Eutrophication process recorded in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages — a case of Yokohama Port, Tokyo Bay, Japan

To investigate temporal changes of water quality, a role of dinoflagellate cysts preserved in surface sediments was examined in Yokohama Port in Tokyo Bay, Japan. Two cores were collected, and sedimentation rates and ages of both were dated as approximately 1900 years or slightly older on the basis of 210Pb and 137Cs concentrations. The temporal change in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in the two cores reflects eutrophication in Yokohama Port in the 1960s. Abrupt increases in the cysts of Gyrodinium instriatum cysts strongly suggests that a red tide was caused by this species around 1985. Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in surface sediments appear to be good biomarkers of changes in the water quality of enclosed seas.

核素示踪法研究农耕地土壤侵蚀的定量模型及其评价

应用137Cs示踪技术估算农耕地土壤侵蚀量的定量模型主要有两类:径流小区上建立的经验关系式及各种理论模型。文章主要对各种主要模型作了简要介绍,并对各种模型的优点、局限性进行了比较和评价;指出今后在模型的建立和应用中注意的问题。09jgg$g2l!1Mng:44Ntd。deIH20{lse3MxBijL&:nwlxxatx*rrr。k$1lreX4各种主要模型作了简要介绍。并对各种模型的优点、局限性进行了L田获$叶平价;指出今后在模型的建立和应用中注意的问题。

蒙古高原北部典型草原区土壤风蚀的~(137)Cs示踪法研究

土壤风蚀是蒙古高原北部典型草原区土地退化的主导因素之一.运用137Cs核素示踪技术对蒙古国巴彦淖尔、哈拉和林的不同牧场和弃耕地土壤风蚀速率进行了研究.巴彦淖尔草原牧场、割草场采样点土壤风蚀速率在64.58~169.07t·km-2·a-1之间,均为微度侵蚀水平.哈拉和林弃耕地年均土壤风蚀厚度4.05mm·a-1,风蚀速率为6723.06t·km-2·a-1,达强度侵蚀水平,自20世纪60年代开垦以来,表层土壤累计风蚀损失17.4cm.牧场和弃耕地风蚀速率的差异表明,在蒙古高原北部典型草原区,人为翻动表土,发展种植业,会导致严重的土壤风蚀发生,而传统牧业生产方式对土壤表层扰动较少,未导致破坏性的土壤风蚀发生,对维持生态系统稳定性有重要作用.

蒙古高原塔里亚特-锡林郭勒样带土壤风蚀速率的~(137)Cs示踪分析

运用137Cs示踪技术,查明了蒙古高原西北-东南向的塔里亚特-锡林郭勒样带区域7个典型景观类型采样点风蚀速率及变化特征,分析了不同区域土壤风蚀速率的主要影响因素.研究表明:各采样点137Cs面积活度介于(265.63±44.91)~(1279.54±166.53)Bq·m-2,差异明显,相应的风蚀速率分别为64.58~419.63t·km-2·a-1.样带上蒙古国境内部分,人类活动较轻微,由北向南,随主要的植被景观和气候指标变化,相应的土壤风蚀速率基本呈逐渐加大趋势,表明该区域土壤风蚀过程主要受自然因素的影响和调节;样带上内蒙古锡林浩特和正镶白旗2个典型草原样点风蚀速率为蒙古国巴彦淖尔典型草原样点风蚀速率的近3倍,除导致风蚀加剧的自然条件差异之外,通过比较两地人口密度和载畜量水平,表明人类扰动是导致内蒙古典型草原样点风蚀加剧的主要因素之一.

风蚀土壤剖面(137)~Cs的分布及侵蚀速率的估算

研究137Cs在土壤剖面上的分布是应用137Cs方法定量评价土壤风力侵蚀的基础.以内蒙古太仆寺旗为研究区,采集了4个样点、共62个土壤样本;使用伽马能谱仪测定了各土壤样本的137Cs活度,计算得到各样点的137Cs总量.研究发现不同土地利用类型/土地覆盖等级的137Cs剖面分布特征差异明显.在低覆盖草地和中覆盖草地土壤剖面中,137Cs活度分布形态为负指数分布;在高覆盖草地土壤剖面中,137Cs活度分布形态在剖面上部为单峰状,单峰后继续为负指数分布;在耕地剖面中,137Cs集中在犁底层以上,且均匀分布.对耕地和草地样点分别使用质量平衡模型和剖面分布模型,可以估算得到农耕地、低覆盖草地、中等覆盖草地等3处样点的侵蚀速率分别为7990,4270和1808Mg/km2·a,分别属于强度侵蚀、中度侵蚀和轻度侵蚀,风力侵蚀强度与地面植被覆盖度呈负相关关系.

