Origin of sector trilling in cordierite in Daimonji hornfels,Kyoto, Japan

Sector trilling of cordierite in hornfels in the inner part of a contact aureole at Daimonji, Japan is a new type which consists not only of six (100) sectors (a-sectors) forming trilling, but also of (001) sectors (c-sectors) and high-index sectors (h-sectors). Complex twins within and among these sectors were studied from a viewpoint of a pseudo twin. The complex texture originated from both growth and transformation processes. The c-sector consists of three groups of domains which are related by a pseudo twin. This intrasector pseudo twin indicates that the initial phase of the c-sector was hexagonal cordierite (indialite) which later transformed to orthorhombic. The a-sector is related to adjacent sectors by a rotation of 120° around the c axis, resulting in an intersector pseudo twin. The a-sector is interpreted to have formed by overgrowth of orthorhombic cordierite on prism faces of indialite. The h-sector with the dendritic texture is also interpreted to have grown as orthorhombic cordierite. In hornfels in the middle part of the aureole, cordierites with sector trilling often coexist with single crystals of cordierite, and the sector trilling has no c- and h-sectors. This trilling type suggests that nucleation of indialite was subsequently followed by growth of orthorhombic cordierite in its stable field.     

Carbonate deposits on submerged seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Abstract   The lithology of shallow-water carbonates collected from 19 sites on 16 seamounts in six areas of the northwestern Pacific Ocean using the Deep-sea Boring Machine System are described. The areas include the Amami Plateau, Daito Ridge, Oki-Daito Ridge, Urdaneta Plateau, Kyushu-Palau Ridge and Ogasawara Plateau. Chronological constraint is provided by calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy, larger foraminiferal biostratigraphy and strontium (Sr) isotope stratigraphy. Large amounts of shallow-water carbonates accumulated on the seamounts during the Oligocene, a relatively cool period, whereas limited carbonate deposits formed during the Early Miocene, a relatively warm period. This might indicate that deposition of shallow-water carbonates on seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean was not necessarily controlled by climatic conditions, but was related to volcanism and tectonics that served as foundations for reef/carbonate-platform formation. Remarkable differences in biotic composition exist between Cretaceous and Cenozoic shallow-water carbonates. Late Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates are distinguished by the occurrence of rudists, solenoporacean algae and microencrusters. Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene shallow-water carbonates are dominated by Halimeda or nummulitid and discocyclinid larger foraminifers. Scleractinian corals became common from the Oligocene onward. Nongeniculate coralline algae and larger foraminifers were common to abundant throughout the Eocene to the Pleistocene. The replacement of major carbonate producers in the shallow-water carbonate factory during post-Cretaceous time is in accordance with previous studies and is considered to reflect a shift in seawater chemistry.     

Pb and Th in settling particles in the western Northwest Pacific Ocean: Particle flux and scavenging

A mooring of three conical time-series sediment traps was deployed at two sites in the western Northwest Pacific Ocean for 9 months. Total mass fluxes and activities of ²¹⁰Pb and ²³⁰Th were determined for the settling particles to elucidate their scavenging and transport processes. Sediment samples also were analyzed for ²¹⁰Pb activities. Total mass fluxes, ²¹⁰Pb fluxes and ²³⁰Th fluxes showed large seasonal variations and their weighted mean fluxes tended to increase with depth, with an especially large increase near-bottom. The ratios of the observed ²¹⁰Pb fluxes to the ²¹⁰Pb deficiency fluxes in the upper traps at the two sites were only 0.02 and 0.12, and were attributable to advective export of ²¹⁰Pb from the surface waters. Those ratios in the near-bottom traps ranged between 1.22 and 2.63. This suggests that these high ratios are due to effective particle scavenging, large lateral ²¹⁰Pb import and input of resuspended particles that have not become incorporated into the sediments. The mean total ²³⁰Th fluxes at the near-bottom traps were 4.2–6.7 times higher than that expected from production in the overlying water column. The ²¹⁰Pb activities in the surficial sediments were much lower than those in the near-bottom traps. The ²¹⁰Pb accumulation rates estimated from the excess ²¹⁰Pb inventory in the sediment column were 40–70% higher than the mean ²¹⁰Pb fluxes at the near-bottom traps. The ratios of the ²¹⁰Pb accumulation rates to the ²¹⁰Pb deficiency fluxes at the near-bottom traps ranged between 2.0 and 3.7. The high fluxes of particulate ²¹⁰Pb and ²³⁰Th at the near-bottom traps reflected a combination of enhanced scavenging of dissolved nuclides and the lateral redistribution of particulate matter by downslope and alongshore transports. However, it was not possible to discriminate among the various processes contributing to high nuclide fluxes.     

