Partitioning and Hydrolysis of Nb and Ta and Their Implications with Regard to Mineralization

K₂NbOF₅ · H₂O and K₂TaF₇ were prepared through melting Nb₂O₅ and Ta₂O₅ respectively with KHF₂ · 2H₂O, followed by recrystallizing. The hydrolysis properties of K₂NbOF₅ and K₂TaF₇ were determined again by using a rapidly quench vessel. As temperature (from 250 to 550 °C) and pressure (from 500 to 1500 bars) increase, the degree of hydrolysis of both K₂NbOF₅ and K₂TaF₇ will increase. Nb- and Ta-fluorine complex compounds are instable in supercritical aqueous fluids. The degree of hydrolysis of both K₂NbOF₅ and K₂TaF₇ decreases with increasing concentration of HF, independent of the concentration of NaF. The partition coefficients of Nb and Ta between granitic melt and fluid phase are less than 0.15, i.e., most of Nb and Ta are left in granitic melt. The partition coefficient of Ta is more dependent on the concentration of HF than that of Nb. The significance of hydrolysis in Nb- and Ta- mineralization is also discussed in the present paper.     

Technology and Its Application： MIS with Geographical Information

Despite the constant expansion of the application of GIS, in recent years, the data process-ing ability of the application system developed with GIS_Tool is quite limited. Management information system with the geographical information can not only be used to deal with data commonly, but also deal with digitized maps as GIS_Tool does. Thus it can help the user develop an application system high-qual-ified both in maps and traditional data. This paper, by taking the method of integrated MapInfo in the application of Visual Basic as an example, mainly illustrates two technological problenm-integrated map technology and the multiuserization of Maplnfo geographical information. And also the concrete solu-tions to the problems are provided.     

Phreatic Surface in Island Aquifers with Regular Geometry and Time-Independent Recharge and Pumping

The equation of groundwater flow in marine island aquifers in which there is time-independent, spatially-variable recharge and pumping is solved in closed form for rectangular, circular, and elliptical island geometries. The solution of the groundwater flow equation is expressed in terms of the elevation of the phreatic surface within the flow domain. The depth of the seawater-freshwater interface below mean sea level follows from the Dupuit–Ghyben–Herzberg relation. The method of solution presented in this work relies on expanding the hydraulic head and forcing function (recharge and groundwater extraction) as Fourier series that transforms the two-dimensional Poisson-type flow equations into second-order ordinary differential equations solvable using classical theory. The important case of constant recharge (without groundwater extraction) leads to solutions in which the hydraulic head is expressible as the product of a flow factor equal to the squared root of the ratio of recharge over hydraulic conductivity times a geometric factor involving island shape parameters and flow boundary conditions. Estimability conditions for the hydraulic conductivity are derived for the cases of constant recharge and spatially variable recharge with pumping.     

Metal dispersion in groundwater in an area with natural and processed black shale – Nationwide perspective and comparison with acid sulfate soils

Black shale is often rich in sulfides and trace elements, and is thus a potential environmental threat in a manner similar to acid sulfate soils and active or abandoned sulfide mines. This study aims at characterising how exposed and processed (mined and burnt) black shale (alum shale) in Degerhamn, SE Sweden, affects the chemistry (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Ca, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, K, Si, Na, Sr, S, U, V and Zn) of the groundwater. There were large variations in groundwater chemistry between nearby sampling points, while the temporal variations generally were small. Acidic groundwater (around pH 4), found in deposits of burnt and carbonate-poor shale where the conditions for sulfide oxidation were favourable, was strongly elevated in Al, U and several chalcophilic metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni and Zn). Cadmium and U were also, together with Mo, abundant in many of the near-neutral waters, both in the non-mined black shale bedrock and in the deposits of burnt shale. An extrapolation to a national level suggests that the dispersion of Ni from naturally occurring black shale is similar to that from anthropogenic point sources, while for Cd and As it is assessed to be approximately one tenth of that from point sources. The processed shale was, however, a much larger source of metals than the black shale bedrock itself, showing this material’s potential as a massive supplier of metals to the aquatic environment. A comparison of waters in contact with the processed Cambrian–Ordovician black shale in Degerhamn and acid sulfate soils of the region shows that these two sulfide-bearing materials, in many respects very different, delivers basically the same suite of trace elements to the aquatic environment. This has implications for environmental planning and protection in areas where these types of materials exist.     

