Simultaneous Determination of Cd,In, Tl and Bi by Isotope Dilution‐Internal Standardisation ICP‐QMS with Corrections Using Externally Measured MoO+/Mo+ Ratios

A method for the simultaneous determination of Cd with In, Tl and Bi by isotope dilution‐internal standardisation (ID‐IS) ICP‐QMS using the same aliquot for rare earth element and other trace element determinations was developed. Samples mixed with an enriched ¹⁴⁹Sm spike were decomposed using a HF‐HClO₄ mixture, which was evaporated and then diluted with HNO₃. After determination of Sm by ID‐ICP‐QMS and Cd, In, Tl and Bi concentrations were determined using the ¹⁴⁹Sm intensity as an internal standard. The interference of MoO⁺ on Cd⁺ was corrected using the MoO⁺/Mo⁺ ratio separately measured using a Mo standard solution, and the validity of the externally determined oxide‐forming ratio correction was evaluated. The MoO⁺/Mo⁺ ratios measured using the standard solution and samples were ～ 0.0002 and < 0.002, respectively. Detection limits for Cd, In, Tl and Bi in silicate samples were at levels of < 1 ng g^?1 with a total uncertainty of < 7%. Cadmium in the carbonaceous chondrites, Orgueil (CI1), Murchison (CM2) and Allende (CV3) as well as Cd, In, Tl and Bi in the reference materials, JB‐2, JB‐3, JA‐1, JA‐2, JA‐3, JP‐1 (GSJ), BHVO‐1, AGV‐1, PCC‐1 and DTS‐1 (USGS) and NIST SRM 610, 612, 614 and 616 were determined to show the applicability of this method.     

Sequence-stratigraphic signatures of hemipelagic siltstones in deep-water successions: the Lower Pleistocene Kiwada and Otadai Formations, Boso Peninsula, Japan

Sequence-stratigraphic signatures of hemipelagic siltstones were investigated using profiles of the magnetic susceptibility and selected chemical composition of the Early Pleistocene deep-water successions of the Kiwada and Otadai Formations on the Boso Peninsula, Japan. In the context of an independently developed sequence-stratigraphic framework for the submarine-fan deposits of the Otadai Formation, the magnetic susceptibility and chemical composition, such as the concentrations of TiO₂, MgO and Fe₂O₃, show that the lowstand systems tract deposits have higher values of these parameters than the transgressive and highstand systems tract deposits. In contrast, the CaO contents have inverse relationships with the magnetic susceptibility and are higher in the transgressive and highstand systems tract deposits. The positions of sequence boundaries largely coincide with the horizons from which the magnetic susceptibility and the contents of mafic component increase abruptly. The sequence-stratigraphic variations in the magnetic susceptibility and chemical composition of the submarine-fan hemipelagic siltstones are due to increases in the input of fine-grained, terrigenous clastic sediments from midwater flow suspension, in addition to the direct fluvial supply of relatively unmodified terrigenous clastic sediments during relative sea-level lowstands, although grain size of hemipelagic siltstones does not exhibit any distinct variation through depositional sequences. The Kiwada Formation is characterized by siltstone-dominated basin-plain deposits and its sequence-stratigraphic classification has been difficult when using just lithofacies features. Nevertheless, the profiles of the magnetic susceptibility and chemical composition of the basin-plain deposits are similar to those of the submarine-fan deposits with duration largely equivalent to the 41,000-years obliquity cycle of the Early Pleistocene oxygen isotope sea-level index. This finding indicates that the profiles of the magnetic susceptibility and chemical composition of hemipelagic siltstones reflect sequence-stratigraphic variation in the input of fine-grained terrigenous clastic sediments to the deep-water environments and are crucial for the recognition of cryptic sequence boundaries in hemipelagic successions.     

Impact of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the Western Pacific (WP) pattern in the following winter through Arctic sea ice and ENSO: part I—observational evidence

Climate Dynamics - On the basis of a 51-year statistical analysis of reanalysis data, we propose for the first time that the positive phase of the Western Pacific (WP) pattern in the winter is...     

Dark inclusions in CO3 chondrites: new indicators of parent-body processes

A petrographic and scanning electron microscopic study of the four CO3 chondrites Kainsaz, Ornans, Lancé, and Warrenton reveals for the first time that dark inclusions (DIs) occur in all the meteorites. DIs are mostly smaller in size than those reported from CV3 chondrites. They show evidence suggesting that they were formed by aqueous alteration and subsequent dehydration of a chondritic precursor and so probably have a formation history similar to that of DIs in CV3 chondrites. DIs in the CO3 chondrites consist mostly of fine-grained, Fe-rich olivine and can be divided into two types on the basis of texture. Type I DIs contain rounded, porous aggregates of fine grains in a fine-grained matrix and have textures suggesting that they are fragments of chondrule pseudomorphs. Veins filled with Fe-rich olivine are common in type I DIs, providing evidence that they experienced aqueous alteration on the parent body. Type II DIs lack rounded porous aggregates and have a matrix-like, featureless texture. Bulk chemical compositions of DIs and mineralogical characteristics of olivine grains in DIs suggest that these two types of DIs have a close genetic relationship.The DIs are probably clasts that have undergone aqueous alteration and subsequent dehydration at a location different from the present location in the meteorites. The major element compositions, the mineralogy of metallic phases, and the widely dispersed nature of the DIs suggest that their precursor was CO chondrite material. The CO parent body has been commonly regarded to have been dry, homogeneous, and unprocessed. However, the DIs suggest that the CO parent body was a heterogeneous conglomerate consisting of water-bearing regions and water-free regions and that during asteroidal heating, the water-bearing regions were aqueously altered and subsequently dehydrated. Brecciation may also have been active in the parent body.The DIs and the matrices are similarly affected by thermal metamorphism in their own host CO3 chondrites (petrologic subtypes 3.1 to 3.6), but the degree of the secondary processing (aqueous alteration and subsequent dehydration) of the DIs has no apparent correlation with the petrologic grades of the host chondrites. These observations suggest that the DIs had been incorporated into the host chondrites before the thermal metamorphism took place and that the secondary processes that affected the DIs largely occurred before the thermal metamorphism.     

