Historical change in lake sedimentation in Lake Takkobu, Kushiro Mire, northern Japan over the last 300 years

Environmental degradation, including shallowing, deterioration of aquatic habitat and water pollution, has arisen from the inflow of fine sediment to Lake Takkobu in northern Japan. The lake has experienced gradual environmental degradation due to agricultural development, which has introduced both fine sediment and sediment-associated nutrients into the lake. We have reconstructed the history of sediment yield to Lake Takkobu in Kushiro Mire over the last 300 years and have examined trends with reference to land-use development. Fifteen lake sediment core samples were obtained, and various physical variables of lake sediments were analyzed and dated using ¹³⁷Cs and tephrochronology. The physical variables showed that all points contained mainly silt, except for two points close to the river mouths, where the mean diameter was < 35 μm. The peaks were defined as a “signal” when the physical variables were synchronous in a profile. These were created by floods and engineering works constructing drainage systems. The signal of canal construction in 1898 was detected in all core points. Lake Takkobu core samples contained two tephra layers. From the refractive indices of dehydrated glasses, the lower tephra layer was identified as Ko-c2 (1694) and the upper tephra layer as Ta-a (1739). A clear peak in the ¹³⁷Cs concentration was detected at all the sampling points, except for the site close to the Takkobu River. This site showed two peaks in the ¹³⁷Cs concentration, which was attributed to perturbation from flood events and a drainage project. The maximum ¹³⁷Cs concentration was identified as the sediment surface from 1963, enveloped by the 1962 and 1964 signals. The sediment yield averaged over the last 300 years for Lake Takkobu was reconstructed for four periods using the signal, tephra and ¹³⁷Cs as marker layers. The sediment yield under the natural erosion condition for the first two periods was 226 tons/year from 1694 to 1739 and 196 tons/year from 1739 to 1898. The development of the Takkobu watershed started in 1880s with partial deforestation and channelization in 1898, 1959, and 1962 leading to an increased sedimentation yield of 1016 tons/year from 1898 to 1963. Continued deforestation, channelization works in 1964, road construction in 1980–1990s, as well as agriculture development caused a further increase to 1354 tons/year from 1963 to 2004. Compared to the averaged natural sedimentation yield of 206 tons/year until 1898, initial land-use development in a catchment accelerated lake sedimentation, indicated by the 5-fold sediment yield. With increasing agricultural development since 1960s, sedimentation yields were highest for 1963–2004; a 7-fold increase compared with pre-impact conditions. To reduce sediment yield, riparian buffers along the rivers should be preserved or rebuilt, and sluices may function effectively during short-term periods of flooding. Environmental management policy and laws restricting uncontrolled and inappropriate land-use might help in addition to ensure longer-term environmental health by reducing the sedimentation rate.     

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...     

Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion found in the Ivuna CI chondrite: Are CI chondrites a good proxy for the bulk composition of the solar system?

Cosmochemists have relied on CI carbonaceous chondrites as proxies for chemical composition of the non-volatile elements in the solar system because these meteorites are fine-grained, chemically homogeneous, and have well-determined bulk compositions that agree with that of the solar photosphere, within uncertainties. Here we report the discovery of a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) in the Ivuna CI chondrite. CAIs are chemically highly fractionated compared to CI composition, consisting of refractory elements and having textures that either reflect condensation from nebular gas or melting in a nebular environment. The CAI we found is a compact type A CAI with typical ¹⁶O-rich oxygen. However, it shows no evidence of ²⁶Al, which was present when most CAIs formed. Finding a CAI in a CI chondrite raises serious questions about whether CI chondrites are a reliable proxy for the bulk composition of the solar system. Too much CAI material would show up as mismatches between the CI composition and the composition of the solar photosphere. Although small amounts of refractory material have previously been identified in CI chondrites, this material is not abundant enough to significantly perturb the bulk compositions of CI chondrites. The agreement between the composition of the solar photosphere and CI chondrites allows no more than ~0.5 atom% of CAI-like material to have been added to CI chondrites. As the compositions of CI chondrites, carbonaceous asteroids, and the solar photosphere are better determined, we will be able to reduce the uncertainties in our estimates of the composition of the solar system.     

Structural variation of babingtonite depending on cation distribution at the octahedral sites

Babingtonite, Ca₂Fe²⁺Fe³⁺[Si₅O₁₄(OH)] (Z?=?2, space group $ P\overline{1} $ ) from Yakuki mine (Japan), Grönsjöberget (Sweden), Kandivali Quarry (India), Baveno Quarry (Italy), Bråstad Mine (Norway), and Kouragahana (Japan), and manganbabingtonite, Ca₂(Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺)Fe³⁺[Si₅O₁₄(OH)], from Iron Cap mine (USA) were studied using electron-microprobe analysis (EMPA), ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods to determine the cation distribution at M1 and M2 and to analyze its effect on the crystal structure of babingtonite. Although all studied babingtonite crystals are relatively homogeneous, chemical zonation due to mainly Fe ? Mn substitution is observed in manganbabingtonite. Mössbauer spectra consist of two doublets with isomer shift (I.S.)?=?1.16–1.22 mm/s and quadrupole splitting (Q.S.)?=?2.33–2.50 mm/s and with I.S.?=?0.38–0.42 mm/s and Q.S.?=?0.82–0.90 mm/s, assigned to Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ at the M1 and M2 octahedral sites, respectively. The determined ratio of Fe²⁺/total Fe in manganbabingtonite (0.26) was smaller than that in the others (0.35–0.44) because of high Mn²⁺ content instead of Fe²⁺. The unit-cell parameters of babingtonite are a?=?7.466–7.478, b?=?11.624–11.642, c?=?6.681–6.690 Å, α?=?91.53–91.59, β?=?93.86–93.94, γ?=?104.20–104.34º, and V?=?560.2–562.3 Å³, and those of manganbabingtonite are a?=?7.4967(3), b?=?11.6632(4), c?=?6.7014(2) Å, α?=?91.602(2), β?=?93.989(2), γ?=?104.574(3)º, and V =565.09(5) ų. Structural refinements converged to R ₁ values of 1.64–3.16 %. The <M1-O> distance was lengthened due to the substitution of large octahedral cations such as Mn²⁺ for Fe²⁺. The increase of the M1-O8, M1-O8’ and M1-O13 lengths with mean ionic radii is slightly more pronounced than of the other M1-Oi lengths. The lengthened M1-O13 distance leads the positive correlation between Si5-O15-Si1 angle and M1-O13 distance. The increase of Si2-O3-Si1 and Si5-O12-Si4 angles due to the increase of mean ionic radius of M2 is also observed.     

Constraints on the formation environment of two chondrule‐like igneous particles from comet 81P/Wild 2

Using chemical and petrologic evidence and modeling, we deduce that two chondrule‐like particles named Iris and Callie, from Stardust cometary track C2052,12,74, formed in an environment very similar to that seen for type II chondrules in meteorites. Iris was heated near liquidus, equilibrated, and cooled at ≤100 °C h^‐1 and within ≈2 log units of the IW buffer with a high partial pressure of Na such as would be present with dust enrichments of ≈10³. There was no detectable metamorphic, nebular, or aqueous alteration. In previous work, Ogliore et al. (2012) reported that Iris formed late, >3 Myr after CAIs, assuming ²⁶Al was homogenously distributed, and was rich in heavy oxygen. Iris may be similar to assemblages found only in interplanetary dust particles and Stardust cometary samples called Kool particles. Callie is chemically and isotopically very similar, but not identical to Iris.