A simple parameterization of longwave radiative cooling with application to the atmospheric boundary layer for clear sky conditions

A simple parameterization is proposed to obtain longwave radiative cooling rates, which can be used for atmospheric boundary-layer simulations on clear days in mid-latitudes. The net flux difference which is set to zero at the surface, can be parameterized with the use of three variables: the surface temperature, the lowest level (1.5 m) air temperature, and the total amount of water vapor. If these three elements, along with the water vapor profile are known, it is possible to estimate the cooling rate due to longwave radiation. The results of this parameterization are in good agreement with those of a precise scheme (Roach and Slingo, 1979), within a range of ± 1°C/day of diurnal change for boundary-layer simulations.     

Synchrotron radiation study on the high-pressure and high-temperature phase relations of KAlSi3O8

In situ X-ray diffraction study on KAlSi₃O₈ has been performed using the cubic type high pressure apparatus, MAX90, combined with synchrotron radiation. We determined the phase relations of sanidine, the wadeite-type K₂Si₄O₉+kyanite (Al₂SiO₅)+coesite (SiO₂) assemblage, and hollandite-type KAlSi₃O₈, including melting temperatures of potassic phases, up to 11 GPa. Our data on subsolidus phase boundaries are close to the recent data of Yagi and Akaogi (1991). Melting relations of sanidine are consistent with the low pressure data of Lindsley (1966). The breakdown of sanidine into three phases reduces melting temperature, and wadeite-type K₂Si₄O₉ melts first around 1500° C in three phase coexisting region. Melting point of hollandite-type KAlSi₃O₈ is between 1700° C and 1800° C at 11 GPa. If these potassic phases host potassium in the earth's mantle, the true mantle solidus temperature will be much lower than the reported dry solidus temperature of peridotite.     

Equation of state of iron–silicon alloys to megabar pressure

The stability and pressure–volume equation of state of iron–silicon alloys, Fe-8.7 wt% Si and Fe-17.8 wt% Si, have been investigated using diamond-anvil cell techniques up to 196 and 124 GPa, respectively. Angular–dispersive X-ray diffractions of iron–silicon alloys were measured at room temperature using monochromatic synchrotron radiation and an imaging plate (IP). A bcc–Fe-8.7 wt% Si transformed to hcp structure at around 1636 GPa. The high-pressure phase of Fe-8.7 wt% Si with hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure was found to be stable up to 196 GPa and no phase transition of bcc–Fe-17.8 wt% Si was observed up to 124 GPa. The pressure–volume data were fitted to a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state (BM EOS) with zero–pressure parameters: V₀=22.2(8) ų, K₀=198(9) GPa, and K₀=4.7(3) for hcp–Fe-8.7 wt% Si and V₀=179.41(45) ų, K₀=207(15) GPa and K₀=5.1(6) for Fe-17.8 wt% Si. The density and bulk sound velocity of hcp–Fe-8.7 wt% Si indicate that the inner core could contain 3–5 wt% Si.     

Landslide and debris-flow hazard analysis and prediction using GIS in Minamata–Hougawachi area, Japan

On July 20, 2003, following a short duration of heavy rainfall, a debris-flow disaster occurred in the Minamata–Hougawachi area, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. This disaster was triggered by a landslide. In order to assess the landslide and debris-flow hazard potential of this mountainous region, the study of historic landslides is critical. The objective of the study is to couple 3D slope-stability analysis models and 2D numerical simulation of debris flow within a geographical information systems in order to identity the potential landslide-hazard area. Based on field observations, the failure mechanism of the past landslide is analyzed and the mechanical parameters for 3D slope-stability analysis are calculated from the historic landslide. Then, to locate potential new landslides, the studied area is divided into slope units. Based on 3D slope-stability analysis models and on Monte Carlo simulation, the spots of potential landslides are identified. Finally, we propose a depth-averaged 2D numerical model, in which the debris and water mixture is assumed to be a uniform continuous, incompressible, unsteady Newtonian fluid. The method accurately models the historic debris flow. According to the 2D numerical simulation, the results of the debris-flow model, including the potentially inundated areas, are analyzed, and potentially affected houses, river and road are mapped.     

Inland penetration of the sea breeze over the suburban area of Tokyo

Observational results of the structure of the sea breeze over the urban and suburban areas of Tokyo for four summer days are presented.On two of these days, the inland penetration of the sea breeze front could be clearly traced. In one case, the sea breeze was first observed along the shores of Tokyo Bay around 0900 JST, and propagated in three hours through the Tokyo City area, the width of which is about 20 km. It then advanced inland at a rate of 16 km h^–1. Prior to the arrival of the sea breeze at the suburban site, the mixing height had remained at about 600 m for four hours. With the arrival of the sea breeze front, accompanied by an abrupt change in wind speed and direction, the mixing height increased sharply to 1700 m. It is suggested that this behavior and the structure of the front are intensified due to the urban effect, or the difference in the thermal characteristics between the urban and rural areas.On the days without a sea breeze front, the land breeze system during the early morning was less intense, allowing the sea breeze to develop simultaneously with the inland valley wind and easily form a large-scale local wind system during the morning hours. In both cases, the vertical motion accompanying the local wind system works as a feedback mechanism to control the local winds by modifying the thermal and pressure fields.     

