Spectroscopy of comet P/Schaumasse

Column density profiles for CN, C₃, C₂ and NH have been determined from a long-slit CCD spectrum of periodic comet P/Schaumasse (1992x). Comparisons of these profiles with Haser models indicate that the ratios of the CN, C₃ and C₂ production rates are typical for a short-period comet. Although the scale lengths for NH and its parent species are uncertain, the results indicate that the production rate for NH is much greater than for either C₂ or CN.     

SHRIMP U–Pb ages of diagenetic and hydrothermal xenotime from the Archaean Witwatersrand Supergroup of South Africa

SHRIMP dating of xenotime overgrowths on detrital zircon grains can constrain maximum durations since diagenesis and therefore provide minimum dates of sediment deposition. Thus, xenotime dating has significant economic application to Precambrian sediment-hosted ore deposits, such as Witwatersrand Au–U, for which there are no precise depositional ages. The growth history of xenotime in the Witwatersrand Supergroup is texturally complex, with several phases evident. The oldest authigenic xenotime ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age obtained in sandstone underlying the Vaal Reef is 2764 ± 5 Myr (1 σ), and most likely represents a mixture of diagenetic and hydrothermal growth. Nevertheless, this represents the oldest authigenic mineral age yet recorded in the sequence and provides a minimum age of deposition. Other xenotime data record a spread of ages that correspond to numerous post-diagenetic thermotectonic events (including a Ventersdorp event at ≈ 2720 Ma) up to the ≈2020 Ma Vredefort event.     

Revisiting the magnification of type Ia supernovae with SDSS

We cross-correlate the sample of type Ia supernovae from Riess A. G. et al. with the SDSS DR2 photometric galaxy catalogue. In contrast to recent work, we find no detectable correlation between supernova magnitude and galaxy overdensity on scales ranging between 1 and 10 arcmin. Our results are in accord with theoretical expectations for gravitational lensing of supernovae by large-scale structure. Future supernova surveys such as SNAP will be capable of detecting unambiguously the predicted lensing signal.     

Mineralogical sources of the buffer capacity in a granite catchment determined by strontium isotopes

The role of different minerals in base cation release and thus the increase of buffering capacity of groundwater against acid deposition is controversially discussed in the literature. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and base cation concentration were investigated in whole rock leachates, mineral separates, precipitation, soil solution, groundwater and stream water samples in the Lehstenbach catchment (Germany) to identify the weathering sequence of the granite bedrock. Three different approaches were followed in parallel. It was assumed that the contribution of different minerals to base cation supply of the groundwater with increasing weathering intensity would be observed by investigating (1) unweathered rock leachates, deep groundwater and shallow groundwater, (2) groundwater samples from new groundwater wells, reflecting the initial weathering of the drilled bedrock, and groundwater from wells that were drilled in 1988, (3) stream water during baseflow, dominated by deep groundwater, and stream water during high flow, being predominantly shallow groundwater. Whereas the first approach yielded consistent patterns, there was some evidence that groundwater from the new wells initially reflected contamination by the filter gravel rather than cation release in an initial stage of weathering. Time series samples of stream water and groundwater solute concentrations and isotope ratios turned out to reflect varying fractions of soil water and precipitation water at baseflow and high flow conditions rather than varying contributions of different minerals that prevail at different stages of granite weathering.     

On the geologic structure of the Explora Escarpment (Weddell Sea,Antarctica) revealed by satellite and Shipboard data evaluation

Bathymetric, gravity, and magnetic data from Antarctic expeditions with RV POLARSTERN and satellite altimeter data from the Geosat Geodetic Mission are analysed using methods from geostatistics and geophysical inverse theory.The Explora Escarpment represents the edge between the Antarctic Continental Shelf and the Weddell Abyssal Plain. It is an important link in the reconstruction of Gondwana breakup, but a feature as large as the 2000 m deep Wegener Canyon was only discovered in 1984, when extensive bathymetric, gravimetric, and magnetic surveys with RV POLARSTERN began.Geostatistics, the theory of regionalized variables, is applied to integrate dense surveys of Wegener Canyon and sparse observations in adjacent areas into maps with full coverage of the 230 km by 330 km area at 10°–20° W/70°–72° S. The resultant highresolution bathymetric and gravity maps reveal detailed structures of the Explora Escarpment. Using geophysical inversion, the gravity terrain effect is calculated. Satellite data are used for their better coverage, but have much lower resolution. Nevertheless, the structures of Wegener Canyon and other more prominent features appear with surprisingly good correlation also in the Geosat altimeter data. While it was initially supposed that Wegener Canyon is purely an erosional structure, the magnetic map now provides evidence of the canyon's tectonic origin.     

