纤磷钙铝石类化合物:来自地球具工艺用途的材料(英文)

纤磷钙铝石类化合物系由自纤磷钙铝石CaAl3 (OH) 6(HPO4) (PO4)本身、经磷钙铝石CaAl3 (OH) 6(SO4) (PO4)到钾明矾石KAl3 (OH ) 6(SO4) 2 等的天然矿物族所组成的。它们表现出具有很大范围的阳离子置换系列 ,其中以Sr2 +和Ba2 +置换Ca2 +,REEs3 +置换Ca2 +和H+,As5 +置换P5 +,S6+/Se6+置换H+P5 +最为重要。随着置换的进行 ,其热动力学稳定性也逐渐增加。由此 ,纤磷钙铝石类化合物成为很能抗风化的矿物 ,在红土中尤其如此。厚的纤磷钙铝石层形成在闪长岩 (富Sr) ,碳酸盐岩 (富REEs)和含金石英脉 (富As)之上 ,从而保护整个磷酸盐红土 ,使之免受风化。以此方式 ,形成了桌状山脉或岛屿 ,他们具有未受覆盖的表面。这些“纤磷钙铝”石化合物为上述及其它元素形成一有效的地球化学障。“纤磷钙铝石”的这种天然地球化学固定作用可以用适当的母体或人工合成晶体来进行模拟 ,即通过金属阳离子交换或就地反应来模拟。这种固定作用还可用于处理天然和人造的放射性裂变产物、有毒的重金属元素、砷酸盐和硒酸盐、硫酸盐等。     

湖北竹山寒武纪碳硅质板岩中蓝色似绿松石的特征分析

湖北竹山县寒武纪碳硅质板岩层间破碎带内有大量蓝色的磷钙铝矾、纤磷钙铝石混合物与绿松石共生,物理性质表现为致密坚硬而性脆,吸水性强。化学成分分析硅和铝的含量高,磷含量少,并含有少量的硫和铜,是溶液为酸性时的产物。     

浙江诸暨地开石矿床中的磷铝锶石及其成因探讨

报道了赋存于上侏罗系蚀变凝灰岩型地开石矿床中的磷铝锶石矿物。它的含量不到３％。通过氢氟酸溶蚀，富集了磷铝锶石。用ＸＲＤ和ＩＲ研究了磷铝锶石的矿物学特征，并获得了良好ＩＲ图谱。磷铝锶石矿物具有特征的３４７５ｃｍ－１和３０７０ｃｍ－１ＯＨ吸收峰可区别于其他同族矿物。这种磷铝锶石形成于成岩作用后期，晚于地开石。     

浙江诸暨地开石矿中的磷铝锶石及其成因探讨

报道了赋存于上侏罗系蚀变凝灰岩型地开石矿床中的磷铝锶石矿物。它的含量不到３％。通过氢氟酸溶蚀，富集了磷铝锶石。用ＸＲＤ和ＩＲ研究了磷铝锶石的矿物学特征，并获得了良好ＩＲ图谱。     

含铀矿物 纤磷钙铝石

1984年,作者在对湖南安化西家冲矿点和湖北崇阳67号矿床的炭质泥岩工作时,在对粘土矿物进行研究的过程中,发现了含铀的纤磷钙铝石。纤磷钙铝石是一种有外来负离子的含水磷酸盐矿物,在显微镜下为显微粒状、球粒状、     

软玉中的一种绿色斑点——钙铝榴石

近年来我国软玉市场上见到一种比较罕见的局部带有翠绿色矿物的软玉,其矿物组成及绿色斑点还没有相关研究报道.本文应用高倍率光学显微镜观察到绿色矿物的晶形较完整并呈斑点状分布,再利用拉曼光谱仪和能量色散荧光光谱仪对样品及其绿色矿物进行无损分析.结果表明,该软玉样品主要矿物成分为透闪石,呈斑点状分布的绿色矿物为钙铝榴石,钙铝榴石的主要致色元素为Cr元素,因此含Cr绿色钙铝榴石是使玉石局部呈现绿色的原因之一,与青海翠青玉、碧玉的绿色成因有一定差异.绿色石榴石多出现于碧玉中,在其他品种的软玉中一般没有见到,本文研究的玉石中出现一定数量并有一定晶体形态的绿色钙铝榴石对研究该类玉石的产地及矿床成因具有重要意义.     

