The anisotropy of cosmic ray arrival directions around 10 eV

Anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energies above 10¹⁷ eV is studied using data from the Akeno 20 km² array and the Akeno Giant Air Shower Array (AGASA), using a total of about 114 000 showers observed over 11 years. In the first harmonic analysis, we have found a strong anisotropy of 4% around 10¹⁸ eV, corresponding to a chance probability of 0.2% after taking the number of independent trials into account. with two-dimensional analysis in right ascension and declination, this anisotropy is interpreted as an excess of showers near the directions of the Galactic Center and the Cygnus region.     

Origin of a unique impact-melt rock—the L-chondrite Ramsdorf

Abstract— We have studied a unique impact-melt rock, the Ramsdorf L chondrite, using optical and scanning microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. Ramsdorf contains not only clast-poor impact melt (Begemann and Wlotzka, 1969) but also a chondritic portion (>60 g) with what appears at low magnification to be a normal, well-defined chondritic texture. However, detailed studies at high magnification show that >90 vol% of the crystals in the chondritic portion were largely melted by the impact: the chondrules lack normal microtextures and are ghosts of the original features. The only relics from the precursor chondrules are olivine crystals, which have the highest melting temperature (～1620 °C). Pyroxene-rich chondrules were so extensively melted that no phenocrysts were preserved and the melt crystallized in situ before significant mixing with exterior olivine-rich melts. Fine-grained pyroxene chondrule ghosts have sharper boundaries with the matrix than porphyritic olivine and pyroxene chondrule ghosts, probably because pyroxene-rich melts are significantly more viscous. Complex textures that formed by injection of melt along cracks and fractures in relic olivines suggest that the chondritic portion of Ramsdorf formed directly from petrologic type 3–4 material by strong shock. We infer that Ramsdorf was largely melted by shock pressures of ～75–90 GPa and that chondrule ghosts and relic olivine phenocrysts were locally preserved by rapid cooling. Quenching was not due to the addition of cold clasts into the melt but to heterogeneous shock heating that only caused internal melting of large olivines and pyroxenes. Ramsdorf appears to be one of the most heavily shocked meteorites that has retained some trace of its original texture.     

Calibration and validation of the ocean color version-3 product from ADEOS OCTS

We present calibration and validation results of the OCTS’s ocean color version-3 product, which mainly consists of the chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) and the normalized water-leaving radiance (_nL_w). First, OCTS was calibrated for the inter-detector sensitivity difference, offset, and absolute sensitivity using external calibration source. It was also vicariously calibrated using in-situ measurements for water (Chl-a and_nL_w) and atmosphere (optical thickness), which were acquired synchronously with OCTS under cloud-free conditions. Second, the product was validated using selected 17 in-situ Chl-a and 11 in-situ_nL_w measurements. We confirmed that Chl-a was estimated with an accuracy of 68% for Chl-a less than 2 mg/m³, and_nL_w from 94% (band 2) to 128% (band 4). Geometric accuracy was improved to 1.3 km. Stripes were significantly reduced by modifying the detector normalization factor as a function of input radiance.     

Mechanisms of the southward translation of meddies

Meddies are warm and saline anticyclonic eddies found at the mid-depth of the Mediterranean Outflow in the Eastern North Atlantic. They are observed to move almost southward at average speeds as high as 1.3±0.2 cm s⁻¹. This paper examines a mechanism which accelerates this curious translation to a reasonable speed when combined with nonlinearity and a suitable vertical eddy structure. This mechanism is thepseudo-topographic β effect due to the westward decrease in the thickness of the mid-layer induced by the surface southward mean current. The linear dispersion relation including this effect is shown to account for a quarter of the surface southward mean current or a fifth of the observed southward translation of meddies. Three-layer quasi-geostrophic experiments reveal that the surface southward mean current certainly enhances the southward translation velocity of meddies to a speed in agreement with observation, if the meddy has a current structure of plausible intensity and vertical coherence. In the light of the current-induced pseudo-topographic β effect, previous hypotheses are also re-examined through dynamic arguments together with numerical experiments; they are suggested to have some difficulty either in dynamics or in correspondence with observation. Thus the nonlinear effect due to secondary eddies combined with thecurrent-induced pseudo-topographic β effect is the most likely mechanism responsible for the rapid southward translation of meddies among those examined in the paper.     

