Melting relations of peridotite and the density crossover in planetary mantles

Melting relations of primitive peridotite were studied up to 25 GPa. The change of the liquidus phase from olivine to majorite occurs at 16 GPa. We confirmed the density crossover of the FeO-rich peridotite melt and the equilibrium olivine (Fo₉₀) at 7 GPa. Sinking of equilibrium olivine (Fo₉₅) in the primitive peridotite melt was observed up to 10 GPa. The compression curves of FeO-rich peridotitic and komatiite melts reported in this and earlier work suggest that the density crossover in the Earth's mantle will be located at 11–12 GPa at 2000°C, consistent with an previous estimation by C.B. Agee and D. Walker.

The density crossover can play a key role in the Moon and the terrestrial planets, such as the Earth, Venus and Mars. Majorite and some fraction of melt could have separated from the ascending diapir and sunk downwards at the depths below the density crossover. This process could have produced a garnet-rich transition zone in the Earth's mantle. The density crossover may exist in the FeO-rich lunar mantle at around the center of the Moon. The density crossover which exists at the depth of 600 km in the Martian mantle plays a key role in producing a fractionated mantle, which is the source the parent magmas of the SNC meteorites.     

Ordered distribution of aluminum atoms in analcime

Based on the connectivity relations among tetrahedron sites and the NMR spectra, we propose an ordered distribution of aluminum atoms in the framework of analcime with space groups of Pbcb and Pcaa. The symmetries of the ordered distributions are formally the same as Pcca. These symmetries are much lower than those reported by others such as Ia3d, I4₁/acd, Ibca, and I2/a. The lowering of symmetry results apparently from the fact that aluminum atoms in the framework of analcime were strictly discriminated from silicon atoms. Dependence of the populations of Si(nAl)s upon Al content was estimated from ²⁹Si MAS NMR, and can be successfully simulated by the ordered distributions. In the simulation, a small number of defects in the Al distribution were introduced into the ordered distribution mainly to adjust the deviation of Al content per unit cell from the typical composition. Analysis of the powder X-ray diffraction patterns of analcime was carried out, which suggests that the space groups proposed in the present work offer a better fit than the ones reported previously. Received: 5 April 1997 / Revised, accepted: 12 March 1998     

Phylogenetic relationship between symbionts of tubeworm <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lamellibrachia satsuma</Emphasis> and the sediment microbial community in Kagoshima Bay

Vestimentiferan tubeworms acquire their symbionts through horizontal transmission from the surrounding environment. In the present study, we constructed a 16S rRNA gene clone library to investigate the phylogenetic relationship between diverse microbes in the sediment and symbiotic bacteria in the trophosome of the tubeworm, Lamellibrachia satsuma, from Kagoshima Bay, Japan. Two symbiotic bacterial phylotypes belonging to the classes γ- and ε-Proteobacteria were found from this tubeworm trophosome. They were very closely related to the symbionts of several other marine invertebrates. The most predominant bacteria in the sediment were ε-Proteobacteria. A broad diversity of bacteria belonged to non-proteobacterial phyla such as Planctomycetes, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi was observed. The presence of sulfur oxidizers (i.e., ε-Proteobacteria and γ-Proteobacteria) and sulfur reducers (i.e., δ-Proteobacteria) may play a significant role in the sulfur cycle in these habitats and provide multiple sources of nutrition to the cold-seep communities. Closely related clones of ε-Proteobacteria symbiont in the species level and of γ-Proteobacteria symbiont in the genus level were found in the surrounding sediment. The similarity of symbiont clones of L. satsuma with other symbionts and free-living bacteria suggests the possibility of opportunistic symbiosis in ε-Proteobacteria and the co-evolution of γ-Proteobacteria having occurred after symbiosis with the tubeworms.     

Temporal variation in mass fluxes and the major components of sinking particles in Sagami Bay, off Japan

