The layered structure of lunar maria: Identification of the HF-radar reflector in Mare Serenitatis using multiband optical images

Comparison of the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) data to the Multiband Imager (MI) data is performed to identify the subsurface reflectors in Mare Serenitatis. The LRS is FM-CW radar (4–6 MHz) and the 2 MHz bandwidth leads to the range resolution of 75 m in a vacuum, whereas the sampling interval in the flight direction is about 75 m when an altitude of the spacecraft with polar orbit is nominal (100 km). Horizontally continuous reflectors were clearly detected by LRS in limited areas that consist of about 9% of the whole maria. The typical depth of the reflectors is estimated to be a few hundred meters. Layered structures of mare basalts are also discernible on some crater walls in the MI data of the visible bands (VIS). The VIS range has nine wavelengths of 415, 750, 900, 950, and 1000 nm, and their spatial resolution is 20 m/pixel at a nominal altitude. The stratigraphies around Bessel and Bessel-H craters in Mare Serenitatis are examined in this paper. It was revealed that the subsurface reflectors lie on the boundaries between basalt units with different chemical compositions. In addition, model calculations using the simplified radar equation indicate that the subsurface reflectors are not compositional interfaces but layer boundaries with a high-porosity contrast. These results suggest that the detected reflectors in Mare Serenitatis are regolith accumulated during so long hiatus of mare volcanisms enough for chemical composition of magma to change, not instantaneously. Therefore combination of the LRS and MI data has a potential to reveal characteristics of a series of magmatism forming each lithostratigraphic unit in Mare Serenitatis and other maria.     

Criteria for the occurrence of wind-driven coastal upwelling associated with “Aoshio” on the southeast shore of Tokyo Bay

At the head of Tokyo Bay, coastal upwelling of oxygen-depleted bottom water, induced by northeasterly wind-driven circulation, sometimes leads to the deaths of many shellfish and other aquatic animals across large areas, resulting in substantial economic losses to coastal fisheries. One of the chemical actions associated with this dynamic process is the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in the bottom water into a colloidal sulfur substance. When sunshine reflects off surface water containing these sulfur particles, the seawater appears milky blue. This phenomenon has been termed “Aoshio.” One of the most important issues to address concerning upwelling in relation to Aoshio is to accurately predict when it will occur as well as its area and scale. In the preliminary study described here, we propose criteria for the occurrence of wind-driven upwelling associated with Aoshio on the southeast shore of Tokyo Bay using two analytical solutions. These two solutions were derived based on some specific assumptions in the context of a two-layered fluid. Comparison with observation data suggested that the criteria were valid. The results of analyses of the sensitivity of the solutions to all of the parameters incorporated into them were also found to be in accord with our qualitative understanding of this phenomenon.     

Recent increase of DIC in the western North Pacific

The temporal variation of the total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) content in the western North Pacific is investigated by comparing the DIC distribution obtained from the data sets of three different periods, the GEOSECS data observed in 1973, the CO₂ dynamics Cruise data observed in 1982, and recent Japanese data sets observed during the early 1990s. The overall feature of the signal of temporal DIC change during 1973 and early 1990s agreed with that of former studies, and did not significantly change with the calculation scheme (the grid-selection method vs. the multiple regression method). The observed increase in DIC among the different time scales showed a good inner consistency, which also indicates the stability of the method used in the DIC change calculation. The apparent rate of increase of the DIC inventory in the upper 1000 m water column, however, differed significantly by the data set used for the calculation: It was 5.6±2.4 g C/m²/year, based on the data comparison between 1982 and the early 1990s, while it became 7.6±2.4 g C/m²/year when based on the data between 1973 and the early 1990s. This result provides us an information about the data-dependency on the former estimation of temporal DIC change.     

