Search

This research explores customer's expectations of service quality in hot spring hotels in Taiwan. Based on the five dimensions of PZB service quality, a specialist questionnaire is utilized to establish a complete service quality evaluation framework for hot spring hotels. In this research, analysis network process (ANP) is applied to find the relative weights among the criteria and to emphasize the interdependent relationships, thus increasing the accuracy of our results. Finally, the service quality evaluation framework and evaluation results can be used as a guide for hot spring hotel proprietors to review, improve, and enhance service planning and service qualities in the future.

The transport behaviors of two GaN/AlGaN two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) grown on Si substrates were studied, and a SiNx treatment employed in sample fabrication enhanced the conductance of one of the 2DESs. We study the electron heating effect in the 2DESs experimentally, with resistances as self-thermometers. The relation of Te∼I1.42 was obtained, which is in contrast to Te∼I0.5 in the resistivity peaks in a GaAs/AlGaAs 2DES. This may be caused by the scattering effect in this sample.

Dissolved H(2) concentrations up to the mM range and H(2) levels up to 9-58% by volume in the free gas phase are reported for groundwaters at sites in the Precambrian shields of Canada and Finland. Along with previously reported dissolved H(2) concentrations up to 7.4 mM for groundwaters from the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, these findings indicate that deep Precambrian Shield fracture waters contain some of the highest levels of dissolved H(2) ever reported and represent a potentially important energy-rich environment for subsurface microbial life. The delta (2)H isotope signatures of H(2) gas from Canada, Finland, and South Africa are consistent with a range of H(2)-producing water-rock reactions, depending on the geologic setting, which include both serpentinization and radiolysis. In Canada and Finland, several of the sites are in Archean greenstone belts characterized by ultramafic rocks that have under-gone serpentinization and may be ancient analogues for serpentinite-hosted gases recently reported at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field and other hydrothermal seafloor deposits. The hydrogeologically isolated nature of these fracture-controlled groundwater systems provides a mechanism whereby the products of water-rock interaction accumulate over geologic timescales, which produces correlations between high H(2) levels, abiogenic hydrocarbon signatures, and the high salinities and highly altered delta (18)O and delta (2)H values of these groundwaters. A conceptual model is presented that demonstrates how periodic opening of fractures and resultant mixing control the distribution and supply of H(2) and support a microbial community of H(2)-utilizing sulfate reducers and methanogens.

Microbial communities within deep subsurface environments were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene cloning. Clone libraries from 27 borehole fluid, 7 mining-contaminated, and 5 rock samples were compared. Borehole fluids derived from deep fractures were populated by microbial communities with low diversity with an average of 11 and 5 bacterial and archaeal OTUs respectively. Low taxa richness was likely driven by limited biogeochemical reactions available for growth and not extreme parameters such as pH and temperature. Novel taxa of Firmicutes were discovered, commonly found in warm, slightly alkaline, anoxic fracture fluids. Highly divergent lineages of Archaea, unique to South African deep subsurface fracture fluids, are also described. Clone library clustering analyses based on LIBSHUFF phylogenetic relatedness revealed distinct groups of samples corresponding with sample source and geochemistry.

