High-Reflectivity Coatings for a Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectropolarimeter

Precise polarization measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region are expected to be a new tool for inferring the magnetic fields in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. High-reflectivity coatings are key elements to achieving high-throughput optics for precise polarization measurements. We fabricated three types of high-reflectivity coatings for a solar spectropolarimeter in the hydrogen Lyman-\(\upalpha \) (Ly\(\upalpha \); 121.567 nm) region and evaluated their performance. The first high-reflectivity mirror coating offers a reflectivity of more than 80 % in Ly\(\upalpha \) optics. The second is a reflective narrow-band filter coating that has a peak reflectivity of 57 % in Ly\(\upalpha \), whereas its reflectivity in the visible light range is lower than 1/10 of the peak reflectivity (\(\sim 5~\%\) on average). This coating can be used to easily realize a visible light rejection system, which is indispensable for a solar telescope, while maintaining high throughput in the Ly\(\upalpha \) line. The third is a high-efficiency reflective polarizing coating that almost exclusively reflects an s-polarized beam at its Brewster angle of 68° with a reflectivity of 55 %. This coating achieves both high polarizing power and high throughput. These coatings contributed to the high-throughput solar VUV spectropolarimeter called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP), which was launched on 3 September, 2015.     

Biomarker records from core GH02-1030 off Tokachi in the northwestern Pacific over the last 23,000 years: Environmental changes during the last deglaciation

We investigated marine and terrestrial environmental changes at the northern Japan margin in the northwestern Pacific during the last 23,000 years by analyzing biomarkers (alkenones, long-chain n-alkanes, long-chain n-fatty acids, and lignin-derived materials) in Core GH02-1030. The U ₃₇^K′-derived temperature in the last glacial maximum (LGM) centered at 21 ka was ∼10°C, which was 2°C lower than the core-top temperature (∼12°C). This small temperature drop does not agree with pollen evidence of a large air temperature drop (more than 4°C) in the Tokachi area. This disagreement might be attributed to a bias of U ₃₇^K′-derived temperature within 2.5°C by a seasonal shift in alkenone production. The U ₃₇^K′-derived temperature was significantly low during the last deglaciation. Because this cooling was significant in the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition zone, the temperature drops are attributable to the southward displacement of the Kuroshio-Oyashio boundary. Abundant lignin-derived materials, long-chain n-alkanes and long-chain n-fatty acids indicate a higher contribution of terrigenous organic matter from 17 to 12 ka. This phenomenon might have resulted from an enhanced coastal erosion of terrestrial soils due to marine transgression and/or an efficient inflow of higher plant debris to river waters from 17 to 12 ka.     

Onboard experiment investigating metal leaching of fresh hydrothermal sulfide cores into seawater

We observed the initial release rate of metals from four fresh (i.e., without long time exposure to the atmosphere) hydrothermal sulfide cores into artificial seawater. The sulfide samples were collected by seafloor drilling from the Okinawa Trough by D/V Chikyu, powdered under inert gas, and immediately subjected to onboard metal-leaching experiments at different temperatures (5 °C and 20 °C), and under different redox conditions (oxic and anoxic), for 1–30 h. Zinc and Pb were preferentially released from sulfide samples containing various metals (i.e., Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) into seawater. Under oxic experimental conditions, Zn and Pb dissolution rates from two sulfide samples composed mainly of iron disulfide minerals (pyrite and marcasite) were higher than those from two other sulfide samples with abundant sphalerite, galena, and/or silicate minerals. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the high metal-releasing sample contained several galvanic couples of iron disulfide with other sulfide minerals, whereas the low metal-releasing sample contained fewer galvanic couples or were coated by a silicate mineral. The experiments overall confirmed that the galvanic effects with iron disulfide minerals greatly induce the initial release of Zn and Pb from hydrothermal sulfides into seawater, especially under warm oxic conditions.     

Petrology, geochemistry and paleogeographic reconstruction of the East Sulawesi Ophiolite, Indonesia

The East Sulawesi Ophiolite (ESO) is tectonically dismembered and widely distributed in Central and East Sulawesi. It comprises, from base to top, residual mantle peridotite and mafic–ultramafic cumulate through layered to isotropic gabbro, to sheeted dolerites and basaltic volcanic rocks. Residual peridotite is dominantly spinel lherzolite intercalated with harzburgite and dunite. Ultramafic rocks from different locations display significant differences in rock composition and mineral. However, the clinopyroxene of peridotite displays REE pattern similarities with those of mid-ocean ridge (MOR) origin, rather than those of suprasubduction zone (SSZ) origin. The gabbroic unit consists of massive gabbro, layered gabbro, mafic and ultramafic cumulate and anorthosite. The observed crystallization sequence of gabbroic unit, which is olivine→(spinel)→plagioclase→clinopyroxene→(orthopyroxene)→(hornblende), and the mineral chemistry data indicate that the ESO gabbro has similarities with MOR setting.Major and trace element geochemistry of basalt and dolerite suggests MOR, oceanic plateau and minor SSZ origins. A possible oceanic plateau origin is supported by the following: (i) the 15-km thickness is comparable with the thickness of oceanic plateau rather than normal oceanic lithosphere; (ii) there are no or only minor olivine phenocrysts in the basalt; and (iii) predominance of aphyric texture in the basalts. The REE pattern of ESO basalt exhibits N-MORB-like signatures. However, a negative Nb anomaly in the trace element spider diagram may be attributed to mantle heterogeneity of an OPB source.The geochemical variations and disparities for both peridotite and basalt and the noncogenetic relationship between crust and mantle sections in several locations suggest that the ESO may have been formed at one tectonic setting and was later overprinted by magmatism in different environments through its birth to emplacement. A possible Cretaceous origin of an oceanic plateau component of the ESO is indicated on the basis of calculated paleopositions using plate trajectory analyses together with previously published paleolatitude data. The ESO can be traced back to the proximity of the presently active region of the SW Pacific Superplume.     

