The potentials of lime stabilization of lateritic soils

The paper reviews lime stabilization of lateritic soils and shows that all Nigerian lateritic soils from A-1-a soil to A-7-6 soil used in the investigation, improved their engineering characteristics substantially by the addition of lime. The plasticity indices of the soils were reduced whereas the plastic limits increased; the liquid limits increased slightly, the maximum dry density decreased and the optimum moisture content increased. From the results of Durability and CBR tests, only the A-1 soil and A-2 soil have any potential as competent base materials and consequently only these require any further field tests. 6% lime is recommended for these field tests. The other soils that do not qualify for bases may be utilized as sub-base materials.     

Geochemistry and hydrothermal alteration of the Kern Mountains plutonic complex,White Pine County,Nevada and Juab County,Utah

The Kern Mountains plutonic complex is composed of multiple intrusions referred as the Cove, Tungstonia and Hoodoo Canyon plutons, whose emplacement was structurally controlled. The plutons are members of the calc-alcaline granite series, leucogranite type that are relatively alkali rich. The complex is of epizone (4–10 km) and was emplaced during Jurassic time into the carbonates and quartzite of Paleozoic age. Trace and major element data indicate that the complex was derived from the partial melting of rocks similar to Canadian Shield rocks. Analysis of variance of chemical data suggets that hydrothermal solutions carried K₂O, Na₂O and SiO₂ and raised the levels of original oxides in the plutons. Hydrothermal activity is evidenced by the occurrence of second generation muscovite, potassium feldspar and quartz in the complex and tungsten and sulphide mineralization in the area.

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Zusammenfassung Der plutonische Komplex des Kerngebirges besteht aus mehrfachen Instrusionen, genannt Cove-, Tungstonia- und Hoodoo Canyon-Pluton, deren Platznahme tektonisch kontrolliert wurde. Die plutonischen Gesteine gehören zu den Kalkalkaligraniten; sie sind leucogranitisch und damit ziemlich alkalireich. Der Komplex ist epizonal (4–10 km), er drang während des Jura in die Karbonate und Quarzite des Paläozoikums ein. Spuren- und Hauptelementmeßwerte zeigen an, daß der Komplex von aufgeschmolzenen Gesteinen abgeleitet werden kann, die den Gesteinen des Kanadischen Schildes ähneln. Die Analyse der Variation von chemischen Meßwerten deutet an, daß hydrothermale Lösungen K₂O, Na₂O und SiO₂ enthielten, die das Niveau der ursprünglichen Oxide in den plutonischen Gesteinen erhöhten. Die hydrothermale Tätigkeit wird durch das Vorhandensein von Muskowit, Kaliunifeldspat und Quartz der zweiten Generation innerhalb des Komplexes und durch Wolfram- und Sulfidmineralisation in der Umgebung bewiesen.

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Résumé L'ensemble plutonique des montagnes de Kern, consiste en de nombreuses intrusions dénommées plutons du »Cove«, de »Tungstonia«, et du »Hoodoo Canyon« dont la mise en place a été tectoniquement controlée. Ces plutons font partie de la série granitique calco-alkaline; ce sont des leucogranites relativement riches en alcali. L'ensemble est épizonal (4–10 km), et s'est mis en place au cours du Jurassique dans des Calcaires et quartzites d'âge paléozoique. Les données analytiques relatives aux élements majeurs et en trace indiquent que cet ensemble peut provenir de la fusion partielle de roches similaires à celles du Bouclier Canadien.L'analyse de la variation des données chimiques suggère aussi que l'enrichissement de ces plutons en K₂O, Na₂O, et SiO₂ s'est fait à partir de solutions minéralisantes hydrothermales, comme en témoignent non seulement la présence d'une deuxième génération de muscovite, de feldspath potassique et de quartz, mais aussi par la mineralisation en tungstène et en minerais sulfurés à leur voisinage.

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, Cove, Tungstonia Hoodoo Canyon, . - ; , , . (4–10 ); . - , , . , K₂O, Na₂O SiO₂, . , .

     

Natural entropy production in an inflationary model for a polarized vacuum

Though entropy production is forbidden in standard FRW Cosmology, Berman and Som presented a simple inflationary model where entropy production by bulk viscosity, during standard inflation without ad hoc pressure terms can be accommodated with Robertson–Walker’s metric, so the requirement that the early Universe be anisotropic is not essential in order to have entropy growth during inflationary phase, as we show. Entropy also grows due to shear viscosity, for the anisotropic case. The intrinsically inflationary metric that we propose can be thought of as defining a polarized vacuum, and leads directly to the desired effects without the need of introducing extra pressure terms.     

