Predictability of storm wave heights in the ice-free Beaufort Sea

A predictability study on wave forecast of the Arctic Ocean is necessary to help identify hazardous areas and ensure sustainable shipping along the trans-Arctic routes. To assist with validation of the Arctic Ocean wave model, two drifting wave buoys were deployed off Point Barrow, Alaska for two months in September 2016. Both buoys measured significant wave heights exceeding 4 m during two different storm events on 19 September and 22 October. The NOAA-WAVEWATCH III^? model with 16-km resolution was forced using wind and sea ice reanalysis data and obtained general agreement with the observation. The September storm was reproduced well; however, model accuracy deteriorated in October with a negative wave height bias of around 1 m during the October storm. Utilising reanalysis data, including the most up-to-date ERA5, this study investigated the cause: grid resolution, wind and ice forcing, and in situ sea level pressure observations assimilated for reanalysis. The analysis has found that there is a 20% reduction of in situ SLP observations in the area of interest, presumably due to fewer ships and deployment options during the sea ice advance period. The 63-member atmospheric ensemble reanalysis, ALERA2, has shown that this led to a larger ensemble spread in the October monthly mean wind field compared to September. Since atmospheric physics is complex during sea ice advance, it is speculated that the elevated uncertainty of synoptic-scale wind caused the negative wave model bias. This has implications for wave hindcasts and forecasts in the Arctic Ocean.     

The structure of grain boundaries in granite-origin ultramylonite studied by high-resolution electron microscopy

The structure of grain boundaries in a granite-origin ultramylonite, composed mainly of fine-grained feldspar and quartz, was studied by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). At most of the boundaries, not only between the same minerals but also between different minerals, lattice fringes in adjacent grains meet at the interface with no other appreciable phases. In these boundaries, some of the straight segments correspond to a low-index plane of one of the connected grains. Boundaries containing voids, with a spheroidal shape elongated along the boundaries, were observed only between quartz grains. It is suggested that these boundaries were formed by healing of microcracks. The structural width of major boundaries, deduced from lattice-fringe imaging, is less than about 0.5 nm. Received: 15 September 1998 / Revised, accepted: 8 April 1999     

霞浦湖沉积物需氧速率的研究

１９９５年２月,用大口径采样器采集日本霞浦湖土浦湾和湖心柱状沉积物样品,在２０℃恒温蔽光封闭条件下,研究了该湖泊沉积物需氧（ＳＯＤ）速率及实验前后上覆水和间隙水中形态营养物浓度变化,结果表明,实验初期（０－５ｈ）ＳＯＤ速率随时间呈线性上升,大于５ｈ后呈非线性下降,对线性部分计算的ＳＯＤ速率约在０．６－１．８ｍｇ／（ｍ＾２．ｄ）之间,实验发现,上覆水和表层间隙水中形态营养物Ｆｅ（Ⅱ）,ＮＨ＾＋４－Ｎ     

二噁英引起斑马鱼下颌短小及其与Sonic hedgehog基因的关联

环境污染物二噁英中毒性最强的2,3,7,8-四氯二苯并对二噁英(2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin,以下简称TCDD)经由芳烃基受体(aryl hydrocarbon receptor,Ahr)引起啮齿类口唇开裂,斑马鱼下颌短小等典型特征,本试验研究了TCDD引起的下颌短小与形态发育基因Sonic hedgehog(shh)的关系,用0-1．0μg／L的TCDD给受精后24h(24hpf)的斑马鱼胚染毒直至观察并进行形态学观察及原位杂交,结果观察到TCDD引起斑马鱼的下颌短小与其浓度相依存．同时观察到TCDD染毒群的Shh基因表达以及类似基因tiggy-winkle hedgehog(twhh)的低下．观察Shh缺失的斑马鱼变异体Syu,或给正常斑马鱼染毒,添加Shh阻断药Cycopamant Cyclopamine,可以同样观察到斑马鱼的下颌短小,本试验表明TCDD引起的下颌短小与shh和twhh表达是相关联的．同时也说明斑马鱼有可能作为二噁英类污染物的生物学毒性评价生物。     

Effect of water and stress on the lattice-preferred orientation of olivine

The influence of water and stress on the lattice-preferred orientation (LPO) of olivine aggregates was investigated through large strain, shear deformation experiments at high pressures and temperatures (P = 0.5–2.1 GPa, T = 1470–1570 K) under both water-poor and water-rich conditions. The specimens are hot-pressed synthetic olivine aggregates or single crystals of olivine. Water was supplied to the sample by decomposition of a mixture of talc and brucite. Deformation experiments were conducted up to γ (shear strain)  6 using the Griggs apparatus where water fugacity was up to  13 GPa at the pressure of 2 GPa. The water content in olivine saturated with water increases with increasing pressure and the solubility of water in olivine at P = 0.5–2 GPa was  400–1200 ppm H/Si. Several new types of LPO in olivine are found depending on water content and stress. Samples deformed in water-poor conditions show a conventional LPO of olivine where the olivine [100] axis is subparallel to the shear direction, the (010) plane subparallel to the shear plane (type-A). However, we identified three new types (type-B, C, and E) of LPO of olivine depending on the water content and stress. The type-B LPO of olivine which was found at relatively high stress and/or under moderate to high water content conditions is characterized by the olivine [001] axis subparallel to the shear direction, the (010) plane subparallel to the shear plane. The type-C LPO which was found at low stress and under water-rich conditions is characterized by the olivine [001] axis subparallel to the shear direction, the (100) plane subparallel to the shear plane. The type-E LPO which was found under low stress and moderate water content is characterized by the olivine [100] axis subparallel to the shear direction, the (001) plane subparallel to the shear plane. Observations by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that the dislocations in water-poor samples (type-A) are curved and both b =  [100] and b = [001] dislocations have a similar population. Numerous subgrains are seen in water-poor samples in backscattered electron images. In contrast, water-rich samples (both type-B and type-C) contain mostly b = [001] dislocations and dislocations are straight and sub-grain boundaries are rare compared to those in water-poor samples. These observations suggest that (1) dominant slip systems in olivine change with water fugacity (and stress) and (2) grain boundary migration is enhanced in the presence of water. Seismic anisotropy corresponding to the fabrics under water-rich condition is significantly different from that under water-poor condition. Consequently, the relationship between seismic anisotropy and flow geometry in water-rich regions is expected to be different from that in water-poor regions in which type-A fabric dominates (i.e., the lithosphere). A few cases are discussed including anisotropy in the subduction zone and in the deep upper mantle.     

