the cr renazzo type carbonaceous chondrite group and its implications abstract a petrologic geochemical and oxygen isotopic study of eight meteorites identified as cr renazzo type chondrites reveals that they have a set of similar properties that distinguishes them from other chondrite groups and confirms cr as a carbonaceous chondrite group characteristics of the cr group include 1 1 abundant large multilayered fe ni metal rich type i chondrules 2 2 abundant matrix and dark inclusions di that contain microchondrules microfragments and magnetite framboids and platelets 3 3 unique assemblages of serpentine and chlorite rich phyllosilicates and ca carbonates 4 4 ca carbonate rims on chondrules 5 5 abundant fe ni metal with a positive ni vs co trend and a solar ni co ratio 6 6 low abundance of refractory rich inclusions 7 7 amoeboid olivine aggregates aoa with mn rich and mn poor forsterite and 8 8 oxygen isotopic compositions that form a unique mixing line the cr chondrites are breccias consisting of two major components the large layered chondrules and the matrix dark inclusions al rais is an anomalous member in having a higher abundance of the dark inclusion component 70 vol and this accounts for its having a higher volatile content than other members of the group the conditions that prevailed during aqueous alteration of the cr chondrites differed from those of other hydrated chondrite groups and may be the result of a higher temperature environment than that for the ci and cm chondrites the cr chondrite components chondrules matrix dark inclusions etc experienced aqueous alteration to differing degrees prior to assembly of the host chondrites and dark inclusions represent a lithology that was altered by water to a greater degree than the rest of the meteorite the overall degree of hydration in cr chondrites varies among meteorites with al rais being the most hydrated the oxygen isotopic variation of the whole rocks chondrules and matrices may be related to degree of hydration indicating that cr chondrites interacted with a water rich component having heavy oxygen and that was the same as ci and cm water

density porosity and magnetic susceptibility of carbonaceous chondrites abstract we report physical properties bulk and grain density magnetic susceptibility and porosity measured using nondestructive and noncontaminating methods for 195 stones from 63 carbonaceous chondrites grain densities over the whole population average 3 44 g cm 3 ranging from 2 42 g cm 3 ci1 orgueil to 5 66 g cm 3 cb bencubbin magnetic susceptibilities in log units of 10 9 m3 kg 1 averaged log 4 22 ranging from 3 23 cv3 axtell to 5 79 cb bencubbin porosities averaged 17 ranging from 0 for a number of meteorites to 41 for one stone of the co ornans notably we found significant differences in porosity between the oxidized and reduced cv subgroups with the porosities of cvo averaging approximately 20 and cvr porosities approximately 4 overall porosities of carbonaceous chondrite falls trend with petrographic type from type 1 ci near 35 type 2 cm cr averaging 23 type 3 cv co 21 to type 4 ck and some co averaging 15 there is also a significant decrease in porosity between meteorites of shock stage s1 and those of s2 indicative of shock compression

the porosities of ordinary chondrites models and interpretation densities and porosities for 285 ordinary chondrites have been assembled and analyzed measured chondrite porosities are bimodal finds have an average porosity of 30 we conclude that mild degrees of weathering fill pore spaces lowering grain densities and porosities without significantly changing the bulk size or mass of the sample by assuming an original pristine grain density as a function of the meteorite s mineralogy determined by its class we can derive model pristine porosities these model porosities cluster around an average value of 10 for all classes of ordinary chondrites ordinary chondrites do not show any correlation of porosity model or measured with petrographic grade or sample size over a range from 0 2 g to 2 kg however we do see a correlation between shock state and porosity shock blackened meteorites are less porous than other meteorites furthermore less severely shocked meteorites show a much broader range of porosities with the maximum porosity seen among meteorites of a given shock class falling linearly as a function of that shock class this is consistent with the idea that shock compresses and closes pore space analysis of meteorite porosity provides a lower bound to the fine scale porosity of asteroids our densities even with 10 primordial porosity are significantly higher than inferred densities of possible asteroid parent bodies these asteroids are probably loose piles of rubble

