Mechanisms of sill and dyke intrusion.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1994.Mechanisms of sill and dyke intrusion require an understanding of fracture growth,stress distributions and intensities, dilation,intrusion rates, hydraulic pressure,host-rock effects,en echelon fracture arrays,and flow direction. The methods of previous studies have been applied to natural sill and dyke examples of the Karoo Igneous Province in northern Natal . An en echelon array of Jurassic dolerite sills occurs within Permian Ecca sediments along the Mhlatuze River, west of Empangeni. Dolerite emplacement occurred as two intrusive phases. The first phase resulted in thick, . coarse-grained dolerite sills. The second phase produced relatively thinner, fme-grained sills. The intrusion of fmegrained dolerite into older sills is demonstrated by abrupt variations in the whole-rock and mineral geochemistry profiles across the sills. Syn-crystallisation effects such as crystal settling and fractionation, and post-crystallisation hydrothermal activity is also manifested in the mineralogical and geochemical changes across the sills. The fine grained doleriteis associated with xenolithic dolerite which represents a contaminated magma propagation front of the fine-grained dolerite. The higher viscosity of the xenolithic dolerite hindered propagation, and was thus overtaken and engulfedby the mainmagmapulse. Consistent sinistral off setting of sill segments is interpreted to be the result of a fingered sill periphery intruding an en echelon fracture array. Dilation of individual segments, or fingers, occurred simultaneously. Subsequent interaction of near-tip stresses induced inwardly propagating curvature of adjacent segmentsin the array.Resultant linkage has produced a stepped-sill geometry; sill propagation and flow directions were orthogonal to the plane of linkage. The flow direction is confirmed by shape preferred-orientations of acicular mineral grains within the chilled margins of the sills, indicating the direction of flow to be perpendicular to the plane of the en echelon array, and parallel to strike directions of offset surfaces that link adjacent sill segments. Multiple dyke intrusion is examinedat an outcrop of the Rooi Rand Dyke Swarm, along the Pongola River. Individual intrusive episodes are identifiable on the basis of chill-zone relationships. The pattern along the Pongola River suggests that younger intrusive episodes frequently intrude through the centres of older dykes. A three dimensional analysis of en echelon dyke let segments allows a re-construction of the dilation history,and provides an explanation for the development of blunt-ended intrusion segments. Mineral geochemistry anomalies around dyke tips suggests possible facilitation of incipient fracture via decreases in mineral strengths manifested by geochemical changes. A statistical digital analysis of micro-phenocryst orientations within chilled dyke margins is shown to provide a viable method to ascertain magma flow directions within dykes, and may thus be a useful tool for future investigations

AVIATR - Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance A Titan Airplane Mission Concept

We describe a mission concept for a stand-alone Titan airplane mission: Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance (AVIATR). With independent delivery and direct-to-Earth communications, AVIATR could contribute to Titan science either alone or as part of a sustained Titan Exploration Program. As a focused mission, AVIATR as we have envisioned it would concentrate on the science that an airplane can do best: exploration of Titan's global diversity. We focus on surface geology/hydrology and lower-atmospheric structure and dynamics. With a carefully chosen set of seven instruments-2 near-IR cameras, 1 near-IR spectrometer, a RADAR altimeter, an atmospheric structure suite, a haze sensor, and a raindrop detector-AVIATR could accomplish a significant subset of the scientific objectives of the aerial element of flagship studies. The AVIATR spacecraft stack is composed of a Space Vehicle (SV) for cruise, an Entry Vehicle (EV) for entry and descent, and the Air Vehicle (AV) to fly in Titan's atmosphere. Using an Earth-Jupiter gravity assist trajectory delivers the spacecraft to Titan in 7.5 years, after which the AVIATR AV would operate for a 1-Earth-year nominal mission. We propose a novel 'gravity battery' climb-then-glide strategy to store energy for optimal use during telecommunications sessions. We would optimize our science by using the flexibility of the airplane platform, generating context data and stereo pairs by flying and banking the AV instead of using gimbaled cameras. AVIATR would climb up to 14 km altitude and descend down to 3.5 km altitude once per Earth day, allowing for repeated atmospheric structure and wind measurements all over the globe. An initial Team-X run at JPL priced the AVIATR mission at FY10 $715M based on the rules stipulated in the recent Discovery announcement of opportunity. Hence we find that a standalone Titan airplane mission can achieve important science building on Cassini's discoveries and can likely do so within a New Frontiers budget

