Spinifex Texture of Native Sulfur: A Cooling Product of Sulfur Flow Eruptions at Shiretoko-Iwozan Volcano, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract: Several native sulfur specimens, collected from Shiretoko-Iwozan volcano, eastern Hokkaido, Japan, exhibit spinifex texture, which appears to resemble that often observed in komatiite. The spinifex texture is exhibited by yellow-colored elongated skeletal native sulfur crystals up to 5 cm long settled in medium gray-colored fine–grained clayey matrix. One surface of a specimen is coated by layers of micro pillow lava of native sulfur. Such specimens were rarely found as clasts or fragments around the 1936 No. 1 crater that erupted native sulfur flows, together with the most common monomineralic native sulfur fragments of native sulfur flows having pahoehoe surface and of native sulfur dikes. The elongated spinifex native sulfur crystals presently consist of aggregated polygrains of orthorhombic sulfur crystals formed through crystallo-graphic transition from the single crystal of monoclinic sulfur initially crystallized. The spinifex texture exhibited by elongated skeletal native sulfur crystals is a product of rapid cooling of sulfur melt. Many lithic fragments of altered country rocks are present in the specimens exhibiting native sulfur spinifex texture. This suggests that segregation of the sulfur melt from the mixture of lithic fragments and sulfur melt was incomplete because the mixture was chilled before the melt segregation. Elongated skeletal native sulfur crystals may have nucleated and crystallized directly from the molten sulfur liquid. Lithic fragments mixed in the melt are supposed to have acted as nuclei for the nucleation of the native sulfur crystals. On the other hand, the most of native sulfur flows consist of monomineralic massive native sulfur with very scarce lithic fragments. Such massive monomineralic native sulfur crystallized from the supercooled, solidified amorphous sulfur. Such supercooled amorphous state may have been attained due to the lack of nuclei because of the scarcity of lithic fragments. The unique structures exhibited by native sulfur lava flow, including pahoehoe surface and spinifex texture, are due to the characteristic physical property of molten sulfur liquid, that is, low viscosity.     

Using sulfur isotopes to determine the sources of vermillion in ancient burial mounds in Japan

This study represents an attempt to determine the sources of vermillion found in ancient Japanese burial mounds of the 1st–6th centuries A.D., by comparing their ratios of sulfur isotopes with those of cinnabar ore samples collected in Japan and China. Cinnabar ore samples were taken from three mines in central Japan (Niu in Mie, Yamato in Nara, and Sui in Tokushima prefectures), and from Wanshan in China, where mining activity has been recorded back to the 6th century A.D. and earlier. When the ratios of a ³⁴S and ³²S were compared with the Canyon Diablo meteorite standard, a high δ³⁴S value of +22.6 ± 3.6‰ was found for the Wanshan mine, as opposed to low values ranging from −7.3 ± 1.9 to −2.1 ± 1.6‰ for the Japanese mines. The ratios of sulfur isotopes in vermillion collected from ancient Japanese burial mounds also divided into two groups. High ratios (+11.1 to +22.8‰) were found in 1st‐ and 2nd‐ century burials in the western regions of northern Kyushu and San'in, suggesting that local, powerful chiefs obtained vermillion through relations with China. Lower ratios (−8.4 to −2.0‰) were found in burials of the 2nd through 6th centuries in central Japan, where the ancient Yamato dynasty emerged as the first unified polity around the end of the 2nd century A.D. We, therefore, conclude that the Yamato dynasty exploited local sources of vermillion, rather than depending solely on China. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of determining sources of vermillion using sulfur isotope ratios, and the relevance of such findings for archaeological research. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On the mechanism of catastrophic destruction of minor planets by high-velocity impact

For the study of the collisional breakup of minor planets, semiquantitative interpretations of the catastrophic destruction of cubic rock targets by high-velocity impact reported by A. Fujiwara, G. Kamimoto, and A. Tsukamoto (1977, Icarus31, 277–288) are attempted. The conditions for transition and core-type destruction are derived from consideration of the side surface spallation, or central spallation, and the back surface spallation caused by the rarefaction pulses. In the derivation, the strengths of the original P-pulse at the crater rim and the bottom are given by application of the failure criterion. As the condition for complete destruction, an empirical rule is proposed. It is found that the critical sizes for these destructions vary as E^0.40 and the previously reported $\text{E}\text{M}\text{-}\text{scaling}$ is only an approximate rule (E, impact energy; M, target mass). The possibilities of extending of these results to larger bodies of any other shape are discussed.     

Magnetorotational instability in a rotating liquid metal annulus

Although the magnetorotational instability (MRI) has been widely accepted as a powerful accretion mechanism in magnetized accretion discs, it has not been realized in the laboratory. The possibility of studying MRI in a rotating liquid metal annulus (Couette flow) is explored by local and global stability analysis. Stability diagrams are drawn in dimensionless parameters, and also in terms of the angular velocities at the inner and outer cylinders. It is shown that MRI can be triggered in a moderately rapidly rotating table-top apparatus, using easy-to-handle metals such as gallium. Practical issues of this proposed experiment are discussed.     

