14C DATES OF CALCAREOUS SAMPLES,HERON ISLAND,GREAT BARRIER REEF1

Two samples of plant-rich limy sand collected from the 9- and 11-ft.-level of the Heron Island cay were subjected to ¹⁴C dating. Uncertainties related to secondary changes and contaminations, and the unknown transportation history of the woody material prior to accumulation at Heron Island, in combination with the relatively young age of the carbon, did not result in ¹⁴C values useful for correlation and absolute dating purposes.     

Petrology,chemistry, and isotopic compositions of the lunar highland regolith breccia Dar al Gani 262

Abstract— Lunar meteorite Dar al Gani 262 (DG 262)—found in the Libyan part of the Sahara—is a mature, anorthositic regolith breccia with highland affinities. The origin from the Moon is undoubtedly indicated by its bulk chemical composition; radionuclide concentrations; noble gas, N, and O isotopic compositions; and petrographic features. Dar al Gani 262 is a typical anorthositic highland breccia similar in mineralogy and chemical composition to Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 93069. About 52 vol% of the studied thin sections of Dar al Gani 262 consist of fine-grained(100 μm) constituents, and 48 vol% is mineral and lithic clasts and impact-melt veins. The most abundant clast types are feldspathic fine-grained to microporphyritic crystalline melt breccias (50.2 vol%; includes recrystallized melt breccias), whereas mafic crystalline melt breccias are extremely rare (1.4 vol%). Granulitic lithologies are 12.8 vol%, intragranularly recrystallized anorthosites and cataclastic anorthosites are 8.8 and 8.2 vol%, respectively, and (devitrified) glasses are 2.7 vol%. Impact-melt veins (5.5 vol% of the whole thin sections) cutting across the entire thin section were probably formed subsequent to the lithification process of the bulk rock at pressures below 20 GPa, because the bulk rock never experienced a higher peak shock pressure. Mafic crystalline melt breccias are very rare in Dar al Gani 262 and are similar in abundance to those in QUE 93069. The extremely low abundance of mafic components and the bulk composition may constrain possible areas of the Moon from which the breccia was derived. The source area of Dar al Gani 262 must be a highland terrain lacking significant mafic impact melts or mare components. On the basis of radionuclide activities, an irradiation position of DG 262 on the Moon at a depth of 55–85 g/cm³and a maximum transit time to Earth <0.15 Ma is suggested. Dar al Gani 262 contains high concentrations of solar-wind-implanted noble gases. The isotopic abundance ratio ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar < 3 is characteristic of lunar soils. The terrestrial weathering of DG 262 is reflected by the occurrence of fractures filled with calcite and by high concentrations of Ca, Ba, Cs, Br, and As. There is also a large amount of terrestrial C and some N in the sample, which was released at low temperatures during stepped heating. High concentrations of Ni, Co, and Ir indicate a significant meteoritic component in the lunar surface regolith from which DG 262 was derived.     

Geophysical profile of the Roter Kamm impact crater,Namibia

Abstract— New gravity and magnetic data were obtained along ground profiles across the Roter Kamm impact crater in the southern Namib desert of Namibia. As the traverses of previous studies did not extend sufficiently beyond the crater rim, it had not been possible to adequately determine the regional background values. The gravity results of this study are similar to those obtained by Fudali in 1973, in that a negative, near-symmetrical anomaly was obtained over the crater center. This anomaly conforms to the results expected for a sediment and impact breccia-filled, simple bowl-shaped crater. The magnetic results of this study, however, are different to those previously reported, which is most probably as a result of the longer profiles used in this new study. A slight positive magnetic anomaly was obtained over the crater interior. Short-wavelength, high-amplitude anomalies observed in the vicinity of the crater rim reflect magnetization contrasts that are probably related to brecciation and block rotation. Modelling of the positive magnetic anomaly indicates the possibility of a small magnetic body or lining at the crater floor-breccia interface in the interior of the crater. Also presented is a 10 m contour digital elevation model of the crater and its environs.     

Late Pleistocene foraminiferal stratigraphy on the Vøring Plateau, Norwegian Sea

Quantitative studies of foraminiferal faunas and isotope ratios have been done in two gravity cores from the Vøring Plateau. Core 23199 from about 2000 m water depth included sediments younger than oxygen Stage 7. Core 23205 from about 1400 m ended in sediments from Stage 5. According to the transfer temperatures, the onset of abundances of Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and the δ¹³C values of Neogloboquadrinapachyderma , the Vøring Plateau was covered by pack-ice during Stages 6,4,2 and, to some extent, also during Stage 3. Ice-free sea-surface conditions prevailed from late Substage 5e throughout Stage 5 and during stage 1. The transition from Stage 6 to Stage 5 (Termination II) took place in two steps: Ila is defined by the δ¹⁸O signal of N. pachyderma (reduced global ice volume) and lib by the increased occurrence of C. wuellerstorfi (melting of local pack-ice). A contemporaneous development of an interglacial deep-water circulation system is indicated.     