Flux of low salinity water from Aniva Bay (Sakhalin Island) to the southern Okhotsk Sea

In this study, we examined the relationship between the low salinity water in the shelf region of the southern Okhotsk Sea which was seasonally sampled (0–200 m), and fluxes of low salinity water from Aniva Bay. To express the source of freshwater mixing in the surface layer, we applied normalized total alkalinity (NTA) and stable isotopes of seawater as chemical tracers. NTA-S diagrams indicate that NTA of low salinity water in the upper 30 m layer just off the Soya Warm Current is clearly higher than in the far offshore region in summer and autumn. Using NTA-S regression lines, we could deduce that the low salinity and high NTA water in the upper layer originates from Aniva Bay. For convenience, we defined this water as the Aniva Surface Water (ASW) with values S < 32, NTA > 2450 μmol kg⁻¹. Formation and transport processes of ASW are discussed using historical data. The interaction between the maximum core of high NTA water on the bottom slope of eastern Aniva Bay and an anticyclonic eddy at the mouth of Aniva Bay are concluded to control ASW formation. Upwelling of the Cold Water Belt water at the tip of Cape Krillion is considered to cause ASW outflow from Aniva Bay.     

Apparent downward CO2 flux observed with open-path eddy covariance over a non-vegetated surface

Summary The open-path eddy covariance (EC) method often shows unlikely downward CO₂ fluxes in late winter and early spring over drained paddy fields with few active plants. To understand why, we carried out intensive measurements in a bare paddy field from 9 to 11 April 2003, simultaneously using open- and closed-path EC methods; aerodynamic and dynamic closed-chamber methods were also used. During this period, the open-path EC method showed downward daytime CO₂ fluxes ranging from 0 to −5.9 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹, even after application of the WPL correction (density correction) and ordinary quality control tests. Because the closed-path EC and aerodynamic methods showed upward CO₂ fluxes, the downward CO₂ fluxes observed with open-path EC appear not to represent true CO₂ transport. Diurnal variations in the downward daytime CO₂ fluxes appeared to be correlated with increases in solar radiation during the day, and also with increases in sensible heat flux in weak winds but not under strongly windy conditions. The daytime 10-Hz time series data of vertical wind and CO₂ mixing ratio demonstrated that updrafts were CO₂ depleted in the open-path system, whereas the same updrafts were CO₂ enriched in the closed-path system. Careful examination of the discrepancies between the open- and the closed-path EC measurements revealed that the amplitudes of the 10-Hz temperature signals from the sonic anemometer and the resultant sensible heat fluxes were too small to compensate for the discrepancies observed during the daytime. The open-path EC method with the conventional application of the WPL correction is not necessarily appropriate for measuring small magnitudes of CO₂ flux (≤5 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) under such surface and atmospheric conditions that the magnitude of the WPL correction is as great as that of the uncorrected CO₂ flux itself. Author’s addresses: Keisuke Ono, 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan; Akira Miyata, Tomoyasu Yamada, National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan     

Thermoelastic properties of the high-pressure phase of SnO2 determined by in situ X-ray observations up to 30 GPa and 1400 K

 In situ synchrotron X-ray experiments in the system SnO₂ were made at pressures of 4–29 GPa and temperatures of 300–1400 K using sintered diamond anvils in a 6–8 type high-pressure apparatus. Orthorhombic phase (α-PbO₂ structure) underwent a transition to a cubic phase (Pa3ˉ structure) at 18 GPa. This transition was observed at significantly lower pressures in DAC experiments. We obtained the isothermal bulk modulus of cubic phase K ₀= 252(28) GPa and its pressure derivative K ^′=3.5(2.2). The thermal expansion coefficient of cubic phase at 25 GPa up to 1300 K was determined from interpolation of the P-V-T data obtained, and is 1.7(±0.7) × 10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ at 25 GPa. Received: 7 December 1999 / Accepted: 27 April 2000     

Upper Cretaceous depositional environments and bivalve assemblages of far-east Asia: the Himenoura Group, Kyushu, Japan