Sinking particles were collected using time-series sediment traps deployed at 350 and 20 mab at Site SB (34° 58.5’N, 139° 20.9’E, 1544 m depth) near the center of Sagami Bay, off Japan with high time resolutions of 5-8 days (March 1997 to August 1998) and 3-4.5 days (March 1998 to August 1998), respectively. The major components (CaCO₃, OM, opal, and clay) of these sinking particles and surface bottom sediments were determined using a stepwise leaching method combined with gravimetry. Average total mass fluxes were 1480, 5560 and 3068 mg/m²/year at 350 mab, at 20 mab, and in the surface sediments, respectively, indicating an enhanced collection of sinking particles at 20 mab. Clay was the dominant component and biogenic components (opal+OM+CaCO₃) were dominated mainly by opal and secondly by OM. On average, opal and CaCO₃ contents decreased gradually as clay content increased with increasing depth from 350 mab-20 mab and in the surface sediments, indicating dissolution of opal and CaCO₃ through sinking, rebound, resuspension or sedimentation processes. Thirteen total mass flux peaks at 17--40-day intervals were observed at 350 mab during the period from March 1997 to August 1998 except for winter, while eight peaks were observed at 20 mab for the period from March 1998 to August 1998. Two types of total mass peaks can be distinguished: one with a clear increase in biogenic flux (opal+OM+CaCO₃) and little or no increase in clay flux and termed a bloom type (B-type), and the other with a clear increase in clay flux, little increase in biogenic flux and termed a resuspension type (R-type). Some R-type peaks, but not all, coincided with total mass flux peaks observed at the mouth of Tokyo Bay and suggested the possibility of the effect of particulate materials transported from Tokyo Bay to site SB. The enormously large peak observed at 20 mab in late May 1998 and that at 350 mab in early June 1998 were considered to be due to some physical perturbations from an earthquake swarm near site SB during the period from April to June 1998. The 17--40-day periodicity was associated clearly with the change in biogenic flux dominated by opal flux and is thought to reflect the periodicity of biological productivity dominated by diatoms in the euphotic zone of Sagami Bay.     

Rising motion of a behind-the-limb flare at 35 GHz

Interferometer observation of a behind-the-limb flare on 7 September, 1977, at 35 GHz ( = 8.6 mm) shows that the microwave non-thermal radio source of the burst is located in the coronal region at the height higher than 7000 km above the photosphere and rises gradually with the velocity of about 30 km s^-1.     

Joule heating and temperature in the upper atmosphere

Joule heating has been shown to be very effective in increasing electronic temperature in the upper atmosphere. It is found theoretically that the electronic temperature can rise up to several thousands °K soon after certain ionospheric current disturbances occur, while the temperature of neutral particles increases only very slowly. Temperatures in various conditions have been computed and are found to be compatible with observation. It is also possible that the high electronic temperatures may explain the excitation of certain auroral glows.     

GPS monitoring of temporal deformation of the Xianshuihe fault

Highly precise (σ ~1 mm) temporal deformation measurements are taken across the Xianshuihe fault from two pairs of continuous GPS stations straddling the fault. Baseline vector changes of the two pairs of stations show clearly the difference in deformation behavior between the Qianning and Daofu segments of the fault: the former deforms steadily, and the latter deforms with a strong transient component. The transient deformation across the Daofu segment is possibly related to its irregular geometry, where the fault splits into two branches, that is, the east and west branches. An attempt is made to interpret the baseline vector changes using a kinematic fault model composed of a brittle layer in the upper crust, a ductile layer in the lower crust, and a transition zone in between. The slip in the transition zone of the south segment of the Xianshuihe fault is steady. The slips in the transition zones of the north and Daofu segments of the Xianshuihe fault, however, are not steady, and the average slip rates there are higher than that of the south segment. The difference in deformation behavior is probably associated with the rheological properties of the fault interface, suggesting that the overall fault strength of the south segment is greater than those of the north and Daofu segments, corresponding to longer earthquake recurrence time.     

North Pacific Tropical Water: its climatology and temporal changes associated with the climate regime shift in the 1970s

North Pacific Tropical Water (NPTW) is characterized as a subsurface salinity maximum flowing in the North Equatorial Current and is the main source of salt for the North Pacific. We briefly describe the climatological features of its formation and circulation, and then examine temporal changes in its properties associated with the climate regime shift in the 1970s. We use a variety of data, which include the repeat hydrographic sections along 130°E, 137°E, 144°E and 155°E meridians, the hydrographic data from the Hawaii Ocean Time-series, the World Ocean Atlas 1994, and available gridded data of wind stress and evaporation. The classical idea that NPTW originates from the zone of the highest sea surface salinity at 20°–30°N centered around the international date line and spreads along the isopycnal geostrophic flow patterns is confirmed. Further, it is shown that the meridional extent of NPTW along 137°E is from 10°N to 23°N on average and the highest salinity core lies at about 15°N and 24.0σ_θ, and that the portion of NPTW north (south) of about 15°N originates from the formation region west (east) of the date line. NPTW in the 137°E section changed remarkably associated with the mid-1970s regime shift. North of 15°N NPTW increased both in its salinity and thickness while to the south of 15°N only its salinity increased and its thickness remained unchanged. The westward geostrophic velocity is increased significantly in both the southern and northern parts of NPTW. The northern thickening and speedup and the southern speedup increased NPTW transport across 137°E. The changes in the thermohaline forcing such as evaporation and Ekman salt convergence in the NPTW formation region possibly contributed to the increases in salinity in the southern part of NPTW, but not to that of the northern part. On the other hand, the increased Ekman pumping accounts for the increase of the NPTW inventory and transport at 137°E. The increased salinity of NPTW at 137°E, especially its northern portion, was presumably caused by an increase in its formation rate rather than changes in the sea surface salinity in its formation region; the thicker the NPTW layer is, the saltier is the core that tends to survive the mixing processes.