Mechanism of explosive eruption revealed by geophysical observations at the Sakurajima,Suwanosejima and Semeru volcanoes

A common sequence of phenomena associated with volcanic explosions is extracted based on seismic and ground deformation observations at 3 active volcanoes in Japan and Indonesia. Macroscopic inflation-related ground deformations are detected prior to individual explosions, while deflations are observed during eruptions. Precursory inflation occurs 5 min to several hours before eruption at the Sakurajima volcano, but just 1–2 min at Suwanosejima and 3–30 min at the Semeru volcano. The sequence commences with minor contraction, which is detected by extensometers 1.5 min before eruption at Sakurajima, as a dilatant first motion of the explosion earthquakes 0.2–0.3 s before surface explosions at Suwanosejima, and as downward tilt 4–5 s prior to eruption at the Semeru volcano. The sequence is detected for explosive eruptions with > 0.1 μrad tilt change at Sakurajima, 90% at Suwanosejima and 75% at Semeru volcanoes. It is inferred that the minor contraction is caused by a volume and pressure decrease due to the release of gas from a pocket at the top of the conduit as the gas pressure exceeds the strength of the confining plug. The subsequent violent expansion may be triggered by sudden outgassing of the water-saturated magma induced by the decrease in confining pressure.     

Evolution of West Rota Volcano, an extinct submarine volcano in the southern Mariana Arc: Evidence from sea floor morphology, remotely operated vehicle observations and 40Ar–39Ar geochronological studies

Abstract West Rota Volcano (WRV) is a recently discovered extinct submarine volcano in the southern Mariana Arc. It is large (25 km diameter base), shallow (up to 300 m below sealevel), and contains a large caldera (6 × 10 km, with up to 1 km relief). The WRV lies near the northern termination of a major NNE‐trending normal fault. This and a second, parallel fault just west of the volcano separate uplifted, thick frontal arc crust to the east from subsiding, thin back‐arc basin crust to the west. The WRV is distinct from other Mariana Arc volcanoes: (i) it consists of a lower, predominantly andesite section overlain by a bimodal rhyolite‐basalt layered sequence; (ii) andesitic rocks are locally intensely altered and mineralized; (iii) it has a large caldera; and (iv) WRV is built on a major fault. Submarine felsic calderas are common in the Izu and Kermadec Arcs but are otherwise unknown from the Marianas and other primitive, intraoceanic arcs. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dating indicates that andesitic volcanism comprising the lower volcanic section occurred 0.33–0.55 my ago, whereas eruption of the upper rhyolites and basalts occurred 37–51 thousand years ago. Four sequences of rhyolite pyroclastics each are 20–75 m thick, unwelded and show reverse grading, indicating submarine eruption. The youngest unit consists of 1–2 m diameter spheroids of rhyolite pumice, interpreted as magmatic balloons, formed by relatively quiet effusion and inflation of rhyolite into the overlying seawater. Geochemical studies indicate that felsic magmas were generated by anatexis of amphibolite‐facies meta‐andesites, perhaps in the middle arc crust. The presence of a large felsic volcano and caldera in the southern Marianas might indicate interaction of large normal faults with a mid‐crustal magma body at depth, providing a way for viscous felsic melts to reach the surface.     

Diel tuning of photosynthetic systems in ice algae at Saroma-ko Lagoon, Hokkaido, Japan

Ice algae are the major primary producers in seasonally ice-covered oceans during the cold season. Diurnal change in solar radiation is inevitable for ice algae, even beneath seasonal sea ice in lower-latitude regions. In this work, we focused on the photosynthetic response of ice algae under diurnally changing irradiance in Saroma-ko Lagoon, Japan. Photosynthetic properties were assessed by pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry. The species composition remained almost the same throughout the investigation. The maximum electron transport rate (rETR_max), which indicates the capacity of photosynthetic electron transport, increased from sunrise until around noon and decreased toward sunset, with no sign of the afternoon depression commonly observed in other photosynthetic organisms. The level of non-photochemical quenching, which indicates photoprotection activity by dissipating excess light energy via thermal processes, changed with diurnal variations in irradiance. The pigment composition appeared constant, except for xanthophyll cycle pigments, which changed irrespective of irradiance. These results indicate that ice algae tune their photosynthetic system harmonically to achieve efficient photosynthesis under diurnally changing irradiance, while avoiding damage to photosystems. This regulation system may be essential for productive photosynthesis in ice algae.     

