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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Self-consistent continuum random-phase approximation calculations with finite-range interactions

We present a technique that treats, without approximations, the continuum part of the excitation spectrum in random phase approximation calculations with finite-range interactions. The interaction used in Hartree-Fock calculations to generate the single-particle basis is also used in continuum random phase approximation calculations. We show results for electric dipole and quadrupole excitations in {sup 16}O, {sup 22}O, {sup 24}O, {sup 40}Ca, {sup 48}Ca, and {sup 52}Ca nuclei. We compare our results with those of the traditional discrete random phase approximation, with continuum independent-particle model results, and with results obtained by a phenomenological random phase approximation approach. We study the relevance of the continuum, of the residual interaction, and of the self-consistency. We also compare our results with the available total photoabsorption cross-section data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Strength fragmentation of Gamow-Teller transitions and delayed neutron emission of atomic nuclei

Starting from a Skyrme interaction with tensor terms, the β-decay rates of {sup 52}Ca have been studied within a microscopic model including the 2p − 2h configuration effects. We observe a redistribution of the strength of Gamow-Teller transitions due to the 2p − 2h fragmentation. Taking into account this effect results in a satisfactory description of the neutron emission probability of the β-decay in {sup 52}Ca.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Structure-property relation and Weibull analysis of calcium aluminate cement pastes

Highlights: • Weibull distribution analysis was conducted for calcium aluminate cement pastes with 52 wt% and 71 wt% of alumina contents. • Compressive strength ranged from 10 to 45 MPa. • The hydrated phases found showed diverse polymorphisms of Gibbsite (Nordstrandite, Bayerite, Hidrogarnet and Gehlenite). - Abstract: In this investigation calcium aluminate cement (CAC) pastes with 52 wt% and 71 wt% of alumina contents were fabricated and characterized with different techniques. Samples were made with 0.4 and 0.5 water to cement (W/C) ratios. Both the raw cement powders and their corresponding samples after hydration were characterized in their microstructure by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (with Rietveld refinement), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), density, and compression tests. With the compressive strength results, Weibull distribution analysis was conducted for 20 samples per composition. The higher compression strength obtained was about 45 MPa, which corresponds to samples with the higher W/C contents. The hydrated phases found showed diverse polymorphisms of Gibbsite (Nordstrandite, Bayerite, Hidrogarnet and Gehlenite).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Unexpectedly large charge radii of neutron-rich calcium isotopes

Here, despite being a complex many-body system, the atomic nucleus exhibits simple structures for certain ‘magic’ numbers of protons and neutrons. The calcium chain in particular is both unique and puzzling: evidence of doubly magic features are known in 40,48 Ca, and recently suggested in two radioactive isotopes, 52,54 Ca. Although many properties of experimentally known calcium isotopes have been successfully described by nuclear theory, it is still a challenge to predict the evolution of their charge radii. Here we present the first measurements of the charge radii of 49,51,52 Ca, obtained from laser spectroscopy experiments at ISOLDE, CERN. The experimental results are complemented by state-of-the-art theoretical calculations. The large and unexpected increase of the size of the neutron-rich calcium isotopes beyond N = 28 challenges the doubly magic nature of 52 Ca and opens new intriguing questions on the evolution of nuclear sizes away from stability, which are of importance for our understanding of neutron-rich atomic nuclei.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1988

Microfossils from oolites and pisolites of the Upper Proterozoic Eleonore Bay Group, Central East Greenland

Silicified oolites and pisolites from Bed 18 of the Upper Proterozoic (about 700-800 Ma) Limestone-Dolomite "Series" of the Eleonore Bay Group, central East Greenland, contain a diverse suite of organically preserved microfossils that is, for the most part. [Of the] assemblages previously described from Proterozoic cherts and shales. Three principal assemblages occur in these rocks: 1) a class bound assemblage found in detrital carbonate grains (now silicified) that served as nuclei for ooid and pisoid growth, as well as in uncoated mud and mat clasts that were carried into the zone of ooid and pisoid deposition; 2) an epilithic and interstitial assemblage consisting of microorganisms that occurred on top of and between grains; and 3) a euendolithic assemblage composed of microbes that actively bored into coated grains. The Upper Proterozoic euendolithic assemblage closely resembles a community of euendolithic cyanobacteria found today in shallow marine ooid sands of the Bahama Banks. Thirteen species are described, of which eight are new, five representing new genera: Eohyella dichotoma n. sp., Eohyella endoatracta n. sp., Eohyella rectoclada n. sp., Thylacocausticus globorum n. gen. and sp., Cunicularius halleri n. gen. and sp., Graviglomus incrustus n. gen. and sp., Perulagranum obovatum n. gen. and sp., and Parenchymodiscus endolithicus n. gen. and sp.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS1995

