Paragenesis of titanium-bearing accessories in pelitic schists of the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt,Central Shikoku,Japan

In pelitic schists of the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, sphene, rutile, and ilmenite occur as discrete grains, in composite aggregates, and as inclusions in garnets. Textural relationships, disposition of inclusions in garnet, and the compositions of ilmenites suggest that the titanium-bearing accessories stable at the peak metamorphic conditions were as follows: sphene in the chlorite zone, sphene plus rutile in the garnet zone, and ilmenite in the highest grade of the belt, the biotite zone. Rutile appears in the garnet zone as a consequence of Ca incorporation into garnet and a progressive increase in .Retrograde reactions were responsible for the composite aggregates of rutile, sphene and ilmenite and these must be carefully evaluated before prograde relationships between titanium-bearing accessories can be properly understood.     

Plagioclase zoning in the setogawa ash-flow sheet of the Nohi rhyolite complex,central Japan

Single whole crystals of calcic augite from M. Etna, Sicily, which display both sector and oscillatory zoning, have been serially sectioned and the form of the sectors mapped out. The principal intersectorial chemical variation is shown to be that of Ti and Al by as much as 39% (cation %) change in each, and the least variation, that of Ca (showing a 0.77 to 3.20% change). For each of three isochronous surfaces the ratio of Ti∶Al is shown to be individually constant no matter what the sector and this is thought to indicate near equilibrium conditions at the crystal/liquid interface. In addition to sector zoning these crystals display two types of concentric banding, having dimensions of about 0.25 mm, 20 μm. The 20 μm banding is shown to be both optically and chemically oscillated. Relative diffusion rates of cationic species in the melt, and growth rates of crystal faces are thought to play an important role in the formation of the oscillations, and the sector zoning.     

Latitudinal Distribution of CO2 Fugacity along 175°E in the North Pacific in 1992–1996

In order to examine latitudinal distribution and seasonal change of the surface oceanic fCO₂, we analyzed the data obtained in the North Pacific along 175°E during the NOPACCS cruises in spring and summer of 1992–1996. Except for around the equator where the fCO₂ was significantly affected by the upwelling of deep water, the latitudinal distribution of fCO₂ showed distinctive seasonal variation. In the spring, the fCO₂ decreased and then increased going southward with the minimum value of about 300 µatm around 35°N, while in the summer, the fCO₂ displayed high variability, showing minimum and maximum values at latitudes of around 44° and 35°N, respectively. It was also found that the fCO₂ was well correlated with the SST, but the relationship between the two was different for different hydrographic regions. In the subpolar gyre, the frontal regions between the Water-Mass Front and the Kuroshio bifurcation front, and between the Kuroshio bifurcation front and the Kuroshio Extension current, SST, DIC and TA influenced the seasonal fCO₂ change through seasonally-dependent biological activities and vertical mixing and stratification of seawater. In the central subtropical gyre and the North Equatorial current, the seasonal fCO₂ change was found to be produced basically by changes in SST and DIC. The summertime oceanic fCO₂ generally increased with time over the period covered by this study, but the increased rate was clearly higher than those expected from other measurements in the western North Pacific.     

Eccentric installation of splice plates for compressive strength improvement of rectangular hollow section braces

Steel hollow section members are often applied as bracing in steel structures. Field-bolted connections of the slotted-in single splice plate and the gusset plate are popular because of their ease of construction. However, eccentricity between the splice and gusset plate axes reduces the compressive strength of the brace. This study proposes compressive strength improvement of rectangular hollow section braces using eccentrically installed splice plates such that the gusset plate axis coincides with the brace axis. To demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed concept, four compressive loading test results are examined in this study. Test results reveal the influences of splice plate eccentric installation on the brace compressive strength, the out-of-plane displacement, and the strain distribution. The proposed concept is effective for the brace with stiffened splice plates for inducing overall buckling with plastic hinges in the gusset plates. Variation of compressive strength is finally discussed based on the discrepancy between the brace axis and the axis of the plates in which the plastic hinges form at the overall buckling mode ends.     

Dinosaur footprint assemblage from the Lower Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation,Khorat Group,northeastern Thailand

The Khok Kruat Formation is the upper part of the Khorat Group, which consists of upper Lower Cretaceous non-marine sedimentary rocks in northeastern Thailand. Many dinosaur footprints have been known from the upper Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) Khok Kruat Formation at the Huai Dam Chum (Tha Uthen) site, northeastern Thailand. Approximately 600 tracks occur in thin mudstone layer of the northern part of the outcrop at the Huai Dam Chum track site. Two types of footprints, small-sized theropod and crocodylomorph are imprinted with mud cracks and ripple marks on the thin mud layer. Most of footprints are referred to cf. Asianopodus, and are imprinted by small-sized theropoda, probably ornithomimosauria. Theropod tracks are mainly separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. From ichnological viewpoints, the small-sized theropod track assemblage indicates the herd behaviour and its idiosyncratic group composition. In particular, the histogram of size-frequency measurements of Group A shows the anomalous bimodal distribution. We consider that there are two hypotheses; the first one is due to the male-female difference, and the second is a result of the different growing stage.     

