Morphology and tectonics of the Yap Trench

We conducted swath bathymetry and gravity surveys the whole-length of the Yap Trench, lying on the southeastern boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate. These surveys provided a detailed morphology and substantial insight into the tectonics of this area subsequent the Caroline Ridge colliding with this trench. Horst and graben structures and other indications of normal faulting were observed in the sea-ward trench seafloor, suggesting bending of the subducting oceanic plate. Major two slope breaks were commonly observed in the arc-ward trench slope. The origin of these slope breaks is thought to be thrust faults and lithological boundaries. No flat lying layered sediments were found in the trench axis. These morphological characteristics suggest that the trench is tectonically active and that subduction is presently occurring. Negative peaks of Bouguer anomalies were observed over the arc-ward trench slope. This indicates that the crust is thickest beneath the arc-ward trench slope because the crustal layers on the convergent two plates overlap. Bouguer gravity anomalies over the northern portion of the Yap Arc are positive. These gravity signals show that the Yap Arc is uplifted by dynamic force, even though dense crustal layers underlie the arc. This overlying high density arc possibly forces the trench to have great water depths of nearly 9000 m. We propose a tectonic evolution of the trench. Subduction along the Yap Trench has continued with very slow rates of convergence, although the cessation of volcanism at the Yap Arc was contemporaneous with collision of the Caroline Ridge. The Yap Trench migrated westward with respect to the Philippine Sea Plate after collision, then consumption of the volcanic arc crust occurred, caused by tectonic erosion, and the distance between the arc and the trench consequently narrowed. Lower crustal sections of the Philippine Sea Plate were exposed on the arc-ward trench slope by overthrusting. Intense shearing caused deformation of the accumulated rocks, resulting in their metamorphism in the Yap Arc.     

High-Reflectivity Coatings for a Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectropolarimeter

Precise polarization measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region are expected to be a new tool for inferring the magnetic fields in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. High-reflectivity coatings are key elements to achieving high-throughput optics for precise polarization measurements. We fabricated three types of high-reflectivity coatings for a solar spectropolarimeter in the hydrogen Lyman-\(\upalpha \) (Ly\(\upalpha \); 121.567 nm) region and evaluated their performance. The first high-reflectivity mirror coating offers a reflectivity of more than 80 % in Ly\(\upalpha \) optics. The second is a reflective narrow-band filter coating that has a peak reflectivity of 57 % in Ly\(\upalpha \), whereas its reflectivity in the visible light range is lower than 1/10 of the peak reflectivity (\(\sim 5~\%\) on average). This coating can be used to easily realize a visible light rejection system, which is indispensable for a solar telescope, while maintaining high throughput in the Ly\(\upalpha \) line. The third is a high-efficiency reflective polarizing coating that almost exclusively reflects an s-polarized beam at its Brewster angle of 68° with a reflectivity of 55 %. This coating achieves both high polarizing power and high throughput. These coatings contributed to the high-throughput solar VUV spectropolarimeter called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP), which was launched on 3 September, 2015.     

Tourmaline breakdown in a pelitic system: implications for boron cycling through subduction zones

Pressure–temperature conditions of tourmaline breakdown in a metapelite were determined by high-pressure experiments at 700–900°C and 4–6 GPa. These experiments produced an eclogite–facies assemblage of garnet, clinopyroxene, phengite, coesite, kyanite and rare rutile. The modal proportions of tourmaline clearly decreased between 4.5 and 5 GPa at 700°C, between 4 and 4.5 GPa at 800°C, and between 800 and 850°C at 4 GPa, with tourmaline that survived the higher temperature conditions appearing corroded and thus metastable. Decreases in the modal abundance of tourmaline are accompanied by decreasing modal abundance of coesite, and increasing that of clinopyroxene, garnet and kyanite; the boron content of phengite increases significantly. These changes suggest that, with increasing pressure and temperature, tourmaline reacts with coesite to produce clinopyroxene, garnet, kyanite, and boron-bearing phengite and fluid. Our results suggest that: (1) tourmaline breakdown occurs at lower pressures and temperatures in SiO₂-saturated systems than in SiO₂-undersaturated systems. (2) In even cold subduction zones, subducting sediments should release boron-rich fluids by tourmaline breakdown before reaching depths of 150 km, and (3) even after tourmaline breakdown, a significant amount of boron partitioned into phengite could be stored in deeply subducted sediments.     

Alteration of the equal settling ratio of fine particles by vertically-oscillating water

An equal settling ratio is an important factor in estimating particle separation accuracy. However, this factor is often calculated using the settling velocity in stationary water, there are no examples of calculation of the equal settling ratio in an actual separator. This is difficult because particle movement in a separator is very complicated, and even simple periodic motions, such as the oscillation field used with many separators, are ignored in many cases. The authors have previously reported on the relation between the equal settling ratio and the oscillation frequency by analysis of particle movement in vertically oscillating water, using spherical particles of glass (average size 435 μm) and zirconia (202 μm) which have the same settling velocity in stationary water. In this study, the influence of particle diameter on the change in the settling velocity in oscillating water was experimentally investigated for three pairs of glass and zirconia particles having different sizes under 0.5 mm, which have the same settling velocity in stationary water. The settling velocities of different-sized particles decreased at different rates in oscillating water, indicating that the equal settling ratio is reduced by water oscillation. We conclude that water oscillation improves the accuracy of size separation for glass particles over 300 μm and zirconia particles over 150 μm when glass and zirconia particles are separated from each other with the difference of these settling velocities.     

