江西安远路迳金伯利质煌斑岩筒辉石巨晶和包体中辉石的氢氧同位素

利用离子探针和质谱技术分别分析测试了江西安远路迳金伯利质煌斑岩筒辉石巨晶和包体中辉石的氢氧同位素组成.结果显示,辉石的氢同位素δ(D)值从-83‰变化到-101‰,平均值为-91.6‰;氧同位素δ(18O)值由5.46‰变化到5.70‰,平均值为5.60‰.路迳辉石巨晶和包体中辉石的氢氧同位素组成均一,表明其来源于地幔,且其形成和演化过程中物理化学环境稳定,继承并保持了原始地幔的氢氧同位素组成.     

邯邢侵入体中幔源超镁铁质岩包体的发现及其矿物地球化学特征

邯邢中基性侵入杂岩体中产有众多的岩石包体。作者在暗色闪长岩相中首次发现了超镁铁质岩包体,以方辉榄橄岩为主,由镁榄橄石(Fo=92±),顽火辉石(En=90±),铬透辉石和铬尖晶石组成,碎斑-平结构,发育扭折带。全岩SiO_2=41.02,MgO=42.24,∑EREE(3.95)甚低,稀土元素配分曲线显示特殊的向下凸的形状。δ~(18)O=6.5～7.0。辉石平衡温度约为1000℃,压力为20×10~8～22×10~8Pa。矿物-地球化学研究表明具上地幔岩特征,属A型包体,这在国内外文献中还未曾见过类似的报导。这个发现对探讨华北板块的地壳上地幔组成与演化,中生代构造岩浆活动的大地构造背景以及物质来源和邯邢式铁矿的成因将产生深远的影响。     

福建龙海牛头山新生代玄武岩橄榄岩包体的水

对福建龙海牛头山新生代玄武岩中橄榄岩包体进行了傅利叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)分析,结果显示,二辉橄榄岩中的辉石包体含有结构水,均以OH的形式存在,结构水含量分别如下: 单斜辉石为(151~845)×10-6,斜方辉石为(40~710)×10-6,全岩为(25~90)×10-6.无论是辉石中的水含量还是全岩中的水含量,福建牛头山地区均高于华北克拉通的安徽女山、河北汉诺坝和苏北盆地,而与同是华北克拉通的河北阳原地区水含量相当.实验证明辉石是牛头山地区上地幔重要的水储库.初步推断福建牛头山经历了洋壳俯冲作用及底侵作用.      

江西安远超基性岩筒幔源巨晶和包体辉石中的结构水

江西安远县路迳产出的超基性岩筒,是幔源岩浆岩的一个特殊类型,命名为金伯利质煌斑岩。岩筒的Rb- Sr等时线年龄37Ma。该岩筒中含有幔源单斜辉石巨晶和辉石岩、尖晶石橄榄岩、石榴石辉石岩包体,这些巨晶和包体来自上地幔不同深度。本文应用傅立叶变换红外光谱研究了该岩筒中巨晶单斜辉石和3种包体中辉石的含水性,探讨辉石含水量与其成分及来源深度的关系。单斜辉石以3607～3630cm_(-1)和3522～3542cm_(-1)两组吸收谱带为主,斜方辉石存在3410     

滇东南马关巨晶单斜辉石原位Sr同位素特征及其含水性

对滇东南马关火山爆砾岩筒以及玄武岩中的单斜辉石巨晶进行了主量元素、微量元素、原位Sr同位素以及含水性研究,结果显示,单斜辉石巨晶均为铝质普通辉石,Mg#与Al、Fe、Ti呈负相关,与Ca呈正相关;稀土元素总量不高,HREE及LREE亏损,而MREE相对富集,大离子亲石元素均出现明显亏损,高场强元素Nb、Zr出现亏损而Hf略富集,Nb、Ta与Zr、Hf分馏明显,Rb、Ba的变化范围较大。原位Sr同位素87Sr/86Sr值为0. 703 92～0. 705 06,巨晶单斜辉石来源于上地幔,形成于同一母岩浆,与寄主玄武岩同源,为源岩浆在高压下的结晶产物。运用显微红外-傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(Micro-FTIR)分析测试了单斜辉石巨晶的水含量,结果显示OH吸收峰位于3 700～2 800cm-1,含水量赋值范围为318×10-6～693×10-6,水含量稍富于女山及汉诺坝地区的单斜辉石巨晶,也高于马关地区幔源橄榄岩包体中的单斜辉石结构水含量,暗示该区上地幔岩石圈具高含水性,这同时证实了俯冲洋壳在研究区的活动。新近纪到达地幔过渡带的西太平洋洋壳俯冲发生转向东撤,此时新特提斯洋洋壳正在NE向俯冲,是马关地区深部地幔富水的主因,到达软流圈(或地幔过渡带)的新特提斯洋俯冲洋壳导致该区地幔熔融,岩浆随之而生。     

