Diatomaceous earth in the context of "Diatom"

An explosive device typically refers to a bomb that is not used by a military. It contains an explosive with a detonator connected to a triggering mechanism to form a device used for a specific purpose.

The Bodélé Depression (pronounced [bɔ.de.le]), located at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in north central Africa, is the lowest point in Chad. It is 500 km long, 150 km wide and around 160 m deep. Its bottom lies about 155 meters above sea level. The dry endorheic basin is a major source of fertile dust essential for the Amazon rainforest, with some studies suggesting that it supplies over half of the nutrient-rich dust that supports the rainforest.

Dust storms from the Bodélé Depression occur on average about 100 days per year, one typical example being the massive dust storms that swept over West Africa and the Cape Verde Islands in February 2004. As the wind sweeps between the Tibesti and the Ennedi Mountains in Northern Chad, it is channeled across the depression. The dry bowl that forms the depression is marked by a series of ephemeral lakes, many of which were last filled during wetter periods of the Holocene.

A filter cake is formed by the substances that are retained on a filter. Filter aids, such as diatomaceous earth or activated carbon are usually used to form the filter cake. The purpose is to increase flow rate or achieve a smaller micron filtration. The filter cake grows in the course of filtration, becoming "thicker" as particulate matter and filter aid is retained on the filter.

With increasing layer thickness, the flow resistance of the filter cake increases. After a time, the filter cake has to be removed from the filter, e.g. by backflushing. If this is not accomplished, the filtration is disrupted because the resistance of the filter cake gets too high; hence, too little of the mixture to be filtered can pass through the filter cake, and the filter becomes plugged or clogged. The specifications of the filter cake dictate the filtration method of choice.

Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation.

The Sisquoc Formation is a sedimentary geologic unit widespread in Southern California, both on the coast and in mountains near the coast. Overlying the Monterey Formation, it is of upper Miocene and lower Pliocene age (from about 4 to 6 million years old). The formation consists of claystone, mudstone, siltstone, shale, diatomite, and conglomerates, with considerable regional variation, and was deposited in a moderately deep marine environment at a depth of approximately 500–5,000 feet (150–1,520 m). Since some of its diatomites, along with those of the underlying Monterey Formation, are of unusual purity and extent, they can be mined as diatomaceous earth. France-based Imerys operates a mine in the Sisquoc and Monterey Formations in the hills south of Lompoc, California, the largest such operation in the world.