Formation and preservation of pedogenic carbonates in South India, links with paleo-monsoon and pedological conditions: Clues from Sr isotopes, U-Th series and REEs

The influence of the pedogenic and climatic contexts on the formation and preservation of pedogenic carbonates in a climosequence in the Western Ghats (Karnataka Plateau, South West India) has been studied. Along the climosequence, the current mean annual rainfall (MAR) varies within a 80 km transect from 6000 mm at the edge of the Plateau to 500 mm inland. Pedogenic carbonates occur in the MAR range of 500-1200 mm. In the semi-arid zone (MAR: 500-900 mm), carbonates occur (i) as rhick hardpan calcretes on pediment slopes and (ii) as nodular horizons in polygenic black soils (i.e. vertisols). In the sub-humid zone (MAR: 900-1500 mm), pedogenic carbonates are disseminated in the black soil matrices either as loose, irregular and friable nodules of millimetric size or as indurated botryoidal nodules of centimetric to pluricentimetric size. They also occur at the top layers of the saprolite either as disseminated pluricentimetric indurated nodules or carbonate-cemented lumps of centimetric to decimetric size. Chemical and isotopic (Sr-87/Sr-86) compositions of the carbonate fraction were determined after leaching with 0.25 N HCl. The corresponding residual fractions containing both primary minerals and authigenic clays were digested separately and analyzed. The trend defined by the Sr-87/Sr-86 signatures of both labile carbonate fractions and corresponding residual fractions indicates that a part of the labile carbonate fraction is genetically linked to the local soil composition. Considering the residual fraction of each sample as the most likely lithogenic source of Ca in carbonates, it is estimated that from 24% to 82% (55% on average) of Ca is derived from local bedrock weathering, leading to a consumption of an equivalent proportion of atmospheric CO2. These values indicate that climatic conditions were humid enough to allow silicate weathering: MAR at the time of carbonate formation likely ranged from 400 to 700 mm, which is 2- to 3-fold less than the current MAR at these locations. The Sr, U and Mg contents and the (U-234/U-238) activity ratio in the labile carbonate fraction help to understand the conditions of carbonate formation. The relatively high concentrations of Sr, U and Mg in black soil carbonates may indicate fast growth and accumulation compared to carbonates in saprolite, possibly due to a better confinement of the pore waters which is supported by their high (U-234/U-238) signatures, and/or to higher content of dissolved carbonates in the pore waters. The occurrence of Ce, Mn and Fe oxides in the cracks of carbonate reflects the existence of relatively humid periods after carbonate formation. The carbonate ages determined by the U-Th method range from 1.33 +/- 0.84 kyr to 7.5 +/- 2.7 kyr and to a cluster of five ages around 20 kyr, i.e. the Last Glacial Maximum period. The young occurrences are only located in the black soils, which therefore constitute sensitive environments for trapping and retaining atmospheric CO2 even on short time scales. The maximum age of carbonates depends on their location in the climatic gradient: from about 20 kyr for centimetric nodules at Mule Hole (MAR = 1100 mm/yr) to 200 kyr for the calcrete at Gundlupet (MAR = 700 mm/yr, Durand et al., 2007). The intensity of rainfall during wet periods would indeed control the lifetime of pedogenic carbonates and thus the duration of inorganic carbon storage in soils. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A model for static foam drainage

A model for static foam drainage, based on the pentagonal dodecahedral shape of bubbles, that takes into account the surface mobility of both films and Plateau border walls has been developed. The model divides the Plateau borders into nearly horizontal and nearly vertical categories and assigns different roles to them. The films are assumed to drain into all the adjacent Plateau borders equally. The horizontal Plateau borders are assumed to receive liquid from films and drain into vertical Plateau borders, which in turn form the main component for gravity drainage. The model yields the liquid holdup values for films, horizontal Plateau borders and vertical Plateau borders as functions of height and time. The model has been tested on static foams whose cumulative drainage was measured as a function of time. The experimental data on the effect of foam height, initial holdup, surface viscosity, etc. can be explained by the model quantitatively.