Identification of yield drift deformations and evaluation of the degree of damage through the direct sensing of drift displacements

Inter‐story drift displacement data can provide useful information for story damage assessment. The authors' research group has developed photonic‐based sensors for the direct measurement of inter‐story drift displacements. This paper proposes a scheme for evaluating the degree of damage in a building structure based on drift displacement sensing. The scheme requires only measured inter‐story drift displacements without any additional finite element analysis. A method for estimating yield drift deformation is proposed, and then, the degree of beam end damage is evaluated based on the plastic deformation ratios derived with the yield drift deformation values estimated by the proposed method. The validity and effectiveness of the presented scheme are demonstrated via experimental data from a large‐scale shaking table test of a one‐third‐scale model of an 18‐story steel building structure conducted at E‐Defense. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance evaluation of a ground-source heat pump system utilizing a flowing well and estimation of suitable areas for its installation in Aizu Basin,Japan

Development of a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system with higher efficiency, and evaluation of its operating performance, is essential to expand the growth of GSHP systems in Japan. A closed-loop GSHP system was constructed utilizing a flowing (artesian) well as a ground heat exchanger (GHE). The system was demonstrated for space-heating and space-cooling of a room (area 126.7 m²) in an office building. The average coefficient of performance was found to be 4.5 for space-heating and 8.1 for space-cooling. The maximum heat exchange rate was 70.8 W/m for space-heating and 57.6 W/m for space-cooling. From these results, it was determined that a GSHP system with a flowing well as a GHE can result in higher performance. With this kind of highly efficient system, energy saving and cost reduction can be expected. In order to assess appropriate locations for the installation of similar kinds of GSHP systems in Aizu Basin, a suitability map showing the distribution of groundwater up-flowing areas was prepared based on the results of a regional-scale three-dimensional analytical model. Groundwater up-flowing areas are considered to be suitable because the flowing well can be constructed at these areas. Performance evaluation of the GSHP system utilizing the flowing well, in conjunction with the prepared suitability map for its installation, can assist in the promotion of GSHP systems in Japan.     

Kinematics, structure and relationship to metamorphism of the east-west flow in the Sanbagawa Belt, southwest Japan

Abstract Deformation in the Sanbagawa Belt is characterized by ductile flow in an east-west direction sub-parallel to its length. The east-west flow (D₁) caused large-scale recumbent folding of the metamorphic sequence in central Shikoku, which can explain the inverted thermal structure of this region. Chemical zoning of metamorphic minerals associated with D₁ microstructures also suggest that the east-west flow developed under retrograde conditions. D₁ is therefore related to exhumation rather than subduction processes. A variety of kinematic indicators show that during the east-west flow, deformation was partitioned into structurally continuous domains with opposed senses of shear. This suggests that bulk deformation was not simple shear but included a component of flattening.     

The first microearthquake recording in Iraq

A reconnaissance survey of the microearthquake activity in Iraq has been carried out during the period from June 1974 to June 1975. It intends to establish where and how often microearthquakes occur, and the level of the microseismic background in Iraq. It is also expected to help in choosing seismically suitable sites for the proposed seismological observatory of Iraq. p]Forty-two stations in thirteen zones distributed in different tectonic provinces, were occupied for 180 hours at intervals of time of up to ten hours.The number of actual microearthquakes recorded was relatively small. Their predominant frequency falls in the range of 0.4–3.0 Hz, for the three components. It was also noticed that the bulk of events have a duration of 100 seconds. Although some correlation was observed between the micro- and macroactivity in general, the microseismic background was high in Ga'ara area where no macroactivity was ever registered.     

Occurrence of calcite in Sanbagawa pelitic schists: implications for the formation of garnet, rutile, oligoclase, biotite and hornblende

The frequency of occurrence of minerals in 1876 samples of Sanbagawa pelitic schist in central Shikoku is summarized on the basis of microscopic observation accompanied, in part, by use of an electron microprobe. All samples contain quartz, plagioclase, phengite, chlorite and graphite. More than 90% of samples contain clinozoisite, titanite and apatite. Garnet is present in 95% of samples from the garnet zone, and biotite is present in 64% of samples from the albite‐biotite zone. Calcite is found in about 40% of samples of the pelitic schist collected from outcrop, but occurs in 95% of the pelitic schist from drill cores. Calcite was apparently ubiquitous in the pelitic schist during the Sanbagawa metamorphism, but must have been dissolved recently by the action of surface or ground water. The mineral assemblages of the Sanbagawa pelitic schist have to be analyzed in the system with excess calcite, quartz, albite (or oligoclase), clinozoisite, graphite and fluid that is composed mainly of H₂O, CO₂ and CH₄. In the presence of calcite, reactions that produce garnet, rutile, oligoclase, biotite and hornblende, some of which define isograds of the metamorphic belt, should be written as mixed volatile equilibria that tend to take place at lower temperature than the dehydration reactions that have been proposed. The presence of calcite in pelitic schist suggests that fluid composition is a variable as important in determining mineral assemblages as pressure and temperature. Thus Ca‐bearing phases must be taken into account to analyze the phase relations of calcite‐bearing pelitic schist, even if CaO content of Sanbagawa pelitic schist is low. As calcite is a common phase, the mineral assemblages of the biotite zone pelitic schist may contravene the mineralogical phase rule and warrant further study.