Field support, data analysis and associated research for the acoustic grenade sounding program

Temperature and horizontal winds in the 30 to 90 km altitude range of the upper atmosphere, were determined by acoustic grenade soundings conducted at Wallops Island, Virginia and Kourou, French Guiana. Field support provided at these locations included deployment of the large area microphone system, supervision, maintenance and operation of sound ranging stations; and coordination of activities. Data analysis efforts included the analysis of field data to determine upper atmospheric meteorological parameters. Profiles for upper atmospheric temperature, wind and density are provided in plots and tables for each of the acoustic grenade soundings conducted during the contract period. Research efforts were directed toward a systematic comparison of temperature data from acoustic grenade with other meteorological sensor probes in the upper atmosphere

Cold plasma processing of local planetary ores for oxygen and metallurgically important metals

The utilization of a cold plasma in chlorination processing is described. Essential equipment and instruments were received, the experimental apparatus assembled and tested, and preliminary experiments conducted. The results of the latter lend support to the original hypothesis: a cold plasma can both significantly enhance and bias chemical reactions. In two separate experiments, a cold plasma was used to reduce TiCl4 vapor and chlorinate ilmenite. The latter, reacted in an argon-chlorine plasma, yielded oxygen. The former experiment reveals that chlorine can be recovered as HCl vapor from metal chlorides in a hydrogen plasma. Furthermore, the success of the hydrogen experiments has lead to an analysis of the feasibility of direct hydrogen reduction of metal oxides in a cold plasma. That process would produce water vapor and numerous metal by-products

Cold plasma processing of local planetary ores for oxygen and metallurgically important metals

The utilization of a cold or nonequilibrium plasma in chlorination processing is discussed. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) was successfully chlorinated at temperatures between 700 and 900 C without the aid of carbon. In addition to these initial experiments, a technique was developed for determining the temperature of a specimen in a plasma. Development of that technique has required evaluating the emissivity of TiO2, ZrO2, and FeOTiO2 and analyzing the specimen temperature in a plasma as a function of both power absorbed by the plasma and the pressure of the plasma. The mass spectrometer was also calibrated with TiCl4 and CCl4 vapor

Book review: the state: past, present, future by Bob Jessop

In The State: Past, Present, Future, Bob Jessop offers an insightful engagement with one of the enduring issues in political theory – how to define and approach the state and its complexities. Although discussion of both the affective dimensions of the state and the role colonialism has played in shaping state knowledge and formation would have been welcome, the book shows an impressive command of a vast array of sources, ideas and materials relating to state theory, finds Ashley R. Bullard

New CA-ID-TIMS Detrital Zircon Constraints on Middle Neoproterozoic Sedimentary Successions, Southwestern United States

Three related sedimentary successions located in Arizona, Utah, and California were deposited in basins on proto-North America during the early rifting of Rodinia (~780 Mya). Previous detrital zircon U-Pb maximum ages for the units are inexact, making it difficult to piece together what happened at this point in Earth history. We report better maximum age constraints on these units obtained by subjecting detrital zircons to high-precision CA-ID-TIMS analysis, which provide more exact 206 Pb/238U ages. These new data significantly improve the precision for the base of the ChUMP units, with an average age of 775. 63 ± 0.27 Ma acquired for the bottom of the Chuar Group, where earlier work put the age at 782 Ma. An average age of 775.44 ± 0.73 Ma for the bottom of the Pahrump Group is also younger than the previously reported 787 ± 11 Ma. Zircons of the Uinta Mountain Group provided ages of about 766.88 ± 2.31 Ma, which is on par with an earlier age of 766.4 ± 4.8 Ma. These high precision ages for the young detrital zircons in the ChUMP units improve links between the units and provide better context for geochemical, isotopic, and biological events that occurred during the initial rifting of Rodinia