Browsing by Author "Popelka-Filcoff, RS"
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- ItemCultural heritage project at Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)(Springer Nature, 2022-01-25) Salvemini, F; White, R; Levchenko, VA; Smith, AM; Pastuovic, Z; Stopic, A; Luzin, V; Tobin, MJ; Puskar, L; Howard, DL; Davis, J; Avdeev, M; Gatenby, S; Kim, MJ; Grazzi, F; Sheedy, K; Olsen, SR; Raymond, CA; Lord, C; Richards, C; Bevitt, JJ; Popelka-Filcoff, RS; Lenehan, CE; Ives, S; Dredge, P; Yip, A; Brookhouse, MT; Austin, AGThe Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) is the home of Australia’s most significant landmark and national infrastructure for research. ANSTO operates one of the world’s most modern nuclear research reactors, OPAL; a comprehensive suite of neutron beam instruments; the Australian Synchrotron; the Electron Microscope Facility; and the Center for Accelerator Science. Over the years, the suite of nuclear methods available across ANSTO’s campuses has been increasingly applied to study a wide range of heritage materials. Since 2015 the strategic research project on cultural heritage was initiated in order to promote access to ANSTO’s capabilities and expertise, unique in the region, by cultural institution and researchers. This chapter offers a compendium of ANSTO nuclear capabilities most frequently applied to cultural heritage research. A series of innovative, interdisciplinary, and multi-technique studies conducted in close collaboration with Australian museums, institutions, and universities is also showcased. It includes research on dating Aboriginal Australian rock art and fingerprinting the sources of ochre pigments; rediscovering the technological knowledge in the making of early coinage and ancient weapons; virtually unwrapping the content of votive mummies from ancient Egypt; and investigating and restoring the original layer of a painting that can be explored by the museum audience in a novel type of exhibition based on an immersive, interactive, and virtual environment. © 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
- ItemOchre through the late Quaternary at Gledswood Shelter 1, northwest Queensland(Australasian Quaternary Association Inc, 2014-06-29) Wallis, LA; Lowe, KM; Popelka-Filcoff, RS; Bennett, JW; St George, C; Watson, C; Fitzsimmons, KE; Wight, C; Watchman, A; Lenehan, CE; Matthews, JGledswood Shelter 1 (GS1) is a sandstone rockshelter located in northwest Queensland containing archaeological evidence for human occupation dating from at least 35 ka to the recent past. Considerable quantities of ochre fragments (many with striations caused by grinding) have been recovered from the 2.5 m deep cultural sequence, particularly in the pre-LGM levels. The abundance of ochre varies through time, in line with recovered stone artefacts, suggesting that these materials reflect different periods and intensities of site use. This evidence possibly indicates that the production of painted or stencilled art in this region may be earlier than previous evidence suggests (ca 9,000 years ago). The GS1 ochre samples were initially characterised according to visual characteristics including colour, texture and inclusions using low powered microscopy. This work suggests there are several groups of pigment present, including fragments that would more normally be referred to as ironstone and not considered as an 'ochre', but that have anthropogenic ground surfaces indicating their use as a source of pigment. In this paper we present the initial characterisation and preliminary neutron activation analysis results of the GS1 ochres, and consider their implications for the human history of the northwest Queensland region.
- ItemPhase analysis of Australian uranium ore concentrates determined by variable temperature synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction(American Chemical Society, 2021-07-22) Pandelus, SB; Kennedy, BJ; Murphy, GL; Brand, HEA; Keegan, EA; Pring, A; Popelka-Filcoff, RSThe chemical speciation of uranium oxides is sensitive to the provenance of the samples and their storage conditions. Here, we use diffraction methods to characterize the phases found in three aged (>10 years) uranium ore concentrates of different origins as well as in situ analysis of the thermally induced structural transitions of these materials. The structures of the crystalline phases found in the three samples have been refined, using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. Rietveld analysis of the samples from the Olympic Dam and Ranger uranium mines has revealed the presence of crystalline α-UO2(OH)2, together with metaschoepite (UO2)4O(OH)6·5H2O, in the aged U3O8 samples, and it is speculated that this forms as a consequence of the corrosion of U3O8 in the presence of metaschoepite. The third sample, from the Beverley uranium mine, contains the peroxide [UO2(η2-O2)(H2O)2] (metastudtite) together with α-UO2(OH)2 and metaschoepite. A core–shell model is proposed to account for the broadening of the diffraction peaks of the U3O8 evident in the samples. © 2021 American Chemical Society