Mesozoic radiolarians and radiolarian-bearing sequences in the circum-Pacific regions: A report of the symposium-'Radiolarians and Orogenic Belts'

Abstract This paper contains extended abstracts of the seven papers presented at the symposium 'Radiolarians and Orogenic Belts' held at the seventh meeting of the International Association of Radiolarian Paleontologists (INTERRAD). Important results of the symposium include the following: (1) Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic cherts are widely distributed within accretionary complexes in the circum-Pacific orogenic belt. Radiolarian dating reveals that long durations of chert sedimentation in a pelagic environment are recorded on both sides of Pacific-rim accretionary complexes (e.g. New Zealand, Japan, Russian Far East, Canadian Cordillera). (2) Triassic radiolarian faunas from New Zealand and the Omolon Massif, northeast Siberia are similar in composition and are characterized by the absence of typical Tethyan elements. This suggests that radiolarian faunal provincialism may have been established as early as the Triassic. High-latitude radiolarian taxa exhibit a bi-polar distribution pattern. (3) The Lower Triassic interval in chert dominant pelagic sequences is mechanically weaker than other levels and acted as a décollement in accretionary events. This lithologic. contrast in physical property is considered to reflect radiolarian evolution, such as the end-Permian mass extinction.     

Bayesian and Neural Network Approaches to Estimate Deep Temperature Distribution for Assessing a Supercritical Geothermal System: Evaluation Using a Numerical Model

The temperature distribution at depth is a key variable when assessing the potential of a supercritical geothermal resource as well as a conventional geothermal resource. Data-driven estimation by a machine-learning approach is a promising way to estimate temperature distributions at depth in geothermal fields. In this study, we developed two methodologies—one based on Bayesian estimation and the other on neural networks—to estimate temperature distributions in geothermal fields. These methodologies can be used to supplement existing temperature logs, by estimating temperature distributions in unexplored regions of the subsurface, based on electrical resistivity data, observed geological/mineralogical boundaries, and microseismic observations. We evaluated the accuracy and characteristics of these methodologies using a numerical model of the Kakkonda geothermal field, Japan, where a temperature above 500 °C was observed below a depth of about 3.7 km. When using geological and geophysical knowledge as prior information for the machine learning methods, the results demonstrate that the approaches can provide subsurface temperature estimates that are consistent with the temperature distribution given by the numerical model. Using a numerical model as a benchmark helps to understand the characteristics of the machine learning approaches and may help to identify ways of improving these methods.

     

An Improved Mellor–Yamada Level-3 Model: Its Numerical Stability and Application to a Regional Prediction of Advection Fog

This note describes a numerically stable version of the improved Mellor–Yamada (M–Y) Level-3 model proposed by Nakanishi and Niino [Nakanishi, M. and Niino, H.: 2004, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 112, 1–31] and demonstrates its application to a regional prediction of advection fog. In order to ensure the realizability for the improved M–Y Level-3 model and its numerical stability, restrictions are imposed on computing stability functions, on L/q, the temperature and water-content variances, and their covariance, where L is the master length scale and q ²/2 the turbulent kinetic energy per unit mass. The model with these restrictions predicts vertical profiles of mean quantities such as temperature that are in good agreement with those obtained from large-eddy simulation of a radiation fog. In a regional prediction, it also reasonably reproduces the satellite-observed horizontal distribution of an advection fog.     

