Geogrid-based countermeasures against scour behind coastal dikes under tsunami overflow

Abstract

Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, a massive tsunami caused serious damage to coastal dikes. Local scour at the ground behind these dikes reportedly causes dike failures. It is important to reveal the scour process to establish methods for effective scour countermeasures. Herein, we focus on geogrids. To verify this proposal and examine its design, flume-model experiments were performed for non-liquefied and liquefied grounds behind coastal dikes. The results showed that the scour amount and area were reduced drastically when geogrids were present. Geogrids on the sand-bed surface changed the direction of overflow water. Thus, a scour hole developed away from a coastal dike model. Furthermore, geogrids exerted a scour-reduction effect even during liquefaction.     

Possible manifestations of slab window magmatisms in Cretaceous southwest Japan

The slab window system related to ridge subduction is studied to explain the conspicuous activity and the along-arc migration of the magmatisms in the eastern margin of Eurasian continent in the late Mesozoic. The trend of the granite ages is scrutinized with systems approach and analyzed by the statistical method in Cretaceous southwest Japan, a reference field of the Eurasian eastern margin. The magmatic distribution of simultaneous activity was determined to be the V-shape of the slab window, excluding dating errors from the located age data. The slab window magmatism has the most dominant zone of the acidic rocks at or near the centerline of the window (the spreading center of two plates), and also has the subdominant zone of the acidic to intermediate rocks on either side of the window.As the slab window opens due to the plate motions, the upwelling current is adiabatically induced in the asthenosphere to fill the window gap. The partial melt is generated in the upwelling flux and transports heat to the lower crust to make greater granitic magma chambers by heat conduction to, and assimilation with, the crustal matter. The younger and hotter slabs outside the window also play a role in partial slab melting and/or dehydration to the asthenosphere and generate the subdominant granodioritic and adakitic and/or high-magnesian andesitic magmatisms as the pre- and post-activities of the main granite genesis.The slab window formed by the subducted ridge between the Kula and Pacific plates was the strong heat source of the active magmatisms and migrated at the rate of 2.8 cm/year from southwest to northeast about 8000 km along the continental margin. The growth of the continent associated with the active acidic to intermediate magmatisms including the adakitic and/or high-magnesian andesitic activities is modeled by the slab window system.     

Difference between the Lagrangian trajectories and Eulerian residual velocity fields in the southwestern Yellow Sea

The responses to tidal and/or wind forces of Lagrangian trajectories and Eulerian residual velocity in the southwestern Yellow Sea are investigated using a high-resolution circulation model. The simulated tidal harmonic constants agree well with observations and existing studies. The numerical experiment reproduces the long-range southeastward Eulerian residual current over the sloping bottom around the Yangtze Bank also shown in previous studies. However, the modeled drifters deployed at the northeastern flank of the Yangtze Bank in the simulation move northeastward, crossing over this strong southeastward Eulerian residual current rather than following it. Additional sensitivity experiments reveal that the influence of the Eulerian tidal residual currents on Lagrangian trajectories is relatively weaker than that of the wind driven currents. This result is consistent with the northeastward movement of ARGOS surface drifters actually released in the southwestern Yellow Sea. Further experiments suggest that the quadratic nature of the bottom friction is the crucial factor, in the southwestern Yellow Sea, for the weaker influence of the Eulerian tidal residual currents on the Lagrangian trajectories. This study demonstrates that the Lagrangian trajectories do not follow the Eulerian residual velocity fields in the shallow coastal regions of the southwestern Yellow Sea.     

Miocene fossil pinnipeds of the genera Prototaria and Neotherium (Carnivora; Otariidae; Imagotariinae) in the North Pacific Ocean: Evolution, relationships and distribution

Abstract Fossil otariid pinnipeds of the extinct genera Prototaria Takeyama and Ozawa, 1984, and Neotherium Kellogg, 1931, known from Middle Miocene deposits bordering the North Pacific Ocean, are small, primitive pinnipeds in the subfamily Imagotariinae. They have a small supraorbital process of the frontal or have lost it entirely, a three-rooted first molar, small paroccipital process, and ear morphology indicating that they belong in the subfamily Imagotariinae. Their unique derived characters include extreme intertemporal constriction and highly modified cheek teeth, the premolars having become molarized by the addition of protocones and lingual cingula. Prototaria Takeyama and Ozawa, 1984, the most primitive known imagotariine genus, contains two species, P. primigena Takeyama and Ozawa, 1984, and P. planicephala Kohno, 1994, both of early Middle Miocene age from Japan. Prototaria has a few derived characters, including a large antorbital process, narrow intertemporal region, and large orbit, but its primitive characters apparently were inherited from enaliarctine ancestors. The long enigmatic Neotherium mirum Kellogg, 1931, of Middle Miocene age from California, USA, is related to Prototaria, but differs by having an elongate skull, very slender zygomatic arch, ventrally exposed median lacerate foramen, and smaller but more molarized premolars. A more primitive new genus and species, Proneotherium repenningi Barnes, related to N. mirum, is from the early Middle Miocene Astoria Formation, coastal Oregon, USA. It shares some derived characters with Prototaria, and shares many other important derived characters with N. mirum. Imagotariines probably arose from some species of Early Miocene enaliarctines, became diverse in Middle and Late Miocene time, and are only known from the North Pacific realm. Although they might include the ancestors of true walruses of the subfamily Odobeninae, no known imagotariines appear to have been adapted for mollusk feeding as are the highly evolved modern walruses. Instead, imagotariines appear to have retained a primitive piscivorous diet, as did the fur seals and sea lions of the subfamily Otariinae.     

