Upper Mantle Pollution during Afar Plume-Continental Rift Interaction

International audienceNew Pb, Sr, Nd, Hf, and He isotope data for Quaternary basalts, erupted from Debre Zeyit, Butajira, and the Wonji Fault Belt of the Main Ethiopian Rift, show systematic mixing relationships involving three distinct mantle sources. The Pb, Sr, Nd, and Hf isotopic arrays converge in a specific region of isotopic multi-space where they define the composition of the Afar mantle plume (centered about (206)Pb/(204)Pb = 19 center dot 5, (87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0 center dot 7035, epsilon(Nd) = +4 center dot 6, epsilon(Hf) = +9 center dot 3, (3)He/(4)He > 15 R(A)). This plume end-member has an identical composition to that observed previously in oceanic basalts. The distinct isotopic arrays for the various volcanic areas in the Main Ethiopian Rift vary spatially in a systematic manner, and may be viewed as pseudo-binary mixing arrays. This further suggests that the Afar mantle plume interacts with the local continental lithosphere and upper mantle asthenosphere (mid-ocean ridge basalt-like source) through an ordered sequence of mixing events. Simple mixing models require that the mass proportions of continental lithosphere and upper mantle involved in magma generation must be nearly constant within each volcanic area, but that the proportion of plume material decreases regularly with distance southwestward along the Main Ethiopian Rift, away from the central axis of the plume. This systematic behavior means that continental lithosphere can become detached and mixed into the shallow mantle prior to the flow of upwelling plume material beneath the developing rift system. Detachment and mixing into the asthenosphere during continental rift evolution is an important process for producing the range of ambient upper mantle compositions sampled by mid-ocean ridge volcanism away from island hotspots

Defective DNA Repair and Increased Genomic Instability in Artemis-deficient Murine Cells

In developing lymphocytes, the recombination activating gene endonuclease cleaves DNA between V, D, or J coding and recombination signal (RS) sequences to form hairpin coding and blunt RS ends, which are fused to form coding and RS joins. Nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) factors repair DNA double strand breaks including those induced during VDJ recombination. Human radiosensitive severe combined immunodeficiency results from lack of Artemis function, an NHEJ factor with in vitro endonuclease/exonuclease activities. We inactivated Artemis in murine embryonic stem (ES) cells by targeted mutation. Artemis deficiency results in impaired VDJ coding, but not RS, end joining. In addition, Artemis-deficient ES cells are sensitive to a radiomimetic drug, but less sensitive to ionizing radiation. VDJ coding joins from Artemis-deficient ES cells, which surprisingly are distinct from the highly deleted joins consistently obtained from DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit–deficient ES cells, frequently lack deletions and often display large junctional palindromes, consistent with a hairpin coding end opening defect. Strikingly, Artemis-deficient ES cells have increased chromosomal instability including telomeric fusions. Thus, Artemis appears to be required for a subset of NHEJ reactions that require end processing. Moreover, Artemis functions as a genomic caretaker, most notably in prevention of translocations and telomeric fusions. As Artemis deficiency is compatible with human life, Artemis may also suppress genomic instability in humans

Evaluating the opportunity for utilising anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis of livestock manure and grass silage to decarbonise gas infrastructure : A Northern Ireland case study.

Publication history: Accepted - 24 June 2022; Published online - 4 July 2022The need to mitigate climate change and improve energy security has led to an increasing interest in the utilisation of renewable gas to decarbonise natural gas use. Northern Ireland serves as an interesting case study to evaluate how biomethane from manure and silage material can displace natural gas. This is because of high agricultural intensity, the low penetration of gas relative to the wider UK and the modern pipeline infrastructure. This study included spatial mapping of biomethane yield and life cycle assessment for processing scenarios. The results demonstrated that current manure management i.e., storage and application of manure to grassland, results in 344 kg CO2 equivalent/person of greenhouse gases and 9.7 kg/person of ammonia being emitted. In a second scenario where collected manure and underutilised grass silage is routed to anaerobic digestion, the estimated net energy produced is 6124 GWh, with −464 kg CO2 equivalent/person. A third scenario, combining anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis, also produces 6124 GWh and 200 kilo tonnes of biochar (retaining 64% of manure phosphorus), −563 kg CO2 equivalent/person. This research evaluates the opportunity for biomethane while acknowledging that a comprehensive approach which balances energy potentials and nutrient management is required for sustainable biomethane based decarbonisation.This work is supported by the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE). CASE is funded through Invest NI's Competence Centre Programme and aims to transform the sustainable energy sector through business researc

Tracing North Atlantic volcanism and seaway connectivity across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)

Abstract. There is a temporal correlation between the peak activity of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) and the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), suggesting that the NAIP may have initiated and/or prolonged this extreme warming event. However, corroborating a causal relationship is hampered by a scarcity of expanded sedimentary records that contain both climatic and volcanic proxies. One locality hosting such a record is the island of Fur in Denmark, where an expanded pre- to post-PETM succession containing hundreds of NAIP ash layers is exceptionally well preserved. We compiled a range of environmental proxies, including mercury (Hg) anomalies, paleotemperature proxies, and lithium (Li) and osmium (Os) isotopes, to trace NAIP activity, hydrological changes, weathering, and seawater connectivity across this interval. Volcanic proxies suggest that NAIP activity was elevated before the PETM and appears to have peaked during the body of the δ13C excursion but decreased considerably during the PETM recovery. This suggests that the acme in NAIP activity, dominated by flood basalt volcanism and thermogenic degassing from contact metamorphism, was likely confined to just ∼ 200 kyr (ca. 56.0–55.8 Ma). The hundreds of thick (> 1 cm) basaltic ashes in the post-PETM strata likely represent a change from effusive to explosive activity, rather than an increase in NAIP activity. Detrital δ7Li values and clay abundances suggest that volcanic ash production increased the basaltic reactive surface area, likely enhancing silicate weathering and atmospheric carbon sequestration in the early Eocene. Signals in lipid biomarkers and Os isotopes, traditionally used to trace paleotemperature and weathering changes, are used here to track seaway connectivity. These proxies indicate that the North Sea was rapidly cut off from the North Atlantic in under 12 kyr during the PETM recovery due to NAIP thermal uplift. Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that the emplacement of the NAIP had a profound and complex impact on Paleocene–Eocene climate, both directly through volcanic and thermogenic degassing and indirectly by driving regional uplift and changing seaway connectivity

Assessment of the energy recovery potential of waste Photovoltaic (PV) modules

Global exponential increase in levels of Photovoltaic (PV) module waste is an increasing concern. The purpose of this study is to investigate if there is energy value in the polymers contained within first-generation crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules to help contribute positively to recycling rates and the circular economy. One such thermochemical conversion method that appeals to this application is pyrolysis. As c-Si PV modules are made up of glass, metal, semiconductor and polymer layers; pyrolysis has potential not to promote chemical oxidation of any of these layers to help aid delamination and subsequently, recovery. Herein, we analysed both used polymers taken from a deconstructed used PV module and virgin-grade polymers prior to manufacture to determine if any properties or thermal behaviours had changed. The calorific values of the used and virgin-grade Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant were found to be high, unchanged and comparable to that of biodiesel at 39.51 and 39.87 MJ.Kg−1, respectively. This result signifies that there is energy value within used modules. As such, this study has assessed the pyrolysis behaviour of PV cells and has indicated the energy recovery potential within the used polymers found in c-Si PV modules