Geochemistry of beryllium in Bulgarian coals

The beryllium content of about 3000 samples (coal, coaly shales, partings, coal lithotypes, and isolated coalified woods) from 16 Bulgarian coal deposits was determined by atomic emission spectrography. Mean Be concentrations in coal show great variability: from 0.9 to 35 ppm for the deposits studied. There was no clear-cut relationship between Be content and rank. The following mean and confidence interval Be values were measured: lignites, 2.6 ± 0.8 ppm; sub-bituminous coals, 8.2 ± 3.3 ppm; bituminous coals, 3.0 ± 1.2 ppm; and anthracites, 19 ± 9.0 ppm. The Be contents in coal and coaly shales for all deposits correlated positively suggesting a common source of the element. Many samples of the coal lithotypes vitrain and xylain proved to be richer in Be than the hosting whole coal samples as compared on ash basis. Up to tenfold increase in Be levels was routinely recorded in fusain. The ash of all isolated coalified woods was found to contain 1.1 to 50 times higher Be content relative to its global median value for coal inclusions.Indirect evidence shows that Be occurs in both organic and inorganic forms. Beryllium is predominantly organically bound in deposits with enhanced Be content, whereas the inorganic form prevails in deposits whose Be concentration approximates Clarke values.The enrichment in Be exceeding the coal Clarke value 2.4 to 14.5 times in some of the Bulgarian deposits is attributed to subsynchronous at the time of coal deposition hydrothermal and volcanic activity.     

Incidental capture of diamondback terrapin by crab pots

Two-hundred eighty-one diamondback terrapins (195♂, 86♀) were captured in baited and unbaited crab pots during premolt crab capture studies in South Carolina. Sampling was conducted four consecutive days each week from mid April to mid November, 1979, in the Ashley River estuary, and daily from April to July, 1980 and 1981, in the Wando River estuary. Fifty-five percent of the total were captured in April, and 32% in May. Males outnumbered females 2.3∶1, but this ratio may reflect crab pot entrance bias which restricted entry of large females. Median plastron length of females was 121 mm (range 76–175) and that for males 100 mm. (range 79–128); only two male terrapins equalled or exceeded the minimum legal size limit of 127 mm. Few captured terrapins were drowned when crab pots were checked daily, and it is estimated that capture mortality amounted to 10%. Terrapin catch per baited crab pot averaged 0.16 daily in April and May. Incidental terrapin capture by 743 commercial crabbers (fiscal year 1982 numbers) in South Carolina during April and May was estimated at 2,853 daily, and mortality was estimated at 285. These estimates are exclusive of mortalities resulting from lost pots. The impact of crabbing activities is believed to pose no threat to the terrapin population at current levels of commercial terrapin harvest. Because female terrapins mature at the minimum legal size, no segment of the egg laying population is protected except seasonally. If direct harvest of terrapins ever approaches that of the early twentieth century, then it is recommended that legal size limits be changed to protect a segment of the mature female population.     

The Scale of VGI in Map Production: A Perspective on European National Mapping Agencies

The perspective of European National Mapping Agencies (NMA) on the role of citizen sensing in map production was explored. The NMAs varied greatly in their engagement with the community generating volunteered geographic information (VGI) and in their future plans. From an assessment of NMA standard practices, it was evident that much VGI was acquired with a positional accuracy that, while less than that typically acquired by NMAs, actually exceeded the requirements of the nominal data capture scale used by most NMAs. Opportunities for VGI use in map revision and updating were evident, especially for agencies that use a continuous rather than cyclical updating policy. Some NMAs had also developed systems to engage with citizen sensors and examples are discussed. Only rarely was VGI used to collect data on features beyond the standard set used by the NMAs. The potential role of citizen sensing and so its current scale of use by NMAs is limited by a series of concerns, notably relating to issues of data quality, the nature and motivation of the contributors, legal issues, the sustainability of data source, and employment fears of NMA staff. Possible priorities for future research and development are identified to help ensure that the potential of VGI in mapping is realized.     

A note on the useable dynamic range of accelerographs recording translation

Since the late 1970s, the dynamic range and resolution of strong motion digital recorders have leaped from 65 to 135 dB, opening new possibilities for advanced data processing and interpretation. One of these new possibilities is the calculation of permanent displacement of the ground or of structures, associated with faulting or with non-linear response. Proposals on how permanent displacements could be recovered from recorded strong motion have been published since 1976. The analysis in this paper concludes that permanent displacements of the ground and of structures in the near-field can be calculated provided all six components of strong motion (three translations and three rotations) have been recorded, and the records are corrected for transducer rotation, misalignment and cross-axis sensitivity.     

