An interconnected network of core-forming melts produced by shear deformation

The formation mechanism of terrestrial planetary cores is still poorly understood, and has been the subject of numerous experimental studies. Several mechanisms have been proposed by which metal--mainly iron with some nickel--could have been extracted from a silicate mantle to form the core. Most recent models involve gravitational sinking of molten metal or metal sulphide through a partially or fully molten mantle that is often referred to as a 'magma ocean'. Alternative models invoke percolation of molten metal along an interconnected network (that is, porous flow) through a solid silicate matrix. But experimental studies performed at high pressures have shown that, under hydrostatic conditions, these melts do not form an interconnected network, leading to the widespread assumption that formation of metallic cores requires a magma ocean. In contrast, here we present experiments which demonstrate that shear deformation to large strains can interconnect a significant fraction of initially isolated pockets of metal and metal sulphide melts in a solid matrix of polycrystalline olivine. Therefore, in a dynamic (non-hydrostatic) environment, percolation remains a viable mechanism for the segregation and migration of core-forming melts in a solid silicate mantle.     

Structure and thermal history of the H-chondrite parent asteroid revealed by thermochronometry

Our Solar System formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a dense core inside an interstellar molecular cloud. The subsequent formation of solid bodies took place rapidly. The period of &<10 million years over which planetesimals were assembled can be investigated through the study of meteorites. Although some planetesimals differentiated and formed metallic cores like the larger terrestrial planets, the parent bodies of undifferentiated chondritic meteorites experienced comparatively mild thermal metamorphism that was insufficient to separate metal from silicate. There is debate about the nature of the heat source as well as the structure and cooling history of the parent bodies. Here we report a study of 244Pu fission-track and 40Ar-39Ar thermochronologies of unshocked H chondrites, which are presumed to have a common, single, parent body. We show that, after fast accretion, an internal heating source (most probably 26Al decay) resulted in a layered parent body that cooled relatively undisturbed: rocks in the outer shells reached lower maximum metamorphic temperatures and cooled faster than the more recrystallized and chemically equilibrated rocks from the centre, which needed approximately 160 Myr to reach 390K.     

Accretion of the Earth and segregation of its core

The Earth took 30-40 million years to accrete from smaller 'planetesimals'. Many of these planetesimals had metallic iron cores and during growth of the Earth this metal re-equilibrated with the Earth's silicate mantle, extracting siderophile ('iron-loving') elements into the Earth's iron-rich core. The current composition of the mantle indicates that much of the re-equilibration took place in a deep (> 400 km) molten silicate layer, or 'magma ocean', and that conditions became more oxidizing with time as the Earth grew. The high-pressure nature of the core-forming process led to the Earth's core being richer in low-atomic-number elements, notably silicon and possibly oxygen, than the cores of the smaller planetesimal building blocks.     

Geochemistry: how well can Pb isotopes date core formation?

Timescale and the physics of planetary core formation are essential constraints for models of Earth's accretion and early differentiation. Wood and Halliday use the apparent mismatch in core-formation dates determined from tungsten (W) and lead (Pb) chrono-meters to argue for a two-stage core formation, involving an early phase of metal segregation followed by a protracted episode of sulphide melt addition. However, we show here that crust-;mantle Pb isotope systematics do not require diachronous core formation. Our observations indicate that very early (< or = 35 Myr) core formation and planet accretion remain the most plausible scenario.     

等离子束感生磁场对表面冶金的影响

在表面冶金过程中等离子束产生感生磁场,使熔池内液态金属产生对流运动。电磁搅拌可以抑制柱状晶的生长,有利于等轴晶的形成。感生磁场具有电磁净化的作用,可以有效地消除杂质颗粒以及偏析、负偏析和气孔形成的机率。同时感生磁场会促进细小亚稳相、纳米晶以及非晶态固体的生成。     

焊接工艺对镍基焊缝气孔的影响

针对镍基合金钨极氩弧焊焊缝中气孔形成的影响因素,采用高速摄像机、光学显微镜获得了气孔在熔池及焊缝中的形态及分布特征照片,研究了油污、送丝速度、保护气体和焊接电流等参数对熔池气泡的影响。结果表明：采用钨极氩弧焊对镍基合金焊接时,熔池表面有少量的气泡逸出,证明了焊缝金属中气孔源的存在;显微组织观察发现,有未及时逸出的气泡残留其中,但是利用UT,RT探伤手段无法检测出该类缺陷的存在;送丝速度和焊丝油污对焊缝金属中气孔的形成有明显的影响;适当调整其他焊接工艺参数对气孔影响均不显著。     

