Particle Signatures Research Articles

Microchemical signature of alluvial gold from two contrasting terrains in Cameroon

The microchemical signature of alluvial gold particles has wide application in constraining their primary sources. In this study, we apply this concept to investigate the composition of gold-bearing alloys from alluvial samples draining two geologically distinct terrains in southern and eastern Cameroon where the search for primary gold has remained elusive. The first set of gold grains (Lom grains) are from the Lom river drainage system with predominantly metasedimentary Pan-African rocks in the catchment region while the second set of grains (Nyong grains) are from the Mbal and Ebap tributaries of the Nyong river draining over a Paleoproterozoic complex comprising metamorphosed ultramafic rocks, amphibolites and granulitic gneisses. The gold grains recovered from these fluvial networks after panning were first studied under an electron microscope in order to evaluate their morphological features and subsequently embedded in epoxy resin, polished, and their compositions determined by both electron microprobe (EMPA) and laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) techniques. The Lom grains are irregular to sub rounded with extensively pitted surfaces while the Nyong grains are predominantly rounded, oblong and with smooth surfaces. Nyong grains are devoid of inclusions while galena and pyrite are entombed in the Lom grains. Both set of grains are essentially Au–Ag alloys although the Ag content of the cores of the Nyong grains from both EMPA and LA-ICP-MS analytical techniques are significantly lower (0.05–6.07 wt% Ag; 93.54–99.29 wt% Au) than for Lom gold (0.06–22.75 wt% Ag; 78.76–99.86 wt% Au). X-ray element distribution maps do not show any zonal variation in core composition suggesting the gold grains derived from lode sources with single episode of hydrothermal gold deposition. Also the Nyong grains have significant amounts of Pt, Pd and Cr suggesting a link with ultramafic rocks while the Lom grains have substantial Sb and Zn levels pointing to hydrothermal quartz veining as the possible primary mineralization system. The grains from both localities have Ag-depleted rims. The results demonstrate that the microchemical signature of gold is useful to study the hypogene environment of a given area and a field for hydrothermal-orogenic gold is proposed on the ternary Au–Ag–Hg and Au–Ag–Cu plots.

Enhancement of oil particle sensor capability via resonance-based signal decomposition and fractional calculus

Abstract Oil particle sensors can provide valuable information about the conditions of mechanical devices by detecting the metallic particles falling from machine components into lubricating oil due to fatigue, corrosion and pitting. However, the vibration interferences and background noise in the signals from a particle sensor make it difficult to precisely detect the particle quantity and size, and thus lead to misleading detection results. To enhance the capabilities of oil particle sensors, resonance-based signal decomposition is employed in this study to separate the output signal of the oil particle sensor into two components, i.e., the high-resonance and the low-resonance components. Since the high- and the low-resonance components reflect the harmonic signal components and the impulse signal components contained in the original signal respectively, only the low-resonance component contains the particle signal contents. Then the fractional calculus technique is applied to extract the oil particle signature from the low-resonance component. In this way, the interferences can be eliminated and the particle signature can be reliably extracted. The performance of the proposed approach has been validated by both simulated and experimental data.

Combining microscopy with spectroscopic and chemical methods for tracing the origin of atmospheric fallouts from mining sites

Populations living close to mining sites are often exposed to important heavy metal concentrations, especially through atmospheric fallouts. Identifying the main sources of metal-rich particles remains a challenge because of the similarity of the particle signatures from the polluted sites. This work provides an original combination of physical and chemical methods to determine the main sources of airborne particles impacting inhabited zones. Raman microspectrometry (RMS), X-ray diffraction (DRX), morphology analyses by microscopy and chemical composition were assessed. Geochemical analysis allowed the identification of target and source areas; XRD and RMS analysis identified the main mineral phases in association with their metal content and speciation. The characterization of the dominant minerals was combined with particle morphology analysis to identify fallout sources. The complete description of dust morphologies permitted the successful determination of a fingerprint of each source site. The analysis of these chemical and morphological fingerprints allowed identification of the mine area as the main contributor of metal-rich particles impacting the inhabited zone. In addition to the identification of the main sources of airborne particles, this study will also permit to better define the extent of polluted zones requiring remediation or protection from eolian erosion inducing metal-rich atmospheric fallouts.

