Rare Earth Elements Recovery and Waste Management of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Ash
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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
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Results for “solid Earth”
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.
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Rare Earth Nickelate Electrodes Containing Heavily Doped Ceria for Reversible Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
The electrochemical performance of composite rare-earth nickelate-rare-earth doped ceria oxygen electrodes, with a high level of rare-earth doping in ceria are reported. Additionally, the chemical stability of these compositions is reported at both the sintering (1240 ?C) and operating temperature (800 ?C). Specifically, a lanthanum nickelate La2NiO4+d (LNO) ?? 50 mol% lanthanum doped ceria (LDC50) oxygen electrode and a neodymium nickelate Nd2NiO4+d (NNO) ?? 50 mol% neodymium doped ceria (NDC50) oxygen electrode are tested in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) modes and compared to a composite (La0.75Sr0.25)0.95MnO3±d (LSM)-8 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrode. The LNO–LDC50 oxygen electrode reaches a current density which is approximately three times that of the LSM-YSZ electrode in SOFC mode at 0.7 V and approximately two times the LSM-YSZ electrode at 1.2 V in SOEC mode. Similarly the NNONDC50 oxygen electrode reaches a current density which is approximately two times and approximately one and a half times that of LSM-YSZ at 0.7 V and 1.2 V respectively. Oxygen surface exchange results for LNO and NNO are also reported which show different oxygen exchange kinetics during oxidation versus reduction steps.
solid oxide electrolysis, solid oxide fuel cell (S↗
Biogeochemistry of Pond B (Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA): Sediment Core, Total extraction data, Pond B Savannah River Site July 2019. Subsurface Biogeochemistry of Actinides SFA
Pond B at Savannah River Site (SRS, South Carolina) is a monomictic reservoir that received SRS R reactor cooling water from 1961–1964. Previous studies conducted between the 1980s–1990s on the water column and sediments of Pond B measured trace amounts of Pu (33 MBq 238Pu and 430 MBq 239,240Pu), 241Am, and 137Cs. Since then, the pond has been relatively isolated and the radionuclide concentrations have not been monitored over time. Herein, about 30 years after the last publication on Pond B, we are re-evaluating the geochemistry and radionuclide distribution within Pond B at four locations along a horizontal transect from the inlet to outlet.This study investigated the distribution of anthropogenic radionuclides Pu-239 and Cs-137 along with total organic carbon, iron, and trace element in contaminated sediments of Pond B at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Pond B received reactor cooling water from 1961 to 1964, and trace amounts of Pu-239 and Cs-137 during operations. Our study collected sediment cores to determine concentrations of Pu-239, Cs-137, and major and minor elements in solid phase, pore water and an electrochemical method was used on wet cores to determine dissolved elemental concentrations.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Solid–state synthesis of multicomponent equiatomic rare–earth oxides
Phase formation in multicomponent rare–earth oxides is determined by a combination of composition, sintering atmosphere, and cooling rate. Polycrystalline ceramics comprising various combinations of Ce, Gd, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, and Y oxides in equiatomic proportions were synthesized using solid–state sintering. The effects of composition, sintering atmosphere, and cooling rate on phase formation were investigated. Single cubic or monoclinic structures were obtained with a slow cooling of 3.3°C/min, confirming that rare–earth oxides follow a different structure stabilization process than transition metal high–entropy oxides. In an oxidizing atmosphere, both Ce and Pr induce a cubic structure, while only Ce plays that role in an inert or reducing atmosphere. Samples without Ce or Pr develop a single monoclinic structure. The structures formed at initial synthesis may be converted to a different one, when the ceramics are annealed in an additional atmosphere. Phase evolution of a five–cation composition was also studied as a function of sintering temperature. In conclusion, the binary oxides used as raw materials completely dissolve into a single cubic structure at 1450°C in air.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Rare earth fluorides and oxides - An exploratory study of their use as solid lubricants at temperatures to 1800 deg F /1000 deg C/
Rare earth fluorides and oxides used as solid lubricants at high temperatures
Sliney, H. E.↗
Effect of an impact-generated gas cloud on the acceleration of solid ejecta
A hypothesis that vaporization of a large amount of volatiles such as H2O and CO2 in the Martian surface by the impact of a large object could have accelerated solid ejecta to earth is examined. A hydrodynamic model is used to approximate a hemispherical gas cloud expanding into an atmosphere and entraining solid ejecta. Account is taken of the target material, the impactor materials, mass vaporized, impact velocity, drag coefficient, and crater sizes. A Martian crater larger than 30 km diam is found to be a necessary remnant of any impact that could have produced the shergottites, nakhlites and Chassigny meteorites which have been found on earth and possess similarities to analyzed Martian rocks.