A New Coastal Marine Ecosystem Model Study Coupled with Hydrodynamics and Tidal Flat Ecosystem Effect

A new coastal marine ecosystem model was developed, which was composed of pelagic and benthic ecosystems, and was applied to Mikawa Bay, Japan. This model deals with variations of biochemical and physical interactions among dissolved oxygen and C–N–P species (composition formed out of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus elements) so that it resolves the flux dynamics of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen elements. The physical and biochemical mechanism figured in this model is constructed for the purpose of simulating the estuarine lower trophic ecosystem, in areas where the sea was too deep for light to reach the sea-bottom. As a result of coupling the benthic with pelagic system, the effect of process of sedimentation and nutrient diffusion back to the pelagic system could be indicated. In addition, by implementing the tidal flat ecosystem model's calculation result, the integrated model can include the effect of water purification in tidal flats where the light can reach the sea-bottom, and where sea-weed, sea grass and benthic algae exist. In this study, the model indicates that oxygen-depleted water exists at the sea-bottom especially in summer mainly caused by an increase of oxygen consumption in the benthic system and a decrease of the vertical mixing water process. Furthermore, by comparing the case – with the tidal flat ecosystem model and the case without it, the effect of water purification of tidal flat estuaries was indicated. From the viewpoint of a short time scale, the tidal flat has the potential to restrict red tide (rapid increase of phytoplankton), and from the viewpoint of a long time scale, it restricts the sedimentation of detritus. Restricting the sedimentation prevents oxygen-depleted water occurring in the coastal marine system of Mikawa Bay.     

Quaternary vertical offset and average slip rate of the Nojima Fault on Awaji Island, Japan

Abstract Drilling was carried out to penetrate the Nojima Fault where the surface rupture occurred associated with the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake. Two 500 m boreholes were successfully drilled through the fault zone at a depth of 389.4 m. The drilling data show that the relative uplift of the south-east side of the Nojima Fault (south-west segment) was approximately 230 m. The Nojima branch fault, which branches from the Nojima Fault, is inferred to extend to the Asano Fault. From the structural contour map of basal unconformity of the Kobe Group, the vertical component of displacement of the Nojima branch–Asano Fault is estimated to be 260–310 m. Because the vertical component of displacement on the Nojima Fault of the north-east segment is a total of those of the Nojima Fault of the south-west segment and of the Nojima branch–Asano Fault, it is estimated to total to 490–540 m. From this, the average vertical component of the slip rate on the Nojima Fault is estimated to be 0.4–0.45 m/10³ years for the past 1.2 million years.     

A four-component decomposition of POLSAR images based on the coherency matrix

A four-component decomposition scheme of the coherency matrix is presented here for the analysis of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The coherency matrix is used to deal with nonreflection symmetric scattering case, which is an extension of covariance matrix approach. The same decomposition results have been obtained. The advantage of this approach is explicit expressions of four scattering powers in terms of scattering matrix elements, which serve the interpretation of polarimetric SAR data quantitatively.     