210Pbex沉积通量突发增大对湖泊生产力的指示

210Pb沉积计年的基本假设是大气沉降并经由湖水转入沉积物的210Pbex 通量稳定. 当沉积速率相对稳定时, 沉积物中210Pbex 的比活度将随沉积年代呈指数衰减. 湖泊水体中的210Pbex 主要随有机微粒的沉降而进入沉积物. 如果湖泊水体中有机质沉积通量出现突发增大时, 则可能显著地增大210Pbex 被清洗而转入沉积物的通量. 这种突发性清洗效应, 一方面显然不符合210Pb沉积计年的基本前提; 另一方面可能指示湖泊水体初级生产力的明显变化. 根据云南程海近代沉积物210Pbex 垂直剖面的特殊变化, 对这一问题进行讨论. 沉积物柱芯于1997年6月采自程海深水湖区. 137Cs比活度垂直剖面呈现出3峰特征, 给出了可靠的计年结果并显示出近几十年间沉积物堆积的稳定性. 而210Pbex 比活度垂直剖面呈现出特异的峰值分布, 并与Corg垂直剖面相似. 这一现象可能与制约210Pbex 转入沉积物的机制有关. 程海沉积物中Horg/Corg和Corg/Norg原子比平均值分别为5.51和7.04, 表明其有机质主要源于内生藻类残骸. 根据沉积物有机质“沉降-降解-堆积”的3阶段特征, 模拟计算出1970年以来有机碳Corg的沉积通量(F(Corg)). 不同年代210Pbex 的沉积通量(F(210Pbex ))与F(Corg)显示出很好的同步关系. 特别是1972～1974年和1986～1989年的两个时段, 二者同步增大. F(Corg)的变化导致F(210Pbex )的变化; F (210Pbex)的变化在一定程度上反映出湖泊生产力的历史变化

地球化学示踪在现代土壤侵蚀研究中的应用

土壤侵蚀导致土地退化，农产品产量和品质下降，水环境污染等诸多问题，引起各方面的广泛关注，而且这个问题随着持续增长的人口压力和农业生产方式深刻变革的影响而日益严重，由于目前广泛使用的高差法，遥感研究法，RUSLE，野外调查法，水土流失监测点法等土壤侵蚀研究方法存在着一些不足，因此，核素地球化学示踪法，稀土元素示踪法，土壤地球化学指标法等地球化学示踪方法应运而生，在土壤侵蚀研究中发挥其独特作用，在比较了各种传统的土壤侵蚀研究方法的优势和不足的基础上，作者认为：（1）^137Cs,^210Pb可用于研究30、40年左右平均土壤侵蚀速率，^7Be可用于示踪季节性土壤侵蚀和一次降雨事件的土粒运移，并说明这些核素的示踪原理和侵蚀速率的定量依据；（2）人为施放稀土元素（REE）示踪法适合定量一次或多次降雨事件的侵蚀速率，可用于土壤侵蚀理论的研究，尤其适合于室内模拟实验的研究；（3）土壤磁化率法和土壤理化性质指标法研究土壤侵蚀是一种处于起步阶段的侵蚀研究方法，适用于土壤质量退化研究，但要用于土壤侵蚀研究特别是侵蚀速率的定量研究还很不成熟。