Vickery, Ann↗
Automatically classifying Earth features from orbit
Solid state circuit classifies satellite imagery by spectral signature of vegetation, bare land, water, clouds, or snow. Circuit can be used to sort and separate specific imagery by signature so that only useful data is transmitted to earth. Device saves time and costs involved in manual separation of data.
Holstrom, R. L.↗
Wetland Soil Characterization and Methane Production Impacted by Nickel Addition, Argonne and Tims Branch Wetlands, September and October 2020
Abstract:Freshwater wetland soils are foci of biogeochemical cycling as they serve as key sources of methane to the atmosphere. An array of metalloenzymes is essential to anaerobic microbial carbon transformations. Nickel is notably recognized as playing key roles in the enzymatic pathways of methanogenesis. Low availability of trace metals limits microbial element cycling in laboratory studies, but the occurrence of such limitations in natural subsurface aquatic systems is poorly understood. Microcosm incubation studies were carried out using two distinct wetland soils, one from a marsh wetland and the second from a riparian wetland, to explore the effect of dissolved Ni concentrations on methane production. Data are provided for wetland soil characterization and soil incubation experiments using materials from marsh wetlands at Argonne National Laboratory and riparian wetlands in the Tims Branch watershed at Savannah River National Laboratory. The characterization data consists soil carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron contents plus as well as the solid-phase concentrations of copper, nickel, cobalt, and zinc, bioessential trace metals that may limits microbial metabolic process if they have low availability. The data for the soil incubation experiments include fluid pH, fluid dissolved trace metal concentrations, and cumulative methane production. Three soil incubations are reported: marsh wetland soil with increasing nickel addition, marsh wetland soil in sulfate-free water with increasing nickel addition, and riparian wetland soil with increasing nickel addition. All data are provided in text-based CSV format with header sections indicating the data contained in each file and the corresponding units. Note that "u" is used in place of Greek lower case mu to indicate the micro prefix on units. A Table of Contents file (Yan_Soil_Incubations_2020_TOC.txt) provides an index for the data contained in the individual files.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part VI: Earth’s earliest Hadean crust (> 4370 Ma)
Part VI of the evolutionary system of mineralogy catalogs 262 kinds of minerals, formed by 18 different processes, that we suggest represent the earliest solid phases in Earth’s crust. All of these minerals likely formed during the first tens of millions of years following the global-scale disruption of the Moon-forming impact prior to ~4.4 Ga, though no samples of terrestrial minerals older than ~4.37 Ga are known to have survived on Earth today. Our catalog of the earliest Hadean species includes 80 primary phases associated with ultramafic and mafic igneous rocks, as well as more than 80 minerals deposited from immiscible S-rich fluids and late-stage Si-rich residual melts. Earth’s earliest crustal minerals also included more than 200 secondary phases of these primary minerals that were generated by thermal metamorphism, aqueous alteration, impacts, and other processes. In particular, secondary mineralization related to pervasive near-surface aqueous fluids may have included serpentinization of mafic and ultramafic rocks, hot springs and submarine volcanic vent mineralization, hydrothermal sulfide deposits, zeolite and associated mineral formation in basaltic cavities, marine authigenesis, and hydration of subaerial lithologies. Additional Hadean minerals may have formed by thermal metamorphism of lava xenoliths, sublimation at volcanic fumaroles, impact processes, and volcanic lightning. These minerals would have occurred along with more than 180 additional phases found in the variety of meteorites that continuously fell to Earth’s surface during the early Hadean Eon.