Anomalous behavior of cristobalite in helium under high pressure

We have investigated the high-pressure behavior of cristobalite in helium by powder X-ray diffraction. Cristobalite transformed to a new phase at about 8 GPa. This phase is supposed to have a molar volume of about 30 % larger than cristobalite, suggesting the dissolution of helium atoms in its interstitial voids. On further compression, the new phase transformed to a different phase which showed an X-ray diffraction pattern similar to cristobalite X-I at about 21 GPa. On the other hand, when the new phase was decompressed, it transformed to another new phase at about 7 GPa, which is also supposed to have a molar volume of about 25 % larger than cristobalite. On further decompression, the second new phase transformed to cristobalite II at about 2 GPa. In contrast to cristobalite, quartz did not show anomalous behavior in helium. The behavior of cristobalite in helium was also consistent with that in other mediums up to about 8 GPa, where the volume of cristobalite became close to that of quartz. These results suggest that dissolution of helium may be controlled not only by the density (amount of voids) but also by the network structure of SiO₄ tetrahedra (topology of voids).     

Compressibility of calcium ferrite-type MgAl2O4

 In situ X-ray diffraction experiments of calcium ferrite-type MgAl₂O₄ have been carried out using a diamond anvil cell combined with synchrotron radiation and an imaging plate X-ray detector under hydrostatic pressures up to 9 GPa. The observed unit-cell volumes at various pressures were fitted to the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, yielding a bulk modulus of K _{T 0}= 241(3) GPa when K′ _{T 0}=4 is assumed. This relatively large bulk modulus of calcium ferrite-type MgAl₂O₄ is consistent with that expected from the systematic relation between bulk modulus and molar volume for the most compounds possessing fcc oxygen packing. Received March 5, 1996/Revised, accepted October 15, 1996     

Interfacial energies for quartz and albite in pelitic schist

Interfacial energies of quartz/quartz (qz/qz), albite/albite (ab/ab), and quartz/albite (qz/ab) boundaries in low-grade pelitic schist were determined based on measured values of dihedral angles. Three kinds of microstructures were investigated, and the interfacial energies were obtained in two independent ways. (1) Relative values of interfacial energy were calculated from dihedral angles formed at quartz and albite triple junctions. (2) Subgrain boundary energy was calculated using the Read-Shockley theory for a boundary connected to an intergranular pore. Dihedral angles formed at the corners of intergranular pores were measured. From the interfacial tension balance equation, the value of the qz/qz grain boundary energy was then obtained. (3) Dihedral angles formed at intersections of either pericline or albite twin boundaries with either ab/ab or qz/ab boundaries were measured. The twin boundary energy was calculated based on a previously derived equation using Landau potential, twin wall thickness, and critical temperature for a phase transition in albite. With a modified interfacial tension balance equation for a twin boundary fixed to a facet orientation, the interfacial energies of ab/ab and qz/ab boundaries were obtained. Energies obtained by methods of (2) and (3) are in good agreement. The interfacial energies for qz/qz, ab/ab, and qz/ab boundaries obtained in this study are 270뀶, 300끞, and 250끀 mJ/m², respectively.     

Electrical conductivity jump produced by the α-β-δ transformation in Mn2GeO4

The electrical conductivity of three polymorphs of Mn₂GeO₄ was measured under high pressures in the temperature range of 300–1200 K. It was found that the electrical conductivity increases discontinuously due to the transformation both from olivine structure (α) to modified spinel structure (β) and from β to strontium plumbate structure (δ). The amount of discontinuous change is about one half order of magnitude from α to β and one third order of magnitude from β to δ at 1200 K. In order to see the effect of the presence of iron ions, the electrical conductivity of the solid solution of (Mn_0.9Fe_0.1)₂GeO₄ was also measured. It was found that at low temperatures, where impurity conduction may be dominant, the solid solution is more conductive than the pure Mn₂GeO₄, but at high temperature no significant differences were observed between the solid solution and pure Mn₂GeO₄ in all polymorphs.A phase transformation from modified spinel structure to strontium plumbate structure is considered to be one of the plausible transformations occurring at a depth around 650 km in the earth's mantle. These experiments suggest that if this kind of transformation occurs in the mantle, some degrees of discontinuous change in electrical conductivity may be expected around 650 km.     

CaPtO3 as a novel post-perovskite oxide

Structural, morphological, magnetic, and thermal properties have been investigated for a novel post-perovskite oxide CaPtO₃ synthesized under high pressure. By comparing obtained structural parameters with those for known post-perovskite compounds, we argue that the chemical bond has a strong covalent character. Precise measurements of the Langevin susceptibility χ ₀ = −9.6 × 10⁻⁵ emu/mol and Debye temperature θ ∼ 470 K provide a good opportunity to confirm the reliability of first-principle calculations on predicting physical properties of the Earth’s D” layer.