Boron Isotopic Composition of Halite from 46-m-long Sediment Core in the Qarhan Salt Lake,Western China

Previous studies have investigated the boron isotopic composition of salt lake brines in the Qaidam Basin,western China.However,the research on boron isotopic composition of halite is very limited due to halite’s low

Early planetary processes and light elements in iron-dominated cores

This paper discusses the latest research on the accretion and differentiation of terrestrial planets and multidisciplinary constraints on light elements in irondominated metallic cores.The classic four-stage model of terrestrial planet formation advocates slow and local accretion.Meanwhile,the pebble accretion model suggests fast accretion for planets,while the Grand Tack model provides heterogeneous accretion mechanisms.Terrestrial planets and small interstellar bodies may have experienced at least some degree of partial melting due to the three primary energy sources(i.e.,the decay of short-lived radioactive nuclides,the kinetic energy delivered by impacts,and the conversion of gravitational potential energy).Together with metal-silicate separation mechanisms,the magma ocean theory depicts the pattern of core formation in terrestrial planets.Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the concentration of siderophile elements in the mantle,including the single-stage,continuous,and multistage core formation models,and the lateveneer model.Some light elements have been postulated in the core to account for Earth’s outer core density deficit.A plethora of constraints on the species and concentration of light elements have been put forward from the perspectives of cosmochemical and geochemical fingerprints,geophysical observations,mineral physics,numerical modeling,and theoretical prediction.Si and O may be the two leading candidates for Earth’s outer core light elements;however,it still remains an open question.S is another potential light element in Earth’s core,most likely with less than 2 wt%.Other light elements including H and C,may not exceed1 wt%in the core.Moreover,the accretion and differentiation history would provide some clues to light elements in other terrestrial planetary cores.In principle,a larger heliocentric distance corresponds to accretion from more oxidized materials,leading to a higher S concentration in the Martian core.On the contrary,Mercury is close to the Sun and has accreted from more reduced materials,resulting in more Si in the core.

Experiments and simulation of low-velocity impact characteristics on carbon fiber composite lattice core sandwich structures

Since composite sandwich structures are susceptible to low-velocity impact damage,a thorough characterization of the loading and damage process during impact is important.In the present paper,the low-velocity impact response of carbon fiber composites lattice structures is investigated by experimental and numerical methods.Impact tests on composite plates are performed using an instrumented drop-weight machine(Instron 9250HV)and a new damage mode is observed.A three-dimensional finite element model is built by ABAQUS/Explicit and user subroutine(VUMAT)to predict the peak loading and simulate the complicated damage problem.The numerical predictions are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Experimental study of partially-cured Z-pins reinforced foam core composites:K-Cor sandwich structures

This paper presents an experimental study of a novel K-Cor sandwich structure rein- forced with partially-cured Z-pins. The influence of pultrusion processing parameters on Z-pins characteristics was studied and the effect of Z-pins on mechanical properties was disclosed. Differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and optical microscopy （OM） methods were employed to determine the curing degree of as-prepared Z-pins and observe the implanted Z-pins in the K-Cor structure. These partially-cured Z-pins were treated with a stronger bonding link between face sheets and the foam core by means of a hot-press process, thereby decreasing burrs and cracking defects when the Z-pins were implanted into the Rohacell foam core. The results of the out-of-plane tensile tests and the climbing drum peel （CDP） tests showed that K-Cor structures exhibited superior mechanical performance as compared to X-Cor and blank foam core. The observed results of failure modes revealed that an effective bonding link between the foam core and face sheets that was provided from partially-cured Z-pins contributed to the enhanced mechan- ical performances of K-Cor sandwich structures.

Band-gap Properties of Elastic Sandwich Metamaterial Plates with Composite Periodic Rod Core

A novel elastic sandwich metamaterial plate with composite periodic rod core is designed,and the frequency band-gap characteristics are numerically and experimentally investigated.The finite element and spectral element hybrid method(FE-SEHM)is developed to obtain the dynamic stiffness matrix of the sandwich metamaterial plate.The frequency response curves of the plate structure under the harmonic excitation are calculated using the presented numerical method and validated by the vibration experiment.By comparing with the frequency response curves of sandwich metamaterial plate with pure elastic rod core,improved band-gap properties are achieved from the designed metamaterial plate with composite periodic rod core.The elastic metamaterial plate with composite periodic rod core can generate more band-gaps,so it can suppress the vibration and elastic wave propagation in the structure more effectively.

First-principles calculations of elasticity of minerals at high temperature and pressure

The elasticity of minerals at high temperature and pressure （PT） is critical for constraining the composition and temperature of the Earth＇s interior and understand better the deep water cycle and the dynamic Earth. First-principles calcula- tions without introducing any adjustable parameters, whose results can be comparable to experimental data, play a more and more important role in investigating the elasticity of minerals at high PT mainly because of （1） the quick increasing of computational powers and （2） advances in method. For example, the new method reduces the computation loads to one-tenth of the traditional method with the comparable precise as the traditional method. This is extraordinarily helpful because first-principles calculations of the elasticity of minerals at high PT are extremely time-consuming. So far the elasticity of most of lower mantle minerals has been investigated in detail. We have good idea on the effect of temperature, pressure, and iron concentration on elasticity of main minerals of the lower mantle and the unusual softening in bulk modulus by the spin crosso- ver of iron in ferropericlase. With these elastic data the lower mantle has been constrained to have 10-15 wt% ferropericlase, which is sufficient to generate some visible effects of spin crossover in seismic tomography. For example, the spin crossover causes that the temperature sensitivity of P wave at the depth of -1700 km is only a fraction of that at the depth of -2300 kin. The disruptions of global P wave structure and of P wave image below hotspots such as Hawaii and Iceland at similar depth are in consistence with the spin crossover effect of iron in ferropericlase. The spin crossover, which causes anomalous ther- modynamic properties of ferropericlase, has also been found to play a control role for the two features of the large low shear velocity provinces （LLSVPs）： the sharp edge and high elevation up to 1000 km above core-mantle boundary. All these results clearly suggest the spin crossover of iron in the lower mantle. The theoretical investigations for the elasticity of minerals at the upper mantle and water effect on elasticity of minerals at the mantle transition zone and subducting slab have also been con- ducted extensively. These researches are critical for understanding better the composition of the upper mantle and water dis- tribution and transport in the Earth＇s mantle. Most of these were static calculations, which did not include the vibrational （temperature） effect on elasticity, although temperature effect on elasticity is basic because of high temperature at the Earth＇s interior and huge temperature difference between the ambient mantle and the subducting slab. Including temperature effect on elasticity of minerals should be important future work. New method developed is helpful for these directions. The elasticity of iron and iron-alloy with various light elements has also been calculated extensively. However, more work is necessary in order to meet the demand for constraining the types and amount of light elements at the Earth＇s core. Keywords Mantle temperature, Mantle composition, Composition of Earth＇s core, Ab initio method