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- Hammarlund, Emma U., 1971-
(author)
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Ocean chemistry and the evolution of multicellularity
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Oxygen has been assumed to be a vital trigger for the evolution of multicellular life forms on Earth, partly based on its power to promote substantial energy flux in cell respiration and partly as biosynthesis of compounds like collagen require oxygen. However, the co-evolution of large life and the Earth’s chemical environment is not well understood at present, and there is particular disagreement in the field about whether the Cambrian explosion of animal life forms was a chemical or biological event. Here, I discuss the evolution of multicellularity, divided in simple or complex forms, in light of the evolution of ocean water column chemistry in both the Proterozoic and the early Paleozoic. Even if the appearance of animals is confined to the Ediacaran, other fossil evidence of complex multicellularity can be argued to occur in the Paleo-, Meso- and Neoproterozic. These finds are, if anything, reason enough to keep searching for early experiments in complex multicellularity. In this search, we may have to expand our toolbox by looking at e.g. trace element aggregations and the isotopic composition of key elements. Research over the last couple of years have accentuated that much of the interval between the Ediacaran and the Devonian was dramatic with transitional ocean chemistry at the same time that large forms of animal life experienced dynamic radiation and ecological expansion. Results presented here describe some aspects of this time, including geochemistry from Chengjiang and a mechanism for preserving non-mineralized Cambrian animals that was partly dependent on specific ocean chemistry. Also, geochemical proxies using iron and molybdenum are used to infer a Paleozoic atmosphere with less than 50% of present levels of oxygen. The possibility that the subsequent rise is due to terrestrial plants and linked to the appearance of large predatory fish is discussed. Finally, the first mass extinction in the end-Ordovician is linked to low oxygen concentrations in the water column. It appears that more than oxygen was critical to allow the radiation of large life forms on Earth, but that chemistry and tectonic activity were intimately intertwined to biology, in a dance of permitting and being determined by certain aspects of ecology.
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- Holm, Anne I. S., et al.
(author)
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Ions Colliding with Cold Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Clusters
- 2010
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 105:21, s. 213401-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the first experimental study of ions interacting with clusters of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. Collisions between 11.25 keV He-3(+) or 360 keV Xe-129(20+) and weakly bound clusters of one of the smallest PAH molecules, anthracene, show that C14H10 clusters have much higher tendencies to fragment in ion collisions than other weakly bound clusters. The ionization is dominated by peripheral collisions in which the clusters, very surprisingly, are more strongly heated by Xe20+ collisions than by He+ collisions. The appearance size is k = 15 for [C14H10](k)(2+).
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- Holm, Olof, 1973-
(author)
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Självägarområdenas egenart : Jämtland och andra områden i Skandinavien med småskaligt jordägande 900–1500
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis takes its departure from the fact that in the 16th century there were some regions in Scandinavia where almost all land was held by freeholders, while in other regions large areas of land were held by landlords. The aim of the study is to determine which factors had been decisive in the development of this regional variation. One factor is known from earlier research: the conditions for farming, dependent on climate and natural features. In this thesis the author points out another important factor, namely the conditions for people in the countryside to acquire surplus from trade. This is done through an in-depth investigation of the society of Jämtland in the period AD 900–1500, which is then compared with other freeholders’ regions, treated briefly.It is observed that the landownership had been small-scale or mostly small-scale in all these regions for many centuries before the 16th century, and that there are strong indications of the wealthiest farmers being traders and having their surplus mostly drawn from trade activities. It is reasonable to believe that the lack of willingness to invest in estates in these regions was due to the fact that those who had resources gave priority to investments in interregional and regional trade instead. They probably saw better chances of gaining more surplus from trade activities than from the agrarian economy, given the conditions for trading and crop cultivation, respectively, that were prevailing there. In such a region, hence, an important economic force for estate-formation was missing. This will explain why certain regions, like Jämtland or Gotland, developed into and remained as freeholders’ regions.Another observation concerns the social structure of freeholders’ regions. It is observed that the societies in these regions seem to have been less hierarchical on the local level than societies in regions dominated by landlords – even though the differences in fortunes could be great.
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- Kylander, Malin E., et al.
