Great earthquake at 7.3 ka inferred from tsunami deposits in the Sukumo Bay area,Southwestern Japan

Tsunami deposits in Kyushu Island, Southwestern Japan, have been attributed to the 7.3 ka Kikai caldera eruption, but their origin has not been confirmed. We analyzed an 83-cm-thick Holocene event deposit in the SKM core, obtained from incised valley fill in the coastal lowlands near Sukumo Bay, Southwestern Shikoku Island. We confirmed that the event deposit contains K-Ah volcanic ash from the 7.3 ka eruption. The base of the event deposit erodes the underlying inner-bay mud, and the deposit contains material from outside the local terrestrial and marine environment, including angular quartz porphyry from a small inland exposure, oyster shell debris, and a coral fragment. Benthic foraminifers and ostracods in the deposit indicate various habitats, some of which are outside Sukumo Bay. The sand matrix contains low-silica volcanic glass from the late stage of the Kikai caldera eruption. We also documented the same glass in an event deposit in the MIK1 core, from the incised Oyodo River valley in the Miyazaki Plain on Southeastern Kyushu. These two 7.3 ka tsunami deposits join other documented examples that are widely distributed in Southwestern Japan including the Bungo Channel and Beppu Bay in Eastern Kyushu, Tachibana Bay in Western Kyushu, and Zasa Pond on the Kii Peninsula as well as around the caldera itself. The tsunami deposits near the caldera have been divided into older and younger 7.3 ka tsunami deposits, the younger ones matching the set of widespread deposits. We attribute the younger 7.3 ka tsunami deposits to a large tsunami generated by a great interplate earthquake in the Northern part of the Ryukyu Trench and (or) the Western Nankai Trough just after the late stage of the Kikai caldera eruption and the older 7.3 ka tsunami deposits to a small tsunami generated by an interplate earthquake or Kikai caldera eruption.     

基于氢氧同位素与水化学的潮白河流域地下水水循环特征

为了研究变化环境下潮白河流域地下水水循环规律,通过现场调查,结合环境同位素及水化学应用,对潮白河流域浅层和深层地下水采样,测定其氢、氧环境同位素及水化学成分,通过分析其变化特征判明地下水的补给来源以及各含水层的相互联系。降水和地下水中的环境同位素δD和δ¹⁸O组成分析表明,降水是山前地下水的主要补给源,山区浅层地下水受蒸发影响非常强烈。水化学研究结果表明,山区地下水水质以 Ca²⁺和 HCO^-₃为主,属Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO^-₃型地下水。山前地下水类型为Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO^-₃、 Na⁺-K⁺-HCO^-₃、Mg²⁺-Ca²⁺-HCO^-₃和 Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-Cl^--SO^2-₄。平原区地下水为Mg²⁺, Na⁺和HCO^-₃。滨海冲积海积平原为Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO^-₃型和Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-Cl^--SO^2-₄型地下水。水化学分析证实了越流补给的存在。Ca²⁺ 和 HCO^-₃离子均呈山区高、山前和平原低、而滨海增高的趋势。沿潮白河流向地下水类型变化为:Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO^-₃ Na⁺＝K⁺-HCO^-₃ Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO^-₃。     

Continental basalts in the accretionary complexes of the South-west Japan Arc: Constraints from geochemical and Sr and Nd isotopic data of metadiabase

