SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “CLAYS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 361 records · Page 20

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1978

Meteor ablation spheres from deep-sea sediments

Spheres from mid-Pacific abyssal clays (0 to 500,000 yrs old), formed from particles that completely melted and subsequently recrystallized as they separated from their meteoroid bodies, or containing relict grains of parent meteoroids that did not experience any melting were analyzed. The spheres were readily divided into three groups using their dominant mineralogy. The Fe-rich spheres were produced during ablation of Fe and metal-rich silicate meteoroids. The glassy spheres are considerably more Fe-rich than the silicate spheres. They consist of magnetite and an Fe glass which is relatively low in Si. Bulk compositions and relict grains are useful for determining the parent meteoroid types for the silicate spheres. Bulk analyses of recrystallized spheres show that nonvolatile elemental abundances are similar to chondrite abundances. Analysis of relict grains identified high temperature minerals associated with a fine-grained, low temperature, volatile-rich matrix. The obvious candidates for parent meteoroids of this type of silicate sphere is a carbonaceous chondrite.

Blanchard, M. B.↗

NASA NTRS1977

The Viking magnetic properties experiment - Primary mission results

Three permanent magnet arrays were mounted on each Viking lander: a strong array fixed on a photometric reference test chart on top of the landers; and two arrays, one strong and one weak, incorporated into the backhoe of the surface sampler. Some or all of the magnetic particles detected could be highly magnetic unoxidized mineral grains (metallic Fe, magnetite, pyrrhotite) forming the core beneath a reddish coating of limonite or hematite; or grains composed of gamma-Fe2O3, with and without other iron oxides; or igneous rock (or mineral particles) which consist of an admixture of unweathered silicate material or minerals with a significant fraction of highly magnetic phase, again with a reddish coating; they could be also igneous rock or mineral particles, intrinsically nonmagnetic, but having a reddish coating containing gamma-Fe2O3; or clay mineral particles which contain and/or are coated with Fe2O3, of which a substantial fraction is in the gamma-Fe2O3 form.

Hargraves, R. B.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Release of microorganisms from soil with respect to transmission electron microscopy viewing and plate counts

A study was conducted to obtain information concerning the fate of soil microorganisms during the procedures normally used in separating them from the soil in connection with various types of investigations. A silty clay loam (pH 6.0, moisture content 25%, organic content 3.5%) was used in the study. The results of the study indicate that many of the microbial cells naturally residing in soil remain attached to or, for some other reason, are not separated from the soil debris despite the use of various combinations of blending, sonication, and chemical dispersing agents. The method B used by Balkwill et al. (1975) provides a reasonable electron microscopy evaluation of the soil microflora.

Balkwill, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1977

A critical evaluation of the application of amino acid racemization to geochronology and geothermometry

Attempts have been made to determine the age of biological samples by measuring the racemization of amino acids in protein samples. The pitfalls and inherent complications in diagenetic racemization studies are reviewed, and recent advances in improving techniques are outlined. Methodological topics include isolation of amino acids from geological samples, resolution of amino acid enantiomers, and the effects of acid hydrolysis. The theory and kinetics of amino acid racemization are discussed with attention to the derivation of the rate expression for amino acid racemization, isoleucine and the equilibrium constant, the mechanism of amino acid racemization, the racemization of 'bound' versus 'free' amino acids, and factors affecting the racemization rates of free amino acids in aqueous solution. Applications of amino acid racemization kinetics to geochronology is considered with reference to shells, marine sediments, and bones. Potential complications include heating and diagenesis, diagenetic formation of amino acids, the effect of clays, species effect, and contamination.

