Economic Geology Vo|

Abstract The lower Proterozoic uranium ore deposits in the Franceville basin (Gabon) are the oldest high-grade uranium accumulations known. They are unique in that they contain evidence for natural nuclear fission reactors. Sedimentologic, tectonic, petrographic, and geochemical studies have been performed in order to reconstruct the geologic conditions in which uranium mineralization took place. Uranium deposits are located in deltaic sediments overlying fiuviatile deposits of coarse sandstone and conglomerates which are the source rocks for uranium. Deltaic sediments are overlain by marine black shales (the FB formation). Petrographic observations, electron microscope studies, and geochemical and carbon isotope data indicate that these FB black shales are source rocks for petroleum trapped in the uranium deposits. Tectonic studies show that all the uranium deposits are in tectonic structures that served as traps for both petroleum and uranium. Uranium mineralization occurs in this setting when an oxidized uranium-bearing fluid has mixed with a reduced petroleum-bearing fluid. The uranium ores are affected by hydrofracturing which forms a good pathway for the oxidized uranium-bearing fluids and the reduced fluids. Hydrofracturing may be initiated by overpressured fluids coming from undercompacted zones in the FB black shales

The impact of vegetation on fractionation of rare earth elements(REE) during water–rock interaction

Previous studies on waters of a streamlet in the Vosges mountains (eastern France) have shown that Sr and rare earth elements (REE) principally originate from apatite dissolution during weathering. However, stream water REE patterns normalized to apatite are still depleted in light REE (LREE, La–Sm) pointing to the presence of an additional LREE depleting process. Speciation calculations indicate that complexation cannot explain this additional LREE depletion. In contrast, vegetation samples are strongly enriched in LREE compared to water and their Sr and Nd isotopic compositions are comparable with those of apatite and waters. Thus, the preferential LREE uptake by the plants at the root–water–soil (apatite) interface might lead to an additional LREE depletion of the waters in the forested catchment. Mass balance calculations indicate that the yearly LREE uptake by vegetation is comparable with the LREE export by the streamlet and, therefore, might be an important factor controlling the LREE depletion in river waters

Porosity microstructures of a sandstone affected by a normal fault

Dans un système de failles normales de la bordure du fossé rhénan, les interactions eaux-roches de part et d’autre de ces failles peuvent contrôler les conditions des circulations fluides. L’objectif de ce travail est de caractériser les structures du réseau poreux dans la zone endommagée autour d’une de ces failles. Il est intéressant d’étudier la relation entre porosité et perméabilité dans cette zone. Des études pétrographiques et pétrophysiques, des mesures microthermométriques sur des inclusions fluides et la composition isotopique de l’oxygène ont permis de caractériser les structures de porosité des roches et notamment des ciments primaires et secondaires. Le couplage de ces approches montre qu’une faille normale peut à la fois jouer le rôle de drain et de barrière à la circulation des fluides. En fonction de la direction de circulation, la faille joue le rôle de drain en laissant remonter les fluides parallèlement au plan de faille et le rôle de barrière, en focalisant les circulations dans le toit. L’anisotropie, notamment des propriétés de transfert héritées des conditions de dépôts fluviatiles, est profondément modifiée par les transferts subits dans le matériau. Ainsi les modifications des transferts dépendent des modifications du réseau poreux : l’hétérogénéité de la structure du réseau et l’anisotropie d’orientation ou de connectivité. Ce modèle de circulation est contrôlé par une interaction entre les modifications des structures du réseau poreux et les circulations fluides, entraînant des modifications de l’anisotropie de certaines propriétés du matériau autour de la faille

Contribution of Energetically Reactive Surface Features to the Dissolution of CeO2 and ThO2 Analogues for Spent Nuclear Fuel Microstructures

In the safety case for the geological disposal of nuclear waste, the release of radioactivity from the repository is controlled by the dissolution of the spent fuel in groundwater. There remain several uncertainties associated with understanding spent fuel dissolution, including the contribution of energetically reactive surface sites to the dissolution rate. In this study, we investigate how surface features influence the dissolution rate of synthetic CeO2 and ThO2, spent nuclear fuel analogues that approximate as closely as possible the microstructure characteristics of fuel-grade UO2 but are not sensitive to changes in oxidation state of the cation. The morphology of grain boundaries (natural features) and surface facets (specimen preparation-induced features) was investigated during dissolution. The effects of surface polishing on dissolution rate were also investigated. We show that preferential dissolution occurs at grain boundaries, resulting in grain boundary decohesion and enhanced dissolution rates. A strong crystallographic control was exerted, with high misorientation angle grain boundaries retreating more rapidly than those with low misorientation angles, which may be due to the accommodation of defects in the grain boundary structure. The data from these simplified analogue systems support the hypothesis that grain boundaries play a role in the so-called “instant release fraction” of spent fuel, and should be carefully considered, in conjunction with other chemical effects, in safety performance assessements for the geological disposal of spent fuel. Surface facets formed during the sample annealing process also exhibited a strong crystallographic control and were found to dissolve rapidly on initial contact with dissolution medium. Defects and strain induced during sample polishing caused an overestimation of the dissolution rate, by up to 3 orders of magnitude

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26−0.30 at Q 2 = 1.9 GeV2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio σ(W + +c¯¯)/σ(W − + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s−s¯¯¯ quark asymmetry

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured