Meridiani Planum hematite deposit and the search for evidence of life on Mars—iron mineralization of microorganisms in rock varnish     

Carlton C. Allen  Luke W. Probst  Teresa G. Longazo  Frances Westall 《Icarus》2004,171(1):20-30

The extensive hematite deposit in Meridiani Planum was selected as the landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity because the site may have been favorable to the preservation of evidence of possible prebiotic or biotic processes. One of the proposed mechanisms for formation of this deposit involves surface weathering and coatings, exemplified on Earth by rock varnish. Microbial life, including microcolonial fungi and bacteria, is documented in rock varnish matrices from the southwestern United States and Australia. Limited evidence of this life is preserved as cells and cell molds mineralized by iron oxides and hydroxides, as well as by manganese oxides. Such mineralization of microbial cells has previously been demonstrated experimentally and documented in banded iron formations, hot spring deposits, and ferricrete soils. These types of deposits are examples of the four “water-rock interaction” scenarios proposed for formation of the hematite deposit on Mars. The instrument suite on Opportunity has the capability to distinguish among these proposed formation scenarios and, possibly, to detect traces that are suggestive of preserved martian microbiota. However, the confirmation of microfossils or preserved biosignatures will likely require the return of samples to terrestrial laboratories.  相似文献   

Diamonds: geology, gemmology, technology     

Andrew Fleet  Alan Hart  Frances Wall 《Geology Today》2006,22(1):23-28

Diamonds – rough stones, cut stones, host rocks, historical jewellery, contemporary jewellery, and hi-tech materials – were the stars of an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London in 2005, the biggest of its kind the Museum had ever staged. Why diamonds are so rare, how they have been valued through history, and the links between the unique properties of diamond and its use were the key themes of the exhibition.  相似文献   

On the origin of δ spots     

Frances Tang 《Solar physics》1983,89(1):43-50

Mount Wilson sunspot drawings from 1966 through 1980 were used in conjunction with Hα filtergrams from Big Bear Solar Observatory to examine the origin of δ spots, spots with bipolar umbrae within one penumbra. Of the six cases we studied, five were formed by the union of non-paired spots. They are either shoved into one another by two neighboring growing bipoles or by a new spot born piggy-back style on an existing spot of opposite polarity. Proper motions of the growing spots take on curvilinear paths around one another to avoid a collision. This is the shear motion observed in δ spots (Tanaka, 1979). In the remaining case, the δ spot was formed by spots that emerged as a pair. Our findings indicate no intrinsic differences in the formation or the behavior between δ spots and spots of normal magnetic configuration.  相似文献   

Closing the “Hole in the Sky”: The Use of Refutation-Oriented Instruction to Correct Students' Climate Change Misconceptions     

Chew-Hung Chang  Liberty Pascua  Frances Ess 《The Journal of geography》2018,117(1):3-16

This article discusses the implementation of a pedagogical tool aimed at the refutation of secondary school (grade ten-equivalent) students' persistent climate change misconceptions. Using a lesson study approach, the materials and intervention techniques used were developed collaboratively with geography teachers. The objective is two-pronged: to closely monitor how children learn through refutation-oriented approach and to document how teachers process the experience. A pretest and post-test comparison showed that there was significant improvement in the students' climate change conceptual understanding following the intervention.  相似文献   

Aminostratigraphy and thermoluminescence dating of coastal aeolianites and the later Quaternary history of a failed delta: The River Murray mouth region,South Australia     

Colin V. Murray-Wallace  Robert P. Bourman  John R. Prescott  Frances Williams  David M. Price  Antonio P. Belperio 《Quaternary Geochronology》2010,5(1):28-49