Williams, K. M.↗

NASA NTRS1978

The meaning of desert color in earth orbital photographs

The color of desert surfaces as seen in earth orbital photographs is indicative of soil composition. Apollo-Soyuz photographs of the Sturt and Simpson Deserts of Australia confirm that sand grains become redder as the distance from the source increases. Reddening is caused by a thin iron-oxide coating on individual sand grains and can be used, in some cases, to map relative-age zones. Photographs of the Western (Libyan) Desert of Egypt indicate three distinct and nearly parallel color zones that have been correlated in the field with: (1) arable soil composed of quartz, clay, and calcium carbonate particles; (2) relatively active sand with or without sparse vegetation; and (3) relatively inactive sand mixed with dark (desert-varnished) pebbles. The youngest sands are in the form of longitudinal dunes, which are migrating to the south-southeast along the prevailing wind direction. Some of the young dune fields are encroaching on the western boundary of the fertile Nile Valley.

El-Baz, F.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Chemical weathering on Mars - Thermodynamic stabilities of primary minerals /and their alteration products/ from mafic igneous rocks

Chemical weathering on Mars is examined theoretically from the standpoint of thermodynamic equilibrium between primary rock-forming minerals and the atmospheric gases O2, H2O, and CO2. The primary minerals considered are those common to mafic igneous rocks and include olivine, pyroxene, plagioclase, magnetite, troilite, pyrrhotite, and apatite. The importance of kinetics and reaction mechanisms in controlling possible weathering processes on Mars is discussed within the limits of currently available data, and the possible influence of liquid water on Martian weathering processes is evaluated where appropriate. For gas-solid weathering of mafic igneous rocks at the Martian surface, it is concluded that upon attainment of thermodynamic equilibrium: (1) oxides and carbonates should dominate the mineral assemblage of weathering products; (2) hematite rather than goethite should be the stable mineral form of Fe (III); (3) FeSO4 or FeSO4.H2O could be the stable weathering product of iron sulfides in the absence of liquid water; and (4) kaolinite is apparently the only clay mineral that should be thermodynamically stable over all ranges of temperature and water-vapor abundance at the Martian surface.

Gooding, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Silicate spherules from deep-sea sediments - Confirmation of extraterrestrial origin

Silicate spherules larger than 100 microns were extracted from 100 kg of box core samples of Pacific red clay taken in the mid-Pacific at a depth of 5 km, and the concentration of nonvolatile trace elements was determined for three spheres. One of the spheres shows excellent resemblance to C1 chondrite nonvolatile trace-element abundance patterns, and the relative abundances of the other two spheres are also very similar to those of C1 chondrites. One of these two spheres is depleted in Ir and Ru, while the other is depleted for Ni and Cr; possible explanations for the depletions are considered. Since the elemental abundances of the third sphere match the abundances of C1 chondrites, it is suggested that this sphere must be of extraterrestrial origin.

Ganapathy, R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Infrared spectroscopy of simulated Martian surface materials

Mineralogy inferred from the Viking X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRFS) is compared with mineralogy indicated by spectral data. The comparison is done by taking laboratory spectra of Viking analog minerals. Both XRFS and infrared data are consistent with clays as the dominant SiO2 containing minerals on Mars. The X-ray fluorescence data might also be consistent with the dominance of certain mafic SiO2 igneous minerals, but the spectral data are probably inconsistent with such materials. Sulfates, inferred by XRFS, are consistent with the spectral data. Inferences following Mariner 9 that high-SiO2 minerals were important on Mars may have been biased by the presence of sulfates. Calcium carbonate, in the quantities indirectly suggested by XRFS are inconsistent with the spectral data, but smaller quantities of CaCO3 are consistent, as are large quantities of other carbonates.

Toon, O. B.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Dryland pasture and crop conditions as seen by HCMM

The author has identified the following significant results. The soil moisture difference between the flight lines was partly due to water-holding capacity differences of the two soil types. Fields along the east flight line were in clay; while along the west flight line, the soil was sandy loam which holds less moisture. Due to differences in the amount of green material, the pastures were wetter than the wheat fields. Most of the pastures average from 40-80% green material, while wheat averages from 90-100% green material. A large amount of green material transpired more water and depleted the soil water content faster than dead vegetation. Visicorder data found temperature differences between the rangeland and winter wheat fields. Pasture had a larger percentage of dead material with different thermal properties than live vegetation, and surface temperature was primarily dependent on insolation. Dead material transpired less, but warms up faster than wheat fields.

