Saturday, March 30, 2013

LITHOSPHERE covers Canada, California, the Alps, and the Scandinavian Caledonides

LITHOSPHERE covers Canada, California, the Alps, and the Scandinavian Caledonides [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 29-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Kea Giles
kgiles@geosociety.org
Geological Society of America

Boulder, Colo., USA - The April 2013 issue of Lithosphere is now available. Four classic research papers cover the Saint Elias Mountains of Yukon and British Columbia, Canada; the Nacimiento fault near San Simeon, California, USA; the western Alps; and the Caledonides in Scandinavia. An invited review relays the significance of dynamic topography to long-term sea level change. This month's research focus article, which is open access online, discusses the revolution in remote sensing-LiDAR-laser altimetry swath mapping.

Abstracts are online at http://lithosphere.gsapubs.org/content/current. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary copies of LITHOSPHERE articles by contacting Kea Giles at the address above.

Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to LITHOSPHERE in articles published. Contact Kea Giles for additional information or assistance.

Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.


Detrital zircon Hf isotopic compositions indicate a northern Caledonian connection for the Alexander terrane
L. Beranek et al., Stockholm University, Geological Sciences, Svante Arrhenius vg 8, Stockholm, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 19 Dec. 2012; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L255.1.

Earth's plate tectonic history during the Silurian and Devonian periods, approx. 400 million years ago, was dominated by the closure of the Iapetus Ocean and subsequent continent-continent collision between Laurentia (ancestral North America) and Baltica (ancestral northern Europe). This collision led to the rise of the Appalachian-Caledonian Mountains and the assembly of supercontinent Laurussia. To test ancient stratigraphic connections between the northern Caledonian mountains of Laurussia and crustal fragments now located in the North American Cordillera, Luke Beranek and colleagues acquired new analytical data from Silurian and Devonian sedimentary rocks of the Alexander terrane in the Saint Elias Mountains of Yukon and British Columbia, Canada. Their datasets indicate that terrestrial and shallow-marine rocks of the Alexander terrane, including distinctive red-bed sandstones, were sourced from northern Caledonian granitoids and are analogous to sedimentary units of the Old Red Sandstone in the present-day North Atlantic region. These data have major ramifications not only for the paleogeography and displacement history of the Alexander terrane, but also the proposed Caledonian affinities of other terranes in the North American Cordillera that underlie much of Alaska, British Columbia, and western United States.


Kinematic analysis of mlange fabrics in the Franciscan Complex near San Simeon, California: Evidence for sinistral slip on the Nacimiento fault zone?
J. Singleton, Dept. of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA; and M. Cloos, Dept. of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 USA. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 19 Dec. 2012; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L259.1.

A controversial topic in California geology is the tectonic significance of the Nacimiento fault, a major structure that was active approximately 75 to 60 million years ago during subduction of oceanic crust beneath California. This fault juxtaposes granitic rocks similar to the Sierra Nevada batholith on the northeast side of the fault (the Salinian block) against rocks that formed within a subduction zone on the southwest side of the fault (the Franciscan Complex). Most previous studies have interpreted the Nacimiento fault either as (a) a left-lateral strike-slip fault along which the Salinian block granitic rocks moved 500-600 km northwestward with respect to the Franciscan Complex rocks; or (b) a thrust fault along which the Salinian block rocks were displaced more than 100 km southwestward over the Franciscan rocks. This study by John Singleton and Mark Cloos presents new structural data from Franciscan Complex rocks exposed along beach cliffs near San Simeon, California. These rocks have undergone left-lateral shearing parallel to the Nacimiento fault. Singleton and Cloos suggest this shearing was related to movement on the Nacimiento fault, supporting the tectonic interpretation of the Nacimiento fault as a major left-lateral structure.


Short-lived fast erosional exhumation of the internal Western Alps during the late Early Oligocene: constraints from geo-thermochronology of pro- and retro-side foreland basin sediments
S. Jourdan et al., ISTerre, Grenoble, 38110, France. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 25 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L243.1.

