Mechanism and future risk of slope instability induced by extreme rainfall event in Izu Oshima Island,Japan

Natural Hazards - A volcanic slope in Izu Oshima Island in Japan experienced a profound rain-induced disaster in October 2013. Since this slope had been stable for centuries except for minor...     

Desorption kinetics of hydrophobic organic contaminants from marine plastic pellets

This study investigated the desorption behavior of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from marine plastic pellets. Long-term desorption experiments were conducted using field-collected polyethylene (PE) pellets. The results indicate that the desorption kinetics highly depends on the PE-water partition coefficients of PCB congeners. After 128 d of the experiment, the smallest congener considered (CB 8) had desorbed nearly completely (98%), whereas major fractions (90–99%) of highly chlorinated congeners remained in the pellets. An intraparticle diffusion model mostly failed to reproduce the desorption kinetics, whereas an aqueous boundary layer (ABL) diffusion model well approximated the data. The desorption half-lives are estimated to 14 d to 210 years for CB 8 to CB 209 in an actively stirred solution (ABL thickness: 30 μm). Addition of methanol to water enhanced the desorption to a large extent. A need for further work to explore roles of organic matter in facilitating solute transfer is suggested.     

Experimental constraints on permeable gas transport in crystalline silicic magmas

The gas and fluid transport in magmas via permeable flow through interconnected bubble networks controls the rate of outgassing from magmas ascending in volcanic conduits and the fluid transport in the mushy boundary layer of magma reservoirs. Hence, clarifying its mechanism and rate is crucial to understanding the explosivity of volcanic eruptions and the evolution and dynamics of a magma reservoir. Recent experimental studies have determined the gas permeabilities in crystal-free rhyolite and basalt. However, no experimental study has investigated the effect of the crystal contents on the permeable gas transport in magmas. In this study, we performed decompression experiments for hydrous rhyolitic melts having crystallinities of 30 and 50 vol% to examine the effect of crystals on the bubble microstructure and gas permeability during magma vesiculation. Size-controlled (100-meshed) corundum crystals were used as an analog of the phenocrysts in silicic magmas. Microstructural analyses using X-ray CT showed that bubbles coalesce and their connectivity increases with a decrease in the final pressure after the decompression, that is, an increase in the vesicularity. As long as the vesicularities of melt part in the crystal-free basis (melt vesicularity) were similar, no clear effect of the crystallinity on the degree of bubble coalescence and connectivity was observed at melt vesicularities <68 vol%. The corundum showed a large contact angle with aqueous fluid as well as plagioclase and alkaline feldspar; this failed to induce the efficient heterogeneous nucleation and coalescence of bubbles on its surface. The gas permeabilities of all the run products were lower than the detection limits of the present analysis (the order of 10⁻¹⁶ m²) at melt vesicularities <68 vol%. These results show that silicic magmas containing 30 and 50 vol% phenocrysts with a large contact angle have low gas permeabilities until the vesicularity becomes large (at least >68 vol%). This result indicates that the permeable fluid transport through a deep volcanic conduit, which has been proposed on the basis of the observations of volcanic gases and natural products, is so slow that other processes, like shear deformation or magma convection, may be needed to explain the observations.     

Bacterial growth rate and the relative abundance of bacteria to heterotrophic nanoflagellates in the euphotic and disphotic layers in temperate coastal waters of Sagami Bay,Japan

This study aimed to clarify the vertical differences in bacterial growth and grazing pressure on bacteria by heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) and to identify the controlling factors of bacterial growth in temperate coastal waters of Sagami Bay, Japan. In addition to environmental factors, the annual monthly variations in bacterial growth rate (BGR) and the relative abundance of bacteria to HNF (BA/HNFA) were investigated in the euphotic and disphotic layers between May 2012 and May 2013. Significant vertical differences in BGR and BA/HNFA were evident between the two layers during the thermal stratification times of May to October 2012 and April to May 2013. BGR indicated significantly stronger limitation of bacterial growth in the euphotic layer compared to the disphotic layer. In contrast, significantly lower BA/HNFA was observed in the euphotic layer, suggesting significantly higher grazing pressure on bacteria by HNF. However, significant differences in BGR and BA/HNFA were not observed between the two layers from November 2012 to Match 2013, when the water column was well-mixed vertically due to the cooling and wind-induced mixing of surface water. This study indicates that bacteria in the euphotic layer grow less actively and are more vulnerable to predatory grazing by HNF relative to the disphotic layer during the stratification period. Further, multiple regression analyses indicate that bacterial growth was most controlled by the concentrations of chlorophyll a and dissolved organic carbon in the euphotic and disphotic layers, respectively.     

Sea surface ichthyoplankton off southeastern New Zealand,summer 1977–78

Plankton samples from the Chatham Rise, Pukaki Rise, and Campbell Plateau provided information on the young stages of a number of poorly known New Zealand fish species, and on the presence of a large spawning area of barracouta, Thyrsites atun, over the Mernoo Bank, The Chatham Rise was more important as a spawning area than the areas further south.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001065

It has been thought that granitic crust,having been formed on the surface,must have survived through the Earth’s evolution because of its buoyancy.At subduction zones continental crust is predominantly created by arc magmatism and is returned to the mantle via sediment subduction,subduction erosion, and continental subduction.Granitic rocks,the major constituent of the continental crust,are lighter than the mantle at depths shallower than 270 km,but we show here,based on first principles calculations, that beneath 270 km they have negative buoyancy compared to the surrounding material in the upper mantle and transition zone,and thus can be subducted in the depth range of 270-660 km.This suggests that there can be two reservoirs of granitic material in the Earth,one on the surface and the other at the base of the mantle transition zone(MTZ).The accumulated volume of subducted granitic material at the base of the MTZ might amount to about six times the present volume of the continental crust.Our calculations also show that the seismic velocities of granitic material in the depth range from 270 to 660 km are faster than those of the surrounding mantle.This could explain the anomalous seismic-wave velocities observed around 660 km depth.The observed seismic scatterers and reported splitting of the 660 km discontinuity could be due to jadeite dissociation,chemical discontinuities between granitic material and the surrounding mantle,or a combination thereof.     

GEOLOGY OF MT. PHULCHOKI AREA, CENTRAL NEPAL

GEOLOGY OF MT. PHULCHOKI AREA, CENTRAL NEPAL     

渤海西岸平原海平面上升危害性评估

本文按照ＩＰＣＣ第三工作组海岸管理小组拟定的国际共同研究大纲与方法，在对渤海西岸平原海平面上升的危害性进行评估时，应用ＴＭ遥感影像与地理信息系统，由土地利用类型、海岸蚀积动态叠加１─６ｍ等高线编制成环境地形图，再与地面形变图等辅助图件对照分析，预测海平面上升对环境和社会经济的危害。