A geochronological framework for the sequential development of coastal barrier aeolianite complexes in the mouth region of the River Murray, Australia's largest river system is presented based on amino acid racemization and thermoluminescence dating. The sedimentary successions represent a foreshortened and condensed sequence of coastal barriers compared with those of the Coorong Coastal Plain in southern South Australia where the barrier complexes are more widely separated in response to tectonic uplift. The barriers have formed during interglacial sea-level highstands and are correlatives of genetically equivalent landforms of the Coorong Coastal Plain. Thermoluminescence dating and the extent of amino acid racemization in aeolianite ‘whole-rock’ sediment samples, reveal a general increase in age of the barriers landwards from the modern coastline. In detail, however, the individual barriers represent composite structures having formed in more than one interglaciation, due to the reoccupation of Pleistocene shoreline positions during sea-level highstands of similar amplitude, in a zone of gradual basin subsidence. The most seaward Pleistocene aeolianite at Surfer Beach is of interstadial age (Marine Isotope Stage 5c, 105 ± 5 ka; MIS 5c), and correlates with the Robe Range of the Coorong Coastal Plain. The last interglacial shoreline (130 ± 15 ka; MIS 5e) is particularly well-defined in the River Murray mouth region. It is represented by a complex association of coastal parabolic dunes superimposed on a transverse dune system, which runs parallel with the former coastline, and also includes associated estuarine, lagoonal and open ocean beach facies. Landward of the last interglacial succession are distinct barriers relating to the penultimate interglaciation (215 ± 35 ka; MIS 7), as well as earlier interglaciations (350 ± 65 ka; MIS 9 or 11 and 470 ± 70 ka; MIS 11 or 13). The coastal barriers have been successively breached by the ancestral River Murray at times of lower sea level during glacial cycles. Former mouths of the River Murray during interglacial sea-level highstands are likely to have existed near Tauwitchere Island during MIS 7, and between Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island and near the southern-most part of Lake Albert during the last interglacial (MIS 5e). The River Murray mouth region represents a failed delta as the limited sediment brought to this area since late middle Pleistocene time has been either rapidly incorporated within aeolian deposits during sea-level highstands, or transported to the edge of the Lacepede Shelf during glacial maxima. The Holocene and modern River Murray has not established a marine delta, but deposits its load in the settling basins of the terminal lakes. Only a small digitate delta has formed where the river enters Lake Alexandrina.  相似文献   

Something old,something new,something red,something blue*     

Demetris Koutsoyiannis  Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz  Frances Watkins  Cate Gardner 《水文科学杂志》2013,58(1):1-3

Abstract

Hydrologists responsible for flood management need real-time data in order to manage imminent or ongoing floods. In this paper, innovative methods for accessing hydrological data and their spatial visualization are introduced. A multitude of relevant real-time, forecast and historical information is provided in a single, self-updating hydrological map information system. The system consists of a central database and a cartographic user interface and provides harmonized and filtered data in the form of interactive, customizable maps. Maps may also be cross-referenced with historical maps or may be animated for improved comprehension and decision making. Emphasis is placed on the development of the hydrological real-time database that manages large amounts of spatial, temporal and attributive data. The paper focuses on the cartographic user interface, its functionality and the resulting interactive hydrological maps.

Citation Lienert, C., Weingartner, R. &; Hurni, L. (2011) An interactive, web-based, real-time hydrological map information system. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(1), 1–16  相似文献   

An amalgamated meter-thick sedimentary package enabled by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami in El Garrapatero,Galapagos Islands     

Maria Elizabeth Martin Arcos  Breanyn Tiel MacInnes  Patricia Arreaga  Frances Rivera-Hernandez  Robert Weiss  Patrick Lynett 《Quaternary Research》2013

Tsunamis and storms instigate sedimentological and geomorphological changes to the coastal system, both long-term and ephemeral. To accurately predict future coastal hazards, one must identify the records that are generated by the processes associated with these hazards and recognize what will be preserved. Using eyewitness accounts, photographs, and sedimentology, this study documents pre- and post-tsunami conditions and constrains the timing and process of depositional events during and following the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami in the coastal system at El Garrapatero, Galapagos Islands. While the tsunami acted as both an erosional and depositional agent, the thick, fan-like sand sheet in El Garrapatero was primarily emplaced by overwash deposition during high tide from swell waves occurring between 19–25 March and 17–22 April 2011. The swell waves were only able to access the terrestrial coastal system via a channel carved by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami through the barrier sand dune. This combined deposit could result in an overestimation of the hazard if interpreted to be the result of only one event (either tsunami or wind-generated waves). An analogous sand layer, younger than 1390–1530 cal yr BP, may record a similar, prior event.  相似文献   

