The interior structure of Mercury and its core sulfur content

Depth-dependent interior structure models of Mercury are calculated for several plausible chemical compositions of the core and of the mantle. For those models, we compute the associated libration amplitude, obliquity, tidal deformation, and tidal changes in the external potential. In particular we study the relation between the interior structure parameters for five different mantle mineralogies and two different temperature profiles together with two extreme crust density values. We investigate the influence of the core light element concentration, temperature, and melting law on core state and inner and outer core size. We show that a sulfur concentration above 10 wt% is unlikely if the temperature at the core-mantle boundary is above 1850 K and the silicate shell at least 240 km thick. The interior models can only have an inner core if the sulfur weight fraction is below 5 wt% for core-mantle boundary temperature in the 1850-2200 K range. Within our modeling hypotheses, we show that with the expected precision on the moment of inertia the core size can be estimated to a precision of about 50 km and the core sulfur concentration with an error of about 2 wt%. This uncertainty can only be reduced when more information on the mantle mineralogy of Mercury becomes available. However, we show that the uncertainty on the core size estimation can be greatly reduced, to about 25 km, if tidal surface displacements and tidal variations in the external potential are considered.     

云南剑川金河岩体中地幔流体交代特征及其成矿意义

云南剑川金河岩体中的硅化霓辉正长斑岩含有较多的镁铁-超镁铁质深源岩石包体.岩相学研究表明,伴随交代蚀变,其主岩和各类包体岩石中普遍发育沿矿物粒间和矿物晶体裂隙或解离纹贯入或穿插的呈网状和细脉浸染状分布的黑色不透明物质.对该物质进行了电子探针及扫描电镜和能谱分析,发现其组成以微晶硅酸盐矿物为主,含少量微晶石英,尤其是含有微晶地幔标型矿物--含钛磁铁矿(或镜铁矿)和含铬自然铁;后两者与硅酸盐矿物构成超显微熔离结构交生.研究认为,这种物质组成和特征,是具超临界和熔浆性质的地幔流体的微观表现,其活动所引发的交代蚀变表现为硅化、钠化及深源包体中的暗色矿物由辉石→角闪石→黑云母的退变序列.这一地幔流体作用微观踪迹的揭示,对于分析和论证滇西地区新生代多金属成矿的深部地质作用规律具有重要的理论和现实意义.     

浮基多体系统自激运动响应的时域分析方法

浮基多体系统上部机构作业时不仅存在多体系统内部各物体间的耦合作用 ,还存在浮基与流场间的耦合作用。本文将浮基在流场中引起的辐射势表示为浮基加速度与时域规范化速度势乘积的卷积形式 ,导出流体动压力及静水系泊恢复力与浮基运动的关系。使用多刚体力学的凯恩方法得到系统的动力学方程。最后给出了在时域中数值求解系统运动响应的具体步骤     

The librations, shape, and icy shell of Europa

Europa, the smallest of the Galilean satellites, has a young icy surface and most likely contains an internal ocean. The primary objective of possible future missions to Europa is the unambiguous detection and characterization of a subsurface ocean. The thickness of the overlying icy shell provides important information on the thermal evolution of the satellite and on the interaction between the ocean and the surface, the latter being fundamental for astrobiology. However, the thickness is not well known, and estimates range from several hundred of meters to some ten of kilometers. Here, we investigate the use of libration (rotation variation) observations to study the interior structure of Europa and in particular its icy shell. A dynamical libration model is developed, which includes gravitational coupling between the icy shell and the heavy solid interior. The amplitude of the main libration signal at 3.55 days (the orbital period) is shown to depend on Europa's shape and structure. Models of the interior structure of Europa are constructed and the equatorial flattening of the internal layers, which are key parameters for the libration, are calculated by assuming that Europa is in hydrostatic equilibrium. Europa's flattened shape is assumed to be due to rotation and permanent tides, and we extend the classical Radau equation for rotationally flattened bodies to include also tidal deformation. We show that the presence of an ocean increases the amplitude of libration by about 10%, depending mainly on the thickness of the icy shell. Therefore, libration observations offer possibility of detection of a subsurface ocean in Europa and estimation of the thickness of its overlying icy shell.     

Tidally driven stress accumulation and shear failure of Enceladus's tiger stripes

Straddling the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus, the four principal “tiger stripe” fractures are a likely source of tectonic activity and plume generation. Here we investigate tidally driven stress conditions at the tiger stripe fractures through a combined analysis of shear and normal diurnal tidal stresses and accounting for additional stress at depth due to the overburden pressure. We compute Coulomb failure conditions to assess failure location, timing, and direction (right- vs left-lateral slip) throughout the Enceladus orbital cycle and explore a suite of model parameters that inhibit or promote shear failure at the tiger stripes. We find that low coefficients of friction (μf=0.1-0.2) and shallow overburden depths (z=2-4 km) permit shear failure along the tiger stripe faults, and that right- and/or left-lateral slip responses are possible. We integrate these conditions into a 3D time-dependent fault dislocation model to evaluate tectonic displacements and stress variations at depth during a tiger stripe orbital cycle. Depending on the sequence of stress accumulation and subsequent fault slip, which varies as a function of fault location and orientation, frictional coefficient, and fault depth, we estimate resolved shear stress accumulation of ∼70 kPa prior to fault failure, which produces modeled strike-slip displacements on the order of ∼0.5 m in the horizontal direction and ∼5 mm in the vertical direction per slip event. Our models also indicate that net displacements on the order of 0.1 m per orbital cycle, in both right- and left-lateral directions, are possible for particular fault geometries and frictional parameters. Tectonic activity inferred from these analyses correlates with observed plume activity and temperature anomalies at Enceladus's south polar region. Moreover, these analyses provide important details of stress accumulation and the faulting cycle for icy satellites subjected to diurnal tidal stress.     

