日本大沼湖沉积物碳氮比值、有机碳同位素特征及其近400年的古气候环境意义

通过对日本大沼湖沉积物样品总有机碳含量(TOC)及其稳定同位素、总氮含量(TN)和C/N值的测定,结合沉积岩芯火山灰和1℃年代,分析了大沼湖沉积物中有机质的来源,探讨了沉积物有机碳同位素的主要影响因素.结果表明:大沼湖沉积物中有机质主要来源于自生藻类,受陆源输入的影响较小;沉积物δ13C值指示了夏季温度的变化.过去400年来,大沼湖地区存在1660～ 1730年和1780～ 1860年两个明显的冷期,与邻近地区冰芯、树轮和湖泊沉积物记录的冷期基本一致,分别对应于Maunder和Dalton太阳黑子极小期.     

Rapid Identification of Water-Conducting Fractures Using a Trace Methane Gas Measurement

Identification of water-conducting fractures is important for the safety assessment of underground projects in crystalline rocks at geological disposal sites. We applied a portable methane gas analyzer by wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy to detect the water-conducting fractures in the underground tunnel of the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory, central Japan. The tunnel is excavated in granite with CH₄-rich groundwater. Two approaches were taken to obtain the profile of CH₄ concentration along the gallery walls: (1) “Scan by walking” at the speed of 0.5 m/s and (2) monitoring for 30 s at 0.5 or 1 m intervals. In the Scan by walking approach, the peaks of the CH₄ concentration corresponded well with the occurrence of high water flow rate fractures. Thus, this method is useful for rapid identification of major water-conducting fractures. Monitoring at constant intervals takes more time than the Scan by walking approach; however, this method can largely detect occurrences of fractures with low fluid fluxes.     

Snow ripples and their contribution to the mass transport in drifting snow

Morphological characteristics of snow ripples formed by drifting snow were investigated as functions of wind velocity in a cold wind tunnel at -15 °C. Wave-length, wave height and migration rate of snow ripples increased from 5 to 20 cm, 3 to 5 mm and 1 to 8 cm/min, respectively, with increasing wind velocity from 5 to 7 m/s. Measured size distributions of snow particles in snow ripples showed sorting of large particles in ridges, suggesting that the snow ripple migration is caused by creeping of large particles. The snow drift rate caused by creep, that is, by the ripple migration, was estimated to amount, at least, to 6% of the total snow drift rate.     

Use of tsunami waveforms for earthquake source study

Tsunami waveforms recorded on tide gauges, like seismic waves recorded on seismograms, can be used to study earthquake source processes. The tsunami propagation can be accurately evaluated, since bathymetry is much better known than seismic velocity structure in the Earth. Using waveform inversion techniques, we can estimate the spatial distribution of coseismic slip on the fault plane from tsunami waveforms. This method has been applied to several earthquakes around Japan. Two recent earthquakes, the 1968 Tokachi-oki and 1983 Japan Sea earthquakes, are examined for calibration purposes. Both events show nonuniform slip distributions very similar to those obtained from seismic wave analyses. The use of tsunami waveforms is more useful for the study of unusual or old earthquakes. The 1984 Torishima earthquake caused unusually large tsunamis for its earthquake size. Waveform modeling of this event shows that part of the abnormal size of this tsunami is due to the propagation effect along the shallow ridge system. For old earthquakes, many tide gauge records exist with quality comparable to modern records, while there are only a few good quality seismic records. The 1944 Tonankai and 1946 Nankaido earthquakes are examined as examples of old events, and slip distributions are obtained. Such estimates are possible only using tsunami records. Since tide-gauge records are available as far back as the 1850s, use of them will provide unique and important information on long-term global seismicity.     

The correlation of whistler occurrence rate at a low latitude with thunderstorm activity at its conjugate region and with solar activity

The correlations of occurrence rate of whistlers in January during one solar cycle (1977–1987) at a low latitude station (Yamaoka, geomag. lat. 25°, L=1.26) with thunderstorm activity near its conjugate region and also with solar activity have been investigated, and it is found that the occurrence rate has no correlation with the lightning flashes near the conjugate point, while it is negatively correlated with solar activity. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that the ionospheric absorption is of major importance in the long-term variation of whistler occurrence rate, with the duct formation being of secondary effect, while the lightning activity is only a necessary condition for whistler occurrence.     

