Thermal Emission From The Dust Coma Of Comet Hale-Bopp And The Composition Of The Silicate Grains

The dust coma of comet Hale-Bopp was observed in the thermal infrared over a wide range in solar heating (R = 4.9–0.9 AU) and over the full wavelength range from 3 μm to 160 μm. Unusual early activity produced an extensive coma containing small warm refractory grains; already at 4.9 AU, the 10 μm silicate emission feature was strong and the color temperature was 30% above the equilibrium blackbody temperature. Near perihelion the high color temperature, strong silicate feature, and high albedo indicated a smaller mean grain size than in other comets. The 8–13 μm spectra revealed a silicate emission feature similar in shape to that seen in P/Halley and several new and long period comets. Detailed spectral structure in the feature was consistent over time and with different instruments; the main peaks occur at 9.3, 10.0 and 11.2 μm. These peaks can be identified with olivine and pyroxene minerals, linking the comet dust to the anhydrous chondritic aggregate interplanetary dust particles. Spectra at 16–40 μm taken with the ISO SWS displayed pronounced emission peaks due to Mg-rich crystalline olivine, consistent with the 11.2 μm peak. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermal Infrared Spectra of Comet Hale-Bopp at Heliocentric Distances of 4 and 2.9 AU

We present 10 and 20 μm spectra of comet Hale-Bopp taken at UKIRT on 1996 June 20 and 1996 September 29.The 10 μm spectra clearly show a strong silicate feature with peaks at 10.0 and 11.2 μm. The 20 μm spectrum on September 29 has strong excess flux relative to a blackbody and a peak near 19μm, in good agreement with the ISO SWS spectra obtained a week later. However, the 20 μm spectrum on June 20 has significantly lower flux than would be expected based on a blackbody extrapolation from the flux at 12.5 μm. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Computational study of tetrahedral Al–Si ordering in muscovite

 The nature of Al–Si ordering across the tetrahedral sites in muscovite, K₂Al₄(Si₆Al₂O₂₀)(OH)₄, was investigated using various computational techniques. Values of the atomic exchange interaction parameters J _l were obtained. From these parameters, a two-dimensional Al–Si ordering scheme was deduced. The transition temperature T _c for this two-dimensional ordering is 1900 K. There are several possible ordering schemes in three dimensions, based on different stacking sequences of ordered sheets of tetrahedral sites. Monte Carlo simulations of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional ordering were performed, but in the three-dimensional simulation only the two-dimensional ordering is seen, implying that three-dimensional ordering is too slow to be attained during the timescale of the simulation. The effect of the three-dimensional interactions is to raise the two-dimensional ordering temperature to 2140 K. From the three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation, the frequency of occurrence of 4Si0Al, 3Si1Al, 2Si2Al and 1Si3Al clusters was determined, which match those inferred by ²⁹Si MAS–NMR measurements reasonably well. In fact, the match suggests that the cation ordering seen in experiments corresponds to a configuration with considerable short-range order but no long-range order, similar to a state that is at a temperature just above an ordering phase transition. Received: 28 August 2000 / Accepted: 12 March 2001     

Mineralogy of phyllosilicate-rich micrometeorites and comparison with Tagish Lake and Sayama meteorites

Four phyllosilicate-rich micrometeorites (MMs) were investigated by a synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction technique and transmission electron microscopy. Three are saponite-rich MMs and one is a serpentine-rich one. In the saponite-rich MMs, we could not find serpentine, and vice versa in the serpentine-rich MM. In the saponite-rich MMs, major constituent minerals are saponite, Fe- and Ni-bearing sulfides, and magnetite. Two saponite-rich MMs contain fine-grained magnesiowüstite-rich aggregates. The aggregates consist of <50 nm polygonal magnesiowüstite coexisting with minor Fe sulfide grains. Their texture, chemical composition, and the result of heating experiments on matrix fragments of the Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrite strongly suggest that these aggregates were formed by the breakdown of Mg- and Fe-rich carbonate grains when the MMs entered the Earth’s atmosphere. The estimated major mineral assemblage of the saponite-rich MMs before entering the Earth’s atmosphere is very similar to that of the Tagish Lake carbonate-rich lithology, and we suggest that the MMs and the meteorite were derived from similar asteroids. The major mineral assemblage and texture of the matrix of serpentine-rich MM are similar to the matrix of the Sayama CM2 chondrite that experienced heavy aqueous alteration. Chemical compositions of serpentine in the MM suggest that the degree of aqueous alteration of the MM is weaker than that of Sayama. In the MM, cronstedtite does not coexist with tochilinite, which is different from CM2 chondrites that experienced weak to moderate aqueous alteration. However, the possibility that the serpentine-rich MM was derived from the CM chondrite asteroid cannot be ruled out, because tochilinite can be preferentially decomposed during atmospheric entry heating due to its lower decomposition temperature than that of cronstedtite.     

