A Practical Procedure for the Measurement of Fragmentation by Blasting by Image Analysis

Summary. The operation of a digital image analysis system in a limestone quarry is described. The calibration of the system, required in order to obtain moderately reliable fragmentation values, is done from muckpile sieving data by tuning the image analysis software settings so that the fragmentation curve obtained matches as close as possible the sieving. The sieving data have also been used to extend the fragment size distribution curves measured to sizes below the system’s optical resolution and to process the results in terms of fragmented rock, discounting the material coming from a loose overburden (natural fines) that is cast together with the fragmented rock. Automatic and manual operation modes of the image analysis are compared. The total fragmentation of a blast is obtained from the analysis of twenty photographs; a criterion for the elimination of outlier photographs has been adopted using a robust statistic. The limitations of the measurement system due to sampling, image processing and fines corrections are discussed and the errors estimated whenever possible. An analysis of consistency of the results based on the known amount of natural fines is made. Blasts with large differences in the amount of fines require a differentiated treatment, as the fine sizes tend to be the more underestimated in the image analysis as they become more abundant; this has been accomplished by means of a variable fines adjustment factor. Despite of the unavoidable errors and the large dispersion always associated with large-scale rock blasting data, the system is sensitive to relative changes in fragmentation.     

Detection of radio recombination lines of hydrogen ionized by cosmic-ray protons in the cool interstellar medium

The emission of hydrogen radio recombination lines from a cloud of cool interstellar matter toward the radio source Cassiopeia A has been detected. The formation of the radio recombination lines is initiated by cosmic rays. The rate of ionization of the interstellar hydrogen by cosmic-ray protons measured from the radio recombination lines using the most direct method is ζ_H = (1 ± 0.25)×10⁻¹⁶ s⁻¹. This value of ζ_H is compared with measurements obtained using other methods.     

Organized Roll Circulation and Transport of Mineral Aerosols in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - An investigation into mesoscale roll circulation and its transport characteristics in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is carried out. The case...     

Dynamic simulation of littoral zone habitats in low Chesapeake Bay. II. Seagrass habitat primary production and water quality relationships

Seagrasses are indicators of ecosystem state because they are sensitive to variations in water composition and clarity resulting from watershed-level impacts. A simulation model designed to studyZostera marina (eelgrass) habitat dynamics in a variable littoral zone environment was used to address the potential ecological responses to eutrophication in lower Chesapeake Bay. The adjacent channel boundary environment is a source of dissolved and particulate materials to the littoral zone. In the simulations, concentrations of key water quality variables in the adjacent estuarine channel boundary were either halved or doubled relative to the base case to investigate light versus nitrogen effects. The role of the seagrass meadow in littoral zone carbon and nitrogen dynamics was evaluated when meadow size was changed in the model. Particulate and dissolved organic carbon accounted for 83% of the submarine light attenuation in the seagrass meadow. In all model runs, the water column concentrations of chlorophylla and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were below the habitat criteria proposed as critical to seagrass survival. Eelgrass community production was carefully regulated by the interactive effects of light, nitrogen, and grazing on epiphyte growth. Increased eelgrass coverage in the littoral zone led to a simulated doubling of ecosystem primary production but reduced the fraction of production by planktonic and sediment microalgae. The simulation model presented here demonstrated the importance of material input from the channel in littoral zone biogeochemical dynamics. Submarine ligh regulated primary production more strongly than inorganic nitrogen concentrations in the model. External DIN concentrations influenced seagrass survival indirectly: enrichment stimulated growth of epiphytes and phytoplankton and promoted shading of the seagras leaf. The model was based upon a unimpacted ecosystem and deteriorated water quality negatively influenced primary production greater than the increases triggered by improved condition. Increased material loading to the littoral zone reduced submarine light availability, increased phytoplankton production, lowered ecosystem production, and reduced subtidal vegetated habitat. This simulation model of the estuarine littoral zone model combines hydrodynamics, biogeochemical sources and sinks, and living resources in order to better understand structure, function, and change in aquatic ecosystems.     

