地闪回击的微秒级辐射场特征及近地面连接过程分析

利用１μｓ时间分辨率的慢天线电场变化仪在甘肃中川地区雷暴过程中测量得到的大量地闪辐射波形地地闪回击辐射场特征及回击的慢前沿过程进行分析,发现１８次正地闪和８５次负地闪产在周前沿过程上升时间为１９．２μｓ和９．４μｓ,８４次负地闪继后回击的前沿过程为４．３ μｓ。ＹＹ ＵＤＡ Ｏ ３．１μ;     

Short-term variabilities of upper ocean current in the warm pool region during TOGA/COARE IOP

Oceanic current data in the warm pool region of the western equatorial Pacific measured by upward-looking moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers at two equatorial sites (147°E and 154°E) and two off-equatorial sites (2°N and 2°S, 156°E) during TOGA/COARE Intensive Observing Period (IOP) from November 1992 to February 1993 are used to examine short-term variabilities in the upper layer above 160–240 m. In time series of the zonal and meridional currents in many layers, spectral peaks are found at periods around 2 days and 4 days in addition to high energies in a period range longer than 10 days. The signal with the period of about 2 days has significantly high energies at all sites, and its magnitude is higher for the meridional current than for the zonal one. This signal is especially active in the first half of IOP from November to December in 1992. In this period, the quasi-2-day signal in the current field is coherent between northern (2°N) and southern (2°S) stations, but it has no evident relationship with that in the surface wind field around the stations. The quasi-4-day signal with the period of about 4 days has highest energies in layers above 160 m at the southern station, and is coherent between northern and southern stations. Besides, the signal at the station of 2°S has a significantly high coherence with that in the wind at the southern station, suggesting that it is a local phenomenon.     

Study on the selection of unsaturated flow model for the different types of soil and soft rock

Precise estimation of unsaturated hydraulic properties of porous media is indispensable in various study areas, such as analyzing the moisture flow, the drying process occurring from the surface, and the pollutant migration beneath the ground surface. Although many empirical/theoretical models describing the unsaturated hydraulic properties have been proposed by several previous researchers, the best model for the different types of soil/rock may not be identical. Thus, the model selection process and the estimation technique of the parameters included in the models should be developed. In the present study, the inverse technique based on the transient evaporation change was investigated to select the model and estimate the model parameters. The experimental work was based on a relatively low permeable soft rock and a relatively high permeable sandy soil (Toyoura standard sand). Experimental equipment was developed to precisely measure the evaporation rate for the high permeable sandy soil. The Genetic Algorithm (GA) was adopted in the inverse technique as an optimization tool. In order to simplify the problem, only the drying process from the saturated condition was considered. It was established that the information concerning the transient evaporation change could be used for the model selection and parameter estimation. Further, the saturation distribution could be used for the selection of the models. The present study provides important information for the development of the model selection process.     

Spinifex-like textured metaperidotites from the Higo Metamorphic Rocks,Japan, a possible high-pressure dehydration product of antigorite serpentinite

Spinifex-like textured metaperidotites from the Higo Metamorphic Rocks (HMR), west-central Kyushu, Japan, may be formed by high-pressure dehydration of antigorite, and may indicate deep subduction of serpentinite reaching a pressure–temperature condition of 1.6 GPa and 740–750 °C. Three rock types have been identified based on mineral assemblage and rock texture: Type I (L) consisting of medium-grained (1–5 cm long) olivine + enstatite + chromite ±tremolite with secondary talc and anthophyllite that occurs in low-grade metamorphic rocks of the biotite zone, Type I (H) of coarse-grained (up to 10 cm long) olivine + enstatite (with clinoenstatite lamella) + chromite ±tremolite with secondary talc that occurs in high-grade metamorphic rocks of the garnet-cordierite zone, and Type II composed of Al-spinel + chlorite + olivine + apatite + ilmenite with minor sodic gedrite in the garnet-cordierite zone together with Type I (H). Olivines in all rock types are mostly serpentinized during exhumation. The chromite-olivine thermometer gives 560–690 °C for Type I (L) rocks, and the spinel-olivine thermometer gives 610–740 °C for Type II rocks. The peak metamorphic pressure will be higher than 1.6 GPa based on the location of the experimentally determined invariant point (P = 1.6 GPa and T = 670 °C) of antigorite + forsterite + enstatite + talc + H₂O. This estimate is consistent with the occurrence of chlorite in Type II rocks, which is stable up to 890 °C at 2.0 GPa. The spinifex-like textured metaperidotites occur as small bodies in the low P/T type gneisses, implying tectonic juxtaposition of them probably during exhumation of the HMR. Recent findings of medium pressure (0.9–1.2 GPa) granulites and gneisses from the HMR may indicate that the HMR has a deep root into the wedge mantle from which the spinifex-like textured metaperidotites have derived.     