At four underground sites in Precambrian Shield rocks in Canada and South Africa, hydrocarbon and hydrogen gases exsolving from saline fracture waters are analyzed for compositional and isotopic signatures. Dominated by reduced gases such as CH4 ,H 2 and higher hydrocarbons (ethane, propane, butane), the most 13 C-enriched methane end-members at all four sites show a pattern of carbon and hydrogen isotopic values similar to abiogenic gases produced by water–rock interaction that have been identified previously at one site on the Precambrian Shield in Canada. The abiogenic nature of these gases was not previously recognized due to mixing with a second methane component produced by microbial processes. The microbial methane end-member is identified based on carbon and hydrogen isotopic signatures, and DNA gene amplification (PCR) data that indicate the presence of methanogens. A framework is presented to estimate the relative contribution of abiogenic versus microbial hydrocarbon gases at these sites. This approach has important implications for evaluation of potential abiogenic hydrocarbon reservoirs in a wide range of geologic settings, including the longstanding controversy concerning the possible contribution of abiogenic gases to economic petroleum hydrocarbon reservoirs. The association of high concentrations of H2 with 13 C-enriched CH4 end-members, and H2 depletion in the 13 C-depleted methanogenic end-members further suggests the possibility that abiogenic gases may support H2 autotrophy linked to methanogenesis in the deep subsurface. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alkaline, sulfidic, 54 to 60°C, 4 to 53 million-year-old meteoric water emanating from a borehole intersecting quartzite-hosted fractures >3.3 km beneath the surface supported a microbial community dominated by a bacterial species affiliated with Desulfotomaculum spp. and an archaeal species related to Methanobacterium spp. The geochemical homogeneity over the 650-m length of the borehole, the lack of dividing cells, and the absence of these microorganisms in mine service water support an indigenous origin for the microbial community. The coexistence of these two microorganisms is consistent with a limiting flux of inorganic carbon and SO 4 2− in the presence of high pH, high concentrations of H 2 and CH 4 , and minimal free energy for autotrophic methanogenesis. Sulfide isotopic compositions were highly enriched, consistent with microbial SO 4 2− reduction under hydrologic isolation. An analogous microbial couple and similar abiogenic gas chemistry have been reported recently for hydrothermal carbonate vents of the Lost City near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (D. S. Kelly et al., Science 307: 1428-1434, 2005), suggesting that these features may be common to deep subsurface habitats (continental and marine) bearing this geochemical signature. The geochemical setting and microbial communities described here are notably different from microbial ecosystems reported for shallower continental subsurface environments.

In order to better understand the uplift history of the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic terrane, 40Ar-39Ar thermochronological analysis was conducted on minerals extracted from both metamorphic (gneiss and retrograded eclogite) and igneous (pegmatite, granite, and mafic intrusion) rocks from this terrane. Samples of the major lithotectonic units were collected from key localities, including Rongcheng, Laoshan, Yangkou, Taohang, and Rizhao. The analyses of metamorphic rocks yielded ages for hornblende ranging from 222 to 186 Ma, biotite from 130 to 119 Ma, and K-feldspar from 112 to 108 Ma. Hornblende, biotite, and K-feldspar from igneous rocks yielded exclusively late Mesozoic ages from 137 to 97 Ma. A two-stage cooling path for the metamorphic rocks were revealed. A slow cooling (1.9 to 3.8°C/m.y.) during the period of ∼220 to ∼130 Ma was followed by fast cooling (6.8 to 16.7°C/m.y.) during ∼130 to ∼100 Ma. The time span and cooling rate of the second stage coincide with those of the analyzed post-co...

The production rate and isotopic composition of H2 derived from radiolytic reactions in H2O were measured to assess the importance of radiolytic H2 in subsurface environments and to determine whether its isotopic signature can be used as a diagnostic tool. Saline and pure, aerobic and anaerobic water samples with pH values of 4, 7, and 10 were irradiated in sealed vials at room temperature with an artificial γ source, and the H2 abundance in the headspace and its isotopic composition were measured. The H2 concentrations were observed to increase linearly with dosage at a rate of 0.40 ± 0.04 molecules (100 eV)−1 within the dosage range of 900 to 3500 Gray (Gy; Gy = 1 J Kg−1) with no indication of a maximum limit on H2 concentration. At ∼2000 Gy, the H2 concentration varied only by 16% across the experimental range of pH, salinity, and O2. Based upon this measured yield and H2 yields for α and β particles, a radiolytic H2 production rate of 10−9 to 10−4 nM s−1 was estimated for the range of radioactive element concentrations and porosities typical of crustal rocks. The δD of H2 ( δ D = ( ( D / H ) sample / ( D / H ) standard − 1 ) × 1000 ) was independent of the dosage, pH (except for pH 4), salinity, and O2 and yielded an αDH2O-H2 of 2.05 ± 0.07 (αDH2O-H2 = (D/H)H2O to (D/H)H2), slightly less than predicted radiolytic models. Although this radiolytic fractionation value is significantly heavier than that of equilibrium isotopic exchange between H2 and H2O, the isotopic exchange rate between H2 and H2O will erase the heavy δD of radiolytic H2 if the age of the groundwater is greater than ∼103 to 104 yr. The millimolar concentrations of H2 observed in the groundwater of several Precambrian Shields are consistent with radiolysis of water that has resided in the subsurface for a few million years. These concentrations are well above those required to support H2-utilizing microorganisms and to inhibit H2-producing, fermentative microorganisms.

