Near-infrared reflectance spectra of the lunar highlands are synthesized to obtain global information about the composition of the lunar near-side crust. Immature exposed surfaces from small fresh craters, mountains and massifs, and large craters with central peaks are included in a survey of rock types across the lunar near side. Compositions recognized in these data include anorthosite, norit...

Salt crusts covering the surface of the Salada Mediana, a seasonally dry saline lake in northern Spain, consist predominantly of bloedite (Na2Mg(SO4)2.4H2O). Microscopic features of the crust were investigated to understand processes of bloedite sedimentation. This study was combined with satellite and airborne observations, revealing asymmetrical concentric and parallel-linear patterns, relate...

Continental crust rises higher than oceanic crust because it is less dense: It is rich in Si and poor in Mg. However, basalt, which is derived from magma, is denser and has a higher ratio of Mg to Si than the rock that makes up mature continental crust. Cin-Ty Lee et al. argue that chemical weathering alters the composition of continental crust as it ages and helps give it its more buoyant char...

Chaldoran area in NW of Iran has Mesozoic oceanic crust basement. The studied rocks of this region can be divided into three groups: ophiolitic gabbros and pillow lavas, ophiolitic volcanoclastics and Eocene lava flows. Ophiolitic mafic rocks show continental volcanic arc natures and Eocene lava flow shows OIB-like nature. During the Mesozoic,the Chaldoran region was situated in the active cont...

Phenomena such as pulsar frequency glitches are believed to be explicable in terms of a differentially rotating current of “free” superfluid neutrons at densities above the “drip” threshold in the (ionic) solid crust of a neutron star. In a preceding article a microscopic quantum mechanical analysis was used to predict that the relative motion of the neutron current will be characterised by a d...

The Tibetan Plateau results from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plates during the Cenozoic, which produced at least 2,000 km of convergence. Its tectonics is dominated by an eastward extrusion of crustal material that has been explained by models implying either a mechanical decoupling between the crust and the lithosphere, or lithospheric deformation. Discriminating between these end...

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRF or T-RFLP) analysis and 16S rDNA sequence analysis from clone libraries were used to examine cyanobacterial diversity in three types of predominant soil crusts in an arid grassland. Total DNA was extracted from cyanobacteria-, lichen-, or moss-dominated crusts that represent different successional stages in crust development, and which cont...

The sudden spin jumps, or glitches, commonly seen in isolated neutron stars are thought to represent angular momentum transfer between the crust and the liquid interior [1]. In this picture, as a neutron star’s crust spins down under magnetic torque, differential rotation develops between the stellar crust and a portion of the liquid interior. The more rapidly rotating component then acts as an...

[1] Two of the most popular mechanisms for thickening the crust beneath the Tibetan Plateau are (1) pure shear with faulting and folding in the upper crust and horizontal shortening below and (2) flow of lower or middle crust without significant shortening of the upper crust. To help discriminate between the relative contributions of these two mechanisms, well-constrained estimates of upper cru...

Continental crust is too Si-rich and Mg-poor to derive directly from mantle melting, which generates basaltic rather than felsic magmas. Converting basalt to more felsic compositions requires a second step involving Mg loss, which is thought to be dominated by internal igneous differentiation. However, igneous differentiation alone may not be able to generate granites, the most silicic endmembe...