(author)
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Late glacial (17,060-13,400 cal yr BP) sedimentary and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Sekhokong Range (Drakensberg), southern Africa
- 2021
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 16:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Southern Africa sits at the junction of tropical and temperate systems, leading to the formation of seasonal precipitation zones. Understanding late Quaternary paleoclimatic change in this vulnerable region is hampered by a lack of available, reliably-dated records. Here we present a sequence from a well-stratified sedimentary infill occupying a lower slope basin which covers 17,060 to 13,400 cal yr BP with the aim to reconstruct paleoclimatic variability in the high Drakensberg during the Late Glacial. We use a combination of pollen, total organic carbon and nitrogen, delta C-13, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectral and elemental data on contiguous samples with high temporal resolution (10 to 80 years per sample). Our data support a relatively humid environment with considerable cold season precipitation during what might have been the final stage of niche-glaciation on the adjoining southern aspects around 17,000 cal yr BP. Then, after an initial warmer and drier period starting similar to 15,600 cal yr BP, we identify a return to colder and drier conditions with more winter precipitation starting similar to 14,380 cal yr BP, which represents the first local evidence for the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR) in this region. On decadal to centennial timescales, the Late Glacial period was one marked by considerable climatic fluctuation and bi-directional environmental change, which has not been identified in previous studies for this region. Our study shows complex changes in both moisture and thermal conditions providing a more nuanced picture of the Late Glacial for the high Drakensburg.
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- Lawicki, A., et al.
(author)
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Multiple ionization and fragmentation of isolated pyrene and coronene molecules in collision with ions
- 2011
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In: Physical Review A. Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics. - 1050-2947 .- 1094-1622. ; 83:2, s. 022704-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The interaction of multiply charged ions (He2+, O3+, and Xe20+) with gas-phase pericondensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules of coronene (C24H12) and pyrene (C16H10) is studied for low-velocity collisions (v <= 0.6 a.u.). The mass spectrometric analysis shows that singly and up to quadruply charged intact molecules are important reaction products. The relative experimental yields are compared with the results of a simple classical over-the-barrier model. For higher molecular charge states, the experimental yields decrease much more strongly than the model predictions due to the instabilities of the multiply charged PAH molecules. Even-odd oscillations with the number of carbon atoms, n, in the intensity distributions of the CnHx+ fragments indicate a linear chain structure of the fragments similar to those observed for ion-C60 collisions. The latter oscillations are known to be due to dissociation energy differences between even-and odd-n Cn-chain molecules. For PAH molecules, the average numbers of H atoms attached to the CnHx chains are larger for even-n reflecting acetylenic bond systems.
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- Seitz, Fabian, 1980-, et al.
(author)
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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-isomer fragmentation pathways : Case study for pyrene and fluoranthene molecules and clusters
- 2011
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In: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 135:6, s. 064302-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on measurements of the ionization and fragmentation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) targets in Xe(20+) + C(16)H(10) and Xe(20+) + [C(16)H(10)](k) collisions and compare results for the two C(16)H(10) isomers: pyrene and fluoranthene. For both types of targets, i.e., for single PAH molecules isolated in vacuum or for isomerically pure clusters of one of the molecules, the resulting fragment spectra are surprisingly similar. However, we do observe weak but significant isomer effects. Although these are manifested in very different ways for the monomer and cluster targets, they both have at their roots small differences (<2.5 eV) between the total binding energies of neutral, and singly and multiply charged pyrene and fluoranthene monomers. The results will be discussed in view of the density functional theory calculations of ionization and dissociation energies for fluoranthene and pyrene. A simple classical over-the-barrier model is used to estimate cross sections for single-and multiple-electron transfer between PAHs and ions. Calculated single and multiple ionization energies, and the corresponding model PAH ionization cross sections, are given.
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| 9. |
- Thomas, Richard D., et al.
(author)
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The double electrostatic ion ring experiment : A unique cryogenic electrostatic storage ring for merged ion-beams studies
- 2011
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In: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 82:6, s. 065112-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe the design of a novel type of storage device currently under construction at Stockholm University, Sweden, using purely electrostatic focussing and deflection elements, in which ion beams of opposite charges are confined under extreme high vacuum cryogenic conditions in separate rings and merged over a common straight section. The construction of this double electrostatic ion ring experiment uniquely allows for studies of interactions between cations and anions at low and well-defined internal temperatures and centre-of-mass collision energies down to about 10 K and 10 meV, respectively. Position sensitive multi-hit detector systems have been extensively tested and proven to work in cryogenic environments and these will be used to measure correlations between reaction products in, for example, electron-transfer processes. The technical advantages of using purely electrostatic ion storage devices over magnetic ones are many, but the most relevant are: electrostatic elements which are more compact and easier to construct; remanent fields, hysteresis, and eddy-currents, which are of concern in magnetic devices, are no longer relevant; and electrical fields required to control the orbit of the ions are not only much easier to create and control than the corresponding magnetic fields, they also set no upper mass limit on the ions that can be stored. These technical differences are a boon to new areas of fundamental experimental research, not only in atomic and molecular physics but also in the boundaries of these fields with chemistry and biology. For examples, studies of interactions with internally cold molecular ions will be particular useful for applications in astrophysics, while studies of solvated ionic clusters will be of relevance to aeronomy and biology.
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