The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel,Japan —Periodic intrusion of oceanic warm water

Kyucho is a sudden and swift current which is usually accompanied by rise of water temperature. Several features of the Kyucho in the Bungo Channel, Japan, are presented through field observations. The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel is an intrusion of warm water from the Pacific Ocean into the eastern half of the Bungo Channel, being driven gravitationally and advancing along the eastern coast of the channel. The Kyucho occurs usually in summer and seldom occurs in winter. It occurs at neap tides showing the prominent spring-neap periodicity. The modulation of the vertical mixing intensity associated with the variations of tidal current, wind and surface heating etc. is supposed to be a main cause of springneap and seasonal periodicities.     

Geochemistry of caldera-forming and resurgent magmas in the Pliocene Hiwada caldera,northeast Japan: An example of a monotonous intermediate system

The 2.9-Ma Hotokezawa Ignimbrite, which was ejected from the Aizu caldera cluster in the northeast Japan arc, is a typical monotonous intermediate ignimbrite, with 40–50 vol% crystals and an eruptive volume of >140 km³ dense-rock equivalent. This ignimbrite filled Hiwada caldera and was deformed by post-caldera plutonic intrusions that formed a resurgent dome. The Hotokezawa Ignimbrite is a calc-alkaline, medium-K dacite to rhyolite with SiO₂ contents of 67.9–71.3 wt%, and has homogeneous trace-element abundances and Sr–Nd isotopic ratios. These geochemical features suggest that the Hotokezawa magma was formed by partial melting of amphibolitic crustal rocks. This crystal-rich magma did not appear during the post-caldera stage. Therefore, it is plausible that the chamber of eruptible magma was emptied by the caldera-forming eruption. In contrast, post-caldera plutonic rocks exhibit a variety of compositions and have a clear SiO₂ gap corresponding to the caldera-forming magma: the early pluton (tonalite) and later ones (quartz porphyry, granite porphyries, and granite) contain 62.0–66.6 and 71.2–76.5 wt% SiO₂, respectively. The tonalite and the Hotokezawa Ignimbrite form a continuous trend in their major-element variations. The Sr–Nd isotopic ratios of the ignimbrite and tonalite overlap, but those of the porphyries and granite are more enriched. The early tonalite represents the more basic part of the Hiwada caldera system that was held in small pockets separate from the main magma chamber, because its trace-element abundances are varied and distinct from those of the Hotokezawa Ignimbrite. The distinct compositional change from the Hotokezawa Ignimbrite to the late porphyries and granite indicates that the partial melting crust generating felsic magma was renewed by the subsequent intrusion of the mantle melts. The new felsic magma ascended through subsidence-related faults into the shallow caldera system and emplaced as laccoliths forming the resurgent dome.     

Crustal structure beneath Aso Caldera,Southwest Japan,as derived from receiver function analysis

Aso Volcano experienced a huge pyroclastic eruption 90 thousand years ago, and formed a large caldera (18 km × 25 km). In order to test the hypothesis of a magma body in the mid and lower crust that has been suggested geophysically and geochemically, we investigated seismic velocity discontinuities and velocity structure beneath Aso Caldera using receiver functions and a genetic algorithm inversion. We confirm the existence of the Moho at depths between 30 km and 35 km and a large velocity anomaly should exist in the deep portion of the crust beneath Aso Caldera, from imaging of receiver functions observed only at stations outside the caldera. As a result of a more detailed examination with GA inversion, a low velocity layer is detected at depths between 10 km and 24 km beneath the western part of the caldera. S-wave velocity of the layer is estimated to be 2.0–2.4 km/s. We estimate that the low velocity layer contains at most 15% melt or 30% aqueous fluid. The layer exists near the Conrad and at the same depths as the swarm of the low frequency earthquakes and a compressional and dilatational deformation source which are expected to be caused by fluid movement beneath the middle-eastern part of the caldera. Fluid contained in the layer might be related with huge pyroclastic eruptions of Aso Volcano.     

Effect of temperature on the methyl chloride production rate in a marine phytoplankton, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phaeodactylum tricornutum</Emphasis>

Methyl halides such as methyl chloride (CH₃Cl) are known to be important carriers of halogen from the ocean to the atmosphere, and the halogens they release into the stratosphere by photolysis catalyze ozone depletion. Marine phytoplankton have been reported as a source of CH₃Cl, but the effects of environmental temperature on the CH₃Cl production by phytoplankton have not been investigated. In this study, we investigated the effects of temperature on the production of CH₃Cl in the culture of a marine diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum CCMP 630, incubated at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 °C. CH₃Cl concentrations in cultured samples were determined using purge and trap gas chromatograph–mass spectrometry. Phytoplankton growth was monitored by measuring the chlorophyll a concentrations. CH₃Cl production was observed for several weeks at four different temperatures ranging from 10 to 25 °C. The CH₃Cl production from P. tricornutum was increased with increasing temperature from 10 to 25 °C, and the maximum production rate for CH₃Cl was 0.21~0.26 μmol (g chlorophyll a)^?1 d^?1 at 25 °C, which was several times higher than that at 10 °C (~0.03 μmol (g chlorophyll a)^?1 d^?1). The Arrhenius equation was successfully used to characterize the effects of temperature on the production rates of CH₃Cl in the culture of P. tricornutum. Our results suggest that water temperature directly affects CH₃Cl production derived from P. tricornutum and that water temperature would be a significant factor for estimating the emissions of CH₃Cl from marine environments.     

Thermal metamorphism of the C,G, B,and F asteroids seen from the 0.7 μm, 3 μm,and UV absorption strengths in comparison with carbonaceous chondrites

Abstract Thermal metamorphism study of the C, G, B, and F asteroids has been revisited using their UV, visible, NIR, and 3 μm reflectance spectra. High-quality reflectance spectra of seven selected C, G, B, and F asteroids have been compared with spectra for 29 carbonaceous chondrites, including thermally-metamorphosed CI/CM meteorites. There are three sets of spectral counterparts, among which 511 Davida and B-7904 are the most similar to each other in terms of both spectral shape and brightness. By comparing the 0.7 μm and 3 μm absorption strengths of 21 C, G, B, and F asteroids and heated Murchison samples, these asteroids have been grouped into three heating-temperature ranges. These correspond to (1) <400 °C: phyllosilicate-rich; (2) 400–600 °C: phyllosilicates transformed to anhydrous silicates; and (3) >600 °C: fully anhydrous. A good correlation between the UV and 3 μm absorption strengths has been confirmed for the C, G, B, and F asteroids and the CI, CM, and CR meteorites. A plot of the UV absorption strength vs. the IRAS diameter for 142 C, G, B, and F asteroids shows that the maximum UV absorption strength decreases as the diameter increases for the asteroids >60 km, with a notable exception, Ceres. These relationships suggest that some of the larger asteroids may be the heated inner portions of once larger bodies and that common CI/CM meteorites may have come from the lost outer portions, which escaped extensive late-stage heating events.     

Petrochemistry of Volcanic Rocks in the Hishikari Mining Area of Southern Japan, with Implications for the Relative Contribution of Lower Crust and Mantle-derived Basalt

Abstract. This study presents the petrographical, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of Late Pliocene‐Pleistocene volcanic rocks distributed in the Hishikari gold mining area of southern Kyushu, Japan, and discusses their origin and evolution. The Hishikari volcanic rocks (HVR), on the basis of age and chemical compositions, are divided into the Kurosonsan (2.4–1.0 Ma) and Shishimano (1.7–0.5 Ma) Groups, which occur in the northern and southern part of the area, respectively. Each group is composed of three andesites and one rhyodacite. HVR are characterized by high concentrations of incompatible elements compared with other volcanic rocks in southern Kyushu, and have low Sr/Nd and high Th/U, Th/Pb, and U/Pb ratios compared with typical subduction‐related arc volcanic rocks. Modal and whole‐rock compositions of the HVR change systematically with the age of the rocks. Mafic mineral and augite/hypersthene ratios of the andesites decrease with decreasing age in the Kurosonsan Group, whereas in the Shishimano Group, these ratios are higher in the youngest andesite. Similarly, major and trace element compositions of the younger andesites in the former group are enriched in felsic components, whereas in the latter group the youngest andesite is more mafic than older andesites. Moreover, the crystallization temperature of phenocryst minerals decreases with younger age in the former group, whereas the opposite trend is seen in the latter group. Another significant feature is that rhyodacite in the Shishimano Group is enriched in felsic minerals and incompatible elements, and exhibits higher crystallization temperatures of phenocryst minerals than the rhyodacite of the Kurosonsan Group. Geochemical attributes of the HVR and other volcanic rocks in southern Kyushu indicate that a lower subcontinental crust, characterized by so‐called EMI‐type Sr‐Nd and DUPAL anomaly‐like Pb isotopic compositions, is distributed beneath the upper to middle crust of the Shimanto Supergroup. The HVR would be more enriched in felsic materials derived from the lower crust by high‐alumina basaltic magma from the mantle than volcanic rocks in other areas of southern Kyushu. The Kurosonsan Group advanced the degree of the lower crust contribution with decreasing age from 51 %, through 61 and 66 % to 77 %. In the Shishimano Group, the younger rhyodacite and andesite are derived from hotter magmas with smaller amounts of lower crust component (58 and 57 %) than the older two andesites (65 % and 68 %). We suggest that the Shishimano rhyodacite, which is considered to be responsible for gold mineralization, was formed by large degree of fractional crystallization of hot basaltic andesite magma with less lower crustal component.     