Sedimentological,geomorphological and dynamic context of debris-mantled glaciers,Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) region,Nepal

This paper presents the sediment, landform and dynamic context of four avalanche-fed valley glaciers (Khumbu, Imja, Lhotse and Chukhung) in the Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) region of Nepal. All four glaciers have a mantle of debris dominated by sandy boulder-gravel that suppresses melting to an increasing degree towards the snout, leading to a progressive reduction in the overall slope of their longitudinal profile. Prominent lateral–terminal moraine complexes, also comprising sandy bouldergravel, enclose the glaciers. These terminal moraines originally grew by accretion of multiple sedimentary facies of basal glacial and supraglacial origin, probably by folding and thrusting when the glaciers were more dynamic during the Little Ice Age. The four glaciers are in various stages of recession, and demonstrate a range of scenarios from down-wasting of the glacier tongue, through morainedammed lake development, to post-moraine-dam breaching. Khumbu Glacier is at the earliest stage of supraglacial pond formation and shows no sign yet of developing a major lake, although one is likely to develop behind its >250 m high composite terminal moraine. Imja Glacier terminates in a substantial body of water behind a partially ice-cored moraine dam (as determined from geophysical surveys), but morphologically appears unlikely to be an immediate threat. Chukhung Glacier already has a breached moraine and a connected debris fan, and therefore no longer poses a threat. Lhotse Glacier has an inclined, free-draining tongue that precludes hazardous lake development. From the data assembled, a conceptual model, applicable to other Himalayan glaciers, is proposed to explain the development of large, lateral-terminal moraine complexes and associated potentially hazardous moraine dams. – 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Sea-level rise research and dialogue in North Carolina: Creating windows for policy change

Coastal areas are among the world's most vulnerable landscapes to impacts related to climate change, including inundation from sea-level rise (SLR), increased exposure to shoreline erosion, and greater frequency and intensity of storms. The status of research on the physical, ecological, and socio-economic effects of vulnerability to SLR and progress toward planning for its consequences varies from region to region worldwide. Here, we synthesize the results of three decades of SLR research and the development of coastal management policies in North Carolina, USA. We identify the major factors responsible for opening new policy ‘windows’ that address SLR, including how stakeholders have developed an increased understanding of the risks, the extent of public dialogue about potential response strategies, and advances in political receptivity to policy change. Research and policy progress in North Carolina continue to provide a model for other regions to help guide and evaluate the development of coastal policies.     

The two pioneers anomalies and universal rotation

We show how to prove the two Pioneers Anomalies by means of the Godlowski et al. (, 2004) idea for a rotating General Relativistic Universe. The so-called clock effect is calculated.     

Automated classification of interplanetary dust particles: Johnson Space Center Cosmic Dust Catalog Volume 15

Abstract– The “Cosmic Dust Catalog,” published by the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), describes thousands of interplanetary dust particles subjected to preliminary analysis and with labels indicating their origin. However, only about 80% of the particles are assigned unambiguous labels, the labels of the remaining 20% being uncertain. In addition, the Stardust mission results opened up the possibility that some particles classified as terrestrial contaminants are instead of cosmic (cometary) origin. In this article, we present a methodology for automatic classification of particles on the basis of similarity of their X‐ray energy dispersive spectrometry spectra. The method is applied to the 467 particles constituting Volume 15 of the catalog. A first part of the analysis is to digitize the spectra from their scanned images. The digitized spectra are subjected to agglomerative clustering, which reveals 16 distinct clusters or compositional types of particles. The Sammon’s map is used to visualize the relationship between different clusters; 6 clusters corresponding to cosmic particles and 10 clusters corresponding to terrestrial contaminants are clearly separated on the map indicating overall differences between diverse spectra of cosmic and terrestrial particles. By reconciling labels with the clustering structures, we propose the relabeling of 155 particles including the relabeling of 31 terrestrial contaminants into cosmic particles. The proposed relabeling needs to be confirmed by in‐depth study of these particles. The paucity of particles with firmly determined cometary or asteroidal origin makes it difficult to establish whether the spectra based autoclassification can be utilized to discriminate between cometary and asteroidal particles. The methodology presented here can be used to classify all particles published in the catalog, as well as different samples for which comparable spectra are available.     

Gas kinetics and dust dynamics in low-density comet comae

Extensive regions of low-density cometary comae are characterized by important deviations from the Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution, i.e. breakdown of thermodynamic equilibrium. The consequences of this on the shapes of emission and absorption lines, and for the acceleration of solid bodies due to gas drag, have rarely been investigated.These problems are studied here to aid in the development of future coma models, and in preparation for observations of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from the ESA Rosetta spacecraft. Two topics in particular, related to Rosetta, are preparation for in situ observations of water, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and methanol emission lines by the mm/sub-mm spectrometer MIRO, as well as gas drag forces on dust grains and on the Rosetta spacecraft itself.Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) modeling of H₂O/CO mixtures in spherically symmetric geometries at various heliocentric distances are used to study the evolution of the (generally non-Maxwellian) velocity distribution function throughout the coma. Such distribution functions are then used to calculate Doppler broadening profiles and drag forces.It is found that deviation from thermodynamic equilibrium indeed is commonplace, and already at 2.5 AU from the Sun the entire comet coma displays manifestations of such breakdown, e.g., non-equal partitioning of energy between kinetic and rotational modes, causing substantial differences between translational and rotational temperatures. We exemplify how deviations from thermodynamic equilibrium affect the properties of Doppler broadened line profiles. Upper limits on the size of liftable dust grains as well as terminal grain velocities are presented. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the drag-to-gravity force ratio is likely to decrease with decreasing cometocentric distance, which may be of relevance both for Rosetta and for the lander probe Philae.