Grain Scale Distribution of Rare Earth Elements in Coal Ash by SHRIMP-RG Ion Microprobe
Presented at Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (Denver, CO)
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Presented at Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (Denver, CO)
In this paper, we present an analysis using unsupervised machine learning (ML) to identify the key geologic factors that contribute to the geothermal production in Brady geothermal field. Brady is a hydrothermal system in northwestern Nevada that supports both electricity production and direct use of hydrothermal fluids. Transmissive fuid-fow pathways are relatively rare in the subsurface, but are critical components of hydrothermal systems like Brady and many other types of fuid-fow systems in fractured rock. Here, we analyze geologic data with ML methods to unravel the local geologic controls on these pathways. The ML method, non-negative matrix factorization with k-means clustering (NMFk), is applied to a library of 14 3D geologic characteristics hypothesized to control hydrothermal circulation in the Brady geothermal field. Our results indicate that macro-scale faults and a local step-over in the fault system preferentially occur along production wells when compared to injection wells and non-productive wells. We infer that these are the key geologic characteristics that control the through-going hydrothermal transmission pathways at Brady. Our results demonstrate: (1) the specific geologic controls on the Brady hydrothermal system and (2) the efficacy of pairing ML techniques with 3D geologic characterization to enhance the understanding of subsurface processes. This submission includes the published journal article detailing this work, the published 3D geologic map of the Brady Geothermal Area used as a basis to develop structural and geological variables that are hypothesized to control or effect permeability or connectivity, 3D well data, along which geologic data were sampled for PCA analyses, and associated metadata file. This work was done using the GeoThermalCloud framework, which is part of SmartTensors (both are linked below).
This dataset contains depth-resolved soil environmental variables collected between June 2016 and October 2018 from the Bradley Meadow site in the East River watershed. Datalogger output from 7 Campbell CS655 12 cm Soil Moisture and Temperature Sensors including depth, temperature, volumetric water content, and electrical conductivity are included in ‘BM_Merged_T_VWC_0616_10_18.csv’. Sensors were installed in June 2016. Data have been processed to merge raw sensor data and to remove additional variables. No additional QA/QC was performed. Measured pCO2 and depth are contained in ‘BM_EGM_WELL_CO2.csv’. These data represent gas well samples measured via injection using a PP Systems EGM-5 infra-red gas analyzer as described in the methods section. Measured CO2 surface flux values are contained in 'BM_EGM_Surface_Flux.csv'. These were measured using the PP Systems EGM-5 with the Soil Respiration Chamber attachment. Multiple reps are reported for each measurement including CO2 flux rate calculations using built-in linear and quadratic function methods, and average and standard deviations are taken across all reps and calculation methods.
The Merged Aerosol Value-Added Product (VAP) simplifies scientists’ use of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility aerosol data by performing several tedious, time-consuming tasks for the users. First, the VAP identifies the best data available when multiple datastreams exist for a single geophysical quantity so that ARM users do not have to research this for themselves. Second, the VAP consolidates multiple ARM aerosol datastreams into a single file for ARM data users so that they do not have to download, open, and read multiple files for their analysis. Next, the VAP transforms all measurements onto a common one-hour timestamp. The one-hour resolution matches the time resolution of the slowest instrument. Instruments with faster sampling rates than one measurement per hour are averaged over the time interval. Finally, the VAP reads the QA/QC variables and marks data with known issues as missing, so that users do not have to spend excessive time cleaning data. This includes incorporating Data Quality Reports (DQRs) that exist at the time when the VAP data is generated. DQRs are reports filed by instrument mentors or data users that indicate a problem with the output data of individual instruments.