Polymetallic Mineralization at the Shin-Ohtoyo Deposit, Harukayama District, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract: The Shin-Ohtoyo Cu–Au deposit is located in the Harukayama district, 20 km west of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Both acid-type disseminated and adularia–quartz–type vein Au mineralizations have been recognized within a small distance of less than 500 m in the district. Mineralogical characteristics of sulfide ores from the Shin-Ohtoyo deposit have been proved to be polymetallic. Ore minerals containing Sn, V, Bi and Te are recognized. Nine ore types are recognized in terms of characteristic mineral assemblage; (1) chalcedonic quartz veinlets in silicified zone around the deposit, (2) bismuthinite, emplectite, friedrichite and tetrahedrite, (3) an unnamed Cu–Sn–Fe–Zn sulfide, colusite-series minerals, stannoidite, emplectite and tetrahedrite, (4) bournonite, Se-bearing galena and tetrahedrite, (5) luzonite/famatinite and Ag-bearing tetrahedrite, (6) colusite-series minerals, emplectite, aikinite and tetrahedrite/goldfieldite, (7) luzonite/famatinite, colusite-series minerals, mawsonite and tetra–hedrite/goldfieldite, (8) enargite, luzonite/famatinite and tetrahedrite, and (9) colusite-series minerals and tetrahedrite. The first occurrence of friedrichite and stibiocolusite from Japan are reported. The chemical formula of the unnamed phase corresponds to Cu₆(Cu, Fe, Zn)Sn₃S₁₀. Sulfur isotopic ratios (δ³⁴S) of sulfides from the stockpile range from –0. 5% to +1. 9%, and those from drill cores recovered by Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) vary from –2. 7% to +0. 8%. Sulfur isotopic ratio of barite in a cavity in the silicified tuff breccia collected from the stock pile yields +27. 1%, while that of barite collected from MMAJ core is +21. 7%. Sulfur isotopic thermometry applied for a pair of barite (+21. 7%) and associated pyrite (+1. 8%) indicates about 300°C. High–Te tetrahedrite composition from both the chalcedonic quartz vein in the silicified zone around the Shin-Ohtoyo deposit and the polymetallic sulfide ores from the adit of the deposit, suggests that the Au mineralization in the former is attributed to a hydrothermal system marginal to the polymetallic mineralization.     

Response of hybrid isolation system during a shake table experiment of a full‐scale isolated building

A full‐scale 5‐story steel moment frame building was subjected to a series of earthquake excitations using the E‐Defense shake table in August, 2011. For one of the test configurations, the building was seismically isolated by a hybrid system of lead‐rubber bearings and low friction roller bearings known as cross‐linear bearings, and was designed for a very rare 100 000‐year return period earthquake at a Central and Eastern US soil site. The building was subject to 15 trials including sinusoidal input, recorded motions and simulated earthquakes, 2D and 3D input, and a range of intensities including some beyond the design basis level. The experimental program was one of the first system‐level full‐scale validations of seismic isolation and the first known full‐scale experiment of a hybrid isolation system incorporating lead‐rubber and low friction bearings. Stable response of the hybrid isolation system was demonstrated at displacement demands up to 550 mm and shear strain in excess of 200%. Torsional amplifications were within the new factor stipulated by the code provisions. Axial force was observed to transfer from the lead‐rubber bearings to the cross‐linear bearings at large displacements, and the force transfer at large displacements exceeded that predicted by basic calculations. The force transfer occurred primarily because of the flexural rigidity of the base diaphragm and the larger vertical stiffness of the cross‐linear bearings relative to the lead‐rubber bearings.     