放射性钚和铯在湖泊中的时空分布特性及近期沉积年代学应用

短半衰期的137Cs具有高放射毒性，而半衰期较长的Pu的化学毒性极强，它们在环境中富集，进而在食物链中迁移，将直接威胁人类健康，国内在Pu和137Cs的分析方法、环境剂量以及湖泊地质等方面已展开了一些研究，但仍处于起步阶段，内容不够系统全面。湖泊和水库是生活饮用水或农用灌溉水源地，与人类生活息息相关，因此研究湖泊中人为放射性核素的污染状况、来源及归宿显得尤为重要；而且湖泊沉积物作为湖泊中大多污染物的最终归宿地，能够有效地保存湖泊区域的污染历史，研究湖泊沉积物有助于认清湖泊污染历史、探明污染机理，为污染现状评价、水质调查及治理提供可靠的基础依据，钚和铯的特殊性质可为环境科学等方面的研究提供关键的沉积年代学基础数据。 本研究在全国范围内选取具有代表性的不同区域分布、湖泊类型、人为扰动状况的湖泊为研究对象，应用基于γ谱的137Cs分析方法和本文建立的针对淡水湖泊沉积物的Pu同位素分析方法，研究了人为放射性核素Pu和137Cs在全国范围内的分布特征、近源传输及在湖泊中的沉积与迁移机理，并探讨了239+240Pu计年方法的有效性。通过上述研究，得到了如下主要结论： 1、建立了基于阴离子交换树脂分离的Pu同位素ICP-SF-MS分析方法，采用AG1-X8树脂分离Pu与杂质元素以及AG MP-1M纯化Pu同位素。高的仪器灵敏度、良好的U去除效率、足够的Pu同位素化学回收率表明该方法能够有效地检测湖泊沉积物样品中的痕量239Pu和240Pu。此外，纯化Pu同位素时，采用HBr洗脱Pu同位素以排除PbCl+对Pu同位素的干扰，因此该方法除了适应239Pu、240Pu分离分析之外，还可为后期分析浓度更低的241Pu提供技术保证。 2、通过分析沉积物岩芯中的239+240Pu沉积通量和137Cs沉积通量、240Pu/239Pu同位素平均比、239+240Pu/137Cs活度平均比及Pu、137Cs在沉积物岩芯中的剖面分布特征发现博斯腾湖有中国核试验基地的人为放射性核素污染，其表现形式为核爆试验产生的可溶性气溶胶颗粒和热核颗粒沉降后再悬浮造成的偶然性污染和源自罗布泊的地表径流引起的普遍性污染。博斯腾湖的Pu同位素结果表明平流层沉降的中国核试验的核碎片的240Pu/239Pu同位素原始比值可能为0.18左右，非常接近全球大气沉降值。苏干湖和双塔水库有源自中国核试验的可溶性气溶胶颗粒经大气沉降后再悬浮造成的人为放射性核素污染，苏干湖中大约有40%左右的137Cs以及27%左右的239+240Pu源自中国核试验，双塔水库中源自中国核试验的239+240Pu和137Cs所占的比例分别为27.1%和30.6%。 3、单一的239+240Pu和137Cs蓄积峰不能完全解析出沉积速率较慢的青海湖是否有源自在罗布泊进行的中国核武器爆炸试验的污染，但1963年全球大气沉降高峰下端的低240Pu/239Pu同位素比值表明青海湖可能有源自始建于1957年的中国原子城的地表径流泄漏或地下渗透泄漏的人为放射性核素污染。 4、西南地区的湖泊中，云南程海部分137Cs可能源于长距离迁移的中国核试验，但明确中国核试验对西南地区的影响还需要中国核试验源Pu和137Cs长距离迁移的信息，如青藏高原湖泊和西川盆地湖泊沉积物中人为放射性核素来源。其它湖泊中人为放射性核素的污染均源于全球大气沉降。 5、火山成因封闭式玛珥湖，在没有人为扰动的条件下，137Cs和239+240Pu主要以微弱的分子扩散迁移，迁移速率不明显，能较好地保持沉积历史；对人为活动比较频繁的浅水湖泊而言，人为活动、强风等恶劣气候以及上层水体和底层水体的交互对流等因素引起的沉积物再悬浮作用加剧了239+240Pu和137Cs主要以分子扩散迁移作用，造成水体寄宿时间短的浅水湖泊中239+240Pu和137Cs的不同步损失，导致239+240Pu和137Cs峰型的无序化。 6、受人为扰动较弱的湖泊中137Cs比活度和239+240Pu比活度成良好的线性相关，表明239+240Pu蓄积峰的信息能够为此类型湖泊沉积物提供有效的近期沉积年代学数据；对受人为扰动比较大的湖泊来说，137Cs和239+240Pu蓄积峰在近期沉积物计年的方面各有优劣，计年数据的可靠性不强；青海湖各沉积物岩芯的沉积物计年结果表明湖泊的沉积物累积率或沉积速度存在区域性差异。

