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.     

Development of an automatic volcanic ash sampling apparatus for active volcanoes

We develop an automatic system for the sampling of ash fall particles, to be used for continuous monitoring of magma ascent and eruptive dynamics at active volcanoes. The system consists of a sampling apparatus and cameras to monitor surface phenomena during eruptions. The Sampling Apparatus for Time Series Unmanned Monitoring of Ash (SATSUMA-I and SATSUMA-II) is less than 10 kg in weight and works automatically for more than a month with a 10-kg lead battery to obtain a total of 30 to 36 samples in one cycle of operation. The time range covered in one cycle varies from less than an hour to several months, depending on the aims of observation, allowing researchers to target minute-scale fluctuations in a single eruptive event, as well as daily to weekly trends in persistent volcanic activity. The latest version, SATSUMA-II, also enables control of sampling parameters remotely by e-mail commands. Durability of the apparatus is high: our prototypes worked for several months, in rainy and typhoon seasons, at windy and humid locations, and under strong sunlight. We have been successful in collecting ash samples emitted from Showa crater almost everyday for more than 4 years (2008–2012) at Sakurajima volcano in southwest Japan.     

Distribution and dispersal of the early larval stages of the Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus in the East China Sea

The annual distribution and dispersal of early‐stage phyllosoma of the Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus were examined in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan off western Japan. Early‐stage larvae were sampled mainly in summer and relatively near the coast off western Kyusyu Island. Few larvae were found in the other three seasons in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan. This finding suggests that P. japonicus larvae are retained in coastal areas for a few months after hatching until stage V and are transported offshore until autumn, before they grow to stage VI. Examination of archival drifter data off western Kyusyu Island during the spawning season of P. japonicus supported the relatively rapid dispersal of the larvae from the East China Sea near Japan to the Pacific Ocean or the Sea of Japan. Larval transport from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean, which is considered to be a main distribution area of middle‐ and late‐stage larvae, would occur in the south at approximately 32–33°N in the East China Sea near western Kyusyu Island.     

Some properties of tidal currents estimated from analytical and LES simulation studies

Some features of tidal current ellipses near the ocean floor are estimated from the bottom-limit solutions of the tidal equations with constant eddy viscosity. It is verified that a clockwise rotating ellipse becomes broad descending through the bottom boundary, whereas a counterclockwise ellipse becomes narrow except near the critical latitude. The major axis of an ellipse near the floor is directed 45° leftward (rightward) against that of the overlying tidal flow ellipse poleward from the critical latitude in the northern (southern) hemisphere. Equatorward from the critical latitude, the major axis near the floor lines up with that of the overlying tidal current ellipse in both hemispheres. The retrograde rotating hodograph against the overlying clockwise tidal hodograph appears near the floor around the critical latitude. These features are confirmed from the numerical studies using the large eddy simulation model. The deflection of the major axis poleward from the critical latitude is a little smaller, about 19°. Furthermore, the effects of nontraditional Coriolis force resulting from the horizontal component of the earth-rotating vector on the development of turbulence were investigated. When the diurnal tidal current is directed westward, the effective vertical eddy viscosity becomes maximum with developing turbulence. While in the case of a semidiurnal tide, a northward tidal current is preferred for turbulence development.     

On the intensity ratio of emission lines of Nai D1 to D2 in prominences

Spectroscopic observations of the Nai D emission lines of prominences were made with the Domeless Solar Telescope in Hida Observatory. When active prominences are bright in the D₂ emission line, the intensity ratio of D₁ to D₂ is found to deviate significantly from the theoretical ratio of the optically-thin case. On the other hand, the intensity ratio is close to the theoretical ratio for the most part of quiescent prominences. Furthermore, the full widths at half maximum intensity of the D₂ emission line for active prominences become wider than those of the D₁ line, as the intensity of the D₂ line gets higher. These observed features clearly show that the emitting region of the Nai D lines is optically thick in some types of prominences. Non-LTE calculations were made by taking the ionization degree of hydrogen atoms and the thickness of the prominences and the electron temperature as free parameters. It is shown that the electron temperature of the emitting region of the Nai D lines should be as low as 4000 K for an explanation of the large optical thickness of the Nai D lines for active prominences. Brief discussions are included about the possible existence of low temperatures in active prominences.     

Petrophysical Properties of Natural Gas Hydrates-Bearing Sands and Their Sedimentology in the Nankai Trough

Abstract. The Nankai Trough parallels the Japanese Island, where extensive BSRs have been interpreted from seismic reflection records. High resolution seismic surveys and drilling site-survey wells conducted by the MTI in 1997, 2001 and 2002 have revealed subsurface gas hydrate at a depth of about 290 mbsf (1235 mbsl) in the easternmost part of Nankai Trough. The MITI Nankai Trough wells were drilled in late 1999 and early 2000 to provide physical evidence for the existence of gas hydrate. During field operations, continuous LWD and wire-line well log data were obtained and numerous gas hydrate-bearing cores were recovered. Subsequence sedimentologic and geochemical analyses performed on the cores revealed important geologic controls on the formation and preservation of natural gas hydrate. This knowledge is crucial to predicting the location of other hydrate deposits and their eventual energy resource. Pore-space gas hydrates reside in sandy sediments from 205 to 268 mbsf mostly filling intergranular porosity. Pore waters chloride anomalies, core temperature depression and core observations on visible gas hydrates confirm the presence of pore-space hydrates within moderate to thick sand layers. Gas hydrate-bearing sandy strata typically were 10 cm to a meter thick. Gas hydrate saturations are typically between 60 and 90 % throughout most of the hydrate-dominant sand layers, which are estimated by well log analyses as well as pore water chloride anomalies.
It is necessary for evaluating subfurface fluid dlow behavious to know both porosity and permeability of gas hydrate-bearing sand to evaluate subsurface fluid flow behaviors. Sediment porosities and pore-size distributions were obtained by mercury porosimetry, which indicate that porosities of gas hydrate-bearing sandy strata are approximately 40 %. According to grain size distribution curves, gas hydrate is dominant in fine- to very fine-grained sandy strata.     

