A precise bathymetric map of the world’s deepest seafloor,Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench

Data from three bathymetric surveys by R/V Kairei using a 12-kHz multibeam echosounder and differential GPS were used to create an improved topographic model of the Challenger Deep in the southwestern part of the Mariana Trench, which is known as the deepest seafloor in the world. The strike of most of the elongated structures related to plate bending accompanied by subduction of the Pacific plate is N70°E and is not parallel to the trench axis. The bending-related structures were formed by reactivation of seafloor spreading fabric. Challenger Deep consists of three en echelon depressions along the trench axis, each of which is 6–10 km long, about 2 km wide, and deeper than 10,850 m. The eastern depression is the deepest, with a depth of 10,920 ± 5 m.     

Paleozoic submarine volcanoes in the high-P/T metamorphosed Chichibu system of Eastern Shikoku, Japan

The Sawadani greenstone in the Chichibu Paleozoic System is an ancient submarine volcanic complex consisting of pillow lavas and hyaloclastites. The volcanism is divided into two periods. Alkali basalt was erupted in the first period and two shield-shaped cones were formed. After a period of dormancy the volcanism of the second period took place and a cone was formed by eruptions of lavas ranging in composition from mildly alkaline to tholeiitic basalt. The top of the volcano nearly reached the sea surface and was finally about 3.7 km above the base. A limestone cap and volcanic conglomerate were deposited on the summit. The base rests conformably on upper Carboniferous sandstone and subordinate mudstone derived from a continent or mature island arc. Many feeding channels of lava cut the volcanic body and underlying sedimentary formation. Sedimentation proceeded concurrently on the surrounding sea floor, so that volcanic and sedimentary material is interlayered.The Sawadani greenstone, although it occurs in the high-P/T metamorphic belt, is not believed to be a fragment of oceanic crust (ophiolite complex) formed by oceanic ridge volcanism and later carried into a convergent zone. It is a seamount formed on and within a sedimentary sequence near a continent or island arc. The magma changed from alkaline to tholeittic as the volcano grew.It cannot be assumed that all metavolcanic rocks formed in high-pressure metamorphic terranes are fragments of oceanic crust.     

2500年来艾比湖的环境演变信息

通过对艾比湖缘1，8m浅孔的沉积相和孢粉组合，结合14C测年资料分析。指出近2500年来艾比湖的沉积环境总体是比较稳定的，但由于气候波动引起艾比湖水位曾发生较明显的变化。约在公元前300～400年，是艾比湖面积缩小时期；约公元前300—公元300年，即东周末至西晋，是艾比湖水位较高时期；约公元300—1400年，即东晋至15世纪初，是艾比湖的高水位时期；约15世纪初至17世纪中是艾比湖的水位下降期，但水位比现代仍然高；约17世纪中至19世纪初的小冰期是艾比湖的水位上升期。研究还提供了历史时期湖泊的盐度变化和湖周发生大火的信息。     

Hydrographic structure in association with deep boundary current in the north of the Shikoku Basin

High quality CTD data were collected in the north of the Shikoku Basin where an abyssal boundary current has been observed through direct current measurements. Analyses of hydrographic data showed:

1. Colder and saltier water (heavier water) compared to surrounding waters is found above the continental shelf-toe and the eastern flank of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge where the existence of the abyssal boundary current has been expected. The heavier water has a horizontal extent of about 50 km.
2. The heavier water has the vertical scale of 2000 m from the sea bottom, and is associated with a thermal wind shear which enhances a component of the flow toward a direction looking the Nankai Trough (a trough located along the northern end of the Shikoku Basin) to the left in the abyss. The assumed “level of no motion” at about 2500 m depth gives the geostrophically estimated current in a good agreement with the directly measured current.

A volume transport associated with the colder and higher salinity water is estimated to be about 2 Sv off Cape Shiono-misaki which may include a recirculation above the Nankai Trough. This is about twice of the transport estimated in the interior of the Shikoku Basin through a vorticity balance between the stretching term and latitudinal variation of the planetary vorticity.     

Phase diagrams describing solid-gas equilibria in the system Fe-Mg-Si-O-C-H,and its bearing on redox states of chondrites

Abstract— Phase diagrams describing solid-gas equilibria in the system Fe-Mg-Si-O-C-H under H-rich conditions (～700–2000 K and 10^?2–10^?20 atm of Ph ₂), including solar nebula conditions, were constructed based on thermochemical calculations. Boundaries of vaporous phases, which are the first phases to condense from a gas, can be obtained without calculating condensation temperatures of individual gas compositions because the numbers of major gaseous species are the same as those of components in the concerned systems. Fractionations by condensation and/or evaporation can be discussed easily in such phase diagrams. A thermal divide, which is a barrier that vapors cannot cross by a single cooling process, was recognized in the phase diagrams. This is present on the Fe-MgO-SiO₂-CO-H plane at high temperatures (≥500–700 K) and plays an important role in fractionations. Oxidizing states of ordinary chondrites and carbonaceous chondrites before aqueous alteration are located at the O-rich side of the thermal divide. Such oxidizing states can be formed from the solar gas by fractionation in the primordial solar nebula because the solar composition is located on the O-rich side. On the other hand, the reducing states of enstatite chondrites, located at the O-poor side, cannot be formed as long as the thermal divide is present. The reducing states can be obtained by CO to CH₄ molecular reaction at low temperatures (≤500–700 K), where the high-temperature thermal divide is absent. Addition of H₂O-rich and CH₄-rich ice can explain establishment of the redox states of ordinary and enstatite chondrites, respectively.     