A new ornithomimid dinosaur with North American affinities from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation in Henan Province of China

A partial skeleton of the ornithomimid dinosaur, discovered from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan County, Tantou Basin, Henan Province, China, is described here and assigned to a new genus and species, Qiupalong henanensis, with unique features (a notch on the lateral surface of the lateral posterior process of the proximal end of tibia and a small pit at the contact between astragalus and calcaneum). A phylogenetic analysis in this study suggests that it is a derived ornithomimid and form a monophyly with North American ornithomimids (Struthiomimus altus and Ornithomimus edmontonicus), sharing two characters (straight pubic shaft and large acute angle between pubic shaft and boot). Some characters (small anterior process of the pubic boot and curved pedal unguals) are seen in basal ornithomimosaurs as well, but these features in Q. henanensis are reversal. Qiupalong is the first definitive ornithomimid from outside of the Gobi Desert and is the southern-most occurrence of Late Cretaceous ornithomimid from eastern Asia, demonstrating southern extension of ornithomimid distribution in Asia.     

A method for extending a general constitutive model to consider the electro-chemo-mechanical phenomena of mineral crystals in expansive soils

The mechanical behavior of expansive soils varies according to the chemical composition of the pore fluid. It is well known that electrochemical phenomena on the surface of clay mineral crystals considerably affect their macrostructural behavior. In particular, a change in the pore fluid composition causes osmotic consolidation or swelling. In this study, a model is constructed to describe the characteristic behavior of expansive soils by coupling the interlaminar behavior of clay mineral crystals and the soil skeleton behavior. The interlaminar behavior is derived from the electro-chemo-mechanical coupling equilibrium of mineral crystals, and the soil skeleton behavior is given by a general elastoplastic constitutive model for soils. This modeling approach extends a general model to consider the electro-chemo-mechanical phenomena of mineral crystals. Oedometer tests with the replacement of the cell fluid and the swelling pressure and deformation tests on expansive clays are simulated with the proposed model. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method can reasonably represent the typical behavior of expansive soils.     

A Reynolds-averaged turbulence modelling approach to the maintenance of the Venus superrotation

Abstract

A maintenance mechanism of an approximately linear velocity profile of the Venus zonal flow or superrotation is explored, with the aid of a Reynolds-averaged turbulence modelling approach. The basic framework is similar to that of Gierasch (Meridional circulation and maintenance of the Venus atmospheric rotation. J. Atmos. Sci. 1975, 32, 1038–1044) in the sense that the mechanism is examined under a given meridional circulation. The profile mimicking the observations of the flow is initially assumed, and its maintenance mechanism in the presence of turbulence effects is investigated from a viewpoint of the suppression of energy cascade. In the present work, the turbulent viscosity is regarded as an indicator of the intensity of the cascade. A novelty of this formalism is the use of the isotropic turbulent viscosity based on a non-local time scale linked to a large-scale flow structure. The mechanism is first discussed qualitatively. On the basis of these discussions, the two-dimensional numerical simulation of the proposed model is performed, with an initially assumed superrotation, and the fast zonal flow is shown to be maintained, compared with the turbulent viscosity lacking the non-local time scale. The relationship of the present model with the current general circulation model simulation is discussed in light of a crucial role of the vertical viscosity.     

Barotropic unstable modes in zonal and meridional channel on the beta-plane

Abstract

The linear stability of a non-divergent barotropic parallel shear flow in a zonal and a non-zonal channel on the β plane was examined numerically. When the channel is non-zonal, the governing equation is slightly modified from the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. Numerical solutions were obtained by solving the discretized linear perturbation equation as an eigenvalue problem of a matrix. When the channel is zonal and lateral viscosity is neglected the problem is reduced to the ordinary barotropic instability problem described by Kuo's (1949) equation. The discrepancy between the stability properties of westward and eastward flows, which have been indicated by earlier studies, was reconfirmed. It has also been suggested that the unstable modes are closely related to the continuous modes discretized by a finite differential approximation. When the channel is non-zonal, the properties of unstable modes were quite different from those of the zonal problem in that: (1) The phase speed of the unstable modes can exceed the maximum value of the basic flow speed; (2) The unstable modes are not accompanied by their conjugate mode; and (3) The basic flow without an inflection point can be unstable. The dispersion relation and the spatial structure of the unstable modes suggested that, irrespective of the orientation of the channel, they have close relation to the neutral modes (Rossby channel modes) which are the solutions in the absence of a basic shear flow. The features mentioned above are not dependent on whether or not the flow velocity at the boundary is zero.     

Alkalinization and acidification of stream water with changes in atmospheric deposition in a tropical dry evergreen forest of northeastern Thailand

Field surveys on atmospheric deposition and stream water chemistry were conducted in an evergreen forest in northeastern Thailand characterized by a tropical savanna climate with distinct dry and wet seasons. Atmospheric deposition of ion constituents by throughfall and stemflow was shown to increase in the beginning and end of the wet season, reflecting the precipitation pattern. The pH and electrical conductivity of stream water increased with alkalinity and base cation concentrations due to mineralization of organic matter by the first rain and retention of anions in soil during the start of the wet season. After initial alkalinization, the pH and alkalinity declined rapidly with the highest SO₄^2? concentration displayed in the middle towards the end of the wet season. The magnitude of peaks in SO₄^2? concentration (13.5–60.6 μmol_c/L) reflects deposition during the first 2 months of the wet season (March and April) in respective years (60.8–170 mol_c/ha). Release of SO₄^2? with H⁺, which is retained in soil during the early wet season, may cause acidification later in the season. The deposition and concentration of SO₄^2? declined over 6 years. However, the pH of stream water declined with increasing concentrations of SO₄^2? and other major ions. The release of materials accumulated in the ecosystem was facilitated by the decrease in SO₄^2? concentration/deposition and increased precipitation in the middle–late wet season. The retention‐release cycle of SO₄^2? largely contributed to both seasonal and interannual variations in stream water chemistry in the tropical savanna climate studied.