Topography and landslides in weathered granitic rock areas—Hai Van landslide in central Vietnam

Many landslides occur every year during heavy rains at the Hai Van Pass and surrounding area in central Vietnam, where granitic rocks are distributed. As is common in granite areas, these landslides often occur as small-scale flow-type and slump-type landslides. However, several horseshoe-shaped loose slopes of widths and lengths of 500 to 800 m, which incorporate these landslides, are observed on slopes across the area. These topographies resemble those formed by past and present large-scale landslides. The presence of such a topography and the repeated occurrences of landslides within this topography are rare in granite areas, where shallow flow-type landslides are generally frequent. To understand the mechanism causing the landslides in the Hai Van region, and as a support for future risk assessment, the factors and processes leading to the formation of such a topography and their relationship with these landslides must be identified and assessed. This study investigated the history of past landslide movement in the Hai Van Pass and surrounding area through observations of drill cores and outcrops, and analysis of the direction of remanent magnetism in the granitic rocks. Mineral compositions, cracks, degrees of weathering, and topographic shapes of the granitic rocks and their relationship to the landslides occurring today were also investigated. The results of the study reveal no variation in the direction of remanent magnetism in the granitic rocks in the region that would indicate disturbance of the ground due to a past large-scale landslide. No evidence of such an event could also be found both in the drill cores and the rock outcrops. Further, results of the analysis of cracks and weathering pattern confirm that the topography of the region is affected by the weathering of the granitic rocks that progresses in concentric circles of various sizes. Thus, it can be concluded that these topographies were not formed by a singular large-scale landslide of the past, but rather by a composite of relatively shallow landslides occurring on the slope of dome structures unique to granite areas, which are formed by differential weathering and denudation regulated by cracks.     

Contamination status and spatial distribution of organochlorine compounds in fishes from Nansei Islands, Japan

Two species of fishes (n=52; tilapia and mullet) from industrialized and urbanized areas of Okinawa Island (Manko-Noha river, Hija river and Shikaza river) and from a remote area of Ishigaki Island (Anparu mudflat), Japan were collected between August 2005 and July 2006, and analyzed for five organochlorine compounds (OCs), viz., DDTs, PCBs, CHLs, HCHs and HCB. Concentrations and the contamination patterns of OCs in fishes varied between locations. Considerable residue levels of OCs, especially CHLs and DDTs were found in both fishes from the main Okinawa Island. These levels were relatively higher than the reported values for seafood from Japanese coasts, indicating that even now pollution sources of these contaminants still exist in this region. On the other hand, lower concentrations of OCs were detected in fishes from Ishigaki Island waters than those of other Japanese coastal waters, suggesting that this region is less contaminated by OC contaminants.     

Massive landslide triggered by 2008 Iwate�CMiyagi inland earthquake in the Aratozawa Dam area, Tohoku, Japan

On June 14 2008, an Iwate–Miyagi inland earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.2 hit the eastern foot of the Ohu Mountains in Tohoku district, Japan. The seismic peak ground acceleration was greater than 1,000 gal in the Aratozawa Dam area. The earthquake triggered a massive landslide at the upper reach of the dam. The landslide had the sediment volume of over 67 million cubic meters and is considered the largest catastrophic landslide in Japan during the last 100 years. This report presents a summary of our findings pertinent to the landslide’s activities based on our field investigations that started the day after the landslide. This report covers: (1) details of the land deformations caused by the landslide, (2) geological background pertinent to landslide development, and (3) estimation of the slip surface and the other physical properties of the landslide based on the analysis of the boring core specimens and landform features. The landslide is roughly divided into two sections, a lower and an upper half. The lower half moved almost simultaneously as one massive block of 700 m long, 800 m wide, and 70–80 m thick. The slip surface had developed on the very fine sand of the alternate layer of fine-grained sandstone and siltstone. The slickensided slip surface has a gradient of only 2°. This feature indicates that the type of the landslide movement is considered to be a block glide. The landslide body is nearly identical to the topography of the landslide area that was developed about 50,000 years ago. This shows the possibility that the landslide was reactivated. The upper half consists of two large ridges and the broad debris field and is 600 m long, 900 m wide, and 70–100 m thick. The maximum height of the main scarp is over 150 m.     

The reduction effects of mangrove forest on a tsunami based on field surveys at Pakarang Cape,Thailand and numerical analysis