Bottom pressure change associated with the 2004–2005 large meander of the Kuroshio south of Japan

A large meander of the Kuroshio was generated in the region off the southern coast of Japan in August 2004 and continued until approximately July 2005. The formation and decay of the large-meander (LM) path was observed by bottom pressure (BP) sensors installed on inverted echo sounders (PIESs) and a seismic observing system off Shikoku. The variation in BP was examined focusing on the development, persistence, and decay of the LM path. The BP was found to be depressed associated with a Kuroshio path disturbance, called a small meander, and this BP depression led the sea surface height (SSH) depression by up to approximately two months. The temporal phase shift between the sea surface and deep disturbances was significantly greater than those of other small meanders that did not develop into large meanders. After the formation of the LM path, the BP beneath the Kuroshio increased with a lag of approximately two months behind the SSH elevation along with the upward displacement of the main thermocline. The increase in BP is associated with that of the positive southward BP gradient anomaly, i.e., the eastward deep Kuroshio current anomaly, which suggests an enhancement of the topographic steering and stability of the LM path. This is consistent with the fact that no small meanders occurred in the early LM period from late July 2004 to late January 2005.     

A new occurrence of retrogressed eclogite from the Sanbagawa belt of southwest Japan and its significance

The present paper reports, for the first time, the occurrence of an omphacite‐bearing mafic schist from the Asemi‐gawa region of the Sanbagawa belt (southwest Japan). The mafic schist occurs as thin layers within pelitic schist of the albite–biotite zone. Omphacite in the mafic schist only occurs as inclusions in garnet, and albite is the major Na phase in the matrix, suggesting that the mafic schist represents highly retrogressed eclogite. Garnet grains in the sample show prograde‐type compositional zoning with no textural or compositional break, and contain mineral inclusions of omphacite, quartz, glaucophane, barroisite/hornblende, epidote and titanite. In addition to the petrographic observations, Raman spectroscopy and focused ion beam system–transmission electron microscope analyses were used for identification of omphacite in the sample. The omphacite in the sample shows a strong Raman peak at 678 cm^?1, and concomitant Raman peaks are all consistent with those of the reference omphacite Raman spectrum. The selected area electron diffraction pattern of the omphacite is compatible with the common P2/n omphacite structure. Quartz inclusions in the mafic schist preserve high residual pressure values of Δω₁ > 8.5 cm^?1, corresponding to the eclogite facies conditions. The combination of Raman geothermobarometries and garnet–clinopyroxene geothermometry gives peak pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of 1.7–2.0 GPa and 440–540 °C for the mafic schist. The peak P–T values are comparable to those of the schistose eclogitic rocks in other Sanbagawa eclogite units of Shikoku. These findings along with previous age constraints suggest that most of the Sanbagawa schistose eclogites and associated metasedimentary rocks share similar simple P–T histories along the Late Cretaceous subduction zone.     

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2016.04.002

Population synthesis studies into planet formation have suggested that distributions consistent with observations can only be reproduced if the actual Type Ⅰ migration timescale is at least an order of magnitude longer than that deduced from linear theories.Although past studies considered the effect of the Type I migration of protoplanetary embryos,in most cases they used a conventional formula based on static torques in isothermal disks,and employed a reduction factor to account for uncertainty in the mechanism details.However,in addition to static torques,a migrating planet experiences dynamic torques that are proportional to the migration rate.These dynamic torques can impact on planet migration and predicted planetary populations.In this study,we derived a new torque formula for Type Ⅰ migration by taking into account dynamic corrections.This formula was used to perform population synthesis simulations with and without the effect of dynamic torques.In many cases,inward migration was slowed significantly by the dynamic effects.For the static torque case,gas giant formation was effectively suppressed by Type I migration;however,when dynamic effects were considered,a substantial fraction of cores survived and grew into gas giants.