Determination of Reference Values for NIST SRM 610–617 Glasses Following ISO Guidelines

We present new reference values for the NIST SRM 610–617 glasses following ISO guidelines and the International Association of Geoanalysts’ protocol. Uncertainties at the 95% confidence level (CL) have been determined for bulk‐ and micro‐analytical purposes. In contrast to former compilation procedures, this approach delivers data that consider present‐day requirements of data quality. New analytical data and the nearly complete data set of the GeoReM database were used for this study. Data quality was checked by the application of the Horwitz function and by a careful investigation of analytical procedures. We have determined quantitatively possible element inhomogeneities using different test portion masses of 1, 0.1 and 0.02 μg. Although avoiding the rim region of the glass wafers, we found moderate inhomogeneities of several chalcophile/siderophile elements and gross inhomogeneities of Ni, Se, Pd and Pt at small test portion masses. The extent of inhomogeneity was included in the determination of uncertainties. While the new reference values agree with the NIST certified values with the one exception of Mn in SRM 610, they typically differ by as much as 10% from the Pearce et al. (1997) values in current use. In a few cases (P, S, Cl, Ta, Re) the discrepancies are even higher.     

Micro- and nano-inclusions in a superdeep diamond from São Luiz,Brazil

We report cloudy micro- and nano-inclusions in a superdeep diamond from São-Luiz, Brazil which contains inclusions of ferropericlase (Mg, Fe)O and former bridgmanite (Mg, Fe)SiO₃ and ringwoodite (Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄. Field emission-SEM and TEM observations showed that the cloudy inclusions were composed of euhedral micro-inclusions with grain sizes ranging from tens nanometers to submicrometers. Infrared absorption spectra of the cloudy inclusions showed that water, carbonate, and silicates were not major components of these micro- and nano-inclusions and suggested that the main constituent of the inclusions was infrared-inactive. Some inclusions were suggested to contain material with lower atomic numbers than that of carbon. Mineral phase of nano- and micro-inclusions is unclear at present. Microbeam X-ray fluorescence analysis clarified that the micro-inclusions contained transition metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) possibly as metallic or sulfide phases. The cloudy inclusions provide an important information on the growth environment of superdeep diamonds in the transition zone or the lower mantle.     

Temperature and heat flux changes at the base of Laurentide ice sheet inferred from geothermal data (evidence from province of Alberta,Canada)

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Using a previously published temperature log of the 2363-m-deep borehole Hunt well (Alberta, Canada) and the results of its previous interpretation, the...     

Interaction of surface waves at very close wavenumbers

We show that interaction of two monochromatic waves at the water surface enters a different dynamic regime if their wavenumbers become very close. The study is conducted by means of a fully nonlinear wave model. In the course of evolution of the two waves, downshifting of the initial wave energy and growth of the first mode occur depending on wave steepness and dk/k. Behaviour of these features changes if dk/k?<?0.0025: both downshifting and growth rate become independent of dk/k, accompanied by rapid transfer of wave energy to large scales.     

Spectroscopic constraints on growth of Siberian mixed-habit diamonds

Notable within-crystal variability of mineralogical and geochemical properties of single natural diamonds are commonly attributed to changing chemistry of parental fluids, sources of carbon and redox conditions of diamond precipitation. A distinct type of compositional heterogeneity (mixed-habit structure) is well-known to occur in diamonds as well as in many other minerals due to purely “structural” reasons that are unequal crystal chemistry of crystallographically different faces and selective absorption and fractionation of impurities between adjacent growth pyramids. Based on the combined cathodoluminescence, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy, study of nine diamond crystals with different growth histories and external morphology, but all showing mixed-habit patterns at different growth stages, we show that mixed-diamonds may grow in closed system conditions or with a slowly decreasing growth rate from a media with a much lower impurity content than previously thought. Intracrystal nitrogen distribution seems to be a function of growth rate even in the cases of unusual impurity partitioning between growth sectors. Generally poor with IR-active hydrogen at moderate nitrogen aggregation parameters, studied diamonds likely resemble the low hydrogen content from the growth medium that, for cubic diamonds, was typically suggested hydrogen-rich and a crucial factor for growth of cubic and mixed-habit diamonds. We also show that mixed-habit diamond growth may occur not only in peridotitic suite but also in an extended field of geochemical affinities from high-Ni to low-Ni or maybe even Ni-free environments, such as pyroxenitic or eclogitic.     

BAM‐S005 Type A and B: New Silicate Reference Glasses for Microanalysis

To test whether the silicate reference glasses BAM‐S005‐A and BAM‐S005‐B from BAM (The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Germany) are suitable materials for microanalysis, we investigated the homogeneity of these reference glasses using the microanalytical techniques EPMA, LA‐ICP‐MS and SIMS. Our study indicated that all major and most trace elements are homogeneously distributed at micrometre sampling scale in both types of glass. However, some trace elements (e.g., Cs, Cl, Cr, Mo and Ni) seem to be inhomogeneously distributed. We also determined the composition of BAM‐S005‐A and BAM‐S005‐B. The EPMA data of major elements confirmed the information values specified by the certificate. With the exception of Sr, Ba, Ce and Pb, our trace element data by LA‐ICP‐MS were also in agreement with the certified values within the stated uncertainty limits. The reasons for the discrepancy in these four elements are still unclear. In addition, we report new data for twenty‐two further trace elements, for which the concentrations were not certified. Based on our investigation, we suggest that both of these materials are suitable for many microanalytical applications.     

Maximally-efficient-generation approach in the dynamo theory

Abstract

We propose a method of derivation of global asymptotic solutions of the hydromagnetic dynamo problem at large magnetic Reynolds number. The procedure reduces to matching the local asymptotic forms for the magnetic field generated near individual extrema of generation strength. The basis of the proposed method, named here the Maximally-Efficient-Generation Approach (MEGA), is the assertion that properties of global asymptotic solutions of the kinematic dynamo are determined by the distribution of the generation strength near its leading extrema and by the number and distribution of the extrema.

The general method is illustrated by the global asymptotic solution of the α²-dynamo problem in a slab. The nature of oscillatory solutions revealed earlier in numerical simulations and the reasons for the dominance of even magnetic modes in slab geometry are clarified.

Applicability of the asymptotic solutions at moderate values of the asymptotic parameter is also discussed. We confirm this applicability using comparisons with complementary asymptotic expansions and numerical simulations. In particular, this justifies application of the MEGA solutions to estimation of the generation threshold.