The Oligocene is a key period in the evolution of the western Alps during which the mountain belt evolved from an accretionary wedge (Late Cretaceous to Eocene) to a relatively high-elevation mountain belt, similar to the central Alps today. Studying the sediments and sedimentary rocks deposited in basins adjacent to this mountain belt helps in reconstructing the orogenic evolution. During this period, relatively fast erosion is seen as a result of rapid surface uplift coupled with increasing orographic precipitation during this phase of orogenesis. Surface uplift may have been caused and sustained by different plate-tectonic processes such as a change in convergence direction, intermediate-depth slab breakoff, and emplacement of the Ivrea body during continental collision. The occurrence of contemporaneous volcanic activity on the pro-side of the western Alps on the subducting European plate between 36 and 30 million years ago is seen in connection with slab rollback of the Apennine slab and upwelling of hot mantle material beneath the western Alps.


Subduction along and within the Baltoscandian margin during the closing of the Iapetus Ocean and Baltica-Laurentia collision
D. Gee et al., Uppsala University, Earth Sciences, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 19 Dec. 2012; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L220.1.

There are few places in the world where it is possible to trace a hot allochthon for 200 km across a continental margin, demonstrate its lateral displacement to have been more than twice this distance, infer that it was generated in an outer-margin subduction system during the final stages of ocean closure, and show that emplacement onto the platform occurred during subsequent continent collision. As a result of good exposure in the Scandian mountain belt and erosion to middle-crustal levels, the Caledonides in Scandinavia provide one of the best opportunities on the planet to study these aspects of mountain building.


INVITED REVIEW ARTICLE
A review of observations and models of dynamic topography
N. Flament et al., The University of Sydney, School of Geoscience, Madsen Building F09, Room 416, Eastern Avenue, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 4 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L245.1.

It has been known since the early 1960s that moving tectonic plates shape the Earth's surface, forming mountain belts and rift valleys. In addition to this tectonic topography, the more subtle deformation of the Earth's surface due to mantle flow in the Earth's interior, called dynamic topography, has been an active research topic since the mid-1980s. Dynamic topography has received increased interest over the last few years because it challenged the well-established view that long-term sea level change can be deduced from the rock record of "stable" continental shelves. In this review article, Nicolas Flament and colleagues show that there is good agreement between long-wavelength (greater than 5,000 km) observations and models of dynamic topography. Their work confirms the significance of dynamic topography to long-term sea level change and reinforces that comparing the predictions of mantle flow models to the geological record constrains the physical properties of the mantle. Larger data sets and increasing computing power will enable progress in this field in the coming years.


RESEARCH FOCUS ARTICLE
Active tectonics and LiDAR revolution
A. Meigs, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, 104 CEOAS Administration Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA. Issue: April 2013; free access at http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/RF.L004.1.

A revolution in remote sensing, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser altimetry swath mapping, reveals the details of topographic features at such high resolution that they have transformed our understanding of tectonic forcing of the shape of the Earth's surface. Meter-scale DEMs (digital elevation models) capture fault offsets, fault zone structure, off-fault deformation, and landscape properties at microgeomorphic scale, highlighting that the surface faithfully records the complexity and sensitivity of deformation in detail.

###

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LITHOSPHERE covers Canada, California, the Alps, and the Scandinavian Caledonides [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 29-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Kea Giles
kgiles@geosociety.org
Geological Society of America

Boulder, Colo., USA - The April 2013 issue of Lithosphere is now available. Four classic research papers cover the Saint Elias Mountains of Yukon and British Columbia, Canada; the Nacimiento fault near San Simeon, California, USA; the western Alps; and the Caledonides in Scandinavia. An invited review relays the significance of dynamic topography to long-term sea level change. This month's research focus article, which is open access online, discusses the revolution in remote sensing-LiDAR-laser altimetry swath mapping.

Abstracts are online at http://lithosphere.gsapubs.org/content/current. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary copies of LITHOSPHERE articles by contacting Kea Giles at the address above.

Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to LITHOSPHERE in articles published. Contact Kea Giles for additional information or assistance.

Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.


Detrital zircon Hf isotopic compositions indicate a northern Caledonian connection for the Alexander terrane
L. Beranek et al., Stockholm University, Geological Sciences, Svante Arrhenius vg 8, Stockholm, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 19 Dec. 2012; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L255.1.

