Rifting of Kyushu, Japan, based on the fault-controlled concurrent eruption of oceanic island basalt-type and island arc-type lavas

The tectonic environment of Kyushu, Japan is affected both by the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate and by the extensional tectonics related to rifting of Okinawa Trough at the eastern margin of the Eurasia Plate. We found that the Sendai fault zone acts as a channel for concurrent eruption of oceanic island basalt (OIB)-type and island arc (IA)-type basaltic rocks, propagating west to east in the Sendai region of southern Kyushu. The location of the Sendai fault zone is likely to correspond to the left-lateral shear zone in southern Kyushu as inferred by GPS Earth Observation Network. A similar magmatic association is present in the Beppu–Shimabara (BS) graben system in central Kyushu. The associate magmas of OIB-type rocks in Kyushu can be classified into typical, EM II-like and their intermediate OIB-type magmas in addition to MORB-like OIB-type magma in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr–Nb/Y systematics. Typical OIB-type and intermediate OIB-type magmas are erupted within the Sendai fault zone and BS graben system, respectively. The former is characterized by highest Nb/Y but low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr similar to MORB-like OIB-type magma erupted in northern Kyushu and the latter has intermediate Nb/Y and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr between typical and EM II-like OIB-type magmas. Almost all the IA-type rocks within the Sendai fault zone are generated from parental IA-type magma in Kyushu and characterized by weak crustal assimilation, having the lowest ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr similar to typical OIB-type magma but the highest ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of arc magmas in Kyushu. The ages of both types of basaltic rocks within the Sendai fault zone range from 1.6 to <0.01?Ma clearly younger than those of andesitic rocks on northern and southern outsides of the fault zone and become younger from west to east. Initial formation of the fault zone has been induced by the counterclockwise rotation of southern Kyushu during the last 2?Ma as well as the BS graben system. Kyushu has continued to be split into three parts by the Sendai fault zone and BS graben during the Quaternary; northern, central, and southern zones. Their initial formation ages are likely to be linked to the initial rifting age of the middle Okinawa Trough back-arc basin.     

Extinction curves flattened by reverse shocks in supernovae

We investigate the extinction curves of young galaxies in which dust is supplied from Type II supernovae (SNe II) and/or pair instability supernovae (PISNe). Since at high redshift ( z > 5), low-mass stars cannot be dominant sources for dust grains, SNe II and PISNe, whose progenitors are massive stars with short lifetimes, should govern the dust production. Here, we theoretically investigate the extinction curves of dust produced by SNe II and PISNe, taking into account reverse shock destruction induced by collision with ambient interstellar medium. We find that the extinction curve is sensitive to the ambient gas density around a SN, since the efficiency of reverse shock destruction strongly depends on it. The destruction is particularly efficient for small-sized grains, leading to a flat extinction curve in the optical and ultraviolet wavelengths. Such a large ambient density as   n _H≳ 1 cm⁻³  produces too flat an extinction curve to be consistent with the observed extinction curve for SDSS J1048+4637 at z = 6.2. Although the extinction curve is highly sensitive to the ambient density, the hypothesis that the dust is predominantly formed by SNe at z ∼ 6 is still allowed by the current observational constraints. For further quantification, the ambient density should be obtained by some other methods. Finally, we also discuss the importance of our results for observations of high- z galaxies, stressing a possibility of flat extinction curves.     

Gzhelian-Asselian Palaeoaplysina reef in atoll carbonates of the Akiyoshi Terrane, SW Japan: A peculiar community in the Panthalassan reef evolution

A Palaeoaplysina reef occurs in the Gzhelian-Asselian interval of the Panthalassan atoll carbonates, Akiyoshi Terrane, SW Japan. An alga, Palaeoaplysina was paleogeographically distributed mainly along the northern margin of Pangea and is regarded as a boreal element. Its distribution extended to the tropical or subtropical area of the Panthalassa Ocean caused by global cooling during an icehouse period. The Palaeoaplysina community was succeeded by a calcisponge community in the late Early Permian. This biotic turnover almost corresponds to the climatic change from icehouse to greenhouse conditions and coincides with the timing of a superplume activity in the mid-Panthalassa Ocean.     

A new approach of the adding method for the computations of emergent radiation of an inhomogeneous plane-parallel planetary atmosphere

The procedure of computing the intensity and the polarization parameters of radiation diffusely reflected and transmitted by an inhomogeneous, plane-parallel planetary atmosphere is discussed with the aid of the adding method. If the atmosphere is simulated by a number of homogeneous sublayers (aerosols and ozone may be included), the matrices of radiation diffusely reflected and transmitted by the atmosphere can be expressed in terms of these matrices of sublayers by using only a couple of iterative equations with the polarity effect of radiation. This procedure is to be extended to the model atmosphere bounded by the surface reflector with a quite arbitrary phase matrix.     

Comparative Measurements Of Co2flux Over A Forest Using Closed-Path And Open-Path Co2analysers

An eddy covariance system using a closed-path CO₂analyser was constructed for long-term CO₂flux measurements above a forest, and its total frequency response was valuated experimentally. The amplitude and phase responses of the system wereexamined through a preliminary test, in which a prescribed pattern of CO₂fluctuation was input to the system. The result showed that the amplitude of the output from the system was attenuated as frequency increased, with a half-power frequency of 0.3 Hz. The phase was delayed by the air sampling through a long tube, but the delay in phase decreased asfrequency increased. We then presented a new technique for the correction of flux loss due to the inadequate system response for the eddy covariance measurements of CO₂ flux. Using the present system and the correction technique, diurnal variations in CO₂ flux were measured over a temperate deciduous forest on three days in 1997. The results were compared with the CO₂fluxes measured with a fast response open-path gas analyser. The CO₂fluxes from the closed-path system agreed with those from the open-path system after the Webb, Pearman and Leuning correction was made for the latter. In the present test over a forest, the contribution of the frequency-response correction to the CO₂fluxes was small and its averaged percentage was only 3%in the daytime. However, the percentage would likely increase, if the system were applied to a shorter vegetation site where high frequency components are more important. The comparison confirmed that we can obtain correct measurements of CO₂flux using the present closed-path system and the correction technique.     