Ce and Nd isotope geochemistry on island arc volcanic rocks with negative Ce anomaly: existence of sources with concave REE patterns in the mantle beneath the Solomon and Bonin island arcs

¹³⁸Ce/¹⁴²Ce isotope ratios in Cenozoic island arc volcanic rocks are reported for the first time, together with isotope ratios of Nd and Sr and abundances of REE, Ba and Sr. The island arc volcanics studies here are boninites from Chichijima, the Bonin Islands, and basalts and andesites from the Solomon Islands. REE patterns of the island arc volcanic rocks from the Solmon Islands and the Bonin Islands are confirmed to have negative Ce anomalies. It is also disclosed that the majority of these island arc volcanic rocks show mainly positive values for both _Ce and _Nd. It is shown that these _Ce and _Ce values can hardly be interpreted by simple mixing between MORB and oceanic or continental crustal rocks; the former have positive _Nd and negative _Ce and the latter have negative _Ce and positive or negative _Nd. Existence of sources having positive _Ce and _Nd values is strongly suggested. If the sources are assumed to have been fractionated from CHUR (chondritic uniform reservoir) at the early or middle Precambrian era, the sources from which the volcanics were derived are concluded to have kept concave REE patterns with larger (La/Ce)_N and smaller (Nd/Sm)_N ratios than chondritic values over a substantial period of time, until the time of Cenozoic magmatism forming island arc volcanic rocks in question. During the periods of the Cenozoic magmatic activities and their related events, Ce anomalies are considered to have been created. From Ce and Nd isotope ratios, however, it is difficult to determine which of the following processes was responsible for the Ce anomaly; the incorporation process of subducted oceanic crust into magma at the mantle or the slab dehydration and metasomatism process. Nevertheless, so far as Ce and Nd isotopic ratios are concerned, incorporation of oceanic sediments did not take place to any clearly detectable degree.     

GPS-measured land subsidence in Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Land subsidence caused by compression of clay layers in Ojiya City, Japan was measured by global positioning system (GPS) between 1 April 1996 and 31 December 1998.

Three baselines were selected in and around the city, and height difference on a WGS-84 ellipsoid was measured by GPS on each baseline. The ground at the GPS station in the city subsides and rebounds 7 cm every winter and spring, respectively. Measurement accuracy was 9.5 mm standard deviation. Ground water level was observed at a well near the GPS station. Regression analysis between total strain, calculated as ratio of the height difference displacement to the total thickness of the clay layers, and the layers' effective stress change with ground water level change gave good correlation. The slope of regression line 7.0×10⁻¹¹ m²/N was obtained as an average apparent coefficient of volume compressibility of the layers.     

贵阳地表水-地下水的硫和氯同位素组成特征及其污染物示踪意义

喀斯特地表水和地下水的交换活跃,地下水系统容易受到地表污染物的污染。为了解喀斯特城市地表水—地下水系统污染特征和污染物质来源,对贵阳市地表水、地下水、雨水和城市排污污水的硫同位素和氯同位素组成变化进行了研究。贵阳市不同类型水体的δ³⁷Cl值在-4.07‰～+2.03‰之间变化,δ34SSO4值变化为-20.4‰～+20.9‰。大气输入物质和城市排污污水的δ³⁷Cl、δ³⁴S及Cl^-/SO₄^2-比值与地表水和地下水的不同,稳定硫和氯同位素的结合研究为示踪地下水污染物来源提供了有效研究手段。贵阳市地下水中的Cl^-和SO^₄2-至少有4种来源,人为活动通过城市排污和大气输入向地下水系统大量输入了硫酸盐和氯离子。      

Estimation of surface soil water content from surface temperatures in dust source regions of Mongolia and China

Surface conditions, such as surface roughness and soil moisture, control wind erosion and dust emission in northeast Asia. Data on spatial and temporal changes of surface soil water content are needed for dust-modeling systems used to predict dust events with the aim of preventing damage from them. A modified temperature-vegetation dryness index (MTVDI) was tested to see if it could reproduce surface soil water contents measured during the dust event season in Bayan Unjuul, Mongolia, and Shenmu, China. MTVDI was calculated from land surface temperature and aerodynamic minimum and maximum surface temperatures estimated from meteorological data. The standard deviation of the error of estimations of soil water content from MTVDI was ±1.5% in Bayan Unjuul when soil water content was lower than 4%. This compares favorably with the observational error of ±1% of the soil moisture sensors used.     