A Thermodynamic Proposal for the Exposition of Critically and other Subtle Features in Self-Deflagrating Ammonium Perchlorate Systems

A first comprehensive investigation on the deflagration of ammonium perchlorate (AP) in the subcritical regime, below the low pressure deflagration limit (LPL, 2.03 MPa) christened as regime I$^{\prime}$, is discussed by using an elegant thermodynamic approach. In this regime, deflagration was effected by augmenting the initial temperature (T$_{0}$) of the AP strand and by adding fuels like aliphatic dicarboxylic acids or polymers like carboxy terminated polybutadiene (CTPB). From this thermodynamic model, considering the dependence of burning rate ($\dot{r}$) on pressure (P) and T$_{0}$, the true condensed (E$_{\text{s,c}}$) and gas phase (E$_{\text{s,g}}$) activation energies, just below and above the surface respectively, have been obtained and the data clearly distinguishes the deflagration mechanisms in regime I$^{\prime}$ and I (2.03-6.08 MPa). Substantial reduction in the E$_{\text{s,c}}$ of regime I$^{\prime}$, compared to that of regime I, is attributed to HClO$_{4}$ catalysed decomposition of AP. HClO$_{4}$ formation, which occurs only in regime I$^{\prime}$, promotes dent formation on the surface as revealed by the reflectance photomicrographs, in contrast to the smooth surface in regime I. The HClO$_{4}$ vapours, in regime I$^{\prime}$, also catalyse the gas phase reactions and thus bring down the E$_{\text{s,g}}$ too. The excess heat transferred on to the surface from the gas phase is used to melt AP and hence E$_{\text{s,c}}$, in regime I, corresponds to the melt AP decomposition. It is consistent with the similar variation observed for both the melt layer thickness and $\dot{r}$ as a function of P. Thermochemical calculations of the surface heat release support the thermodynamic model and reveal that the AP sublimation reduces the required critical exothermicity of 1108.8 kJ kg$^{-1}$ at the surface. It accounts for the AP not sustaining combustion in the subcritical regime I$^{\prime}$. Further support for the model comes from the temperature-time profiles of the combustion train of AP. The gas and condensed phase enthalpies, derived from the profile, give excellent agreement with those computed thermochemically. The $\sigma _{\text{p}}$ expressions derived from this model establish the mechanistic distinction of regime I$^{\prime}$ and I and thus lend support to the thermodynamic model. On comparing the deflagration of strand against powder AP, the proposed thermodynamic model correctly predicts that the total enthalpy of the condensed and gas phases remains unaltered. However, 16% of AP particles undergo buoyant lifting into the gas phase in the `free board region' (FBR) and this renders the demarcation of the true surface difficult. It is found that T$_{\text{s}}$ lies in the FBR and due to this, in regime I$^{\prime}$, the E$_{\text{s,c}}$ of powder AP matches with the E$_{\text{s,g}}$ of the pellet. The model was extended to AP/dicarboxylic acids and AP/CTPB mixture. The condensed ($\Delta $H$_{1}$) and gas phase ($\Delta $H$_{2}$) enthalpies were obtained from the temperature profile analyses which fit well with those computed thermochemically. The $\Delta $H$_{1}$ of the AP/succinic acid mixture was found just at the threshold of sustaining combustion. Indeed the lower homologue malonic acid, as predicted, does not sustain combustion. In vaporizable fuels like sebacic acid the E$_{\text{s,c}}$ in regime I$^{\prime}$, understandably, conforms to the AP decomposition. However, the E$_{\text{s,c}}$ in AP/CTPB system corresponds to the softening of the polymer which covers AP particles to promote extensive condensed phase reactions. The proposed thermodynamic model also satisfactorily explains certain unique features like intermittent, plateau and flameless combustion in AP/ polymeric fuel systems.