Earth's plate tectonic history during the Silurian and Devonian periods, approx. 400 million years ago, was dominated by the closure of the Iapetus Ocean and subsequent continent-continent collision between Laurentia (ancestral North America) and Baltica (ancestral northern Europe). This collision led to the rise of the Appalachian-Caledonian Mountains and the assembly of supercontinent Laurussia. To test ancient stratigraphic connections between the northern Caledonian mountains of Laurussia and crustal fragments now located in the North American Cordillera, Luke Beranek and colleagues acquired new analytical data from Silurian and Devonian sedimentary rocks of the Alexander terrane in the Saint Elias Mountains of Yukon and British Columbia, Canada. Their datasets indicate that terrestrial and shallow-marine rocks of the Alexander terrane, including distinctive red-bed sandstones, were sourced from northern Caledonian granitoids and are analogous to sedimentary units of the Old Red Sandstone in the present-day North Atlantic region. These data have major ramifications not only for the paleogeography and displacement history of the Alexander terrane, but also the proposed Caledonian affinities of other terranes in the North American Cordillera that underlie much of Alaska, British Columbia, and western United States.


Kinematic analysis of mlange fabrics in the Franciscan Complex near San Simeon, California: Evidence for sinistral slip on the Nacimiento fault zone?
J. Singleton, Dept. of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA; and M. Cloos, Dept. of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 USA. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 19 Dec. 2012; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L259.1.

A controversial topic in California geology is the tectonic significance of the Nacimiento fault, a major structure that was active approximately 75 to 60 million years ago during subduction of oceanic crust beneath California. This fault juxtaposes granitic rocks similar to the Sierra Nevada batholith on the northeast side of the fault (the Salinian block) against rocks that formed within a subduction zone on the southwest side of the fault (the Franciscan Complex). Most previous studies have interpreted the Nacimiento fault either as (a) a left-lateral strike-slip fault along which the Salinian block granitic rocks moved 500-600 km northwestward with respect to the Franciscan Complex rocks; or (b) a thrust fault along which the Salinian block rocks were displaced more than 100 km southwestward over the Franciscan rocks. This study by John Singleton and Mark Cloos presents new structural data from Franciscan Complex rocks exposed along beach cliffs near San Simeon, California. These rocks have undergone left-lateral shearing parallel to the Nacimiento fault. Singleton and Cloos suggest this shearing was related to movement on the Nacimiento fault, supporting the tectonic interpretation of the Nacimiento fault as a major left-lateral structure.


Short-lived fast erosional exhumation of the internal Western Alps during the late Early Oligocene: constraints from geo-thermochronology of pro- and retro-side foreland basin sediments
S. Jourdan et al., ISTerre, Grenoble, 38110, France. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 25 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L243.1.

The Oligocene is a key period in the evolution of the western Alps during which the mountain belt evolved from an accretionary wedge (Late Cretaceous to Eocene) to a relatively high-elevation mountain belt, similar to the central Alps today. Studying the sediments and sedimentary rocks deposited in basins adjacent to this mountain belt helps in reconstructing the orogenic evolution. During this period, relatively fast erosion is seen as a result of rapid surface uplift coupled with increasing orographic precipitation during this phase of orogenesis. Surface uplift may have been caused and sustained by different plate-tectonic processes such as a change in convergence direction, intermediate-depth slab breakoff, and emplacement of the Ivrea body during continental collision. The occurrence of contemporaneous volcanic activity on the pro-side of the western Alps on the subducting European plate between 36 and 30 million years ago is seen in connection with slab rollback of the Apennine slab and upwelling of hot mantle material beneath the western Alps.


Subduction along and within the Baltoscandian margin during the closing of the Iapetus Ocean and Baltica-Laurentia collision
D. Gee et al., Uppsala University, Earth Sciences, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 19 Dec. 2012; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L220.1.

There are few places in the world where it is possible to trace a hot allochthon for 200 km across a continental margin, demonstrate its lateral displacement to have been more than twice this distance, infer that it was generated in an outer-margin subduction system during the final stages of ocean closure, and show that emplacement onto the platform occurred during subsequent continent collision. As a result of good exposure in the Scandian mountain belt and erosion to middle-crustal levels, the Caledonides in Scandinavia provide one of the best opportunities on the planet to study these aspects of mountain building.


