An overview of developments and applications of oceanographic radar networks in Asia and Oceania countries

More than 110 radar stations are in operation at the present time in Asia and Oceania countries, which is nearly half of all the existing radar stations in the world, for purposes related to marine safety, oil spill response, tsunami warning, coastal zone management and understanding of ocean current dynamics, depending mainly on each country’s coastal sea characteristics. This paper introduces the oceanographic radar networks of Australia, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, presented at the 1st Ocean Radar Conference for Asia (ORCA) held in May 2012, Seoul, Korea, to share information about the radar network developments and operations, knowledge and experiences of data management, and research activity and application of the radar-derived data of neighbouring countries. We hope this overview paper may contribute as the first step to promotion of regional collaborations in the radar observations and data usages and applications in order to efficiently monitor the coastal and marginal sea waters along the western Pacific Ocean periphery.     

Petrology of ultramafic nodules from West Kettle River,near Kelowna,Southern British Columbia

A basanitoid flow of Miocene age, exposed near the West Kettle River, 25 km southeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, contains abundant ultramafic and mafic nodules. The subangular nodules are 1–20 cm across and typically show granular textures. A study of 250 nodules indicates that spinel lherzolite (60%) is the dominant type with subordinate olivine websterite (10%), websterite (7%), clinopyroxenite (4%), wehrlite (4%), pyroxene gabbro (4%), dunite (2%), harzburgite (1%) and granitic rocks (8%). Ultramafic nodules are of two types. Most of the wehrlites and clinopyroxenites belong to the black pyroxene (aluminous clinopyroxene) series, whereas the other clinopyroxene-bearing nodules belong to the green pyroxene (chromian diopside) series. Some spinel lherzolite nodules have distinctive pyroxene- and olivine-rich bands. Microprobe analyses of the constituent minerals of more than thirty nodules from the green pyroxene series indicate that grain to grain variations within individual nodules are small even when banding is present. Olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel in spinel lherzolite have average compositions of Fo₉₀, En₉₀, Wo₄₇Fs₅En₄₈, Cr/(Cr+ Al+Fe³)=0.1 and Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺)=0.8. Equilibration temperatures, which were calculated using the two pyroxene geothermometer of Wells (1977), range between 920–980° C. Based on published phase stability experiments, pressures of equilibration are between 10–18 kbar. In summary, the upper mantle beneath southern British Columbia is dominated by spinel lherzolite but contains some banding on a scale of cm to meters. The temperature in the upper mantle is 950° C at a depth of 30–60 km.On leave from the Geological Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan     

Anomalous crustal strain prior to the 1923 Kanto,Japan, earthquake as deduced from analysis of old triangulation data

Horizontal earth's strains preceding the Kanto, Japan, earthquake of 1, September 1923, are deduced from the analysis of the old triangulation data. The anomalous strains that are several times larger than usual tectonic strain are found in the western part of Tokyo Bay, Sagamihara district, Japan for the observational period 1882/91–1898/1910, while any significant strain is not revealed in the other region of the Kanto district. The Kanto district was surveyed twice during the period 1883/85–1890/92 in the west and during the period 1890/92–1897/99 in the east respectively. The polarity of the detected anomalous strains, the directions and the signs of the principal strains, are quite the same as those of the postseismic crustal strains during the period 1924–74, and are reversed as compared to the coseismic one.The Philippine Sea plate thrusts under the South Kanto district with N25°W direction and pulls down the land during the interseismic period. The aseismic reverse faulting would begin several decades before the 1923 Kanto earthquake along the deep interface between the Asian plate and the convergent Philippine Sea plate. The down-going along the locked part of the interface would be accelerated, thus the compressional stress on the earth's surface might be concentrated over the deep fault plane together with the acceleration of the subsidence at the tip of the peninsula close to the Sagami trough.     

