The thermal evolution of planetesimals during accretion and differentiation: consequences for dynamo generation by thermally-driven convection.

The meteorite paleomagnetic record indicates that differentiated (and potentially, partially differentiated) planetesimals generated dynamo fields in the first 6-20 Myr after the formation of calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs). This early period of dynamo activity has been attributed to thermal convection in the liquid cores of these planetesimals during an early period of magma ocean convection. To better understand the controls on thermal dynamo generation in planetesimals, we have developed a 1D model of the thermal evolution of planetesimals from accretion through to the shutoff of convection in their silicate magma oceans for a variety of accretionary scenarios. The heat source of these bodies is the short-lived radiogenic isotope, 26Al. During differentiation, 26Al partitions into the silicate portion of these bodies, causing their magmas ocean to heat up and introducing stable thermal stratifications to the tops of their cores, which inhibits dynamo generation. In 'instantaneously' accreting bodies, this effect causes a delay on the order of >10 Myr to whole core convection and dynamo generation while this stratification is eroded. However, gradual core formation in bodies that accrete over >0.1 Myr can minimise the development of this stratification, allowing dynamo generation from ~4 Myr after CAI formation. Our model also predicts partially differentiated planetesimals with a core and mantle overlain by a chondritic crust for accretion timescales >1.2 Myr, although none of these bodies generate a thermal dynamo field. We compare our results from thousands of model runs to the meteorite paleomagnetic record to constrain the physical properties of their parent bodies

Global trends in novel stable isotopes in basalts: Theory and observations

The geochemistry of global mantle melts suggests that both mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and ocean island basalts (OIB) sample lithological and temperature heterogeneities originating in both the upper and lower mantle. Recently, non-traditional stable isotopes have been suggested as a new tool to complement existing tracers of mantle heterogeneity (e.g., major and trace elements, radiogenic isotopes), because mineral- and redox-specific equilibrium stable isotope fractionation effects can link the stable isotope ratios of melts to their source mineralogy and melting degree. Here, we investigate five stable isotope systems (Mg-Ca-Fe-V-Cr) that have shown promise in models or natural samples as tracers of mantle temperature and/or lithological heterogeneity. We use a quantitative model, combining thermodynamically self-consistent mantle melting and equilibrium isotope fractionation models, to explore the behaviour of the isotope ratios of these elements during melting of three mantle lithologies (peridotite, and silica-excess and silica-deficient pyroxenites), responding to changes in mantle mineralogy, oxygen fugacity, temperature and pressure. We find that, given current analytical precision, the stable isotope systems examined here are not predicted to be sensitive to mantle potential temperature variations through equilibrium isotope fractionation processes. By contrast, source lithological heterogeneity is predicted to be detectable in some cases in the stable isotope ratios of erupted basalts, although generally only at proportions of 10% MORB-like pyroxenite in the mantle source, given current analytical precision. Magnesium and Ca stable isotopes show most sensitivity to a garnet-bearing source lithology, and Fe and Cr stable isotopes are potentially sensitive to the presence of MORB-like pyroxenite in the mantle source, although the behaviour of Cr isotopes is comparatively under-constrained and requires further work to be applied with confidence to mantle melts. When comparing the magnitude and direction of predicted equilibrium isotopic fractionation of peridotite and pyroxenite melts to natural MORB and OIB data, we find that aspects of the natural data (including the mean Mg-Ca-Fe-V isotopic composition of MORB, the range of Mg-Ca isotopic compositions seen in MORB data, the mean Mg-Ca-Cr isotopic composition of OIB, and the range of Mg-V-Cr isotopic compositions in OIB data) can be matched by equilibrium isotope fractionation during partial melting of peridotite and pyroxenite sources – with pyroxenite required even for some MORB data. However, even when considering analytical uncertainty on natural sample measurements, the range in stable isotope compositions seen across the global MORB and OIB datasets suggests that kinetic isotope fractionation, or processes modifying the isotopic composition of recycled crustal material such that it is distinct from MORB, may be required to explain all the natural data. We conclude that the five stable isotope systems considered here have potential to be powerful complementary tracers to other geochemical tracers of the source lithology of erupted basalts. However, continued improvements in analytical precision in conjunction with experimental and theoretical predictions of isotopic fractionation between mantle minerals and melts are required before these novel stable isotopes can be unambiguously used to understand source heterogeneity in erupted basalts

