Education and Outreach for the International Polar Year

If the 65 educators, scientists, and media specialists who gathered at the "Bridging the Poles" workshop in Washington, D.C. last June have their way a semitrailer truck labeled "Got Snow?" would traverse the country during the International Polar Year (IPY) of 2007-2009 loaded with polar gear, interactive activities, and a snowmaker. We would significantly increase the number of Arctic residents—especially indigenous Alaskans—with Ph.D.s. We would build exchange programs between inner city youths and polar residents. Polar exhibitions would open at natural history and art museums and zoos. And polar postage stamps, interactive polar computer games, national polar book-of-the-month recommendations, made-for-TV polar documentaries, and a polar youth forum would bring the poles front and center to the public's attention

Bridging the Poles: Education Linked with Research: A Report on the Workshop: 23-25 June 2004, Washington, D.C.

The goals of the "Bridging the Poles" workshop of June 23-25, 2004 were to define strategies to engage the next generation of polar scientists, engineers and leaders, and inspire and educate the general public. The timeframe considered was the next five years, including maximizing the educational impact of the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007-2009 (see inset below). The ca. 65 participants included K-12 educators, undergraduate professors, Arctic and Antarctic research scientists, Alaskan natives and residents, museum curators, representatives from agencies, the media and international programs. The workshop focused on four major themes: Reaching different levels; Engaging diverse communities; Possibilities for thematic areas; and Programs to feature nationally and internationally. The 22 roundtable discussions on these topics resulted in numerous recommendations to engage both future scientists and the general public. This report synthesizes opportunities for polar education and outreach identified at the workshop, recommends ways to maximize the impact of the IPY, and proposes "Next Steps" to develop polar education and outreach over the next five years

The growth and erosion of cinder cones in Guatemala and El Salvador: Models and statistics

Morphologic data for 147 cinder cones in southern Guatemala andwestern El Salvador are comparedwith data from the San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona (USA), Cima volcanic field, California (USA), Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico, and the Lamongan volcanic field, East Java. The Guatemala cones have an average height of 110+/-50 m, an average basal diameter of 660+/-230 m and an average top diameter of 180+/-150 m. The generalmorphology of these cones can be described by their average cone angle of slope (24+/-7), average heightto- radius ratio (0.33+/-0.09) and their flatness (0.24+/-0.18). Although the mean values for the Guatemalan cones are similar to those for other volcanic fields (e.g., San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona; Cima volcanic field, California; Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico; and Lamongan volcanic field, East Java), the range of morphologies encompasses almost all of those observed worldwide for cinder cones. Three new 40Ar/39Ar age dates are combined with 19 previously published dates for cones in Guatemala and El Salvador. There is no indication that the morphologies of these cones have changed over the last 500–1000 ka. Furthermore, a re-analysis of published data for other volcanic fields suggests that only in the Cima volcanic field (of those studied) is there clear evidence of degradation with age. Preliminary results of a numerical model of cinder cone growth are used to show that the range of morphologies observed in the Guatemalan cinder cones could all be primary, that is, due to processes occurring at the time of eruption

The growth and erosion of cinder cones in Guatemala and El Salvador: Models and statistics

Morphologic data for 147 cinder cones in southern Guatemala andwestern El Salvador are comparedwith data from the San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona (USA), Cima volcanic field, California (USA), Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico, and the Lamongan volcanic field, East Java. The Guatemala cones have an average height of 110+/-50 m, an average basal diameter of 660+/-230 m and an average top diameter of 180+/-150 m. The generalmorphology of these cones can be described by their average cone angle of slope (24+/-7), average heightto- radius ratio (0.33+/-0.09) and their flatness (0.24+/-0.18). Although the mean values for the Guatemalan cones are similar to those for other volcanic fields (e.g., San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona; Cima volcanic field, California; Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico; and Lamongan volcanic field, East Java), the range of morphologies encompasses almost all of those observed worldwide for cinder cones. Three new 40Ar/39Ar age dates are combined with 19 previously published dates for cones in Guatemala and El Salvador. There is no indication that the morphologies of these cones have changed over the last 500–1000 ka. Furthermore, a re-analysis of published data for other volcanic fields suggests that only in the Cima volcanic field (of those studied) is there clear evidence of degradation with age. Preliminary results of a numerical model of cinder cone growth are used to show that the range of morphologies observed in the Guatemalan cinder cones could all be primary, that is, due to processes occurring at the time of eruption

Ar-40/Ar-39 Ages of Maskelynite Grains from ALHA 77005

We present Ar-40/Ar-39 measurements for twelve small (20-60 micro-g) maskelynite samples from the heavily shocked martian meteorite ALHA 77005. The reported modal composition for ALHA 77005 is 50-60% olivine (Fa28), 30-40% pyroxene (Wo5Fs23En72), approx.8% maskelynite (An53), and approx.2% opaques by volume [1]). The meteorite is usually classified as a lherzolite. Previous Studies - Ar-40/Ar-39 results from previous work display disturbed release spectra [2,3]. In study [2], Ar-40/Ar-39 measurements on a 52-mg whole-rock sample produced an extremely disturbed release spec-trum, with all calculated apparent ages > 1 Ga, (Fig. 1). In a subsequent study [3], a light and a dark phase were analyzed. A 2.3-mg sample of the light, relatively low-K phase produced a disturbed release spectrum. For the first 20% of the Ar-39(sub K), most of the apparent ages exceeded >1 Ga; the remaining 80% yielded ages between 0.3-0.5 Ga. The integrated age for this phase is 0.9 Ga

