Middle Miocene to Pleistocene radiolarian biostratigraphy in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, ODP Leg 186

Abstract The Upper Cenozoic sedimentary sequences drilled at Sites 1150 and 1151, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 186, enabled establishment of radiolarian zonation and calibration of the age of bioevents in the forearc area of the northern Japan Islands. The sequences were divided into nine zones from the Pleistocene Botryostrobus aquilonaris Zone to the Upper Miocene Lipmanella redondoensis Zone at Site 1150, and 11 zones from the Pleistocene Stylatractus universus Zone to the Middle Miocene Dendrospyris? sakaii Zone at Site 1151. These zones correlate successfully with the studied sequences of many of deep‐sea cores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and with some sections of onshore Japan. Of 67 important radiolarian bioevents recognized during the study, 29 Pleistocene to Upper Miocene events were directly tied to the geomagnetic polarity time scale through the well‐defined paleomagnetic polarity records, and 21 Upper Miocene events were calibrated based on the diatom biostratigraphy. Of these events, 24 geographically widespread events were selected to test synchroneity and usefulness as time‐horizons within the mid‐to‐high latitude of the Northwest Pacific, involving eight other offshore and onshore sections. Examination showed that most of the zonal boundary events are synchronous within the considered region, and that many diachronous events, most of which are eliminated from the zonal scheme, are unreliable events linked to rare and sporadic occurrences of the species. Radiolarian biostratigraphy of the studied cores clearly indicates three major hiatuses in the Middle Pleistocene, Late Miocene and late Middle Miocene. The latter two hiatuses can be correlated to two global oceanic hiatuses, NH6 and NH3, respectively.     

Mechanical and transport constitutive models for fractures subject to dissolution and precipitation

Transient changes in the permeability of fractures in systems driven far‐from‐equilibrium are described in terms of proxy roles of stress, temperature and chemistry. The combined effects of stress and temperature are accommodated in the response of asperity bridges where mineral mass is mobilized from the bridge to the surrounding fluid. Mass balance within the fluid accommodates mineral mass either removed from the flow system by precipitation or advection, or augmented by either dissolution or advection. Where the system is hydraulically closed and initially at equilibrium, reduction in aperture driven by the effects of applied stresses and temperatures will be augmented by precipitation on the fracture walls. Where the system is open, the initial drop in aperture may continue, and accelerate, where the influent fluid is oversaturated with respect to the equilibrium mineral concentration within the fluid, or may reverse, if undersaturated. This simple zero‐dimensional model is capable of representing the intricate behavior observed in experiments where the feasibility of fracture sealing concurrent with net dissolution is observed. This zero‐order model is developed as a constitutive model capable of representing key aspects of changes in the transport parameters of the continuum response of fractured media to changes in stress, temperature and chemistry. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Terrestrial – Ocean environmental change in the northwestern Pacific from the glacial times to Holocene

The Mixed Water Region (MWR) between the Oyashio Current and the Kuroshio Extension and surrounding terrestrial region have been affected by the global climatic change. The sedimentary core KR02-15 PC6 collected at 40°23.8871′N, 143°29.8663′E in the MWR provides detailed records of pollen and spores and alkenone sea surface temperature (SST) during the last 15 kyr, showing that both ocean and terrestrial environments have been appreciably linked. Abundance of Picea, a proxy for terrestrial cool climate, fluctuated, coinciding with the alkenone-SST change during the interstadial period (15.0–7.7 cal kyr B.P.). Alkenone-SST increased to the modern level at 8.0 cal kyr B.P. and remained almost constant until 2.0 kyr B.P. while the terrestrial warming still continued until 4.0 cal kyr B.P. The rainfall under terrestrial warm condition increased gradually from 7.9 cal kyr B.P. and rapidly from 2.0 cal kyr B.P. Both terrestrial and marine environments cooled down during the last 2 kyr possibly due to the intensified cold Oyashio Current.     