Large-Scale Tectonic Forcing of the African Landscape

Abstract Successful inverse modeling of observed longitudinal river profiles suggests that fluvial landscapes are responsive to continent-wide tectonic forcing. However, inversion algorithms make simplifying assumptions about landscape erodibility and drainage planform stability that require careful justification. For example, precipitation rate and drainage catchment area are usually assumed to be invariant. Here, we exploit a closed-loop modeling strategy by inverting drainage networks generated by dynamic landscape simulations in order to investigate the validity of these assumptions. First, we invert 4,018 African river profiles to determine an uplift history that is independently calibrated, and subsequently validated, using separate suites of geologic observations. Second, we use this tectonic forcing to drive landscape simulations that permit divide migration, interfluvial erosion and changes in catchment size. These simulations reproduce large-scale features of the African landscape, including growth of deltaic deposits. Third, the influence of variable precipitation is investigated by carrying out a series of increasingly severe tests. Inverse modeling of drainage inventories extracted from simulated landscapes can largely recover tectonic forcing. Our closed-loop modeling strategy suggests that large-scale tectonic forcing plays the primary role in landscape evolution. One corollary of the integrative solution of the stream-power equation is that precipitation rate becomes influential only if it varies on time scales longer than ∼1 Ma. We conclude that calibrated inverse modeling of river profiles is a fruitful method for investigating landscape evolution and for testing source-to-sink models. Plain Language Summary There is excellent geologic evidence that large portions of the African landscape were lifted up above sea level over the last 30 million years by upward flow of hot mantle rocks beneath the tectonic plate. The strongest evidence comes from marine deposits which contain fossil fish and sea snakes that are now perched at elevations of hundreds of meters in the middle of the North African desert. Mantle processes gave rise to an egg-carton pattern of gigantic swells and depressions that characterizes much of the continent. As the landscape evolved, it was sculpted and eroded by the action of massive rivers such as the Niger, the Nile and the Congo. Height along the length of each of these rivers varies and appears to preserve a memory of landscape growth. In that sense, rivers appear to act as tape recorders of tectonic processes such as mantle flow. Here, we use computer simulations of an evolving landscape to test the idea that rivers contain mantle memories. These simulations, which include complexities such as variable rainfall, allow rivers to develop naturally as landscapes grow. Our results suggest that the African landscape and its drainage patterns contain valuable information about deep Earth processes

Multiple Avalanche Processes in Acoustic Emission Spectroscopy: Multibranching of the Energy−Amplitude Scaling

Several physical processes can conspire to generate avalanches in materials. Such processes include avalanche mechanisms like dislocation movements, friction processes by pinning magnetic domain walls, moving dislocation tangles, hole collapse in porous materials, collisions of ferroelectric and ferroelastic domain boundaries, kinks in interfaces, and many more. Known methods to distinguish between these species which allow the physical identification of multiavalanche processes are reviewed. A new approach where the scaling relationship between the avalanche energies E and amplitudes A is considered is then described. Avalanches with single mechanisms scale experimentally as E = SiAi2. The energy E reflects the duration D of the avalanche and A(t), the temporal amplitude. The scaling prefactor S depends explicitly on the duration of the avalanche and on details of the avalanche profiles. It is reported that S is not a universal constant but assumes different values depending on the avalanche mechanism. If avalanches coincide, they can still show multivalued scaling between E and A with different S-values for each branch. Examples for this multibranching effect in low-Ni 316L stainless steel, 316L stainless steel, polycrystalline Ni, TC21 titanium alloy, and a Fe40Mn40Co10Cr10 high-entropy alloy are shown

Size Control in the Colloidal Synthesis of Plasmonic Magnesium Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of plasmonic materials can sustain oscillations of their free electron density, called localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), giving them a broad range of potential applications. Mg is an earth-abundant plasmonic material attracting growing attention owing to its ability to sustain LSPRs across the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelength range. Tuning the LSPR frequency of plasmonic nanoparticles requires precise control over their size and shape; for Mg, this control has previously been achieved using top-down fabrication or gas-phase methods, but these are slow and expensive. Here, we systematically probe the effects of reaction parameters on the nucleation and growth of Mg nanoparticles using a facile and inexpensive colloidal synthesis. Small NPs of 80 nm were synthesized using a low reaction time of 1 min and ∼100 nm NPs were synthesized by decreasing the overall reaction concentration, replacing the naphthalene electron carrier with biphenyl or using metal salt additives of FeCl3 or NiCl2 at longer reaction times of 17 h. Intermediate sizes up to 400 nm were further selected via the overall reaction concentration or using other metal salt additives with different reduction potentials. Significantly larger particles of over a micrometer were produced by reducing the reaction temperature and, thus, the nucleation rate. We showed that increasing the solvent coordination reduced Mg NP sizes, while scaling up the reaction reduced the mixing efficiency and produced larger NPs. Surprisingly, varying the relative amounts of Mg precursor and electron carrier had little impact on the final NP sizes. These results pave the way for the large-scale use of Mg as a low-cost and sustainable plasmonic material