Early planetesimal melting from an age of 4.5662 Gyr for differentiated meteorites

Long- and short-lived radioactive isotopes and their daughter products in meteorites are chronometers that can test models for Solar System formation. Differentiated meteorites come from parent bodies that were once molten and separated into metal cores and silicate mantles. Mineral ages for these meteorites, however, are typically younger than age constraints for planetesimal differentiation. Such young ages indicate that the energy required to melt their parent bodies could not have come from the most likely heat source-radioactive decay of short-lived nuclides ((26)Al and (60)Fe) injected from a nearby supernova-because these would have largely decayed by the time of melting. Here we report an age of 4.5662 +/- 0.0001 billion years (based on Pb-Pb dating) for basaltic angrites, which is only 1 Myr younger than the currently accepted minimum age of the Solar System and corresponds to a time when (26)Al and (60)Fe decay could have triggered planetesimal melting. Small (26)Mg excesses in bulk angrite samples confirm that (26)Al decay contributed to the melting of their parent body. These results indicate that the accretion of differentiated planetesimals pre-dated that of undifferentiated planetesimals, and reveals the minimum Solar System age to be 4.5695 +/- 0.0002 billion years.     

Enhancement of the nickel converter slag-cleaning operation with the addition of spent potlining

The slag cleaning (or matte settling) process was experimentally investigated at 1573 K using a fayalitic nickel converter slag containing spinel and matte/alloy particles. The addition of various amounts of spent potlining (SPL) was studied in terms of its influence on matte settling and the overall metal recoveries. The slags produced were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and wet chemical analysis using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The presence of solid spinel particles in the molten slag hindered coalescence and settling of matte/alloy droplets. Matte settling was effectively promoted with the addition of as little as 2wt% SPL because of the reduction of spinel by the carbonaceous component of the SPL. The reduced viscosity of the molten slag in the presence of SPL also contributed to the accelerated matte settling. Greater metal recoveries were achieved with larger amounts of added SPL. Fast reduction of the molten slag at 1573 K promoted the formation of highly dispersed metal particles/clusters via accelerated nucleation in the molten slag, which increased the overall slag viscosity. This increase in viscosity, when combined with rapid gas evolution from accelerated reduction reactions, led to slag foaming.     

Constraints on the composition of the Earth's core from ab initio calculations

Knowledge of the composition of the Earth's core is important for understanding its melting point and therefore the temperature at the inner-core boundary and the temperature profile of the core and mantle. In addition, the partitioning of light elements between solid and liquid, as the outer core freezes at the inner-core boundary, is believed to drive compositional convection, which in turn generates the Earth's magnetic field. It is generally accepted that the liquid outer core and the solid inner core consist mainly of iron. The outer core, however, is also thought to contain a significant fraction of light elements, because its density--as deduced from seismological data and other measurements--is 6-10 per cent less than that estimated for pure liquid iron. Similar evidence indicates a smaller but still appreciable fraction of light elements in the inner core. The leading candidates for the light elements present in the core are sulphur, oxygen and silicon. Here we obtain a constraint on core composition derived from ab initio calculation of the chemical potentials of light elements dissolved in solid and liquid iron. We present results for the case of sulphur, which provide strong evidence against the proposal that the outer core is close to being a binary iron-sulphur mixture.     

适用于测量沉积物pH的金属氧化物微电极

用改进的高温熔融碳酸盐法制备了铱和钨氧化物pH微电极,表征了金属氧化物电极的各项性能.所制备电极对pH有较好的线性响应,斜率在40～60 mV/pH ,接近理想能斯特响应.实验表明,铱氧化物微电极在长时间工作稳定性方面优于钨氧化物微电极,90%响应时间为5 s.铱氧化物微电极受盐度和氧气浓度影响很小,且经Nafion修饰后不受沉积物间隙水中还原性S2-的影响.把铱氧化物微电极应用于测量厦门西海域和九龙江河口的沉积物pH垂直剖面,发现pH在沉积物有氧和无氧深度界面(4～5 mm)达到最小,20 mm以深趋于稳定,符合沉积物生物地球化学规律.     

