Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Philip D. Gingerich
Summary: Rates are widely used in geological sciences to characterize processes, with the numerator representing change or difference and the denominator corresponding to an interval of time. Temporal scaling examines the relationship between differences, rates, and their associated time intervals, often analyzed on logarithmic axes. Geological studies commonly involve rates dependent on denominators due to observed changes being constrained to a narrower range compared to the longer spans of geological time. When rates are dependent on denominators, comparisons must be made on a common scale of time.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Christopher R. Glein
Summary: The origin of molecular nitrogen on Pluto remains a mystery, but recent studies have provided the first constraint on the N-14/N-15 ratio of N-2, ruling out an ammonia source and suggesting contributions from primordial N-2 and nitrogen sourced in organic materials. Isotopic fractionation between atmospheric N-2 and N-2-rich ices on Pluto is not significant, and the lower limit on the N-14/N-15 ratio indicates a less significant role of NH3 compared to Titan. Future work and missions are recommended to further understand the origin of N-2 on Pluto.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Takafumi Ootsubo, Hideyo Kawakita, Yoshiharu Shinnaka
Summary: The mid-infrared observations of comet P/2016 BA(14) reveal a nucleus temperature of around 350K and an estimated diameter of 0.8 km, indicating the presence of mineral and organic materials on the surface, suggesting that an inactive small body covered with these materials may be a possible end state of comets.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Thierry Fouchet, Jean-Michel Reess, Franck Montmessin, Rafik Hassen-Khodja, Napoleon Nguyen-Tuong, Olivier Humeau, Sophie Jacquinod, Laurent Lapauw, Jerome Parisot, Marion Bonafous, Pernelle Bernardi, Frederic Chapron, Alexandre Jeanneau, Claude Collin, Didier Zeganadin, Patricia Nibert, Sadok Abbaki, Christophe Montaron, Cyrille Blanchard, Vartan Arslanyan, Ourdya Achelhi, Claudine Colon, Clement Royer, Vincent Hamm, Mehdi Beuzit, Francois Poulet, Cedric Pilorget, Lucia Mandon, Olivier Forni, Agnes Cousin, Olivier Gasnault, Paolo Pilleri, Bruno Dubois, Cathy Quantin, Pierre Beck, Olivier Beyssac, Stephane Le Mouelic, Jeffrey R. Johnsson, Timothy H. McConnochie, Sylvestre Maurice, Roger C. Wiens
Summary: This article presents the Infrared spectrometer of SuperCam Instrument Suite, which allows the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover to study Martian mineralogy in the Jezero crater remotely. The SuperCam IR spectrometer is designed to acquire spectra in the 1.3-2.6 μm range with high spectral resolution. It works in conjunction with other remote sensing techniques to explore the mineral diversity and guide the sampling tasks of the Perseverance Rover.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sumit Pathak, Aditya Kumar Dagar, Satadru Bhattacharya, Himela Moitra, Mamta Chauhan, Saibal Gupta
Summary: This study thoroughly investigates the mineralogy and morphology of the class-1 type lunar floor-fractured crater Atlas, revealing a mafic-rich central peak complex and varied hydration features, indicating heterogeneity in the hydrous enrichment of the lunar mantle beneath the studied site. The high-resolution morphological study also uncovers a partially uplifted crater floor and multiple late stage magmatic events.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Francois Robert, Marc Chaussidon, Adriana Gonzalez-Cano, Smail Mostefaoui
Summary: Experimental observations show enrichment or depletion of major isotopes O-16 and Mg-24 in solids condensed from carbonaceous plasma, with MIF effects potentially induced by chemical reactions in the plasma. Micrometer-sized hotspots of isotopic effects in NanoSims imaging are found embedded in a carbonaceous matrix, with Mg hotspots localized in carbonaceous grains exhibiting both positive and negative isotopic effects, while no specific structure is observed at O hotspots. The similarity between linear correlations of delta Mg-25 versus delta Mg-26 and delta O-17 versus delta O-18 observed and those calculated using the empirical MIF factor eta from ozone suggests a ubiquitous process.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Ahmed Fatah, Hisham Ben Mahmud, Ziad Bennour, Raoof Gholami, Mofazzal Hossain
Summary: The research suggests that shale formations are suitable geological targets for carbon dioxide storage. However, due to the high reactivity of shales to carbon dioxide, the sealing properties of shales need to be considered over geological time scales. The study constructed a simplified 1-D reactive transport model to investigate the mineralogical changes during carbon dioxide and brine interactions with shale. The model demonstrated that carbonate and clay minerals dissolved during the interaction, indicating the high potential of shales for carbon dioxide containment.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lei Wu, J. Brendan Murphy, Cecilio Quesada, Zheng-Xiang Li, John W. F. Waldron, Simon Williams, Sergei Pisarevsky, William J. Collins