Thermophysical properties of lunar material returned by Apollo missions

Data on thermophysical properties measured on lunar material returned by Apollo missions are reviewed. In particular, the effects of temperature and interstitial gaseous pressure on thermal conductivity and diffusivity have been studied. For crystalline rocks, breccias and fines, the thermal conductivity and diffusivity decrease as the interstitial gaseous pressure decreases from 1 atm to 10^–4T. Below 10^–4T, these properties become insensitive to the pressure. At a pressure of 10^–4T or below, the thermal conductivity of fines is more temperature dependent than that of crystalline rocks and breccias. The bulk density also affects the thermal conductivity of the fines. An empirical relationship between thermal conductivity, bulk density and temperature derived from the study of terrestrial material is shown to be consistent with the data on lunar samples. Measurement of specific heat shows that, regardless of the differences in mineral composition, crystalline rocks and fines have almost identical specific heat in the temperature range between 100 and 340K. The thermal parameter calculated from thermal conductivity, density and specific heat shows that the thermal properties estimated by earth-based observations are those characteristic only of lunar fines and not of crystalline rocks and breccias. The rate of radioactive heat generation calculated from the content of K, Th and U in lunar samples indicates that the surface layer of the lunar highland is more heat-producing than the lunar maria. This may suggest fundamental differences between the two regions.Now at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, U.S.A.     

Detailed horizontal crustal movements associated with the 1923 Kanto earthquake as deduced from network adjustment of old data including the third order triangulation stations

The crustal movements associated with the 1923 Kanto, Japan, earthquake of magnitude 7.9 are deduced from the results of network adjustments with the pre-seimic and post-seismic geodetic data including up to the third order triangulation. The average spacing of the third triangulation is 4 km of higher density as compared with the first order triangulation and the second order triangulation, so we can expect to find much more detailed behavior of the released crustal strain. The main rupture of the 1923 Kanto earthquake that had occurred in the Sagami Bay has been estimated from the crustal deformations deduced from repetition of the first order triangulation and the second order triangulation, while the detailed deformations associated with the secondary faulting are deduced for the first case from the repeated third order triangulation. We find evidence for the secondary faultings in the south Kanto district, Japan, mainly from the pattern of the released strain with the order of 10⁻⁴ and some of them are associated with the surface breakages. We carefully investigate whether these secondary faultings had originated with fracturing at the depth or not. We cannot find any evidence for deep fracturing, though we find remarkable high earth strain release along some secondary faultings. This is mainly due to the fact that the area of high released strain is very limited and narrow along the direction perpendicular to the faulting.     

Structural characteristics off Miyagi forearc region, the Japan Trench seismogenic zone, deduced from a wide-angle reflection and refraction study

The Japan Trench subduction zone, located east of NE Japan, has regional variation in seismicity. Many large earthquakes occurred in the northern part of Japan Trench, but few in the southern part. Off Miyagi region is in the middle of the Japan Trench, where the large earthquakes (M > 7) with thrust mechanisms have occurred at an interval of about 40 years in two parts: inner trench slope and near land. A seismic experiment using 36 ocean bottom seismographs (OBS) and a 12,000 cu. in. airgun array was conducted to determine a detailed, 2D velocity structure in the forearc region off Miyagi. The depth to the Moho is 21 km, at 115 km from the trench axis, and becomes progressively deeper landward. The P-wave velocity of the mantle wedge is 7.9–8.1 km/s, which is typical velocity for uppermost mantle without large serpentinization. The dip angle of oceanic crust is increased from 5–6° near the trench axis to 23° 150 km landward from the trench axis. The P-wave velocity of the oceanic uppermost mantle is as small as 7.7 km/s. This low-velocity oceanic mantle seems to be caused by not a lateral anisotropy but some subduction process. By comparison with the seismicity off Miyagi, the subduction zone can be divided into four parts: 1) Seaward of the trench axis, the seismicity is low and normal fault-type earthquakes occur associated with the destruction of oceanic lithosphere. 2) Beneath the deformed zone landward of the trench axis, the plate boundary is characterized as a stable sliding fault plain. In case of earthquakes, this zone may be tsunamigenic. 3) Below forearc crust where P-wave velocity is almost 6 km/s and larger: this zone is the seismogenic zone below inner trench slope, which is a plate boundary between the forearc and oceanic crusts. 4) Below mantle wedge: the rupture zones of thrust large earthquakes near land (e.g. 1978 off Miyagi earthquake) are located beneath the mantle wedge. The depth of the rupture zones is 30–50 km below sea level. From the comparison, the rupture zones of large earthquakes off Miyagi are limited in two parts: plate boundary between the forearc and oceanic crusts and below mantle wedge. This limitation is a rare case for subduction zone. Although the seismogenic process beneath the mantle wedge is not fully clarified, our observation suggests the two possibilities: earthquake generation at the plate boundary overridden by the mantle wedge without serpentinization or that in the subducting slab.     