湖泊沉积物碳氧同位素和介形虫Li/Ca比值与古环境重建

了解过去是认识现在和预测未来的基础。晚全新世是PAGES研究的目标时段之一。寻找和解译最近2000年连续、高分辨率自然记录是古气候研究的热点与难点。本项研究有针对性地选择程海、草海和青海湖开展湖泊沉积物环境记录的精细研究，结合14C、210Pb和137Cs定年，系统探讨了碳酸盐碳氧同位素、纤维素碳氧同位素、有机质碳同位素以及介形虫壳体Li/Ca比值指标的古环境指示意义。 通过研究，本论文取得了如下成果和新的认识： 1. 建立了一套有效的四阶段湖泊沉积物有机质纤维素提取方法（5%NaOH碱洗、5%HCl酸洗、亚氯酸钠和冰醋酸混合溶液漂白以及17.5%NaOH碱洗），红外光谱鉴定提取物为纯的α-纤维素，表明该实验方法是可行的，为今后广泛开展湖泊沉积物纤维素稳定同位素研究打下了坚实基础。 2. 多指标综合辨识了程海和草海沉积物碳酸盐主要是自生碳酸盐。程海和草海沉积物有机质C/N比值结合有机质碳同位素结果表明两湖的有机质分别源于水生植物藻类和大型水草。程海和草海沉积物碳酸盐含量主要反映了湖区温度的变化。 3. 程海、草海沉积物碳酸盐与青海湖沉积物介形虫壳体氧同位素组成均反映了湖区降水/蒸发比。降水/蒸发比大的湿润期，碳酸盐δ18O值小；降水/蒸发比小的干旱期，碳酸盐δ18O值大。程海沉积物碳酸盐碳同位素组成影响因素复杂，除了受大气与湖水之间的CO2交换影响外，还受水生植物光合/吸收作用的影响；草海沉积物碳酸盐碳同位素组成更大的变化范围，反映了湖区水生植物光合/吸收作用的影响，其异常的正值可能指示了湖区细菌参与有机质碳同位素分馏过程。 4. 利用草海沉积物有机质纤维素氧同位素定量恢复了湖水氧同位素组成变化。在此基础上，结合碳酸盐氧同位素组成初步恢复了草海地区过去500年来温度变化历史：草海地区在过去500年明显存在四个冷期，包括1550－1610年，1670－1730年，1770－1870年和1890－1920年冷期，其中前三个发生在传统意义上的现代小冰期时段。与其它记录研究结果的一致性表明纤维素氧同位素结合碳酸盐氧同位素是恢复古温度变化的最有效途径之一，同时也为现代小冰期在中国西南地区的存在提供了湖泊沉积学方面的证据。 5. 不同类型水生植物湖泊，湖泊沉积物有机质δ13C值对湖泊初级生产力变化的响应过程不同。大型水草为主的湖泊（草海），其沉积物有机质δ13C值随湖泊生产力的增大呈现增加的变化趋势；藻类为主的湖泊（程海），其沉积物有机质δ13C随湖泊生产力的增大呈现减小的变化趋势，藻类易降解是导致δ13C值随湖泊生产力的增大呈现减小变化趋势的主要原因。 6. 程海沉积物碳酸盐和有机质碳同位素组成的正相关变化以及草海沉积物碳酸盐和有机质碳同位素组成的负相关变化.表明湖泊生产力变化并不是导致碳酸盐和有机质碳同位素正相关变化的主要原因，湖泊水生植物类型以及湖泊大小均起着重要作用。湖泊沉积物碳酸盐与有机质之间的碳同位素分馏（△δ13C）是一种有效的湖泊生产力指示剂，即使是在有微生物参与有机质碳同位素分馏过程的草海，△δ13C值也反映了湖泊生产力的变化过程。 7. 青海湖沉积物单一种属介形虫壳体胖真星介（Eucypris inflata）Li/Ca比值与气象记录以及邻近地区都兰和祁连山树轮宽度指数恢复的古温度变化序列的对比研究揭示，介形虫壳体Li/Ca比值与温度呈明显的负相关变化（Li/Ca比值高，温度低；Li/Ca比值低，温度高），表明介形虫壳体Li/Ca比值是一种有效的古温度代用指标。 8. 青海湖沉积物单一种属介形虫壳体胖真星介（Eucypris inflata）Li/Ca比值、氧同位素与反映太阳活动的大气14C含量和冰芯10Be含量的一致性变化表明青海湖地区温度和降雨量的同步变化主要受太阳活动控制。