Probabilistic estimates of future changes in California temperature and precipitation using statistical and dynamical downscaling

Sixteen global general circulation models were used to develop probabilistic projections of temperature (T) and precipitation (P) changes over California by the 2060s. The global models were downscaled with two statistical techniques and three nested dynamical regional climate models, although not all global models were downscaled with all techniques. Both monthly and daily timescale changes in T and P are addressed, the latter being important for a range of applications in energy use, water management, and agriculture. The T changes tend to agree more across downscaling techniques than the P changes. Year-to-year natural internal climate variability is roughly of similar magnitude to the projected T changes. In the monthly average, July temperatures shift enough that that the hottest July found in any simulation over the historical period becomes a modestly cool July in the future period. Januarys as cold as any found in the historical period are still found in the 2060s, but the median and maximum monthly average temperatures increase notably. Annual and seasonal P changes are small compared to interannual or intermodel variability. However, the annual change is composed of seasonally varying changes that are themselves much larger, but tend to cancel in the annual mean. Winters show modestly wetter conditions in the North of the state, while spring and autumn show less precipitation. The dynamical downscaling techniques project increasing precipitation in the Southeastern part of the state, which is influenced by the North American monsoon, a feature that is not captured by the statistical downscaling.     

A Preliminary Study of Oceanic Bomb Radiocarbon Inventory in the North Pacific during the Last Two Decades

Radiocarbon and total carbonate data were obtained near the 1973 GEOSECS stations in the North Pacific along 30°N and along 175°E between 1993 and 1994. In these stations, we estimated radiocarbon originating from atomic bomb tests using tritium, trichlorofluoromethane and silicate contents. The average penetration depth of bomb radiocarbon during the two decades has deepened from 900 m to 1300 m. Bomb radiocarbon inventories above the average value for the whole North Pacific were found widely in the western subtropical region around 30°N both in the 1970s and 1990s, and its area in the 1990s was broader than that in the 1970s. In most of the North Pacific, while the bomb radiocarbon has decreased above 25.4, the bomb radiocarbon flux below 25.4 was over 1 × 10¹² atom m^-2yr^-1 in the subtropical region around 30°N. In the tropical area south of 20°N, the bomb radiocarbon inventory below 25.4 increased from zero to over 10 × 10¹² atom m^-2 during the last three decades. These distributions suggest that the bomb radiocarbon removed from the surface is currently accumulated with bomb ¹⁴C flux of over 1 × 10¹² atom m^-2yr^-1 below 25.4 in the subtropical region, mainly by advection from the higher latitude, and that part of the accumulated bomb ¹⁴C gradually spread southward with about 30 years.     

Effect of ocean acidification on coastal phytoplankton composition and accompanying organic nitrogen production

The effect of ocean acidification, caused by the increase in pCO₂ in seawater, on phytoplankton population and on related organic nitrogen production was experimentally examined by use of a natural coastal microbial population. pCO₂ and pH were controlled by aeration with air in which pCO₂ was at the current level (control), for which ambient air was used, and with air in which pCO₂ was ??800?? and ??1200?? ppm, in 500-L culture vessels. The experiment was continued for 15?days after addition of the inorganic nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, and silicate. During most of the experimental period, a minor increase in phytoplankton biomass was noted, probably because of low irradiance, an increase in phytoplankton biomass was observed at the end of the experiment. Flow cytometric and microscopic observations revealed that this increase was because of Chrysochromulina sp. (Haptophyceae). The growth of Chrysochromulina sp. was most obvious in the control vessel, and tended to be obscured by increasing pCO₂ (decrease in pH), indicating the possibility that ocean acidification inhibits the growth of specific phytoplankton groups, for example Chrysochromulina sp. Production of particulate organic nitrogen (PON), determined by the ¹⁵N tracer method, also diminished under acidified conditions compared with that at the current level.     

Experimental study on the bidirectional inelastic deformation capacity of U‐shaped steel dampers for seismic isolated buildings

Hysteretic dampers are used to dissipate earthquake‐induced energy in base‐isolated structures by acquiring inelastic deformations, rendering their hysteretic behavior of vital importance. The present paper focuses on investigating the behavior of U‐shaped steel dampers under bidirectional loading; this is significantly different from their corresponding uniaxial behavior. Two main sets of loading tests on full‐scale specimens are conducted in this regard: (i) quasi‐static tests with simple histories and (ii) dynamic tests with realistic loading histories. Based on the results obtained in the quasi‐static tests, an interaction curve that accounts for the reduction of the cyclic deformation capacity is proposed. However, the fidelity of this relation must be assessed under loading conditions similar to those of a seismically isolated structure subjected to an earthquake, which represents the goal of the second set of tests. The results of the dynamic tests validate the proposed interaction curve for estimating the deformation capacity of U‐shaped steel dampers under bidirectional loading. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.