Nankai Trough and Zenisu Ridge: a deep-sea submersible survey

Eight submersible dives between 3000 and 4200 m water depth were made off southern Japan in the eastern Nankai subduction zone. Benthic communities associated with chemosynthetic processes were discovered along the 800 m wide active tectonic zone, at the toe of the accretionary prism. A benthic community was also discovered along a zone of active compression, at the foot of Zenisu Ridge, 30 km south of Nankai Trough. Temperature measurements within the sediments below the benthic communities confirm that upward motion of interstitial water occurs there. Studies of water samples indicate advection of methane and light hydrocarbons. Specimens of the benthic community have been shown to have included in their shells carbonate resulting from methane consumption. Thus the benthic communities are related to overpressure-driven fluid advection along tectonic zones with active surface deformation. A 300 m high active scarp at the toe of the accretionary prism is related to relative motion in a 280° direction which is close to the 305° average direction of subduction in this area. The dives establish further that compressive deformation is presently occurring at the foot of Zenisu Ridge. The previous interpretation of the Zenisu Ridge as a zone of recent north-south intraplate shortening, 40 km south of the Nankai Trench, is confirmed. We conclude that tectonic evolution might well lead to future detachment of the Zenisu Ridge and overthrusting of this large piece of oceanic crust over the continental margin. Such a process might be an efficient one to emplace ophiolites over continents.     

Aircraft measurements of oxides of nitrogen along the eastern rim of the Asian continent: Winter observations

Aircraft observations of oxides of nitrogen (NO _y ), measured with a ferrous sulfate converter, over the sea surrounding the Japanese islands (30–43° N, 131–141° E) were carried out in the winter of 1983 and 1984 at altitudes mostly between 3 and 8 km. NO _y defined here is the sum of NO, NO₂, and other unstable oxides of nitrogen that are converted to NO by ferrous sulfate. The main observations were:

1. Over the Pacific Ocean between the latitudes of 30–35° N, the observed NO _y mixing ratio between 3 and 8 km was a fairly constant 200 pptv. The NO mixing ratio increased with altitude from 15 pptv at 3 km to 35 pptv at 7 km.
2. Over the Sea of Japan, tropospheric NO _y mesured between 1 and 6 km started increasing with latitude North of 35° N and reached about 1000 pptv at 40° N.
3. NO _y was measured in an air mass transported from the stratosphere near a tropopause fold region. When the ozone mixing ratio was between 80 and 140 ppbv, the NO _y mixing ratio was about 200 pptv.

     

The selectivity of the Ioannina VAN station

Two peculiar characteristics of the VAN method of short-term earthquake prediction are: (1) the existence of sensitive and insensitive sites to seismic electric signal (SES) and (2) the selective sensitivity of a sensitive station to SES from specific focal area(s). The process of their discovery, which so far has not been published adequately, is examined for the Ioannina (IOA) station. The sensitive site was discovered simply through repeatedly moving the temporary observation network. The selectivity map of the IOA station was made by first identifying the earthquake source areas with SESs which were considered to have been detected at IOA, and second by examining the direction of SESs from different such source areas. For the latter purpose, information from long dipoles appears to have been helpful. The selectivity map is empirically constructed and is updated regularly. We have independently tried to construct a selectivity map of IOA by examining VAN's raw SES records and by using the same criteria as VAN. The selectivity map we obtained was not exactly, but roughly similar to that of VAN.     

Slake durability and mineralogical properties of some pyroclastic and sedimentary rocks

Slake durability of rocks is an important property of rock-mass and rock-materials in geotechnical practice. The slake durability of rocks is closely related to their mineralogical composition. In this paper, mineralogical examinations and slake durability tests for argillaceous clastic rocks, especially pyroclastic rocks, sandstones and mudstones of Neogene Tertiary age from Japan, were performed in order to assess the slake durability and rock alteration process of these rocks as well as to understand the relationship between mineralogy and durability.The mineral composition and textural features of the rocks were studied by means of optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), electron microprobe analysis (EPMA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the slake durability test was carried out by using the standard testing method of ISRM [Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 16 (1979) 148] in distilled water and in the aqueous solutions with dissolved electrolytes of NaCl and CaCl₂.The pyroclastic rocks and tuffaceous sandstone, rich in di-octahedral and tri-octahedral Fe smectite, respectively, show distinctively different slaking behaviors. The pyroclastic rocks show relatively high slaking (Id₂=55.5% and Id₁₀=10.5%) than the tuffaceous sandstone (Id₂=94.1% and Id₁₀=87.8%, refer to text for Id₂ and Id₁₀). This difference in the slake durability observed in these rocks is due to the microscopic occurrences of smectite present in the interspaces between the particles (pyroclastic rocks) and zeolite cementing the interspaces (tuffaceous sandstone) as alteration minerals. In addition, the durability results of tuffaceous sandstone show that the slake durability decreases as the degree of weathering increases (weathered material Id₂=88.7% and Id₁₀=65.3%). Furthermore, two mudstones of Miocene and Pliocene ages, having different clay mineral compositions (smectite vs. illite+chlorite), show the lowest and the highest slake durability among the tested clastic rocks. Hard mudstone shows the highest (Id₂=98.1% and Id₁₀=95.5%) while the soft mudstone shows the lowest (Id₂=33.9% and Id₆=0.4%.) slake durability. Thus, the slake durability of pyroclastic and sedimentary rocks is greatly affected by their mineral composition and texture, and is closely related to their alteration history. Slake durability is also affected by the kind of dissolved electrolyte and its concentration in the aqueous solution, providing some useful information for geotechnical practice.