Shallow and deep fresh impact craters in Hesperia Planum,Mars

The depths of 109 impact craters 2–16 km in diameter, located on the ridged plains materials of Hesperia Planum, Mars, have been measured from their shadow lengths using digital Viking Orbiter images (orbit numbers 417S–419S) and the PICS computer software. On the basis of their pristine morphology (very fresh lobate ejecta blankets, well preserved rim crests, and lack of superposed impact craters), 57 of these craters have been selected for detailed analysis of their spatial distribution and geometry. We find that south of 30°S, craters <6.0 km in diameter are markedly shallower than similar-sized craters equatorward of this latitude. No comparable relationship is observed for morphologically fresh craters >6.0 km diameter. We also find that two populations exist for older craters <6.0 km diameter. When craters that lack ejecta blankets are grouped on the basis of depth/diameter ratio, the deeper craters also typically lie equatorward of 30° S. We interpret the spatial variation in crater depth/diameter ratios as most likely due to a poleward increase in volatiles within the top 400 m of the surface at the times these craters were formed.     

Stress Concentration at the Bottom of a Borehole and its Effect on Borehole Breakout Formation

Summary Stress concentration at the bottom of a borehole due to the corners with small radius of curvature in an axial section and its effect on the azimuth of breakout was studied. To this end, a 3-D finite element analysis was conducted and the stress around the borehole was examined for boreholes arbitrarily oriented to three principal axes of remote stress. Results show that, in the case of high strength rock, compressive failure resulting in spalling of a borehole may occur only at the bottom of the borehole. The spalling can occur continuously with drilling, and results in continuous spalling with depth, i.e., a breakout. This type of breakout tends to form on one side of the borehole and its orientation is approximately perpendicular to the orientation of standard breakouts, inferred from the stress concentration due to the cylindrical shape of the borehole.     

Cep A: A possible proto-cluster

We present high resolution CS and CO maps of Cep A region made with the 45m telescope at Nobeyama. The CS map shows that a dense cloud surrounding the proto-star cluster extends in the North-South direction and is probably rotating. The bipolar molecular flow apparent in the CO maps is well-collimated along East-West direction within 0.2 pc from the proto-stars. The dense cloud is gravitationally unstable and appears to be in a contracting phase to form a cluster of massive stars.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.NRO, a branch of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, University of Tokyo, is a cosmic radio observing facility open for outside users.     

Theoretical study on the stability of a reservoir created by the intersection of a fluid-filled crack with an oblique joint for the extraction of geothermal heat

On the basis of the two-dimensional theory of elasticity, the theoretical analysis of a vertical, fluid-filled crack intersecting and oblique joint has been made for the extraction of geothermal heat from hot, dry rock masses, where the opening of the joint near a point of intersection and the frictional resistance against slips along the joint are taken into account. The stress intensity factors are evaluated for discussing crack kinking at the upper joint tip, and the sufficient conditions on theinclination of the joint and on the length between the upper joint tip and the point of intersection are obtained for keeping a fluid-filled crack stable just beneath a joint. It is also shown that the volume of the stable reservoir created by using a joint is much larger than that of a fluidfilled crack in a jointless rock mass, even if the joint is oblique and is opened up by the fluid pressure.     

Deep and Bottom Currents in the Challenger Deep,Mariana Trench,Measured with Super-Deep Current Meters

The bottom currents in the Challenger Deep, the deepest in the world, were measured with super-deep current meters moored at 11°22′ N and 142°35′ E, where the depth is 10915 m. Three current meters were set at 9687 m, 10489 m and 10890 m at the station in the center of the Challenger Deep for 442 days from 1 August 1995 to 16 October 1996. Although rotor revolutions in 60 minutes of recording interval were zero for 37.5% of the time, the maximum current at the deepest layer of 10890 m was 8.1 cm s⁻¹, being composed of tidal currents, inertia motion and long period variations. Two current meters were set at 6608 m and 7009 m at a station 24.9 km north of the center for 443 days from 31 July 1995 to 16 October 1996, and two current meters at 6214 m and 6615 m at a station 40.9 km south of the center for 441 days from 2 August 1995 to 16 October 1996. The mean flow at 7009 m depth at the northern station was 0.7 cm s⁻¹ to 240°T, and that at 6615 m depth at the southern station was 0.5 cm s⁻¹ to 267°T. A westward mean flow prevailed at the stations, and no cyclonic circulation with mean flows of the opposite directions was observed in the Mariana Trench at a longitude of 142°35′ E. Power spectra of daily mean currents showed three spectral peaks at periods of 100 days, 28–32 days and 14–15 days. The peak at 100 day period was common to the power spectra.     