INVITED REVIEW ARTICLE
A review of observations and models of dynamic topography
N. Flament et al., The University of Sydney, School of Geoscience, Madsen Building F09, Room 416, Eastern Avenue, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Issue: April 2013. Originally posted online 4 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/L245.1.

It has been known since the early 1960s that moving tectonic plates shape the Earth's surface, forming mountain belts and rift valleys. In addition to this tectonic topography, the more subtle deformation of the Earth's surface due to mantle flow in the Earth's interior, called dynamic topography, has been an active research topic since the mid-1980s. Dynamic topography has received increased interest over the last few years because it challenged the well-established view that long-term sea level change can be deduced from the rock record of "stable" continental shelves. In this review article, Nicolas Flament and colleagues show that there is good agreement between long-wavelength (greater than 5,000 km) observations and models of dynamic topography. Their work confirms the significance of dynamic topography to long-term sea level change and reinforces that comparing the predictions of mantle flow models to the geological record constrains the physical properties of the mantle. Larger data sets and increasing computing power will enable progress in this field in the coming years.


RESEARCH FOCUS ARTICLE
Active tectonics and LiDAR revolution
A. Meigs, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, 104 CEOAS Administration Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA. Issue: April 2013; free access at http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/RF.L004.1.

A revolution in remote sensing, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser altimetry swath mapping, reveals the details of topographic features at such high resolution that they have transformed our understanding of tectonic forcing of the shape of the Earth's surface. Meter-scale DEMs (digital elevation models) capture fault offsets, fault zone structure, off-fault deformation, and landscape properties at microgeomorphic scale, highlighting that the surface faithfully records the complexity and sensitivity of deformation in detail.

###

http://www.geosociety.org


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/gsoa-lcc032913.php

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Panasonic's Developed a Simple Sensor Tweak That Vastly Improves Low Light Photography

Researchers at Panasonic's imaging division have found a way to increase the sensitivity of digital camera sensors, which in turn equates to almost double the brightness in photos taken in low light conditions. But the discovery has nothing to do with the sensor itself; instead, the company's improved the color processing filter placed in front of it. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/CWeHBHODrpQ/panasonics-developed-a-simple-sensor-tweak-that-vastly-improves-low-light-photography

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Americans oppose paying for storm-ravaged beaches

(AP) ? More than 4 out of 5 Americans want to prepare now for rising seas and stronger storms from climate change, a new national survey says. But most are unwilling to keep spending money to restore and protect stricken beaches.

The poll by Stanford University released Thursday found that only 1 in 3 people favored the government spending millions to construct big sea walls, replenish beaches or pay people to leave the coast.

This was the first time a large national poll looked at how Americans feel about adapting to the changes brought on by global warming, said survey director Jon Krosnick, a professor of political science and psychology at Stanford.

The more indirect options the majority preferred were making sure new buildings were stronger and reducing future coastal development. New building codes rated the highest with 62 percent of those surveyed favoring it.

Three in 5 people want those who are directly affected by rising seas to pay for protection, rather than all taxpayers.

Krosnick said the low favorability of sea walls and sand replenishment "reflect the public's fatalistic sense that it's more realistic to just give up the beach than to try to save it when other storms in the future will just wash it away again."

The nationally representative survey of 1,174 Americans conducted online by GfK Custom Research has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

University of Miami geology professor Harold Wanless, who wasn't involved in the survey, said he was at a Miami Beach meeting on Thursday with business and political leaders on how to try to keep from losing their "hugely expensive" land. But they are afraid of spending money in vain attempts that won't work.

There are three ways the public can deal with the effects of rising seas on beaches, said coastal geology professor S. Jeffress Williams of the University of Hawaii. He is an expert on sea level rise and methods of adapting to it. You can "hold the line" with expensive sea walls, retreat and leave the beach, or compromise with sand dunes and beach replenishing.

Sand dunes helped protect the New Jersey town of Seaside Park more than its dune-less neighbor Seaside Heights when Superstorm Sandy hit last fall, said Laurie Mcgilvray, a government coastline science expert.

