Application of aerial photography to the study of small scale upper ocean phenomena

The industrial waste dumped 180 n. miles south of Galveston was monitored in July 1977 by water sampling, hydrographic measurements, acoustic tracking on board two vessels, and by aerial photography. The plume of the waste diffused vertically and horizontally. Photodensitometry of aerial photos of the plume showed lateral dispersion of the plume in agreement with two other methods: acoustic tracking of the waste suspensoid and transmissometer sampling. In addition, the method showed small scale features like the lateral and longitudinal variations in the photodensity, indicating the waste concentration. This waste concentration showed periodic changes in its axial distance, with the spectral peak at about 160 m wave length. It shows a sharp increase at the windward edge of the plume as do the acoustic records. This phenomenon is explained in terms of the shearing current near the surface together with vertical diffusion. The periodic change along the axis is explained in terms of the Langmuir circulation and in terms of internal ship waves.     

Effect of Mine Water on the Stability of Underground Coal Mine Roadways

The basic objectives of mine roadways are to provide sufficient cross sections to accommodate equipment, transport, personnel travel and ventilation. However, many roadways become damaged to the extent of needing maintenance, generally dinting, and in some cases requiring re-ripping. Strata conditions play important effects on stability of roadways and other mining activities. Weak rocks cause excessive roadway closures, and water softens some rocks and worsens the closure problem. Therefore, study on effect of mine water on the stability of underground coal mine roadways is important for underground coal mine development. A scientific discussion on the effect of water on the stability of roadways is given on the basis of results obtained by means of field investigation and laboratory tests. Based on analysis, rock in saturated condition has only between 0.19 to 0.49 of its compressive strength and 0.17 to 0.59 of its tensile strength in dry condition. Among the coal measures rock in research area, water has the most obvious effect on the strength reduction of shale. The slaking behavior of shale has also been the worst among the other. Field investigation of roadway driven in shale shown vertical closure in the wet and dry condition area reached 40–60 and 5–15 cm respectively, in 30 days after the drivage. Among the measures, drainage is considered to be the most economical and simplest method to reduce the water content in the rocks or the rock masses.     

A complex earth slide–earth flow induction by the heavy rainfall in July 2006, Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

A seasonal rain front (Baiu front) accompanied a long-term accumulation of precipitation propagated over the wide areas of the main island of Japan during 15–24 July 2006. In Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, several flow-type landslides occurred in the early morning of 19 July 2006, claiming eight lives. Among these landslides, a most peculiar complex earth slide–earth flow occurred on a north gentle slope of the upstream portion of the Motosawagawa River. In the source area, volcanoclastic soils overlying tuffaceous rocks at about 4-m depth slid due to the prolonged precipitation that raised the water table level in the soil. Along with the travel path, the failed materials fluidized causing the liquefaction of the volcanoclastic soils underlain by volcanic black ash soils. The resulting flow spread over a wide area up to the final deposition. Constant volume box-shear tests on undisturbed volcanoclastic soil specimens taken from the source area showed effective normal stress tended to decrease during shearing. The ring shear tests on saturated disturbed specimens produced the large loss of shear resistance, which may explain the fluidized motion of the complex landslide.     

Experimental and numerical study on the fracture of rocks during injection of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-saturated water

Geological sequestration of CO₂ into depleted hydrocarbon reserviors or saline aquifers presents the enormous potential to reduce greenhouse gas emission from fossil fuels. However, it may give rise to a complicated coupling physical and chemical process. One of the processes is the hydro-mechanical impact of CO₂ injection. During the injection project, the increase of pore pressures of storing formations can induce the instability, which finally results in a catastrophic failure of disposal sites. This paper focuses mainly on the role of CO₂-saturated water in the fracturing behavior of rocks. To investigate how much the dissolved CO₂ can influence the pore pressure change of rocks, acoustic emission (AE) experiments were performed on sandstone and granite samples under triaxial conditions. The main innovation of this paper is to propose a time dependent porosity method to simulate the abrupt failure process, which is observed in the laboratory and induced by the pore pressure change due to the volume dilatancy of rocks, using a finite element scheme associated with two-phase characteristics. The results successfully explained the phenomena obtained in the physical experiments.     

