Identification of two sources of carbon monoxide in comet Hale-Bopp.

The composition of ices in comets may reflect that of the molecular cloud in which the Sun formed, or it may show evidence of chemical processing in the pre-planetary accretion disk around the proto-Sun. As carbon monoxide (CO) is ubiquitous in molecular clouds, its abundance with respect to water could help to determine the degree to which pre-cometary material was processed, although variations in CO abundance may also be influenced by the distance from the Sun at which comets formed. Observations have not hitherto provided an unambiguous measure of CO in the cometary ice (native CO). Evidence for an extended source of CO associated with comet Halley was provided by the Giotto spacecraft, but alternative interpretations exist. Here we report observations of comet Hale-Bopp which show that about half of the CO in the comet comes directly from ice stored in the nucleus. The abundance of this CO with respect to water (12 per cent) is smaller than in quiescent regions of molecular clouds, but is consistent with that measured in proto-stellar envelopes, suggesting that the ices underwent some processing before their inclusion into Hale-Bopp. The remaining CO arises in the coma, probably through thermal destruction of more complex molecules.     

Crystalline water ice on the Kuiper belt object (50000) Quaoar

The Kuiper belt is a disk-like structure consisting of solid bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. It is the source of the short-period comets and the likely repository of the Solar System's most primitive materials. Surface temperatures in the belt are low ( approximately 50 K), suggesting that ices trapped at formation should have been preserved over the age of the Solar System. Unfortunately, most Kuiper belt objects are too faint for meaningful compositional study, even with the largest available telescopes. Water ice has been reported in a handful of objects, but most appear spectrally featureless. Here we report near-infrared observations of the large Kuiper belt object (50000) Quaoar, which reveal the presence of crystalline water ice and ammonia hydrate. Crystallinity indicates that the ice has been heated to at least 110 K. Both ammonia hydrate and crystalline water ice should be destroyed by energetic particle irradiation on a timescale of about 10(7) yr. We conclude that Quaoar has been recently resurfaced, either by impact exposure of previously buried (shielded) ices or by cryovolcanic outgassing, or by a combination of these processes.     

The building blocks of planets within the 'terrestrial' region of protoplanetary disks

Our Solar System was formed from a cloud of gas and dust. Most of the dust mass is contained in amorphous silicates, yet crystalline silicates are abundant throughout the Solar System, reflecting the thermal and chemical alteration of solids during planet formation. (Even primitive bodies such as comets contain crystalline silicates.) Little is known about the evolution of the dust that forms Earth-like planets. Here we report spatially resolved detections and compositional analyses of these building blocks in the innermost two astronomical units of three proto-planetary disks. We find the dust in these regions to be highly crystallized, more so than any other dust observed in young stars until now. In addition, the outer region of one star has equal amounts of pyroxene and olivine, whereas the inner regions are dominated by olivine. The spectral shape of the inner-disk spectra shows surprising similarity with Solar System comets. Radial-mixing models naturally explain this resemblance as well as the gradient in chemical composition. Our observations imply that silicates crystallize before any terrestrial planets are formed, consistent with the composition of meteorites in the Solar System.     

The evolution of comets in the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt

Comets are remnants from the time when the outer planets formed, approximately 4-4.5 billion years ago. They have been in storage since then in the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt-distant regions that are so cold and sparsely populated that it was long thought that comets approaching the Sun were pristine samples from the time of Solar System formation. It is now recognized, however, that a variety of subtle but important evolutionary mechanisms operate on comets during their long storage, so they can no longer be regarded as wholly pristine.     

Interception of comet Hyakutake's ion tail at a distance of 500 million kilometres

Remote sensing observations and the direct sampling of material from a few comets have established the characteristic composition of cometary gas. This gas is ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation and the solar wind to form 'pick-up' ions, ions in a low ionization state that retain the same compositional signatures as the original gas. The pick-up ions are carried outward by the solar wind, and they could in principle be detected far from the coma (Sampling of pick-up ions has also been used to study interplanetary dust, Venus' tail and the interstellar medium.) Here we report the serendipitous detection of cometary pick-up ions, most probably associated with the tail of comet Hyakutake, at a distance of 3.4 AU from the nucleus. Previous observations have provided a wealth of physical and chemical information about a small sample of comets, but this detection suggests that remote sampling of comet compositions, and the discovery of otherwise invisible comets, may be possible.     