滇东南马关木厂新生代玄武岩中橄榄岩包体的含水性

对来自滇东南马关木厂的尖晶石二辉橄榄岩中名义上无水矿物(NAMs)进行显微傅里叶变换红外光谱(Micro-FTIR)分析,结果显示,单斜辉石、斜方辉石和橄榄石中均含有以羟基形式存在的结构水,单斜辉石的水含量为160×10~(-6)~557×10~(-6)(质量分数,下同),斜方辉石的水含量为85×10~(-6)~207×10~(-6),橄榄石的水含量为5×10~(-6)~12×10~(-6),根据矿物百分比含量估算的全岩水含量为46×10~(-6)~137×10~(-6);元素地球化学特征表明,本次研究的橄榄岩包体是岩石圈地幔经历较低程度部分熔融的残余;低(La/Yb)N值(0.22~0.57)以及高Ti/Eu比值(4 076~6 772)暗示橄榄岩可能经历了以硅酸盐熔体为交代介质的微弱地幔交代作用;单斜辉石的微量元素组成比较单一,整体表现出高场强元素、大离子亲石元素以及轻稀土元素的同步亏损;结合中国东部地区已经发表的橄榄岩包体含水量数据来看,滇东南马关木厂岩石圈地幔具有明显富水的特征,可能与该区自中生代以来遭受的新特提斯洋壳大规模俯冲流体交代作用有关;与华北克拉通含水量的明显差异有可能反映的是两地岩石圈地幔正处于不同的演化阶段。     

河北汉诺坝玄武岩中橄榄岩包体矿物的含水性研究——微区红外光谱分析

对12个来自河北汉诺坝玄武岩的橄榄岩包体中的单斜辉石和斜方辉石进行了详细的微区傅立叶变换红外光谱(Micro-FTIR)分析。结果显示,所有的单斜辉石和斜方辉石颗粒都含有以OH形式存在的结构水。对部分粒径较大的辉石颗粒内部的多点分析表明,结构水含量表现出中心高边缘低的不均一分布。这种不均一分布的特征应该来自于包体上升过程中由于压力降低而引起的H扩散。如果用每个样品多个测定颗粒的中心部位的平均值来代表该样品,12个样品的单斜辉石水含量为48×10-6~152×10-6,斜方辉石水含量20×10-6~55×10-6。根据矿物水含量(假设橄榄石的水含量为2×10-6)和它们的体积分数计算的全岩水含量为11×10-6~48×10-6。结合已经发表的橄榄岩包体数据来看,在岩石圈地幔的物理化学条件下,单斜辉石与斜方辉石之间水的平衡分配系数大约为2.2±0.6;岩石圈中水的分布可能具有纵向和横向上的不均一性。     

豫西寺家沟金矿床氢氧硫同位素特征及地质意义

豫西寺家沟金矿床是崤山地区主要金属矿床之一,是典型的蚀变破碎带型金矿床,对矿床主要矿脉矿石进行的氢氧硫同位素研究显示:寺家沟金矿床矿石δDV-SMOW范围为-97‰~-74‰,平均-88‰,δ~(18)O_(V-SMOW)范围为9.9‰~14.5‰,平均12.5‰,在寺家沟金矿床金矿δD-δ~(18)O图上,所有数据落在岩浆水和变质水的范围之下或临近,表明金矿的氢氧同位素组成较为复杂,类似于岩浆水和变质水;硫同位素δ34S介于2.29‰~5.66‰,平均3.28‰,硫同位素组成较均一,以较小的正值为特征,与幔源硫特征较为接近,表明硫主要来源于地幔。综合分析认为,寺家沟金矿床成矿物质以幔源物质为主。     