Monte Carlo Analysis and Physics Characterization of a Novel Nanoparticle Detector for Medical and Micro-dosimetry Applications

The outcomes for both (i) radiation therapy and (ii) preclinical small animal radio- biology studies are dependent on the delivery of a known quantity of radiation to a specific and intentional location. Adverse effects can result from these procedures if the dose to the target is too high or low, and can also result from an incorrect spatial distribution in which nearby normal healthy tissue can be undesirably damaged by poor radiation delivery techniques. Thus, in mice and humans alike, the spatial dose distributions from radiation sources should be well characterized in terms of the absolute dose quantity, and with pin-point accuracy. When dealing with the steep spatial dose gradients consequential to either (i) high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy or (ii) within the small organs and tissue inhomogeneities of mice, obtaining accurate and highly precise dose results can be very challenging, considering commercially available radiation detection tools, such as ion chambers, are often too large for in-vivo use.

In this dissertation two tools are developed and applied for both clinical and preclinical radiation measurement. The first tool is a novel radiation detector for acquiring physical measurements, fabricated from an inorganic nano-crystalline scintillator that has been fixed on an optical fiber terminus. This dosimeter allows for the measurement of point doses to sub-millimeter resolution, and has the ability to be placed in-vivo in humans and small animals. Real-time data is displayed to the user to provide instant quality assurance and dose-rate information. The second tool utilizes an open source Monte Carlo particle transport code, and was applied for small animal dosimetry studies to calculate organ doses and recommend new techniques of dose prescription in mice, as well as to characterize dose to the murine bone marrow compartment with micron-scale resolution.

Hardware design changes were implemented to reduce the overall fiber diameter to <0.9 mm for the nano-crystalline scintillator based fiber optic detector (NanoFOD) system. Lower limits of device sensitivity were found to be approximately 0.05 cGy/s. Herein, this detector was demonstrated to perform quality assurance of clinical 192Ir HDR brachytherapy procedures, providing comparable dose measurements as thermo-luminescent dosimeters and accuracy within 20% of the treatment planning software (TPS) for 27 treatments conducted, with an inter-quartile range ratio to the TPS dose value of (1.02-0.94=0.08). After removing contaminant signals (Cerenkov and diode background), calibration of the detector enabled accurate dose measurements for vaginal applicator brachytherapy procedures. For 192Ir use, energy response changed by a factor of 2.25 over the SDD values of 3 to 9 cm; however a cap made of 0.2 mm thickness silver reduced energy dependence to a factor of 1.25 over the same SDD range, but had the consequence of reducing overall sensitivity by 33%.

For preclinical measurements, dose accuracy of the NanoFOD was within 1.3% of MOSFET measured dose values in a cylindrical mouse phantom at 225 kV for x-ray irradiation at angles of 0, 90, 180, and 270˝. The NanoFOD exhibited small changes in angular sensitivity, with a coefficient of variation (COV) of 3.6% at 120 kV and 1% at 225 kV. When the NanoFOD was placed alongside a MOSFET in the liver of a sacrificed mouse and treatment was delivered at 225 kV with 0.3 mm Cu filter, the dose difference was only 1.09% with use of the 4x4 cm collimator, and -0.03% with no collimation. Additionally, the NanoFOD utilized a scintillator of 11 µm thickness to measure small x-ray fields for microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) applications, and achieved 2.7% dose accuracy of the microbeam peak in comparison to radiochromic film. Modest differences between the full-width at half maximum measured lateral dimension of the MRT system were observed between the NanoFOD (420 µm) and radiochromic film (320 µm), but these differences have been explained mostly as an artifact due to the geometry used and volumetric effects in the scintillator material. Characterization of the energy dependence for the yttrium-oxide based scintillator material was performed in the range of 40-320 kV (2 mm Al filtration), and the maximum device sensitivity was achieved at 100 kV. Tissue maximum ratio data measurements were carried out on a small animal x-ray irradiator system at 320 kV and demonstrated an average difference of 0.9% as compared to a MOSFET dosimeter in the range of 2.5 to 33 cm depth in tissue equivalent plastic blocks. Irradiation of the NanoFOD fiber and scintillator material on a 137Cs gamma irradiator to 1600 Gy did not produce any measurable change in light output, suggesting that the NanoFOD system may be re-used without the need for replacement or recalibration over its lifetime.

