Earthquakes Along the Passive Margin of Greenland: Evidence for Postglacial Rebound Control

—?An intriguing observation in Greenland is a clear spatial correlation between seismicity and deglaciated areas along passive continental margins, a piece of evidence for earthquake triggering due to postglacial rebound. Another piece of evidence for induced seismicity due to deglaciation derives from earthquake source mechanisms. Sparse, low magnitude seismicity has made it difficult to determine focal mechanisms from Greenland earthquakes. On the basis of two normal faulting events along deglaciated margins and from the spatial distribution of epicenters, earlier investigators suggested that the earthquakes of Greenland are due to postglacial rebound. This interpretation is tested here by using more recent data. Broadband waveforms of teleseismic P waves from the August 10, 1993 (m _b = 5.4) and October 14, 1998 (m _b = 5.1) earthquakes have been inverted for moment tensors and source parameters. Both mechanisms indicate normal faulting with small strike-slip components: the 1993 event, strike = 348.9°, dip = 41.0°, rake =?56.3°, focal depth = 11?km, seismic moment = 1.03?×?10²⁴ dyne-cm, and M _w = 5.3; the 1998 event, strike = 61.6°, dip = 58.0°, rake =?95.5°, focal depth = 5?km, seismic moment = 5.72?×?10²³ dyne-cm, and M _w = 5.1. These and the two prior events support the theory that the shallow part of the lithosphere beneath the deglaciated margins is under horizontal extension. The observed stress field can be explained as flexural stresses due to removal of ice loads and surface loads by glacial erosion. These local extensional stresses are further enhanced by the spreading stress of continental crust and reactivate preexisting faults. Earthquake characteristics observed from Greenland suggest that the dominant seismogenic stresses are from postglacial rebound and spreading of the continental lithosphere.     

The Interactive Effects of Elevated CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Ammonium Enrichment on the Physiological Performances of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharina japonica</Emphasis> (Laminariales,Phaeophyta)

Environmental challenges such as ocean acidification and eutrophication influence the physiology of kelp species. We investigated their interactive effects on Saccharina japonica (Laminariales, Phaeophyta) under two pH conditions [Low, 7.50; High (control), 8.10] and three NH ₄ ⁺ concentrations (Low, 4; Medium, 60; High, 120 μM). The degree of variation of pH values in the culture medium and inhibition rate of photosynthetic oxygen evolution by acetazolamide were affected by pH treatments. Relative growth rates, carbon, nitrogen, and the C:N ratio in tissue samples were influenced by higher concentrations of NH ₄ ⁺ . Rates of photosynthetic oxygen evolution were enhanced under elevated CO₂ or NH ₄ ⁺ conditions, independently, but these two factors did not show an interactive effect. However, rates of NH ₄ ⁺ uptake were influenced by the interactive effect of increased CO₂ under elevated NH ₄ ⁺ treatment. Although ocean acidification and eutrophication states had an impact on physiological performance, chlorophyll fluorescence was not affected by those conditions. Our results indicated that the physiological reactions by this alga were influenced to some extent by a rise in the levels of CO₂ and NH ₄ ⁺ . Therefore, we expect that the biomass accumulation of S. japonica may well increase under future scenarios of ocean acidification and eutrophication.     

Spatial and Temporal Scale Variations of Sea Surface Temperature in the East Sea Using NOAA/AVHRR Data

Sea surface temperature fields in the East Sea are composed of various spatial structures such as eddies, fronts, filaments, turbulent-like features and other mesoscale variations associated with the oceanic circulations of the East Sea. These complex SST structures have many spatial scales and evole with time. Semi-monthly averaged SST distributions based on extensive satellite observations of SSTs from 1990 through 1995 were constructed to examine the characteristics of their spatial and temporal scale variations by using statistical methods of multi-dimensional autocorrelation functions and spectral analysis. Two-dimensional autocorrelation functions in the central part of the East Sea revealed that most of the spatial SST structures are anisotropic in the shape of ellipsoids with minor axes of about 90–290 km and major axes of 100–400 km. Two dimensional spatial scale analysis demonstrated a consistent pattern of seasonal variation that the scales appear small in winter and spring, increase gradually to summer, and then decrease again until the spring of the next year. These structures also show great spatial inhomogeneity and rapid temporal change on time scales as short as a semi-month in some cases. The slopes in spectral energy density spectra of SSTs show characteristics quite similar to horizontal and geostrophic turbulence. Temporal spectra at each latitude are demonstrated by predominant peaks of one and two cycles per year in all regions of the East Sea, implying that SSTs present very strong annual and semi-annual variations. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Permian felsic magmatism in the Neoproterozoic Nagar Parkar Igneous Complex of the Malani Igneous Suite: Evidence from zircon U–Pb age