Williams said the public's attitude about not doing much to protect current beach development would be fine if it were 100 years ago. "But we've got tremendous trillions of dollars of a tourist economy that depends on the coast.

"You should expect that if you are going to use the coast, you need to put some money in to maintain it," he said.

But people surveyed said money is an issue.

When it came to the general question of who should pay to protect the coast, 60 percent of the public said it should be paid for by local property owners and businesses, not the general taxpayers. And when it comes to specific solutions, about 80 percent of those surveyed said the money should come from local property taxes, not federal or state income taxes.

Nearly half, 47 percent, said the government should prohibit people from rebuilding structures damaged by storms.

The survey also found that 82 percent of the public believes global warming is already happening. About 3 out of 4 people said rising sea levels caused by global warming is a serious problem.

___

Online:

Stanford study: http://stanford.io/16kTvKo

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-03-28-Climate%20Poll/id-4bb2c34e6cdc4a05b7f40cf5d7fcfb03

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Limbaugh: Gay Marriage Is 'Inevitable' (ABC News)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295311905?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried To Present At Movie Awards

Steve Carell, Chris Pine and Melissa McCarthy will also hand out Golden Popcorns on April 14.
By Amy Wilkinson


Zac Efron and Amanda Seyfried
Photo: Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704605/mtv-movie-awards-2013-presenters-zac-efron-amanda-seyfried.jhtml

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Google to deliver goods quickly to online shoppers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Internet search leader Google is taking another step beyond information retrieval into grocery delivery.

The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., didn't say how many people will be part of the test.

If the pilot program goes well, Google Inc. plans to expand delivery service to other markets.

"We hope this will help users explore the benefits of a local, same-day delivery service, and help us kick the tires on the new service," Google said in a Thursday statement.

The delivery service is part of Google's effort to increase consumer reliance on the Internet, so it will have more opportunities to show online ads, which generate most of its revenue.

Google has learned that the more time people spend online, the more likely they are to use its dominant search engine or one of its other popular services, like its YouTube video site or Gmail, that include advertising.

The delivery service also could spur merchants to buy more online ads if Google's same-day delivery service encourages consumers to do more of their shopping online. Having to wait days or, in some cases, more than a week for the delivery of online orders ranks among the biggest drawbacks to Internet shopping.

It's a problem that Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc., which operate the largest e-commerce sites, already have been trying to solve by offering same-day service in some U.S. markets. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, also offers same-day delivery in five markets.

A mix of national, regional and neighborhood merchants are enlisting in Google Shopping Express. The best-known names on the list include Target Inc. and Walgreen Co. All the merchants in the Google program will sell certain items through a central website. Google has hired courier services to pick up the orders at the merchant stores and then deliver them to the customer's home or office.

Although the couriers will be working on a contract basis, they will be driving Google trucks and wearing company-issued uniforms.

It remains unclear whether Internet shopping and same-day delivery can be profitable. Online grocer Webvan collapsed in 2001, largely because it couldn't devise a pricing plan that would pay for the costs of same-day delivery without alienating shoppers unwilling to pay too much extra for the added convenience.

Google is still trying to figure out how much to charge for its same-day delivery service. For the six-month test period in the San Francisco area, consumers won't have to pay a surcharge. Google instead will receive a commission from participating merchants.

The expansion into same-day delivery comes at the same time that Google is preparing to close some of its older online services so it can devote more attention and money to other projects.

The realignment has irked some Google users. The biggest complaints have centered on Google Reader, which allows people to automatically receive headlines and links from their favorite sites, and iGoogle, which allows Web surfers to design a page consisting of the Google search engine surrounded set up other online features, such as local weather reports and stock market quotes.

Google Reader is scheduled to close in July and iGoogle will shut down in November.

Google shares fell $8.47 to close at $794.19 on Thursday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-deliver-goods-quickly-online-shoppers-213009918--finance.html

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Friday, March 15, 2013

Distant planetary system is a super-sized solar system

Mar. 14, 2013 ? A team of astronomers, including Quinn Konopacky of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, has made the most detailed examination yet of the atmosphere of a Jupiter-like planet beyond our Solar System.

