Trace elements in aerosol particles from Bermuda and Barbados: Concentrations,sources and relationships to aerosol sulfate

The concentrations of selected trace elements and non-sea salt sulfate were determined for aerosol particle samples collected over the open North Atlantic Ocean as part of the Atmosphere/Ocean Chemistry Experiment (AEROCE). The concentrations of atmospheric sea salt and mineral aerosol, which together dominate the mass of particulate material in the atmosphere, were higher at Barbados than at Bermuda. In contrast, the impact of pollution sources on trace element concentrations was more evident at Bermuda than at Barbados. At both sites Sb and Se were enriched significantly over the concentrations expected from mineral dust or from atmospheric sea salt. Moreover, the concentrations of Sb and Se were correlated, and the observed Sb/Se ratios often were similar to those resulting from anthropogenic emissions. At Bermuda, the concentrations of Sb and Se co-varied with non-sea salt sulfate, suggesting that a significant fraction of the non-sea salt sulfate is anthropogenic. In a broader context, the synthesis of results demonstrates that trace element data are useful for evaluating the relative contributions of anthropogenic vs. natural sources to the budgets of non-sea salt sulfate in acrosol particles.     

Business cycles and forecasts of industrial minerals use

The future markets for industrial minerals depend on the business cycles of the industries that use these minerals. In this study, I develop a method to establish the relationships between the cycles in major sectors of the economy and the markets for minerals. This method is demonstrated for the use of cement, gypsum, salt, and asbestos in the United States since World War II. Assuming that past relationships will continue, we can forecast consumption for these minerals based on predictions of future trends in the economy.     

Searching for long cycles in short sections

Long sedimentary cycles with periods of 400 thousand to two million years are difficult to establish. The main reasons are a lack of stationarity in stratigraphic time series and unknown changes in sedimentation rates. Filtering, trend removal and time scale transformations can help to interpret stratigraphic sequences, but the application of any such method has to be justified by geological arguments. The effects of filtering, scale transformation and trend removal are explored using sets of field data from the Carboniferous (NW Ireland), the Cretaceous (Gubbio, Italy) and Pliocene (Sicily). Their location and stratigraphy are described.     

Efficacy of Cement-stabilized Fly Ash Cushion in Arresting Heave of Expansive Soils

Expansive clays swell and shrink seasonally when subjected to changes in the moisture regime causing substantial distress to the structures built in them. Techniques like sand cushion and cohesive non-swelling soil (CNS) layer have been tried to arrest heave and consequent damages to structures. Sand cushion has been proved to be counter-productive. Studies have indicated that even though CNS layer was effective initially, it became less effective after the first cycle of swelling and shrinkage. Research carried out by the authors, using cement-stabilized fly ash as a cushioning material, has shown that it was quite effective in arresting heave. Fly ash cushion, stabilized with 10% cement with thickness equal to that of the expansive soil bed reduces heave by about 75% in the first instance. With subsequent swell-shrink cycles, the performance further improves, unlike in the case of a black cotton soil provided with a CNS cushion. At the end of fourth cycle of swelling, the reduction in the amount of heave is as high as 99.1%.     

河南登封地区寒武系第三统张夏组米级旋回及其演化

河南登封地区寒武系第三统张夏组是一套167m厚的碳酸盐岩地层,出露连续且完整,发育以微生物岩主导和以后生动物扰动灰岩主导的两种米级旋回类型。通过对米级旋回的演化及其沉积学和古遗迹学特征分析,张夏组自下而上由以微生物岩主导的米级旋回逐渐让位于以后生动物扰动灰岩主导的米级旋回;沉积体系由无鲕粒滩的碳酸盐岩台地逐渐向发育厚层鲕粒滩的碳酸盐岩台地演化;沉积环境从潮下低能深水演变为开阔台地,并逐渐变浅形成鲕粒滩、局限台地;沉积岩类型从叠层石、凝块石灰岩等微生物岩逐渐变化为生物碎屑灰岩、生物扰动灰岩和含生物扰动鲕粒灰岩。     