The depositional environments and bivalve assemblages are determined for the Upper Cretaceous Hinoshima Formation of the Himenoura Group, Kamishima, Amakusa Islands, Kyushu, Japan. The Hinoshima Formation is characterized by a thick transgressive succession that varies from incised-valley-fill deposits to submarine slope deposits with high aggradation rates of depositional systems. The incised valley is filled with fluvial, bayhead delta, brackish-water estuary, and marine embayment deposits, and is overlain by thick slope deposits.Shallow marine bivalves are grouped into five fossil assemblages according to species composition: Glycymeris amakusensis (foreset beds of a bayhead delta), Nippononectes tamurai (foreset beds of a bayhead delta), Ezonuculana mactraeformis–Nucula formosa (central bay), Glycymeris amakusensis–Apiotrigonia minor (slope), and Inoceramus higoensis–Parvamussium yubarensis (slope). These bivalve assemblages all represent autochthonous and parautochthonous conditions except for a Glycymeris amakusensis–Apiotrigonia minor assemblage found in debris flow and slump deposits. The life habitats of these bivalves and the compositions of the assemblages are discussed in terms of the ecological history of fossil bivalves of the mid- to Late Cretaceous.     

Polymetallic and Au-Ag Mineralizations at the Mutnovskoe Deposit in South Kamchatka, Russia

Abstract. The Mutnovskoe deposit located in the Porozhisto‐Asachinskaya metallogenic province of South Kamchatka, Russia, is a polymetallic vein and Au‐Ag quartz vein associated type of hydrothermal deposit. The Mutnovskoe deposit is located inside a paleo‐caldera structure at the center of the Mutnovsko‐Asachinskaya geothermal field of Pliocene ‐ Quaternary age, where active gold deposition is identified in hot spring precipitate. The Mutnovskoe deposit is subdivided into the north flank, the central flank and the south flank based on the vein distributions and mineral parageneses. The mineralized vein system is oriented N‐S hosted in diorite ‐ gabbroic diorite stock, volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks of Miocene ‐ Pleistocene age. The mineralization stage I (polymetallic vein) mainly in the central and the south flanks is Zn‐Pb‐Cu‐Au‐Ag contained in sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite‐tennantite group mineral. The stage II (Au‐Ag quartz vein) occurs in the north and the central flanks. The stage III (Mn‐sulfide and Mn‐Ca‐carbonate vein) occurs in the whole deposit area. Stage II is the typical Au‐Ag quartz‐adularia vein of low‐sulfidation type. Stage III is alabandite‐rhodochrosite‐quartz‐calcite vein. The K‐Ar ages are 1.3±0.1 Ma for stage I sericite in alteration zone, and 0.7±0.1 Ma for the stage II adularia in mineralized vein. Based on the fluid inclusion study, range of ore forming temperature of the Mutnovskoe deposit is 200 to 260d?C (av. 230d?C). Salinities of fluid inclusions indicate 2.2 to 5.7 wt% NaCl in sphalerite and 0.8 to 3.3 wt% NaCl in quartz for the stage I. Mineral paragenesis of the polymetallic vein (stage I) is characterized by a district zoning of tennantite and Cd‐rich sphalerite in the south flank and tetrahedrite and Mn‐rich sphalerite in the central flank, which is due to the fractional crystallizations of ore‐forming fluid. Depositional condition of the low sulfidation state is inferred for the Mutnovskoe deposit, where the polymetallic vein of the south flank is in relatively higher sulfidation state than the central flank.     

Impact Experiments on Porous Icy-Silicate Cylindrical Blocks and the Implication for Disruption and Accumulation of Small Icy Bodies

Impact strength and cratering ejecta were studied for porous targets of pure ice and icy-silicate mixture in order to clarify the accumulation and destruction (shattering) condition of small icy bodies. The icy projectile impacted on the cylindrical targets with the porosity up to 55% at a velocity of 150 to 670 m/s at −10°C. The porosity dependence of the impact strength and that of the maximum ejecta velocity were measured in each type of these targets. As a result, the maximum ejecta velocity normalized by the impact velocity (V_e-max/V_i) is found to depend only on the porosity (φ), irrespective of the target type; a relationship is derived to be V_e-max/V_i=−2.17φ+1.29. The impact strength of pure ice increased with increased target porosity, but that of mixture target had an opposite trend; that is, the strength decreased with increased porosity. These porosity dependencies of the impact strength could be explained by the porosity dependence of the physical parameters such as impact pressure, pressure decay, and static strength. Finally, the accumulation of small icy bodies is discussed to show that the collisional events can be divided into three types by the porosity and the collision velocity according to our experimental results: mass loss, rubble pile formation, and regolith formation (compaction).