Initial Al/Al in carbonaceous-chondrite chondrules: too little Al to melt asteroids

We report ²⁶Mg excesses correlated with Al/Mg ratios in five chondrules from the primitive CO3.0 chondrite Yamato 81020 that yield a mean initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratio of only (3.8 ± 0.7) × 10⁻⁶, about half that of ordinary chondrite (OC) chondrules. Even if asteroids formed immediately after chondrule formation, this ratio and the mean Al content of CO chondrites is only capable of raising the temperature of a well-insulated CO asteroid to 940 K, which is more than 560 K too low to produce differentiation. The same ratio combined with the higher Al content of CV chondrites results in a CV asteroid temperature of 1100 K. We calculate that the mean initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratio of about 7.4 × 10⁻⁶ found in LL chondrules is only able to produce small amounts of melting, too little to produce differentiation. These results cast serious doubt on the viability of ²⁶Al as the heat source responsible for asteroid differentiation. Inclusion of ⁶⁰Fe raises temperatures about 160 K, but this increment is not enough to cause differentiation, even of an LL-chondrite asteroid.     

New 1982 — 1990 photometry of λ Andromedae and its 11-year cycle

We present photoelectric photometry of λ And never before published, obtained between February 1982 and December 1990 at 29 different observatories. Then we combine it with all other photometry available to us (previously published, contained in the I.A.U. Commission 27 Archives, and obtained with the Vanderbilt 16-inch automatic telescope but not yet published), to yield a 14.8-year data base. Analysis reveals a long-term cycle in mean brightness, with a full range of 0^m.15 and a period of 11.4 ± 0.4 years. Because most of our new photometry was concentrated in the 1983-84 observing season, we analyze that one well-defined light curve with a two-spot model. Spot A keeps a 0^m.04 amplitude throughout four rotation cycles whereas the amplitude of spot B diminishes from 0^m.09 down almost to 0^m.03. The spot rotation periods were 55^d.9 ± 0^d.6 and 520^d.8 ± 1^d.0, respectively.     

Infrared studies at the ice laboratory of Alcoy

At present, there are few laboratory spectra of analogs of astrophysical interest in the far-infrared range (FIR). Laboratory infrared (IR) spectra of simple ices and its mixtures obtained at low temperature and pressure are found mainly up to 25 μm, and few up to 200 μm. On the other hand, there are some spectra for carbonaceous material and silicates up to 2000 μm. Our laboratory is equipped with an IR spectrometer that integrates a Michelson interferometer with a resolution better than 0.25 cm⁻¹ and that operates under vacuum conditions of 10⁻¹ mbar. There is also a silicon bolometer, a very high-sensitivity detector in comparison with the standard deuterated triglycine sulfate (DTGS) detectors. The use of the bolometer and the possibility of working under vacuum conditions inside the optics and the sample compartment of the spectrometer allow obtaining high-sensitivity spectra free from H₂O vapor and CO₂ gas bands. Those conditions are necessary to obtain high-quality spectra in the FIR where absorption bands are much less intense than those in the mid-IR region. In our laboratory there is also a high-vacuum chamber that allows different studies on ices deposited onto a cold finger. We have already carried out experiments on the study of ice density as a function of temperature, UV irradiation of ices, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and UV-vis reflectance. In this work, we present the design of the experimental setup we are building to carry out different experiments simultaneously on the same ice sample, including spectra measurements in the mid-IR range (MIR) and the FIR. This design integrates jointly the IR spectrometer, the high-vacuum chamber and the silicon bolometer. Lastly, we show a spectrum we have obtained of a solid of astrophysical interest such as crystalline forsterite grains by using the polyethylene pellet technique.     

Compositional trends among IID irons; their possible formation from the P-rich lower magma in a two-layer core

