Bounce Rock—A shergottite‐like basalt encountered at Meridiani Planum,Mars

Abstract– The Opportunity rover of the Mars Exploration Rover mission encountered an isolated rock fragment with textural, mineralogical, and chemical properties similar to basaltic shergottites. This finding was confirmed by all rover instruments, and a comprehensive study of these results is reported here. Spectra from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and the Panoramic Camera reveal a pyroxene‐rich mineralogy, which is also evident in Mössbauer spectra and in normative mineralogy derived from bulk chemistry measured by the alpha particle X‐ray spectrometer. The correspondence of Bounce Rock’s chemical composition with the composition of certain basaltic shergottites, especially Elephant Moraine (EET) 79001 lithology B and Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201, is very close, with only Cl, Fe, and Ti exhibiting deviations. Chemical analyses further demonstrate characteristics typical of Mars such as the Fe/Mn ratio and P concentrations. Possible shock features support the idea that Bounce Rock was ejected from an impact crater, most likely in the Meridiani Planum region. Bopolu crater, 19.3 km in diameter, located 75 km to the southwest could be the source crater. To date, no other rocks of this composition have been encountered by any of the rovers on Mars. The finding of Bounce Rock by the Opportunity rover provides further direct evidence for an origin of basaltic shergottite meteorites from Mars.     

克拉美丽气田石炭系火山岩复杂岩性岩电特征

准噶尔盆地东部克拉美丽气田石炭系火山岩岩石类型复杂多样,且同一岩性由于结构、构造和成分的差异,电性特征差异亦较大,岩性识别困难。本文通过对该区14口井取心段岩电关系研究,认为自然伽马、电阻率、密度三种曲线岩性特征响应明显; 电阻率、中子、密度、声波四条曲线对火山岩岩石构造特征响应明显。并编制了岩性和岩石构造测井识别交会图版11张。进而利用电测资料识别出该区11种火山岩岩石类型: 正长斑岩、二长斑岩、玄武岩、粗面岩、英安岩、流纹岩、霏细岩、沉凝灰岩、熔结凝灰岩、火山角砾岩和熔结火山角砾岩; 识别出5种岩石构造类型: 正长斑岩中气孔及块状构造和玄武岩中杏仁、碎裂及块状构造。通过本区12口钻井取心后验,测井识别结果与钻井岩心分析结果吻合良好,可作为地区性火山岩测井岩性、岩石构造识别模式。     

Initial Characterisation of SK01 Sanidine: A Candidate 40Ar/39Ar Reference Material

The precision and accuracy of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates are ultimately linked to co-irradiated reference materials of known age. Here we provide new data from the SK01 sanidine, which was analysed in three different laboratories to evaluate it as a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar reference material. Aliquots of 5 mg, incrementally heated in two laboratories, yielded indistinguishable results with a weighted mean age of 27.58 ± 0.06 Ma (95% confidence level). Single-crystal step heating and single-crystal total fusion analyses of SK01 sanidine were undertaken in the third laboratory to further test the intracrystalline homogeneity. For the seven step-heating analyses, six crystals yielded nearly concordant age spectra with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages ranging from 26.853 ± 0.094 Ma to 26.963 ± 0.067 Ma, whereas one crystal gave an older age of 27.774 ± 0.071 Ma with a slightly discordant age spectrum. Twenty-three single-crystal total fusion analyses yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages ranging from 27.070 ± 0.108 Ma to 27.736 ± 0.062 Ma with a dispersion of ~ 3.8%. The older ages from single-crystal total fusion dates are interpreted to reflect an inherited or excess argon component in some crystals. This is an initial characterisation of the SK01 sanidine, and additional work needs to be conducted to further evaluate the age dispersion so that it can be utilised as a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar reference material.     

Phytoplankton abundance and contributions to suspended particulate matter in the Ohio,Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers

Main channel habitats of the Ohio, Missouri, and Upper Mississippi Rivers were surveyed during the summers of 2004, 2005 and 2006 using a probability-based sampling design to characterize inter-annual and inter-river variation in suspended chlorophyll a (CHLa) and related variables. Large (fivefold) differences in CHLa were observed with highest concentrations in the Upper Mississippi (32.3 ± 1.8 μg L⁻¹), intermediate values in the Missouri (19.7 ± 1.1 μg L⁻¹) and lowest concentrations in the Ohio (6.8 ± 0.5 μg L⁻¹). Inter-annual variation was small in comparison to inter-river differences suggesting that basin-specific factors exert greater control over river-wide CHLa than regional-scale processes influencing climate and discharge. The rivers were characterized by variable but generally low light conditions as indicated by depth-averaged underwater irradiance <4 E m⁻² day⁻¹ and high ratios of channel depth to euphotic depth (>3). Despite poor light conditions, regression analyses revealed that TP was the best single predictor of CHLa (R ² = 0.40), though models incorporating both light and TP performed better (R ² = 0.60). Light and nutrient conditions varied widely within rivers and were inversely related, suggesting that riverine phytoplankton may experience shifts in resource limitation during transport. Inferred grazing and sedimentation losses were large yet CHLa concentrations did not decline downriver indicating that growth and loss processes were closely coupled. The contribution by algae to suspended particulate organic matter in these rivers (mean = 41%) was similar to that of lakes (39%) but lower relative to reservoirs (61%).     

Distinguishing lower and upper crustal processes in magmas erupted during the buildup to the 7.7 ka climactic eruption of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon, using 238U–230Th disequilibria

Uranium-series isotope ratios determined for 35 volcanic rocks and 4 glass separates erupted from ~36 to 4.8 ka at Mt. Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon, identify both ²³⁰Th-excess and ²³⁸U-excess components. U–Th isotope compositions cover a wide range, exceeding those previously measured for the Cascade arc. Age-corrected (²³⁰Th/²³²Th) and (²³⁸U/²³²Th) activity ratios range from 1.113 to 1.464 and from 0.878 to 1.572 (44.4 % ²³⁰Th-excess to 8.8 % ²³⁸U-excess), respectively. The most distinctive aspect of the data set is the contrast in U–Th isotope ratios between low and high Sr (LSr, HSr) components that have been previously identified in products of the 7.7 ka caldera-forming climactic eruption and preclimactic rhyodacite lavas. The LSr component exclusively contains ²³⁸U-excess, but the HSr component, as well as more primitive lavas, are marked by ²³⁰Th-excess. ²³⁰Th-excesses such as those recorded at Mt. Mazama are commonly observed in the Cascades. Melting models suggest that high ²³⁰Th-excesses observed in the more primitive lavas evolved through mixing of a mantle melt with a partial melt of a mafic lower crustal composition that contained garnet in the residuum that was produced through dehydration melting of amphibolite that was initially garnet free. Dehydration melting in the lower crust offers a solution to the “hot-slab paradox” of the Cascades, where low volatile contents are predicted due to high slab temperatures, yet higher water contents than expected have been documented in erupted lavas. The ²³⁸U-excess observed at Mt. Mazama is rare in Cascade lavas, but occurs in more than half of the samples analyzed in this study. Traditionally, ²³⁸U-excess in arc magmas is interpreted to reflect slab fluid fluxing. Indeed, ²³⁸U-excess in arcs is common and likely masks ²³⁰Th-excess resulting from lower crustal interaction. Isotopic and trace element data, however, suggest a relatively minor role for slab fluid fluxing in the Cascades. We propose that ²³⁸U-excess reflects melting and assimilation of young, hydrothermally altered upper crust. The processes related to generating ²³⁸U-excess are likely important features at Mt. Mazama that accompanied development of a large-scale silicic magma chamber that led to the caldera-forming eruption.     

Holocene volcanic activity at Koniuji Island,Aleutians

Reconnaissance mapping and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations establish an eruptive chronology for Koniuji Island in the central Aleutian island arc. Koniuji is a tiny 0.95 km² island that rises only 896 ft above the Bering Sea. Previous accounts describe Koniuji as a mostly submerged, deeply eroded, dormant stratovolcano. However, new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages constrain the duration of subaerial eruptive activity from 15.2 to 3.1 ka. Furnace incremental heating experiments on replicate groundmass separates from two samples of a 30–50 m thick basaltic andesite flow at the southernmost point of the island gave a weighted mean ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 15.2 ± 5.0 (2σ). The next phase of eruptive activity includes a series of 5.8–4.6 ka basaltic andesitic to andesitic lava flows preserved along the western shoreline. The basal lavas contain numerous mafic enclaves and dioritic cumulates suggesting a major disturbance in the plumbing system during the initial stages of emplacement. The 5.8–4.6 ka lavas are truncated by an andesitic dome complex that includes hornblende-bearing domes, flows and pyroclastics which extruded into the center of the island and comprise the majority of the subaerial eruptive volume. An angular block from within the dome complex yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 3.1 ± 1.9 ka, thereby making it one of the youngest island arc volcanics to be dated using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method. Overall, the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data indicate that Koniuji is a nascent stratovolcano that has only recently emerged above sea level, not a glacially-eroded, long-lived volcanic complex like those found on many other central Aleutian Islands.     