Low‐energy ion precipitation structures associated with pulsating auroral patches

AbstractPulsating auroras often appear in forms of geo‐stable or slowly convecting “patches.” These patches can maintain their rough shape and size over many sequences of luminosity pulsations, yet they slowly drift with ionospheric E × B convection. Because of these characteristics, there has long been a speculation that the pulsating auroral patch (PAP) is connected to flux tubes filled with enhanced cold plasma. In this study, we perform a survey on pulsating auroral events when the footprints of low‐Earth‐orbit satellites traversed the PAPs, with a focus on the low‐energy particle signatures associated with the PAPs. As a result, we identified, in a majority (~2/3) of events, the existence of a low‐energy ion precipitation structure that is collocated with the PAP, with core energies ranging from several tens of eV up to a few hundred eV. This result supports the hypothesis that a PAP connects to flux tubes filled with enhanced cold plasma. We further propose that the plasma outflows from the ionosphere are the origin of such cold plasma flux tubes. We suggest that the PAP is formed by a combination of high‐energy electrons of a magnetospheric origin, the low‐energy plasma structure of an ionospheric origin, and certain ELF/VLF waves that are intensified and modulated in interactions with both the hot and cold plasma populations.

SUSY searches: Recent results from ATLAS and CMS

Despite the absence of experimental evidence, weak scale supersymmetry remains one of the best motivated and studied Standard Model extension. Recent results from ATLAS and CMS searches for supersymmetric particles are summarized here. Weak and strong production in both R-Parity conserving and R-Parity violating supersymmetric scenarios are considered. In particular, a selection is presented of the most recent searches for squarks and gluinos, third generations squarks, direct production of charginos, neutralinos and sleptons and long-lived particles. These searches involve final states including jets, missing transverse momentum, electron or muons, taus or photons, as well as long-lived particle signatures. The data in these searches was found to be compatible with the estimated Standard Model backgrounds. Therefore, limits have been set on the masses of supersymmetric particles in various models.

NANODUST DETECTION BETWEEN 1 AND 5 AU USINGCASSINIWAVE MEASUREMENTS

The solar system contains solids of all sizes, ranging from km-size bodies to nano-sized particles. Nanograins have been detected in situ in the Earth's atmosphere, near cometary and giant planet environments, and more recently in the solar wind at 1 AU. These latter nano grains are thought to be formed in the inner solar system dust cloud, mainly through collisional break-up of larger grains and are then picked-up and accelerated by the magnetized solar wind because of their large charge-to-mass ratio. In the present paper, we analyze the low frequency bursty noise identified in the Cassini radio and plasma wave data during the spacecraft cruise phase inside Jupiter's orbit. The magnitude, spectral shape and waveform of this broadband noise is consistent with the signature of nano particles impinging at nearby the solar wind speed on the spacecraft surface. Nanoparticles were observed whenever the radio instrument was turned on and able to detect them, at different heliocentric distances between Earth and Jupiter, suggesting their ubiquitous presence in the heliosphere. We analyzed the radial dependence of the nano dust flux with heliospheric distance and found that it is consistent with the dynamics of nano dust originating from the inner heliosphere and picked-up by the solar wind. The contribution of the nano dust produced in asteroid belt appears to be negligible compared to the trapping region in the inner heliosphere. In contrast, further out, nano dust are mainly produced by the volcanism of active moons such as Io and Enceladus.

What Can We Learn about Magnetotail Reconnection from 2D PIC Harris-Sheet Simulations?

The Magnetosphere Multiscale Mission (MMS) will provide the first opportunity to probe electron-scale physics during magnetic reconnection in Earth’s magnetopause and magnetotail. This article will address only tail reconnection—as a non-steady-state process in which the first reconnected field lines advance away from the $x$ -point in flux pile-up fronts directed Earthward and anti-Earthward. An up-to-date microscopic physical picture of electron and ion-scale collisionless tail reconnection processes is presented based on 2-D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations initiated from a Harris current sheet and on Cluster and Themis measurements of tail reconnection. The successes and limitations of simulations when compared to measured reconnection are addressed in detail. The main focus is on particle and field diffusion region signatures in the tail reconnection geometry. The interpretation of these signatures is vital to enable spacecraft to identify physically significant reconnection events, to trigger meaningful data transfer from MMS to Earth and to construct a useful overall physical picture of tail reconnection. New simulation results and theoretical interpretations are presented for energy transport of particles and fields, for the size and shape of electron and ion diffusion regions, for processes occurring near the fronts and for the $\mathbf{j} \times \mathbf{B}$ (Hall) electric field.

Diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopic identification of dispersant/particle bonding mechanisms in functional inks.

In additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, material is deposited drop by drop, to create micron to macroscale layers. A typical inkjet ink is a colloidal dispersion containing approximately ten components including solvent, the nano to micron scale particles which will comprise the printed layer, polymeric dispersants to stabilize the particles, and polymers to tune layer strength, surface tension and viscosity. To rationally and efficiently formulate such an ink, it is crucial to know how the components interact. Specifically, which polymers bond to the particle surfaces and how are they attached? Answering this question requires an experimental procedure that discriminates between polymer adsorbed on the particles and free polymer. Further, the method must provide details about how the functional groups of the polymer interact with the particle. In this protocol, we show how to employ centrifugation to separate particles with adsorbed polymer from the rest of the ink, prepare the separated samples for spectroscopic measurement, and use Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) for accurate determination of dispersant/particle bonding mechanisms. A significant advantage of this methodology is that it provides high level mechanistic detail using only simple, commonly available laboratory equipment. This makes crucial data available to almost any formulation laboratory. The method is most useful for inks composed of metal, ceramic, and metal oxide particles in the range of 100 nm or greater. Because of the density and particle size of these inks, they are readily separable with centrifugation. Further, the spectroscopic signatures of such particles are easy to distinguish from absorbed polymer. The primary limitation of this technique is that the spectroscopy is performed ex-situ on the separated and dried particles as opposed to the particles in dispersion. However, results from attenuated total reflectance spectra of the wet separated particles provide evidence for the validity of the DRIFTS measurement.

Cosmic-ray acceleration and gamma-ray signals from radio supernovæ

Core collapse supernovae (SNe) are among the most extreme events in the universe. The are known to harbor among the fastest (but non- or midly-relativistic) shock waves. Once it has crossed the stellar atmosphere, the SN blast wave expands in the wind of the massive star progenitor. In type IIb SNe, the progenitor is likely a Red SuperGiant (RSG) star which has a large mass loss rate and a slow stellar wind producing a very dense circumstellar medium. A high velocity shock and a high density medium are both key ingredients to initiate fast particle acceleration, and fast growing instabilities driven by the acceleration process itself. We have reanalyzed the efficiency of particle acceleration at the forward shock right after the SN outburst for the particular case of the well-known SN 1993J. We find that plasma instabilities driven by the energetic particles accelerated at the shock front grow over intraday timescales. This growth, and the interplay of non-linear process, permit a fast amplification of the magnetic field at the shock, that can explain the magnetic field strengths deduced from the radio monitoring of the source. The maximum particle energy is found to reach 1–10 PeV depending on the instability dominating the amplification process. We derive the time dependent particle spectra and the associated hadronic signatures of secondary particles (gamma-ray, leptons and neutrinos) arising from proton proton interactions.We find that the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) should easily detect objects like SN 1993J in particular above 1 TeV, while current generation of Cherenkov telescopes such as H.E.S.S. could only marginaly detect such events. The gamma-ray signal is found to be heavily absorbed by pair production process during the first week after the outburst. We predict a low neutrino flux above 10 TeV, implying a detectability horizon with a KM3NeT-type telescope of 1 Mpc only. We finally discuss the essential parameters that control the particle acceleration and gamma-ray emission in other type of SNe.