the fall and recovery of the tagish lake meteorite the tagish lake c2 ungrouped carbonaceous chondrite fall of january 18 2000 delivered 10 kg of one of the most primitive and physically weak meteorites yet studied in this paper we report the detailed circumstances of the fall and the recovery of all documented tagish lake fragments from a strewnfield at least 16 km long and 3 to 4 km wide nearly 1 kg of pristine meteorites were collected one week after the fall before new snow covered the strewnfield the majority of the recovered mass was collected during the spring melt ground eyewitnesses and a variety of instrument recorded observations of the tagish lake fireball provide a refined estimate of the fireball trajectory from its calculated orbit and its similarity to the remotely sensed properties of the d and p class asteroids the tagish lake carbonaceous chondrite apparently represents these outer belt asteroids the cosmogenic nuclide results and modeled production indicate a prefall radius of 2 1 2 4 m corresponding to 60 90 tons consistent with the observed fireball energy release the bulk oxygen isotope compositions plot just below the terrestrial fractionation line tfl following a trend similar to the cm meteorite mixing line the bulk density of the tagish lake material 1 64 0 02 g cm 3 is the same within uncertainty as the total bulk densities of several c class and especially d and p class asteroids the high microporosity of tagish lake samples 40 provides an obvious candidate material for the composition of low bulk density primitive asteroids

the cr chondrite clan implications for early solar system processes in this paper we review the mineralogy and chemistry of calcium aluminum rich inclusions cais chondrules feni metal and fine grained materials of the cr chondrite clan including cr ch and the metal rich cb chondrites queen alexandra range 94411 hammadah al hamra 237 bencubbin gujba and weatherford the members of the cr chondrite clan are among the most pristine early solar system materials which largely escaped thermal processing in an asteroidal setting bencubbin weatherford and gujba may be exceptions and provide important constraints on the solar nebula models these constraints include 1 multiplicity of cai formation 2 formation of cals and chondrules in spatially separated nebular regions 3 formation of cais in gaseous reservoir s having o 16 rich isotopic compositions chondrules appear to have formed in the presence of o 16 poor nebular gas 4 isolation of cais and chondrules from nebular gas at various ambient temperatures 5 heterogeneous distribution of al 26 in the solar nebula and 6 absence of matrix material in the regions of cai and chondrule formation

inhomogeneity of asteroid 2008 tc3 almahata sitta meteorites revealed through magnetic susceptibility measurements abstract magnetic susceptibility measurements were performed on freshly fallen almahata sitta meteorites most recovered samples are polymict ureilites those found in the first 4 months since impact before the meteorites were exposed to rain have a magnetic susceptibility in the narrow range of 4 92 0 08 log 10 9 am2 kg 1 close to the range of other ureilite falls 4 95 0 14 log 10 9 am2 kg 1 reported by rochette et al 2009 the almahata sitta samples collected 1 yr after the fall have similar values 4 90 0 06 log 10 9 am2 kg 1 revealing that the effect of 1 yr of terrestrial weathering was not severe however our reported values are higher than derived from polymict brecciated ureilites 4 38 0 47 log 10 9 am2 kg 1 rochette et al 2009 containing both falls and finds confirming that these are significantly weathered additionally other fresh looking meteorites of nonureilitic compositions were collected in the almahata sitta strewn field magnetic susceptibility measurements proved to be a convenient nondestructive method for identifying nonureilitic meteorites among those collected in the almahata sitta strewn field even among fully crusted three such meteorites no 16 25 and 41 were analyzed and their composition determined as eh6 h5 and el6 respectively zolensky et al 2010 a high scatter of magnetic susceptibility values among small 5 g samples revealed high inhomogeneity within the 2008 tc3 material at scales below 1 2 cm

almahata sitta fragment ms ch characterization of a new chondrite type abstract among the several hundred mostly small meteorite fragments recovered within the almahata sitta strewn field one fragment ms ch weighing 5 68 g was detected that represents a new type of chondritic meteorite the detection of short lived cosmogenic radionuclides clearly indicates that this chondrite fragment results from a fresh meteorite fall consistent with the almahata sitta event in october 2008 the fundamental mineralogical characteristics of the almahata sitta fragment ms ch can be summarized as follows 1 the almost equilibrated olivine has high fa contents of about 36 mole the fragment is of petrologic type 3 8 0 1 2 the metal abundance of the rock is on the order of 2 5 vol 3 the mean chondrule size has been determined to be roughly 450 m 4 point counting and imaging indicate that the matrix abundance is approximately 45 vol 5 cr spinels have much lower tio2 concentrations than typical spinels within r chondrites 6 calcium aluminum rich inclusions are spinel rich and severely altered having abundant na and or cl rich alteration products spinel also contains significant concentrations of fe and zn 7 magnetites and platinum group element rich phases sulfides tellurides and arsenides characteristic of both r and ck chondrites were not found in fragment ms ch and 8 the mean oxygen isotope composition of three small fragments of almahata sitta ms ch is 17o 4 35 18o 4 94 and 17o 1 76 the oxygen isotopes relate ms ch to r chondrites no established chondrite group having all these characteristics exists

the porosity and permeability of chondritic meteorites and interplanetary dust particles abstract we have investigated the porosity of a large number of chondritic interplanetary dust particles idps and meteorites by three techniques standard liquid gas flow techniques a new noninvasive ultrasonic technique and image processing of backscattered images the latter technique is obviously best suited to sub kilogram sized samples we have also measured the gas and liquid permeabilities of some chondrites by two techniques standard liquid gas flow techniques and a new nondestructive pressure release technique we find that chondritic idps have a somewhat bimodal porosity distribution peaks are present at 0 and 4 porosity a tail then extends to 53 type 1 3 chondrite matrix porosities range up to 30 with a peak at 2 the bulk porosities for type 1 3 chondrites have the same approximate range as exhibited by the matrix which indicates that other components of the bulk meteorites including chondrules and aggregates have the same average porosity as the matrix these results reveal that the porosities of primitive materials at scales ranging from nanogram to kilogram are similar which implies that similar accretion dynamics operated through 12 orders of size magnitude permeabilities of the investigated chondrites vary by several orders of magnitude and there appears to be no simple dependence of permeability with degree of aqueous alteration chondrite type or porosity

the density and porosity of meteorites from the vatican collection abstract we have developed a nondestructive technique to measure the densities and porosities of large 50 g to several kilogram meteorite samples and have begun a systematic measurement program starting with meteorites from the vatican observatory collection our technique utilizes a modified archimedean method 40 m glass spheres substituting for the fluid to determine bulk density and an unusually large he pycnometer to determine grain density from these the porosity is calculated we report here our first results for 89 samples nearly doubling the published database on porosities of meteorite hand samples including porosities of 35 different meteorites these include several types not previously reported eight iron meteorites six stony iron meteorites an enstatite chondrite the ci carbonaceous chondrite orgueil and the shergottite nakhlatite chassignite snc meteorite nakhla

