Five day mission plan to investigate the geology of the Marius Hills region of the moon

Five-day mission plan to investigate geology of Marius Hills region of moo

Structural features in the Colorado Plateau margin near Flagstaff, Arizona

The author has identified the following significant results. On ERTS-1 frame 1014-17375, a set of northwest-trending lineaments has been discovered which converge on the north-trending lineament of the Oak Creek Fault near Flagstaff, Arizona. The lineaments are most easily seen in band 7. The region of convergence may mark an area structurally favorable for the location of water in Paleozoic sediments that underlie the basalt cap

Preliminary results in the comparison of Skylab, ERTS and RB-57 images for the detection of lineaments and fractures in Precambrian, Paleozoic, and late Tertiary rocks on and near the Colorado Plateau, North-Central Arizona

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Interagency Report - Astrogeology 6. Character and Geologic Habitat of Potential Deposits of Water, Carbon, and Rare Gases on the Moon

Geological characteristics and location of brecciated water-bearing rock deposits in lunar crater

Geologic applications of ERTS images on the Colorado Plateau, Arizona

Three areas in central and northern Arizona centered on the (1) Verde Valley, (2) Coconino Plateau, and (3) Shivwits Plateau were studied using ERTS photography. Useful applications results include: (1) upgrading of the existing state geologic map of the Verde Valley region; (2) detection of long NW trending lineaments in the basalt cap SE of Flagstaff which may be favorable locations for drilling for new water supplies; (3) tracing of the Bright Angel and Butte faults to twice their previously known length and correlating the extensions with modern seismic events, showing these faults to be present-day earthquake hazards; (4) discovering and successfully drilling perched sandstone aquifers in the Kaibab Limestone on the Coconino Plateau; and (5) determining the relationship between the Shivwits lavas and the formation of the lower Grand Canyon and showing that the lavas should be an excellent aquifer, as yet untapped

Preliminary geologic investigations in the Colorado Plateau using enhanced ERTS images

Bulk and computer enhanced frames of the Verde Valley region of Central Arizona, have been analyzed for structural information and rock unit identification. Most major rock units in areas of sparse ground cover are identifiable on enhanced false-color composites. Regional structural patterns are strikingly visible on the ERTS images. New features have been identified which will aid in the search for ground water near Flagstaff, Sedona and Stewart Ranch

Application of ERTS and EREP images to geologic investigations of the basin and range: Colorado plateau boundary in northwestern and north-central Arizona

The author has identified the following significant results. In the course of the ERTS investigation in the Cataract Creek Basin of the Coconino Plateau it was recognized that shallow perched ground water associated with the Kaibab Limestone could be discovered by means of drilling guided by geologic mapping aided by the use of ERTS imagery. At the Globe Ranch, the perched water table is only 5 meters beneath the surface at the site of the original, hand dug well. Recharge occurs from local runoff and from direct precipitation on the outcrop belt of the sandstone. This well provides water for the ranch at the rate of about 1,000 gallons a week. In order to explore the possibility of further developing this aquifer, unit 5 was mapped over an area of about 50 square miles in the vicinity of the hand-dug well, with negative results. A new location was then picked for drilling based on the occurrence of unit 5 in a favorable structural setting. This location was along a normal fault, and it was anticipated that water might be structurally trapped within the down-dropped block of the fault. Four shallow testholes were drilled and all encountered water. These four water-bearing holes are currently being monitored and will be tested to determine potential production of water from the local sandstone aquifer

Probing the Super Star Cluster Environment of NGC 1569 Using FISICA

We present near-IR JH spectra of the central regions of the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1569 using the Florida Image Slicer for Infrared Cosmology and Astrophysics (FISICA). The dust-penetrating properties and available spectral features of the near-IR, combined with the integral field unit (IFU) capability to take spectra of a field, make FISICA an ideal tool for this work. We use the prominent [He I] (1.083\mu m) and Pa\beta (1.282 \mu m) lines to probe the dense star forming regions as well as characterize the general star forming environment around the super star clusters (SSCs) in NGC 1569. We find [He I] coincident with CO clouds to the north and west of the SSCs, which provides the first, conclusive evidence for embedded star clusters here.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA

The Unusual Infrared Object HDF-N J123656.3+621322

We describe an object in the Hubble Deep Field North with very unusual near-infrared properties. It is readily visible in Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS images at 1.6um and from the ground at 2.2um, but is undetected (with signal-to-noise <~ 2) in very deep WFPC2 and NICMOS data from 0.3 to 1.1um. The f_nu flux density drops by a factor >~ 8.3 (97.7% confidence) from 1.6 to 1.1um. The object is compact but may be slightly resolved in the NICMOS 1.6um image. In a low-resolution, near-infrared spectrogram, we find a possible emission line at 1.643um, but a reobservation at higher spectral resolution failed to confirm the line, leaving its reality in doubt. We consider various hypotheses for the nature of this object. Its colors are unlike those of known galactic stars, except perhaps the most extreme carbon stars or Mira variables with thick circumstellar dust shells. It does not appear to be possible to explain its spectral energy distribution as that of a normal galaxy at any redshift without additional opacity from either dust or intergalactic neutral hydrogen. The colors can be matched by those of a dusty galaxy at z >~ 2, by a maximally old elliptical galaxy at z >~ 3 (perhaps with some additional reddening), or by an object at z >~ 10 whose optical and 1.1um light have been suppressed by the intergalactic medium. Under the latter hypothesis, if the luminosity results from stars and not an AGN, the object would resemble a classical, unobscured protogalaxy, with a star formation rate >~ 100 M_sun/yr. Such UV-bright objects are evidently rare at 2 < z < 12.5, however, with a space density several hundred times lower than that of present-day L* galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 27 pages, LaTeX, with 7 figures (8 files); citations & references updated + minor format change