Holocene pisoliths and encrustations associated with spring-fed surface pools, Pastos Grandes

ABSTRACT Calcite pisoliths, with diameters ranging from 1 fo 200 mm, are forming now on the surface of a playa (salar) in the Andean Altiplano (4500 m above MSL) of Bolivia. They are associated with active or recently active hot springs (20-75°C) which flow onto the playa surface. Encrustations of pieces of an older caliche-type ' crust, of pisoliths, of indurated mud and of older concretions are also found as well as series of small (1-3 cm high) sinter terraces (rimstone dams). Arborescent concretions and overgrowths are common and they are reminiscent of drip-stone textures. Water analyses demonstrate that calcite supersaturation (about twenty times) occurs mainly through CO, loss, with photosynthesis by algae and degassing the main removal mechanisms. The two available analyses indicate slight evaporation and a calcium loss between spring and pool of 2.3 mmol per litre of water. It is thought that the hot springs pick up much of their solute load from the playa sediments. The closest analogues to these deposits have been reported from caves (cave pearls and concretions). Although the depositional ptocesses may be similar, the environment on an evaporitic playa surface is quite different. The geological implications for this newly observed pisolith environment may be considerable. INTRODUCTION 23 &;; E? Carbonate pisoliths are common in the geological record and they can form by a variety of processes in a range of environments. Scholle & Kinsman (1974) list the four o major settings, caliche, caves, hypersaline lagoons and normal marine, and summarize the relevant literature. Processes range from purely inorganic precipitation, as in cave pearls, to the algal oncolites from modern marine and non-marine settings (see for instance Bathurst, 1971 ; CAVE PEARLS AND CONCRETIONS Perhaps the most intensively studied Holocene pisoliths are those forming in caves. The literature on cave pearls is extensive, with some of the more notable contributions made b

2-Dimensional Porphyrin Self-Assemblies at Molecular Interfaces

The heterodimer formed by electrostatic association of zinc(II) meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridyl)porphyrin (ZnTMPyP) and zinc(II) meso-tetrakis(p-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (ZnTPPS) exhibits a strong affinity for the interface between water and 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). Surface tension measurements using the quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS) technique reveal that the heterodimer adsorption can be described in terms of a Langmuir isotherm with standard Gibbs energy of adsorption of -45.5 kJ mol-1. The orientation of the heterodimer transition dipole moment, as estimated from light polarization modulated reflectance (LPMR), shows a marked dependence on the bulk concentration of heterodimer. On the other hand, changes in the Galvani potential difference between the two phases have little effect on the heterodimer organization at the water |1,2-dichloroethane interface when the surface coverage is close to maximum. This behavior suggests that the ZnTPPS-ZnTMPyP heterodimer forms an adsorbed layer of aggregated molecules which affects the physical properties of the interface. Indeed, capacitance and surface tension measurements reveal that the dielectric properties of the water DCE interface are significantly altered in the presence of heterodimer species

Knowledge-based patient screening for rare and emerging infectious/parasitic diseases: a case study of brucellosis and murine typhus.

Many infectious and parasitic diseases, especially those newly emerging or reemerging, present a difficult diagnostic challenge because of their obscurity and low incidence. Important clues that could lead to an initial diagnosis are often overlooked, misinterpreted, not linked to a disease, or disregarded. We constructed a computer-based decision support system containing 223 infectious and parasitic diseases and used it to conduct a historical intervention study based on field investigation records of 200 cases of human brucellosis and 96 cases of murine typhus that occurred in Texas from 1980 through 1989. Knowledge-based screening showed that the average number of days from the initial patient visit to the time of correct diagnosis was significantly reduced (brucellosis-from 17.9 to 4.5 days, p = 0.0001, murine typhus-from 11.5 to 8.6 days, p = 0.001). This study demonstrates the potential value of knowledge-based patient screening for rare infectious and parasitic diseases

Coulomb Drag Between Parallel Ballistic Quantum Wires

The Coulomb drag between parallel, {\it ballistic} quantum wires is studied theoretically in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field B. The transresistance R_D shows peaks as a function of the Fermi level and splitting energy between the 1D subbands of the wires. The sharpest peaks appear when the Fermi level crosses the subband extrema so that the Fermi momenta are small. Two other kinds of peaks appear when either {\it intra}- or {\it inter}-subband transitions of electrons have maximum probability; the {\it intra}-subband transitions correspond to a small splitting energy. R_D depends on the field B in a nonmonotonic fashion: it decreases with B, as a result of the suppression of backscattering, and increases sharply when the Fermi level approaches the subband bottoms and the suppression is outbalanced by the increase of the Coulomb matrix elements and of the density of states.Comment: Text 14 pages in Latex/Revtex format, 4 Postscript figures. Phys. Rev. B,in pres

