The X-ray Ridge Surrounding Sgr A* at the Galactic Center

We present the first detailed simulation of the interaction between the supernova explosion that produced Sgr A East and the wind-swept inner ~ 2-pc region at the Galactic center. The passage of the supernova ejecta through this medium produces an X-ray ridge ~ 9'' to 15'' to the NE of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). We show that the morphology and X-ray intensity of this feature match very well with recently obtained Chandra images, and we infer a supernova remnant age of less than 2,000 years. This young age--a factor 3--4 lower than previous estimates--arises from our inclusion of stellar wind effects in the initial (pre-explosion) conditions in the medium. The supernova does not clear out the central ~ 0.2-pc region around Sgr~A* and does not significantly alter the accretion rate onto the central black hole upon passage through the Galactic center.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ

P-T-t path for the Archean Pikwitonei Granulite Domain and Cross Lake Subprovince, Manitoba, Canada

The rationale was outlined for constructing pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) paths by using U-Pb dating of garnet produced in thermobarometrically sensitive reactions. In an example from the Pikwitonei granulites of the Northwestern Superior Province of the Canadian Shield, garnets were formed at 2744-2742 Ma, 2700-2689 Ma, and 2605-2590 Ma, the latter events coinciding with times recorded by U-Pb zircon systems. Garnet grew during metamorphism at 6.5 kbar, 630 to 750 C and later at 7.2 to 7.5 kbar, 800 C; the later metamorphism apparently did not exceed the U-Pb closure temperature. The resultant P-T-t path is counterclockwise, with late isobaric cooling, interpreted to result from magmatic heating at an Andean margin

Petrogenesis of Tertiary Alkaline Magmas in the Siebengebirge, Germany

Basanites from the Tertiary Siebengebirge area of Germany (part of the Central European Volcanic Province; CEVP) have high Mg# (>0·60), moderate to high Cr (>300 ppm) and Ni (>200 ppm) contents and strong light rare earth element enrichment, but systematic depletion in Rb and K relative to trace elements of similar compatibility in anhydrous mantle. Rare earth element melting models can explain the petrogenesis of these basanites in terms of partial melting of a spinel peridotite source containing residual amphibole. It is inferred that amphibole, indicated by the relative K and Rb depletion and the melting model, was precipitated in the spinel peridotite lithospheric mantle beneath the Siebengebirge, by metasomatic fluids or melts from a rising mantle diapir or plume. Alkali basalts and more differentiated rocks have lower Mg# and lower abundances of Ni and Cr, and have undergone fractionation of mainly olivine, clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxides, amphibole and plagioclase. Most of the basanites and alkali basalts approach the Sr-Nd-Pb isotope compositions inferred for the European Asthenospheric Reservoir component. Trace element constraints (i.e. low Nb/U and Ce/Pb ratios) and the Sr-Nd-Pb isotope composition of the differentiated rocks indicate that assimilation of lower crustal material has modified the composition of the primary mantle-derived magmas. High 207Pb/204Pb ratios in the differentiated lavas point to assimilation of ancient lower crustal components having high U/Pb and Th/Pb ratios. Relatively shallow melting of inferred amphibole-bearing spinel peridotite sources may suggest an origin from the metasomatized part of the thermal boundary layer. Application of new thermobarometric equations for the basaltic magmas indicates relatively normal mantle potential temperatures (1300-1400°C); thus the inferred mantle ‘baby plume' or ‘hot finger' is not thermally anomalou

Petrogenesis of rift-related tephrites, phonolites and trachytes (Central European Volcanic Province, Rhön, FRG): Constraints from Sr, Nd, Pb and O isotopes