Using an integrated approach including satellite imagery analysis, field measurements, and numerical modeling, we investigated the damage to mangroves caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Pakarang Cape in Pang Nga Province, Thailand. Comparing pre- and post-tsunami satellite imagery of the study area, we found that approximately 70% of the mangrove forest was destroyed by the tsunami. Based on field observations, we found that the survival rate of mangroves increased with increasing stem diameter. Specifically, we found that 72% of Rhizophora trees with a 25–30 cm stem diameter survived the tsunami impact, whereas only 19% with a 15–20 cm stem diameter survived. We simulated the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami using the nonlinear shallow-water wave theory to reproduce the tsunami inundation flow and investigated the bending moment acting on the mangrove trees. Results of the numerical model showed that the tsunami inundated areas along the mangrove creeks, and its current velocity reached 5.0 m s⁻¹. Based on the field measurements and numerical results, we proposed a fragility function for mangroves, which is the relationship between the probability of damage and the bending stress caused by the maximum bending moment. We refined the numerical model to include the damage probability of mangrove forests using the obtained fragility function to investigate the tsunami reduction effect of mangrove forest. Under simple numerical conditions related to the mangrove forest, ground level, and incident wave, the model showed that a mangrove forest of Rhizophora sp. with a density of 0.2 trees m⁻² and a stem diameter of 15 cm in a 400 m wide area can reduce the tsunami inundation depth by 30% when the incident wave is assumed to have a 3.0 m inundation depth and a wave period of 30 min at the shoreline. However, 50% of the mangrove forest is destroyed by a 4.5 m tsunami inundation depth, and most of the mangrove forest is destroyed by a tsunami inundation depth greater than 6 m. The reduction effect of tsunami inundation depth decreased when the tsunami inundation depth exceeded 3 m, and was mostly lost when the tsunami inundation depth exceeded 6 m.     

Texture development and slip systems in bridgmanite and bridgmanite + ferropericlase aggregates

Bridgmanite (Mg,Fe)SiO₃ and ferropericlase (Mg,Fe)O are the most abundant phases in the lower mantle and localized regions of the D″ layer just above the core mantle boundary. Seismic anisotropy is observed near subduction zones at the top of the lower mantle and in the D″ region. One source of anisotropy is dislocation glide and associated texture (crystallographic preferred orientation) development. Thus, in order to interpret seismic anisotropy, it is important to understand texture development and slip system activities in bridgmanite and bridgmanite + ferropericlase aggregates. Here we report on in situ texture development in bridgmanite and bridgmanite + ferropericlase aggregates deformed in the diamond anvil cell up to 61 GPa. When bridgmanite is synthesized from enstatite, it exhibits a strong (4.2 m.r.d.) 001 transformation texture due to a structural relationship with the precursor enstatite phase. When bridgmanite + ferropericlase are synthesized from olivine or ringwoodite, bridgmanite exhibits a relatively weak 100 transformation texture (1.2 and 1.6 m.r.d., respectively). This is likely due to minimization of elastic strain energy as a result of Young’s modulus anisotropy. In bridgmanite, 001 deformation textures are observed at pressures <55 GPa. The 001 texture is likely due to slip on (001) planes in the [100], [010] and \(\left\langle {110} \right\rangle\) directions. Stress relaxation by laser annealing to 1500–1600 K does not result in a change in this texture type. However, at pressures >55 GPa a change in texture to a 100 maximum is observed, consistent with slip on the (100) plane. Ferropericlase, when deformed with bridgmanite, does not develop a coherent texture. This is likely due to strain heterogeneity within the softer ferropericlase grains. Thus, it is plausible that ferropericlase is not a significant source of anisotropy in the lower mantle.     

Crystallographic preferred orientation in wüstite (FeO) through the cubic-to-rhombohedral phase transition

Magnesiowüstite, (Mg_0.08Fe_0.88)O, and wüstite, Fe_0.94O, were compressed to ~36?GPa at ambient temperature in the diamond anvil cell (DAC) at the Advanced Light Source. X-ray diffraction patterns were taken in situ in radial geometry in order to study the evolution of crystallographic preferred orientation through the cubic-to-rhombohedral phase transition. Under uniaxial stress in the DAC, {100}_c planes aligned perpendicular to the compression direction. The {100}_c in cubic became { $\left\{ {10\bar 14} \right\}$ }_r in rhombohedral and remained aligned perpendicular to the compression direction. However, the {101}_c and {111}_c planes in the cubic phase split into { ${10{\bar{1}}4}$ }_r and { ${11{\bar{2}}0}$ }_r, and (0001)_r and { ${10{\bar{1}}1}$ }_r, respectively, in the rhombohedral phase. The { ${11{\bar{2}}0}$ }_r planes preferentially aligned perpendicular to the compression direction while { ${10{\bar{1}}4}$ }_r oriented at a low angle to the compression direction. Similarly, { ${10{\bar{1}}1}$ }_r showed a slight preference to align more closely perpendicular to the compression direction than (0001)_r. This variant selection may occur because the 〈 ${10{\bar{1}}4}$ 〉_r and [0001]_r directions are the softer of the two sets of directions. The rhombohedral texture distortion may also be due to subsequent deformation. Indeed, polycrystal plasticity simulations indicate that for preferred { ${10{\bar{1}}4}$ }〈 ${1{\bar{2}}10}$ 〉_r and { ${11{\bar{2}}0}$ }〈 ${{\bar{1}}101}$ 〉_r slip and slightly less active { ${10{\bar{1}}1}$ }〈 ${{\bar{1}}2{\bar{1}}0}$ 〉_r slip, the observed texture pattern can be obtained.