Summary: This study investigates the formation of the supercontinent Pangea during the mid-to-late Paleozoic and the debates surrounding continental collision based on paleomagnetic and geological data. The results suggest that Pangea likely initiated at around 400 million years ago through the collision between two continents, culminating in the convergence between them.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
D. P. Moriarty III, S. B. Simon, C. K. Shearer, S. E. Haggerty, N. Petro, Shuai Li
Summary: Spinels are important for understanding the geology of the lunar crust and mantle. Previous studies have focused on rare pure Mg-Al spinels, but our approach allows for the detection of spinels with a wider range of compositions, including within mafic-bearing assemblages. By integrating data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper with laboratory measurements and petrographic observations, we validated this approach and identified small abundances of spinel in the Crisium region.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Mark L. Pittard, Pippa L. Whitehouse, Michael J. Bentley, David Small
Summary: This study presents a new model ensemble for post-Last Glacial Maximum Antarctic deglaciation reconstructions, which is tested against geological constraints. The results provide insights into the characteristics of past ice sheet changes and have implications for predicting future sea-level rise.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Mark Radwin, Brenda B. Bowen, Kathleen Benison, Stacy Story
Summary: This study evaluates over 2500 spectra of shallow subsurface sediments in acid-saline environments in southwestern Australia. The results show that iron oxide and phyllosilicates are the most frequently detected mineral types, along with less common alunite, jarosite, and gypsum. The differences in detection abundance for different mineral groups account for the observed regional variation in spectra.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniel A. Gittins, Pierre-Arnaud Desiage, Natasha Morrison, Jayne E. Rattray, Srijak Bhatnagar, Anirban Chakraborty, Jackie Zorz, Carmen Li, Oliver Horanszky, Margaret A. Cramm, Francesco Bisiach, Robbie Bennett, Jamie Webb, Adam MacDonald, Martin Fowler, D. Calvin Campbell, Casey R. J. Hubert
Summary: The deep biosphere, the largest microbial habitat on Earth, contains abundant bacterial endospores. However, the ecological processes of dispersal and selection in the deep biosphere are poorly understood. This study investigated the biogeography of dispersing bacteria in the deep sea and found that thermophilic endospores correlated with hydrocarbon seepage and had adaptations to anoxic petroleum systems.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Noel A. Scudder, Briony H. N. Horgan, Elizabeth B. Rampe, Rebecca J. Smith, Alicia M. Rutledge
Summary: The natural variations in volcanic rocks play a critical role in understanding mantle and crust conditions. Thermal infrared spectroscopy is effective in modeling mineralogy, crystallinity, and mineral chemistry in volcanic rocks, while visible/near-infrared spectroscopy should supplement petrology by providing unique constraints on oxide minerals, microtexture, and alteration processes.
Article
Crystallography
Chuchu Song, Qingfeng Guo, Yang Liu, Yinghua Rao, Libing Liao
Summary: In this paper, the gemmological characteristics, photochromic and fluorescence mechanisms of hackmanite are further investigated through structural, compositional, and spectroscopic analysis. The results provide valuable insights into the understanding of hackmanite, its photochromic properties, fluorescence mechanisms, and its potential applications.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Akira Yamaguchi, Naotaka Tomioka, Motoo Ito, Naoki Shirai, Makoto Kimura, Richard C. C. Greenwood, Ming-Chang Liu, Kaitlyn A. A. McCain, Nozomi Matsuda, Masayuki Uesugi, Naoya Imae, Takuji Ohigashi, Kentaro Uesugi, Aiko Nakato, Kasumi Yogata, Hayato Yuzawa, Yu Kodama, Kaori Hirahara, Ikuya Sakurai, Ikuo Okada, Yuzuru Karouji, Satoru Nakazawa, Tatsuaki Okada, Takanao Saiki, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Makoto Yoshikawa, Akiko Miyazaki, Masahiro Nishimura, Toru Yada, Masanao Abe, Tomohiro Usui, Sei-ichiro Watanabe, Yuichi Tsuda
Summary: The samples from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft reveal that the C-type asteroid Ryugu underwent multiple mineralogical alterations within a short period after its formation. C-type asteroids are remnants of primitive planetesimals that formed in the outer regions of the early Solar System and may have delivered volatiles to the inner Solar System, including the early Earth. However, the nature of carbonaceous chondrites is not well understood due to terrestrial alteration. This study presents the petrology and mineral chemistry of surface materials collected by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from the C-type asteroid Ryugu. The results show that Ryugu experienced a complex geological evolution shortly after its formation.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Maria Angeles Lopez-Cayuela, Maria-Paz Zorzano, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Carmen Cordoba-Jabonero
