Multi-Element Reference Samples of Black Shale

This paper describes the creation of two new reference samples of black shale, SCHS-1 and SLg-1, collected in the Bodaibo Region of Irkutsk District (Siberia, Russia). These samples have been developed as State Standard Samples to meet the requirements of Russia's Normative Documents, so that they can be recognised by the Russian State Certification Agency and included on the State Register of certified reference materials. SCHS-1 was produced from shale of the Khomolkho suite; SLg-1 represents the average composition of the Sukhoy Log gold deposit (within Au mineralisation). The homogeneity was assessed by applying the concept of potential inhomogeneity, and the inhomogeneity uncertainties (σ_inhom) for the indicator elements that were estimated experimentally by silicate XRF analysis. It was found that a majority of the indicator elements was characterised by σ_inhom/Δ_p < 1/8 (Δ_p is the permissible certification uncertainty), and so σ_inhom was neglected for the indicator elements and all other elements that were included in their respective group. The value of σ_inhom calculated for Fe (σ_inhom,Fe/Δ_p > 1 /8) was taken into consideration for the noble metals and their associated elements (e.g., Ag, As, Au, etc.). More than fifty laboratories (thirty-seven from Russia) were involved in the interlaboratory experiment (ILE) to analyse these reference samples. The data obtained from the ILE allowed SCHS-1 and SLg-1 to be certified for, fifty-one and forty-three elements, respectively, as State Standard Samples.     

Charcoal records from thermokarst deposits in central Yakutia, eastern Siberia: Implications for forest fire history and thermokarst development

Macroscopic charcoal records from a thermokarst lake deposit in central Yakutia, eastern Siberia, were used to reconstruct the history of forest fires and investigate its relationship to thermokarst initiation. High accumulation rates of charcoal and pollen were coincident in the basal deposits of the thermokarst lake, which suggests that both were initially deposited on the forest floor and subsequently reworked and accumulated in the thermokarst depression. High charcoal and pollen accumulation rates in the basal deposits, dating to 11,000-9000 cal yr BP, also indicate that the thermokarst topography developed during the early Holocene. A lower charcoal accumulation rate after ca. 9000 cal yr BP suggests that thermokarst development has been inhibited since this time. It also indicates that a surface-fire regime has been predominant at least since ca. 9000 cal yr BP in central Yakutia.     

Periglacial landscape evolution and environmental changes of Arctic lowland areas for the last 60 000 years (western Laptev Sea coast, Cape Mamontov Klyk)

Non-glaciated Arctic lowlands in north-east Siberia were subjected to extensive landscape and environmental changes during the Late Quaternary. Coastal cliffs along the Arctic shelf seas expose terrestrial archives containing numerous palaeoenvironmental indicators (e.g., pollen, plant macro-fossils and mammal fossils) preserved in the permafrost. The presented sedimentological (grain size, magnetic susceptibility and biogeochemical parameters), cryolithological, geochronological (radiocarbon, accelerator mass spectrometry and infrared-stimulated luminescence), heavy mineral and palaeoecological records from Cape Mamontov Klyk record the environmental dynamics of an Arctic shelf lowland east of the Taymyr Peninsula, and thus, near the eastern edge of the Eurasian ice sheet, over the last 60 Ky. This region is also considered to be the westernmost part of Beringia, the non-glaciated landmass that lay between the Eurasian and the Laurentian ice caps during the Late Pleistocene. Several units and subunits of sand deposits, peat–sand alternations, ice-rich palaeocryosol sequences (Ice Complex) and peaty fillings of thermokarst depressions and valleys were presented. The recorded proxy data sets reflect cold stadial climate conditions between 60 and 50 Kya, moderate inderstadial conditions between 50 and 25 Kya and cold stadial conditions from 25 to 15 Kya. The Late Pleistocene to Holocene transition, including the Allerød warm period, the early to middle Holocene thermal optimum and the late Holocene cooling, are also recorded. Three phases of landscape dynamic (fluvial/alluvial, irregular slope run-off and thermokarst) were presented in a schematic model, and were subsequently correlated with the supraregional environmental history between the Early Weichselian and the Holocene.     

