Induced modifications of kaolinite under ionizing radiation: an infrared spectroscopic study

Radiation effects on kaolinite were investigated using He⁺ ions of 1.5 MeV at radiation doses up to 4.3 × 10⁸ Gy, which are comparable to the doses expected for clay barriers in high-level nuclear waste repositories. The concentration of paramagnetic radiation-induced defects in kaolinite reaches 2 × 10¹⁶ spins/mg (400 at. ppm), as determined by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The broadening of X-ray diffraction patterns and transmission infrared (IR) absorption bands is mostly related to the structural strain induced by radiation-induced point defects. The broadening of IR absorption spectra is analyzed using an autocorrelation approach and is related to a change in the distribution of vibrational frequencies due to crystal heterogeneities. We theoretically analyze how the effective dielectric properties of kaolinite samples depend on macroscopic parameters and how irradiation can modify some of them. Irradiation leads to an increase in the electronic polarizability of kaolinite particles, related to the accumulation of radiation-induced electronic point defects.     

57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy of tektites

Tektite glasses are investigated using ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Room temperature spectra analysis is performed using two complementary analytical methods based on two-dimensional distributions of both isomer shift and quadrupole splitting. No a priori correlation between the two hyperfine parameters is considered. The first method, based on a shape independent distribution, provides the justification for the Gaussian distribution shape used in the second method. No ferric iron contribution is evidenced by Mössbauer spectra analysis in these samples, although several criteria are used. Ferrous iron sites are shown to be continuously distributed between four- and five-fold co-ordinated sites.     

Presumed magnetic biosignatures observed in magnetite derived from abiotic reductive alteration of nanogoethite

The oriented chains of nanoscale Fe-oxide particles produced by magnetotactic bacteria are a striking example of biomineralization. Several distinguishing features of magnetite particles that comprise bacterial magnetosomes have been proposed to collectively constitute a biosignature of magnetotactic bacteria (Thomas-Keprta et al., 2001). These features include high crystallinity, chemical purity, a single-domain magnetic structure, well-defined crystal morphology, and arrangement of particles in chain structures. Here, we show that magnetite derived from the inorganic breakdown of nanocrystalline goethite exhibits magnetic properties and morphologies remarkably similar to those of biogenic magnetite from magnetosomes. During heating in reducing conditions, oriented nanogoethite aggregates undergo dehydroxylation and transform into stoichiometric magnetite. We demonstrate that highly crystalline single-domain magnetite with euhedral grain morphologies produced abiogenically from goethite meets several of the biogenicity criteria commonly used for the identi?cation of magnetofossils. Furthermore, the suboxic conditions necessary for magnetofossil preservation in sediments are conducive to the reductive alteration of nanogoethite, as well as the preservation of detrital magnetite originally formed from goethite. The findings of this study have potential implications for the identification of biogenic magnetite, particularly in older sediments where diagenesis commonly disrupts the chain structure of magnetosomes. Our results indicate that isolated magnetofossils cannot be positively distinguished from inorganic magnetite on the basis of their magnetic properties and morphology, and that intact chain structures remain the only reliable distinguishing feature of fossil magnetosomes.     

Collocation resolution of the oceanic geoid based on satellite altimetry

The approach presented is directed toward a specific adaptation of the least‐squares collocation with noise, yielding smooth predictions of geophysical quantities. The smoothing corresponds here to a truncated gravity field equivalent to an (n’, n') spherical‐harmonic expansion. This is reflected in the truncation, at the degree n‘, of the pertinent covariance and cross‐covariance functions in most (but not all) instances. The smooth predictions of geophysical quantities, made in an equilateral grid corresponding to the truncation degree n‘, serve in constructing contour maps after having been densified for the needs of a contour routine. Such a densification is carried out efficiently via errorless collocation with the degree truncation n‘ throughout. Consistent with this procedure, “residuals” at observation points (i.e., discrepancies between the contour map and the data) are computed using the same algorithm. The complete collocation approach is utilized for a 2° resolution of the earth's gravity field with emphasis on the oceanic geoid, based on the residuals from a global spherical‐harmonic adjustment of SEASAT altimetry. The presented results include contour maps of geoid undulations and gravity anomalies. They are compared to the results of a point‐mass adjustment, another technique based on the spherical‐harmonic adjustment. The agreement between these two techniques is found to be excellent.     