Evaluation of a curve-fitting method for diffuse reflectance spectra in the UV–Visible–NIR wavelength region

The Modified Gaussian Method (MGM) proposed by Sunshine et al. [Sunshine, J.M., Pieters, C.M., Pratt, S.F., 1990. Deconvolution of mineral absorption bands: an improved approach. Journal of Geophysical Research 95, 6955–6966.] is generally used to decompose spectra in the UV–Visible–NIR wavelength region into the characteristic absorption bands of minerals. Here, we compare the optimized results obtained using different curve-fitting methods for this spectrum. The result obtained using the Gaussian function for the absorption band shows a better fit than that obtained using the Lorentzian function. The background continuum of a quadratic polynomial for the wavenumber provides a better result than does the linear function for the wavenumber. We successfully decomposed the spectra of ordinary chondrites and eucrites into the absorption bands of olivine and pyroxene. The wavelength positions of these absorption bands are broadly consistent with the Fe contents of olivine and pyroxene. Although the present results are derived from a limited number of spectra, they are of use in terms of the decomposition of diffuse reflectance spectra.     

Characterizing heterogeneous soil water flow and solute transport using information measures

Heterogeneous water flow and solute transport in soils are an important phenomenon and difficult to be characterized. The objectives of this study were to investigate the heterogeneity of solute transport related to heterogeneous soil water flow using dye infiltration experiments, and to characterize heterogeneous water flow and solute transport in soils using the information theory. Field experiments of dye infiltration were performed in four plots. Various information measures were applied to characterize information content and complexity of water flow and solute transport in soils. Information contents and complexities of the maximum and apparent infiltration depths, and the mean and standard deviation of concentrations in the vertical direction of the plots were calculated. More heterogeneous processes of soil water flow and transport result in higher information/complexity values. The probability distributions of mean concentration were similar to those of the corresponding apparent infiltration depths for the plots, indicating that heterogeneity of dye concentrations was closely related to that of soil water flow. However, the range of information entropy and complexity of the water flow sequences was much narrower than that of the sequences of the concentrations. The results suggested that the transport processes were more heterogeneous than the water flow processes. Compared with the probability distributions of flow parameters, the information measures appeared to be a more versatile tool to describe flow and transport heterogeneities in soils.     

Summertime sea surface temperature fronts associated with upwelling around the Taiwan Bank

It is well known that upwelling of subsurface water is dominant around the Taiwan Bank (TB) and the Penghu (PH) Islands in the southern Taiwan Strait in summertime. Sea surface temperature (SST) frontal features and related phenomena around the TB upwelling and the PH upwelling were investigated using long-term AVHRR (1996–2005) and SeaWiFS (1998–2005) data received at the station of National Taiwan Ocean University. SST and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) images with a spatial resolution of 0.01° were generated and used for the monthly SST and Chl-a maps. SST fronts were extracted from each SST images and gradient magnitudes (GMs); the orientations were derived for the SST fronts. Monthly maps of cold fronts where the cooler SSTs were over a shallower bottom were produced from the orientation.     

Formation of chaotic rock units during primary accretion processes: Examples from the Miura–Boso accretionary complex, central Japan

Chaotic rock units exposed in the upper part of the accretionary complex preserve detailed tectonic information related to the periods before, during, and immediately after accretion. Based on the detailed survey in the upper Miocene Miura–Boso accretionary complex, central Japan, three types of chaotic rock units were identified on the basis of the grain sizes and characteristics of blocks and surrounding matrices. The chaotic rock units composed of silt matrices and sandy to pebbly blocks (Type 3) formed by gravity-driven slumping upon the seafloor. The slumping occurred contemporaneously with deposition of the Misaki and Nishizaki Formations within the Izu–Bonin forearc. Vertical variations in the direction of slump vergence represent successive changes from an initially flat seabed to tilting to the northwest and finally to the southeast. Slumping with a northwest vergence indicates landward tilting of the seafloor immediately prior to accretion, whereas vergence to the southeast reflects oceanward tectonic tilting that occurred once the sediments had crossed the deformation front. Other chaotic rock units that have matrices abundant in sand and pebbles (Types 1, 2) formed as a result of subsurface liquefaction and injection associated with large earthquakes that occurred during and after accretion of the sediments. These chaotic rock units are useful in examining surface/subsurface changes such as tectonic tilting of the seafloor and earthquake events during the initial accretion process.     