According to Konopacky, "We have been able to observe this planet in unprecedented detail because of the advanced instrumentation we are using on the Keck II telescope, our ground-breaking observing and data-processing techniques, and because of the nature of the planetary system."

Konopacky is lead author of the paper describing the team's findings, to be published March 14th in Science Express, and March 22nd in the journal Science.

The team, using a high-resolution imaging spectrograph called OSIRIS, uncovered the chemical fingerprints of specific molecules, revealing a cloudy atmosphere containing carbon monoxide and water vapour. "With this level of detail," says Travis Barman, a Lowell Observatory astronomer and co-author of the paper, "we can compare the amount of carbon to the amount of oxygen present in the planet's atmosphere, and this chemical mix provides clues as to how the entire planetary system formed."

There has been considerable uncertainty about how systems of planets form, with two leading models, called core accretion and gravitational instability. Planetary properties, such as the composition of a planet's atmosphere, are clues as to whether a system formed according to one model or the other.

"This is the sharpest spectrum ever obtained of an extrasolar planet," according to co-author Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "This shows the power of directly imaging a planetary system. It is the exquisite resolution afforded by these new observations that has allowed us to really begin to probe planet formation."

The spectrum reveals that the carbon to oxygen ratio is consistent with the core accretion scenario, the model thought to explain the formation of our Solar System.

The planet, designated HR 8799c, is one of four gas giants known to orbit a star 130 light-years from Earth. The authors and their collaborators previously discovered HR 8799c and its three companions back in 2008 and 2010. All the planets are larger than any in our Solar System, with masses three to seven times that of Jupiter. Their orbits are similarly large when compared to our system. HR 8799c orbits 40 times farther from its parent star than Earth orbits from the Sun; in our Solar System, that would put it well beyond the realm of Neptune.

According to the core accretion model, the star HR 8799 was originally surrounded by nothing but a huge disk of gas and dust. As the gas cooled, ice formed; this process depleted the disk of oxygen atoms. Ice and dust collected into planetary cores which, once they were large enough, attracted surrounding gas to form large atmospheres. The gas was depleted of oxygen, and this is reflected in the planet's atmosphere today as an enhanced carbon to oxygen ratio.

The core accretion model also predicts that large gas giant planets form at great distances from the central star, and smaller rocky planets closer in, as in our Solar System. It is rocky planets, not too far, nor close to the star, that are prime candidates for supporting life.

"The results suggest the HR 8799 system is like a scaled-up Solar System," says Konopacky. "And so, in addition to the gas giants far from their parent star, it would not come as a surprise to find Earth-like planets closer in."

The observations of HR 8799c were made with the Keck II 10-metre telescope in Hawaii, one of the two largest optical telescopes in the world. The telescope's adaptive optics system corrects for distortion caused by Earth's atmosphere, making the view through Keck II sharper than through the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers refer to this as spatial resolution. Seeing exoplanets around stars is like trying to see a firefly next to a spotlight. Keck's adaptive optics and high spatial resolution, combined with advanced data-processing techniques, allow astronomers to more clearly see both the stellar "spotlight" and planetary "firefly."

"We can directly image the planets around HR 8799 because they are all large, young, and very far from their parent star. This makes the system an excellent laboratory for studying exoplanet atmospheres," says coauthor Christian Marois of the National Research Council of Canada. "Since its discovery, this system just keeps surprising us."

Konopacky and her team will continue to study the super-sized planets to learn more details about their nature and their atmospheres. Future observations will be made using the recently upgraded OSIRIS instrument which utilizes a new diffraction grating -- the key component of the spectrograph that separates light according to wavelength, just like a prism. The new grating was developed at the Dunlap Institute and installed in the spectrograph in December 2012.

"These future observations will tell us much more about the planets in this system," says Dunlap Fellow Konopacky. "And the more we learn about this distant planetary system, the more we learn about our own."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Quinn M. Konopacky, Travis S. Barman, Bruce A. Macintosh, and Christian Marois. Detection of Carbon Monoxide and Water Absorption Lines in an Exoplanet Atmosphere. Science, 14 March 2013 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232003

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/T79vQu9pLAo/130314144211.htm

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