Exploration Indices and Mineral Potential Map of the Kuroko Deposits in Northeast Japan

Abstract. Recent discoveries of seafloor hydrothermal mineralization in submarine volcanic centers of felsic magma in western Pacific island arcs are regarded as modern analogues of Kuroko type deposits. Studies of these deposits and their surrounding geology raised question whether the exploration activity for the Kuroko deposits on land which peaked in the 1960's was adequate or not. However, such an evaluation is not easy because the exploration data are about to be lost as a result of the closure of all the Kuroko mines in the area since 1994.
The Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ), therefore, decided to compile existing data on about 180 Kuroko deposits and related mineral occurrences in northeast Japan as a new Kuroko database.
This study extends a concept called "exploration indices" which was developed based on a case study of the thoroughly surveyed Hokuroku district to draw a potential map of the Kuroko occurrences for the entire northeast Japan quantitatively with a Geographical Information System (GIS). Effective exploration indices include: 1) distribution of dacitic-rhy-olitic submarine volcanic rocks of the Nishikurosawa and Onnagawa stages, 2) distribution of intrusive rocks of pre- and post-Kuroko horizon, 3) low aeromagnetic anomaly caused by hydrothermal alteration of magnetite, 4) low gravity anomaly which suggests depressions in the basement rocks such as a tectonic basin and/or caldera, and 5) nearby existence of vein type deposits. It is concluded that about 33 % of known Kuroko deposits fall within the high potential zone (score=4 and 5) that occupies only 4 % of the entire northeast Japan arc. The Kuroko potential map is, therefore, useful for limiting the target area for Kuroko type deposits in an island arc setting.     

Geological and geomorphological characteristics of landslides triggered by the 2004 Mid Niigta prefecture earthquake in Japan

The 2004 Mid Niigta prefecture earthquake (M_JMA 6.8) triggered more than one thousand landslides in the Miocene to Quaternary sedimentary rocks in Japan. The most common landslides were shallow disrupted landslides on steep slopes, which has been common in many previous disastrous earthquakes in the world. The Mid Niigta prefecture earthquake also triggered more than one hundred deep landslides, providing valuable information on the conditions for their occurrence. A field investigation and the interpretation of aerial photographs taken before and after the earthquake suggest that reactivation of existing landslides and undercutting of slopes are the most important factors for deep landslides to be triggered by earthquakes. In addition, planar sliding surfaces seem to be essential for the generation of catastrophic landslides triggered by this earthquake. Planar bedding–parallel sliding surfaces were formed at the boundary between the overlying permeable sandstone and underlying siltstone or along the bedding planes of alternating beds of sandstone and siltstone. Sliding surfaces along the slope-parallel oxidation front were formed in the area of black mudstone. New landslides (rockslide-avalanches) occurred with the sliding surfaces in a several-cm thick tuff interbedded in siltstone. One rockslide-avalanche occurred on a slope where buckling deformation preceded the earthquake. Gentle valley bottom sediments were mobilized in many locations, probably because they were saturated and partial liquefaction had occurred due to the earthquake shaking.     

Seismic diagnosis of railway substructures by using secondary acoustic emission

One difficult task for the seismic diagnosis of existing structures is how to nondestructively evaluate the damage degree of invisible substructures, such as embedded foundations. To diagnose substructures efficiently, a method for nondestructive inspection is developed by applying acoustic emission (AE) technique. As a newly proposed method, characteristics of secondary AE induced by train operations were investigated, and experiments using model piles and in-situ AE monitoring of in-service railway bridges conducted under railroad traffic, from which it was demonstrated that the proposed method is practicable enough to detect invisible defects in structures. A new index, known as RTRI (ratio of Repeated Train load at the onset of AE activity to Relative maximum load for Inspection period) is proposed for structural damage qualification based on the results of in-situ AE monitoring.