Recurrent pulsations in Saturn’s high latitude magnetosphere

Over the course of about 6h on Day 129, 2008, the UV imaging spectrograph (UVIS) on the Cassini spacecraft observed a repeated intensification and broadening of the high latitude auroral oval into the polar cap. This feature repeated at least 5 times with about a 1h period, as it rotated in the direction of corotation, somewhat below the planetary rotation rate, such that it moved from noon to post-dusk, and from roughly 77° to 82° northern latitudes during the observing interval. The recurring UV observation was accompanied by pronounced ∼1h pulsations in auroral hiss power, magnetic perturbations consistent with small-scale field aligned currents, and energetic ion conics and electrons beaming upward parallel to the local magnetic field at the spacecraft location. The magnetic field and particle events are in phase with the auroral hiss pulsation. This event, taken in the context of the more thoroughly documented auroral hiss and particle signatures (seen on many high latitude Cassini orbits), sheds light on the possible driving mechanisms, the most likely of which are magnetopause reconnection and/or Kelvin Helmholtz waves.

Size distribution and chemical composition of particulate matter stack emissions in and around a copper smelter

This paper reports on results from a multi-sampling campaign (stack, fugitive emissions and ambient air measurements) to characterise the geochemical signature of metal and metalloid particles emitted from one of the largest Cu-smelters in the world (in Huelva, SW Spain). Exceptionally high concentrations of very fine particles (<0.33 μm) bearing As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Bi, Zn (∑>100 μg m−3) are emitted from the Flash Smelting Furnaces, but high levels are also emitted by the other main chimney stacks, namely Refining Furnaces, Sulphuric Plant, Converters Unit, and Crushing Plant. Enhanced concentrations of the same elements are also observed in ground measurements near the industrial complex. During the sampling campaign, the presence of plumes from the Cu-smelter over the nearby city of Huelva was identified based on increased concentrations of gaseous pollutants, particulate metals and ultrafine particle numbers (PN). The results demonstrate that the Cu-smelter is an important source of inhalable toxic elements carried by fine airborne particles. The pollution abatement systems applied so far appear to be relatively ineffective in preventing metalliferous air pollution events, potentially increasing health risks to local and regional populations.

Phenomenology in the minimal cascade seesaw mechanism for neutrino masses

We make a comprehensive analysis on the phenomenology in the minimal version of cascade seesaw for tiny neutrino mass. The seesaw induces at tree level a neutrino mass operator at dimension nine, by introducing a quadruple scalar $\Phi$ of hypercharge unity and a quintuple fermion $\Sigma$ of hypercharge zero. We work in a framework that handles the complicated Yukawa couplings in a nice way without losing generality. All mixing matrices are essentially expressed in terms of the vacuum expectation value of the quadruple scalar v_\Phi, a free complex parameter, and known neutrino parameters. We show that the low-energy lepton flavor violating transitions of the charged leptons set strong constraints on the free parameters. The constraints have a significant impact on collider physics, and are incorporated in our signal analysis at the LHC. We investigate the signatures of new particles by surveying all potentially important channels. We find that the 4j2\ell^\pm signal is most important for the detection of the scalars and the 2\ell^{\pm}2\ell^{\mp}2j, 3\ell^{\pm}\ell^{\mp}2j and 3\ell^{\pm}2\ell^{\mp}+\cancel{E_T} signals are quite promising for the fermions.

Cassini nightside observations of the oscillatory motion of Saturn's northern auroral oval

AbstractIn recent years we have benefitted greatly from the first in‐orbit multi‐wavelength images of Saturn's polar atmosphere from the Cassini spacecraft. Specifically, images obtained from the Cassini UltraViolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) provide an excellent view of the planet's auroral emissions, which in turn give an account of the large‐scale magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling and dynamics within the system. However, obtaining near‐simultaneous views of the auroral regions with in situ measurements of magnetic field and plasma populations at high latitudes is more difficult to routinely achieve. Here we present an unusual case, during Revolution 99 in January 2009, where UVIS observes the entire northern UV auroral oval during a 2 h interval while Cassini traverses the magnetic flux tubes connecting to the auroral regions near 21 LT, sampling the related magnetic field, particle, and radio and plasma wave signatures. The motion of the auroral oval evident from the UVIS images requires a careful interpretation of the associated latitudinally “oscillating” magnetic field and auroral field‐aligned current signatures, whereas previous interpretations have assumed a static current system. Concurrent observations of the auroral hiss (typically generated in regions of downward directed field‐aligned current) support this revised interpretation of an oscillating current system. The nature of the motion of the auroral oval evident in the UVIS image sequence, and the simultaneous measured motion of the field‐aligned currents (and related plasma boundary) in this interval, is shown to be related to the northern hemisphere magnetosphere oscillation phase. This is in agreement with previous observations of the auroral oval oscillatory motion.

