The solar differential rotation and ‘Rossby-type’ waves

It has been suggested that the solar differential rotation might be maintained by nearly horizontal non-spherical convective circulation called the Rossby-type waves (the wave motions characterized by the close balance of the Coriolis force and pressure gradient in horizontal motions). In this paper, such Rossby-type waves which could be excited in the upper solar convection zone are considered, and the possibility of maintenance of the solar differential rotation by such waves is examined. A numerical estimate, in terms of the rate of conversion of the kinetic energy of such wave motions into the mean rotational motion, indicates this possibility. The implications and limitations of the results are also discussed.Visiting Scientist to the High Altitude Observatory on leave of absence from the Department of Astronomy, University of Tokyo, Japan.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

State of stress within a thin elastic wedge: a model of internal deformation of the continental plate at arc—arc junctions

Summary. Anomalous stress distributions near arc—arc junctions have been found in several parts of the world. As a simple two-dimensional model, a thin elastic wedge is introduced to model the continental side of the arc—arc junction, and the stress distribution within it is calculated to interpret those anomalies. Uniform normal and/or shear stress boundary conditions are given separately to each edge to approximate the effect of the two neighbouring converging plate boundaries; Stress components are obtained by numerical integration. Among the various results, the following features are predominant and seem to be actually taking place at arc—arc junctions.
(1) The anomaly in stress pattern within the wedge is basically due to the difference in stress conditions between the two boundaries.
(2) A large stress concentration takes place when symmetrical shear stresses are applied to the two edges.     

Atmospheric Corrections Using MODTRAN for TOA and Surface BRDF Characteristics from High Resolution Spectroradiometric/Angular Measurements from a Helicopter Platform

High-resolution spectral radiance measurements were taken by a spectral radiometer on board a heli copter over the US Oklahoma Southern Great Plain near the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) site during August 1998. The radiometer has a spectral range from 350 nm to 2500 nm at 1 nm resolution. The measurements covered several grass and cropland scene types at multiple solar zenith angles. Detailed atmospheric corrections using the Moderate Resolution Transmittance (MODTRAN) radiation model and in-situ sounding and aerosol measurements have been applied to the helicopter measurements in order to re trieve the surface and top of atmosphere (TOA) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) characteristics. The atmospheric corrections are most significant in the visible wavelengths and in the strong water vapor absorption wavelengths in the near infrared region. Adjusting the BRDF to TOA requires a larger correction in the visible channels since Rayleigh scattering contributes significantly to the TOA reflectance. The opposite corrections to the visible and near infrarred wavelengths can alter the radiance dif ference and ratio that many remote sensing techniques are based on, such as the normalized difference vege tation index (NDVI). The data show that surface BRDFs and spectral albedos are highly sensitive to the veg etation type and solar zenith angle while BRDF at TOA depends more on atmospheric conditions and the vi ewing geometry. Comparison with the Clouds and the Earth＇s Radiant Energy System (CERES) derived clear sky Angular Distribution Model (ADM) for crop and grass scene type shows a standard deviation of 0.08 in broadband anisotropic function at 25° solar zenith angle and 0.15 at 50° solar zenith angle, respectively.     

Has the plate boundary shifted from central Hokkaido to the eastern part of the Sea of Japan?

A NS trending Cenozoic fold-and-thrust belt has developed in the western part of the Hidaka Collision Zone (HCZ), central Hokkaido, Japan. A quantitative estimation of the late Cenozoic convergence rate at the front of the Hidaka thrust system is important in revealing the plate tectonic framework around northern Japan. High-resolution seismic reflection profiling across the active fault-related folds was carried out to ascertain the temporal change in the crustal shortening rate. Overlapping ramp anticlines and growth folds within thrust sheets were examined using balanced cross-sections combined with industry seismic and drilling data. The rate of shortening was examined using a 3.5 Ma horizon and late Quaternary horizons at 115 and 41 ka. These horizons show that the convergence rate of the Hidaka thrust system has not decreased during the last 3.5 Ma. This suggests that the plate boundary between the Eurasian (Amurian) and North American (Okhotsk) plates has not jumped from the central part of Hokkaido to the eastern part of the Sea of Japan since 3.5 Ma and that a significant amount of plate convergence is still being absorbed in the Hidaka Collision Zone.     