Short-term and intermediate-term geochemical precursors

Detection of precursory phenomena in observation data is essential to earthquake prediction studies. Continuous monitoring of radon concentration in groundwater in Japan in one case showed a short-term anomaly related to a nearby earthquake. With the exception of the 1978 Izu-Oshimakinkai earthquake (M7.0), however, no abnormal change has been noted. This may be due partially to difficulty in detecting insignificant precursory signals from observation data, which ordinarily contains a noise-induced fluctuations, and partially to lack of understanding of the mechanism controlling the appearance of precursory phenomena. In order to increase our knowledge of the variation pattern of precursory changes in radon concentration of groundwater, hydrologic precursors with significant features are examined in this paper. Complexity of appearance of precursory phenomena and problems in assignment of the specific earthquake are discussed.     

Relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics,Satono‐yu hot spring,Japan

The relative influences of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics are still not well understood, despite increasing interest in the last decade to better understand the record of ancient microbial life and sedimentary fabrics in microbial hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study examines travertines at Satono‐yu hot spring in Japan (the temperature of water flowing over the travertine was ca 35°C), to better understand the interaction between depositional, hydrochemical and microbial parameters at different flow settings. Characteristics of the bulk hydrochemistry, mineralogy (exclusively aragonite) and the driving force for precipitation (primarily abiotic CO₂ degassing with some photosynthetic microbial contribution) were similar among all of the flow settings. Conversely, the increase in flow velocity suppressed the influence of photosynthesis and enhanced the abiotic precipitation due to the thinner diffusive boundary layer at the travertine surface–water interface. Additionally, the increase in flow velocity changed the microbial composition and decreased the bacterial diversity by reflecting their adhesion efficiency on the travertine substrate. The acidity of the cyanobacterial sheaths controls the aragonite nucleation rate and the resulting calcification, even at significantly high equilibrium CO₂ partial pressure (ca 22 to 28 matm), high dissolved inorganic carbon concentration (ca 35 to 38 mmol l^?1), and elevated aragonite saturation state (ca 20‐fold to 34‐fold). Therefore, the increase in flow velocity suppresses the microbial influence with respect to the increase in the saturation state, the nucleation site supply and pore space generation. Overall, this results in the predominance of abiotic precipitation under high flow velocities. Consequently, a sparse‐micritic fabric with abundant interlamina porosity forms under lower flow velocity where the microbial influence is effective, while a dense‐sparitic fabric with little inter‐crystalline porosity forms under higher flow velocity where abiotic precipitation prevails. These findings provide an essential base for assessing the formation processes of ancient travertines and comparable deposits from petrological fabrics.     

Correction to: Street-scale storm surge load impact assessment using fine-resolution numerical modelling: a case study from Nemuro,Japan

Natural Hazards - To: Street-scale storm.     

Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Mawaki archaeological site,central Japan,in relation to the stratigraphic position of dolphin bones

In order to elucidate the paleoenvironment associated with the early Holocene Mawaki archaeological site on the Noto Peninsula of central Japan, a high‐resolution stratigraphic study was conducted of 17 boreholes drilled at the archaeological site. We selected three boreholes for which lithological and/or chronological data are reported. Initial magnetic susceptibility was utilized for correlation of clastic core samples with the assistance of 26 radiocarbon dates. Four lithological units (A, B, C, and D in ascending order) were identified and interpreted as a sequence in a cycle of marine transgression and regression. Dated coastal horizons were chosen to indicate former sea levels. A Holocene relative sea level curve was generated on the basis of the geological data, and a rapid rise from 8000cal. yr B.P. to 7000cal. yr B.P. and a succeeding minor sea level fall represent the basic eustatic trend around the Sea of Japan because hydroisostatic and tectonic effects are moderate in the study area. Abundant dolphin bones lay just above the top of the marine sequence (boundary between Units C and D), located in the seashore environment. Cultural artifacts are found in a subaerial deposit (Unit D) near the dolphin bone level that is assigned to a period of high, stable sea level after the post‐glacial eustatic highstand. Dolphin bones are associated with stone artifacts (arrowheads, knives, and scrapers) and ritual wood columns, indicating the presence of a longstanding fishery during the early Holocene on the Sea of Japan coast. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Open Ocean Originated Phosphorus and Nitrogen in the Seto Inland Sea,Japan

The ratios of phosphorus and nitrogen originating from land and the open ocean in the Seto Inland Sea, which is the largest semi-enclosed coastal sea in Japan, have been estimated from data on total phosphorus and nitrogen loads and observed concentrations of total phosphorus and nitrogen. The ratios of land-origin and open-ocean-origin total phosphorus and nitrogen in the Seto Inland Sea are 0.28:0.72 and 0.19:0.81, respectively.