Compressional behaviour of CaNiSi2O6 clinopyroxene: bulk modulus systematic and cation type in clinopyroxenes

A single-crystal of composition CaNiSi₂O₆ (space group C2/c) was investigated at high pressure up to about 7.8 GPa by X-ray diffraction. The unit-cell parameters were measured at 18 different pressures. The P-V data were fitted by a third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state V₀=435.21(1) ų, K ₀=117.6(3) GPa and K^=6.4(1). The linear axial compressibilities _a, _b, _c and a sin are 2.14(1), 3.00(1), 2.43(1) and 1.63(1) × 10–3 GPa^–1. Comparing the compressibility data with other CaM1Si₂O₆ pyroxenes we suggest that the empirical K × V = constant relationships are followed in C2/c pyroxenes only if the same valence electron character is shared.     

Necessary condition for the existence of algebraic first integrals

Existence of algebraic first integrals for a class of dynamical systems is discussed in connection with the nature of the singularities of solutions. It is shown that under some conditions, the existence of algebraic first integrals controls a quantity characterising a singularity (Kowalevski's exponent) which can be calculated in a finite procedure. Two simple examples are given, which illustrate how main theorems work.     

Kuroshio warm filament and the source of the warm water of the Tsushima Current

Characteristics and evolution of the Kuroshio frontal eddies and warm filaments are analyzed according to two series of satellite images (March 5 to 7, 1986 and April 14 to 16, 1988). The results show that the frontal eddies in the East China Sea are generated at the shelf break and move along the continental slope at a speed of 15 cm/s with the Kuroshio. The frontal eddies occur about every 10 d and evolve to be warm filaments a few hundred km in length and 30-40 km in width in the area west of the Yaku-shima. Meanwhile, the existence of the warm filament was also found in the area by analysing the hydrographic data in the area west of Kyushu during May 24-June 5, 1988.The Kuroshio warm filaments move westward opposite to the Kuroshio and then turn northward at the shelf break and become the main source of the warm water of the Tsushima Warm Current. A simple dynamic explanation for the process is presented in this paper.     

Moho depth variation beneath southwestern Japan revealed from the velocity structure based on receiver function inversion

The Philippine Sea plate is subducting under the Eurasian plate beneath the Chugoku-Shikoku region, southwestern Japan. We have constructed depth contours for the continental and oceanic Mohos derived from the velocity structure based on receiver function inversion. Receiver functions were calculated using teleseismic waveforms recorded by the high-density seismograph network in southwestern Japan. In order to determine crustal velocity structure, we first improved the linearized time-domain receiver function inversion method. The continental Moho is relatively shallow ( 30 km) at the coastline of the Sea of Japan and at the Seto Inland Sea, and becomes deeper–greater than 40 km–around 35°N and 133.8°E. Near the Seto Inland Sea, a low-velocity layer of thickness 10 km lies under the continental Moho. This low-velocity layer corresponds to the subducting oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea plate. The oceanic Moho continues to descend from south to northwest and exhibits complicated ridge and valley features. The oceanic Moho runs around 25 km beneath the Pacific coast and 45 km beneath the Seto Inland Sea, and it extends to at least to 34.5°N. The depth variation of the Moho discontinuities is in good qualitative agreement with the concept of isostasy. From the configurations of both the continental and oceanic Mohos, we demonstrate that the continental lower crust and the subducting oceanic crust overlap beneath the southern and central part of Shikoku and that a mantle wedge may exist beneath the western and eastern part of Shikoku. The southern edge of the overlapping region coincides with the downdip limit of the slip area of a megathrust earthquake.     

