Deformation mechanisms and fluid behavior in a shallow, brittle fault zone during coseismic and interseismic periods: Results from drill core penetrating the Nojima Fault, Japan

Abstract This paper describes the results of petrographical and meso- to microstructural observations of brittle fault rocks in cores obtained by drilling through the Nojima Fault at a drilling depth of 389.52 m. The zonation of deformation and alteration in the central zone of the fault is clearly seen in cores of granite from the hanging wall, in the following order: (i) host rock, which is characterized by some intragranular microcracks and in situ alteration of mafic minerals and feldspars; (ii) weakly deformed and altered rocks, which are characterized by transgranular cracks and the dissolution of mafic minerals, and by the precipitation of zeolites and iron hydroxide materials; (iii) random fabric fault breccia, which is characterized by fragmentation, by anastomosing networks of transgranular cracks, and by the precipitation of zeolites and iron hydroxide materials; and (iv) fault gouge, which is characterized by the precipitation of smectite and localized cataclastic flow. This zonation implies that the fault has been weakened gradually by fluid-related fracturing over time. In the footwall, a gouge layer measuring only 15 mm thick is present just below the surface of the Nojima Fault. These observations are the basis for a model of fluid behavior along the Nojima Fault. The model invokes the percolation of meteoric fluids through cracks in the hanging wall fault zone during interseismic periods, resulting in chemical reactions in the fault gouge layer to form smectite. The low permeability clay-rich gouge layer sealed the footwall. The fault gouge was brecciated during coseismic or postseismic periods, breaking the seal and allowing fluids to readily flow into the footwall, thus causing a slight alteration. Chemical reactions between fluids and the fault breccia and gouge generated new fault gouge, which resealed the footwall, resulting in a low fluid condition in the footwall during interseismic periods.     

PHANEROZOIC INHOMOGENEOUS REHEATING OF UPPER MANTLE RESPONSIBLE FOR PACIFIC GENESIS

The late Mesozoic two giant events that have synchronously occurred in the Pacific and periphery are the tectono-magmatic activities of the Circum-Pacific mobile belt and the Darwin Rise.Their dynamics analysis indicates that the geodynamics responsible for Pacific genesis has been driven by the gravity instability between a Pacific-wide superplume head and its lithospheric overburden under the influence of eastward asthenospheric flow by the Earth spin.The worldwide activation of mafic magmatism was initiated in the Paleozoic and climaxed around the Jurassic.The separated not worldwide distribution of the magmatism on the Earth suggests the inhomogeneous reheating of upper mantle,as represented by the Pacific-wide superplume head. The Phanerozoic reheating thus put forward the Earth history into a new geotectonic stage,i.e.,the diwa stage.     

FORMATIVE MECHANISM OF AKAISHI MOUNTAINS AND ENREI BASIN IN CENTRAL JAPAN

1 Introduction It is common in mobile belts that uplifting mountains are neighbored by synchronously subsiding basins.The coupling mechanism of such subsidence and uplift is an important target to clarify the dynamics of mobile belts.We investigate the coupled mountain uplift and basin subsidence in the Central Japan highland,the junction of three island arcs (the Northeast Japan,the Southwest Japan and the Izu-Ogasawara arcs).The highland over 3 000 m in height is composed of mountain ranges,plateaus and intramountain basins (Fig.1).     

Isotopic compositions of potassium and calcium in magnetic spherules from marine sediments

Isotopic compositions of potassium and calcium in individual magnetic spherules were determined. No significant anomaly was observed for potassium within twice the statistical error (2σ), although for calcium isotopes enrichments of⁴⁶Ca,⁴⁴Ca and⁴²Ca were observed in one spherule. The relative excess of⁴⁶Ca,⁴⁴Ca and⁴²Ca in the spherule agrees with the relative yield of spallogenic calcium isotopes observed in iron meteorites. This fact indicates that the enrichment in the calcium isotopes was caused by cosmic ray irradiation of the spherule in outer space.     

Seismotectonics and tectonic history of the andaman sea

The Andaman Sea is considered as an actively spreading back-arc basin. Seismicity and newly determined focal-mechanism solutions in the Andaman Sea area support this view. The tectonic history of the region is inferred from magnetic lineations in the northeastern Indian Ocean and the northward motion of Greater India. The mid-oceanic ridge which migrated northward along the east side of the Ninetyeast Ridge collided with the western end of the “old Sunda Trench” in the Middle or Late Miocene (10–20 m.y. B.P.). This ridge—trench collision released much of the compressional stress in the back-arc area and the continued northward movement of India that collided with Eurasia exerted a drag on the back-arc region, causing the opening of the Andaman Sea. In appearance, the subducted ridge jumped to the back-arc area. Thus, the Andaman Sea is not an ordinary subduction-related back-arc basin, but probably a basin formed by oblique extensional rifting associated with both ridge subduction and deformation of the back-arc area caused by a nearby continental collision.     

Cosmic-ray-produced 59Ni in marine sediments

⁵⁹Ni in 0.4 g of nickel from deep-sea sediments was measured with an extremely low-level X-ray spectrometer. The obtained specific activity was (5.9 ± 1.8) × 10^?2 dpm/kg sediments. The⁵⁹Ni activity induced by proton and alpha particle irradiation in outer space can be estimated as 300 dpm/kg dust. Hence, the content of extraterrestrial dust in deep-sea sediments was not more than 200 ppm.     

Holocene environmental changes of the Hwajinpo Lagoon on the eastern coast of Korea

Lithologic and geochemical data of a core from the Hwajinpo Lagoon, located on the eastern coast of Korea, provided the evolutionary history of the lagoon related to Holocene sea-level changes of the East Sea (Sea of Japan). Grain size analysis, water content analysis, and soft X-ray analysis of core samples were used to reconstruct sedimentary environments, as were total organic carbon, C/N, S and C/S chemical records. Assemblages of mollusc and diatom remains also provided paleoenvironmental information. The reconstruction of paleoenvironments from these multi-proxy data allows the establishment of an evolutionary model of the Hwajinpo Lagoon. The environmental changes of the Hwajinpo Lagoon can be divided into seven different depositional facies: (l) Exposed basement rock; (2) Estuarine; (3) Stagnant brackish lagoon (isolated); (4) Oxic condition lagoon (organic activity); (5) Fresh water lake; (6) Oxic brackish lagoon (recent condition); (7) Prograding river delta. These environmental changes can be related to sea-level change during the Holocene. The trends of sea-level change in the Hwajinpo Lagoon from this study can be compared to those of the Japanese coastal areas located on the other side of the East Sea such as Lakes Shinji and Nakaumi.