Progressive evolution of whole‐rock composition during metamorphism revealed by multivariate statistical analyses

The geochemical evolution of metamorphic rocks during subduction‐related metamorphism is described on the basis of multivariate statistical analyses. The studied data set comprises a series of mapped metamorphic rocks collected from the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt in central Shikoku, Japan, where metamorphic conditions range from the pumpellyite–actinolite to epidote–amphibolite facies. Recent progress in computational and information science provides a number of algorithms capable of revealing structures in large data sets. This study applies k‐means cluster analysis (KCA) and non‐negative matrix factorization (NMF) to a series of metapelites, which is the main lithotype of the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt. KCA describes the structures of the high‐dimensional data, while NMF provides end‐member decomposition which can be useful for evaluating the spatial distribution of continuous compositional trends. The analysed data set, derived from previously published work, contains 296 samples for which 14 elements (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, Ca, Na, K, P, Rb, Sr, Zr and Ba) have been analysed. The KCA and NMF analyses indicate five clusters and four end‐members, respectively, successfully explaining compositional variations within the data set. KCA indicates that the chemical compositions of metapelite samples from the western (Besshi) part of the sampled area differ significantly from those in the east (Asemigawa). In the west, clusters show a good correlation with the metamorphic grade. With increasing metamorphic grade, there are decreases in SiO₂ and Na₂O and increases in other components. However, the compositional change with metamorphic grade is less obvious in the eastern area. End‐member decomposition using NMF revealed that the evolutional change of whole‐rock composition, as correlated with metamorphic grade, approximates a stoichiometric increase of a garnet‐like component in the whole‐rock composition, possibly due to the precipitation of garnet and effusion of other components during progressive dehydration. Thermodynamic modelling of the evolution of the whole‐rock composition yielded the following results: (1) the whole‐rock composition at lower metamorphic grade favours the preferential crystallization of garnet under the conditions of the garnet zone, with biotite becoming stable together with garnet in higher‐grade rock compositions under the same P–T conditions; (2) with higher‐grade whole‐rock compositions, more H₂O is retained. These results provide insight into the mechanism suppressing dehydration under high‐P metamorphic conditions. This mechanism should be considered in forward modelling of the fluid cycle in subduction zones, although such a quantitative model has yet to be developed.     

闽粤晚白垩世古地磁学研究

在福建沙县至上杭、广东兴宁至河源上白垩统采集古地磁学定向样品３９０个（３９个采点）,进行了古地磁学研究,研究表明,闽粤两地的晚白垩世地磁学数据具有廊的重合性,福建：古地磁偏角１１．７°,地磁倾角４２．９°,地磁极位置北纬７９．４°,东径２１０．３°;广东;古地磁偏角１０．７°,古地磁倾角４４．０°,古地磁有位置北纬８０．１°,东径１９３．４°,该古寺磁学数据反映了中国华南地区自晚白垩世至今曾经厍过     

Time‐lapse video observation of erosion processes on the Black Marls badlands in the Southern Alps,France

In order to clarify the erosion processes on a marly bare slope in the Southern Alps, the erosion processes in a steep and erodible slope composed of the Black Marls Formation were observed by a time‐lapse video camera. The observations revealed that miniature debris flows (MDFs) occurred at the time of the rainfall‐runoff event in which the most severe erosion took place in the whole observation period of 3 months. Analysis of the camera images showed some characteristics of the MDFs, and these are discussed in the context of real rainfall‐runoff phenomena observed at the outlet of a small experimental basin including the visually observed slope. The following results were obtained. (1) A rough estimation of the total amount of sediment discharge by the MDFs showed that it was not negligible quantitatively. (2) The MDFs occurred only during the rising limb of the hydrograph during 6 minutes. (3) Based on this observation and a review of the literature, in a very steep and highly erodible slope, MDFs or similar phenomena might play an important role in the erosion and transport processes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

RXTE observation of NGC 6240: a search for the obscured active nucleus

We present new data taken at 850 μm with SCUBA at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope for a sample of 19 luminous infrared galaxies. Fourteen galaxies were detected. We have used these data, together with fluxes at 25, 60 and 100 μm from IRAS , to model the dust emission. We find that the emission from most galaxies can be described by an optically thin, single temperature dust model with an exponent of the dust extinction coefficient ( k _λ ∝ λ ^{− β} ) of β ≃1.4–2. A lower β ≃1 is required to model the dust emission from two of the galaxies, Arp 220 and NGC 4418. We discuss various possibilities for this difference and conclude that the most likely is a high dust opacity. In addition, we compare the molecular gas mass derived from the dust emission, M _850 μm, with the molecular gas mass derived from the CO emission, M _CO, and find that M _CO is on average a factor 2–3 higher than M _850 μm.     

