Effects of temperature and chlorinity on the microdistribution ofFavella taraikaensis Hada (Ciliata) in Maizuru Bay

Continuous sampling of the plankton with a pump sampler was carried out along a 960 m straight-line course in Maizuru Bay. The 25 collections of plankton were successively obtained at a depth of 1.5 m along the course, each of the collections covering a horizontal distance of 38 m. Vertical samplings of the plankton were done at five different depths (90, 120, 150, 180 and 210 cm) at 13 stations along the course. In both kinds of samplings temperature and chlorinity were measured.In the horizontal distribution ofF. taraikaensis, it was demonstrated that the counts of plankton had no correlation with the temperature and chlorinityin situ. There was a correlation between the counts and the differences of temperature and chlorinity between two successive sampling stations. It seemed thatF. taraikaensis was most abundant in the locations where the temperature difference was greater than +0.2C and the chlorinity difference was greater than +0.04 . This species was more abundant around the steep thermocline and the steep halocline. When the vertical profiles of temperature and chlorinity did not show steep gradients, this species was more abundant near the surface.     

A Eulerian-Eulerian Physical-Biological Impact Model of Zooplankton Injury Due to CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Ocean Sequestration

To study the biological impacts of CO₂ ocean sequestration on floating marine organisms, a full Eulerian-Eulerian scheme model has been developed in a large-eddy simulation (LES) version using one-way coupling of the equations of seawater flow to the transport equations of the bio-scalar variables. Special attention was paid to deriving the transport equation, involving non-conservative scalars to describe the degree of injury to floating organisms due to the change in the pH environment resulting from CO₂ dissolution. The source terms of the transport equations of bio-scalar variables are based on experimental data on zooplankton activities affected by lower pH seawater, allowing construction of empirical sub-models of three kinds of floating marine organisms: Gaidius variabilis, Paraeuchaeta Birostrata, and Multi-organisms. An example is given to show the applicability of the model to the assessment of the biological impact of CO₂ sequestration in the ocean. Given an initial CO₂ droplet diameter of 8.0 mm and an injection rate of 1.0 kg/sec, the model simulation predicts that the zooplanktons lose approximately 90% of their activity when the lowest pH inside the plume decreases from 7.57 to 5.61. These injured zooplanktons then recovered gradually to their normal state within two hours due to dilution of the plume. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A hydraulic experiment on tidal exchange

Tidal exchange through a narrow entrance channel was studied experimentally with the use of a simplified hydraulic model. The inflowing water mass, visualized with dye solution, exhibits the shape of a starting plume with a starting vortex pair at its head. Because of their periodical formation by the tide, these are called the tidal plume and tidal vortex pair. The axis of the tidal plume deflects and undulates with a period 2 to 9 times that of the tide. Together with this undulation, the vortex pair becomes asymmetric. A circulating flow is formed in the bay which affects the shape of the inflowing and outflowing water masses. A part of the inflowing water mass flows out during the subsequent ebb, and this outflowing portion can be divided into two parts. One is the water remaining in the entrance channel at high water which flows out during the first half of the subsequent ebb and the other is the water flowing round the bay in the circulating flow during flood that flows out during the latter half of the subsequent ebb. Both contribute to the exchange ratio, but we can estimate an upper limit for the exchange ratio by neglecting the latter outflow. This neglected portion is considered in the concept of the age composition of outflowing water. The age composition of the bay water shows the existence of intermittent effluence superposed on a trend in the age composition that is similar to that of the well-mixed case. From the analysis of a model consisting of a number of mixing tanks connected in series with a recycle flow, it is concluded that this intermittent effluence occurs in the case of weak mixing due to the effect of circulating flow in the bay but is negligible in the case of strong mixing.     

Study on the manganese nodule V. Thermal studies of the iron-manganese phase

The thermal phase transformation of the iron-manganese phase of the Pacific Ocean manganese nodules were studied by the differential thermal and X-ray diffraction methods. X-ray powder patterns of the heated samples at the temperature of 600°C to 1000°C show the occurrence of hematite, bixbyite and cubic and tetragonal (Fe, Mn)₃O₄. Bixbyite produced by the heat treatment of the iron-manganese phase gives an abnormal X-ray pattern in comparison with the standard sample of bixbyite. Cubic (Fe, Mn)₃O₄ is produced not only by the reaction of bixbyite with hematite over 900°C, but also at the lower temperature, such as 600°C. While, tetragonal (Fe, Mn)₃O₄ is a reaction product of cubic (Fe, Mn)₃O₄ with bixbyite over 900°C in the case of manganese rich nodules. The species and quantities of the products after the heat treatment are assumed to be mostly influenced by the relative contents of iron and manganese in the manganese nodule.     

A study on the time-dependent microfracturing and strength of Oshima granite

Uniaxial compressive loading experiments where axial strain rate or dilatant volumetric strain rate was kept constant were carried out using a servo-controlled hydraulic testing machine. The rock studied was Oshima granite. In order to investigate the effect of the strain rate on the strength, a theory based on the assumption of redistribution of the pre-existing microcracks due to subcritical crack growth was examined. Results expected from the theory were well borne out by the observations. The strength was expressed by power-functions of both axial strain rate and dilatant strain rate. The stress corrosion index of Oshima granite appeared to be 31 ± 3, which agreed well with the values reported previously.When the axial strain rate was held constant, the acoustic emission rate increased exponentially and the b-value, the exponent in the frequency-magnitude relation of the acoustic emissions, decreased with increasing applied stress. When the dilatant volumetric strain rate was kept constant, the acoustic emission rate and the b-value remained constant and independent of the stress increase. Furthermore, when the dilatant strain rate was held constant at a higher value, the b-value was constant at a lower level. As the decrease in the b-value indicates the higher dilatant strain rate, the b-value is one of the most useful key parameters in the fracture predictions.     

Boron isotopic composition of fumarolic condensates from some volcanoes in Japanese island arcs

Boron samples from 40 fumarolic condensates from volcanoes in the Ryukyu arc (Satsuma Iwo-jima and Shiratori Iwo-yama) and the North-east Japan arc (Usu-shinzan, Showa-shinzan, Esan and Issaikyo-yama) all have ${}^{11}\text{B}{}^{10}\text{B}$ ratios close to 4.07. Higher values, from 4.09 to 4.13, were only observed in condensates from volcanoes in the southernmost end of the North-east Japan arc (Nasu-dake), the northern part of the Izu-Bonin arc (Hakone), and the North Mariana arc (Ogasawara Iwo-jima). These higher values suggest geological interaction of the magmas with sea-water enriched in ¹¹B.     

Sapphirine bearing granulites from the Sipiwesk Lake area of the late Archean Pikwitonei granulite terrain,Manitoba, Canada

Sapphirine occurs in the orthopyroxene-cordierite and feldspar-sillimanite granulites in the Sipiwesk Lake area of the Pikwitonei granulite terrain, Manitoba (97°40W, 55°05N). The orthopyroxene-cordierite granulites have extremely high Al₂O₃ (24.5 wt%) and MgO (24.6 wt%) contents and contain sapphirine (up to 69.2 wt% Al₂O₃), aluminous orthopyroxene (up to 8.93 wt% Al₂O₃), cordierite, spinel, phlogopite, and corundum. Sapphirine forms coronas mantling spinel and corundum. Corona sapphirine is zoned and its composition varies through the substitution (Mg, Fe, Mn) Si=2 Al as a function of the phases with which it is in contact. Textural and chemical relationships of sapphirine with coexisting phases indicate that spinel + cordierite reacted to form orthopyroxene + sapphirine under conditions of increasing pressure. Moreover, decreasing core to rim variation of Al₂O₃ in orthopyroxene porphyroblasts suggests decreasing temperature during sapphirine formation. On the basis of experimentally determined P-T stability of the assemblage enstatite + sapphirine + cordierite, and the Al content of hypothetical Fe²⁺-free orthopyroxene associated with sapphirine and cordierite, metamorphic temperatures and pressures are estimated to be 860–890° C and 3.0–11.2 kbar.In the feldspar-sillimanite granulites, sapphirine occurs as a relict phase mantled by sillimanite and/or by successive coronas of sillimanite and garnet. These textural relations suggest the reaction sapphirine + garnet + quartz = orthopyroxene + sillimanite with decreasing temperature. Compositions of minerals in the assemblage garnet-orthopyroxene-sillimanite-plagioclase-quartz, indicate metamorphic P-T conditions of 780–880° C and 9±1 kb.The metamorphic conditions estimated in this study suggest that the sapphirine bearing granulites in the Sipiwesk Lake area represent Archean lower crustal rocks. Their formation might be related to the crustal thickening processes in this area as suggested by Hubregtse (1980) and Weber (1983).     

Possible effects of collisions on plate motions

A large-scale collision at a plate boundary is expected to play an important role not only in the deformation at the boundary but also in the motion of the plate carrying the buoyant material to be accreted. Possible changes in rates and directions of such motions may be calculated provided that certain assumptions are made about the nature of the driving forces. In this model we shall assume basically that:

1. (1) an oceanic plate is driven by slab pull and ridge push, being resisted by basal asthenospheric drag and slab resistance; and

2. (2) because of detachment, slab pull is lost upon collision.

If, however, the calculated motion following collision has a convergent component at the boundary, a new subduction zone, with an increasing slab pull force, forms seaward of the accreting buoyant material.Calculations were first made on an idealized planar octagonal plate. Results indicated that, so long as the scale of collision is limited, changes in motion take place but the motion returns to the initial state. However, for large-scale collisions, the plate motion suffers a large directional change, which also changes the nature of some boundaries, and hence the motion approaches a new steady-state motion irreversibly. Calculations were then conducted on an idealized Philippine Sea plate on a spherical earth. For a sizable collision along the Taiwan-Philippine-Mindanao boundary, this boundary and perhaps the Bonin-Mariana boundary, may become a transform fault provided that slab pull-ridge push is the driving force. These results provide some support to Uyeda-McCabe model (1983) of episodic spreading of the Philippine Sea basins, as well as the predominance of strike-slip motion along collision boundaries. Finally, in agreement with prior studies, subduction of a ridge system, assumed to have been located along the southwestern rim of the Paleo-Pacific plate, was shown to be consistent with the change in direction of motion of that plate at 43 m.y.B.P.Calculations conducted in this study show that predicted changes are model dependent so that comparisons with observed or inferred motions may be useful as a means of estimating the relative importance of the various potential driving forces.     

Lower crustal fluid distribution in the northeastern Japan arc revealed by high-resolution 3D seismic tomography

The Ou Backbone Range strikes northwards through the central northeastern Japan arc and is bounded on both sides by the active reverse Uwandaira and Sen'ya faults. We have applied a traveltime inversion method (seismic tomography) with spatial velocity correlation to active and passive seismic data in order to investigate a three-dimensional (3-D) velocity structure. The data set contains 33,993 P- and 18,483 S-wave arrivals from 706 natural sources and 40 blasts, as well as 2803 P-wave traveltime data from 10 explosions detonated during the 1997 controlled source experiment. The traveltime inversion reveals a zone beneath the Ou Backbone Range in which P-wave velocities (V_P) are approximately 6–8% lower than the average velocity at equivalent depths. The low V_P and a low V_P to S-wave velocity (V_S) ratio (V_P/V_S) of about 1.65 suggest the presence of aqueous fluids in the middle crust.