David Baratoux

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement & Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire Ch. Anta Diop

The journal Earth and Space Science (ESS) was founded in 2014 to offer the scientific community a new platform for the dissemination of key new data, observations, methods, instruments, and models, presented within the context of their application. Thus, the aim of the journal was (and is) to highlight the complexity and importance of experimental...

The Tabakoto gold deposit is part of the highly endowed west-Malian gold belt, which hosts several world-class deposits. Located in the Paleoproterozoic Kédougou-Kéniéba Inlier (KKI) of the West African Craton (WAC), the deposit is contained in Birimian metasedimentary rocks of the Kofi series that are intruded by magmatic dikes. The Tabakoto depos...

Context. To date, puzzlingly few bona fide RR Lyrae stars have been identified in binaries. Binarity in pulsating stars can be revealed through well-timed photometric data over sufficiently long time bases because of the light travel time effect (LTTE) on the pulsations, which manifests as variation in the timings of maximum light in the O−C (obser...

The arid to semi-arid climate of northern African countries is an asset for the preservation of meteorites and impact structures. The Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world, is considered the most productive region for the recovery of meteorites on Earth after Antarctica. In contrast, North Africa, like the rest of the African continent, remai...

The Editors and Staff of Earth and Space Science thank the reviewers whose selfless work has significantly contributed to the publication process of papers highlighting the best research in geophysics, planetary, and space science in 2023. Peer‐reviewing is a demanding and thankless job. It is however an essential component of the scientific proces...

Noctis Labyrinthus has been a region of disputed origin due to its complexity and poor understanding of how various processes and mechanisms may have combined to form it. The surface is an integrated record of intensive tectonic activity expressed by a multiple extended sets of dip-slip faults oriented in different directions, and thought to have a...

Small‐scale artisanal mining is a vital sector of the economy of Burkina Faso. This activity, correctly regulated, remains essential for the population despite security issues since 2015. Exploration of new areas for gold mining in this condition is difficult but essential to continue extractive activities. It is, therefore, important to define via...

The decarbonization policies of Northern economies are unsustainably increasing demand for “critical energy transition minerals”, whose deposits are mainly located in Southern countries. Improving recycling capacities will not be enough to meet these growing needs. Only equitable sufficiency policies, relocation and responsible management of mining...

The model we propose for the formation of Noctis Labyrinthus is based on early extensional tectonic and magmatic plumbing as a driving processes. Dikes in this model are potentially the feeder system to the magma flow that comes from Syria Planum volcanic province,although they are not expressed on the surface in our map, but they have a fundamenta...

The main objective of this book is to provide an overview of the benefit of using Earth Observation data to monitor global environmental changes due to natural phenomena and anthropogenic forcing factors over the African continent, and highlight a number of applications of high societal relevance. The main topics presented in the book concern: wat...

In geological mapping, maps of K, Th, and U concentrations provided by airborne radiometric surveys are widely used to delineate geological units in tropical regions from the few rare outcrops. Indeed, thanks to their specific geochemical properties and behaviors, K, Th, and U allow us to trace geological processes. However, the combination of the...

The tektites of the Cˆote d’Ivoire strewn field, called “ivorites”, come from the Bosumtwi meteorite impact crater formed 1.07 Ma ago in Ghana. Unlike other tektite strewn fields in the world, this tektite strewn field has remained under-explored after the pioneering works of A. Lacroix in the 1930s who reported the first tektites on the African co...

Plain Language Summary The Editors and Staff of Earth and Space Science acknowledge the importance of hundreds of peer reviewers who contributed to the scientific rigor of the papers published in the journal. The Editors wish to publicly recognize the 839 reviewers who gave selflessly of their time and expertise in 2022.

We propose a probabilistic approach to gauge the plausibility of a genetic link between a distal ejecta and a known impact structure, considering the only possible alternative that the distal ejecta could originate from an unknown impact site. We exemplify this approach in the case of three tektite strewn fields related to three known impact struct...

Since the rise of the gold price in 2000, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a growing economic activity in developing countries. It represents a source of income for several millions of people in West Africa. Exploitation techniques have evolved from traditional gold panning to mechanization and use of chemical products that are harmf...

The Issia batholith extends over 100 km in central Ivory Coast and is surrounded by important placer deposits of columbite-tantalite associated with deeply altered lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites. The genetic link between the granitic complex and the mineralized lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites at the origin of the coltan placers is not straig...

Africa stands to gain from Earth Observation (EO) science, products and applications. However, its use and application remain below potential on the continent. This article examines how EO can better serve the needs of African users. First, we argue that a successful uptake of EO services is conditional on understanding the African context and matc...

