Rejuvenated extension of the Philippine Sea plate and its effect on subduction dynamics in the Nankai Trough

The Nankai Trough, Japan, is a subduction zone characterized by the recurrence of disastrous earthquakes and tsunamis. Slow earthquakes and associated tremor also occur intermittently and locally in the Nankai Trough and the causal relationship between slow earthquakes and large earthquakes is important to understanding subduction zone dynamics. The Nankai Trough off Muroto, Shikoku Island, near the southeast margin of the rupture segment of the 1946 Nankai earthquake, is one of three regions where slow earthquakes and tremor cluster in the Nankai Trough. On the Philippine Sea plate, the rifting of the central domain of the Shikoku Basin was aborted at ~15 Ma and underthrust the Nankai forearc off Muroto. Here, the Tosa-Bae seamount and other high-relief features, which are northern extension of the Kinan Seamount chain, have collided with and indented the forearc wedge. In this study, we analyzed seismic reflection profiles around the deformation front of accretionary wedge and stratigraphically correlated them to drilling sites off Muroto. Our results show that the previously aborted horst-and-graben structures, which were formed around the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin at ~15 Ma, were rejuvenated locally at ~6 Ma and more regionally at ~3.3 Ma and have remained active since. The reactivated normal faulting has enhanced seafloor roughness and appears to affect the locations of slow earthquakes and tremors. Rejuvenated normal faulting is not limited to areas near the Nankai Trough, and extends more than 200 km into the Shikoku Basin to the south. This extension might be due to extensional forces applied to the Philippine Sea plate, which appear to be driven by slab-pull in the Ryukyu and Philippine trenches along the western margin of the Philippine Sea plate.     

Redistribution and export of contaminated sediment within eastern Fukushima Prefecture due to typhoon flooding

Tropical cyclones expose river basins to heavy rainfall and flooding, and cause substantial soil erosion and sediment transport. There is heightened interest in the effects of typhoon floods on river basins in northeast Japan, as the migration of radiocaesium‐bearing soils contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident will affect future radiation levels. The five main catchments surrounding FDNPP are the Odaka, Ukedo, Maeda, Kuma and Tomioka basins, but little quantitative modelling has been undertaken to identify the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes across these basins. Here we address this issue and report catchment‐scale modelling of the five basins using the GETFLOWS simulation code. The three‐dimensional (3D) models of the basins incorporated details of the geology, soil type, land cover, and used data from meteorological records as inputs. The simulation results were checked against field monitoring data for water flow rates, suspended sediment concentrations and accumulated sediment erosion and deposition. The results show that the majority of annual sediment migration in the basins occurs over storm periods, thus making typhoons the main vectors for redistribution. The Ukedo and Tomioka basins are the most important basins in the region in terms of overall sediment transport, followed by the other three basins each with similar discharge amounts. Erosion is strongly correlated with the underlying geology and the surface topography in the study area. A low permeability Pliocene Dainenji formation in the coastal area causes high surface water flow rates and soil erosion. Conversely, erosion is lower in an area with high permeability granite basement rocks between the Hatagawa and Futaba faults in the centre of the study area. Land cover is also a factor controlling differences in erosion and transport rates between forested areas in the west of the study area and predominantly agricultural areas towards the east. The largest sediment depositions occur in the Ogaki and Takigawa Dams, at the confluence of the Takase and Ukedo Rivers, and at the Ukedo River mouth. Having clarified the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes, these results can assist the ongoing task of monitoring radioactive caesium redistribution within Fukushima Prefecture, and contribute to the design and implementation of measures to protect health and the environment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Formation Process of North Pacific Intermediate Water Revealed by Profiling Floats Set to Drift on 26.7 σθ Isopycnal Surface

Six newly developed floats, which were set to drift on the 26.7 σ_θ isopycnal surface and to profile temperature, salinity and pressure above 1000 dbar once a week, were deployed in the Oyashio and Kuroshio Extension (KE) in order to examine the circulation, formation site and time scale of newly formed North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). The floats were deployed in February or May 2001, and the data from their deployments to December 2002 are analyzed here. Four of the six floats were deployed near the KE axis at around the first meander crest, and they moved eastward to 157°E–176°W at latitudes of 30°N–45°N. The other two floats deployed in the Oyashio water with low-potential vorticity near the south coast of Hokkaido moved southward to reach the KE front and then moved eastward to the same region as the first four floats. The temperature and salinity at 26.7 σ_θ measured by the profiling floats indicate that the source waters of NPIW, Oyashio and Kuroshio waters are drastically mixed and modified in the mixed water region west of 160°E. The floats were separated into the three paths east of 160°E between the Kuroshio Extension front and the north of Water-Mass front (nearly subarctic front). New NPIW is judged to be formed along these three paths since the vertical profiles of temperature and salinity are quite smooth, having a salinity minimum at about 26.7σ_θ along each path. Kuroshio-Oyashio isopycnal mixing ratios of the new NPIW are 7:3, 6:4 and 5:5 at 26.7σ_θ along the southern, middle and northern paths, respectively. Potential vorticity converges to about 14–15 × 10⁻¹¹ m⁻¹s⁻¹ along these paths. The time scale of new NPIW formation is estimated to be 1–1.5 years from the merger of Oyashio and Kuroshio waters to the formation of the new NPIW. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Surface heat balance and pan evaporation trends in Eastern Asia in the period 1971–2000