Large‐scale folding in the Asemi‐gawa region of the Sanbagawa Belt,southwest Japan

The Sanbagawa Belt generally shows higher metamorphic grade at higher structural levels. This inversion can be interpreted as reflecting an original inverted thermal structure typical of subduction zone environments. However, repetitions in the distribution of the metamorphic zones seen in central Shikoku, Japan, clearly show the original thermal structure has been affected by deformation after the peak of metamorphism. This repetition has been attributed to both the action of tectonic discontinuities and regional folding. It is important to distinguish between these two interpretations to determine the extent to which the original subduction zone sequence is preserved. Analyses of lithological and structural data reveal the presence of a large‐scale post‐metamorphic fold in the central part of the highest grade region. This folding has an axis that coincides with the thermal axis implied by the distribution of the metamorphic zonation, suggesting the repetition of metamorphic zones in this area can be accounted for by folding without the need for major discontinuities.     

A scheme to treat the singularity in global seismic wavefield simulation using pseudospectral method with staggered grids

The pseudospectral method has been applied to the simulation of seismic wave propagation in 2-D global Earth model.When a whole Earth model is considered,the center of the Earth is included in the model and then singularity arises at the center of the Earth where r=0 since the 1/r term appears in the wave equations.In this paper,we extended the global seismic wavefield simulation algorithm for regular grid mesh to staggered grid configuration and developed a scheme to solve the numerical problems associated with the above singularity for a 2-D global Earth model defined on staggered grid using pseudospectral method.This scheme uses a coordinate transformation at the center of the model,in which the field variables at the center are calculated in Cartesian coordinates from the values on the grids around the center.It allows wave propagation through the center and hence the wavefield at the center can be stably calculated.Validity and accuracy of the scheme was tested by compared with the discrete wavenumber method.This scheme could also be suitable for other numerical methods or models parameterized in cylindrical or spherical coordinates when singularity arises at the center of the model.     

Characterization of rainfall generated by dripper‐type rainfall simulator using piezoelectric transducers and its impact on splash soil erosion

Rainfall erosivity represents the primary driver for particle detachment in splash soil erosion. Several raindrop erosivity indices have been developed in order to quantify the potential of rainfall to cause soil erosion. Different types of rainfall simulators have been used to relate rainfall characteristics to soil detachment. However, rainfall produced by different rainfall simulators has different characteristics, specifically different relationships between rainfall intensity and rainfall erosivity. For this reason, the effect of rainfall characteristics produced by a dripper‐type rainfall simulator on splash soil erosion (D_s) has been investigated. The simulated rainfall kinetic energy (KE) and drop size distribution (DSD) were measured using piezoelectric transducers, modified from the Vaisala RAINCAP^® rain sensor. The soil splash was evaluated under various simulated rainfall intensities ranging from 10 to 100 mm h^?1 using the splash‐cup method. The simulated rainfall intensity (I) and kinetic energy relationship (I–KE) was found to be different from natural rainfall. The simulated rainfall intensity and splash soil erosion relationship (I–D_s) also followed this same trend. The I–KE relationship was found to follow the natural rainfall trend until the rainfall intensity reached 30 mm h^?1 and above this limit the KE started to decrease. This emphasizes the importance of the I–KE relationship in determining the I‐D_s relationship, which can differ from one rainfall simulator to another. D_s was found to be highly correlated with KE (r = 0·85, P < 0·001), when data produced by the rainfall intensity ranged from 10 to 100 mm h^?1. However, when the threshold rainfall intensity (30 mm h^?1) was considered, the correlation coefficient further improved (r = 0·89, P = 0·001). Accordingly, to improve the soil splash estimation of simulated rainfall under various rainfall intensities the I–KE characterization relationship for rainfall simulators has to be taken into account. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.