Production of the Blood Pressure Lowing Peptides from Brown Alga ( Undaria pinnatifida )

1 IntroductionIncreased blood pressure appears to be one of theprimary risk factors of circulatory organ diseases suchas encepharo-apoplexy, encepharo-infarction and cardi-ac infraction. Angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE)plays an important role in the rennin-angiotensin sys-tem by regulating blood pressure. Antihypertensivedrugs such as captopril and enalapril are potent ACEinhibitors (Ondetti et al., 1977). Recently, severalinhibitory peptides derived from food proteins havebeen isolat…     

Far-infrared detection limits – II. Probing confusion including source confusion

We present a comprehensive analysis for the determination of the confusion levels for the current and the next generation of far-infrared surveys assuming three different cosmological evolutionary scenarios. We include an extensive model for diffuse emission from infrared cirrus in order to derive absolute sensitivity levels taking into account the source confusion noise due to point sources, the sky confusion noise due to the diffuse emission, and instrumental noise. We use our derived sensitivities to suggest best survey strategies for the current and the future far-infrared space missions Spitzer , AKARI ( ASTRO-F ), Herschel and SPICA . We discuss whether the theoretical estimates are realistic and the competing necessities of reliability and completeness. We find the best estimator for the representation of the source confusion and produce predictions for the source confusion using far-infrared source count models. From these confusion limits considering both source and sky confusions, we obtain the optimal, confusion limited redshift distribution for each mission. Finally, we predict the cosmic far-infrared background (CFIRB), which includes information about the number and distribution of the contributing sources.     

Far-infrared detection limits – I. Sky confusion due to Galactic cirrus

Fluctuations in the brightness of the background radiation can lead to confusion with real point sources. This type of confusion with background emission is relevant when making infrared (IR) observations with relatively large beam sizes, since the amount of fluctuation tends to increase with the angular scale. To quantitively assess the effect of the background emission on the detection of point sources for current and future far-IR observations by space-borne missions such as Spitzer , ASTRO-F , Herschel and Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics ( SPICA ), we have extended the Galactic emission map to a higher level of angular resolution than that of the currently available data. Using this high-resolution map, we estimate the sky confusion noise owing to the emission from interstellar dust clouds or cirrus, based on fluctuation analysis and detailed photometry over realistically simulated images. We find that the confusion noise derived by simple fluctuation analysis agrees well with the results from realistic simulations. Although sky confusion noise becomes dominant in long wavelength bands  (>100 μm)  with 60–90 cm aperture missions, it is expected to be two orders of magnitude lower for the next generation of space missions (with larger aperture sizes) such as Herschel and SPICA .     

Modelling hydrodynamics in Yachiyo Lake using a non‐hydrostatic general circulation model with spatially and temporally varying meteorological conditions

In this study, a three‐dimensional (3D) non‐hydrostatic circulation model was applied to study the thermal structure, its evolution and water circulation of Yachiyo Lake in Hiroshima, Japan. The simulations were conducted for 1 month during July 2006. The meteorological forcing variables such as wind stress, surface atmospheric pressure and heat flux transfer through the lake surface were provided by an atmospheric mesoscale model run. The vertical mixing process of the lake was calculated using the Mellor‐Yamada turbulence model. The 1‐month numerical simulation revealed the wind‐induced currents of the lake, two gyres in the mid‐layer, and depth‐averaged monthly mean currents. Further numerical experiments studying the mechanism of the two gyres in the lake showed the important role of topography in gyre formation. The thermal structure of the lake and its evolution both in space and in time as predicted by the model showed very good agreement with the observed values and characteristics of Yachiyo Lake. The internal gravity waves, which are crucial for mixing in the stratified lake, are depicted by the vertical fluctuation of isotherms. Using the non‐dimensional gradient Richardson number, Yachiyo Lake was determined to be stable under strong stratification during the study period, and therefore very sensitive to wind stress. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.