Coastal aquifer system in late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits at Horonobe in Hokkaido,Japan

The groundwater flow systems and chemistry in the deep part of the coastal area of Japan have attracted attention over recent decades due to government projects such as geological disposal of radioactive waste. However, the continuous groundwater flow system moving from the shallow to deep parts of the sedimentary soft rock has not yet been characterized. Therefore, the Cl^–, δD and δ¹⁸O values of the pore water in the Horonobe coastal area in Hokkaido, Japan, were measured to 1,000 m below the ground surface, and a vertical profile of the pore-water chemistry was constructed to assist in elucidating groundwater circulation patterns in the coastal area. The results show that the groundwater flow regime may be divided into five categories based on groundwater age and origin: (1) fresh groundwater recharged by modern rainwater, (2) fresh groundwater recharged by paleo rainwater during the last glacial age, (3) low-salinity groundwater recharged during the last interglacial period, (4) mixed water in a diffusion zone, and (5) connate water consisting of paleo seawater. These results suggest that the appearance of hydrological units is not controlled by the boundaries of geological formations and that paleo seawater is stored in younger Quaternary sediments.     

Groundwater flow system in Bengal Delta,Bangladesh revealed by environmental isotopes

A total number of 328 groundwater samples are analysed to evaluate the groundwater flow systems in Bengal Delta aquifers, Bangladesh using environmental isotope (²H, ¹⁸O, ¹³C, ³H, and ¹⁴C) techniques. A well-defined Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL) δ²H = 7.7 δ¹⁸O + 10.7 ‰ is constructed applying linear correlation analyses to the monthly weighted rainfall isotopic compositions (δ¹⁸O and δ²H). The δ¹⁸O and δ²H concentrations of all groundwater samples in the study area are plotted more or less over the LMWL, which provides compelling evidence that all groundwaters are derived from rainfall and floodwater with a minor localized evaporation effects for the shallow groundwaters. Tritium concentration is observed in 40 samples out of 41 with values varying between 0.3 and 5.0 TU, which represents an evidence of young water recharge to the shallow and intermediate aquifers. A decreasing trend of ¹⁴C activity is associated with the heavier δ¹³C values, which indicates the presence of geochemical reactions affecting the ¹⁴C concentration along the groundwater flow system. Both vertical and lateral decrease of ¹⁴C activity toward down gradient show the presence of regional groundwater flow commencing from the unconfined aquifers, which discharges along the coastal regions. Finally, shallow, intermediate, and deep groundwater flow dynamics has revealed in the Bengal Delta aquifers, Bangladesh.     

Heat-Mitigation Effects of Irrigated Rice-Paddy Fields Under Changing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Based on a Coupled Atmosphere and Crop Energy-Balance Model

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - Known as the heat-mitigation effect, irrigated rice-paddy fields distribute a large fraction of their received energy to the latent heat during the growing season. The...     

Provenance of Paleozoic–Mesozoic sedimentary rocks in the Inner Zone of Southwest Japan: An evaluation based on Nd model ages

Nd model ages using depleted mantle (TDM) values for the sedimentary rocks in the Inner Zone of the SW Japan and western area of Tanakura Tectonic Line in the NE Japan allow classification into five categories: 2.6–2.45, 2.3–2.05, 1.9–1.55, 1.45–1.25, and 1.2–0.85 Ga. The provenance of each terrane/belt/district is interpreted on the basis of the TDMs, ¹⁴⁷Sm / ¹⁴⁴Nd vs. ¹⁴³Nd / ¹⁴⁴Nd relation, Nd isotopic evolution of the source rocks in East China and U–Pb zircon ages. The provenance of 2.6–1.8 Ga rocks, which are reported from Hida–Oki and Renge belts and Kamiaso conglomerates, is inferred to be the Sino–Korean Craton (SKC). The 2.3–1.55 Ga rocks, mostly from Ryoke, Mino and Ashio belts, are originally related with the SKC and/or Yangtze Craton (YC). The provenances of the sedimentary rocks with 1.45–0.85 Ga, from the Suo belt, Higo and some districts in the Mino and Ashio belts, are different from the SKC and YC. Especially, the Higo with 1.2–0.85 Ga is considered as a fragment of collision zone in East China. Akiyoshi belt probably belongs to the youngest age category of 1.2–0.85 Ga.Some metasedimentary rocks from the Ryoke belt have extremely high ¹⁴⁷Sm / ¹⁴⁴Nd and ¹⁴³Nd / ¹⁴⁴Nd ratios, whose main components are probably derived from mafic igneous rocks within the Ryoke belt itself and from the adjacent Tamba belt.     