苏北盆地新生代玄武岩中橄榄岩包体的含水性

对来自苏北盆地盘石山、练山和方山地区新生代玄武岩中的50个橄榄岩包体矿物进行了系统的微区傅立叶变换红外光谱(Micro-FTIR) 分析.结果显示, 所有的单斜辉石和斜方辉石颗粒都含有以OH形式存在的结构水, 盘石山、练山和方山橄榄岩的单斜辉石水含量分别为64×10-6~183×10-6、37×10-6~102×10-6和41×10-6~177×10-6; 斜方辉石水含量分别为16×10-6~61×10-6、13×10-6~45×10-6和21×10-6~74×10-6.几乎所有的橄榄石都没有检测到明显的OH吸收峰, 暗示其水含量低于仪器的检出限(~2×10-6).根据矿物水含量(假设橄榄石的水含量为2×10-6) 和它们的体积分数计算的盘石山、练山和方山橄榄岩全岩的水含量分别为12×10-6~52×10-6、7×10-6~25×10-6和13×10-6~44×10-6.结合已经发表的橄榄岩包体的数据来看, 在岩石圈地幔的物理化学条件下, 单斜辉石与斜方辉石之间水的平衡分配系数大约为2.2±0.4.结合已经发表的安徽女山和河北汉诺坝的橄榄岩数据, 对比世界上其他地区橄榄岩的数据来看, 华北的岩石圈地幔具有低的水含量: 华北橄榄岩的单斜辉石水含量多 < 200×10-6, 而世界上其他地区(包括南非克拉通、美国新墨西哥地区、美国Colorado高原、美国盆岭省地区、墨西哥南部、法国中央地体以及加拿大WestKettle地区) 橄榄岩的单斜辉石水含量多 > 200×10-6; 华北的斜方辉石水含量多 < 100×10-6, 而世界上其他地区多 > 100×10-6; 华北的橄榄岩全岩水含量多 < 50×10-6, 而世界上其他地区多 > 100×10-6.华北岩石圈地幔的低水含量有可能是由于上升软流圈的热侵蚀造成的, 因此目前的华北岩石圈地幔可能大部分都是中生代岩石圈减薄后的残余, 而不是新生地幔.      

河北汉诺坝新生代玄武岩中幔源包体和高压巨晶的氦同位素地球化学研究

对该地区新生代玄武岩中幔源包体和高压巨晶的氦同位素进行了初步研究。幔源包体中橄榄石的3 He 4 He值为 (0 .15～ 7.4)× 10 - 6,较MORB值明显偏低 ,甚至低于大气的值 ,说明该地区曾发生过强烈的地幔交代作用。高压巨晶辉石和石榴子石的氦同位素组成与此明显不同 ,其3 He 4 He值为 (5 .7～ 2 4.3)× 10 - 6。提出幔源包体和高压巨晶不是同源的 ,二者可能与寄主玄武岩均无必然成因联系。在汉诺坝地区一件石榴子石巨晶中还发现了异常高的3 He 4 He值。     

Mountains,nations, parks,and conservation

Between 1985 and 1991, two new mountain protected areas (MTNPA) covering more than 35,000 km² and based on participatory management models — the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, Nepal, and Qomolangma Nature Preserve, Tibet Autonomous Region — were successfully established through the collaborative efforts of Woodlands Mountain Institute and conservationists in China and Nepal. Characteristics common to both projects include the importance of establishing (1) effective rationales, (2) local support constituencies, (3) a senior advisory group, (4) a task force, (5) linkages between conservation and development, and (6) fund raising mechanisms. The lessons derived from the experiences of Woodlands Mountain Institute are of significant value to others in preserving MTNPA. Increased collaboration and communication between all interested in conservation, however, will remain a critical component for expanding mountain protected area coverage to throughout the world.     

