Re-Os isotope systematics and fractionation of siderophile elements in metal phases from CBa chondrites

We report Os isotope compositions of metal grains in two CB_a chondrites (Bencubbin and Gujba) determined using a micromilling sampling coupled with thermal ionization mass spectrometry, together with the abundances of major and trace siderophile elements obtained by electron probe microanalysis and femtosecond laser ablation inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. The CB_a metal grains presented ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios akin to carbonaceous chondrites with limited variations (0.1257–0.1270). Most of the CB_a metal grains were scattered along a ¹⁸⁷Re-¹⁸⁷Os reference isochron of IIIAB iron meteorites, indicating that the CB_a metals experienced limited Re-Os fractionation at the time of their formation. The Re/Os ratios of sampling spots for the CB_a metals, recast from the observed ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios, had a positive correlation with their Os/Ir ratios. In addition, the metal grains showed a positive correlation in a Pd/Fe versus Ni/Fe diagram. These correlations suggest that the CB_a metal grains have formed via equilibrium condensation or evaporation from a gaseous reservoir at ~10⁻⁴ bar with enhanced metal abundances. Compared to the Bencubbin metals, the Gujba metals are characterized by having systematically lower Pd/Fe and Ni/Fe ratios that span subchondritic values. Such a difference was most likely induced by the compositionally heterogeneous impact plume from which the metals were condensed.     

Bedrock structure in Adapazari, Turkey—a possible cause of severe damage by the 1999 Kociaeli earthquake

The 1999 Kocaeli earthquake brought serious damage to downtown of Adapazari. To study why strong motions were generated at the town, a bedrock structure was investigated on the basis of Bouguer gravity anomaly, and SPAC and H/V analyses of microseisms. It was revealed that, the basin consists of three narrow depressions of bedrock with very steep edges, extending in E–W or NE–SW directions along the North Anatolia faults, and the depth to bedrock reaches 1000 m or more. Downtown of Adapazari is located 1–2 km apart from the basin-edge. It is considered that, the specific configuration of bedrock amplifies ground motions at the downtown area by focusing of seismic waves and/or interference between incident S-waves and surface-waves secondarily generated at the basin-edge. Studying 3D bedrock structure is an urgent issue for microzoning an urban area in a sedimentary basin.     

Effective stress analyses of liquefaction-induced deformation in river dikes

A series of effective stress analyses is carried out on the seismic performance of river dikes based on the case histories during the 1993 Hokkaido-Nansei-oki and 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu earthquakes in Japan. Seven case histories selected for the analyses involve a crest settlement ranging from none to 2.7 m in the dikes 3–6 m high with evidence of liquefaction at foundation soil. The effective stress model used is based on a multiple shear mechanism and was developed by one of the authors. The soil parameters are evaluated based on the site investigation and laboratory test results. The results of the analyses are basically consistent with the observed performance of the river dikes. In particular, the effective stress model shows a reasonable capability to reproduce the varying degree of settlements depending on the geotechnical conditions of foundation soils beneath the dikes. The analyses also indicate that the effect of a cohesive soil layer mixed with the liquefiable sand layers beneath the dikes can be a primary factor for reducing the liquefaction-induced deformation of dikes.     

Simultaneous identification of time and space variant dynamic soil properties during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake

Time and space variant soil properties at a liquefied site were simultaneously identified in the time domain by using borehole array strong motion records. During soil liquefaction at a site, soils usually show a wide variety of non-linear behavior along the depth as well as non-stationary behavior. Strong ground motion records were obtained at Port Island borehole array observatory, Kobe, during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake. In this study, the instrumented soil was modeled by the equivalent linear MDOF system, and an extended Kalman filter with local iteration was employed for the identification of the soils. The identification process was successfully conducted, and the stress–strain relationships of the soils at the liquefied site were obtained from different depths all at once.     

Upwelling of Deep-seated Fluid in the Sikhote-Alin Region,Far East of the Eurasian Plate

Aquatic Geochemistry - Spring waters with high-pCO2 content are widely distributed in the Sikhote-Alin region in Russia. Mukhen spa is one such spring located in the northern Sikhote-Alin region....     