Sizing up the sub-Tommotian unconformity in Siberia

Sedimentary rocks in the western Anabar region, northwestern Siberia, preserve an exceptional record of evolution and biogeochemical events near the Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary. Carbon isotopic data on petrographically and geochemically screened samples collected at 1 to 2 m intervals support correlation of the lower Anabar succession (Staraya Reckha and lower Manykai Formations) with sub-Tommotian carbonates of the Ust'-Yu-doma Formation in southeastern Siberia. In contrast, the upper Manykai and most of the overlying Medvezhya Formation appear to preserve a sedimentary and paleontological record of an evolutionary important time interval represented in southeastern Siberia only by the sub-Tommotian unconformity. Correlation of the Anabar section with other northern Siberian successions that contain well-dated volcanic rocks permits the estimate that the sub-Tommotian unconformity in southeastern Siberia spans approximately 3 to 6 m.y. Diverse small shelly fossils (but not archaeocyathans) previously thought to mark the base of the Tommotian Stage evolved sequentially throughout this earlier interval.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE EFFECTS OF CURVATURE AND EXPANSION ON HELIUM DETONATIONS ON WHITE DWARF SURFACES

Accreted helium layers on white dwarfs have been highlighted for many decades as a possible site for a detonation triggered by a thermonuclear runaway. In this paper, we find the minimum helium layer thickness that will sustain a steady laterally propagating detonation and show that it depends on the density and composition of the helium layer, specifically {sup 12}C and {sup 16}O. Detonations in these thin helium layers have speeds slower than the Chapman-Jouget (CJ) speed from complete helium burning, v{sub CJ} = 1.5 × 10{sup 9} cm s{sup –1}. Though gravitationally unbound, the ashes still have unburned helium (≈80% in the thinnest cases) and only reach up to heavy elements such as {sup 40}Ca, {sup 44}Ti, {sup 48}Cr, and {sup 52}Fe. It is rare for these thin shells to generate large amounts of {sup 56}Ni. We also find a new set of solutions that can propagate in even thinner helium layers when {sup 16}O is present at a minimum mass fraction of ≈0.07. Driven by energy release from α captures on {sup 16}O and subsequent elements, these slow detonations only create ashes up to {sup 28}Si in the outer detonated He shell. We close by discussing how the unbound helium burning ashes may create faint and fast 'Ia' supernovae as well as events with virtually no radioactivity, and speculate on how the slower helium detonation velocities impact the off-center ignition of a carbon detonation that could cause a Type Ia supernova in the double detonation scenario.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Edaphic controls on soil organic carbon stocks in restored grasslands

Cultivation of undisturbed soils dramatically depletes organic carbon stocks at shallow depths, releasing a substantial quantity of stored carbon to the atmosphere. Restoration of native ecosystems can help degraded soils rebuild a portion of the depleted soil organic matter. However, the rate and magnitude of soil carbon accrual can be highly variable from site to site. Thus, a better understanding of the mechanisms controlling soil organic carbon stocks is necessary to improve predictions of soil carbon recovery. We measured soil organic carbon stocks and a suite of edaphic factors in the upper 10 cm of a series of restored tallgrass prairies representing a range of drainage conditions. Our findings suggest that factors related to soil organic matter stabilization mechanisms (texture, polyvalent cations) were key predictors of soil organic carbon, along with variables that influence plant and microbial biomass (available phosphorus, pH) and soil moisture. Exchangeable soil calcium was the strongest single predictor, explaining 74% of the variation in soil organic carbon, followed by clay content,which explained 52% of the variation. Our results demonstrate that the cumulative effects of even relatively small differences in these edaphic properties can have a large impact on soil carbon stocks when integrated over several decades.

Calcium↗
NASA NTRS1990

Shell structure and distribution of Cloudina, a potential index fossil for the terminal Proterozoic