Microfracture processes in the breakdown zone during dynamic shear rupture inferred from laboratory observation of near-fault high-frequency strong motion

High-frequency velocities are measured during stick-slip motion in the immediate vicinity of a fault in a granite sample to reveal the microscopic process taking place in the breakdown zone defined in the slip-weakening model. It is found that 1) the onset time of the observed strong motion approximately coincides with the local rupture onset time, 2) the observed near-fault high-frequency strong-motion duration is approximately proportional to the local breakdown time, and 3) the power spectra of strong motions exhibit significant amplitudes at frequencies above the value off _max, wheref _max is a cut-off frequency relevant to rupturing the breakdown zone. These observations suggest that the high-frequency motion would be due to the incoherent brittle microfracture whose characteristic scale is much shorter than the breakdown zone size. We present a stochastic fault model to synthesize the near-fault high-frequency velocity waveforms. In the model, a number of small circular subfaults are distributed randomly on the fault and the rupture onset time of an individual subfault is assumed to be random. The main features of the observed velocity waveforms are well explained by this numerical modeling. It is concluded that approximately half of the total energy of high-frequency elastic waves observed at a point is radiated from the propagating breakdown zone. We emphasize the importance of the observation of near-fault high-frequency strong motions for large shallow earthquakes.     

Stability relation of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 garnets, major constituents in the Earth's interior

High-pressure and high temperature experiments at 20 GPa on (Mg,Fe)SiO₃ have revealed stability fields of two types of aluminium-free ferromagnesian garnets; non-cubic garnet and cubic garnet (majorite). Majorite garnet is stable only within a limited compositional variation, 0.2 < Fe/(Mg + Fe)< 0.4, and in the narrow temperature interval of 200°C around 2000°C, while the stability of non-cubic garnet with more iron-deficient compositions persists up to higher temperatures. These two garnets show fractional melting into iron-deficient garnet and iron-rich liquid, and the crystallization field of cubic garnet extends over Fe/(Mg + Fe)= 0.5. The assemblage silicate spinel and stishovite is a low-temperature phase, which also occurs in the iron-rich portion of the MgSiO₃—FeSiO₃ system. The sequence as given by the Fe/(Mg + Fe) value for the coexisting phases with the two garnets at 2000°C and 20 GPa is: silicate modified spinel aluminium-free garnets silicate spinel.Natural majorite in shock-metamorphosed chondrites is clarified to be produced at pressures above 20 GPa and temperatures around 2000°C. Similar shock events may cause the occurrence of non-cubic garnet in iron-deficient meteorites. Non-cubic garnet could be a stable phase in the Earth's mantle if a sufficiently low concentration of aluminium is present in the layer corresponding to the stable pressure range of non-cubic garnet. The chemical differentiation by melting in the deep mantle is also discussed on the basis of the present experimental results and the observed coexistence of majorite garnet with magnesiowüstite in chondrites.     

Textural analysis and flow mechanism of the Donzurubo subaqueous pyroclastic flow deposits

The Donzurubo subaqueous pyroclastic flow deposits deposited in subaqueous environments maintaining high temperatures (about 500°C). Each flow unit of these pyroclastic flow deposits shows some characteristic size distributions in its stratigraphic column. The concentration of pumice at the top clearly defines the top facies of a flow unit. Median diameter (Md Ø) and the averages of the largest ten essential dense debris increase gradually starting from both the top and the bottom of the flow unit. The maximum points of Md Ø and the averages of the largest ten essential dense debris are usually found in the middle zone of each flow unit, but the Md Ø maximum points are generally in a lower position than the averages. Mechanical analyses show that the deposits consist of polymodal populations. They show, on the whole, an asymmetrical distribution, which is mainly due to the absence of the coarser fractions of the main population. The size distribution characteristics and the C-M pattern of the deposits suggest that these subaqueous pyroclastic flow deposits were not originated by homogeneously suspended turbulent flows but by incandescent turbulent flows with layered suspension.