A numerical model simulating reactive transport and evolution of fracture permeability

A numerical model is presented to describe the evolution of fracture aperture (and related permeability) mediated by the competing chemical processes of pressure solution and free‐face dissolution/precipitation; pressure (dis)solution and precipitation effect net‐reduction in aperture and free‐face dissolution effects net‐increase. These processes are incorporated to examine coupled thermo‐hydro‐mechano‐chemo responses during a flow‐through experiment, and applied to reckon the effect of forced fluid injection within rock fractures at geothermal and petroleum sites. The model accommodates advection‐dominant transport systems by employing the Lagrangian–Eulerian method. This enables changes in aperture and solute concentration within a fracture to be followed with time for arbitrary driving effective stresses, fluid and rock temperatures, and fluid flow rates. This allows a systematic evaluation of evolving linked mechanical and chemical processes. Changes in fracture aperture and solute concentration tracked within a well‐constrained flow‐through test completed on a natural fracture in novaculite (Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2006, in press) are compared with the distributed parameter model. These results show relatively good agreement, excepting an enigmatic abrupt reduction in fracture aperture in the early experimental period, suggesting that other mechanisms such as mechanical creep and clogging induced by unanticipated local precipitation need to be quantified and incorporated. The model is applied to examine the evolution in fracture permeability for different inlet conditions, including localized (rather than distributed) injection. Predictions show the evolution of preferential flow paths driven by dissolution, and also define the sense of permeability evolution at field scale. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Note on Seasonal Variation in Radiolarian Abundance

A statistical analysis of two consecutive sequences of observations on radiolarian abundances in the western North Pacific, by methods appropriate to data on the simplex (i.e., compositional data), show that although the overall graphical presentations of the frequencies appear similar, there are substantial differences in the earlier part of each of the series. The results of the multivariate analyses are used for identifying those species that contribute most to the analysis. A brief guide to the mathematical properties of compositional data is given.     

Laboratory experiments and thermal calculations for the development of a next-generation glacier-ice exploration system: Development of an electro-thermal drilling device

A next-generation drilling system, equipped with a thermal drilling device, is proposed for glacier ice. The system is designed to penetrate glacier ice via melting of the ice and continuously analyze melt-water in a contamination-free sonde. This new type of drilling system is expected to provide analysis data in less time and at less cost than existing systems. Because of the limited number of parameters that can be measured, the proposed system will not take the place of conventional drilling systems that are used to obtain ice cores; however, it will provide a useful method for quickly and simply investigating glacier ice.An electro-thermal drilling device is one of the most important elements needed to develop the proposed system. To estimate the thermal supply required to reach a target depth in a reasonable time, laboratory experiments were conducted using ice blocks and a small sonde equipped solely with heaters. Thermal calculations were then performed under a limited range of conditions. The experiments were undertaken to investigate the effects of the shape and material of the drill head and heater temperature on the rate of penetration into the ice. Additional thermal calculations were then performed based on the experimental results.According to the simple thermal calculations, if the thermal loss that occurs while heat is transferred from the heater to ice (in melting the ice) is assumed to be 50%, the total thermal supply required for heaters in the sonde and cable is as follows: (i) 4.8 kW (sonde) plus 0 W (cable) to penetrate to 300 m depth over 10 days into temperate glacier ice for which the temperature is 0 °C at all depths and to maintain a water layer along 300 m of cable; (ii) 10 kW (sonde) plus 19–32 kW (cable) to penetrate to 1000 m depth over 1 month into cold glacier ice for which the temperature is −25 °C at the surface and 0 °C at 1000 m depth and to maintain a water layer along 1000 m of cable; and (iii) 19 kW (sonde) plus 140–235 kW (cable) to penetrate to 3000 m depth over 2 months into an ice sheet for which the temperature is −55 °C at the surface and 0 °C at 3000 m depth and to maintain a water layer along 3000 m of cable. The thermal supply required for the cable is strongly affected by the thickness of the water layer, cable diameter, and the horizontal distance from the ice wall at which the ice temperature was maintained at its initial temperature. A large thermal supply is required to heat 3000 m of cable in an ice sheet (scenario (iii) above), but penetration into glacier ice (scenarios (i) and (ii) above) could be realistic with the use of a currently employed generator.     

Interpretation of the GRACE-derived mass trend in Enderby Land, Antarctica

Monthly gravity solutions of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) reveal three areas in Antarctica with striking interannual mass trends. The positive mass trend in Enderby Land, East Antarctica, is poorly understood because of uncertainties in the surface ice-sheet mass balance, post-glacial rebound (PGR), and processing of GRACE data. In this study, we compare the GRACE mass trends with values estimated from in situ snow-stake measurements, and Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) data. The mass trends estimated from ICESat data show a strong correlation with GRACE mass trends. In contrast, the snow-stake data show discrepancies with temporal variations in GRACE mass, especially in 2006. The discrepancies are probably associated with basal ice-sheet outflow, which is difficult to observe using snow stakes. We conclude that the bulk of the GRACE mass trend can be explained by snow accumulation and basal ice-sheet outflow.