Field Survey of Tsunami Effects in Sri Lanka due to the Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake of December 26, 2004

The December 26, 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake that registered a moment magnitude (M_w) of 9.1 was one of the largest earthquakes in the world since 1900. The devastating tsunami that resulted from this earthquake caused more casualties than any previously reported tsunami. The number of fatalities and missing persons in the most seriously affected countries were Indonesia - 167,736, Sri Lanka - 35,322, India - 18,045 and Thailand - 8,212. This paper describes two field visits to assess tsunami effects in Sri Lanka by a combined team of Japanese and Sri Lankan researchers. The first field visit from December 30, 2004 – January 04, 2005 covered the western and southern coasts of Sri Lanka including the cities of Moratuwa, Beruwala, Bentota, Pereliya, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Talpe, Matara, Tangalla and Hambantota. The objectives of the first field visit were to investigate the damage caused by the tsunami and to obtain eyewitness information about wave arrival times. The second field visit from March 10–18, 2005 covered the eastern and southern coasts of Sri Lanka and included Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Arugam Bay, Yala National Park and Kirinda. The objectives of the second visit were mainly to obtain eyewitness information about wave arrival times and inundation data, and to take relevant measurements using GPS instruments.     

Excess Xenon-128 in meteorites

Using known compositions of primordial and spallation xenon components in several meteorites, the neutron produced Xe¹²⁸ⁿ has been resolved. For obtaining the value for spallation produced (Xe¹²⁸/Xe¹³⁰)_c, the meteorites with low iodine content and high spallation contribution are considered. Using these data, the neutron densities in several meteorites due to cosmic-ray exposure are calculated and their significance is qualitatively discussed.     

A Simple Theoretical Radiation Scheme for Regular Building Arrays

We propose a simple theoretical radiation scheme for regular building arrays. The essential difference of the present radiation scheme from the previous ones is the explicit consideration of the three-dimensional features of the surface geometry. The model is assumed to be an infinitely extended regular array of uniform buildings, each building composed of six faces (roof, floor, and four vertical walls). Without using time-consuming iterations or statistical approaches, we calculated the view factors of the faces, the complicated sunlit--shadow distributions, and the resulting canopy albedo for any time and location. The model was evaluated by comparing to outdoor experiments in a wide range of seasons and surface geometries. The simulated canopy albedos agreed well with measured values, and the accuracy is a significant improvement over two-dimensional-based model outputs.     

Determination of the phase boundary between ilmenite and perovskite in MgSiO3 by in situ X-ray diffraction and quench experiments

Determination of the phase boundary between ilmenite and perovskite structures in MgSiO₃ has been made at pressures between 18 and 24 GPa and temperatures up to 2000 °C by in situ X-ray diffraction measurements using synchrotron radiation and quench experiments. It was difficult to precisely define the phase boundary by the present in situ X-ray observations, because the grain growth of ilmenite hindered the estimation of relative abundances of these phases. Moreover, the slow reaction kinetics between these two phases made it difficult to determine the phase boundary by changing pressure and temperature conditions during in situ X-ray diffraction measurements. Nevertheless, the phase boundary was well constrained by quench method with a pressure calibration based on the spinel-postspinel boundary of Mg₂SiO₄ determined by in situ X-ray experiments. This yielded the ilmenite-perovskite phase boundary of P (GPa) = 25.0 (±0.2) – 0.003 T (°C) for a temperature range of 1200–1800 °C, which is generally consistent with the results of the present in situ X-ray diffraction measurements within the uncertainty of ∼±0.5 GPa. The phase boundary thus determined between ilmenite and perovskite phases in MgSiO₃ is slightly (∼0.5 GPa) lower than that of the spinel-postspinel transformation in Mg₂SiO₄. Received: 19 May 1999 / Accepted: 21 March 2000     

