Northeastern United States Maple Syrup Production and Economics: A 2019 Survey of Producers

A survey of northeastern maple syrup producers was completed to explore factors of business scale, economic viability, organic production and the outlook for the maple crop in the coming years. Results from this survey demonstrate the wide range of hobby and commercial scales present within the maple producer community across the Northeastern United States. As the U.S. domestic maple syrup crop continues to grow the influence of different scales and types of business can shape local communities, national trends and future policy. Survey results offer insight into production yields, technology adoption, economics and business performance

Final Report Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Post-Detonation Nuclear Forensics

Isotope ratio measurements of the actinide elements provide essential information for nuclear detonation forensics and proliferation detection. Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) is a high-sensitivity, elementally selective, laser-based form of mass spectrometry that offers the potential to determine the isotopic composition of materials without sample preparation. Due to the elementally selective approach of RIMS, basic research questions of atomic spectroscopy and the probability for producing neutral atoms in the gas phase, must be studied element by element. The studies carried out in this work represent basic research into the application and optimization of RIMS to the analysis of post-detonation debris

An analytical method for total heavy metal complexing agents in water and its application to water quality studies

The principle research accomplishment on this project was the development of several methods of analysis for low levels of complexing agents, particularly chelating agents. These species are very important in water quality. It is only very recently that their importance has become very apparent in areas such as heavy metal transport, algal growth, and toxicity of heavy metals. The first method developed, was an atomic absorption analysis of strong heavy metal chelating agents. This method is based upon the fact that when copper ion is added to a water sample and the pH adjusted to 10, the only copper that remains in solution is that which is in a complexed or chelated form. The precipitate which comes out of the solution at pH 10 contains the copper which is not complexed or chelated and is removed by filtration. The copper remaining in solution is measured by atomic absorption. This copper concentration is a measure of the amount of chelating agent in the water and is called the copper equivalent chelating capacity of the water. The method was used on a number of natural water samples. It was found, for example, that normal creek water contains about one milligram per liter copper equivalent chelating capacity. Water supporting algal growth typically contains about the same level. Raw sewage from a nonindustrial source typically contains around 3 milligrams per liter copper equivalent chelating capacity, whereas properly treated sewage effluent contains 1 milligram per liter or less. The method was extended to the analysis of cyanide ion, a water pollutant found in mining and metal processing effluents. It is applicable to cyanide and provides a simple and convenient method for the analysis of this pollutant. In the final few weeks of the project, a new method was developed in which the copper is solublized from a copper-containing chelating ion exchange resin. This method is much more rapid than the first method described, though somewhat more subject to interferences. It is applicable to automated procedures and as a detection system for chelating agents separated by liquid chromatography. It is extremely sensitive and can detect as little as 5x10^-7 millimoles of NTA. These applications of the method are being pursued under a USDI-OWRR matching grant starting on July 1, 1973.Project # A-056-MO Agreement # 14-31-0001-382

Multi-element isotopic analysis of hot particles from Chornobyl

Microscopic fuel fragments, so-called “hot particles”, were released during the 1986 accident at the Chornobyl nuclear powerplant and continue to contaminate the exclusion zone in northern Ukraine. Isotopic analysis can provide vital information about sample origin, history and contamination of the environment, though it has been underutilized due to the destructive nature of most mass spectrometric techniques, and inability to remove isobaric interference. Recent developments have diversified the range of elements that can be investigated through resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS), notably in the fission products. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the application of multi-element analysis on hot particles as relates to their burnup, particle formation in the accident, and weathering. The particles were analysed with two RIMS instruments: resonant-laser secondary neutral mass spectrometry (rL-SNMS) at the Institute for Radiation Protection and Radioecology (IRS) in Hannover, Germany, and laser ionization of neutrals (LION) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, USA. Comparable results across instruments show a range of burnup dependent isotope ratios for U and Pu and Cs, characteristic of RBMK-type reactors. Results for Rb, Ba and Sr show the influence of the environment, retention of Cs in the particles and time passed since fuel discharge

Quantifying Uranium Isotope Ratios Using Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry: The Influence of Laser Parameters on Relative Ionization Probability

Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) has been developed as a method to measure relative uranium isotope abundances. In this approach, RIMS is used as an element-selective ionization process to provide a distinction between uranium atoms and potential isobars without the aid of chemical purification and separation. We explore the laser parameters critical to the ionization process and their effects on the measured isotope ratio. Specifically, the use of broad bandwidth lasers with automated feedback control of wavelength was applied to the measurement of {sup 235}U/{sup 238}U ratios to decrease laser-induced isotopic fractionation. By broadening the bandwidth of the first laser in a 3-color, 3-photon ionization process from a bandwidth of 1.8 GHz to about 10 GHz, the variation in sequential relative isotope abundance measurements decreased from >10% to less than 0.5%. This procedure was demonstrated for the direct interrogation of uranium oxide targets with essentially no sample preparation. A rate equation model for predicting the relative ionization probability has been developed to study the effect of variation in laser parameters on the measured isotope ratio. This work demonstrates that RIMS can be used for the robust measurement of uranium isotope ratios

Recent Marine Sediments of Bolinas Bay, California: Part B -- Mineralogical Data

This section of the study of Bolinas Bay deals with the heavy mineralogy of the 0.175 - 0.124; 0.124 - 0.088; and 0.088 - 0.061 mm size fractions of 49 sediment samples (Fig. 1) [see Isselhardt and others (1968) for grain size and sizing procedure] plus the 0.124 - 0.088 and 0.088 - 0.061 mm size fractions of one disaggregated cliff sample 2030. Offshore rock samples 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1998 and 2000 and cliff and shore samples 2027, 2028, 2029, 2031, and 2032 were not dis aggregated for mineralogical analyses. These rock samples will be discussed in Part C. Sample 1988 was lost and 2007 was too small for analysis.The treated size fractions were divided further by separation in the heavy liquid tetrabrom-ethane (Krumbein and Pettijohn, 1938, p. 325) with a density of 2.95 gms/cc. Particles with a density greater than 2.95 gms/cc were called heavy. Particles with a density equal or less than 2.95 gms/cc were designated light. Grain mounts were made of both the heavy and light particles of each size fraction on glass slides with Cadex mounting media (index of refraction = 1.55)

Recent Sediments of the Central California Continental Shelf, Pillar Point to Pigeon Point: Part A -- Introduction and Grain Size Analysis

The following work is part of a continuing study of the sediments and sedimentary processes of the continental shelf of central California done in cooperation between the University of California, Berkeley and the Coastal Engineering Research Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Sediment analyses of the samples were done at the University of California, Berkeley, utilizing the facilities of the Departments of Civil Engineering, and Geology, and the Institute of Marine Resources. The results of this study will be presented in three separate reports:Part A Part B Part C Introduction and Grain Size Data (this volume) Mineralogical Data Interpretation and Summary of Results.The first two reports, Parts A and B, raw data will be presented with little or no interpretation. In Part C the authors' interpretation of the data plus background information and previous work in the study area will be given