fluvial environmental contexts for archaeological sites in the upper khabur basin northeastern syria today the eastern tributaries of the upper khabur run dry during the summer and the landscape is devoid of trees this picture is misleading when we try to understand archaeological sites within their former environmental context interdisciplinary geomorphological archaeobotanical and ostracod research on a sequence from the wadi jaghjagh indicates that relatively stable perennial flow velocities occurred during the mid 4th to mid 3rd millennium bc evidence was found for a gallery forest and swamp belt along the jaghjagh during the mid 4th millennium bc oak park woodland was present within the region in the 3rd millennium bc and probably up to at least the 3rd century ad shortly after 2500 bc jaghjagh stream velocities probably decreased or the stream bed had changed its location later deposits possibly dating to the 5th century bc indicate similar rather stable flow of the jaghjagh more recently however about ca ad 900 or afterwards a flashflood like regime occurred which may relate to deforestation the wadi khanzir sediment archives reflect the flashy intermittent regime of this stream like it still is today with flashflood evidence dating to the first half of the holocene and probably dating to approximately ad 400 or later along the jarrah topsoil was eroded and redeposited by the wadi sometime between 1300 and 600 bc this may have been caused by the intensive resettlement program of this region around 800 bc between about 600 and 300 bc 1 5 m of clay was deposited on the plain

asteroid 2008 tc 3 almahata sitta a spectacular breccia containing many different ureilitic and chondritic lithologies abstract asteroid 2008 tc3 impacted earth in northern sudan on october 7 2008 the meteorite named almahata sitta was classified as a polymict ureilite in this study 40 small pieces from different fragments collected in the almahata sitta strewn field were investigated and a large number of different lithologies were found some of these fragments are ureilitic in origin whereas others are clearly chondritic as all are relatively fresh w0 w0 1 and as short lived cosmogenic radioisotopes were detected within two of the chondritic fragments there is strong evidence that most if not all belong to the almahata sitta meteorite fall the fragments can roughly be subdivided into achondritic ureilitic 23 samples and chondritic lithologies 17 samples among the ureilitic rocks are at least 10 different lithologies a similar number of different chondritic lithologies also exist most chondritic fragments belong to at least seven different e chondrite rock types eh3 el3 4 el6 el breccias several different types of el and eh impact melt rocks and impact melt breccias some of the latter are shock darkened in addition two h group ordinary chondrite lithologies were identified and one sample of a chondrite type that is so far unique the latter has some affinities to r chondrites oxygen isotope compositions of 14 fragments provide further fundamental information on the lithological heterogeneity of the almahata sitta meteorite based on the findings presented in this study the reflectance spectrum of asteroid 2008 tc3 has to be evaluated in a new light

a new metal rich chondrite grouplet abstract a new grouplet of primitive metal rich chondrites here called the cb c carbonaceous b bencubbinite chondrites has been recognized it includes bencubbin weatherford hammadah a1 hamra hh 237 and queen alexandra range que 94411 paired with que 94627 their mineral compositions as well as their oxygen and nitrogen isotopic compositions indicate that they are closely related to the cr and ch chondrites all of which are members of the more inclusive cr clan cb chondrites have much greater metal silicate ratios than any other chondrite group widely increasing the range of metal silicate fractionation recorded in solar nebular processes they also have the greatest moderately volatile lithophile element depletions of any chondritic materials metal has compositional trends and zoning patterns that suggest a primitive condensation origin in contrast with metal from other chondrite groups cb chondrites as well as other cr clan chondrites have much heavier nitrogen higher 15n 14n than that in other chondrite groups the primitive characteristics of the cb chondrites suggest that they contain one of the best records of early nebular processes another chondrite grosvenor mountains 9555 1 is petrographically similar to the cb chondrites but its mineral and oxygen and nitrogen isotope compositions indicate that it formed from a different nebular reservoir

