Paleomagnetism of Cretaceous Red beds from Eastern Part of South China Block

INTRODUCTIONCollisionofIndiawithAsiaappearstohavebroughtaboutlargetectonicdeformationofAsia,especiallyEastAsia(Tapponnieretal.,1986).Post-Cretaceousdeformation(translationand/orrotation)ofSimaoandIndochinablocks,whicharelocatedatthesouthernsideofRedRiverfault(RRF),hasbeenreportedfromCretaceouspaleomagneticin-vestigations(Yangetal.,l995;HuangandOpdyke,l993IYangandBesse,1993).AlsoinSouthChinablock(SCB)locatedatnorthsideoftheRRF,localdeformationofsomeregionsneartheRRFhasbeendocum…     

Direct measurements of mid-depth circulation in the Shikoku basin by tracking SOFAR floats

Mid-depth circulation of the Shikoku Basin was measured by tracking four SOFAR floats drifting at the 1,500 m layer. Two floats were released on 17 April 1988 at 30°N, 135°59E and tracked for 433 days. Another two were released on 3 November 1988 at 29°52N and 133°25E, and tracked for 234 days. Two floats flowed clockwise around the Shikoku Warm Water Mass with a diameter of 400 km centered at 31°N and 136°E and a mean drift speed of 4.5 cm sec^–1. One of the floats showed about ten counterclockwise rotations with a period of about 8 days and a maximum speed of 80 cm sec^–1 in the sea area west to the Izu Ridge. In the east to Kyushu, a southward flow was observed under the northward flowing Kuroshio. The southward flow of 4 cm sec^–1 drift speed was considered to be a part of the counterclockwise circulation at deep layers along the perimeter of the Shikoku Basin. One float remained for 234 days in a limited area of 100 km by 150 km in the western part of the basin.     

Identification of the fronts from the Kuroshio Extension to the Subarctic Current using absolute dynamic topographies in satellite altimetry products

The climatologies and variabilities of the fronts associated with the Kuroshio Extension (KE), the Kuroshio Extension Northern Branch (KENB), the flow along the Subarctic Boundary (SAB), and the Subarctic Current (SAC) are identified by a new method based on the absolute dynamic height product from the archiving, validation, and interpretation of satellite oceanographic data (the AVISO product). The fronts are detected by examining the specific contour values of the absolute dynamic topography (ADT) in the AVISO product. The (time-varying) specific contour values are decided from the local maxima of the averaged surface geostrophic velocity along the ADT. Assuming the specific contours as the front locations, we obtain an occurrence frequency map of the four front locations, and determine the monthly variability of the fronts over the 1993–2015 period. The results are validated by hydrographic observations. The KE and KENB east of the Shatsky Rise migrate southward several times at a speed of ~ 0.2 cm s^?1, while the SAB and SAC are mostly stationary.     

Additional flux arising from unresolved scales in eddying ocean models

An analysis is presented of snapshot data (eastward and northward velocity components: u and v; tracer such as potential temperature: τ) from an eddy-resolving (Rgrid: 1/12°) ocean model experiment, in order to explore a method for improving eddy-permitting model performance. Horizontal 3 × 3 R-grid averages give the eddy-permitting grid (P-grid: 1/4°) variables: 〈u〉, 〈v〉, and 〈τ〉, where 〈〉 denotes the spatial P-grid scale average. The difference between the horizontal tracer flux across the boundary face of a P-grid and that across the corresponding faces of R-grids is estimated as F_2E. It is found that the correlations among the gradients of u, v, and τ give a good approximation F_2C to the estimated flux F_2E. The approximated flux is a function of these gradients and the grid size. A method is presented for implementing the F_2C for density to an eddying ocean model as an additional advection. Practical experiments were conducted with a realistic configuration. It is shown that the zonal mean isotherms in the Kuroshio extension region are more flattened in the run using the proposed method than in another run using the conventional horizontal biharmonic operator, suggesting that the additional flux correction leads to an enhancement of sub-basin scale mixing.     

Development of a new operational system for monitoring and forecasting coastal and open-ocean states around Japan

We developed a new system to monitor and forecast coastal and open-ocean states around Japan for operational use by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The system consists of an eddy-resolving analysis model based on four-dimensional variational assimilation and a high (2-km) resolution forecast model covering Japanese coastal areas that incorporates an initialization scheme with temporal and spatial filtering. Assimilation and forecast experiments were performed for 2008 to 2017, and the results were validated against various observation datasets. The assimilation results captured well the observed variability in sea surface temperature, coastal sea level, volume transport, and sea ice. Furthermore, the volume budget for the Japan Sea was significantly improved by the use of the 2-km resolution forecast model compared with the 10-km resolution analysis model. The forecast results indicate that this system has a predictive limit longer than 1 month in many areas, including in the Kuroshio current area south of Japan and the southern Japan Sea. In the forecast results of case studies, the 2017 Kuroshio large meander was well predicted, and warm water intrusions accompanying Kuroshio path variations south of Japan were also successfully reproduced. Sea ice forecasts for the Sea of Okhotsk largely captured the evolution of sea ice in late winter, but sea ice in early winter included relatively large errors. This system has high potential to meet operational requirements for monitoring and forecasting ocean phenomena at both meso- and coastal scales.