Variability of Currents off the Northern Coast of New Guinea

The variability of the New Guinea Coastal Current (NGCC) and New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent (NGCUC) were examined from one year time series of current data from ADCP moorings at 2°S, 142°E and 2.5°S, 142°E. Change in the hydrographic structure induced by monsoonal wind forcing was also examined from hydrographic data along the 142°E covering consecutively two winter seasons and two summer seasons. The westward NGCUC was observed to persist year around. The annual mean depth of the current core was 220 m, the mean speed of the zonal component was 54 cm/s with a standard deviation of 15 cm/s at the 2.5°S site. Velocity fluctuations at 20–30 day period were observed year around. Seasonal reversal of the surface intensified NGCC was clearly observed. In the boreal summer characterized by the southeasterly monsoon, westward currents of over 60 cm/s were dominant in the surface layer. The warm, low-salinity layer thickened at this time and sloped down toward the New Guinea coast from the equator. This surface water accumulation may be caused by onshore Ekman drift at the New Guinea coast, combined with weak Ekman upwelling at the equator. In the boreal winter, an eastward surface current developed to 100 cm/s extending down to 100 m depth in response to the northwesterly monsoonal winds. Coastal upwelling was indicated in this season and the surface water accumulated at the equator due to Ekman convergence. Shipboard ADCP data indicated that the NGCUC intensified in boreal summer as the width and depth of the NGCUC increased.     

Bio-Optical Relationship of Case I Waters: The Difference between the Low- and Mid-Latitude Waters and the Southern Ocean

Both historic and currently operational chlorophyll algorithms of the satellite-borne ocean color sensors, such as SeaWiFS, were evaluated for in situ spectral radiation and chlorophyll data in some Case I waters, including the waters in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean. Chlorophyll a concentration of the data set (n = 73) ranged from 0.04 to 1.01 mg m^–3. The algorithms had higher accuracy for the low- and mid-latitude waters (RMSE: 0.163–0.253), specifically the most recently developed algorithms of OCTS and Sea WiFS showed 0.163 and 0.170 of Root Mean Square Errors, respectively. However, these algorithms had large errors (0.422–0.621) for the Southern Ocean data set and underestimated the surface chlorophyll by more than a factor of 2.6. The absorption coefficients in the blue spectral region retrieved from remote sensing reflectance varied in a nonlinear manner with chlorophyll a concentration, and the value in the Southern Ocean was significantly lower than that in the low- and mid-latitude waters for each chlorophyll a concentration. The underestimation of chlorophyll a concentration in the Southern Ocean with these algorithms was caused by the lower specific absorption coefficient in the region compared with the low- and mid-latitude waters under the same chlorophyll a concentration.     

The detectability of shallow slow earthquakes by the Dense Oceanfloor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis (DONET) in Tonankai district,Japan

In order to understand the characteristics of shallow very low-frequency (VLF) events as revealed by recent ocean-floor observation studies, we perform a trial simulation of earthquake cycles in the Tonankai district by taking the characteristics of the 1944 Tonankai earthquake and assuming that slow earthquakes occur on numerous small asperities. Our simulation results show that the increase of moment release rate of shallower VLF events in the pre-seismic stage of a megathrust earthquake is higher than that of deeper VLF events. This increase may make leveling change due to VLF swarms detectable at Dense Oceanfloor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis (DONET). We also introduce the time series of hydraulic pressure data at DONET, comparing with the leveling change expected from our numerical simulation. Since leveling change due to shallower VLF swarms is so local as to be incoherent, removal of the moving-averaged data from the data stacked by four nearby observation points in the same node may be useful to detect the short-term local leveling change.     

Geological and Hydrodynamical Examination of the Bathyal Tsunamigenic Origin of Miocene Conglomerates in Chita Peninsula, Central Japan

A conglomerate appears on a rocky coast called ??Tsubutega-ura Coast??, located on the southwestern coast near the southern tip of the Chita Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. The conglomerate belongs to Miocene sedimentary rocks termed the Morozaki Group. The conglomerate includes meter-scale boulders, indicating that it was formed by an extraordinary event. In the geological investigation, we observed that the conglomerate shows alternate changes of paleocurrent directions between seaward and landward. This feature is supposed to be formed by tsunami currents. In the hydrodynamical investigation, we obtained following results: (1) the lowest limit of a current velocity to move a boulder of about 3?m in diameter would be about 2?C3?m/s, (2) the speed of tsunami currents reproduced by tsunami simulation exceeds 3?m/s at 300?m in depth when the tsunami is generated by a gigantic earthquake with magnitude 9.0 or more, (3) the transport distance of the boulder would be several hundred?meters to several kilometers by one tsunami event caused by a gigantic earthquake. We conclude that tsunamis best explain the formation of the conglomerate deposited in upper bathyal environments about 200?C400?m depth, both from geological and hydrodynamical viewpoints.     