Highlights: • Some differentiated alkaline rocks may evolve by FC or AFC but not both • Analyses of acid-leached samples necessary to detect unsupported 87Sr • Crustal contamination hardly detectable in high-Sr lavas but obvious in low-Sr lavas • Deep crustal contamination confirmed by high-precision Pb double-spike data • Positively correlated 87Sr/86Sr ratios - δ18O values also indicate crustal contamination The volcanic rocks of the Rhön area (Central European Volcanic Province, Germany) belong to a moderately alkali basaltic suite that is associated with minor tephriphonolites, phonotephrites, tephrites, phonolites and trachytes. Based on isotope sytematics (87Sr/86Sr: 0.7033-0.7042; 143Nd/144Nd: 0.51279-0.51287; 206Pb/204Pb: 19.1-19.5), the inferred parental magmas formed by variable degrees of partial melting of a common asthenospheric mantle source (EAR: European Asthenospheric Reservoir of Cebria and Wilson, 1995). Tephrites, tephriphonolites, phonotephrites, phonolites and trachytes show depletions and enrichments in some trace elements (Sr, Ba, Nb, Zr, Y) indicating that they were generated by broadly similar differentiation processes that were dominated by fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene, amphibole, apatite and titaniferous magnetite ± plagioclase ± alkalifeldspar. The fractionated samples seem to have evolved by two distinct processes. One is characterized by pure fractional crystallization indicated by increasing Nb (and other incompatible trace element) concentrations at virtually constant 143Nd/144Nd ~ 0.51280 and 87Sr/86Sr ~ 0.7035. The other process involved an assimilation-fractional crystallization process (AFC) where moderate assimilation to crystallization rates produced evolved magmas characterized by higher Nb concentrations at slightly lower 143Nd/144Nd down to 0.51275. Literature data for some of the evolved rocks show more variable 87Sr/86Sr ranging from 0.7037-0.7089 at constant 143Nd/144Nd ~ 0.51280. These features may result from assimilation of upper crustal rocks by highly differentiated low-Sr (< 100 ppm Sr) lavas. However, based on the displacement of the differentiated rocks from this study towards lower 143Nd/144Nd ratios and modeled AFC processes in 143Nd/144Nd vs. 87Sr/86Sr and 207Pb/204Pb vs. 143Nd/144Nd space assimilation of lower crustal rocks seems more likely. The view that assimilation of lower crustal rocks played a role is confirmed by high-precision double-spike Pb isotope data that reveal higher 207Pb/204Pb ratios (15.62-15.63) in the differentiated rocks than in the primitive basanites (15.58-15.61). This is compatible with incorporation of radiogenic Pb from lower crustal xenoliths (207Pb/204Pb: 15.63-15.69) into the melt. However, 206Pb/204Pb ratios are similar for the differentiated rocks (19.13-19.35) and the primitive basanites (19.12-19.55) implying that assimilation involved an ancient crustal end member with a higher U/Pb ratio than the mantle source of the basanites. In addition, alteration-corrected δ18O values of the differentiated rocks range from c. 5 to 7 ‰ which is the same range as observed in the primitive alkaline rocks. This study confirms previous interpretations that highlighted the role of AFC processes in the evolution of alkaline volcanic rocks in the Rhön area of the Central European Volcanic Province

Early differentiation of magmatic iron meteorite parent bodies from Mn–Cr chronometry

Magmatic iron meteorite groups such as IIAB, IIIAB and IVA, represent the largest sampling of extraterrestrial core material from the earliest accreted distinct planetary bodies in the solar system. Chromium isotope compositions of chromite/daubréelite from seven samples, translated into 53Cr/52Cr model ages, provide robust time information on planetary core formation. These ages are within ∼1.5 Ma after formation of calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs) and define the time of metal core formation in the respective parent bodies, assuming metal–silicate separation was an instantaneous event that induced strong chemical fractionation of Mn from the more siderophile Cr. The early core formation ages support accretion and differentiation of the magmatic iron meteorite parent bodies to have occurred prior to the chondrule formation interval. The calibration of Mn–Cr ages with established Hf–W ages of samples from the same magmatic iron meteorite groups constrains the initial ɛ53Cr of the solar system to −0.30 ± 0.05, and thus lower than previously estimated

Time and duration of chondrule formation: Constraints from 26Al-26Mg ages of individual chondrules

