Identification of complex aromatic molecules in individual interplanetary dust particles

Seventeen stratospherically collected particles-eight of which are classified as interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), seven of which are classified as probable terrestrial contaminants, and two of which have uncertain origins-were studied with a microprobe two-step laser mass spectrometer. Many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) and their alkylated derivatives were identified in two of the eight IDPs. The PAHs observed include a high-mass envelope not found in meteorites or terrestrial contaminants and prominent odd-mass peaks suggestive of nitrogen-containing functional groups attached to aromatic chromophores. In addition, the complexity of the IDP mass spectra has no precedence in previous studies of meteorite samples or their acid residues. Extensive checks were performed to demonstrate that the PAH signals are not caused by terrestrial contaminants.     

Determination of manganese-53 by neutron activation and other miscellaneous studies on lunar dust

A highly sensitive determination of spallogenic (53)Mn (T = 2 x 106 yr) was accomplished in 0.99 g of lunar soil. The chemical yield of Mn is determined with "carrier-free" (52)Mn tracer. During a 23-day reactor irradiation the (53)Mn is transformed into (54)Mn (T = 300 days). Appropriate chemical recycling was done by ion exchange and distillation. Interferences of the (n,p) and the (n,2n) nuclear reactions were carefully studied. A (53)Mn disintegration rate of 30.3 +/- 5.5 dpm/kg results. This extremely economic method is proposed for further detailed lunar profile measurements. The Re content, which is of possible cosmochemical interest, was determined to be 11 ppb. Appropriate separation techniques were used. The rather weak and complex thermoluminescence properties made a more basic study advisable. Thermogravimetric analysis, mass spectroscopy, and Moessbauer spectroscopy were applied. The presence of ilmenite, metallic Fe etc., and of an unidentified Fe(2+)-containing compound was deduced. Natural thermoluminescence could not be proved with certainty in our surface sample. However, the complexity of the artificial thermoluminescence demands better defined mineral fractions. The fission track method was used to measure U distribution in glass spherules etc.     

Mercury content of common foods determined by neutron activation analysis

The mercury contents in samples of flour, sugar, nonfat dry milk, potatoes, hamburger, chicken breast, shrimp, liver, eggs, and whole milk were determined by neutron activation analysis. The mercury was separated by anion exchange chromatography and precipitated as the sulfide. The mercury concentrations for all these foods were below 50 parts per billion.     

Restoration of photographs by neutron activation

Badly faded or stained photographs or radiographs, negative or positive, can be restored by use of neutron activation and autoradiography, provided that at least a trace of image silver is present and that the picture is relatively free of halogens and other silver.     

The proton microprobe: a powerful tool for nondestructive trace element analysis

A proton microprobe capable of focusing proton beams with energies up to 6 million electron volts to a spot size of 2 x 2 square micrometers has been used for chemical analysis of small grains of minerals in lunar samples by proton-induced x-ray emission. The proton microprobe is preferable to the electron microprobe for analyzing trace elements whose concentrations are below the detection limit of the latter and for analyzing objects with numerous major and trace elements with a wide range of atomic numbers. Application of the proton microprobe to biological samples is feasible.     

火焰原子吸收法测定枣汁饮料中微量元素的含量

应用火焰原子吸收光谱法测定枣汁饮料中钙、镁、铜、锌、铁、锰6种微量元素的含量。结果表明,枣汁饮料中微量元素含量丰富,方法的检出限均小于0.055μg.mL-1,相对标准偏差(RSD)介于0.22%-1.43%之间,回收率为92.8%-102.5%,并与ESP-1西红柿叶标准样品进行比较测定,测定值与标准值基本吻合。     

Epsilon carbide: a low-temperature component of interplanetary dust particles

Transmission electron microscope study of a chondritic interplanetary dust particle has revealed the presence of epsilon iron-nickel carbide, a low- temperature carbide previously encountered only in metallurgical studies. In these studies in-carbide was synthesized by carburization of iron or nickel grains in a stream of carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide plus hydrogen. Similar carburization of an iron-nickel metal in situ may have produced in-carbide during particle heating on atmospheric entry or in solar orbit. Alternatively, the epsilon-carbide may be a by-product of Fischer-Tropsch reactions in the solar nebula. Such reactions have been proposed as the mechanism of hydrocarbon formation in the early solar system.     

Toxic trace elements: preferential concentration in respirable particles

The toxic trace elements arsenic, antimony, cadmium, lead, selenium, and thallium were found to be most concentrated in the smallest respirable particles emitted from coal-fired power plants. These elements, or their compounds, are probably volatilized during combustion and preferentially adsorb or condense onto the small particles which can most easily pass through conventional control equipment.     

Magnesium isotopic composition of interplanetary dust particles

The magnesium isotopic composition of some extraterrestrial dust particles has been measured. The particles are believed to be samples of interplanetary dust, a significant fraction of which originated from the disaggregation of comets and may contain preserved isotopic anomalies. Improvements in mass spectrometric and sample preparation techniques have made it possible to measure the magnesium isotopic composition of the dust particles, which are typically 10 micrometers in size and contain on the order of 10(-10) gram of magnesium. Of the 13 samples analyzed, nine have the terrestrial magnesium isotopic composition within 2 parts per thousand, and one shows isotopic mass fractionation of 1.1 percent per mass unit. A subset of the particles, described as chondritic aggregates, are very close to normal isotopic composition, but their normalized isotopic ratios appear to show nonlinear effects of 3 to 4 parts per thousand, which is near the present limit of detection for samples of this size. The isotopic composition of calcium was also determined in one particle and found to be normal within 2 percent. It is clear that the isotopic composition of interplanetary dust particles can be determined with good precision. Collection of dust particles during the earth's passage through a comet tail or an intense meteor stream may permit laboratory analysis of material from a known comet.     