Zonation and species diversity of smaller macrobenthos in the westernmost part of Wakasa Bay (the Sea of Tango)

Grab samples of the smaller macrobenthos (>1 mm, <1g wet weight) were obtained seasonally at fourteen stations along two transects in the shallow coastal waters of the westernmost part of Wakasa Bay. According to Morisita's similarity index (C _i , two faunal groups were recognized to be present throughout the year. The boundary between them was found to lie between depths of 10 and 20 m where the silt-clay fraction increased abruptly in the sediment, although the boundary was less obvious in summer. Statistics on community structure (species diversity, species richness, and evenness) also showed marked differences between the two assemblages. The change in faunal features was found to be roughly parallel to changes in sediment characteristics. On the nearshore sandy bottom, the influence of wave action is considered to be the major factor affecting the fauna as it results in a decrease in evenness and species richness. On the other hand, on the offshore muddy bottom, stagnant conditions cause the benthic fauna to decrease in density and to bear some resemblance to those of enclosed bays. The highest species diversity was found on the silty sand bottom (20 m deep). This can be understood as an edge effect of an ecotone.     

Measurements of ocean bottom pressure with a quartz sensor

Year long measurements of bottom pressure were made at 2,036 m depth in Sagami Trough, at 2,538 m depth in Suruga Trough, and at 32 m depth in the south of Minami-Daitojima Island. Amplitudes and phase lags of the major constituents of tides were estimated by the response method, and they were compared with the observational results at several tide stations operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. A comparison with Schwiderski's global models for the eight tidal constituents showed that the amplitudes were in good accordance to one another within 3 cm, and that the differences of phase lags were less than 15°. The largest portion of the variations of the bottom pressure was caused by the tides: the variance of the major eight constituents was more than 98.5% as large as the total variance. The measurements show that tidal waves can be recorded offshore with a sufficient accuracy by the quartz sensors. Drifts of indication of the pressure gauges were significant and they prevented detection of a long-term variation which might be caused by fluctuations of the ocean currents or by the eddies.     

Melt water driven stream and groundwater stage fluctuations on a glacier forefield (Dammagletscher,Switzerland)

In many mountain regions, large land areas with heterogeneous soils have become ice‐free with the ongoing glacier retreat. On these recently formed proglacial fields, the melt of the remaining glaciers typically drives pronounced diurnal stream level fluctuations that propagate into the riparian zone. This behaviour was measured on the Damma glacier forefield in central Switzerland with stage recorders in the stream and groundwater monitoring wells along four transects. In spite of the large groundwater stage variations, radon measurements in the near‐stream riparian zone indicate that there is little mixing between stream water and groundwater on daily time scales. At all four transects, including both losing and gaining reaches, the groundwater level fluctuations lagged the stream stage variations and were often damped with distance from the stream. Similar behaviours have been modelled using the diffusion equation in coastal regions influenced by tidal sea level variations. We thus tested the ability of such a model to predict groundwater level fluctuations in proglacial fields. The model reproduced several key features of the observed fluctuations at three of four locations, although discrepancies also arise due to non representative input data and model simplifications. Nevertheless, calibration of the model for the individual transects yielded realistic estimates of hydraulic diffusivities between the stream and groundwater monitoring wells. We conclude that studying diurnal groundwater fluctuations can provide important information about the subsurface hydrology of alpine watersheds dominated by glacier melt. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Episyenite formation in the Toki granite,central Japan

Episyenite is a quartz-depleted vuggy rock resulting from hydrothermal alteration of granitic rocks. This is the first report of its existence in an island arc, which is identified in a deep drill core of the Toki Cretaceous granite distributed in central Japan. In order to understand the petrographical features of the episyenite, neutron porosity measurement, geochemical analysis, microscopic observation, and X-ray computed tomography scanning were carried out. The results show remarkably high porosity (35.4 %) due to interconnecting vugs and the removal of quartz, plagioclase, and biotite. The Rb–Sr isotopic results and the paragenetic sequence of secondary minerals in the vugs suggest that the hydrothermal alteration process can be divided into an episyenitization stage and a later hydrothermal stage. At the episyenitization stage (70.6 ± 3.1 Ma) ca. 6 million years after the emplacement of the unaltered granite (76.3 ± 1.5 Ma), dissolution of quartz, biotite, and plagioclase occurred and was followed by the precipitation of albite, vermicular chlorite, and platy calcite. The episyenitization is considered as a local alteration of the Toki granite in an isotopically closed system. At the later hydrothermal stage, illite and secondary quartz precipitated from circulating meteoric-derived water in the dissolution vugs. Superimposing alteration at the later hydrothermal stage is limited, which results in the preservation of the episyenite in an almost primitive condition.