Group IID is the fifth largest group of iron meteorites and the fourth largest magmatic group (i.e., that formed by fractional crystallization). We report neutron-activation data for 19 (of 21 known) IID irons. These confirm earlier studies showing that the group has a relatively limited range in Ir concentrations, a factor of 5. This limited range is not mainly due to incomplete sampling; Instead, it seems to indicate low solid/liquid distribution coefficients reflecting very low S contents of the parental magma, the same explanation responsible for the limited range in group IVA. Despite this similarity, these two groups have very different volatile patterns. Group IVA has very low abundances of the volatile elements Ga, Sb and Ge whereas in group IID Ga and Sb abundances are the highest known in a magmatic group of iron meteorites and Ge abundances are the second highest (after group IIAB). Group IID appears to be the only large magmatic group having high volatile abundances but low S. In the volatile-depleted groups IVA and IVB it is plausible that S was lost as a volatile from a chondritic precursor material. Because group IID seems to have experienced minimal loss of volatiles, we suggest that S was lost as an early melt having a composition near that of the Fe–FeS eutectic (315 mg/g S). When temperatures had risen 400–500 K higher P-rich melts formed, became gravitationally unstable, and drained through the first melt to form an inner core that was parental to the IID irons. As discussed by [Kracher, A., Wasson, J.T., 1982. The role of S in the evolution of the parental cores of the iron meteorites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 46, 2419–2426], it is plausible that a metal-rich inner core and a S-rich outer core could coexist metastably because stratification near the interface permitted only diffusional mixing. The initial liquidus temperature of the inner, P-rich core is estimated to have been 1740 K; after >60% crystallization the increase in P and the decrease in temperature may have permitted immiscibility with the S-rich outer core. We have not recognized samples of the outer core.     

Sediment transfer in an extremely low-gradient,low-relief and highly buffered system: Darwin Harbour catchment,northern Australia

Abstract

Sediment yields from and sediment transfer within catchments of very low relief and gradient, which make up about 50% of Earth’s surface, are poorly documented and their internal sediment dynamics are poorly known. Sediment sources, their proportionate contributions to valley floors and sediment yield, and storage are estimated using fallout radionuclides ²¹⁰Pb_(ex) and ¹³⁷Cs in the catchments that drain into Darwin Harbour, northern Australia, an example of this understudied catchment type that appears to be globally at the extreme end of this category of catchments. Unchannelled grassy valley floors (dambos, or seasonal wetlands) trap ～90% of the sediment delivered from hillslopes by sheet and rill erosion. Further down valley, small channels transport ～10% of the sediment that escapes from the dambos, and the remaining sediment comes from erosion of the channels. In this case, the fractional sediment storage is very high as a result of the existence of dambos, a landform that depends for its existence on low gradients.     

Luminescence chronology of river adjustment and incision of Quaternary sediments in the alluvial plain of the Sabarmati River, north Gujarat, India

River adjustment and incision in the Sabarmati basin, Gujarat, India have been examined at a site near Mahudi. Towards this, the morphostratigraphy and depositional chronometry of the middle alluvial plains were investigated. The upper fluvial sequence, along with the overlying aeolian sand and riverbed scroll plains, provide clues to the evolution of the present Sabarmati River. Sedimentological analyses of the upper fluvial sequence indicate its deposition by a meandering river system during what is believed to be a persistent wetter phase. Luminescence chronology bracketed this sequence to between 54 and 30 ka, which corresponds to Oxygen Isotope Stage-3, during which the SW monsoon was enhanced. The overlying aeolian sand has been dated to 12 ka, indicating that dune accretion occurred simultaneously with the strengthening of the SW monsoon during the Early Holocene. Adjustment of the Sabarmati along a N–S transect is placed around 12 ka and the incision is bracketed between 12 and 4.5 ka. River adjustment could have been tectonic; however, the incision was facilitated by the availability of continuous flow in the river caused by the SW monsoon. The basin experienced two tectonic events at about 3 and 0.3 ka, as demonstrated by the morphology of the scroll plains.     

Composition and origin of clasts and inclusions in the Abee enstatite chondrite breccia

The concentrations of 25 major, minor and trace elements have been determined in four clasts, a metal-rich inclusion and two dark metal-poor inclusions from the Abee enstatite chondrite. The clasts are heterogeneous, displaying 2-fold enrichments or depletions in some elements. The data suggest that there are two generations of metal, one with low, the other with high concentrations of refractory siderophiles. The other elemental patterns can be understood in terms of variations in the abundance of major minerals. We infer that Sc and Mn are located largely in the niningerite ((Fe,Mg)S), V in the troilite (FeS) and rare earth elements in the oldhamite (CaS).Heterogeneities among the clasts are probably primary, resulting from the accretion-agglomeration process, although shock processes in a regolithic setting remain a possibility provided that they were followed by a period of metamorphism sufficient to erase petrologic evidence.In the dark inclusions the concentrations of the rare earths, Eu excepted, are 4 × higher than mean EH levels; this infers enhanced amounts of CaS. The dark inclusions are low in siderophiles, Sc, Mn, K, Na and Al, implying low amounts of metal, niningerite and feldspar. The origin of the dark inclusions is unclear; they do not appear to be the result of a simple, single-stage process.     