In this study, compositions and δ13C and δ2H isotopic values of hydrocarbon gases from 5 mines in the Witwatersrand basin, South Africa, support the widespread occurrence of microbially produced methane in millions of years-old fissure waters. The presence of microbial methane is, to a large extent, controlled by the geologic formations in which the gases are found. Samples from the Witwatersand Supergroup have the largest microbial component based on δ13C and δ2H signatures and CH4/C2+ values. Based on mixing between a microbial CH4 component and a more 13C-enriched and 2H-depleted C2+-rich end member, conservative estimates of the % contribution of microbial CH4 to the gas samples range from >90% microbial CH4 at Beatrix, Masimong, and Merriespruit, to between 5 and 80% microbial CH4 at Evander, and

Fractal behavior in magnetoconductance fluctuations in coupled quantum dots has been studied by means of exact and statistical self-similarity. The fractal dimensions from the different features are not coincident exactly but show the similar gate voltage dependences, where the values increase with increasing negative gate voltage. Moreover, results of statistical fractal dimensions obtained from two types of dot-array samples show the same dependence on the gate voltage variation. It seems a common feature of coupled-dot systems that the fractal dimension increases by decreasing the inter-dot coupling.

Concentrations and isotopic ratios of dissolved noble gases, 36Cl, δD and δ18O in water samples from the ultra-deep gold mines (0.718 to 3.3 km below the surface) in the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, were investigated to quantify the dynamics of these ultra deep crustal fluids. The mining activity has a significant impact on the concentrations of dissolved gases, as the associated pressure release causes the degassing of the fissure water. The observed under saturation of the atmospheric noble gases in the fissure water samples (70–98%, normalized to ASW at 20°C and 1013 mbar) is reproduced by a model that considers diffusive degassing and solubility equilibration with a gas phase at sampling temperature. Corrections for degassing result in 4He concentrations as high as 1.55 · 10−1cm3STP4He g−1, 40Ar/36Ar ranging between 806 and 10331, and 134Xe/132Xe and 136Xe/132Xe ratios above 0.46 and 0.44, respectively. Corrected 134(136)Xe/132Xe and 134(136)Xe/4He-ratios are consistent with their production ratios, whereas the nucleogenic 4He/40Ar, and 134(136)Xe/40Ar ratios generally indicate that these gases are produced in an environment with an average [U + Th]/K-content 2–3 times above that of crustal average. In two scenarios, one considering only accumulation of in situ produced noble gases, the other additionally crustal flux components, the model ages for 14 individual water samples range from 13 to 168 Ma and from 1 to 23 Ma, respectively. The low 36Cl-ratios of (4–37) · 10−15 and comparatively high 36Cl-concentrations of (8–350) · 10−15 atoms 36Cl l−1 reflect subsurface production in secular equilibrium indicating an age in excess of 1.5 Ma or 5 times the half-life of 36Cl. In combination, the results suggest residence times of the fluids in fissures in this region (up to 3.3 km depth) are of the order of 1–100 Ma. We cannot exclude the possibility of mixing and that small quantities of younger water have been mixed with the very old bulk.

The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) has long espoused studies of deep subsurface life, and has targeted fundamental questions regarding subsurface life, including the following: "(1) What is the extent and diversity of deep microbial life and what are the factors limiting it? (2) What are the types of metabolism/carbon/energy sources and the rates of subsurface activity? (3) How is deep microbial life adapted to subsurface conditions? (4) How do subsurface microbial communities affect energy resources? And (5) how does the deep biosphere interact with the geosphere and atmosphere?" (Horsfield et al., 2014) Many ICDP-sponsored drilling projects have included a deep-life component; however, to date, not one project has been driven by deep-life goals, in part because geomicrobiologists have been slow to initiate deep biosphere-driven ICDP projects. Therefore, the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) recently partnered with the ICDP to sponsor a workshop with the specific aim of gathering potential proponents for deep-life-driven ICDP projects and ideas for candidate drilling sites. Twenty-two participants from nine countries proposed projects and sites that included compressional and extensional tectonic environments, evaporites, hydrocarbon-rich shales, flood basalts, Precambrian shield rocks, subglacial and subpermafrost environments, active volcano–tectonic systems, megafan deltas, and serpentinizing ultramafic environments. The criteria and requirements for successful ICDP applications were presented. Deep-life-specific technical requirements were discussed and it was concluded that, while these procedures require adequate planning, they are entirely compatible with the sampling needs of other disciplines. As a result of this workshop, one drilling workshop proposal on the Basin and Range Physiographic Province (BRPP) has been submitted to the ICDP, and several other drilling project proponents plan to submit proposals for ICDP-sponsored drilling workshops in 2016.