Study of structural and valence state of Cr and Fe in chrysoberyl and alexandrite with EPR and M?ssbauer spectroscopy

Data on the structural and valence distribution of Cr and Fe in chrysoberyl and in alexandrite, its gem variety, are given. It is shown that the Cr³⁺ line in the natural Ural and Tanzania samples is the strongest in the M1 site and for the synthetic stones, in the M2 site. During the annealing of the alexandrite crystals, Cr³⁺ passes from the smaller M1 site into the larger M2 site. The M?ssbauer spectroscopy quantitatively determined the distribution of different valence Fe ions. The various proportions of both Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions isomorphically entering the octahedral sites in the BeAl₂O₄ crystal structure were established.     

Synthesis and Study of Neodyme–Titanate Ceramic with Curium

Doklady Earth Sciences - The properties of the potential matrix of the REE–actinide fraction of high-level radioactive waste have been studied. A sample containing 2 wt % of curium was...     

Some remarks about kinematics “with rotation” and stress-rate

In experiments like simple shear or torsion with the hollow cylinder device, we often talk about kinematics “with rotation”; on the other hand, experiments like compression with a true triaxial apparatus are called “without rotation”. We analyse the difference between these two kinds of kinematics with well known concepts of continuum mechanics. This analysis is conducted in terms of kinematics because the consequences in terms of stress (rotation or no rotation) must be deduced by the use of constitutive relations. In a second part we analyse the stress-rate and we try to give a physical meaning of such an operator. As a conclusion we think that the usual Jaumann derivative is the most meaningful for incremental formulation of constitutive relations.     

China Continental Conductive Layers and Its Relationship with Basin Evolution

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Forms and bioavailability of phosphorus associated with natural organic matter

Natural organic matter （NOM） is an important ingredient in soil which can improve physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils and nutrient supplies. In this study, we investigated the spectral features and potential availability of phosphorus （P） in the IHSS Elliott Soil humic acid standard （EHa）, Elliott soil fulvic acid standard Ⅱ （EFa）, Waskish peat humic acid reference （WHa）, and Waskish peat fulvic acid reference （WFa） by fluorescence spectroscopy, FT-IR, solution 31P NMR, 3-phytase incubation and UV irradiation. We observed more similar spectral features between EHa and EFa as well as between WHa and WFa than between the two humic acids or two fulvic acids themselves. Phosphorus in WHa and WFa was mainly present in the orthophosphate form. However, only about 5% was water soluble. After treatment by both UV irradiation and enzymatic hydrolysis, soluble orthophosphate increased to 17% of WHa P, and 10%o of WFa P. Thus, it appears that a large portion of P in Waskish peat humic substances was not labile for plant uptake. On the other hand, both orthophosphate and organic phosphate were present in EHa and EFa. Treatment by both UV irradiation and enzymatic hydrolysis increased soluble orthophosphate to 67% of EHa P and 52% of EFa P, indicating that more P in Elliott soil humic substances was potentially bioavailable. Our results demonstrated that source （soil vs. peat） was a more important factor than organic matter fraction （humic acid vs. fulvic acid） with respect to the forms and lability of P in these humic substances.     

