In Demospongiae (phylum Porifera) the formation of the siliceous skeleton, composed of spicules, is an energetically expensive reaction. The present study demonstrates that primmorphs from the demosponge Suberites domuncula express the gene for arginine kinase after exposure to exogenous silicic acid. The deduced sponge arginine kinase sequence displays the two characteristic domains of the ATP...

A strength profile across the NE Japan interplate megathrust was constructed in the source region of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (Mw9.0) using friction, fracturing, and ductile flow data of the oceanic crustal materials obtained from laboratory experiments. The depth-dependent changes in pressure, temperature, and pore fluid pressure were incorporated into a model. The large tsunamigenic sli...

Recent work has demonstrated that the dynamic interplay between silica and carbonate during co-precipitation can result in the self-assembly of unusual, highly complex crystal architectures with morphologies and textures resembling those typically displayed by biogenic minerals. These so-called biomorphs were shown to be composed of uniform elongated carbonate nanoparticles that are arranged ac...

Archean microfossils provide some of the earliest physical evidence for life on Earth, yet there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding which micro-organisms were actually preserved. Because of the limited cellular detail remaining, interpretation of those microfossils has been based solely on size and morphology. This has led to significant controversy surrounding the presence or absenc...

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline hybrid framework materials composed of inorganic metal “nodes” bridged by rigid organic linkers, thereby featuring exceptionally high surface areas and porosities. Despite the successful synthesis of a plethora of intricate framework topologies, a major objective in current MOF chemistry is the extension of pore sizes from the micropore (> 2 nm) t...

Pottery was a traditional art and technology form in pre-colonial Amazonian civilizations, widely used for cultural expression objects, utensils and as cooking vessels. Abundance and workability of clay made it an excellent choice. However, inferior mechanical properties constrained their functionality and durability. The inclusion of reinforcement particles is a possible route to improve its r...

Halting the spread of organic contaminants in subsurface aquifers is a critical environmental problem. We describe a novel "permeable reactive barrier" that results when organophile-solubilizing properties are conferred on siliceous materials by treating them with a cationic polymer and oppositely charged mixed surfactant micelles. Controlled pore glass, quartz sand, and sea sand were treated w...

Lower Permian Fengcheng Formation is considered to be a high-quality alkaline lacustrine shale oil resource in the Junggar Basin, NW China. Based on core and thin section observation, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, low-pressure N 2 adsorption, high-pressure mercury intrusion porosimetry, different lithofacies, pore structures were examined. According mineral composition, shale...