Summary: The atmospheric dust cycle on Mars plays a dominant role in the planetary radiative balance, atmospheric photochemistry escape, and redistribution of materials on the surface. A methodology is presented to accurately describe the annual dust redistribution cycle on Mars using orbital global and seasonal measurements of atmospheric dust opacity. The analysis shows that approximately 4 trillion kilograms of dust is transported globally in the atmosphere during a typical Mars year.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Audrey Vorburger, Shahab Fatemi, Shane R. Carberry Mogan, Andre Galli, Lucas Liuzzo, Andrew R. Poppe, Lorenz Roth, Peter Wurz
Summary: The study presents new model results for the composition of Ganymede's atmosphere, finding that sublimation remains the major source process for H2O, while radiolysis induced by auroral electrons dominates the source fluxes for O2 and H2.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Qi He, Zhi Cao, Yuqi Qian, Hejiu Hui, Ioannis Baziotis, Long Xiao, Zaicong Wang, Biji Luo, Yiheng Li, Zongjun Ying, Yang Li
Summary: The Chang'e-5 mission collected lunar soil containing magnesian troctolitic granulites, which provide valuable information on the composition of the lunar crust. Through analysis and modeling, it is suggested that these granulites may have originated from the Pythagoras crater and were transported to the landing site.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jordan M. Bretzfelder, Kathryn M. Stack, Abigail A. Fraeman, Mackenzie Day, William E. Dietrich, Alexander B. Bryk
Summary: This study investigates the development of bedrock ridges on Mars and their implications for wind history, deposition, and erosion in Gale crater.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lot Ram, Diptiranjan Rout, Rahul Rathi, Paul Withers, Sumanta Sarkhel
Summary: This study investigates the impacts of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) on the Martian ionosphere, specifically the behavior of the ionospheric peak density and height during ICME passages. The study used observations from the Radio Occultation Science Experiment (ROSE) aboard the MAVEN spacecraft and selected 8 ICMEs from existing catalogs. The results show that ICMEs lead to an elevation of the ionospheric peak height and a decrease in peak density, and propose that vertical pressure gradient and electron temperature enhancement are plausible causes for ionospheric variability.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Benoit Jabaud, Riccardo Artoni, Gabriel Tobie, Erwan Le Menn, Patrick Richard
Summary: The Cassini spacecraft discovered active jets of water vapour and ice grains at the South Pole of Enceladus, resulting in the deposit of freshly erupted materials on the moon's icy surface. Similar processes may be happening on Europa as well. Determining the mechanical properties of fresh icy powder-like materials is essential for future landing and sampling missions. The flowability and surface energy of ice powders decrease with increasing temperatures, which may have implications for stable landing and the flow of ice materials on Enceladus and Europa.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lydie Bonal, Eric Quirico, Gilles Montagnac, Mutsumi Komatsu, Yoko Kebukawa, Hikaru Yabuta, Kana Amano, Jens Barosch, Laure Bejach, George D. Cody, Emmanuel Dartois, Alexandre Dazzi, Bradley De Gregorio, Ariane Deniset-Besseau, Jean Duprat, Cecile Engrand, Minako Hashiguchi, Kanami Kamide, David Kilcoyne, Zita Martins, Jeremie Mathurin, Smail Mostefaoui, Larry Nittler, Takuji Ohigashi, Taiga Okumura, Laurent Remusat, Scott Sandford, Miho Shigenaka, Rhonda Stroud, Hiroki Suga, Yoshio Takahashi, Yasuo Takeichi, Yusuke Tamenori, Maximilien Verdier-Paoletti, Shohei Yamashita, Tomoki Nakamura, Hiroshi Naraoka, Takaaki Noguchi, Ryuji Okazaki, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Shogo Tachibana, Masanao Abe, Akiko Miyazaki, Aiko Nakato, Satoru Nakazawa, Masahiro Nishimura, Tatsuaki Okada, Takanao Saiki, Kanako Sakamoto, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Yuichi Tsuda, Tomohiro Usui, Sei-ichiro Watanabe, Toru Yada, Kasumi Yogata, Makota Yoshikawa
Summary: This paper focuses on characterizing the thermal history of asteroid Ryugu by studying the structure of polyaromatic carbonaceous matter in the returned samples. The study finds that there is no structural difference in the polyaromatic component between the two sampling sites on Ryugu, indicating that the thermal metamorphism related to radioactive decay was not significant. However, some structural variability is observed within the particle set.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
M. Luginin, A. Fedorova, D. Belyaev, F. Montmessin, O. Korablev, J. -l. Bertaux
