Are the circular, dark features on Comet Borrelly's surface albedo variations or pits?

The highest resolution images of Comet 19P/Borrelly show many dark features which, upon casual inspection, appear to be low albedo markings, but which may also be shadows or other photometric variations caused by a depression in the local topography. In order to distinguish between these two possible interpretations we conducted a photometric analysis of three of the most prominent of these features using six of the highest quality images from the September 22, 2001 Deep Space 1 (DS1) flyby. We find that: 1. The radiance in the darkest parts of each feature increases as phase angle decreases, similarly to the radiance behavior of the higher albedo surrounding terrain. The dark features could be either fully illuminated low albedo spots or, alternatively, they could be depressions. No part of any of the three regions was in full shadow. 2. One of the regions has a radiance profile consistent with a rimmed depression, the second, with a simple depression with no rim, and the third with a low albedo spot. 3. The regolith particles are backscattering and carbon black is one of the few candidate regolith materials that might explain this low albedo. We conclude that Borrelly's surface is geologically complex to the limit of resolution of the images with a combination complex topography, pits, troughs, peaks and ridges, and some very dark albedo markings, perhaps a factor of two to three darker than the average 3-4% albedo of the surrounding terrains. Our technique utilizing measured radiance profiles through the dark regions is able to discriminate between rimmed depressions, rimless depressions and simple albedo changes not associated with topography.     

Impact demagnetization of the martian crust

The lack of magnetic anomalies within the giant martian impact basins, Hellas, Argyre, and Isidis suggests that the impacts demagnetized the crust. Our analysis of the magnetic anomaly intensity shows that the interior parts of the basins are completely demagnetized, while the outer parts and surroundings are partially demagnetized. We investigate the shock pressure and impact heating resulting from the impacts. The crust has been completely demagnetized within ∼0.8 basin radius by a combination of thermal and shock effects, and the surroundings have been partially demagnetized by shock to a distance of at least 1.4 radii. We also investigate magnetic signatures of intermediate-size craters. From the pressures generated by both the large and intermediate-sized impacts, we conclude that the remanent magnetization is carried at least in part by high coercivity rocks. Since the crust beneath the basins does not appear to have been remagnetized as it cooled following the impacts, we conclude that the martian core dynamo was inactive or very weak for at least 100 Myr following the Hellas impact.     

The Upper Crustal Evolution of a Large Silicic Magma Body: Evidence from Crystal-scale Rb Sr Isotopic Heterogeneities in the Fish Canyon Magmatic System, Colorado

Batholith-sized bodies of crystal-rich magmatic ‘mush’are widely inferred to represent the hidden sources of manylarge-volume high-silica rhyolite eruptive units. Occasionallythese mush bodies are ejected along with their trapped interstitialliquid, forming the distinctive crystal-rich ignimbrites knownas ‘monotonous intermediates’. These ignimbritesare notable for their combination of high crystal contents (35–55%),dacitic bulk compositions with interstitial high-silica rhyoliticglass, and general lack of compositional zonation. The 5000km³ Fish Canyon Tuff is an archetypal eruption deposit of thistype, and is the largest known silicic eruption on Earth. Ejectafrom the Fish Canyon magmatic system are notable for the limitedcompositional variation that they define on the basis of whole-rockchemistry, whereas 45 vol. % crystals in a matrix of high-silicarhyolite glass together span a large range of mineral-scaleisotopic variability (microns to millimetres). Rb/Sr isotopicanalyses of single crystals (sanidine, plagioclase, biotite,hornblende, apatite, titanite) and sampling by micromillingof selected zones within glass plus sanidine and plagioclasecrystals document widespread isotopic disequilibrium at manyscales. High and variable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i values for euhedral biotitegrains cannot be explained by any model involving closed-systemradiogenic ingrowth, and they are difficult to rationalize unlessmuch of this radiogenic Sr has been introduced at a late stagevia assimilation of local Proterozoic crust. Hornblende is theonly phase that approaches isotopic equilibrium with the surroundingmelt, but the melt (glass) was isotopically heterogeneous atthe millimetre scale, and was therefore apparently contaminatedwith radiogenic Sr shortly prior to eruption. The other mineralphases (plagioclase, sanidine, titanite, and apatite) have significantlylower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i values than whole-rock values (as much as –0·0005).Such isotopic disequilibrium implies that feldspars, titaniteand apatite are antecrysts that crystallized from less radiogenicmelt compositions at earlier stages of magma evolution, whereashighly radiogenic biotite xenocrysts and the development ofisotopic heterogeneity in matrix melt glass appear to coincidewith the final stage of the evolution of the Fish Canyon magmabody in the upper crust. Integrated petrographic and geochemicalevidence is consistent with pre-eruptive thermal rejuvenationof a near-solidus mineral assemblage from 720 to 760°C (i.e.partial dissolution of feldspars + quartz while hornblende +titanite + biotite were crystallizing). Assimilation and blendingof phenocrysts, antecrysts and xenocrysts reflects chamber-wide,low Reynolds number convection that occurred within the last10 000 years before eruption. KEY WORDS: Fish Canyon Tuff; Rb–Sr isotopes; microsampling; magmatic processes; crystal mush     

