Experimental investigation of the α-β transformation of San Carlos olivine single crystal

Single crystalline San Carlos olivine (1 mm cube) was transformed to (Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄β-phase at 13.5–15 GPa, 1030–1330 °C for 0–600 min using a multi-anvil high pressure apparatus. The α-β transformation occurred by incoherent surface nucleation and interface-controlled growth and recovered partially transformed samples showed sharply defined reaction rim. The growth rate of the β-phase rim significantly decreased with time and the growth eventually ceased. TEM observations revealed that many dislocations were created in both the relict olivine just near the α-β interface and the β-phase in the rim, which show evidence for deformation caused by interfacial stresses associated with the misfit elastic strain of the transformation. The observed tangled dislocation texture in β-phase suggested that the β-phase rim was hardened and relaxation of the interfacial stress was retarded. This probably caused a localized pressure drop in the relict olivine and decreased the growth rate. Time-dependent growth rates of β-phase is possibly controlled by the rheology of β-phase, which must be considered for the prediction of the olivine metastability in the subducting slabs. Received: 24 January 1997 / Revised, accepted: 24 July 1998     

YOHKOH/WBS Recalibration and a Comprehensive Catalogue of Solar Flares Observed by YOHKOH SXT, HXT and WBS Instruments

The flare catalogue of the Yohkoh mission is compiled and linked to this article as an electronic supplement. For showing flare characteristics over wide energy range concisely, we provide the images of Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT) and the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT), and the spectra of Hard X-ray Spectrometer (HXS) and Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) with the Wide Band Spectrometer (WBS) time profiles. The energy versus pulse height (PH) data channels in HXS and GRS are re-calibrated by using the data of the whole mission period. Secular gain changes are recognized in HXS, and the characteristics of power-law flare spectra simultaneously observed by HXT and HXS confirms the trend. The GRS gains are different for the flare observations during the previous maximum and for the current maximum. The total of 33 γ -ray events are observed, and for 12 of them γ-ray flare spectra are obtained. Electronic supplementary material to this article is available at and is accessible for authorized users.     

High pressure phase equilibria in the system CaTiO3-CaSiO3: stability of perovskite solid solutions

Phase relations in the system CaTiO₃-CaSiO₃ were experimentally examined at 5.3–14.7 GPa and 1200–1600 °C with a 6–8 type multianvil apparatus. As pressure increases, stability field of perovskite solid solution extends from CaTiO₃ to CaSiO₃, and the perovskite becomes stable for the entire composition range above about 12.3 GPa. The stability field of Ca(Ti_1?X, Si_X)₂O₅ (0.78<x≦1) titanite solid solution +Ca₂SiO₄ larnite exists in the CaSiO₃-rich composition range at 9.3–12.3 GPa and 1200 °C. Perovskite solid solutions containing CaSiO₃ component of 0 to 66 mol% could be quenched to 1 atm. The composition-molar volume relationship of perovskite solid solution showed that molar volume of perovskite solid solution linearly reduces from the value of CaTiO₃ to that of CaSiO₃.     

Stress fields and fault reactivation angles of the 2000 western Tottori aftershocks and the 2001 northern Hyogo swarm in southwest Japan

We estimated the stress fields of the aftershocks of the 2000 western Tottori earthquake (M_w 6.6) and the northern Hyogo swarm (max M_w 5.2) by a stress tensor inversion of moment tensor solutions reported from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (Japan). The maximum principal stress direction of the western Tottori sequence was estimated as N107°E with a strike–slip regime. In the northern Hyogo swarm, the orientations of the principal stress directions could not be well constrained by the observed data, but after examining the detailed characteristics of the solution, we obtained a most probable solution of N113°E for the σ₁ direction. These solutions are consistent with the maximum horizontal directions roughly estimated from the strike directions of large earthquakes occurring geographically between these two seismic activities. We measured the angle between each fault–slip direction and maximum principal stress direction to investigate the frictional properties of earthquakes. The distribution of the angles was forward modeled to estimate the coefficient of friction and the stress ratio, assuming uniformly distributed fault orientations. For the western Tottori sequence, a homogeneous stress field with a coefficient of friction less than 0.4 was estimated. A high stress level was also suggested because very little change occurred in the stress field during the mainshock. For the northern Hyogo sequence, the coefficient of friction was estimated to be between 0.5 and 1.0.     

Application of Magnetotelluric (MT) Resistivity to Imaging of Regional Three-Dimensional Geologic Structures and Groundwater Systems

Widespread definition of a groundwater system in three dimensions is necessary for the management and maintenance of groundwater resources. A magnetotelluric (MT) survey can be an effective geophysical prospecting method for imaging regional geological structures by measuring both shallow and deep resistivity. To demonstrate the capability of an MT survey to characterize a groundwater system, the Kumamoto area of central Kyushu in southwestern Japan was selected as a case study site because of its rich groundwater resources. Three-dimensional (3D) MT resistivity structure to a depth of 5?km was modeled by 1D inversion analysis of raw MT data and 3D interpolation of the resultant resistivity column data by the optimization principle method. Consequently, both deep and shallow aquifers were detected. A high-resistivity zone appears at depths between 500 and 2,000?m between the Futagawa?CHinagu faults and the Usuki?CYatsushiro tectonic line, which supports the existence of an aquiclude under the aquifer. The most important characteristic inferred from the 3D resistivity model is that the deep groundwater system below a depth of 1,000?m has two main flow paths. One path is likely to be through porous rocks because the low resistivity zone is regarded as tuff with sand and gravel, and the other flow path is interpreted to be through fractured zones along the Hinagu faults. Hence, the path and direction of the groundwater flows are probably controlled by geologic structures and the configuration of the active faults. These findings support the effectiveness of the MT method for investigating groundwater systems.     