We report Permian (ca. 272 Ma ±5.4 Ma) felsic dykes that intrude into the Neoproterozoic (ca. 750 Ma) magmatic suite of the Nagar Parkar Igneous Complex (NPIC), the western extension of the Malani Igneous Suite (MIS). The NPIC consists of Neoproterozoic basement amphibolites and granites (riebeckite–aegirine gray granites and the biotite–hornblende pink granites), all of which are intruded by several generations of mafic and felsic dykes. Granitic magmatism occurred in the Late Neoproterozoic (ca. 750 Ma) due to the subduction‐, followed by the rift‐related tectonic regime during the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. U–Th–Pb zircon and monazite CHIME age data of 700–800 Ma from the earlier generation porphyritic felsic dykes suggest the dyke intrusion was coeval or soon after the emplacement of the host granites. Our findings of Permian age orthophyric felsic dykes provide new insights for the prevalence of active tectonics in the MIS during late Paleozoic. Textural features and geochemistry also make the orthophyric dykes distinct from the early‐formed porphyritic dykes and the host granites. Our newly obtained age data combined with geochemistry, suggest the existence of magmatism along the western margin of India (peri‐Gondwana margin) during Permian. Like elsewhere in the region, the Permian magmatism in the NPIC could be associated with the rifting of the Cimmerian micro‐continents from the Gondwana.     

Seismic response analysis of bridges isolated with friction pendulum bearings

A systematic method is developed for the dynamic analysis of the structures with sliding isolation which is a highly non-linear dynamic problem. According to the proposed method, a unified motion equation can be adapted for both stick and slip modes of the system. Unlike the traditional methods by which the integration interval has to be chopped into infinitesimal pieces during the transition of sliding and non-sliding modes, the integration interval remains constant throughout the whole process of the dynamic analysis by the proposed method so that accuracy and efficiency in the analysis of the non-linear system can be enhanced to a large extent. Moreover, the proposed method is general enough to be adapted for the analysis of the structures with multiple sliding isolators undergoing independent motion conditions simultaneously. The superiority of the proposed method for the analysis of sliding supported structures is verified by a three-span continuous bridge subjected to harmonic motions and real earthquakes. In addition, the side effect of excessive displacement of the superstructure induced by the sliding isolation is eliminated by replacing one of the roller supports on the abutments with hinge support. Therefore, both reductions in the forces of the substructure and the displacements of the superstructure can be achieved simultaneously. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial variation of abundant picoeukaryotes in the subtropical Kuroshio Current in winter

To understand the importance of picoeukaryotes in the biogeochemical cycle in the subtropical Kuroshio Current, a year-round survey of the hydrography and the distribution of picoeukaryotes were conducted in four oceanographic cruises from October 2012 to July 2013. In comparison with other seasons, the highest abundancy of photosynthetic picoeukaryotes, with concentrations >10⁴ cells/ml, was observed around the eastern boundary of the Kuroshio in the winter. Accordingly, the composition of picoeukaryotes in this cold season was further studied by a metabarcoding analysis of the 18S rRNA gene. The majority of picoeukaryotes comprised Alveolata, followed by Haptophyta and Stramenopiles. Their composition was diverse in the waters affected by the Kuroshio and in the offshore province. For Haptophyta, in contrast to clade A prevailing in the Kuroshio waters, clade B1, which was considered the host of uncultivated diazotrophic cyanobacterium group A (UCYN-A), appeared only in the offshore area. Similarly, in Stramenopiles, Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and MAST-1D, respectively, dominated in the Kuroshio-influenced and offshore areas. While Alveolata was the most abundant group, the distributions of all lineages were similar. The association between picoeukaryote succession and hydrographic change is yet to be fully understood. Our results will assist future studies on the community composition of picoplankton and their relationship with marine ecology in the region.     