A new technique for understanding magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling using directional derivatives of SuperDARN convection flow     

S. N. M. Azizul Hoque  Frances Fenrich 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》2018,39(6):70

The purpose of this paper is to present and evaluate a new technique to better understand ionospheric convection and it’s magnetospheric drivers using convection maps derived from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). We postulate that the directional derivative of the SuperDARN ionospheric convection flow can be used as a technique for understanding solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling by identifying regions of strong acceleration/deceleration of plasma flow associated with drivers of magnetospheric convection such as magnetic reconnection. Thus, the technique may be used to identify the open–closed magnetic field line boundary (OCB) in certain circumstances. In this study, directional derivatives of the SuperDARN ionospheric convection flow over a four and a half hour interval on Nov. 04, 2001, is presented during which the interplanetary magnetic field was predominantly southward. At each one-minute time point in the interval the positive peak in the directional derivative of flow is identified and evaluated via comparison with known indicators of the OCB including the poleward boundary of ultraviolet emissions from three FUV detectors onboard the IMAGE spacecraft as well as the SuperDARN spectral widths. Good comparison is found between the location of the peak in the directional derivative of SuperDARN flow and the poleward boundary of ultraviolet emissions confirming that acceleration of ionospheric plasma flow is associated with magnetic reconnection and the open–closed boundary.  相似文献   

Heavy-mineral variability in bottom sediments of the lower Chesapeake Bay,Virginia     

Frances Firek  G.L. Shideler  Peter Fleischer 《Marine Geology》1977,23(3):217-235

Heavy minerals in bottom-sediment samples of the lower Chesapeake Bay show distribution patterns and interrelationships that denote characteristic mineral suites associated with defined geographic provinces. The Baymouth province has a garnet—hornblende—pyroxene suite, which is largely attributed to the influx of littoral and shelf sediments; the Eastern Shore province has a similar suite, derived largely from coastal erosion of the Eastern Shore peninsula. The Northern and Combined River provinces have a zircon—tourmaline—staurolite assemblage, which reflects derivation from an Appalachian Piedmont—Atlantic Coastal Plain sourceland. The Western Shore province is associated with a zircon—epidote—staurolite assemblage, apparently derived jointly from tributary influx and coastal erosion of the western shore. Factor analysis identified two major factors that account for 63% of the total variation in the relative amounts of the seven most common heavy minerals. The dominant factor (44%) is based on a zircon—hornblende—staurolite—pyroxene relationship, which indicates that mineral stability, as influenced by sediment maturity, is a major contributing factor. The second factor (19%) based on a tourmaline—epidote—staurolite—garnet relationship indicates that provenance is another major cause of heavy-mineral variability within the lower bay.  相似文献   

Flare morphologies and coronal field configurations     

Frances Tang 《Solar physics》1985,102(1-2):131-145

Chromospheric flares are the footpoints of closed coronal field lines. In this paper we present different flare morphologies from observations and examine the implied coronal field configurations above the flaring region. Flares are grouped according to the number of ribbons, from unresolved compact point-like flare to four-ribbon flares. Quiet region flares having characteristics all their own are also presented here.We find that compact, unresolved point-like flares have two distinct footpoints when viewed in offband H. The footpoints of some of the compact flares also show increased separation as a function of time.Unlike large two-ribbon flares, the ribbons of many small and/or short-lived two-ribbon flares usually have no measurable separation of ribbons.Multiple-ribbon (three or more ribbon) flares consist of two or more pairs of two-ribbons, or two or more sets of field lines. Parity of the ribbons in multiple-ribbon flares, or the lack of it, depends on the magnetic makeup of the locale of the ribbons.Flares in old quiet regions resulting from sudden filament eruptions show discrete small patches of emissions reflecting the spottiness of decayed and dispersed field of quiet region.  相似文献