Bacterial number and genetic diversity in a permafrost peatland (Western Siberia): Testing a link with organic matter quality and elementary composition of a peat soil profile

Permafrost peatlands, containing a sizable amount of soil organic carbon (OC), play a pivotal role in soil (peat) OC transformation into soluble and volatile forms and greatly contribute to overall natural CO2 and CH4 emissions to the atmosphere under ongoing permafrost thaw and soil OC degradation. Peat microorganisms are largely responsible for the processing of this OC, yet coupled studies of chemical and bacterial parameters in permafrost peatlands are rather limited and geographically biased. Towards testing the possible impact of peat and peat pore water chemical composition on microbial population and diversity, here we present results of a preliminary study of the western Siberia permafrost peatland discontinuous permafrost zone. The quantitative evaluation of microorganisms and determination of microbial diversity along a 100 cm thick peat soil column, which included thawed and frozen peat and bottom mineral horizon, was performed by RT-PCR and 16S rRNA gene-based metagenomic analysis, respectively. Bacteria (mainly Proteobac-teria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria) strongly dominated the microbial diversity (99% sequences), with a negligible proportion of archaea (0.3–0.5%). There was a systematic evolution of main taxa according to depth, with a maximum of 65% (Acidobacteria) encountered in the active layer, or permafrost boundary (50–60 cm). We also measured C, N, nutrients and ~50 major and trace elements in peat (19 samples) as well as its pore water and dispersed ice (10 samples), sampled over the same core, and we analyzed organic matter quality in six organic and one mineral horizon of this core. Using multiparametric statistics (PCA), we tested the links between the total microbial number and 16S rRNA diversity and chemical composition of both the solid and fluid phase harboring the microor-ganisms. Under climate warming and permafrost thaw, one can expect a downward movement of the layer of maximal genetic diversity following the active layer thickening. Given a one to two orders of magnitude higher microbial number in the upper (thawed) layers compared to bottom (frozen) layers, an additional 50 cm of peat thawing in western Siberia may sizably increase the total microbial population and biodiversity of active cells

Ferromagnetic HfO2/Si/GaAs interface for spin-polarimetry applications

In this letter, we present electrical and magnetic characteristics of HfO2-based metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs), along with the effect of pseudomorphic Si as a passivating interlayer on GaAs(001) grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Ultrathin HfO2 high-k gate dielectric films (3–15 nm) have been grown on Si/GaAs(001) structures through evaporation of a Hf/HfO2 target in NO2 gas. The lowest interface states density Dit at Au/HfO2/Si/GaAs(001) MOS-structures were obtained in the range of (6−13)×101

An assessment of the Arctic Ocean in a suite of interannual CORE-II simulations. Part III: Hydrography and fluxes

In this paper we compare the simulated Arctic Ocean in 15 global ocean–sea ice models in the framework of the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments, phase II (CORE-II). Most of these models are the ocean and sea-ice components of the coupled climate models used in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) experiments. We mainly focus on the hydrography of the Arctic interior, the state of Atlantic Water layer and heat and volume transports at the gateways of the Davis Strait, the Bering Strait, the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea Opening. We found that there is a large spread in temperature in the Arctic Ocean between the models, and generally large differences compared to the observed temperature at intermediate depths. Warm bias models have a strong temperature anomaly of inflow of the Atlantic Water entering the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait. Another process that is not represented accurately in the CORE-II models is the formation of cold and dense water, originating on the eastern shelves. In the cold bias models, excessive cold water forms in the Barents Sea and spreads into the Arctic Ocean through the St. Anna Through. There is a large spread in the simulated mean heat and volume transports through the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea Opening. The models agree more on the decadal variability, to a large degree dictated by the common atmospheric forcing. We conclude that the CORE-II model study helps us to understand the crucial biases in the Arctic Ocean. The current coarse resolution state-of-the-art ocean models need to be improved in accurate representation of the Atlantic Water inflow into the Arctic and density currents coming from the shelves

On the Isomorphism of Sodium at the M(2) Site in Eudialyte-Group Minerals: The Crystal Structure of Mn-Deficient Manganoeudialyte and the Problem of the Existence of the M(2)Na-Dominant Analogue of Eudialyte

Sodium plays an important role in the crystal structures of eudialyte-group minerals given that it can occupy different crystallographic sites. Predominantly, it distributes between the N(1–5) sites situated in the large cavities of the heteropolyhedral framework. Rarely, Na occupies split sites of the M(2) microregion where it can predominate over other elements (predominantly Mn, Fe2+, and Fe3+). The crystal structure of the Mn-deficient manganoeudialyte from the Lovozero alkaline complex (Kola Peninsula, Russia) has been refined. The trigonal unit–cell parameters are: a = 14.1848(2) Å, c = 30.4726(3) Å, V = 5309.90(11) Å3. The sample is a rare example of a high-sodium and high-calcium representative of the eudialyte group with Fe + Mn < 2 apfu. The idealized formula is Na14Ca6[(Mn,Fe)2Na]Zr3Si2[Si24O72]O(OH)·2H2O with bivalent components, Mn2+ and Fe2+, dominating at the M(2) site. The regularities of isomorphism involving M(2)Na in EGMs and the problem of the existence of the M(2)Na-dominant analogue of eudialyte are discussed. The new data obtained in this work confirm the previous conclusion that the complete isomorphism between Ca-deficient and Ca-rich members of the eudialyte group cannot be realized in frames of a single-space group (R3m, R-3m or R3). Thus, the existence of the M(2)Na analogue of eudialyte remains questionable

