Rare Earth, Major and Trace Elements in the Kunimiyama Ferromanganese Deposit in the Northern Chichibu Belt, Central Shikoku, Japan

Abstract. Rare earth, major and trace element geochemistry is reported for the Kunimiyama stratiform ferromanganese deposit in the Northern Chichibu Belt, central Shikoku, Japan. The deposit immediately overlies greenstones of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) origin and underlies red chert. The ferromanganese ores exhibit remarkable enrichments in Fe, Mn, P, V, Co, Ni, Zn, Y and rare earth elements (excepting Ce) relative to continental crustal abundance. These enriched elements/ Fe ratios and Post-Archean Average Australian Shale-normalized REE patterns of the ferromanganese ores are generally analogous to those of modern hydrothermal ferromanganese plume fall-out precipitates deposited on MOR flanks. However in more detail, Mn and Ti enrichments in the ferromanganese ores are more striking than the modern counterpart, suggesting a significant contribution of hydrogenetic component in the Kunimiyama ores. Our results are consistent with the interpretation that the Kunimiyama ores were umber deposits that primarily formed by hydrothermal plume fall-out precipitation in the Panthalassa Ocean during the Early Permian and then accreted onto the proto-Japanese island arc during the Middle Jurassic. The presence of strong negative Ce anomaly in the Kunimiyama ores may indicate that the Early Permian Panthalassa seawater had a more striking negative Ce anomaly due to a more oxidizing oceanic condition than today.     

Cyclic strength and deformation of crushable carbonate sand

Cyclic triaxial tests have been carried out on a skeletal carbonate sand from the west coast of Eire. Results are presented for undrained cyclic shear tests on samples with 80% of relative density consolidated under both isotropic and anisotropic conditions. Failure was defined as a 5% double amplitude cyclic strain and a 5% peak axial strain for stress-reversal and non-reversal stress conditions, respectively. Using this definition the cyclic strength for isotropically consolidated samples was affected by the confining pressure although the angular platey nature of the sand resulted in higher cyclic strengths than for a comparable silica sand. For anisotropically consolidated samples the cyclic strength increased with increasing initial static shear stress while on the other hand the cyclic strength normalised in the usual way with respect to the initial confining pressure decreased as this pressure increased.     

Dynamics of pelagic variables in two contrasting coastal systems in the western Hokkaido coast off Otaru port,Japan

Human impact on adjacent coastal waters, leading to alteration in nutritional environment and hence affecting phytoplankton biomass (Chlorophyll a), will probably be enhanced by the nearby presence of ports. The main goal of this study is to assess the influence of nearby presence of port on phytoplankton biomass build-up and the physical–chemical environmental characteristics in two contrasting coastal systems (Otaru port, S-IN and an exposed coastal area, S-OUT) in the western Hokkaido coast off Otaru port, Japan. Sampling was conducted on “bi-weekly and monthly” basis during the period of September 2006–December 2007 and data comprising 11 pelagic variables were obtained. In most instance, phytoplankton biomass, nutrients' (NH₄, NO₃, PO₄, and Si(OH)₄) concentrations and nutrients' molar ratios were higher at the Otaru port location. Physical parameters (temperature, salinity, hydrogen ion concentration (pH), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and dissolved oxygen, (DO)) were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the two locations. With the exception of salinity, pH and DIC, all variables measured showed significant variation (P < 0.05) with season. While the coefficient of variation (CV) of physical parameters and phytoplankton biomass were relatively higher in Otaru port location (S-IN), the exposed coastal location (S-OUT) showed a higher variation in chemical parameters. Other variables showed different patterns between the two locations. We conclude that ports, due to its activities and restricted circulation favour high nutrient loading and phytoplankton biomass build-up in adjacent coastal systems, thus, suggesting the need for continuous field observation data in order to advance our knowledge on possible future human impact on coastal environment and the need to monitor and control port activities.     

