松嫩平原西部碱尘气溶胶的元素特征分析

碱尘暴期间松嫩平原西部碱尘气溶胶的主要元素质量浓度排序为Na、Al、Fe、Ca、Mg、K、Ti、Ba、Zn,与当地盐碱化土壤的元素组成吻合,而与沙尘、城市气溶胶的元素组成有差别。风力对碱尘气溶胶元素组成有明显的影响,当风速在8.0~17.1 m/s时,元素组成的质量浓度排序为Na、Ca、Al、Fe、Mg、K、Ba、Ti、Zn。Na元素质量浓度的激增是碱尘暴元素组分的一大特征,明显富集元素为Na和B;相对于当地背景大气气溶胶的富集情况,Zn、Cu、Ba、B的富集因子值在碱尘暴期间明显降低;在各种天气情况下,B、Cu均具有较高的富集因子。碱尘中Ti元素的富集因子值均小于1,而Ca、Fe、K、Mg、Mn、Sr、V的富集因子值为1~4。两个采样点的Ca、Na、Al、Fe、Mg、Ti、Zn的富集因子近似,表明该区碱尘的主要元素具有特定的一致性;而B、Ba、Cu、V的富集因子相差较大,可以作为区分不同碱尘源的标志性元素。     

Potential of in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides for quantifying strength reduction of bedrock in soil-mantled hillslopes

This study presents a semi-empirical model for quantifying the reduction in the mechanical strength of bedrock beneath actively eroding soil-mantled hillslopes. The strength reduction of bedrock controls the rate of physical disintegration of saprolite, which supplies fresh minerals that are then exposed to intense chemical weathering in soil sections. To determine the values of parameters employed in the model requires knowledge of the denudation rate of the hillslope, the thickness of the soil and saprolite layers, the strength of fresh bedrock, and the threshold strength for physical erosion at the uppermost face of the saprolite. These parameters can be obtained from cosmogenic nuclide analyses for quartz samples from the soil–saprolite boundary and basic field- and laboratory-based investigations. Further testing of the model within a diverse range of climatic, tectonic, and lithologic environments is likely to provide clues to the mechanisms responsible for local and regional variations in the rates of soil production and chemical weathering upon hillslopes.     

Shaking Maps for Scenario Earthquakes by Applying the Upgraded Version of the Strong Ground Motion Prediction Method ��Recipe��

The strong ground motion prediction method ??Recipe?? was published by the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (HERP) of Japan. HERP has applied this method to prepare shaking maps for scenario earthquakes in specific active faults. Recently, Recipe was updated following its verification by simulations of strong ground motions associated with the Mw?=?6.6 off-shore earthquake west of Fukuoka prefecture in 2005, which occurred in the northwest part of the Kego fault zone located in northern Kyushu, Japan. One of the prominent changes in the upgraded version of Recipe is the inclusion of a procedure to evaluate seismic intensities on the ground surface from waveforms of S-wave velocity of 400?m/s on the engineering bedrock. By applying the upgraded version of Recipe, we have made shaking-maps for earthquakes in the southeast part of the Kego fault zone, which is located directly below the mega-city of Fukuoka. We assume four source models for scenario earthquakes; the locations of the asperities and the hypocenters vary between the models. The results show that in all cases, disastrous seismic intensities can strike a wide area of Fukuoka city. Differences in the distributions of seismic intensities among the four cases can be clearly observed in the area located on the extension of the source fault. Furthermore, we construct a velocity-layer structure model on the engineering bedrock for the central area of Fukuoka city. We assess not only the distribution of seismic intensities but also waveforms on the ground by using an equivalent linear method for the central area of Fukuoka city.     

North Pacific Subtropical Mode Waters Observed in Long XBT Cross Sections along 32.5°N Line

The S/V Shoyo, of the Hydrographic Department, Japan Coast Guard, has conducted high-density expendable bathythermograph (XBT) measurements along the 32.5°N line in the North Pacific every year from 1990 to 1993 as a part of the Japanese-World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). These XBT data are analyzed here, focusing on year-to-year variations of the inventory and core layer temperature (CLT) of the North Pacific subtropical mode water (NPSTMW). Large year-to-year changes are found in the NPSTMW CLTs estimated in longitudes between 140°E and 160°E. CLT values were found of 17.4°C in 1990, 17.1°C in 1991, 17.3°C in 1992 and 17.6°C in 1993. Inspection of the wintertime westerlies over the formation area and sea surface temperature distribution revealed that this change in CLT can be qualitatively attributed to the strength of atmospheric cooling in the formation area in the previous winter. Although a large year-to-year variation of NPSTMW inventory was also found, it is hard to state any relationship between CLT and atmospheric forcing. There is a possibility that different observational seasons may affect the inventory. It has also been found that the thermocline depth in 1991 was shallower in the sea area east of 180° than in 1992 and 1993. Associated with this change, the North Pacific central mode water (NPCMW), characterized by thermostad with temperatures ranging from 14°C to 11°C, appears in the sea area east of 180° in the 1992 and 1993 cross sections. The 1993 cross section, which ranged from the Japanese coast to the west coast of North America, possessed another thermostad in the surface layer, with a temperature of about 17°C in the eastern part of the cross section, off California. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bottom pressure change associated with the 2004–2005 large meander of the Kuroshio south of Japan

A large meander of the Kuroshio was generated in the region off the southern coast of Japan in August 2004 and continued until approximately July 2005. The formation and decay of the large-meander (LM) path was observed by bottom pressure (BP) sensors installed on inverted echo sounders (PIESs) and a seismic observing system off Shikoku. The variation in BP was examined focusing on the development, persistence, and decay of the LM path. The BP was found to be depressed associated with a Kuroshio path disturbance, called a small meander, and this BP depression led the sea surface height (SSH) depression by up to approximately two months. The temporal phase shift between the sea surface and deep disturbances was significantly greater than those of other small meanders that did not develop into large meanders. After the formation of the LM path, the BP beneath the Kuroshio increased with a lag of approximately two months behind the SSH elevation along with the upward displacement of the main thermocline. The increase in BP is associated with that of the positive southward BP gradient anomaly, i.e., the eastward deep Kuroshio current anomaly, which suggests an enhancement of the topographic steering and stability of the LM path. This is consistent with the fact that no small meanders occurred in the early LM period from late July 2004 to late January 2005.     

Dating of altered mafic intrusions by applying a zircon fission track thermochronometer to baked country rock,and implications for the timing of volcanic activity during the opening of the Japan Sea

Once a mafic intrusive rock has become altered, it is generally difficult to obtain a reliable intrusion age using conventional isotopic dating methods. To overcome this problem, this study used zircon fission track (ZFT) thermochronometry to determine the timing of crystallization of altered mafic intrusions. ZFT dating was carried out on samples of baked granite country rock adjacent to dolerite dikes (5–10 m thick) in the Takato area of central Japan. Three granite samples collected within 8 mm of a dike contact yielded consistent ZFT ages of 17–16 Ma, with confined track lengths indicative of the complete annealing of pre‐existing tracks by reheating due to dike intrusion. An older ZFT age was obtained for one granite sample collected within 20 mm of the contact, but confined track length measurements indicate that this is an incompletely reset age that lies between the ZFT age of the unbaked granitic country rocks (ca. 55 Ma) and the emplacement age of the dike. Petrographic examinations suggest that post‐intrusion hydrothermal activity did not influence the ZFT ages. We conclude that the 17–16 Ma ZFT age represents the emplacement age of the dikes. Our results show that ZFT dating of baked country rock is an effective tool for dating altered mafic intrusions, for which other dating techniques are not applicable. In the eastern part of Southwest Japan, dispersed volcanic activity occurred in the late Early to early Middle Miocene (18–15 Ma), and the volcanic belt extended into the forearc. This pulse of activity was possibly related to the injection of asthenospheric material into the trench‐side mantle wedge beneath the Japan arc. We also present young apatite fission track ages (ca. 4 Ma) that may reflect a Middle Miocene or later thermal event associated with local magmatic activity near the Takato area.     