Noble gases in stratospheric dust particles: confirmation of extraterrestrial origin

Noble gas elemental and isotopic ratios were measured in a group of 13 "chondritic" stratospheric dust particles. Neon and argon are present in "solar" proportions; xenon appears to be dominated by contributions from "planetary" sources. The apparent xenon concentration is higher than that measured in any bulk meteorite, approaching the concentration found in the noble gas-rich, acid-insoluble residues from carbonaceous chondrites.     

Apollo 12 lunar samples: trace element analysis of a core and the uniformity of the regolith

Four core and soil samples from Apollo 12 are enriched in a number of trace elements of meteoritic origin to virtually the same degree as Apollo 11 soil. An average meteoritic influx rate of about 4 x 10(-9) gram per square centimeter per year thus seems to be valid for the entire moon. A sample from a light gray, coarse-grained layer in the core resembles lunar basalts in composition, but is enriched by factors of 10(4) to 10(5) in bismuth and cadmium.     

Zinc: a trace element essential in vitamin A metabolism

Zinc is necessary to maintain normal concentrations of vitamin A in plasma. By using animals deficient in both zinc and vitamin A, it was demonstrated that zinc is necessary for normal mobilization of vitamin A from the liver. These results suggest that cases of depressed vitamin A in plasma, unresponsive to vitamin A therapy, may respond to zinc supplementation.     

Oxygen isotopes in refractory stratospheric dust particles: proof of extraterrestrial origin

The oxygen and magnesium isotopic compositions of five individual particles that were collected from the stratosphere and that bear refractory minerals were measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Four of the particles exhibit excesses of oxygen-16 similar to those observed in anhydrous mineral phases of carbonaceous chondrites and thus are extraterrestrial. The oxygen and magnesium isotopic abundances of one corundum-rich particle are consistent with a terrestrial origin. Magnesium in the four extraterrestrial particles is isotopically normal. It is unlikely that these particles are derived from carbonaceous chondrites and thus such particles probably represent a new type of collected extraterrestrial material.     

Instrumental neutron activation analyses of lunar specimens

Ten Apollo 11 specimnens were divided into 24 samtples. Sodillim contents of 8 diverse specimens clluster tightly abolit 0.3 percent. Plagioclase separated from sample 10044 contains aboltt 1.09 percent Na; barium is not enriched in the plagioclase separate. Contents of the rare earths are strikingly high, and relative abtmndances resemble those of calcium-rich achondrites or abyssal basalts but are depleted in Eu by factors of 2 to 3 and in La by about 20 percent. The plagioclase separate is enriched in Eu and pyroxenes (and opaqtte minerals are Eu-depleted. Fine fractions of 10044 are abotit 20 to 40 percent richer in most rare earths (50 percent for Eu) than coarse fractions, probably becaitse of the presence of small grains in which rare earths are mnarkedly concentrated. "Microgabbro" 10045 is imnpoverished, relative to the soil, in rare eartlhs and Hf. Ratios by mass of Zr to Hf are comlparatively low. Abttndances of Mn, Co, Fe, Sc and Cr stiggest systematic differences between igneous rocks on one hanid and breccias and "soil" on the other. Fromn the Co abuindances, no more than about 3 percent of the present "soil" can consist of chondritic mleteorite conitamination.     

植物微量元素锌的研究进展

综述了近年来植物体内锌的吸收、转运,介绍了锌的生理生化功能,以及锌对作物产量和品质的影响,并且展望了今后对锌研究的主要方面。     

基于微量元素分析的三七产地及其主侧根鉴别

为解决三七主侧根粉掺杂、以侧充主等问题,利用干法消解结合电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪(ICP-OES)技术建立三七中Se、Cd等11种元素同步检测的方法,各元素加标回收率范围在95.72％ ～102.3％,相关系数r值达0.97198～0.99997,其RSD值为0.09％ ～2.88％、且均小于3％.分析云南5个不同产...     

Itokawa dust particles: a direct link between S-type asteroids and ordinary chondrites

The Hayabusa spacecraft successfully recovered dust particles from the surface of near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Synchrotron-radiation x-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscope analyses indicate that the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the Itokawa dust particles are identical to those of thermally metamorphosed LL chondrites, consistent with spectroscopic observations made from Earth and by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Our results directly demonstrate that ordinary chondrites, the most abundant meteorites found on Earth, come from S-type asteroids. Mineral chemistry indicates that the majority of regolith surface particles suffered long-term thermal annealing and subsequent impact shock, suggesting that Itokawa is an asteroid made of reassembled pieces of the interior portions of a once larger asteroid.     

土壤微量元素的光谱法定量分析

本法根据被测元素在电弧等离子体中的分馏效应原理,选择合适的电极规格和内标缓冲剂,对土壤微量元素进行定量测定。此法速度快,成本低,在对外测试工作中,用户反映满意,是一个理想分析方法。