The computation of long geodesics on the ellipsoid by non-series expanding procedure

In this paper the author shows a procedure to settle the computation of very long geodesic lines on the ellipsoid without using the series expansion. The integration of elliptic integrals appearing in the procedure is numerically carried out by means of a mechanical quadrature-the method of Repeated Interval Halving. The author also devises formulae for the numerical solution of the problem, in order to make the amount of significance error least and determine the kind of quadrant for the computation of inverse trigonometric function. The anti-podal problem for the direct and inverse solution is rigorously solved by this method.     

The computation of long geodesics on the ellipsoid through Gaussian quadrature

Formulas for computing geodesics on the bi-axial ellipsoid through Gaussian quadrature are shown; the estimation of computational errors, truncation and roundoff errors, for the quadrature is carried out; and test examples found in [3] together with those which consist of near anti-podal points on the neighborhood of the equator, are computed with the evaluation of the computational errors.     

LES Study of the Energy Imbalance Problem with Eddy Covariance Fluxes

The spatial representativeness of heat fluxes on the basis of single-tower measurements, and the mechanism of the so-called energy imbalance problem, are investigated through numerical experiments using large-eddy simulation (LES). LES experiments are done for the daytime atmospheric boundary layer heated over a flat surface, as a best-case scenario completely free of sensor errors and the uncertainties of field conditions. Imbalance is defined as the deviation of the `turbulent' heat flux at a grid point from the horizontally averaged `total' heat flux. Both the theoretical and numerical results of the present study suggest the limitation of single-tower measurements and the necessity of horizontally-distributed observation networks.The temporally averaged `turbulent' flux based on a point measurement systematically underestimates the `total' flux (negative imbalance). This is attributed to local advection effects caused by the existence of turbulent organized structures (TOS), whose time scale is much longer than that of thermal plumes. The temporal and spatial change of TOS patterns causes low-frequency trends in the velocity and temperature data resulting in large scatter of the flux estimates. The influences of geostrophic wind speed, averaging time, observation height, computational domain size and resolution on tower-measured fluxes are also discussed. Finally, it is suggested that a weak inhomogenity in surface heating may reduce the negative bias of flux estimates.     

Shock compression of zirconia ZrO2 and zircon ZrSiO4 in the pressure range up to 150 GPa

The shock compression state of zirconia ZrO₂ and zircon ZrSiO₄ in the pressure range up to 150 GPa (1.5 Mbar) are studied on the basis of the measurements of shock velocities, particle-velocity histories, free surface motions, and electrical conductivities. Zircon transforms, and zirconia probably does, to high pressure phases up to 90 GPa. The shock velocity (U _s ) — particle velocity (U _p ) Hugoniots can be described as U _s =4.38+1.37 U _p km/s above 90 GPa for ZrO₂, and U _s =6.50+0.49 U _p km/s (mixed phase region), and U _s =1.54+2.30 U _p km/s (high pressure phase region) for ZrSiO₄. The corrected isothermal densities of the high pressure phase ZrSiO₄ are roughly consistent with the isothermal ones of mixtures of ZrO₂ and SiO₂. Bulk sound velocities in the high-pressure phase region of these oxides are discussed in comparison with other dioxides. Electrical conductivities of these oxides increase from lower than 10^?12 S/m to greater than 10⁰ S/m in the shock-stress range up to 70 GPa, and remain as constant values up to higher than 100 GPa.     

Progressive metamorphism of the Taitao ophiolite; evidence for axial and off-axis hydrothermal alterations

We estimated metamorphic conditions for the  6 Ma Taitao ophiolite, associated with the Chile triple junction. The metamorphic grade of the ophiolite, estimated from secondary matrix minerals, changes stratigraphically downwards from the zeolite facies, through the prehnite–actinolite facies, greenschist facies and the greenschist–amphibolite transition, to the amphibolite facies. The metamorphic facies series corresponds to the low-pressure type. The metamorphic zone boundaries are subparallel to the internal lithological boundaries of the ophiolite, indicating that the metamorphism was due to axial hydrothermal alteration at a mid-ocean ridge.

Mineral assemblages and the compositions of veins systematically change from quartz-dominated, through epidote-dominated, to prehnite-dominated with increasing depth. Temperatures estimated from the vein assemblages range from  230 °C in the volcanic unit to  380 °C at the bottom of the gabbro unit, systematically  200 °C lower than estimates from the adjoining matrix minerals. The late development of veins and the systematically lower temperatures suggest that the vein-forming alteration was due to off-axis hydrothermal alteration.

Comparison between the Taitao ophiolite with its mid-ocean ridge (MOR) affinity, and other ophiolites and MOR crusts, suggests that the Taitao ophiolite has many hydrothermal alteration features similar to those of MOR crusts. This is consistent with the tectonic history that the Taitao ophiolite was formed at the South Chile ridge system near the South American continent (Anma, R., Armstrong, R., Danhara, T., Orihashi, Y. and Iwano, H., 2006. Zircon sensitive high mass-resolution ion microprobe U–Pb and fission-track ages for gabbros and sheeted dykes of the Taitao ophiolite, Southern Chile, and their tectonic implications. The Island Arc, 15(1): 130–142).