Seasonal transition of hydrological processes in a slow‐moving landslide in a snowy region

A comprehensive understanding of seasonal hydrological dynamics is required to describe the influence of pore‐water pressure on the stability of landslides in snowy regions. This study reports on the results of continuous meteorological and hydrological observations over 2 years on a landslide body comprising Neogene sedimentary rocks in northern Japan, where a thick (3–5 m) seasonal snowpack covers the land surface. Monitoring of the volumetric water content in shallow unsaturated zones (<0.8 m depth) and pore‐water pressure in saturated bedrock at depths of 2.0 and 5.2 m revealed clear seasonality in hydrological responses to rainfall and meltwater supply. During snow‐free periods, both the shallow soil moisture and deep pore‐water pressure responded rapidly to intense rainwater infiltration. In contrast, during snowmelt, the deep pore pressure fluctuated in accordance with the daily cycle of meltwater input, without notable changes in shallow moisture conditions. During occasional foehn events that cause intense snow melting in midwinter, meltwater flows preferentially through the layered snowpack, converging to produce a localized water supply at the ground surface. This episodically triggers a significant rise in pore‐water pressure. The seasonal differences in hydrological responses were characterized by a set of newly proposed indices for the magnitude and quickness of increases in the pressure head near the sliding surface. Under snow‐covered conditions, the magnitude of the pressure increase tends to be suppressed, probably owing to a reduction in infiltration caused by a seasonal decrease in the permeability of surface soils, and effective pore‐water drainage through the highly conductive colluvial layer. Deep groundwater flow within bedrock remained in a steady upwelling state, enhanced by increasing moisture in shallow soils under snow cover, reflecting the convergence of subsurface water from surrounding hillslopes.     

Emplacement processes of proto-arc basalt in the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc system

Ascertaining the emplacement mechanism of oceanic basaltic lavas is important in understanding how ocean floor topography is produced and oceanic plates evolve, particularly during the early stages of crustal development of a supra-subduction zone. A detailed study of the volcanic stratigraphy at International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1438 in the Amami Sankaku Basin, west of the Kyushu–Palau Ridge, has revealed the development of lava accretion and ridge topography on the Philippine Sea plate at about 49 Ma. Igneous basement rocks penetrated at Site U1438 are the uppermost 150 m of ~6 km-thick oceanic crust, and comprise, in a downhole direction, sheet flows (12.6 m), lobate sheet flows (61.3 m), pillow lavas (50.7 m), and thin sheet flows (25.3 m). The lowermost sheet flows are intercalated with layers of limestone and epiclastic tuff. Lithofacies analysis reveals that the lowermost sheet flows, limestone, and tuff formed on an axial rise, the pillow lavas were emplaced on a ridge slope, and the lobate sheet flows formed off ridge on an abyssal plain. The lithofacies of the basement basalt corresponds to the upper portions of fast-spreading oceanic crust, suggesting that subduction initiation was associated with intermediate to fast rates of seafloor spreading. The surface sheet flows are olivine–clinopyroxene-phyric basalt and differ from the lower basalt flows that contain phenocrysts of olivine and plagioclase, with or without clinopyroxene. The depleted chrome-spinel composition and olivine–clinopyroxene phenocryst assemblage in the surface sheet flows suggests a slight contribution of water for magma generation not present for the lower basalt flows. Considering the lithological difference between the backarc and forearc oceanic crust in the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc, with sheet flow dominant in the former, seafloor spreading occurred faster in the later stage of subduction initiation.     

Formation of TiC core‐graphitic mantle grains from CO gas

Abstract— We demonstrate a new formation route for TiC core‐graphitic mantle spherules that does not require carbon‐atom addition and the very long time scales associated with such growth (Bernatowicz et al. 1996). Carbonaceous materials can be formed from C₂H₂ and its derivatives, as well as from CO gas. In this paper, we will demonstrate that large‐cage‐structure carbon particles can be produced from CO gas by the Boudouard reaction. Since the sublimation temperature for such fullerenes is low, the large cages can be deposited onto previously nucleated TiC and produce TiC core‐graphitic mantle spherules. New constraints for the formation conditions and the time scale for the formation of TiC core‐graphitic mantle spherules are suggested by the results of this study. In particular, TiC core‐graphitic mantle grains that are found in primitive meteorites that have never experienced hydration could be mantled by fullerenes or carbon nanotubes rather than by graphite. In situ observations of these grains in primitive anhydrous meteoritic matrix could confirm or refute this prediction and would demonstrate that the graphitic mantle on such grains is a metamorphic feature due to interaction of the presolar fullerenes with water within the meteorite matrix.     