evidence for impact induced pressure gradients on the allende cv3 parent body consequences for fluid and volatile transport carbonaceous chondrites such as those associated with the vigarano cv parent body exhibit a diverse range of oxidative reduced alteration mineralogy mcsween 1977 although fluids are often cited as the medium by which this occurs rubin 2012 a mechanism to explain how this fluid migrates and why some meteorite subtypes from the same planetary body are more oxidized than others remains elusive in our study we examined a slab of the well known allende cv3oxa meteorite using several petrological techniques e g fry s and flinn and computerized tomography ct we discover it exhibits a strong penetrative planar fabric resulting from strain partitioning among its major components calcium aluminum rich inclusions cais 64 5 ct matrix 21 5 fry chondrules 17 6 ct in addition to the planar fabric we found a strong lineation defined by the alignment of the maximum elongation of flattened particles interpreted to have developed by an impact event the existence of a lineation could either be non coaxial deformation or the result of a mechanically heterogeneous target material in the later case it could have formed due to discontinuous patches of sub surface ice and or fabrics developed through prior impact compaction macpherson and krot 2014 which would have encouraged preferential flow within the target material immediately following the impact compacting pore spaces we suggest that structurally controlled movement of alteration fluids in the asteroid parent body along pressure gradients contributed to the formation of secondary minerals which may have ultimately lead to the different oxidized subtypes

density magnetic susceptibility and the characterization of ordinary chondrite falls and showers bulk and grain densities of 132 ordinary chondrites from the vatican observatory collection were measured and compared with their magnetic susceptibility for the most part using previously measured values ten new susceptibility measures were taken for this study grain density and magnetic susceptibility combined provide a reliable method of classifying un weathered ordinary chondrites unlike traditional chemical tests this method is fast nondestructive and characterizes the whole rock making it especially appropriate for surveying large collections the system is less viable for finds extensive weathering of metallic iron in an h chondrite can cause it to plot among l chondrites while heavily weathered l chondrites plot among the ll group this system has revealed outlier stones that may be misclassified meteorites or mislabeled samples in every case where the magnetic susceptibility of a meteorite does not fit its putative classification the grain density is also found to be in disagreement in a manner consistent with either severe weathering or misidentification an analysis of stones from five showers shows that excluding outliers these samples tend to cluster tightly within their appropriate groups in a plot of grain versus magnetic susceptibility

shock metamorphism of carbonaceous chondrites abstract we have studied shock effects in carbonaceous chondrites using optical microscopy of thin sections and find that our petrographic classification of progressive shock metamorphism in ordinary chondrites can also be applied to carbonaceous chondrites we find that sixty nine carbonaceous chondrites can be assigned to four shock stages si to s4 largely on the basis of shock effects in olivine the least shocked chondrite groups are cm2 and co3 thirty six out of thirty eight members are classified as shock stage s1 differences between the mean shock levels of certain groups of chondrites e g co3 and cv3 are probably due to stochastic differences in the sampling of their parent bodies however there is an overall tendency for the mean shock level of carbonaceous chondrites and ordinary chondrites to increase with increasing petrologic type that may reflect real differences in the shock level of near surface materials on their parent bodies caused by intrinsic variations in the chemical and physical properties of these materials petrologic type 2 and 3 chondrites are more porous and richer in volatiles than types 4 to 6 the greater porosity of types 2 3 causes higher post shock temperatures and melting at lower pressures and the higher volatile contents ensure that strongly shocked material is more readily dispersed on release from high pressure we suggest that type 2 3 material shocked above 20 30 gpa normally escapes from the parent asteroids and forms particles that are too small to survive as meteorites in the cv3 group there is a correlation between the degree of chondrule flattening and the intensity of shock metamorphism analogous to that discovered in ordinary chondrites by sneyd et al 1988 suggesting that shock rather than static overburden pressure is responsible for chondrule flattening we infer that the correlations are due to collapse of pores under shock pressures of at least 5 10 gpa and that shock is an important process affecting many physical properties of type 2 4 chondrites

