Graphitization of carbonaceous material in sedimentary rocks on short geologic time‐scales: An example from the Kinsho‐zan area,central Japan

Initially amorphous carbonaceous material becomes more crystalline with heating. The structural change depends not only on the maximum attained temperature but also the time‐scale of heating. Raman spectroscopy of natural samples that have been heated for time‐scales of 10⁵ years or greater show that the degree of crystallinity has reached steady‐state. In contrast, laboratory studies show very little change in crystallinity of carbonaceous material (CM) after heating at 1000°C for a time of 3.5 weeks. Better constraints on the time‐scale for crystallization require experiments on time‐scales of years to thousands of years; such long time‐scales can only be derived from natural examples of CM‐bearing rocks that have been heated for a known length of time. Thermal modeling of contact metamorphism developed around a 13 m dike within the Akasaka Limestone in Gifu Prefecture shows the time‐scale of heating is of the order of 1–100 years. Raman spectroscopy reveals a significant increase in the crystallinity of the CM in a region within 3 m from the dike. A comparison between the temperature predicted for the contact aureole and the degree of crystallinity of the carbonaceous material shows that even close to the dike the CM has not reached steady‐state. This change began at over 550°C (modeled temperature) for a time‐scale of heating of a few years. Attaining steady‐state in the crystallization of CM under natural geological condition requires heating on time‐scales greater than about one hundred years. This study shows the utility of using natural laboratory studies to determine the kinetics of CM crystallization in rocks.     

Redistribution and export of contaminated sediment within eastern Fukushima Prefecture due to typhoon flooding

Tropical cyclones expose river basins to heavy rainfall and flooding, and cause substantial soil erosion and sediment transport. There is heightened interest in the effects of typhoon floods on river basins in northeast Japan, as the migration of radiocaesium‐bearing soils contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident will affect future radiation levels. The five main catchments surrounding FDNPP are the Odaka, Ukedo, Maeda, Kuma and Tomioka basins, but little quantitative modelling has been undertaken to identify the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes across these basins. Here we address this issue and report catchment‐scale modelling of the five basins using the GETFLOWS simulation code. The three‐dimensional (3D) models of the basins incorporated details of the geology, soil type, land cover, and used data from meteorological records as inputs. The simulation results were checked against field monitoring data for water flow rates, suspended sediment concentrations and accumulated sediment erosion and deposition. The results show that the majority of annual sediment migration in the basins occurs over storm periods, thus making typhoons the main vectors for redistribution. The Ukedo and Tomioka basins are the most important basins in the region in terms of overall sediment transport, followed by the other three basins each with similar discharge amounts. Erosion is strongly correlated with the underlying geology and the surface topography in the study area. A low permeability Pliocene Dainenji formation in the coastal area causes high surface water flow rates and soil erosion. Conversely, erosion is lower in an area with high permeability granite basement rocks between the Hatagawa and Futaba faults in the centre of the study area. Land cover is also a factor controlling differences in erosion and transport rates between forested areas in the west of the study area and predominantly agricultural areas towards the east. The largest sediment depositions occur in the Ogaki and Takigawa Dams, at the confluence of the Takase and Ukedo Rivers, and at the Ukedo River mouth. Having clarified the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes, these results can assist the ongoing task of monitoring radioactive caesium redistribution within Fukushima Prefecture, and contribute to the design and implementation of measures to protect health and the environment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lithological,structural, and chronological relationships between the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Complex and the Cretaceous Shimanto Accretionary Complex on the central Kii Peninsula,SW Japan

