A new high-pressure and high-temperature polymorph of FeS

A new polymorph of FeS has been observed at pressures above 30 GPa at 1,300 K by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell. It is stable up to, at least, 170 GPa at 1,300 K. The new phase (here called FeS VI) has an orthorhombic unit cell with lattice parameters a = 4.8322 (17) Å, b = 3.0321 (6) Å, and c = 5.0209 (8) Å at 85 GPa and 300 K. Its topological framework is based on the NiAs-type structure as is the case for the other reported polymorphs (FeS I-V). The unit cell of FeS VI is, however, more distorted (contracted) along the [010] direction of the original NiAs-type cell. For example, the c/b axial ratio is ～1.66 at 85 GPa and 300 K, which is considerably smaller than that of orthorhombic FeS II (～1.72) and NiAs-type hexagonal FeS V (=√3 ≈ 1.73). The phase boundary between FeS IV and VI is expected to be located around 30 GPa at 1,300 K. The phase transition is accompanied by gradual and continuous changes in volume and axial ratios and may be second order. At room temperature, FeS VI becomes stable over FeS III at pressures above 36 GPa. It is, therefore, suggested that the phase boundary of FeS III–VI and/or FeS IV–VI has negative pressure dependence.     

Dissociation of CAS phase in the uppermost lower mantle

The high-pressure stability limit of calcium aluminosilicate (CAS) phase has been examined in its end-member CaAl₄Si₂O₁₁ composition at 18–39 GPa and 1,670–2,300 K in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (LHDAC). The in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the CAS phase decomposes into three-phase assemblage of cubic Al-bearing CaSiO₃ perovskite, Al₂O₃ corundum, and SiO₂ stishovite above 30 GPa and 2,000 K with a positive pressure–temperature slope. Present results have important implications for the subsolidus mineral assemblage of subducted sediment and the melting phase relation of basalt in the lower mantle.     

Determination of post-perovskite phase transition boundary up to 4400 K and implications for thermal structure in D″ layer

We have determined the post-perovskite phase transition boundary in MgSiO₃ in a wide temperature range from 1640 to 4380 K at 119–171 GPa on the basis of synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements in-situ at high-pressure and -temperature in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (LHDAC). The results show a considerably high positive Clapeyron slope of + 13.3 ± 1.0 MPa/K and a transition temperature of about 3520 ± 70 K at the core–mantle boundary (CMB) pressure. The thermal structure in D″ layer can be tightly constrained from precisely determined post-perovskite phase transition boundary and the depths of paired seismic discontinuities. These suggest that temperature at the CMB may be around 3700 K, somewhat lower than previously thought. A minimum bound on the global heat flow from the core is estimated to be 6.6 ± 0.5 TW.     

Does heavy oil pollution induce bacterial diseases in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus?

As basic research for the effect of heavy oil on the fish immune system, in this study, the number of leukocyte was counted in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, after exposure to heavy oil at a concentration of 30 g/8L for 3 days. To compare the numbers of bacteria in the skin mucus between oil-exposed and control fish, viable bacteria were enumerated by counting colony forming unit (CFU). Compared with 5.79+/-1.88 x 10(7)leukocytes/mL in the controls, the exposed fish demonstrated higher counts, averaging 1.45+/-0.45 x 10(8)cells/mL. The bacterial numbers of control fish were 4.27+/-3.68 x 10(4)CFU/g, whereas they were 4.58+/-1.63 x 10(5)CFU/g in the exposed fish. The results suggest that immune suppression of the fish occurred due to heavy oil stressor, and bacteria could invade in the mucus, resulting in the increasing leukocyte number to prevent infectious disease.     

Seasonal and spatial variations in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in a eutrophic brackish lake,Lake Hamana,Japan

The dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity in the surface brackish waters of Lake Hamana were investigated monthly from October 2017 to September 2019 at 14 stations. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) in the surface water ranged from 29 to 1476 μatm and was undersaturated for atmospheric CO₂ during the observation periods, although most coastal waters were net source areas because of the large amount of terrestrial organic and inorganic carbon input. Since there was a strong negative correlation between pCO₂ and the dissolved oxygen, seasonal and temporal variations in pCO₂ were mainly derived from phytoplankton activity. The high phytoplankton activity induced by the effluents from sewage treatment plants, which was low in carbon and high in nitrogen. Therefore, in urbanized coastal waters with sewage treatment plants, such as the coastal waters of Japan, there is a possibility of shifting from weaker carbon dioxide source areas to sink areas. However, pCO₂ was oversaturated at the polluted river mouth, especially after high precipitation events due to the large carbon supply.

     

Development of a thin diatom layer observed in a stratified embayment in Japan

The temporal evolution of a thin phytoplankton layer was observed by field measurements using a research vessel and mooring instruments in the Yatsushiro Sea, a semi-enclosed narrow embayment in Japan, in early August 2013. The subsurface chlorophyll maximum developed into a thin layer within 2 days just below the pycnocline at around 10-m depth, where turbulent mixing (the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy) was weak (low). The layer persisted for 1.5 to 2 days and declined after irradiance drastically decreased at the sea surface. At the peak period, the layer thickness, which is defined as the full-width at half-maximum of the peak in chlorophyll a concentration, ranged from 0.6 to 1.4 m, and the maximum concentration reached 42.3 mg m^?3. The horizontal extent of the layer was approximately 10 km along the longitudinal axis of the bay. The phytoplankton population characterized by the layer was dominated by a chain-forming centric diatom, Chaetoceros spp. The formation mechanisms of the thin diatom layer were investigated using the observed data and a vertical one-dimensional model that includes physical and biological processes. The results suggest that the development of the thin layer was caused by in situ growth and aggregation due to nutrient-dependent sinking of the species under weak turbulence. The study highlights that continuous multidisciplinary observations and understanding species-specific physiological responses to environmental variations are necessary to elucidate drastically fluctuating phytoplankton dynamics in a coastal water.     

Architecture of growth basins in a tidally influenced,prodelta to delta-front setting: The Triassic succession of Kvalpynten,East Svalbard

World-class examples of fault-controlled growth basins with associated syn-kinematic sedimentary fill are developed in Upper Triassic prodelta to delta-front deposits exposed at Kvalpynten, SW Edgeøya in East Svalbard. They are interpreted to have interacted with north-westerly progradation of a regional delta system. The syn-kinematic successions consist of 4 to 5 coarsening-upward units spanning from offshore mudstones to subtidal heterolithic bars and compound tidal dunes, which were blanketed by regional, post-kinematic sandstone sheets deposited as laterally continuous, subaqueous tidal dune fields. The rate of growth faulting is reflected in the distribution of accommodation, which governs sedimentary architecture and stacking patterns within the coarsening-upward units. Fully compartmentalized basins (12, 200–800 m wide and c. 150 m high grabens and half grabens) are characterized by syn-kinematic sedimentary infill. These grabens and half-grabens are separated by 60–150 m high horsts composed of pro-delta to distal delta-front mudstones. Grabens host tabular tidal dunes (sandwaves), whereas half-grabens bound by listric faults (mainly south-dipping) consist of wedge-shaped, rotated strata with erosive boundaries proximal to the uplifted fault block crests. Heterolithic tidal bars (sand ridges) occur in narrow half-grabens, showing migration oblique to the faults, up the dipslope. Structureless sandstone wedges and localized subaqueous slumps that formed in response to collapse of the block crests were only documented in half-grabens. Late-kinematic deposition during the final stages of faulting occurred in partly compartmentalized basins, filled with variably thick sets of continuous sandstone belts (compound tidal dunes).