petrology of alh85085 a chondrite with unique characteristics abstract alh85085 has several characteristics which set it apart from any known chondritic group its chondrules are smaller 25 75 m the majority are cryptocrystalline and all are volatile na k s depleted feni metal is more abundant 40 9 wt than in any other chondrite and sulfide abundance is low 1 1 matrix material does not surround the chondrules and fragments but occurs as lithic clasts lumps up to 300 m across the bulk composition of alh85085 is lower in na si and s si and higher in ni si fe si and mg si than in other chondritic groups the ca si al si and mg si ratios are closest to those of the renazzo chondrite grouplet cr matrix lumps are most similar to cr and murchison group cm chondrite matrices survival of this fragile matrix material as lithic clasts indicates that they were added just prior to the agglomeration of the chondrite all components chondrules fragments matrix lumps fall within a narrow size range which may be the result of aerodynamic sorting if so the sorting must have occurred after chondrule solidification and following a period of chondrule breakage since fragments from larger chondrules are present the ni vs co trend in the feni metal overlaps that of metal in cr chondrites and bencubbin these trends are similar to those of calculated nebular condensation paths indicating a nebular origin the cryptocrystalline texture and volatile depletion of the chondrules indicate that most chondrules were heated to temperatures above the liquidus although alh85085 cannot now be assigned to any known chondrite group it shares many similarities with cr chondrites and the bencubbin metal silicate chondritic assemblage and may be part of a chondritic group closely related to these meteorites

magnetic classification of stony meteorites 2 non ordinary chondrites a database of magnetic susceptibility measurements on different non ordinary chondrites c e r and ungrouped populations is presented and compared to our previous similar work on ordinary chondrites it provides an exhaustive study of the amount of iron nickel magnetic phases essentially metal and magnetite in these meteorites in contrast with all the other classes cm and cv show a wide range of magnetic mineral content with a two orders of magnitude variation of whether this is due to primary parent body differences metamorphism or alteration remains unclear c34 and c2 yield similar values to the ones shown by ck and cm respectively by order of increasing the classes with well grouped are r co ck ci kak cr e ch cb based on magnetism eh and el classes have indistinguishable metal content outliers that we suggest may need to have their classifications reconsidered are acfer 202 co elephant moraine eet 96026 c45 meteorite hills met 01149 and northwest africa nwa 521 ck asuka a 88198 lapaz icefield lap 031156 and sahara 98248 r values can also be used to define affinities of ungrouped chondrites and propose pairing particularly in the case of cm and cv meteorites

climate and rock weathering a study of terrestrial age dated ordinary chondritic meteorites from hot desert regions abstract ordinary chondrites oc recovered from the desert areas of roosevelt county new mexico the nullarbor region of western australia and the algerian and libyan sahara for which 14c terrestrial ages have been determined were examined by 57fe mossbauer spectroscopy oc were chosen as a standard sample to investigate weathering processes as their well constrained trace and bulk element chemistry normative mineralogy and isotopic composition define a known pre weathering starting composition given that terrestrial ages are known it is possible to compare initially very similar samples that have been subsequently weathered in a range of climatic regimes from the present day to 44 ka bp in addition recently fallen equilibrated oc contain iron only as fe0 and fe2 thus the abundance of ferric iron is directly related to the level of terrestrial weathering mossbauer spectroscopy identifies two broad types of ferric alteration paramagnetic phases akaganeite lepidocrocite and goethite and magnetically ordered principally magnetite and maghemite oc finds show a range in the percentage of total fe existing as fe3 from zero to over 80 however oxidation is comparable between fragments of the same oc separated since their time of fall i e paired meteorites our results indicate several features of meteorite weathering that may result from climatic or geomorphologic conditions at the accumulation site 1 saharan samples are overall less weathered than non saharan samples which may be related to the relatively recent age ca 20 ka of the saharan accumulation surface 2 broad differences between sites in the rate of weathering arising from regional differences in climate 3 consistent differences in the weathering products between samples that fell during humid periods and those that fell during more arid periods those falling during humid periods contain a higher proportion of magnetically ordered ferric oxides 4 one region the nullarbor that shows a variation in the total amount of ferric species that closely matches the climatic record for this area of australia for the last 30 ka points 3 and 4 may be related to the identification of a rapid initial weathering phase the majority of weathering occurs in the first few hundred years after fall followed by passivation of weathering by porosity reduction porosity reduction and the associated restriction in the ability of water to penetrate the sample appears to be the mechanism whereby a weathering assemblage formed during the brief initial period of oxidation is preserved through subsequent climatic cycles over the terrestrial lifetime of the sample

the meteoritical bulletin no 86 2002 july abstract meteoritical bulletin no 86 lists information for 1154 newly classified meteorites comprising 661 from antarctica 218 from africa 207 from asia 203 of which are from oman 62 from north america 3 from south america and 3 from europe information is provided for 5 falls el idrissia undulung dashoguz el tigre and yafa noteworthy specimens include 7 martian meteorites dhofar 378 grove mountains 99027 northwest africa 856 1068 and 1110 and sayh al uhaymir 060 and 090 4 lunar meteorites dhofar 301 302 303 and 489 9 new iron meteorites a mesosiderite northwest africa 1242 an ungrouped stony iron meteorite dar al gani 962 and a wide variety of other interesting stony meteorites including ch ck cm cr cv r enstatite unequilibrated ordinary and ungrouped chondrites primitive achondrites howardite eucrite diogenite hed achondrites and ureilites

constraining the pressure threshold of impact induced calcite twinning implications for the deformation history of aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies calcite twinning in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites can be used to reconstruct the deformation history and the parent body environment during and or after aqueous alteration but the shock pressure threshold at which the twins develop is unknown accordingly the aim of this study is to determine the magnitude of shock pressure that is needed to generate calcite twins this was done by measuring the depths of twinning beneath the resulting craters from experimental impacts in six calcite targets combined with hydrocode modelling of the peak pressures at the corresponding depths within the targets brecciation fracturing and calcite e twinning occur below the floors of all the craters and results from the hydrocode modelling show that the twins start to form at shock pressures of 110 to 480 mpa which is at least a factor of ten higher than the 10 mpa that is considered to be required to produce calcite twins in low strain rate terrestrial settings these pressures are equivalent to shock stage s1 as determined by olivine microstructures and consistent with calcite twinning in carbonaceous chondrites being a result of impact gardening in shallow levels of their asteroidal parent bodies

eemian lake development hydrology and climate a multi stratigraphic study of the hollerup site in denmark abstract a classic northwest european open section with lacustrine eemian sediments hollerup has been studied with respect to sedimentology geochemistry stable isotopes diatoms and mineral magnetic analyses and correlated by geochemistry and diatoms to a previously pollen analysed section by andersen 1965 this correlation has enabled the section to be related to muller s 1974 tentative eemian absolute chronology and shows that the hollerup eemian sediments appear to cover c 11 000 yr our studies show that the onset of the eemian was characterized by a major lake level rise followed by an almost 3000 yr long period of high but oscillating lake levels it is argued that the latter part of this period of highly maritime climate can be defined as the eemian climatic optimum this period was interrupted by a few hundred years long phase of low lake level coinciding with the immigration of spruce followed by medium high lake levels the next c 3500 yr coinciding with the carpinus pollen zone seem to have been characterized by fairly humid and mild conditions although slightly more arid than during the preceding optimum the carpinus period ended with a more than 1000 yr long gradual lake level fall and this period of lake level change concurring with the transition into the pinus pollen dominated period terminated with an extreme low lake level event this 300 500 yr long arid phase coincides with a distinct peak in pine pollen and was followed by higher but slightly oscillating lake levels in a cooler climate the end of the eemian seems to have been characterised by a gradual cooling until almost pure clastic sedimentation and a marked expansion of herb pollen grains mark the onset of the weichselian based on regional correlations to other european terrestrial and north atlantic marine proxy records we argue that the distinct hydrologic and climatic events displayed in the hollerup record were possibly caused by a combination of sea level changes changes in the hydrologic cycle and changing oceanic circulation patterns the latter two may have been triggered by the opening and closure of the baltic sea white sea connection the initial build up of continental ice sheets and the first major impacts of meltwater induced freshwater in key areas for thermohaline circulation