Formation and shortening deformation of a back-arc rift basin revealed by deep seismic profiling, central Japan

The northern Fossa Magna (NFM) basin is a Miocene rift system produced in the final stages of the opening of the Sea of Japan. It divides the major structure of Japan into two regions, with north-trending geological structures to the NE of the basin and EW trending structures to the west of the basin. The Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) bounds the western part of the northern Fossa Magna and forms an active fault system that displays one of the largest slip rates (4–9 mm/year) in the Japanese islands. Deep seismic reflection and refraction/wide-angle reflection profiling were undertaken in 2002 across the northern part of ISTL in order to delineate structures in the crust, and the deep geometry of the active fault systems. The seismic images are interpreted based on the pattern of reflectors, the surface geology and velocities derived from refraction analysis. The 68-km-long seismic section suggests that the Miocene NFM basin was formed by an east dipping normal fault with a shallow flat segment to 6 km depth and a deeper ramp penetrating to 15 km depth. This low-angle normal fault originated as a comparatively shallow brittle/ductile detachment in a high thermal regime present in the Miocene. The NFM basin was filled by a thick (>6 km) accumulation of sediments. Shortening since the late Neogene is accommodated along NS to NE–SE trending thrust faults that previously accommodated extension and produce fault-related folds on their hanging wall. Based on our balanced geologic cross-section, the total amount of Miocene extension is ca. 42 km and the total amount of late Neogene to Quaternary shortening is ca. 23 km.     

Current-scattered (?) detrital remanence directions in the Zn-rich Pennsylvanian Stark black shale, USA

Palaeomagnetic results are reported from the metalliferous Stark black shale in the Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian/Kasimovian) Kansas City Group. Palaeomagnetic analysis of 400 specimens from 28 sites gives a characteristic remanent magnetization in 17 sites of the shale that yields a Late Mississippian to Middle Pennsylvanian palaeopole at 32.2°N 128.5°E (dp = 4.7° and dm = 8.8°). The observed palaeomagnetic age is slightly older than the host rock, indicating that the mineralization of the Stark Shale has, excluding recent alteration, a primary sedimentary or syngenetic origin. The reason for the slightly older age is likely due to trace modern hematite that slightly steepens the remanence inclination. The large oval of 95 per cent confidence is interpreted to be caused by clay–magnetite aggregates that formed during sediment transport and the biasing effect of the gentle palaeocurrent at each site acting on the large aggregates. Therefore, the scattered distribution of the site mean remanence declinations found for the Stark Shale is evidence of a detrital remanent magnetization that is formed by primary sedimentary processes with an enriched metallic content and not remagnetization with mineralization by secondary hydrothermal processes.     

The anisotropy of cosmic ray arrival directions around 10 eV

Anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energies above 10¹⁷ eV is studied using data from the Akeno 20 km² array and the Akeno Giant Air Shower Array (AGASA), using a total of about 114 000 showers observed over 11 years. In the first harmonic analysis, we have found a strong anisotropy of 4% around 10¹⁸ eV, corresponding to a chance probability of 0.2% after taking the number of independent trials into account. with two-dimensional analysis in right ascension and declination, this anisotropy is interpreted as an excess of showers near the directions of the Galactic Center and the Cygnus region.     

Validity of sea surface temperature observed with the TRITON buoy under diurnal heating conditions

In order to investigate the validity of buoy-observed sea surface temperature (SST), we installed special instruments to measure near-surface ocean temperature on the TRITON buoy moored at 2.07°N, 138.06°E from 2 to 13 March 2004, in addition to a standard buoy sensor for the regular SST measurement at 1.5-m depth. Large diurnal SST variations were observed during this period, and the variations of the temperatures at about 0.3-m depth could be approximately simulated by a one-dimensional numerical model. However, there was a notable discrepancy between the buoy-observed 1.5-m-depth SST (SST_1.5m) and the corresponding model-simulated temperature only during the daytime when the diurnal rise was large. The evaluation of the heat balance in the sea surface layer showed that the diurnal rise of the SST_1.5m in these cases could not be accounted for by solar heating alone. We examined the depth of the SST_1.5m sensor and the near-surface temperature observed from a ship near the buoy, and came to the conclusion that the solar heating of the buoy hull and/or a disturbance in the temperature field around the buoy hull would contribute to the excessive diurnal rise of the SST_1.5m observed with the TRITON buoy. However, the temperature around the hull was not sufficiently homogenized, as suggested in a previous paper. For the diurnal rise of the SST_1.5m exceeding 0.5 K, the daytime buoy data became doubtful, through dynamics that remain to be clarified. A simple formula is proposed to correct the unexpected diurnal amplitude of the buoy SST_1.5m.     

Groundwater-level Changes Due to Pressure Gradient Induced by Nearby Earthquakes off Izu Peninsula, 1997

Anomalous water level changes were observed at two wells associated with seismic swarm activity off Izu Peninsula on March, 1997. These are coseismic water level drops followed by gradual postseismic water level rise at the time of large earthquakes during the swarm activity. The post-seismic water level rises, which can be fitted by an exponential function with a time constant of about six hours, are explained in terms of the horizontal pressure diffusion due to the pressure gradient in the aquifer induced by the coseismic static strain.