TIME CONSTRAINTS ON THE FORMATION OF THE KANDALAKSHA AND KERETSK GRABENS OF THE WHITE SEA PALEO-RIFT SYSTEM FROM NEW ISOTOPIC GEOCHRONOLOGICAL DATA

Initially, the age and stratigraphic position of the Tersk formation were determined with respect to the fact that this formation overlaps the Early Proterozoic granitoids. Its top was marked by the rocks penetrated by the Late Devonian alkaline intrusions, including explosion pipes.This article presents the U-Pb isotopic dating of detrital zircon grains (dZr) from sandstones of the Tersk formation. It describes the geochemical compositions of the rocks and the Sm-Nd study results. In our study, the weighted average age of four youngest dZr grains from the sandstones of the Tersk formation is 1145±20 Ma, which suggests that the rocks above the studied rock layer (see the Tersk formation cross-section) are is not older than the end of the Middle Riphean. The U-Pb isotopic ages of dZr grains (provenance signals) from the sandstones of the Tersk formation were compared to the ages of other Upper Precambrian clastic strata in the northeastern East European platform (EEP) and adjacent areas. Our comparative analysis shows that these rocks significantly differ in age. This conclusion is in good agreement with the idea that at the end of the Middle and during the Late Riphean, several small (mainly closed) basins separated by uplifts dominated in the paleogeographic setting of the area wherein the White Sea rift system (WSRS) formed and developed. Temporal connections of these basins with the ocean were possible. Such paleogeographic setting does not favour the development of large rivers; this is why the grabens are mainly filled with local rock materials. The Keretsk and Kandalaksha grabens (WSRS) are filled with marine sediments eroded from the grabens walls. The local sediment sources include eclogite complexes (~1.9 Ga), which basic magmatism is dated at ~2.4–2.5 and ~2.7–2.9 Ga. Any potential primary sources for dZr grains are lacking in the area near the Keretsk graben. We suggest that such grains occurred due to recycling of the secondary sources of zircon, i.e. originated from ancient local sedimentary formations.

X-ray photolysis of CH3COCH3 ice: implications for the radiation effects of compact objects towards astrophysical ices

ABSTRACT In this study, we employed broad-band X-rays (6–2000 eV) to irradiate the frozen acetone CH3COCH3, at the temperature of 12 K, with different photon fluences up to 2.7 × 1018 photons cm−2. Here, we consider acetone as a representative complex organic molecule (COM) present on interstellar ice grains. The experiments were conduced at the Brazilian Synchrotron facility (LNLS/CNPEN) employing infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to monitor chemical changes induced by radiation in the ice sample. We determined the effective destruction cross-section of the acetone molecule and the effective formation cross-section for daughter species. Chemical equilibrium, obtained for fluence 2 × 1018 photons cm−2, and molecular abundances at this stage were determined, which also includes the estimates for the abundance of unknown molecules, produced but not detected, in the ice. Time-scales for ices, at hypothetical snow line distances, to reach chemical equilibrium around several compact and main-sequence X-ray sources are given. We estimate time-scales of 18 d, 3.6 and 1.8 months, 1.4 × 109–6 × 1011 yr, 600 and 1.2 × 107 yr, and 107 yr, for the Sun at 5 au, for O/B stars at 5 au, for white dwarfs at 1 LY, for the Crab pulsar at 2.25 LY, for Vela pulsar at 2.25 LY, and for Sagittarius A* at 3 LY, respectively. This study improves our current understanding about radiation effects on the chemistry of frozen material, in particular, focusing for the first time, the effects of X-rays produced by compact objects in their eventual surrounding ices.

Multiband coupling and nuclear softness in optical model calculations for even-even and odd-A actinides

A new dispersive multiband coupled channels optical model with soft-rotator “effective” deformations is proposed to describe nucleon scattering on even-even and odd-A actinides. The impact of the introduction of axial and non-axial dynamical deformations that describe nuclear softness is discussed. Softness and multiband coupling are shown to change compound-nucleus formation cross section by up to ≈ 10% for incident neutron energies below 1 MeV.

