Researchers find eruption date of Laacher See volcano is wrong by 130 years

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DURHAM UNIVERSITY

-With pictures-

In a new study, a group of scientists argue that the new high precision radiocarbon-based date set for Laacher See volcano eruption of 13,000 years before present is probably not correct.

They argue that the correct age of the Laacher See volcano eruption is 12,880 years ago, 130 years after the date presented by Reinig et al., in 2021.

The research team, which included scientists from Durham University, University of Oxford, Royal Holloway University of London, SYSTEMIQ Ltd. and Teesside University suggest that the new eruption date may have been compromised by volcanic carbon.

The new date by Reining et al., was produced based on radiocarbon on trees that were caught up in the pyroclastic flows produced by the eruption, very near to the volcano.

Unfortunately, volcanoes outgas carbon dioxide from the underlying magma chamber, which filters through the soil and is absorbed by any vegetation, including trees.

This magmatic carbon dioxide has no radiocarbon in it because it is ancient carbon that has been in the ground for millions of years. So, the incorporation of this dead carbon into the tree will produce a date which will be too old.

Moreover, the researchers point out that there is a newly reported sulphur spike which has just been identified within the Greenland ice sheet (sulphur settles out of the air following an eruption onto the ice sheet surface and is buried by subsequent snow).

The sulphur spike occurred roughly 12,870 years before present time, essentially the same time as the 12,880 years before present date for the Laacher See eruption, again suggesting that the Reinig et al., date is incorrect.

The researchers stress that the new date does not coincide with a large sulphur spike.

Reflecting on the study findings, lead author Professor James Baldini of Durham University, said: “Our new study notes that the recent date for the eruption does not consider dead carbon which is emitted by the volcano and is absorbed by trees.

“Therefore, the trees used in the Reinig et al., were contaminated by this volcanic carbon, producing an age that was around 130 years too old.

“This perspective is supported by the presence of a very large sulphur spike found in the Greenland ice sheet with all the characteristics of the Laacher See eruption, dated 130 years after the new Reinig et al., date.

“The eruption therefore is still a viable trigger for the Younger Dryas Event.”

The date of the German volcanic eruption published by Reinig et al., in 2021 is about 130 years older than the previously accepted age.

The researchers point out that previous research shows that magmatic carbon dioxide contributions can produce radiocarbon dates that are between a few decades to 200 years too old, consistent with the 130-year difference between the previously accepted date and the one recently published by Reinig et al.

The Laacher See volcano distributed ash across Europe and spread sulphur across the globe.

The ash resulting from the eruption is widely used as a time marker in sedimentary sequences across Europe, so the timing of the eruption affects the reported timing of environmental change as reconstructed from these European lake cores.

ENDS

Media Information

Professor James Baldini from Durham University is available for interview and can be contacted on james.baldini@durham.ac.uk.

Alternatively, please contact Durham University Communications Office for interview requests on communications.team@durham.ac.uk or +44 (0)191 334 8623.

Graphics

Associated images are available via the following link: https://bit.ly/laacher-see-volcano

Image 1: Volcanic ash billows into the sky during the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. Laacher See eruption was larger than the 1991 Pinatubo eruption. Credit: The U.S. National Archives.

Image 2: Lake filling the caldera. Credit: James Baldini.

Image 3: Volcanic deposits. Credit: James Baldini.

Source Information

“Possible magmatic CO2 influence on Laacher See eruption date”, (2023), J. Baldini, R. Brown, F. Wadsworth, A. Paine, J. Campbell, C. Green, N. Mawdsley and L. Baldini, Nature. http://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05965-1

An embargoed copy of the paper is available from Durham University Communications Office. Please email communications.team@durham.ac.uk.

About Durham University

Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK.

We are a collegiate university committed to inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham and in the world.

We conduct research that improves lives globally and we are ranked as a world top 100 university with an international reputation in research and education (QS World University Rankings 2024).

We are a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities and we are consistently ranked as a top 10 university in national league tables (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, Guardian University Guide and The Complete University Guide).