Influences of the snow cover on landslide displacement in winter period: a case study in a heavy snowfall area of Japan

The displacement of a relatively small reactivated landslide in a snowy area in Japan was monitored over a long period. The displacement rate of the landslide, which was approximately of 20 mm d^?1 before the formation of snow cover, decelerated drastically during the continuous snow cover period every winter period. Possible causes included reduction in the amount of water that reached the ground surface (MR: meltwater and/or rainwater) and increase in snow load. Given that the actual displacement of the landslide was far below the predicted value based on the relationship between landslide displacement and MR immediately before the continuous snow cover period, the deceleration of landslide displacement was more likely attributable to the increase in snow load than to the reduction in MR. An investigation of the link between snow load and landslide displacement showed a negative logarithmic relationship. A dynamic analysis based on the limit equilibrium method showed that snow load increases the effective normal stress and the stability of a landslide in which the mean inclination angle of the slip surface is smaller than the internal friction angle. The stability of the actual slope was also analyzed by conducting soil tests on samples collected at the site and using the resultant parameters. The analysis also showed that the increase in snow load increases the safety factor and reduces the landslide displacement. The displacement of a relatively small landslide that has a shallow slip surface was found to be greatly influenced by snow cover.     

Barchan‐shaped ripple marks in a wave flume

Barchans, isolated crescent‐shaped bedforms, are believed to be formed under almost unidirectional wind or water ?ows and limited sand supply. The formation of barchan morphologies under the action of purely oscillatory wave motion has not yet been fully investigated. The present study attempted to form barchan topography in a wave ?ume and to compare this with barchans in the ?eld. Barchan morphologies of ripple size, called the barchan ripples, were generated from a ?at bed by the action of waves. The horn width, the distance between horn tips, of the barchan ripples increased linearly with an increase in the total length, the overall length projected on the centre line of the barchan, with a coef?cient common to barchan dunes in deserts. The ratio of horn length to horn width of the barchan ripples was smaller than that of barchan dunes, but similar to that of subaqueous barchans in the ?eld. The longer the wave period was, the larger the ratio of the body length to horn width became. Most subaqueous barchans formed under waves (in the laboratory) and unidirectional ?ows (in the ?eld) had blunter horns than subaerial barchans. The shape of the barchan ripples changed with wave period. The outer rim became rounder with increasing wave period. The relationship between the base area and the height of barchan morphologies seems to be linear, with a constant coef?cient for the scale from ripples to dunes. The barchan ripples showed a linear relationship between the height and the horn width, similar to that for barchan dunes. The migration speed of the barchan ripples was proportional to the cube of the ?ow velocity and was inversely proportional to height. The same relation with a different value of the coef?cient was obtained for barchan dunes. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of the contraction of Zn-O bonds on X-ray emission spectra

Physics and Chemistry of Minerals - The X-ray emission spectra were measured for tetrahedrally coordinated Zn ion in several synthetic compounds. Intensity ratios of L β and L α spectral...     

Adjustment processes of mountainous rivers affected by tilting uplift: Laboratory experiments and a case study of Yakushima Island,Japan

Mountainous river basins are one of the main sources of sediment. Over long time scales, sediment production is sustained by the persistent dissection of river basins, which is promoted by tectonic activity. The response or adjustment of rivers to forcing factors such as uplift is based on the concept of the graded river and a feedback mechanism between the incision and uplift. Although the development of graded rivers under natural circumstances has been discussed for a long time, knowledge about the transition of river basins under heterogeneous uplift is not enough. To understand the development of a river basin with a non‐uniform uplift rate, two simple cases are examined: landward and seaward tilting uplift, where the uplift rate varies linearly in space. For our study, laboratory experiments were conducted and the results were compared with those of natural river basins; two river basins in Yakushima Island were selected for this purpose. In both the laboratory and Yakushima, the longitudinal profile of the river basin under landward‐tilting uplift has a convex‐up zone and a specific knickpoint is formed at the upstream end of this zone. This knickpoint is inactive with respect to migration and incision owing to the insufficient cumulative uplift to the equilibrium state. It was also observed in both the experimental and natural cases that the profile of the river basin under seaward tilting is unlikely to have such a convex‐up zone in the long term, and will instead have a smooth concave profile. Therefore, the spatiotemporal pattern of dissection differs depending on the type of tilting uplift, which suggests that sediment production also varies in time and space according to the type of uplift.     