Detection of DNA damage in mussels and sea urchins exposed to crude oil using comet assay

The single-cell microgel electrophoresis assay or the comet assay was used to evaluate DNA damage of dispersed crude oil on sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and mussels (Mytilus edulis L.). Sea urchins were exposed to 0.06 and 0.25 mg/L dispersed crude oil in a continuous flow system, while the mussels were exposed to 0.015, 0.06 and 0.25 mg/L dispersed crude oil. Sea urchin coelomocytes and mussel haemocytes were sampled after 4 and 5 weeks exposure, respectively. In the sea urchin coelomocytes, there was a significant concentration-related increase in the percentage of DNA in comet tail. In mussel haemocytes, there was a significantly higher percentage of DNA in comet tail for all treatments compared to the control. The responses were concentration-related up to 0.06 mg/L oil. The two highest exposure concentrations of mussels were not significantly different from each other. These results indicate that the comet assay can be used for biomonitoring of DNA damage in marine invertebrates following oil contamination.     

The structure and dynamics of 2-dimensional fluids in swelling clays

The interlayer pores of swelling 2:1 clays provide an ideal 2-dimensional environment in which to study confined fluids. In this paper we discuss our understanding of the structure and dynamics of interlayer fluid species in expanded clays, based primarily on the outcome of recent molecular modelling and neutron scattering studies. Counterion solvation is compared with that measured in bulk solutions, and at a local level the cation-oxygen coordination is found to be remarkably similar in these two environments. However, for the monovalent ions the contribution to the first coordination shell from the clay surfaces increases with counterion radius. This gives rise to inner-sphere (surface) complexes in the case of potassium and caesium. In this context, the location of the negative clay surface charge (i.e. arising from octahedral or tetrahedral substitution) is also found to be of major importance. Divalent cations, such as calcium, eagerly solvate to form outer-sphere complexes. These complexes are able to pin adjacent clay layers together, and thereby prevent colloidal swelling. Confined water molecules form hydrogen bonds to each other and to the clays' surfaces. In this way their local environment relaxes to close to the bulk water structure within two molecular layers of the clay surface. Finally, we discuss the way in which the simple organic molecules methane, methanol and ethylene glycol behave in the interlayer region of hydrated clays. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering of isotopically labelled interlayer CH₃OD and (CH₂OD)₂ in deuterated clay allows us to measure the diffusion of the CH₃- and CH₂-groups in both clay and liquid environments. We find that in both the one-layer methanol solvates and the two-layer glycol solvates the diffusion of the most mobile organic molecules is close to that in the bulk solution.     

Tracking recent recovery from eutrophication in a high arctic lake (Meretta Lake, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada) using fossil diatom assemblages

Meretta Lake (Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada) is a high arctic lake that received raw sewage for almost 50 years from the Canadian Department of Transport Base. The lake was sampled from 1968–72 during the International Biological Programme, as part of the Char Lake Project. As the number of users at the Transport Base declined throughout the 1990s, so too did the lake's nutrient levels, and Meretta Lake is now classified as oligotrophic. A previous diatom-based paleolimnological study revealed marked species assemblage shifts coincident with sewage inputs beginning in the late 1940s; however, because the core was taken at a time when nutrient levels were still relatively high (i.e., 1993), the diatom record did not yet track any signs of recovery. In this present study, we examined fossil diatom assemblages from a sediment core taken in 2001. Our results indicate a shift to the pre-impact diatom assemblages in the most recent sediments, indicating that the paleolimnological record is tracking the decreased nutrient inputs to this high arctic lake, and confirms that no significant lags exist in these largely ice-covered lakes.