A simple model to estimate monthly forest evapotranspiration in Japan from monthly temperature

The estimation of evapotranspiration (E) in forested areas is required for various practical purposes (e.g. evaluation of drought risks) in Japan. This study developed a model that estimates monthly forest E in Japan with the input of monthly temperature (T). The model is based on the assumptions that E equals the equilibrium evaporation rate (E_eq) and that E_eq is approximated by a function of T. The model formulates E as E (mm month⁻¹) = 3·48 T ( °C) + 32·3. The accuracy of the model was examined using monthly E data derived using short‐term water balance (WB) and micrometeorological (M) methods for 15 forest sites in Japan. The model estimated monthly E more accurately than did the Thornthwaite and Hamon equations according to regression analysis of the estimated E and E derived using the WB and M methods. Although the model tended to overestimate monthly E, the overestimation could be reduced by considering the effect of precipitation on E. As T data are commonly available all over Japan, the model would be a useful tool to estimate forest E in Japan. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Localized identification of MDOF structures in the frequency domain

For the identification of multi-degree-of-freedom structures, it is not practical to identify all of the parameters included in the structures because enormous computation time is required and because identifiability may not be possible. In this paper, a localized identification approach through substructuring is formulated in the frequency domain. A technique of spectral smoothing is incorporated in the approach to deal with noise-corrupted data. The proposed approach can be used to identify the structural parameters in any part of interest in a structure. The numerical investigations for a lumped mass-spring-dashpot system indicate that faster convergence and higher accuracy are achieved and the noise influences on the identified results are reduced greatly by spectral smoothing. The approach also applies to whole-structure identification if the required records available and the numerical example shows that higher accuracy results are obtained with less cpu time and more poorly guessed initial values as compared with the general complete-structure identification.     

Organic facies and geochemical aspects in Neogene neritic sediments of the Takafu syncline area of central Japan: Paleoenvironmental and sedimentological reconstructions

Abstract Organic petrological observations of kerogen macerals and organic geochemical analyses of carbon isotopes of kerogen macerals and biomarkers were conducted on Neogene neritic sediments of the Takafu syncline area of central Japan. The Senmi, Sakainomiya and Lower Shigarami Formations in that area were deposited at the neritic provinces on the southern edge of the paleo‐Japan Sea during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene. Sedimentary organic matter in these formations was almost terrigenous in origin. Changes in kerogen maceral compositions reflect sedimentological and tectonic histories evaluated in previous studies from sedimentary facies and paleontology. It was found that carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) of kerogen macerals increased from ?28‰ to ?25‰ from the Sakainomiya to the lower part of the Lower Shigarami Formations. The cause of that increase was presumably the expansion of C₄ plants into southwest Japan. The timing was concordant with that of the expansion of C₄ plant grasslands in East Asia. The oxicity (oxic to anoxic) conditions of sea bottoms evaluated from pristane/phytane ratios varied. Particularly, in the lower part of the Senmi Formation, layers in which no steroid biomarkers could be detected were found, and had presumably formed under oxic conditions when strong biodegradation had occurred. Concentrations of regular (C₂₇–C₂₉) steranes and dinosteranes were higher in the Sakainomiya and Lower Shigarami Formations. This indicates that dinoflagellates‐dominant primary productions were higher at those stages. In addition, concentrations of diatomaceous biomarkers such as C₂₆ norsterane increased from the Lower Shigarami Formation, thus adding diatoms to the major producers. Furthermore, similar associations between the increases of δ¹³C values of kerogen macerals and concentrations of diatomaceous biomarkers were observed in the Takafu syncline area. Thus, the expansion of C₄ plants was possibly associated with the high production of diatom in the shallow‐marine areas of the paleo‐Japan Sea during the Neogene Period.     

Solid‐state 13C NMR characterization of insoluble organic matter from Antarctic CM2 chondrites: Evaluation of the meteoritic alteration level

Abstract— Chemical structures of the insoluble organic matter (IOM) from the Antarctic CM2 chondrites (Yamato [Y‐] 791198, 793321; Belgica [B‐] 7904; Asuka [A‐] 881280, 881334) and the Murchison meteorite were analyzed by solid‐state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Different types of carbons were characterized, such as aliphatic carbon (Ali‐C), aliphatic carbon linked to hetero atom (Hetero‐Ali‐C), aromatic carbon (Aro‐C), carboxyls (COOR), and carbonyls (C=O). The spectra of the IOM from Murchison and Y‐791198 showed two major peaks: Ali‐C and Aro‐C, while the spectra from the other meteorites showed only one major peak of Aro‐C. Carbon distribution was determined both by manual integration and deconvolution. For most IOM, the Aro‐C was the most abundant (49.8–67.8%) of all carbon types. When the ratios of Ali‐C to Aro‐C (Ali/Aro) were plotted with the atomic hydrogen to carbon ratio (H/C), a correlation was observed. If we use the H/C as a parameter for the thermal alteration event on the meteorite parent body, this result shows a different extent of thermal alteration. In addition, IOM with a lower Ali/Aro showed a lower ratio of Ali‐C to COOR plus C=O (Ali / (COOR + C=O)). This result suggests that the ratio of CO moieties to aliphatic carbon in IOM might reflect chemical oxidation that was involved in hydrothermal alteration.