The Moon contains chlorine that is isotopically unlike that of any other body yet studied in the Solar System, an observation that has been interpreted to support traditional models of the formation of a nominally hydrogen-free ("dry") Moon. We have analyzed abundances and isotopic compositions of Cl and H in lunar mare basalts, and find little evidence that anhydrous lava outgassing was import...

River channels and valleys have been observed on several planetary bodies in addition to the Earth. Long sinuous valleys on Venus, our Moon and Jupiter's moon Io are clearly formed by lava, and branching valleys on Saturn's moon Titan may be forming today by rivers of methane. But by far the most dissected body in our Solar System apart from the Earth is Mars. Branching valleys that in plan res...

We report on spectral reflectance measurements of basaltic lava flows on Tenerife Island, Spain. Lava flow surfaces of different ages, surface roughness and elevations were systematically measured using a field spectroradiometer operating in the range of 350–2500 nm. Surface roughness, oxidation and lichen coverage were documented at each measured site. Spectral properties vary with age and mor...

Wood anatomy of three specimens of Neowawraea phyllanthoides Rock, a rare and endangered member of Euphorbiaceae endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, is described and compared with woods of other genera of subfamily Phyllanthoideae. Neowawraea has often been associated or synonymized with Drypetes Vahl. Wood of Neowawraea is diffuse porous, perforation plates are simple, imperforate tracheary eleme...

The effectiveness of lichens in degrading their rock substrates, leading to the first stages in the formation of soil, has long been discussed and opinions have varied widely (Jones, 1988; Syers & lskandar, 1973). Nevertheless, it is generally recognized that lichen encrusted rocks provide an ideal environment for studying the biological weathering of minerals since, unlike the situation in soi...

Quartz-rich xenoliths hosted in the basaltic–andesitic and andesitic lavas of Monte dei Porri, in the island of Salina, contain fluid and melt inclusions whose study makes it possible to trace back the magma ascent path of this volcano; moreover, they are a source of information about the anatectic processes that occurred under this island. The texture, mineralogy and whole-rock chemistry of th...

Basalt: Volcanic lava rock containing silicate minerals rich in magnesium and iron plus plagioclase. CI or chrondritic standard: elemental and isotopic abundances in the sun and in carbonaceous chrondrites are the same except in some very special details. Differentiation: creation of chemical differences in magma by processes that separate minerals from it, usually as a result of contrasting de...