6,945 research outputs found
Trace element geochemistry of peridotites from the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Forearc, Leg 125
Trace element analyses (first-series transition elements, Ti, Rb, Sr, Zr, Y, Nb, and REE) were carried out on whole rocks and minerals from 10 peridotite samples from both Conical Seamount in the Mariana forearc and Torishima Forearc Seamount in the Izu-Bonin forearc using a combination of XRF, ID-MS, ICP-MS, and ion microprobe. The concentrations of incompatible trace elements are generally low, reflecting the highly residual nature of the peridotites and their low clinopyroxene content (n ratios in the range of 0.05-0.25; several samples show possible small positive Eu anomalies. LREE enrichment is common to both seamounts, although the peridotites from Conical Seamount have higher (La/Ce)n ratios on extended chondrite-normalized plots, in which both REEs and other trace elements are organized according to their incompatibility with respect to a harzburgitic mantle. Comparison with abyssal peridotite patterns suggests that the LREEs, Rb, Nb, Sr, Sm, and Eu are all enriched in the Leg 125 peridotites, but Ti and the HREEs exhibit no obvious enrichment. The peridotites also give positive anomalies for Zr and Sr relative to their neighboring REEs. Covariation diagrams based on clinopyroxene data show that Ti and the HREEs plot on an extension of an abyssal peridotite trend to more residual compositions. However, the LREEs, Rb, Sr, Sm, and Eu are displaced off this trend toward higher values, suggesting that these elements were introduced during an enrichment event. The axis of dispersion on these plots further suggests that enrichment took place during or after melting and thus was not a characteristic of the lithosphere before subduction.
Compared with boninites sampled from the Izu-Bonin-Mariana forearc, the peridotites are significantly more enriched in LREEs. Modeling of the melting process indicates that if they represent the most depleted residues of the melting events that generated forearc boninites they must have experienced subsolidus enrichment in these elements, as well as in Rb, Sr, Zr, Nb, Sm, and Eu. The lack of any correlation with the degree of serpentinization suggests that low-temperature fluids were not the prime cause of enrichment. The enrichment in the high-field-strength elements also suggests that at least some of this enrichment may have involved melts rather than aqueous fluids. Moreover, the presence of the hydrous minerals magnesio-hornblende and tremolite and the common resorption of orthopyroxene indicate that this high-temperature peridotite-fluid interaction may have taken place in a water-rich environment in the forearc following the melting event that produced the boninites. The peridotites from Leg 125 may therefore contain a record of an important flux of elements into the mantle wedge during the initial formation of forearc lithosphere. Ophiolitic peridotites with these characteristics have not yet been reported, perhaps because the precise equivalents to the serpentinite seamounts have not been analyzed
Electronic structure and light-induced conductivity in a transparent refractory oxide
Combined first-principles and experimental investigations reveal the
underlying mechanism responsible for a drastic change of the conductivity (by
10 orders of magnitude) following hydrogen annealing and UV-irradiation in a
transparent oxide, 12CaO.7Al2O3, found by Hayashi et al. The charge transport
associated with photo-excitation of an electron from H, occurs by electron
hopping. We identify the atoms participating in the hops, determine the exact
paths for the carrier migration, estimate the temperature behavior of the
hopping transport and predict a way to enhance the conductivity by specific
doping.Comment: 4 pages including 4 figure
Using Fluid Curtains to Improve Sealing Performance in Turbomachinery Applications
The results from an investigation into the physics of how fluid curtains can be applied to improve the aerodynamic performance of conventional turbomachinery shaft and rotor seals are described in this paper. Computational fluid dynamics and testing on two experimental facilities are used in the study. In the first part of the work, computational fluid dynamics simulations validated against experimental test data demonstrate the fundamental mechanism by which the presence of the curtain can act to reduce leakage flow through conventional seals. These results are consolidated into a single performance carpet map, showing how the leakage reduction performance and the curtain supply pressure needed to achieve it vary with changes in values of key geometrical parameters. In the second part of the work the effect of swirl in the seal inlet flow, as is often encountered in turbomachinery applications, on the performance of the fluid curtain is investigated experimentally. Test results show that if the swirl momentum in the inlet flow is greater than the momentum of the curtain flow, the performance benefit from applying the curtain is greatly diminished. Overall, the results provide some fundamental design rules for applying fluid curtains to enhance turbomachinery sealing performance for the general type of leakage path geometry (cylindrical channel, 45-degree jet angle, curtain upstream of a conventional seal) and working fluid type and conditions (air, ambient temperature, subsonic leakage channel flow), used in the study
Comparing plasma and faecal measures of steroid hormones in Adelie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae
Physiological measurements of both stress and sex hormones are often used to estimate the consequences of natural or human-induced change in ecological studies of various animals. Different methods of hormone measurement exist, potentially explaining variation in results across studies; methods should be cross-validated to ensure that they correlate. We directly compared faecal and plasma hormone measurements for the first time in a wild free-living species, the Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae). Blood and faecal samples were simultaneously collected from individual penguins for comparison and assayed for testosterone and corticosterone (or their metabolites). Sex differences and variability within each measure, and correlation of values across measures were compared. For both hormones, plasma samples showed greater variation than faecal samples. Males had higher mean corticosterone concentrations than females, but the difference was only statistically significant in faecal samples. Plasma testosterone, but not faecal testosterone, was significantly higher in males than females. Correlation between sample types was poor overall, and weaker in females than in males, perhaps because measures from plasma represent hormones that are both free and bound to globulins, whereas measures from faeces represent only the free portion. Faecal samples also represent a cumulative measure of hormones over time, as opposed to a plasma ‘snapshot’ concentration. Our data indicate that faecal sampling appears more suitable for assessing baseline hormone concentrations, whilst plasma sampling may best define immediate responses to environmental events. Consequently, future studies should ensure that they select the most appropriate matrix and method of hormone measurement to answer their research questions
Managing cryptic biodiversity: fine-scale intralacustrine speciation along a benthic gradient in Alpine whitefish ( Coregonus spp.)