Paleoceanographic Setting and Preservation of Buried Manganese Deposits in DSDP/ODP Cores

Abstract. The occurrence, lithology, and stratigraphic setting of buried manganese deposits and associated host sediments in cores obtained on Legs 123–210 of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) are examined in order to establish the formative environment and conditions of preservation. Fossil manganese nodule and crusts are found to have formed or deposited throughout the period from 100 Ma to the present, with an additional example of formation near 137 Ma, suggesting that the deep-sea environment has been oxic and suitable for the formation of manganese nodules and crusts since the Cretaceous. Many manganese nodules and crusts occur on horizons corresponding to hiatuses in sedimentation or periods of slow sedimentation, consistent with the environment in which modern nodules form (sedimentation rate less than 10 m/m.y.). Sediments overlying the fossil nodules and crusts are oozes or biogenic sediments with sedimentation rates of 1–18 m/m.y. Low total organic carbon (<0.1 wt%) in the overlying sediments and high sulfate content (>25 mM) in interstitial water around the manganese horizon suggest that no strong reduction occurred within the overlying sediments. Coverage by biogenic sediments containing only small amounts of organic matter is therefore considered important for the preservation of manganese nodules and crusts. Manganese carbonate occurs sporadically as nodules, concretions or thin layers in various host sediments, including clay, calcareous ooze and siliceous ooze with sedimentation rates of 6–125 m/m.y. Hiatuses are rare around the host sediments of manganese carbonate. Higher total organic carbon (0.2–1.8 wt%) in the host sediments and lower sulfate content (0–25 mM) in interstitial water around the manganese carbonate horizon suggest that reduction in association with decomposition of organic matter would have proceeded in the host sediments.     

Drainage density, slope angle, and relative basin position in Japanese bare lands from high-resolution DEMs

Relationships between drainage density and slope angle for three bare lands in Japan were analyzed with special attention to channels at early erosion stages and channels in a badland-type terrain. Two of the bare lands were caused by volcanic eruptions 1 or 30–40 years ago, and the other one is a landslide scar formed more than 100 years ago. Raster digital elevation models (DEMs) with a 1-m resolution and ortho aerial photos were generated using digital photogrammetry to enable detailed stream-net extraction and topographic analyses. Data for drainage density, slope angle, and relative height for 88 subwatersheds were obtained from the DEMs and derived stream-nets. The relationship between drainage density and slope angle for each subwatershed can be divided into two types: downward sloping and convex upward. Although previous studies suggested that drainage density positively correlates with slope angle if overland flow is dominant, this correlation seldom occurs in the study areas. The two types of drainage density–slope angle relationships correspond to differing channelization stages that reflect the extension and integration of existing channels, as well as the formation of new low-order streams in response to base-level lowering. The location of subwatersheds within each study area seems to play a major role in determining the stages of channel development and, in turn, the types of drainage density–slope angle relationships.     

Occurrence of Free-Gas Associated with Methane-Hydrate-Bearing Formations in the MITI Nankai Trough Wells, Offshore Tokai, Japan

Abstract. The MITI Nankai Trough wells were drilled for exploration of methane-hydrate-bearing sediments in association with seismic inferred bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs). In this project, log data showed low velocity compressional-wave (P-wave) layers below methane-hydrate-bearing formations. Dipole shear sonic acoustic tools (DSI) could not acquire accurate compres-sional velocity in this zone, thus it was not possible to accurately correlate between logging, VSP and surface seismic profiles.
Small amount of gas was presumed to cause the problem in obtaining the low velocity P-wave data. VSP interval velocity data was used to assess the DSI inferred low-velocity layer, which showed lower values than the velocity of the drilling muds. Synthetic seismogram was created by VSP-compensated velocity to compare against corridor stack of VSP. As a result, the depths above and below the methane-hydrate-bearing interval were correlated with synthetic seismograms and reflectivity events on the VSP profiles. By using this correlation technique, distribution of methane-hydrate-bearing formations and free-gas-bearing formations can be determined.     

Deformation history and exhumation process of the Horoman Peridotite Complex, Hokkaido, Japan

The Horoman Peridotite Complex is an Alpine-type orogenic peridotite massif in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, Hokkaido, Northern Japan. Because of wide exposure and extremely limited serpentinization, the complex provides important information on uplift and emplacement processes of an Alpine-type peridotite massif into the crust. Based on microstructures, the massif can be divided into five structural units parallel to the lithological layering as follows; (1) Equigranular Zone, (2) Internal Shear Zone (ISZ), (3) Transition Zone, (4) Porphyroclastic Zone and (5) Basal Shear Zone (BSZ). A top-to-the-north sense of shear deformation in the Porphyroclastic Zone and the Basal Shear Zone implies that the Horoman Peridotite Complex had uplifted from the upper mantle to the lower crust along a northward dipping extensional shear-zone systems. After incorporation of the mantle peridotite with lower crustal rocks, the upper part of the massif (i.e. the Equigranular Zone and the Internal Shear Zone) was overprinted by a top-to-the-south sense of shear deformation that was comparable with the sub-horizontal displacement of the crustal granulite sequences in the Hidaka metamorphic belt under transpressive tectonic environment.