K–Ar age and geochemistry of the SW Japan Paleogene cauldron cluster: Implications for Eocene–Oligocene thermo-tectonic reactivation

Systematic K–Ar dating and geochemical analyses of Paleogene cauldrons in the Sanin Belt of SW Japan have been made to explore the relationship between the timing of their formation and the Paleogene subduction history of SW Japan documented in the Shimanto accretionary complex. We also examine the magma sources and tectonics beneath the backarc region of SW Japan at the eastern plate boundary of Eurasia.Fifty-eight new K–Ar ages and 19 previously reported radiometric age data show that the cauldrons formed during Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene time (43–30 Ma), following a period of magmatic hiatus from 52 to 43 Ma. The hiatus coincides with absence of an accretionary prism in the Shimanto Belt. Resumption of the magmatism that formed the cauldron cluster in the backarc was concurrent with voluminous influx of terrigenous detritus to the trench, as a common tectono-thermal event within a subduction system.The cauldrons are composed of medium-K calc-alkaline basalts to rhyolites and their plutonic equivalents. These rocks are characterized by lower concentrations of large ion lithophile elements (LILE) including K₂O, Ba, Rb, Th, U and Li, lower (La/Yb)_n ratios, lower initial Sr isotopic ratios (0.7037–0.7052) and higher ε_Nd(T) values (?0.5 to +3.5) relative to Late Cretaceous to Early Paleogene equivalents. There are clear trends from enriched to depleted signatures with decreasing age, from the Late Cretaceous to the Paleogene. The same isotopic shift is also confirmed in lower crust-derived xenoliths, and is interpreted as mobilization of pre-existing enriched lithospheric mantle by upwelling depleted asthenosphere.Relatively elevated geothermal gradients are presumed to have prevailed over wide areas of the backarc and forearc of the SW Japan arc-trench system during the Eocene to Oligocene. Newly identified Late Eocene low silica adakites and high-Mg andesites in the Sanin Belt and Early Eocene A-type granites in the SW Korea Peninsula probably formed due to upwelling of hot asthenosphere and subduction of a young plate.The backarc region was an extensional tectonic setting, and some Paleogene rift basins and Sanin Belt cauldrons occur in linear arrays. The Eocene–Oligocene Sanin-SE Korea continental arc lies on the NE extension of the East China Sea Basin, the initial stage of which probably formed by continental arc rifting. This rifting may have been triggered by upwelling of hot asthenosphere into the wedge space created by rollback of the subducted slab, in response to decreased convergence rate between the Pacific and Eurasian plates.     

Whole rock geochemistry and Sr isotopic compositions of Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks in the Inner Zone of the Southwest Japan Arc