热时效和辐照环境下Fe-Cr-Mn奥氏体钢晶界溶质元素偏聚和相析出

研究了含2％W和V的Fe-Cr-Mn合金经热时效处理和电子辐照条件下,溶质元素晶界偏聚和析出相的行为。实验结果表明:在含W、V合金中热时效引起Cr、Mn晶界贫化,它决定于富Cr碳化物M_(23)C_6中组元组成。辐照条件下,两种合金中Cr、Mn都发生晶界贫化,它决定于辐照产生空位浓度和空洞体胀量,辐照诱起晶界元素偏聚影响析出相成分。     

Rapid collisional evolution of comets during the formation of the Oort cloud

The Oort cloud of comets was formed by the ejection of icy planetesimals from the region of giant planets--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune--during their formation. Dynamical simulations have previously shown that comets reach the Oort cloud only after being perturbed into eccentric orbits that result in close encounters with the giant planets, which then eject them to distant orbits about 10(4) to 10(5) AU from the Sun (1 AU is the average Earth-Sun distance). All of the Oort cloud models constructed until now simulate its formation using only gravitational effects; these include the influence of the Sun, the planets and external perturbers such as passing stars and Galactic tides. Here we show that physical collisions between comets and small debris play a fundamental and hitherto unexplored role throughout most of the ejection process. For standard models of the protosolar nebula (starting with a minimum-mass nebula) we find that collisional evolution of comets is so severe that their erosional lifetimes are much shorter than the timescale for dynamical ejection. It therefore appears that collisions will prevent most comets escaping from most locations in the region of the giant planets until the disk mass there declines sufficiently that the dynamical ejection timescale is shorter than the collisional lifetime. One consequence is that the total mass of comets in the Oort cloud may be less than currently believed.     

Constraints on the origins of hydrocarbon gas from compositions of gases at their site of origin

It is widely accepted that natural gas is formed from thermal decomposition of both oil in reservoirs and, to a lesser extent, the organic matter in shales from which the oil was derived. But laboratory pyrolysis experiments on shales do not reproduce the methane-rich composition typical of most gas reservoirs, leading to suggestions that other mechanisms, such as transition-metal catalysis, may be important. The discrepancy might, however, instead arise because gas (and oil) deposits have migrated from their source rocks, so that the reservoir composition might not be representative of the composition in the source rocks where the hydrocarbons were generated. To address this question, we have analysed gas samples coproduced with oils directly from a source rock (the Bakken shales, North Dakota, USA) where the local geology has prevented significant hydrocarbon migration. The methane contents of these Bakken-shale gases are much lower than that of conventional gas reservoirs, but are consistent with that from pyrolysis experiments on these shales. Thus, because these Bakken gases form with (rather than from) oils, we argue that compositional differences between gases from source rocks and conventional gas deposits result from fractionation processes occurring after hydrocarbon expulsion from the source rock.     

Chlorine isotope homogeneity of the mantle, crust and carbonaceous chondrites

Chlorine in the Earth is highly depleted relative to carbonaceous chondrites and solar abundances. Knowledge of the Cl concentrations and distribution on Earth is essential for understanding the origin of these depletions. Large differences in the stable chlorine isotope ratios of meteoritic, mantle and crustal materials have been used as evidence for distinct reservoirs in the solar nebula and to calculate the relative proportions of Cl in the mantle and crust. Here we report that large isotopic differences do not exist, and that carbonaceous chondrites, mantle and crust all have the same 37Cl/35Cl ratios. We have further analysed crustal sediments from the early Archaean era to the Recent epoch and find no systematic isotopic variations with age, demonstrating that the mantle and crust have always had the same delta37Cl value. The similarity of mantle, crust and carbonaceous chondrites establishes that there were no nebular reservoirs with distinct isotopic compositions, no isotopic fractionation during differentiation of the Earth and no late (post-core formation) Cl-bearing volatile additions to the crustal veneer with a unique isotopic composition.     

A planetary system as the origin of structure in Fomalhaut's dust belt

The Sun and >15 per cent of nearby stars are surrounded by dusty disks that must be collisionally replenished by asteroids and comets, as the dust would otherwise be depleted on timescales <10(7) years (ref. 1). Theoretical studies show that the structure of a dusty disk can be modified by the gravitational influence of planets, but the observational evidence is incomplete, at least in part because maps of the thermal infrared emission from the disks have low linear resolution (35 au in the best case). Optical images provide higher resolution, but the closest examples (AU Mic and beta Pic) are edge-on, preventing the direct measurement of the azimuthal and radial disk structure that is required for fitting theoretical models of planetary perturbations. Here we report the detection of optical light reflected from the dust grains orbiting Fomalhaut (HD 216956). The system is inclined 24 degrees away from edge-on, enabling the measurement of disk structure around its entire circumference, at a linear resolution of 0.5 au. The dust is distributed in a belt 25 au wide, with a very sharp inner edge at a radial distance of 133 au, and we measure an offset of 15 au between the belt's geometric centre and Fomalhaut. Taken together, the sharp inner edge and offset demonstrate the presence of planetary-mass objects orbiting Fomalhaut.     

