源性。Tof-SIMS元素分布图显示,透闪石主要由Al、Si、Ca、Sc、V、Cr、Mn、Cu和Sr元素组成,透辉石主要由Si、Mg、Ca、Cu和Rb组成。在铜陵地区,上地幔部分熔融形成一套玄武岩浆,受岩浆底侵作用影响,玄武岩浆上侵,进入下地壳深位岩浆房,与下地壳硅镁层发生同化混染作用,形成一套轻度演化的中基性(辉长质)玄武岩浆,镁铁质团块就是这类中基性玄武岩浆直接结晶形成的。后受构造作用影响,这类中基性玄武岩浆上侵到中地壳岩浆房(12~16 km),与中地壳的变质岩系发生同化混染和结晶分异作用形成一套中性闪长质岩浆,微粒闪长质包体就是这套闪长质岩浆发生结晶分异作用而形成的。镁铁质团块和微粒闪长质包体清楚地解释了铜陵地区深部岩浆作用过程,并有力地证明了铜陵地区中地壳的闪长质岩浆来源于下地壳的壳幔混源岩浆。     

An information systems approach to the preservation of biological diversity

Abstract

Although biological diversity has emerged in the 1980s as a major scientific and political issue, efforts at scientific assessment have been hampered by the lack of cohesive sets of data. We describe, in concept, a comprehensive national diversity information system, using geographical information system (GIS) techniques to organize existing data and improve spatial aspects of the assessment. One potential GIS analysis, to identify gaps in the network of nature reserves for California, is discussed in greater detail. By employing an information systems approach, available data can be used more effectively and better management strategies can be formulated.     

Biolaminated sedimentation in a High Arctic freshwater lake

A laminated sequence of lacustrine sediment from an Arctic coastal lake was examined for potential chronological and successional information. The laminae are microbially induced sedimentary structures, the unlithified precursor of stromatolites and are previously unreported in the Arctic. The inferred annual sequence was interpreted to contain a basal clastic unit, overlain with successive cyanobacterial and extracellular polymeric substance units. The complex succession of laminae and inconclusive dating provide a challenge for identifying the chronological nature of the sedimentary structures. Markov chain and time series analyses suggest that a plausible, quasi-annual sequence can be identified to provide a context for palaeo-environmental reconstruction. Recognition of sedimentary structure in recent biolaminated sediments offers a first step towards the palaeo-environmental evaluation of the geomicrobiological sequence.     

Calibration of the Albian/Cenomanian Boundary by Ammonite Biostratigraphy: U.S. Western Interior

Calibration of numerical ages to the geological time scale is a long scientific pursuit that requires the integration of multiple data sets. A case study of the Albian/Cenomanian stage boundary, also the Lower/Upper Cretaceous series boundary, illustrates the calibration process. The numerical age of this boundary has shifted from 96 Ma to 99 Ma over a time span of nearly fifty years. Re-calibration resulted first from improvements in radiometric dating, and later from inferences about ammonite phylogeny, and most recently from radiometric dates of newly discovered volcanic beds interbedded with diagnostic guide fossils. However, the calibration process continues with study of cosmopolitan dinoflagellates.