Ultraviolet Fe ii emission in z∼ 2 quasars

We present spectra of six luminous quasars at   z ∼ 2  , covering rest wavelengths 1600−3200 Å. The fluxes of the UV Fe  ii emission lines and Mg  ii λ2798 doublet, the line widths of Mg  ii and the 3000 Å luminosity were obtained from the spectra. These quantities were compared with those of low-redshift quasars at   z = 0.06–0.55  studied by Tsuzuki et al. In a plot of the Fe  ii (UV)/Mg  ii flux ratio as a function of the central black hole mass, Fe  ii (UV)/Mg  ii in our   z ∼ 2  quasars is systematically greater than in the low-redshift quasars. We confirmed that luminosity is not responsible for this excess. It is unclear whether this excess is caused by rich Fe abundance at   z ∼ 2  over low-redshift or by non-abundance effects such as high gas density, strong radiation field and high microturbulent velocity.     

Origin of organic matter in the early solar system—VII. The organic polymer in carbonaceous chondrites

The insoluble polymer from the Murchison C2 chondrite was studied by a variety of degradation techniques: pyrolysis, depolymerization by Na₄P₂O₇ or CF₃COOH, and oxidation by HNO₃, Na₂Cr₂O₇, or O₂/UV light. Products were identified by IR spectroscopy, gas chromatography, and mass spectrometry (time-of-flight and high-resolution). In some cases, parallel measurements were made on a synthetic polymer produced by the Fischer-Tropsch reaction, a meteoritic polymer from the Allende C3V chondrite, and samples of coal or related materials.Our studies confirm the prevailing view that the meteoritic polymer has a bridged aromatic structure with functional groups such as COOH, OH, and CO, but provides much new detail. Oxidation with HNO₃ shows that the meteoritic and synthetic polymers have a similar degree of condensation, greater than that of high-volatile bituminous coal. Gentler oxidation with Cr₂O^2?₇ or O₂/UV led to the identification of 15 aromatic ring systems as the corresponding carboxylic acids: benzene, biphenyl, naphthalene and phenanthrene and their methyl derivatives, fluoranthene (or pyrene), chrysene, fluorenone, benzophenone, anthraquinone; and the heterocyclics dibenzofuran, benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene, pyridine, quinoline (or isoquinoline), and carbazole. Of 11 aliphatic acids identified, three dicarboxylic acids presumably came from hydroaromatic portions of the polymer, whereas eight monocarboxylic acids probably are derived from bridging groups or ring substituents.Depolymerization with CF₃COOH yielded some of the same ring systems, as well as alkanes (C₁–C₈) and alkenes (C₂–C₈), alkyl (C₁–C₅) benzenes and naphthalenes, and methyl- or dimethyl-indene, -indane, -phenol, -pyrrole, and -pyridine. All these compounds were detected below 200°C, and hence probably were indigenous constituents rather than pyrolysis products.Though the match between the synthetic and meteoritic polymer is only fair, several properties of the latter suggest that it, too, was produced by surface catalysis: the predominance of n-alkyl fragments, its occurrence as a surface coating on specific kinds of mineral grains, and the $\text{C}{}^{13}\text{C}{}^{12}$ fractionation between polymer and coexisting carbonates.     

NIED seismic moment tensor catalogue for regional earthquakes around Japan: quality test and application

We have examined the quality of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) seismic moment tensor (MT) catalogue obtained using a regional broadband seismic network (FREESIA). First, we examined using synthetic waveforms the robustness of the solutions with regard to data noise as well as to errors in the velocity structure and focal location. Then, to estimate the reliability, robustness and validity of the catalogue, we compared it with the Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalogue as well as the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) focal mechanism catalogue. We found out that the NIED catalogue is consistent with Harvard and JMA catalogues within the uncertainty of 0.1 in moment magnitude, 10 km in depth, and 15° in direction of the stress axes. The NIED MT catalogue succeeded in reducing to 3.5 the lower limit of moment magnitude above which the moment tensor could be reliably estimated. Finally, we estimated the stress tensors in several different regions by using the NIED MT catalogue. This enables us to elucidate the stress/deformation field in and around the Japanese islands to understand the mode of deformation and applied stress. Moreover, we identified a region of abnormal stress in a swarm area from stress tensor estimates.     

Accretion and postaccretion tectonics of the Calamian Islands, North Palawan block, Philippines

Abstract   Upper Paleozoic to Mesozoic sedimentary sequences of chert (Liminangcong Formation), clastics (Guinlo Formation) and a number of limestone units (Coron Formation, Minilog Formation and Malajon Limestone) constitute the accretionary complex of the North Palawan block, Philippines. Based on chert-to-clastic transitions from different stratigraphic sequences around the Calamian Islands, three accretionary belts are delineated: the Northern Busuanga Belt (NBB), the Middle Busuanga Belt (MBB) and the Southern Busuanga Belt (SBB). The accretion events of these belts along the East Asian accretionary complex, indicated by their sedimentary transitions, began with the Middle Jurassic NBB accretion, followed by the Late Jurassic MBB accretion and the Early Cretaceous SBB accretion. Several limestone blocks that formed over the seamounts became juxtaposed with chert–clastic sequences during accretion. During the Late Cretaceous, accretion-subduction along the East Asian margin subsided bringing tectonic stability to the region. The seafloor spreading during the mid-Oligocene disconnected the entire North Palawan block from the Asian mainland and then migrated southward. The collision between the North Palawan block and the Philippine Island Arc system in the middle Miocene generated a megafold structure in the Calamian Islands as a result of the clockwise turn of the accretionary belts in the eastern Calamian from originally northeast–southwest to northwest–southeast.     

