Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Content Range (content + range)
Selected AbstractsQuantifying the relationship between soil organic carbon and soil physical properties using shrinkage modellingEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2009P. Boivin Summary Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) may strongly affect soil structure and soil physical properties, which in turn may have feedback effects on the soil microbial activity and SOC dynamics. Such interactions are still not quantitatively described and accounted for in SOC dynamics modelling. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that soil shrinkage curve (ShC) analysis allows the establishment of close relationships between soil physical properties and SOC. We sampled a rice-cropped vertisol, a cambisol under conventional tillage and no-tillage and a restored cambisol. Soil samples were analysed for clay and SOC content, bulk volume, hydro-structural stability and plasma and structural pore volumes changes on the full water content range using ShC analysis. Although the soils behaved differently according to their constituents and history, changes in SOC linearly affected most of the soil physical properties, with stronger effects than changes in clay content. The observed effects of increasing SOC, such as increasing hydro-structural stability, specific bulk volume and water retention, agreed well with previously reported results. However, using ShC measurement and modelling allowed the observation of all these different effects simultaneously for small changes in SOC, and in a single measurement. Moreover, the relation between SOC changes and physical properties could be quantified. ShC analysis may, therefore, be used to account for the effect of changes in SOC on soil physical properties. [source] COFFEE DRYING IN A ROTARY CONDUCTION-TYPE HEATING UNITJOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2004GIKURU MWITHIGA ABSTRACT Parchment coffee (Arabica) was dried from an initial moisture content of about 90% to 10% dry basis (db) in a recirculating rotary conduction type heating unit at controlled plenum temperatures of 100, 120 and 140C or controlled product temperatures of 50, 60, and 70C. the temperature of the plenum or moving beans could be maintained at specified levels with small variations during coffee drying experiments. the color and specific gravity of coffee beans exhibited minimum changes as a result of drying operations. the susceptibility of coffee beans to breakage decreased with the lowering of moisture and attained minimum values in the moisture content range of 20 to 30% db. the breakage susceptibility increased sharply with further reduction in moisture content. A drying model, which considered product temperature-time history alone under different operating conditions, estimated the change in moisture content adequately. Such a model could be used for computer-based control of the coffee drying process. [source] Characterizing diversity in composition and pasting properties of tuber flour in yam germplasm (Dioscorea spp.) from Southern EthiopiaJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 10 2008Muluneh Tamiru Abstract BACKGROUND: Studies on composition and functional properties in germplasm collections are important in determining their diversity and suitability for food and non-food applications. The diversity in 65 yam accessions collected from Southern Ethiopia and belonging largely to a yet unknown species and to Dioscorea bulbifera L. (aerial yam) was analyzed based on protein, starch and amylose contents, and pasting properties of tuber flour, applying descriptive and multivariate statistics. RESULT: Starch content varied from 65.2% to 76.6% dry matter, while the protein content range was 6.4,13.4% dry matter. Amylose represented between 7.1% and 30.6% of the starch fraction, and was negatively correlated (P < 0.01) with starch content. UPGMA clustering and principal component analysis clearly distinguished aerial yam from those accessions with underground tubers. The first four principal components accounted for 78% of the total variability, and were highly correlated with pasting parameters. CONCLUSION: The extent of diversity detected among accessions studied showed scope for improving the crop through selection of landraces with desirable characteristics. Similar investigations on tubers grown under different environmental conditions and additional data on physicochemical properties of isolated starch will be useful in evaluating the potential of yam for food and non-food applications. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Physicochemical properties and application of pullulan edible films and coatings in fruit preservationJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 10 2001Tony Diab Abstract The effects of water, sorbitol and a sucrose fatty acid ester (SE) on the water sorption behaviour and thermal and mechanical properties of pullulan-based edible films as well as the physiological responses of fruit coated with pullulan have been studied. Incorporation of sorbitol or SE in pullulan films resulted in lower equilibrium moisture contents at low to intermediate water activities (aw), but much higher moisture contents at aw,>,0.75; estimates of monolayer values (within 4.1,5.9,gH2O,kg,1 solids) were given by application of the Brunauer,Emmett,Teller (BET) and Guggenheim,Anderson,DeBoer (GAB) models. A single glass,rubber transition (Tg), attributed to the polysaccharide component, was detected by calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) at a sorbitol level of 15,30% DM. With both tests the strong plasticising action of water and polyol was evident in the thermal curves, and the Tg vs moisture content data were successfully fitted to the Gordon,Taylor empirical model. Multifrequency DMTA measurements provided estimates for the apparent activation energy of the glass transition in the range of , 300,488,kJ,mol,1. With large-deformation mechanical testing, large decreases in Young's moduli (tensile and three-point bend tests) were observed as a result of water- and/or polyol-mediated glass-to-rubber transition of the polymeric films. In the moisture content range of 2,8%, increases in flexural modulus (E) and maximum stress (,max) with small increases in moisture content were found for films made of pullulan or pullulan mixed with 15% DM sorbitol; a strong softening effect was observed when the water content exceeded this range. Addition of sorbitol increased the water vapour transmission rate of the films, whereas addition of SE had the opposite effect. Application of a pullulan/sorbitol/SE coating on strawberries resulted in large changes in internal fruit atmosphere composition which were beneficial for extending the shelf-life of this fruit; the coated fruit showed much higher levels of CO2, a large reduction in internal O2, better firmness and colour retention and a reduced rate of weight loss. In contrast, similar studies on whole kiwifruits showed increased levels of internal ethylene, which caused acceleration of fruit ripening during storage. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Petrology and mineralogy of the angrite Northwest Africa 1670METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 11 2008A. JAMBON With subordinate clinopyroxene and chrome-spinel microphenocrysts (0.2-0.5 mm), they represent a xenocrystic association. Phenocrysts are surrounded by a groundmass, predominantly comprising bundles of plagioclase and clinopyroxene (typically 20 × 200 ,m crystals). Olivine and kirschsteinite are present in the groundmass in lesser amounts. The olivine xenocrysts (Fo90) are significantly fractured and show mosaicism for their major part, the remaining showing faint undulatory extinction. They are surrounded with a rim of 100,200 ,m zoned down to Fo80 and overgrown with serrated olivine, Fo80 to Fo60 (about 100 ,m). Olivine in the groundmass is zoned from Mg# 0.55 to 0.15; its CaO content ranges 2.0 to 8.4%. Subcalcic kirschsteinite is zoned from Mg# 0.13 to 0.03, CaO increasing from 15.8 to 21.3%. Pyroxenes xenocrysts (Mg# = 0.77) are superseded in the groundmass by less magnesian pyroxenes, Mg# 0.61 to 0.17, with an average FeO/ MnO of 98. Their compositions range from En30 Fs22 Wo27 Al-Ts28 Ti-Ts2 to En2 Fs37 Wo22 Al-Ts40 Ti-Ts1. Anorthite microcrysts (An99-100) are restricted to the groundmass. Accessories are pyrrhotite, kamacite, Ca-phosphate, titanomagnetite, hercynite and Ca-carbonate. The bulk chemical composition confirms that NWA 1670 corresponds to a normal angrite melt that incorporated olivine. High Mg olivine xenocrysts and the associated mineralogy are typical of angrites. We suggest that it is an impact melt with relict phenocrysts. The strong silica undersaturation, the presence of Fo90 olivine xenocrysts and carbonate support their derivation as melilite-like melts in the presence of carbonate. [source] Palladium, Platinum and Gold Concentrations in Fengshan Porphyry Cu,Mo Deposit, Hubei Province, ChinaACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 5 2009Minfang WANG Abstract: The Fengshan porphyry-skarn copper,molybdenum (Cu,Mo) deposit is located in the south-eastern Hubei Province in east China. Cu,Mo mineralization is hosted in the Fengshan granodiorite porphyry stock that intruded the Triassic Daye Formation carbonate rocks in the early Cretaceous (,140 Ma), as well as the contact zone between granodiorite porphyry stock and carbonate rocks, forming the porphyry-type and skarn-type association. The Fengshan granodiorite stock and the immediate country rocks are strongly fractured and intensely altered by hydrothermal fluids. In addition to intense skarn alteration, the prominent alteration types are potassic, phyllic, and propylitic, whereas argillation is less common. Mineralization occurs as veins, stock works, and disseminations, and the main ore minerals are chalcopyrite, pyrite, molybdenite, bornite, and magnetite. The contents of