Effect of macropores on soil freezing and thawing with infiltration

An understanding of heat transport and water flow in unsaturated soils experiencing freezing and thawing is important when considering hydrological and thermal processes in cold regions. Macropores, such as cracks, roots, and animal holes, provide efficient conduits for enhanced infiltration, resulting in a unique distribution of water content. However, the effects of macropores on soil freezing and thawing with infiltration have not been well studied. A one‐directional soil‐column freezing and thawing experiment was conducted using unsaturated sandy and silt loams with different sizes and numbers of macropores. During freezing, macropores were found to retard the formation of the frozen layer, depending on their size and number. During thawing, water flowed through macropores in the frozen layer and reached the underlying unfrozen soil. However, infiltrated water sometimes refroze in a macropore. The ice started to form at near inner wall of the macropore, grew to the centre, and blocked flow through the macropore. The blockage ice in the macropore could not melt until the frozen layer disappeared. Improving a soil freezing model to consider these macropore effects is required. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating metrics derived from Landsat 8 OLI imagery to map crop cover

Developing techniques are required to generate agricultural land cover maps to monitor agricultural fields. Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) offers reflectance data over the visible to shortwave-infrared range. OLI offers several advantages, such as adequate spatial and spectral resolution, and 16 day repeat coverage, furthermore, spectral indices derived from Landsat 8 OLI possess great potential for evaluating the status of vegetation. Additionally, classification algorithms are essential for generating accurate maps. Recently, multi-Grained Cascade Forest, which is also called deep forest, was proposed, and it was shown to give highly competitive performance for classification. However, the ability of this algorithm to generate crop maps with satellite data had not yet been evaluated. In this study, the reflectance at 7 bands and 57 spectral indices calculated from Landsat 8 OLI data were evaluated for its potential for crop type identification.     

A field experiment of walkaway distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile in a deep and deviated onshore well in Japan using a fibre optic cable deployed inside coiled tubing

A two-dimensional walkaway vertical seismic profiling survey using distributed acoustic sensing was conducted at an onshore site in Japan. The maximum depth and the deviation of the observation well were more than 4,000 m and 81 degrees, respectively. Among the several methods for installing fibre optic cables, we adopted the inside coiled tubing method, in which coiled tubing containing a fibre optic cable is deployed. The signal-to-noise ratio of the raw shot gather was low, possibly due to poor coupling between the fibre optic cable and the subsurface formation resulting from the fibre optic cable deployment method and the existence of considerable tubewave noise. Nevertheless, direct P-wave arrivals, P–P reflections and P–S converted waves exhibited acceptable signal-to-noise ratios after careful optimization of gauge length for distributed acoustic sensing optical processing and the application of carefully parameterized tubewave noise suppression. One of the challenges in current distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile data processing is the separation of P- and S-waves using only one-component measurements. Hence, we applied moveout correction using two-dimensional ray tracing. This process effectively highlights only reflected P-waves, which are used in subsequent subsurface imaging. Comparison with synthetic well seismograms and two-dimensional surface seismic data confirms that the final imaging result has a sufficiently high quality for subsurface monitoring. We acquired distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile data under both flowing conditions and closed conditions, in which the well was shut off and no fluid flow was allowed. The two imaging results are comparable and suggest the possibility of subsurface imaging and time-lapse monitoring using data acquired under flowing conditions. The results of this study suggest that, by adopting the inside coiled tubing method without drilling a new observation well, more affordable distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile monitoring can be achieved in fields such as CO₂ capture and storage and unconventional shale projects, where monitoring costs have to be minimized.     

