Survivability of presolar oxygen isotopic signature of amorphous silicate dust in the protosolar disk

Oxygen isotope exchange experiments between tens of nanometer‐sized amorphous enstatite grains and water vapor were carried out under a condition of protoplanetary disk‐like low water vapor pressure in order to investigate the survivability of distinct oxygen isotope signatures of presolar silicate grains in the protosolar disk. Oxygen isotope exchange between amorphous enstatite and water vapor proceeded at 923–1003 K and 0.3 Pa of water vapor through diffusive isotope exchange in the amorphous structure. The rate of diffusive isotope exchange is given by D (m² s^–1) = (5.0 ± 0.2) × 10^–21 exp[–161.3 ± 1.7 (kJ mol^–1) R^–1 (1/T–1/1200)]. The activation energy for the diffusive isotope exchange for amorphous enstatite is the same as that for amorphous forsterite within the analytical uncertainties, but the isotope exchange rate is ~30 times slower in amorphous enstatite because of the difference in frequency factor of the reaction. The reaction kinetics indicates that 0.1–1 μm‐sized presolar amorphous silicate dust with enstatite and forsterite compositions would avoid oxygen isotope exchange with protosolar disk water vapor only if they were kept at temperatures below ~500–650 K within the lifetime of the disk gas.     

Quantification of Uncertainty in Ore-Reserve Estimation: Applications to Chapada Copper Deposit,State of Goiás,Brazil

Ordinary kriging (OK) has been used widely for ore-reserve estimation because of its superior characteristics in relation to other methods. One of these characteristics is related to the quantification of uncertainty by the kriging variance. However, the kriging variance does not recognize local data variability, which is an important issue in the process of ore-reserve estimation, when heterogeneous mineral deposits with richer and poorer parts are being evaluated. This paper proposes the use of interpolation variance as a reliable measure of local data variability and, therefore, adequate for ore-reserve classification. With a reliable measurement of data variability, local confidence can be calculated using the classical confidence interval around an estimate. Errors derived from local confidence then are used to assign classes according to a degree of certainty within some confidence level. Comparative tests using both OK variance and interpolation variance are carried out using exploration data from Chapada Copper Deposit, State of Goiás, Brazil. Results show that the interpolation variance provides a better way to measure uncertainty and consequently to classify reserves.     

Effect of fault bend on the rupture propagation process of stick-slip

An experimental study of stick-slip is performed to examine the effect of a fault bend on the dynamic rupture propagation process. A granite sample used in the experiment has a pre-cut fault that is artificially bent by an angle of 5.6° at the center of the fault along strike, and accordingly the fault consists of two fault segments. The rupture propagation process during stick-slip instability is investigated by analyzing the records of shear strain and relative displacement measured with strain gauge sensors together with the hypocenters of AE (acoustic emission) events detected with piezoelectric transducers. The observed rupture propagation process of typical stick-slip events is as follows. (1) The dynamic rupture started on a fault segment is stopped near the fault bend. (2) The rupture propagation is restarted near the bend on the other fault segment 10.8 ms to 3.5 s after the stop of the first rupture. The delay time of the second rupture decreases with an increase in the slip amount of the first rupture or a decrease in the normal stress acting on the fault segment where the second rupture started. (3) The restarted rupture is not arrested by the presence of a fault bend, and slip occurs over the entire fault. We theoretically analyze the stress concentration near the fault bend to find that the normal stress produced by the preceding slip near the fault bend plays an important part in controlling the rupture propagation. A numerical simulation based on a rate- and state-dependent friction law is performed to interpret physically the retarded rupture in the experiment. The observed time interval of 10.8 ms to 3.5 s between the first rupture and the second is explained by the numerical simulation, suggesting that the rate- and state-dependence of rock friction is a possible mechanism for the retarded rupture on the fault.     