It is essential to clarify the lithological, structural, and chronological relationships between the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Complex (MC) and the Cretaceous Shimanto Accretionary Complex (AC) for understanding the tectonic evolution of SW Japan. To this end, we carried out a detailed field survey of the Sanbagawa MC and the Cretaceous Shimanto AC on the central Kii Peninsula, where they are in direct contact with each other. We also conducted U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from these complexes. The field survey showed that the boundary between the Iro Complex of the Sanbagawa MC and the Mugitani Complex of the Shimanto AC, Narai Fault, shows a sinistral sense of shear with a reverse dip‐slip component, and there are significant differences in the strain intensity and the degree of recrystallization between the two complexes across this fault. Detrital zircon U–Pb dating indicates that the Iro Complex in the hanging wall of the Narai Fault shows a significantly younger maximum depositional age than the Mugitani Complex in the footwall of the fault, and an apparently large gap in the MDA of ca. 35 Myr exists across this fault. This large age gap across the Narai Fault suggests that this fault is an essential tectonic boundary fault within the Cretaceous accretionary–metamorphic complexes on the Kii Peninsula, and is considered to be an out‐of‐sequence thrust. In addition, a similar shear direction and a large age gap have been identified across the Ui Thrust, which marks the boundary between the Kouyasan and Hidakagawa belts of the Cretaceous Shimanto AC. The Cretaceous accretionary–metamorphic complexes record the large‐scale tectonic juxtapositions of complexes, and these juxtaposed structures had been caused by sinistral–reverse movements on the tectonic boundary faults such as the Narai Fault and the Ui Thrust.     

Combined Effects of Molecular Size and Electroendosmotic Flow on the Capillary Electrophoretic Behaviour of Humic Substances

The electroendosmotic flow (EOF), generated by the migration of solvated ions near the charged capillary surface, is an important factor in determining the capillary electrophoretic behaviour of humic substances (HS). We investigated the electrophoretic mobilities of HS fractions of reduced molecular-weight polydispersity extracted from peat and from a spodosol either in the presence or after suppression of the EOF. When the EOF was not suppressed, HS migrated to the cathode in spite of their negative charge. Fractionation of HS according to molecular size was achieved in polyacrylamide-coated capillaries filled with 0.05 M tris-phosphate buffer. In uncoated capillaries filled with the same buffer, all fractions had very close mobilities. Addition of polyethylene glycol MW 4000 at concentrations above its entanglement threshold caused the migration times of larger molecules to increase more than those of smaller molecules. The separation was a linear function of molecular size up to 75000 g mol^–1 for peat HS and to 50000 g mol^–1 for HS extracted from the spodosol.     

Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of actual and potential respiration in two contrasting floodplains

Floodplains are vital components of river ecosystems and play an important role in carbon cycling and storage at catchment and global scales. For efficient river management and conservation, it is critical to understand the functional role of spatiotemporally complex and dynamic habitat mosaics of river floodplains. Unfortunately, the fundamental understanding of mineralization and carbon flux patterns across complex floodplains is still fragmentary. In this study, respiratory potential (i.e., electron transport system activity [ETSA]) was quantified seasonally across different aquatic and terrestrial habitats (wetted channels, gravel bars, islands, riparian forests, and grasslands) of 2 Alpine floodplains differing in climate, altitude, discharge, flow alteration intensity, and land use (So?a [natural flow regime, 12% grassland area] and Urbach [mean annual discharge reduction by 30% due to water abstraction, 69% grassland area]). In situ respiration (R) was measured, and ETSA–R ratios were calculated to examine differences in exploitation intensity of the overall respiratory capacity among floodplain habitats and seasons. ETSA and R provided potential and actual estimates, respectively, of organic matter mineralization in the different floodplain habitats. Hierarchical linear regression across habitat types showed that organic matter, grain sizes <0.063 mm, and water content were the most important predictors of ETSA in both floodplains, and grain sizes 2–0.063 and >8 mm were also highly important for the So?a floodplain. The combination of ETSA and R measurements conducted in contrasting floodplains increased our understanding of the relationships between floodplain habitat heterogeneity, organic matter mineralization and human impacts, that is, structural–functional linkages in floodplains. These data are integral towards predicting changes in floodplain function in response to environmental alterations from increasing human pressures and environmental change.     

Evaluation of global warming impacts for different levels of stabilization as a step toward determination of the long-term stabilization target

In order to estimate the benefit attributable to alleviating global warming for a kind of cost–benefit analysis of global warming mitigation, global warming impacts were quantitatively evaluated for a pathway of unmitigated CO₂ emissions and three pathways to stabilize the atmospheric CO₂ concentration at different levels, keeping unchanged the assumed conditions on population and GDP growths, although the GDP losses which will be caused due to the warming mitigation for the three stabilization pathways are taken into account. The evaluation results show that global warming will reduce the world total number of deaths caused by thermal stress owing to the large decrease in the cold-related deaths; it will increase the water stress in some regions, while it will decrease the stress in other regions; reductions in CO₂ emissions will decrease the probability of THC collapse and terrestrial biodiversity loss; and it will enhance an increase in the wheat production potential.     