Assimilation and crystal accumulation in a mid-crustal magma chamber: the Sausfjellet pluton, north-central Norway

The Sausfjellet pluton is made up of two intrusive units emplaced into high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Helgeland Nappe Complex of the Uppermost Allochthon in the Norwegian Caledonides. The eastern part of the pluton intruded marble and less voluminous calc-silicate and pelitic rocks. The western half is hosted predominantly by semi-pelitic migmatite with intercalated marble. Remelting of the migmatite during pluton emplacement occurred in a thermal aureole as much as 1000 m wide. The early gabbroic unit forms the southeastern part of the body; it consists of hornblende-bearing to hornblende-rich gabbro and diorite which is thought to have crystallized from an H₂O-rich andesitic parental magma. The younger dioritic unit underlies the central and western parts of the pluton, as well as a zone as much as 200 m wide that separates the rest of the pluton from its host rocks (herein the “annular zone”). The interior or central zone of the dioritic unit is pyroxene diorite that is locally interlayered with anorthosite. The western and annular zones are, by comparison, mineralogically heterogeneous. They range from diorite to quartz monzonite and from biotite-bearing two- and three-pyroxene assemblages to biotite–hornblende assemblages. Neither rock type nor mafic assemblage is correlated with position in the pluton or proximity to a contact. Stoped blocks of a distinctive coarse-grained diorite, as well as pyroxene-rich calc-silicates, are present in the gabbroic unit and the central zone of the dioritic unit. The few stoped blocks observed in the western zone of the dioritic unit are predominantly quartz-rich gneiss. Chemical variation in the central zone of the dioritic unit is interpreted to result from accumulation of pyroxenes+plagioclase from an H₂O-poor andesitic parent. These rocks have approximately constant δ¹⁸O of +6.6±0.2‰ and lack evidence of in situ assimilation. Heterogeneities in the western and annular zones of the dioritic unit are reflected in variable, anomalously enriched incompatible element contents and in δ¹⁸O, which ranges from +6.7‰ to +8.6‰. Petrologic models indicate that the magma parental to the central zone could also be parental to the western and annular zones. If so, evolution of the western and annular zone magma was by crystal accumulation and assimilation of metapelitic host rocks. As much as 20% of the mass of the western and annular zones can be ascribed to assimilated material, which apparently entered the magma by stoping. Therefore, the asymmetrical zoning of the pluton is due to differences in host rock compositions and the relative ability of the magma to assimilate its host rocks.     

Victoria Carbonate-Base Metal Gold Deposit and Its Significance in the Mankayan Mineral District, Luzon, Philippines

Abstract. The Victoria gold deposit is a low-sulfidation style epithermal carbonate-base metal gold deposit discovered in 1995 in the Mankayan mineral district, northern Luzon, Philippines. It occurs just south of a high-sulfidation copper-gold orebody (Lepanto enargite deposit) and a porphyry copper-gold orebody (Far Southeast (FSE) deposit). Radiometric dating of the Victoria mineralization yields ages from 1.6 to 1.1 Ma, similar to ages of the Lepanto enargite deposit. Mineralogical, geochemical, fluid inclusion and sulfur isotope studies suggest that the Victoria deposit is not directly related to the late stage of hydrothermal activity that produced the FSE porphyry copper-gold and the Lepanto enargite deposits. The hydrothermal fluids from which Victoria was formed appear to have been derived from the south, and not from the FSE intrusive center to the northeast. This would suggest a regional south to north hydrothermal gradient, consistent with the similar flow within the FSE porphyry-Lepanto enargite system. On a district scale, structures similar to those of the Victoria deposit in trend and nature would be highly prospective, especially if they occur north of identified plutons and volcanic centers.     

Role of Iron(III) and Aluminum Hydroxides in Concentration/reduction of Au(III) Complexes

Abstract: The adsorption of gold on iron(III) and aluminum hydroxides from solutions containing Au(III) complexes has been studied as a function of pH and chloride concentration at 30C. Iron(III) hydroxide was more effective in adsorbing gold from solution than aluminum hydroxide. However, both hydroxides controlled the behavior of Au(III) complex with very similar manner. The most effective gold adsorption occurred in aqueous solution with near neutral pH and low Cl concentration. In this solution condition, Au(III) complexes were mainly dissolved as AuCl₂(OH)₂^- and AuCl(OH)₃^-, and the surface charge for both hydroxides was positive. In addition, the adsorbed Au(III) complexes were spontaneously reduced to elemental gold in spite of the absence of a specific reducing agent.
The results of this study suggest that adsorption and spontaneous reduction of gold complexes on the surface of hydrous metal oxides with positive charge play an important role in gold precipitation in subsurface environment.     

Assessment of GIAHS in Shizuoka: The Traditional Tea-grass Integrated System

<正>1 Introduction In 2013,Chagusaba,which is traditional tea-grass integrated system in Shizuoka,were accepted as new world heritage site of agriculture.Shizuoka prefecture occupies a variety of elevations,from 0 to 3000m or more above sea level.Because of the diversity of land features and climates,this area produces 167 agricultural commodities.In addition,a lot of traditional agriculture and over200 local native varieties of crops have been conserved in Shizuoka