Soil column experiments for iodate and iodide using K-edge XANES and HPLC–ICP-MS

Radioactive iodine is one of the most problematic radionuclides because of its long half life and high mobility. Mobility of iodine depends on the chemical form to a great extent. This paper reports the results of soil column experiments we conducted to evaluate the mobilities of IO₃⁻ and I⁻. In order to determine the mechanisms of adsorption of IO₃⁻ and I⁻ on soil, adsorption isotherms were obtained by batch experiments. Both adsorption isotherms of IO₃⁻ and I⁻ are well explained by Langmuir model. The adsorption maximum of IO₃⁻ is about five times larger than that of I⁻. In the column experiments, iodine distributions between soil and pore water in the soil column were determined at various depths. Chemical forms of iodine in soil and pore water were determined by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), and high performance liquid chromatography connected to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC–ICP-MS), respectively. Vertical profiles of iodine in pore water were simulated using Visual MODFLOW. Our results showed, upon I⁻ infiltration through the column, that a small amount of I⁻ adsorbed on soil, and its mobility is mainly controlled by advection and dispersion. The profile of iodine concentration in pore water was well simulated by assuming equilibrium-controlled Langmuir type adsorption without considering any chemical transformations. For the IO₃⁻ addition system into the column, however, IO₃⁻ adsorbed to soil to a larger degree, which causes a much larger retardation effect than I⁻. In addition, reduction of IO₃⁻ to I⁻ was also confirmed in both soil and pore water by XANES and HPLC–ICP-MS, respectively. The fraction of I⁻ increased toward the deeper end in both phases because of its lower affinity for soil than IO₃⁻, where the reduced I⁻ was released to the pore water and transported by the water flow. In this study, such reduction effect was clearly demonstrated by the speciation analyses of iodine in both soil and water phases, which confirmed that the mobility of I⁻ is a dominant factor that controls the fate of iodine in the surface environment.     

Internal structure of Longmenshan fault zone at Hongkou outcrop,Sichuan,China,that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

This paper reports the internal structures of the Beichuan fault zone of Longmenshan fault system that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake,at an outcrop in Hongkou,Sichuan province,China.Present work is a part of comprehensive project of Institute of Geology,China Earthquake Administration,trying to understand deformation processes in Longmenshan fault zones and eventually to reproduce Wenchuan earthquake by modeling based on measured mechanical and transport properties.Outcrop studies could be integrate...     

Climate and carbon cycle changes under the overshoot scenario

The “overshoot scenario” is an emissions scenario in which CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere temporarily exceeds some pre-defined, “dangerous” threshold (before being reduced to non-dangerous levels). Support for this idea comes from its potential to achieve a balance between the burdens of current and future generations in dealing with global warming. Before it can be considered a viable policy, the overshoot scenario needs to be examined in terms of its impacts on the global climate and the environment. In, particular, it must be determined if climate change cause by the overshoot scenario is reversible or not, since crossing that “dangerous” CO₂ threshold could result in climate change from which we might not be able to recover. In this study, we quantify the change in several climatic and environmental variables under the overshoot scenario using a global climate model of intermediate complexity. Compared to earlier studies on the overshoot scenario, we have an explicit carbon cycle model that allows us to represent carbon-climate feedbacks and force the climate model more realistically with CO₂ emissions rates rather than with prescribed atmospheric pCO₂. Our standard CO₂ emissions rate is calculated on the basis of historical atmospheric pCO₂ data and the WRE S650 non-overshoot stabilization profile. It starts from the preindustrial year 1760, peaks in the year 2056, and ends in the year 2300. A variety of overshoot scenarios were constructed by increasing the amplitude of the control emissions peak but decreasing the peak duration so that the cumulative emissions remain essentially constant. Sensitivity simulations of various overshoot scenarios in our model show that many aspects of the global climate are largely reversible by year 2300. The significance of the reversibility, which takes roughly 200 years in our experiments, depends on the time horizon with which it is viewed or the number of future generations for whom equity is sought. At times when the overshoot scenario has emissions rates higher then the control scenario, the transient changes in atmospheric and oceanic temperatures and surface ocean pH can be significant, even for moderate overshoot scenarios that remain within IPCC SRES emissions scenarios. The large transient changes and the centennial timescale of climate reversibility suggest that the overshoot might not be the best mitigation approach, even if it technically follows the optimal economic path.     

Stick-slip behavior of Indian gabbro as studied using a NIED large-scale biaxial friction apparatus

This paper reports stick-slip behaviors of Indian gabbro as studied using a new large-scale biaxial friction apparatus, built in the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), Tsukuba, Japan. The apparatus consists of the existing shaking table as the shear-loading device up to 3, 600 kN, the main frame for holding two large rectangular prismatic specimens with a sliding area of 0.75 m² and for applying normal stresses σ_n up to 1.33 MPa, and a reaction force unit holding the stationary specimen to the ground. The shaking table can produce loading rates v up to 1.0 m/s, accelerations up to 9.4 m/s², and displacements d up to 0.44 m, using four servocontrolled actuators. We report results from eight preliminary experiments conducted with room humidity on the same gabbro specimens at v = 0.1-100 mm/s and σ_n = 0.66-1.33 MPa, and with d of about 0.39 m. The peak and steady-state friction coefficients were about 0.8 and 0.6, respectively, consistent with the Byerlee friction. The axial force drop or shear stress drop during an abrupt slip is linearly proportional to the amount of displacement, and the slope of this relationship determines the stiffness of the apparatus as 1.15×10⁸ N/m or 153 MPa/m for the specimens we used. This low stiffness makes fault motion very unstable and the overshooting of shear stress to a negative value was recognized in some violent stick-slip events. An abrupt slip occurred in a constant rise time of 16-18 ms despite wide variation of the stress drop, and an average velocity during an abrupt slip is linearly proportional to the stress drop. The use of a large-scale shaking table has a great potential in increasing the slip rate and total displacement in biaxial friction experiments with large specimens.     

