Comparative studies in method for stratigraphical structure measurement of ice cores: Identification of cloudy bands

1　IntroductionCloudybandsaretypicalstratigraphicstructureindeepicecoresandtheylookwhitecolorwhenaflorescentlightwasirradiated.InWisconsinice ageiceattheGreenland ,manycloudybandsarelocatedincoldperiodsiceandcloudybandsareusedfordatingofdeepicecoresincepairofseriescloudybandandclearlayercorrespondstoannuallayer(Alleyetal.1 997;Meeseetal.1 997) .AndcloudybandcorrespondstovolcaniclayerfortheAntarcticicecore (GowandWilliamson 1 976) .Therefore,identificationofcloudybandsisimportantworkfordatin…     

Millennial-scale oscillations of the westerly jet path during the last glacial period

It has been established that East Asian summer monsoon intensity varies with Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles, suggesting a connection between the climates of East Asia and the North Atlantic on a millennial timescale. However, the dynamics of such a connection are still unsolved. Here we demonstrate that temporal changes in the provenance of aeolian dust in Japan Sea sediments, which we interpret to reflect changes in the westerly jet path over East Asia, exhibit variations in harmony with Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. The dominance of dust with a Mongolian Gobi provenance during stadials suggests a westerly jet axis located to the south of the Himalaya–Tibetan Plateau throughout most of the year, whereas the co-dominance of dust from both the Taklimakan Desert and the Mongolian Gobi during interstadials suggests that the westerly jet axis jumped to the north of the Tibetan Plateau at latest in summer. As the shift of the westerly jet axis to the north of the Tibetan Plateau is closely related to the onset of the East Asian summer monsoon, changes of the westerly jet path apparently critically affect the teleconnection between the climates of Asia and North Atlantic on a millennial timescale.     

Estimation of local site effects by a generalized inversion scheme using observed records of ‘Small-Titan’

A simple-extended array of observation for strong motions, named ‘Small-Titan’, was installed in Sendai City, Japan in 1997. This array system consists of 20 observation sites, which have an average of about 4 km for the station-to-station distance. Each observation station was located at various kinds of soils to effectively obtain local site effects. Since its completion, the system has obtained about 160 motion records. As is well known, ground motions are influenced by the three main factors such as source, path and local site effects. An accurate prediction of ground motions should thus be performed based on the three factors. In this context, theoretical methods used commonly lack enough information related with source and path effects. A generalized inversion scheme to separate the effects of source, propagation path and local site from S-wave spectra was applied to the records of Small-Titan obtained in the Sendai region, Japan. The objective of this paper is to estimate local site effects in Sendai City and to obtain meaningful information of input motions available to earthquake-resistant design, aimed at setting in terms of local soil conditions. This paper also describes the applicability of the generalized inversion scheme to seismic zoning.

Site amplification factors estimated from the generalized inversion scheme vary significantly, reflecting the effects of soil characteristics at each site. Strong site-dependency was found in the site amplification factors. In particular, the local site amplification factors in the western side are smaller than those in the eastern side, across the Nagamachi–Rifu Fault that exists in the central part of the Sendai area. Results from the generalized inversion scheme are compared with those obtained by the direct spectral ratio scheme, the H/V method and the bootstrap inversion. There is a good agreement in the amplification factors between the generalized inversion scheme, the direct spectral ratio scheme and the bootstrap inversion scheme. The H/V method for estimating site amplification is found to extract the same dominant periods as the other methods. This paper especially emphasizes a good agreement in not only dominant period, but also amplification factor.

The generalized inversion scheme is a useful method in separating the effects of source, propagation path and local site and in revealing the site amplification. In addition, the generalized inversion scheme provides meaningful information of input motions available to earthquake-resistant design, aimed at setting in terms of local soil conditions. Moreover, this paper indicates that the generalized inversion scheme is applicable to the seismic zoning toward disaster mitigation.     

Origin of three-dimensional shapes of chondrules: I. Hydrodynamics simulations of rotating droplet exposed to high-velocity rarefied gas flow

The origin of three-dimensional shapes of chondrules is an important information to identify their formation mechanism in the early solar nebula. The measurement of their shapes by using X-ray computed topography suggested that they are usually close to perfect spheres, however, some of them have rugby-ball-like (prolate) shapes [Tsuchiyama, A., Shigeyoshi, R., Kawabata, T., Nakano, T., Uesugi, K., Shirono, S., 2003. Lunar Planet. Sci. 34, 1271-1272]. We considered that the prolate shapes reflect the deformations of chondrule precursor dust particles when they are heated and melted in the high velocity gas flow. In order to reveal the origin of chondrule shapes, we carried out the three-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations of a rotating molten chondrule exposed to the gas flow in the framework of the shock-wave heating model for chondrule formation. We adopted the gas ram pressure acting on the chondrule surface of in a typical shock wave. Considering that the chondrule precursor dust particle has an irregular shape before melting, the ram pressure causes a net torque to rotate the particle. The estimated angular velocity is for the precursor radius of r₀=1 mm, though it has a different value depending on the irregularity of the shape. In addition, the rotation axis is likely to be perpendicular to the direction of the gas flow. Our calculations showed that the rotating molten chondrule elongates along the rotation axis, in contrast, shrinks perpendicularly to it. It is a prolate shape. The reason why the molten chondrule is deformed to a prolate shape was clearly discussed. Our study gives a complementary constraint for chondrule formation mechanisms, comparing with conventional chemical analyses and dynamic crystallization experiments that have mainly constrained the thermal evolutions of chondrules.     