This dataset was generated using an iterative active-learning strategy implemented in the ArcaNN software package (https://github.com/arcann-chem/arcann_training) to train machine-learning interatomic potentials for aqueous ZnCl2 solutions. Each active-learning cycle consisted of three stages: training, exploration, and labeling. The initial training set combined configurations generated in this work from enhanced-sampling ab initio molecular dynamics simulations with configurations from a previously reported neural-network-potential study of aqueous ZnCl2. The enhanced-sampling ab initio molecular dynamics simulations involved Zn–Cl separation and the chloride coordination number around Zn²? as collective variables. These configurations served as the seed dataset. Subsequent active-learning cycles expanded the training set by identifying and labeling configurations that were poorly represented by the current models, thereby improving coverage of ion-association states and changes in local coordination and charge-state environments relevant to the solution free-energy landscape. For all selected configurations, single-point calculations of the total energies and atomic forces were performed within density functional theory using the CP2K Quickstep module. Reference calculations employed the revPBE-D3 and r2SCAN exchange-correlation functionals. Motivated by recent work on aqueous Zn²?, the main revPBE calculations omitted D3 dispersion contributions involving Zn²?, while retaining the D3 correction for water and chloride. For comparison, fully dispersion-corrected revPBE-D3 reference calculations were also performed, with D3 applied to all species, including Zn²?. Valence electrons were treated explicitly, while core electrons were represented using norm-conserving Goedecker–Teter–Hutter pseudopotentials. The wave functions were expanded using the mixed Gaussian-and-plane-wave scheme with TZV2P-MOLOPT basis sets for all elements and a 600 Ry auxiliary plane-wave cutoff for the electron density. Self-consistent-field convergence was accelerated using the orbital-transformation and Direct Inversion in the Iterative Subspace algorithms, with a convergence threshold of 10?6. All single-point calculations were performed in periodic orthorhombic cells. The CELL_REF keyword in CP2K was used to define a fixed reference cell with a box length of 25 Å. This treatment ensured a consistent reference for configurations extracted from NpT trajectories with fluctuating cell dimensions. The resulting DFT energies and atomic forces constitute the ground-truth labels used to train the MLIPs. The resulting MLIP was trained for aqueous ZnCl2 solutions spanning concentrations from 0 to 30 molal and a broad pH range, from strongly acidic to strongly basic conditions. Representative examples of configurations included in the MLIP training dataset are provided below. These include 1) Representative configurations from the dataset labeled at the revPBE-D3 level, with D3 dispersion interactions involving Zn2+ excluded (revPBE-wo-D3). 2) Representative configurations from the dataset labeled at the fully dispersion-corrected revPBE-D3 level, with D3 interactions applied to all species, including Zn2+ (revPBE-D3). 3) Representative configurations from the dataset labeled at the r2SCAN level of theory (r2SCAN).
Boltzmann machines have useful roles in deep learning applications, such as generative data modeling, initializing weights for other types of networks, or extracting efficient representations from high-dimensional data. Most Boltzmann machines use restricted topologies that exclude looping connectivity, as such connectivity creates complex distributions that are difficult to sample. We have used an open-system quantum annealer to sample from complex distributions and implement Boltzmann machines with looping connectivity. Further, we have created policies mapping Boltzmann machine variables to the quantum bits of an annealer. These policies, based on correlation and entropy metrics, dynamically reconfigure the topology of Boltzmann machines during training and improve performance.
We present a broadband polarization analysis of 36 discrete polarized radio sources over a very broad, densely sampled frequency band. Our sample was selected on the basis of polarization behavior apparent in narrowband archival data at 1.4 GHz: half the sample shows complicated frequency-dependent polarization behavior (i.e., Faraday complexity) at these frequencies, while half shows comparatively simple behavior (i.e., they appear Faraday simple ). We re-observed the sample using the Australia Telescope Compact Array in full polarization, with 6 GHz of densely sampled frequency coverage spanning 1.3–10 GHz. We have devised a general polarization modeling technique that allows us to identify multiple polarized emission components in a source, and to characterize their properties. We detect Faraday complex behavior in almost every source in our sample. Several sources exhibit particularly remarkable polarization behavior. By comparing our new and archival data, we have identified temporal variability in the broadband integrated polarization spectra of some sources. In a number of cases, the characteristics of the polarized emission components, including the range of Faraday depths over which they emit, their temporal variability, spectral index, and the linear extent of the source, allow us to argue that the spectropolarimetric data encode information about the magneto-ionic environment of active galactic nuclei themselves. Furthermore, the data place direct constraints on the geometry and magneto-ionic structure of this material. We discuss the consequences of restricted frequency bands on the detection and interpretation of polarization structures, and the implications for upcoming spectropolarimetric surveys.
This study uses micro-analyses including hyperspectral cathodoluminescence to image and obtain mineral spectral to help evaluate REE deportment via from Mountain Pass Mine in California. It presents the first known CL-based spectra for bastnäsite, new information regarding baryte CL spectra, providing insights on the coeval and spatial relationship between REE, Ba, and S in carbonatite systems. Bastnäsite, baryte, and monazite are often intergrown in both brecciated, “blue ore” samples, and these minerals occur as an apparent intercumulus texture in the dolomite-rich, “white ore” samples. Bastnäsite luminescence is present, but very low compared to baryte in the visible spectrum. Bastnäsite illustrates some textural variability related to its main luminescent peak ~1.4 eV, which is indicative of Nd3+. It also exhibits several other small peaks comprised of multiple activators related to various REE, including Ce3+, Sm3+, Eu3+, and potentially Eu2+. Baryte displays textures of variable complexity but often with darker rims near crystal margins. It luminesces mainly at 1.4-1.52 eV, 2.05 eV, and 3.59-4.08 eV. The 2.05 eV peak is likely attributed to Ag+, but the other peaks are more enigmatic.
