Physics-Based 3-D Simulation for Earthquake Generation Cycles at Plate Interfaces in Subduction Zones

The generation of interplate earthquakes can be regarded as a process of tectonic stress accumulation and release, driven by relative plate motion. We completed a physics-based simulation system for earthquake generation cycles at plate interfaces in the Japan region, where the Pacific plate is descending beneath the North American and Philippine Sea plates, and the Philippine Sea plate is descending beneath the North American and Eurasian plates. The system is composed of a quasi-static tectonic loading model and a dynamic rupture propagation model, developed on a realistic 3-D plate interface model. The driving force of the system is relative plate motion. In the quasi-static tectonic loading model, mechanical interaction at plate interfaces is rationally represented by the increase of tangential displacement discontinuity (fault slip) across them on the basis of dislocation theory for an elastic surface layer overlying Maxwell-type viscoelastic half-space. In the dynamic rupture propagation model, stress changes due to fault slip motion on non-planar plate interfaces are evaluated with the boundary integral equation method. The progress of seismic (dynamic) or aseismic (quasi-static) fault slip on plate interfaces is governed by a slip- and time-dependent fault constitutive law. As an example, we numerically simulated earthquake generation cycles at the source region of the 1968 Tokachi-oki earthquake on the North American-Pacific plate interface. From the numerical simulation, we can see that postseismic stress relaxation in the asthenosphere accelerates stress accumulation in the source region. When the stress state of the source region is close to a critical level, dynamic rupture is rapidly accelerated and develops over the whole source region. When the stress state is much lower than the critical level, the rupture is not accelerated. This means that the stress state realized by interseismic tectonic loading essentially controls the subsequent dynamic rupture process.     

Continuing observation of disturbed reproductive cycle and ovarian spermatogenesis in the giant abalone, Haliotis madaka from an organotin-contaminated site of Japan

Histological examination of gonads as well as chemical analysis of organotin compounds in tissues of the giant abalone, Haliotis madaka, was conducted to evaluate continuing endocrine disruption in abalone populations in Japan. Abalone specimens were collected from two different areas, Tsushima as a reference site and Jogashima as a site representative of declining abalone populations where serious organotin contamination had been observed, each month from January 1998 to March 1999. Scores were given to the development stages of reproductive cells in the ovary and testis. The degree of sexual maturation was evaluated by calculating the mean value of a histogram of these scores for the reproductive cells of each abalone. The temporal variations in degree of sexual maturation showed that female and male abalone from Tsushima matured synchronously, while those from Jogashima did not, which were similar to results of the previous study during September 1995–November 1996. Approximately 19% of the female abalone from Jogashima were masculinized with an ovo-testis, which was also similar to the result of the previous study. The masculinization of female abalone is reported to be induced by tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) from antifouling paints. Concentrations of the sum of butyltins (TBT, dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT): ΣBTs) and the sum of phenyltins (TPhT, diphenyltin (DPhT) and monophenyltin (MPhT): ΣPhTs) in the muscle of abalone from Jogashima (n = 73) of 7.8 ± 9.0 ng/g wet wt. and 4.5 ± 6.8 ng/g wet wt., respectively, were significantly higher than those from Tsushima (n = 87) of 4.7 ± 4.9 ng/g wet wt. and 0.8 ± 1.7 ng/g wet wt., respectively (p < 0.05 for ΣBTs; p < 0.001 for ΣPhTs), although concentrations of TBT and TPhT in the muscle of abalone from Jogashima (n = 73) of 2.2 ± 2.5 ng/g wet wt. and 5.8 ± 5.1 ng/g wet wt., respectively, were insignificantly and significantly higher than those from Tsushima (n = 87) of 0.4 ± 0.6 ng/g wet wt. and 0.5 ± 0.9 ng/g wet wt., respectively, (p > 0.05 for TBT; p < 0.001 for TPhT). Thus, endocrine disruption as well as contamination by organotins in the giant abalone from Jogashima is still persisting.     

