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At least 379 records · Page 21

The induced magnetic field of the moon - Conductivity profiles and inferred temperature.

Electromagnetic induction in the moon driven by fluctuations of the interplanetary magnetic field is used to determine the lunar bulk electrical conductivity. The earlier data are now augmented by an order of magnitude. The present data clearly show the north-south and east-west transfer function difference as well as the high-frequency rollover suggested earlier. The difference is shown to be compatible over the midfrequency range (0.001 to 0.01 Hz) with a noise source associated with the compression of the local remanent field by solar wind dynamic pressure fluctuations. The rollover of the transfer functions is shown to result from higher order magnetic multipole radiation; electric multipoles appear supressed, although a vestigial TM interaction may still be present. Models for two, three, and four layer; current layer, double current layer, and core plus current layer moons are generated by inversion of the data, using a theory that incorporates higher-order multipoles.

Sonett, C. P.↗

Green spherules from Apollo 15 - Inferences about their origin from inert gas measurements.

Green spherules from the 'clod' 15426 and from fines 15421 contain about 100 times less trapped inert gases than normal bulk fines from Apollo 15. These spherules have apparently never been directly exposed to the solar wind. Spherules from other fines contain about 10 times more trapped gas than those from the 'clod.' The gas in the former is surface correlated. However, spherules from fines 15401 are exceptionally gas-poor. The trapped gases can be of solar-wind origin, but this origin requires a two-stage model for the spherules from the clods. Another possibility is that the gases were absorbed from an ambient gas phase. The trapped gases may also be assumed to represent primordial lunar gas. The composition of this gas is then similar to the 'solar' or 'unfractionated' component of gas-rich meteorites, but unlike that in most of the carbonaceous chondrites.

Lakatos, S.↗

The age and petrography of two Luna 20 fragments and inferences for widespread lunar metamorphism.

Ages were determined by the Ar-40/Ar-39 method on two metaclastic rocks returned from the lunar highlands north of Mare Fecunditatis by the Luna 20 probe. Both samples gave very well-defined argon retention ages of 3.90 plus or minus 0.04 AE which are indistinguishable from each other within a resolution of 0.02 AE. Both fragments, 22006 and 22007, are highly recrystallized polymict breccias; there is no evidence of radiogenic Ar-40, and the age almost surely dates the time of recrystallization. The cosmic ray exposure ages of these fragments are similar and high: 900 million years for 22006, 1300 million years for 22007. 22007 also contains substantial trapped argon with a high Ar-40/Ar-36. The Luna 20 results greatly extend the area of the moon's surface exhibiting a well-defined record of metamorphism at 3.9 AE. So far, lunar history in the interval from 4.6 to 3.9 AE is not preserved in the ages of surface rocks. This obliteration suggests lunar-wide metamorphic conditions occurring or terminating at this time as a result of major impacts.

Podosek, F. A.↗

Physico-chemical processes in the solar nebula, as inferred from meteorites.

Many properties of meteorites suggest that they formed in a cooling solar nebula. Chemical differences among chondrites, encompassing nearly all known elements, can be accounted for by as few as 4 processes: loss of an early condensate (above 1300 K), loss of nickel-iron (1050 to 700 K), partial remelting of the condensate (600 to 450 K), and accretion (500 to 360 K). The same processes seem to have affected the inner planets. Reasonably concordant accretion temperatures are obtained by various cosmothermometers. These accretion temperatures are 3 times higher than present black-body temperatures in the asteroid belt, suggesting that accretion took place only during a high-temperature stage of necessarily short duration.

Anders, E.↗

Scale dependence of the 200-mb divergence inferred from EOLE data.

The EOLE experiment with 480 constant-volume balloons distributed over the Southern Hemisphere approximately at the 200-mb level, has provided a unique, highly accurate set of tracer trajectories in the general westerly circulation. The trajectories of neighboring balloons are analyzed to estimate the horizontal divergence from the Lagrangian derivative of the area of one cluster. The variance of the divergence estimates results from two almost comparable effects: the true divergence of the horizontal flow and eddy diffusion due to small-scale, two-dimensional turbulence. Taking this into account, the rms divergence is found to be of the order of 0.00001 per sec and decreases logarithmically with cluster size. This scale dependence is shown to be consistent with the quasi-geostrophic turbulence model of the general circulation in midlatitudes.

Morel, P.↗

Mars - Crustal structure inferred from Bouguer gravity anomalies.