The interpretation of 39Ar recoil loss from clay minerals during application of the 40Ar/39Ar analytical technique is controversial. To further explore the mechanism for 39Ar recoil loss, we quantified the effects of backscattering where the recoiled 39Ar atom fails to reenter the coherent clay particle upon crossing an incoherent boundary. A numerical simulation with the computer program, SRIM, was conducted. The results indicate that the recoil range distribution is significantly influenced by the incident angle between the attacking direction and c-axis (perpendicular to the plane of clay surface). 39Ar concentration profiles were generated for two spatial analogues to natural illite/smectite (1) a one-component system composed of the K-rich particles with thicknesses ranging from 5 to 100 nm, and (2) a two-component system composed of alternation of the K-rich and K-poor particles having thicknesses ranging from 5 to 100 nm. The models yield 14–15%, 9–10%, 2–3%, and 1–2% backscattered 39Ar for particle thicknesses of 5 nm, 10 nm, 50 nm, and 100 nm, respectively. The initial 39Ar concentration exerts very little influence on the fraction of backscattered 39Ar. If the particles are separated by incoherent boundaries along which 39Ar atoms freely migrate, then the backscattered 39Ar must contribute to the 39Ar recoil loss. The estimates of 39Ar backscatter loss are generally consistent with published experimental data. Good agreement is obtained for samples having a particle thickness larger than 50 nm. The model underestimates the observed 39Ar recoil loss by a factor of two for samples with a particle thickness less than 50 nm. Our results indicate that 39Ar recoil loss in clays is largely controlled by backscattering at the incoherent boundary.

We analyze the conductance fluctuations for a bulk two-dimensional electron system in a GaN/Al0.15Ga0.85N heterostructure grown on a p-type Si(111) substrate, and calculate the correlation field Bc with the autocorrelation function F(ΔB) = , in the temperature range 0.27 ≤T ≤3 K, which is employed as a self-thermometer to obtain the effective carrier temperature Te as a function of the measurement current I. We find that the temperature dependence agrees well with simple expectations for universal conductance fluctuations in metals, while the observed amplitude is reduced. In the study of hot-carrier phenomena, we also obtain Te ~I0.5, which agrees with some theoretical prediction.

We have performed magnetotransport measurements on a multi-layer graphene flake. At the crossing magnetic field Bc, an approximately temperature-independent point in the measured longitudinal resistivity, which is ascribed to the direct insulator-quantum Hall (I-QH) transition, is observed. By analyzing the amplitudes of the magnetoresistivity oscillations, we are able to measure the quantum mobility of our device. It is found that at the direct I-QH transition, the product of the quantum mobility and is about 0.37 which is considerably smaller than 1. In contrast, at Bc, the longitudinal resistivity is close to the Hall resistivity, i.e., the product of the classical mobility and the crossing field is about 1. Therefore our results suggest that different mobilities need to be introduced for the direct I-QH transition observed in multi-layered graphene. Combined with existing experimental results obtained in various material systems, our data obtained on graphene suggest that the direct I-QH transition is a universal effect in 2D., 4 figures