For small animal irradiator systems, researchers can deliver a given dose to a target organ by controlling exposure time. Currently, researchers calculate this exposure time by dividing the total dose that they wish to deliver by a single provided dose rate value. This method is independent of the target organ. Studies conducted here used Monte Carlo particle transport codes to justify a new method of dose prescription in mice, that considers organ specific doses. Monte Carlo simulations were performed in the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) toolkit using a MOBY mouse whole-body phantom. The non-homogeneous phantom was comprised of 256x256x800 voxels of size 0.145x0.145x0.145 mm3. Differences of up to 20-30% in dose to soft-tissue target organs was demonstrated, and methods for alleviating these errors were suggested during whole body radiation of mice by utilizing organ specific and x-ray tube filter specific dose rates for all irradiations.

Monte Carlo analysis was used on 1 µm resolution CT images of a mouse femur and a mouse vertebra to calculate the dose gradients within the bone marrow (BM) compartment of mice based on different radiation beam qualities relevant to x-ray and isotope type irradiators. Results and findings indicated that soft x-ray beams (160 kV at 0.62 mm Cu HVL and 320 kV at 1 mm Cu HVL) lead to substantially higher dose to BM within close proximity to mineral bone (within about 60 µm) as compared to hard x-ray beams (320 kV at 4 mm Cu HVL) and isotope based gamma irradiators (137Cs). The average dose increases to the BM in the vertebra for these four aforementioned radiation beam qualities were found to be 31%, 17%, 8%, and 1%, respectively. Both in-vitro and in-vivo experimental studies confirmed these simulation results, demonstrating that the 320 kV, 1 mm Cu HVL beam caused statistically significant increased killing to the BM cells at 6 Gy dose levels in comparison to both the 320 kV, 4 mm Cu HVL and the 662 keV, 137Cs beams.

The Application Of Radioisotopes In The Study Of Estuarine Sedimentary Processes

The spatial and temporal distributions of some radionuclides in effluents originating from the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) reprocessing plant at Windscale, which are released into the Irish Sea, have been studied in sediments at 16 sites in the salt marsh region near Newbiggin on the Esk estuary Cumbria, England. The concentration of non-conservative radionuclides in surface sediments of the area cannot be described by a single parameter, but there is a high correlation with organic C, Cu, Al and the Si : Al ratio with particle size. The preservation of the historical record of the BNFL effluents in the Esk sediments is dependent on the hydrology of the area, as it effects such processes as accretion, erosion and remixing. From the 106Ru and 210Po concentrations and the 137Cs : 134Cs ratio in the sediment profiles with depth, we have identified these processes. Sedimentation rates at sites of accretion vary between 0·5 and 3 cm year−1. However, at some sites they appear to be much higher, approximately 6 cm year−1 in the top 10 cm, but they are not consistent throughout the depth profiles. This may be a true reflection of variable accretion related to sediment type, or one which is influenced by surficial mixing. Some cores showed evidence of continuous accretion but no significant radioactivity was detected at depths below 35–40 cm, indicating an overall sedimentation rate of approximately 1·5 cm year−1 for the 25–30-year period since BNFL effluents first entered the Irish Sea.

