EPR evidence for maghemitization of magnetite in a tropical soil

Electron paramagnetic spectroscopy (EPR) was used in combination with standard rock magnetic methods to study magnetic minerals in a tropical soil. The susceptibility and hysteresis measurements showed magnetite grains with a Curie temperature near 850 K as the dominant magnetic remanence carriers in the soil. A minor Ti content in the magnetite was found by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. In order to get insight into the weathering status of the magnetite, different chemical treatments, including oxalate and citrate–bicarbonate–dithionite (CBD) extraction, were applied to the soil samples. The hysteretic properties exhibited no significant differences between the untreated and the CBD or oxalate treated samples. By contrast, the comparison of the EPR spectra revealed a significant broadening of the linewidth (δB) and a shift of the g -values ( g _eff) to lower fields after the CBD treatment. Furthermore, the spectral parameters g _eff and δB exhibited an angular dependence. At low temperature, the CBD treated samples showed a jump in δB between 120 and 100 K, the temperature range characteristic for the Verwey transition in magnetite. The changes in the spectral properties after the CBD treatment, which dissolves ferric oxides, were attributed to the removal of maghemite formed by the oxidation of magnetite, that is, during the maghemitization of the magnetite grains.     

ESR detection of seismic frictional heating events in the Nojima fault drill core samples, Japan

We have analyzed the Nojima fault NIED 1800 m drill core samples by ESR (Electron Spin Resonance) to detect seismic frictional heating events, especially during the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. Dark gray fault gouge with foliation > 10 cm away from the fault plane at about 1140 m in depth, which was produced by ancient fault movements, has a FMR (ferrimagnetic resonance) signal. Heating experiments show that this FMR signal is derived from ferrimagnetic trivalent ion oxides (γ-Fe₂O₃: maghemite) with imperfect crystallinity, which is produced by thermal dehydration of γ-FeOOH (lepidocrocite) or Fe(OH)₃ (limonite). The existence of the FMR signal means that dry heating such as frictional heating once occurred, and that the frictional heat temperature along the dark gray fault gouge may have risen to over 350 °C during ancient seismic fault slip. In order to detect frictional heating events in fault zones, the increase of the FMR signal and the color change of fault gouge into dark gray or black are important indexes. On the other hand, no FMR signal is detected from the fault gouges just on two fault planes at about 1140 m and 1300 m in depth, which are considered to be possible main fault planes in the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. These two fault planes may not have played an important role of fault slip in the Earthquake.     

Total energy budget and prey requirements of free-ranging coyotes in the Great Basin desert of the western United States

Estimates of energetic demands for carnivore species can be valuable for estimating their annual prey requirements and thus, their potential impact on prey populations. This is the case for the coyote (Canis latrans) which has a ubiquitous distribution and preys on a wide variety of wild and domestic prey species. We took data on daily activity of coyotes and with standard energy models, estimated the daily field metabolic rate (FMR) of adult male and female coyotes in the Great Basin desert of the western United States. We then calculated the total annual energy demand and from this, extrapolated annual prey needs for lagomorph and rodent-sized prey. Daily FMR of male coyotes in the Great Basin desert averaged 1170.1 kcal±29.1, S.E. (n=11) and was significantly higher than 988.6 kcal±44.3 (n=8) for females (p=0.002). The highest reproductive cost for females was lactation (1441.1 kcal/day above FMR). Males and females need to consume 192 and 162 lagomorphs, or 3681 and 3110 rodents/year, respectively. For reproduction, females should consume 37 more lagomorphs or 700 more rodents per year. We concluded that preference for lagomorphs by coyotes reflects the most reasonable energy return on their hunting investment.     

Ferromagnetic resonance and magnetic characteristics of intact magnetosome chains in Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense

The magnetic characteristics of intact magnetosome chains in Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense bacteria were investigated by means of static and dynamic magnetic analyses and ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The nano-sized magnetosomes are generally in a stable single-domain state, but magnetosomes smaller than 30 nm characteristic of superparamagnetic magnetite particles were also found. Alternating current (AC) susceptibility indicates that all magnetosomes are blocked below 150 K. At room temperature the anisotropy of M. gryphiswaldense is dominated by the shape of the magnetosome chains. Low-temperature ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy indicates that this dominant shape anisotropy can affect the detection of the Verwey transition at 100 K. The static and dynamic magnetic analyses show that the Verwey transition is smeared and that our magnetotactic bacteria fail the Moskowitz test. This failure is explained by the biomineralization of non-stoichiometric magnetosomes. This interpretation is based on the increase in high-field susceptibility and the distinct peak in the out-of-phase component of the AC susceptibility below 50 K. These results are attributed to freezing of spins associated with defect structures in the core and at the surface of nano-sized magnetosomes. The results obtained from M. gryphiswaldense demonstrate that intrinsic properties of nano-sized magnetosomes are significantly influenced by non-stoichiometry and by the anisotropy excited from their arrangement in the bacteria.