Flood hazard assessment in the Kujukuri Plain of Chiba Prefecture,Japan, based on GIS and multicriteria decision analysis

A simple flood hazard assessment based on GIS and multicriteria decision analysis was presented, and the sensitivity analysis was applied to evaluate the uncertainty of input factors. The location chosen for the study is the Kujukuri Plain, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The model incorporates six factors: river system, elevation, depression area, ratio of impermeable area, detention ponds, and precipitation. A hazard map for the year 2004, as an example, was obtained. The method of analytic hierarchy process was applied to calculate the weighting values of each factor. The hazard map was compared with the actual flood area, and good coincidence was found between them. The relative importance and uncertainty of the six input factors and weights were evaluated by using the global sensitivity analysis, i.e., extended FAST method, and the results showed a robust behavior of the model. The flood hazard assessment method presented here is meaningful for the flood management and environment protection in the area under the similar condition as this study.     

Seepage response along an alluvial valley in a semi‐arid catchment in north‐central California

Over a period of 12 months, soil moisture content and potential was monitored in an annual‐grass‐dominated 20 ha catchment in order to determine flow paths leading to exfiltration at the catchment outlet. Water was found to enter the catchment valley either through flow originating in the slopes or through surface infiltration during rainfall events. Although subsurface flow from the slopes to the catchment outlet occurred throughout the year, surface recharge was restricted to a few events during the wet season. In the deeper saturated profile of the valley, flow was directed upwards along the valley edges and gradually became horizontal towards the central axis of the valley. During the peak of the rainfall season, horizontal flow close to the catchment outlet intercepted the gradually sloping surface, resulting in exfiltration. Plants influenced the hydrology of the catchment by removing moisture from the root zone during spring and early summer, resulting in evapotranspiration losses from the vadose zone. Heterogeneities within the valley soil were evident as variable‐permeability layers that resulted in a seasonally confined water table within the valley. This investigation shows that the vadose zone plays an important role in redistributing surface recharge and emphasizes the importance of accounting for effective moisture in low‐yielding catchments with ephemeral surface runoff. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infrared observations of the dark side of Iapetus

Broadband (J, H, K, L, and L′) and narrowband (2.8–3.8 μm) circularly variable filter photometric observations were made of the dark side of Iapetus (Eastern Elongation). The data show a 3-μm absorption feature which is too deep to be a residual water frost feature from the bright material around the poles. Laboratory simulations show that the dark material must have a strong 3-μm absorption and could be a hydrated silicate mixed with a small amount of water frost.     

The comoving-frame equation of radiative transfer in a curvilinear coordinate system

The comoving-frame equation of radiative transfer and moment equations are derived in orthogonal, curvilinear coordinates, inclusive of terms of orderv/c. The equation of radiative transfer, which contains the terms due to the effect of curvature of coordinate lines explicitly as well as those of Doppler shift and aberration, is the generalization of Castor's equation for spherical symmetry and of Buchler's equation for Cartesian coordinates. The moment equations agree with Buchler's.     

Spectral properties and composition of potentially hazardous Asteroid (99942) Apophis

The known close approach of Asteroid (99942) Apophis in April 2029 provides the opportunity for the case study of a potentially hazardous asteroid in advance of its encounter. The visible to near-infrared (0.55 to 2.45 μm) reflectance spectrum of Apophis is compared and modeled with respect to the spectral and mineralogical characteristics of likely meteorite analogs. Apophis is found to be an Sq-class asteroid that most closely resembles LL ordinary chondrite meteorites in terms of spectral characteristics and interpreted olivine and pyroxene abundances, although we cannot rule out some degree of partial melting. A meteorite analog allows some estimates and conjectures of Apophis' possible range of physical properties such as the grain density and micro-porosity of its constituent material. Composition and size similarities of Apophis with (25143) Itokawa suggest a total porosity of 40% as a “current best guess” for Apophis. Applying these parameters to Apophis yields a mass estimate of 2×¹⁰¹⁰ kg with a corresponding energy estimate of 375 Mt for its potential hazard. Substantial unknowns, most notably the total porosity, allow uncertainties in these mass and energy estimates to be as large as factors of two or three.     

Non-uniform across-shelf variations in thickness, grain size, and frequency of turbidites in a transgressive outer-shelf, the Middle Pleistocene Kakinokidai Formation, Boso Peninsula, Japan

Across-shelf variations in thickness, grain size, and frequency of sandstone beds in a transgressive outer-shelf succession were investigated from the Middle Pleistocene (ca. 0.7 Ma) Kakinokidai Formation on the Boso Peninsula, Japan. The transgressive deposits are generally muddy and contain slumps and slump scars. The intercalated sandstone beds are interpreted to have been formed from turbidity currents as a response to erosion and resuspension of sandridge-complex deposits in the southwestern upslope area during storm events. Mapping of volcanic ash beds and a transgressive surface in the base of the formation permits detailed bed-by-bed correlation of the outer-shelf sandstone beds. Although, overall, thickness, grain size, and frequency of sandstone beds decrease in the downslope direction, some sandstone beds locally thin out and coarsen in association with slump scars in the surrounding muddy deposits. These sandstone beds subsequently thicken and fine, and finally thin out in the farther downslope area. In addition to the local thinning of sandstone beds, the frequency of sandstone beds first decreases and then increases in the farther offshore direction. From this evidence, we concluded that these non-uniform patterns of across-outer-shelf variations in thickness, grain size, and frequency of sandstone beds were caused by the local increases in flow speeds and subsequent expansion and reduced speeds of turbidity currents, along with a local increase in the seafloor gradient that was induced by the development of slump scars in the transgressive outer-shelf floor. These physiographic features in the outer shelf are interpreted not to have permitted monotonous downslope thinning and fining of sandstone beds, compared with the bed-shape models of depletive turbidity currents and with the proximality trend of shelf sandstones from modern and ancient highstand-stage shelf systems.     

