Spectra of radioactivity induced in caesium iodide scintillator crystals by 155 MeV protons

Previous work has shown the importance of induced radioactivity as a source of background counts in X- and -ray astronomy experiments which use scintillation detectors. Comprehensive data on the decay spectra observed in Caesium Iodide crystals following irradiation by 155 MeV protons has been obtained by the Imperial College group and is presented here. The spectra cover the energy loss range from 20 keV to 3.4 MeV and were collected at times after irradiation ranging from 1 min until 200 d. A sufficient selection of spectra is given to enable calculations to be made of the time variations in radioactivity which would be observed in similar space-borne detectors subjected to irradiation by inner belt and cosmic ray protons. Examples of such calculations are given.     

A field trial for in-situ bioremediation of 1,2-DCA

Historic spillages of chlorinated hydrocarbons at a vinyl chloride plant in the Rotterdam Botlek area in The Netherlands have lead to contamination of the underlying aquifer. The principal contaminant is 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA). The contamination is temporarily contained by a pump-and-treat system. A field trial was carried out to investigate the feasibility of treating the dissolved phase of 1,2-DCA via reductive dechlorination by injection of an aqueous solution of methanol, ammonium chloride and sodium chloride into the confined aquifer using an array of eight boreholes. Biodegradation of 1,2-DCA was localised. This was attributed to limited mixing of the carbon substrate within the test zone. In addition, clogging of recharge wells complicated groundwater circulation.     

Field investigation into the biodegradation of TCE and BTEX at a former metal plating works

The paper is based on a recent programme of groundwater monitoring at an industrial site in west London. Redevelopment of the site in 1997 revealed high levels of soil and groundwater pollution by hydrocarbon fuels, trichloroethylene (TCE) and soluble metal salts (e.g. free cyanide, chromium VI and nickel). The pollution originated from a previous metal plating and galvanising works at the site. As part of the redevelopment works, the owners undertook limited excavation works and groundwater extraction to remove the pollutant. However, groundwater sampling has continued to show high levels of pollution. Following discussion with the environment regulator in late 1998, a groundwater monitoring programme was agreed to investigate the potential for co-degradation of the petroleum fuel and TCE. Groundwater samples have been taken from six existing boreholes (1C to 6C). The location of the monitoring boreholes relates to past pollution spillages and the layout of the new factory building. Chemical analyses of groundwater samples show elevated aqueous concentrations of chloroethenes with a classical reduction pathway for trichloroethylene (TCE) leading to an accumulation of vinyl chloride.     

The geochemistry of Witwatersrand-type gold deposits and the possible influence of ancient prokaryotic communities on gold dissolution and precipitation

Compared to the prokaryote-dominated lower Proterozoic there are few environments now left on Earth where prokaryotes are dominant. By about 2.5 Ga chemical conditions affecting the solution and precipitation of minerals were much influenced by microbial communities. Results of recent experiments show that modern living prokaryotes are capable of actively precipitating or flocculating gold. This process goes far towards explaining the phenomenal extent to which gold is enriched in kerogenous marker seams on the Witwatersrand.Neutron activation analyses confirm that gold is likewise anomalously enriched in kerogenous material present in the Lower Huronian metasediments of Ontario. Long known as thucholite, it appears from pyrolysis and X-ray studies of a sample from a stratiform occurrence that it is a kerogen remarkably similar to kerogen from the Vaal Reef, South Africa. A prokaryote precursor has been postulated for the Vaal Reef kerogen, and the same may well be true of at least some of the stratiform occurrences of kerogen in the Huronian.Simplifying solutions to the metallogeny of Witwatersrand-type gold that do not take into account the diverse types of gold in the deposits, are unrealistic. Precipitated gold associated with kerogen is only one of four main types of Witwatesrand gold, but it may be the major one. Our proposed model to account for this gold involves the weathering of gold from Archean source rock under anaerobic conditions, and probably in the presence of S-cycling microbial communities. Transported as a solution or colloid the gold was stabilized by humic acids, or S-cycle intermediates, and was deposited onto braided alluvial plains. There, in the presence of extensive prokaryote microbial mats (now preserved as kerogen), gold was precipitated in forms characteristic of biologically induced biomineralization.     

Flow distortion by supporting structures

During the 1976 International Turbulence Comparison Experiment, a number of participants found significant values of upflow over the horizontal support arm of the sensor used. For example, the Japanese sonic anemometer reported an average upflow of 2.4 °. By means of model experiments and fitting to a potential flow solution, it is predicted that the horizontal support would introduce an upflow of 0.5 °. Further model experiments with a full sonic anemometer model plus associated structures predicted an upflow of 2.2 °, in reasonable agreement with the observed result. The need for extreme care in the exposure of turbulence sensors is emphasized. The theory is capable of predicting the error incurred in the various turbulence parameters, such as uw, and these error equations bear a close similarity to those normally used in applying a tilt correction.