Geothermal environments are characterized by dynamic redox and temperature fluctuations inherited from the exposure of deeply-sourced, hot, reducing fluids to low-temperature, oxidizing ambient environments. To investigate whether microbial assemblages shifted in response to the changes of a redox state within acidic hot ponds, we collected three paired water and sediment samples from the Tatun Volcano Group, assessed metabolic roles of community members, and correlated their functional capabilities with geochemical factors along depth. Molecular analyses revealed that Sulfolobus spp., Acidianus spp. and Vulcanisaeta spp. capable of respiring elemental sulfur under oxic and/or low-oxygen conditions were the major archaeal members in planktonic communities. In contrast, obligate anaerobic Caldisphaera spp. dominated over others in bottom-dwelling communities. Bacteria were only detected in one locality wherein the majority was affiliated with microaerophilic Hydrogenobaculum spp. Cluster analyses indicated that archaeal communities associated with sediments tended to cluster together and branch off those with water. In addition, the quantities of dissolved oxygen within the water column were substantially less than those in equilibrium with atmospheric oxygen, indicating a net oxygen consumption most likely catalyzed by microbial processes. These lines of evidence suggest that the segregation of planktonic from bottom-dwelling archaeal assemblages could be accounted for by the oxygen affinities inherited in individual archaeal members. Community assemblages in geothermal ecosystems would be often underrepresented without cautious sampling of both water and sediments.

We use a scanning gate microscopy to perturb coherent transport in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene wide constriction. Particularly, we observe conductance oscillations in the wide constriction region (W ∼ 800 nm) characterized by spatial conductance variations, which imply formation of the nanometer-scale ring structure due to the merged domains and intrinsic grain boundaries. Moreover, additional hot charges from high current can suppress the coherent transport, suggesting that the hot carriers with a wide spreading kinetic energy could easily tunnel merged domains and intrinsic grain boundaries in CVD-grown graphene due to the heating effect, a great advantage for applications in graphene-based interference-type nano-electronics.

We study the temperature flow of conductivities in a gated GaAs two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) containing self-assembled InAs dots and compare the results with recent theoretical predictions. By changing the gate voltage, we are able to tune the 2DEG density and thus vary disorder and spin-splitting. Data for both the spin-resolved and spin-degenerate phase transitions are presented, the former collapsing to the latter with decreasing gate voltage and/or decreasing spin-splitting. The experimental results support a recent theory, based on modular symmetry, which predicts how the critical Hall conductivity varies with spin-splitting., Comment: 22 pages

Magneto-transport measurements are performed on two-dimensional GaAs electron systems to probe the quantum Hall (QH) effect at low magnetic fields. Oscillations following the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) formula are observed in the transition from the insulator to QH liquid when the observed almost temperature-independent Hall slope indicates insignificant interaction correction. Our study shows that the existence of SdH oscillations in such a transition can be understood based on the non-interacting model., 17 pages

A direct insulator-quantum Hall (I-QH) transition corresponds to a crossover/transition from the insulating regime to a high Landau level filling factor ν > 2 QH state. Such a transition has been attracting a great deal of both experimental and theoretical interests. In this study, we present three different two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) which are in the vicinity of nanoscaled scatterers. All these three devices exhibit a direct I-QH transition, and the transport properties under different nanaoscaled scatterers are discussed.

High arsenic (As) concentration in groundwater potentially poses a serious threat to the health of local residents in southwestern Taiwan. Although the As release to groundwater is responsible for the reducing bacteria-mediated reductive dissolution of As-rich Fe hydroxides, the influences of FeRB and different organic substrates on As and Fe mobility and transformation were rarely discussed. An experiment that involved As-adsorbed synthetic amorphous Fe(III) hydroxide (HFO) and the inoculation of in situ Fe-reducing bacteria (FeRB) was performed to evaluate the contribution of FeRB to the As mobility and transformation. The batched experiment of As-free HFO showed that the reducing bacteria rapidly induced the reduction of amorphous Fe oxyhydroxide to Fe(II) by reductive dissolution of HFO and formation of Fe-citrate complexation. For aqueous As(V) reduction experiment, arsenate was effectively reduced to As(III) by the facultative anaerobic bacterium in the cultured FeRB. In the experiment of As-containing HFO reduction, the aqueous As(V) acts as an electron acceptor and reduced to As(III) after the reductive dissolution of Fe(III) on HFO. However, the increase in the As(III) concentrations with time for various organic substrates in the As-adsorbed HFO-reducing experiment differ from the rates of As(V) reduction with various organic substrates in the As(V)-reducing experiment. The decrease in sorption sites by coupled reductive dissolution of HFO and the competitive desorption of small molecular organic carbon is apparently the important factor of As mobility. For large molecular organic carbon (i.e., citrate), the significant contribution of citrate on As mobility is the complexation of iron citrate. A working hypothesis model of As biogeochemical cycling is proposed to illustrate the relevant processes in the groundwater aquitard of southwestern Taiwan.