An overview of decadal climate predictability in a multi-model ensemble by climate model MIROC

Decadal climate predictability is examined in hindcast experiments by a multi-model ensemble using three versions of the coupled atmosphere-ocean model MIROC. In these hindcast experiments, initial conditions are obtained from an anomaly assimilation procedure using the observed oceanic temperature and salinity with prescribed natural and anthropogenic forcings on the basis of the historical data and future emission scenarios in the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. Results of the multi-model ensemble in our hindcast experiments show that predictability of surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies on decadal timescales mostly originates from externally forced variability. Although the predictable component of internally generated variability has considerably smaller SAT variance than that of externally forced variability, ocean subsurface temperature variability has predictive skills over almost a decade, particularly in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic where dominant signals associated with Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) are observed. Initialization enhances the predictive skills of AMO and PDO indices and slightly improves those of global mean temperature anomalies. Improvement of these predictive skills in the multi-model ensemble is higher than that in a single-model ensemble.     

Stress induced transformation of pigeonites from achondritic meteorites

A transmission electron microscopic (TEM) study was conducted to investigate the stress-induced transformation mechanisms of pigeonites from two achondrites. In pigeonites from the Allan Hills 77257 ureilite, abundant lamellae of orthopyroxene-pigeonite intergrowth accompanied by minor amounts of blebby augite precipitates were observed. In pigeonites from the Juvinas eucrite, some stacking faults running through the (001) augite lamellae were observed although most of the stacking faults terminated at the host-lamella interface. High resolution TEM observation shows the fringe offset produced by the stacking fault in the Juvinas pigeonites. The magnitude of the mismatch parallel to [001] is approximately c/4, which is related to the formation of the partial edge dislocation near the host-lamella interface. The partial dislocation is imaged as an edge dislocation with an (002) extra-plane. Three partial dislocation mechanisms with distinct displacement vectors are proposed in order to explain the stress-induced transformation textures observed in the achondritic pyroxenes. Further study will be required to determine unequivocally the mechanism of atomic displacements during stress-induced transformation. However, regardless of the actual mechanism of transformation, it is not difficult to convert orthopyroxene to clinopyroxene or vice versa by this transformation from the structural point of view. Low-Ca pyroxenes are deformed without a stress-induced transformation by slip at high temperature and geologically reasonable strain rates. However, meteoritic pyroxenes can be deformed by stress-induced transformation even at high temperature because preterrestrial impact processes will produce a deformation condition with high strain rates. Deformation at high strain rates and high temperature is very important when we interpret the microtexture of meteoritic pyroxenes.     

Qualitative correlation of marine mammals with physical and biological parameters in the Ligurian Sea

In support of its acoustic risk mitigation policy, NATO SACLANT Undersea Research Centre (SACLANTCEN) is sponsoring a series of sea trials, entitled "Sirena" to collect a multiyear integrated oceanographic, biological, and hydrographic data set, the goal being to explain, based on these parameters, the distribution of marine mammals found in specific locations. By understanding how ocean dynamics affects the distribution and behavior of whales and the organisms forming the food web upon which the whales feed, it may be possible to conduct acoustic exercises in areas of low cetacean density. The first two Sirena multidisciplinary cruises were conducted in the Ligurian Sea in late summer time frame during 1999 and 2000. The focus of this analysis is to determine whether remotely sensed satellite data can indicate nutrient-rich regions in areas where the oceanography is known and to determine if these regions of higher productivity, coupled with knowledge of cetacean presence from all available sources, could be used as an indicator of marine mammal presence for acoustic risk mitigation purposes. For the two years of data examined, cooler sea-surface temperature data correlated with high levels of chlorophyll production as seen by remotely sensed images. This remotely sensed data correlated well with measured subsurface values of the same parameters. Coincident sightings of three species of marine mammals indicated that fin and sperm whales generally preferred the deep, nutrient-rich portion of the basin while Cuvier's beaked whales preferred a submarine canyon where there is a frontal influence, as indicated from satellite data and historical oceanography. This paper is intended as a contribution to the longer term objective of developing the means to accurately predict cetacean presence from physical oceanographic characteristics.