Mineralogy and geochemistry of trachytic rocks from the Lichi Volcanics, Eastern Himalaya: insights into the Kerguelen mantle plume activity in the Eastern Himalayan Region

The Lichi volcanics are a suite of mafic-intermediate-felsic rocks and are considered coeval with the Abor volcanics(~132 Ma) of the Siang window in the Eastern Himalaya. Here, we present the first report of trachytic rocks from the Lichi volcanics, which are exposed in the Ranga valley, along the Kimin-Yazali road section in the Eastern Himalayan Region, Northeast India. The trachytes occur in close association with sandstones of the Gondwana Group of rocks and are characterised based on field, petrographical, and geochemical investigations.These fine-grained trachytes are composed of alkali feldspar, biotite, plagioclase, sodic-amphibole, apatite, illmenite, and titanite. The REE profiles of the evolved trachytic rocks(higher SiO_(2)content) display fractionated trends. The fractionation of accessory mineral phases, like apatite and titanite, was possibly responsible for the strongly fractionated REE patterns of the evolved samples.The trachytic rocks demonstrate high apatite saturation temperatures of 988 ± 14 ℃(1σ, n = 8). The Aluminium Saturation Index(< 1.1) and binary discrimination diagrams of these peralkaline trachytes define their affinity with A-type granitoids. Elemental ratios like Y/Nb, Nb/U,and Ce/Pb signify that the Lichi trachytes are differentiated products of mantle-derived ocean island basalts. Trace elemental discrimination diagrams Th/Yb versus Nb/Yb, Y versus Nb, and Y + Nb versus Rb reflect a within-plate tectonic regime for the trachytes. From the results presented in this work, we infer that the development of rifting events during the breakup of eastern Gondwana due to the onset of Kerguelen plume activity further led to underplating of basic magma in lower crustal levels. These parental basaltic magmas underwent fractionation processes forming differentiated trachyandesites and trachytes.Taking into consideration the similarities recorded between the Lichi volcanics and Abor volcanics, this study supports the idea that Kerguelen plume activities resulted in the emplacement of these volcanics in the Eastern Himalayas.

Numerical simulation of carbon arc discharge for graphene synthesis without catalyst

In this study, graphene sheets are prepared under a hydrogen atmosphere without a catalyst, and the growth mechanism of graphene by direct current arc discharge is investigated experimentally and numerically. The size and layer numbers of graphene sheets increase with the arc current.Distributions of temperature, velocity, and mass fraction of carbon are obtained through numerical simulations. A high current corresponds to a high saturation temperature, evaporation rate, and mass density of carbon clusters. When the carbon vapor is saturated, the saturation temperatures are 3274.9, 3313.9, and 3363.6 K, and the mass densities are 6.4×1022,8.42×1022, and 1.23×1023 m-3 under currents of 150, 200, and 250 A, respectively. A hydrogen-induced marginal growth model is used to explain the growth mechanism. Under a high current, the condensation coefficient and van der Waals force increase owing to the higher saturation temperature and mass density of carbon clusters, which is consistent with experimental results.

A Comparative Study of the Atmospheric Layers below First Lifting Condensation Level for Instantaneous Pre-Monsoon Thunderstorm Ocurence at Agartala(23°30′N,91°15′E) and Ranchi(23°14′N,85°14′E) of India

An attempt has been made to investigate the role of vertical wind shear, convective instability and the thermodynamic parameter ( θ es -θ e ) below the first lifting condensation level (FLCL) in the occurrence of instantaneous premonsoon thunderstorm over Agartala (AGT) and Ranchi (RNC) at 12 GMT. Radiosonde data of 1988 have been utilized here. The study has however been confined to 1000 hPa-500 hPa range at most. Here the convectively unstable layers with positive vertical wind shear upto 500 hPa have been termed as ‘Favourable Layers’ (FL) and the level at which an initially stable layer turns out to be convectively unstable for the first time has been termed as ‘Transition Level’ (TL). It is observed that the changes in vertical wind shear are positive at TL at the time of occurrence of thunderstorm (TS) and the corresponding change is negative on fair-weather situation. Moreover, the 90% confidence interval for ( θ es -θ e ) reveals that for AGT the upper layer thermodynamic characteristic is important at the time of occurrence of TS whereas for RNC, the value of ( θ es -θ e ) at the surface is much more effective.

Magnetic Properties of NdMn_(6-x) Co_x Sn_6 Compounds

NdMn_(6-x)CoxSn_6(x=0,0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8,1,1.5) were found to crystallize in the YCoeGe6 type structure.The magnetic ordering temperature(Curie temperature) and the saturation magnetization at room temperature decreases with increasing Co content in NdMn_(6-x)Co_xSn_6 compounds.The spin reorientation process appears in all compounds.The spin orientation temperature increases with increasing Co content for NdMn_(3-x)Co_xSn_6.

Behavior of Element Vaporization and Composition Control of Fe-Ga Alloy during Vacuum Smelting

Saturated vapor pressure, critical evaporation temperature and evaporation loss rate of Fe-Ga alloy were calculated under different conditions of Ga and Fe contents with activity coefficients. The relationship between the change of Ga content and melting time was determined. The results demonstrated that saturated vapor pressure of Ga was higher than that of Fe under the same conditions. The difference value of critical evaporation temperature of Ga with and without Ar was nearly 800 K. The critical evaporation temperature of Fe was higher than that of Ga under vacuum, indicating that Ga was more volatile than Fe. At 1800 K, the evaporation rate of Ga was 84 times higher than that of Fe in the melt of Fe81Ga19 alloy. Under this condition, the change of Ga content and smelting time kept a linear relationship. The higher the temperature was, the faster the Ga content decreased, which was consistent with theoretical calculations.

The gelation rule of the polyol acetal derivatives in binary solvent mixtures

The gelation properties of polyol acetal derivatives including 2,4-（3,4-dichlorobenzylidene）-D-sorbitol（DCBS）, 1,3：2,4-di（3,4-dichlorobenzylidene）-D-sorbitol（DDCBS） and 1,3：2,5：4,6-tris（3,4-dichlorobenzylidene）-D-mannitol（TDCBM） in 35 single solvents and 39 binary solvent mixtures have been studied. FTIR and XRD results suggest that the self-assembly patterns of the gelator will not change in either the single solvent component or the corresponding solvent mixtures, but the critical gelation concentration（CGC）will be influenced. The results of SEM and rheology showed that the formation of true gels at saturated concentrations. Improving the heating temperature may promote the dissolving of gelators which are even insoluble at the temperature of the solvent boiling point and change the gelation behaviors. FloryHuggins parameter（x） was used to predict the gelation behavior of DCBS in the mixed solvents, and it is shown that the x values for the mixed solvents that can be gelled by DCBS are either greater or smaller than those for the selected good solvents.