Grain boundary migration in olivine at atmospheric pressure

Annealing experiments in order to study grain boundary migration (GBM) were carried out at temperatures of 1513–1773 K from 10 min to 100 hours at atmospheric pressure. Grain growth due to GBM is observed in the formation of margins of neoblastic grains which display very different structures of dislocations from that of consumed porphyroclastic and initial neoblastic grains.The velocity of GBM obtained here is approximated to be $\text{c=}\text{gh}$ in which k is 1.15×10^?9 cm³ s^?1, Q is the activation energy for GBM in olivine at 210±20 kJ mol^?1 and ρ is the dislocation density of consumed olivine (cm^?2.Inasmuch as GBM in static annealing reduces stored strain energy in olivines, it is one of the softening processes counteracting work-hardening by dislocation multiplication and tangling as well as dislocation annihilation. GBM-softening is dominant in low temperature annealing but in high temperatures dislocation recovery predominantly takes place.     

Rounded mineral inclusions in upper mantle peridotite

Mantle-derived peridotite xenoliths contain abundant olivine with rounded spinel and orthopyroxene inclusions, and orthopyroxene with rounded olivine and spinel inclusions. The shape-change of spinel, olivine and orthopyroxene inclusions from the primarily polyhedral outline to the spherical outline is governed by interfacial diffusion of oxygen in spinel (the most sluggish atom) due to reduction of total interfacial energy of the host-inclusion system.The critical radius of maximum rounded inclusions of spinel in olivine is a function of temperature and annealing time. Assuming that the activation energy for the interfacial diffusion is 40–70 kcal mol^?1 and that the annealing time for the spinel lherzolite from Salt Lake Crater in Hawaii is 100 Ma, the annealing times for perioditites under the island arcs of Japan are estimated to be 1–10 Ma.     

Heavy oil exposure increases viral production in natural marine bacterial populations

This study examined whether heavy oil (HO) increases viral production and how that change may affect the marine bacterial community. The addition of a relatively low concentration (10 μg/mL) of HO to seawater resulted in the highest degree of viral lysis. Although the composition of the bacterial community did not change upon the viral lysis in terms of the taxa present, the relative abundance of the γ-Proteobacteria family Alteromonadaceae decreased (by 10 %) after the HO exposure, implying that the selective lysis by viruses and induced prophages may be responsible for changes in the composition of the bacterial community.     

The structure and transformation of the nanomineral schwertmannite: a synthetic analog representative of field samples

The phase transformation of schwertmannite, an iron oxyhydroxide sulfate nanomineral synthesized at room temperature and at 75 °C using H₂O₂ to drive the precipitation of schwertmannite from ferrous sulfate (Regenspurg et al. in Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68:1185–1197, 2004), was studied using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results of this study suggest that schwertmannite synthesized using this method should not be described as a single phase with a repeating unit cell, but as a polyphasic nanomineral with crystalline areas spanning less than a few nanometers in diameter, within a characteristic ‘pin-cushion’-like amorphous matrix. The difference in synthesis temperature affected the density of the needles on the schwertmannite surface. The needles on the higher-temperature schwertmannite displayed a dendritic morphology, whereas the needles on the room-temperature schwertmannite were more closely packed. Visible lattice fringes in the schwertmannite samples are consistent with the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern taken on the bulk schwertmannite and also matched d-spacings for goethite, indicating a close structural relationship between schwertmannite and goethite. The incomplete transformation from schwertmannite to goethite over 24 h at 75 °C was tracked using XRD and TEM. TEM images suggest that the sample collected after 24 h consists of aggregates of goethite nanocrystals. Comparing the synthetic schwertmannite in this study to a study on schwertmannite produced at 85 °C, which used ferric sulfate, reveals that synthesis conditions can result in significant differences in needle crystal structure. The bulk powder XRD patterns for the schwertmannite produced using these two samples were indistinguishable from one another. Future studies using synthetic schwertmannite should account for these differences when determining schwertmannite’s structure, reactivity, and capacity to take up elements like arsenic. The schwertmannite synthesized by the Regenspurg et al. method produces a mineral that is consistent with the structure and morphology of natural schwertmannite observed in our previous study using XRD and TEM, making this an ideal synthetic method for laboratory-based mineralogical and geochemical studies that intend to be environmentally relevant.