Rosenthal, W. D.↗

NASA NTRS1978

An empirical model for the complex dielectric permittivity of soils as a function of water content

The recent measurements on the dielectric properties of soils shows that the variation of dielectric constant with moisture content depends on soil types. The observed dielectric constant increases only slowly with moisture content up to a transition point. Beyond the transition it increases rapidly with moisture content. The moisture value of transition region was found to be higher for high clay content soils than for sandy soils. Many mixing formulas were compared with, and were found incompatible with, the measured dielectric variations of soil-water mixtures. A simple empirical model was proposed to describe the dielectric behavior of ths soil-water mixtures. The relationship between transition moisture and wilting point provides a means of estimating soil dielectric properties on the basis of texture information.

Wang, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Altered rock spectra in the visible and near infrared

The author has identified the following significant results. Visible and near-infrared (0.35 to 2.5 micron m) bidirectional reflection spectra recorded for a suite of well-characterized hydrothermally altered rock samples typically display well defined bands caused by both electronic and vibrational processes in the individual mineral constituents. Electronic transitions in the iron-bearing constituent minerals produce diagnostic minima near 0.43, 0.65, 0.85, and 0.93 micron m. Vibrational transitions in clay and water-bearing mineral constituents produce characteristic single or multiple features over limited spectral ranges near 1.4, 1.75, 1.9, 2.2, and 2.35 micron m. The most abundant feature-producing minerals present in these rocks are hematite, goethite, and alunite. Others frequently present are jarosite, kaolinite, potassium micas, pyrophyllite, montmorillonite, diaspore, and gypsum. The spectral region near 2.2 micron m is particularly important for detecting altered rocks by remote sensing.

Hunt, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Carbonaceous chondritic material in the solar system

Carbonaceous chondritic matrix material (CCMM) appears to be an important planet-forming unit in the mid-solar system, from the orbits of Mars to that of Uranus. The type specimen for CCMM is the low-temperature (400-500 K) assemblage of clay minerals, organic polymer, magnetite, and Ni-rich iron sulfides which constitutes the black, fine-grained matrix of primitive carbonaceous chondrites. Solar-system objects which appear to be partly or wholly made of CCMM are the satellites of Mars, most asteroids, interplanetary dust, and, perhaps, comets, satellites of the outer planets and the rings of Uranus. CCMM constituents probably formed by low-temperature reactions of higher-temperature condensates with the ambient solar composition gas, or in the case of the organic polymer, by reactions of gaseous species catalyzed by solids.

Wilkening, L. L.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Analysis of suspended solids by single-particle scattering

Light scattering by individual particulates is used in a multiple-detector system to categorize the composition of suspended solids in terms of broad particulate categories. The scattering signatures of red clay and taconite tailings, the two primary particulate contaminants in western Lake Superior, along with two types of asbestiform fibers, amphibole and chrysolite, were studied in detail. A method was developed to predict the concentration of asbestiform fibers in filtration plant samples for which electron microscope analysis was done concurrently. Fiber levels as low as 50,000 fibers/liter were optically detectable. The method has application in optical categorization of samples for remote sensing purposes and offers a fast, inexpensive means for analyzing water samples from filtration plants for specific particulate contaminants.