Long-term evolution of an Oligocene/Miocene maar lake from Otago, New Zealand

Foulden Maar is a highly resolved maar lake deposit from the South Island of New Zealand comprising laminated diatomite punctuated by numerous diatomaceous turbidites. Basaltic clasts found in debris flow deposits near the base of the cored sedimentary sequence yielded two new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates of 24.51 ± 0.24 and 23.38 ± 0.24 Ma (2σ). The younger date agrees within error with a previously published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar date of 23.17 ± 0.19 Ma from a basaltic dyke adjacent to the maar crater. The diatomite is inferred to have been deposited over several tens of thousands of years in the latest Oligocene/earliest Miocene, and may have been coeval with the period of rapid glaciation and subsequent deglaciation of Antarctica known as the Mi-1 event. Sediment magnetic properties and SEM measurements indicate that the magnetic signal is dominated by pseudo-single domain pyrrhotite. The most likely source of detrital pyrrhotite is schist country rock fragments from the inferred tephra ring created by the phreatomagmatic eruption that formed the maar. Variations in magnetic mineral concentration indicate a decrease in erosional input throughout the depositional period, suggesting long-term (tens of thousands of years) environmental change in New Zealand in the latest Oligocene/earliest Miocene

40Ar/39Ar Ages of Carbonaceous Xenoliths in 2 HED Meteorites

The generally young K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages of CM chondrites made us wonder whether carbonaceous xenoliths (CMX) entombed in HowarditeEucriteDiogenite (HED) meteorites might retain more radiogenic 40Ar than do free-range CM-chondrites. To find out, we selected two HED breccias with carbonaceous inclusions in order to compare the 40Ar/39Ar release patterns and ages of the inclusions with those of nearby HED material. Carbonaceous inclusions (CMXs) in two HED meteorites lost a greater fraction of radiogenic 40Ar than did surrounding host material, but a smaller fraction of it than did free-range CM-chondrites such as Murchison or more heavily altered ones. Importantly, however, the siting of the CMXs in HED matrix did not prevent the 40Ar loss of about 40 percent of the radiogenic 40Ar, even from phases that degas at high laboratory temperatures. We infer that carbonaceous asteroids with perihelia of 1 astronomical unit probably experience losses of at least this size. The usefulness of 40Ar/39Ar dating for samples returned from C-type asteroids may hinge, therefore, on identifying and analyzing separately small quantities of the most retentive phases of carbonaceous chondrites

Ar-40/Ar-39 Ages for Maskelynites and K-Rich Melt from Olivine-Rich Lithology in (Kanagawa) Zagami

We report Ar/Ar release patterns for small maskelynite grains and samples of a K-rich phase separated from the basaltic shergottite Zagami. The purpose of the work is to investigate the well-known discrepancy between published Ar/Ar ages of Zagami, >200 Ma, and its age of approx. 170 Ma as determined by other methods [1-6]. Niihara et al. [7] divide less abundant darker material present in Zagami into an olivine-rich lithology (ORL), from which most of our samples came, and a pyroxene-rich one (Dark Mottled-Lithology: DML) [8, 9]. ORL consists of vermicular fayalitic olivine, coarse-grained pyroxene, maskelynite, and a glassy phase exceptionally rich in K (up to 8.5 wt%), Al, and Si, but poor in Fe and Mg. The elemental composition suggests a late-stage melt, i.e., residual material that solidified late in a fractional crystallization sequence. Below we refer to it as "K-rich melt." The K-rich melt contains laths of captured olivine, Ca-rich pyroxene, plagioclase, and opaques. It seemed to offer an especially promising target for Ar-40/Ar-39 dating

Ar-40/Ar-39 Studies of Martian Meteorite RBT 04262 and Terrestrial Standards

Park et al. recently presented an Ar-40/Ar-39 dating study of maskelynite separated from the Martian meteorite RBT 04262. Here we report an additional study of Ar-40/Ar-39 patterns for smaller samples, each consisting of only a few maskelynite grains. Considered as a material for Ar-40/Ar-39 dating, the shock-produced glass maskelynite has both an important strength (relatively high K concentration compared to other mineral phases) and some potentially problematic weaknesses. At Rutgers, we have been analyzing small grains consisting of a single phase to explore local effects that might be averaged and remain hidden in larger samples. Thus, to assess the homogeneity of the RBT maskelynite and for comparison with the results of, we analyzed six approx. 30 microgram samples of the same maskelynite separate they studied. Furthermore, because most Ar-40/Ar-39 are calculated relative to the age of a standard, we present new Ar-40/Ar-39 age data for six standards. Among the most widely used standards are sanidine from Fish Canyon (FCs) and various hornblendes (hb3gr, MMhb-1, NL- 25), which are taken as primary standards because their ages have been determined by independent, direct measurements of K and A-40

Late Bombardment of the Lunar Highlands Recorded in MIL 090034, MIL 090036 and MIL 090070 Lunar Meteorites

The Kaguya mission detected small but widespread outcrops of nearly pure ferroan anorthosite in and around large impact basins on the Moon. Along with certain lunar rocks, highly feldspathic lunar meteorites such as MIL 090034 (M34), 090036 (M36), and 090070 (M70) may provide samples of this material. We have measured the Ar-40/Ar-39 release patterns and cosmogenic Ar-38 concentrations of several small (<200 microg) samples separated from M34,36, and 70. From petrographic observations concluded that "some of the clasts and grains experienced generations of modifications," a conclusion that we examine in light of our data