PROPERTY MATRICES IDENTIFICATION OF UNBOUNDED MEDIUM FROM UNIT-IMPULSE RESPONSE FUNCTIONS USING LEGENDRE POLYNOMIALS: FORMULATION

A systematic procedure to construct the (symmetric) static-stiffness, damping and mass matrices representing the unbounded medium is presented addressing the unit-impulse response matrix corresponding to the degrees of freedom on the structure–medium interface. The unit-impulse response matrix is first diagonalized which then permits each term to be modelled independently from the others using expansions in a series of Legendre polynomials in the time domain. This leads to a rational approximation in the frequency domain of the dynamic-stiffness coefficient. Using a lumped-parameter model which provides physical insight the property matrices are constructed.     

The South African polymict eucrite Macibini

Abstract— The polymict eucrite Macibini is a fragmental breccia, predominantly composed of eucritic materials with minor proportions (maximum 2 vol%) of diogenitic material. Hence, it is intermediate between the Yamato‐74159‐type polymict eucrites, which contain negligible amounts of magnesian orthopyroxene, and the howardites. The present study provides mineralogical and bulk compositional data for the meteorite breccia and for six clasts. These clasts include both volcanic and igneous rocks and a variety of impact‐generated rocks. A broad range of degrees of postcrystallization metamorphism affected these materials before the final aggregation of the breccia. Clast A is a fragment of unequilibrated eucrite with subophitic texture. The edges of the zoned pyroxenes in this clast are composed of a host of Fe‐rich augite containing vermicules (blebs) and lamellae composed of a mixture of Fe‐rich olivine and silica. Similar features occur as fragments in lunar breccias and are attributed by some workers to the breakdown of pyroxferroite, an Fe‐rich pyroxenoid. However, textures and compositions of these augite‐olivine‐silica intergrowths in clast A suggest that, in this case, they are the result of decomposition in a series of steps of Fe‐rich subcalcic augite. Among the fragments of impact‐generated material in Macibini is clast 2, an earlier‐formed clastic breccia that was lithified before being broken apart and included in the meteorite breccia. Clast 3 is an impact‐melt breccia that is composed of rock and mineral fragments in a devitrified groundmass. Clast C is also an impact‐melt breccia that has a coarser‐grained, hornfelsic groundmass that resulted from extensive metamorphism after formation.     

Labile trace elements in basaltic achondrites: Can they distinguish between meteorites from the Moon,Mars, and V‐type asteroids?

Abstract— We report data for 14 mainly labile trace elements (Ag, Au, Bi, Cd, Cs, Ga, In, Rb, Sb, Se, Te, Tl, U, and Zn) in eight whole‐rock lunar meteorites (Asuka [A‐] 881757, Dar al Gani [DaG] 262, Elephant Moraine [EET] 87521, Queen Alexandra Range [QUE] 93069, QUE 94269, QUE 94281, Yamato [Y‐] 793169, and Y‐981031), and Martian meteorite (DaG 476) and incorporate these into a comparative study of basaltic meteorites from the Moon, Mars, and V‐type asteroids. Multivariate cluster analysis of data for these elements in 14 lunar, 13 Martian, and 34 howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorites demonstrate that materials from these three parents are distinguishable using these markers of late, low‐temperature episodes. This distinguishability is essentially as complete as that based on markers of high‐temperature igneous processes. Concentrations of these elements in 14 lunar meteorites are essentially lognormally distributed and generally more homogeneous than in Martian and HED meteorites. Mean siderophile and labile element concentrations in the 14 lunar meteorites indicate the presence of a CI‐equivalent micrometeorite admixture of 2.6% When only feldspathic samples are considered, our data show a slightly higher value of 3.4% consistent with an increasing micrometeorite content in regolith samples of higher maturity. Concentrations of labile elements in the 8 feldspathic samples hint at the presence of a fractionated highly labile element component, possibly volcanic in origin, at a level comparable to the micrometeorite component. Apparently, the process(es) that contributed to establishing lunar meteorite siderophile and labile trace element contents occurred in a system open to highly labile element transport.