Diehl, S. R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Prebiotic condensation reactions using cyanamide

Condensation reactions in cyanamide, 4-amino-5-imidazole-carboxamide and cyanamide, imidazole systems under dehydrating conditions at moderate temperatures (60 to 100 deg C) were investigated. The cyanamide, imidazole system was used for synthesis of palmitoylglycerols from ammonium palmitate and glycerol. With the addition of deoxythymidine to the former system, P1, P2-dideoxythymidine 5 prime-phosphate was obtained; the same cyanamide, 4-amino-5-imidazole-carboxamide system was used to synthesize deoxythymidine oligonucleotides using deoxythymidine 5 prime-phosphate and deoxythymidine 5 prime-triphosphate, and peptides using glycine, phenylalanine or isoleucine with adenosine 5 prime-triphosphate. The pH requirements for these reactions make their prebiotic significance questionable; however, it is conceivable that they could occur in stable pockets of low interlayer acidity in a clay such as montmorillonite.

Sherwood, E.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Abrasion of windblown particles on Mars - Erosion of quartz and basaltic sand under simulated Martian conditions

The results of a series of laboratory experiments initiated to simulate Martian eolian erosion are presented. Experiments were conducted under Martian atmospheric pressure and compared to natural eolian sand produced on earth. It is reported that the less dense atmosphere on Mars resulted in more energetic eolian erosion manifested by an slightly higher rate of grain rounding and surface textures that included semicircular depressions termed 'popouts'. It is suggested that physical and chemical weathering may proceed more rapidly on Mars than on earth, given a sufficient supply of water vapor. In addition, clay mineral formations should be facilitated by the presence of large amounts of disrupted material. Finally, it is noted that the disrupted material could increase the ability of the soil to act as a reservoir for water thereby provisionally explaining the large amount of bound water on the surface soil material over much of Mars.

Krinsley, D.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Effect of soil texture on the microwave emission from soils

The intensity brightness temperature of the microwave emission from the soil is determined primarily by its dielectric properties. The large difference between the dielectric constant of water and that of dry soil produces a strong dependence of the soil's dielectric constant on its moisture content. This dependence is effected by the texture of the soil because the water molecules close to the particle surface are tightly bound and do not contribute significantly to the dielectric properties. Since this surface area is a function of the particle size distribution (soil texture), being larger for clay soils with small particles, and smaller for sandy soils with larger particles; the dielectric properties will depend on soil texture. Laboratory measurements of the dielectric constant for soils are summarized. The dependence of the microwave emission on texture is demonstrated by measurements of brightness temperature from an aircraft platform for a wide range of soil textures. It is concluded that the effect of soil texture differences on the observed values can be normalized by expressing the soil moisture values as a percent field capacity for the soil.

Schmugge, T. J.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Equilibrium geochemical modeling of a seasonal thermal energy storage aquifer field test

A geochemical mathematical modeling study designed to investigate the well plugging problems encountered at the Auburn University experimental field tests is summarized. The results, primarily of qualitative interest, include: (1) loss of injectivity was probably due to a combination of native particulate plugging and clay swelling and dispersion; (2) fluid-fluid incompatibilities, hydrothermal reactions, and oxidation reactions were of insignificant magnitude or too slow to have contributed markedly to the plugging; and (3) the potential for and contributions from temperature-induced dissolved gas solubility reductions, capillary boundary layer viscosity increases, and microstructural deformation cannot be deconvolved from the available data.

Stottlemyre, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Soil stabilization by a prokaryotic desert crust - Implications for Precambrian land biota

The ecology of the cyanophyte-dominated stromatolitic mat forming the ground cover over desert areas of Utah and Colorado is investigated and implications for the formation of mature Precambrian soils are discussed. The activation of the growth of the two species of filamentous cyanophyte identified and the mobility of their multiple trichromes upon wetting are observed, accompanied by the production and deposition of a sheath capable of accreting and stabilizing sand and clay particles. The formation of calcium carbonate precipitates upon the repeated wetting and drying of desert crust is noted, and it is suggested that the desert crust community may appear in fossil calcrete deposits as lithified microscopic tubes and cellular remains of algal trichromes. The invasion of dry land by both marine and freshwater algae on the model of the desert crust is proposed to be responsible for the accumulation, stabilization and biogenic modification of mature Precambrian soils.

Campbell, S. E.↗