Heavy mineral composition and texture of the recently formed fluvial delta sediment of Lake Nasser/Nubia,Egypt and Sudan

Surficial sediment samples collected from the recently formed fluvial delta in Lake Nasser/Nubia (Egypt and Sudan) in conjunction with data on bottom current and depth soundings are examined to interpret hydraulic-sorting processes and transport/depositional patterns.The～500 km long northeastwardtrending lake,lies within Egypt and Sudan,is created as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964.The original grain-size distribution and heavy mineral compositions of these samples hel...     

含油气盆地蒸发盐矿物成因类型及其地质意义*

中国是一个多盐湖国家,然而盐湖研究主要集中于分析湖水化学性质、盐类物质来源和盐矿资源开发等,对盐类矿物沉积特征和埋藏成岩改造研究较少,造成从蒸发岩角度去理解古代盐湖盆地的油气富集规律较为困难。在广泛阅读国内外大型盐湖文献的基础上,笔者介绍了盐湖分类方案和蒸发岩中盐类矿物的主要成因类型,并总结了中国陆相含油气盆地中常见的硫酸盐、氯化物、含钠碳酸盐和硼酸盐的沉积—成岩过程及其古环境和古气候意义。同时,尝试利用盐湖沉积最新研究成果去探讨中国含油气盆地蒸发岩研究中存在争议或值得关注的问题,得出: (1)深部热液可为湖泊输送大量元素离子,但要在湖泊环境下富集大量蒸发岩,则(半)干旱气候和蒸发浓缩作用是前提条件;(2)易溶蒸发岩(如石盐)在沉积中心单层厚度大,而在斜坡—边缘区缺失,这是季节性气温变化和温跃层浮动引发“中心聚集效应”的结果;(3)温度可影响蒸发岩中盐类矿物溶解度、晶体结构形态和发育深度,而部分无水盐类矿物在常温常压下却无法结晶,这一现象可用来指示古地温和地层埋藏史;(4)碳酸盐型盐湖中的Na-碳酸盐种类可指示大气CO₂浓度和古温度。     

洞穴滴水、石笋中元素及元素比值对气候环境变化响应的研究进展

滴水/石笋元素是除δ18O和δ13C,研究气候环境变化的又一重要代用指标。外界气候环境变化通过改变表层岩溶带和岩溶含水层中的水文环境,甚至洞穴环境,进而影响元素的溶解、运移和沉淀过程,从而使得滴水/石笋中元素表现一定的变化规律。本文通过分析影响洞穴滴水元素及元素比值变化的因素：元素来源、水—岩相互作用和滞留时间、差异性淋滤、先期碳酸盐沉淀及分配系数的基础上,从元素对岩溶区“二元结构”和极端天气/气候事件响应的角度,探讨了滴水/石笋中元素的气候环境指示意义。取得了以下认识：① 强降水带来的冲刷作用和溶解作用,促进土壤和基岩中元素、胶体和天然有机质（NOM：Natural Organic Matter）等物质在短时间内快速溶解和运移,使滴水中元素含量增加;但随着降水增多带来的稀释作用,使得滴水/石笋中Mg,Sr和Ba等元素含量降低,因此,单一元素的解译较为复杂;② 基岩/溶液中元素溶解和沉积的差异,导致元素相对含量的变化,使得元素X/Ca值对外界环境的响应具有一致性,尤其是Mg/Ca和Sr/Ca值：在干旱条件下,降水减少导致方解石先期沉积（PCP：Prior Calcite precipitation）作用增强,使Mg/Ca和Sr/Ca值增大。但目前存在着一些问题：① Mg/Ca和Sr/Ca值变化对强降水事件的响应并不明显,可能与新、老水混合及元素溶解过程中的溶解比例差别不大有关;② 多源、多期混合水源会导致洞穴滴水元素对极端事件响应减弱;③ Mg/Ca和Sr/Ca的变化为解释δ18O的“雨量效应”及“源效应”提供了见解,但元素变化能否反映季风强度的变化,仍有待进一步的研究。基于以上认识,笔者提出开展更加系统的大气—土壤—包气带—洞穴的监测;开展更高分辨率、更长时间尺度的洞穴监测;开展多区域、多洞穴系统对比研究来更加深入地开展洞穴石笋元素研究。     

