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Identity and origin of magnetic soil nanoparticles

02.05.18 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope

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The Interleaved Reddened Fossil Soils and Paler Windblown Dust Layers
The interleaved reddened fossil soils and paler windblown dust layers of the famous Chinese Loess Plateau, with Barbara Maher, one of the paper's co-authors, for scale at right. Credit: Image courtesy of Zhou Liping (Peking University, Beijing).

Using electron microscopy-based structural "fingerprinting," researchers report that the magnetic iron oxide particles in fossil soil layers from the Chinese Loess Plateau consist primarily of magnetite, whose formation is driven by soil wetting and drying, suggesting that magnetic variations in Chinese Loess Plateau soils reflect variations in monsoon rainfall, which could provide a benchmark for testing paleoclimate models.

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Article #17-19186: "Identification and paleoclimatic significance of magnetite nanoparticles in soils," by Imad A.M. Ahmed and Barbara A. Maher.

MEDIA CONTACT: Barbara A. Maher, Lancaster University, UNITED KINGDOM; tel: +44-1524510268; e-mail: < b.maher@lancs.ac.uk >

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Keywords

Electron Microscopy Magnetite Soils

Article Information

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Contact Information

Barbara A. Maher
b.maher@lancs.ac.uk

How to Cite This Article

APA:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (2018, February 5). Identity and origin of magnetic soil nanoparticles. Brightsurf News. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8OJRNVQ1/identity-and-origin-of-magnetic-soil-nanoparticles.html
MLA:
"Identity and origin of magnetic soil nanoparticles." Brightsurf News, Feb. 5 2018, https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8OJRNVQ1/identity-and-origin-of-magnetic-soil-nanoparticles.html.