Philosophy of mineralogy↗
Uptake and speciation of trace metal inputs to Wetland Soils from Illinois and South Carolina and Stream Sediments from Tennessee
Metals occur in all ecosystems, although their concentrations vary depending on their natural geologic conditions and surrounding human activities. In addition to metals intrinsically present from the geology of a particular system, metals can enter environmental systems from a wide variety of natural and anthropogenic sources, such as sediment re-suspension, mining operations, industrial processes, agricultural activities, and atmospheric deposition. While metals can be toxic at high concentrations, some metals serve as essential micronutrients for biogeochemical processes. Metal transport and availability in engineered and natural water systems depend on processes of adsorption/desorption, oxidation/reduction, dissolution/precipitation, and ligand complexation. Insights into the speciation of metals and their bioavailability will also help advance understanding of the roles of metals in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. We conducted batch experiments under anoxic conditions on soils and sediments collected from three different natural aquatic systems to understand their response to influxes of dissolved Cu, Ni and Zn. While soils and sediments from all sites could strongly bind added trace metals, there were substantial differences in trace metal uptake trends between different sites, especially for Cu. There was no distinct correlation between trace metal uptake and the total organic matter, iron, and sulfur content present in the samples. X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicated that the speciation of the freshly added metals taken up by the solids differs substantially from the speciation of the metals originally present in unamended samples. Cu sulfides dominated speciation at low loadings (1 µmol/g), whereas complexation to thiol groups and formation of metallic Cu governed speciation at high loadings (10 µmol/g). For Ni and Zn, adsorption to mineral surfaces and organic matter governed their speciation in materials from most sites. This study suggests that the background speciation of metals in natural aquatic systems is a poor predictor of the speciation and lability of metals introduced to terrestrial aquatic systems from anthropogenic or natural processes. Our findings imply that geochemical processes controlling trace metal speciation may vary considerably with metal loading in different natural systems. Data are provided for marsh wetland soils at Argonne National Laboratory (Marsh 1 and Marsh 2), riparian wetland soils (Riparian 1 and Riparian 2) in the Tims Branch watershed at Savannah River National Laboratory, and stream bed sediments (Stream 1 and Stream 2) from East Fork Poplar Creek near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Data package includes the results of trace metal uptake experiments conducted on the selected sites for determining their capacity to immobilize metals under different loadings. XANES spectra for Cu, Ni, ad Zn at different loadings are included in the package. The abundance of different trace metal species obtained using linear combination fitting in ATHENA are also included in the data.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Data for Stetten et al. (2025), "Biogeochemical controls on iron speciation and cycling across upland to shoreline gradients in freshwater and estuarine coastal soils (Lake Erie and Chesapeake Bay, United States)"
Coastal environments are dynamic interfaces that mediate carbon and nutrient exchanges between terrestrial landscapes and open waters, but it is unclear how biogeochemical reactions, in particular iron (Fe) redox transformations, affect the understanding and prediction of coastal ecosystem functions. This dataset includes measurements from two freshwater sites in the Western and Central basins of Lake Erie (Ohio, United States) and two estuarine sites in the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, United States); the analytical results were reported by Stetten et al. (2025) in Science of the Total Environment. It was produced as part of the COMPASS-FME project, which seeks to advance a scalable, predictive understanding of the fundamental biogeochemical processes, ecological structure, and ecosystem dynamics that distinguish coastal terrestrial-aquatic interfaces from the purely terrestrial or aquatic systems to which they are coupled. The sites were sampled in November 2022 (CRC), December 2022 (MSM), February 2023 (GCW), and March 2023 (OWC); site codes follow those used by Pennington et al. (2025).The dataset consists of the following soil data:- Solid data (Fe concentration, etc.)- Porewater data (sulfate, sulfide, etc.)- Linear combination fitting results of X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra; i.e., quantitative results of the oxidation state of Fe, indicated as a proportion of pure Fe(III) and Fe(II) model compounds- Linear combination fitting results of EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure) spectra, indicated as proportion of of Fe-model compounds (illite, smectite, etc.)Each data type has a single file in comma-separated value (CSV) format. No special software is required to read it.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Soil and Water Chemistry and Trace Metal Extractability and Speciation in Wetland Soils from Illinois and South Carolina and Stream Sediments from Tennessee
Dataset revised on October 15, 2021. This revision adds sulfur and iron X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra for the wetland soils and stream sediments from the field areas. It also renames the sample locations in a way that is more intuitive to readers of the companion paper that is under review. Finally, the data filenames and organization have been updated in their labeling to parallel the data sources in the associated paper. The abstract text and methods were also revised to reflect the data that was added to the dataset.Trace metals are essential for microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes occurring in anoxic wetland soils and stream bed sediments, such as denitrification, methanogenesis, and mercury methylation. Low availability of these elements may potentially inhibit key components of anaerobic carbon and nitrogen cycling and contaminant transformation. The solid-phase speciation of trace metals likely plays an important role in controlling their