Cloudina-bearing biosparites and biomicrites in the lower part of the Nama Group, Namibia, contain a wide morphological diversity of shell fragments that can all be attributed to the two named species C. hartmannae and C. riemkeae. The curved to sinuous tubular shells of Cloudina were multi-layered. Each shell layer was 8 to 50 micrometers thick and in the form of a slightly flaring tube with one end open and the other closed. Growth appears to have been periodic with successive shell layers forming within older layers. Each added layer was slightly elevated from the previous layer at the proximal end and was asymmetrically placed within the older layer so that only a portion of the new shell layer was fused to the previous layer. This type of growth left a relatively large unminerialized area between the shell layers which was often partially or fully occluded by early marine cements. The thin shell layers exhibit both plastic and brittle deformation and were likely formed of a rigid CaCO3-impregnated organic-rich material. Often the shell layers are preferentially dolomitized suggesting an original mineralogy of high-magnesian calcite. Both species in the Nama Group formed thickets, or perhaps bioherms, and this sedentary and gregarious habit suggests that Cloudina was probably a filter-feeding metazoan of at least a cnidarian grade of organization. The unusual shell structure of Cloudina gives rise to a characteristic suite of taphonomic and diagenetic features that can be used to identify Cloudina-bearing deposits within the Nama Group and in other terminal Proterozoic deposits around the world. Species of Cloudina occur in limestones from Brazil, Spain, China, and Oman in sequences consistent with a latest Proterozoic age assignment. In addition, supposed lower Cambrian, pre-trilobitic, shelly fossils from northwest Mexico and the White-Inyo Mountains in California and Nevada, including Sinotubulites, Nevadatubulus, and Wyattia, are all either closely related to or con-generic with Cloudina. Hence, it is probable that these outcrops are latest Proterozoic in age, and that Cloudina or Cloudina-like organisms were widely distributed at that time. It is possible, moreover, to suggest that metazoan biomineralization occurred on a global scale by the latest Proterozoic, at the same time that evidence for complex multicellularity and locomotion in animals appears in siliciclastic "Ediacaran" rocks in the form of body and trace fossils.

NASA Program Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stromatolites of the Mescal Limestone (Apache Group, middle Proterozoic, central Arizona): taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and paleoenvironments

The 25- to 30-m-thick Algal Member of the Mescal Limestone (middle Proterozoic Apache Group) contains two distinct stromatolitic units: at the base, a 2- to 3-m-thick unit composed of columnar stromatolites and above, a thicker unit of stratiform and pseudocolumnar stromatolites. Columnar forms from the first unit belong to the Group Tungussia, and two new Forms are described: T. mescalita and T. chrysotila. Among the pseudocolumnar stromatolites of the thicker unit, one distinctive new taxon, Apachina henryi, is described. Because of the low stromatolite diversity, the biostratigraphic value of this assemblage is limited. The presence of Tungussia is consistent with the generally accepted isotopic age for the Apache Group of 1200 to 1100 Ma. The Mescal stromatolites do not closely resemble any other known Proterozoic stromatolites in the southwestern United States or northwestern Mexico. Analyses of sedimentary features and stromatolite growth forms suggest deposition on a stable, flat, shallow, subtidal protected platform during phases of Tungussia growth. Current action probably influenced the development of columns, pseudocolumns, and elongate stromatolitic ridges; these conditions alternated with phases of relatively quiet water characterized by nonoriented stromatolitic domes and stratiform stromatolites. Stable conditions favorable for development of the Mescal stromatolites were short-lived and did not permit the development of thick, stromatolite-bearing units such as those characteristic of many Proterozoic sequences elsewhere.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1993

New constraints on Precambrian ocean composition

The Precambrian record of carbonate and evaporite sedimentation is equivocal. In contrast to most previous interpretations, it is possible that Archean, Paleoproterozoic, and to a lesser extent, Meso to Neoproterozoic seawater favored surplus abiotic carbonate precipitation, as aragonite and (hi-Mg?) calcite, in comparison to younger times. Furthermore, gypsum/anhydrite may have been only rarely precipitated prior to halite precipitation during evaporation prior to about 1.8 Ga. Two effects may have contributed to these relationships. First, sulfate concentration of seawater may have been critically low prior to about 1.9 Ga so the product mCa++ x mSO4-- would not have produced gypsum before halite, as in the Mesoproterozoic to modern ocean. Second, the bicarbonate to calcium ratio was sufficiently high so that during progressive evaporation of seawater, calcium would have been exhausted before the gypsum field was reached. The pH of the Archean and Paleoproterozoic ocean need not have been significantly different from the modern value of 8.1, even at CO2 partial pressures of a tenth of an atmosphere. Higher CO2 partial pressures require somewhat lower pH values.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS1991

