Solar radio burst (type III)

This article describes the observations of a type III radio burst observed at 103 MHz simultaneously by the two radio telescopes situated at Rajkot (22.3°N, 70.7°E) and Thaltej (23°N, 72.4°E). This event occurred on September 30, 1993 at about 0430 UT and lasted for only half a minute. The event consisted of several sharp spikes in a group. The rise and fall time of these are comparable, however the peaks of individual spikes varied by a factor of four. The comparison of these observations with the data of solar radio spectrograph HiRAS indicates that this was a metric radio burst giving highest emission at about 103 MHz.     

Ecologic and taxonomic diversification in the Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan, with emphasis on infaunalization of heterodonts

Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan diversified in three steps: at the beginning of the Early Jurassic, Early and Late Cretaceous. The Hettangian Niranohama Fauna in northeastern Honshu represents the establishment of a heterodont-dominated brackish-water fauna that persisted until the early Late Cretaceous. No similar composition is known from the Triassic. The infauna consists mostly of non-siphonate and some short-siphonate heterodonts, while the epifauna is represented by diverse pteriomorphian families. In the Early Cretaceous Tetori Group in central Honshu, the long-siphonate heterodonts Tetoria (Corbiculidae) and the semi-infaunal soft-bottom oyster Crassostrea appeared. The evolutionary diversification of the latter, known as the most important element of modern brackish-water faunas, may thus originate at that time. In the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Goshoura and Mifune Groups in west Kyushu, several euryhaline deep-burrowing heterodont families, such as Veneridae and Tellinidae, further diversified in the brackish and marine environments. The Late Cretaceous is characterized by massive shell biolithic beds in which large Crassostrea species are common, a feature common for Cenozoic brackish-water faunas. The long-term changes in the composition of the brackish-water faunas in Japan represents thus an evolutionary record, irrespective of the severe physiological and environmental conditions imposed on the highly conservative nature of the fauna.     

Biogenic Silica Record in Lake Biwa of Central Japan over the Past 145,000 Years

The record of the biogenic silica flux (BSF, g cm⁻²(10³yr)⁻¹) in Lake Biwa reflects changes in diatom productivity in the lake and provides information regarding changes in paleoclimatic conditions. The BSF record of Lake Biwa demonstrates five periods over the past ca. 145,000 yr when the BSF values were significantly greater than 7.5 g cm⁻²(10³yr)⁻¹, and five intervals when they were lower. The data imply that paleoclimatic conditions were warmer and wetter from ca. 123,000 to 115,000, 103,000 to 95,000, 88,000 to 72,000, 57,000 to 32,000 yr B.P., and around ca. 6000 yr B.P. when the BSF values were greater, and relatively dry and cold from ca. 141,000 to 123,000 yr B.P. and during intervals between two of the five warm and wet episodes when the BSF values were lower. Time series of the BSF record can be correlated with the record of biogenic silica content in Lake Baikal and the marine oxygen isotope stages 1 through 6. Furthermore, the BSF values varied with much higher amplitude during the last interglaciation than during the last glaciation, probably implying that the diatom productivity in Lake Biwa was likewise more variable and had a larger range under interglacial conditions than under glacial conditions.     

Viscosity of peridotite liquid up to 13 GPa: Implications for magma ocean viscosities

The viscosity of synthetic peridotite liquid has been investigated at high pressures using in-situ falling sphere viscometry by combining a multi-anvil technique with synchrotron radiation. We used a newly designed capsule containing a small recessed reservoir outside of the hot spot of the heater, in which a viscosity marker sphere is embedded in a forsterite + enstatite mixture having a higher solidus temperature than the peridotite. This experimental setup prevents spheres from falling before a stable temperature above the liquidus is established and thus avoids difficulties in evaluating viscosities from velocities of spheres falling through a partially molten sample.

Experiments have been performed between 2.8 and 13 GPa at temperatures ranging from 2043 to 2523 K. Measured viscosities range from 0.019 (± 0.004) to 0.13 (± 0.02) Pa s. At constant temperature, viscosity increases with increasing pressure up to  8.5 GPa but then decreases between  8.5 and 13 GPa. The change in the pressure dependence of viscosity is likely associated with structural changes of the liquid that occur upon compression. By combining our results with recently published 0.1 MPa peridotite liquid viscosities [D.B. Dingwell, C. Courtial, D. Giordano, A. Nichols, Viscosity of peridotite liquid, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 226 (2004) 127–138.], the experimental data can be described by a non-Arrhenian, empirical Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman equation, which has been modified by adding a term to account for the observed pressure dependence of viscosity. This equation reproduces measured viscosities to within 0.08 log₁₀-units on average. We use this model to calculate viscosities of a peridotitic magma ocean along a liquid adiabat to a depth of  400 km and discuss possible effects on viscosity at greater pressures and temperatures than experimentally investigated.     