Whitefish (Coregonus spp.) are an important catch for many freshwater fisheries, particularly in Switzerland. In support of this, supplemental stocking of whitefish species is carried out, despite lacking complete knowledge of the extent, distribution and origin of whitefish diversity in these lakes, potentially threatening local endemics via artificial gene flow. Here, we investigate phenotypic and genetic differentiation among coexisting whitefish species spawning along a depth gradient in a subalpine Swiss lake to better delineate intralacustrine whitefish biodiversity. We find depth-related clines in adaptive morphology and in neutral genetic markers. This individual variation is structured in three distinct clusters with spatial overlap. Individual genetic distances correlate strongly with differences in growth rate and gill-raker number, consistent with predictions of isolation-by-adaptation and ecological speciation. Genetic differentiation between species suggests reproductive isolation, despite demographic admixture on spawning grounds. Our results are consistent with clinal speciation resulting in three species coexisting in close ecological parapatry, one (C. sp. “benthic intermediate”) being previously unknown. A second unknown species spawning in close proximity, was found to be of potential allochthonous origin. This study highlights the importance of taxonomically unbiased sampling strategies to both understand evolutionary mechanisms structuring biodiversity and to better inform conservation and fisheries management
Shipping noise in a dynamic sea:a case study of grey seals in the Celtic Sea
Shipping noise is a threat to marine wildlife. Grey seals are benthic foragers, and thus experience acoustic noise throughout the water column, which makes them a good model species for a case study of the potential impacts of shipping noise. We used ship track data from the Celtic Sea, seal track data and a coupled ocean-acoustic modelling system to assess the noise exposure of grey seals along their tracks. It was found that the animals experience step changes in sound levels up to ~20dB at a frequency of 125Hz, and ~10dB on average over 10-1000Hz when they dive through the thermocline, particularly during summer. Our results showed large seasonal differences in the noise level experienced by the seals. These results reveal the actual noise exposure by the animals and could help in marine spatial planning
The pd <--> pi+ t reaction around the Delta resonance
The pd pi+ t process has been calculated in the energy region around the
Delta-resonance with elementary production/absorption mechanisms involving one
and two nucleons. The isobar degrees of freedom have been explicitly included
in the two-nucleon mechanism via pi-- and rho-exchange diagrams. No free
parameters have been employed in the analysis since all the parameters have
been fixed in previous studies on the simpler pp pi+ d process. The
treatment of the few-nucleon dynamics entailed a Faddeev-based calculation of
the reaction, with continuum calculations for the initial p-d state and
accurate solutions of the three-nucleon bound-state equation. The integral
cross-section was found to be quite sensitive to the NN interaction employed
while the angular dependence showed less sensitivity. Approximately a 4% effect
was found for the one-body mechanism, for the three-nucleon dynamics in the p-d
channel, and for the inclusion of a large, possibly converged, number of
three-body partial states, indicating that these different aspects are of
comparable importance in the calculation of the spin-averaged observables.Comment: 40 Pages, RevTex, plus 5 PostScript figure
Non exponential relaxation in fully frustrated models
We study the dynamical properties of the fully frustrated Ising model. Due to
the absence of disorder the model, contrary to spin glass, does not exhibit any
Griffiths phase, which has been associated to non-exponential relaxation
dynamics. Nevertheless we find numerically that the model exhibits a stretched
exponential behavior below a temperature T_p corresponding to the percolation
transition of the Kasteleyn-Fortuin clusters. We have also found that the
critical behavior of this clusters for a fully frustrated q-state spin model at
the percolation threshold is strongly affected by frustration. In fact while in
absence of frustration the q=1 limit gives random percolation, in presence of
frustration the critical behavior is in the same universality class of the
ferromagnetic q=1/2-state Potts model.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, 11 figs, to appear on Physical Review
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