Lake Hoare, Antarctica: sedimentation through a thick perennial ice cover

Lake Hoare in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica is covered with a perennial ice cover more than 3 m thick, yet there is a complex record of sedimentation and of growth of microbial mats on the lake bottom. Rough topography on the ice covering the lake surface traps sand that is transported by the wind. In late summer, vertical conduits form by melting and fracturing, making the ice permeable to both liquid water and gases. Cross-sections of the ice cover show that sand is able to penetrate into and apparently through it by descending through these conduits. This is the primary sedimentation mechanism in the lake. Sediment traps retrieved from the lake bottom indicate that rates of deposition can vary by large amounts over lateral scales as small as 1 m. This conclusion is supported by cores taken in a 3 x 3 grid with a spacing of 1.5 m. Despite the close spacing of the cores, the poor stratigraphic correlation that is observed indicates substantial lateral variability in sedimentation rate. Apparently, sand descends into the lake from discrete, highly localized sources in the ice that may in some cases deposit a large amount of sand into the lake in a very short time. In some locations on the lake bottom, distinctive sand mounds have been formed by this process. They are primary sedimentary structures and appear unique to the perennially ice-covered lacustrine environment. In some locations they are tens of centimetres high and gently rounded with stable slopes; in others they reach approximately 1 m in height and have a conical shape with slopes at angle of repose. A simple formation model suggests that these differences can be explained by local variations in water depth and sedimentation rate. Rapid colonization of fresh sand surfaces by microbial mats composed of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, and heterotrophic bacteria produces a complex intercalation of organic and sandy layers that are a distinctive form of modern stromatolites.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
DOE OSTI2019

Biodegradation of Yerba Mate Waste Based Fertilizer Capsules. Effect of Temperature

Yerba mate waste based urea fertilizer capsules were obtained and characterized. Yerba mate powder (YMP) content in these encapsulation systems ranged from 52 to 82% for the different formulations. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of yerba mate powder:calcium alginate ratio and the assay temperature on capsule degradation and urea release rate in soil. Degradation evolution was monitored by microbiological tests, environmental scanning electronic microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. Encapsulation efficiency increased with YMP content. The green fertilizing systems generated did not inhibit microorganism development in soil. Degradation was slower for capsules with higher YMP content. Capsules with high YMP content released lower amounts of urea. Both degradation and release rates increased with assay temperature. The recycling of yerba mate powder as a green composite material originated a new fertilizer system.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

LATERALLY PROPAGATING DETONATIONS IN THIN HELIUM LAYERS ON ACCRETING WHITE DWARFS

Theoretical work has shown that intermediate mass (0.01 M{sub Sun} < M{sub He} < 0.1 M{sub Sun }) helium shells will unstably ignite on the accreting white dwarf (WD) in an AM CVn binary. For more massive (M > 0.8 M{sub Sun }) WDs, these helium shells can be dense enough (>5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 5} g cm{sup -3}) that the convectively burning region runs away on a timescale comparable to the sound travel time across the shell, raising the possibility for an explosive outcome rather than an Eddington limited helium novae. The nature of the explosion (i.e., deflagration or detonation) remains ambiguous, is certainly density dependent, and likely breaks spherical symmetry. In the case of detonation, this causes a laterally propagating front whose properties in these geometrically thin and low-density shells we begin to study here. Our calculations show that the radial expansion time of <0.1 s leads to incomplete helium burning, in agreement with recent work by Sim and collaborators, but that the nuclear energy released is still adequate to realize a self-sustaining laterally propagating detonation. These detonations are slower than the Chapman-Jouguet speed of 1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} cm s{sup -1}, but still fast enough at 0.9 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} cm s{sup -1} to go around the star prior to the transit through the star of the inwardly propagating weak shock. Our simulations resolve the subsonic region behind the reaction front in the detonation wave. The two-dimensional nucleosynthesis is shown to be consistent with a truncated one-dimensional Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doering calculation at the slower detonation speed. The ashes from the lateral detonation are typically He rich, and consist of predominantly {sup 44}Ti, {sup 48}Cr, along with a small amount of {sup 52}Fe, with very little {sup 56}Ni and with significant {sup 40}Ca in carbon-enriched layers. If this helium detonation results in a Type Ia supernova, its spectral signatures would appear for the first few days after explosion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1988