For more information about Durham University visit: www.durham.ac.uk/about/

END OF MEDIA RELEASE – issued by Durham University Communications Office.

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JOURNAL

Nature

Potent greenhouse gas produced by industry could be readily abated with existing technologies

Affordable and available technologies can curb rising nitrous oxide emissions

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

CAMBRIDGE, MD (July 5, 2023)—Researchers have found that one method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is available, affordable, and capable of being implemented right now. Nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance, could be readily abated with existing technology applied to industrial sources.

“The urgency of climate change requires that all greenhouse gas emissions be abated as quickly as is technologically and economically feasible,” said lead author Eric Davidson, a professor with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “Limiting nitrous oxide in an agricultural context is complicated, but mitigating it in industry is affordable and available right now. Here is a low-hanging fruit that we can pluck quickly.”

When greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere, they trap the heat from the sun, leading to a warming planet. In terms of emissions, nitrous oxide is third among greenhouse gases, topped only by carbon dioxide and methane. Also known as laughing gas, it has a global warming potential nearly 300 times that of carbon dioxide and stays in the atmosphere for more than 100 years. It also destroys the protective ozone layer in the stratosphere, so reducing nitrous oxide emissions provides a double benefit for the environment and humanity.

Nitrous oxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased at an accelerating rate in recent decades, mostly from increasing agricultural emissions, which contribute about two-thirds of the global human-caused nitrous oxide. However, agricultural sources are challenging to reduce. In contrast, for the industry and energy sectors, low-cost technologies already exist to reduce nitrous oxide emissions to nearly zero.

Industrial nitrous oxide emissions from the chemical industry are primarily by-products from the production of adipic acid (used in the production of nylon) and nitric acid (used to make nitrogen fertilizers, adipic acid, and explosives). Emissions also come from fossil fuel combustion used in manufacturing and internal combustion engines used in cars and trucks.

“We know that abatement is feasible and affordable. The European Union’s emissions trading system made it financially attractive to companies to remove nitrous oxide emissions in all adipic acid and nitric acid plants,” said co-author Wilfried Winiwarter of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. “The German government is also helping to fund abatement of nitrous oxide emissions from nitric acid plants in several low-income and middle-income countries.”

The private sector could also play a key role in nitrous oxide emissions reduction, encouraged by trends in consumer preferences for purchasing climate-friendly products. For example, 65% of the nitrous emissions embodied in nylon products globally are used in passenger cars and light vehicles. Automobile manufacturers could require supply chains to source nylon exclusively from plants that deploy efficient nitrous oxide abatement technology.

“Urgent abatement of industrial sources of nitrous oxide” is published in Nature Climate Change by Eric Davidson of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Spark Climate Solutions, Wilfried Winiwarter of the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, and the Institute for Environmental Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, Poland.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science leads the way toward better management of Maryland’s natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. From a network of laboratories located across the state, UMCES scientists provide sound evidence and advice to help state and national leaders manage the environment, and prepare future scientists to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. www.umces.edu 

# # #

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JOURNAL

Nature Climate Change

ARTICLE TITLE

Urgent abatement of industrial sources of nitrous oxide

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Jul-2023

Testing for chronic traumatic encephalopathy among former professional football players

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC./GENETIC ENGINEERING NEWS

 

IMAGE: FOCUSES ON THE LATEST ADVANCES IN THE CLINICAL AND LABORATORY INVESTIGATION OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD INJURY. EMPHASIS IS ON THE BASIC PATHOBIOLOGY OF INJURY TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND THE PAPERS AND REVIEWS EVALUATE PRECLINICAL AND CLINICAL TRIALS TARGETED AT IMPROVING THE EARLY MANAGEMENT AND LONG-TERM CARE AND RECOVERY OF PATIENTS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. view more 

CREDIT: MARY ANN LIEBERT INC., PUBLISHERS

A new study showed that positron emission tomography (PET) with the radiotracer (18F)-Flortaucipir (FTP) to detect hyperphosphorylated Tau (p-tau) may not be appropriate for diagnosing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) neuropathologic changes in former professional American-style football players. The study is published in Journal of Neurotrauma. Click here to read the article now.

