Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the central Levantine Corridor during the Pliocene: insights from lacustrine settings 

Author(s):  
John Greenlee ◽  
Silas Dean ◽  
Nicolas Waldmann

<p>This study aims to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental and climatic conditions affecting the Levantine corridor during the early Pliocene. For the purpose of this study, a ~20 m continuous core sequence was retrieved out of the ~200 m long, tilted Erk el Ahmar sequence previously dated by cosmogenic isotopes to ~3.5 Ma. The record include intercalating units consisting of sands, silts, and clays that were sampled in high resolution in order to analyze a variety of sedimentological and geochemical proxies of past climate and environmental changes. We present new preliminary, high-resolution sedimentological (laser diffraction granulometry), petrophysical (magnetic susceptibility) and compositional (X-ray fluorescence) data along with accompanying statistical analysis performed with an advanced suite of data-science tools. These results reveal new cycles of environmental change in the area, which appears to be orbitally controlled, and include dramatic changes also indicated by discrete strata of fossil fragments. Moreover, cycles of deposition can also provide hints on the major hydrological controlling mechanisms. This project provides new light into favorable conditions for the subsistence of perennial lake environments in the Levantine Corridor, which in turn may have facilitated faunal migration between Africa and Eurasia.</p>

Clay Minerals ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. McFadyen ◽  
D. Fairhurst

AbstractModem disc centrifuge technology has extended the range of application of sedimentation particle size analysis to include the submicron region. An overall size range of approximately 10 nm to 100 pm is now accessible. The principles of both the disc centrifuge photosedimentometer, which employs optical detection with full Mie light scattering corrections, and the X-ray disc centrifuge are described. Examples of their application to a variety of samples are given to illustrate the performance characteristics of the instruments including a direct comparison of resolving power with that of the laser diffraction technique.


The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1016-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Unkelbach ◽  
Kaoru Kashima ◽  
Gaadan Punsalpaamuu ◽  
Lyudmila Shumilovskikh ◽  
Hermann Behling

The ‘Altai Tavan Bogd’ National Park in the north-western part of the Mongolian Altai, Central Asia, is located in a forest-steppe ecosystem. It occurs under the influence of extreme continental and montane climate and is sensitive to natural and anthropogenic impacts. High-resolution (<20 years per sample) multi-proxy data of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), macro-charcoal, diatoms, and XRF scanning from radiocarbon-dated lacustrine sediments reveal various environmental changes and the impact of different settlement periods for the late-Holocene. From 1350 to 820 cal. yr BP (AD 600–1130), the distribution of grass steppe indicates a climate similar to present-day conditions. Rapid improvements of climatic conditions (e.g. increased rainfall events) possibly favored a recovery of forest-steppe encouraging nomadic movements into alpine areas. In the period from 820 to 400 cal. yr BP (AD 1130–1550), the decline of forested areas suggests an increasingly drier and possibly colder climate. Some political shifts during the Mongol Empire (744–582 cal. yr BP; AD 1206–1368) favored variations in nomadic grazing habits. After 400 cal. yr BP (AD 1550), moisture and temperature increased slightly, and from ca. 40 cal. yr BP (AD 1910) to present, annual temperature continued to increase more markedly favoring an additional water availability due to permafrost degradation. Diatom data suggest several intervals of increased water availability in all periods which might have caused erosion due to heavier rainfall events or increased snow melt. Immediately after most of these high-water intervals, NPP data reveal periods of increased grazing activities in the area.


Geobiology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Suchéras-Marx ◽  
F. Giraud ◽  
A. Simionovici ◽  
I. Daniel ◽  
R. Tucoulou

Author(s):  
Robert A. Grant ◽  
Laura L. Degn ◽  
Wah Chiu ◽  
John Robinson

Proteolytic digestion of the immunoglobulin IgG with papain cleaves the molecule into an antigen binding fragment, Fab, and a compliment binding fragment, Fc. Structures of intact immunoglobulin, Fab and Fc from various sources have been solved by X-ray crystallography. Rabbit Fc can be crystallized as thin platelets suitable for high resolution electron microscopy. The structure of rabbit Fc can be expected to be similar to the known structure of human Fc, making it an ideal specimen for comparing the X-ray and electron crystallographic techniques and for the application of the molecular replacement technique to electron crystallography. Thin protein crystals embedded in ice diffract to high resolution. A low resolution image of a frozen, hydrated crystal can be expected to have a better contrast than a glucose embedded crystal due to the larger density difference between protein and ice compared to protein and glucose. For these reasons we are using an ice embedding technique to prepare the rabbit Fc crystals for molecular structure analysis by electron microscopy.


Author(s):  
G. Van Tendeloo ◽  
J. Van Landuyt ◽  
S. Amelinckx

Polytypism has been studied for a number of years and a wide variety of stacking sequences has been detected and analysed. SiC is the prototype material in this respect; see e.g. Electron microscopy under high resolution conditions when combined with x-ray measurements is a very powerful technique to elucidate the correct stacking sequence or to study polytype transformations and deviations from the ideal stacking sequence.