Roles of xenomelts,xenoliths, xenocrysts,xenovolatiles, residues,and skarns in the genesis,transport, and localization of magmatic Fe-Ni-Cu-PGE sulfides and chromite

Most sulfide-rich magmatic Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits form in dynamic magmatic systems by partial melting S-bearing wall rocks with variable degrees of assimilation of miscible silicate and volatile components, and generation of barren to weakly-mineralized immiscible Fe sulfide xenomelts into which Ni-Cu-Co-PGE partition from the magma. Some exceptionally-thick magmatic Cr deposits may form by partial melting oxide-bearing wall rocks with variable degrees of assimilation of the miscible silicate and volatile components, and generation of barren Fe ± Ti oxide xenocrysts into which Cr-Mg-V ± Ti partition from the magma. The products of these processes are variably preserved as skarns, residues, xenoliths, xenocrysts, xenomelts, and xenovolatiles, which play important to critical roles in ore genesis, transport, localization, and/or modification. Incorporation of barren xenoliths/autoliths may induce small amounts of sulfide/chromite to segregate, but incorporation of sulfide xenomelts or oxide xenocrysts with dynamic upgrading of metal tenors (PGE > Cu > Ni > Co and Cr > V > Ti, respectively) is required to make significant ore deposits. Silicate xenomelts are only rarely preserved, but will be variably depleted in chalcophile and ferrous metals. Less dense felsic xenoliths may aid upward sulfide transport by increasing the effective viscosity and decreasing the bulk density of the magma. Denser mafic or metamorphosed xenoliths may also increase the effective viscosity of the magma, but may aid downward sulfide transport by increasing the bulk density of the magma. Sulfide wets olivine, so olivine xenocrysts may act as filter beds to collect advected finely dispersed sulfide droplets, but other silicates and xenoliths may not be wetted by sulfides. Xenovolatiles may retard settling of – or in some cases float – dense sulfide droplets. Reactions of sulfide melts with felsic country rocks may generate Fe-rich skarns that may allow sulfide melts to fractionate to more extreme Cu-Ni-rich compositions. Xenoliths, xenocrysts, xenomelts, and xenovolatiles are more likely to be preserved in cooler basaltic magmas than in hotter komatiitic magmas, and are more likely to be preserved in less dynamic (less turbulent) systems/domain/phases than in more dynamic (more turbulent) systems/domains/phases. Massive to semi-massive Ni-Cu-PGE and Cr mineralization and xenoliths are often localized within footwall embayments, dilations/jogs in dikes, throats of magma conduits, and the horizontal segments of dike-chonolith and dike-sill complexes, which represent fluid dynamic traps for both ascending and descending sulfides/oxides. If skarns, residues, xenoliths, xenocrysts, xenomelts, and/or xenovolatiles are present, they provide important constraints on ore genesis and they are valuable exploration indicators, but they must be included in elemental and isotopic mass balance calculations.     

Parents,permission, and possibility: Young women,college, and imagined futures in Gujarat,India

This article advances critical geographies of youth through examining the spatiality implicit in the imagined futures of young women in rural India. Geographers and other scholars of youth have begun to pay more attention to the interplay between young people’s past, present, and imagined futures. Within this emerging body of scholarship the role of the family and peer group in influencing young people’s orientations toward the future remain underexamined. Drawing on eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork, my research focuses on a first generation of college-going young women from socioeconomically marginalized backgrounds in India’s westernmost state of Gujarat. I draw on the “possible selves” theoretical construct in order to deploy a flexible conceptual framework that links imagined post-educational trajectories with motivation to act in the present. In tracing the physical movement of these young women as they navigate and complete college, my analysis highlights the ways in which particular kinds of spaces and spatial arrangements facilitate and limit intra- and inter-generational contact, and the extent to which this affects young women’s conceptions of the future. I conclude by considering the wider implications of my research for ongoing debates surrounding youth transitions, relational geographies of age, and education in the Global South.     

Comparative study of As,Cd, Cu,Cr, Mg,Mn, Ni,Pb and Zn concentrations between sediment and water from estuary and port

The contents of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn have been determined in sediment and water samples from Valle de las Garzas estuary and Port Manzanillo (Colima, Mexico) using ICP-AES. The concentrations of these elements were used for a comparative study to determine the distribution of heavy metals and to evaluate which elements reflect natural or anthropogenic backgrounds. For this purpose, seven sampling points were selected: Four of them correspond to the lagoon, and three were situated in the port. Statistical analysis of the mineral content was assessed. Initially, data comparison was assessed by statistical tests for each variable. Principal component analysis was then applied considering the influence of all variables at the same time by obtaining the distribution of samples according to their scores in the principal component space. In this way, four studies were carried out: (1) study of sediments collected during the dry season; (2) study of sediments collected during the rainy season; (3) comparative study between sediments from rainy and dry season; and (4) study of water composition collected during rainy season. From the results of the performed analyses, it can be concluded that metals distribution pattern reflected natural and anthropogenic backgrounds (e.g., sediments from the lagoon, situated at the beginning of the rain channel, presented high contents of Zn and Cu, perhaps related to anthropogenic activities or the influence of igneous sediments).     