Aaron Baggish, MD, from Massachusetts General Hospital, and coauthors, conducted a study that compared former professional players to age-matched male control participants who did not have repetitive head impact exposure. There were no significant differences in (18F)-FTP uptake among former players compared to control participants. Among the players, there were no associations between objective measures of neurocognitive functioning and (18F)-FTP uptake

“The absence of increased [18F]-FTP uptake in brain regions previously implicated in CTE among former professional ASF players compared to controls questions the utility of [18F]-FTP PET for clinical evaluation in this population,” concluded the authors.

“My congratulations to Dr. Dhaynaut, Dr. Grashow, and colleagues for performing a rigorous and well-executed study of (18F)-Flortaucipir PET in former professional American football players," says David L. Brody, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neurotrauma. “The negative results are important, and not surprising given the well-known differences between the abnormal tau folds seen in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy compared to those seen in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. I am especially impressed by the rigor of the study design.”

About the Journal
Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and the papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the official journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Neurotrauma website. 

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a global media company dedicated to creating, curating, and delivering impactful peer-reviewed research and authoritative content services to advance the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, specialized clinical medicine, public health and policy, and technology and engineering. For further information, please visit the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Neurotrauma

DOI

10.1089/neu.2022.0454 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Tau Positron Emission Tomography and Neurocognitive Function Among Former Professional American-Style Football Players

Memories of childhood abuse and neglect has greater impact on mental health than the experience itself

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KING'S COLLEGE LONDON

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London and City University New York, published today (Wednesday 5 July) in JAMA Psychiatry, has found that the way childhood abuse and/or neglect is remembered and processed has a greater impact on later mental health than the experience itself. The authors suggest that, even in the absence of documented evidence, clinicians can use patients’ self-reported experiences of abuse and neglect to identify those at risk of developing mental health difficulties and provide early interventions.

Researchers conducted a large longitudinal study following 1,196 participants to age 40 years to investigate how experiences of childhood abuse and/or neglect (maltreatment) impact the development of emotional disorders in adulthood.

The study found that young adults who retrospectively self-reported experiences of childhood maltreatment before age 12 had a greater number of depressive or anxiety episodes over the subsequent decade than those who did not remember maltreatment, even if they had an official court record.

In contrast, participants who had an official record of childhood maltreatment, but no retrospective recall of the experience, had a similar number of emotional disorder episodes in adulthood as those with no experience of maltreatment.

Andrea Danese, Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at King’s IoPPN and joint author of the study, said: “Our study reveals that how a person perceives and remembers experiences of childhood abuse or neglect has greater implications on future emotional disorders than the experience itself. The findings show that, even in the absence of documented evidence of childhood maltreatment, clinicians can use information provided by their clients to identify those at greater risk for subsequent mental health difficulties. The findings also suggest that early interventions that help cope with memories of abuse and/or neglect may prevent emotional problems later on.”

Participants were interviewed about their self-reported retrospective experiences of childhood maltreatment and their current and past mental health. They were then re-interviewed to measure the course of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Further analyses revealed that the association between self-reported experiences of childhood maltreatment and a greater number of subsequent anxiety and depression episodes was partly explained by participants’ current and past mental health, which was reported during their first interview. The authors explain that this could be because emotional disorders can negatively bias memories, making participants’ more likely to recall negative events.

Professor Danese said: “A better understanding of how memories of child maltreatment are maintained and exacerbated over time, and of how the memories affect daily functioning, could provide new insights to develop effective interventions.”

This work is part of the King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People, a unique collaboration between specialist clinicians from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and leading academics at King’s College London to find new ways to predict, prevent and treat mental health disorders in children and young people. The Partnership will be based in the new Pears Maudsley Centre which will be home to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) inpatient and outpatient services and clinical research facilities, set to open in 2024.

The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Justice, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.

