Search results for "MINERALOGY"
showing 10 items of 1516 documents
Circumferential spicule growth by pericellular silica deposition in the hexactinellid sponge Monorhaphis chuni.
2011
SUMMARY The giant basal spicule of the hexactinellid sponge Monorhaphis chuni represents the longest natural siliceous structure on Earth. This spicule is composed of concentrically arranged lamellae that are approximately 10 μm thick. In the present study, we investigated the formation of outer lamellae on a cellular level using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. It is shown that the formation of an outermost lamella begins with the association of cell clusters with the surface of the thickening and/or growing spicule. The cells release silica for controlled formation of a lamella. The pericellular (silica) material fuses to a delimited and textured layer of silica with depressions …
Silica-protein composite layers of the giant basal spicules from Monorhaphis: Basis for their mechanical stability
2010
The hexactinellid sponge Monorhaphis chuni possesses with its giant basal spicules the largest biosilica structure on Earth. The approximately 8.5-mm-thick spicules are composed of up to 800 lamellae. By application of high-resolution electron microscopy (HR-SEM), it is shown that within the siliceous lamellae a proteinaceous scaffold exists which is composed of one protein of a size of 27 kDa. Analyses with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) emission and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy support this localization of the protein. No evidence for the presence of protein on the surfaces of the lamellae could be obtained. Heating the giant basal spicule to 600 °C destroys and eliminat…
Garnet and spinel lherzolite assemblages in MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 and CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2: thermodynamic models and an experimental conflict
2012
The recent publication of an updated thermodynamic dataset for petrological calculations provides an opportunity to illustrate the relationship between experimental data and the dataset, in the context of a new set of activity–composition models for several key minerals. These models represent orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and garnet in the system CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (CMAS), and are valid up to 50 kbar and at least 1800 °C; they are the first high-temperature models for these phases to be developed for the Holland & Powell dataset. The models are calibrated with reference to phase-relation data in the subsystems CaO–MgO–SiO2 (CMS) and MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (MAS), and will themselves form the basis o…
Trace-element composition and stable-isotope ratio for discrimination of foods with Protected Designation of Origin
2009
We review the literature on authentication of foods with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from their trace-element composition or stable-isotope ratios in order to evaluate the state of the art of this field and to identify the main parameters of analytical techniques and chemometric-data treatments that permit accurate discrimination of samples of different geographical origins and with different characteristics.
Is dust a suitable material for retrospective personal dosimetry?
2010
This work investigates the feasibility of using silicates contained in dust for retrospective individual dosimetry in case of a radiation accident or a radiological attack involving people not wearing physical dosimeters. It is well known that minerals (silicates) can be used for dosimetry and dust already plays an important role in the field of food irradiation detection using luminescence techniques as described in the European Standards (EN 13751 and EN 1788). This paper explores the feasibility of conducting retrospective personal dosimetry on the basis of thermoluminescence analysis of silicates extracted from dust on objects that people usually wear (e.g. jewelry, watches, keys and co…
Quantitative Analysis of Experimental and Synthetic Microstructures for Sedimentary Rock
1999
A quantitative comparison between the experimental microstructure of a sedimentary rock and three theoretical models for the same rock is presented. The microstructure of the rock sample (Fontainebleau sandstone) was obtained by microtomography. Two of the models are stochastic models based on correlation function reconstruction, and one model is based on sedimentation, compaction and diagenesis combined with input from petrographic analysis. The porosity of all models closely match that of the experimental sample and two models have also the same two point correlation function as the experimental sample. We compute quantitative differences and similarities between the various microstructur…
Erosion–dilation analysis for experimental and synthetic microstructures of sedimentary rock
2000
Abstract Microstructures such as rock samples or simulated structures can be described and characterized by means of ideas of spatial statistics and mathematical morphology. A powerful approach is to transform a given 3D structure by operations of mathematical morphology such as dilation and erosion. This leads to families of structures, for which various characteristics can be determined, for example, porosity, specific connectivity number or correlation and connectivity functions. An application of this idea leads to a clear discrimination between a sample of Fontainebleau sandstone and two simulated samples.
Continuum reconstruction of the pore scale microstructure for Fontainebleau sandstone
2010
Abstract A stochastic geometrical modeling technique is used to reconstruct a laboratory scale Fontainebleau sandstone with a sidelength of 1.5 cm. The model reconstruction is based on crystallite properties and diagenetic parameters determined from two-dimensional images. The three-dimensional pore scale microstructure of the sandstone is represented by a list of quartz crystallites defined geometrically and placed in the continuum. This allows generation of synthetic μ -CT images of the rock model at arbitrary resolutions. Quantitative microstructure comparison based on Minkowski functionals, two-point correlation function and local porosity theory indicates that this modeling technique c…
A finite-difference method for numerical solution of the steady-state nernst—planck equations with non-zero convection and electric current density
1986
Abstract A computer algorithm has been developed for digital simulation of ionic transport through membranes obeying the Nernst—Planck and Poisson equations. The method of computation is quite general and allows the treatment of steady-state electrodiffusion equations for multiionic environments, the ionic species having arbitrary valences and mobilities, when convection and electric current are involved. The procedure provides a great flexibility in the choice of suitable boundary conditions and avoids numerical instabilities which are so frequent in numerical methods. Numerical results for concentration and electric potential gradient profiles are presented in the particular case of the t…
Consideration of the formation of solids and gases in steady state modelling of crevice corrosion propagation
2007
Abstract One of the challenges in the simulation of crevice corrosion propagation is the rigorous treatment of non-aqueous species (gas or solids), since the appearance of a new phase in a crevice will automatically have an impact on its geometry. This paper presents a simple approach, where heterogeneous reactions are considered in a post-processing step, by determining the conditions of potential, external chemistry (pH, chloride, …) or geometry under which gas or solid phases could appear in the crevice. Thus, as function of these conditions, stability diagrams for the different phases that are liable to appear in an actively propagating crevice can be constructed. Such diagrams (e.g. di…