chondrites as samples of differentiated planetesimals abstract chondritic meteorites are unmelted and variably metamorphosed aggregates of the earliest solids of the solar system the variety of metamorphic textures in chondrites motivated the onion shell model in which chondrites originated at varying depths within a parent body heated primarily by the short lived radioisotope 26 al with the highest metamorphic grade originating nearest the center allende and a few other chondrites possess a unidirectional magnetization that can be best explained by a core dynamo on their parent body indicating internal melting and differentiation here we show that a parent body that accreted to 200 km in radius by 1 5 ma after the formation of calcium aluminum rich inclusions cais would have a differentiated interior and ongoing accretion would add a solid undifferentiated crust overlying a differentiated interior consistent with formational and evolutionary constraints inferred for the cv parent body this body could have produced a magnetic field lasting more than 10 ma this hypothesis represents a new model for the origin of some chondrites presenting them as the unprocessed crusts of internally differentiated early planetesimals such bodies may exist in the asteroid belt today the shapes and masses of the two largest asteroids 1 ceres and 2 pallas can be consistent with differentiated interiors conceivably with small iron cores with hydrated silicate or ice silicate mantles covered with undifferentiated crusts

stony meteorite porosities and densities a review of the data through 2001 in this review we summarize the data published up to december 2001 on the porosity and density of stony meteorites these data were taken from 925 samples of 454 different meteorites by a variety of techniques most meteorites have densities on the order of 3 to 4 g cm 3 with lower densities only for some volatile rich carbonaceous meteorites and higher densities for stony irons for the vast majority of stones porosity data alone cannot distinguish between different meteorite compositions average porosities for most meteorite classes are around 10 though individual samples can range as high as 30 porosity unbrecciated basaltic achondrites appear to be systematically less porous unless vesicles are present the measured density of ordinary chondrites is strongly controlled by the amount of terrestrial weathering the sample has undergone with porosities steadily dropping with exposure to the terrestrial environment a theoretical grain density based on composition can model pre weathered porosities the average model porosity for h and ll chondrites is 10 while l chondrite model porosities average only 6 a statistically significant difference

density porosity and magnetic susceptibility of achondritic meteorites as part of a large scale survey of meteorite bulk and grain densities porosities and magnetic susceptibilities we measured these properties for 174 stones from 106 achondritic meteorites these include four lunar meteorites 15 stones from 10 shergottites nakhlites and chassignites sncs 96 stones from 56 howardites eucrites and diogenites heds 17 stones from nine aubrites two angrites and 16 stones from 10 ureilites four stones of three acapulcoites as well as four stones of three lodranites and 15 stones from eight primitive achondrites those meteorites derived from basalts and crustal material of differentiated parent bodies have lower densities and magnetic susceptibilities on an average than the more primitive achondrites which have a higher percentage metal a notable exception is the one chassignite in the study chassigny which has a high grain density of 3 73 0 04 g cm 3 ureilites have magnetic susceptibilities consistent with primitive achondrites but lower grain densities porosities do not vary considerably between most of the groups with most stones 5 14 porous although on an average ureilites and brachinites have lower porosities with most stones less than 7 porous for primitive achondrites the higher metal content causes finds to exhibit weathering effects similar to what is observed in ordinary chondrites with a reduction in grain density magnetic susceptibility and porosity as compared with unweathered falls for lunites sncs and heds no such effect is observed we also observe that grain density and magnetic susceptibility used in conjunction distinguish shergottites nakhlites and chassignites from each other shergottites and nakhlites have low grain densities averaging 3 31 and 3 41 g cm 3 respectively whereas chassigny is 3 7 g cm 3 in magnetic susceptibility shergottities and chassignites are similar averaging 2 85 and 2 98 in log units of 10 9 m3 kg 1 respectively with nakhlites averaging higher at 3 42