The formation and differentiation of the crust of Mars in the first tens of millions of years after its accretion can only be deciphered from incredibly limited records. The martian breccia NWA 7034 and its paired stones is one of them. This meteorite contains the oldest martian igneous material ever dated: ~4.5 Ga old. However, its source and geol...

The Nova Colinas structure is an approximately 7 km wide, nearly circular feature centered at 07°09′33″S/46°06′30″W in Nova Colinas municipality in southwestern Maranhão State, Brazil. The area has been investigated for 40 yr and it has been suggested repeatedly that the structure could be of impact origin—without proof having been furnished. Magne...

Recent development of small-scale gold mining activities in Côte d’Ivoire is a serious threat to the environment because of deforestation, soil scrapping, pit mining, over-use of water resources and pollution of surface and ground waters by mercury, cyanides, and acids. The challenge for the governance of this activity is to resolve the tension bet...

On behalf of the Editorial Board and Staff of Earth and Space Science, I thank the reviewers whose selfless dedication to science has ensured, once again, that the papers published in our journal in 2021 highlight the best Earth and space science in a manner that does justice to the authors and their work. All of us at Earth Peer reviewing is a dem...

Two recently published papers zoom in on the mystery source of methane in the Martian atmosphere.

The impact flux over the last 3 Ga in the inner Solar System is commonly assumed to be constant through time due to insufficient data to warrant a different choice for this range of time. However, asteroid break-up events in the main belt may have been responsible for cratering spikes over the last ∼2 Ga on the Earth-Moon system. Due to its proximi...

The 10.5‐km‐diameter, 1 Ma Bosumtwi impact structure in Ghana is one of the youngest, large impact structures known on Earth. The preservation of the morphology of its ejecta deposits, with an annular moat and outer ridge resembling those of rampart impact craters on Mars, makes Bosumtwi a remarkable impact structure on the African continent. An ai...

The impact flux over the last 3 Ga in the inner Solar System is commonly assumed to be constant through time. However, asteroid break-up events in the main belt may have been responsible for cratering spikes over the last ~2 Ga on the Earth-Moon system. We investigate here the possible variations of the size frequency distributions of impactors fro...

The only martian rock samples on Earth are meteorites ejected from the surface of Mars by asteroid impacts. The locations and geological contexts of the launch sites are currently unknown. Determining the impact locations is essential to unravel the relations between the evolution of the martian interior and its surface. Here we adapt a Crater Dete...

The severe drought of 1983–1984 in the Sahel region, and its socio‐economic impacts for people relying on farming had for consequence the first major gold rush at Koma Bangou in the southwestern part of Niger. Initiated in 1984, the gold panning activities were interrupted from 1989 to 1999 with exploration permits assigned to the mining industry....

The univariate statistics of Potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) concentrations, in the Earth’s oceanic and continental crust are examined by different techniques. The frequency distributions of the concentrations of these elements in the oceanic crust are derived from a global catalog of mid‐ocean ridge basalts. Their frequency distributi...

This study describes and discusses the results of a 14 month-long campaign (April 2019 to June 2020) aimed at characterizing and quantifying the influence of environmental factors (cosmic rays, rainfall events, soil moisture and atmospheric radon) on airborne radiometric surveys, which are used for mapping the concentrations of potassium (K), urani...

This volume represents the proceedings of the homonymous international conference on all aspects of impact cratering and planetary science, which was held in October 2019 in Brasília, Brazil. This volume contains a sizable suite of contributions dealing with regional impact records (Australia, Sweden), impact craters and impactites, early Archean i...

This volume represents the proceedings of the homonymous international conference on all aspects of impact cratering and planetary science, which was held in October 2019 in Brasília, Brazil. This volume contains a sizable suite of contributions dealing with regional impact records (Australia, Sweden), impact craters and impactites, early Archean i...

We describe the multi-scale distribution of K, Th and U in the ca. 3.1 Ga Heerenveen batholith of the Barberton Granite-Greenstone Terrain. Data were obtained with a combination of tools, including a portable gamma-ray spectrometer from the scale of the whole batholith to the scale of outcrops, and autoradiography for the thin section scale. U is c...

Context: Until recently, camera networks designed for monitoring fireballs worldwide were not fully automated, implying that in case of a meteorite fall, the recovery campaign was rarely immediate. This was an important limiting factor as the most fragile - hence precious - meteorites must be recovered rapidly to avoid their alteration. Aims: To o...

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) represents a significant economic activity for communities in developing countries. In southeastern Senegal, this activity has increased in recent years and has become the main source of income for the local population. However, it is also associated with negative environmental, social, and health impact...