Penetration into low-density media: In situ observation of penetration process of various projectiles

In order to understand the penetration process of projectiles into lower-density targets, we carry out hypervelocity impact experiments using low-density (60 mg cm^?3) aerogel targets and various types of projectiles, and observe the track formation process in the targets using a high-speed camera. A carrot shaped track, a bulbous, and a “hybrid” one consisting of bulbous and thin parts, are formed. The results of the high-speed camera observations reveal the similarity and differences on the temporal evolution of the penetration depth and maximum diameter of these tracks. At very early stages of an impact, independent of projectile type, the temporal penetration depth is described by hydrodynamic models for the original projectiles. Afterward, when the breakup of projectiles does not occur, intact projectiles continue to penetrate the aerogels. In the case of the breakup of projectiles, the track expands with a velocity of about a sound velocity of the aerogel at final stages. If there are large fragments, they penetrate deeper and the tracks become a hybrid type. The penetration of the large fragments is described by hydrodynamic models. Based on these results, we discuss the excavation near the impact point by shock waves.     

Current Nature of the Kuroshio in the Vicinity of the Kii Peninsula

The Kuroshio flows very close to Cape Shionomisaki when it takes a straight path. The detailed observations of the Kuroshio were made both on board the R/V Seisui-maru of Mie University and on board the R/V Wakayama of the Wakayama Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station on June 11–14, 1996. It was confirmed that the current zone of the Kuroshio touches the coast and bottom slope just off Cape Shionomiaki, and that the coastal water to the east of the cape was completely separated from that to the west. The relatively high sea level difference between Kushimoto and Uragami could be caused by this separation of the coastal waters when the Kuroshio takes a straight path. This flow is rather curious, as the geostrophic flow, which has a barotropic nature and touches the bottom, would be constrained to follow bottom contours due to the vorticity conservation law. The reason why the Kuroshio leaves the bottom slope to the east of Cape Shionomisaki is attributed to the high curvature of the bottom contours there: if the current were to follow the contours, the centrifugal term in the equation of motion would become large and comparablee to the Coriolis (or pressure gradient) term, and the geostrophic balance would be destroyed. This creates a current-shadow zone just to the east of the cape. As the reason why the current zone of the Kuroshio intrudes into the coastal region to the west of the cape, it is suggested that the Kii Bifurcation Current off the southwest coast of the Kii Peninsula, which is usually found when the Kuroshio takes the straight path, has the effect of drawing the Kuroshio water into the coastal region. The sea level difference between Kushimoto and Uragami is often used to monitor the flow pattern of the Kuroshio near the Kii Peninsula. It should be noted that Uragami is located in the current shadow zone, while Kushimoto lies in the region where the offshore Kuroshio water intrudes into the coastal region. The resulting large sea level difference indicates that the Kuroshio is flowing along the straight path.     

Strength and deformation behavior of the Shimanto accretionary complex across the Nobeoka thrust

A rapid reduction in sediment porosity from 60 to 70 % at seafloor to less than 10 % at several kilometers depth can play an important role in deformation and seismicity in the shallow portion of subduction zones. We conducted deformation experiments on rocks from an ancient accretionary complex, the Shimanto Belt, across the Nobeoka Thrust to understand the deformation behaviors of rocks along plate boundary faults at seismogenic depth. Our experimental results for phyllites in the hanging wall and shale‐tuff mélanges in the footwall of the Nobeoka Thrust indicate that the Shimanto Belt rocks fail brittlely accompanied by a stress drop at effective pressures < 80 MPa, whereas they exhibit strain hardening at higher effective pressures. The transition from brittle to ductile behavior in the shale–tuff mélanges lies on the same trend in effective stress–porosity space as that for clay‐rich and tuffaceous sediments subducting into the modern Nankai subduction zone. Both the absolute yield strength and the effective pressure at the brittle–ductile transition for the phyllosilicate‐rich materials are much lower than for sandstones. These results suggest that as the clay‐rich or tuffaceous sediments subduct and their porosities are reduced, their deformation behavior gradually transitions from ductile to brittle and their yield strength increases. Our results also suggest that samples of the ancient Shimanto accretionary prism can serve as an analog for underthrust rocks at seismogenic depth in the modern Nankai Trough.     

Dynamic FE simulation of four‐story steel frame modeled by solid elements and its validation using results of full‐scale shake‐table test

Dynamic finite element analyses of a four‐story steel building frame modeled as a fine mesh of solid elements are performed using E‐Simulator, which is a parallel finite element analysis software package for precisely simulating collapse behaviors of civil and building structures. E‐Simulator is under development at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), Japan. A full‐scale shake‐table test for a four‐story frame was conducted using E‐Defense at NIED, which is the largest shaking table in the world. A mesh of the entire structure of a four‐story frame with approximately 19 million degrees of freedom is constructed using solid elements. The density of the mesh is determined by referring to the results of elastic–plastic buckling analyses of a column of the frame using meshes of different densities. Therefore, the analysis model of the frame is well verified. Seismic response analyses under 60, 100, and 115% excitations of the JR Takatori record of the 1995 Hyogoken‐Nanbu earthquake are performed. Note that the simulation does not reproduce the collapse under the 100% excitation of the Takatori record in the E‐Defense test. Therefore, simulations for the 115% case are also performed. The results obtained by E‐Simulator are compared with those obtained by the E‐Defense full‐scale test in order to validate the results obtained by E‐Simulator. The shear forces and interstory drift angles of the first story obtained by the simulation and the test are in good agreement. Both the response of the entire frame and the local deformation as a result of elastic–plastic buckling are simulated simultaneously using E‐Simulator. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.