Upper layer structure of typhoon

Summary Upper layer structure of the Typhoon No. 5405 ? Grace ? in 1954 was investigated on synoptic weather maps. Two anticyclonic eddies was clearly shown on both sides of the cyclonic center. Assist. Prof.T. Masui, Yokohama National University, Yakinoshita 929,The City of Kamakura, Kanagawa-ken, Japan.     

Gas permeability evolution of cataclasite and fault gouge in triaxial compression and implications for changes in fault-zone permeability structure through the earthquake cycle

We report the results of permeability measurements of fault gouge and tonalitic cataclasite from the fault zone of the Median Tectonic Line, Ohshika, central Japan, carried out during triaxial compression tests. The experiments revealed marked effects of deformation on the permeability of the specimens. Permeability of fault gouge decreases rapidly by about two orders of magnitude during initial loading and continues to decrease slowly during further inelastic deformation. The drop in permeability during initial loading is much smaller for cataclasite than for gouge, followed by abrupt increase upon failure, and the overall change in permeability correlates well with change in volumetric strain, i.e., initial, nearly elastic contraction followed by dilatancy upon the initiation of inelastic deformation towards specimen failure. If cemented cataclasite suffers deformation prior to or during an earthquake, a cataclasite zone may change into a conduit for fluid flow. Fault gouge zones, however, are unlikely to switch to very permeable zones upon the initiation of fault slip. Thus, overall permeability structure of a fault may change abruptly prior to or during earthquakes and during the interseismic period. Fault gouge and cataclasite have internal angles of friction of about 36° and 45°, respectively, as is typical for brittle rocks.     

Geology and Hydrothermal Alteration of the Low Sulfidation

Abstract. The Pantingan Gold System (PGS) is a vein-type epithermal prospect exposed within the summit caldera of Mount Mariveles, Bagac, Bataan (Luzon), Philippines. It consists of nine major veins, eight of which trend NW-WNW and distributed in an en echelon array. The eastern tips of these veins appear to terminate near the NE-NNE trending Vein 1, which is located in the easternmost portion of the prospect. Metal assay results on vein and wall rock samples indicate concentrations of 0.01 to 1.1 g/ton Au, trace to 34 g/ton Ag and 0.003 to 0.02 % Cu. Andesite lava flow deposits host the PGS. Potassium-Argon isotopic dating of these andesites yields anarrow age range of 0.88± 0.13 to 1.13 ± 0.17 Ma. The surface exposures of the veins (up to 5 m wide) are encountered at different levels between 590–740 masl. These commonly display a massive texture although banding prominently occurs in Vein 1. The veins consist of gray to cream-colored crystalline and chalcedonic quartz and amorphous silica. Pyrite is the most ubiquitous sulfide mineral. It occurs either as fine-grained disseminations and aggregates in quartz or as infillings in vugs. Calcite, marcasite and bornite are also occasionally noted in the deposit. The prospect shows silicic, argillic, propylitic and advanced argillic alteration zones. Silicic and argillic alterations are confined in the immediate wall rocks of the quartz veins. Argillic alteration grades to a propylitic zone farther away from the veins. The advanced argillic alteration zone, indicated by a suite of acidic clay minerals that include kaolin-ite, dickite, pyrophyllite and alunite, might have been imprinted during the late stages of gold deposition. As a whole, the PGS displays geological and mineralogical features typical of gold mineralization in a low sulfidation, epithermal environment. It is also representative of a young, tectonically undisturbed gold deposit.     