Partition coefficients of Hf,Zr, and REE between zircon,apatite, and liquid

Concentration ratios of Hf, Zr, and REE between zircon, apatite, and liquid were determined for three igneous compositions: two andesites and a diorite. The concentration ratios of these elements between zircon and corresponding liquid can approximate the partition coefficient. Although the concentration ratios between apatite and andesite groundmass can be considered as partition coefficients, those for the apatite in the diorite may deviate from the partition coefficients. The HREE partition coefficients between zircon and liquid are very large (100 for Er to 500 for Lu), and the Hf partition coefficient is even larger. The REE partition coefficients between apatite and liquid are convex upward, and large (D=10–100), whereas the Hf and Zr partition coefficients are less than 1. The large differences between partition coefficients of Lu and Hf for zircon-liquid and for apatite-liquid are confirmed. These partition coefficients are useful for petrogenetic models involving zircon and apatite.     

Coprecipitation of Ti,Mo, Sn and Sb with fluorides and application to determination of B,Ti, Zr,Nb, Mo,Sn, Sb,Hf and Ta by ICP-MS

We examined the coprecipitation behavior of Ti, Mo, Sn and Sb in Ca–Al–Mg fluorides under two different fluoride forming conditions: at < 70 °C in an ultrasonic bath (denoted as the ultrasonic method) and at 245 °C using a Teflon bomb (denoted as the bomb method). In the ultrasonic method, small amounts of Ti, Mo and Sn coprecipitation were observed with 100% Ca and 100% Mg fluorides. No coprecipitation of Ti, Mo, Sn and Sb in Ca–Al–Mg fluorides occurred when the sample was decomposed by the bomb method except for 100% Ca fluoride. Based on our coprecipitation observations, we have developed a simultaneous determination method for B, Ti, Zr, Nb, Mo, Sn, Sb, Hf and Ta by Q-pole type ICP-MS (ICP-QMS) and sector field type ICP-MS (ICP-SFMS). 9–50 mg of samples with Zr–Mo–Sn–Sb–Hf spikes were decomposed by HF using the bomb method and the ultrasonic method with B spike. The sample was then evaporated and re-dissolved into 0.5 mol l^− 1 HF, followed by the removal of fluorides by centrifuging. B, Zr, Mo, Sn, Sb and Hf were measured by ID method. Nb and Ta were measured by the ID-internal standardization method, based on Nb/Mo and Ta/Mo ratios using ICP-QMS, for which pseudo-FI was developed and applied. When 100% recovery yields of Zr and Hf are expected, Nb/Zr and Ta/Hf ratios may also be used. Ti was determined by the ID-internal standardization method, based on the Ti/Nb ratio from ICP-SFMS. Only 0.053 ml sample solution was required for measurement of all 9 elements. Dilution factors of ≤ 340 were aspirated without matrix effects. To demonstrate the applicability of our method, 4 carbonaceous chondrites (Ivuna, Orgueil, Cold Bokkeveld and Allende) as well as GSJ and USGS silicate reference materials of basalts, andesites and peridotites were analyzed. Our analytical results are consistent with previous studies, and the mean reproducibility of each element is 1.0–4.6% for basalts and andesites, and 6.7–11% for peridotites except for TiO₂.     