Bouguer gravity has been computed for the equatorial region of Mars by differencing free air gravity and the gravity predicted from topographic variations. The free air gravity was generated from an eighth-order set of spherical harmonic coefficients. The gravity from topographic variations was generated by integrating a two-dimensional Green's function over each contour level. The Bouguer gravity indicates crustal inhomogeneities on Mars that are postulated to be variations in crustal thickness. The Tharsis ridge is a region of thick continental type crust. The gravity data, structural patterns, topography, and surface geology of this region lead to the interpretation of the Tharsis topographic high as a broad crustal upwarp possibly associated with local formation of lower-density crustal material and subsequent rise of a thicker crust. The Amazonis region is one of several basins of relatively thin crust, analogous to terrestrial ocean basins. The Libya and Hellas basins, which are probable impact features, are also underlain by thin crust and are possible regions of mantle upwelling.

Phillips, R. J.↗

The physical nature of interplanetary dust as inferred by particles collected at 35 km

Particles were collected at an altitude of 35 km by two flights of a volume sampling micrometeorite collector. The collection scheme is very sensitive and is capable of collecting a significant number of particles. Many of the particles collected have chemical compositions similar to solar or to iron meteorites. Morphology of collected particles indicates that both true micrometeorites and ablation products were collected.

Brownlee, D. E.↗

Lunar velocity structure and compositional and thermal inferences

Seismic data from Apollo Passive Seismic Network stations are analyzed to determine the velocity structure in the lunar crust and mantle. Since the publication of earlier results additional data has become available from the S-IVB impacts of the Apollo 16 and 17 missions and the LM ascent stage impact of the Apollo 17 mission. Data from these artificial impacts now cover a distance range of 9 to 1700 km. Travel times, amplitudes, and theoretical seismograms are used to derive a velocity structure for the outer 150 km of the moon. Preliminary results are given from the analysis of the complete set of seismograms.

Toksoz, M. N.↗

Deep lunar interior inferred from recent seismic data

Analysis of recent data from lunar seismic events shows significant deviations of P- and S-wave travel times from those expected if the lunar interior were homogeneous below the crust. The interpretation of these data results in a lunar model consisting of at least four and possibly five distinguishable zones whose probable characteristics are discussed.

Nakamura, Y.↗

Changes in atmospheric composition inferred from ionospheric production rates

Changes in the total electron content of the ionosphere near sunrise are used to determine the integrated production rate in the ionosphere (Q) from 1965 to 1971 at latitudes of 34S, 20N, and 34N. The observed regular semiannual variation in Q through a range of 1:3:1 is interpreted as an increase in the ratio O/N2 (relative densities) near the equinoxes. It follows that there is a worldwide semiannual variation in atmospheric composition, with the above ratio maximum just after the equinoxes. There is a large seasonal variation in the Northern hemisphere with a maximum in mid-summer. This effect is absent in the Southern hemisphere. At all times except solar maximum in the Northern hemisphere there is a global asymmetry. The ratio O/N2 is about three times as large in the Northern hemisphere. The overall mechanism appears to be N2 absorption.

Titheridge, J. E.↗

Inferences from protein and nucleic acid sequences - Early molecular evolution, divergence of kingdoms and rates of change

Description of new sensitive, objective methods for establishing the probable common ancestry of very distantly related sequences and the quantitative evolutionary change which has taken place. These methods are applied to four families of proteins and nucleic acids and evolutionary trees will be derived where possible. Of the three families containing duplications of genetic material, two are nucleic acids: transfer RNA and 5S ribosomal RNA. Both of these structures are functional in the synthesis of coded proteins, and prototypes must have been present in the cell at the inception of the fundamental coding process that all living things share. There are many types of tRNA which recognize the various nucleotide triplets and the 20 amino acids. These types are thought to have arisen as a result of many gene duplications. Relationships among these types are discussed. The 5S ribosomal RNA, presently functional in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, is very likely descended from an early form incorporating almost a complete duplication of genetic material. The amount of evolution in the various lines can again be compared. The other two families containing duplications are proteins; ferredoxin and cytochrome c.

Dayhoff, M. O.↗

Fourier transform techniques for the inference of cloud motion

The development and evaluation are reported of phase shift techniques based on the Fourier transform for the estimation of cloud motion from geosynchronous meteorological satellite photographs. An alternative approach to cloud motion estimation, involving thresholding, was proposed and studied.

Lo, R. C.↗

Distribution and size of elements of Saturn's rings as inferred from 12-cm radar observations

A 64m radar antenna was used to observe Saturn's rings at 12.6 cm wavelength, with reduced Doppler spread. The results show a positive radar return corresponding to about a 60 percent return from an isotropic scatterer with the projected area of the rings, allowing for the Cassini division. A radar spectrogram of the rings is shown with power density plotted against Doppler frequency shift.

Morris, G. A., Jr.↗