Author(s):  
R. Gronsky

The phenomenon of clustering in Al-Ag alloys has been extensively studied since the early work of Guinierl, wherein the pre-precipitation state was characterized as an assembly of spherical, ordered, silver-rich G.P. zones. Subsequent x-ray and TEM investigations yielded results in general agreement with this model. However, serious discrepancies were later revealed by the detailed x-ray diffraction - based computer simulations of Gragg and Cohen, i.e., the silver-rich clusters were instead octahedral in shape and fully disordered, atleast below 170°C. The object of the present investigation is to examine directly the structural characteristics of G.P. zones in Al-Ag by high resolution transmission electron microscopy.


Author(s):  
Yun Lu ◽  
David C. Joy

High resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDXA) were performed to investigate microparticles in blended cements and their hydration products containing sodium-rich chemical wastes. The physical appearance of powder particles and the morphological development at different hydration stages were characterized by using high resolution SEM Hitachi S-900 and by SEM S-800 with a EDX spectrometer. Microparticles were dispersed on the sample holder and glued by 1% palomino solution. Hydrated bulk samples were dehydrated by acetone and mounted on the holder by silver paste. Both fracture surfaces and flat cutting sections of hydrating samples were prepared and examined. Some specimens were coated with an 3 nm thick Au-Pd or Cr layer to provide good conducting surfaces. For high resolution SEM S-900 observations the accelerating voltage of electrons was 1-2 KeV to protect the electron charging. Microchemical analyses were carried out by S800/EDS equipped with a LINK detector of take-off angle =40°.


Author(s):  
K. H. Downing ◽  
S. G. Wolf ◽  
E. Nogales

Microtubules are involved in a host of critical cell activities, many of which involve transport of organelles through the cell. Different sets of microtubules appear to form during the cell cycle for different functions. Knowledge of the structure of tubulin will be necessary in order to understand the various functional mechanisms of microtubule assemble, disassembly, and interaction with other molecules, but tubulin has so far resisted crystallization for x-ray diffraction studies. Fortuitously, in the presence of zinc ions, tubulin also forms two-dimensional, crystalline sheets that are ideally suited for study by electron microscopy. We have refined procedures for forming the sheets and preparing them for EM, and have been able to obtain high-resolution structural data that sheds light on the formation and stabilization of microtubules, and even the interaction with a therapeutic drug.Tubulin sheets had been extensively studied in negative stain, demonstrating that the same protofilament structure was formed in the sheets and microtubules. For high resolution studies, we have found that the sheets embedded in either glucose or tannin diffract to around 3 Å.


Author(s):  
Y. Y. Wang ◽  
H. Zhang ◽  
V. P. Dravid ◽  
H. Zhang ◽  
L. D. Marks ◽  
...  

Azuma et al. observed planar defects in a high pressure synthesized infinitelayer compound (i.e. ACuO2 (A=cation)), which exhibits superconductivity at ~110 K. It was proposed that the defects are cation deficient and that the superconductivity in this material is related to the planar defects. In this report, we present quantitative analysis of the planar defects utilizing nanometer probe xray microanalysis, high resolution electron microscopy, and image simulation to determine the chemical composition and atomic structure of the planar defects. We propose an atomic structure model for the planar defects.Infinite-layer samples with the nominal chemical formula, (Sr1-xCax)yCuO2 (x=0.3; y=0.9,1.0,1.1), were prepared using solid state synthesized low pressure forms of (Sr1-xCax)CuO2 with additions of CuO or (Sr1-xCax)2CuO3, followed by a high pressure treatment.Quantitative x-ray microanalysis, with a 1 nm probe, was performed using a cold field emission gun TEM (Hitachi HF-2000) equipped with an Oxford Pentafet thin-window x-ray detector. The probe was positioned on the planar defects, which has a 0.74 nm width, and x-ray emission spectra from the defects were compared with those obtained from vicinity regions.


Author(s):  
W. Coene ◽  
F. Hakkens ◽  
T.H. Jacobs ◽  
K.H.J. Buschow

Intermetallic compounds of the type RE2Fe17Cx (RE= rare earth element) are promising candidates for permanent magnets. In case of Y2Fe17Cx, the Curie temperature increases from 325 K for x =0 to 550 K for x = 1.6 . X ray and electron diffraction reveal a carbon - induced structural transformation in Y2Fe17Cx from the hexagonal Th2Ni17 - type (x < 0.6 ) to the rhombohedral Th2Zn17 - type ( x ≥ 0.6). Planar crystal defects introduce local sheets of different magnetic anisotropy as compared with the ordered structure, and therefore may have an important impact on the coercivivity mechanism .High resolution electron microscopy ( HREM ) on a Philips CM30 / Super Twin has been used to characterize planar crystal defects in rhombohedral Y2Fe17Cx ( x ≥ 0.6 ). The basal plane stacking sequences are imaged in the [100] - orientation, showing an ABC or ACB sequence of Y - atoms and Fe2 - dumbbells, for both coaxial twin variants, respectively . Compounds resulting from a 3 - week annealing treatment at high temperature ( Ta = 1000 - 1100°C ) contain a high density of planar defects.


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