Layered soil-pile-structure dynamic interaction

This paper is concerned with the dynamic interaction between soil, pile and structure when subjected to harmonic excitation at the base rock level. The structure to be analysed is an isolated tall bridge pier with deep group pile foundation. The dynamic substructure approach is taken, dealing first with the pile-footing substructure and the pier superstructure independently; and then integrating these at the interface. Since the soil profile is multi-layered, the transfer matrix scheme is applied to extend the relevant continuum solution proposed by earlier researchers for pile analysis in a homogeneous viscoelastic medium. Using a numerical example, the importance of the soil layer vibration modes which exert forces on the pile varying along the pile length is pointed out together with the soil-structure inertial interaction in the structural response. The latter concerns the dynamic characteristic of the complete system whereas the former relates the driving force to it. Also examined is the applicability of the approximate soil reaction based on the plane strain assumption, which simplifies the formulation and requires much less computing time in the response analysis.     

Resonance capacity method for earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures

The Resonance Capacity Method is proposed for the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures. Resonance Capacity is a physical quantity of structures which is related to the hysteretic energy absorbed by structures in one cycle and is equated to the acceleration, velocity and displacement amplitudes α₀, d₀ and d₀ of earthquake ground motions at resonance.¹ According to the idealized trapezoidal approximation of earthquake ground motions in the logarithmic period–velocity plane as proposed by Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ the Resonance Capacity property applies in each period range, short, medium and long, where α₀, v₀ and d₀ respectively are approximately constant. In the medium range of periods, the energy dissipated in hysteretic loops and the deformation amplitudes of a single-degree system with elasto–plastic force–deformation relationships are calculated for the case of El Centro 1940, 18 May earthquake, by this Resonance Capacity Method. The result is compared with results from conventional numerical response analyses obtained by Berg and Thomaides,¹⁴ Kato and Akiyama¹² and Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ and the general agreement is seen to be good. Therefore, it may be possible to apply this Resonance Capacity Method over the entire range of periods. By means of this method the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic systems can be performed easily, and the hysteretic energy and fatigue characteristics of structures may be taken into account directly, up to the point of fracture.     

Fast Oxidation Reaction of Nitrite by Dissolved Oxygen in the Freezing Process in the Tropospheric Aqueous Phase

Nitrite oxidation in the tropospheric aqueous phase by freezing was evaluated by freezing a field sample. Nitrite oxidation by dissolved oxygen in the freezing process is much faster than by other oxidation processes, such as reactions with ozone, hydrogen peroxide or dissolved oxygen in an aqueous solution at pHs 3 to –6. At pH 4.5 and 25°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the aqueous phase is ca. 1 hr in oxidation by ozone (6×10^-10 mol dm^-3), ca. 10 hr in oxidation by H₂O₂ (2×10^-4 mol dm^-3), and 7.5 hr (Fischer and Warneck, 1996) in photodissociation at midday in summer. Under the same conditions at a temperature below 0°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the freezing process is estimated as ca. 2 sec when the droplets are frozen within a second. The reaction by freezing is affected by the presence of salts, such as NaCl or KCl, or orgnaic compounds, such as methanol or acetone. The results of freezing a field rain or fog sample showed that nitrite oxidation proceeds below pH 6, and the conversion ratio of nitrate from nitrite increases with decreasing pH. The oxidation of nitrite by freezing was also observed in freezing fog particles generated by an ultrasonic humidifier. The ratios of the concentrations of ions in the winter sample to those in the summer sample (or those in the fog sample) were almost the same values. However, the concentration of nitrite in the winter sample was lower than that estimated by the ratios of other ions. From the present study, it seems that the freezing process plays an important role in the nitrite sink process in the tropospheric aqueous phase.     

Design and Long-Term Monitoring of Tokyo International Airport Extension Project Constructed on Super-Soft Ground

To meet the increasing demand for air transportation, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had carried out the offshore extension project at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport). The airport should be constructed to be perfectly level, but the ground conditions with very thick layers of super soft dredged soils and need for reclamation made the task very difficult. Because of large amount of consolidation settlement, ground improvement by combined vertical drain method was applied to decrease residual and differential settlement after opening of new airport. This paper is aimed to introduce the design concept and method of ground improvement for this project. In addition the result of ground improvement is keeping satisfactory performance for operating airport confirmed by long-term monitoring for airport facilities.