Ediacaran life close to land: coastal and shoreface habitats of the Ediacaran macrobiota in the central and southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia

The Rawnsley Quartzite of South Australia hosts some of the world's most diverse Ediacaran macrofossil assemblages, with many of the constituent taxa interpreted as early representatives of metazoan clades. Globally, a link has been recognized between the taxonomic composition of individual Ediacaran bedding-plane assemblages and specific sedimentary facies. Thorough characterization of fossil-bearing facies is thus of fundamental importance for reconstructing the precise environments and ecosystems in which early animals thrived and radiated, and distinguishing between environmental and evolutionary controls on taxon distribution. This study refines the paleoenvironmental interpretations of the Rawnsley Quartzite (Ediacara Member and upper Rawnsley Quartzite). Our analysis suggests that previously inferred water depths for fossil bearing facies are overestimations. In the central regions of the outcrop belt, rather than shelf and submarine canyon environments below maximum (storm-weather) wave base, and offshore environments between effective (fair-weather) and maximum wave base, the succession is interpreted to reflect the vertical superposition and lateral juxtaposition of unfossiliferous non-marine environments with fossil-bearing coastal and shoreface settings. Facies comprise: 1 and 2) Amalgamated channelized and cross-bedded sandstone (major and minor tidally influenced river and estuarine channels, respectively); 3) Ripple cross-laminated heterolithic sandstone (intertidal mixed-flat); 4) Silty-sandstone (possible lagoon); 5) Planar-stratified sandstone (lower shoreface); 6) Oscillation-ripple facies (middle shoreface); 7) Multi-directed trough- and planar-cross-stratified sandstone (upper shoreface); 8) Ripple cross-laminated, planar-stratified rippled sandstone (foreshore); 9) Adhered sandstone (backshore); and 10) Planar-stratified and cross-stratified sandstone with ripple cross-lamination (distributary channels). Surface trace fossils in the foreshore facies represent the earliest known evidence of mobile organisms in intermittently emergent environments. All facies containing fossils of the Ediacaran macrobiota remain definitively marine. Our revised shoreface and coastal framework creates greater overlap between this classic �White Sea� biotic assemblage and those of younger, relatively depauperate �Nama�-type biotic assemblages located in Namibia. Such overlap lends support to the possibility that the apparent biotic turnover between these assemblages may reflect a genuine evolutionary signal, rather than the environmental exclusion of particular taxa

Vertical mixing and heat fluxes conditioned by a seismically imaged oceanic front

The southwest Atlantic gyre connects several distinct water masses, which means that this oceanic region is characterized by a complex frontal system and enhanced water mass modification. Despite its significance, the distribution and variability of vertical mixing rates have yet to be determined for this system. Specifically, potential conditioning of mixing rates by frontal structures, in this location and elsewhere, is poorly understood. Here, we analyze vertical seismic (i.e., acoustic) sections from a three-dimensional survey that straddles a major front along the northern portion of the Brazil-Falkland Confluence. Hydrographic analyses constrain the structure and properties of water masses. By spectrally analyzing seismic reflectivity, we calculate spatial and temporal distributions of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, ε, of diapycnal mixing rate, K, and of vertical diffusive heat flux, FH. We show that estimates of ε, K, and FH are elevated compared to regional and global mean values. Notably, cross-sectional mean estimates vary little over a 6 week period whilst smaller scale thermohaline structures appear to have a spatially localized effect upon ε, K, and FH. In contrast, a mesoscale front modifies ε and K to a depth of 1 km, across a region of O(100) km. This front clearly enhances mixing rates, both adjacent to its surface outcrop and beneath the mixed layer, whilst also locally suppressing ε and K to a depth of 1 km. As a result, estimates of FH increase by a factor of two in the vicinity of the surface outcrop of the front. Our results yield estimates of ε, K and FH that can be attributed to identifiable thermohaline structures and they show that fronts can play a significant role in water mass modification to depths of 1 km