Enhancement of the Wear Particle Monitoring Capability of Oil Debris Sensors Using a Maximal Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform with Optimal Decomposition Depth

Oil debris sensors are effective tools to monitor wear particles in lubricants. For in situ applications, surrounding noise and vibration interferences often distort the oil debris signature of the sensor. Hence extracting oil debris signatures from sensor signals is a challenging task for wear particle monitoring. In this paper we employ the maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT) with optimal decomposition depth to enhance the wear particle monitoring capability. The sensor signal is decomposed by the MODWT into different depths for detecting the wear particle existence. To extract the authentic particle signature with minimal distortion, the root mean square deviation of kurtosis value of the segmented signal residue is adopted as a criterion to obtain the optimal decomposition depth for the MODWT. The proposed approach is evaluated using both simulated and experimental wear particles. The results show that the present method can improve the oil debris monitoring capability without structural upgrade requirements.

Sugar markers in aerosol particles from an agro-industrial region in Brazil

This work aimed to better understand how aerosol particles from sugar cane burning contribute to the chemical composition of the lower troposphere in an agro-industrial region of São Paulo State (Brazil) affected by sugar and ethanol fuel production. During a period of 21 months, we collected 105 samples and quantified 20 saccharides by GC–MS. The average concentrations of levoglucosan (L), mannosan (M), and galactosan (G) for 24-h sampling were 116, 16, and 11 ng m−3 respectively. The three anhydrosugars had higher and more variable concentrations in the nighttime and during the sugar cane harvest period, due to more intense biomass burning practices. The calculated L/M ratio, which may serve as a signature for sugar cane smoke particles, was 9 ± 5. Although the total concentrations of the anhydrosugars varied greatly among samples, the relative mass size distributions of the saccharides were reasonably constant. Emissions due to biomass burning were estimated to correspond to 69% (mass) of the sugars quantified in the harvest samples, whereas biogenic emissions corresponded to 10%. In the non-harvest period, these values were 44 and 27%, respectively, indicating that biomass burning is an important source of aerosol to the regional atmosphere during the whole year.

Active current sheets and candidate hot flow anomalies upstream of Mercury's bow shock

Hot flow anomalies (HFAs) represent a subset of solar wind discontinuities interacting with collisionless bow shocks. They are typically formed when the normal component of the motional (convective) electric field points toward the embedded current sheet on at least one of its sides. The core region of an HFA contains hot and highly deflected ion flows and rather low and turbulent magnetic field. In this paper, we report observations of possible HFA‐like events at Mercury identified over a course of two planetary years. Using data from the orbital phase of the MESSENGER mission, we identify a representative ensemble of active current sheets magnetically connected to Mercury's bow shock. We show that some of these events exhibit magnetic and particle signatures of HFAs similar to those observed at other planets, and present their key physical characteristics. Our analysis suggests that Mercury's bow shock does not only mediate the flow of supersonic solar wind plasma but also provides conditions for local particle acceleration and heating as predicted by previous numerical simulations. Together with earlier observations of HFA activity at Earth, Venus, Mars, and Saturn, our results confirm that hot flow anomalies could be a common property of planetary bow shocks and show that the characteristic size of these events is controlled by the bow shock standoff distance and/or local solar wind conditions.