Complexity of Molecular Nets: Topological Approach and Descriptive Statistics

The molecular net complexity (HmolNet) is an extension of the combinatorial complexity (Hmol) of a crystal structure introduced by Krivovichev. It was calculated for a set of 4152 molecular crystal structures with the composition of CxHyOz characterized by the structural class P21/c, Z = 4 (1). The molecular nets were derived from the molecular Voronoi–Dirichlet Polyhedra (VDPmol). The values of the molecular coordination number (CNmol) and critical coordination number (CNcrit) are discussed in relation with the complexity of the crystal structures. A statistical distribution of the set of molecular crystals based on the values of CNmol, CNcrit, and the complexity parameters is obtained. More than a half of the considered structures has CNmol = 14 and CNmol′ = 9 with the Wyckoff set of edges e5dcba. The average multiplicity of intermolecular contacts statistically significantly decreases from 1.58 to 1.51 upon excluding all contacts except those bearing the molecular net. The normalized value of HmolNet is of the logistic distribution type and is distributed near 0.85HmolNet with a small standard deviation. The contribution of Hmol into HmolNet ranges from 35 to 95% (mean 79%, SD 6%), and the subset of bearing intermolecular contacts accounts for 41 to 100% (mean 62%, SD 11%) of the complexity of the full set of intermolecular contacts

Complexity of Molecular Nets: Topological Approach and Descriptive Statistics

The molecular net complexity (HmolNet) is an extension of the combinatorial complexity (Hmol) of a crystal structure introduced by Krivovichev. It was calculated for a set of 4152 molecular crystal structures with the composition of CxHyOz characterized by the structural class P21/c, Z = 4 (1). The molecular nets were derived from the molecular Voronoi–Dirichlet Polyhedra (VDPmol). The values of the molecular coordination number (CNmol) and critical coordination number (CNcrit) are discussed in relation with the complexity of the crystal structures. A statistical distribution of the set of molecular crystals based on the values of CNmol, CNcrit, and the complexity parameters is obtained. More than a half of the considered structures has CNmol = 14 and CNmol′ = 9 with the Wyckoff set of edges e5dcba. The average multiplicity of intermolecular contacts statistically significantly decreases from 1.58 to 1.51 upon excluding all contacts except those bearing the molecular net. The normalized value of HmolNet is of the logistic distribution type and is distributed near 0.85HmolNet with a small standard deviation. The contribution of Hmol into HmolNet ranges from 35 to 95% (mean 79%, SD 6%), and the subset of bearing intermolecular contacts accounts for 41 to 100% (mean 62%, SD 11%) of the complexity of the full set of intermolecular contacts

Complexity Parameters for Molecular Solids

Structural complexity measures based on Shannon information entropy are widely used for inorganic crystal structures. However, the application of these parameters for molecular crystals requires essential modification since atoms in inorganic compounds usually possess more degrees of freedom. In this work, a novel scheme for the calculation of complexity parameters (HmolNet, HmolNet,tot) for molecular crystals is proposed as a sum of the complexity of each molecule, the complexity of intermolecular contacts, and the combined complexity of both. This scheme is tested for several molecular crystal structures

Synthesis, IR spectroscopy and crystal structure of [(UO2)2{Be(H2O)2(PO4)2}]·(H2O), the first compound with a trimer beryllophosphate anion

peer reviewedThe first uranyl beryllophosphate, [(UO2)2{Be(H2O)2(PO4)2}]·(H2O), has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions at 200°C. The monoclinic unit-cell parameters are: a=9.3361(1), b=8.8545(4), c=9.6592(10) Å, β=93.211(1)°, V=797.21(6) Å3, space group P2/n, Z=2. The crystal structure has been solved by direct methods and refined to final R1=4.92% using 1294 I>3σ(I) reflections in the anisotropic approximation. The structure consists of sheets of UrO5 pentagonal bipyramids and PO4 tetrahedra. UrO5 bipyramids are linked by edge-sharing to form infinite chains. Adjacent chains of UrO5 bipyramids are connected by sharing alternating edges of uranyl bipyramids with PO4 tetrahedra. The resulting sheets are based on the well-known uranophane anion-topology. Be atoms are tetrahedrally coordinated by two oxygen atoms of PO4 tetrahedra and two water molecules in the interlayer space. One isolated water molecule also occurs in the interlayer space, where it is held in position by H bonds. The connection between the phosphorus and beryllium tetrahedra leads to formation of an unbranched trimer [BeP2O8(H2O)2]4- observed for the first time in inorganic oxysalts. © 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston