The Dependence of Constitutive Properties on Temperature and Effective Normal Stress in Seismogenic Environments

— We have evaluated how the parameters prescribing the slip-dependent constitutive law are affected by temperature and effective normal stress, by conducting the triaxial fracture experiments on Tsukuba-granite samples in seismogenic environments, which correspond to a depth range to 15 km. The normalized critical slip displacement D _c almost remains constant below 300^oC (insensitive to both temperature and effective normal stress σ _n ^eff); D _c increases with increasing temperature above 300 °C, and the rate of D _c increase with temperature tends to be largest at higher σ _n ^eff. The breakdown stress drop Δτ _b for the granite at constant σ _n ^eff is roughly 80 MPa below 300 °C, and does not depend on σ _n ^eff. Above 300 °C, Δτ _b decreases gradually with increasing temperature, and the rate of Δτ _b reduction with temperature increases at higher σ _n ^eff. The peak shear strength τ _p increases nearly linearly with increasing σ _n ^eff below 300 °C. However, τ _p becomes lower above 300 °C, deviating from the linear relation extrapolated from below 300 °C. This is consistent with the onset of crystal plastic deformation mechanisms of Tsukuba granite.     

Uranium and Thorium Isotope Distribution in an Offshore Bottom Sediment Core of the Selenga Delta, Lake Baikal, Siberia

Distribution of uranium and thorium isotopes in a short sediment core obtained offshore of the Selenga Delta in Lake Baikal, Siberia, was investigated to establish their sedimentary behaviors and to look for a linkage to paleoenvironmental changes. The sediments were composed of dominantly fine detrital materials (70–85%) and a relatively high sedimentation rate (ca. 0.03 cm y⁻¹). The depth profile of ²³⁸U content in bulk sediment samples showed a large variation of 70–123 Bq kg⁻¹, while ²³²Th profile showed a relatively narrow range from 36 to 56 Bq kg⁻¹. The observed ²³⁴U/²³⁸U activity ratios revealed a marked disequilibrium ranging from 1.53 to 1.84 with a mean value of 1.71 ± 0.07, demonstrating the presence of 50–80% authigenic ²³⁸U in the bulk sediments. The distribution of this authigenic ²³⁸U did not display any clear correlation with variations in sediment composition (organic, carbonate, Bio-SiO₂ and mineral contents) including grain size median. The profile of terrigenous ²³⁸U showed a relatively similar pattern to that of ²³²Th. Results of sequential leaching indicate that ²³⁸U in Fe–Mn oxyhydroxides fractions were responsible for the distribution of authigenic ²³⁸U rather than in Bio-SiO₂ fraction. The distribution of authigenic ²³⁸U in the bottom sediments may be explained by the fluctuation of U adsorption capacity on particles including organic matter and Fe–Mn oxyhydroxides before they entered the lake. This study highlights the potential use of authigenic and terrigenous U (Th) signatures in sediments to trace the behavior of U (Th) and to reconstruct environmental (e.g., hydrological) changes in the lake catchment area.     

Middle Miocene to Quaternary primary basalt and high magnesian andesite magmas of North Hokkaido, Japan: Source mantle characteristics and degrees of partial melting

Abstract   Middle Miocene to Quaternary primitive basalts and high magnesian andesite (HMA) in North Hokkaido resulted from three periods of intense volcanism; early-stage (12–10 Ma), middle-stage (9–7 Ma) and late-stage (3–0 Ma). Based on the chemical compositions of olivines and chromian spinels and bulk chemistry of the primitive rocks, we examined depths of segregation of the calculated primary magmas and the degrees of partial melting of the source mantle. In the context of asthenospheric mantle upwelling, petrological data from the present study can be accounted for by the secular change in the depth of magma segregation from the upwelled asthenospheric mantle, which is composed of fertile peridotite. Thus, the early-stage primary magmas were generated by higher degrees of partial melting of the shallower part of hot asthenospheric mantle, whereas the middle- and late-stage primary magmas resulted from lower degrees of partial melting of a deeper part of the asthenospheric mantle. The early-stage HMA magma was generated by partial melting of the remnant subcontinental lithospheric mantle composed of refractory peridotite. This melting might have resulted from an increased geothermal gradient caused by upwelling of hot asthenosphere.     

Three-Dimensional Interpolation and Lithofacies Analysis of Granular Composition Data for Earthquake-Engineering Characterization of Shallow Soil

In Japan, many major cities are located on tectonic basins which are surrounded by faults and underlain by soft alluvial materials. Because these areas are subject to earthquake damages, it is important to determine their seismic engineering characteristics. Geotechnical databases which contain many borehole logs are useful information sources for this type of analysis. Each datum stored in the database has a value or an attribute, and its location is irregular in both horizontal and vertical directions. A new interpolation method based on the optimization principle is proposed here to deal with such three-dimensionally distributed data. Susceptibility of unconsolidated ground to liquefaction is known to be related to the content of loose and saturated sand. The mixture ratio of several soil types in a deposit, i.e., granular composition, is strongly influenced by the sedimentary environment. There are two numerical methods: the optimization principle method (OPM) used to determine three-dimensional distribution of granular composition and the model used to evaluate liquefaction. The application of the proposed methods to two locations in Japan indicated that the zones with high susceptibility to liquefaction were indeed those that had suffered from liquefaction during past earthquakes.     

