The Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector for ATHENA X-IFU: a scientific assessment of the observational capabilities in the hard X-ray band

ATHENA is a large X-ray observatory, planned to be launched by ESA in 2028 towards an L2 orbit. One of the two instruments of the payload is the X-IFU: a cryogenic spectrometer based on a large array of TES microcalorimeters, able to perform integral field spectrography in the 0.2–12 keV band (2.5 eV FWHM at 6 keV). The X-IFU sensitivity is highly degraded by the particle background expected in the L2 orbit, which is induced by primary protons of both galactic and solar origin, and mostly by secondary electrons. To reduce the particle background level and enable the mission science goals, the instrument incorporates a Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector (CryoAC). It is a 4 pixel TES based detector, placed < 1 mm below the main array. In this paper we report a scientific assessment of the CryoAC observational capabilities in the hard X-ray band (E > 10 keV). The aim of the study has been to understand if the present detector design can be improved in order to enlarge the X-IFU scientific capability on an energy band wider than the TES array. This is beyond the CryoAC baseline, being this instrument aimed to operate as anticoincidence particle detector and not conceived to perform X-ray observations.     

Stable isotopes of pedogenic carbonates from the Somma–Vesuvius area,southern Italy,over the past 18 kyr: palaeoclimatic implications

Stable isotopes were measured in the carbonate and organic matter of palaeosols in the Somma–Vesuvius area, southern Italy in order to test whether they are suitable proxy records for climatic and ecological changes in this area during the past 18000 yr. The ages of the soils span from ca. 18 to ca. 3 kyr BP. Surprisingly, the Last Glacial to Holocene climate transition was not accompanied by significant change in δ¹⁸O of pedogenic carbonate. This could be explained by changes in evaporation rate and in isotope fractionation between water and precipitated carbonate with temperature, which counterbalanced the expected change in isotope composition of meteoric water. Because of the rise in temperature and humidity and the progressive increase in tree cover during the Holocene, the Holocene soil carbonates closely reflect the isotopic composition of meteoric water. A cooling of about 2°C after the Avellino eruption (3.8 ka) accounts for a sudden decrease of about 1‰ in δ¹⁸O of pedogenic carbonate recorded after this eruption. The δ¹³C values of organic matter and pedogenic carbonate covary, indicating an effective isotope equilibrium between the organic matter, as the source of CO₂, and the pedogenic carbonate. Carbon isotopes suggest prevailing C₃ vegetation and negligible mixing with volcanogenic or atmospheric CO₂. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

张性盆地裂后异常沉降的正反演数值模拟方法

世界上许多张性沉积盆地存在远大于McKenzie模型理论值的裂后异常沉降, 南海北部陆缘的沉积盆地也是如此; 确定裂后异常沉降的特征和分布是认识其成因机制和对油气成藏影响的前提.介绍了估算裂后异常沉降的3种方法: 古水深比较法、应变速率反演法和沉降过程二维正反演法, 并指出了各方法的应用前提和优缺点.对于由作者提出的后一种方法还结合在珠江口盆地的应用实例进行了较详细的讨论, 表明这种方法能在考虑岩石圈挠曲强度的基础上正演模拟出单幕或多幕盆地沉降及相应的岩石圈伸展系数, 从而计算出盆地理论热沉降, 与通过回剥反演得到的实测构造沉降进行对比; 还指出了该方法存在的问题和需进一步研究之处.      

夏季不同天气背景和灌溉条件下绿洲地表辐射和能量平衡特征

利用2005年"绿洲系统能量和水分循环过程"野外观测实验(JTEX)资料,分析了夏季不同天气背景下的金塔绿洲小气候特征、辐射和能量平衡特征的日变化规律.结果表明:不同天气和土壤湿度背景下的辐射和能量平衡特征有较大差异.观测中发现有较大的能量不平衡差额,晴天时的能量亏损大于阴天的.     

基于COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS的直流电法正演模拟

以点电源和线电源为例,叙述了基于COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS的直流电法正演模拟过程。通过对COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS正演模拟解与理论值的对比分析,验证了应用COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS进行直流电法正演模拟的正确性与可行性。鉴于COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS强大的剖分求解功能及丰富的后处理操作,可以快速、准确实现正演模拟,其在地球物理正演模拟中的应用的研究意义重大。     