Identification of comet Hyakutake's extremely long ion tail from magnetic field signatures

Observations of the varying orientations of comet tails led to the suggestion of the existence of the solar wind--a continuous outflow of ionized material from the Sun. It is now well established that gas from comets is ionized by several processes and joins the solar wind, forming an ion (plasma) tail that points away from the Sun. The plasma environments of three comets have been measured in situ, but only in the upstream direction or less than 8,000 km downstream of the nucleus. Here we report a fortuitous crossing by a spacecraft of the plasma tail of comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2), at a distance of more than 3.8 astronomical units (550 million kilometres) from its nucleus. This surpasses the tail length of 2 AU determined for the Great March Comet of 1843 (C/1843 D1). Our measurements reveal that, at this distance, the tail of comet Hyakutake was a structured entity at least 7 million kilometres in diameter.     

通过初中化学实验教学培养学生的三种思维能力

化学是一门通过实验研究物质组成、结构及其变化规律的一门课程,所以化学实验不仅是对学生获取化学知识的途径,也是提高各种能力的重要途径.笔者结合化学研究对象世界的复杂多样性和微观性,提出学生学好化学必须通过实验重点加强抽象思维、比较思维、创造性思维这三种思维能力的培养.     

Earth science: role of fO2 on fluid saturation in oceanic basalt

Assessing the conditions under which magmas become fluid-saturated has important bearings on the geochemical modelling of magmas because volatile exsolution may profoundly alter the behaviour of certain trace elements that are strongly partitioned in the coexisting fluid. Saal et al. report primitive melt inclusions from dredged oceanic basalts of the Siqueiros transform fault, from which they derive volatile abundances of the depleted mantle, based on the demonstration that magmas are not fluid-saturated at their eruption depth and so preserve the mantle signature in terms of their volatile contents. However, in their analysis, Saal et al. consider only fluid-melt equilibria, and do not take into account the homogeneous equilibria between fluid species, which, as we show here, may lead to a significant underestimation of the pressure depth of fluid saturation.     

A low-temperature origin for the planetesimals that formed Jupiter

The four giant planets in the Solar System have abundances of 'metals' (elements heavier than helium), relative to hydrogen, that are much higher than observed in the Sun. In order to explain this, all models for the formation of these planets rely on an influx of solid planetesimals. It is generally assumed that these planetesimals were similar, if not identical, to the comets from the Oort cloud that we see today. Comets that formed in the region of the giant planets should not have contained much neon, argon and nitrogen, because the temperatures were too high for these volatile gases to be trapped effectively in ice. This means that the abundances of those elements on the giant planets should be approximately solar. Here we show that argon, krypton and xenon in Jupiter's atmosphere are enriched to the same extent as the other heavy elements, which suggests that the planetesimals carrying these elements must have formed at temperatures lower than predicted by present models of giant-planet formation.     

Peridotite-melt interaction: A key point for the destruction of cratonic lithospheric mantle

This paper presents an overview of recent studies dealing with different ages of mantle peridotitic xenoliths and xenocrysts from the North China Craton, with aim to provide new ideas for further study on the destruction of the North China Craton. Re-Os isotopic studies suggest that the lithospheric mantle of the North China Craton is of Archean age prior to its thinning. The key reason why such a low density and highly refractory Archean lithospheric mantle would be thinned is changes in composition, thermal regime, and physical properties of the lithospheric mantle due to interaction of peridotites with melts of different origins. Inward subduction of circum craton plates and collision with the North China Craton provided not only the driving force for the destruction of the craton, but also continuous melts derived from partial melting of subducted continental or oceanic crustal materials that resulted in the compositional change of the lithospheric mantle. Regional thermal anomaly at ca. 120 Ma led to the melting of highly modified lithospheric mantle. At the same time or subsequently lithospheric extension and asthenospheric upwelling further reinforced the melting and thinning of the lithospheric mantle. Therefore, the destruction and thinning of the North China Craton is a combined result of per- idotite-melt interaction （addition of volatile）, enhanced regional thermal anomaly （temperature increase） and lithospheric extension （decompression）. Such a complex geological process finally produced a ＂mixed＂ lithospheric mantle of highly chemical heterogeneity during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. It also resulted in significant difference in the composition of mantle peridotitic xenoliths between different regions and times.     