     

Expanding fisheries co-management to ecosystem-based management: A case in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage area,Japan

Fisheries co-management in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage area was expanded to ecosystem-based management, in which the fisheries sector plays an essential role in management. A marine management plan was drawn up to define the management objectives, strategies to maintain major species, and methods for ecosystem monitoring. A network of coordinating organizations from a wide range of sectors was established to integrate policy measures. Experience from this case could inform ecosystem-based management in other countries where large numbers of small-scale fishers take a wide range of species under a fisheries co-management regime.     

Microbialite development patterns in the last deglacial reefs from Tahiti (French Polynesia; IODP Expedition #310): Implications on reef framework architecture

The widespread occurrence of microbialites in the last deglacial reef frameworks (16–6 Ka BP) implies that the accurate study of their development patterns is of prime importance to unravel the evolution of reef architecture through time and to reconstruct the reef response to sea-level variations and environmental changes.The present study is based on the sedimentological and chronological analysis (¹⁴C AMS dating) of drill cores obtained during the IODP Expedition #310 “Tahiti Sea Level” on the successive terraces which typify the modern reef slopes from Tahiti. It provides a comprehensive data base to investigate the microbialite growth patterns (i.e. growth rates and habitats), to analyze their roles in reef frameworks and to reconstruct the evolution of the reef framework architecture during sea-level rise.The last deglacial reefs from Tahiti are composed of two distinctive biological communities: (1) the coralgal communities including seven assemblages characterized by various growth forms (branching, robust branching, massive, tabular and encrusting) that form the initial frameworks and (2) the microbial communities developed in the primary cavities of those frameworks, a few meters (1.5 to 6 m) below the living coral reef surface, where they heavily encrusted the coralgal assemblages to form microbialite crusts. The dating results demonstrate the occurrence of two distinctive generations of microbialites: the “reefal microbialites” which developed a few hundred years after coralgal communities in shallow-water environments, whereas the “slope microbialites” grew a few thousands of years later in significantly deeper water conditions after the demise of coralgal communities.The development of microbialites was controlled by the volume and the shape of the primary cavities of the initial reef frameworks determined by the morphology and the packing of coral colonies. The most widespread microbialite development occurred in frameworks dominated by branching, thin encrusting, tabular and robust branching coral colonies which built loose and open frameworks typified by a high porosity (> 50%). In contrast, their growth was minimal in compact coral frameworks formed by massive and thick encrusting corals where primary cavities yielded a low porosity (~ 30%) and could not host a significant microbialite expansion.     

Comparison of stable isotopes,ratios of Cl/Cl and I/I in brine and deep groundwater from the Pacific coastal region and the eastern margin of the Japan Sea

Fifty-three samples, including brines associated with oil and natural gas reservoirs and groundwater samples from deep boreholes, were collected from the Pacific and Japan Sea coastal regions in Japan. The ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I and ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios, and stable isotopes (δD and δ¹⁸O) are compared to investigate differences related to the geotectonic settings of the two regions. The δD and δ¹⁸O data indicate that brine and groundwater from the Pacific coastal region reflect mixing of meteoric water with connate seawater in the pores of sedimentary rocks. On the other hand, brine and groundwater from the Japan Sea coastal region have been hydrothermally altered. In particular, brines associated with petroleum accumulations at Niigata and Akita showed the same isotopic characteristics as fluids found in the Kuroko deposits of the Green Tuff region in northeastern Japan. There is little difference in the ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios in brine and groundwater from the Pacific and Japan Sea coasts. Most brine and some deep groundwater, except those from the Pleistocene Kazusa Group, have already reached the average secular equilibrium ratio of 9.9 ± 2.7 × 10⁻¹⁵ for their mudstone and sandstone reservoirs. There was no correlation between the ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios and differences in geotectonic setting between the Pacific and the Japan Sea coast. The molar I/Br ratio suggests that the I in all of water samples was of biogenic origin. The average ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratio was 290 ± 130 × 10⁻¹⁵ to 294 ± 105 × 10⁻¹⁵ in both regions, showing no relationship to the different geotectonic settings. The uncontaminated brine and groundwater samples are likely to have retained the original ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratios of marine I released from the old organic matter stored in sedimentary rock.     

FMC cameras,high resolution films and very large scale mapping

Abstract

Very large scale mapping (1/250) was experimented on the basis of FMC camera, high resolution film and total station surveying.

The future attractive combination of precision photogrammetry and personal computer assisted terrestrial surveying was investigated from the point of view of accuracy, time effectiveness and total procedures control.