Damage of 1975 Haicheng <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>S</Subscript>7.3 earthquake in the Korean Peninsula and its effect on Kyushu,Japan

The 1975 Haicheng M _S7.3 earthquake affected whole Korean Peninsula and even Kyushu, Japan. In this paper isoseismal map of this earthquake was drawn for these areas by sorting out and analyzing data systematically collected, furthermore, the characteristics of the earthquake damage were discussed. In the northern Korean Peninsula, the intensity is V in great majority of this area except local area with intensity VI, and the damage is basically in accordance with typical characteristics of corresponding intensity grade. In the southern Korean Peninsula, the intensity is IV in large part of the area, however, in some big cities such as Seoul etc., not only high buildings shook strongly, but also some people appeared perceptions such as feeling dizzy and so on, and electrical service was interrupted on one or two districts because of transformer tripping. These phenomena could be caused by the effect of long-period wave generated from a large earthquake on far-field.     

Interannual variability of North Pacific eastern subtropical mode water formation in the 1990s derived from a 4-dimensional variational ocean data assimilation experiment

The interannual variability of eastern subtropical mode water (ESTMW) formation in the North Pacific is examined using a new ocean dataset constructed by a 4-dimensional variational data assimilation experiment covering the decade of the 1990s. The volume of newly formed ESTMW varies due to interannual variability in the following three physical processes taking place in the surface layer: (1) convergence in the transport of surface saline water induced by Ekman flow in the vicinity of the formation region, (2) thermal stratification in the preconditioning phase in association with the insolation anomaly induced largely by low-level cloud coverage, and (3) wintertime surface cooling in the eastern subtropics. We find that, in addition to the surface forcing, the properties of both the ESTMW and the upper mixed-layer water are broadly controlled by the volume of the new ESTMW component, and that the variations in the upper mixed-layer water affect the properties of ESTMW formed in the following winter. Due to the combined effect of these processes, the ESTMW subducts down to subsurface layers with a wide range of σ_θ values lying between 24.8 and 25.4 and with significant interannual variation in water mass formation.     

2011年日本东北近海地震震源上方的位移

2011年3月11日,一次大的板间地震(MW9.0)发生在日本东北宫城县附近的板块交界处。根据余震分布推测的震源区为约500km长、200km宽的近海区(Japan Meteo-rological Agency,2011)。     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of carbonatites from South Nam Xe,Lai Chau area,northwest Vietnam

This paper presents a study of the petrography, mineral chemistry, geochemistry, and Sr–Nd–Pb–C–O isotope systematics of carbonatite dykes and associated rocks from the northeastern part of the Song Da intracontinental rift in South Nam Xe (northwest Vietnam) aimed at constraining the origin of the carbonatite magmas. The carbonatites are characterized by SiO₂ < 12.18 wt.% and by wide ranges in FeO, MgO and CaO content that define them as calciocarbonatite and ferrocarbonatite. On U–Th–Pb isochron diagrams, whole rocks and mineral separates from the ferrocarbonatites form linear arrays corresponding to ages of 30.2–31.6 Ma (Rupelian, Oligocene). The South Nam Xe carbonatites are extremely enriched in Sr, Ba, and light rare earth elements (LREE), and depleted in high field strength elements (HFSE) (e.g. Ti, Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf). The age–corrected Sr–Nd–Pb isotope ratios and C isotope data are relatively uniform (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_(t) = 0.708193–0.708349; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd_(t) = 0.512250–0.512267; ε_Nd(t) = ?6.46 to ?6.80; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_(t) = 18.26–18.79; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_(t) = 15.62–15.64; ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_(t) = 38.80–39.38; δ¹³C_V-PDB = –2.7?‰ to ?4.1?‰). These isotopic compositions indicate source contamination that occurred before the production of the carbonatite magmas, and did not change noticeably during or after emplacement. The variation in oxygen isotopes is consistent with the change in mineral compositions and trace element abundances: the lower δ¹⁸O values (9.1–11.0?‰) coupled with Sr-rich, Mn-poor calcite, and igneous textures such as triple junctions among calcite grain boundaries, define a magmatic origin. However, the elevated δ¹⁸O values of the ferrocarbonatites (12.0–13.3?‰) coupled with a volatile-bearing mineral assemblages (including REE fluorcarbonates, sulfates, sulfides and fluorite) may be due to interaction with meteoric water during low-temperature alteration. High δ¹³C values and Sr–Pb ratios, and low Rb/Sr (0.00014–0.00301), Sm/Nd (0.089–0.141) and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios, coupled with very high Sr-Nd concentrations, suggest the involvement of an enriched mantle component, which probably resulted from metasomatism due to the migration of subducted material. Because of the lack of tectonic data and the limited number of samples studied, this conclusion is still ambiguous and requires further study.