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JOURNAL

JAMA Psychiatry

DOI

10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.2140 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Associations Between Objective and Subjective Experiences of Childhood Maltreatment and the Course of Emotional Disorders in Adulthood

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jul-2023

New study out of York U answers the question: Is anyone truly healthy?

Population-level research suggests nearly all of us have something we could work on

Peer-Reviewed Publication

YORK UNIVERSITY

TORONTO, July 04, 2023 – A new long-term study of population-level data shows that when it comes to health, pretty much everyone could make improvements, plus the relationship with risk factors and mortality changes over time, sometimes in surprising ways.

“You can take this as a good news story or a bad news story, depending on how you want to look at these numbers,” says Faculty of Health Associate Professor with the School of Kinesiology and Health Science Jennifer Kuk, lead author of the study. “What we discovered is that the relationship with risk factors and mortality changes over time, which could be explained by factors such as evolution in treatments and changes in social stigma. Overall, most of us have something wrong with us, and we’re more likely to have a lifestyle health-risk factor now than in the ’80s and that’s actually associated with even greater mortality risk now than before.”

The research, published recently in PLOS One, took United States survey data from 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2014, and looked at the five-year mortality odds for people 20 or older. The research team looked at 19 different risk factors and then adjusted the data for age, sex, obesity category and ethnicity. What they found overall was that less than three per cent of people had none of the risk factors. While previous research has documented the risk factors very well, Kuk says what was less understood was the relationship between various risks and the likelihood for mortality over time. Kuk and the research team found that that relationship could sometimes be paradoxical.

For example, says Kuk, rates of smoking, long linked to conditions that can lead to death such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes, have overall decreased thanks to strong public-health campaigns. However, the overall risk of being a smoker increased over time, which Kuk says could perhaps be explained by increased stigma as the addiction became less common and awareness of risks grew, which may also be reflected in research funding.

“If you look at cancer research, there's a lot of funding overall, but specifically for lung cancer, it seems to be associated with moral fault and as a consequence lower funding,” says Kuk. “When you look at the mortality risk associated with having lung cancer relative to all the other common cancers, it's extremely high. So I think that this lack of push is detrimental.”

Kuk’s main area of research is obesity, and here she found that while the prevalence has gone up, the risks have gone down.

“Even though there's more and more people with obesity, it's actually not resulting in more deaths over time. And so I think that that's another clear thing we need to recognize, that we're very good at treating the outcomes associated with obesity. And regardless of what our body weight is, most of us have something that we can probably work on.”

Some of the other health trends that Kuk found in the data include:

• Diabetes and hypertension rates have gone up over time, but risks have gone down.
• More people aren’t exercising, and this is now related to worse outcomes than it once was.
• Being on mental-health medications was not a significant risk factor in the 1980s, but in the later dataset was associated with increased mortality.
• Not finishing high school is associated with health risks, while it was not in the 1980s.

While Kuk says the research points to nearly all of us having room for improvement when it comes to various factors like diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol and drug intake, she also says that there are factors that are out of many people’s individual control.

“When we look at things like food insecurity, low education — as a society, we're making it so that health might not be an easy choice for a lot of people. We need to be sensitive to that when we take a look at these risk factors.”

Watch a video of Jennifer Kuk explain the research.

 

York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. York's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. York’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Emina Gamulin, Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca 

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0286691 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Is anyone truly healthy? Trends in health risk factors prevalence and changes in their associations with all-cause mortality

Black Americans may face relatively accelerated biological aging because they tend to experience lower socioeconomic status, more neighborhood deprivation and higher air pollution than White Americans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: BLACK AMERICANS MAY FACE RELATIVELY ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING BECAUSE THEY TEND TO EXPERIENCE LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, MORE NEIGHBORHOOD DEPRIVATION AND HIGHER AIR POLLUTION THAN WHITE AMERICANS. view more 

CREDIT: CRAIG ADDERLEY, PEXELS, CC0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/PUBLICDOMAIN/ZERO/1.0/)

Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0287112

Article Title: Contributions of neighborhood social environment and air pollution exposure to Black-White disparities in epigenetic aging

Author Countries: USA

Funding: This work was supported by National Institute on Aging: R01-AG066152 (CM), R01- AG070885 (RB), P30-AG072979 (CM). Additional support includes Pennsylvania Department of Health (2019NF4100087335; CM), and Penn Institute on Aging (CM). National Institute on Aging: https://www.nia.nih.gov Pennsylvania Department of Health: https://www.health.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx Penn Institute on Aging: https://www.med.upenn.edu/aging/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0287112 

ARTICLE TITLE

Contributions of neighborhood social environment and air pollution exposure to Black-White disparities in epigenetic aging

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jul-2023

Research led by UW undergrad shows ultrafine air pollution reflects Seattle’s redlining history

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Despite their invisibly small size, ultrafine particles have become a massive concern for air pollution experts. These tiny pollutants — typically spread through wildfire smoke, vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and airplane fumes — can bypass some of the body’s built-in defenses, carrying toxins to every organ or burrowing deep in the lungs.  

New research from the University of Washington found that those effects aren’t felt equitably in Seattle. The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle exposure found that concentrations of this tiny pollutant reflect the city’s decades-old racial and economic divides.  

The study, published July 5 in Environmental Health Perspectives, also found that racial and socioeconomic disparities in ultrafine particle exposure are larger than those observed in more commonly studied pollutants, like fine particles (PM 2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). 

The study used mobile monitoring — a car loaded with air pollution sensors driving around the city for the better part of a year — to examine long-term average levels of four pollutants: soot (or black carbon), fine particles (PM 2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ultrafine particles. Researchers found the highest concentrations of all four pollutants on census blocks with median household incomes under $20,000 and those with proportionately larger Black populations.  

Disparities in concentrations of ultrafine particles — which are less than 0.1 micron in diameter, or 700 times thinner than the width of a single human hair — were especially stark. Blocks with median incomes under $20,000 had long-term UFP concentrations 40% higher than average. Blocks where median incomes are over $110,000, meanwhile, saw UFP concentrations 16% lower than average.  

“We found greater disparities with this pollutant of emerging interest, a pollutant that hasn’t been well-characterized. That’s very interesting,” said senior author Lianne Sheppard, a UW professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. “Our work has shown the highest ultrafine particle concentrations are north of the airport and below common aircraft landing paths, downtown, and south of downtown where there are port and other industrial activities.” 

The study also found that modern-day air pollution disparities mirror Seattle’s history of redlining, the racist practice that denied racial minorities and low-income residents access to bank loans, homeownership and other wealth-building opportunities in more “desirable” areas. The practice shaped American cities throughout the early 20th century, building a foundation of segregation and environmental racism. 

Today, neighborhoods once classified as “hazardous” are still exposed to higher concentrations of pollution than those once labeled “desirable,” the study found. This was true for all sizes of particles. The spatial disparities were largest, however, in Seattle neighborhoods that received no label because they were once considered industrial areas. 

In those previously industrial areas, ultrafine particle concentrations were 49% above average.  

“These results are important because air pollution exposure has been shown to lead to detrimental health effects, and these health effects disproportionately impact racialized and low-income communities,” said Kaya Bramble, the study’s lead author, who graduated from the UW in 2022 with a degree in industrial and systems engineering. “Notably, air pollution is just one factor, and there are plenty of other examples of how systemic racism is detrimental to people’s health and well-being.” 

Bramble said the results didn’t surprise her. She was raised in Tacoma, in a neighborhood near Interstate 5, where the constant crush of cars and diesel trucks spewed pollution into the air. And as a student journalist at the UW, she researched the relationship between redlining, green spaces, heat and air pollution.  

“In the case of air pollution exposures, these policies affect the health of real people. I think at a time where the teaching of systemic racism is a controversial topic in this country, being ignorant is not going to reduce the number of children who suffer from asthma due to air pollution,” Bramble said. “Instead, I hope we can have conversations about how past policies affect us today, to drive efforts toward a healthier, sustainable society.” 

