Elements Magazine Past Issues

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February 2024 – Volume 20 Number 1

Extraterrestrial Organic Matter

GUEST EDITORS
Mehmet Yesiltas and Yoko Kebukawa

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
Sumit Chakraborty

April 2024 – Volume 20 Number 2

Paired Metamorphic Belts of SW Japan: Metamorphic Records of a Subduction System

GUEST EDITORS
Simon R. Wallis, Kazuhiro Miyazaki, and Ulrich Knittel

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
Becky Lange

June 2024 – Volume 20 Number 3

Cratons to Continents

GUEST EDITORS Carol D. Frost and Paul A. Mueller
PRINCIPAL EDITOR Janne Blichert-Toft

August 2024 – Volume 20 Number 4

The Invisible Ocean: Hydrogen in the Deep Earth

GUEST EDITORS Sylvie Demouchy, Hélène Bureau, and Hans Keppler
PRINCIPAL EDITOR Sumit Chakraborty

October 2024 – Volume 20 Number 5

Behind and Beyond Luminescence Imaging

GUEST EDITORS Lutz Nasdala, Emmanuel Fritsch, and Jens Götze
PRINCIPAL EDITOR Tom Sisson
December 2024 – Volume 20 Number 6

Himalayan Leucogranites

GUEST EDITORS Fang-Zhen Teng and Fu-Yuan Wu
PRINCIPAL EDITOR Janne Blichert-Toft
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February 2024 -- Extraterrestrial Organic Matter

Extraterrestrial organic matter is found in various extraterrestrial environments and in various forms. It forms in a variety of locations through different mechanisms in space. As such, its nature, distribution, formation mechanisms and locations are of particular interest. Some organic molecules are even considered as key players for the emergence of life on Earth and possibly beyond. Therefore, their detection and characterization can contribute to the understanding of the early solar system evolution as well as the origin of life. Despite decades of work and research, there are still many questions and unknowns on this topic. The aim of this issue of Elements is to offer an overview of the concept of extraterrestrial organic matter as well as the latest scientific findings.

April 2024 -- Paired Metamorphic Belts of SW Japan: Metamorphic Records of a Subduction System

Subduction, where one plate dives beneath another, controls long­term whole­Earth cycling of rocks, fluids, and energy. Plates subduct faster than they heat up, making them the coldest parts of the Earth’s interior. Fluids released from these cold plates rise into hotter overlying rocks, forming magma that feeds surface volcanism. Cold deep conditions associated with subduction complemented by hot shallow conditions under volcanic arcs are reflected in the presence of pairs of metamorphic belts, representing sites of ancient subduction. This issue of Elements guides readers through a premier example of paired metamorphism: the Cretaceous Sanbagawa­Ryoke metamorphic pair of Japan. Estimates of pressure, temperature, the age and duration of metamorphism, and the tectonic framework in which meta­ morphism took place help us to develop quantitative models—both for the evolution of SW Japan and subduction systems in general.

June 2024 -- Cratons to Continents

Archean continental crust is present on every continent, but does not constitute a dominant part of any continent’s surficial exposures. Nevertheless, Archean cratons are the longest-­lived coherent physical structures on earth. Viewed holistically they comprise a welded com­bination of continental crust and as sub­continental lithospheric mantle keel. They are survivors of what may, or may not, have been a more numerous and varied population of protocontinents. Many of these crustal blocks have origins in the Hadean and have survived for billions of years through many super­ continent cycles. Consequently, these craton-­keel structures have influenced the physical and chemical evolution of the silicate earth. This issue of Elements provides an overview of Archean cratons and the information they retain about the early development of Earth’s continental crust.

August 2024 -- The Invisible Ocean: Hydrogen
in the Deep Earth

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and its distribution, transfer, and speciation in the deep Earth remain a fascinating topic of ongoing research. We review the most notable discoveries constraining the H cycle in the deep Earth. This includes new methods for detecting hydrogen, insights into the size of deep reservoirs, and new constraints from inclusions in ultradeep diamonds. Advances in seismic and magneto- telluric imaging provide unique data on the storage and mobility of water in Earth´s interior. Models of the early Earth and of its habitability critically depend on the behavior of hydrogen in a magma ocean–atmosphere system. Later in Earth history, water may have been essential for establishing plate tectonics, a phenomenon making Earth a unique planet.

October 2024 -- Behind and Beyond Luminescence Imaging

Luminescence-based optical or SEM images are increasingly used in Earth sciences research. Examples include formation and post-growth history of minerals from their internal textures, taking into account multiple interior regions of complex crystals. For such simple approaches it is actually unnecessary to understand the particular causes of emissions. During the last decade, however, spectroscopic research has led to substantial progress in our understanding of the emissions of minerals. The main objective of this issue is to convince readers that luminescence is not at all restricted to interesting pictures that show “something”, but analysis of the emissions may bear a wealth of information on what exactly is observed. Luminescence spectroscopy has become a versatile, quantitative group of techniques whose successful applications virtually cover all geoscientific sub-disciplines.

December 2024 -- Himalayan Leucogranites

Himalayan leucogranites crop out intermittently over 2000 km along the Himalayan crest in the Himalayan-Tibetan plateau. They constitute some of the most well-studied granites in the world. They are considered to be purely crustal-derived melts and indicators of collisional orogenesis, and have greatly improved our general understanding of crustal anatexis, differentiation of felsic magmas, and tectonic evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen. They provide a rare opportunity to explore the feedback relationships among geodynamics, tectonics, and magmatism in a classic continental collisional context. In this issue, we will describe our current understanding of the petrogenesis and significance of the Himalayan leucogranites by focusing on their tectonic and geodynamic background, source rocks, petrology, geochemistry, and links to orogenesis and economic resources. This issue will not only summarize the state-of-the-art research on leucogranites but also present an example of how a multidisciplinary approach can be used to constrain the petrogenesis of granites and the associated mineralization and orogenic evolution.