Compressibility of calcium ferrite-type MgAl2O4

 In situ X-ray diffraction experiments of calcium ferrite-type MgAl₂O₄ have been carried out using a diamond anvil cell combined with synchrotron radiation and an imaging plate X-ray detector under hydrostatic pressures up to 9 GPa. The observed unit-cell volumes at various pressures were fitted to the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, yielding a bulk modulus of K _{T 0}= 241(3) GPa when K′ _{T 0}=4 is assumed. This relatively large bulk modulus of calcium ferrite-type MgAl₂O₄ is consistent with that expected from the systematic relation between bulk modulus and molar volume for the most compounds possessing fcc oxygen packing. Received March 5, 1996/Revised, accepted October 15, 1996     

Dredge petrology of the boninite‐ and adakite‐bearing Hahajima Seamount of the Ogasawara (Bonin) forearc: An ophiolite or a serpentinite seamount?§

Abstract During the Hakuho‐Maru KH03‐3 cruise and the Tansei‐Maru KT04‐28 cruise, more than 1000 rock samples were dredged from several localities over the Hahajima Seamount, a northwest–southeast elongated, rectangular massif, 60 km × 30 km in size, with a flat top approximately 1100 m deep. The rocks included almost every lithology commonly observed among the on‐land ophiolite outcrops. Volcanic rocks included mid‐oceanic ridge basalt (MORB)‐like tholeiitic basalt and dolerite, calc‐alkaline basalt and andesite, boninite, high‐Mg adakitic andesite, dacite, and minor rhyolite. Gabbroic rocks included troctolite, olivine gabbro, olivine gabbronorite (with inverted pigeonite), gabbro, gabbronorite, norite, and hornblende gabbro, and showed both MORB‐type and island arc‐type mineralogies. Ultramafic rocks were mainly depleted mantle harzburgite (spinel Cr? 50–80) and its serpentinized varieties, with some cumulate dunite, wehrlite and pyroxenites. This rock assemblage suggests a supra‐subduction zone origin for the Hahajima Seamount. Compilation of the available dredge data indicated that the ultramafic rocks occur in the two northeast–southwest‐oriented belts on the seamount, where serpentinite breccia and gabbro breccia have also developed, but the other areas are free from ultramafic rocks. Although many conical serpentinite seamounts 10 km in size are aligned along the Izu–Ogasawara (Bonin)–Mariana forearc, the Hahajima Seamount may be better interpreted as a fault‐bounded, uplifted massif composed of ophiolitic thrust sheets, resembling the Izki block of the Oman ophiolite in its shape and size. The ubiquitous roundness of the dredged rocks and their thin Mn coating (<2 mm) suggest that the Hahajima Seamount was uplifted above sealevel and wave‐eroded, like the present Macquarie Is., a rare example of ophiolite exposure in an oceanic setting. The Ogasawara Plateau on the Pacific Plate is adjacent to the east of the Hahajima Seamount, and collision and subduction of the plateau may have caused uplift of the forearc ophiolite body.     

Constraining tephra dispersion and deposition from three subplinian explosions in 2011 at Shinmoedake volcano,Kyushu, Japan

Constraining physical parameters of tephra dispersion and deposition from explosive volcanic eruptions is a significant challenge, because of both the complexity of the relationship between tephra distribution and distance from the vent and the difficulties associated with direct and comprehensive real-time observations. Three andesitic subplinian explosions in January 2011 at Shinmoedake volcano, Japan, are used as a case study to validate selected empirical and theoretical models using observations and field data. Tephra volumes are estimated using relationships between dispersal area and tephra thickness or mass/area. A new cubic B-spline interpolation method is also examined. Magma discharge rate is estimated using theoretical plume models incorporating the effect of wind. Results are consistent with observed plume heights (6.4–7.3 km above the vent) and eruption durations. Estimated tephra volumes were 15–34?×?10⁶ m³ for explosions on the afternoon of 26 January and morning of 27 January, and 5.0–7.6?×?10⁶ m³ for the afternoon of 27 January; magma discharge rates were in the range 1–2?×?10⁶ kg/s for all three explosions. Clast dispersal models estimated plume height at 7.1?±?1 km above the vent for each explosion. The three subplinian explosions occurred with approximately 12-h reposes and had similar mass discharge rates and plume heights but decreasing erupted magma volumes and durations.