Gzhelian-Asselian Palaeoaplysina reef in atoll carbonates of the Akiyoshi Terrane, SW Japan: A peculiar community in the Panthalassan reef evolution

A Palaeoaplysina reef occurs in the Gzhelian-Asselian interval of the Panthalassan atoll carbonates, Akiyoshi Terrane, SW Japan. An alga, Palaeoaplysina was paleogeographically distributed mainly along the northern margin of Pangea and is regarded as a boreal element. Its distribution extended to the tropical or subtropical area of the Panthalassa Ocean caused by global cooling during an icehouse period. The Palaeoaplysina community was succeeded by a calcisponge community in the late Early Permian. This biotic turnover almost corresponds to the climatic change from icehouse to greenhouse conditions and coincides with the timing of a superplume activity in the mid-Panthalassa Ocean.     

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.     

Fusulinoidean faunal succession of a Paleo–Tethyan oceanic seamount in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China: An overview

Abstract   Fusulinoidean faunal succession from Paleo–Tethyan seamount-type carbonates of the Yutangzhai section in the Central zone of the Changning–Menglian Belt of West Yunnan, Southwest China, is presented for the first time. The Changning–Menglian Belt is one of the orogenic belts that represent the closed main Paleo–Tethys in East Asia. The Yutangzhai section is represented by basalts and overlying carbonates, about 1100 m thick. It exhibits a continuous faunal succession composed of 17 fusulinoidean assemblages ranging from the Serpukhovian (late Mississippian/late Early Carboniferous) to Midian/Capitanian (late Middle Permian/late Guadalupian). No significant faunal break can be recognized in this section. The generic and some specific composition of the Yutangzhai assemblages indicates that the faunal succession is similar to those observed in Tethyan and Panthalassan areas and is of tropical Tethyan type although their generic diversity is definitely lower than those of Paleo–Tethyan shelves, such as South China, Indochina, and Central Asia. Throughout the Yutangzhai section, the carbonate rocks are essentially massive, very pure in composition, and devoid of terrigenous siliciclastic inputs. These lithologic characters are identical to those observed in accreted shallow-marine carbonate successions of seamount origin in Permian and Jurassic accretionary complexes of Japan, for example the Akiyoshi Limestone. This evidence further demonstrates the seamount origin of the basalt–limestone succession in the Central zone of the Changning–Menglian Belt from the viewpoint of lithofacies. In middle Mississippian (middle Early Carboniferous) time, oceanic submarine volcanism that was probably related to hot spot activities formed a number of seamounts and oceanic plateaus. It was active not only in the Panthalassa, but also in the Paleo–Tethys.     

Geochemical implications from Sr isotopes and K-Ar age determinations for the cook-austral islands chain

Sr isotopes and K-Ar ages were determined for volcanic rocks from three islands, Samoa, Rarotonga and Rurutu in the Austral-Gilbert-Marshall chain. We have established that Rurutu originated from the same “hot spot” as Tubuai and Raivavae in the Cook-Austral chain as indicated by its 11 m.y. K-Ar age and ( ) ratios. The ( ) ratios for Rurutu, Tubuai and Raivavae lie in the restricted range 0.7026–0.7035. K-Ar ages of all volcanic rocks from Samoa and Rarotonga are all less than 4 m.y. and their ( ) ratios are much higher than those in Rurutu, Tubuai and Raivavae. These findings suggest that Samoa and Rarotonga did not originate in a single hot spot for the Cook-Austral islands.     

Modelling of short-interval silent slip events in deeper subduction interfaces considering the frictional properties at the unstable–stable transition regime

Recent high-resolution observations of crustal movements have revealed silent slip events (SSEs) with propagation velocities of around 10–15 km d⁻¹ and with intervals of 3–14 months along the deeper parts of the Cascadia and Nankai subduction zones. This study develops 2-D and 3-D models of these short-interval SSEs considering the frictional behaviour that was confirmed experimentally by Shimamoto for the unstable–stable transition regime. To represent this frictional behaviour, a small cut-off velocity to an evolution effect is introduced in a rate- and state-dependent friction law. When the cut-off velocity to the evolution effect is significantly smaller than that to a direct effect, steady-state friction exhibits velocity weakening at low slip velocities and velocity strengthening at high slip velocities. At the deeper Cascadia and Nankai subduction interfaces, the pore pressure is inferred to be high because of the dehydration of materials in the descending plate. Under conditions where the pore-fluid pressure is nearly equal to the lithostatic pressure and the critical weakening displacement is very small, short-interval SSEs with propagation velocities and slip velocities of 4–8 km d⁻¹ and  2 − 4 × 10⁻⁷  m s⁻¹, respectively, can be reproduced. The propagation velocity of short-interval SSEs is in proportion to the slip velocity. The results also show that during the nucleation process of large earthquakes, the occurrence of short-interval SSEs becomes irregular because of the accelerated slips that occur at the bottom of the seismogenic zone. Our results suggest that monitoring of short-interval SSEs might be useful for forecasting the main earthquakes.     

基于EPMA的耳石Sr：Ca比分析及其在鱼类生活履历反演中的应用实例研究

利用基于电子探针（EPMA）的耳石Sr：Ca比和Sr含量分析方法研究了长江口水域刀鲚、凤鲚、带鱼和长吻鲍的生活履历及生活史型。结果发现,刀鲚中除存在淡海水洄游性个体生活史型外。还存在出生并生活于河口或近海的非洄游性个体生活史型,其平均耳石Sr：Ca比在不同水环境履历的基准值为：淡水〈2．0×10^-3、河口（3．5—6...