Chondrules from unequilibrated ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites belong to the oldest and most primitive materials from the early solar system and record chemical and isotopic signatures relating to their formation and evolution. These signatures allow tracing protoplanetary disk processes that eventually led to the formation of planetary building blocks and rocky planets. 26Al-26Mg ages based on mineral-mesostasis isochrons of 31 porphyritic ferromagnesian chondrules, that belong mainly to type-II, constrain the time of chondrule melting prior to incorporation into the respective chondrite parent bodies. For this study chondrules from the unequilibrated L, L(LL) and LL ordinary chondrites (UOCs) NWA 5206, NWA 8276, MET 96503, MET 00452, MET 00526, NWA 7936 and QUE 97008 were selected, which are of petrologic types 3.00-3.15 and were thus least metamorphosed after formation. Magnesium and Al isotopes were measured in-situ by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) using a CAMECA 1280 ims. 26Mg excess from in-situ decay of 26Al correlating with 27Al/24Mg has been detected in the mesostasis of all but one chondrule. The initial Al isotopic compositions (26Al/27Al)0 and 26Mg/24Mg ratios (d26Mg*0) deduced from internal mineral isochron regressions range from (9.5 ± 2.8) × 10-6 to (3.1 ± 1.2) × 10-6 and -0.020 ± 0.028‰ to 0.011 ± 0.039‰, respectively. The corresponding chondrule ages (∆tCAI), calculated relative to calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) using the canonical 26Al/27Al = (5.23 ± 0.13) × 10-5, are between 1.76_(-0.27)^(+0.36) and 2.92_(-0.34)^(+0.51) Ma and date the melt formation and thus primary chondrule formation from dust-like precursors or reprocessing of older chondrules. The age range agrees with those acquired with different short-lived chronometers and with published 26Al-26Mg ages, the majority of which were obtained for chondrules from the Bishunpur and Semarkona meteorites, although no chondrule with (26Al/27Al)0 > 10-5 was found. Chondrules in single chondrite samples or between different chondrite groups show no distinct age distributions. The initial 26Al/27Al of the oldest chondrules in the L(LL)/LL and L chondrite samples are identical within their 1σ uncertainties and yield a mean age of 1.99_(-0.08)^(+0.08) Ma and 1.81_(-0.10)^(+0.11) Ma, respectively. The oldest chondrules from six of the seven studied samples record a mean age of 1.94_(-0.06)^(+0.07) Ma. Since heating events in the protoplanetary disk could have partially reset the Al-Mg systematics in pre-existing chondrules and this would have shifted recorded 26Al-26Mg ages toward younger dates, the oldest mean age of 1.81_(-0.10)^(+0.11) Ma recorded in L chondrite chondrules is interpreted to date the rapid and punctuated onset of chondrule formation. The density distribution of chondrule ages from this study, which comprises the largest single dataset of OC chondrule ages, combined with published ages for chondrules from ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites reveals major age peaks for OC chondrules at 2.0 and 2.3 Ma. Chondrules in ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites formed almost contemporaneously (with a possible distinction between CC groups) in two chemically distinct reservoirs, probably in density-enriched regions at the edges of Jupiter’s orbit. The young formation ages of chondrules suggest that they do not represent precursors but rather by-products of planetesimal accretion

Early differentiation of magmatic iron meteorite parent bodies from Mn–Cr chronometry

Magmatic iron meteorite groups such as IIAB, IIIAB and IVA, represent the largest sampling of extraterrestrial core material from the earliest accreted distinct planetary bodies in the solar system. Chromium isotope compositions of chromite/daubréelite from seven samples, translated into 53Cr/52Cr model ages, provide robust time information on planetary core formation. These ages are within ∼1.5 Ma after formation of calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs) and define the time of metal core formation in the respective parent bodies, assuming metal–silicate separation was an instantaneous event that induced strong chemical fractionation of Mn from the more siderophile Cr. The early core formation ages support accretion and differentiation of the magmatic iron meteorite parent bodies to have occurred prior to the chondrule formation interval. The calibration of Mn–Cr ages with established Hf–W ages of samples from the same magmatic iron meteorite groups constrains the initial ɛ53Cr of the solar system to −0.30 ± 0.05, and thus lower than previously estimated