Periglacial and Fluvial Factors Controlling the Sedimentation of Pleistocene Breccia in NW Poland

Breccias were investigated on the terrace of the Toruń‐Eberswalde ice‐marginal valley at Rozwarzyn (NW Poland). Breccia layers include soft‐sediment clasts with diameters between 2 and 256 mm and soft‐sediment megaclasts with diameters from 256 mm to 7 m. The shape of the soft‐sediment clasts and megaclasts (derived from frozen sediments) in the breccia is diverse: from angular and irregular in the case of debris‐flow breccias to slightly rounded and tabular in fluvial breccias. These two types of breccias were developed during the Late Weichselian when the periglacial climate favored extensive lateral erosion by currents of frozen braided channels in the ice‐marginal valley. The dual presence of breccias of fluvial and debris‐flow origin in channel deposits is unique for Quaternary sediments. Zones of breccias existed in the channels where scours and obstacle marks related to megaclasts developed. The study of breccias shed new light on the fluvial processes in ice‐marginal valleys during the Pleistocene and can be considered as diagnostic for fluvio‐periglacial conditions.     

(Re-)sources of innovation: Understanding and comparing time-spatial innovation dynamics through the lens of communities of practice

Communities of practice play an important role in innovation processes. It is, however, still unclear what their particular function is. In this article the authors seek first to develop further systematic differentiations between different types of knowing in practice to provide the conceptual ground for studying the influences of knowing in practice on innovation in a comparative way. Therefore, existing inductive approaches are complemented with deductive elements that highlight different impulses of reflexivity (push vs. pull) and different internal logics of reflexivity (rationalist vs. aesthetic). Second, in this article the authors introduce a dynamic approach which focuses on core ideas of innovation processes from a spatial perspective. In such a dynamic view types of knowing in practice have an impact as sources and resources of innovation. As sources of innovation they form a particular locus in which novel ideas emerge and subsequently take particular trajectories. As resources of innovation they intervene at subsequent stages of the process and propel further the translation process of a novel idea becoming eventually a valuable and practicable solution.     

TeV γ-ray fluxes from the long campaigns on Mrk 421 as constraints on the emission of TeV–PeV neutrinos and UHECRs

Long TeV γ-ray campaigns have been carried out to study the spectrum, variability and duty cycle of the BL Lac object Markarian 421. These campaigns have given some evidence of the presence of protons in the jet: (i) Its spectral energy distribution which shows two main peaks; one at low energies (∼1 keV) and the other at high energies (hundreds of GeV), has been described by using synchrotron proton blazar model. (ii) The study of the variability at GeV γ-rays and X-rays has indicated no significant correlation. (iii) TeV γ-ray detections without activity in X-rays, called “orphan flares” have been observed in this object.Recently, The Telescope Array Collaboration reported the arrival of 72 ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with some of them possibly related to the direction of Markarian 421. The IceCube Collaboration reported the detection of 37 extraterrestrial neutrinos in the TeV–PeV energy range collected during three consecutive years. In particular, no neutrino track events were associated with this source. In this paper, we consider the proton–photon interactions to correlate the TeV γ-ray fluxes reported by long campaigns with the neutrino and ultra-high-energy cosmic ray observations around this blazar. Considering the results reported by The IceCube and Telescope Array Collaborations, we found that only from ∼25% to 70% of TeV fluxes described with a power law function with exponential cutoff can come from the proton–photon interactions.