Analysis of summertime atmospheric transport of fine particulate matter in Northeast Asia

In Northeast Asia, the effect of long-range transport of air pollutants is generally pronounced in spring and winter, but can be important even in summer. This study analyzed summer-time atmospheric transport of elemental carbon (EC) and sulfate (SO₄ ^2?) with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model driven by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The WRF/CMAQ modeling system was applied to regions ranging from Northeast Asia to the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan in summer 2007. In terms of EC, while the model simulated well the effect of long-range transport, the simulation results indicated that domestic emissions in Japan dominantly contributed (85%) to EC concentrations in the Greater Tokyo. In terms of SO₄ ^2?, the simulation results indicated that both domestic emissions (62%) and long-range transport from the other countries (38%) substantially contributed to SO₄ ^2? concentrations in the Greater Tokyo. Distinctive transport processes of SO₄ ^2? were associated with typical summer-time meteorological conditions in the study region. When a Pacific high-pressure system covered the main island of Japan, domestic emissions, including volcanic emission, dominantly contributed to SO₄ ^2? concentrations in the Greater Tokyo. When a high-pressure system prevailed over the East China Sea and low-pressure systems passed north of Japan, synoptic westerly winds associated with this pressure pattern transported a large amount of SO₄ ^2? from the continent to Japan. In addition, although heavy precipitation and strong wind decreased SO₄ ^2? concentrations near the center of a typhoon, peripheral typhoon winds occasionally played an important role in long-range transport of SO₄ ^2?.     

Scavenging of Insoluble Particles from the Marine Atmosphere over the Sub-Arctic North Pacific

Direct deposition measurements ofatmospheric insoluble particles over the sub-ArcticNorth Pacific indicate that the number of particles(6.4 ± 3.8) × 10⁴ cm^-2 per rain eventwas fairly constant compared with the large variationof the precipitation rate, which ranged from 0.16 to18 mm per event for 43 rain days during the period ofMarch–September (total 109 days) 1996. Thissuggests that insoluble particles larger than 0.4 min area equivalent diameter are primarilyremoved at the margin of the rainfall area by wetscavenging processes below clouds in the marineatmosphere in sub-Arctic regions. The frequency ofrain events controls the fate of the troposphericaerosols larger than sub-micrometer in diameter. Reflecting the seasonal long-range transport of Asiandust, mineral particles were dominant as insolubleparticles in the spring rains, but carbonaceousparticles were dominant in the summer rains. Theatmospheric deposition of insoluble particles could besignificant as a source of sediment particles over thesub-Arctic North Pacific.     

Oxygen isotopic composition of minerals in the Kenna ureilite

The δ¹⁸O and δ¹⁷O values of olivine from Kenna are 7.6 and 3.0%, respectively, relative to SMOW. These values are typical of ureilites which form a unique group on a δ¹⁷O -δ¹⁸O graph. The ureilites are related to, but not directly derived from, the anhydrous phases of C2 and C3 meteorites. The ¹⁸O/¹⁶O fractionation between pyroxene and olivine is 0.60, indicating a temperature of last equilibration of 1000 ± 100°C.     

Assimilation of TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimeter Data with a Reduced Gravity Model of the Japan Sea

Sea level data measured by TOPEX/POSEIDON over the Japan Sea from 1993 to 1994 is analyzed by assimilation using an approximate Kalman filter with a 1.5 layer (reduced-gravity) shallow water model. The study aims to extract signals associated with the first baroclinic mode and to determine the extent of its significance. The assimilation dramatically improves the model south of the Polar Front where as much as 20 cm² of the observed sea level variance can be accounted for. In comparison, little variability in the northern cold water region is found consistent with the model dynamics, possibly due to significant differences in stratification.     

Variations in the thermal conductivities of surface sediments in the Nankai subduction zone off Tokai, central Japan

We investigated the relationship between variations in the thermal conductivity of surface sediments and the topography in the Nankai subduction zone off Tokai, central Japan, the easternmost part of the Nankai subduction zone, which has an accretionary prism with varied topography. We analyzed sediment thermal conductivity data obtained from the trough floor and accretionary prism. Variations in the thermal conductivity of sediments were related to the topographic features formed by accretionary prism development. Thermal conductivities of 1.1?W/m?K were measured on the trough floor where thick terrigenous turbidites have been deposited. The thermal conductivity of Nankai Trough floor sediments decreases from northeast to southwest along the trough, probably because of the decreased grain size and/or changes in sediment mineral composition. High thermal conductivities (??1.0?W/m?K) were measured in fault scarps on the accretionary prism. A landward increase in these values on the prism may be explained by decreased porosity of the sediments attributable to tectonic deformation during accretionary prism development. At the base of the fault scarp of the frontal thrust, low thermal conductivities (<0.9?W/m?K) were measured, likely reflecting the high porosity of the talus deposits. Low thermal conductivity (0.9?W/m?K) was also measured in slope basins on the accretionary prism, likely also related to the high porosity of the sediments. Our results demonstrate that, for accurate heat flow measurement in an area of varied topography, the geothermal gradient and the thermal conductivity of the sediments must be measured within regions with similar topographic features.