bioavailability. Metal speciation is well studied in contaminated soils and sediments as well as those naturally elevated in trace metals. However, less is known regarding the chemical forms of trace metals in systems having concentrations similar to geological background levels, the very settings where metal limitations may be most prevalent. We have investigated trace metal concentrations, extractability, and solid-phase speciation in three freshwater subsurface aquatic systems: marsh wetland soils, riparian wetland soils, and the sediments of a streambed.Data are provided for marsh wetland soils at Argonne National Laboratory, riparian wetland soils in the Tims Branch watershed at Savannah River National Laboratory, and stream bed sediments from East Fork Poplar Creek near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Soil and sediment elemental abundances, mineralogy, and extractable nutrients as well as dissolved major elements, anions, trace metals, and nutrients in the overlying surface waters are provided. In addition, the results of sequential chemical extraction for the trace metals cobalt, nickel, copper, and zinc from the soils and sediment are reported as well as X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra in these materials are reported. To aid interpretation of these data, XANES spectra of sulfur in the soils and sediments as well as both XANES and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra of iron in these materials are reported. The data package also includes the XANES spectra of reference standards and a potential interferent in the measurements. All data are provided in text-based CSV format with header sections indicating the data contained in each file and the corresponding units. Note that "u" is used in place of Greek lower case mu to indicate the micro prefix on units.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Role of copper in nitrous oxide accumulation in wetland soils from Illinois and South Carolina and stream sediments from Tennessee
Denitrification is microbially-mediated through enzymes containing metal cofactors. Laboratory studies of pure cultures have highlighted that the availability of copper (Cu), required for the multicopper enzyme nitrous oxide reductase, can limit nitrous oxide (N2O) reduction. However, in natural aquatic systems, such as wetlands and hyporheic zones in stream beds, the role of Cu in controlling denitrification remains incompletely understood. In this study, we collected soils and sediments from three natural environments -- riparian wetlands, marsh wetlands, and a stream -- to investigate their nitrogen species transformation activity at background Cu levels and different supplemented Cu loadings. All of the systems contained solid-phase associated Cu below or around geological levels (40–280 nmol g-1) and exhibited low dissolved Cu (3–50 nM), which made them appropriate sites for evaluating the effect of limited Cu availability on denitrification.The dataset contains the variation in the nutrient (nitrate (NO3-), nitrite (NO2-), and ammonium (NH4+)) and N2O concentrations during the incubation experiments to evaluate the effect of Cu. We have also reported the variation in metal concentrations (Cu, iron(Fe) and manganese (Mn)) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations during the incubations. The parameters obtained using a kinetic model to quantitatively report the effect of Cu on nitrogen species conversion in natural aquatic systems are also added in the dataset. The dataset also contains the labile concentration of Cu estimated using a speciation model in MINTEQ. All data are provided in text-based CSV format with header sections indicating the data contained in each file and the corresponding units.Our study suggests that high concentrations of N2O accumulated in all microcosms lacking Cu amendment except for one stream sediment sample. With Cu added to provide dissolved concentrations at trace levels (10–300 nM), the reduction rate of N2O to N2 in the wetland soils and stream sediments was enhanced. A kinetic model could account for the trends in nitrogen species by combining the reactions for microbial reduction of NO3- to NO2-/N2O/N2 and abiotic reduction of NO2 to nitrogen (N2_. The model revealed that the rate of N2O to N2 conversion increased significantly in the presence of Cu. For riparian wetland soils and stream sediments, the kinetic model also suggested that overall denitrification is driven by abiotic reduction of NO2- in the presence of inorganic electron donors. This study demonstrated that natural aquatic systems containing Cu at concentrations less than or equal to crustal abundances may display incomplete reduction of N2O to N2 that would cause N2O accumulation and release to the atmosphere.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Simulation of Earth-Moon-Mars Environments for the Assessment of Organ Doses
Space radiation environments for historically large solar particle events (SPE) and galactic cosmic rays (GCR) at solar minimum and solar maximum are simulated in order to characterize exposures to radio-sensitive organs for missions to low-Earth orbit (LEO), moon, and Mars. Primary and secondary particles for SPE and GCR are transported through the respective atmosphere of Earth or Mars, space vehicle, and astronaut s body tissues using the HZETRN/QMSFRG computer code. In LEO, exposures are reduced compared to deep space because particles are deflected by the Earth s magnetic field and absorbed by the solid body of the Earth. Geomagnetic transmission function as a function of altitude was applied for the particle flux of charged particles, and the shift or the organ exposures to higher velocity or lower stopping powers compared to those in deep space were analyzed. In the transport through Mars atmosphere, a vertical distribution of atmospheric thickness was calculated from the temperature and pressure data of Mars Global Surveyor, and the directional cosine distribution was implemented to describe the spherically distributed atmospheric distance along the slant path at each altitude. The resultant directional shielding by Mars atmosphere at solar minimum and solar maximum was used for the particle flux simulation at various altitudes on the Martian surface. Finally, atmospheric shielding was coupled with vehicle and body shielding for organ dose estimates. We made predictions of radiation dose equivalents and evaluated acute symptoms at LEO, moon, and Mars at solar minimum and solar maximum.