X射线荧光光谱法测定多种铁矿和硅酸盐中主次量组分

采用熔融玻璃法,用Axios型X射线荧光光谱仪测定铁矿和硅酸盐中Fe2O3、SiO2、A l2O3、TiO2、CaO、MgO、SO3、MnO、V2O5、K2O、P2O5、Na2O、Co和N i等组分含量。使用理论α系数和经验系数法校正基体效应,经标准物质检验,分析结果与标准值基本吻合。用钒钛磁铁矿GBW 07225国家一级标准物质进行精密度试验,统计结果除K2O、P2O5、N i的RSD<15%,其余大多数组分的RSD<4.0%(n=12)。     

High-temperature single-crystal neutron diffraction study of natural chondrodite

The H-atom environment in a Tilly Foster chondrodite was analyzed using single-crystal neutron-diffraction data collected at 500, 700 and 900 K and previously published low temperature data collected at 10, 100 and 300 K on the same crystal (Mg_4.64Fe_0.28Mn_0.014Ti_0.023(Si_1.01O₄)₂F_1.16(OH)_0.84; Friedrich et al. in Am Mineral 86:981–989, 2001). The full mean square displacement matrix Σ of the O–H pair was determined from the temperature dependence of the anisotropic displacement parameters, enabling a proper correction of the O–H bond for thermal vibration without assumptions about the correlation of O and H movements. The results show that the perpendicular O–H motions in chondrodite are intermediate between the riding and the independent motion models. The corrected O–H bond lengths do not change with temperature whereas the corrected H···F distances show an increase of ~0.02 Å with temperature, as do the Mg–O distances. This result shows that spectroscopic observations on the strength of the covalent O–H bond cannot be interpreted unambiguously in terms of a corresponding behaviour of the associated H···O/F hydrogen bond.     

Processes of formation of fluorite-leucophane-melinophane-eudidymite ores of the Ermakovka F-Be deposit (western Transbaikalia)

Fluorite-leucophane-melinophane-eudidymite ores of zone XVIII of the Ermakovka F-Be deposit were studied by geological, mineralogical, and thermobarogeochemical methods. Contents of Be and impurity elements (Li, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Cl, K, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Nb, Mo, Ag, Sn, W, and Pb) in fluid inclusions in fluorite of this zone have been first determined by LA-ICP-MS. It is shown that fluorite-leucophane-melinophane-eudidymite ores were formed by alkaline high-F low-salt (6.0-12.5 wt.% NaCl equiv) solutions with a relatively low content of Be (0.0002-1.04 g/kg of solution). Fluorite and beryllium minerals were deposited in ores in a wide range of P-T conditions. The early fluorite-phenakite paragenesis formed at high temperatures (480-650 °C) and high pressures (> 3 kbar). At the late low-temperature stage, phenakite was replaced by Na-Be silicates (eudidymite and melinophane-leucophane) at < 220 °C and < 770 bars. The Be-ore deposition was due to the destruction of a predominant beryllium fluoride-carbonate complex as a result of the crystallization of fluorite during the metasomatic replacement of limestones. Eudidymite and melinophane-leucophane formed at low temperatures under high activity of Na and Ca and low activity of Be and F in highly alkaline solutions.     

3种硅酸盐矿物粉体对V79和A549细胞的遗传毒性

通过噻唑蓝(MTT)比色法、微核试验、单细胞凝胶电泳实验(SCGE),检测了3种硅酸盐矿物粉体(绢云母、石英、钠长石)对V79和A549细胞存活率、微核及DNA损伤的影响,比较和探讨了3种硅酸盐矿物粉体细胞遗传毒性的差异。研究结果表明,3种硅酸盐矿物粉体均不同程度抑制细胞增殖,诱发细胞染色体和DNA损伤,作用大小顺序均为绢云母石英钠长石,且对V79细胞的增殖抑制率和DNA损伤率均明显强于A549细胞,推测一定浓度范围内的硅酸盐矿物粉体对细胞遗传物质的稳定性可能存在影响,对人体可能具有遗传毒性。     

Nutrient flux and budget in the Ebro estuary

The Ebro river flows to the Mediterranean coast of Spain. During its final stretch, the Ebro behaves in a similar way to a highly stratified estuary. This paper describes the transport of nutrients to the Ebro estuary, evaluates the general movement of nutrients in the estuarine region, using a mass balance approach, and estimates the amounts of nutrients discharged to the coastal environment. Given the strong saline stratification, this study only includes the surface layer that contains the continental freshwater. The annual nutrient budget for the Ebro estuary shows a net excess for nitrogen and phosphorus, while silicate almost attains equilibrium between addition and removal. There are several reasons for gains in nitrogen and phosphorous: a contribution of dissolved and particulate compounds in the freshwater (some of which are mineralized); a lower uptake of phytoplankton indicated by chlorophyll reduction in the estuary; an entrainment of the nutrient-rich upper part of the salt wedge; and, to a lesser extent, the impact of wastewater and agricultural water use. The biggest load discharged into the Mediterranean Sea by the Ebro is nitrogen, followed by silicate with over 10 000 tons of each deposited annually. Phosphorus is discharged at relatively low concentrations and with an annual load of about 200 t yr⁻¹.     

Calculation of the configurational entropy of Al, Si in layer silicates using the cluster variation method

Entropies of Al-Si in layer silicates have been calculated using a series of CVM approximations for the honeycomb lattice. The parameters of the models have been constrained by ²⁹Si NMR data. The results of low order approximations such as “pair” and “star” have been rejected because of their low accuracy at high Al/(Al+Si) ratios. Reasonably accurate results have been achieved with the help of the “hexagon” and “star-hexagon” approximations. Received: 31 October 1997 / Revised, accepted: 17 April 1998