Specific composition of native silver from the Rogovik Au–Ag deposit,Northeastern Russia

The first data on native silver from the Rogovik Au–Ag deposit in northeastern Russia are presented. The deposit is situated in central part of the Okhotsk–Chukchi Volcanic Belt (OCVB) in the territory of the Omsukchan Trough, unique in its silver resources. Native silver in the studied ore makes up finely dispersed inclusions no larger than 50 μm in size, which are hosted in quartz; fills microfractures and interstices in association with küstelite, electrum, acanthite, silver sulfosalts and selenides, argyrodite, and pyrite. It has been shown that the chemical composition of native silver, along with its typomorphic features, is a stable indication of the various stages of deposit formation and types of mineralization: gold–silver (Au–Ag), silver–base metal (Ag–Pb), and gold–silver–base metal (Au–Ag–Pb). The specificity of native silver is expressed in the amount of trace elements and their concentrations. In Au–Ag ore, the following trace elements have been established in native silver (wt %): up to 2.72 S, up to 1.86 Au, up to 1.70 Hg, up to 1.75 Sb, and up to 1.01 Se. Native silver in Ag–Pb ore is characterized by the absence of Au, high Hg concentrations (up to 12.62 wt %), and an increase in Sb, Se, and S contents; the appearance of Te, Cu, Zn, and Fe is notable. All previously established trace elements—Hg, Au, Sb, Se, Te, Cu, Zn, Fe, and S—are contained in native silver of Au–Ag–Pb ore. In addition, Pb appears, and silver and gold amalgams are widespread, as well as up to 24.61 wt % Hg and 11.02 wt % Au. Comparison of trace element concentrations in native silver at the Rogovik deposit with the literature data, based on their solubility in solid silver, shows that the content of chalcogenides (S, Se, Te) exceeds saturated concentrations. Possible mechanisms by which elevated concentrations of these elements are achieved in native silver are discussed. It is suggested that the appearance of silver amalgams, which is unusual for Au–Ag mineralization not only in the Omsukchan Trough, but also in OCVB as a whole, is caused by superposition of the younger Dogda–Erikit Hg-bearing belt on the older Ag-bearing Omsukchan Trough. In practice, the results can be used to determine the general line of prospecting and geological exploration at objects of this type.     

Integration of the radiation belt environment model into the space weather modeling framework

We have integrated the Fok radiation belt environment (RBE) model into the space weather modeling framework (SWMF). RBE is coupled to the global magnetohydrodynamics component (represented by the Block-Adaptive-Tree Solar-wind Roe-type Upwind Scheme, BATS-R-US, code) and the Ionosphere Electrodynamics component of the SWMF, following initial results using the Weimer empirical model for the ionospheric potential. The radiation belt (RB) model solves the convection–diffusion equation of the plasma in the energy range of 10 keV to a few MeV. In stand-alone mode RBE uses Tsyganenko's empirical models for the magnetic field, and Weimer's empirical model for the ionospheric potential. In the SWMF the BATS-R-US model provides the time dependent magnetic field by efficiently tracing the closed magnetic field-lines and passing the geometrical and field strength information to RBE at a regular cadence. The ionosphere electrodynamics component uses a two-dimensional vertical potential solver to provide new potential maps to the RBE model at regular intervals. We discuss the coupling algorithm and show some preliminary results with the coupled code. We run our newly coupled model for periods of steady solar wind conditions and compare our results to the RB model using an empirical magnetic field and potential model. We also simulate the RB for an active time period and find that there are substantial differences in the RB model results when changing either the magnetic field or the electric field, including the creation of an outer belt enhancement via rapid inward transport on the time scale of tens of minutes.     

Mineralization and magnetization of chiton teeth: paleomagnetic,sedimentologic, and biologic implications of organic magnetite

Magnetite precipitation and tooth formation in chitons (Polyplacophora) proceeds through a biochemically-controlled reduction of the mineral ferrihydrite. Resulting crystals of single-domain magnetite are closely packed against one another and are typically near 0.1 μm in diameter. The natural magnetization of these teeth is characterized by abnormally low stability to alternating field demagnetization (m.d.f. near 12 mT) but has no appreciable decay due to low-temperature cycling. Chitons may be responsible for natural magnetizations on the order of 10^?6 G in marine sediments, whereas mud bacteria could produce remanence near 10^?8 G in both marine and freshwater sediments.     

Eco-friendly smart hydrogels for soil conditioning and sustain release fertilizer

In the agricultural industry, biomass waste generated along with the production of food, is transformed into value-added products. Also, the demand for the slow or control release fertilizer is increasing to reduce the cost of maintaining the agricultural land. These issues are tackled by converting biomass waste to a slow fertilizer release vehicle and biodegradable water retention material that could reduce the cost for fertilizer application and simultaneously preserved the soil from dryness. A series of carboxymethyl sago pulp (CMSP) hydrogels were prepared by electron beam irradiation. Slow release systems were evaluated by loading potassium nitrate (KNO₃) and ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) into the CMSP hydrogels. These CMSP hydrogels endow slow release property, biodegradability and a soil moisture preservation property that could find greener application in agricultural industries. The results indicate that CMSP hydrogels have a great potential as an agent for slow release of fertilizers.     

Prediction of relativistic electron flux in the Earth’s outer radiation belt at geostationary orbit by adaptive methods

The paper investigates the possibilities of the prediction of the time series of the flux of relativistic electrons in the Earth’s outer radiation belt by parameters of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field measured at the libration point and by the values of the geomagnetic indices. Different adaptive methods are used (namely, artificial neural networks, group method of data handling, and projection to latent structures). The comparison of quality indicators of predictions with a horizon of 1–12 h between each other and with the trivial model prediction has shown that the best result is obtained for the average value of the responses of three neural networks that have been trained with different sets of initial weights. The prediction result of the group method of data handling is close to the result of neural networks, and the projection to latent structures is much worse. It is shown that an increase in the prediction horizon from 1 to 12 h reduces its quality but not dramatically, which makes it possible to use these methods for medium-term prediction.     

Geomorphology of the Barrington Tops area,New South Wales

K‐Ar total rock age determinations have been made on a sequence of metasedimentary rocks resting on a 2350 m.y.‐old basement in southern Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The metasediments have an Rb‐Sr age of 1785 m.y., but K‐Ar isochrons suggest that relatively high temperatures persisted for a further 250 million years before the rocks became systems closed to K and Ar diffusion. A significant amount of ⁴⁰Ar was trapped in the metasediments at the time of closure of the K‐Ar system, 1550 million years ago.