Drainage and separation factors for static foams containing agglomerates of microbial cells

The presence of cell agglomerates has been found to influence significantly the rates of liquid drainage from static foams. The process of drainage has been modelled by considering the foam to be made of pentagonal dodecahedral bubbles yielding films, nearly horizontal and nearly vertical Plateau borders. The films are assumed to drain into both kinds of Plateau borders equally. The horizontal Plateau borders are assumed to receive liquid from the films and drain into the vertical Plateau borders, which, in turn, form the main flow paths for gravity drainage. The drainage process is assumed to be similar to that for pure liquid until a stage is reached where the size of the cell agglomerates become equivalent to those of films and Plateau borders. Thereafter, a squeezing flow mechanism has been formulated where the aggromerates deform and flow. The model based on the above assumptions has been verified against experimental results and has been found to predict not only drainage data but also the separation of cell agglomerates from broths.

Supersolid Phase in One-Dimensional Bose-Hubbard Model With Extended Range Interactions: DMRG And Field Theoretic Study at Different Densities

We use the Density Matrix Renormalization Group and the Abelian bosonization method to study the effect of density on quantum phases of one-dimensional extended Bose-Hubbard model. We predict the existence of supersolid phase and also other quantum phases for this system. We have analyzed the role of extended range interaction parameters on solitonic phase near half-filling. We discuss the effects of dimerization in nearest neighbor hopping and interaction as well as next nearest neighbor interaction on the plateau phase at half-filling.

A new model for drainage of static foams

Existing theories of foam drainage assume bubbles as pentagonal dodecahedrons, though a close-packed structure built with cells of this shape is not space-filling. The present work develops a theory for calculating drainage rates based on the more realistic beta-tetrakaidecahedral shape for the bubbles. In contrast with the earlier works, three types of films, and Plateau borders had to be considered in view of the more complex shape used in the present work. The exchange of liquid between Plateau borders was treated in a way different From earlier theories, using the idea that the volume of junctions of Plateau borders is negligible. For foams made of large bubble sizes, the present model performs as well as the previous models, but when bubble size is small, its predictions of drainage rates from static foams are in better agreement with the experimental observations.

High pressure electrical measurements on Ge-Te-Se glasses

Electrical resistivity measurements have been carried out on bulk Ge-Te-Se glasses in a Bridgman anvil System. The resistivity of the Ge-Te-Se samples is found to decrease continuously with increasing pressure, with the metallization occurring around 8 GPa. Ge20TexSe80-x glasses (10 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 50) with the mean co-ordination number Z(av) = 2.4 exhibit a plateau in resistivity up to about 4 GPa pressure, followed by a continuous decrease to metallic values. On the other hand, Ge10TexSe90-x glasses (10 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 40) having Z(av) = 2.2, exhibit a smaller plateau (only up to 1 GPa), followed by a decrease in resistivity with pressure. This subtle difference in the high pressure resistivity of Ge-Te-Se glasses with Z(av) < 2.4 and Z(av) greater than or equal to 2.4 can be associated with the changes in the local structure of the chalcogenide glasses with composition.

Interplay of spin and lattice degrees of freedom in the frustrated antiferromagnet CdCr2O4: High-field and temperature-induced anomalies of the elastic constants

Temperature and magnetic field studies of the elastic constants of the chromium spinel CdCr2O4 show pronounced anomalies related to strong spin-phonon coupling in this frustrated antiferromagnet. A detailed comparison of the longitudinal acoustic mode propagating along the 111] direction with a theory based on an exchange-striction mechanism leads to an estimate of the strength of the magnetoelastic interaction. The derived spin-phonon coupling constant is in good agreement with previous determinations based on infrared absorption. Further insight is gained from intermediate and high magnetic field experiments in the field regime of the magnetization plateau. The role of the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is discussed.