Microstructures and flow mechanisms in regional metamorphic rocks of Japan

A number of microstructural features indicate a difference in the dominant deformation mechanism between the higher temperature Ryoke and the lower temperature Sambagawa and Shimanto metamorphic belts of Japan. The microstructures of metacherts containing deformed radiolaria are divided into two types: in both the Sambagawa and Shimanto belts the quartz grains are tabular while in the Ryoke belt they are equiaxed. TEM studies of these metacherts revealed that the tabular grains contain abundant subboundaries consisting of large numbers of network dislocations and bowe-out dislocations, while the equiaxed grains contain no subboundaries and have low densities of dislocations which are not bowed-out. There is a corresponding difference in the textures (lattice preferred orientation of quartz): the Ryoke metacherts display randomly distributed c-axes of quartz, while the Sambagawa and Shimanto metacherts show conspicuous crossed girdle patterns with some asymmetry. There is a third difference between these regions: in the metacherts of the Ryoke metamorphic belt, the strain magnitudes determined from deformed radiolaria increase with increasing volume fraction of mica in the same metamorphic P and T conditions, while in the Sambagawa and the Shimanto metamorphic cherts the strain magnitudes decrease with increasing the mica fraction.These microstructures, textures, and rheological behaviours of quartz-mica rocks suggest a change of deformation mechanism between the lower temperature Sambagawa and Shimanto, and the higher temperature Ryoke metamorphic belts. Since random fabrics of c-axes of quartz are inconsistent with lattice rotation due to dislocation glide, the Ryoke metacherts may have deformed by pressure-solution.     

Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars as Tracers of Star Formation Histories: the GAIA Context

We discuss a possible use of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars for tracing star formation histories on the Galactic and extragalactic distance scales with the ESA's astrometric space mission GAIA. Extensive numerical simulations demonstrate that metallicities (Δ [M/H] ≲ 0.3) can be obtained for the AGB stars with GAIA up to the distances of ∼ 200 kpc, if no interstellar extinction is present. Reliable population ages can be also obtained from the AGB stars if their T _eff are constrained precisely. We show that precise effective temperatures can be obtained by fitting observed spectral energy distributions of the AGB stars with theoretical fluxes calculated from the synthetic spectra. A combination of the derived effective temperatures with the bolometric luminosities allows to derive precise population ages for a wide range of ages and metallicities over the large distance scales. This demonstrates that AGB stars can be employed very effectively for tracing star formation histories with GAIA, allowing to refine the global evolutionary scenarios of stellar populations in the Milky Way and the galaxies beyond. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recovery of entire shocked samples in a range of pressure from ~100 GPa to Hugoniot elastic limit

We carried out laser shock experiments and wholly recovered shocked olivine and quartz samples. We investigated the petrographic features based on optical micrographs of sliced samples and found that each recovered sample comprises three regions, I (optically dark), II (opaque), and III (transparent). Scanning electron microscopy combined with electron backscattered diffraction shows that there are no crystal features in the region I; the materials in the region I have once melted. Moreover, numerical calculations performed with the iSALE shock physics code suggest that the boundary between regions II and III corresponds to Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL). Thus, we succeeded in the recovery of the entire shocked samples experienced over a wide range of pressures from HEL (~10 GPa) to melting pressure (~100 GPa) in a hierarchical order.     

A rotary-shear low to high-velocity friction apparatus in Beijing to study rock friction at plate to seismic slip rates

This paper reviews 19 apparatuses having highvelocity capabilities,describes a rotary-shear low to highvelocity friction apparatus installed at Institute of Geology,China Earthquake Administration,and reports results from velocity-jump tests on Pingxi fault gouge to illustrate technical problems in conducting velocity-stepping tests at high velocities.The apparatus is capable of producing plate to seismic velocities（44 mm/a to 2.1 m/s for specimens of 40 mm in diameter）,using a 22 kW servomotor with a gear/belt system having three velocity ranges.A speed range can be changed by 103 or 106by using five electromagnetic clutches without stopping the motor.Two cam clutches allow fivefold velocity steps,and the motor speed can be increased from zero to 1,500 rpm in 0.1-0.2 s by changing the controlling voltage.A unique feature of the apparatus is a large specimen chamber where different specimen assemblies can be installed easily.In addition to a standard specimen assembly for friction experiments,two pressure vessels were made for pore pressures to 70 MPa;one at room temperature and the other at temperatures to 500 °C.Velocity step tests are needed to see if the framework of rate-and-state friction is applicable or not at high velocities.We report results from velocity jump tests from 1.4 mm/s to 1.4 m/s on yellowish gouge from a Pingxi fault zone,located at the northeastern part of the Longmenshan fault system that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.An instantaneous increase in friction followed by dramatic slip weakening was observed for the yellowish gouge with smooth sliding surfaces of host rock,but no instantaneous response was recognized for the same gouge with roughened sliding surfaces.Instantaneous and transient frictional properties upon velocity steps cannot be separated easily at high velocities,and technical improvements for velocity step tests are suggested.