Pre-Cretaceous metasedimentary rocks occurring in the Inner Zone of the Southwest Japan Arc can be divided into three major groups, namely, high P/T metamorphic (Renge and Suo belts), low P/T metamorphic (Hida-Oki, Ryoke and Higo belts), and accretionary terranes (Akiyoshi, Maizuru, Mino-Tamba, and Ashio belts). Major and trace element compositions of most of the sedimentary rocks are typical of relatively mature sedimentary rocks, although abundances of ferromagnesian elements also suggest the presence of a significant mafic to intermediate igneous component. The sedimentary rocks with older Nd model ages (> 2.0 Ga) have high εSr values and major and trace element geochemical signatures typical of mature sediments, whereas those with younger model ages (< 1.45 Ga) have low εSr values and immature geochemical characteristics. With the exception of Hida samples, the sedimentary rocks from other districts have geochemical and isotopic features intermediate between the rocks with old and young Nd model ages. Some of the Hida samples have old Nd model ages, but others are influenced by younger rock fragments and have immature geochemical features. Based on combined isotopic and geochemical evidence, Inner Zone sedimentary rocks with older Nd model ages are interpreted to have been derived from felsic upper continental crustal materials such as Sino-Korean or northwest Yangtze craton granitoids. Compositions of rocks with younger Nd model ages reflect addition of mafic to intermediate detritus, such as island arc basalts and andesites. The rocks with intermediate Nd model ages may have formed in and around the Asian continental margin. The Hida metasedimentary rocks may have been derived from several terranes of varying age and geochemical composition.     

Crustal structure and tectonics of the Hidaka Collision Zone, Hokkaido (Japan), revealed by vibroseis seismic reflection and gravity surveys

This study is the first integrated geological and geophysical investigation of the Hidaka Collision Zone in southern Central Hokkaido, Japan, which shows complex collision tectonics with a westward vergence. The Hidaka Collision Zone consists of the Idon'nappu Belt (IB), the Poroshiri Ophiolite Belt (POB) and the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt (HMB) with the Hidaka Belt from west to east. The POB (metamorphosed ophiolites) is overthrust by the HMB (steeply eastward-dipping palaeo-arc crust) along the Hidaka Main Thrust (HMT), and in turn, thrusts over the Idon'nappu Belt (melanges) along the Hidaka Western Thrust (HWT). Seismic reflection and gravity surveys along a 20-km-long traverse across the southern Hidaka Mountains revealed hitherto unknown crustal structures of the collision zone such as listric thrusts, back thrusts, frontal thrust-and-fold structures, and duplex structures. The main findings are as follows. (1) The HMT, which dips steeply at the surface, is a listric fault dipping gently at a depth of 7 km beneath the eastern end of the HMB, and cutting across the lithological boundaries and schistosity of the Hidaka metamorphic rocks. (2) A second reflector is detected 1 km below the HMT reflector. The intervening part between these two reflectors is inferred to be the POB, which is only little exposed at the surface. This inference is supported by the high positive Bouguer anomalies along the Hidaka Mountains. (3) The shallow portion of the IB at the front of the collision zone has a number of NNE-dipping reflectors, indicative of imbricated fold-and-thrust structures. (4) Subhorizontal reflectors at a depth of 14 km are recognized intermittently at both sides of the seismic profile. These reflectors may correspond to the velocity boundary (5.9–6.6 km/s) previously obtained from seismic refraction profiling in the northern Hidaka Mountains. (5) These crustal structures as well as the back thrust found in the eastern end of the traverse represent characteristics of collisional tectonics resulting from the two collisional events since the Early Tertiary.     

Deep seismic reflection profiling across the Ou Backbone range, northern Honshu Island, Japan

Knowledge of the crustal structure, especially the geometry of seismogenic faults, is key to understanding active tectonic processes and assessing the size and frequency of future earthquakes. To reveal the relationship between crustal structure and earthquake activity in northern Honshu Island, common midpoint (CMP) deep reflection profiling and earthquake observations by densely deployed seismic stations were carried out across the active reverse faults that bound the Ou Backbone range. The 40-km-long CMP profiles portray a relatively simple fault geometry within the seismogenic layer. The reverse faults merge at a midcrustal detachment just below the base of the seismogenic layer, producing a pop-up structure that forms the Ou Backbone range. The top of the reflective middle to lower crust (4.5 s in travel time (TWT)) nearly coincides with the bottom of seismogenic layer. The P-wave velocity structure and surface geology suggest that the bounding faults are Miocene normal faults that have been reactivated as reverse faults.