Identification of mercurian volcanism: Resolution effects and implications for MESSENGER

Abstract— The possibility of volcanism on Mercury has been a topic of discussion since Mariner 10 returned images of half the planet's surface showing widespread plains material. These plains could be volcanic or lobate crater ejecta. An assessment of the mechanics of the ascent and eruption of magma shows that it is possible to have widespread volcanism, no volcanism on the surface whatsoever, or some range in between. It is difficult to distinguish between a lava flow and lobate crater ejecta based on morphology and morphometry. No definite volcanic features have been identified on Mercury. However, known lunar volcanic features cannot be identified in images with similar resolutions and viewing geometries as the Mariner 10 dataset. Examination of high‐resolution, low Sun angle Mariner 10 images reveals several features which are interpreted to be flow fronts; it is unclear if these are volcanic flows or ejecta flows. This analysis implies that a clear assessment of volcanism on Mercury must wait for better data. MESSENGER (MErcury: Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, Ranging) will take images with viewing geometries and resolutions appropriate for the identification of such features.     

NATIVENESS,INVASIVENESS, AND NATION IN AUSTRALIAN PLANTS*

ABSTRACT. The conceptualization of alien invasive species conflates two axes of variability that have become unhelpfully blurred. The nativeness/alienness axis refers to the presumed belonging of a species in ecological or social space. Invasiveness refers to the behavior of the species in question, particularly in relation to other species. The overlay of nation introduces further variability. Teasing these axes apart is important for more effective environmental management. We examine these concepts using two influential forms of ecological knowledge: the biogeographical and ecological literature and the vernacular experiences of suburban backyarders. Three case studies, the invasive native Pittosporum undulatum and two invasive exotics, Lantana camara and Cinnamomum camphora, illustrate the complex and contingent nature of human interactions with such species and the potential for human interactions to increase and/or reduce the propagation of plant species.     

Palaeokarst, tidal erosion surfaces and stromatolites in the Silurian Eke Formation of Gotland, Sweden

Irregular, scalloped erosion surfaces in the shelf carbonate sequences of the lower Eke Formation (Ludlow Series, upper Silurian) in the east of Gotland, Sweden, comprise series of shallow hollows separated by sharp-crested ridges, and cavities with sculptured, undercut walls, cut into lithified sediment. These represent analogues of the solution basins formed in modern coastal and subaerial karst terrains. Discrete erosional cavities merge on enlargement by breaching of the intervening walls to leave remnant, tapering ridges. Sets of the ridges and basins seen in surface view show an average width of basins of 1–2 m, with relief of 40–50 cm and pronounced N-S axes for the ridges; this alignment may reflect the local drainage direction. The lowermost erosion surface passes laterally into a planar, mineralized horizon at the top of the underlying Hemse Group that was resistant to and forms the base level of erosion. Because of restricted exposure of higher Eke Formation sediments the upper limit of erosion remains unknown. There is no evidence of caliche or subaerial diagenetic textures, but solution vugs are common in the eroded limestones. Marine hard-bottom biota attached to some surfaces, and transition from scalloped to planar surfaces indicate erosion in tidal zones, but subaerial karstic erosion is also inferred. The resubmerged karst-eroded topography is overlain by shallow marine carbonates, including small organic buildups. Finely-layered stromatolitic mats developed over the initial infill, in subtidal environments, and grew to form domed mounds within the erosional cavities. They abut sharply against bounding side walls and overhangs. Some emergence is evident from desiccation features in the upper parts of mounds. Biostratigraphical evidence dating the events from initial uplift and karstic erosion to covering of the drowned relief topography places the whole sequence within upper Ludlow times.     

The Northern Myth Revisited? Aborigines,environment and agriculture in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme,Stages One and Two

Western Australia's Ord River Irrigation Scheme has been controversial since its establishment more than twenty-five years ago. A substantial expansion of the scheme, known as Ord Stage Two, is currently underway as a joint project of the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments. In this study I examine and compare Stages One and Two in the context of the significant social and economic changes that have occurred during this period, focusing on attitudes to, and conceptualisations of, nature and the human place in it. Despite a context in which consideration of both Aboriginal and environmental issues is now integrated into the development process, three colonial themes persist in the rhetoric of Stage Two. These are the empty landscape, the invisible Aborigine, and the idealisation of agricultural land use. When expressed together these three help to naturalise the development process as both inevitable and strategically implemented. The contradictions inherent in this process enhance existing doubts about the social and ecological sustainability of continuing attempts to 'develop' Australia's north.     

