Hypervelocity capture of particles in aerogel: Dependence on aerogel properties

Capture of high-speed (hypervelocity) particles in aerogel at ambient temperatures of 175-763 K is reported. This extends previous work which has mostly focussed on conducting experiments at ambient laboratory temperatures, even though aerogels are intended for use in cosmic dust capture cells in space environments which may experience a range of temperatures (e.g., the NASA Stardust mission which collected dust at 1.81 AU and putative Mars atmospheric sampling missions). No significant change in track length (normalised to impactor size) was found over the range 175-600 K, although at 763 K a significant reduction (30%) was found. By contrast, entrance hole diameter remained constant only up to 400 K, above this sudden changes of up to 50% were observed. Experiments were also carried out at normal laboratory temperature using a wide range of aerogel densities and particle sizes. It was found that track length normalised to particle size varies inversely with aerogel density. This is a power law dependence and not linear as previously reported, with longer tracks at lower densities. Glass projectiles (up to 100 μm size) were found to undergo a variety of degrees of damage during capture. In addition to the well known acquisition of a coating (partial or complete) of molten aerogel the mechanical damage includes pitting and meridian fractures. Larger (500 μm diameter) stainless steel spheres also showed damage during capture. In this case melting and ablation occurs, suggesting surficial temperatures during impact in excess of 1400 °C. The response of the aerogel itself to passage of particles through it is reported. The presence of fan-like fractures around the tracks is attributed to cone cracking similar to that in glasses of normal density, with the difference that here it is a repetitive process as the particles pass through the aerogel.     

A new method for spatial centrographic analysis of mineral deposit clusters

A centrographic method for analysing mineral deposit clusters is illustrated using the komatiite-hosted Kambalda nickel sulphide deposit cluster, Yilgarn craton, Western Australia. In this method, the standard distance circle divides the cluster into a more endowed inner part and a less endowed peripheral part. The standard deviational ellipse, another centrographic object, depicts the preferred northwest–southeast trend of nickel orebodies at Kambalda. Weighted centrography shows that nickel endowment is greater in the eastern than western part of the cluster. The spatio-geometric interaction of the circle and ellipse splits the cluster into several partitions. The relative concentration of nickel orebodies or endowment within a partition in relation to their concentration within the entire cluster is termed ‘capture efficiency’. Komatiite areal trace exhibits higher nickel orebody capture efficiency than spatio-geometric partitions; however, some spatio-geometric partitions exhibit nickel endowment capture efficiencies comparable to that of komatiite. Furthermore, nickel orebody and endowment capture efficiencies of komatiite are elevated only within the standard distance circle. These results suggest that at Kambalda, (i) the standard distance circle is a prime window for understanding the komatiite-hosted nickel system, and (ii) spatio-geometric partitions are plausible locales for spatial analysis of nickel orebodies and endowment. The proposed centrographic method is potentially useful in mineral resource estimations and mineral exploration targeting.     

How important are local inventive milieus: The role of birthplace,high school and university education

Using data on the entire population in combination with data on almost all individuals in Sweden listed as inventors, we study how the probability of being listed on a patent as inventor is influenced by the density of other future inventors residing in the same region. In this process, we control for demographic and sector effects along with the educational characteristics of parents. This approach allows us to trace how location history influences individuals’ inventive capacity. We focus on three types of influences: (a) future inventors in the municipality around the time of birth, (b) future inventors around the time of graduation from high school and (c) future inventors at graduation from higher education. We find suggestive evidence that co-locating with future inventors may impact the probability of becoming an inventor. The most consistent effect is found for place of higher education; some positive effects are also evident from birthplace, whereas no consistent positive effect can be derived from individuals’ high school location. Therefore, the formative influences mainly deriving from family upbringing, birth region and from local milieu effects arising from a conscious choice to attend a higher education affect the choice of becoming an inventor.     

导航地图情境建模

目前,尽管形形色色的导航地图产品已经成为人们日常出行的必备帮手,但是实用性不强、效率偏低是普遍存在的一种现象,严重降低了人们对地图的信任程度。为此,本文引进情境理论,通过分析其与导航地图之间的联系,指出情境建模在沟通用户、环境与设备之间作为桥梁的重要意义,并将活动从一般情境信息中剥离出来,确定了导航地图情境建模基本原理,从通用情境信息建模和导航活动建模2个方面详细阐述了导航地图情境建模的方式与方法,为后续研究情境推理与表达奠定基础。     

Consequences of a simulated rapid ocean acidification event for benthic ecosystem processes and functions

Whilst the biological consequences of long-term, gradual changes in acidity associated with the oceanic uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) are increasingly studied, the potential effects of rapid acidification associated with a failure of sub-seabed carbon storage infrastructure have received less attention. This study investigates the effects of severe short-term (8 days) exposure to acidified seawater on infaunal mediation of ecosystem processes (bioirrigation and sediment particle redistribution) and functioning (nutrient concentrations). Following acidification, individuals of Amphiura filiformis exhibited emergent behaviour typical of a stress response, which resulted in altered bioturbation, but limited changes in nutrient cycling. Under acidified conditions, A. filiformis moved to shallower depths within the sediment and the variability in occupancy depth reduced considerably. This study indicated that rapid acidification events may not be lethal to benthic invertebrates, but may result in behavioural changes that could have longer-term implications for species survival, ecosystem structure and functioning.     

