Measurement of the Dielectric Properties of Volcanic Scoria and Basalt at 9370 MHz

Dielectric data for volcanic scoria and basalt on the earth at microwave frequency are extremely sparse, and also crucial for volcanic terrains imaging, and development. In consideration of their similarity to lunar regolith (soils and rocks) in chemical and mineral composition, the dielectric data is significative for passive and active microwave remote sensing on the Moon. This study provides the data about the dielectric properties of three kinds of scoria and two kinds of basalt in China. The method put forward in this paper is also applicable for measuring the dielectric properties of dry rocks and other granular ground materials with low complex dielectric constants. Firstly, the authors measured the e' and tanδ values of strip specimens prepared from the mixture of scoria or basalt powder and polythene with the resonant cavity perturbation method at 9370 MHz. Secondly, from the ε' and tanδ values of the mixture, the ε' s and tanδ s values of solid scoria and basalt were calculated using Lichtenecker's mixture formulae. Finally, the effective complex dielectric constants, ε' e and tanδ e , of scoria at different bulk densities were calculated. The results have shown that the ε' s and tanδ s values of all solid basaltic materials measured (both solid basaltic scoria or basalt) are approximately 7 and 0.05, respectively. With increasing bulk density of scoria, the ε' c and tanδ e values of scoria increase significantly.

Heterogeneity of Parent Rocks and Its Constraints on Geochemical Criteria in Weathering Crusts of Carbonate Rocks

Owing to the low contents of their acid-insoluble components, carbonate rocks tend to decrease sharply in volume in association with the formation of weathering crust. The formation of a 1 m-thick weathering crust would usually consume more than ten meters to several tens of meters of thickness of parent rocks. The knowledge of how to identify the homogeneity of parent rocks is essential to understand the formation mechanism of weathering crust in karst regions, especially that of thick-layered red weathering crust. In this work the grain-size analyses have demonstrated that the three profiles studied are the residual weathering crust of carbonate rocks and further showed that there objectively exists the heterogeneity of parent rocks in the three studied weathering crusts. The heterogeneity of parent rocks can also be reflected m geochemical parameters of major elements, just as the characteristics of frequency plot of grain-size distribution. Conservative trace element ratios Zr/Hf and Nb/Ta are proven to be unsuitable for tracing the heterogeneity of parent rocks of weathering crust, but its geochemical mechanism is unclear. The authors strongly suggest in this paper that the identification of the homogeneity of parent rocks of weathering crust in karst regions is of prime necessity.

Water Self-Softening Processes at Waterfall Sites

Many rivers in tropical and subtropical karst regions are supersaturated with respect to CaCO3 and have high water hardness. After flowing through waterfall sites, river water is usually softened, accompanied by tufa formation, which is simply described as a result of water turbulence in fast-flowing water. In this paper, a series of laboratory experiments are designed to simulate the hydrological conditions at waterfall sites. The influences of air-water interface, water flow velocity, aeration and solid-water interface on water softening are compared and evaluated on a quantitative basis. The results show that the enhanced inorganic CO2 outgassing due to sudden hydrological changes occurring at waterfall sites is the principal cause of water softening at waterfall sites. Both air-water interface area and water flow velocity increase as a result of the 'aeration effect', 'low pressure effect' and 'jet-flow effect' at waterfall sites, which greatly accelerates CO2 outgassing and therefore makes natural waters become highly supersaturated with respect to CaCO3, consequently resulting in much CaCO3 deposition and reduction of water hardness. Aeration, rapidly increasing air-water interface area and water flow velocity, proves to be effective in reducing water hardness. This study may provide a cheap, safe and effective way to soften water.

自研100μm/400μm光纤实现1000W纳秒脉冲激光输出

搭建了基于声光调Q种子源的主振荡高功率放大(MOPA)系统。采用自主设计和制备的大模场双包层(100μm/400μm)有源光纤,通过两级放大,在重复频率为60 kHz、脉冲宽度为150 ns的条件下实现了平均功率为1000 W的脉冲输出,斜率效率为72.5%,光谱显示无剩余泵浦光和寄生振荡,同时没有受激拉曼散射效应。此时的脉冲宽度展宽到260 ns,单脉冲能量为16.7 mJ。这是采用国产光纤实现脉冲激光器平均功率突破1000 W的首次报道。