What controls the lateral variation of large earthquake occurrence along the Japan Trench?

Abstract The lateral (along trench axis) variation in the mode of large earthquake occurrence near the northern Japan Trench is explained by the variation in surface roughness of the subducting plate. The surface roughness of the ocean bottom near the trench is well correlated with the large-earthquake occurrence. The region where the ocean bottom is smooth is correlated with'typical'large underthrust earthquakes (e.g. the 1968 Tokachioki event) in the deeper part of the seismogenic plate interface, and there are no earthquakes in the shallow part (aseismic zone). The region where the ocean bottom is rough (well-developed horst and graben structure) is correlated with large normal faulting earthquakes (e.g. the 1933 Sanriku event) in the outer-rise region, and large tsunami earthquakes (e.g. the 1896 Sanriku event) in the shallow region of the plate interface zone. In the smooth surface region, the coherent metamorphosed sediments form a homogeneous, large and strong contact zone between the plates. The rupture of this large strong contact causes great under-thrust earthquakes. In the rough surface region, large outer-rise earthquakes enhance the well-developed horst and grabens. As these structure are subducted with sediments in the graben part, the horsts create enough contact with the overriding block to cause an earthquake in the shallow part of the interface zone, and this earthquake is likely to be a tsunami earthquake. When the horst and graben structure is further subducted, many small strong contacts between the plates are formed, and they can cause only small underthrust earthquakes.     

Limestone of the Daiichi Kashima Seamount and the fate of a subducting guyot: fact and speculation from the Kaiko “Nautile” dives

The Daiichi-Kashima Seamount subducting in the Japan Trench has two reef-capped flat tops with different depths, which are bounded by a nearly straight scarp. The western (inboard) crest is 5300–5450 m deep, and the eastern (outboard) one is 3880–4000 m deep.

A variety of shallow-water reefoid limestones studied by the Kaiko “Nautile” dives not only confirms the similarity in thickness and lithologies, but also establishes an approximate biostratigraphic correlation between the two reefoid caps, based for the first time on the orbitolinid foraminifers (Orbitolina (Mesorbitolina) parva from the western block and O. (M.) texana from the eastern block).

This conclusion supports the interpretation that the present topography of the seamount has resulted from a subduction-induced faulting of a once single reef-capped guyot. A plausible scenario of the fate of a subducting Early Cretaceous guyot in the Western Pacific is outlined as exemplified by the Daiichi-Kashima Seamount.     

Theoretical investigation of the time variation of drainage density

A theoretical equation was developed to express the time variation of drainage density in a basin or geomorphic surface: D_i(t, T) is the drainage density at time T on the i-th basin or geomorphic surface, which was formed at time t; β(τ) is a factor related to the erosional force causing the development of the rivers of the basin or surface at time τ; δ_i is the maximum drainage density; and D_i is the initial drainage density on the i-th geomorphic surface or basin. The equation is based on the assumption that the drainage density increases with time until it reaches a specific upper limit δ_i(t)), the maximum drainage density, which is related to certain physical properties of the basin. The equations for various dated basins or geomorphic surfaces can be combined into one modified equation if the same relative erosional forces have acted on those basins or surfaces (β(t) = β(t) and if the basins or surfaces have the same physical properties δ_i(t) = δ_i(t), (D_i = D₀). The application of this equation to coastal terraces and glacial tills shows that the model is compatible with observed drainage densities on various dated basins or surfaces.     

Oblique and near collision subduction, Sagami and Suruga Troughs —preliminary results of the French-Japanese 1984 Kaiko cruise, Leg 2

Leg 2 of the French-Japanese 1984 Kaiko cruise has surveyed the Suruga and the Sagami Troughs, which lie on both sides of the northwestward moving and colliding Izu-Bonin Ridge, the northernmost part of the Philippine Sea plate. The transition from the Nankai Trough to the Suruga Trough is characterized by northward decrease in width of the accretionary prism, in good agreement with the increasing obliquity between the through axis and the direction of the convergence, as the strike of the convergent boundary changes from ENE-NNE to south-north. South of the area, the southern margin of the Zenisu Ridge shows contractional deformations. This supports the interpretation made by the team of Leg 1 who studied the western extension of the area we studied, that it is an intra-oceanic thrusting of the ridge over the Shikoku Basin. In the Sagami Trough, where the relative motion is highly oblique to the plate boundary, active subduction is mostly confined in the east-west trending portions of the trough located south of the Boso Peninsula and along the lower Boso Canyon, near the TTT triple junction. In between, the present motion is mainly right-lateral along the northwest trending Boso escarpment. However, an inactive but recent (Pliocene to lower Pleistocene) accretionary prism exists south of the Boso escarpment, which suggests that the relative motion was more northerly than at present before about 1 Ma ago.