Abrupt onset of carbonate deposition in Lake Kivu during the 1960s: response to recent environmental changes

This study interprets the recent history of Lake Kivu, a tropical lake in the East African Rift Valley. The current gross sedimentation was characterized from a moored sediment trap array deployed over 2 years. The past net sedimentation was investigated with three short cores from two different basins. Diatom assemblages from cores were interpreted as reflecting changes in mixing depth, surface salinity and nutrient availability. The contemporary sediment trap data indicate seasonal variability, governed by diatom blooms during the annual mixing in the dry season, similar to Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika. The ratio of settling fluxes to net sediment accumulation rates implies mineralization rates of 80–90% at the sediment-water interface. The sediment cores revealed an abrupt change ~40 years ago, when carbonate precipitation started. Since the 1960s, deep-water methane concentrations, nutrient fluxes and soil mineral inputs have increased considerably and diatom assemblages have altered. These modifications probably resulted from a combination of three factors, commonly altering lake systems: the introduction of a non-native fish species, eutrophication, and hydrological changes inducing greater upwelling. Both the fish introduction and increased rainfall occurred at the time when the onset of carbonate precipitation was observed, whereas catchment population growth accompanied by intensified land use increased the flux of soil minerals already since the early twentieth century due to more intense erosion.     

Mapping of erosion rates in marly badlands based on a coupling of anatomical changes in exposed roots with slope maps derived from LiDAR data

Black marls form very extensive outcrops in the Alps and constitute some of the most eroded terrains, thus causing major problems of sedimentation in artificial storage systems (e.g. reservoirs) and river systems. In the experimental catchments near Draix (France), soil erosion rates have been measured in the past at the plot scale through a detailed monitoring of surface elevation changes and at the catchment scale through continuous monitoring of sediment yield in traps at basin outlets. More recently, erosion rates have been determined by means of dendrogeomorphic techniques in three monitored catchments of the Draix basin. A total of 48 exposed roots of Scots pine have been sampled and anatomical variations in annual growth rings resulting from denudation analysed. At the plot scale, average medium‐term soil erosion rates derived from exposed roots vary between 1·8 and 13·8 mm yr^?1 (average: 5·9 mm yr^?1) and values are significantly correlated with slope angle. The dendrogeomorphic record of point‐scale soil erosion rates matches very well with soil erosion rates measured in the Draix basins. Based on the point‐scale measurements and dendrogeomorphic results obtained at the point scale, a linear regression model involving slope angle was derived and coupled to high‐resolution slope maps obtained from a LiDAR‐generated digital elevation model so as to generate high‐resolution soil erosion maps. The resulting regression model is statistically significant and average soil erosion rates obtained from the areal erosion map (5·8, 5·2 and 6·2 mm yr^?1 for the Roubine, Moulin and Laval catchments, respectively) prove to be well in concert with average annual erosion rates measured in traps at the outlet of these catchments since 1985 (6·3, 4·1 and 6·4 mm yr^?1). This contribution demonstrates that dendrogeomorphic analyses of roots clearly have significant potential and that they are a powerful tool for the quantification and mapping of soil erosion rates in areas where measurements of past erosion is lacking. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupled discrete element and finite volume solution of two classical soil mechanics problems

One dimensional solutions for the classic critical upward seepage gradient/quick condition and the time rate of consolidation problems are obtained using coupled routines for the finite volume method (FVM) and discrete element method (DEM), and the results compared with the analytical solutions. The two phase flow in a system composed of fluid and solid is simulated with the fluid phase modeled by solving the averaged Navier–Stokes equation using the FVM and the solid phase is modeled using the DEM. A framework is described for the coupling of two open source computer codes: YADE-OpenDEM for the discrete element method and OpenFOAM for the computational fluid dynamics. The particle–fluid interaction is quantified using a semi-empirical relationship proposed by Ergun [12]. The two classical verification problems are used to explore issues encountered when using coupled flow DEM codes, namely, the appropriate time step size for both the fluid and mechanical solution processes, the choice of the viscous damping coefficient, and the number of solid particles per finite fluid volume.     

A new scenario for the last magmatic eruption of La Soufrière of Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles) in 1530 A.D. Evidence from stratigraphy radiocarbon dating and magmatic evolution of erupted products

La Soufrière of Guadeloupe is a dangerous volcano characterized over the last decade by moderate seismic and fumarolic unrest. In the last 15,000 years it has experienced phreatic and magmatic eruptions and unusually numerous flank collapse events sometimes associated with a magmatic eruption. We propose a new age of 1530 A.D. and a new eruptive scenario for the last magmatic eruption on the basis of a novel statistical analysis of radiocarbon age dates, and new field and geochemical data. This eruption is the only magmatic eruption likely to have occurred in Guadeloupe during the last 1400 years. The eruption mainly involved an andesitic magma which, in the first phase of the eruption, partially mixed with a slightly more differentiated magma stored in a small and shallow magma chamber. Ascent of magma to the surface generated a partial collapse of the hydrothermally altered edifice that increased the magma discharge and led to a sub-plinian phase with scoria fallout and column-collapse pyroclastic flows followed by near-vent pyroclastic scoria fountains. The eruption ended with growth of a lava dome. Our revised interpretation of the last magmatic eruption of La Soufrière constitutes the most likely key to a future magmatic eruption scenario for this volcano which displays strong evidence of unrest since 1992.     