川西甲基卡花岗伟晶岩型锂矿床中熔体、流体包裹体固相物质研究

川西甲基卡二云母花岗岩和伟晶岩内发育大量原生熔体包裹体和富晶体流体包裹体。为了查明甲基卡成矿熔体、流体性质与演化特征,运用激光拉曼光谱和扫描电镜鉴定了甲基卡花岗伟晶岩型锂矿床中二云母花岗岩及伟晶岩脉不同结构带内的原生熔体、流体包裹体的固相物质。分析结果表明,甲基卡二云母花岗岩石英内熔体包裹体的矿物组合为磷灰石+白云母、白云母+钠长石、白云母+石墨;伟晶岩绿柱石内富晶体流体包裹体的矿物组合主要为刚玉、富铝铁硅酸盐+刚玉+锂辉石、锂辉石+石英+锂绿泥石;伟晶岩锂辉石内富晶体流体包裹体的矿物组合主要为磷灰石、锡石、磁铁矿、石英+钠长石+锂绿泥石、萤石、富钙镁硅酸盐+富铁铝硅酸盐+富铁硅酸盐+石英;花岗岩浆熔体与伟晶岩浆熔体(流体)具有一定的差异,成矿熔体、流体成分总体呈现出碱质元素(Na、Si、Al)、挥发分(F、P、CO_2)含量增高及基性元素(Fe、Mg、Ca)降低的特征;包裹体中子矿物与主矿物的化学成分具有一定的差别,揭示出伟晶岩熔体(流体)存在局部岩浆分异作用,具不混溶性及非均匀性。因此认为,伟晶岩熔浆(流体)为岩浆分异与岩浆不混溶共同作用的产物,挥发分含量的增高(F、P、CO_2)使伟晶岩能够与稀有金属组成各类络合物或化合物,这对于稀有金属成矿起到了至关重要的作用。     

基于假三元模型的透辉石-硬玉固溶体热力学性质计算

自然界中矿物多以固溶体形式存在,据其晶体化学特征计算热力学性质是开展矿物成因理论研究的基础。本文引入描述二元矿物固溶体热力学性质的假三元模型,计算得到了透辉石-硬玉固溶体系列的热力学性质。该模型通过构造一种高度有序的中间相,同时考虑长程和短程有序效应,基于热力学平衡态矿物固溶体自由能最低的规律,可以计算特定组分下矿物的平衡自由能、焓和熵等热力学参数。本文针对透辉石-硬玉固溶体体系,取绿辉石为其中间有序态,计算了其活度-成分关系和温度-组分相图等,发现绿辉石随温度升高的有序无序相变为一级相变,相变温度为1 148±25 K,与实验研究结果一致。本文获得的透辉石-绿辉石-硬玉体系的热力学参数可用于视剖面图方法研究MORB成分的岩石的榴辉岩相变质作用过程。     

Preliminary Study of the Ability of Large-scale Deformation Observed by Lunar Based InSAR—Taking Vertical Displacement of Solid Earth Tide as an Example

Based on the principle of InSAR (Interferometirc Synthetic Aperture Radar) characterized by large-scale, continuity, permanency and dynamic, we took vertical displacement of solid Earth tide as an example to simulate the large-scale deformation observed by lunar based InSAR for the first time in the study and the observation ability was analyzed. Solid Earth tide has a feature of a large-space distribution range and the lunar based InSAR exhibits a feature of an ultra-wide swath imaging. According to these features, a simplified observation geometry model was established and a mid-low latitudes area with 50 degrees span in both longitude and latitude was selected as the simulation area. Then the revisit time intervals of the lunar based SAR for the selected area and the tidal vertical displacements at the points scanned by the radar were calculated. The time differentials were further computed to get the relative vertical deformation of the solid Earth tide. The simulation results show that the revisit period of the lunar based radar is about 24.8 hours and the maximum vertical displacement in 30 days is up to 30 cm. Since the designed accuracy of the lunar based InSAR reaches several centimeters, the observing of the vertical displacement of the solid Earth tide by using the lunar based InSAR is feasible in theory as the maximum magnitude of the vertical displacement is 1 order of magnitude larger than the designed accuracy. Theoretically ,solid Earth tide is observable by using lunar based InSAR in a sizable area.We can also use the observation data to study the temporal and spatial variation characteristics when observation time lasts two revisit periods or more. On the other hand,the result of the study also provides references for the parameter designing of other observations using the lunar based InSAR, especially for observing large-scale geodynamic phenomena.     

Mechanical behavior of porous solid considering mesoscopic elastic buckling

In this work, the elastic buckling of porous solids was investigated using a lattice spring model (LSM). The capability of the LSM to solve elastic buckling problems was comprehensively verified by comparing well-established numerical and analytical solutions. Following this, the buckling of a porous solid was studied, in which two porous structures were considered, ie, the random porous model and the Voronoi porous model. The results reveal that both the porosity and the shape of the pores influence the elastic buckling bearing capacity of the porous solid. Finally, the mechanical responses of a porous solid with an extra high porosity (0.85) were numerically investigated. Our numerical results demonstrated that the nonlinear elastic response of the porous solid might come from its mesoscale elastic buckling. This work shows the ability and promise of using the LSM as a fundamental numerical tool for the deep investigation of the buckling mechanical behavior of porous solids.