Middle Layer Intrusion as an Important Factor Supporting Phytoplankton Productivity at a Tidal Front in Iyo Nada, the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Field observations were conducted to examine the processes governing the phytoplankton distribution and photosynthetic activity in and around a tidal front formed in Iyo Nada, the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. The existence of a middle layer intrusion, which, it has been suggested, moves from the mixed region to the stratified region of the tidal front, was ascertained by the phytoplankton distribution in addition to a T-S diagram. Skeletonema costatum, which originally inhabited the mixed region, was used as the indicator to reveal the intrusion. However, the tip of water containing the S. costatum population did not extend deeply into the stratified region. The velocity of the intrusion seemed to be slow enough to make biological processes, such as nutrient uptake by phytoplankton and subsequent growth, as well as the decrease in cell density due to zooplankton grazing, dominate during the transportation. The patchy distribution of copepod nauplii implied that grazing has an influence on the distribution pattern of phytoplankton. The location of high photosynthetic activity did not coincide spatially with the center of high phytoplankton biomass, suggesting the importance of these biological processes. Therefore, it is considered that the middle layer intrusion plays a role as an inducer of subsequent biological processes at the tidal front by not only supplying nutrients from the mixed region but also by increasing the vertical diffusivity.     

The Role of Suspended Oyster Culture on Nitrogen Cycle in Hiroshima Bay

The predominance of bivalves affects the cycle of materials in the coastal ecosystem. In the present study, the role of suspended oyster culture on the nitrogen cycle was demonstrated for the northern Hiroshima Bay. The nitrogen cycle was considered as two systems, (1) the primary production (PP) system and (2) the oyster culture (OC) system. The results show that about 26% of N productivity was supplied to process by cultured oysters in the OC system. This process varies seasonally due to the seasonal variations of PON, physiological activities and biomass of oysters. The N processing rates were found to be high in summer and low in winter. The biodeposition and excretion of N in the OC system are 3.0 and 2.1 ton N d^–1, while the natural sedimentation rate and N regeneration in the PP system are 8.3 and 18.0 ton N d^–1, which indicates that the PP system is a major system regenerating N in the water column. The release of total dissolved N from the bottom to the water column is about 8.3 ton N d^–1. The amount of N harvested as oyster product was about 1.3 ton N d^–1, which is about 10% of daily N loading in north Hiroshima Bay. According to the N cycle developed in the present study, the results suggest the significant role of suspended oyster culture on the nitrogen cycle in Hiroshima Bay. In addition, our results indicate that oyster production was efficiently harvested, suggesting that oyster culture could probably be used as a tool to remove N from Hiroshima Bay.     

Seasonal changes of direction of sand movements on Kotogahama Coast

 X-ray fluorescent spectroscope-analysis and the method of ratio matching can determine mean directions of sand movement and geochemical classifications of sand grains. The result can also evaluate the physical condition of seabeds in a study area (erosion or accretion). This method is applied to a sedimentation problem in the fishing port of Tsurugiji in Japan and the result is in agreement with the comparison of the change of sea bottom topography measured in different years. The seasonal changes of sand movement on this coast and sedimentation in the port are also investigated. Received: 8 October 1998 · Accepted: 15 February 1999     

Subhorizontal boundary between ultrahigh-pressure and low-pressure metamorphic units in the Sulu–Tjube area of the Kokchetav Massif, Kazakhstan

Abstract The Kokchetav Massif of Kazakhstan includes high to ultrahigh-pressure (HP–UHP) metamorphic rocks (some of which were recrystallized at depths in excess of 150 km), juxtaposed against much lower pressure metamorphic components. We investigated the relationship between the HP–UHP metamorphic unit and the low pressure (LP) unit (Daulet Suite) in the Sulu–Tjube area, where the metamorphic rocks have previously been interpreted as constituting a megamelange with subvertical structural attitudes. Analyses of fold structures suggest that the HP–UHP metamorphic unit overlies the LP unit across a west-dipping subhorizontal boundary. In addition, kinematic indicators display top-to-the-north senses of shear along the tectonic contact between the two units, indicating that the HP–UHP unit has been extruded northward onto the LP unit. Following the juxtaposition of the two units, upright folds developed in both units, and these are associated with the previously reported steeply dipping metamorphic foliations. These data have important implications for the mode of exhumation of the UHP rocks from upper mantle to shallow crustal depths.     