Finding ‘Good Friday’ An explorative study into the sedimentary structures left from the Good Friday tsunami

Senior thesis written for Oceanography 444

Caracterização de ambientes de transição do SW Alentejano a distintas escalas temporais

Tese de doutoramento, Geologia (Geologia Económica e do Ambiente), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2016

Étude des collisions proton-proton dans l’expérience ATLAS avec les détecteurs ATLAS-MPX

Les seize détecteurs MPX constituant le réseau ATLAS-MPX ont été placés à différentes positions dans le détecteur ATLAS et sa averne au CERN dans le but de mesurer en emps réel les champs de radiation produits ar des particules primaires (protons des faisceaux) et des particules secondaires (kaons, pions, g, protons) issues des collisions proton-proton. Des films de polyéthylène (PE) et de fluorure de lithium (6LiF) recouvrent les détecteurs afin d’augmenter leur sensibilité aux neutrons produits par les particules primaires et secondaires interagissant avec les matériaux présents dans l’environnement d’ATLAS. La reconnaissance des traces laissées par les particules dans un détecteur ATLAS-MPX se fait à partir des algorithmes du logiciel MAFalda (“Medipix Analysis Framework”) basé sur les librairies et le logiciel d’analyse de données ROOT. Une étude sur le taux d’identifications erronées et le chevauchement d’amas a été faite en reconstruisant les activités des sources 106Ru et 137Cs. L’efficacité de détection des neutrons rapides a été mesurée à l’aide des sources 252Cf et 241AmBe (neutrons d’énergie moyenne de 2.13 et 4.08 MeV respectivement). La moyenne des efficacités de détection mesurées pour les neutrons produits par les sources 252C f et 241AmBe a été calculée pour les convertisseurs 6LiF et PE et donnent (0.8580 ± 0.1490)% et (0.0254 ± 0.0031)% pour LiF et (0.0510 ± 0.0061)% et (0.0591 ± 0.0063)% pour PE à bas et à haut seuil d’énergie respectivement. Une simulation du calcul de l’efficacité de détection des neutrons dans le détecteur MPX a été réalisée avec le logiciel GEANT4. Des données MPX correspondant aux collisions proton-proton à 2.4 TeV et à 7 TeV dans le centre de masse ont été analysées. Les flux détectés d’électrons et de photons sont particulièrement élevés dans les détecteurs MPX01 et MPX14 car ils sont plus près du point de collision. Des flux de neutrons ont été estimés en utilisant les efficacités de détection mesurées. Une corrélation avec la luminosité du LHC a été établie et on prédit que pour les collisions à 14 TeV dans le centre de masse et avec une luminosité de 10^34 cm-1*s-1 il y aura environ 5.1x10^8 ± 1.5x10^7 et 1.6x10^9 ± 6.3x10^7 particules détectées par les détecteurs MPX01 et MPX14 respectivement.

Radiocarbon Dating, Chronologic Framework, and Changes in Accumulation Rates of Holocene Estuarine Sediments from Chesapeake Bay

Rapidly accumulating Holocene sediments in estuaries commonly are difficult to sample and date. In Chesapeake Bay, we obtained sediment cores as much as 20min length and used numerous radiocarbon ages measured by accelerator mass spectrometry methods to provide the first detailed chronologies of Holocene sediment accumulation in the bay. Carbon in these sediments is a complex mixture of materials from a variety of sources. Analyses of different components of the sediments show that total organic carbon ages are largely unreliable, because much of the carbon (including coal) has been transported to the bay from upstream sources and is older than sediments in which it was deposited. Mollusk shells (clams, oysters) and foraminifera appear to give reliable results, although reworking and burrowing are potential problems. Analyses of museum specimens collected alive before atmospheric nuclear testing suggest that the standard reservoir correction for marine samples is appropriate for middle to lower Chesapeake Bay. The biogenic carbonate radiocarbon ages are compatible with 210Pb and 137Cs data and pollen stratigraphy from the same sites. Post-settlement changes in sediment transport and accumulation is an important environmental issue in many estuaries, including the Chesapeake. Our data show that large variations in sediment mass accumulation rates occur among sites. At shallow water sites, local factors seem to control changes in accumulation rates with time. Our two relatively deep-water sites in the axial channel of the bay have different long-term average accumulation rates, but the history of sediment accumulation at these sites appears to reflect overall conditions in the bay. Mass accumulation rates at the two deep-water sites rapidly increased by about fourfold coincident with widespread land clearance for agriculture in the Chesapeake watershed.