Spatial distribution of emission in Unidentified Infrared Bands from Midcourse Space Experiment Survey

Recently the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) has surveyed the Galactic plane in mainly four infrared bands between 6 and 25 micron. Two of these bands cover several Unidentified Infrared emission Bands (UIBs). With the aim of extracting the spatial distribution of the UIB emission on a large scale, a scheme has been developed to model the MSX data with emission in the UIBs alongwith the underlying thermal continuum from the interstellar dust. In order to test this scheme, a sample of five Galactic compact H II regions (Sh-61, Sh-138, Sh-152, Sh-156, Sh-186; Zavagno & Ducci 2001) for which imaging study in some individual UIBs is available from ISOCAM measurements, has been studied. The results of this comparative study on small angular scale are as follows : (i) the morphological details extracted from our scheme agree very well with those from the superior ISOCAM measurements; (ii) the integrated strength of UIBs extracted from the MSX database correlates extremely well with the sum of the strengths of individual UIBs measured from ISOCAM. This tight correlation is very encouraging and promises the potential of MSX database for study of large scale spatial distribution of UIB emission (and the carriers of UIBs) in the entire Galactic plane.Comment: to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics; (9 pages including 2 tables & 11 figures

The Escape of Ionizing Photons from OB Associations in Disk Galaxies: Radiation Transfer Through Superbubbles

By solving the time-dependent radiation transfer problem of stellar radiation through evolving superbubbles within a smoothly varying HI distribution, we estimate the fraction of ionizing photons emitted by OB associations that escapes the HI disk of our Galaxy into the halo and intergalactic medium (IGM). We consider both coeval star-formation and a Gaussian star-formation history with a time spread sigma_t = 2 Myr. We consider both a uniform H I distribution and a two-phase (cloud/intercloud) model, with a negligible filling factor of hot gas. We find that the shells of the expanding superbubbles quickly trap or attenuate the ionizing flux, so that most of the escaping radiation escapes shortly after the formation of the superbubble. For the coeval star-formation history, the total fraction of Lyman Continuum photons that escape both sides of the disk in the solar vicinity is f_esc approx 0.15 +/- 0.05. For the Gaussian star formation history, f_esc approx 0.06 +/- 0.03, a value roughly a factor of two lower than the results of Dove & Shull (1994), where superbubbles were not considered. For a local production rate of ionizing photons Psi_LyC = 4.95 X 10^7 cm^{-2} s^{-1}, the flux escaping the disk is Phi_LyC approx (1.5-3.0) X 10^6 cm^{-2} s^{-1} for coeval and Gaussian star formation, comparable to the flux required to sustain the Reynolds layer.Comment: Revised version (expanded), accepted for publication by ApJ, 38 pages, 8 figures, aasms4.sty and aabib.sty files include

Molybdenum isotopes in plume-influenced MORBs reveal recycling of ancient anoxic sediments

Under modern oxidising Earth surface conditions, dehydrated subducted slabs show Mo isotope compositions as low as δ98/95Mo = −1.5 ‰, compared to the depleted mantle δ98/95Mo = −0.2 ‰. Such light Mo isotope compositions reflect the redox-dependent aqueous mobility of isotopically heavy Mo associated with slab dehydration. Here we analysed basaltic glasses from the South-Mid Atlantic Ridge, whose parental melts are influenced by the enriched Discovery and Shona mantle plumes. We report increasingly higher δ98/95Mo of up to −0.1 ‰ from the most depleted samples towards those tapping more enriched mantle sources. δ98/95Mo values correlate with radiogenic Sr and Nd isotopes, which indicates the recycling of Proterozoic sediments with a Mo isotopic composition that was not affected by subduction-related, oxic dehydration. We propose that the Mo isotope signatures were retained during subduction and reflect anoxic conditions during deep sea sedimentation in the mid-Proterozoic. Finally, Mo isotope fractionation between different terrestrial reservoirs likely depends on the slab redox budget, and therefore on the timing of subduction with regard to Earth’s surface oxygenation