Macrofossil Biostratigraphy of the Cannonball Formation (Paleocene) in North Dakota

The stratigraphy and paleontology of the marine Paleocene Cannonball Formation has been the subject of study since the early 1900s. The formation can be divided into three principal intervals, each consisting of a sandstone/mudstone pair: the upper, middle, and lower intervals. Paleontological data were studied from those localities for which the stratigraphic position is known. The data from 33 of these localities were analyzed by Q-mode cluster analysis and by sorting. The cluster analysis produced no definite results. The sorting, however, resulted in the definition of three informal biozones, the Camarocarcinus, Glycymeris, and Dosiniopsis biozones. The Camarocarcinus biozone contains those fossils restricted to the upper and middle intervals. It contains the crab Camarocarcinus arnesoni, the bivalves Cucullaea solenensis and Nucula planimarginata, the sharks Carcharias taurus and Otodus obliquus, and the ratfish group Chimaeriformes. The Glycymeris biozone contains those fossils restricted to the middle interval only. It contains the bivalve Glycymeris subimbricata, the gastropod Exilia sp., and the bony fish Arius? danicus. The Dosiniopsis biozone contains those fossils restricted to the middle and lower intervals. It contains the bivalves Dosiniopsis deweyi and Caestocorbula sinistrirostella, the bony fish Pterothrissus sp., and the gastropods Rhombopsis gracilis, Serrifusus sohli, Fusinius? sp., and Vittoconcha torelli

Global Aspects of Electric-Magnetic Duality

We show that the partition function of free Maxwell theory on a generic Euclidean four-manifold transforms in a non-trivial way under electric-magnetic duality. The classical part of the partition sum can be mapped onto the genus-one partition function of a 2d toroidal model, without the oscillator contributions. This map relates electric-magnetic duality to modular invariance of the toroidal model and, conversely, the $O(d,d',\Z)$ duality to the invariance of Maxwell theory under the 4d mapping class group. These dualities and the relation between toroidal models and Maxwell theory can be understood by regarding both theories as dimensional reductions of a self-dual 2-form theory in six dimensions. Generalizations to more $U(1)$-gauge fields and reductions from higher dimensions are also discussed. We find indications that the Abelian gauge theories related to 4d string theories with $N=4$ space-time supersymmetry are exactly duality invariant.Comment: Latex-file, 16 page

Experimental evidence for the formation of liquid saline water on Mars

Evidence for deliquescence of perchlorate salts has been discovered in the Martian polar region while possible brine flows have been observed in the equatorial region. This appears to contradict the idea that bulk deliquescence is too slow to occur during the short periods of the Martian diurnal cycle during which conditions are favorable for it. We conduct laboratory experiments to study the formation of liquid brines at Mars environmental conditions. We find that when water vapor is the only source of water, bulk deliquescence of perchlorates is not rapid enough to occur during the short periods of the day during which the temperature is above the salts' eutectic value, and the humidity is above the salts' deliquescence value. However, when the salts are in contact with water ice, liquid brine forms in minutes, indicating that aqueous solutions could form temporarily where salts and ice coexist on the Martian surface and in the shallow subsurface. Key Points The formation of brines at Martian conditions was studied experimentally Bulk deliquescence from water vapor is too slow to occur diurnally on Mars Brines form in minutes when salts are placed in direct contact with icePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108051/1/grl51829.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108051/2/2014GL060302_AuxiliaryMaterialreadme.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108051/3/ts01.pd

Galilean non-invariance of geometric phase

It is shown that geometric phase in non-relativistic quantum mechanics is not Galilean invariant.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, no figure

Counting Dyons in N=4 String Theory

We present a microscopic index formula for the degeneracy of dyons in four-dimensional N=4 string theory. This counting formula is manifestly symmetric under the duality group, and its asymptotic growth reproduces the macroscopic Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. We give a derivation of this result in terms of the type II five-brane compactified on K3, by assuming that its fluctuations are described by a closed string theory on its world-volume. We find that the degeneracies are given in terms of the denominator of a generalized super Kac-Moody algebra. We also discuss the correspondence of this result with the counting of D-brane states.Comment: 22 pages, latex, one epsf-figur

Holistic methodological framework for assessing the benefits of delivering industrial excess heat to a district heating network

In Sweden, over 50% of building heating requirements are covered by district heating. Approximately 8% of the heat supply to district heating systems comes from excess heat from industrial processes. Many studies indicate that there is a potential to substantially increase this share, and policies promoting energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reduction provide incentives to do this. Quantifying the medium and long-term economic and carbon footprint benefits of such investments is difficult because the background energy system against which new investments should be assessed is also expected to undergo significant change as a result of the aforementioned policies. Furthermore, in many cases, the district heating system has already invested or is planning to invest in non-fossil heat sources such as biomass-fueled boilers or CHP units. This paper proposes a holistic methodological framework based on energy market scenarios for assessing the long-term carbon footprint and economic benefits of recovering excess heat from industrial processes for use in district heating systems. In many studies of industrial excess heat, it is assumed that all emissions from the process plant are allocated to the main products, and none to the excess heat. The proposed methodology makes a distinction between unavoidable excess heat and excess heat that could be avoided by increased heat recovery at the plant site, in which case it is assumed that a fraction of the plant emissions should be allocated to the exported heat. The methodology is illustrated through a case study of a chemical complex located approximately 50 km from the city of Gothenburg on the West coast of Sweden, from which substantial amounts of excess heat could be recovered and delivered to heat to the city\u27s district heating network which aims to be completely fossil-free by 2030

Double Yields and Negative Emissions? Resource, Climate and Cost Efficiencies in Biofuels With Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilization

As fossil-reliant industries turn to sustainable biomass for energy and material supply, the competition for biogenic carbon is expected to intensify. Using process level carbon and energy balance models, this paper shows how the capture of residual CO2 in conjunction with either permanent storage (CCS) or biofuel production (CCU) benefits fourteen largely residue-based biofuel production pathways. With a few noteworthy exceptions, most pathways have low carbon utilization efficiencies (30-40%) without CCS/U. CCS can double these numbers and deliver negative emission biofuels with GHG footprints below -50 g CO2 eq./MJ for several pathways. Compared to CCS with no revenue from CO2 sequestration, CCU can offer the same efficiency gains at roughly two-third the biofuel production cost (e.g., 99 EUR/MWh vs. 162 EUR/MWh) but the GHG reduction relative to fossil fuels is significantly smaller (18 g CO2 eq./MJ vs. -99 g CO2 eq./MJ). From a combined carbon, cost and climate perspective, although commercial pathways deliver the cheapest biofuels, it is the emerging pathways that provide large-scale carbon-efficient GHG reductions. There is thus some tension between alternatives that are societally best and those that are economically most interesting for investors. Biofuel pathways vent CO2 in both concentrated and dilute streams Capturing both provides the best environomic outcomes. Existing pathways that can deliver low-cost GHG reductions but generate relatively small quantities of CO2 are unlikely to be able to finance the transport infrastructure required for transformative bio-CCS deployment. CCS and CCU are accordingly important tools for simultaneously reducing biogenic carbon wastage and GHG emissions, but to unlock their full benefits in a cost-effective manner, emerging biofuel technology based on the gasification and hydrotreatment of forest residues need to be commercially deployed imminently