We fabricated AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure—based quantum Hall devices for the resistance standard at Center for Measurement Standards (CMS). The measurements using a Direct Current Comparator (DCC) show the consistency between the plateaus of v=2 and 4 at the temperature T=2 K, where v is the filling factor. On the other hand, the plateaus of higher filling factors may be susceptible to the reduced localization strength, under which the semiclassical effects can be important. The coexistence of localization-induced gaps and semiclassical transport is discussed.

Terra Nova, 22, 251–256, 2010 Abstract The continuously distributed, well-preserved fracture-filling carbonates were collected from the cores retrieved from the Taiwan Chelungpu-fault Drilling Program between 400 and 2000 m depth for carbon and oxygen isotope analyses to constrain the fluid compositions and processes associated with brittle deformation within the accretionary wedge. The isotope analyses of fracture-filling carbonates yielded δ18O values steadily increasing with depth. The δ13C values exhibited a pattern similar to that of δ18O values at shallower depths, but an opposite trend at greater depths. Such variations in the isotopic compositions could be best explained by a mixing of shallow, meteoric water and deeply rooted fluid carrying isotopic signatures of various microbial processes. The notable excursion of δ18O values might infer a conduit for the lateral fluid transport along the high vein density zone. Overall, the isotopic patterns preclude the substantial influence of early diagenesis and suggest pervasive fluid percolation through the fracture network.

We have performed low-temperature transport measurements on a disordered two-dimensional electron system (2DES). Features of the strong localization leading to the quantum Hall effect are observed after the 2DES undergoes a direct insulator-quantum Hall transition with increasing the perpendicular magnetic field. However, such a transition does not correspond to the onset of strong localization. The temperature dependences of the Hall resistivity and Hall conductivity reveal the importance of the electron-electron interaction effects to the observed transition in our study., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator , composes >99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machinery shared with archaea. Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is capable of an independent life-style well suited to long-term isolation from the photosphere deep within Earth's crust and offers an example of a natural ecosystem that appears to have its biological component entirely encoded within a single genome.

Magneto-transport measurements are performed on the AlGaAs/GaAs quantum Hall (QH) devices fabricated recently by our group. A series of Hall plateaus are observed with increasing the perpendicular magnetic field, and the mobility gaps resulting from localization effects are investigated at the minima in the longitudinal resistivity. Only the gap corresponding to the filling factor i = 2 is close to the expected cyclotron energy, and our study supports that the low-field QH conductors may suffer problems due to insufficient localization. The anomalous change on the Hall slope is observed when the i = 3 plateau is destroyed by the large current.

Magneto-transport measurements are performed on the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in an AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure. By increasing the magnetic field perpendicular to the 2DES, magnetoresistivity oscillations due to Landau quantisation can be identified just near the direct insulator-quantum Hall (I-QH) transition. However, different mobilities are obtained from the oscillations and transition point. Our study shows that the direct I-QH transition does not always correspond to the onset of strong localisation., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures

Water residing within crustal fractures encountered during mining at depths greater than 500 meters in the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa represents a mixture of paleo-meteoric water and 2.0–2.3 Ga hydrothermal fluid. The hydrothermal fluid is highly saline, contains abiogenic CH 4 and hydrocarbon, occasionally N 2 , originally formed at ∼ 250–300°C and during cooling isotopically exchanged O and H with minerals and accrued H 2 , 4 He and other radiogenic gases. The paleo-meteoric water ranges in age from ∼ 10 Ka to > 1.5 Ma, is of low salinity, falls along the global meteoric water line (GMWL) and is CO 2 and atmospheric noble gas-rich. The hydrothermal fluid, which should be completely sterile, has probably been mixing with paleo-meteoric water for at least the past ∼100 Myr, a process which inoculates previously sterile environments at depths > 2.0 to 2.5 km. Free energy flux calculations suggest that sulfate reduction is the dominant electron acceptor microbial process for the high salinity fract...

