Why aqueous alteration in asteroids was isochemical: high porosity≠high permeability

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are the most compositionally primitive rocks in the solar system, but the most chemically pristine (CI1 and CM2 chondrites) have experienced pervasive aqueous alteration, apparently within asteroid parent bodies. Unfractionated soluble elements suggest very limited flow of liquid water, indicting a closed-system at scales large than 100's μm, consistent with data from oxygen isotopes, and meteorite petrography. However, numerical studies persistently predict large-scale (10's km) water transport in model asteroids, either in convecting cells, or via ‘exhalation’ flow — an open-system at scales up to 10's km. These models have tended to use permeabilites in the range 10− 13 to 10− 11 m2. We show that the permeability of plausible chondritic starting materials lies in the range 10− 19 to 10− 17 m2 (0.1–10 μD): around six orders-of-magnitude lower than previously assumed. This low permeability is largely a result of the extreme fine grain-size of primitive chondritic materials. Applying these permeability estimates in numerical models, we predict very limited liquid water flow (distances of 100's µm at most), even in a high porosity, water-saturated asteroid, with a high thermal gradient, over millions of years. Isochemical alteration, with flow over minimal lengthscales, is not a special circumstance. It is inevitable, once we consider the fundamental material properties of these rocks. To achieve large-scale flow it would require average matrix grain sizes in primitive materials of 10's–100's μm — orders of magnitude larger than observed. Finally, in addition to reconciling numerical modelling with meteorite data, our work explains several other features of these enigmatic rocks, most particularly, why the most chemically primitive meteorites are also the most altered

High pathogenicity avian influenza (H5N1) in northern gannets: global spread, clinical signs, and demographic consequences

During 2021 and 2022 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) killed thousands of wild birds across Europe and North America, suggesting a change in infection dynamics and a shift to new hosts, including seabirds. Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) appeared especially severely impacted, but a detailed account of the data available is required to help understand how the virus spread across the metapopulation, and the ensuing demographic consequences. Accordingly, we analyse information on confirmed and suspected HPAIV outbreaks across most North Atlantic Gannet colonies and for the largest colony (Bass Rock, UK), provide impacts on population size, breeding success, and preliminary results on apparent adult survival and serology. Unusually high numbers of dead Gannets were first noted at colonies in Iceland during April 2022. Outbreaks in May occurred in many Scottish colonies, followed by colonies in Canada, Germany and Norway. By the end of June, outbreaks had occurred in colonies in Canada and the English Channel. Outbreaks in 12 UK and Ireland colonies appeared to follow a clockwise pattern with the last infected colonies recorded in late August/September. Unusually high mortality was recorded at 40 colonies (75% of global total colonies). Dead birds testing positive for HPAIV H5N1 were associated with 58% of these colonies. At Bass Rock, the number of occupied nest sites decreased by at least 71%, breeding success declined by ~66% compared to the long-term UK mean and the resighting of marked individuals suggested that apparent adult survival between 2021 and 2022 could have been substantially lower than the preceding 10-year average. Serological investigation detected antibodies specific to H5 in apparently healthy birds indicating that some Gannets recover from HPAIV infection. Further, most of these recovered birds had black irises, suggestive of a phenotypic indicator of previous infection. Untangling the impacts of HPAIV infection from other challenges faced by seabirds is key to establishing effective conservation strategies for threatened seabird populations as the likelihood of further epizootics increases, due to increasing habitat loss and the industrialization of poultry production