Daily differential emission measure (DEM) distributions of the solar corona are derived from spectra obtained by the Extreme-ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) over a 4 yr period starting in 2010 near solar minimum and continuing through the maximum of solar cycle 24. The DEMs are calculated using six strong emission features dominated by Fe lines of charge states viii, ix, xi, xii, xiv, and xvi that sample the nonflaring coronal temperature range 0.3–5 MK. A proxy for the non-Fe xviii emission in the wavelength band around the 93.9 Å line is demonstrated. There is little variability in the cool component of the corona (T < 1.3 MK) over the 4 yr, suggesting that the quiet-Sun corona does not respond strongly to the solar cycle, whereas the hotter component (T > 2.0 MK) varies by more than an order of magnitude. A discontinuity in the behavior of coronal diagnostics in 2011 February–March, around the time of the first X-class flare of cycle 24, suggests fundamentally different behavior in the corona under solar minimum and maximum conditions. This global state transition occurs over a period of several months. The DEMs are used to estimate the thermal energy of the visible solar corona (of order 10{sup 31} erg), its radiative energy loss rate ((2.5–8) × 10{sup 27} erg s{sup −1}), and the corresponding energy turnover timescale (about an hour). The uncertainties associated with the DEMs and these derived values are mostly due to the coronal Fe abundance and density and the CHIANTI atomic line database.
We present Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) frequency sky maps derived within the BEYONDPLANCK framework. This framework draws samples from a global posterior distribution that includes instrumental, astrophysical, and cosmological parameters, and the main product is an entire ensemble of frequency sky map samples, each of which corresponds to one possible realization of the various modeled instrumental systematic corrections, including correlated noise, time-variable gain, as well as far sidelobe and bandpass corrections. This ensemble allows for computationally convenient end-to-end propagation of low-level instrumental uncertainties into higher-level science products, including astrophysical component maps, angular power spectra, and cosmological parameters. We show that the two dominant sources of LFI instrumental systematic uncertainties are correlated noise and gain fluctuations, and the products presented here support – for the first time – full Bayesian error propagation for these effects at full angular resolution. We compared our posterior mean maps with traditional frequency maps delivered by the Planck Collaboration, and find generally good agreement. The most important quality improvement is due to significantly lower calibration uncertainties in the new processing, as we find a fractional absolute calibration uncertainty at 70 GHz of Δg 0 /g 0 = 5 x 10 -5 , which is nominally 40 times smaller than that reported by Planck 2018. However, we also note that the original Planck 2018 estimate has a nontrivial statistical interpretation, and this further illustrates the advantage of the new framework in terms of producing self-consistent and well-defined error estimates of all involved quantities without the need of ad hoc uncertainty contributions. We describe how low-resolution data products, including dense pixel-pixel covariance matrices, may be produced from the posterior samples directly, without the need for computationally expensive analytic calculations or simulations. We conclude that posterior-based frequency map sampling provides unique capabilities in terms of low-level systematics modeling and error propagation, and may play an important role for future Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) B-mode experiments aiming at nanokelvin precision.
There is significant interest in using battery energy storage systems (BESS) to reduce peak demand charges, and therefore the life cycle cost of electricity, in commercial buildings. This paper explores the drivers of economic viability of BESS in commercial buildings through statistical analysis. A sample population of buildings was generated, a techno-economic optimization model was used to size and dispatch the BESS, and the resulting optimal BESS sizes were analyzed for relevant predictor variables. Explanatory regression analyses were used to demonstrate that peak demand charges are the most significant predictor of an economically viable battery, and that the shape of the load profile is the most significant predictor of the size of the battery.
