1,456 research outputs found
Hydrologic Transport of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon and Its Control on Chemical Weathering
Chemical weathering is one of the major processes interacting with climate and tectonics to form clays, supply nutrients to soil microorganisms and plants, and sequester atmospheric CO2. Hydrology and dissolution kinetics have been emphasized as factors controlling chemical weathering rates. However, the interaction between hydrology and transport of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in controlling weathering has received less attention. In this paper, we present an analytical model that couples subsurface water and chemical molar balance equations to analyze the roles of hydrology and DIC transport on chemical weathering. The balance equations form a dynamical system that fully determines the dynamics of the weathering zone chemistry as forced by the transport of DIC. The model is formulated specifically for the silicate mineral albite, but it can be extended to other minerals, and is studied as a function of percolation rate and water transit time. Three weathering regimes are elucidated. For very small or large values of transit time, the weathering is limited by reaction kinetics or transport, respectively. For intermediate values, the system is transport controlled and is sensitive to transit time. We apply the model to a series of watersheds for which we estimate transit times and identify the type of weathering regime. The results suggest that hydrologic transport of DIC may be as important as reaction kinetics and dilution in determining chemical weathering rates
Heterocyst placement strategies to maximize growth of cyanobacterial filaments
Under conditions of limited fixed-nitrogen, some filamentous cyanobacteria
develop a regular pattern of heterocyst cells that fix nitrogen for the
remaining vegetative cells. We examine three different heterocyst placement
strategies by quantitatively modelling filament growth while varying both
external fixed-nitrogen and leakage from the filament. We find that there is an
optimum heterocyst frequency which maximizes the growth rate of the filament;
the optimum frequency decreases as the external fixed-nitrogen concentration
increases but increases as the leakage increases. In the presence of leakage,
filaments implementing a local heterocyst placement strategy grow significantly
faster than filaments implementing random heterocyst placement strategies. With
no extracellular fixed-nitrogen, consistent with recent experimental studies of
Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, the modelled heterocyst spacing distribution using our
local heterocyst placement strategy is qualitatively similar to experimentally
observed patterns. As external fixed-nitrogen is increased, the spacing
distribution for our local placement strategy retains the same shape while the
average spacing between heterocysts continuously increases.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article
accepted for publication in Physical Biology. IOP Publishing Ltd is not
responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or
any version derived from it. The definitive publisher-authenticated version
will be available onlin
Arsenite sorption and co-precipitation with calcite
Sorption of As(III) by calcite was investigated as a function of As(III)
concentration, time and pH. The sorption isotherm, i.e. the log As(III) vs. log
[As(OH)3 degrees / Assat] plot is S-shaped and has been modelled on an extended
version of the surface precipitation model. At low concentrations, As(OH)3
degrees is adsorbed by complexation to surface Ca surface sites, as previously
described by the X-ray standing wave technique. The inflexion point of the
isotherm, where As(OH)3 degrees is limited by the amount of surface sites (ST),
yields 6 sites nm-2 in good agreement with crystallographic data. Beyond this
value, the amount of sorbed arsenic increases linearly with solution
concentration, up to the saturation of arsenic with respect to the
precipitation of CaHAsO3(s). The solid solutions formed in this concentration
range were examined by X-ray and neutron diffraction. The doped calcite lattice
parameters increase with arsenic content while c/a ratio remains constant. Our
results made on bulk calcite on the atomic displacement of As atoms along
[0001] direction extend those published by Cheng et al., (1999) on calcite
surface. This study provides a molecular-level explanation for why As(III) is
trapped by calcite in industrial treatments.Comment: 9 page
Spongophyllum missouriense, A New Coral from the Middle Devonian Callaway Limestone of Missouri
291-296http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48262/2/ID101.pd
Corals of the Devonian Traverse Group of Michigan. Part I. Spongophyllum
123-130http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48241/2/ID080.pd
A Revision of the Ordovician Trilobite Asaphus platycephalus Stokes
63-73http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48398/2/ID244.pd
Corals of the Devonian Traverse Group of Michigan. Part IV. Billingsastraea
83-92http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48256/2/ID095.pd
Corals of the Devonian Traverse Group of Michigan. Part II. Cylindrophyllum, Depasophyllum, Disphyllum, Eridophyllum, and Synaptophyllum
21-41http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48246/2/ID085.pd
A New Species of the Tetracoral Genus Palastraea from the Mississippian of Kentucky
383-385http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48556/2/ID412.pd
Structure, bonding and morphology of hydrothermally synthesised xonotlite
The authors have systematically investigated the role of synthesis conditions upon the structure and morphology of xonotlite. Starting with a mechanochemically prepared, semicrystalline phase with Ca/Si=1, the authors have prepared a series of xonotlite samples hydrothermally, at temperatures between 200 and 250 degrees C. Analysis in each case was by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The authors’ use of a much lower water/solid ratio has indirectly confirmed the ‘through solution’ mechanism of xonotlite formation, where silicate dissolution is a key precursor of xonotlite formation. Concerning the role of temperature, too low a temperature (~200 degrees C) fails to yield xonotlite or leads to increased number of structural defects in the silicate chains of xonotlite and too high a temperature (>250 degrees C) leads to degradation of the xonotlite structure, through leaching of interchain calcium. Synthesis duration meanwhile leads to increased silicate polymerisation due to diminishing of the defects in the silicate chains and more perfect crystal morphologies
- …