Ternium Siderar has recently installed a commercial sensor that measures the soundoriginated during blowing. A proper analysis of this signal may give valuable informationabout the slopping tendency of the heat. Data from more than 4000 heats were collected andthoroughly analyzed. The influences of the materials charged and of their compositions onthe slag slopping tendency were investigated. Based on these results, an application toevaluate the risk of slopping for given process conditions was developed.

We have determined the flux of calcium, chloride and nitrate to the McMurdo Dry Valleys region by analysing snow pits for their chemical composition and their snow accumulation using multiple records spanning up to 48 years. The fluxes demonstrate patterns related to elevation and proximity to the ocean. In general, there is a strong relationship between the nitrate flux and snow accumulation, indicating that precipitation rates may have a great influence over the nitrogen concentrations in the soils of the valleys. Aeolian dust transport plays an important role in the deposition of some elements (e.g. Ca2+) into the McMurdo Dry Valleys' soils. Because of the antiquity of some of the soil surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys regions, the accumulated atmospheric flux of salts to the soils has important ecological consequences. Although precipitation may be an important mechanism of salt deposition to the McMurdo Dry Valley surfaces, it is poorly understood because of difficulties in measurement and high losses from sublimation.