palladium, platinum and gold (Pd, Pt and Au) are determined in nine samples from fresh and mineralized granodiorite and different types of altered rocks. The results show that the Pd content is systematically higher than Pt, which is typical for porphyry ore deposits worldwide. The Pt content ranges from 0.037 to 1.765 ppb, and the Pd content ranges between 0.165 and 17.979 ppb. Pd and Pt are more concentrated in porphyry mineralization than skarn mineralization, and have negative correlations with Au. The reconnaissance study presented here confirms the existence of Pd and Pt in the Fengshan porphyry-skarn Cu,Mo deposit. When compared with intracontinent and island arc geotectonic settings, the Pd, Pt, and Au contents in the Fengshan porphyry Cu,Mo deposit in the intracontinent is lower than the continental margin types and island are types. A combination of available data indicates that Pd and Pt were derived from oxidized alkaline magmas generated by the partial melting of an enriched mantle source. [source] CRETACEOUS CARBONATES IN THE ADIYAMAN REGION, SE TURKEY: AN ASSESSMENT OF BURIAL HISTORY AND SOURCE-ROCK POTENTIALJOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2000I. H. Demirel The burial history and source-rock potential of Cretaceous carbonates in the Adiyaman region of SE Turkey have been investigated. The carbonates belong to the Aptian-Campanian Mardin Group and the overlying Karabogaz Formation. The stratigraphy of these carbonates at four well locations was recorded. At each well, the carbonate succession was found to be incomplete, and important unconformities were present indicating periods of non-deposition and/or erosion. These unconformities are of variable extent. When combined with the effects of rapid subsidence and sedimentation which took place in the SW of the Adiyaman region during end-Cretaceous foredeep development, they have resulted in variations in the carbonates' present-day burial depths, thereby influencing the regional pattern of source-rock maturation and the timing of oil generation. Burial history curves indicate that the carbonates' maturity increases from SW to NE, towards the Late Cretaceous thrust belt. Predicted levels of maturity for the Mardin Group are consistent with measured geochemical data from three of the wells in the study area (the exception being well Karadag-1). Three potential source-rock intervals of Cretaceous age have been identified. Two of these units , the Derdere and Karababa Formations of the Mardin Group , are composed of shallow-water carbonates which were deposited on the northern margin of the Arabian Platform. The third source-rock unit, the overlying Karabogaz Formation, is composed of pelagic carbonates which were deposited during a regional transgression. These potential source-rock intervals contain marine organic matter dominated by Type II kerogen. Total organic carbon contents range from 0.5 to 2.9 %. Time-temperature analyses indicate that the Mardin Group carbonates are immature to marginally mature at well locations in the SW of the study area, and are mature at western and NE well locations. The onset of oil generation in these Cretaceous source rocks took place between the middle Eocene (48 million yrs ago) and the Oligocene (28 million yrs ago). [source] Geochemistry and Genesis of the Late Jurassic Granitoids at Northern Great Hinggan Range: Implications for ExplorationACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 2 2010Guang WU Abstract: The Longgouhe and Ershiyizhan intrusions of the Late Jurassic, located in the Upper Heilongjiang Basin of the northern Great Hinggan Range, are closely related to porphyry Cu-Au mineralizations. In lithology the intrusions are quartz diorite, quartz monzodiorite and granodiorite of high-K calc-alkaline series, with minor aspects of shoshonite series. Their SiO2 and Al2O3 contents range from 61.37% to 66.59% and 15.35% to 17.06%, respectively. The MgO content ranges from 2.02% to 3.47%, with Mg# indices of 44,59. The (La/Yb)N and Eu/Eu* values range from 16.85 to 81.73 and 0.68 to 0.93, respectively, showing strong differentiation rare earth element (REE) patterns similar to those of adakites. The rocks are enriched in Ba, Sr and light REE (LREE), obviously depleted in Nb and Ta, slightly depleted in Rb and Ti, and poor in Yb and Y, with Yb and Y contents of 0.31,1.32 ppm and 4.32,12.07 ppm, respectively. As indicated by Sr/Y ratios of 67.74,220.60, the rocks are characterized by low-Y and high-Sr contents, which characterize the adakites in the world. Holistically, geochemical tracers suggest that the interested intrusions are adakitic rocks. Given that the Paleo-Asian Ocean and Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean were closed in the Late Paleozoic and Permian-Middle Jurassic, respectively, the interested intrusions should be formed by partial melting of delaminated crust, which had been thickened during collisional orogeny between the Siberian and Mongolian-Sinokorean continents. [source] | |||||||||||||