Fossils and Fossilization

Millions of corpses, of humans as well as of pet animals, were embalmed and mummified in the period between 4000 b.c.e. and the present time, not only in Egypt but in other parts of the world as well. Ancient Ethiopian tribes mummified their dead in a manner similar to that of the Egyptians. So did the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands, about 900 b.c.e. The ancient Persians and the people of Mesopotamia, on the other hand, preserved corpses by placing them in jars filled with honey or wax to prevent air, and therefore oxygen and bacteria, from accessing the corpses, thus preventing their decay. 

Taphonomy is the branch of science that studies the processes of decay and fossilization of the remains of dead organisms. The term taphonomy (from the Greek taphos, buriai and nomos, iaw) was introduced during the first haif of the twentieth century to describe the study of the transition of the dead remains of organisms from the biosphere to the iithosphere. Archae-oiogicaiiy reiated taphonomic studies began much iater, near the end of the century (O Connor 2005). 

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Quinones anthraouinones Mar. Bact. Schumaker 1995,Echin. and other marine invertebr. Chang 1998 Land Liliaceae, Ang., especially in tropical and temperate/f/oe spp., and dimeric in Caesalpiniaceae, especially Cassia spp. from arid tropics AY Cassia spp. are cultivated in India and Egypt for danthron as a laxative phenanthropervleneouinones Mar. living-fossil and fossil crinoids, Echin. (likely polyket.) Land Hypericum, Theales, Ang. Pietra 1995). 

See also Air pollution Fossil and fossilization Internal combustion engine Oil spills Plastics. 

Usually well logs are only one type of data used to establish a correlation. Any meaningful interpretation will need to be supported by palaeontological data (micro fossils) and... 

The advent of a portable source of very high energy x-rays has opened up x-ray inspection possibilities in a wide range of environments. Applications include such fields as nuclear waste containers, bridges, nuclear and fossil power plants, surface and airborne transportation systems, space launch systems and other thick section NDT and other inspection problems that cannot be solved imaged using other NDT methods. 

Fossil Power Generation - Boiler and Heat Exehanger Tubes... 

This technology has since been introduced to the fossil power generating industry. To-date, several major utilities including the Termessee Valley Authority, Baltimore Gas and Electric and American Electric Power, as well as many others, have employed this technology to assess the condition of power-generating boiler tubes. 

A. DiGiovanni, "Improving Boiler Overhaul Effectiveness and Efficiency Through Diagnostic Tube Evaluation," Second EPRI Fossil Inspections Conference (November 1988). 

The metal is a source of nuclear power. There is probably more energy available for use from thorium in the minerals of the earth s crust than from both uranium and fossil fuels. Any sizable demand from thorium as a nuclear fuel is still several years in the future. Work has been done in developing thorium cycle converter-reactor systems. Several prototypes, including the HTGR (high-temperature gas-cooled reactor) and MSRE (molten salt converter reactor experiment), have operated. While the HTGR reactors are efficient, they are not expected to become important commercially for many years because of certain operating difficulties. 

When considering how the evolution of life could have come about, the seeding of terrestrial life by extraterrestrial bacterial spores traveling through space (panspermia) deserves mention. Much is said about the possibility of some form of life on other planets, including Mars or more distant celestial bodies. Is it possible for some remnants of bacterial life, enclosed in a protective coat of rock dust, to have traveled enormous distances, staying dormant at the extremely low temperature of space and even surviving deadly radiation The spore may be neither alive nor completely dead, and even after billions of years it could have an infinitesimal chance to reach a planet where liquid water could restart its life. Is this science fiction or a real possibility We don t know. Around the turn of the twentieth century Svante Arrhenius (Nobel Prize in chemistry 1903) developed this theory in more detail. There was much recent excitement about claimed fossil bacterial remains in a Martian meteorite recovered from Antarctica (not since... 

Coals (the plural is deliberately used because coal has no defined, uniform nature or structure) are fossil sources with low hydrogen content. The structure of coals means only the structural models depicting major bonding types and components relating changes with coal rank. Coal is classified, or ranked, as lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, and anthracite. This is also the order of increased aromaticity and decreased volatile matter. The H C ratio of bituminous coal is about 0.8, whereas anthracite has H C ratios as low as 0.2. 

Burning of any hydrocarbon (fossil fuel) or, for that matter, any organic material converts its carbon content to carbon dioxide and its hydrogen to water. Because power plants and other industries emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, they contribute to the so-called greenhouse warming effect on our planet, which causes significant en-... 

The control of carbon dioxide emission from burning fossil fuels in power plants or other industries has been suggested as being possible with different methods, of which sequestration (i.e., collecting CO2 and injecting it to the depth of the seas) has been much talked about recently. Besides of the obvious cost and technical difficulties, this would only store, not dispose of, CO2 (although natural processes in the seas eventually can form carbonates, albeit only over very long periods of time). 