Biomarker records from core GH02-1030 off Tokachi in the northwestern Pacific over the last 23,000 years: Environmental changes during the last deglaciation

We investigated marine and terrestrial environmental changes at the northern Japan margin in the northwestern Pacific during the last 23,000 years by analyzing biomarkers (alkenones, long-chain n-alkanes, long-chain n-fatty acids, and lignin-derived materials) in Core GH02-1030. The U ₃₇^K′-derived temperature in the last glacial maximum (LGM) centered at 21 ka was ∼10°C, which was 2°C lower than the core-top temperature (∼12°C). This small temperature drop does not agree with pollen evidence of a large air temperature drop (more than 4°C) in the Tokachi area. This disagreement might be attributed to a bias of U ₃₇^K′-derived temperature within 2.5°C by a seasonal shift in alkenone production. The U ₃₇^K′-derived temperature was significantly low during the last deglaciation. Because this cooling was significant in the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition zone, the temperature drops are attributable to the southward displacement of the Kuroshio-Oyashio boundary. Abundant lignin-derived materials, long-chain n-alkanes and long-chain n-fatty acids indicate a higher contribution of terrigenous organic matter from 17 to 12 ka. This phenomenon might have resulted from an enhanced coastal erosion of terrestrial soils due to marine transgression and/or an efficient inflow of higher plant debris to river waters from 17 to 12 ka.     

Superposition of replacements in the mafic granulites of the Jijal complex of the Kohistan arc, northern Pakistan: dehydration and rehydration within deep arc crust

A deep-level crustal section of the Cretaceous Kohistan arc is exposed in the northern part of the Jijal complex. The occurrence of mafic to ultramafic granulite-facies rocks exhibits the nature and metamorphic evolution of the lower crust. Mafic granulites are divided into two rock types: two-pyroxene granulite (orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+plagioclase±quartz [1]); and garnet–clinopyroxene granulite (garnet+clinopyroxene+plagioclase+quartz [2]). Two-pyroxene granulite occurs in the northeastern part of the Jijal complex as a relict host rock of garnet–clinopyroxene granulite, where the orthopyroxene-rich host is transected by elongated patches and bands of garnet–clinopyroxene granulite. Garnet–clinopyroxene granulite, together with two-pyroxene granulite, has been partly replaced by amphibolite (hornblende±garnet+plagioclase+quartz [3]). The garnet-bearing assemblage [2] is expressed by a compression–dehydration reaction: hornblende+orthopyroxene+plagioclase=garnet+clinopyroxene+quartz+H₂O↑. Subsequent amphibolitization to form the assemblage [3] is expressed by two hydration reactions: garnet+clinopyroxene+plagioclase+H₂O=hornblende+quartz and plagioclase+hornblende+H₂O=zoisite+chlorite+quartz. The mafic granulites include pod- and lens-shaped bodies of ultramafic granulites which consist of garnet hornblendite (garnet+hornblende+clinopyroxene [4]) associated with garnet clinopyroxenite, garnetite, and hornblendite. Field relation and comparisons in modal–chemical compositions between the mafic and ultramafic granulites indicate that the ultramafic granulites were originally intrusive rocks which dissected the protoliths of the mafic granulites and then have been metamorphosed simultaneously with the formation of garnet–clinopyroxene granulite. The results combined with isotopic ages reported elsewhere give the following tectonic constraints: (1) crustal thickening through the development of the Kohistan arc and the subsequent Kohistan–Asia collision caused the high-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism in the Jijal complex; (2) local amphibolitization of the mafic granulites occurred after the collision.     

Granite subduction: Arc subduction, tectonic erosion and sediment subduction

Continental growth has been episodic, reflecting the episodic nature of mantle dynamics as well as surface dynamics of the Earth, the net result of which is exhibited by the present mantle with two huge reservoirs of TTG rocks, one on the surface continents and the other on the D″ layer on the Core-Mantle Boundary (CMB). During the early half of the Earth history, the felsic continental crust on the surface which formed in an intra-oceanic environment has mostly been subducted into the deep mantle, except in the rare case of parallel arc collision. The growth history of continental crust shows that with its simultaneous formation, a considerable amount must have also been subducted. Such ongoing subduction processes can be seen in the western Pacific region, through tectonic erosion, arc subduction, and sediment-trapped subduction.