High-reliability zircon separation for hunting the oldest material on Earth: An automatic zircon separator with image-processing/microtweezers-manipulating system and double-step dating

Despite the recent development in radiometric dating of numerous zircons by LA-ICPMS, mineral separation still remains a major obstacle, particularly in the search for the oldest material on Earth. To improve the efficiency in zircon separation by an order of magnitude, we have designed/developed a new machine-an automatic zircon separator(AZS). This is designed particularly for automatic pick-up of100 μm-sized zircon grains out of a heavy mineral fraction after conventional separation procedures. The AZS operates in three modes:(1) image processing to choose targeted individual zircon grains out of all heavy minerals spread on a tray,(2) automatic capturing of the individual zircon grains with microtweezers, and(3) placing them one-by-one in a coordinated alignment on a receiving tray. The automatic capturing was designed/created for continuous mineral selecting without human presence for many hours. This software also enables the registration of each separated zircon grain for dating, by recording digital photo-image, optical(color) indices, and coordinates on a receiving tray. We developed two new approaches for the dating; i.e.(1) direct dating of zircons selected by LA-ICPMS without conventional resin-mounting/polishing,(2) high speed U-Pb dating, combined with conventional sample preparation procedures using the new equipment with multiple-ion counting detectors(LA-MIC-ICPMS).With the first approach, Pb-Pb ages obtained from the surface of a mineral were crosschecked with the interior of the same grain after resin-mounting/polishing. With the second approach, the amount of time required for dating one zircon grain is ca. 20 s, and a sample throughput of 150 grains per hour can be achieved with sufficient precision(ca. 0.5%).We tested the practical efficiency of the AZS, by analyzing an Archean Jack Hills conglomerate in Western Australia with the known oldest(4.3 Ga) zircon on Earth. Preliminary results are positive; we were able to obtain more than 194 zircons that are over 4.0 Ga out of ca. 3800 checked grains, and 9 grains were over 4300 Ma with the oldest at 4371 ± 7 Ma. This separation system by AZS, combined with the new approaches, guarantees much higher yield in the hunt for old zircons.     

Macroscopic criteria for Green type porous materials with spheroidal voids: application to double porous materials

Combined effects of matrix plastic compressibility and void shape are investigated for ductile porous materials. To this end, a spheroidal volume containing a confocal spheroidal (prolate or oblate) void subjected to uniform strain rate boundary conditions has been first studied. A Green type matrix is chosen as a prototype for investigating effects of plastic compressibility. This is carried out by using a kinematics limit analysis theory from which a closed‐form expression of the macroscopic criterion is established for the considered class of materials. These results are then extended to ductile porous materials made up of a green matrix containing randomly oriented spheroidal voids. In the framework of a two‐step homogenization procedure, the obtained results are implemented to describe the macroscopic behavior of double porous materials involving spherical voids at the microscale and randomly oriented and distributed spheroidal voids at the mesoscale. For validation purpose, the new derived criteria are assessed and validated by comparing their predictions to available upper bounds and numerical data from literature. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cause and countermeasure of long-period oscillations of moored ships and the quantification of surge and heave amplitudes

Long-period oscillations of moored ships whose periods are about 1 or 2 min cause many troubles in many ports and harbours. It is necessary to investigate these phenomena and verify their causes and countermeasures in each case because they are strongly dependent on the environment of each port and harbour. From this point of view, long-period oscillations of moored ships in the Port of Shibushi in Japan were investigated by means of wave observations, the image processing of moored ship motions using the video camera and motion-capture software and numerical simulations. From observation results, the relationship between offshore long-period waves and long-period oscillations of moored ships was recognized and surge and heave amplitudes were quantified by using wave data in order to forecast moored ship motions. Furthermore, from observation and numerical results, it was revealed that long-period waves with the peak period of 120 s from the offshore typhoon kept or exaggerated the local harbour oscillation of 60–70 s and it caused long-period oscillations of moored ships. Numerical results in case of reducing the reflection coefficient of the target berth implied that it ceased the local harbour oscillation and it would give an effective countermeasure to reduce long-period oscillations of moored ships in the Port of Shibushi.     

Nitric oxide profiles measured in situ during the Globus '85 campaign

Nitric oxide profiles obtained from three flights of chemiluminescent instruments during the Globus '85 campaign held in France in the autumn of 1985 are reported. When the profile obtained in the early morning of 20 September is compared with the flight made the previous afternoon, an average morning to midday NO ratio of 0.7 for the region between 26 and 33 km is obtained. This value is in good agreement with theoretical studies involving the photolysis of N₂O₅ and the establishment of the NO₂–NO equilibrium.     

Intercomparison of NO column measurements during MAP/GLOBUS 1985

Column measurements of nitric oxide were made using several techniques during the MAP/GLOBUS campaign in France in September 1985. The data sets are nearly co-located and simultaneous, therefore allowing a valid intercomparison of the various measurement methods. The range of altitudes sampled differs from instrument to instrument. This complicates the comparison because the data sets are to some extent complementary. The NO distributions apparently vary significantly from day to day, and possibly over shorter timescales. Changes in dynamics may be responsible for these variations. The results from the instruments which measure in the infrared and the ultraviolet are self-consistent, and show good agreement with photochemical predictions. On 19 September, when the intercomparison was made, the profile measured by the in-situ chemiluminescent instrument differed significantly from the predicted profile, and the measured columns were generally higher.