Strongly heterogeneous media arise in several applications that include radiation shields, nuclear fuel, BWR moderators, clouds, planetary and stellar atmospheres, turbulent gases and plasmas. Neutral and charged particle transport computations in such media have relied heavily on formulating transport equations with spatially random coefficients (physical data) and developing solution methods to deal with the additional stochastic dimensions. Attempts at developing approximate closures that yield only low order statistical information (e.g., mean and variance of the flux) have proved to be highly restrictive under real physics conditions or rely on techniques that require fluctuation amplitudes to be small for robustness. Recently, stochastic spectral methods such as polynomial chaos and stochastic collocation have been developed for aleatoric uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis, and successfully applied in radiation transport work. Advances in UQ techniques have tended to focus on efficiently handling large numbers of uncertain variables but the rigorous stochastic basis of the approach also promotes its use in situations where stochasticity is due to spatial heterogeneity and the associated uncertainty is large. Here we apply these techniques to radiation transport in media with spatially randomly varying cross sections without restriction on fluctuation amplitudes. Specifically, we represent the cross sections as a lognormal spatial random process with specified mean, variance and covariance function and use a Karhunen-Loeve (KL) decomposition to generate cross section realizations that are strictly positive. Woodcock Monte Carlo (WMC) is then used to simulate transport using random sampling of cross sections and deterministic sampling based on a stochastic collocation technique. Numerical results for the mean and variance in the scalar flux and leakage currents are obtained for weak and strong random variations. We focus in this work on demonstrating the approach and defer application to specific problems to a future investigation. We have demonstrated that a combination of stochastic spectral representation and Woodcock Monte Carlo simulation allows efficient computation of radiation transport in strongly random media. The use of a lognormal distribution to represent the fluctuations in medium properties facilitates enforcement of strict positivity of cross section realizations, a condition that has challenged standard approaches that assume Gaussian fluctuations. The fact that the lognormal random process is a memoryless nonlinear transformation of a Gaussian process further enables efficient and accurate reconstruction of the random cross section realizations using a Karhunen-Loeve representation of the cross section. Finally, the robustness of this model enables fluctuations of arbitrarily large amplitude to be studied, using both random sampling Monte Carlo and more efficient stochastic collocation techniques. The present work is being extended to allow reconstruction of probability density functions of output variables using polynomial chaos representation, and to accommodate general cross section covariance functions. Also, techniques are being explored to more judiciously select ceiling cross sections to enhance the efficiency of Woodcock Monte Carlo for transport in random media. (authors)
Microanalysis of characteristic X-rays in the SEM is a powerful method to assess the chemical composition of phases in cement pastes, in particular the calcium silicate hydrate containing aluminium (C–A–S–H). Nevertheless, many variables may influence the results obtained, due mainly to the intimate mixing of C–A–S–H with other hydrate phases and the susceptibility of this phase to damage by the electron beam. In this study the effect of various acquisition parameters was examined, along with methods to determine an “average” C–A–S–H composition. The results acquired in the SEM were compared with the analysis of the same samples in the TEM, where phases can be analyzed without intermixing. A simple method was used to obtain compositions from SEM based analysis that are very close to those which can be obtained in the TEM. - Highlights: •The intermixing of phases is the limiting factor in the analysis of C–A–S–H composition by SEM-EDS •Guidelines to limit beam damage and properly analyze C–A–S–H composition by SEM-EDS are given •SEM-EDS and TEM-EDS give similar results when proper data treatment is made.
During the last decade statistical problems of a new kind have appeared more and more often, in which the dimensionality of observations is large, and the sample size is small or comparable with the dimensionality of observations. These problems may be characterized as multiparameter problems. The theory of multiparameter analysis, proposed by A.N.Kolmogorov and supported by the studies on the spectral theory of random matrices of V. A.Marchenko, L. A.Pastur, V. L.Girko, and others, revealed some specific phenomena appearing in statistics with a large number of weakly dependent variables. Particularly, there are stable relations between the principal parts of parameter set functions and the set of observed variables, which may be used to improve the statistical analysis. The use of these phenomena allows one to develop a thorough, always stable, and approximately optimal (irrespective of samples) versions of mostly used statistical procedures. The multiparameter versions of the discriminant analysis are of special interest.