The vertical distribution and function of terrestrial planktonic microbial communities at depths greater than 600 m remain poorly established. Culture-independent methods using 16S rRNA genes and geochemical approaches were employed to investigate the heterogeneity and potential function of microbial communities residing within fractures at 0.7 to 1.4 kilometers below land surface of Beatrix Au Mine, South Africa. The salinity (26 to 47 mM Cl−), temperature (33 to 40°C) and age (1 to 5 Ma) of these fracture water increased with depth. The δD and δ18O values of fracture water ranged from −44 to −39‰ and from −7 to −4‰ VSMOW, respectively, and exhibited a mixing trend with fracture water collected from the same mine in a previous study where isotopic signatures were indicative of hydrothermal origin. Fracture water from Beatrix Mine was distinct from the groundwater in the overlying Karoo sedimentary strata in terms of its Cl−, He and CH4 concentrations, and its δD and δ18O signatures and from Vaal River (s...

Geochemical, microbiological, and molecular analyses of alkaline saline groundwater at 2.8 kilometers depth in Archaean metabasalt revealed a microbial biome dominated by a single phylotype affiliated with thermophilic sulfate reducers belonging to Firmicutes . These sulfate reducers were sustained by geologically produced sulfate and hydrogen at concentrations sufficient to maintain activities for millions of years with no apparent reliance on photosynthetically derived substrates.

[1] H2 is probably the most important substrate for terrestrial subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial communities. Abiotic H2 generation is an essential component of subsurface ecosystems truly independent of surface photosynthesis. Here we report that H2 concentrations in fracture water collected from deep siliclastic and volcanic rock units in the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, ranged up to two molar, a value far greater than observed in shallow aquifers or marine sediments. The high H2 concentrations are consistent with that predicted by radiolytic dissociation of H2O during radioactive decay of U, Th, and K in the host rock and the observed He concentrations. None of the other known H2-generating mechanisms can account for such high H2 abundance either because of the positive free energy imposed by the high H2 concentration or pH or because of the absence of required mineral phases. The radiolytic H2 is consumed by methanogens and abiotic hydrocarbon synthesis. Our calculations indicate that radiolytic H2 production is a ubiquitous and virtually limitless source of energy for deep crustal chemolithoautotrophic ecosystems.

Recent studies have shown that the biosphere extends to depths that exceed 3 km, raising questions regarding the age of the microbes in these deep ecosystems and their sources of energy for metabolism. Abiogenic energy sources that are derived from in situ, purely geochemical sources and thus independent from photosynthesis have been suggested. We sampled saline fracture water emanating from a 3.1-km deep borehole in a Au mine in the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa and characterized the chemical constituents (including stable isotopes), groundwater age, and indigenous microorganisms. Salinity data and ratios of dissolved noble gases indicate that extremely ancient (2.0 Ga) saline fracture water has mixed with meteoric water to yield an average subsurface residence time of 20–160 Ma, the oldest age of any waters collected to date in the Witwatersrand Basin. H2 isotope data suggest the water originated from a depth of 4 to 5 km. Sulfur isotope fractionation indicates biological sulfate reduction. Calcul...

A delta-doped quantum well with additional modulation doping may have potential applications. Utilizing such a hybrid system, it is possible to experimentally realize an extremely high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density without suffering inter-electronic-subband scattering. In this article, the authors report on transport measurements on a delta-doped quantum well system with extra modulation doping. We have observed a 0-10 direct insulator-quantum Hall (I-QH) transition where the numbers 0 and 10 correspond to the insulator and Landau level filling factor ν = 10 QH state, respectively. In situ titled-magnetic field measurements reveal that the observed direct I-QH transition depends on the magnetic component perpendicular to the quantum well, and the electron system within this structure is 2D in nature. Furthermore, transport measurements on the 2DEG of this study show that carrier density, resistance and mobility are approximately temperature (T)-independent over a wide range of T. Such results could be an advantage for applications in T-insensitive devices.

We have performed magnetoresistivity measurements ρxx(B) on an AlGaAs∕GaAs high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structure at high temperatures T. The observed positive magnetoresistance (MR) in the HEMT structure can be greatly enhanced simply by increasing the driving current. At T=80K and B=6T, the MR value can be increased from ∼150% to 4000%, almost a 30-fold increase when a large current of 40μA is applied. Such results are due to electron heating effects and our data lay the foundation for practical magnetic device applications which can be readily combined with high-speed electronics, high-frequency amplifiers, and radar using the mature GaAs-based HEMT technology.

