XRPD and SEM-EDS Identification of a Mineralogical Standards Kit Forming a 19th Century Collection for Educational Analysis

An historical collection of more than one hundred samples of minerals and ore, used in the second half of the XVIII century was found and acquired during Munich Mineralientage 2014. The samples contained in numbered glass vials but lacking description, were prepared for teaching purpose about determinative mineralogy and ore recognition. All samples were analysed and identified. The identification effort drove the authors along a historical excursus about the didactics of mineralogy and the dry method analysis, nowadays neglected.

Effects of Modulation Methods on the Drying Characteristics and Nutritional Quality of Medicago sativa Hay

Two-year-old Medicago sativa at budding initial stage was taken as research materials.Five methods were used to make green hay,including flatting stems ＋ spraying 2.5% K2CO3,flatting stems,sun curing,drying in shade and drying under 105 ℃ condition（CK）.Besides,effects of different green hay making methods on dry characteristics and nutritional quality of M.sativa green hay were studied,and a comprehensive evaluation of M.sativa green hays was conducted.Results showed that,except CK,the drying rates in other making methods were all fast at first,and then slow down.Both of drying under 105 ℃ condition and flatting stems ＋ spraying K2CO3 could speed up drying rate and reduce nutritional losses of green hay.Sun curing could also speed up drying rate,but it could not maintain the quality of green hay.The results of Grey Relational Analysis on five green hay making methods indicated that CK had the best comprehensive performance,followed by green hays made by flatting stems ＋ spraying K2CO3.Therefore,flatting stems ＋ spraying K2CO3 was a quick and easy method to make green hay,and it was worth to be recommended in practical production.

Characteristics of dry deposited mineral particles associated with weather conditions in the adjacent sea areas of East China during a cruise in spring 2011

Dry deposited particles, larger than 1.3 μm, were collected under clear, cloudy, and foggy conditions during a cruise, traversing the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea from 23 March to 8 April 2011. In these areas, air masses are influenced by pollution outflows from the Asian continent. The size and elemental composition of dry deposited particles were investigated using a scanning electron microscope. Number-size distributions of these particles were approximately lognormal. Under clear conditions, the mode size was about 5.0 μm, with a mean diameter of 6.9 μm. Under cloudy and foggy conditions, the mean diameters were 5.7 and 6.0 μm, respectively, but the mode sizes were vague. Non-mixed mineral particles, sea salt, and mixed mineral-sea salt particles were the major particle types. Correspondingly, Al and Si were the most frequently detected elements. Frequencies of K-, Ca-, and S-containing particles were highest under foggy conditions, while the frequency of Na-containing particles was lowest. These results indicate that fog favored sulfate production on the particles and led to the deposited mineral particles more abundant in secondary salt, suggesting the importance to consider the dependence of the comoosition of deoosited mineral narticles on weather as well as narticle size.

Dry deposition of PM_(10) over the Yellow Sea during Asian dust events from 2001 to 2007

Dry deposition velocities and fluxes of PM10 during Asian dust events over the Yellow Sea from 2001 to 2007 were investigated using observation data in Qingdao, China and Jeju, Korea. The dry deposition velocities of PM 10 during dust events over the Yellow Sea ranged from 0.19 to 8.17 cm/sec, with an average of 3.38 cm/sec. Dry deposition fluxes of PM10 during dust events over the Yellow Sea were in the range of 68.5-2647.1 mg/（m2.day）, with an average of 545.4 mg/（m2.day）, which is 2-10 times higher than those reported by other studies for both dust and non-dust periods. It was estimated that 2.6× 10^11-48.7 × 10^11 g dust particles deposit to the Yellow Sea during dust events through dry deposition every year. Compared with the results in previous studies, it was found that the dry deposition of PM10 over the Yellow Sea during dust events in the years with high frequency of dust could account for a large or overwhelming fraction of the annual total dry deposition. Backward air mass trajectory analysis showed that dust events influenced Jeju mainly originated from the desert regions located in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. There were 119 backward trajectories influenced both Qingdao and Jeju during 15 dust events from 2001 to 2007, accounting for 61.3% of the total trajectories of 194, indicating that Qingdao and Jeju were usually on the same pathway of dust transport downwind from source areas.