Kim, Myung-Hee↗
Was the early Earth completely molten?
The nature of the interior of the primitive Earth was examined. The question is posted: was the Earth a cold solid or was it a hot liquid, much like a lava lakes seen in today's volcanic cauldrons. The various energy sources available to heat the primitive Earth to see if they are sufficient to cause melting were analyzed. The two largest contributors to the Earth's early heat appear to be the heat due to accretion and the heat of core formation. The Earth formed by the accretion of particles ranging in size from millimeters to hundreds of kilometers and each impact into the protoearth provided more energy to heat the body. It is found that early in the Earth's history, the sinking of iron to the center of the Earth to form the core released a substantial amount of energy; enough to heat the entire Earth an average 2000 deg C. Mechanisms for the removal of such a large amount of heat appear inadequate to prevent substantial melting, and it is assumed that the Earth was completely molten, i.e., a magma ocean at one time early in its history.
Turcotte, D. L.↗
The Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets:Clues to the Origins and Early Evolution of Venus, Earth, and Mars
We review the current state of knowledge of the origin and early evolution of the three largest terrestrial planets - Venus, Earth, and Mars - setting the stage for the chapters on comparative climatological processes to follow. We summarize current models of planetary formation, as revealed by studies of solid materials from Earth and meteorites from Mars. For Venus, we emphasize the known differences and similarities in planetary bulk properties and composition with Earth and Mars, focusing on key properties indicative of planetary formation and early evolution, particularly of the atmospheres of all three planets. We review the need for future in situ measurements for improving our understanding of the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of our planetary neighbors and Earth, and suggest the accuracies required of such new in situ data. Finally, we discuss the role new measurements of Mars and Venus have in understanding the state and evolution of planets found in the habitable zones of other stars.
origin of mars↗
Intermediate Fidelity Solid State Recorder Modeling for NISAR
At 26Tb/day return average, NISAR (National Aero- nautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the In- dian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar) will stress ground station facilities with a variable cadence of data generation observing nearly all of earth's land and ice to produce global time- series maps of cryospheric, solid-Earth and ecosystem phenomena. Between the instrument data generation source and downlink sink lies the primary science data bu er, the SSR (Solid State Recorder). The SSR has deferred, discrete le deletion events that occur only after a le is played back to all required ground segments (sometimes both NASA and ISRO). A forward dispatch, advancing frontier repropagation playback scheduler is proposed as a model of the SSR's greedy playback scheduling behavior. Schedules based on the existing low delity model and new intermediate delity model are compared to assess the impact of deferred, discrete deletion on planning. The low delity model is found to produce unfeasible schedules that exceed SSR capacity, causing 3.87% of all observations in a 12 day simulation to be removed by repair actions.
Doubleday, Joshua R.↗
Application of visible linear array technology to earth observation sensors
The present paper identifies the systems engineering aspects of applying solid-state technology to earth observations applications being traditionally performed by point (or multiple-point) detector line scanned mechanisms. It is shown that the translation from a basically serial data flow point-detector mechanically-scanned sensor to a solid state highly parallel linear-array pushbroom sensor results in minimizing mechanical complexity and maximizing electronics complexity, with increased demands upon optical performance in some applications. Technical aspects relevant to highly parallel photodiode linear-array pushbroom applications are discussed. Examples of systems engineering applications are provided.
Noll, R. E.↗