The influence of particle composition on thorium scavenging in the NE Atlantic ocean (POMME experiment)

²³⁰Th, ²³²Th and ²³⁴Th were analyzed in sinking particles collected by moored and drifting sediment traps in the NE Atlantic Ocean (POMME experiment) in order to constrain the phase(s) carrying Th isotopes in the water column. It reveals a contrasted behaviour between ²³⁴Th and ²³⁰Th. ²³⁴Th is correlated to the particulate organic carbon suggesting that it is primarily scavenged by organic compounds in the surface waters. ²³⁰Th_xs is correlated with Mn, Ba and the lithogenic fraction that are enriched in small suspended particles and incorporated in the sinking particulate flux throughout the water column. The lack of correlation between ²³⁰Th_xs and CaCO₃ or biogenic silica (bSi) indicates that CaCO₃ and bSi are not responsible for ²³⁰Th scavenging in the deep waters of this oceanic region. ²³⁰Th is generally correlated with the lithogenic content of the trapped material but this correlation disappears in winter during strong atmospheric dust inputs suggesting that lithogenic matter is not directly responsible for ²³⁰Th scavenging in the deep waters or that sufficient time is required to achieve particle–solution equilibration. MnO₂ could be the prevalent ²³⁰Th_xs-bearing phase. The narrow range of K_{d_MnO2}^Th obtained for very contrasted oceanic environments supports a global control of ²³⁰Th_xs scavenging by MnO₂ and raises the possibility that the ²³⁰Th–²³¹Pa fractionation is controlled by the amount of colloidal MnO₂ in seawater.     

The Magnetospheric cusps: A Summary

The polar cusps of the magnetosphere are key regions for the transfer of mass, momentum, and energy from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. Understaning these key regions and the dynamical interactions that occur there are fundamentally important to determining the physical nature of the magnetosphere. In this paper we try to summarize many of the conclusions reached in the papers of this special issue emphasizing the present concepts and definition of the cusp, what variations could be temporal structures and what could be spatial structures. We address the need for further measurements and the role of present and planned projects to address these needs.     

High-Altitude CUSP: The Extremely Dynamic Region in Geospace

The high-altitude dayside cusps (both northern and southern) are extremely dynamic regions in geospace. Large diamagnetic cavities with significant fluctuations of the local magnetic field strength have been observed there. These cusp diamagnetic cavities are always there day after day and are as large as 6 R_E Associated with these cavities are charged particles with energies from 20 keV up to 10 MeV. The intensities of the cusp energetic ions have been observed to increase by as much as four orders of the magnitude when compared with regions adjacent to the cusp which includes the magnetosheath. Their seed populations are a mixture of ionospheric and solar wind particles. The measured energetic ion fluxes in the high-altitude cusp are higher than that in both the regions upstream and downstream from the bow shock. Turbulent electric fields with an amplitude of about 10 mV/m are also present in the cusp, and a cusp resonant acceleration mechanism is suggested. The observations indicate that the dayside high-altitude cusp is a key region for transferring the solar wind mass, momentum, and energy into the Earth’s magnetosphere.     

Preliminary Characterisation of New Glass Reference Materials (GSA-1G, GSC-1G, GSD-1G and GSE-1G) by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry Using 193 nm, 213 nm and 266 nm Wavelengths

New glass reference materials GSA-1G, GSC-1G, GSD-1G and GSE-1G have been characterised using a prototype solid state laser ablation system capable of producing wavelengths of 193 nm, 213 nm and 266 nm. This system allowed comparison of the effects of different laser wavelengths under nearly identical ablation and ICP operating conditions. The wavelengths 213 nm and 266 nm were also used at higher energy densities to evaluate the influence of energy density on quantitative analysis. In addition, the glass reference materials were analysed using commercially available 266 nm Nd:YAG and 193 nm ArF excimer lasers. Laser ablation analysis was carried out using both single spot and scanning mode ablation. Using laser ablation ICP-MS, concentrations of fifty-eight elements were determined with external calibration to the NIST SRM 610 glass reference material. Instead of applying the more common internal standardisation procedure, the total concentration of all element oxide concentrations was normalised to 100%. Major element concentrations were compared with those determined by electron microprobe. In addition to NIST SRM 610 for external calibration, USGS BCR-2G was used as a more closely matrix-matched reference material in order to compare the effect of matrix-matched and non matrix-matched calibration on quantitative analysis. The results show that the various laser wavelengths and energy densities applied produced similar results, with the exception of scanning mode ablation at 266 nm without matrix-matched calibration where deviations up to 60% from the average were found. However, results acquired using a scanning mode with a matrix-matched calibration agreed with results obtained by spot analysis. The increased abundance of large particles produced when using a scanning ablation mode with NIST SRM 610, is responsible for elemental fractionation effects caused by incomplete vaporisation of large particles in the ICP.     

Geochemical characteristics of mineral air particles emitted inside a clay atomisation plant which introduces waste recycling processes

The objective of this work is to assess the concentrations of three factions of air particles (settable particles, TSP and PM10) and the levels of several toxic elements in a clay atomisation industry through aerosol sampling at several points inside an industrial plant. Mechanical activities, which produce diffuse emissions, are the main process of discharge of particles in both indoor and outdoor workplace environments in the atomisation plant. The levels of As, Cd, Pb, Zn, Ba and Ni increase in the zones with higher concentrations of particles and lower ventilation. The concentrations of As and F are not influenced by the recycling processes. The levels of Cd and Pb do not show great enrichment in air particles collected inside the atomisation plant although the content of both elements is associated with ceramic muck recycling. Finally, the content of B in waste water is mainly transferred in gaseous phase to the atmosphere during the process of drying by atomisation.     