Pennaraptoran systematics

New and important pennaraptoran specimens continue to be discovered on a regular basis. Yet, with these discoveries the number of viable phylogenetic hypotheses has increased, including ones that challenge the traditional exclusive grouping of dromaeosaurids and troodontids within a monophyletic Deinonychosauria. This chapter section will cover recent efforts to address prevailing phylogenetic uncertainties and controversies, both between and within key clades, including deinonychosaurian monophyly, the phylogenetic position of anchiornithines and scansoriopterygids and the interrelationships of enantiornithines. Whilst recent discoveries mainly from Asia have created much of the latest uncertainties and controversies, brand new material, particularly from Asia, promises to rather fittingly address them. Further curatorship of long-standing phylogenetic datasets and more prevalent use of extended analytical protocols will be essential to meeting this challenge, especially for groups whose boundaries have been blurred. As it becomes increasingly difficult to study all fossil materials owing to their growing numbers and ever disparate locations, broader use of digital fossils and online character databases for character coding is acutely needed to ensure that errors arising from remote rather than first-hand scoring are reduced as far as possible, particularly at this time of rapid data accumulation. Recent taxonomic revisions and newly described taxa also present opportunities to update and revisit clade definitions, e.g., designating neotypes for reference taxa like Troodon formosus

The global melt inclusion C/Ba array: mantle variability, melting process, or degassing?

The Earth’s mantle holds more carbon than its oceans, atmosphere and con- tinents combined, yet the distribution of carbon within the mantle remains uncertain. Our best constraints on the distribution of carbon within the up- per mantle are derived from the carbon-trace element systematics of ultra- depleted glasses and melt inclusions from mid-ocean ridge basalts. How- ever, carbon-trace element systematics are susceptible to modification by crustal processes, including concurrent degassing and mixing, and melt in- clusion decrepitation. In this study we explore how the influence of these processes varies systematically with both the mantle source and melting pro- cess, thereby modulating both global and local carbon-trace element trends. We supplement the existing melt inclusion data from Iceland with four new datasets, significantly enhancing the spatial and geochemical coverage of melt inclusion datasets from the island. Within the combined Iceland dataset there is significant variation in melt inclusion C/Ba ratio, which is tightly correlated with trace element enrichment. The trends in C/Ba- Ba space displayed by our new data coincide with the same trends in data compiled from global ocean islands and mid-ocean ridges, forming a global array. The overall structure of the global C/Ba-Ba array is not a property of the source, instead it is controlled by CO2 vapour loss pre- and post-melt inclusion entrapment; i.e., the array is a consequence of degassing creating near-constant maximum melt-inclusion carbon contents over many orders of magnitude of Ba concentration. On Iceland, extremely high C/Ba (>100) and C/Nb (>1000) ratios are found in melt inclusions from the most depleted eruptions. The high C/Ba and C/Nb ratios are unlikely to be either analytical artefacts, or to be the product of extreme fractionation of the most incompatible elements during silicate melting. Whilst high C/Ba and C/Nb ratios could be generated by regassing of melt inclusions by CO2 vapour, or by mantle melting occurring in the presence of residual graphite, we suggest the high values most likely derive from an intrinsically high C/Ba and C/Nb mantle component that makes up a small fraction of the Icelandic mantle

Hysteresis of natural magnetite ensembles: Micromagnetics of silicate-hosted magnetite inclusions based on focused-ion-beam nanotomography

Three‐dimensional geometries of silicate‐hosted magnetic inclusions from the Harcus intrusion, South Australia have been determined using focused‐ion‐beam nanotomography (FIB‐nt). By developing an effective workflow, the geometries were reconstructed for magnetic particles in a plagioclase (162) and a pyroxene (282), respectively. For each inclusion, micromagnetic modelling using MERRILL provided averaged hysteresis loops and backfield remanence curves of 20 equidistributed field directions together with average Ms, Mrs, Hc, and Hcr. The micromagnetic structures within each silicate are single‐domain, single‐vortex, multi‐vortex and multi‐domain states. They have been analyzed using domain‐state diagnostic plots, such as the Day plot and the Néel plot. SD particles can be subdivided into groups with dominant uniaxial anisotropy (Mrs/Ms∼0.5 and 10<Hc<100mT) and mixed uniaxial/multiaxial anisotropy (Mrs/Ms∼0.7 and 10<Hc<30mT). Most single‐vortex particles lie on a trend with 0<Mrs/Ms<0.1and 0<Hc<10mT, while others display a broad range of intermediate Mrs/Ms and Hc values. Single‐vortex and multi‐vortex states do not plot on systematic grain‐size trends. Instead, the multi‐component mixture of domain states within each silicate spans the entire range of natural variability seen in bulk samples. This questions the interpretation of bulk average hysteresis parameters in terms of grain size alone. FIB‐nt combined with large‐scale micromagnetic simulations provides a more complete characterization of silicate‐hosted carriers of stable magnetic remanence. This approach will improve the understanding of single‐crystal paleomagnetism, and enable primary paleomagnetic data to be extracted from ancient rocks