Lopsidedness in WHISP galaxies I. Rotation curves and kinematic lopsidedness

The frequently observed lopsidedness of the distribution of stars and gas in disc galaxies is still considered as a major problem in galaxy dynamics. It is even discussed as an imprint of the formation history of discs and the evolution of baryons in dark matter haloes. Here, we analyse a selected sample of 70 galaxies from the Westerbork Hi Survey of Spiral and Irregular Galaxies. The Hi data allow us to follow the morphology and the kinematics out to very large radii. In the present paper, we present the rotation curves and study the kinematic asymmetry. We extract the rotation curves of the receding and approaching sides separately and show that the kinematic behaviour of disc galaxies can be classified into five different types: symmetric velocity fields where the rotation curves of the receding and approaching sides are almost identical; global distortions where the rotation velocities of the receding and approaching sides have an offset that is constant with radius; local distortions leading to large deviations in the inner and negligible deviations in the outer parts (and vice versa); and distortions that divide the galaxies into two kinematic systems that are visible in terms of the different behaviour of the rotation curves of the receding and approaching sides, which leads to a crossing and a change in side. The kinematic lopsidedness is measured from the maximum rotation velocities, averaged over the plateau of the rotation curves. This gives a good estimate of the global lopsidedness in the outer parts of the sample galaxies. We find that the mean value of the perturbation parameter denoting the lopsided potential as obtained from the kinematic data is 0.056. Altogether, 36% of the sample galaxies are globally lopsided, which can be interpreted as the disc responding to a halo that was distorted by a tidal encounter. In Paper II, we study the morphological lopsidedness of the same sample of galaxies.

Magnetization properties of some quantum spin ladders

The experimental realization of various spin ladder systems has prompted their detailed theoretical investigations. Hen we study the evolution of ground-state magnetization with an external magnetic field for two different antiferromagnetic systems: a three-legged spin-1/2 ladder, and a two-legged spin-1/2 ladder with an additional diagonal interaction. The finite system density-matrix renormalization-group method is employed for numerical studies of the three-chain system, and an effective low-energy Hamiltonian is used in the limit of strong interchain coupling to study the two- and three-chain systems. The three-chain system has a magnetization plateau at one-third of the saturation magnetization. The two-chain system has a plateau at zero magnetization due to a gap above the singlet ground state. It also has a plateau at half of the saturation magnetization for a certain range of values of the couplings. We study the regions of transitions between plateaus numerically and analytically, and find that they are described, at first order in a strong-coupling expansion, by an XXZ spin-1/2 chain in a magnetic field; the second-order terms give corrections to the XXZ model, We also study numerically some low-temperature properties of the three-chain system, such as the magnetization, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat. [S0163-1829(99)303001-5].

Non-Fermi-liquid theory for disordered metals near two dimensions

We consider the Finkelstein action describing a system of spin-polarized or spinless electrons in 2+2epsilon dimensions, in the presence of disorder as well as the Coulomb interactions. We extend the renormalization-group analysis of our previous work and evaluate the metal-insulator transition of the electron gas to second order in an epsilon expansion. We obtain the complete scaling behavior of physical observables like the conductivity and the specific heat with varying frequency, temperature, and/or electron density. We extend the results for the interacting electron gas in 2+2epsilon dimensions to include the quantum critical behavior of the plateau transitions in the quantum Hall regime. Although these transitions have a very different microscopic origin and are controlled by a topological term in the action (theta term), the quantum critical behavior is in many ways the same in both cases. We show that the two independent critical exponents of the quantum Hall plateau transitions, previously denoted as nu and p, control not only the scaling behavior of the conductances sigma(xx) and sigma(xy) at finite temperatures T, but also the non-Fermi-liquid behavior of the specific heat (c(v)proportional toT(p)). To extract the numerical values of nu and p it is necessary to extend the experiments on transport to include the specific heat of the electron gas.

Influence of martensite content and morphology on the toughness and fatigue behavior of high-martensite dual-phase steels

A series of high-martensite dual-phase (HMDP) steels exhibiting a 0.3 to 0.8 volume fraction of martensite (V m ), produced by intermediate quenching (IQ) of a vanadium and boron-containing microalloyed steel, have been studied for toughness and fatigue behavior to supplement the contents of a recent report by the present authors on the unusual tensile behavior of these steels. The studies included assessment of the quasi-static and dynamic fracture toughness and fatigue-crack growth (FCG) behavior of the developed steels. The experimental results show that the quasi-static fracturetoughness (K ICV ) increases with increasing V m in the range between V m =0.3 and 0.6 and then decreases, whereas the dynamic fracture-toughness parameters (K ID , K D , and J ID ) exhibit a significant increase in their magnitudes for steels containing 0.45 to 0.60 V m before achieving a saturation plateau. Both the quasi-static and dynamic fracture-toughness values exhibit the best range of toughnesses for specimens containing approximately equal amounts of precipitate-free ferrite and martensite in a refined microstructural state. The magnitudes of the fatigue threshold in HMDP steels, for V m between 0.55 and 0.60, appear to be superior to those of structural steels of a similar strength level. The Paris-law exponents (m) for the developed HMDP steels increase with increasing V m , with an attendant decrease in the pre-exponential factor (C).