Crustal structure in the Mizuho Plateau, East Antarctica, by a two-dimensional ray approximation

Studies on the crustal and upper-mantle structure in Antarctica have been one of the major contributions to Antarctic research since the International Geophysical Year of 1957–1958. Many refraction surveys with small charge size have been conducted in Antarctica, but long-range experiments were also made in 5 regions on the margin of the Antarctic continent.In 1979–1981, the scientific program of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition was focused on the earth sciences, and in particular, an explosion seismic experiment along a long survey line was the major item during these years. An experiment along a 300 km-long line with three shots and 27 observation stations was successfully made in the northern Mizuho Plateau, East Antarctica.From the analysis of travel times and the amplitude study of synthetic seismograms, the crustal structure of the northern Mizuho Plateau was determined. The depths of the Conrad and the Moho discontinuties were determined as 31 km and 42 km, respectively. The P-wave velocity and depth relation was determined as 6.0 km/s on the surface of the bedrock, 6.3 km/s at a depth of 2 km, 6.8 km/s at the Conrad and 7.9 km/s at the Moho. The velocity in the crust increases gradually. The crustal structure obtained is representative of East Antarctica.     

Deep-sea submersible survey in the Suruga, Sagami and Japan Trenches: preliminary results of the 1985 Kaiko cruise, Leg 2

Nine submersible dives were made in three trenches off central Japan, between 2990 and 5900 m of water depth. Our observations confirm the interpretation that Daiichi-Kashima Seamount is a Cretaceous guyot formed on the Pacific plate that has traveled into the Japan Trench. We also confirmed the previous interpretation of a large normal fault that splits the seamount in two halves, the lower one being now subducting beneath the Japan margin. Compressional deformation was identified within the lower part of the inner slope in front of the seamount. The pattern of deformation that affects Quaternary sediments is in agreement with the present kinematics of the convergence between the Pacific plate and Japan. Deep-water (5700 m) clam colonies are associated with advection of fluids, driven by the subduction-related overpressures. In the northern slope of the Boso Canyon, along the Sagami Trough system (Philippine Sea plate-Japan boundary), the deformation affecting a thick upper Miocene to lower Pliocene sequence indicates two directions of shortening: a N175°E direction which is consistent with the present relative motion along the Sagami Trough (N285–N300°E) and a N30°E direction which could be related to a more northerly direction of convergence that occured during the early Quaternary and earlier.     

Seasonal variation of bottom turbidity layer in Etauchi Bay

The beam attenuation coefficient, organic carbon (POC) and organic nitrogen (PON) contents of suspended materials in Etauchi Bay, which has little inflow of river water as well as very weak tidal current (maximum speed: 6.5cm·sec⁻¹), were measured as a function of depth for all seasons to understand a seasonal variation of bottom turbidity layer. In spring and summer, the beam attenuation coefficient in bottom layer and POC and PON contents of suspended materials in the surface water layer increased with time, which brought the occurrence of the bottom turbidity layer. From autumn to winter, however, their concentrations became low and constant over the whole depth almost independent of time. As a result, the bottom turbidity layer disappeared in winter and beam attenuation coefficient became constant over the whole depth. From these results, it may be considered that the bottom turbidity layer was produced by phytodetritus brought from surface water layer, rather than by resuspension of bottom sediment in Etauchi Bay.     

Analysis of the global relationship of biennial variation of sea surface temperature and air-sea heat flux using satellite data

We investigated the phase difference and the cross correlation coefficient between the band-pass filtered biennial variations of sea surface temperature (SST) and air-sea heat flux estimated by the monthly mean 2°×2° satellite data of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) from July 1987 to June 1991. Judging from the phase difference, it can be determined whether the biennial variation of SST is controlled by local thermal air-sea interaction or oceanic processes of horizontal transport. When the local air-sea heat flux controls the biennial variation of SST, the phase of SST advances /2 (6 months) against that of the air-sea heat flux. In contrast, when the biennial variation of SST is controlled by the oceanic process, the phase difference between the SST and the air-sea heat flux becomes 0 or (12 months). In this case, two types of the phase differences are determined, depending on which variability of SST and air-sea heat flux is larger. The close thermal air-sea interaction is noticeable in the tropics and in the western boundary current region. The phase difference of /2 appears mainly in the north Pacific, the southeast Indian Ocean, and the western tropical Pacific; zero in the eastern tropical Pacific and the northeast and equatorial Atlantic; and that of in the central equatorial Pacific and north of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) of the Atlantic. Phase differences of 0, , or /2 are possible in the western boundary current regions. This fact indicates that each current plays a different role to the biennial variation of SST. It is inferred that SST anomalies in the tropics are mutually correlated, and the process in which marked SST anomalies in the tropics are transferred to the remote area was probed. In the equatorial Pacific, the SST anomaly is transferred by the long planetary wave. On the other hand, it is found from the phase relationship and the horizontal correlation of SST that the SST anomaly in the central and western equatorial Pacific is connected through atmospheric mediation. It is suggested that the biennial variation of SST in the eastern Indian Ocean is affected by heat transport due to the Indonesian throughflow from the western tropical Pacific. It is found that the mentioned pattern of the interannual variation of SST in the tropical Atlantic as a dipole is not tenable.