Tectonic evolution of lower crustal rocks in an exposed magmatic arc section in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, Hokkaido, northern Japan

Abstract : The Hidaka metamorphic belt consists of an island-arc assembly of lower to upper crustal rocks formed during early to middle Paleogene time and exhumed during middle Paleogene to Miocene time. The tectonic evolution of the belt is divided into four stages, D₀rs, D₁, D₂rs, and D₃, based on their characteristic deformation, metamorphism, and igneous activity. The premetamorphic and igneous stage (D₀) involves tectonic thickening of an uppermost Cretaceous and earliest Tertiary accretionary complex, including oceanic materials in the lower part of the complex. D₁ is the stage of prograde metamorphism with increasing temperatures at a constant pressure during an early phase, and with a slight decrease of pressure at the peak metamorphic phase, accompanying flattening of metamorphic rocks and intrusions of mafic to intermediate igneous rocks. At the peak, incipient partial melting of pelitic and psammitic gneisses took place in the amphibolite–granulite facies transition zone, the melt and residuals cutting the foliations formed by flattening. In the deep crust, large amounts of S-type tonalite magma formed by crustal anatexis, intruded into the granulite facies gneiss zone and also into the upper levels of the metamorphic sequence during the subsequent stage. During D₁ stage, mafic and intermediate magmas supplied and transported heat to form the arc-type crust and at the same time, the magmatic underplating caused extensional doming of the crust, giving rise to flattening and vertical uplifting of the crustal rocks. D₂ stage is characterized by subhorizontal top-to-the-south displacement and thrusting of lower to upper crustal rocks, forming a basal detachment surface (décollement) and duplex structures associated with intrusions of S-type tonalite. Deformation structures and textures of high-temperature mylonites formed along the décollement, as well as the duplex structures, show that the D₂ stage movement occurred under a N-S trending compressional tectonic regime. The depth of intra-crustal décollement in the Hidaka belt was defined by the effect of multiplication of two factors, the fraction of partial melt which increases downward, and the fluid flux which decreases downward. The crustal décollement, however, might have extended to the crust-mantle boundary and/or to the lithosphere and asthenosphere boundary. The subhorizontal movement was transitional to a dextral-reverse-slip (dextral transpression) movement accompanied by low-temperature mylonitization with retrograde metamorphism, the stage defined as D₃. The crustal rocks from the basal décollement to the upper were tilted eastward on the N–S axis and exhumed during the D₃ stage. During D₂ and D₃ stages, the intrusion of crustal acidic magmas enhanced the crustal deformation and exhumation in the compressional and subsequent transpressional tectonic regime.     

Long-term climato-limnological cycles found in a 3.5-million-year continental record

Analysis of physical properties in long sediment cores (BDP96) from Academician Ridge in Lake Baikal indicates that major climato-limnological changes during the past 3.5 Myr occurred at about 2.5–2.8, 1.7–1.9, and 0.9–1.2 Ma, which were close to times of major geomagnetic polarity reversals (Matuyama/Gauss, Olduvai, Jaramillo + Matuyama/Brunhes). The principal climato-limnological oscillation has a long-term period of nearly 1,000 kyr, which corresponds to the periodicity of fluctuation in solar insolation. It also seems to be related to geomagnetic field intensity. Other long-term period of 400 kyr corresponds to Milankovitch parameters of eccentricity. These results suggest that changes in solar insolation were closely related to long-term environmental variations in the deep continental interior.     

Variations in turbulent energy dissipation and water column stratification at the entrance of a tidally energetic strait

We observed tidal currents, turbulent energy dissipation and water column stratification at the entrance of a narrow strait (Neko Seto) in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, using a free-falling turbulent microstructure profiler (TurboMAP) and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). The variation in turbulent energy dissipation at the entrance of the strait was not at quarter-diurnal frequency but at semi-diurnal frequency; turbulent energy dissipation was enhanced during the ebb tide, although it was moderate during the flood tide. This result is consistent with the results of Takasugi (1993), which showed the asymmetry of tidal energy loss during a semidiurnal tidal cycle using control volume analysis. It is suggested that significant turbulent energy dissipation is generated in the strait, which influences the properties of water outside the strait when tidal currents flow out from the strait.     