Microphytobenthic biomass and species composition in intertidal flats of the Nakdong River estuary, Korea

Intertidal microphytobenthos (MPB) were investigated monthly from August 2006 to March 2008 at four different sites in the sand flats of Nakdong River estuary, Korea. Samples of surface sediment (ca. 1 cm) were collected, and chlorophyll a was extracted as biomass estimation. Species identification and enumeration were carried out by light microscopy, assisted where necessary by scanning electronic microscopy. Biomass varied between 0.47 and 16.58 μg cm⁻³, abundance changed from 5.25 to 414.75 × 10³ cells cm⁻³, while the Shannon diversity indexes ranged between 0.69 and 2.35 H′. Thirty-nine MPB taxa were identified, primarily composed of epipelic diatoms, among which Amphora and Navicula were the most abundant genera. Based on the biomass, abundance, species composition and their dynamics, MPB assemblages of sampling sites were grouped into three distinct communities corresponding to their sediment composition characteristics. Multivariate correlation analysis revealed that biomass was positively related to mud and very fine sand, negatively related to fine and medium sand, but not significantly related to environmental factors such as pore water nutrients, light intensity and salinity, which fluctuated rapidly during emersion period. Cluster analysis corroborated the division of MPB communities according to site types on seasonal scales, and also showed seasonality between sites by cluster of all summer groups. Principal component analysis identified that variability in species composition was significantly affected by mud, very fine sand, fine sand, light intensity, and sediment temperature. This study suggests that sediment composition plays an important role in the functioning of intertidal MPB communities in estuarine ecosystems.     

The deformation of overburden soil induced by thrust faulting and its impact on underground tunnels

Overburden soil beds situated above a fault are often deformed by propagation of bedrock thrusting from the fault during large earthquake. The deformed beds formed a triangular shear zone. This coseismic faulting often causes damage to underground tunnels located in the shear zone. The present research studies the deformation behavior of the overburden soil beds and the tunnel, the associated mechanism and the impact on the safety of tunnel linings induced by a large blind thrust slip. Based on sandbox experimental and numerical studies, it is found that results from numerical analysis are in agreement with the sandbox model tests with regard to growths of the shear zones within the soil beds, location of the tunnel in this shear zone and deformations of the tunnel. The potential major shear zone may be bent or bifurcated into two sub-shear zones owing to existence of a tunnel inside the shear zone. Furthermore, the occurrence of back-thrust faulting will threaten the safety of nearby structures. It was also identified that stiffness of the soil and the fault dip angles are among the major factors controlling the configuration of shear zones, the stresses within the soil, and the loads on tunnel linings. Based on the identified mechanisms, the strategies for hazard prevention are accordingly suggested and discussed.     

Numerical simulation of debris flow with application on hazard area mapping

A numerical program developed for field application is presented in this paper. We use the generalized Julien and Lan [8] rheological model to simulate debris flows. Due to the derivative discontinuous nature of the constitutive law, flow is separated into plug region and bottom region (with stress greater than yield stress). The program solves the plug flow layer solution first, and then corrects the solution with the bottom layer approximation. Numerical scheme with upwind method and central difference in space and Adam–Bashforth third-order scheme in time is used for both layers. The scheme is tested against analytical solutions and laboratory experiments with very good results. Application to a field case with more complicated geometry also achieves good agreement, with error less than 5% compared to field measurements. The final example demonstrates how this numerical program is used in a preliminary design.     

Site assessment and evaluation of spatial earthquake ground motion of Kyeongju

The earthquake hazard has been evaluated for 10 km×10 km area around Kyeongju. The ground motion potentials were determined based on equivalent linear analysis by using the data obtained from in situ and laboratory tests. In situ tests include 16 boring investigations, 4 crosshole, 12 downhole, 26 spectral analysis of surface waves tests, and in the laboratory, resonant column tests were performed. The peak ground accelerations range between 0.141g and 0.299g on collapse level earthquake and between 0.050g and 0.120g on operation level earthquake, respectively, showing the high potential of amplification in the deep alluvial layer in Kyeongju area. Distribution maps of site amplification for the peak acceleration, amplification factors (F_a and F_v) and dominant site period of Kyeongju are constructed using geographic information system tools. The amplification factor based on the Korean seismic design guide underestimated the motion in short range and overestimated the motion in mid-period range in Kyeongju. The importance of site-specific analysis and the need for the improved site characterization method are introduced.