2014 Volume 10 – Store Elementsmagazine

Kaolin, June 2014, Vol. 10, No. 3

admin_elements — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:41:46 +0000

Kaolin

June 2014, Vol. 10, No. 3

Although bearing the simple name “kaolin,” this natural material has a variety of geologic origins and many industrial applications significant to society. Known as china clay, kaolin has a long history dating back to Kauling, China, and its first exploitation in the field of ceramics. Kaolin is one of nature’s most abundant nanomaterials. Its fine, clay-sized particles, unique shapes, and layered structures make it central to Earth’s near-surface critical zone. Concerns for energy efficiency and environmental awareness in the industry have led to advances in mining and reclamation practices. The crystallographic and elemental varieties of kaolin require them to be carefully characterized as they lend themselves for use in plastics, papers, pigments, and ceramics. Kaolin minerals are being probed with computational chemistry and new spectroscopic tools to expand their applications and to understand their significance in biology. We are now exploring how kaolin can be nanocomposited to create materials with novel properties.

Why You’ll Love Elements Magazine:

Expert Contributors: Articles written by renowned researchers in the field of geoscience.
Engaging Content: Join a community of readers who are passionate about Elements.
Exceptional Quality: Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with stunning visuals and detailed illustrations that bring complex scientific concepts to life.

Order your copy of the June 2014 issue of Elements magazine today and explore the properties of kaolin.

Unconventional Hydrocarbons, August 2014, Vol. 10, No. 4

admin_elements — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:41:46 +0000

Unconventional Hydrocarbons

August 2014, Vol. 10, No. 4

The realization that unconventional hydrocarbons, such as gas and oil shale, oil sands, and heavy oil, can now be exploited more effectively and economically has stimulated exploration and exploitation on a global scale. This has led to a new economic and environmental landscape in energy matters that we are only now starting to understand. Exploiting unconventional hydrocarbons requires additional technology, energy, and capital compared to the industry standard. This thematic issue addresses the geologic and geochemical nature of these resources and their impact on global socioeconomics and the environment.

Why You’ll Love Elements Magazine:

Expert Contributors: Articles written by renowned researchers in the field of geoscience.
Engaging Content: Join a community of readers who are passionate about Elements.
Exceptional Quality: Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with stunning visuals and detailed illustrations that bring complex scientific concepts to life.

Order your copy of the August 2014 issue of Elements magazine today and investigate unconventional hydrocarbons.

Cosmogenic Nuclides, October 2014, Vol. 10, No. 5

admin_elements — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:41:46 +0000

Cosmogenic Nuclides

October 2014, Vol. 10, No. 5

The Earth’s surface is the thin, ever-changing layer on which we live. The geochemical study of cosmogenic nuclides is currently revolutionizing our understanding of the processes that shape this surface layer by providing their rates and dates. The underlying physical principles are simple and elegant: when rock or soil moves into the shallow zone of surface irradiation, cosmic rays interact with elements in minerals to produce very rare isotopes—the radioactive nuclides 10Be, 14C, 26Al, 36Cl, and 53Mn and the rare gases 3He and 21Ne. At this exact moment, the nuclide clock begins to tick. These nuclides can reveal the times when a river cuts down through a mountain range, when a glacial moraine was deposited, or when a river or marine terrace was abandoned. Cosmogenic nuclides also serve to measure erosion rates directly: the longer a soil resides at the surface before being eroded, the more nuclides accumulate. Hence, these nuclides provide rates of erosion, from the scale of a pebble to as large as an entire river basin.

Why You’ll Love Elements Magazine:

Expert Contributors: Articles written by renowned researchers in the field of geoscience.
Engaging Content: Join a community of readers who are passionate about Elements.
Exceptional Quality: Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with stunning visuals and detailed illustrations that bring complex scientific concepts to life.

Order your copy of the October 2014 issue of Elements magazine today and delve into cosmogenic nuclides.

Graphitic Carbon, December 2014, Vol. 10, No. 6

admin_elements — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:41:46 +0000

Graphitic Carbon

December 2014, Vol. 10, No. 6

In natural systems, graphitic carbons are widespread and exhibit an infinite range of structure, from amorphous-like compounds (e.g. soots, charcoal) to crystalline graphite through a myriad of turbostratic structures (e.g. coals, kerogens). A variety of structures and chemistries down to the nanometer scale control the physicochemical properties of graphitic carbons and determine their behavior and fate during geological processes. This issue of Elements presents recent advances in our understanding of the formation of graphitic carbons (graphitization, fluid deposition) and discusses their role as actors and/or tracers in cosmochemistry, geobiology, geochemistry, and petrology. In particular, graphitic carbons may carry an important biological legacy in rocks, they may be used for assessing the thermal history of rocks, and they buffer the chemical composition of fluids in equilibrium with rocks. The issue also presents an introduction to the new carbon nanomaterials (e.g. graphene, carbon nanotubes), which bear structural similarities to natural graphitic carbons, and to their technological applications.

Why You’ll Love Elements Magazine:

Expert Contributors: Articles written by renowned researchers in the field of geoscience.
Engaging Content: Join a community of readers who are passionate about Elements.
Exceptional Quality: Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with stunning visuals and detailed illustrations that bring complex scientific concepts to life.

Order your copy of the December 2014 issue of Elements magazine today and discover graphitic carbon.

Asteroids, February 2014, Vol. 10, No. 1

admin_elements — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:41:45 +0000

Asteroids

February 2014, Vol. 10, No. 1

Asteroids number in the millions. Orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, they are thought to be the shattered remnants of small bodies formed within the young Sun’s solar nebula and that never accreted large enough to become planets. By presenting several case studies, this issue presents what we know about the physical and chemical compositions of asteroids and how they are related to meteorites and planet formation. We show why these “minor bodies” are key to understanding how the Solar System formed and how it works; why they are clues to the origin of life, having possibly delivered organics and water to Earth; and why the international space agencies have funded sample-return missions to asteroids.

Why You’ll Love Elements Magazine:

Expert Contributors: Articles written by renowned researchers in the field of geoscience.
Engaging Content: Join a community of readers who are passionate about Elements.
Exceptional Quality: Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with stunning visuals and detailed illustrations that bring complex scientific concepts to life.

Order your copy of the February 2014 issue of Elements magazine today and uncover the mysteries of asteroids.

Ophiolites, April 2014, Vol. 10, No. 2

admin_elements — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:41:45 +0000

Ophiolites

April 2014, Vol. 10, No. 2

This thematic issue covers some of the most exciting advances in ophiolite science. Focus is directed toward ophiolite classification during the formation and destruction of ocean basins; the mineralogy, petrology, and isotope geochemistry of ophiolites; and the trace element behavior of crustal and upper-mantle units in ophiolites. The issue covers the history of origin, the geochemical and petrological development, and the final emplacement of one of the largest and most studied ophiolites, the classical Semail ophiolite in Oman. Further, for a better understanding of ophiolites in relation to subduction processes, one of the papers deals with the lithological and geochemical development of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana forearc crust as a modern analogue. Finally, the issue presents some of the new and exciting aspects of microbial interaction with the volcanic component of oceanic crust, as observed in ophiolites as old as the young Earth.

Why You’ll Love Elements Magazine:

Expert Contributors: Articles written by renowned researchers in the field of geoscience.
Engaging Content: Join a community of readers who are passionate about Elements.
Exceptional Quality: Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with stunning visuals and detailed illustrations that bring complex scientific concepts to life.

Order your copy of the April 2014 issue of Elements magazine today and discover the science of ophiolites.