Prediction of ground motion in the Osaka sedimentary basin associated with the hypothetical Nankai earthquake

We studied the long-period ground motions in the Osaka sedimentary basin, Japan, which contains a 1- to 3-km thickness of sediments and is the site of many buildings or construction structures with long-natural period. We simulated the broadband ground motions likely to be produced by the hypothetical Nankai earthquake: the earthquake expected to give rise to the most severe long-period ground motion within the basin. For the simulation, we constructed multiscale heterogeneous source models based on the Central Disaster Management Council of Japan (CDMC) source model and adopted a hybrid computation method in which long-period motion and short-period motion are computed using a 3-D finite difference method and the stochastic Green’s function method, respectively. In computing long-period motions, we used a 3-D structure model of the crust and the Osaka sedimentary basin. The ground motions are estimated to have peak velocities of 50–90 cm/s, prolonged durations exceeding 300 s, and long predominant periods of 5–10 s in the area with great thickness of sediments. The predominant periods are in agreement with an approximate evaluation by 4 H/V _s where H and V _s are the thickness of the sediment and the average S wave velocity, respectively.     

Measurement of methane flux over an evergreen coniferous forest canopy using a relaxed eddy accumulation system with tuneable diode laser spectroscopy detection

Very few studies have conducted long-term observations of methane (CH₄) flux over forest canopies. In this study, we continuously measured CH₄ fluxes over an evergreen coniferous (Japanese cypress) forest canopy throughout 1?year, using a micrometeorological relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) system with tuneable diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS) detection. The Japanese cypress forest, which is a common forest type in warm-temperate Asian monsoon regions with a wet summer, switched seasonally between a sink and source of CH₄ probably because of competition by methanogens and methanotrophs, which are both influenced by soil conditions (e.g., soil temperature and soil moisture). At hourly to daily timescales, the CH₄ fluxes were sensitive to rainfall, probably because CH₄ emission increased and/or absorption decreased during and after rainfall. The observed canopy-scale fluxes showed complex behaviours beyond those expected from previous plot-scale measurements and the CH₄ fluxes changed from sink to source and vice versa.     

The effects of possible contamination by sample holders on samples to be returned by Hayabusa2

Chemical compositions of materials used for new sample holders (vertically aligned carbon nanotubes [VACNTs] and polyimide film), which were developed for the analysis of Hayabusa2‐return samples, were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis and/or instrumental photon activation analysis, to estimate contamination effects from the sample holders. The synthetic quartz plate used for the sample holders was also analyzed. Ten elements (Na, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Eu, W, Au, and Th) and 14 elements (Na, Al, K, Sc, Ti, Cr, Zn, Ga, Br, Sb, La, Eu, Ir, and Au) could be detected in the VACNTs and polyimide film, respectively. The VACNT data show that contamination by this material with respect to the Murchison meteorite is negligible in terms of the elemental ratios (e.g., Fe/Mn, Na/Al, and Mn/Cr) used for the classification of meteorites due to the extremely low density of VACNTs. However, for the Au/Cr ratio, even small degrees (1.7 wt%) of contamination by VACNTs will change the Au/Cr ratio. Elemental ratios used for the classification of meteorites are only influenced by large amounts of contamination (>60 wt%) of polyimide film, which is unlikely to occur. In contrast, detectable effects on Ti isotopic compositions are caused by >0.1 and >0.3 wt% contamination by VACNTs and polyimide film, respectively, and Hf isotopic changes are caused by >0.1 wt% contamination by VACNTs. The new sample holders (VACNTs and polyimide film) are suitable for chemical classification of Hayabusa2‐return samples, because of their ease of use, applicability to multiple analytical instruments, and low contamination levels for most elements.     