Iron meteorites as remnants of planetesimals formed in the terrestrial planet region

Iron meteorites are core fragments from differentiated and subsequently disrupted planetesimals. The parent bodies are usually assumed to have formed in the main asteroid belt, which is the source of most meteorites. Observational evidence, however, does not indicate that differentiated bodies or their fragments were ever common there. This view is also difficult to reconcile with the fact that the parent bodies of iron meteorites were as small as 20 km in diameter and that they formed 1-2 Myr earlier than the parent bodies of the ordinary chondrites. Here we show that the iron-meteorite parent bodies most probably formed in the terrestrial planet region. Fast accretion times there allowed small planetesimals to melt early in Solar System history by the decay of short-lived radionuclides (such as 26Al, 60Fe). The protoplanets emerging from this population not only induced collisional evolution among the remaining planetesimals but also scattered some of the survivors into the main belt, where they stayed for billions of years before escaping via a combination of collisions, Yarkovsky thermal forces, and resonances. We predict that some asteroids are main-belt interlopers (such as (4) Vesta). A select few may even be remnants of the long-lost precursor material that formed the Earth.     

废料中W、Co元素的二次回收

目的确定从废钨钴硬质合金中回收钨(W)和钴(Co)等金属元素的适用技术和方法。方法通过酸溶解、除杂质(如Fe等)、Co分离等一系列步骤,来实现W和Co元素的回收,Co可以用来生产CoCl2等。结果通过试验确定了适用的回收条件,钨、钴的回收率分别可以达到93.87%和96.82%。结论该方法流程短,设备和操作简单,有价金属回收率高,回收产品质量好,纯度高,具有良好的实用价值。     

A low-temperature origin for the planetesimals that formed Jupiter

The four giant planets in the Solar System have abundances of 'metals' (elements heavier than helium), relative to hydrogen, that are much higher than observed in the Sun. In order to explain this, all models for the formation of these planets rely on an influx of solid planetesimals. It is generally assumed that these planetesimals were similar, if not identical, to the comets from the Oort cloud that we see today. Comets that formed in the region of the giant planets should not have contained much neon, argon and nitrogen, because the temperatures were too high for these volatile gases to be trapped effectively in ice. This means that the abundances of those elements on the giant planets should be approximately solar. Here we show that argon, krypton and xenon in Jupiter's atmosphere are enriched to the same extent as the other heavy elements, which suggests that the planetesimals carrying these elements must have formed at temperatures lower than predicted by present models of giant-planet formation.     

Solid-liquid iron partitioning in Earth's deep mantle

Melting processes in the deep mantle have important implications for the origin of the deep-derived plumes believed to feed hotspot volcanoes such as those in Hawaii. They also provide insight into how the mantle has evolved, geochemically and dynamically, since the formation of Earth. Melt production in the shallow mantle is quite well understood, but deeper melting near the core-mantle boundary remains controversial. Modelling the dynamic behaviour of deep, partially molten mantle requires knowledge of the density contrast between solid and melt fractions. Although both positive and negative melt buoyancies can produce major chemical segregation between different geochemical reservoirs, each type of buoyancy yields drastically different geodynamical models. Ascent or descent of liquids in a partially molten deep mantle should contribute to surface volcanism or production of a deep magma ocean, respectively. We investigated phase relations in a partially molten chondritic-type material under deep-mantle conditions. Here we show that the iron partition coefficient between aluminium-bearing (Mg,Fe)SiO(3) perovskite and liquid is between 0.45 and 0.6, so iron is not as incompatible with deep-mantle minerals as has been reported previously. Calculated solid and melt density contrasts suggest that melt generated at the core-mantle boundary should be buoyant, and hence should segregate upwards. In the framework of the magma oceans induced by large meteoritic impacts on early Earth, our results imply that the magma crystallization should push the liquids towards the surface and form a deep solid residue depleted in incompatible elements.     

Cooling of the Earth and core formation after the giant impact

Kelvin calculated the age of the Earth to be about 24 million years by assuming conductive cooling from being fully molten to its current state. Although simplistic, his result is interesting in the context of the dramatic cooling that took place after the putative Moon-forming giant impact, which contributed the final approximately 10 per cent of the Earth's mass. The rate of accretion and core segregation on Earth as deduced from the U-Pb system is much slower than that obtained from Hf-W systematics, and implies substantial accretion after the Moon-forming impact, which occurred 45 +/- 5 Myr after the beginning of the Solar System. Here we propose an explanation for the two timescales. We suggest that the Hf-W timescale reflects the principal phase of core-formation before the giant impact. Crystallization of silicate perovskite in the lower mantle during this phase produced Fe(3+), which was released during the giant impact, and this oxidation resulted in late segregation of sulphur-rich metal into which Pb dissolved readily, setting the younger U-Pb age of the Earth. Separation of the latter metal then occurred 30 +/- 10 Myr after the Moon-forming impact. Over this time span, in surprising agreement with Kelvin's result, the Earth cooled by about 4,000 K in returning from a fully molten to a partially crystalline state.     