Entropy,materials, and posterity

Materials and energy are the interdependent feedstocks of economic systems, and thermodynamics is their moderator. It costs energy to transform the dispersed minerals of Earth's crust into ordered materials and structures. And it costs materials to collect and focus the energy to perform work — be it from solar, fossil fuel, nuclear, or other sources. The greater the dispersal of minerals sought, the more energy is required to collect them into ordered states.But available energy can be used once only. And the ordered materials of industrial economies become disordered with time. They may be partially reordered and recycled, but only at further costs in energy. Available energy everywhere degrades to bound states and order to disorder — for though entropy may be juggled it always increases. Yet industry is utterly dependent on low entropy states of matter and energy, while decreasing grades of ore require ever higher inputs of energy to convert them to metals, with ever increasing growth both of entropy and environmental hazard.Except as we may prize a thing for its intrinsic qualities — beauty, leisure, love, or gold — low-entropy is the only thing of real value. It is worth whatever the market will bear, and it becomes more valuable as entropy increases. It would be foolish of suppliers to sell it more cheaply or in larger amounts than their own enjoyment of life requires, whatever form it may take. For this reason, and because of physical constraints on the availability of all low-entropy states, the recent energy crises is only the first of a sequence of crises to be expected in energy and materials as long as current trends continue.The apportioning of low-entropy states in a modern industrial society is achieved more or less according to the theory of competitive markets. But the rational powers of this theory suffer as the world grows increasingly polarized into rich, over-industrialized nations with diminishing resource bases and poor, supplier nations with little industry. The theory also discounts posterity, the more so as population density and percapita rates of consumption continue to grow. A new social, economic, and ecologic norm that leads to population control, conservation, and an apportionment of low-entropy states across the generations is needed to assure to posterity the options that properly belong to it as an important but voiceless constituency of the collectivity we call mankind.

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Zusammenfassung Rohstoffe und Energie sind die Grundlagen unseres ökonomischen Systems, das von den Gesetzen der Thermodynamik bestimmt wird. Es kostet Energie, um die auf der Erde verteilten Rohstoffe diesem System zuzuführen. Andererseits braucht man Rohstoffe, um die Energie nutzbar zu machen.Die verfügbare Energie kann nur einmal genutzt werden und das Material verbraucht sich. Verbrauchtes Material kann teilweise zur weiteren Nutzung zurückgeführt werden, das kostet wiederum Energie. Die verfügbare Energie nimmt überall ab, und einmal geschaffene Ordnung gerät wieder in Unordnung — das heißt, die Entropie des Systems nimmt ständig zu. Die Industrie ist jedoch abhängig von einem niedrigen Entropiezustand sowohl der Materie als auch der Energie.Je ärmer die Erze sind, um so höher wird die Energie sein, um sie in Metalle umzuwandeln, wobei die Entropie und die Belastung der Umwelt ständig zunimmt.Außer den Dingen, die wir wegen höherer ideeller Werte schätzen, ist eine niedrige Entropie der einzige realistische Wertmaßstab, und der wirkliche Wertzuwachs ist nur an einer höheren Entropie zu messen. Es ist unverantwortlich, Dinge, die eine höhere Entropie bedingen, billiger zu verkaufen oder in größerer Menge zu erzeugen, als unbedingt notwendig ist. Da wir dies heute in unserem Handeln nicht berücksichtigen, ist die derzeitige Energiekrise nur der Anfang einer Folge von Krisen, die Energie und Rohstoffe betreffen, solange wir nicht umdenken.Die Verteilung von niedriger Entropie in einer modernen Industriegesellschaft wird mehr oder weniger nach dem Prinzip der konkurrierenden Märkte erreicht. Das selbstregulierende System gerät jedoch mit zunehmender Polarisierung in reiche Industrienationen mit abnehmenden Ressourcen und armen Nationen mit geringer Industrialisierung in Unordnung. Dieses Prinzip berücksichtigt auch nicht die Nachwelt, vor allem wenn die Bevölkerungsdichte stetig zunimmt und die Konsumbedürfnisse anwachsen. Es sind neue soziale, ökonomische und ökologische Normen notwendig, die zur Populationskontrolle, zur Erhaltung der Umwelt und zu einem Zustand niedriger Entropie für zukünftige Generationen führen. Die nach uns kommenden Menschen haben ein Anrecht darauf.