H2 chemistry in interstellar ices: the case of CO ice hydrogenation in UV irradiated CO:H2 ice mixtures

Context. In dense clouds, hydrogenation reactions on icy dust grains are key in the formation of molecules, like formaldehyde, methanol, and complex organic molecules (COMs). These species form through the sequential hydrogenation of CO ice. Although molecular hydrogen (H2) abundances can be four orders of magnitude higher than those of free H-atoms in dense clouds, H2 surface chemistry has been largely ignored; several laboratory studies show that H2 does not actively participate in “non-energetic” ice chemistry because of the high activation energies required. Aims. For the example of CO ice hydrogenation, we experimentally investigated the potential role of H2 molecules on the surface chemistry when energetic processing (i.e., UV photolysis) is involved. We test whether additional hydrogenation pathways become available upon UV irradiation of a CO:H2 ice mixture and whether this reaction mechanism also applies to other chemical systems. Methods. Ultra-high vacuum (UHV) experiments were performed at 8–20 K. A pre-deposited solid mixture of CO:H2 was irradiated with UV-photons. Reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) was used as an in situ diagnostic tool. Single reaction steps and possible isotopic effects were studied by comparing results from CO:H2 and CO:D2 ice mixtures. Results. After UV-irradiation of a CO:H2 ice mixture, two photon-induced products, HCO and H2CO, are unambiguously detected. The proposed reaction mechanism involves electronically excited CO in the following reaction steps: CO + hν→CO*, CO* + H2→HCO + H where newly formed H-atoms are then available for further hydrogenation reactions. The HCO formation yields have a strong temperature dependence for the investigated regime, which is most likely linked to the H2 sticking coefficient. Moreover, the derived formation cross section reflects a cumulative reaction rate that mainly determined by both the H-atom diffusion rate and initial concentration of H2 at 8–20 K and that is largely determined by the H2 sticking coefficient. Finally, the astronomical relevance of this photo-induced reaction channel is discussed.

Destruction of C2H4O2 isomers in ice-phase by X-rays: Implication on the abundance of acetic acid and methyl formate in the interstellar medium

C2H4O2 isomers, methyl formate (HCOOCH3), acetic acid (CH3COOH) and glycoaldehyde (HOCH2CHO), have been detected in a lot of sources in ISM. However, their abundances are very different, with methyl formate much more abundant than the other two isomers. This fact may be related to the different destruction by ionizing radiation of these molecules. The goal of this work is experimentally study the photodissociation processes of methyl formate and acetic acid ices when exposed to broadband soft X-ray from 6 up to 2000 eV. The experiments were performed coupled to the SGM beamline in the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source (LNLS/CNPEM) at Campinas, Brazil. The simulated astrophysical ices (12K) were monitored throughout the experiment using infrared vibrational spectroscopy. The analysis of processed ices allowed the determination of the effective destruction cross sections of the parent molecules as well as the effective formation cross section of daughter molecular species. The relative abundance between acetic acid and methyl formate (NCH3COOH/NHCOOCH3) in different astronomical scenarios and their column density evolution in the presence of X-rays were calculated and our results suggests that such radiation field can be one of the factors that explain the difference in the isomers C2H4O2 abundances. We also quantified the daugther species after the establishment of a chemical equilibrium in the samples.

THE ANALYSIS OF OIL WELLS CONSTRUCTION IN ABNORMAL CONDITIONS IN EASTERN SIBERIA OIL-FIELDS

The paper presents an analysis of oil wells construction at oil fields of Eastern Siberia. The petrophysical formation cross-section affecting the quality of oil wells construction is characterized. In addition, drilling and casing experience under those mining and geological conditions demonstrates that, as of today, there are no readily available technologies that would afford safe and efficient construction of oil wells in that region. The analysis of the oil wells construction gives grounds to demonstrate indispensability of a comprehensive approach to solving the problems of construction and operation of oil wells at oil fields of the Talakangroup of deposits.