Ascent and eruption of a lunar high-titanium magma as inferred from the petrology of the 74001/2 drill core

Abstract— An analysis of the orange glasses and crystallized beads from the 68 cm deep 74001/2 core has been conducted to understand the processes occurring during ascent and eruption of the Apollo 17 orange glass magma. Equilibrium between melt and metal blebs (Fe₈₅Ni₁₄Co₁) within the core, along with Cr contents in olivine phenocrysts, suggest there was an oxidation of C and a reduction of the melt at an O fugacity of IW-1.3 and 1320 °C to form CO gas at 200 bars or ～4 km depth. This was followed by development of more oxidized conditions during ascent. Also during ascent, there was formation of euhedral, homogeneous Fo₈₁ olivine crystals and spinel crystals with higher Al and Mg contents than the smaller spinels in the crystallized beads. Both the metal blebs and Al-rich spinels were trapped inside the Fo₈₁ olivine phenocrysts as they grew prior to eruption. The composition of the orange glasses are homogeneous throughout the core, except for a few distinct glasses at the top that appear to have been mixed in by micrometeorite reworking. A few glassy melt inclusions of orange glass composition trapped in the Fo₈₁ phenocrysts contain 600 ± 100 ppm S and ～50 ppm Cl compared to the 200 ppm S and 50 ppm Cl in the orange glass melt when quenched. These inclusions therefore document the addition of 400 ppm S to the CO-rich volcanic gas during the eruption. The size and distribution of different volcanic beads in the Apollo 17 deposit indicate a mode of eruption in which the orange glasses and partially crystallized beads formed further away from the volcanic vent where cooling rates were faster. Progressively larger and more numerous crystals in the black beads reflect slower cooling rates at higher optical densities in the volcanic plume. The development of a brown texture in the orange glasses at the bottom of the core, where the black beads dominate, is interpreted to result from devitrification by subsolidus heating either as the orange glasses fell back through the hot plume or after deposition on the surface. The change from domination by orange glasses to black beads in the core probably reflects a decrease in gas content over time, which consequently would increase the plume optical density and favor slower cooling rates.     

AUSTRALIAN BACKYARD GARDENS AND THE JOURNEY OF MIGRATION*

ABSTRACT. Gardens have been an important site of environmental engagement in Australia since the British colonization. They are places where immigrant people and plants have carried on traditions from their homelands and have worked out an accommodation with new social and biophysical environments. We examined the backyard gardens of three contemporary migrant groups—Macedonian, Vietnamese, and British born—in suburban Australia and a group of first‐generation Australians with both parents born overseas. In Macedonian backyards, emphasis was strong on the production of vegetables; in Vietnamese backyards, on herbs and fruit. British backyards were more diverse, some focusing on non‐native ornamental flowers and others favoring native plants. The cohesiveness of the respective groups was partly an artifact of our sampling strategy. The Macedonian and Vietnamese migrants shared an affinity for productive, humanized landscapes that reflected their rural, subsistence backgrounds and crossed over into their attitudes toward the broader environment and national parks. The rural and village backgrounds help explain why intensive backyard food production has broken down among the next generation in (sub)urban Australia, becoming part of heritage rather than everyday practice.     

Sequential deformation of plains at the margins of Alpha Regio,Venus: Implications for tessera formation

Abstract— The boundaries between the highly deformed tessera terrain and adjacent volcanic plains are primarily those of embayment, where the tessera are stratigraphically older than the plains. Previous studies show that <3% of these boundaries display evidence of tectonic tilting after the emplacement of the plains. One of these unusual boundaries is the western margin of Alpha Regio tessera, a zone ～ 100 km in width that separates the plains from the interior structures of Alpha. This zone is characterized by margin parallel, fine‐scale (1–5 km) fractures, graben, and ridges that truncate and postdate the broad‐scale (10–30 km) ridges and troughs of the interior of Alpha. The western margin is embayed by several volcanic plains units that are progressively tilted and deformed by graben with closer proximity to Alpha Regio. The earliest deformation of the plains consists of northeast‐trending graben ～1 km in width that are similar in morphology and spacing to graben that deform intratessera plains and plains at the eastern boundary of Alpha. Northwest‐trending graben then formed over an interval marked by the emplacement of two additional plains units; their similarity to northwest‐trending structures emanating from Eve corona and the Lada Terra rift suggests a possible genetic relationship. The tilting of the plains adjacent to western Alpha implies relative vertical movement of the margin, either uplift of tessera or downwarping of plains subsequent to the formation and relaxation of the interior of Alpha Regio. Subsidence of plains at this locale is supported by the presence of a basin to the west of Alpha surrounded by a fracture belt contiguous with western Alpha. Thus, the fractures and deformation at the western boundary of Alpha may be related to the formation of a basin to the west of Alpha with some influence from the northernmost extension of the Lada Terra rift. Such a basin is not present at a section along the eastern boundary of Alpha Regio, where the origin of tilted plains remains equivocal. We conclude that the deformation along the western margin of Alpha Regio is not directly related to the process of tessera formation but is an example of tessera modification and is consistent with the stratigraphic position of tessera as the oldest unit observed on Venus.