Xanes analysis on pyroxenes with different ca concentration in M2 site

X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) analysis of the calcium K-edge of a series of natural pyroxenes is reported. The samples belong to the solid solution series diopside (CaMgSi₂O₆) — jadeite (NaAlSi₂O₆). In diopside, the M2 site is occupied by Ca only, but along the join Na substitutes Ca in this position. From XANES analysis of different samples we found a distortion of the polyhedron around the M2 site varying as a function of Ca content. This is probably due to compression of the site in a selected direction with an unchanged average distance, so that the coordination around the Ca atom changes from the 4-2-2 configuration typical of the diopside structure to the 6-2 configuration typical of Na in the jadeite structure. Intermediate pyroxenes exhibit both configurations, and acquire therefrom the structural order as already detected by X-ray diffraction techniques.     

How does co-registration affect geomorphic change estimates in multi-temporal surveys?

ABSTRACT

High-Resolution Topography (HRT) data sets are becoming increasingly available, improving our ability and opportunities to monitor geomorphic changes through multi-temporal Digital Terrain Models (DTMs). The use of repeated topographic surveys enables inferring the sediment dynamics of hazardous geomorphic processes such as floods, debris flows, and landslides, and allows us to derive important information on the risks often associated with these processes. The topographic surveying platforms, georeferencing systems, and processing tools have seen important developments in the last two decades, in particular Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology used in Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). Moreover, HRT data, produced through these techniques, changed a lot in terms of point cloud density, accuracy and precision over time. Therefore, old “legacy” data sets and recent surveys can often show comparison problems, especially when multi-temporal data are not homogeneous in terms of quality and uncertainties. In this context, data co-registration should be used to guarantee the coherence among multi-temporal surveys, minimizing, on stable areas, the distance between corresponding points acquired at different epochs. Although several studies highlight that this process is fundamental to properly compare multi-temporal DTMs, it is often not addressed in LiDAR post-processing workflows. In this paper we focus on the alignment of multi-temporal surveys in a topographically complex and rugged environment as the Moscardo debris-flow catchment (Eastern Italian Alps), testing various co-registration methods to align multi-temporal ALS point clouds (i.e. years 2003, 2009 and 2013) and the derived DTMs. In particular, we tested the pairwise registration with manual correspondences, the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm and a mathematical model that allows aligning simultaneously a generic number of point clouds, the so-called Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA), also in its GPA-ICP variant. Then, to correct the possible small inaccuracies generated from the gridding interpolation process, a custom-developed DTM co-registration tool (GRD-CoReg) was used to align gridded data. Both alignment phases (i.e. at point cloud and DTM level) proved to be fundamental and allowed us to obtain proper and reliable DTMs of Difference (DoDs), useful to quantify the debris mobilized and to detect the spatial and temporal patterns of catchment-scale erosion and deposition. The consistency of DoDs data was verified through the comparison between the erosion estimate of DoDs and the volumes of debris-flow events measured by the monitoring station close to the Moscardo torrent catchment outlet. The GPA-ICP algorithm followed by the GRD-CoReg tool proved to be the most effective solution for improving DoDs results with a decrease of systematic trend due to vertical and horizontal uncertainties between surveys, especially at steep slopes. The net volume difference (i.e. the sediment output from the catchment) of the 2003–2013 period changed from 3,237,896 m³ to 135,902 m³ in DoDs obtained from not co-registered and co-registered DTMs. The volume of debris flows measured at the catchment outlet during the same time interval amounts to 169,660 m³. The comparison with debris-flow volume measures at the monitoring station shows, therefore, that the DTMs obtained from the co-registration processes generate more reliable DoDs than those obtained from the raw DTMs (without the alignment).     

Pressure-induced coordination change of Ti in silicate glass: a XANES study

The effect of pressure on titanium coordination in glasses, with composition K₂TiSi₄O₁₁, quenched isobarically from liquids equilibrated at high pressure (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 kbar respectively) and T=1600° C has been investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The XANES spectra collected at the Ti K-edge clearly show a variation with pressure that is related to changes in the geometrical environment around the Ti atoms. By comparison with spectra of standard materials, the XANES spectra of the glasses suggest a relatively low average coordination number (near 5) in samples quenched at low pressure and a higher coordination number (near 6) in samples quenched from the highest pressure. The combination of XANES data with density and compressibility measurements supports the idea that a mixture of 6- and lower coordinated (4- and/ or 5-coordinated) Ti geometries are present in the 1 bar glass, and an increasing proportion of 6-coordinated Ti occurs in the glasses synthesized at progressively higher pressures.     

Toward the probabilistic forecasting of cyclone-induced marine flooding by overtopping at Reunion Island aided by a time-varying random-forest classification approach

Natural Hazards - In 2017, Irma and Maria highlighted the vulnerability of small islands to cyclonic events and the necessity of advancing the forecast techniques for cyclone-induced marine...     