Indirect tensile test assessments for rock materials using 3-D disc-type specimens

Indirect test methods are usually the preferred approach for determining the tensile strength of brittle and quasi-brittle materials such as ceramics, rocks, and concrete. In this paper, the tensile strength of a rock material (Iranian Harsin marble) was obtained indirectly by means of two disc type samples. The test samples were the well-known Brazilian disc and semi-disc specimen under three-point bend loading. Since the existing formula for determining the indirect tensile strength is based on 2-D stress assumption which ignores the effects of specimen thickness, a general 3-D tensile strength formulation was derived for each sample by employing finite element analysis. A series of tensile strength tests were conducted on Harsin white marble using disc and semi-disc specimens with different thicknesses in parallel to finite element analysis. The test results using 3-D formulation showed that the tensile strength of the tested marble depends on the thickness/diameter ratio of the specimen and generally decreases from 11.5 to 7 MPa on increasing the thickness of test samples. The average values of tensile strength were about 8.8 MPa for the Brazilian disc specimen and 9.8 MPa for the semi-disc specimen. The good agreement existing between the results of the two specimens suggests that the semi-disc specimen can also be used for determining the rock tensile strength in addition to using the conventional Brazilian test.     

X-ray absorption contrast images of binary chemical reactions

Low-divergence synchrotron-sourced X-rays enable a radiographic imaging scheme for full characterization of binary chemical reactions and characterization by type of more complex reactions, in situ, in diamond anvil cells (DAC). Spatially resolved reactants are induced to react by laser heating of their interface. The spatially intermediate products are observed through X-ray absorption contrast. Limits to the technique include the ability to maintain controlled experiment geometry during compression and the ability to resolve chemical differences between reactants and products by X-ray absorption. The ability to make in situ observations at experimental pressure and temperature obviates the problem with quenching techniques for capturing liquid compositions in experiments with dimensions smaller than the diffusion length during quenching time. Partially molten Fe-alloy systems, of poor quenchability, are examined at DAC pressures and temperatures for relevance to Earth's core constitution and evolution. Determinations of eutectic melting in Fe–FeS match known results. Of the probable light elements that may alloy with Fe in the Earth's liquid outer core, Fe–FeS experiments show only modest quenching problems, but C and Si alloy experiments are highly vulnerable to quenching artifacts. The observed reactivity of FeS, Fe₃C, FeSi, and FeO(OH) with Fe in DAC makes the observed non-reactivity between Fe and FeO more significant, reducing the probability that oxygen alone is the major alloy in Earth's molten outer core.     

Automated Extraction of a Five‐Year LA‐ICP‐MS Trace Element Data Set of Ten Common Glass and Carbonate Reference Materials: Long‐Term Data Quality,Optimisation and Laser Cell Homogeneity

LA‐ICP‐MS is increasingly applied to obtain quantitative multi‐element data with minimal sample preparation, usually achieved by calibration using reference materials (RMs). However, some ubiquitous RMs, for example the NIST SRM 61× series glasses, suffer from reported value uncertainties for certain elements. Moreover, no long‐term data set of analyses conducted over a range of ablation and tuning conditions exists. Thus, there has been little rigorous examination of the extent to which offsets between measured and reported values are the result of error in these values rather than analytically induced fractionation. We present new software (‘LA‐MINE’), capable of extracting LA‐ICP‐MS data with no user input, and apply this to our system, yielding over 5 years of data (~ 5700 analyses of ten glass and carbonate RMs). We examine the relative importance of systematic analytical bias and possible error in reported values through a mass‐specific breakdown of fourteen of the most commonly determined elements. Furthermore, these data, obtained under a wide range of different ablation conditions, enable specific recommendations of how data quality may be improved, for example the role of diatomic gas, the effect of differential inter‐glass fractionation factors and choice of transport tubing material. Finally, these data demonstrate that the two‐volume Laurin ablation cell is characterised by no discernible spatial heterogeneity in measured trace element ratios.     

Geoarchaeological evidence on a Late Bronze Age earthquake,Ohrid Basin (North Macedonia)

Geoarchaeological investigations on the northeastern shore of Lake Ohrid revealed 3.5 m thick deepwater lacustrine sediments overlying terrestrial vegetation macrofossils, worked wood and abundant potsherds dated to the Late Bronze Age (LBA). Distinct contact of deepwater sediment with the sub-aerial weathered limestone bedrock point to a sudden increase in lake level. According to radiocarbon data, catastrophic flooding occurred shortly after 1214 yr bc. Because the area is located in a highly active seismic zone, we propose that this event was caused by tectonically induced, metre-scale coseismic subsidence related to faults bordering the Ohrid alluvial plain. Moreover, this event coincides well with a dramatic switch in the habitation and settlement strategy in the region. More important, however, is the finding that the age of the proposed massive tectonic event and change in habitation lies within the interval of the proposed ‘earthquake storm’ in the eastern Mediterranean dated to 1225–1175 bc. As the Ohrid-Korça zone belongs to the same tectonic province, a relationship between the abovementioned earthquakes and the proposed event can be expected. This research therefore might provide the first direct evidence of a large-scale earthquake event linkable to the LBA collapse of Europe's first urban civilisation in the Aegean.     

Algal Dynamics in Relation to Physico-Chemical Factors in a High Altitude Pond of Shillong,India

A one year phycological study of a high altitude pond has been made with a view to studying the algal dynamics as affected by physico-chemical characteristics of the water. This has revealed the presence of 34 genera of algae belonging to Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Cyanophyta, and Euglenophyta. Chlorophytes were the most dominant and diatoms the most frequent representatives of algae. The community diversity along with water chemistry are indicative of the oligotrophic nature of this pond.