气相色谱-串联质谱技术分析地质调查植物样品中持久性有机污染物的优势

对于复杂基质的样品,采用气相色谱法、气相色谱-质谱法( GC - MS)不能满足当前痕量水平分析的要求,串联质谱已发展成一种有机分析测试的成熟技术可应用于地质调查样品分析.本文建立了气相色谱-串联质谱技术( GC - MS - MS)分析植物样品中有机氯农药及多氯联苯的方法,通过对植物样品(圆白菜、菠菜、胡萝卜、橘子)分析,系统比较了GC- MS-MS与气相色谱-电子捕获检测器(GC-ECD)和气相色谱-选择离子-质谱( GC - SIS - MS)三种分析技术的检出限、定性定量分析结果,确认了分析方法的适用性.GC- MS-MS方法的检出限为0.03～0.29 ng/g,大部分化合物均低于GC -ECD的检出限,是GC - SIS -MS检出限的0.4倍.GC- MS-MS分析表明,圆白菜不含反式-氯丹,排除了GC-ECD的假阳性检出;检测胡萝卜等基质复杂、净化困难的样品,GC- MS-MS也表现出良好的定性定量能力;检出低含量水平样品菠菜含有0.26 ng/g六氯苯,而气相色谱未检出,表明GC- MS-MS显著提高了分析灵敏度,能够对样品中低含量的化合物进行准确定量.在三种分析技术中,GC- MS-MS在样品的准确定性、复杂基质样品分析灵敏度、低含量水平准确定量等方面都具有独特的优势,同时能够应用于复杂样品检测结果的确证.     

Stochastic delineation of well capture zones

In this work, we describe a stochastic method for delineating well capture zones in randomly heterogeneous porous media. We use a moment equation (ME) approach to derive the time-dependent mean capture zones and their associated uncertainties. The mean capture zones are determined by reversely tracking the non-reactive particles released at a small circle around each pumping well. The uncertainty associated with the mean capture zones is calculated based on the particle displacement covariances for nonstationary flow fields. The flow statistics are obtained either by directly solving the flow moment equations derived with a first-order ME approach or from Monte Carlo simulations (MCS) of flow. The former constitutes a full ME approach, and the latter is a hybrid ME-MCS approach. This hybrid approach is invoked to examine the validity of the transport component of the stochastic method by ensuring that the ME and MC transport approaches have the same underlying flow statistics. We compared both the full ME and the hybrid ME-MCS results with those obtained with a full MCS approach. It has been found that the three approaches are in excellent agreement when the variability of hydrologic conductivity is small (_Y²=0.16). At a moderate variability (_Y²=0.5), the hybrid ME-MCS and the full MCS results are in excellent agreement whereas the results from the full ME approach deviate slightly from the full MCS results. This indicates that the (first-order) ME transport approach renders a good approximation at this level of variability and that the first-order ME flow approximation may not be sufficiently accurate at this variability in the case of divergent/convergent flow. The first-order ME flow approach may need to be corrected with higher-order terms even for moderate _Y² although the literature results reveal that the first-order ME flow approach is robust for uniform mean flow (i.e., giving accurate results even with _Y² as large as four).     

Groundwater age,life expectancy and transit time distributions in advective–dispersive systems; 2. Reservoir theory for sub-drainage basins

Groundwater age and life expectancy probability density functions (pdf) have been defined, and solved in a general three-dimensional context by means of forward and backward advection–dispersion equations [Cornaton F, Perrochet P. Groundwater age, life expectancy and transit time distributions in advective–dispersive systems; 1. Generalized reservoir theory. Adv Water Res (xxxx)]. The discharge and recharge zones transit time pdfs were then derived by applying the reservoir theory (RT) to the global system, thus considering as ensemble the union of all inlet boundaries on one hand, and the union of all outlet boundaries on the other hand. The main advantages in using the RT to calculate the transit time pdf is that the outlet boundary geometry does not represent a computational limiting factor (e.g. outlets of small sizes), since the methodology is based on the integration over the entire domain of each age, or life expectancy, occurrence. In the present paper, we extend the applicability of the RT to sub-drainage basins of groundwater reservoirs by treating the reservoir flow systems as compartments which transfer the water fluxes to a particular discharge zone, and inside which mixing and dispersion processes can take place. Drainage basins are defined by the field of probability of exit at outlet. In this way, we make the RT applicable to each sub-drainage system of an aquifer of arbitrary complexity and configuration. The case of the well-head protection problem is taken as illustrative example, and sensitivity analysis of the effect of pore velocity variations on the simulated ages is carried out.     

金沙江袭夺地形探讨

作者在1984年考察金沙江石鼓袭夺地形时,发现古长江确实存在,如古阶地剖面、古河床卵石层及古谷地纵斜度均匀向剑川递降等。金沙江袭夺发生于更新世末期,古谷地沉积物(灰华)C_(14)测定为17,300±520年。     

长江口新生相形成的实验研究

证实了长江河水与长江口海水相混可形成新生相，新生相能强烈地捕集水体中的痕量元素；并首次用动态光散射技术测定了新生相的颗粒大小与分布。