Climate change, land use change, and China’s food security in the twenty-first century: an integrated perspective

Food security in China, the world’s most populous country, has long been a concern because of the challenges of population growth, water shortages, and loss of cropland through urbanization, soil degradation, and climate change. Here, we present an integrated analysis of China’s food demand and supply under IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A1, A2, B1, and B2 in 2020, 2050, and 2080, based on official statistics and future development scenarios. Our analysis accounts for future socioeconomic, technological, and resource developments, as well the impact of climate change. We present a covariant relationship between changes in cereal productivity due to climate change and the cereal harvest area required to satisfy China’s food demand. We also estimated the effects of changing harvested areas on the productivity required to satisfy the food demand; of productivity changes due to climate change on the harvest area required to satisfy food demand; and of productivity and land use changes on the population at risk of undernutrition. China could be able to feed herself without disturbing the global food market in the twenty-first century, but whether the government will choose self-sufficiency or increased food imports may depend on the cost of change, which remains unknown.     

Radiatively driven mass accretion on to galactic nuclei by circumnuclear starbursts

We examine the physical processes of radiatively driven mass accretion on to galactic nuclei, owing to intensive radiation from circumnuclear starbursts. The radiation from a starburst not only causes the inner gas disc to contract via radition flux force, but also extracts angular momentum owing to relativistic radiation drag, thereby inducing an avalanche of the surface layer of the disc. To analyse such a mechanism, the radiation–hydrodynamical equations are solved, including the effects of the radiation drag force as well as the radiation flux force. As a result, it is found that the mass accretion rate owing to the radiative avalanche is given by M ˙ ( r )= η ( L _*/ c ²)( r / R )² (Δ R / R )(1 −  e ^−τ) at radius r , where the efficiency η ranges from 0.2 up to 1, L _* and R are respectively the bolometric luminosity and the radius of the starburst ring, Δ R is the extent of the emission regions, and τ is the face-on optical depth of the disc. In an optically thick regime, the rate depends upon neither the optical depth nor the surface mass density distribution of the disc. The present radiatively driven mass accretion may provide a physical mechanism which enables mass accretion from 100-pc scales down to ∼ parsec scales, and it may eventually be linked to advection-dominated viscous accretion on to a massive black hole. The radiation–hydrodynamical and self-gravitational instabilities of the disc are briefly discussed. In particular, the radiative acceleration possibly builds up a dusty wall, which 'shades' the nucleus in edge-on views. This provides another version of the model for the formation of an obscuring torus.     

Detection and temporal variation of Co in the digestive glands of the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, in the East China Sea

⁶⁰Co were detected in common octopus specimens collected in the East China Sea in 1996-2005. The source of ⁶⁰Co has remained unclear yet. Stable isotope analyses showed that there was no difference in stable Co concentrations between octopus samples with ⁶⁰Co and without ⁶⁰Co. This result showed that the stable Co in the digestive gland of octopus potentially did not include a trace amount of ⁶⁰Co and the source of ⁶⁰Co existed independently. Furthermore, investigations of octopus in other area and other species indicated that the origin of the source of ⁶⁰Co occurred locally in the restricted area in the East China Sea and not in the coastal area of Japan. Concentrations of ⁶⁰Co have annually decreased with shorter half-life than the physical half-life. This decrease tendency suggests that the sources of ⁶⁰Co were identical and were temporary dumped into the East China Sea as a solid waste.     

Photo-inhibition of phytoplankton photosynthesis as a function of exposure time

The photo-inhibition of phytoplankton photosynthesis at higher intensities was examined with a cultured marine diatom,Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and natural samples. The question was to determine whether photo-inhibition results from excretion of photosynthetic products from cell or from an actual decrease in photosynthetic rate. P. tricornutum cultured at 15 klux showed very little photo-inhibition up to 70 klux, and, in the sample cultured at 1 klux, most marked photo-inhibition was observed in 3 hours experiment. Extracellular release was less than 30% of particulate fixation, and did not show any extreme increase to supplement photosynthesis depression at higher light intensities. When the photosynthesis was measured during 10 minutes, both samples showed no photo-inhibition. The photosynthesis by low light sample lost the linearity of time-course with prolonged exposure at high light intensity. Observed photo-inhibition, therefore, we explained with the actual decrease in photosynthetic rate. Similar photo-inhibition could be seen in marine phytoplankton samples concentrated by filtration.