Zonal REE + Y profiles in garnet and their genetic implications: A case study of metapelites from the northern Ladoga region

The objective of this study is to provide insights into the REE and Y behavior during garnet porphyroblast formation in staurolite-bearing schists as a constituent of Late Paleoproterozoic metapelites of the Ladoga Complex. The MnNCKFMASH P–T pseudosection for a single sample and Grt–Bt thermometry indicate that the garnet core grew at 520°C and under 7.0–7.2 kbar in the Grt–Bt–Pl–Chl–Ms–Zo field, whereas the garnet rim was equilibrated at 590–600°C and under 3.5–4.0 kbar. The measured zoning profiles are strongly depleted in REE + Y in the garnet core containing high Mn and Ca concentrations. The intermediate zone of garnet is enriched in La, Ce, Pr, and Nd (inner LREE + Nd annulus), as well as in Dy, Er, Yb, Lu, and Y (outer HREE + Y + Dy annulus). According to pseudosection analysis, these peaks were probably produced owing to breakdown of epidote-group minerals (allanite, REE-rich epidote) at T < 535°C and P > 6.5 kbar. Towards the rim, the HREE + Y contents gradually decrease, whereas MREE (Sm, Eu, Gd) display an inverse trend. The rim also exhibits a negative Eu anomaly. The former tendency reflects an increase in temperature during garnet crystallization and partitioning of elements between garnet and monazite. It is thought that the latter is linked to oppositely directed change in garnet-monazite partition coefficients for HREE and MREE with increasing temperature.     

Reconstruction of Holocene Environmental Changes in North-Western Pacific in Relation to Paleorecord from Shikotan Island

Doklady Earth Sciences - Results of a paleolimnological investigation of a well-dated lake sediment section from Shikotan Island (Southern Kurils) showed that from ca 8.0 to 5.8 cal ka BP a warm...     

Adsorption of Selenium Using Bagasse Fly Ash

The present work involves the study of Se(IV) adsorption onto bagasse fly ash. The adsorbents were coated with a ferric chloride solution for the effective removal of selenium. The physico‐chemical characterization of the adsorbent was carried out using standard methods, e. g., proximate analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermo‐gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis. Batch experiments were carried out to determine the effect of various parameters such as adsorbent dose, initial pH, contact time, and temperature on the adsorption process. Results obtained from these studies were analyzed using various kinetic models and isotherms. Se(IV) adsorption onto adsorbent was high at low pH values, and decreased with an increase in initial pH. A temperature study showed that the uptake of Se(IV) was greatest at 293 K, within the temperature range studied. The parameters of pseudo first order, pseudo second order, and Weber‐Morris intra‐particle kinetic models were determined. Equilibrium isotherms were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms. Error analyses were also carried out using hybrid fractional error function and Marquardt's percent standard deviation.     

Mediterranean outflow through the Strait of Gibraltar since 18,000 Years B.P.: Mineralogical and geochemical arguments

Data obtained from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of piston and gravity cores, recovered from an area off Lisbon (Portugal) to the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean), serve as a basis for better understanding the past 18,000 years of hydrological exchanges at Gibraltar. Tracers used in this study are smectite, kaolinite, Ta, Th, La. One of the primary sources of particles both into and out of the Mediterranean is the Guadalquivir River. These particles are transported back into the Atlantic in the Mediterranean outflow water, and deposited along the Iberian slope. No evidence for reversal of this outflow current was found in those cores, since 18,000 years B.P.     

Tests of a robust eddy correlation system for sensible heat flux

Summary Sensible heat flux estimates from a simple, one-propeller eddy correlation system (OPEC) were compared with those from a sonic anemometer eddy correlation system (SEC). In accordance with similarity theory, the performance of the OPEC system improved with increasing height of the sensor above the surface. Flux totals from the two systems at sites with adequate fetch were in excellent agreement after frequency response corrections were applied. The propeller system appears suitable for long periods of unattended measurement. The sensible heat flux measurements can be combined with net radiation and soil heat flux measurements to estimate latent heat as a residual in the surface energy balance.With 6 Figures