Iron meteorites with low Ga and Ge concentrations—composition,structure and genetic relationships

Twenty-one iron meteorites with Ge contents below 1 μg/g, including nine belonging to groups IIIF and IVB, have been analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for the elements Co, Cr, As, Au, Re, Ir and W. Groups IIIF and IVB show positive correlations of Au, As and Co (IIIF only) with published Ni analyses, and negative correlations of Ir, Re, Cr (IVB only) and W (IIIF only) with Ni. On element-Ni plots, the gradients of the least squares lines are similar to those of many other groups, excluding IAB and IIICD. With the inclusion of a new member, Klamath Falls, group IIIF has the widest range of Au, As and Co contents of any group and the steepest gradients on plots of these elements against Ni. It is likely that these trends in groups IIIF and IVB were produced by fractionation of elements between solid and liquid metal, probably during fractional crystallization.It has been suggested that some of the 15 irons with <l μg/g Ge which lie outside the groups might be related. However, the INAA data indicate that no two are as strongly related as two group members. These low-Ge irons and the members of groups IIIF, IVA and IVB tend to have low concentrations of As, Au and P, low $\text{Co}\text{Ni}$ ratios and high Cr contents. The depletion of the more volatile elements probably results from incomplete condensation into the metal from the solar nebula.The structures of low-Ge irons generally reflect fast cooling rates (20–2000 K Myr^?1). When data for all iron meteorites are plotted on a logarithmic graph of cooling rate against Ge concentration and results for related irons are averaged, there is a significant negative correlation. This suggests that metal grains which inefficiently condensed Ge and other volatile elements tended to accrete into small parent bodies.     

Bromide removal and recovery with layered double hydroxides as an adsorbent

Grignard regents have been applied extensively in chemical industry, especially in pharmacy. A mass of bromide-containing wastewater was produced after reaction, and ozonation of these organic contaminants can produce bromate and other brominated pollutants. The US Environmental Protection Agency （EPA） has established a maximum contaminant level of 10 μg/L for bromate in finished water. Therefore, it is necessary and significant to remove the DBP （disinfection by-products） precursor - bromide. On the other hand, since the bromine is a valuable element, recovery of it from wastewater is significant. Bromide removal is important to control DBP （disinfection by-products） contaminant and an ion exchange process is one of several treatment processes for this purpose. Layered double hydroxides （LDHs） are useful as adsorbents for bromide removal because of theft ion exchange properties. In this study, the adsorption properties of LDHs for bromide and the method of regeneration of this material were examined. It has been found that the LDHs with Mg/Al molar ratio of 2 represented the highest capacity to remove bromide ion from aqueous solution at pH 6.0. The equilibrium isotherms of uptake of bromide by CLDH were well fitted by the Langmuir equation. Bromide adsorbed on the LDHs was effectively desorbed at 30% Na2CO3 solution and the LDHs were regenerated at the same time. The regenerated LDHs could be reused repeatedly for the bromide removal. Bromide in the exhausted desorption solution was recovered as bromine by oxidation using Cl2.     

Fossil Equidae in the Linxia Basin with Biostratigraphic and Paleozoogeographic Significance

The Linxia Basin is characterized by an abundance of Cenozoic sediments, that contain exceptionally rich fossil resources. Equids are abundant in the Linxia Basin, the fossil record of equids in this region including 16 species that represent 10 genera. In comparison to other classic late Cenozoic areas in China, the Linxia Basin stands out, because the fauna and chronological data accompanying Linxia equids render them remarkably useful for biostratigraphy. The anchitheriines in the region, such as Anchitherium and Sinohippus, represent early equids that appeared in the late stages of the middle and late Miocene, respectively. Among the equines, most species of Chinese hipparions have been identified in the Linxia Basin and some species of the genera Hipparion and Hippotherium have FAD records for China. Furthermore, Equus eisenmannae is one of the earliest known species of Equus in the Old World and is well-represented at the Longdan locality. Some species with precise geohistorical distributions can serve as standards for high-resolution chronological units within this framework. Located at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and subject to considerable uplift, the Linxia Basin has served as a biogeographic transition area for equids throughout the late Cenozoic.     