Abstract The Ryoke Belt is one of the important terranes in the South‐west Japan Arc (SJA). It consists mainly of late Cretaceous granitoid rocks, meta‐sedimentary rocks (Jurassic accretionary complexes) and mafic rocks (gabbros, metadiabases; late Permian–early Jurassic). Initial ?_Sr (+ 25– + 59) and ?_Nd (? 2.1–?5.9) values of the metadiabases cannot be explained by crustal contamination but reflect the values of the source material. These values coincide with those of island arc basalt (IAB), active continental margin basalt (ACMB) and continental flood basalt (CFB). Spiderdiagrams and trace element chemistries of the metadiabases have CFB‐signature, rather than those of either IAB or ACMB. The Sr–Nd isotope data, trace element and rare earth element chemistries of the metadiabases indicate that they result from partial melting of continental‐type lithospheric mantle. Mafic granulite xenoliths in middle Miocene volcanic rocks distributed throughout the Ryoke Belt were probably derived from relatively deep crust. Their geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic characteristics are similar to the metadiabases. This suggests that rocks, equivalent geochemically to the metadiabases, must be widely distributed at relatively deep crustal levels beneath a part of the Ryoke Belt. The geochemical and isotopic features of the metadiabases and mafic granulites from the Ryoke Belt are quite different from those of mafic rocks from other terranes in the SJA. These results imply that the Ryoke mafic rocks (metadiabase, mafic granulite) were not transported from other terranes by crustal movement but formed in situ. Sr–Nd isotopic features of late Cretaceous granitoid rocks occurring in the western part of the Japanese Islands are coincident with those of the Ryoke mafic rocks. Such an isotopic relation between these two rocks suggests that a continental‐type lithosphere is widely represented beneath the western part of the Japanese Islands.     

Deep-sea submersible survey in the Suruga, Sagami and Japan Trenches: preliminary results of the 1985 Kaiko cruise, Leg 2

Nine submersible dives were made in three trenches off central Japan, between 2990 and 5900 m of water depth. Our observations confirm the interpretation that Daiichi-Kashima Seamount is a Cretaceous guyot formed on the Pacific plate that has traveled into the Japan Trench. We also confirmed the previous interpretation of a large normal fault that splits the seamount in two halves, the lower one being now subducting beneath the Japan margin. Compressional deformation was identified within the lower part of the inner slope in front of the seamount. The pattern of deformation that affects Quaternary sediments is in agreement with the present kinematics of the convergence between the Pacific plate and Japan. Deep-water (5700 m) clam colonies are associated with advection of fluids, driven by the subduction-related overpressures. In the northern slope of the Boso Canyon, along the Sagami Trough system (Philippine Sea plate-Japan boundary), the deformation affecting a thick upper Miocene to lower Pliocene sequence indicates two directions of shortening: a N175°E direction which is consistent with the present relative motion along the Sagami Trough (N285–N300°E) and a N30°E direction which could be related to a more northerly direction of convergence that occured during the early Quaternary and earlier.     

Stresses at sites close to the Nojima Fault measured from core samples

Abstract The Nojima Fault in Awaji, Hyogo prefecture, Japan, was ruptured during the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake ( M _JMA = 7.2). Toshima is located close to the fault segment, in which a large dislocation has been observed on the Earth's surface. Ikuha is near the southern end of the buried fault that extends from the surface rupture. Stresses are measured on core samples taken at depths of 310 m, 312 m and 415 m at Toshima and a depth of 351 m at Ikuha. The measured stresses show that both sites are in the field of a strike–slip regime, but compression dominates at Toshima. Defining the relative shear stress as the maximum shear stress divided by the normal stress on the maximum shear plane, the relative shear stress ranges from 0.42 to 0.54 at Toshima and is approximately 0.32 at Ikuha. While the value at Ikuha is moderate, those at Toshima are comparably large to those in areas close to the inferred fault of the 1984 Nagano-ken Seibu earthquake. Value amounts greater than 0.4 suggest that there are areas of large relative shear stress along faults, thus having the potential to generate earthquakes. Provided that the cores are correctly oriented, the largest horizontal stresses at shallow depths are in the direction from N113°E to N139°E at Toshima and N74°E at Ikuha, indicating that the fault does not orient optimally for the stress field at both sites. The slip is known to be predominant in the right-lateral strike–slip component. Although this slip may appear contradictory to the stress field at Toshima, the slip direction is found to be parallel to the measured stresses resolved on the fault plane for the first approximation. The ratio of shear stress to normal stress on the fault plane is roughly estimated to be greater than zero and smaller than 0.3 near Toshima.     