Constituents of Vertical-component Coda Waves at Long Periods

Aki (1969) first modeled coda waves of a local earthquake as a superposition of scattered surface waves. This paper attempts to clarify the constituents of surface-wave coda at long periods at very long lapse times. For a large earthquake of magnitude 7 or larger, vertical component oscillation in periods from 90 to 180 s persists for more than 20 hours from the earthquake origin time. Although the early portion of the coda envelope is successfully modeled by assuming incoherent scattered Rayleigh waves by heterogeneities distributed all over the Earth, the later potion of the observed coda envelope (roughly later than 35,000 s) has systematically larger amplitude than theoretical prediction. To clarify the cause of this discrepancy, we studied the constituents of vertical-component seismograms of three large earthquakes recorded by the F-net in Japan using the f-k power spectral analysis. We found that the direct and scattered fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves of velocity about 3.7 km/s are dominant in the earlier part of each envelope. It justifies the use of a scattering model of the fundamental Rayleigh waves for synthesizing the envelope. At lapse times later than 20,000 s–35,000 s, higher modes with phase velocities around 20 km/s become dominant. The transition time to the dominance of higher modes is found to become earlier for a deeper focus earthquake. The small coda attenuation factor from (1.90±0.23) × 10⁻³ to (2.38±0.32) × 10⁻³ estimated from later coda envelopes recorded at IRIS stations distributed worldwide also agrees with the attenuation factor of spheroidal modes according to PREM. We may interpret that higher mode waves are uniformly distributed at large lapse time due to large velocity dispersion and/or scattering and they dominate over the fundamental mode waves because of smaller attenuation in the lower mantle. The coda attenuation measurement proposed by Aki is found to be useful even for long periods and at very large lapse times.     

Expansion of the Nishinomiya Built Environment Database

The Nishinomiya Built Environment Database, which can be used to analyze the disaster process of the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster in Nishinomiya City, has been expanded with new data entries. The database contains the following very detailed datasets: (1) the urbanization area base map, (2) casualty data, (3) three sets of building damage data surveyed by the Nishinomiya City, the Architectural Institute of Japan and the City Planning Institute of Japan, and the Kobe University, (4) building property data based on the real estate tax roll, (5) photographs of the damaged buildings with the information on the place and orientation of the picture, and (6) the estimated distribution of the seismic ground motion. The seismic ground motion was simulated for the southern part of Nishinomiya City and two verification sites in Kobe City and Amagasaki City. In the simulation, the borehole data of public facilities were used to model the surface soils as one-dimensional layers, taking into consideration the fact that the spatial distribution of the sediment/basement interface forms a slope. The model of the fault rupture process simulated the characteristics of the seismic motion at basement level, and amplification effects of the surface layers were evaluated based on multiple reflection theory. The distribution of peak ground acceleration and peak ground velocity was estimated from acceleration response spectra at each borehole point. In addition, the relationship between simulated seismic ground motion and building damage was studied based on newly proposed band-passed spectrum intensity using the expanded database. This confirmed that detailed categorization is necessary in order to evaluate the fragility functions, especially for reinforced concrete structures. The database should provide fundamental information for identifying the relationship between the ground motions and the extent and pattern of building damage, or the pattern of the occurrence of casualties.Presently     

Raman spectroscopic study of clinopyroxenes in the system CaScAlSiO6 - CaAl2SiO6

Seven clinopyroxenes in the system CaScAlSiO₆- CaAl₂SiO₆ synthesized at 1 atm and under high pressure have been studied by Raman spectroscopy. The T-O-T stretching band of CaScAlSiO₆ pyroxene can be deconvoluted into three bands corresponding to Al-O-Al, Al-O-Si, and Si-O-Si stretching vibrations, although that of CaAl₂SiO₆ can be deconvoluted into the two bands (Al-O-Al+Al-O-Si) and Si-O-Si. The Al-O-Si Raman shifts of CaScAlSiO₆ and CaAl₂SiO₆ pyroxenes are found to fall on the linear plot of the relationship between T-T distance and Raman shifts in ABSi₂O₆-type pyroxenes, suggesting that the Al-O-Si chains are relatively long. Variation of areal fractions of the Raman bands demonstrates that the partial disordering of Al/Si depends on the ionic radius and electronegativity of the octahedral ion.