Context. Until recently, camera networks designed for monitoring fireballs worldwide were not fully automated, implying that in case of a meteorite fall, the recovery campaign was rarely immediate. This was an important limiting factor as the most fragile – hence precious – meteorites must be recovered rapidly to avoid their alteration. Aims. The F...

Potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) are incompatible elements, with various degrees of mobility with respect to hydrothermal alteration or weathering and are taken as tracers for magmatic, fluid-rock interactions and mineralization. These elements may be mapped from airborne radiometric surveys revealing their spatial distribution at the s...

Science is at its best when shared widely both within the scientific community and to the broader public. To maintain trust in science while simultaneously maximizing openness, it is important that every paper is carefully vetted. For this we rely on many volunteers, especially our peer reviewers. Their work is key for maintaining the integrity of...

We present the results from four stellar occultations by (486958) Arrokoth, the flyby target of the New Horizons extended mission. Three of the four efforts led to positive detections of the body, and all constrained the presence of rings and other debris, finding none. Twenty-five mobile stations were deployed for 2017 June 3 and augmented by fixe...

The global-scale crustal structure of Mars is shaped by impact basins, volcanic provinces, and a hemispheric dichotomy with a thin crust beneath the northern lowlands and a thick crust beneath the southern highlands. The southern highlands are commonly treated as a coherent terrain of ancient crust with a common origin and shared geologic history,...

We present the results from four stellar occultations by (486958) Arrokoth, the flyby target of the New Horizons extended mission. Three of the four efforts led to positive detections of the body, and all constrained the presence of rings and other debris, finding none. Twenty-five mobile stations were deployed for 2017 June 3 and augmented by fixe...

The protracted tectonic and magmatic record of cratons over the Archaean Eon has been classically interpreted in terms of long-lived shallow-dipping subduction or repeated mantle plumes. In this paper, we use the 1D conductive heat equation to model the evolution of the geotherm of a generic felsic-dominated Archaean cratonic nuclei solely consider...

Ages of geological units of planetary bodies are determined from impact crater counts on their surface. These ages are model-dependent, and several models largely used in the community assume a constant production function and a constant cratering rate over the last 3 Ga. We have mapped the population of small impact craters (>200 m in diameter) fo...

A network of meteor stations is being deployed in Morocco with the aim to determine meteor trajectories and their relationships with possible parent bodies. Several meteor showers may be related to known parent bodies, such as the the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which is associated to Perseids. Two stations of meteor observations with Watec cameras we...

Since the discovery of shatter cones (SCs) near the village of Agoudal (Morocco, Central High Atlas Mountains) in 2013, the absence of one or several associated circular structures led to speculation about the age of the impact event, the number, and the size of the impact crater or craters. Additional constraints on the crater size, age, and erosi...

Mars’ Southern hemisphere is older, and higher in elevation by 6 km compared to the Northern plains. This dichotomy was formed between 4.5 and 4 Gyr ago (1). The Moon and the Earth show a wide diversity of crustal components (e.g, mare basalt and anorthosite crust on the Moon, basaltic oceanic or andesitic continental crust on Earth) and the topogr...

Context. Fireball networks are developing over the whole planet, with the aim of recovering meteorites and at the same time determining their orbits. The ultimate goal of such networks is to identify the parent bodies of meteorite families to achieve this, orbit accuracy is critical. Yet, the determination of an orbit relies on a long and complex r...

Peer review is an act of serving the community. Each peer review leads to sharper, more accurate, more impactful science, and clearer communication. Reviews from independent colleagues help bring the strengths and opportunities for improvement in scientific work into focus. Each year in planetary science, new ideas and places are explored; new unde...

The about 10.5 km diameter Bosumtwi impact crater is one of the youngest large impact structures on Earth. The crater rim is readily noticed on topographic maps or in satellite imagery. It defines a circular basin filled by water (Lake Bosumtwi) and lacustrine sediments. The morphology of this impact structure is also characterized by a circular pl...

Drill core petrography from the Rochechouart impact structure.

Eight different generations of dolerite dykes crosscutting the Paleoproterozoic basement in West Africa and one in South America were dated using the high precision U–Pb TIMS method on baddeleyite. Some of the individual dykes reach over 300 km in length and they are considered parts of much larger systems of mafic dyke swarms representing the plum...

Since the discovery of shatter cones at the Agoudal (Morocco, Central High Atlas Mountains) in 2013 [1], the impact site has received various interpretations in terms of its relation to the Agoudal meteorite fall, its size(s) or number of impact structures [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The characteristics of the impact site may only be constrained by indirect a...