Complex Earthquake Cycle Simulations Using a Two-Degree-of-Freedom Spring-Block Model with a Rate- and State-Friction Law

Numerical simulations of complex earthquake cycles are conducted using a two-degree-of-freedom spring-block model with a rate- and state-friction law, which has been supported by laboratory experiments. The model consisted of two blocks coupled to each other and connected by elastic springs to a constant-velocity, moving driver. By widely and systematically varying the model parameters, various slip patterns were obtained, including the periodic recurrence of seismic and aseismic slip events, and several types of chaotic behaviour. The transition in the slip pattern from periodic to chaotic is examined using bifurcation diagrams. The model system exhibits typical period-doubling sequences for some parameter ranges, and attains chaotic motion. Simple relationships are found in iteration maps of the recurrence intervals of simulated earthquakes, suggesting that the simulated slip behaviour is deterministic chaos. Time evolutions of the cumulative slip distance in chaotic slip patterns are well approximated by a time-predictable model. In some cases, both seismic and aseismic slip events occur at a block, and aseismic slip events complicate the earthquake recurrence patterns.     

Features of the orbital variability in the brightness of the WZ Sge type dwarf nova V1108 Her

Results are presented from photometric studies of the dwarf nova V1108 Her conducted at the primary focus of the 2.6-m G. A. Shajn Telescope at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory during June-July 2008, 4 years after the 2004 outburst. An orbital period of 0.05672(4) days is found for the system. An analysis of observations made earlier during the 2004 outburst reveals an orbital signal which indicates that V1108 Her is an eclipsing system. The mass ratio of the secondary component to the white dwarf is estimated to be q = 0.068, which makes it highly likely that the secondary component of this system is a brown dwarf. The orbital light curves indicate a complex structure for the accretion disk whose radius has reached a 2:1 resonance. An explanation is suggested for a quasi-periodic modulation in the brightness at 1/4 of the orbital period observed in V1108 Her and other WZ Sge systems.     

Hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic simulations of moist convection: Review and further study

Summary Quantitatively comparative experiments of moist convection using hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic models are reviewed and a further study is made of the suitability of the hydrostatic approximation for a high-resolution model when the grid size falls below 20 km. Idealized moist convection is treated, and then the torrential rain that occurred on 6 August 1993 in Kagoshima, southern Kyushu, Japan is simulated by each model. An explicit warm-rain process predicting cloud water and rainwater and the scheme of moist convective adjustment are individually or conjunctively employed in the model. The effect of hydrostatic water loading is also examined in detall.For the simulation of idealized convection, the hydrostatic simulation tends to overestimate and overexpand precipitation in comparison with the non-hydrostatic counterpart, and the drag effect of hydrostatic water loading is more significant for convective development than the non-hydrostatic effect. In the 20-km simulations, however, the hydrostatic simulation with hydrostatic water loading produces results that are comparable to the nonhydrostatic counterpart. For the simulation with real data, the comparative results well correspond to those of idealized convection. Furthermore, the 5 km hydrostatic simulation overestimates total precipitation more than that of dealized convection. On the basis of these results, when developing 1020 km numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, hydrostatic water loading should be evaluated in preference to adopting non-hydrostatic models, and a non-hydrostatic model with hydrostatic water loading is thought to be recommendable for a high-resolution NWP model.With 7 Figures     

Geochemical constraints on the origin of bimodal magmatism at the Okinawa Trough, an incipient back-arc basin

The magmatism at the axial zone of the middle Okinawa Trough, a young continental back-arc basin, comprises a bimodal basaltic–rhyolitic suite, accompanied by minor intermediate rocks. We report major and trace element and Sr–Nd isotopic data for the intermediate to silicic suites, to provide constraints on their petrogenesis. The rhyolites, recovered as lava and pumice, fall into three geochemical groups (type 1, 2, and 3 rhyolites). Type 1 rhyolites have ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7040–0.7042) and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.5128–0.5129) identical to those of associated basalts, and are characterized by highly fractionated REE patterns. Petrogenesis of type 1 rhyolites is explicable in terms of fractional crystallization of the associated basalt. In contrast, type 2 rhyolites and andesite have slightly higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7044–0.7047) but similar ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.5128) compared to those of the basalts. The compositions of type 2 rhyolite and andesite can be explained by assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) processes of the basalt magma; quantitative analysis suggests assimilation/fractional crystallization (M_a/M_c) ratios of ≤0.05. Hybrid andesite generated by mixing of evolved basalt and type 1 rhyolite is also present. We emphasize that mechanical extension in this part of the Okinawa Trough involves gabbroic lower crust that resulted from fractionation of mantle-derived basaltic magmas. Type 3 rhyolite occurs only as pumice, which makes its derivation questionable. This rhyolite has major and trace element compositions and Sr–Nd isotopic ratios, which suggests that it may be derived from volcanic activity on the southern Ryukyu volcanic front, and arrived in the Okinawa Trough by drifting on the Kuroshio Current.