Transition Metal Associations with Primary Biological Particles in Sea Spray Aerosol Generated in a Wave Channel

In the ocean, breaking waves generate air bubbles which burst at the surface and eject sea spray aerosol (SSA), consisting of sea salt, biogenic organic species, and primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP). Our overall understanding of atmospheric biological particles of marine origin remains poor. Here, we perform a control experiment, using an aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer to measure the mass spectral signatures of individual particles generated by bubbling a salt solution before and after addition of heterotrophic marine bacteria. Upon addition of bacteria, an immediate increase occurs in the fraction of individual particle mass spectra containing magnesium, organic nitrogen, and phosphate marker ions. These biological signatures are consistent with 21% of the supermicrometer SSA particles generated in a previous study using breaking waves in an ocean-atmosphere wave channel. Interestingly, the wave flume mass spectral signatures also contain metal ions including silver, iron, and chromium. The nascent SSA bioparticles produced in the wave channel are hypothesized to be as follows: (1) whole or fragmented bacterial cells which bioaccumulated metals and/or (2) bacteria-derived colloids or biofilms which adhered to the metals. This study highlights the potential for transition metals, in combination with specific biomarkers, to serve as unique indicators for the presence of marine PBAP, especially in metal-impacted coastal regions.

Linking the IR transmittance to size and type of volcanic ash particles

AbstractIn this work, we applied infrared spectroscopy to investigate the spectral signature of the volcanic ash particles emitted during the 21–24 July 2001 eruption at Mount Etna, in Italy. We used a Bruker Equinox‐55 Fourier transform infrared spectrometer in the range 7000–600 cm−1 (1.43–16.67 µm) and, for every collected spectrum, an image of the volcanic ash particles was recorded in the visible spectral range through the same microscope. These images were then analyzed by standard image analysis software in order to evaluate the main features of the particle: the length of the major and minor axes (Max and Min L), Feret diameter (FD), equivalent diameter (ED), and aspect ratio (AR). We measured transmission spectra in different conditions; spectra of one single particle (Single‐Particle Measurement, SPM), spectra of a number of particles from two to ten (Multi‐Particle Measurements type 1, MPM1) and of more than a hundred particles (Multi‐Particle Measurements type 2, MPM2). For SPM, Max and Min L range between 5 and 24 µm and 3.5 and 15 µm, FD ranges between 5.5 and 25 µm, ED varies between 5 and 19 µm, and AR between 0.45 and 0.95. For MPM1 and MPM2, the mean values of Max and Min L are between 4–17 µm and 3–10 µm, FD and ED between 5 and 19 µm and 3.5 and 23 µm, and AR between 0.3 and 1. The optical depth spectra as a function of the wave number clearly show the presence of the Christiansen effect that produces high transmission at a given frequency in the infrared region (Christiansen frequency). We find that the effect depends on the particle size through a linear relation. Both the Christiansen effect and their relationship with the ash particle effective radius were compared with radiative transfer model simulations using different ash refractive indexes. The combined use of the linear relationship and the spectral position of the Christiansen frequency also indicated the possibility to characterize ash type. All these information can be used to improve the IR remote sensing volcanic ash quantitative estimations.

Doubly-charged particles at the Large Hadron Collider

In this work we investigate the production and signatures of doubly-charged particles at the Large Hadron Collider. We start with the Standard Model particle content and representations and add generic doubly-charged exotic particles. We classify these doubly-charged states according to their spin, considering scalar, fermionic and vectorial fields, and according to their SU(2)L representation, being chosen to be either trivial, fundamental, or adjoint. We write the most general interactions between them and the Standard Model sector and study their production modes and possible decay channels. We then probe how they can most likely be observed and how particles with different spin and SU(2)L representations could be possibly distinguished.

Probing charged matter through h → γγ, gamma ray lines, and EDMs

Numerous experiments currently underway offer the potential to indirectly probe new charged particles with masses at the weak scale. For example, the tentative excess in Higgs diphoton decay and the tentative gamma-ray line in Fermi-LAT data have recently attracted attention as possible one-loop signatures of new charged particles. We explore the interplay between such signals, dark matter direct detection through Higgs exchange, and measurements of the electron EDM, by studying the size of these effects in several models. We compute one-loop effects to explore the relationship among couplings probed by different experiments. In particular, models in which dark matter and the Higgs both interact with charged particles at a detectable level typically induce, at loop level, couplings between dark matter and the Higgs that are around the level of current direct detection sensitivity. Intriguingly, one-loop Higgs diphoton decay and DM annihilation into two photons, two-loop EDMs, and loop-induced direct detection rates are all coming within range of existing experiments for approximately the same range of charged particle masses, offering the prospect of an exciting coincidence of signals at collider, astrophysical, underground and atomic physics measurements.