Investigation of the reactivity of AlCl3 and CoCl2 toward molten alkali-metal nitrates in order to synthesize CoAl2O4

Cobalt aluminate CoAl2O4 powder, constituted of nano-sized crystallites, is prepared, involving the reactivity of AlCl3 and CoCl2 with molten alkali-metal nitrates. The reaction at 450 °C for 2 h leads to a mixture of spinel oxide Co3O4 and amorphous γ-Al2O3. It is transformed into the spinel oxide CoAl2O4 by heating at 1000 °C. The powders are mainly characterized by XRD, FTIR, ICP, electron microscopy and diffraction, X-EDS and diffuse reflection. Their properties are compared to those of powders obtained by solid state reactions of a mechanical mixture of chlorides or oxides submitted to the same thermal treatment

Phase lag between Intertropical Convergence Zone migration and subtropical monsoon onset over the northwestern Indian Ocean during Marine Isotopic Substage 6.5 (MIS 6.5).

[1] High-resolution faunal and isotopic analyses of foraminifera were performed on core MD96-2073 (10°94 0 N, 52°62 0 E, 3142 m depth), located close to Socotra Island in the upwelling area of the Somali Basin (NW Indian Ocean). This work focuses on Marine Isotopic Stage 6.5 in order to reconstruct paleo-upwelling changes and their links with the Arabian Sea summer monsoon and the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Correspondence and cluster analyses of planktonic foraminiferal abundances, partly controlled by temperature and water mass productivity, together with an upwelling intensification index, show the occurrence of a strong upwelling between 176 and 165 ka. This upwelling intensification responds to a northward migration of the ITCZ. An isotopic depletion in the planktonic foraminifera d 18 O records occurring between 180 and 167 ka is interpreted as proof of a large salinity decrease in the surface waters, probably linked to a strong input of fresh rainfall waters induced by an intense monsoon activity. The lag between the onset of upwelling intensification and the strong monsoonal impact over the same area suggests a decoupling between both phenomena. The migration of the ITCZ is influenced by obliquity and precessional forcing, while the Arabian Sea summer monsoon precipitation depends only on precessional forcing