In photosynthesis, nature recycles carbon dioxide and water, using the energy of sunlight, into carbohydrates and thus new plant life. The subsequent formation of fossil fuels from the biomass, however, takes... 

When the sample is a solid, a separation of the analyte and interferent by sublimation may be possible. The sample is heated at a temperature and pressure below its triple point where the solid vaporizes without passing through the liquid state. The vapor is then condensed to recover the purified solid. A good example of the use of sublimation is in the isolation of amino acids from fossil mohusk shells and deep-sea sediments. ... 

Supercritical fluid chromatography has found many applications in the analysis of polymers, fossil fuels, waxes, drugs, and food products. Its application in the analysis of triglycerides is shown in Figure 12.38. 

Selection of pollution control methods is generally based on the need to control ambient air quaUty in order to achieve compliance with standards for critetia pollutants, or, in the case of nonregulated contaminants, to protect human health and vegetation. There are three elements to a pollution problem a source, a receptor affected by the pollutants, and the transport of pollutants from source to receptor. Modification or elimination of any one of these elements can change the nature of a pollution problem. For instance, tall stacks which disperse effluent modify the transport of pollutants and can thus reduce nearby SO2 deposition from sulfur-containing fossil fuel combustion. Although better dispersion aloft can solve a local problem, if done from numerous sources it can unfortunately cause a regional one, such as the acid rain now evident in the northeastern United States and Canada (see Atmospheric models). References 3—15 discuss atmospheric dilution as a control measure. The better approach, however, is to control emissions at the source. 

Triglyceride oils have declined since the 1980s and have been replaced by petroleum-derived products. However, as fossil fuels deplete the supply of petrochemicals, triglyceride-based oils are available as a renewable resource. 

Alternative feedstocks for petrochemicals have been the subject of much research and study over the past several decades, but have not yet become economically attractive. Chemical producers are expected to continue to use fossil fuels for energy and feedstock needs for the next 75 years. The most promising sources which have received the most attention include coal, tar sands, oil shale, and biomass. Near-term advances ia coal-gasification technology offer the greatest potential to replace oil- and gas-based feedstocks ia selected appHcations (10) (see Feedstocks, coal chemicals). 

Rayon is unique among the mass produced man-made fibers because it is the only one to use a natural polymer (cellulose) directly. Polyesters, nylons, polyolefins, and acryflcs all come indirectly from vegetation they come from the polymerization of monomers obtained from reserves of fossil fuels, which in turn were formed by the incomplete biodegradation of vegetation that grew millions of years ago. The extraction of these nonrenewable reserves and the resulting return to the atmosphere of the carbon dioxide from which they were made is one of the most important environmental issues of current times. CeUulosic fibers therefore have much to recommend them provided that the processes used to make them have minimal environmental impact. 

A varnish is often appHed on top of the paint layers. A varnish serves two purposes as a protective coating and also for an optical effect that enriches the colors of the painting. A traditional varnish consists of a natural plant resin dissolved or fused in a Hquid for appHcation to the surface (see Resins, natural). There are two types of varnish resins hard ones, the most important of which is copal, and soft ones, notably dammar and mastic. The hard resins are fossil, and to convert these to a fluid state, they are fused in oil at high temperature. The soft resins dissolve in organic solvents, eg, turpentine. The natural resin varnishes discolor over time and also become less soluble, making removal in case of failure more difficult (see Paint and FINNISH removers). Thus the use of more stable synthetic resins, such as certain methacrylates and cycHc ketone resins, has become quite common, especially in conservation practice. 

Sources of human exposure to formaldehyde are engine exhaust, tobacco smoke, natural gas, fossil fuels, waste incineration, and oil refineries (129). It is found as a natural component in fmits, vegetables, meats, and fish and is a normal body metaboHte (130,131). FaciUties that manufacture or consume formaldehyde must control workers exposure in accordance with the following workplace exposure limits in ppm action level, 0.5 TWA, 0.75 STEL, 2 (132). In other environments such as residences, offices, and schools, levels may reach 0.1 ppm HCHO due to use of particle board and urea—formaldehyde foam insulation in constmction. 

Production and consumption of commercially available fossil fuel, nuclear power, and hydroelectric power in the United States for the year 1992 is shown... 

X 10 J/kg(10.4 X 10 Btu/lb) in 1990. The shift in coal production toward western coal deposits also reflects the shift in coal utilization patterns (Table 7). Electric utiUties are increasing coal consumption on both absolute and percentage bases, whereas coke plants, other industrial operations, and residential and commercial coal users are decreasing use of this soHd fossil fuel. 

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