电子探针化学测年技术及其在地学中的应用

电子探针主要应用于固体无机材料的微区化学成分定量测定和表面形貌研究。近十年来电子探针化学测年技术发展迅速，并取得了丰富的研究成果。本文在简单介绍该技术发展历程后，进一步详细介绍该技术的基本原理、样品制备与分析、年龄计算方法等内容，最后讨论了该技术的优缺点，同时指出电子探针测年技术在地学中的具有广泛的应用前景。     

Refined modeling and movement characteristics analyses of irregularly shaped particles

Irregularly shaped (IRS) particles widely exist in many engineering and industrial fields. The macro physical and mechanical properties of the particle system are governed by the interaction between the particles in the system. The interaction between IRS particles is more complicated because of their complex geometric shape with extremely irregular and co‐existed concave and convex surfaces. These particles may interlock each other, making the sliding and friction of IRS particles more complex than that of particles with regular shape. In order to study the interaction of IRS particles more efficiently, a refined method of constructing discrete element model based on computed tomography scanning of IRS particles is proposed. Three parameters were introduced to control the accuracy and the number of packing spheres. Subsequently, the inertia tensor of the IRS particle model was optimized. Finally, laboratory and numerical open bottom cylinder tests were carried out to verify the refined modeling method. The influence of particle shape, particle position, and mesoscopic friction coefficient on the interaction of particles was also simulated. It is noteworthy that with the increase of mesoscopic friction coefficient, the fluidity of IRS particle assembly decreases, and intermittent limit equilibrium state may appear. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无内标-多外标校正激光剥蚀等离子体质谱法测定磁铁矿微量元素组成

激光剥蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱(LA-ICP-MS)常用于磁铁矿原位微量元素分析,按照校正策略不同,主要分为内标法和无内标法。内标法需要用电子探针(EMPA)预先测定磁铁矿中内标元素Fe的含量,过程较繁琐,且待测元素含量会受到内标元素含量测定的影响。本文采用铁含量较高的玄武质玻璃BCR-2G、BIR-1G、BHVO-2G和GSE-1G作为外标,避免了内标元素含量的测定,建立了无内标-多外标校正LA-ICP-MS测定磁铁矿微量元素组成的分析方法。利用该方法测定了科马提岩玻璃GOR-128g和自然岩浆磁铁矿BC 28的微量元素组成以评估方法的可靠性。结果表明,科马提岩玻璃的测定结果与推荐值及前人内标法的测定值一致,多数元素的相对标准偏差RSD5%;自然岩浆磁铁矿的测定结果与推荐值相比,多数元素的RSD7%,低于前人内标法的RSD(15%)。由此说明无内标-多外标法可以实现富铁硅酸岩或磁铁矿微量元素含量的准确校正,克服了基体效应的影响。因此,无内标-多外标法是一种原位测定磁铁矿微量元素含量的快速、准确方法,具有一定的应用潜力。     

中国南海夏季风强、弱年多尺度相互作用能量学特征

中国南海夏季风为东亚季风的主要系统之一,其具有多重尺度特征,除季节平均环流场外,低频（季节内振荡）和高频（天气尺度）扰动也十分活跃,各尺度系统存在明显的年际变化。该研究使用ERA-Interim和NCEP/NCAR两套再分析资料,从季风平均动能（MKE）诊断的角度出发,探讨了1979-2010年中国南海夏季风环流年际变化的能量来源及其和扰动场的相互作用过程。结果表明:中国南海夏季风对流活跃年份,中国南海南部（12°N以南）及中南半岛一带为季风平均动能显著增强区,此与南亚季风区西风急流的增强并向东延伸有关;中国南海北部（12°N以北）及西太平洋为气旋性环流盘踞,季风槽加深。中国南海南部季风平均动能增强的能量源自于扰动动量通量与平均环流的相互作用,强季风年,平均环流失去较少的动能给扰动场（亦即平均环流保留较多的动能）。通过进一步探讨高频（<10 d）及低频（10-90 d）扰动场与平均环流不同分量的（散度、涡度、风垂直切变）相互作用过程,发现季风平均动能的增长主要来自于<10 d扰动与季风平均散度和涡度的相互作用。中国南海北部季风槽区季风平均动能的维持来自于大气热源和平均上升运动的相互作用,但同时有较多的季风平均动能向扰动动能转换,有利于扰动的成长。因此,强季风年,中国南海北部热带气旋生成数目增多,夏季北传的季节内振荡也增强,导致中国南部沿海及华南地区出现较多的灾害天气。      

含AgI焰剂成冰性能与物化特征的实验研究

利用CAMS的1 m~3等温云室系统筛选出新型高效AgI焰剂WMC-IN-001和WMG-IN-002。检测结果表明,它们具有较高的成核率,在-15℃时达到10~(15)g~(-1)AgI量级,尤其在-7℃时WMC-IN-001的成核率仍可达到10~(14)g~(-1)AgI量级。同时给出对节银剂配方和2011年市场上主要的几种催化剂的检测结果进行对比。WMC-IN-001和WMC-IN-002的成冰速率较慢,在各检测温度的成冰速率差异较小,均在40~55 min。利用冷场发射扫描电镜和能谱仪对WMC-IN-001燃烧产生的气溶胶粒子作了物化特征分析,粒子分布在0.02~0.60μm,具有两个典型的模态:0.02~0.10μm的较小的粒子和0.20~0.55μm的较大的粒子,均立方直径为0.2472μm。WMC-IN-001气溶胶粒子明显偏大,小粒子相对较少,这可能是其成冰速率偏慢的原因之一。