Adsorption and photoreactivity of CdSe nanoparticles at liquid|liquid interfaces

The voltage induced assembly and photoreactivity of cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles protected by mercaptosuccinic acid are studied at the polarisable interface between water and 1,2-dichloroethane electrolyte solutions. Cyclic voltammograms and admittance measurements show an increase of the interface excess charge associated with the adsorption of CdSe nanoparticles as the Galvani potential difference is tuned to negative values with respect to the potential in the organic phase. Within the potential range where the nanoparticles are adsorbed, band-gap illumination leads to heterogeneous electron transfer from CdSe nanoparticles to electron acceptors located in the organic phase. The interfacial Galvani potential difference plays an important role in these phenomena, as it affects the interfacial density of the nanoparticles, as well as the driving force for the electron transfer. The photocurrent efficiency also strongly depends on the formal redox potential of the electron acceptor, indicating that the heterogeneous photoreaction is kinetically controlled. The interfacial electron transfer occurs via depopulation of the deep trap states in the band gap. Analysis of the photocurrent transient responses reveals that the magnitude of the instantaneous photocurrent upon illumination is determined by the kinetics of heterogeneous electron transfer, while photogenerated holes are swiftly captured by species present in the aqueous phase. The photocurrent decay upon constant illumination is associated with the diffusion of the acceptor to the interfacial region. From the phenomenological point of view, the photoelectrochemical behaviour of CdSe nanoparticles can be compared to a self-assembled ultrathin p-type semiconductor photoelectrode

Inelastic Coulomb scattering rates due to acoustic and optical plasmon modes in coupled quantum wires

We report a theoretical study on the inelastic Coulomb scattering rate of an injected electron in two coupled quantum wires in quasi-one-dimensional doped semiconductors. Two peaks appear in the scattering spectrum due to the optical and the acoustic plasmon scattering in the system. We find that the scattering rate due to the optical plasmon mode is similar to that in a single wire but the acoustic plasmon scattering depends crucially on its dispersion relation at small $q$. Furthermore, the effects of tunneling between the two wires are studied on the inelastic Coulomb scattering rate. We show that a weak tunneling can strongly affect the acoustic plasmon scattering.Comment: 6 Postscript figure

Partitioning of crystalline and amorphous phases during freezing of simulated Enceladus ocean fluids

This work was supported by The Leverhulme Trust (grant number RPG‐2016‐153).Saturn's ice‐covered moon Enceladus may contain the requisite conditions for life. Its potentially habitable subsurface ocean is vented into space as large cryovolcanic plumes that can be sampled by spacecraft, acting as a window to the ocean below. However, little is known about how Enceladus’ ocean fluids evolve as they freeze. Using cryo‐imaging techniques, we investigated solid phases produced by freezing simulated Enceladean ocean fluids at endmember cooling rates. Our results show that under flash‐freezing conditions (>10 K s−1), Enceladus‐relevant fluids undergo segregation, whereby the precipitation of ice templates the formation of brine vein networks. The high solute concentrations and confined nature of these brine veins means that salt crystallization is kinetically inhibited and glass formation (vitrification) can occur at lower cooling rates than typically required for vitrification of a bulk solution. Crystalline salts also form if flash‐frozen fluids are re‐warmed. The 10 µm‐scale distribution of salt phases produced by this mechanism differs markedly from that of gradually cooled (∼1 K min−1) fluids, showing that they inherit a textural signature of their formation conditions. The mineralogy of cryogenic carbonates can be used as a probe for cooling rate and parent fluid pH. Our findings reveal possible endmember routes for solid phase production from Enceladus’ ocean fluids and mechanisms for generating compositional heterogeneity within ice particles on a sub‐10 µm scale. This has implications for understanding how Enceladus' ocean constituents are incorporated into icy particles and delivered to space.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Constraining the source regions of lunar meteorites using orbital geochemical data

Lunar meteorites provide important new samples of the Moon remote from regions visited by the Apollo and Luna sample return missions. Petrologic and geochemical analysis of these meteorites, combined with orbital remote-sensing measurements have enabled additional discoveries about the composition and age of the lunar surface on a global scale. However, the interpretation of these samples is limited by the fact that we do not know the source region of any individual lunar meteorite. Here we investigate the link between meteorite and source region on the Moon using the Lunar Prospector Gamma Ray Spectrometer remote sensing dataset for the elements Fe, Ti and Th. The approach has been validated using Apollo and Luna bulk regolith samples and we have applied it to 48 meteorites excluding paired stones. Our approach is able broadly to differentiate the best compositional matches as potential regions of origin for the various classes of lunar meteorites. Basaltic and intermediate-Fe regolith breccia meteorites are found to have the best constrained potential launch sites, with some impact breccias and pristine mare basalts also having reasonably well defined potential source regions. Launch areas for highland feldspathic meteorites are much less well constrained and the addition of another element, such as Mg, will probably be required to identify potential source regions for these

Lake-size dependency of wind shear and convection as controls on gas exchange

High-frequency physical observations from 40 temperate lakes were used to examine the relative contributions of wind shear (u*) and convection (w*) to turbulence in the surface mixed layer. Seasonal patterns of u* and w* were dissimilar; u* was often highest in the spring, while w * increased throughout the summer to a maximum in early fall. Convection was a larger mixed-layer turbulence source than wind shear (u */w*-1 for lakes* and w* differ in temporal pattern and magnitude across lakes, both convection and wind shear should be considered in future formulations of lake-air gas exchange, especially for small lakes. © 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.Jordan S. Read, David P. Hamilton, Ankur R. Desai, Kevin C. Rose, Sally MacIntyre, John D. Lenters, Robyn L. Smyth, Paul C. Hanson, Jonathan J. Cole, Peter A. Staehr, James A. Rusak, Donald C. Pierson, Justin D. Brookes, Alo Laas, and Chin H. W