The possibility of passive acoustic monitoring of a Scuba Diver

The problem of controlling the state and location of scuba divers is of importance. This work consider the possibility to use for this purpose a low-frequency noise of a scuba diver. The noise of a scuba diver under a dry swimming suite near the trachea and in the water at a distance of 50 m was recorded.It wa shown that both sygnals are characterized by the presence of quasi-periodic components induced by the amplitude modulation of wide-band breathing noises by the brething rhythms of a scuba diver. The quasi-periodic componentss distinguished can be used to evaluate the physiological parameters of the state of a scuba diver and to establish his location.     

Superdeep diamonds from the Juina area, Mato Grosso State, Brazil

Alluvial diamonds from the Juina area in Mato Grosso, Brazil, have been characterized in terms of their morphology, syngenetic mineral inclusions, carbon isotopes and nitrogen contents. Morphologically, they are similar to other Brazilian diamonds, showing a strong predominance of rounded dodecahedral crystals. However, other characteristics of the Juina diamonds make them unique. The inclusion parageneses of Juina diamonds are dominated by ultra-high-pressure ("superdeep") phases that differ both from "traditional" syngenetic minerals associated with diamonds and, in detail, from most other superdeep assemblages. Ferropericlase is the dominant inclusion in the Juina diamonds. It coexists with ilmenite, Cr-Ti spinel, a phase with the major-element composition of olivine, and SiO₂. CaSi-perovskite inclusions coexist with titanite (sphene), "olivine" and native Ni. MgSi-perovskite coexists with TAPP (tetragonal almandine-pyrope phase). Majoritic garnet occurs in one diamond, associated with CaTi-perovskite, Mn-ilmenite and an unidentified Si-Mg phase. Neither Cr-pyrope nor Mg-chromite was found as inclusions. The spinel inclusions are low in Cr and Mg, and high in Ti (Cr₂O₃<36.5 wt%, and TiO₂>10 wt%). Most ilmenite inclusions have low MgO contents, and some have very high (up to 11.5 wt%) MnO contents. The rare "olivine" inclusions coexisting with ferropericlase have low Mg# (87-89), and higher Ca, Cr and Zn contents than typical diamond-inclusion olivines. They are interpreted as inverted from spinel-structured (Mg, Fe)₂Si₂O₄. This suite of inclusions is consistent with derivation of most of the diamonds from depths near 670 km, and adds ilmenite and relatively low-Cr, high-Ti spinel to the known phases of the superdeep paragenesis. Diamonds from the Juina area are characterized by a narrow range of carbon isotopic composition ('¹³C=-7.8 to -2.5‰), except for the one majorite-bearing diamond ('¹³C=-11.4‰). There are high proportions of nitrogen-free and low-nitrogen diamonds, and the aggregated B center is predominant in nitrogen-containing diamonds. These observations have practical consequences for diamond exploration: Low-Mg olivine, low-Mg and high-Mn ilmenite, and low-Cr spinel should be included in the list of diamond indicator minerals, and the role of high-Cr, low-Ti spinel as the only spinel associated with diamond, and hence as a criterion of diamond grade in kimberlites, should be reconsidered.     

Corrosion Resistance of the Nd–Ti Matrix for Actinides

Doklady Earth Sciences - Leaching of Np and Pu in water from samples composed of two titanate phases Nd2Ti3O9 (75 wt %) and Nd2Ti2O7 (25 wt %) is investigated. The rates of leaching actinides...     

Neutron irradiation and post-irradiation annealing of rutile (TiO2−x ): effect on hydrogen incorporation and optical absorption

Neutron irradiation and post-irradiation annealing under oxidising and reducing conditions have been used to investigate H incorporation in, and the optical properties of, reduced (TiO_2−x ) rutile. Optical absorption in rutile is mainly due to a Ti³⁺ Ti⁴⁺ intervalence charge transfer effect. The main mechanism for H incorporation in rutile involves interstitial H not coupled to other defects, which has important implications for the rate of H diffusion, and possibly also on the electrical properties of rutile. Additional minor OH absorption bands in IR spectra indicate that a small amount of interstitial H is coupled to defects such as Ti³⁺ on the main octahedral site, and indicates that more than one H incorporation mechanism may operate. Concentration of oxygen vacancies has a controlling influence on the H affinity of rutile.     

Carbon-bearing phases in shock-induced melt zones of the Elga meteorite

The mineralogy and texture of shock-induced melt veinlets and melt pockets in silicate inclusions in the Elga IIE iron meteorite have been studied by reflected-light optical microscopy, EMPA, SEM, Raman spectroscopy and TEM. The results suggest that Elga experienced two discrete impact events. The earlier event involved the collision of a metallic projectile with a silicate target and resulted in partial melting and recrystallization of the silicate material, forming schreibersite and oxide rims between the metal and silicate. The later impact event resulted in melt pockets in the silicate inclusions and was associated with fragmentation, melting, and brecciation of the rims and displacement of some fragments into the melt pockets. These fragments are shown to contain carbon-bearing phases: siderite and amorphous sp ² carbon, which form carbon–oxide, siderite–oxide, and siderite–schreibersite associations. The fact that the carbon-bearing fragments are spatially constrained to shock breccia and melt zones indicates that these fragments are genetically related to the impact process and that their carbon-bearing phases are of cosmic origin.     

Structural features of quench products of melts in the chloride-carbonate-silicate systems revealed by vibrational and X-ray spectroscopy

Quench products of melts synthesized at 5 GPa and 1500°C in model system CaMgSi₂O₆–Na₂CO₃(±CaCO₃)–KCl, were studied using vibrational (IR and Raman) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES). Correlations between structural peculiarities of the quenches with chemical composition are established. Increase of the CaMgSi₂O₆ content of the melts results in gradual substitution of the Са-bearing carbonate groups by Na-bearing, whereas Ca is progressively more bounded with silicate structural units. XANES spectra reveal that chlorine is predominantly present as (K _x Na_1–x )Cl complexes. XANES spectra also indicate distribution of potassium cations between chloride and silicate groups, although its partial bonding with carbonate groups in the melt is not excluded.     

Estimating the strength of the nucleus material of comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Consideration is given to the estimates for the strength of the consolidated material forming the bulk of the nucleus of comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko and those for the strength of the surface material overlying the consolidated material at the sites of the first and last contact of the Philae lander with the nucleus. The strength of the consolidated material was estimated by analyzing the terrain characteristics of the steep cliffs, where the material is exposed on the surface. Based on these estimates, the tensile strength of the material is in the range from 1.5 to 100 Pa; the shear strength, from ～13 to ?30 Pa; and the compressive strength, from 30 to 150 Pa, possibly up to 1.5 kPa. These are very low strength values. Given the dependence of the measurement results on the size of the measured object, they are similar to those of fresh dry snow at –10°C. The (compressive) strength of the surface material at the site of the first touchdown of Philae on the nucleus is estimated from the measurements of the dynamics of the surface impact by the spacecraft’s legs and the geometry of the impact pits as 1–3 kPa. For comparison with the measurement results for ice-containing materials in terrestrial laboratories, it needs to be taken into account that the rate of deformation by Philae’s legs is four orders of magnitude higher than that in typical terrestrial measurements, leading to a possible overestimation of the strength by roughly an order of magnitude. There was an attemp to put one of the MUPUS sensors into the surface material at the site of the last contact of Philae with the nucleus. Noticeable penetration of the tester probe was not achieved that led to estimation of the minimum compressive strength of the material to be ?4 MPa4 This fairly high strength appears to indicate the presence of highly porous ice with grains “frozen” at contacts.     

Effects of sonochemical treatment on meteoritic nanodiamonds

A nanodiamond‐rich fraction (NDF) separated from the Orgueil meteorite was subjected to a high‐intensity ultrasonic treatment in a weakly acidic aqueous solution. After sedimentation by centrifugation, two fractions of grains (suspension, designated as OD7C and sediment, designated as OD7D) with different properties have been obtained. The following effects of the sonication were revealed from comparison of the contents and isotope compositions of C, N, and Xe released during stepped pyrolysis and combustion of the fractions OD7C and OD7D, the initial NDF and two grain‐size fractions (OD10 and OD15) produced without sonication (a) surface layer of the sonicated diamond grains is modified to different extent in comparison with nontreated ones, (b) in some grains concentrations of the bulk N and Xe a reduced significantly, and (c) nondiamond nitrogen containing phases (e.g., Si₃N₄) have been destroyed. It is suggested that combined effects of the sonication and centrifugation observed for the fractions OD7C and OD7D are due to differences in surface chemistry of the nanodiamond grains, which statistically influences behavior of nanoparticles during the sonication resulting in their preferential modification in the different reaction zones of the cavitating fluid.     

Metamorphism of four desert ureilites and luminescence spectroscopy of defects in ureilitic diamonds

Four ureilites subjected to impact metamorphism in a pressure range of ~15–100 GPa were investigated for mineralogical and petrological features and optical luminescence of their diamonds with the aim to understand how properties of ureilitic diamonds are correlated with shock and thermal histories of the host meteorite. Petrological data show that all the investigated ureilites experienced multistage metamorphic histories. Some of them were shocked at least twice or/and underwent high‐temperature thermal metamorphism and fluid metasomatism in the parent body interior. Photoluminescence spectra of individual diamond grains reveal the presence of neutral and negatively charged nitrogen‐vacancy (NV⁰ and NV^?, respectively) and H3 (two nitrogens and a vacancy) defects, indicating relatively high nitrogen contents of the diamonds and some degree of thermal annealing of the grains. The diamond grain size and morphology, a texture of graphite‐diamond aggregates, and spectroscopic properties of the diamond phase vary widely both within an individual meteorite and between the ureilites. Shock‐driven transformation of sp2‐C into diamond provides the most natural explanation of the observed spectroscopic diversity of the diamond grains if one takes into account strong dependence of the PT parameters and efficiency of the transformation on structure of the carbonaceous precursor.