Short chain ladderanes: Oxic biodegradation products of anammox lipids

Anammox, the microbial anaerobic oxidation of ammonium by nitrite to produce dinitrogen gas, has been recognized as a key process in both the marine and freshwater nitrogen cycles, and found to be a major sink for fixed inorganic nitrogen in the oceans. Ladderane lipids are unique anammox bacterial membrane lipids that have been used as biomarkers for anammox bacteria in recent and past environmental settings. However, the fate of ladderane lipids during diagenesis is as of yet unknown. In this study, we performed oxic degradation experiments (at 20-100 °C) with anammox bacterial biomass to simulate early diagenetic processes occurring in the water column and at the sediment-water interface. Abundances of C₁₈ and C₂₀ ladderane lipids decreased with increasing temperatures, testifying to their labile nature. The most abundant products formed were ladderane lipids with a shorter alkyl side chain (C₁₄ and C₁₆ ladderane fatty acids), which was unambiguously established using two-dimensional NMR techniques on an isolated C₁₄-[3]-ladderane fatty acid. The most pronounced production of these short-chain lipids was at 40 °C, suggesting that degradation of ladderane lipids was microbially mediated, likely through a β-oxidation pathway. An HPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the detection of these ladderane alteration products in environmental samples and positively tested on various sediments. This showed that the ladderanes formed during degradation experiments also naturally occur in the marine environment. Thus, short-chain ladderane lipids may complement the original longer-chain ladderane lipids as suitable biomarkers for the detection of anammox processes in past depositional environments.     

Bounding difference: Intersectionality and the material production of gender, caste, class and environment in Nepal

Current theorising in human geography draws attention to the relational emergence of space and society, challenging ideas of difference that rely on fixed identities and emphasising the importance of the everyday in the production of social inequalities. Similarly, feminist political ecology has emphasised the role of ‘nature’ or ‘environment’ in the production of subjectivities such that ideas of gender and nature arise in relation to each other. In this paper I build from these insights to explore the ways in which the embodied performance of gender, caste and other aspects of social difference collapse the distinction between the material and the symbolic. Symbolic ideas of difference are produced and expressed through embodied interactions that are firmly material. Through this kind of conceptualisation, I hope to push forward debates in geography on nature and feminist political ecology on how to understand the intersectional emergence of subjectivities, difference and socio-natures. Importantly, it is the symbolic meanings of particular spaces, practices and bodies that are (re)produced through everyday activities including forest harvesting, agricultural work, food preparation and consumption, all of which have consequences for both ecological processes and social difference. Through the performance of everyday tasks, not only are ideas of gender, caste and social difference brought into view, but the embodied nature of difference that extends beyond the body and into the spaces of everyday life is evident. I use ethnographic evidence from rural Nepal to explore the ways in which boundaries between bodies, spaces, ecologies and symbolic meanings of difference are produced and maintained relationally through practices of work and ritual.     

利用地面LiDAR精细化测量活断层微地貌形态——以毛垭坝断裂禾尼处断层崖为例

受地壳内部持续运动和沉积、风化等自然动力及人类生产与生活活动影响,活断层微地貌形态往往比较复杂,传统测量方法较难快速、高效地获取大范围内精细化的活断层微地貌形态,激光雷达扫描技术的出现和发展为活断层微地貌的精细化与定量化研究提供了新的技术手段。以川西理塘毛垭坝盆地北缘的正断层崖为研究对象,利用地面LiDAR获取活断层微地貌高精度点云后,经过点云配准、滤波、重采样和三角构网处理后,建立了0.05 m分辨率的数字高程模型和真彩色三维模型,在此基础上分析了断层崖地貌特征,并获取了正断层错动两期最新地貌面的精确垂直位错量。研究结果表明,地面LiDAR技术是精细测量活断层微地貌形态和量化相关地貌特征参数的有效手段,提高了活断层微地貌形态测量的精度和认识水平。     

巴州坳陷下白垩统—中侏罗统的粘土矿物特征

根据岩石薄片、X衍射和扫描电镜分析资料,本文研究了巴州坳陷下白垩统一中侏罗统粘土矿物特征,发现粘土矿物分为伊利石、伊/蒙混层和绿泥石三种类型。粘土矿物的类型和含量随深度而变化,形成了伊/蒙混层带、混层迅速转化带和伊利石带。粘土矿物的转化和自生粘土矿物的形成是沉积地层非常重要的成岩变化。     

阴极发光和红外光谱技术在金刚石研究中的应用

总结了阴极发光（ＣＬ）及傅立叶变换红外光谱（ＦＴＩＲ）技术在金刚石研究中的应用。ＣＬ图像可以揭示金刚石的内部结构、生长机制、生长阶段及过程,提供塑性变形及是否含有ＣＯ２的信息,验证和解释微区ＦＴＩＲ分析、稳定同位素及地质年代研究的结果,为天然金刚石和合成金刚石的区分提供关键证据。合成金刚石的实验研究表明,氮的不同聚集态丰度值是聚集温度ＴＮＡ、金刚石存留时间ｔＭＲ及氮丰度值的函数,利用地质信息和ＦＴ