Detailed measurements of thickness and grain size of a widespread onshore tsunami deposit in Phang‐nga Province,southwestern Thailand

Measurements of thickness and grain size along flow‐parallel transects across onshore deposits of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami revealed macroscopic horizontal variations and provided new insights into tsunami sedimentation. The tsunami caused severe erosion of beaches, river mouths, and the shallow seafloor along the coast of southwestern Thailand and supplied sufficient sediment to deposit a kilometer‐wide blanket of sand on the land surface. The tsunami deposits generally fine landward with some fluctuations caused by local entrainment and settlement of sediments. Sediments of medium and fine sand are restricted to a few hundreds of meters inland from their source, whereas finer grained sediments were suspended longer and deposited 1 km or more inland. Although the thickness of the tsunami deposits is strongly influenced by local topography, they generally thin landward. In areas of low‐relief topography, the rate of landward thinning is exponential and reflects the dominance of sediment supply to nearshore areas over that to areas farther inland.     

On the Concentrations of the Dissolved Chemical Elements in the Estuary Water of the Chikugogawa River

When river water mixes with sea water in estuary area, the concentrations of the dissolved element in river water may be changed by either a simple physical mixing process or some complex chemical processes. It has been clarified in the Chikugogawa River estuary area that the change in concentrations of SO ₄ ²⁻ , BO ₃ ³⁻ , Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ and F⁻ is only due to the mixing process but the change in concentrations of SiO ₃ ²⁻ and Al³⁺ is due to the chemical process in addition to the mixing process.      

Electrokinetic phenomena associated with a water injection experiment at the Nojima fault on Awaji Island, Japan

Abstract Self-potential variations were measured to estimate the magnitude of electrokinetic and hydrological parameters (zeta potential and permeability) of the Nojima Fault zone in Awaji, Japan. The study observed self-potential variations that seemed to be associated with water flow from the injection well to the fracture zone, which were induced by turning the injection on and off. Amplitudes of the variations were a few to 0.03 V across 320–450 m dipoles. These variations can be explained well with an electrokinetic model. The quantity k/ζ (permeability/zeta potential) is in the range 1.6 × 10⁻¹³− 5.4 × 10⁻¹³ m²/V. Permeability of the Nojima fault zone can be estimated as approximately 10⁻¹⁶–10⁻¹⁵ m² on the assumption that the zeta potential is in the range –0.01 to –0.001 V.     

The surface structure and properties of atmospheric ice crystals

Theories to describe the structures and properties of ice surface were critically examined. Misconceptions were clarified in regard to treatment of the liquid-like layer that is expected to exist on the surface of an ice crystal below 0°C, 1 atm under equilibrium. It was shown that the pressure in the surface layer, not the surface free energy, is responsible for the formation of the liquid-like layer. Transformation of this layer into transitional liquid layer under ice-supersaturated conditions of the environment and the roles played by the latter layer in non-dendritic and dendritic growth of ice crystals were explained.     

Expansion of the Nishinomiya Built Environment Database

The Nishinomiya Built Environment Database, which can be used to analyze the disaster process of the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster in Nishinomiya City, has been expanded with new data entries. The database contains the following very detailed datasets: (1) the urbanization area base map, (2) casualty data, (3) three sets of building damage data surveyed by the Nishinomiya City, the Architectural Institute of Japan and the City Planning Institute of Japan, and the Kobe University, (4) building property data based on the real estate tax roll, (5) photographs of the damaged buildings with the information on the place and orientation of the picture, and (6) the estimated distribution of the seismic ground motion. The seismic ground motion was simulated for the southern part of Nishinomiya City and two verification sites in Kobe City and Amagasaki City. In the simulation, the borehole data of public facilities were used to model the surface soils as one-dimensional layers, taking into consideration the fact that the spatial distribution of the sediment/basement interface forms a slope. The model of the fault rupture process simulated the characteristics of the seismic motion at basement level, and amplification effects of the surface layers were evaluated based on multiple reflection theory. The distribution of peak ground acceleration and peak ground velocity was estimated from acceleration response spectra at each borehole point. In addition, the relationship between simulated seismic ground motion and building damage was studied based on newly proposed band-passed spectrum intensity using the expanded database. This confirmed that detailed categorization is necessary in order to evaluate the fragility functions, especially for reinforced concrete structures. The database should provide fundamental information for identifying the relationship between the ground motions and the extent and pattern of building damage, or the pattern of the occurrence of casualties.Presently     

冰晶增长规律的定量研究

在分析研究已获得的冰晶增长规律的基础上,指出流行的Kobayashi-Pruppacher模式的不足和改进的必要.采用一个具有稳定环境、可在广阔范围获取资料并能取得冰晶三维信息的楔形冰面热力扩散云室,获得了大量定量资料.提出一种冰晶增长定量研究方法,首次在低冰面过饱和度区取得大量完整的定量结果,它们表明Kobayashi-Pruppacher推论不太合理,指出Wulff冰晶增长区、晶形突变区及低冰面过饱和区冰晶增长的新特征.     

A quantitative study on the growth law of ice crystals

On the basis of analysis and study of the growth of ice crystals, the inadequacy and thus a necessity for improvement of the Kohayashi-Pruppacher model are discussed. Be experimenting with a new wedge-shaped chamber of ice thermal diffusion which provides a stable environment and a wide range of control, a great amount of quantitative data from three-dimensional size measurements have been obtained. A quantitative research method is established, yielding, for the first time, satisfactory quantitative results in the region of low ice supersaturation. These results show that the Kobayashi-Pruppacher inference is inade-quate, and reveal new characteristics of ice-crystal growth in the Wulff growth region, the region of abrupt change of crystal forms and that of low ice supersaturation.     

Mechanisms Controlling the Undrained Strength Behavior of Remolded Ariake Marine Clays

The soft clay of Ariake Bay, in western Kyushu, Japan covers several hundred square kilometers. Ariake clay consists of the principal clay minerals namely smectite, illite, kaolinite and vermiculite, and other minerals in lesser quantity. The percentage of the principal clay mineral can vary significantly. The percent clay size fraction and the salt concentration can also vary significantly. In view of the importance of undrained shear strength in geotechnical engineering practice, its behavior has been studied with respect to variation in salt concentration. Basically two mechanisms control the undrained strength in clays, namely (a) cohesion or undrained strength is due to the net interparticle attractive forces, or (b) cohesion is due to the viscous nature of the double layer water. Concept (a) operates primarily for kaolinitic soil, and concept (b) dominates primarily for montmorillonitic soils. In Ariake clay, different clay minerals with different exchangeable cations and varying ion concentration in the pore water and varying nonclay size fraction are present. In view of this while both concepts (a) and (b) can coexist and operate simultaneously, one of the mechanisms dominates. For Isahaya clay, concept (a), factors responsible for an increase in level of flocculation and attractive forces result in higher undrained strength. Increase in salt concentration increases the remolded undrained strength at any moisture content. For Kubota and Kawazoe clays, concept (b) factors responsible for an expansion of diffuse double layer thickness, resulting in higher viscous resistance, increase the undrained shear strength, that is, as concentration decreases, the undrained strength increases at any moisture content. The liquid limit of Isahaya clay increases with increase in ion concentration and a marginal decrease is seen for both Kubota and Kawazoe clays, and their behavior has been explained satisfactorily.