Structural design of buried pipelines for severe earthquakes

In order to realistically assess the seismic risk of a pipeline system, the accurate estimate of the pipe strains which depend upon structural details, pipe material, properties of the surrounding soil, the nature of the propagating wave, etc. is critical. Emphasis in this study, therefore has been placed on the analysis of a structural strain for several types of piping elements unique to the buried pipeline and also the provision of a simplified design formula which can be used practically. The purpose of this study is (a) to define the slippage factor in order to estimate the decrease in pipe strain resulting from the slippage effect, (b) to propose a simplified method to evaluate the plastic deformation of the pipeline for severe earthquakes, and (c) to derive a practical design formula for the structural strains of bent pipes.     

Growth characteristics ofChattonella antiqua

Nutrient requirements of a red tide flagellate,Chattonella antiqua, were investigated in a laboratory culture experiment. Growth ofC. antiqua was supported by nitrate and ammonium, and by urea to a limited extent, but not by glycine, alanine and glutamate. Orthophosphate served as a good phosphorus source but glycerophosphate did not. Fe³⁺ (1µM) fully promoted the flagellate's growth in the presence of 80µM of EDTA. The addition of Mn²⁺ (0–20µM), Zn²⁺ (0–10µM) and Co²⁺ (0–0.4µM) did not show any effect. Among three vitamins tested, only B₁₂ (6 ng 1^?1) served as a growth factor. Glucose, acetate and glycolate did not improve growth in the light nor did they support growth in darkness. The minimum cell quotas for nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and B₁₂ were estimated to be 11 pmoles ce^?1, 1.0, ～0.09 and 1.1 fg cell^?1, respectively.     

Chemical environment for red tides due toChattonella antiqua

In order to assess the roles of Fe and Cu in outbreaks ofChattonella antiqua red tide, concentrations of these metals in the surface seawater were monitored around the Ie-shima Islands in the Seto Inland Sea during the summers of 1986–1988. Bioassay of the surface seawater with respect to Fe and Cu was also conducted using a cultured strain ofC. antiqua.Concentrations of Fe and Cu in the filtered seawater (Fe^F and Cu^F) were in the range of 3.9–10.0 and 9.3–11.2 nM, respectively. The bioassay with respect to Fe revealed that Fe at the surface layer was usually insufficient to support the maximum growth rate ofC. antiqua, except whenC. antiqua was dominant in the field. However, correlations between Fe^F and the growth rate of the control cultures (Fe, EDTA=not enriched; N, P, B₁₂=enriched at optimum levels) were not apparent, probably because Fe^F did not reflect the concentration of available Fe.The bioassay with respect to Cu was coupled with the Cu^F values obtained. The results indicated that Cu at the surface layer was detoxified by complexation with natural organic ligand(s), and that pCu (=minus log of cupric ion activity) was 11.5–11.7, optimum for the growth ofC. antiqua, throughout the survey period. It is suggested that Fe, but not Cu, is a potentially important factor in regulating the natural populations ofC. antiqua in the Seto Inland Sea.     

Peculiar dispersion of salt by wind-driven fluctuations in the stratified water near the coast

A peculiar dispersion of salt, which was found in a partially mixed estuary by long-term continuous measurements of current and salinity and directed outward in the upper layer and inward in the lower layer in summer, is reported and discussed. The cause is estimated to be salinity stratification and wind-driven fluctuations in water near the coast. The general formulation is presented and a great possibility of negative dispersion against the horizontal gradient is pointed out. Dispersion coefficients are also estimated.     

Observations of the total lunar eclipse on March 24, 1978, at 3.4-mm wavelength

Observations of the total lunar eclipse were made at 3.4-mm wavelength (87.4 GHz) on March 24, 1978. Eclipsr cooling curves with the best S/N ratio among those published thus far were obtained for the three points (the mountain area near the crater of Hipparuchus, Sinus Medii, and Copernicus). Each of the curves can be decomposed into the three parts which apparently correspond to ingress, totality, and egress. The derived cooling rate and heating rate differ significantly at the three points.