Gene therapy for monogenic liver diseases: clinical successes, current challenges and future prospects

Over the last decade, pioneering liver-directed gene therapy trials for haemophilia B have achieved sustained clinical improvement after a single systemic injection of adeno-associated virus (AAV) derived vectors encoding the human factor IX cDNA. These trials demonstrate the potential of AAV technology to provide long-lasting clinical benefit in the treatment of monogenic liver disorders. Indeed, with more than ten ongoing or planned clinical trials for haemophilia A and B and dozens of trials planned for other inherited genetic/metabolic liver diseases, clinical translation is expanding rapidly. Gene therapy is likely to become an option for routine care of a subset of severe inherited genetic/metabolic liver diseases in the relatively near term. In this review, we aim to summarise the milestones in the development of gene therapy, present the different vector tools and their clinical applications for liver-directed gene therapy. AAV-derived vectors are emerging as the leading candidates for clinical translation of gene delivery to the liver. Therefore, we focus on clinical applications of AAV vectors in providing the most recent update on clinical outcomes of completed and ongoing gene therapy trials and comment on the current challenges that the field is facing for large-scale clinical translation. There is clearly an urgent need for more efficient therapies in many severe monogenic liver disorders, which will require careful risk-benefit analysis for each indication, especially in paediatrics

Temporal profiling of the coding and noncoding murine cytomegalovirus transcriptomes

The global transcriptional program of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), involving coding, noncoding, and antisense transcription, remains unknown. Here we report an oligonucleotide custom microarray platform capable of measuring both coding and noncoding transcription on a genome-wide scale. By profiling MCMV wild-type and immediate-early mutant strains in fibroblasts, we found rapid activation of the transcriptome by 6.5 h postinfection, with absolute dependency on ie3, but not ie1 or ie2, for genomic programming of viral gene expression. Evidence is also presented to show, for the first time, genome-wide noncoding and bidirectional transcription at late stages of MCMV infection

Fracture and Stress Evolution on Europa: New Insights Into Fracture Interpretation and Ice Thickness Estimates Using Fracture Mechanics Analyses

The work completed during the funding period has provided many important insights into fracturing behavior in Europa's ice shell. It has been determined that fracturing through time is likely to have been controlled by the effects of nonsynchronous rotation stresses and that as much as 720 deg of said rotation may have occurred during the visible geologic history. It has been determined that there are at least two distinct styles of strike-slip faulting and that their mutual evolutionary styles are likely to have been different, with one involving a significant dilational component during shear motion. It has been determined that secondary fracturing in perturbed stress fields adjacent to older structures such as faults is a prevalent process on Europa. It has been determined that cycloidal ridges are likely to experience shear stresses along the existing segment portions as they propagate, which affects propagation direction and ultimately induces tailcracking at the segment tip than then initiates a new cycle of cycloid segment growth. Finally, it has been established that mechanical methods (e.g., flexure analysis) can be used to determine the elastic thickness of the ice shell, which, although probably only several km thick, is likely to be spatially variable, being thinner under bands but thicker under ridged plains terrain

Interpretation and analysis of planetary structures

Structural geology is an integral part of planetary science. Planetary structures provide the framework for determining the character and sequence of crustal deformation while simultaneously establishing the observational basis required to test geodynamic hypotheses for the deformation of planetary and satellite lithospheres. The availability of datasets that record spatial and topographic information with a resolution that matches or, in many cases, exceeds, what is available for Earth-based studies permits the deformation of several planets and satellites to be investigated down to the local or outcrop scales. The geometry and kinematics of common planetary structures such as joints, igneous dikes, deformation bands, faults, and folds can be determined with confidence from their distinctive morphologic and topographic signatures, enabling the structural histories and deformation magnitudes to be determined. Segmentation, displacement profiles, relay ramps, footwall anticlines, displacement-controlled depocenters, and other wellknown characteristics of terrestrial normal fault and graben systems reveal the sequence and processes of fault growth in numerous planetary examples. Systems of thrust faults having both blind and surfacebreaking components are important elements on several bodies including Mercury, the Moon, and Mars. Strike-slip faults have been identified on bodies including Mars and Europa with oblique extension found on Ganymede. Using field-based studies of Earth-based structures as a guide, planetary structures provide a means to explore and evaluate the causative stresses. Despite the wide range in structural styles across the solar system, plate tectonics is recognized only on the Earth, with the other planets and satellites deforming in the absence of large-scale horizontal motions and attendant plate recycling