Examining regulatory reform for bus operations in Latin America

Governments in Latin American cities are pursuing regulatory reforms to address the negative externalities of informal public transportation service providers. This is achieved by regulatory actions that work to consolidate many small operators competing “in the market” into fewer larger companies competing “for the market.” This reform addresses problems in the previous phase of the regulatory cycle, but requires a larger role for public authorities. The cities of Bogotá, Santiago and Mexico City took different approaches and have achieved different levels of formalization. Under these cities’ new regulatory regimes, bus companies have consolidated and public authorities now rely on renegotiation of contracts instead of open rebidding. However, industry formalization increases costs, requiring public subsidy or higher fares, and puts financial pressure on the public sector. These results imply a continued instability in the regulatory cycle; without increased public sector capacity, it is possible that large, entrenched operators and increasing costs will create a new market opening for informal service.     

An exceptional cosmic influence and its bearing on the evolution of human culture as evident in the apparent early development of mathematics and astronomy

The proposal that cometary dust particles play a significant role in the emergence and evolution of both life and disease on suitable planets was first made some 25 years ago by Hoyle and Wickramasinghe. Fundamental to this proposal was a process of punctuated seeding by particular (bio)chemical species believed to originate naturally and predominantly in larger comets, say those with diameters greater than about 100 kilometres. Rather less well known is a parallel proposal likewise favoured by Hoyle that a particular giant comet, the most recent to settle in cis-Jovian space, accounting for the latest significant phase of evolution on Earth, also had a significant part to play in the cultivation by homo sapiens of its civilization and culture. Such proposals may be seen by many as examples of excessively lateral thinking but they by no means lack independent support and have important implications for the otherwise uncertain origin of the latest ice-age (basic to climatology) and for the otherwise uncertain generation of early calendars (basic to the management of society). Aspects of these proposals are considered here in relation to a much respected supposedly Chaldean calendar probably passed down by the dynastic Isins (also the Essenes?) which evidently bears witness to known early mathematical and astronomical skills but which largely ceased to be available to subsequent scholarship beyond the Early Christians (ca. 100 CE) pending its (recent) recovery through the medium of Dead Sea Scrolls.     

冻融循环对土结构性影响的机理与定量研究方法

冻融循环对不同土的结构性具有不同的影响效果,通过探讨冻融循环对土结构性影响的机理,认为土的三相组成是水分相变和水分迁移的基础;在冻融过程中,土的三相比例与分布在不断地发生变化,导致土的结构性随冻融循环发生改变.对土的结构性要素进行了讨论,建立了适于定量分析的结构性要素层次划分体系,定义"冻融结构势"作为土体结构性的定量参数,提出用结构性要素在冻融循环过程中的变化率来估计土体的损伤比,初步探索了冻融循环对土结构性影响的定量研究方法.     

Swelling behaviour of GPA-reinforced expansive clay beds subjected to swell-shrink cycles

Granular pile-anchor (GPA) technique has been found to be an innovative foundation technique for expansive clays posing the dual problem of swelling and shrinkage. Swelling occurs during absorption of water and shrinkage during evaporation of water. Generally, in field expansive clay beds, swelling takes place during rainy seasons and shrinkage during summers. GPA is a recent innovative foundation technique devised to ameliorate the dual swell-shrink problem of structures founded on expansive clay beds. The other innovative techniques are drilled piers, belled piers and under-reamed piles. Laboratory scale model studies and field scale experiments on GPAs yielded useful results and revealed that swelling of expansive clay beds was effectively controlled by GPA technique. Studies on swell-shrink behaviour of GPA-reinforced clay beds have not been performed so far. This paper presents results obtained from laboratory scale model studies on GPA-reinforced expansive clay beds subjected to alternate cycles of swelling and shrinkage. The data presented in this paper pertain to the swelling of test clay beds under the influence of three swell-shrink cycles (N) spanning a time period of 300 days. The test clay beds were reinforced with varying number of GPAs (n = 0, 1, 2 and 3). Heave (mm) in a given swell-shrink cycle decreased with increasing number of GPAs. Further, for a given number of GPAs (n), heave (mm) also decreased with increase in depth from the top of the clay bed. It was found that the resultant thickness of the clay bed (H_r) for swelling increased with increasing number of cycles. However, the percentage heave (ΔH/H_r) decreased as the number of swell-shrink cycles (N) increased.