RESUMEN
The impact of military training activities (primarily foot traffic) on soils and vegetation was assessed at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado, USA. In May-June 1998 after 2 years of intensive training use, mean bulk densities of the top 6 cm of soil in the high-use site (1.37 g/cm(3)) and moderate-use site (1.30 g/cm(3)) were significantly different from bulk density of the reference site (1.04 g/cm(3)). Mean infiltration rates on the high use site (0.63 cm/min) and moderate use site (0.67 cm/min) were significantly different from the infiltration rate on the reference site (3.83 cm/min). Soil water holding capacities of the three sites were not significantly different. Descriptive comparisons of total aboveground biomass and litter indicated a 68% decrease in total aboveground biomass and a 91% decrease in litter when the high-use site was compared to the reference site. Using the Universal Soil Loss Equation, an estimated soil erosion rate for the reference plot (0.07 tons/ha/yr) was 30 times less than the erosion rate for the high use plot in the center of the basic cadet training encampment area (2 tons/ha/yr) and between 7 and 6 times less than the moderate use plot and the high use plot on the edge of the encampment area (0.5 and 0.4 tons/ha/yr, respectively). Therefore, training use appears to adversely affect bulk density, infiltration, total aboveground biomass, litter, and erosion. Without implementation of restoration practices, further site degradation is likely.
RESUMEN
The structure of a polymer electrolyte, P(EO)7.5LiN(SO 2CF (3))(2), has been determined by neutron diffraction with isotropic substitution. The Li ions are bonded on average to five ether oxygens belonging to pairs of PEO coils. These are arranged with a considerable degree of extended-range order providing pathways for the Li ion conduction. The lack of ion pairing in this system below 4.8 A is reminiscent of that observed in the remarkable structure of P(EO)6LiAsF (6) and implies that anions and cations are free to migrate independently.
RESUMEN
Well-defined microscopic collective excitations are found in liquid Ni at 1763 K by means of inelastic neutron scattering. Such excitations are supported by the liquid despite an anharmonic character of its thermodynamic functions. Consideration of the detailed shape of the interionic pair potential provides a way to understand why atomic motions at microscopic scales behave in a way much closer to the alkali metals than to the liquefied rare gases.
RESUMEN
The relation between mechanical and electrical relaxation in polymer/lithium-salt complexes is a fascinating and still unresolved problem in condensed-matter physics, yet has an important bearing on the viability of such materials for use as electrolytes in lithium batteries. At room temperature, these materials are biphasic: they consist of both fluid amorphous regions and salt-enriched crystalline regions. Ionic conduction is known to occur predominantly in the amorphous fluid regions. Although the conduction mechanisms are not yet fully understood, it is widely accepted that lithium ions, coordinated with groups of ether oxygen atoms on single or perhaps double polymer chains, move through re-coordination with other oxygen-bearing groups. The formation and disruption of these coordination bonds must be accompanied by strong relaxation of the local chain structure. Here we probe the relaxation on a nanosecond timescale using quasielastic neutron scattering, and we show that at least two processes are involved: a slow process with a translational character and one or two fast processes with a rotational character. Whereas the former reflects the slowing-down of the translational relaxation commonly observed in polyethylene oxide and other polymer melts, the latter appears to be unique to the polymer electrolytes and has not (to our knowledge) been observed before. A clear picture emerges of the lithium cations forming crosslinks between chain segments and thereby profoundly altering the dynamics of the polymer network.