Summary: Spectroscopic solar occultation measurements by the SPICAV/SOIR instrument onboard the Venus Express orbiter provided new data on the upper haze aerosol properties, its distribution, and variations. A joint analysis of data from two spectrometers revealed a bimodal distribution in about 50% of observations previously believed to be unimodal, and characterized the size distribution 10 km higher in the atmosphere compared to previous analysis.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
A. Mahieux, S. Viscardy, K. L. Jessup, F. P. Mills, L. Trompet, S. Robert, S. Aoki, A. Piccialli, A. C. Vandaele
Summary: We report on the mean upper limit number densities and volume concentrations of H2CO, O-3, NH3, HCN, N2O, NO2, NO, and HO2 at the Venus terminator above the cloud layer. Attempts to detect these species using a statistical algorithm and the method presented by Trompet et al. (2021) were unsuccessful, and upper limits of detection are provided.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
P. M. Streeter, S. R. Lewis, M. R. Patel, J. A. Holmes, K. Rajendran
Summary: The northern polar vortex on Mars shows a high degree of interannual repeatability in its structure and evolution, except during large dust storms. The seasonal timing of these storms seems to be the key factor determining their impacts on the polar vortex.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Michael T. Mellon, Hanna G. Sizemore, Jennifer L. Heldmann, Christopher P. McKay, Carol R. Stoker
Summary: The search for life is a major focus of Mars exploration, with temperature and water activity being key factors for habitability. The most recent habitable conditions occurred about 510 kyrs ago and lasted for about 10s of kyrs each occurrence. All latitudes offer potential for life exploration, but middle-latitude sites have access to 100-kyr-old ice that experienced past habitable conditions, while high-latitude sites offer access to ancient ice over 1 Myrs old.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anthony Ozerov, Jeffrey C. Smith, Jessie L. Dotson, Randolph S. Longenbaugh, Robert L. Morris
Summary: The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instruments, with their large combined field of view, are useful for studying the population of atmospheric phenomena like bolides. However, there are biases when using GLM for non-lightning purposes, which need to be studied and accounted for before precise measurements of bolide flux can be obtained. A Bayesian Poisson regression model was developed to estimate instrumental biases and the latitudinal variation of bolide flux concurrently. The estimated bias corresponds to the known sensitivity of the GLM instruments, and the latitudinal flux variation estimates are consistent with a strong bias towards high-velocity bolides, as compared to existing theoretical models.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
P. Beck, P. Y. Meslin, A. Fau, O. Forni, O. Gasnault, J. Lasue, A. Cousin, S. Schroeder, S. Maurice, W. Rapin, R. C. Wiens, A. M. Ollila, E. Dehouck, N. Mangold, B. Garcia, S. Schwartz, W. Goetz, N. Lanza
Summary: Analysis of data obtained by ChemCam on Mars reveals that the carbon signal is mainly related to ionization of the atmosphere, with variability potentially linked to the physical state of the atmosphere. Up to sol 3355, no carbonate was detected in the ChemCam dataset, suggesting that it is not a major constituent (>50%) in the analyzed targets and that carbon in soils is not enriched beyond the limit of detection. The dominant salts found in Gale are sulfate and chlorides, while the absence of carbonates, seen in Jezero, may be due to differences in protolith.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Eloy Pena-Asensio, Jaakko Visuri, Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez, Hector Socas-Navarro, Maria Gritsevich, Markku Siljama, Albert Rimola
Summary: The observation of interstellar objects 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov suggests the existence of a larger population of smaller projectiles that impact our planet with unbound orbits. A statistical evaluation of uncertainties in the CNEOS database and study of its hyperbolic fireballs reveals an anisotropic geocentric radiant distribution and low orbital inclinations, challenging the assumption of a randomly incoming interstellar population. These findings suggest that apparent interstellar meteors may, in fact, be the result of accelerated meteoroid impacts caused by close encounters with massive objects within or passing through our solar system.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cecilia W. S. Leung, Leslie K. Tamppari, David M. Kass, German Martinez, Erik Fischer, Michael D. Smith
Summary: Using a combination of orbital and surface observations, this study investigates the vertical distribution of water vapor in the lower atmospheres of Mars. The findings suggest that the assumption of uniformly mixed water vapor in the boundary layer is not always consistent with observational constraints. The results provide important insights into the seasonal transport of water and the role of regolith-atmospheric exchange.