Paleomagnetic constraints on Miocene rotation in the central Japan Arc

We present new Middle Miocene paleomagnetic data for the central Japan Arc, and discuss their implications for Miocene rotation. To obtain a refined paleodirection, we made magnetic measurements on basaltic to andesitic lavas and intrusive rocks from 12 sites in the Tsugu volcanic rocks (ca 15 Ma) in the northern part of the Shitara area, Japan. Significant secondary magnetizations in samples with strong magnetic intensities are interpreted as lightning‐induced components. Mean directions carried by magnetite and/or titanomagnetite were determined for all sites. An overall mean direction with a northerly declination was obtained from dual‐polarity site means for nine sites. This direction is indistinguishable from the mean direction for coeval parallel dikes in the northern part of the Shitara area, and also indistinguishable from the Miocene reference direction derived from the paleopole for the North China Block in the Asian continent. These comparisons suggest little or no rotation or latitudinal motion in the study area with respect to the North China Block since 15 Ma. We obtained a refined early Middle Miocene paleodirection (D = 9.7°, I = 52.5°, α₉₅ = 4.8°; 30 sites) and paleopole (82.0°N, 230.8°E, A₉₅ = 5.6°) for Shitara by combining data from the Tsugu volcanic rocks and a coeval dike swarm. An anomalous direction found at three sites could be a record of an extraordinary field during a geomagnetic polarity transition or excursion. Paleomagnetic data from Shitara suggest that: (i) the western wing of the Kanto Syntaxis, a prominent cuspate geologic structure in central Honshu, underwent a counterclockwise rotation with respect to the main part of the southwestern Japan Arc between ca 17.5 Ma and 15 Ma; (ii) collision between the Japan and Izu–Bonin (Ogasawara) Arcs began prior to 15 Ma; and (iii) clockwise rotation of the entire southwestern part of the Japan Arc had ceased by 15 Ma.     

The multiple chronological techniques applied to the Lake Suigetsu SG06 sediment core,central Japan

The varved sediment of Lake Suigetsu (central Japan) provides a valuable opportunity to obtain high‐resolution, multi‐proxy palaeoenvironmental data across the last glacial/interglacial cycle. In order to maximize the potential of this archive, a well‐constrained chronology is required. This paper outlines the multiple geochronological techniques being applied – namely varve counting, radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology (including argon–argon dating) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) – and the approaches by which these techniques are being integrated to form a single, coherent, robust chronology. Importantly, we also describe here the linkage of the floating Lake Suigetsu (SG06) varve chronology and the absolute (IntCal09 tree‐ring) time scale, as derived using radiocarbon data from the uppermost (non‐varved) portion of the core. This tie‐point, defined as a distinct (flood) marker horizon in SG06 (event layer B‐07–08 at 1397.4 cm composite depth), is thus derived to be 11 255 to 11 222 IntCal09 cal. years BP (68.2% probability range).     

Attenuation of compressional waves in peridotite measured as a function of temperature at 200 MPa

A technique has been developed to determine attenuation in rocks at high temperature using a gas-media, high-pressure apparatus. A pulse transmission technique and a spectral ratio method are used to study compressional seismic properties of rocks. Seismic waves are transmitted to and from the sample through buffer rods of mullite. The effect of seismic wave reflections within the sample assembly are cancelled out by taking ratios of the spectra measured at different temperatures. In order to obtain good signal-to-noise ratio for resolving the attenuation at high pressure and temperature, special care is taken in the sample assembly and the ultrasonic coupling between the sample, buffer rods and transducers. A very tight connection of the sample-buffer rod-transducer is essential for obtaining high frequency signals (>300 kHz) at high temperature. A small mass is attached to each outside end of the transducer to drive low frequency signals (<250 kHz) into the sample. Before attenuation measurements, the sample and the buffer rods are tightly compacted in a platinum tube at high pressure and room temperature to ensure pressure seal of the sample assembly. The frequency range of measurement covers 50 to 450 kHz for the sample. Attenuation is very small in the buffer rod compared to the sample for the entire temperature range of the study. Because of the small attenuation, a wide frequency band of 50 kHz to 3.2 MHz can be covered for investigating the attenuation in the buffer rod. The technique has been used to measure attenuation at high confining pressure, and temperatures including sub- and hyper-solidus of upper mantle rocks. Therefore, effects of partial melting on attenuation can be studied.The method is applied to the attenuation measurement in a peridotite as a function of temperature to 1225°C at 200 MPa confining pressure. At high temperature, signal amplitude decays more rapidly at high frequency than at low frequency, from which attenuation (andQ) can be determined using a spectral ratio method. No frequency dependence ofQ is resolved for both the sample and the buffer rod over the entire temperature and frequency ranges of the measurement. The results show thatQ decreases rapidly with increasing temperature even in the temperature range below the solidus of peridotites. Such temperature sensitivity ofQ is probably more useful to probe thermal structure in the upper mantle than that of conductivity at temperatures below the solidus. The results in this study are compared with available seismic velocity, electrical conductivity and solidus data for peridotites, suggesting that there is no discontinuous change in both mechanical and electrical properties of peridotites at the solidus temperature. Even at hypersolidus temperatures, it appears that velocity drops and conductivity increases continuously (not abruptly) with increasing melt fraction. This implies that mechanical and electrical properties of the upper mantle will gradually change at the boundary where the geotherm crosses the solidus.