Source mechanism of a large scale gas outburst at Sunagawa Coal Mine in Japan

On January 29ty, 1986, the third largest gas outburst in Japan took place at Sunagawa Coal Mine, which is the only hydraulic mine in Japan. It occurred at a face of a cross-cut, just after a coal seam was outcropped by blasting for drivage of the cross-cut. The site of the gas outburst was located 1,180 m below the surface. No workers were injured, but the cross-cut was plugged with 1,600 m³ of coal fragments extending over 100 m behind the face and 60,000 m³ of methane gas was emitted.The site of the gas outburst was investigated in detail to clarify the geological features. A normal and a reverse fault existed at the site. The area of the ejected zone was about 400 m² and extended upward along the normal fault. The shape of the ejected zone suggests a great role of the normal fault on the gas outburst.Digital seismograms, recorded by a mine-wide seismic array at the coal mine, consisting of 27 microseismic events were used to investigate the gas outburst. Magnitude, seismic energy release, distribution of hypocenter and focal mechanism were analyzed. Taking the shape of the ejected zone together with results of the seismological investigation into consideration, it appears that the seismicity started with left-lateral faulting of the reverse fault and then right-lateral faulting of the normal fault followed. The faulting of the normal fault might be the direct cause and be the predominant mechanism of the gas outburst.Presented at the Fred Leighton Memorial Workshop on Mining Induced Seismicity, Montreal, Canada, August 30, 1987.     

Thinning of the near-earth (10∼15 RE) plasma sheet preceding the substorm expansion phase

The timing of the plasma-sheet thinning relative to the onset of the expansion phase of substorms is examined by the analysis of the OGO 5 electron (79 ± 23 keV) and proton (100～150 keV) data with the aid of simultaneous magnetic field observations. It is found that the timing of the thinning is significantly dependent on the distance. At $\text{x}{}^2\text{+ y}{}^2\text{? 15 R}{}_{\mathrm{E}}$ the thinning often starts before the onset, while at $\text{x}{}^2\text{+ y}{}^2\text{? 15 R}{}_{\mathrm{E}}$ it tends to occur after the onset, where x and y refer to solar magnetospheric coordinates. The thinning that precedes the expansion-phase onset has been found to reduce the thickness to ～1 R_E, and further thinning may occur in a spatially limited region. Hence it is conceivable that the formation of the neutral line characterizing the substorm expansion phase is the consequence of the thinning of the plasma sheet in the near-Earth region.     

Operational Data Assimilation System for the Kuroshio South of Japan: Reanalysis and Validation

We describe an operational ocean data assimilation system for the Kuroshio and its validation using a nine-year reanalysis (historical run from 1993 to 2001) dataset of upper-ocean state estimation in the North Pacific. The horizontal structure of volume transport of the Ryukyu Current System (RCS) is shown from the reanalysis: The RCS is connected to the flow of the subtropical gyre, and its volume transport gradually increases from south-east of Okinawa (5–10 Sv) to the east of Amami-Ohshima Island (20 Sv). Comparing the reanalysis with independent observations on the southeast slope of the Amami-Ohshima Island indicates that the root mean square differences (RMSDs) are 0.076 (0.037) m/s in the period of December 1998 to November 1999 (November 1999 to November 2000) respectively. The reanalysis field has a bias (3.1 Sv) of the volume transport of the RCS and the RMSD (3.5 Sv) which is larger than the observed variability (2.81 Sv). Surface velocity and the Kuroshio axis south of Japan are also examined. Comparison of the reanalysis and ADCP data gave maximum RMSD of 0.749 (0.271) m/s in the strong (weak) current regions, respectively. The annual mean value of the axis error is 19 km in 1998. The RMSD of the error is at most 50 km, in 294 cases in the observation period, which is smaller than the observed root mean square variability of the axis (64 km). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.