Sedimentary organic matter distributions,burrowing activity,and biogeochemical cycling: Natural patterns and experimental artifacts

The coupling between biogenic reworking activity and reactive organic matter patterns within deposits is poorly understood and often ignored. In this study, we examined how common experimental treatments of sediment affect the burrowing behavior of the polychaete Nephtys incisa and how these effects may interact with reactive organic matter distributions to alter diagenetic transport – reaction balances. Sediment and animals were recovered from a subtidal site in central Long Island Sound, USA. The upper 15 cm of the sediment was sectioned into sub-intervals, and each interval separately sieved and homogenized. Three initial distributions of sediment and organic substrate reactivity were setup in a series of microcosms: (1) a reconstituted natural pattern with surface-derived sediment overlying sediment obtained from progressively deeper material to a depth of 15 cm (Natural); (2) a 15 cm thick sediment layer composed only of surface-derived sediment (Rich); and (3) a 15 cm thick layer composed of uniformally mixed sediment from the original 15 cm sediment profile (Averaged). The two last treatments are comparable to that used in microcosms in many previous studies of bioturbation and interspecific functional interaction experiments. Sediment grain size distributions were 97.5% silt-clay and showed no depth dependent patterns. Sediment porosity gradients were slightly altered by the treatments. Nepthys were reintroduced and aquariums were X-rayed regularly over 5 months to visualize and quantify spatial and temporal dynamics of burrows. The burrowing behaviour of adult populations having similar total biovolume, biomass, abundance, and individual sizes differed substantially as a function of treatment. Burrows in sediment with natural property gradients were much shallower and less dense than those in microcosms with altered gradients. The burrow volume/biovolume ratio was also lower in the substrate with natural organic reactivity gradients. Variation in food resources or in sediment mechanical properties associated with treatments, the latter in part coupled to remineralization processes such as exopolymer production, may explain the burrowing responses. In addition to demonstrating how species may respond to physical sedimentation events (substrate homogenization) and patterns of reactive organic matter redistribution, these experiments suggest that infaunal species interactions in microcosms, including the absolute and relative fluxes of remineralized solutes, may be subject to artifacts depending on exactly how sediments are introduced experimentally. Nonlocal transport and cylinder microenvironment transport – reaction models readily demonstrate how the multiple interactions between burrowing patterns and remineralization rate distributions can alter relative flux balances, decomposition pathways, and time to steady state.     

Geological and geophysical studies of the Agoudal impact structure (Central High Atlas,Morocco): New evidence for crater size and age

Since the discovery of shatter cones (SCs) near the village of Agoudal (Morocco, Central High Atlas Mountains) in 2013, the absence of one or several associated circular structures led to speculation about the age of the impact event, the number, and the size of the impact crater or craters. Additional constraints on the crater size, age, and erosion rates are obtained here from geological, structural, and geophysical mapping and from cosmogenic nuclide data. Our geological maps of the Agoudal impact site at the scales of 1:30,000 (6 km²) and 1:15,000 (2.25 km²) include all known occurrences of SCs in target rocks, breccias, and vertical to overturned strata. Considering that strata surrounding the impact site are subhorizontal, we argue that disturbed strata are related to the impact event. Three types of breccias have been observed. Two of them (br1‐2 and br2) could be produced by erosion–sedimentation–consolidation processes, with no evidence for impact breccias, while breccia (br1) might be impact related. The most probable center of the structure is estimated at 31°59′13.73?N, 5°30′55.14?W using the concentric deviation method applied to the orientation of strata over the disturbed area. Despite the absence of a morphological expression, the ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys reveal anomalies spatially associated with disturbed strata and SC occurrences. The geophysical data, the structural observations, and the area of occurrence of SCs in target rocks are all consistent with an original size of 1.4–4.2 km in diameter. Cosmogenic nuclide data (³⁶Cl) constrain the local erosion rates between 220 ± 22 m Ma^?1 and 430 ± 43 m Ma^?1. These erosion rates may remove the topographic expression of such a crater and its ejecta in a time period of about 0.3–1.9 Ma. This age is older than the Agoudal iron meteorite age (105 ± 40 kyr). This new age constraint excludes the possibility of a genetic relationship between the Agoudal iron meteorite fall and the formation of the Agoudal impact site. A chronolgy chart including the Atlas orogeny, the alternation of sedimentation and erosion periods, and the meteoritic impacts is presented based on all obtained and combined data.