Influence of matrix characteristics on fracture toughness of high volume fraction Al2O3/Al–AlN composites

The role of matrix microstructure on the fracture of Al-alloy composites with 60 vol% alumina particulates was studied. The matrix composition and microstructure were systematically varied by changing the infiltration temperature and heat treatment. Characterization was carried out by a combination of metallography, hardness measurements, and fracture studies conducted on compact tension specimens to study the fracture toughness and crack growth in the composites. The composites showed a rise in crack resistance with crack extension (R curves) due to bridges of intact matrix ligaments formed in the crack wake. The steady-state or plateau toughness reached upon stable crack growth was observed to be more sensitive to the process temperature rather than to the heat treatment. Fracture in the composites was predominantly by particle fracture, extensive deformation, and void nucleation in the matrix. Void nucleation occurred in the matrix in the as-solutionized and peak-aged conditions and preferentially near the interface in the underaged and overaged conditions. Micromechanical models based on crack bridging by intact ductile ligaments were modified by a plastic constraint factor from estimates of the plastic zone formed under indentations, and are shown to be adequate in predicting the steady-state toughness of the composite.

Effect of screening of intermicellar interactions on the linear and nonlinear rheology of a viscoelastic gel

We report our studies of the linear and nonlinear rheology of aqueous solutions of the surfactant cetyl trimethylammonium tosylate (CTAT) with varying amounts of sodium chloride (NaCl). The CTAT concentration is fixed at 42 mM, and the salt concentration is varied between 0 and 120 mM. On increasing the salt (NaCl) concentration, we see three distinct regimes in the zero-shear viscosity and the high-frequency plateau modulus data. In regime 1, the zero-shear viscosity shows a weak increase with salt concentration due to enhanced micellar growth. The decrease in the zero-shear viscosities with salt concentration in regimes II and III can be explained in terms of intermicellar branching. The most intriguing feature of our data, however, is the anomalous behavior of the high-frequency plateau modulus in regime II (0.12 less than or equal to [NaCl]/[CTAT] less than or equal to 1.42). In this regime, the plateau modulus increases with an increase in NaCl concentration. This is highly interesting, since the correlation length of concentration fluctuations and hence the plateau modulus G(0) are not expected to change appreciably in the semidilute regime. We propose to explain the changes in regime II in terms of a possible unbinding of the organic counterions (tosylate) from the CTA(+) surfaces on the addition of NaCl. In the nonlinear flow curves of the samples with high salt content, significant deviations from the predictions of the Giesekus model for entangled micelles are observed.

Shear banding in a yield stress bearing Langmuir monolayer

We examine the shear-thinning behaviour of a two dimensional yield stress bearing monolayer of sorbitan tristearate at air/water interface. The flow curve consists of a linear region at low shear stresses/shear rates, followed by a stress plateau at higher values. The velocity profile obtained from particle imaging velocimetry indicates that shear banding occurs, showing coexistence of the fluidized region near the rotor and solid region with vanishing shear-rate away from the rotor. In the fluidized region, the velocity profile, which is linear at low shear rates, becomes exponential at the onset of shear-thinning, followed by a time varying velocity profile in the plateau region. At low values of constant applied shear rates, the viscosity of the film increases with time, thus showing aging behaviour like in soft glassy three-dimensional (3D) systems. Further, at the low values of the applied stress in the yield stress regime, the shear-rate fluctuations in time show both positive and negative values, similar to that observed in sheared 3D jammed systems. By carrying out a statistical analysis of these shear-rate fluctuations, we estimate the effective temperature of the soft glassy monolayer using the Galavatti-Cohen steady state fluctuation relation.