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Calcium Carbonate Production by Coccolithophorid Alge in Long Term Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
Predictions of increasing levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) and the specter of global warming have intensified research efforts to identify ways to sequester carbon. A number of novel avenues of research are being considered, including bioprocessing methods to promote and accelerate biosequestration of CO{sub 2} from the environment through the growth of organisms such as coccolithophorids, which are capable of sequestering CO{sub 2} relatively permanently. Calcium and magnesium carbonates are currently the only proven, long-term storage reservoirs for carbon. Whereas organic carbon is readily oxidized and releases CO{sub 2} through microbial decomposition on land and in the sea, carbonates can sequester carbon over geologic time scales. This proposal investigates the use of coccolithophorids--single-celled, marine algae that are the major global producers of calcium carbonate--to sequester CO{sub 2} emissions from power plants. Cultivation of coccolithophorids for calcium carbonate (CaCO{sub 3}) precipitation is environmentally benign and results in a stable product with potential commercial value. Because this method of carbon sequestration does not impact natural ecosystem dynamics, it avoids controversial issues of public acceptability and legality associated with other options such as direct injection of CO{sub 2} into the sea and ocean fertilization. Consequently, cultivation of coccolithophorids could be carried out immediately and the amount of carbon sequestered as CaCO{sub 3} could be readily quantified. The significant advantages of this approach warrant its serious investigation. The major goals of the proposed research are to identify the growth conditions that will result in the maximum amount of CO{sub 2} sequestration through coccolithophorid calcite production and to evaluate the costs/benefits of using coccolithophorid cultivation ponds to abate CO{sub 2} emissions from power plants
Evaluation of data-based estimates of anthropogenic carbon in the Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, a process that is mainly driven by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon (Cant) from the atmosphere. Although Cant concentrations cannot be measured directly in the ocean, they have been estimated using data-based methods such as the transient time distribution (TTD) approach, which characterizes the ventilation of water masses with inert transient tracers, such as CFC-12. Here, we evaluate the TTD approach in the Arctic Ocean using an eddying ocean model as a test bed. When the TTD approach is applied to simulated CFC-12 in that model, it underestimates the same model's directly simulated Cant concentrations by up to 12%, a bias that stems from its idealized assumption of gas equilibrium between atmosphere and surface water, both for CFC-12 and anthropogenic CO2. Unlike the idealized assumption, the simulated partial pressure of CFC-12 (pCFC-12) in Arctic surface waters is undersaturated relative to that in the atmosphere in regions and times of deep-water formation, while the simulated equivalent for Cant is supersaturated. After accounting for the TTD approach's negative bias, the total amount of Cant in the Arctic Ocean in 2005 increases by 8% to 3.3 ± 0.3 Pg C. By combining the adjusted TTD approach with scenarios of future atmospheric CO2, it is estimated that all Arctic waters, from surface to depth, would become corrosive to aragonite by the middle of the next century even if atmospheric CO2 could be stabilized at 540 ppm
Mechanical Translation
Contains research objectives and reports on two research objectives.National Science Foundation (Grant GN-244
On the Linearization of the First and Second Painleve' Equations
We found Fuchs--Garnier pairs in 3X3 matrices for the first and second
Painleve' equations which are linear in the spectral parameter. As an
application of our pairs for the second Painleve' equation we use the
generalized Laplace transform to derive an invertible integral transformation
relating two its Fuchs--Garnier pairs in 2X2 matrices with different
singularity structures, namely, the pair due to Jimbo and Miwa and the one
found by Harnad, Tracy, and Widom. Together with the certain other
transformations it allows us to relate all known 2X2 matrix Fuchs--Garnier
pairs for the second Painleve' equation with the original Garnier pair.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Quasi-free photoproduction of eta-mesons of the neutron
Quasi-free photoproduction of eta-mesons off nucleons bound in the deuteron
has been measured with the CBELSA/TAPS detector for incident photon energies up
to 2.5 GeV at the Bonn ELSA accelerator. The eta-mesons have been detected in
coincidence with recoil protons and recoil neutrons, which allows a detailed
comparison of the quasi-free n(gamma,eta)n and p(gamma,eta)p reactions. The
excitation function for eta-production off the neutron shows a pronounced
bump-like structure at W=1.68 GeV (E_g ~ 1 GeV), which is absent for the
proton.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
K^0 pi^0 Sigma^+ and K^*0 Sigma^+ photoproduction off the proton
The exclusive reactions and , leading to the p 4 final state, have
been measured with a tagged photon beam for incident energies from threshold up
to 2.5 GeV. The experiment has been performed at the tagged photon facility of
the ELSA accelerator (Bonn). The Crystal Barrel and TAPS detectors were
combined to a photon detector system of almost 4 geometrical acceptance.