Resource Evaluation and Some Genetic Aspects of Indium in the Japanese Ore Deposits

Abstract. There have been two primary sources for industrial indium; one from massive sulfides, while the other is dissemination-veins and skarns, related to felsic igneous rocks. The latter group of the In-bearing deposits is abundant in the Japanese Islands. Indium occurs as In-minerals such as sakuraiite, roquesite, laforetite and many unidentified minerals, but the majority is contained as an impurity in sphalerite, and tin and copper sulfides. Average grades of the ores from which indium has been extracted vary from a few ppm (e.g., Kosaka mine) to more than 300 ppm (Toyoha mine). The amount of indium in all the major basemetal deposits is estimated by analyzing representative samples. The main indium deposits are subvolcanic and tin-poly-metallic vein types. The largest one is Toyoha mine (4,700 tons hi) and the Ashio mine (ca. 1,200 tons In) was found to be the second largest. Many small occurrences, were recognized in the Miocene magnetite-series belt, besides the classic occurrences in the ilmenite-series granitic terrains of SW Japan, including the Ikuno and Akenobe tin(-tungsten) polymetallic veins, located in the northern margin of the late Cretaceous Sanyo ilmenite-series province. Magnetite-series magmas with deep source are necessary to concentrate sulfur in the magma chamber but sedimentary source rocks and their reducing agents are needed to collect and to precipitate indium. The Japanese islands are essentially accretionary terrains intruded by various deep oxidized magmas; thus forming magnetite/ilmenite-series paired belts, which are sometimes mixed. This unique geologic setting may be the most fundamental reason why indium is rich in vein-type deposits of the Japanese Island arcs.     

Use of microfluidic experiments to optimize MICP treatment protocols for effective strength enhancement of MICP-treated sandy soils

Microbially induced calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) precipitation (MICP) has been extensively studied for soil improvement in geotechnical engineering. The quantity and size of calcium carbonate crystals affect the strength of MICP-treated soil. In this study, microfluidic chip experiments and soil column experiments were conducted to optimize MICP treatment protocols for effective strength enhancement of MICP-treated sandy soils. The microscale experiments reveal that, due to Ostwald ripening, longer injection intervals allow crystals to dissolve and reprecipitate into larger crystals regardless of the concentration of cementation solution. Even though a cementation solution input rate of 0.042 mol/l/h is sufficient to maintain a high chemical transformation efficiency, a further reduction in the input rate by about four times resulted in an increase in the size of crystals produced by the end of treatment from about 40 to 60 μm. These findings were applied in soil column experiments. Results showed that significantly larger crystals and higher soil strength were achieved when the normalized rate of cementation solution injection was reduced from 0.042 to 0.021 mol/l/h. Crystal size and soil strength increased slightly more when the normalized input rate was further reduced from 0.021 to 0.010 mol/l/h. This study demonstrates how data from microscale microfluidic experiments that examine the effects of injection intervals and concentration of cementation solution on the properties of calcium carbonate crystals can be used to optimize MICP treatment in macroscale sand soil column experiments for effective strength enhancement.

     

The role of constitutive models in MPM simulations of granular column collapses

The granular column collapse is a well-established experiment which consists of having a vertical column of granular material on a flat surface and letting it collapse by gravity. Despite its simplicity in execution, the numerical modelling of a column collapse remains challenging. So far, much attention has been dedicated in assessing the ability of various numerical methods in modelling the large deformation and little to the role of the constitutive model on both the triggering mechanism and the flow behaviour. Furthermore, the influence of the initial density, and its associated dilatancy and strength characteristics, have never been included in the analyses. Most past numerical investigations had relied on simple constitutive relations which do not consider the softening behaviours. The aim of this study is to illustrate the influence of the constitutive model on the on-set of failure, the flow behaviour and the deposition profile using the material point method. Three constitutive models were used to simulate the collapse of two granular columns with different geometries and for two densities. The results of the simulations showed that the constitutive model had a twofold influence on the collapse behaviour. It defined the volume of the mobilised mass which spread along the flat surface and controlled the dissipation of its energy. The initial density was found to enhance the failure angle and flow behaviours and was more significant for small columns than for larger ones. The analysis of the potential energy of the mobilised mass explained the existence of two collapse regimes.     

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.     

Hydraulic tomography for detecting fracture zone connectivity

Fracture zones and their connectivity in geologic media are of great importance to ground water resources management as well as ground water contamination prevention and remediation. In this paper, we applied a recently developed hydraulic tomography (HT) technique and an analysis algorithm (sequential successive linear estimator) to synthetic fractured media. The application aims to explore the potential utility of the technique and the algorithm for characterizing fracture zone distribution and their connectivity. Results of this investigation showed that using HT with a limited number of wells, the fracture zone distribution and its connectivity (general pattern) can be mapped satisfactorily although estimated hydraulic property fields are smooth. As the number of wells and monitoring ports increases, the fracture zone distribution and connectivity become vivid and the estimated hydraulic properties approach true values. We hope that the success of this application may promote the development and application of the new generations of technology (i.e., hydraulic, tracer, pneumatic tomographic surveys) for mapping fractures and other features in geologic media.