A thermodynamic model of Fe–Cr spinels

A new thermodynamic model for multi-component spinel solid solutions has been developed which takes into account thermodynamic consequences of cation mixing in spinel sublattices. It has been applied to the evaluation of thermodynamic functions of cation mixing and thermodynamic properties of Fe₃O₄–FeCr₂O₄ spinels using intracrystalline cation distribution in magnetite, lattice parameters and activity-composition relations of magnetite–chromite solid solutions. According to the model, cation distribution in binary spinels, (Fe_1-x²⁺ Fe_x³⁺)[Fe_x²⁺Fe_2-2y-x³⁺Cr_2y]O₄, and their thermodynamic properties depend strongly on Fe²⁺–Cr³⁺ cation mixing. Mixing of Fe²⁺–Fe³⁺ and Fe³⁺–Cr³⁺ can be accepted as ideal. If Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Cr are denoted as 1, 3 and 4 respectively, the equation of cation distribution is –RT ln(x²/((1–x)(2–2y–x)))= G₁₃^* + (1–2x)W₁₃+y(W₁₄–W₁₃–W₃₄) where G₁₃^* is the difference between the Gibbs energy of inverse and normal magnetite, W_ij is a Margules parameter of cation mixing and G₁₃^*, J/mol =–23,000+13.4 T, W₁₄=36 kJ/mol, W₁₃=W₃₄=0. The positive nonconfigurational Gibbs energy of mixing is the main reason for changing activity–composition relations with temperature. According to the model, the solvus in Fe₃O₄–FeCr₂O₄ spinel has a critical temperature close to 500°C, which is consistent with mineralogical data.     

Some pressure test phenomena of worden and CG-2 (sharpe) gravimeters

Summary The results of pressure tests of gravimeters Worden No. 961, CG-2 Nos 174 G, 323 and 374 in a pressure chamber are presented. Apart from deriving the barometric correction, the authors have also studied accompanying phenomena, which occur during pressure tests of gravimeters — the barometric after-effect and hysteresis. The processing of the results in two ways differing in the method of eliminating the drift of the gravimeter, yields nearly identical results. The hysteresis was investigated for atmospheric pressures of 720±150 Torr (1 Torr=0.133322 kPa), a rate of change of 30 Torr/min and a temperature of 22°C. The barometric after-effect was investigated in greater detail for the CG-2 gravimeter No. 174 G at a pressure difference of 225 Torr, rate of change of 30, 15 and 7.5 Torr/min and a gravimeter heating temperature of 35 °C. It was also found that the barometric correction can be determined, using the method given, with sufficient accuracy. As a result of the existence of hysteresis, however, the derived results must be applied carefully in field gravity measurements with some gravimeters.     

Computation of gravity anomalies caused by three-dimensional bodies of arbitrary shape and arbitrary varying density

Summary A numerical method is proposed which enables a direct computation of the vertical gravity anomaly due to three-dimensional bodies of arbitrary shape and with an inhomogeneous density distribution. The bodies are approximated by an assembly of appropriate curved finite elements. Gravity effects of such elements are calculated using the Gaussian quadrature formula. The integration domain is simply a cube, into which all the finite elements are transformed. The accuracy of the method is tested on a numerical example.     

Kinetics of dissolution of mechanically comminuted rock-forming oxides and silicates—II. Deformation and dissolution of oxides and silicates in the laboratory and at the Earth's surface

Comparison of the patterns of fracture under tensile stress, indentation, and scratching of periclase. quartz, and corundum indicates that the properties relevant to dissolution of rock-forming oxides and of rock-forming non-layer silicates should be changed by mechanical comminution in essentially the same way as those of quartz. The changes are accomplished by brittle fracture under the tensile component of the stress field, which does not generate subsurface damage, and by microplastic behavior under local stresses with high net compressive and shear components, which does.Mechanical comminution should therefore affect the apparent rates of dissolution (rates calculated with respect to the initial interface area) of rock-forming oxides and of rock-forming non-layer silicates in essentially the same way in which it affects the apparent rate of dissolution of quartz. This is supported by the available evidence on the effect of dry grinding on the kinetics of dissolution of feldspars, pyroxenes, and olivines in aqueous solutions.Different effects of mechanical comminution on solubilities and dissolution rate constants can be related to certain measured or calculated properties of the considered minerals. Notably, the effect of grain size on the dissolution rate constant can be rigorously related to the Kelvin effect.The available evidence on the mechanical comminution at the bases of dry-based glaciers in highgradient segments of streams, in certain high-energy coastal and epeiric environments, and in sandy deserts indicates that such mechanical comminution should significantly affect the simultaneous or subsequent dissolution of the comminuted material.     

Robust and fast reconstruction of complex roofs with active sampling from 3D point clouds

This article proposes a novel method for the 3D reconstruction of LoD2 buildings from LiDAR data. We propose an active sampling strategy which applies a cascade of filters focusing on promising samples at an early stage, thus avoiding the pitfalls of RANSAC‐based approaches. Filters are based on prior knowledge represented by (nonparametric) density distributions. In our approach samples are pairs of surflets—3D points together with normal vectors derived from a plane approximation of their neighborhood. Surflet pairs provide parameters for model candidates such as azimuth, inclination and ridge height, as well as parameters estimating internal precision and consistency. This provides a ranking of roof model candidates and leads to a small number of promising hypotheses. Building footprints are derived in a preprocessing step using machine learning methods, in particular support vector machines.