An earthquake swarm in the northern part of the Aso caldera and migration of their foci

A seismicity gap was observed in the early stage of the activity of the earthquake swarm which has been taken place in the northern part of the Aso caldera during January 1975. In the following stage, small earthquakes began to occur, until at last the largest earthquake occured within the seismicity gap. The b-value appreciably increased after the largest earthquake. The above-mentioned characteristics of this earthquake swarm may be a typical example of the fracturing phenomena in relatively heterogeneous rocks. From the estimation of the ultimate strain energy that can be stored up in the seismicity gap, it may be concluded that the above-mentioned largest earthquake took place by the release of ultimate strain energy stored within the seismicity gap.     

Melting kinetics of a plagioclase feldspar

Partial melting experiments on plagioclase feldspar have been carried out to investigate textures and kinetics of the melting. A labradorite single crystal was heated at one atmosphere pressure and temperatures within its melting interval as a function of time. So called honeycomb, fingerprint, or sieve textures were produced except for the runs just below the liquidus. The melting was initiated by heterogeneous nucleation of melt at the surface and/or interior (cracks and possively dislocations) of the crystal. The pattern of the melt is dendritic with a few μm arm spacing. After the melt develops throughout the crystal, the volumes of melt and residual crystal become larger and smaller, respectively, without changing the arm spacings. The melt is homogeneous and has the approximate temperature dependent liquidus composition irrespective of the time. There are compositional gradients in the residual crystal after short periods of melting. The An content of the crystals increases with increasing time until it finally reaches equilibrium with the melt after several thousands minutes of heating. It is concluded that the enlargement of the melt, the main process of the melting, is controlled by diffusion in the crystal. The fact that partial melts have the composition of the equilibrium liquidus even from the first several minutes strongly suggests that the local equilibrium at the crystal-liquid interface is satisfied during the melting. Some of the honeycomb, fingerprint, and sieve textures found in xenoliths and phenocrysts of sodic plagioclase in volcanic rocks would be caused by heating events (such as magma mixing) during which temperatures of magmas were temporarily higher than the solidus of some of the minerals.     

SHRIMP and electron microprobe chronology of UHT metamorphism in the Napier Complex,East Antarctica: implications for zircon growth at >1,000 °C

Zircons in ultra-high-temperature (UHT) metamorphosed paragneisses from Mt. Riiser-Larsen in the Napier Complex, East Antarctica, were dated by using ion microprobe (SHRIMP) and electron microprobe (EMP). Both SHRIMP and EMP analyses yield consistent 2520–2460 Ma age populations for garnet–orthopyroxene-bearing paragneiss and leucosomes enclosed within. The peak UHT event was dated at 2480 Ma by SHRIMP analyses on metamorphic zircons from the garnet–orthopyroxene paragneiss and those on magmatic zircons from the leucosomes which are interpreted to be formed at syn-UHT. As obtained by SHRIMP, the UHT metamorphic event was terminated no later than 2460 Ma. Minor 2520-Ma SHRIMP age suggests either the onset of prograde metamorphism or another high-grade metamorphic event unrelated to the UHT. EMP analyses on metamorphic zircons from sapphirine–quartz and osumilite-bearing magnesian paragneisses give c. 2500–2450 Ma ages. Inherited igneous zircon cores of the magnesian paragneisses yield relatively scattered EMP ages ranging over c. 3000–2650 Ma, suggesting that igneous materials of these ages sourced the protoliths of the paragneisses and that they were deposited during the interval c. 2650–2520 Ma.     

Seasonal variation in abundance and species composition of a planktonic diatom assemblage including viable cells on the bottom in matsushima bay,northeastern japan

Seasonal variation in abundance and species composition of a planktonic diatom assemblage distributed in the water column and also settled on the bottom was investigated for the shallow coastal water in Matsushima Bay on the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan during the period from October 1999 to September 2000. A spring bloom of diatoms began in April when nutrient concentrations started to increase, indicating the importance of nutrients. Viable cells of Skeletonema costatum and Thalassiosira spp., which were the dominant species in the water column throughout the year, were also always abundant in the bottom sediment. Both populations in the water column and on the bottom fluctuated essentially in parallel. For the planktonic diatoms in shallow coastal waters to maintain their vegetative populations in the water column, it would be advantageous for them to have a seeding population of viable cells on the bottom that are easily resuspended into the upper photic layer.     

