Seasonal variations of the surface currents in the Tsushima Strait

Seasonal variations of the surface currents in the Tsushima Strait were investigated by analyzing the monthly mean surface currents measured with HF radar. Several new features of the surface currents have been found. One notable feature is the large, complicated seasonal variation in the current structure in the eastern channel of the strait. For example, in the southeastern and northwestern regions of the channel, southwestward countercurrents are found in summer while southeastward acrossshore currents are found in autumn and winter. The wind-driven flow (Ekman flow) as well as surface geostrophic currents are responsible for these complicated variations of the surface currents. To quantify each variation of the flow and current, the wind-driven flow was calculated from the monthly wind (more precisely, the friction velocity) using the monthly speed factor and deflection angle estimated in our previous study, and the surface geostrophic currents were then estimated by subtracting the wind-driven flow from the measured surface currents. It was found that the acrossshore currents are the wind-driven flow, and that the surface geostrophic currents flow almost in the along-shore direction, indicating the validity of the decomposition of the surface velocity into the wind-driven flow and the geostrophic currents using the speed factor and deflection angle. A real-vector empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the surface geostrophic currents shows a pair of eddies in the lee of Tsushima and Iki Islands as the first mode, which indicates that the southwestward countercurrents in the eastern channel are formed primarily by the incoming Tsushima Warm Current.     

Nd and Sr isotopic variations in acidic rocks formed under a peculiar tectonic environment in Miocene Southwest Japan

Initial Nd and Sr isotopic ratios were obtained for middle Miocene igneous rocks as well as for related rocks from the Outer Zone of Southwest Japan to investigate the petrogenesis of acidic magmas and their relation to a peculiar tectonic environment bearing on the back-arc spreading of the Japan Sea. On the _Nd- _Sr diagram, data points for the acidic rocks fall in the – _Nd, + _Sr quadrant occupying different positions from those for sedimentary and old crustal rocks, and seem to define several subparallel lines which extend towards the lower-righthand sedimentary field. The S-type acidic rocks occupy an intermediate position between I-type rocks and sedimentary ones, a fact suggesting mixing of an igneous component and a sedimentary one. The linear mixing trend observed on the _Nd- _Sr diagram can be attained in the restricted case that the igneous component has similar Sr/Nd concentration ratios to that of the sedimentary one, which implies an intermediate to acidic composition for the igneous component. Inconsistency between the elemental and isotopic variations observed may be reconciled by considering that mixing, probably in the relatively deep part of the crust, might have occured prior to chemical differentiation processes. The episodic igneous activity and the high heat energy required to melt such materials involving sedimentary rocks may be explained by a model in which a hot mantle region probably corresponding to the rising part of the mantle convection supplied the heating energy to the Outer Zone of Southwest Japan when passing beneath Southwest Japan in the course of movement of the hot rising part from the Shikoku basin areas to the Japan Sea area.     

Pressure and temperature dependence of cation distribution in Mg-Mn olivine

Synthetic (Mg_0.51, Mn_0.49)₂SiO₄ olivine samples are heat-treated at three different pressures; 0, 8 and 12 GPa, all at the same temperature (～500° C). X-ray structure analyses on these single crystals are made in order to see the pressure effect on cation distribution. The intersite distribution coefficient of Mg and Mn in M1 and M2 sites, K _D = (Mn/Mg) _M1/(Mn/Mg) _M2, of these samples are 0.192 (0 GPa), 0.246 (8 GPa) and 0.281 (12 GPa), indicating cationic disordering with pressure. The small differences of cell dimensions between these samples are determined by powder X-ray diffraction. Cell dimensions b and c decrease, whereas a increases with pressure of equilibration. Cell volume decreases with pressure as a result of a large contraction of the b cell dimension. The effect of pressure on the free energy of the cation exchange reaction is evaluated by the observed relation between the cell volume and the site occupancy numbers. The magnitude of the pressure effect on cation distribution is only a fifth of that predicted from the observed change in volume combined with thermodynamic theory. This phenomenon is attributed to nonideality in this solid solution, and nonideal parameters are required to describe cation distribution determined in the present and previous experiments. We use a five-parameter equation to specify the cationic equilibrium on the basic of thermodynamic theory. It includes one energy parameter of ideal mixing, two parameters for nonideal effects, one volume parameter, and one thermal parameter originated from the lattice vibrational energy. The present data combined with some of the existing data are used to determine the five parameters, and the cation distribution in Mg-Mn olivine is described as a function of temperature, pressure, and composition. The basic framework of describing the cationic behavior in olivine-type mineral is worked out, although the result is preliminary: each of the determined parameters is not accurate enough to enable us to make a reliable prediction.     

High time resolution monitoring of tropospheric temperature with a Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS)

We have observed the time-height variation of the temperature field in the upper troposphere using a Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) which consists of the MU radar and a high-power acoustic transmitter. The fast beam steerability of the MU radar has made it possible to measure temperature profiles in a fairly wide height range in the upper troposphere (5–11 km), even under intense wind conditions. Observations were continued for about 32 hr on 24–26 December, 1986 with a time-height resolution of 30 min and 150 m. During the observation period, the tropospheric jet was so intense that the acoustic wavefronts were severely distorted. Using wind velocity profiles observed by the MU radar we have numerically estimated the propagation of acoustic wavefronts, and further determined favorable pointing directions for the MU radar to receive significant backscattering from refractive index fluctuations produced by the acoustic waves. Conventional radiosonde soundings were carried out every 6 hr, which showed a temperature decrease of 4 K/day in the upper troposphere during the observation period. Temperature profiles taken by RASS agree well with the radiosonde results.     

Nuclide analyses of rare earth elements of the Oklo uranium ore samples: a new method to estimate the neutron fluence

Isotopic ratios and abundances of all REE in two Oklo ore samples have been measured. We have succeeded in developing a new method to estimate the neutron fluence, the conversion factor of uranium and the average neutron energy (or temperature) based on Gd and U isotopic ratios. This new calculation is found to be useful in evaluating those parameters for the natural nuclear reactors at Oklo. Comparison is made between the neutron fluence values evaluated by our new method employing Gd isotopes and a previous one [11] employing Sm and Nd isotopes. The relative agreement becomes better with the increase of fluence. A relationship between the abundances of fissiongenic nuclides of La, Ce, Nd, Sm, and Gd and their mass numbers is also presented.     

中国东部新生代玄武岩的地球化学（Ⅱ）Sr、Nd、Ce同位素组成

对有代表性的中国东部新生代玄武岩的Ｓｒ、Ｎｄ和Ｃｅ同位素组成进行了系统的研究，结合系统的微量元素研究结果，进一步阐明其地幔源区同位素组成的不均一性；利用Ｃｅ、Ｎｄ同位素地球化学给出的信息，探讨富集Ⅰ型（ＥＭⅠ）地幔端元的成因。