The debate over the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

Large-body impact on the Earth is a rare but indisputable geologic process. The impact rate is approximately known from objects discovered in Earth-crossing orbits and from the statistics of craters on the Earth's surface. Tektite and microtektite strewn fields constitute unmistakable ejecta deposits that can be due only to large-body impacts. The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary coincides with an unusually severe biological trauma, and this stratigraphic horizon is marked on a worldwide basis by anomalous concentrations of noble metals in chondritic proportions, mineral spherules with relict quench-crystallization textures, and mineral and rock grains showing shock deformation. These features are precisely compatible with an impact origin. Although only impact explains all the types of K-T boundary evidence, the story may not be as simple as once thought. The original hypothesis envisioned one large impact, triggering one great extinction. Newer evidence hints at various complications. Different challenges are faced by the occupants of each apex of a three-cornered argument over the K-T event. Proponents of a non-impact explanation must show that the evidence fits their preferred model better than it fits the impact scenario. Proponents of the single impact-single extinction view must explain away the complications. Proponents of a more complex impact crisis must develop a reasonable scenario which honors the new evidence

Possible world-wide middle miocene iridium anomaly and its relationship to periodicity of impacts and extinctions

In a study of one million years of Middle Miocene sediment deposition in ODP Hole 689B in the Weddell Sea near Antarctica, a single iridium (Ir) anomaly of 44 (+ or - 10) x 10 to the 12th gram Ir per gram rock (ppt) was observed in core 6H, section 3, 50 to 60 cm, after background contributions associated with manganese precipitates and clay are subtracted. The ODP Hole 689B is 10,000 km away from another site, DSDP Hole 588B in the Tasman Sea north of New Zealand, where a single Ir anomaly of 144 + or - 7 ppt over a background of 11 ppt was found in an earlier study of 3 million years of deposition. From chemical measurements the latter deposition was thought to be impact-related. Ir measurements were made, following neutron activation, with the Iridium Coincidence Spectrometer. The age vs depth calibration curves given in the DSDP and ODP preliminary reports indicate the ages of the Iranomalies are identical, 11.7 million years, but the absolute and relative uncertainties in the curves are not known. Based on the newest age data the age estimate is 10 million years. As the Ir was deposited at the two sites at about the same time and they are one quarter of the way around the world from each other it seems likely that the deposition was world-wide. The impact of a large asteroid or comet could produce the wide distribution, and this data is supportive of the impact relationship deduced for Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) 588B from the chemical evidence. If the surface densities of Ir at the two sites are representative of the world-wide average, the diameter of a Cl type asteroid containing the necessary Ir would be 3 + or - 1 km, which is large enough to cause world-wide darkness and hence extinctions although the latter point is disputed

Synthesis of SmFeAsO by an Easy and Versatile Route and its Physical Property Characterization

We report synthesis, structure, electrical transport and heat capacity of SmFeAsO. The title compound is synthesized by one-step encapsulation of stoichiometric FeAs, Sm, and Sm2O3 in an evacuated (10-5 Torr) quartz tube by prolong (72 hours) annealing at 1100oC. The as synthesized compound is crystallized in tetragonal structure with P4/nmm space group having lattice parameters a = 3.93726(33) A and c = 8.49802(07) A. The resistance (R-T) measurements on the compound exhibited ground state spin-density-wave (SDW)-like metallic steps below 140 K. Heat capacity CP(T) measurements on the title compound, showed an anomaly at around 140 K, which is reminiscent of the SDW ordering of the compound. At lower temperatures the CP(T) shows a clear peak at around 4.5 K. At lower temperature below 20 K, Cp(T) is also measured under an applied field of 7 Tesla. It is concluded that the CP(T) peak at 4.5 K is due to the anti-ferromagnetic(AFM) ordering of Sm3+ spins. These results are in confirmation with ordering of Sm in Sm2-xCexCuO4.Comment: 9 pages Text + Figs Contact Author ([email protected]

Poisson-Lie T-duality and N=2 superconformal WZNW models on compact groups

The supersymmetric generalization of Pisson-Lie T-duality in N=2 superconformal WZNW models on the compact groups is considered. It is shown that the role of Drinfeld's doubles play the complexifications of the corresponding compact groups. These complex doubles are used to define the natural actions of the isotropic subgroups forming the doubles on the group manifolds of the N=2 superconformal WZNW models. The Poisson- Lie T-duality in N=2 superconformal U(2)-WZNW model considered in details. It is shown that this model admits Poisson-Lie symmetries with respect to the isotropic subgroups forming Drinfeld's double Gl(2,C). Poisson-Lie T-duality transformation maps this model into itself but acts nontrivialy on the space of classical solutions. Supersymmetric generalization of Poisson-Lie T-duality in N=2 superconformal WZNW models on the compact groups of higher dimensions is proposed.Comment: 12 pages, latex, misprints correcte

New Luttinger liquid physics from photoemission on Li0.9_{0.9}Mo6_6O17_{17}

Temperature dependent high resolution photoemission spectra of quasi-1 dimensional Li$_{0.9}$Mo$_6$O$_{17}$ evince a strong renormalization of its Luttinger liquid density-of-states anomalous exponent. We trace this new effect to interacting charge neutral critical modes that emerge naturally from the two-band nature of the material. Li$_{0.9}$Mo$_6$O$_{17}$ is shown thereby to be a paradigm material that is capable of revealing new Luttinger physics.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication by Phys. Rev. Let

Translocação e redistribuição de enxofre em plantas de milho e de soja.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a translocação e a redistribuição de S pelo transporte acrópeto e basípeto em plantas de milho e de soja. Plantas das duas espécies foram cultivadas em solução nutritiva contendo 35 S em casa de vegetação. O 35S aplicado em uma única raiz foi prontamente absorvido e translocado para a parte aérea, assim como para as demais raízes cultivadas na ausência de enxofre. O radioisótopo aplicado em uma única folha foi transportado tanto na direção acrópeta quanto na basípeta. Entretanto, o milho e a soja mostraram comportaments diferentes na absorção e na distribuição do enxofre. O milho, apesar de ter apresentado maior absorção radicular, reteve grande parte desse elemento na raiz, enquanto a soja absorveu consideravelmente menos, porém apresentou maior eficiência de translocação. Nas plantas de soja, as folhas superiores, principalmente as mais novas, mostraram ser os principais drenos fisiológicos do enxofre

Low-temperature transport in Heisenberg chains

A technique to determine accurately transport properties of integrable and non-integrable quantum-spin chains at finite temperatures by Quantum Monte-Carlo is presented. The reduction of the Drude weight by interactions in the integrable gapless regime is evaluated. Evidence for the absence of a Drude weight in the gapless regime of a non-integrable system with longer-ranged interactions is presented. We estimate the effect of the non-integrability on the transport properties and compare with recent experiments on one-dimensional quantum-spin chains.Comment: accepted for publication (PRL