Measurements of wave normal direction of whistler mode signals in the ionosphere by means of the Rocket-Doppler technique

Wave normal directions of VLF signals propagating through the ionosphere can be determined by measuring Doppler frequency shift of the signals by means of rocket borne receivers. Two rockets were launched to detect the NWC signal of 22.3 kHz which was transmitted from Australia and propagated on two completely different paths, one being propagated through the Earth-ionosphere waveguide and up to the rocket, the other propagated down to the rocket by the whistler mode directly from the source in the opposite hemisphere. The wave normal directions of the latter mode were almost vertically downward in the ionosphere in the northern hemisphere, although substantial error was involved in the determination of the wave normal direction for a part of the upgoing flight of the rockets, due to the relative geometry of the directions of the rocket flight and the geomagnetic field. The effect of the horizontal gradients of the ionosphere on the above results were found to be not significant. From the experimental results it is concluded that field aligned ducts stretching down to the rocket altitudes did not exist, at least, during the rocket flights.     

Small Scale Field Study of an Ocean CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Plume

We have carried out a small-scale (∼20 l) CO₂ sequestration experiment off northern California (684 m depth, ∼5°C, background ocean pH ∼7.7) designed as an initial investigation of the effects of physical forcing of the fluid, and the problem of sensing the formation of a low pH plume. The buoyant CO₂ was contained in a square frame 1.2 m high, exposing 0.21 m² to ocean flow. Two pH electrodes attached to the frame recorded the signal; a second frame placed 1.9 m south of the CO₂ pool was also equipped with two recording pH electrodes. An additional pH electrode was held in the ROV robotic arm to probe the fluid interface. Local water velocities of up to 40 cm sec⁻¹ were encountered, creating significant eddies within the CO₂ box, and forcing wavelets at the fluid interface. This resulted in rapid CO₂ dissolution, with all CO₂ being depleted in a little more than 2 days. The pH record from the sensor closest (∼10 cm) to the CO₂ showed many spikes of low pH water, the extreme value being ∼5.9. The sensor 1 m immediately below this showed no detectable response. The electrodes placed 1.9 m distant from the source also recorded very small perturbations. The results provide important clues for the design of future experiments for CO₂ disposal and biogeochemical impact studies. These include the need for dealing with the slow CO₂ hydration kinetics, better understanding of the fluid dynamics of the CO₂-water interface, and non-point source release designs to provide more constant, controlled local CO₂ enrichments within the experimental area. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evidence for erosion and deposition by the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami on the nearshore shelf of Sendai Bay,Japan

Ongoing geological research into processes operating on the nearshore continental shelf and beyond is vital to our understanding of modern tsunami-generated sediment transport and deposition. This paper investigates the southern part of Sendai Bay, Japan, by means of high-resolution seismic surveys, vibracoring, bathymetric data assimilation, and radioisotope analysis of a core. For the first time, it was possible to identify an erosional surface in the shallow subsurface, formed by both seafloor erosion and associated offshore-directed sediment transport caused by the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami. The area of erosion and deposition extends at least 1,100 m offshore from the shoreline down to water depths of 16.7 m. The tsunami-generated sedimentological signature reaches up to 1.2 m below the present seafloor, whereas bathymetric changes due to storm-related reworking over a period of 3 years following the tsunami event have been limited to the upper ~0.3 m, despite the fact that the study area is located on an open shelf facing the Pacific Ocean. Tsunami-generated erosion surfaces may thus be preserved for extended periods of time, and may even enter the rock record, because the depth of tsunami erosion can exceed the depth of storm erosion. This finding is also important for interpretation of modern submarine strata, since erosion surfaces in shallow (depths less than ~1 m) seismic records from open coast shelves have generally been interpreted as storm-generated surfaces or transgressive ravinement surfaces.