Cold subduction zone in northern Calabria (Italy) revealed by lawsonite–clinopyroxene blueschists

Lawsonite blueschists are important markers of cold subduction zones, subjected to intense fluid circulation. This is because lawsonite preservation in exhumed blueschists and eclogites is typically linked to cold exhumation paths, accompanied by hydration. In the Catena Costiera (Calabria, southern Italy), lawsonite–clinopyroxene blueschists of the Diamante–Terranova Unit, affected by ductile shearing and retrogression, are exposed. Blueschists contain zoned clinopyroxene crystals, showing core–rim compositional variation from diopside to omphacite and hosting primary inclusions of lawsonite and titanite. Thermodynamic modelling of phase equilibria in the NCKFMASHTO system revealed peak metamorphic conditions of 2.0–2.1 GPa and 475–490°C for the Alpine subduction in Calabria. The subsequent post-peak metamorphic evolution mainly proceeded along a decompression and cooling path up to ~1.1 GPa and ~380°C. The final exhumation stages are recorded in the sheared blueschists where a mylonitic to ultramylonitic foliation developed at ~0.7 GPa and 290–315°C. Therefore, the P–T evolution of the Diamante–Terranova blueschists mostly occurred in the stability field of lawsonite, sustained by H₂O-saturated conditions during the exhumation path. The results of this study indicate that the blueschists underwent peak metamorphic conditions higher than previously thought, reaching a maximum depth of ~70 km under a very cold geothermal gradient (~6.6°C/km), during the Eocene subduction of the Ligurian Tethys oceanic crust in Calabria.     

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Recovery from Human Urine by Struvite Precipitation and Air Stripping in Vietnam

A “No Mix” sanitation system was installed in a dormitory at the University of CanTho in South Vietnam, with the objective of recycling nutrients from source separated wastewater streams. This paper presents the “Yellow Water” treatment plant and its efficiency in recovering phosphorus and nitrogen from human urine. The pilot plant achieved phosphorus removal efficiencies of 98% with both diluted and undiluted urine. Phosphorus was recovered in the form of struvite, a solid mineral fertilizer with heavy metal concentrations being below the German Fertilizer Regulation's threshold limits. About 110 g of struvite could be generated after one treatment cycle, during which 50 L of urine were processed. Nitrogen removal by air stripping showed best results when circulating the urine for 3 h through the stripping column at a high flow rate (80 L/h). With these settings, more than 90% of the nitrogen could be removed from the urine, and virtually 100% of this nitrogen could be recovered in the form of liquid ammonium sulfate. In the future, treatment costs could be further reduced by making use of the solar energy that is available during daytime in South Vietnam.     

X-ray absorption study of Ti-bearing silicate glasses

Ti K-edge XANES spectra have been collected on a series of Ti-bearing silicate glasses with metasilicate and tetrasilicate compositions. The intensity of the preedge feature in these spectra has been found to change with glass composition and varies from 29 to 58% (normalized intensity) suggesting a variation in structural environent around the absorbing atom. The pre-edge peak intensity increases for the alkali titanium tetrasilicate glasses from 35% to 58% in the order Li < Na < K < Rb, Cs whereas for the metasilicate compositions there is a maximum for the K-bearing glass. The pre-edge peak intensity remains constant for the alkaline earth titanium metasilicate glasses, Ca and Sr (34%) but increases slightly for Ba (41%). As the intensity of this feature is inversely correlated with coordination number, a comparison of the pre-edge intensity data for the investigated glasses with those of materials of known coordination number leads us to establish a regression equation and to infer that the average coordination number of Ti in these glasses ranges from 4.8 to 5.8. Large alkali cations appear to stabilize a relatively low average coordination number for Ti in silicate melts. The Ti structural environment results appear also to vary as a function of SiO₂ content within the K₂O-TiO₂-SiO₂ system. A number of physical properties of the melts from which these glasses were quenched and of other Ti-bearing silicate melts, have been determined in recent years. Clear evidence of a variable coordination number of Ti, consistent with the interpretation of the present XANES data is available from density measurements. These and other property determinations are compared with the present spectroscopic observations in an attempt to relate structure and properties in these melts which contain a major component with variable coordination number.     

哈萨克斯坦萨亚克大型铜矿田矿物学特征及其地质意义

哈萨克斯坦萨亚克大型铜矿田中, 矽卡岩型矿床的矿体赋存于石炭系灰岩与花岗岩类的接触带上, 矿体及其周围发育大量矽卡岩。矽卡岩矿物主要由石榴子石、辉石、绿帘石、绿泥石等组成, 矿石矿物主要发育黄铜矿、斑铜矿、黄铁矿、磁黄铁矿、辉钴矿等。萨亚克矽卡岩型矿床成矿作用分为5个阶段: 透辉石-石榴子石矽卡岩阶段、石榴子石矽卡岩阶段、绿帘石-磁铁矿阶段、石英-硫化物阶段和碳酸盐阶段。电子探针分析结果表明, 矿区矽卡岩属典型的钙质矽卡岩。 其中石榴子石发育3种类型, 均属钙铝-钙铁榴石固溶体系列, 自早期透辉石-石榴子石矽卡岩阶段至晚期石榴子石矽卡岩阶段, 由钙铁榴石向钙铝-钙铁榴石转变, 并且钙铁-钙铝榴石与矿化关系最为密切。其中具环带结构的石榴子石中钙铁与钙铝含量随环带呈韵律性变化, 表明生长过程中成分具震荡性变化, 形成于不完全封闭的平衡条件, 指示流体的多期次多阶段性; 辉石以透辉石为主; 绿帘石属绿帘石族中绿帘石范畴; 磁铁矿TFeO含量高, 与其他氧化物成分呈负相关关系。石英硫化物阶段早期发育黄铜矿-黄铁矿-磁黄铁矿-白铁矿、黄铜矿-辉钴矿矿物组合; 晚期为主要矿化阶段, 发育大量致密块状黄铜矿。黄铜矿显示贫硫富铜、铁特征; 黄铁矿为亏硫型; 磁黄铁矿属贫钴富镍型。矽卡岩矿物共生组合及石榴子石成分演化等矿物学特征显示, 成矿过程中随着温度及氧逸度的降低, 成矿热液由弱碱性向酸性演化, 伴随热液在接触带的中和作用, 以黄铜矿为主的金属硫化物富集沉淀。