PLAGIOCLASE TWIN LAWS IN LUNAR HIGHLAND ROCKS; POSSIBLE PETROGENETIC SIGNIFICANCE

Plagioclases in different types of lunar highland rocks (all highly feldspathic) are twinned according to different laws and in different styles. Carlsbad and Carlsbad-albite twins, presumed to be growth twins, occur mainly in rocks which show igneous texture, and which have not been severely brecciated. These two twin laws appear to be absent from cataclastic rocks, including cataclastic anorthosite, possibly because the original twins were preferentially broken up in cataclasis (the composition plane being a plane of weakness). Pericline and lamellar albite twins, presumed to be deformation twins (except for some albite growth twins) occur in all types of rocks, and obvious deformation features, such as bending of lamellae, are well shown in many cataclastic rocks. Surprisingly, some Carlsbad and Carlsbad-albite twins are found in rocks with granoblastic texture, which presumably recrystallized in the solid state. This contrasts with previous observations on terrestrial metamorphic rocks, in which such growth twins are scarce or absent. The difference may be due to a higher rate of temperature change in the shock-heated lunar rocks. Further study of plagioclase twin laws in lunar rocks may assist in deciphering the complicated history of the highlands.     

Geochemical soil surveys over cambrian and lower devonian formations in the belgian ardennes as a tool for geological mapping

A geochemical soil survey was made over outcropping Cambrian and Lower Devonian formations in the Belgian Ardennes. About 300 soil samples were collected in an area of 2.5 × 1.1 km².Analysis of rock samples from scarce, but stratigraphically well-known outcrops show that the Cambrian rocks are richer in copper than those of the Lower and Upper Gedinnian (Lower Devonian). The Upper Gedinnian rocks are more nickeliferous than the other horizons.In the well-drained soils, copper and lead distributions permit precise location of the boundary between Cambrian and Lower Gedinnian formations. The nickel distribution seems to be a good stratigraphic indicator for distinguishing Upper from Lower Gedinnian. Zinc distribution seems unrelated to underlying bedrock geology.Regression analysis confirms that the content of Cu, Pb and Ni is essentially a function of lithostratigraphy. However, the distribution of these elements is more influenced by pedological factors in the poorly drained soils.     

Long-term dynamical evolution of dusty ejecta from Deimos

We re-assess expected properties of the presumed dust belt of Mars formed by impact ejecta from Deimos. Previous studies have shown that dynamics of Deimos particles are dominated by two perturbing forces: radiation pressure (RP) and Mars’ oblateness (J2). At the same time, they have demonstrated that lifetimes of particles, especially of grains about ten of micrometers in size, may reach more than 10⁴ years. On such timescales, the Poynting-Robertson drag (PR) becomes important. Here we provide a study of the dynamics under the combined action of all three perturbing forces. We show that a PR decay of the semimajor axes leads to an adiabatic decrease of amplitudes and periods of oscillations in orbital inclinations predicted in the framework of the underlying RP+J2 problem. Furthermore, we show that smallest of the long-lived Deimos grains (radius≈5- may reach a chaotic regime, resulting in unpredictable and abrupt changes of their dynamics. The particles just above that size (≈10-) should be the most abundant in the Deimos torus. Our dynamical analysis, combined with a more accurate study of the particle lifetimes, provides corrections to earlier predictions about the dimensions and geometry of the Deimos torus. In addition to a population, appreciably inclined and shifted towards the Sun, the torus should contain a more contracted, less asymmetric, and less tilted component between the orbits of Phobos and Deimos.     

Error analyses of resonant orbits for geodesy

An error analysis of resonant orbits for geodesy indicates that attempts to use resonance to recover high order geopotential coefficients may be seriously hampered by errors in the geopotential. This effect, plus the very high correlations (up to .99) of the resonant coefficients with each other and the orbital period in single satellite solutions, makesindividual resonant orbits of limited value for geodesy. Multiple-satellite, single-plane solutions are only a slight improvement over the single satellite case. Accurate determination of high order coefficients from low altitude resonant satellites requires multiple orbit planes and small drift-periods to reduce correlations and effects of errors of non-resonant geopotential terms. Also, the effects of gravity model errors on low-altitude resonant satellites make the use of tracking arcs exceeding two to three weeks of doubtful validity. Because high-altitude resonant orbits are less affected by non-resonant terms in the geopotential, much longer tracking arcs can be used for them.