Ab initiotreatment of minerals at extreme conditions

Formation of magnetic minerals at hydrocarbon-generation conditions

In this paper, we report the pyrolysis and formation of magnetic minerals in three source rock samples from the Wessex Basin in Dorset, southern England. The experimental conditions in the laboratory recreated the catagenesis environment of oil source rocks. Magnetic analysis of both the heated and the unheated samples at room temperature and at very low-temperatures (5 K), coupled with transmi...

Titanium Alloys at Extreme Pressure Conditions

The electronic structures of the early transition metals are characterised by the relationship that exists between the occupied narrow d bands and the broad sp bands. Under pressure, the sp bands rise faster in energy, causing electrons to be transferred to the d bands (Gupta et al., 2008). This process is known as the s-d transition and it governs the structural properties of the transition me...

Microbial mediated formation of Fe-carbonate minerals under extreme acidic conditions

Discovery of Fe-carbonate precipitation in Rio Tinto, a shallow river with very acidic waters, situated in Huelva, South-western Spain, adds a new dimension to our understanding of carbonate formation. Sediment samples from this low-pH system indicate that carbonates are formed in physico-chemical conditions ranging from acid to neutral pH. Evidence for microbial mediation is observed in second...

The Extreme Conditions Beamline P02.2 and the Extreme Conditions Science Infrastructure at PETRA III

A detailed description is presented of the Extreme Conditions Beamline P02.2 for micro X-ray diffraction studies of matter at simultaneous high pressure and high/low temperatures at PETRA III, in Hamburg, Germany. This includes performance of the X-ray optics and instrumental resolution as well as an overview of the different sample environments available for high-pressure studies in the diamon...

Structure, Bonding, and Mineralogy of Carbon at Extreme Conditions