Determining the ages of comets from the fraction of crystalline dust

The timescale for the accretion of bodies in the disk surrounding a young star depends upon a number of assumptions, but there are few observational constraints. In our own Solar System, measurements of meteoritic components can provide information about the inner regions of the nebula, but not the outer parts. Observations of the evolution of more massive protostellar systems (Herbig Ae/Be stars) imply that significant changes occur in the physical properties of their dust with time. The simplest explanation is that thermal annealing of the original, amorphous grains in the hot inner nebula slowly increases the fractional abundance of crystalline material over time. Crystalline dust is then transported outward, where it is incorporated into comets that serve as a long-term reservoir for dust disks, such as that surrounding Beta Pictoris. Here we show that when applied to our own Solar System, this process can explain observed variations in both the volatile and dusty components of comets, while also providing a natural indicator of a comet's mean formation age. Studies of comets with different dust contents can therefore be used to investigate the timescales of the early Solar System.     

The size and albedo of the Kuiper-belt object (20000) Varuna

Observations over the last decade have revealed the existence of a large number of bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Known as the Kuiper-belt objects (KBOs), they are believed to be formed in the outer reaches of the protoplanetary disk around the young Sun, and have been little altered since then. They are probably the source of short-period comets. The KBOs are, however, difficult objects to study because of their distance from earth, so even basic physical properties such as their sizes and albedos remain unknown. Previous size estimates came from assuming an albedo with the canonical value being 0.04. Here we report simultaneous measurements of the thermal emission and reflected optical light of the bright KBO (20000) Varuna, which allow us to determine independently both the size and the albedo. Varuna has an equivalent circular diameter of D = 900+129-145 km and a red geometric albedo of pR = 0.070+0.030-0.017. Its surface is darker than Pluto's, suggesting that it is largely devoid of fresh ice, but brighter than previously assumed for KBOs.     

变质量少体问题及其应用

该文以变质量质点动力学方程（密歇尔斯基方程）为基础,建立了变质量少体问题的运动方程,并利用小参数方法得到了变质量少体问题的分析解。文中还将研究结果应用到彗星运动上,讨论彗星轨道中非引力效应。指出非引力效应会导致某些彗星轨道半长径和偏心率等产生长期和周期变化,这些变化将明显地影响彗星运动的周期以及过近日点的时间和地点。因此在这些彗星精密定轨和探讨其轨道动力演化时应当考虑这种非引力效应。文末还具体计算了恩克彗星轨道中非引力效应。     

Possible in situ formation of meteoritic nanodiamonds in the early Solar System

Grains of dust that pre-date the Sun provide insights into their formation around other stars and into the early evolution of the Solar System. Nanodiamonds recovered from meteorites, which originate in asteroids, have been thought to be the most abundant type of presolar grain. If that is true, then nanodiamonds should be at least as abundant in comets, because they are thought to have formed further out in the early Solar System than the asteroid parent bodies, and because they should be more pristine. Here we report that nanodiamonds are absent or very depleted in fragile, carbon-rich interplanetary dust particles, some of which enter the atmosphere at speeds within the range of cometary meteors. One interpretation of the results is that some (perhaps most) nanodiamonds formed within the inner Solar System and are not presolar at all, consistent with the recent detection of nanodiamonds within the accretion discs of other young stars. An alternative explanation is that all meteoritic nanodiamonds are indeed presolar, but that their abundance decreases with heliocentric distance, in which case our understanding of large-scale transport and circulation within the early Solar System is incomplete.     

Sex-specific volatile compounds influence microarthropod-mediated fertilization of moss

Sexual reproduction in non-vascular plants requires unicellular free-motile sperm to travel from male to female reproductive structures across the terrestrial landscape. Recent data suggest that microarthropods can disperse sperm in mosses. However, little is known about the chemical communication, if any, that is involved in this interaction or the relative importance of microarthropod dispersal compared to abiotic dispersal agents in mosses. Here we show that tissues of the cosmopolitan moss Ceratodon purpureus emit complex volatile scents, similar in chemical diversity to those described in pollination mutualisms between flowering plants and insects, that the chemical composition of C. purpureus volatiles are sex-specific, and that moss-dwelling microarthropods are differentially attracted to these sex-specific moss volatile cues. Furthermore, using experimental microcosms, we show that microarthropods significantly increase moss fertilization rates, even in the presence of water spray, highlighting the important role of microarthropod dispersal in contributing to moss mating success. Taken together, our results indicate the presence of a scent-based 'plant-pollinator-like' relationship that has evolved between two of Earth's most ancient terrestrial lineages, mosses and microarthropods.