Bramble proposed and carried out this study for the Supporting Undergraduate Research Experiences in Environmental Health grant program, which provides National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences funding and mentorship to undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue research. She joined the program in June 2020 under Sheppard’s mentorship.  

Other UW authors are Magali Blanco, Annie Doubleday and Amanda Gassett of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Anjum Hajat of the Department of Epidemiology and Julian Marshall of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  

For more information, contact Sheppard at sheppard@uw.edu. 

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JOURNAL

Environmental Health Perspectives

DOI

10.1289/EHP11662 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Exposure Disparities by Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Historic Redlining Grade in the Greater Seattle Area for Ultrafine Particles and Other Air Pollutants

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jul-2023

Large sub-surface granite formation signals ancient volcanic activity on Moon's dark side

Microwave frequency data from lunar orbiter reveals deposit of cooled magma beneath a volcano that likely erupted 3.5 billion years ago

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS USED MICROWAVE FREQUENCY DATA TO MEASURE HEAT BELOW THE SURFACE OF A SUSPECTED VOLCANIC FEATURE ON THE MOON KNOWN AS COMPTON-BELKOVICH. view more 

CREDIT: NATURE

DALLAS (SMU) – A large formation of granite discovered below the lunar surface likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes that erupted early in the Moon’s history – as long as 3.5 billion years ago.

A team of scientists led by Matthew Siegler, an SMU research professor and research scientist with the Planetary Science Institute, has published a study in Nature that used microwave frequency data to measure heat below the surface of a suspected volcanic feature on the Moon known as Compton-Belkovich. The team used the data to determine that the heat being generated below the surface is coming from a concentration of radioactive elements that can only exist on the Moon as granite.

Granites are the igneous rock remnants of the plumbing systems below extinct volcanos. The granite formation left when lava cools without erupting is known as a batholith.

“Any big body of granite that we find on Earth used to feed a big bunch of volcanoes, much like a large system is feeding the Cascade volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest today,” Siegler said. “Batholiths are much bigger than the volcanoes they feed on the surface. For example, the Sierra Nevada mountains are a batholith, left from a volcanic chain in the western United States that existed long ago.”

The lunar batholith is located in a region of the Moon previously identified as a volcanic complex, but researchers are surprised at its size, with an estimated diameter of 50 kilometers.

Granite is somewhat common on Earth, and its formation is generally driven by water and plate tectonics, which aid in creating large melt bodies below the Earth’s surface. However, granites are extremely rare on the Moon, which lacks these processes.

Finding this granite body helps explain how the early lunar crust formed.

“If you don’t have water it takes extreme situations to make granite,” Siegler said. “So, here’s this system with no water, and no plate tectonics – but you have granite.

Was there water on the moon – at least in this one spot?  Or was it just especially hot?”

Research team members included Jianquing Fang, from the Planetary Science Institute; Katelyn Lehman-Franco, Rita Economos and Mackenzie White from SMU; Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna from Southwest Research Institute; Michael St. Clair and Chase Million from Million Concepts; James Head III from Brown University and Timothy Glotch from Stony Brook University.

The work was funded through NASA’s Lunar Data Analysis Program and work related to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer.

Data for the study was obtained from public data released from two Chinese lunar orbiters, Chang’E-1 in 2010 and Chang’E-2 in 2012, carrying four-channel microwave radiometer instruments. The original Chang’E‐1 and Chang’E-2 MRM data can be downloaded from: http://moon.bao.ac.cn/index_en.jsp.

Siegler will be presenting the team’s research at the upcoming Goldschmidt Conference, scheduled for July 9-14 in Lyon, France.

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SMU is the nationally ranked global research university in the dynamic city of Dallas.  SMU’s alumni, faculty and more than 12,000 students in eight degree-granting schools demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit as they lead change in their professions, communities and the world.

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-023-06183-5 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Remote Detection of a Lunar Granitic Batholith at Compton-Belkovich

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jul-2023