Crystal-field theory calculations for Fe2+ Ions in bronzite,augite, and olivine

Crystal-field theory was applied to Fe²⁺ ions in three types of silicates in an attempt to assign all the major absorption bands with only one parameter to adjust. Coulomb potential energy field were calculated by Fourier method based on all the actual atomic coordinates refined by X-ray diffraction studies. Perturbed d-electron splitting energies of the central Fe²⁺ ion were calculated by introducing Configuration Interaction (CI) method for the lowest energy spectral states. All the major absorption bands observed in powdered bronzite, augite, and olivine, were assigned to the transitions between those calculated energy levels by optimizing only one parameter that expresses expansion or contraction of d-electron cloud. The result of the calculations gives almost the same assignments as the other previous works for bronzites, different assignments for augites, and a possibility of the existence of the fourth band hidden in the composite 1-μm band of olivines.     

Application of Sensitivity Analysis Using an Adjoint Model for Short-Range Forecasts of the Kuroshio Path South of Japan

A sensitivity experiment has been performed by assimilating altimetric data into a 1.5-layer primitive equation model as a first attempt to examine the impact of initialization on forecasts of the Kuroshio path variability south of Japan. By exploiting the advantage of an adjoint model, our approach clearly shows that a small meander off Shikoku Island has a large impact on the prediction of meander growth in the Kuroshio region. Further, the strengthening of the Kuroshio current and its recirculation clearly becomes an important factor in the development of the meander. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of our assimilation approach in identifying efficient initialization schemes on numerical forecasting of the Kuroshio south of Japan and should help in the construction of an effective observing system for improving the forecasting. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experimental studies on debris flow with logs focusing on specific weight difference of log species

There are many experimental approaches,field investigations and numerical calculations for movements of woods in a clear water and debris flow.However,kinematic conditions for accumulated logs and the interactions between a main flow and logs have not been fully evaluated.Mitigations for woods need taking into account the characteristics of tree species such as conifer and broad-leaf trees and of shapes such as root swells and crown.In the present study,we focus on the differences in specific weight of conifer and broad-leaf trees with some moisture in a sediment-water mixture flow with narrow flow width,and consider that conifer and broad-leaf tree are floating and submerged solid phase,respectively.Flume tests are conducted in steady flow of clear and debris flow over a rigid bed in order to evaluate conifer and broad-leaf tree movement in clear water and debris flow.Experimental data indicates that dimensionless transverse diffusion coefficient can be 0.1 to 0.4 and 0.3 to 0.9 in flow direction.Those diffusive characteristics seem to be independent of Reynolds number and Froude number,but dependent of bed slope,i.e.,gravity,though detailed considerations are needed to discuss about flow characteristics such as spatial eddy structures,momentum transfer induced by interactions of logs and so on.     

A Global Model of MHD Wave Support of a Stratified Molecular Cloud

We perform numerical simulations of nonlinear MHD waves in a gravitationally stratified molecular cloud that is bounded by a hot and tenuous external medium, within a 1.5-dimensional approximation. Under the influence of a driving source of Alfvénic disturbances, the cloud is lifted up by the pressure of MHD waves and reaches a steady state characterized by oscillations about a new time-averaged equilibrium state. The nonlinear effect results in the generation of longitudinal motions and many shock waves. Models of an ensemble of clouds show that, for various strengths of the input energy, the velocity dispersion in the cloud σ ∝ Z ^0.5, where Z is a characteristic size of the cloud. Furthermore, σ is always comparable to the mean Alfvén velocity of the cloud, consistent with observational results.