Study of the effect of water-soluble fractions of heavy-oil on coastal marine organisms using enclosed ecosystems,mesocosms

Mesocosm facilities composed of 4 experimental and 2 reservoir tanks (1.5 m in diameter, 3.0 m in depth and 5 tons in capacity) made of FRP plastics, were constructed in the concrete fish rearing pond in the Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Tokyo. The water-soluble fraction of Rank A heavy residual oil was formed by mixing 500 g of the oil with 10 l of seawater, which was introduced to the 5000 l-capacity tanks. Experimental Run 4 was conducted from May 31 to June 7, 2000. Oil concentrations in the tanks were 4.5 microg/l called LOW, and 13.5 microg/l, called HIGH tank. Bacterial growth rates very quickly accelerated in the HIGH tank just after the loading of oil which corresponded with a high increase of bacterial cells in the same tank after 2 days. Later, bacterial numbers in HIGH tank rapidly decreased, corresponding with the rapid increase of heterotrophic nano-flagellates and virus numbers on the same day. Sediment traps were deployed at the bottom of the experimental tanks, and were periodically retrieved. These samples were observed both under light microscope and epi-fluorescent microscope with UV-excitation. It was observed that the main components of the vertical flux were amorphous suspended matter, mostly originating from dead phytoplankton and living diatoms. It was further observed from the pictures that vertical transport of oil emulsions were probably conducted after adsorption to amorphous suspended matter and living diatoms, and were settling in the sediment traps at the bottom of the tanks. This means that the main force which drives the soluble fraction of oil into bottom sediment would be vertical flux of such amorphous suspended particles and phytoplankton. Further incubation of the samples revealed that the oil emulsions were degraded by the activity of autochtonous bacteria in the sediment in aerobic condition.     

Damage detection of base‐isolated buildings using multi‐input multi‐output subspace identification

A damage detection algorithm of structural health monitoring systems for base‐isolated buildings is proposed. The algorithm consists of the multiple‐input multiple‐output subspace identification method and the complex modal analysis. The algorithm is applicable to linear and non‐linear systems. The story stiffness and damping as damage indices of a shear structure are identified by the algorithm. The algorithm is further tuned for base‐isolated buildings considering their unique dynamic characteristics by simplifying the systems to single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems. The isolation layer and the superstructure of a base‐isolated building are treated as separate substructures as they are distinctly different in their dynamic properties. The effectiveness of the algorithm is evaluated through the numerical analysis and experiment. Finally, the algorithm is applied to the existing 7‐story base‐isolated building that is equipped with an Internet‐based monitoring system. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of intense rainfall on the activity of large-scale crystalline schist landslides in Shikoku Island, Japan

Many large landslides in the crystalline schist region of Shikoku Island, Japan, are susceptible to intense rainfall. Through the use of on-site monitoring systems, the activity of landslides and their meteorological triggers can be assessed. Continuous high-intensity rainfall was found to play a key role in provoking landslide movement. This paper investigates the influence of intense rainfall on the activity of crystalline schist landslides by examining rainfall and displacement of four typical landslides. By defining and calculating the effective rainfall and the relative landslide displacement, the relationship between intense rainfall and rainfall-induced landslide movement was analysed. Results indicate that the intense rainfall-induced landslide movement can be correlated with the effective rainfall. From these results, two rainfall thresholds were identified for the landslide risk management of Shikoku Island.     

Shaking table tests on seismic response of steel braced frames with column uplift

Previous studies have suggested that rocking vibration accompanied by uplift motion might reduce the seismic damage to buildings subjected to severe earthquake motions. This paper reports on the use of shaking table tests and numerical analyses to evaluate and compare the seismic response of base‐plate‐yielding rocking systems with columns allowed to uplift with that of fixed‐base systems. The study is performed using half‐scale three‐storey, 1 × 2 bay braced steel frames with a total height of 5.3 m. Base plates that yield due to column tension were installed at the base of each column. Two types of base plates with different thicknesses are investigated. The earthquake ground motion used for the tests and analyses is the record of the 1940 El Centro NS component with the time scale shortened by a factor of 1/√2. The maximum input acceleration is scaled to examine the structural response at various earthquake intensities. The column base shears in the rocking frames with column uplift are reduced by up to 52% as compared to the fixed‐base frames. Conversely, the maximum roof displacements of the fixed and rocking frames are about the same. It is also noted that the effect of the vertical impact on the column associated with touchdown of the base plate is small because the difference in tensile and compressive forces is primarily due to the self‐limiting tensile force in the column caused by yielding of the base plate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

40Ar/39Ar ages of blueschist facies pelitic schists from Qingshuigou in the Northern Qilian Mountains, western China

Abstract   Pelitic schists from Qingshuigou in the Northern Qilian Mountains of China contain mainly glaucophane, garnet, white mica, clinozoisite, chlorite and piemontite. Isotopic age dating of these schists provides new constraints on the formation of the high-grade blueschists at Qingshuigou. White mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages range from 442.1 to 447.5 Ma (total fusion age of single grain) and from 445.7 to 453.9 Ma (integrated age of white mica concentrates). These ages (442.1–453.9 Ma) represent the peak metamorphic ages or cooling ages of the blueschists during exhumation shortly after peak metamorphism. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates in the present study are similar to ages previously reported for eclogites and blueschists in the area; this suggests that both the eclogites and pelitic sediments underwent high-grade metamorphism during the same subduction event. From this chronological evidence and the presence of well-developed Silurian remnant-sea flysch and Devonian molasse, it is concluded that the Northern Qilian Ocean had closed by the end of the Ordovician, and rapid orogenic uplift followed in the Devonian.