Observation of temperature and velocity from a surface buoy moored in the Shikoku Basin (OMLET-88) —An oceanic response to a Typhoon

A surface buoy was moored from 20 April to 2 November 1988 at 28°48 N and 135°01 E where the water depth was 4900 m to measure temperature and velocity in the upper 150 m. The Typhoon 8824 passed at 0300 (JST) on 8 October about 50 km north to the mooring station with a maximum wind speed of 43.5 m s^–1. The buoy was shifted about 30 km to southwest, and the instruments were damaged. The records of temperature at 0.5 m and velocity at 50 m were obtained. The inertial oscillation caused by the typhoon is described using the current record. The oscillation endured for about 20 days. Deep mixing and vertical, heart transport by the typhoon are discussed based on the data from the Ocean Data Buoy of the Japan Meteorological Agency moored at 29°N and 135°E.     

Transformation functions of soil color and climate

Measurements on modern soil color suggest well functional relationships between the soil formation process and the present climatic factors. The redness and yellowness of soil are chiefly caused by the contents of hematite and fullonite, and their correlations to climate are the best in humid regions in tropic and warm temperate regions. The lightness of soil mainly correlates to the organic accumulation, humification and carbonatization processes, and its correlation to climate can only be found in the humid-arid extratropical belt. The humidity and surface roughness of soil have so strong influence on soil color that there are great errors on the measurement of colorness in the field. The study on soil colors of typical loess sections shows that soil color can record the characteristics of Asia monsoon and the global climatic fluctuations well at millennial and ten-thousand-year scales. It can also indicate the pedogenesis and the climatic characteristics which magnetic susceptibility could not be reflected in humidity areas. Therefore, soil color can be used as a new climatic proxy which is easy and quick to measure, and will make an active influence on the study of global changes, geomorphology and Quaternary.

     

Thermodynamic properties of chlorite and berthierine derived from calorimetric measurements

In the context of the deep waste disposal, we have investigated the respective stabilities of two iron-bearing clay minerals: berthierine ISGS from Illinois [USA; (Al_0.975FeIII_0.182FeII_1.422Mg_0.157Li_0.035Mn_0.002)(Si_1.332Al_0.668)O₅(OH)₄] and chlorite CCa-2 from Flagstaff Hill, California [USA; (Si_2.633Al_1.367)(Al_1.116FeIII_0.215Mg_2.952FeII_1.712Mn_0.012Ca_0.011)O₁₀(OH)₈]. For berthierine, the complete thermodynamic dataset was determined at 1 bar and from 2 to 310 K, using calorimetric methods. The standard enthalpies of formation were obtained by solution-reaction calorimetry at 298.15 K, and the heat capacities were measured by heat-pulse calorimetry. For chlorite, the standard enthalpy of formation is measured by solution-reaction calorimetry at 298.15 K. This is completing the entropy and heat capacity obtained previously by Gailhanou et al. (Geochim Cosmochim Acta 73:4738–4749, 2009) between 2 and 520 K, by using low-temperature adiabatic calorimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. For both minerals, the standard entropies and the Gibbs free energies of formation at 298.15 K were then calculated. An assessment of the measured properties could be carried out with respect to literature data. Eventually, the thermodynamic dataset allowed realizing theoretical calculations concerning the berthierine to chlorite transition. The latter showed that, from a thermodynamic viewpoint, the main factor controlling this transition is probably the composition of the berthierine and chlorite minerals and the nature of the secondary minerals rather than temperature.     

Evapotranspiration and water source of a tropical rainforest in peninsular Malaysia

To evaluate water use and the supporting water source of a tropical rainforest, a 4‐year assessment of evapotranspiration (ET) was conducted in Pasoh Forest Reserve, a lowland dipterocarp forest in Peninsular Malaysia. The eddy covariance method and isotope signals of rain, plant, soil, and stream waters were used to determine forest water sources under different moisture conditions. Four sampling events were conducted to collect soil and plant twig samples in wet, moderate, dry, and very dry conditions for the identification of isotopic signals. Annual ET from 2012 to 2015 was quite stable with an average of 1,182 ± 26 mm, and a substantial daily ET was observed even during drought periods, although some decline was observed, corresponding with volumetric soil water content. During the wet period, water for ET was supplied from the surface soil layer between 0 and 0.5 m, whereas in the dry period, approximately 50% to 90% was supplied from the deeper soil layer below 0.5‐m depth, originating from water precipitated several months previously at this forest. Isotope signatures demonstrated that the water sources of the plants, soil, and stream were all different. Water in plants was often different from soil water, probably because plant water came from a different source than water that was strongly bound to the soil particles. Plants showed no preference for soil depth with their size, whereas the existence of storage water in the xylem was suggested. The evapotranspiration at this forest is balanced and maintained using most of the available water sources except for a proportion of rapid response run‐off.