深井不同钻井完井液对渗流能力影响评价及预防对策

在深井钻完井过程中,钻井完井液损害造成渗流能力降低是储层最重要的损害机理。选用深井钻井现用钻井液、优化钻井液对储层天然岩样、人造裂缝岩样的损害实验,以及钻井完井液侵入评价实验共同揭示研究区块储层损害特征。分析两类固相堵塞,固-液、液-液配伍性,毛管现象及工程因素对于储层渗流能力的影响;并提出多级架桥暂堵技术、调整钻井液配伍性能等对策提高地层渗流能力,为钻井完井决策提供参考。     

超声作用下Al—Fe合金化机制及Al—Fe合金的制备

采用超声振动凝固法使铁在较低的温度下快速溶入铝液，制得的Ａｌ－Ｆｅ合金显微组织中具有均匀而细不上的短棒状ＦｅＡｌ３相。根据融液中超声空蚀效应和局部温升效应，讨论了超声作用下铁的快速溶解机制，并展望了采用该法制备新型合金的应用前景。     

A short timescale for terrestrial planet formation from Hf-W chronometry of meteorites

Determining the chronology for the assembly of planetary bodies in the early Solar System is essential for a complete understanding of star- and planet-formation processes. Various radionuclide chronometers (applied to meteorites) have been used to determine that basaltic lava flows on the surface of the asteroid Vesta formed within 3 million years (3 Myr) of the origin of the Solar System. Such rapid formation is broadly consistent with astronomical observations of young stellar objects, which suggest that formation of planetary systems occurs within a few million years after star formation. Some hafnium-tungsten isotope data, however, require that Vesta formed later (approximately 16 Myr after the formation of the Solar System) and that the formation of the terrestrial planets took a much longer time (62(-14)(+4504) Myr). Here we report measurements of tungsten isotope compositions and hafnium-tungsten ratios of several meteorites. Our measurements indicate that, contrary to previous results, the bulk of metal-silicate separation in the Solar System was completed within <30 Myr. These results are completely consistent with other evidence for rapid planetary formation, and are also in agreement with dynamic accretion models that predict a relatively short time (approximately 10 Myr) for the main growth stage of terrestrial planet formation.     

Late formation and prolonged differentiation of the Moon inferred from W isotopes in lunar metals

The Moon is thought to have formed from debris ejected by a giant impact with the early 'proto'-Earth and, as a result of the high energies involved, the Moon would have melted to form a magma ocean. The timescales for formation and solidification of the Moon can be quantified by using 182Hf-182W and 146Sm-142Nd chronometry, but these methods have yielded contradicting results. In earlier studies, 182W anomalies in lunar rocks were attributed to decay of 182Hf within the lunar mantle and were used to infer that the Moon solidified within the first approximately 60 million years of the Solar System. However, the dominant 182W component in most lunar rocks reflects cosmogenic production mainly by neutron capture of 181Ta during cosmic-ray exposure of the lunar surface, compromising a reliable interpretation in terms of 182Hf-182W chronometry. Here we present tungsten isotope data for lunar metals that do not contain any measurable Ta-derived 182W. All metals have identical 182W/184W ratios, indicating that the lunar magma ocean did not crystallize within the first approximately 60 Myr of the Solar System, which is no longer inconsistent with Sm-Nd chronometry. Our new data reveal that the lunar and terrestrial mantles have identical 182W/184W. This, in conjunction with 147Sm-143Nd ages for the oldest lunar rocks, constrains the age of the Moon and Earth to Myr after formation of the Solar System. The identical 182W/184W ratios of the lunar and terrestrial mantles require either that the Moon is derived mainly from terrestrial material or that tungsten isotopes in the Moon and Earth's mantle equilibrated in the aftermath of the giant impact, as has been proposed to account for identical oxygen isotope compositions of the Earth and Moon.     

挡板改善KR法脱硫搅拌效果的数值分析

为了改善KR法脱硫搅拌效果,本文在铁水罐内添加控流装置,并应用Fluent软件,采用VOF模型对罐内的搅拌流场进行了数值分析,研究了挡板的布置方式、数量与宽度对流场特性的影响。结果表明,铁水罐内设置挡板能够抑制中心漩涡的形成,扩大脱硫剂颗粒在罐内的分散区域;布置4块高度为铁水罐高度1/2、宽度为铁水罐直径1/10的短挡板时,罐内的强制涡流区基本消除,铁水罐底部仍保持较快的流场速度,搅拌效果最佳。