Fluffy layer/material

Careful examination of the yellowish sediment obtained after spinning down the crude mitochondrial fraction showed it was frequently overlaid with loosely packed, fluffy material —the fluffy layer. Experiments from de Duve s and, later, Novikoff s laboratories in the 1950s demonstrated that the lighter, lysosomal fraction was enriched in a number of hydrolases including acid phosphatase, aryl sulphatase, B glucuronidase, RNAase, and a peptidase, cathepsin. All the enzymes had optimal pHs in the acid range (pH 5-pH 6). Density... 

The model system allows also a basin wide description of the transport of suspended particulate matter (SPM), which can be transported near the seabed within the so-called fluffy layer and is strongly affected by surface waves in coastal waters. Understanding the settling and resuspension of SPM in response to waves and currents is of great importance to assess the transports of material discharged by rivers from the coastal regions to the final deposit in the sediments of central basins. 

The simulated distribution of fluffy material at the sea bottom in the southwestern Baltic after a period of 60 days with realistic wind forcing is shown in the left panel of Fig. 19.13. Obviously, the initially homogeneous fluffy layer, which started with a density of 0.1 g/crn , is nearly completely eroded from shallow regions above 30 m. On the contrary, deposition of material has built accumulations at the rims of the adjacent deeper basins. A time series of... 

A different clay derives from the layered mineral talc, Mg3(Si40io)(01T)2. If iron(II) and aluminum replace magnesium and silicon in varying proportions and water molecules are allowed to take up positions between the layers, the swelling clay vermiculite results. When heated, vermiculite pops like popcorn, as the steam generated by the vaporization of water between the layers puffs the flakes up into a light, fluffy material with air inclusions. Because of its porous structure, vermiculite is used for thermal insulation or as an additive to loosen soils. 

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