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Résumé Matériaux et énergie sont les sources des systèmes économiques et sont régis par les lois de la thermodynamique. Il faut de l'énergie pour transformer les ressources minérales dispersées dans la croûte terrestre en matériaux et structures ordonnancées. Et il faut des matériaux pour receuillir et concentrer l'énergie, qu'elle soit solaire ou atomique, ou provienne de combustibles fossiles ou d'autres sources. Plus les minéraux recherchés sont dispersés et plus est côuteuse l'énergie pour leur donner une ordonnance.Or l'énergie disponsible ne peut être utilisée qu'une seule fois. Et les matériaux ordonnancés des économies industrielles se dégradent avec le temps. Ils peuvent être remis partiellement en état et recyclés, mais pour cela il faut de nouveau de l'énergie. Partout l'énergie disponible se dégrade et l'ordre devient désordre; -malgré toutes les jongleries possibles l'entropie augmente toujours.L'industrie dépend clairement d'états de basse entropie tant en ce qui concerne les matériaux que l'énergie, tandis que plus pauvres sont les minerais, plus; élevée est l'énergie à mettre en jeu pour en extraire les métaux, avec toujours augmentation à la fois de l'entropie et de la degradation des milieux.A l'exception de ce que nous apprécions pour leur valeur intrinsèque — la beauté, le loisir, l'amour ou l'or — la basse entropie est la seule chose de réelle valeur. Son prix est réglé par le marché, et sa valeur augmente au fur et à mesure que l'entropie s'accroît. Ceux qui en disposent seraient insensés de la vendre à bas prix ou en quantité supérieure à ce qu'exige leur propre niveau de vie. Pour cette raison, et à cause des contraintes physiques liées à la disponibilité en états de basse entropie, la récente crise d'énergie n'est, en ce qui concerne les matières premières et l'énergie, que la première d'une série de crises auxquelles il faut s'attendre aussi longtemps que se poursoit la marche actuelle des étènements.Dans les sociétés industrielles modernes, les approvisionnement en basse entropie s'effectuent plus ou moins conformément à la théorie de la concurrence des marchés. Cependant la rationalité de cette théorie se ressent de l'accentuation croissante de la polarisation, à l'échelle du monde, en nations riches, surindustrialisées, à ressources de base décroissantes, et en nations pauvres, sous-industrialisées, mais fournisseurs de resources-naturelles. De plus cette théorie ne tient pas compte de notre postérité, et ce, en face d'une densité de population et d'un taux de la consommation par tête d'habitant en augmentation continue.Nous avons donc besoin de nouvelles normes sociales, économiques et écologiques qui conduisent au contrôle de la population, à la conservation et à la répartition des états de basse entropie à travers les générations pour assurer à notre postérité les options qui leur riviennent de droit comme une constituante importante, mais encore muette, de la collectivité que nous appelons l'Humanité.

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Dedicated with appreciation to Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, distinguished economist, realist among cornucopians     

Models,validation, and applied geochemistry: Issues in science,communication, and philosophy

Models have become so fashionable that many scientists and engineers cannot imagine working without them. The predominant use of computer codes to execute model calculations has blurred the distinction between code and model. The recent controversy regarding model validation has brought into question what we mean by a ‘model’ and by ‘validation.’ It has become apparent that the usual meaning of validation may be common in engineering practice and seems useful in legal practice but it is contrary to scientific practice and brings into question our understanding of science and how it can best be applied to such problems as hazardous waste characterization, remediation, and aqueous geochemistry in general. This review summarizes arguments against using the phrase model validation and examines efforts to validate models for high-level radioactive waste management and for permitting and monitoring open-pit mines. Part of the controversy comes from a misunderstanding of ‘prediction’ and the need to distinguish logical from temporal prediction. Another problem stems from the difference in the engineering approach contrasted with the scientific approach. The reductionist influence on the way we approach environmental investigations also limits our ability to model the interconnected nature of reality. Guidelines are proposed to improve our perceptions and proper utilization of models. Use of the word ‘validation’ is strongly discouraged when discussing model reliability.     

Pebbles,Shapes, and Equilibria

The shape of sedimentary particles may carry important information on their history. Current approaches to shape classification (e.g. the Zingg or the Sneed and Folk system) rely on shape indices derived from the measurement of the three principal axes of the approximating tri-axial ellipsoid. While these systems have undoubtedly proved to be useful tools, their application inevitably requires tedious and ambiguous measurements, also classification involves the introduction of arbitrarily chosen constants. Here we propose an alternative classification system based on the (integer) number of static equilibria. The latter are points of the surface where the pebble is at rest on a horizontal, frictionless support. As opposed to the Zingg system, our method relies on counting rather than measuring. We show that equilibria typically exist on two well-separated (micro and macro) scales. Equilibria can be readily counted by simple hand experiments, i.e. the new classification scheme is practically applicable. Based on statistical results from two different locations we demonstrate that pebbles are well mixed with respect to the new classes, i.e. the new classification is reliable and stable in that sense. We also show that the Zingg statistics can be extracted from the new statistics; however, substantial additional information is also available. From the practical point of view, E-classification is substantially faster than the Zingg method.