Non-targeted liquid chromatography tandem highresolution mass spectrometry (LC−MS/MS) is increasingly applied for the structure-resolved chemical analysis of dissolved organic matter (DOM). With new developments in MS instrumentation and analysis software, the approach has gained substantial momentum over the past decade. However, achieving high-quality analytical data that is reproducible and comparable across laboratories can be a bottleneck in non-targeted metabolomics and organic matter chemical analysis, especially for data reuse in repository-scale analyses. Understanding the capabilities as well as challenges of comparing LC−MS/MS data from different laboratories is necessary for inferring global trends from public data sets. To illuminate instrumentation factors that drive differences and variability, we used a standardized data analysis pipeline, including classical (CMN) and featurebased molecular networking (FBMN), to analyze data from a ring trial by 24 laboratories on identical sample sets of algal and DOM extracts that were mixed in predefined concentrations and spiked with standards. Our results showed that data sets from similar mass spectrometer types with unified instrument parameters were qualitatively comparable, resolving the same general trends and shared mass spectral features. Interlaboratory comparability was best for high-intensity features, while low-intensity features showed greater detection variability. Our analysis also highlights challenges when comparing data from instruments with different acquisition rates or operating with less standardized methods. Lastly, we provide recommendations for data integration, public data sharing, standardization, and best practices for standardized LC−MS/MS data acquisition, which will be critical for long-term time series and intercomparability of DOM chemical analyses.
We present a statistical analysis of the variability of broad absorption lines (BALs) in quasars using the large multi-epoch spectroscopic data set of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12 (SDSS DR12). We divide the sample into two groups according to the pattern of the variation of C iv BAL with respect to that of a continuum: the equivalent widths (EW) of the BAL decreases (increases) when the continuum brightens (dims) as group T1; and the variation of the EW and the continuum in the opposite relation of group T2. We find that T2 has significantly (P{sub T}<10{sup −6}, Students T Test) higher EW ratios (R) of Si iv to C iv BAL than T1. Our result agrees with the prediction of photoionization models that C{sup +3} column density increases (decreases) if there is a (or no) C{sup +3} ionization front, while R decreases with the incident continuum. We show that BAL variabilities in at least 80% of quasars are driven by the variation of an ionizing continuum, while other models that predict uncorrelated BAL and continuum variability contribute less than 20%. Considering large uncertainty in the continuum flux calibration, the latter fraction may be much smaller. When the sample is binned into different time intervals between the two observations, we find significant difference in the distribution of R between T1 and T2 in all time-bins down to ΔT<6 days, suggesting that the BAL outflow in a fraction of quasars has a recombination timescale of only a few days.
ABSTRACT In this second paper on the DECam deep-drilling field (DDF) program, we release 2020 optical $gri$-band light curves for transients and variables in the extragalactic COSMOS and ELAIS fields based on time series observations with a 3-d cadence from semester 2021A through 2023A. In order to demonstrate the wide variety of time domain events detected by the program and encourage others to use the data set, we characterize the sample by presenting a brief analysis of the light-curve parameters such as time span, amplitude, and peak brightness. We also present preliminary light-curve categorizations, and identify potential stellar variables, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, supernovae (SNe) (such as Type Ia, Type IIP, superluminous, and gravitationally lensed SNe), and fast transients. Where relevant, the number of identified transients is compared to the predictions of the original proposal. We also discuss the challenges of analyzing DDF data in the context of the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which will include DDFs. Images from the Dark Energy Camera DDF program are available without proprietary period and the light curves presented in this work are publicly available for analysis.
Bayesian atmospheric retrieval tools can place constraints on the properties of brown dwarfs' and hot Jupiters' atmospheres. To fully exploit these methods, high signal-to-noise spectral libraries with well-understood uncertainties are essential. We present a high signal-to-noise spectral library (1.10–1.69 μm) of the thermal emission of 76 brown dwarfs and hot Jupiters. All our spectra have been acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 instrument and its G141 grism. The near-infrared spectral types of these objects range from L4 to Y1. Eight of our targets have estimated masses below the deuterium-burning limit. We analyze the database to identify peculiar objects and/or multiple systems, concluding that this sample includes two very-low-surface-gravity objects and five intermediate-surface-gravity objects. In addition, spectral indices designed to search for composite-atmosphere brown dwarfs indicate that eight objects in our sample are strong candidates to have such atmospheres. None of these objects are overluminous, so their composite atmospheres are unlikely to be companion-induced artifacts. Five of the eight confirmed candidates have been reported as photometrically variable, suggesting that composite atmospheric indices are useful in identifying brown dwarfs with strongly heterogeneous cloud covers. We compare hot Jupiters and brown dwarfs in a near-infrared color–magnitude diagram. We confirm that the coldest hot Jupiters in our sample have spectra similar to mid-L dwarfs, and the hottest hot Jupiters have spectra similar to those of M-dwarfs. Our sample provides a uniform data set of a broad range of ultracool atmospheres, allowing large-scale comparative studies and providing an HST legacy spectral library.