Effects of coastal erosion on landslide activity revealed by multi-sensor observations

Coastal erosion is becoming an increasingly serious consequence of climate change. This study demonstrates the effects of coastal erosion on landslide activity while considering the amount of erosion and changes in pore water pressure. To determine the factors related to landslide slip generation, we specifically measured the displacement, deformation, pore water pressure, and amount of erosion with high temporal resolution (1 s–1 h) for a coastal landslide in Hokkaido, north-eastern Japan, for 7 months. It has been determined that landslides occur simultaneously with high pore water pressure. Toe erosion events also occurred several times, while the landslide exhibited major displacement. Because toe erosion and the increase in pore water pressure occurred simultaneously, we tried to determine which of the two contributed majorly to the landslide displacement by conducting a stability analysis that incorporates the effects of the two factors. From the actual observed data, toe erosion and the increase in pore water pressure had comparable effects on the destabilization of the studied landslide. Specifically, the time series for the safety factor shows that the landslide in the case with toe erosion was destabilized more than that in the case with no erosion, with a difference of more than 5% in the safety factor. The model with toe erosion provided a better explanation for the landslide displacement. Furthermore, the inclination data suggested that erosion took place at least 1 month before the landslide displacement. This implied that coastal erosion played a role in the preparation and ongoing displacement of the coastal landslide. Inland landslides with toes that are subject to undercutting due to river incision or artificial construction have geomorphological settings that are similar to those of the studied landslide. The knowledge obtained here can contribute to the understanding of destabilization mechanisms and terrain changes related to such landslides. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A regression model-based method for indoor positioning with compound location fingerprints

ABSTRACT

This paper proposed and evaluated an estimation method for indoor positioning. The method combines location fingerprinting and dead reckoning differently from the conventional combinations. It uses compound location fingerprints, which are composed of radio fingerprints at multiple points of time, that is, at multiple positions, and displacements between them estimated by dead reckoning. To avoid errors accumulated from dead reckoning, the method uses short-range dead reckoning. The method was evaluated using 16 Bluetooth beacons installed in a student room with the dimensions of 11 × 5 m with furniture inside. The Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values of the beacons were collected at 30 measuring points, which were points at the intersections on a 1 × 1 m grid with no obstacles. A compound location fingerprint is composed of RSSI vectors at two points and a displacement vector between them. Random Forests (RF) was used to build regression models to estimate positions from location fingerprints. The root mean square error of position estimation was 0.87 m using 16 Bluetooth beacons. This error is lower than that received with a single-point baseline model, where a feature vector is composed of only RSSI values at one location. The results suggest that the proposed method is effective for indoor positioning.     

Inverse Problem and Solution of the Kolmogorov Model for Bed Thickness Distribution

Bed thickness is an important factor when interpreting geologic records to determine the past environment; it is related to the sediment transport and debris production rates. Because of the inherent uncertainty of these phenomena, a probabilistic model is useful for dealing with the problem. Many probabilistic models are variations of the Kolmogorov model, which is a type of random-walk model. The Kolmogorov model is a simple mathematical model that has a wide range of applications. However, when estimating paleo-environments from geologic records, the inverse problem is more practical than the forward problem, but the former has not been well discussed. Previous applications have estimated the probability density function (PDF) for stochastic steady states (including virtual cumulative erosion that is not physically observable) but not for independent events, and the difference between the results for these two kinds of PDFs has not been analyzed. This study considers the inverse problem of the Kolmogorov model and the properties of its solution. This study found that (1) the inverse problem can be solved analytically in a general form; (2) the difference between the above two PDFs can exceed 10% in some cases; and (3) different PDFs for the deposition and erosion magnitudes of independent events can reproduce the same bed thickness distribution of preserved layers.