Raman spectroscopy and heat capacity measurement of calcium ferrite type MgAl2O4 and CaAl2O4

Raman spectroscopy of calcium ferrite type MgAl₂O₄ and CaAl₂O₄ and heat capacity measurement of CaAl₂O₄ calcium ferrite were performed. The heat-capacity of CaAl₂O₄ calcium ferrite measured by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was represented as C_P(T)=190.6–1.116 × 10⁷T^–2 + 1.491 × 10⁹T^–3 above 250 K (T in K). The obtained Raman spectra were applied to lattice dynamics calculation of heat capacity using the Kieffer model. The calculated heat capacity for CaAl₂O₄ calcium ferrite showed good agreement with that by the DSC measurement. A Kieffer model calculation for MgAl₂O₄ calcium ferrite similar to that for CaAl₂O₄ calcium ferrite was made to estimate the heat capacity of the former. The heat capacity of MgAl₂O₄ calcium ferrite was represented as C_P(T)=223.4–1352T ^–0.5 – 4.181 × 10⁶T ^–2 + 4.300 × 10⁸T ^–3 above 250 K. The calculation also gave approximated vibrational entropies at 298 K of calcium ferrite type MgAl₂O₄ and CaAl₂O₄ as 97.6 and 114.9 J mol^–1 K^–1, respectively.     

Viscosity of albite melt at high pressure and high temperature

 The viscosity of albite (NaAlSi₃O₈) melt was measured at high pressure by the in situ falling-sphere method using a high-resolution X-ray CCD camera and a large-volume multianvil apparatus installed at SPring-8. This system enabled us to conduct in situ viscosity measurements more accurately than that using the conventional technique at pressures of up to several gigapascals and viscosity in the order of 10⁰ Pa s. The viscosity of albite melt is 5.8 Pa s at 2.6 GPa and 2.2 Pa s at 5.3 GPa and 1973 K. Experiments at 1873 and 1973 K show that the decrease in viscosity continues to 5.3 GPa. The activation energy for viscosity is estimated to be 316(8) kJ mol⁻¹ at 3.3 GPa. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that a gradual decrease in viscosity of albite melt at high pressure may be explained by structural changes such as an increase in the coordination number of aluminum in the melt. Received: 6 January 2001 / Accepted: 27 August 2001     

NIED seismic moment tensor catalogue for regional earthquakes around Japan: quality test and application

We have examined the quality of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) seismic moment tensor (MT) catalogue obtained using a regional broadband seismic network (FREESIA). First, we examined using synthetic waveforms the robustness of the solutions with regard to data noise as well as to errors in the velocity structure and focal location. Then, to estimate the reliability, robustness and validity of the catalogue, we compared it with the Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalogue as well as the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) focal mechanism catalogue. We found out that the NIED catalogue is consistent with Harvard and JMA catalogues within the uncertainty of 0.1 in moment magnitude, 10 km in depth, and 15° in direction of the stress axes. The NIED MT catalogue succeeded in reducing to 3.5 the lower limit of moment magnitude above which the moment tensor could be reliably estimated. Finally, we estimated the stress tensors in several different regions by using the NIED MT catalogue. This enables us to elucidate the stress/deformation field in and around the Japanese islands to understand the mode of deformation and applied stress. Moreover, we identified a region of abnormal stress in a swarm area from stress tensor estimates.     

Strong ground motion estimation in the Sea of Marmara region (Turkey) based on a scenario earthquake

We perform a broadband frequency bedrock strong ground motion simulation in the Marmara Sea region (Turkey), based on several fault rupture scenarios and a source asperity model. The technique combines a deterministic simulation of seismic wave propagation at low frequencies with a semi-stochastic procedure for the high frequencies. To model the high frequencies, we applied a frequency-dependent radiation pattern model, which efficiently removes the effective dependence of the pattern coefficient on the azimuth and take-off angle as the frequency increases. The earthquake scenarios considered consist of the rupture of the closest segments of the North Anatolian Fault System to the city of Istanbul. Our scenario earthquakes involve the rupture of the entire North Anatolian Fault beneath the Sea of Marmara, namely the combined rupture of the Central Marmara Fault and North Boundary Fault segments. We defined three fault rupture scenarios based on the location of the hypocenter, selecting a preferred hypocentral location near a fault bend for each case. We analysed the effect of location of the asperity, within the Central Marmara Fault, on the subsequent ground motion, as well as the influence of anelasticity on the high-frequency attenuation characteristics. The fault and asperity parameters for each scenario were determined from empirical scalings and from results of kinematic and dynamic models of fault rupture. We calculated the resulting time series and spectra for ground motion at Istanbul and evaluated the sensitivity of the predictions to choice of model parameters. The location of the hypocenter is thus shown to be a critical parameter for determining the worst scenario earthquake at Istanbul. We also found that anelasticity has a significant effect on the regional attenuation of peak ground accelerations. Our simulated ground motions result in large values of acceleration response spectra at long periods, which could be critical for building damage at Istanbul during an actual earthquake.