Rate of production, dissolution and accumulation of biogenic solids in the ocean

The equatorial current system, by its response to global circulation changes, provides a unique recording mechanism for long range climatic oscillations. A permanent record of the changes in rate of upwelling and organic production is generated in the equatorial deep sea sediments, particularly by such biogenic components which are unaffected by secondary dissolution. In order to determine the rates of accumulation of various sedimentary components, a reliable differential measurement of age of the strata must be obtained. Various approaches to this problem are reviewed, and sources of error discussed. Secondary dissolution of calcium carbonate introduces a substantial and variable difference between the dissolution-modified, and hence a priori unknown, rate of deposition on one hand and the rate of accumulation, derivable from the observed concentration, on the other. The cause and magnitude of these variations are of importance, particularly since some current dating schemes are based on assumed constancy in the rate of accumulation of this and, in some cases, also all other sedimentary components. The concepts used in rate evaluation are discussed with emphasis on the difference between the state of dissolution, an observable property of the sediment, and the rate of dissolution, a parameter that requires deduction of the carbonate fraction dissolved, and of the time differential. As a most likely cause of the enhanced state of dissolution of the interglacial carbonate sediments is proposed the lowered rates of biogenic production and deposition, which cause longer exposure of the carbonate microfossils to corrosion in the bioturbated surface layer of the sediment. Historical perspective is included in the discussion in view of the dedication of the Symposium to Hans Pettersson, the leader of the Swedish Deep Sea Expedition 1947-1948, an undertaking that opened a new era in deep sea research and planetary dynamics.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
DOE OSTI2011

HETEROGENEOUS DISTRIBUTION OF {sup 26}Al AT THE BIRTH OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

It is believed that {sup 26}Al, a short-lived (t{sub 1/2} = 0.73 Ma) and now extinct radionuclide, was uniformly distributed in the nascent solar system (SS) with the initial {sup 26}Al/{sup 27}Al ratio of {approx}5.2 x 10{sup -5}, suggesting an external, stellar origin rather than local, solar source. However, the stellar source of {sup 26}Al and the manner in which it was injected into the SS remain controversial: the {sup 26}Al could have been produced by an asymptotic giant branch star, a supernova, or a Wolf-Rayet star and injected either into the protosolar molecular cloud, protosolar cloud core, or protoplanetary disk. Corundum (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) is predicted to be the first condensate from a cooling gas of solar composition. Here we show that micron-sized corundum condensates from {sup 16}O-rich ({Delta}{sup 17}O {approx} -25 per mille ) gas of solar composition recorded heterogeneous distribution of {sup 26}Al at the birth of the SS: the inferred initial {sup 26}Al/{sup 27}Al ratio ranges from {approx}6.5x10{sup -5} to <2x10{sup -6}; 52% of corundum grains measured are {sup 26}Al-poor. Abundant {sup 26}Al-poor, {sup 16}O-rich refractory objects include grossite- and hibonite-rich calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in CH (high metal abundance and high iron concentration) chondrites, platy hibonite crystals in CM (Mighei-like) chondrites, and CAIs with fractionation and unidentified nuclear effects CAIs chondrites. Considering the apparently early and short duration (<0.3 Ma) of condensation of refractory {sup 16}O-rich solids in the SS, we infer that {sup 26}Al was injected into the collapsing protosolar molecular cloud and later homogenized in the protoplanetary disk. The apparent lack of correlation between {sup 26}Al abundance and O-isotope composition of corundum grains constrains the stellar source of {sup 26}Al in the SS.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1996

Dust: a diagnostic of the hydrologic cycle during the last glacial maximum

Dust concentrations in ice of the last glacial maximum (LGM) are high in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The magnitude of the enhancements can be explained if the strength of the hydrologic cycle during the LGM was about half of that at present. This notion is consistent with a large decrease (5 degrees Celsius) in ocean temperature during the LGM, as recently deduced from measurements of strontium and calcium in corals.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1991

Probable calcified metaphytes in the latest Proterozoic Nama Group, Namibia: origin, diagenesis, and implications

Samples from the Huns Limestone Member, Urusis Formation, Nama Group, at two adjacent localities in southern Namibia contain thin foliose to arched, sheet-like carbonate crusts that are 100-500 micrometers thick and up to 5 cm in lateral dimension. Morphologic, petrographic, and geochemical evidence supports the interpretation of these delicate crusts as biogenic, most likely the remains of calcified encrusting metaphytes. The original sediments of the fossiliferous samples contained aragonitic encrusting algae, botryoidal aragonite cements, and an aragonite mud groundmass. Spherulites within the precursor mud could represent bacterially induced mineral growths or the concretions of marine rivularian cyanobacteria. Original textures were severely disrupted during the diagenetic transition of aragonite to low-magnesian calcite, but some primary structures remain discernible as ghosts in the neomorphic mosaic. Gross morphology, original aragonite mineralogy, and hypobasal calcification indicate that the crusts are similar to late Paleozoic phylloid algae and extant peyssonnelid red algae. Structures interpreted as possible conceptacles also suggest possible affinities with the Corallinaceae. Two species of Cloudina, interpreted as the remains of a shelly metazoan, are also known from limestones in the Nama Group. It is possible, therefore, that skeletalization in metaphytes and animals arose nearly simultaneously near the end of the Proterozoic Eon.

NASA Discipline Number 52-30↗