Cuttability assessment of hard coal seams

Summary A number of field and laboratory tests have been carried out on more than 15 coal seams of compressive strengths ranging from 19 MPa to 44 MPa to evolve methods which would help in the selection of suitable coaling machines for hard coal seams. The effect of physico-mechanical properties on cuttability were studied in the laboratory for all these coal seams to identify the relevant parameters affecting the specific energy of coal cuttability. These data were subjected to regression analysis to find the best fit for estimation of laboratory specific energy of coal samples on the basis of simple laboratory and field tests for the strength parameters. Field studies were also conducted over a large number of active mechanized coal faces to study in situ cuttability along with the geo-mining conditions of the site. The field and the laboratory data so generated were correlated and an attempt is made to establish a relationship for estimating the field specific energy for a particular capacity of coaling machines by considering the geo-mining domain of the field in totality.     

Subliquidus glass-glass immiscibility along the albite-diopside join

A calorimetric study has shown that glasses along the albite-diopside join in the system albiteanorthite-diopside have positive enthalpies of mixing. Thermodynamic calculations based on these data describe a nearly symmetric, metastable, subliquidus irascibility gap along the join with a critical temperature at 910 K. The existence of the miscibility gap was tested experimentally by annealing an Ab₅₀Di₅₀ glass at 748 K and 823 K. Annealed glasses were examined by optical microscopy and by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The glasses showed morphological and chemical features consistent with unmixing of two glass phases. The apparent mechanism of phase separation involves initial spinodal decomposition followed by coarsening to produce 0.1 μm–0.3 μm spherical glass phases.     

Characterization of hard‐to‐differentiate dune stratification types in the Permian Coconino Sandstone (Arizona,USA)

Dune stratification types, which include grainfall, grainflow and ripple lamination, provide a record of the fine‐scale processes that deposited sediment on palaeo‐dune foresets. While these facies are relatively easy to distinguish in some cross‐bedded sandstones, for others – like the Permian Coconino Sandstone of northern and central Arizona – discrete stratification styles are hard to recognize at the bedding scale. Furthermore, few attempts have been made to classify fine‐scale processes in this sandstone, despite its renown as a classic aeolian dune deposit and Grand Canyon formation. To interpret depositional processes in the Coconino Sandstone, cross‐bed facies were characterized using a suite of sedimentary textures and structures. Bedding parameters were described at multiple scales via a combination of field and laboratory methods, including annotated outcrop photomosaics, strike and dip measurements, sandstone disaggregation and laser‐diffraction particle analysis, high‐resolution scans of thin sections, and scanning electron microscopy. Cross‐beds were observed to be laterally extensive along‐strike, with most dip angles ranging from the mid‐teens to mid‐twenties. While some cross‐bed sets are statistically coarser near their bases, others exhibit no significant vertical sorting trends. Both massive and laminated textures are visible in high‐resolution scans of thin sections, but laminae contacts are commonly indistinct, making normal and reverse grading difficult to define. Diagenetic features, such as stylolite seams and large pores, are also present in some samples and might indicate alteration of original textures like detrital clay laminae and carbonate minerals. Observed textures and sedimentary structures suggest that the cross‐beds may consist of grainflow and grainfall deposits, but these remain difficult to differentiate at outcrop and thin‐section scales. This characterization of fine‐scale processes will play a critical part in the development of depositional models for the Coconino Sandstone and elucidate interpretations for similar cross‐bedded formations.     

Investigating the molecular systematic relationships amongst selected Plesionika (Decapoda: Pandalidae) from the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea

Despite the high number of species and ecological diversity of pandalid shrimps, there has been no previous attempt to resolve evolutionary relationships of several genera using molecular tools. Although mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) is widely used in barcoding studies to delimit species boundaries, additional insights into phylogenetic affinities can be obtained, especially when used in combination with data from additional genes. The knowledge of molecular diversity is essential to understand phylogenetic relationships and will help systematic clarifications. Based on partial fragments of the 16S and COI genes, we have focused specifically on addressing the systematic relationships of the economically and ecologically important shrimp genus Plesionika within a framework of five genera from within the Pandalidae. Our results showed that species within Plesionika are substantially divergent when compared with other genera, exhibiting the highest average nucleotide divergence, with 0.1123 and 0.0846 in COI and 16S genes, respectively. In addition, sequence divergence was found to vary greatly within the genus Plesionika (COI/16S): 0.0247/0.0016 between Plesionika antigai and Plesionika heterocarpus and 0.1616/0.098 between Plesionika heterocarpus and Plesionika edwardsii. We did not find amino acid sequence divergence between P. heterocarpus and P. antigai compared with P. heterocarpus and P. edwardsii (8.10%, K2P distance). Three species of Plesionika (P. antigai, P. heterocarpus and Plesionika scopifera) appear well separated from other Plesionika species in both maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. The present study confirms the utility of COI over 16S as a genetic marker to resolve relationships between different species of Plesionika from the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, in addition to species delimitation. The findings highlight the need to further review paraphyly within Plesionika in an attempt to recognize a concordance in the evolutionary history of Plesionika with major ecological and geological events.     

Subsurface lateral flow generation in aspen and conifer‐dominated hillslopes of a first order catchment in northern Utah

Mountain headwater catchments in the semi‐arid Intermountain West are important sources of surface water because these high elevations receive more precipitation than neighboring lowlands. This study examined subsurface runoff in two hillslopes, one aspen dominated, the other conifer dominated, adjacent to a first order stream in snow‐driven northern Utah. Snow accumulation, soil moisture, trenchflow and streamflow were examined in hillslopes and their adjacent stream. Snow water equivalents (SWEs) were greater under aspen stands compared to conifer, the difference increasing with higher annual precipitation. Semi‐variograms of shallow spatial soil moisture patterns and transects of continuous soil moisture showed no increase in soil moisture downslope, suggesting the absence of subsurface flow in shallow (～12 cm) soil layers of either vegetation type. However, a clear threshold relationship between soil moisture and streamflow indicated hillslope–stream connectivity, deeper within the soil profile. Subsurface flow was detected at ～50 cm depth, which was sustained for longer in the conifer hillslope. Soil profiles under the two vegetation types varied, with deep aspen soils having greater water storage capacity than shallow rocky conifer soils. Though SWEs were less under the conifers, the soil profile had less water storage capacity and produced more subsurface lateral flow during the spring snowmelt. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SAMPLING REMOTELY SENSED IMAGERY FOR STORAGE,RETRIEVAL, AND RECONSTRUCTION*

A major difficulty in remote sensing is handling the many data from sensors aboard aircraft and satellites. In this paper we identify an optimal procedure for sampling remotely sensed data before their storage or on their retrieval. The procedure depends on spatial correlation in the scene and uses kriging to estimate values that have been lost. An example in which data from an airborne multispectral scanner could be diminished to only about one tenth without serious loss of precision illustrates the method.     

Reference Samples of Rocks - The Search for "Best Values"

Because of the disparate data, reported in collaborative analyses of reference samples of rooks, various methods have been proposed for deriving "best values". This work compares those methods and several additional ones. Included are two simplified estimates of "mode" which yield values close to those of the Dominant Cluster and Gamma Transformation methods. An example is also cited of the hazards that may result from too superficial reading of raw data.     

Granitic plutonism as an indicator of microplates in the Palaeozoic of central and eastern Maine

Oxygen and strontium isotope ratios have been used to characterize source regions for granitic magmas for a transect across the northern Appalachian orogen in central and eastern Maine. The northwestern plutons (Katahdin and Seboeis) have δ¹⁸O values of 10.3–13.3 and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of 0.7083 and 0.7066, respectively. The central plutons (Bottle Lake and Center Pond) have lower δ¹⁸O values (8.2–9.9) and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7043–0.7055). The southeastern plutons (Lucerne and Deblois) have δ¹⁸O values (9.0–11.0) but initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7077 and 0.7041, respectively) which are intermediate between the northwestern and central plutons.Source models derived from these results and other petrological and geochemical data reflect the juxtaposition of discrete source regions by transcurrent faulting, which may be related to oblique plate motions. This model illustrates the importance of microplate accretion in the Palaeozoic history of the northern Appalachian orogen.