Climatic variations over Eastern Asia, including the Tibetan Plateau, were analysed using meteorological data for 32 points in the period 1971 to 2000. Changes in heat and water balances were examined using potential evaporation E_P, and a wetness index WI, as suggested by Kondo and Xu ( 1997a,b ). Climate zones, including the humid, semi‐humid, semi‐arid and arid climate types, in Eastern Asia identified by the wetness index matched the vegetation distribution. Average monthly temperatures increased over the 30 years, with the sharpest increase in February. In general, temperature increases were larger in the north than in the south. Air temperature increased by more than 0·05 K yr⁻¹ in northern China. The data showed that diurnal temperature ranges have decreased in recent years. From the Tibetan Plateau, through central China, to southern northeast China, there has been an increase in potential evaporation and pan evaporation, which may be related to both higher temperatures and a lack of surface water. Increasing long‐wave radiation flux is apparent in every month and in the interannual trends. This is in contrast to the solar radiation flux. On the other hand, trends for relative humidity and cloud cover were negative, but positive for water vapour pressure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative analysis of measurements of stratospheric aerosol by lidar and aerosol sonde above Ny-Ålesund in the winter of 1995 [Comparative analysis of lidar and OPC observations]

Solid polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) layers observed by lidar and a balloon-borne optical particle counter (OPC) on 17 December 1995 are reexamined in a comparative analysis framework. The typical radius of solid particles in the observed PSC is determined through the comparative analysis to have been approximately 2.3 μm. A backward trajectory analysis for the air mass in which the solid particles were observed shows that the air mass had experienced temperatures 2–3 K below the frost point of nitric acid tri-hydrate (NAT) during the 4 days preceding the observations. The back-trajectory analysis traces the air mass back to northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island on 16 December, one day before the observations. A microphysical box model is used to investigate possible mechanisms of formation for the observed solid particles. The results of this model suggest that the solid particles formed under mesoscale temperature fluctuations associated with mountain lee wave activity induced by the relatively high terrestrial elevations of northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island.     

Relation Between Coronal Hole Areas and Solar Wind Speeds Derived from Interplanetary Scintillation Measurements

We investigate the relation between coronal hole (CH) areas and solar wind speeds during 1995?–?2011 using the potential field (PF) model analysis of magnetograph observations and interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations by the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (formerly Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory) of Nagoya University. We obtained a significant positive correlation between the CH areas (\(A\)) derived from the PF model calculations and solar wind speeds (\(V\)) derived from the IPS observations. The correlation coefficients between them are usually high, but they drop significantly in solar maxima. The slopes of the \(A\)?–?\(V\) relation are roughly constant except for the period around solar maximum, when flatter or steeper slopes are observed. The excursion of the correlation coefficients and slopes at solar maxima is ascribed partly to the effect of rapid structural changes in the coronal magnetic field and solar wind, and partly to the predominance of small CHs. It is also demonstrated that \(V\) is inversely related to the flux expansion factor (\(f\)) and that \(f\) is closely related to \(A^{-1/2}\); hence, \(V \propto A^{1/2}\). A better correlation coefficient is obtained from the \(A^{1/2}\)?–?\(V\) relation, and this fact is useful for improving space weather predictions. We compare the CH areas derived from the PF model calculations with He i 1083 nm observations and show that the PF model calculations provide reliable estimates of the CH area, particularly for large \(A\).     

Solar Wind Speed and Expansion Rate of the Coronal Magnetic Field during Carrington Rotation 1909

The synoptic map of the solar wind speed (SWS) estimated by the computer-assisted tomography (CAT) method with interplanetary scintillation observations is constructed for the 1909 Carrington rotation. A similar synoptic map of expansion rate (RBR) of the coronal magnetic field calculated by the so-called 'potential model' with the photospheric magnetic field is also constructed under the radial field assumption (RF model). These maps consist of 64800 (180×360) data points of equal area. We examine for the first time relations between the SWS estimated by the CAT technique and the RBR calculated by the RF model. A highly significant correlation is found between the SWS and the RBR. A simple correlation coefficient is about –0.72; that is, high-velocity winds emanate from photospheric areas corresponding to a low expansion rate of the coronal magnetic field, and low-velocity winds emanate from photospheric areas of high expansion rate. This result suggests that there is some acceleration mechanism relating to the coronal field expansion.     

Dynamics between order and chaos in conceptual models of glacial cycles

The dynamics of glacial cycles is studied in terms of the dynamical systems theory. We explore the dependence of the climate state on the phase of the astronomical forcing by examining five conceptual models of glacial cycles proposed in the literature. The models can be expressed as quasiperiodically forced dynamical systems. It is shown that four of them exhibit a strange nonchaotic attractor (SNA), which is an intermediate regime between quasiperiodicity and chaos. Then, the dependence of the climate state on the phase of the astronomical forcing is not given by smooth relations, but constitutes a geometrically strange set. Our result suggests that SNA is a candidate for representing the dynamics of glacial cycles, in addition to well-known quasiperiodicity and chaos.     

Accurate ocean tide modeling in southeast Alaska and large tidal dissipation around Glacier Bay

An accurate prediction of ocean tides in southeast Alaska is developed using a regional, barotropic ocean model with a finite difference scheme. The model skill is verified by the observational tidal harmonics in southeast Alaska including Glacier Bay. The result is particularly improved in Glacier Bay compared to the previous model described by Foreman et al. (2000). The model bathymetry dominates the model skill. We re-estimate tidal energy dissipation in the Alaska Panhandle and suggest a value for tidal energy dissipation of 3.4 GW associated with the M₂ constituent which is 1.5 times the estimation of Foreman et al. (2000). A large portion of the M₂ energy budget entering through Chatham Strait is dissipated in the vicinity of Glacier Bay. Moreover, it is shown that the developed model has the potential to correct the ocean tide loading effect in geodetic data more efficiently than the model of Foreman et al. (2000), especially around Glacier Bay.