Catalytic ozonation of phenol in water with natural brucite and magnesia

Catalytic ozonation has attracted much attention in treatment of wastewater for its mild conditions. Phenol and its ramifications are common components in a wide variety of wastewaters including those from coal conversion processes, coking plants, petroleum refineries and several chemical industries. In this paper, natural brucite and magnesia have been successfully used in catalytic ozonation of phenol. And the mechanisms of catalysis were also investigated. From Figs. 1 and 2, it can be found that both brucite and magnesia have remarkable catalysis on degradation of phenol and removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand （COD）. The pH of solutions on the process of ozonation alone, catalytic ozonation with brucites and with magnesia were 6.35-2.76, 10.18-8.52 and 10.58-10.83, respectively. It can be concluded that alkali environment plays a critical role for catalytic ozonation of phenol. We also found that the alkaline minerals reacted on the surface with oxalic acid and other low molecular-weight acids which are intermediate products in ozonation, but those intermediate products could be mineralized into carbon dioxide completely with enough ozonation time.     

The κ-Cygnid Meteor Shower and Its Relationship with Near-Earth Asteroids

Astronomy Reports - This study is focused on the relationships between the κ-Cygnid meteor shower and different groups of asteroids crossing the Earth’s orbit (the so-called near-Earth...     

Immobilization of Cu and As in two contaminated soils with zero-valent iron – Long-term performance and mechanisms

Immobilization of trace elements in contaminated soils by zero-valent iron (ZVI) is a promising remediation method, but questions about its long-term performance remain unanswered. To quantify immobilization and predict possible contaminant remobilization on long timescales detailed knowledge about immobilization mechanisms is needed. This study aimed at assessing the long-term effect of ZVI amendments on dissolved copper and arsenic in contaminated soils, at exploring the immobilization mechanism(s), and at setting up a geochemical model able to estimate dissolved copper and arsenic under different scenarios. Samples from untreated and ZVI-treated plots in two field experiments where ZVI had been added 6 and 15 years ago were investigated by a combination of batch experiments, geochemical modeling and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. Dissolved copper and arsenic concentrations were described by a multisurface geochemical model with surface complexation reactions, verified by EXAFS. The ZVI remained “reactive” after 6–15 years, i.e. the dissolved concentrations of copper and arsenic were lower in the ZVI-treated than in the untreated soils. There was a shift in copper speciation from organic matter complexes in the untreated soil to surface complexes with iron (hydr)oxides in the ZVI-treated soil. The pH value was important for copper immobilization and ZVI did not have a stabilizing effect if pH was lower than about 6. Immobilization of arsenic was slightly pH-dependent and sensitive to the competition with phosphate. If phosphate was ignored in the modeling, the dissolution of arsenate was greatly underestimated.     

Characterization of microbial communities associated with African desert dust and their implications for human and ecosystem health

Desert winds aerosolize several billion tons of soil-derived dust each year, including concentrated seasonal pulses from Africa and Asia. Huge dust events create an atmospheric bridge over continents and oceans, and eject a large pulse of soil-associated microorganisms into the atmosphere. These dust events might therefore have a role in expanding the biogeographical range of some microorganisms by facilitating rare long-distance dispersal events. The goal of this study is to characterize the microbes associated with African dust events and determine if they pose a risk to humans or downwind ecosystems. Air samples were collected by vacuum filtration in a source region （Mali, West Africa） during dust events and plated on R2A media to culture microorganisms. These organisms were compared to those in similar samples collected in the Caribbean during Saharan/Sahelian dust events. A high-volume liquid impinger is currently being tested in Barbados, collecting aerosol samples during African dust events. Over 100 bacteria and fungi （19 genera of bacteria and three genera of fungi） have been characterized from source region dust events.     

Tin Deposits Associated with Rhyolitic Volcanic Rocks in Southeast China and Central-South America: Understandings and Prospects

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