Evolutionary tracks of the terrestrial planets

On the basis of the model proposed by Matsui and Abe, we will show that two major factors — distance from the Sun and the efficiency of retention of accretional energy — control the early evolution of the terrestrial planets. A diagram of accretional energy versus the optical depth of a proto-atmosphere provides a means to follow the evolutionary track of surface temperature of the terrestrial planets and an explanation for why the third planet in our solar system is an aqua-planet.     

Changes in the lower limit of mountain permafrost between 1973 and 2004 in the Khumbu Himal, the Nepal Himalayas

Because the Khumbu Himal of the Nepal Himalayas lacks long-term climate records from weather stations, mountain permafrost degradation serves as an important indicator of climate warming. In 1973, the permafrost lower limit was estimated to be 5200–5300 m above sea level (ASL) on southern-aspect slopes in this region. Using ground-temperature measurements, we examined the mountain permafrost lower limit on slopes with the same aspect in 2004. The results indicate that the permafrost lower limit was 5400–5500 m ASL in 2004. The permafrost lower limit was estimated to be 5400 to 5500 m on slopes with a southern aspect in the Khumbu Himal in 1991 using seismic reflection soundings. Thus, it is possible that the permafrost lower limit has risen 100–300 m between 1973 and 1991, followed by a stable limit of 5400 to 5500 m over the last decade. An increase in mean annual air temperature of approximately 0.2 to 0.4 °C from the 1970s to the 1990s has indicated a rise in the permafrost lower limit of 40 to 80 m at the Tibetan Plateau. The rise in the mountain permafrost lower limit in the Khumbu Himal exceeds that of the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting the possibility of greater climate warming in the Khumbu Himal.     

Occurrence and seasonal variations of algal toxins in water, phytoplankton and shellfish from North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia

A number of marine microalgae are known to produce toxins that can accumulate in shellfish and when eaten, lead to toxic and potentially fatal reactions in humans. This paper reports on the occurrence and seasonal variations of algal toxins in the waters, phytoplankton and shellfish of Southeast Queensland, Australia. These algal toxins include okadaic acid (OA), domoic acid (DA), gymnodimine (GD), pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2) and pectenotoxin-2-seco acid (PTX-2-SA), which were detected in the sampled shellfish and phytoplankton, via HPLC-MS/MS. Dissolved OA, PTX-2 and GD were also detected in the samples collected from the water column. This was the first occasion that DA and GD have been reported in shellfish, phytoplankton and the water column in Queensland waters. Phytoplankton tows contained both the toxic Dinophysis and Pseudo-nitzschia algae species, and are suspected of being the most likely producers of the OA, PTX-2s and DA found in shellfish of this area. The number of cells, however, did not correlate with the amount of toxins present in either shellfish or phytoplankton. This indicates that toxin production by algae varies with time and the species present and that number of cells alone cannot be used as an indicator for the presence of toxins. The presence of OA and PTX-2s were more frequently seen in the summer, while DA and GD were detected throughout the year and without any obvious seasonal patterns.     

Paleomagnetism of the middle Cretaceous Iritono granite in the Abukuma region, northeast Japan

We have studied the paleomagnetism of the middle Cretaceous Iritono granite of the Abukuma massif in northeast Japan together with ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dating. Paleomagnetic samples were collected from ten sites of the Iritono granite (102 Ma ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar age) and two sites of its associated gabbroic dikes. The samples were carefully subjected to alternating field and thermal demagnetizations and to rock magnetic analyses. Most of natural remanent magnetizations show mixtures of two components: (1) H component, high coercivity (B_c > 50–90 mT) or high blocking temperature (T_b > 350–560 °C) component and (2) L component, relatively low B_c or low T_b component. H component was obtained from all the 12 sites to give a mean direction of shallow inclination and northwesterly declination (I = 29.9°, D = 311.0°, α₉₅ = 2.7°, N = 12). This direction is different from the geocentric axial dipole field at the present latitude (I = 56.5°) and the typical direction of the Cenozoic remagnetization in northeast Japan. Since rock magnetic properties indicate that the H component of the Iritono granite is carried mainly by magnetite inclusions in plagioclase, this component probably retains a primary one. Thus the shallow inclination indicates that the Abukuma massif was located at a low latitude (16.1 ± 1.6°N) about 100 Ma and then drifted northward by about 20° in latitude. The northwesterly deflection is attributed mostly to the counterclockwise rotation of northeast Japan due to Miocene opening of the Japan Sea. According to this model, the low-pressure and high-temperature (low-P/high-T) metamorphism of the Abukuma massif, which has been well known as a typical location, would have not occurred in the present location. On the other hand, the L component is carried mainly by pyrrhotite and its mean direction shows a moderate inclination and a northwesterly declination (I = 42.8°, D = 311.5°, α₉₅ = 3.3°, N = 9). Since this direction is intermediate between the H component and early Cenozoic remagnetization in northeast Japan, some thermal event would have occurred at lower temperature than pyrrhotite Curie point ( 320 °C) during the middle Cretaceous to early Cenozoic time to have resulted in partial remagnetization.     

X-ray observations of PSR B1259−63 near the 2007 periastron passage

PSR B1259−63 is a 48-ms radio pulsar in a highly eccentric 3.4-yr orbit with a Be star SS 2883. Unpulsed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission components are observed from the binary system. It is likely that the collision of the pulsar wind with the anisotropic wind of the Be star plays a crucial role in the generation of the observed non-thermal emission. The 2007 periastron passage was observed in unprecedented details with Suzaku , Swift , XMM–Newton and Chandra missions. We present here the results of this campaign and compare them with previous observations. With these data we are able, for the first time, to study the details of the spectral evolution of the source over a 2-month period of the passage of the pulsar close to the Be star. New data confirm the pre-periastron spectral hardening, with the photon index reaching a value smaller than 1.5, observed during a local flux minimum. If the observed X-ray emission is due to the inverse Compton (IC) losses of the 10-MeV electrons, then such a hard spectrum can be a result of Coulomb losses, or can be related to the existence of the low-energy cut-off in the electron spectrum. Alternatively, if the X-ray emission is a synchrotron emission of very high-energy electrons, the observed hard spectrum can be explained if the high-energy electrons are cooled by IC emission in Klein–Nishina regime. Unfortunately, the lack of simultaneous data in the TeV energy band prevents us from making a definite conclusion on the nature of the observed spectral hardening and, therefore, on the origin of the X-ray emission.     

Determination of the oxidation state of radiogenic Pb in natural zircon using X-ray absorption near-edge structure

We examined the L_III-edge Pb X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) of three natural zircon samples with different amounts of radiation doses (1.9 × 10¹⁵ to 6.8 × 10¹⁵ α-decay events/mg). The results suggest that the oxidation state of radiogenic Pb in the zircon sample with the highest radiation dose is divalent. The XANES spectra of the two other samples with lower radiation doses suggest that radiogenic Pb(II) is present, and further that some Pb may be tetravalent. This is the first work on the determination of the oxidation state of radiogenic Pb in natural zircon using XANES.     

Field Survey of the 1996 Irian Jaya Earthquake Tsunami in Biak Island

Runup data in Biak Island and itsnearby islets are described with discussions oftsunami magnitude and a few characteristics such aswitnessed arrival times, wave periods and wavenumbers. From an engineering viewpoint, a relationbetween inundation depth and current velocity on landis also described with relations between inundationdepth and degree of damage to houses and between sanderosion depth and current velocity in backshoreregion, based on data collected from the present andpast tsunamis.