福建南平伟晶岩中的柱磷锶锂矿—磷铝钙锂石

柱磷锶锂矿与磷铝钙锂石是一完全类质同象系列（Ｓｒ，Ｃａ）的两个端元矿物，二者在自然界都十分罕见，仅少量产于花岗伟晶岩中，所报道的产地也廖廖无几。笔者于１９８５年在福建南平花岗伟晶岩田的白云母－钠长石－锂辉石型伟晶岩中发现了这两种矿物、二者在国内均属首次发现，本文详细地报道了南平柱磷锶锂矿－磷铝钙锂石的产状、物理性质、化学成分、Ｘ射线衍射特征及矿物晶胞参数等。研究指出：南平柱磷锶锂矿是伟晶岩中原生大     

钙铝—钙铁系列石榴子石的特征及其交代机理

本文作者在全国14个典型矿区的野外工作基础上，进行了超基性-酸性侵入岩与碳酸盐岩的接触交代实验;火山气热液与火山岩的相互交代实验;区域沉积变质和混合岩化过程中的交代作用实验。实验结果表明，在350-700℃和300×105-1400 ×lO5 Pa的温度、压力条件下，在lon fO2=-28.637- -16.514的氧逸度范围内，在pH= 4.0-11.0的含不同浓度Na、K卤化物的溶液中，形成了水榴石、水钙铝榴石、钙铝榴石、钙铁榴石以及水榴石-水钙铝榴石、水钙铝榴石-钙铝榴石和钙铝榴石-钙铁榴石的过渡性矿物。用显微镜、X射线衍射和红外光谱等分析方法，测定了它们的主要光学特征。最后，通过物理化学条件的分析，揭示了它们形成的交代机理。     

安徽马鞍山磷铝石宝石矿物学特征研究

近年来在安徽马鞍山地区所在的绿松石矿体附近,相继发现一种绿色、半透明的磷铝石,部分达到宝石级别。本文采用电子探针、X射线粉晶衍射仪、扫描电镜、傅里叶变换红外光谱仪、紫外可见光谱仪等测试技术,对该地区磷铝石的化学成分、矿物成分、微观结构和光谱特征进行对比验证和综合分析,研究其水的赋存形式,进而对磷铝石的呈色机制作了深入探讨。电子探针分析显示该地区磷铝石的化学成分主要以Al、P元素组成,含微量的Fe、V元素。X射线粉晶衍射与红外吸收光谱分析表明主要矿物为磷铝石,基本不含有其他杂质矿物;磷铝石是一种水合磷酸盐矿物,含有结晶水以及少量结构水的矿物,且结晶水与结构水多与Al3+(Fe3+)相结合的形式存在。偏光显微镜和扫描电镜观察显示磷铝石整体以鳞片状集合体产出,微观上多以短柱状及板片状堆积,单个晶体显示斜方晶系结晶生长习性。紫外可见吸收光谱中639 nm处吸收谱峰由Fe3+与V3+联合所致,300、423、864 nm处吸收峰由Fe3+所致,说明Fe3+与V3+的共同作用是马鞍山地区磷铝石呈现绿色的主要原因。本研究对于认识该类磷铝石的宝石矿物学性质以及颜色成因具有一定意义。     

南平花岗传晶岩中的羟磷铝锂石矿物学研究

羟磷铝锂石是南平稀有金属花岗传晶岩中的重要标型矿物，可分为原生和次生两大类，最主要的前者，一般呈块体状，共生矿物主要有钠长石，钾长石，锂辉石，铌钽矿物。本文详细讨论了南平铝锂石的化学成分、Ｘ射线粉晶衍射资料、红外光谱和差热分析结果。     

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.     

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).     

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.     

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.