岩石样品中低含量铂族元素和锇同位素比值的高精度测量方法

铂族元素（Os,Ir,Pt,Ru,Rh,Pd)具有强亲铁性和强亲铜性，为一组地球化学性质相近的相容元素，铂族元素包含两个同位素衰变体系（^190Pt-^186Os和^187Re-^187Os)。近年来，铂族元素和Re-Os同位素在研究各类不同地持作用过程中，尤其是在地幔岩石的研究中，作用独特，效果显著。由于地幔岩石的铂族元素含量较低，因此高精度，高灵敏度的分析测试方法的研究就显得十分重要。以往的分析方法（如常规的ICP－MS和中子活化分析方法），对含10^-9-10^012级低含量铂族元素的产品分析精度一般较差（＞15％－100％）。所采用的分析流程通常也无法同时获得样品的铂族元素含量和Os同位素比值。本文采用新的熔样方法（HAP－S高温高压釜酸溶法），新的化学流程（溶剂萃取和阴离子交换树脂柱）和新的分析仪器（多接收等离子体质谱MC－ICPMS和负离子热电离质谱N－TIMS）。用同位素稀释法对低含量地幔橄榄岩样品同时测定的铂族元素含量和Os同位素比值，获得了高精度的分析结果。对所分析的地橄榄样品中的铂族元素分配曲线和Os同位素组成的地质意义进行了初步探讨。     

Large-volume silicic volcanism in Kamchatka: Ar–Ar and U–Pb ages,isotopic, and geochemical characteristics of major pre-Holocene caldera-forming eruptions

The Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia represents the most volcanically active arc in the world in terms of magma production and the number of explosive eruptions. We investigate large-scale silicic volcanism in the past several million years and present new geochronologic results from major ignimbrite sheets exposed in Kamchatka. These ignimbrites are found in the vicinity of morphologically-preserved rims of partially eroded source calderas with diameters from ～ 2 to ～ 30 km and with estimated volumes of eruptions ranging from 10 to several hundred cubic kilometers of magma. We also identify and date two of the largest ignimbrites: Golygin Ignimbrite in southern Kamchatka (0.45 Ma), and Karymshina River Ignimbrites (1.78 Ma) in south-central Kamchatka. We present whole-rock geochemical analyses that can be used to correlate ignimbrites laterally. These large-volume ignimbrites sample a significant proportion of remelted Kamchatkan crust as constrained by the oxygen isotopes. Oxygen isotope analyses of minerals and matrix span a 3‰ range with a significant proportion of moderately low-δ¹⁸O values. This suggests that the source for these ignimbrites involved a hydrothermally-altered shallow crust, while participation of the Cretaceous siliceous basement is also evidenced by moderately elevated δ¹⁸O and Sr isotopes and xenocryst contamination in two volcanoes. The majority of dates obtained for caldera-forming eruptions coincide with glacial stages in accordance with the sediment record in the NW Pacific, suggesting an increase in explosive volcanic activity since the onset of the last glaciation 2.6 Ma. Rapid changes in ice volume during glacial times and the resulting fluctuation of glacial loading/unloading could have caused volatile saturation in shallow magma chambers and, in combination with availability of low-δ¹⁸O glacial meltwaters, increased the proportion of explosive vs effusive eruptions. The presented results provide new constraints on Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanic activity in Kamchatka, and thus constrain an important component of the Pacific Ring of Fire.     

Urban land use mapping: A case study of ahmedabad city and its environs

Proper urban planning and effective implementation requires reliable urban land use statistics. In this context, satellite remote sensing data has been studied using both visual and digital techniques. A portable eight-band radiometer has been used to collect spectral signatures of surface features present in Ahmedabad city and its environs. Using these signatures a suitable approach employing visual and digital techniques has been developed for urban land use/sprawl mapping. Urban land-use maps of Ahmedabad city and its environs were prepared on 1:25,000 scale and for Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority Area on 1:50,000 scale using this methodology. It has been found that edge-enhancement techniques are useful to enhance the contrast among different urban land uses. Classification techniques such as MXL and Bayes classifiers are not successful in discriminating urban land uses. Tonal characteristics alongwith other elements of interpretation are required to classify urban land uses such as residential, industrial etc. Spatial distribution of various urban and uses and the space devoted to each urban land use has been brought out.