A test of granulometric control of desert dune geometry

I. G. Wilson's hypothesis of coarse-tail grain-size control of dune spacing was derived from three dunefields in the Sahara and, although it was supplemented by measurements of spacing from other parts of the world, the grain-size data come only from North Africa. In this paper the hypothesis is tested in the Australian dunefields. Australian dunes do not form separate categories on a P₂₀/s (twentieth percentile/spacing) plot and, when placed on Wilson's diagram, the Australian data form a continuum between dunes and draas. Ripples maintain their identity, suggesting that the average saltation length of sand controls ripple wavelength while dunes and Wilson's draas are formed by secondary flow of some kind. In Australia the spread of data on the P₂₀/s diagram indicates that grain-size is not the prime control on s. Data from Australia and the Sahara indicate that direct linear relationships between s and h (dune spacing and height means respectively for blocks of dunes) occur but they have different slopes in different areas. These differences possibly reflect variations in vegetation and substrate as well as differences in wind regime. The separation of dunes from draas in the Sahara reflects the greater role of grain-size in an area where coarse grains frequently occur in dune crests. The relative paucity of coarse grains in Australian dune crests may reflect the fine-grained alluvium from which the dunes are derived. These differences may be ascribed to differing topography in Australia and the Sahara.     

Beryllium-10 in Australasian tektites: Constraints on the location of the source crater

By using accelerator mass spectrometry we have measured the ¹⁰Be concentrations of 86 Australasian tektites. Corrected to the time of tektite production ∼0.8 My ago, the ¹⁰Be concentrations (10⁶ atom/g) range from 59 for a layered tektite from Huai Sai, Thailand, to 280 for an australite from New South Wales, Australia. The average value is 143 ± 50. When tektites are sorted by country, their average measured ¹⁰Be concentrations increase slowly with increasing distance from Southeast Asia, the probable location of the tektite producing event, from 59 ± 9 for 6 layered tektites from Laos to 136 ± 20 for 20 splash-form tektites from Australia. The lowest ¹⁰Be concentrations for tektites fall on or within a contour centered off the shore of Vietnam, south of the Gulf of Tonkin (107°E; 17°N), but also encompassing two other locations in the area of northeastern Thailand previously proposed for the site of a single tektite-producing impact. The ¹⁰Be concentrations of layered tektites show only a weak anticorrelation (R ∼ −0.3) with the numbers of relict crystalline inclusions.Loosely consolidated, fine-grained terrestrial sediments or recently consolidated sedimentary rocks are the most likely precursor materials. Dilution of sediments with other kinds of rock raises problems in mixing and is not supported by petrographic data. Sedimentary columns that have the right range of ¹⁰Be concentrations occur off the coasts of places where sedimentation rates are high relative to those in the deep sea. A single impact into such a region, 15 to 300 m thick, could have propelled near-surface, high-¹⁰Be material farthest—to Australia—while keeping the deeper-lying, low-¹⁰Be layers closer to home. We do not rule out, however, other proposed mechanisms for tektite formation.     

Chemical classification of iron meteorites—VIII. Groups IC. IIE,IIIF and 97 other irons

Concentrations of Ni, Ga, Ge and Ir in 106 iron meteorites are reported. Three new groups are defined: IC, IIE and IIIF containing 10, 12 and 5 members, respectively, raising the number of independent groups to 12. Group IC is a cohenite-rich group distantly related to IA. Group IIE consists of those irons previously designated Weekeroo Station type and five others having similar compositions though diverse structures. The IIE irons are compositionally similar to the mesosiderites and pallasites, and the three groups probably formed at similar heliocentric distances. The mixing of the globular IIE silicates with the metal probably occurred during shock events. Group IIIF is a well-defined group of low-Ni and low-Ge irons. The compositions of these groups are summarized as follows:

     

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Group	Ni (%)	Ga (ppm)	Ge (ppm)	Ir (ppm)
IC	6.1–6.8	42–54	85–250	0.07–10
IIE	7.5–9.7	21–28	62–75	0.5–8
IIIF	6.8–7.8	6.3–7.2	0.7–1.1	1.3–7.9