Differential and total cross sections are reported. At energies close to the
threshold, a flat angular distribution has been observed for the reaction
suggesting dominant s-channel production.
and higher lying hyperon states have been observed. An
enhancement in the forward direction in the angular distributions of the
reaction indicates a -channel exchange
contribution to the reaction mechanism. The experimental data are in reasonable
agreement with recent theoretical predictions.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, submitted to EPJ
Photoproduction of pi0 omega off protons for E(gamma) < 3 GeV
Differential and total cross-sections for photoproduction of gamma proton to
proton pi0 omega and gamma proton to Delta+ omega were determined from
measurements of the CB-ELSA experiment, performed at the electron accelerator
ELSA in Bonn. The measurements covered the photon energy range from the
production threshold up to 3GeV.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure
Modification of the -Meson Lifetime in Nuclear Matter
The photo production of mesons on the nuclei C, Ca, Nb and Pb has
been measured using the Crystal Barrel/TAPS detector at the ELSA tagged photon
facility in Bonn. The dependence of the meson cross section on the
nuclear mass number has been compared with three different types of models, a
Glauber analysis, a BUU analysis of the Giessen theory group and a calculation
by the Valencia theory group. In all three cases, the inelastic width
is found to be at normal nuclear matter density for an
average 3-momentum of 1.1 GeV/c. In the restframe of the meson, this
inelastic width corresponds to a reduction of the lifetime by
a factor . For the first time, the momentum dependent N
cross section has been extracted from the experiment and is in the range of 70
mb.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
In-medium mass from the reaction
Data on the photoproduction of mesons on nuclei have been
re-analyzed in a search for in-medium modifications. The data were taken with
the Crystal Barrel(CB)/TAPS detector system at the ELSA accelerator facility in
Bonn. First results from the analysis of the data set were published by D.
Trnka et al. in Phys. Rev. Lett 94 (2005) 192303 \cite{david}, claiming a
lowering of the mass in the nuclear medium by 14 at normal nuclear
matter density. The extracted line shape was found to be sensitive to
the background subtraction. For this reason a re-analysis of the same data set
has been initiated and a new method has been developed to reduce the background
and to determine the shape and absolute magnitude of the background directly
from the data. Details of the re-analysis and of the background determination
are described. The signal on the target, extracted in the
re-analysis, does not show a deviation from the corresponding line shape on a
target, measured as reference. The earlier claim of an in-medium mass
shift is thus not confirmed. The sensitivity of the line shape to
different in-medium modification scenarios is discussed.Comment: 13 pages and 11 figures, submitted for publicatio
Atom Interferometers
Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of
atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from
crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic
clocks. Atom interferometry is now reaching maturity as a powerful art with
many applications in modern science. In this review we first describe the basic
tools for coherent atom optics including diffraction by nanostructures and
laser light, three-grating interferometers, and double wells on AtomChips. Then
we review scientific advances in a broad range of fields that have resulted
from the application of atom interferometers. These are grouped in three
categories: (1) fundamental quantum science, (2) precision metrology and (3)
atomic and molecular physics. Although some experiments with Bose Einstein
condensates are included, the focus of the review is on linear matter wave
optics, i.e. phenomena where each single atom interferes with itself.Comment: submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic
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