Magnetoresistivity measurements on a gated AlGaAs∕GaAs high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structure were performed at high temperatures T. By changing the applied gate voltage Vg, we can investigate the observed huge positive magnetoresistance (PMR) at different effective disorder and density inhomogeneity within the same HEMT structure. The observed PMR value increases with increasing disorder in the depletion mode (Vg⩽0). Moreover, the PMR value is not limited by the quality of the HEMT structure at T=80K. Such results pave the way for low-cost, high-throughput GaAs-based HEMT fabrication for future magnetic sensing and recording devices fully compatible with the mature HEMT technology.

We report comparative magnetoresistance measurements of the two-dimensional electron gas formed in two different GaN/AlGaN quantum well structures with different starting disorder. The longitudinal magnetoresistance measurements for both the samples exhibited temperatureindependent crossing points, evidence for a weak insulator quantum Hall transition. Our data suggest that the onset of Landau quantization does not correspond to the crossing point. Moreover, the effect of the electron-electron interaction must be taken into account because the Hall resistivity shows a strong temperature dependence in the more disordered sample. Our experimental results, therefore, urge further studies on the low-field weak insulator quantum Hall transition.

We present experimental results on hot-carrier phenomena in a GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron system in the integer and fractional quantum Hall regions. In the integer region at low magnetic fields, a relationship Te ∼ I between the effective carrier temperature Te and the source-drain current I is obtained from Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations at several magnetic fields, 0.2 ∼ 0.5 T, and currents, 0.1 ∼ 4 μA. These results are in agreement with results obtained in the current-dependent broadening of resistance peaks in the quantum Hall region of spin-split Landau levels. However, in the fractional region for the filling factor ν = 5/3(B = 7 T), a power law relationship Te ∼ I is obtained. The difference in exponent may be due to different energy relaxation mechanisms between these two regions.

Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan(Received 12 September 2006)A GaN/AlGaN two-dimensional electron system (2DES) has been prepared on a Si substrate,and the electron heating effect in the 2DES has been studied experimentally by using the resistanceof the 2DES as a self-thermometer. The relation T

We report on magnetotransport studies of Al0.15Ga0.85N∕GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures grown on p-type Si (111) substrates. A small but significant decrease of the Hall slope with increasing temperature is observed. Moreover, the converted conductivities reveal that the mobility of the HEMT shows a linear dependence on temperature. All these experimental results can be ascribed to electron-electron interaction (EEI) effects in AlxGa1−xN∕GaN HEMT structures grown on Si. The existence of EEI effects can be utilized to design and optimize GaN-based quantum devices on Si such as single-electron transistors and quantum point contacts since EEI effects can strongly modify the transport in semiconductor devices.

The Taiwan Chelungpu Drilling Project (TCDP) has provided an unprecedented opportunity to reveal a terrestrial subsurface microbial ecosystem that has possibly experienced continuous disturbance by the arccontinental collision since 5 Ma. The drilling penetrated Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary rocks to a depth of 2000 meters below the land surface (mbls) and encountered two major fault zones. Sixteen samples retrieved from the drilled cores at depths between 464 to 1451 mbls were examined to characterize microbial community structures through cultivation-based approaches. Cultivation experiments were performed with various media at temperatures ranging from 30 to 50¢XC. The results indicate that fermenters and heterotrophic sulfate reducers, using complex organic carbon, were ubiquitously present in most samples. Acetate-utilizing and H2 ¡Vutilizing sulfate reducers were restricted to shallower intervals along the depth profile. Iron reducers and methanogens were only cultivated in a few shallow samples. Twelve pure strains including 8 fermenters, 3 iron reducers and 1 sulfate reducer originally enriched at 30 or 40¢XC were isolated and identified with 16S rDNA sequence analyses. They were phylogenetically affiliated with Firmicutes, Bacteriodes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria in various degrees of similarity. The presence of metabolism was not correlated with lithology, depth, temperature and the appearance of fracture throughout the core. The ubiquitous appearance of fermentation and organotrophic sulfate reduction suggests that organic carbon sources were readily accessible in this deep terrestrial subsurface environment. These results infer that the foreland sedimentary strata disturbed by tectonic activities over a geological time scale might support a heterotrophy-dominated deep terrestrial subsurface microbial ecosystem.