Hydrothermal alteration and K–Ar ages of Neogene‐Quaternary magmatic‐hydrothermal systems at Toyoha‐Muine area in southwest Hokkaido,Japan

This paper presents a review of hydrothermal alteration and K–Ar age data from the Toyoha‐Muine area (TMA), where the Toyoha polymetallic (Ag–Pb–Zn–Cu–In) deposit is located near the Pliocene andesitic volcano that formed Mt Muine. Systematic prospect‐scale mapping, sampling, X‐ray analysis and microscopic observation show that hydrothermal alteration is divided into two groups: acid‐pH and neutral‐pH alteration types. The former is further divided into mineral assemblages I, II and III, while the latter into mineral assemblages IV and V. Different mineralogical features in five mineral assemblages are summarized as follows: (I) Quartz (silicified rock); (II) Pyrophyllite or dickite; (III) Kaolinite or halloysite ± alunite; (IV) Sericite or K‐feldspar; and (V) Interstratified minerals (illite/smectite and chlorite/smectite) and/or smectite. K–Ar radiometric ages determined on twenty‐eight K‐bearing samples (whole volcanic rocks and separated hydrothermal minerals) mainly fall into one of three periods: Early Miocene (24.6–21.4 Ma), Middle–Late Miocene (12.5–8.4 Ma) and Pliocene–Pleistocene (3.2–0 Ma). These three periods are characterized as follows. Early Miocene: A minor hydrothermal activity, which might be genetically related to the intermediate or felsic magmatic activities, formed mineral assemblage IV at 24.6 Ma in the northern part of the TMA. Middle to Late Miocene: The basaltic intrusion, andesitic eruption, and granodiorite intrusions induced hydrothermal activities between 12.5 and 8.4 Ma, resulting in the formation of a mineral assemblage IV with some base metal mineralization. Pliocene–Pleistocene: An andesitic eruption formed Mt Muine between 3.2 and 2.9 Ma. The andesitic activity was associated with acid‐pH mineral assemblages I, II and III locally around the volcano. Latent magmatic intrusions subsequent to the andesitic eruption generated hydrothermal activities that formed mineral assemblages IV and V between 1.9 and 0 Ma in the southern and southeastern parts of Toyoha deposit at depth, overprinting the Middle to Late Miocene alteration. The hydrothermal activities also formed mineral assemblages I, II and III along the Yunosawa fault (east of the Toyoha deposit) and assemblage III in the south and southeast of the Toyoha deposit near the surface.     

Characteristics of the ratio of dissolved cadmium to phosphate in subtropical coastal waters of Ishigaki Island,Okinawa, Japan

The ratio of dissolved cadmium (Cd) to phosphate (PO₄) in the subtropical coastal area of Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, was investigated. Twenty vertical seawater samplings were carried out once a month from May 2008 to January 2010. In order to examine how the Cd/PO₄ ratio in seawater varies with the oceanographic conditions (i.e., the water temperature–salinity characteristics), the water masses at the study sites were classified into two types: group 1 with a water temperature of >25°C and a salinity range of 34.0–34.4, and group 2 with a water temperature of <25°C and a salinity of >34.4. A different phytoplankton assemblage was observed in each water mass defined. Different Cd/PO₄ ratios were obtained for the two water mass types, due to the differences between the types in terms of the environmental conditions such as the water temperature–salinity (T–S) characteristics and phytoplankton assemblages, as well as possible variations in the concentrations of dissolved iron, zinc, manganese, and CO₂ in seawater in each water mass.