The Brightness Temperature of the Quiet Solar Chromosphere at 2.6 mm

The absolute brightness temperature of the Sun at millimeter wavelengths is an important diagnostic of the solar chromosphere. Because the Sun is so bright, measurement of this property usually involves the operation of telescopes under extreme conditions and requires a rigorous performance assessment of the telescope. In this study, we establish solar observation and calibration techniques at 2.6 mm wavelength for the Nobeyama 45 m telescope and accurately derive the absolute solar brightness temperature. We tune the superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) receiver by inducing different bias voltages onto the SIS mixer to prevent saturation. Then, we examine the linearity of the receiver system by comparing outputs derived from different tuning conditions. Furthermore, we measure the lunar filled beam efficiency of the telescope using the New Moon, and then derive the absolute brightness temperature of the Sun. The derived solar brightness temperature is \(7700 \pm 310~\mbox{K}\) at 115 GHz. The telescope beam pattern is modeled as a summation of three Gaussian functions and derived using the solar limb. The real shape of the Sun is determined via deconvolution of the beam pattern from the observed map. Such well-calibrated single-dish observations are important for high-resolution chromospheric studies because they provide the absolute temperature scale that is lacking from interferometer observations.     

Subdivision of the Sanbagawa pumpellyite–actinolite facies region in central Shikoku, southwest Japan

Abstract   The mineral assemblages of the pumpellyite–actinolite facies such as pumpellyite + actinolite + epidote + chlorite or actinolite + epidote + hematite + chlorite occur in the Sanbagawa low-grade metamorphic region, central Shikoku, southwest Japan. Chemical compositions of these minerals from the eight newly studied areas were analyzed in order to evaluate the areal extent and thermal structure of the region. In the buffered assemblage of pumpellyite + actinolite + epidote + chlorite, the Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ + Al) values of epidote decrease slightly with decreasing Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺ + Mg) values for chlorite. The changes in these values show a general correlation with temperature. The presence of this relationship implies that the Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ + Al) values of epidote can be used to divide the Sanbagawa low-grade metamorphic region into low-, medium- and high-grade subzones. The areal distribution of these subzones indicates that: (i) the temperature seems to decrease in the same sense as envisaged by the zonal mapping of the higher-grade pelitic schists; and (ii) there is no significant gap of metamorphic conditions through the boundary between the two structural units (Besshi and Oboke units). It follows that the Sanbagawa low-grade metamorphic region decreases in temperature going up the structural section, and tectonic discontinuities have not affected the thermal structure.     

Flare ribbon expansion and energy release

We report a detailed examination about the relationship between the evolution of the Hα flare ribbons and the released magnetic energy during the April 10 2001 flare. In the Hα images, several bright kernels are observed in the flare ribbons. We identified the conjugated foot-points, by analyzing the lightcurves at each Hα kernels, and showed their connectivities during the flare. Then, based on the magnetic reconnection model, we calculated quantitatively the released energy by using the photospheric magnetic field strengths and separation speeds of the Hα flare ribbons. Finally, we examined the downward motions which are observed at the Hα kernels. We found that the stronger the red-asymmetry tends to be associated with the brighter the Hα kernel.     

Dynamical Features and Evolutional Characteristics of Brightening Coronal Loops

We present a detailed study of coronal loop brightenings observed in an active region on the solar limb. These brightening loops show expanding and shrinking motions in EUV coronal line images and also show downflow along the loops in Lα and Hα images. By means of time-slice analysis of the images, we found that both the expanding and shrinking motions of the loops are not real motions of plasma but apparent motions like post-flare loops, where the loops at the different height are successively heated and cooled. From a temperature analysis, the time delay between the brightenings of hot 195 Å and cool Lα loops is found to be nearly equal to the time-scale of the conduction cooling. We conclude that these loop brightenings are sources of so called Hα coronal rains.     

Geochemical mapping in Shikoku, southwest Japan

Geochemical mapping of Shikoku in the SW Japan Arc was conducted using stream sediments (<0.18 mm fraction) with sample densities of 1 site per 106 km². Concentrations of 51 elements in 173 stream sediments were determined. Areas with especially high Cr, Ni, Mg and Co concentrations run intermittently and linearly through Shikoku, and coincide with exposures of the Mikabu greenstone complex composed of oceanic basaltic and gabbroic rocks with minor ultramafic bodies. Areas with higher concentrations of Fe, V, Sc, Ti, Mn, Cr, Ni, Mg, Co and Eu are distributed widely along the Shikoku Island axis; they mainly overlap with the zones of the high-pressure type metamorphic rocks (Sanbagawa Belt) and of the Jurassic accretionary complexes with sedimentary rocks (Chichibu Belt): in contrast, areas with lower concentrations spread over the northern coastal zone of Cretaceous granitoids (Ryoke Belt) and in the southern coastal zone of Cretaceous-Paleogene accretionary complexes (Shimanto Belt). Distribution patterns of these elements reflect that various amounts of mafic and ultramafic materials, possibly of oceanic origin, are associated with the rocks in the Sanbagawa and Chichibu Belts, although such components occur sparsely in the Shimanto and Ryoke Belts. Calcium, Sr, Na, Nb, Sm and Gd contents are lower along the southern coastal zone. High values of Th, U, La, Ce and Ba are associated with granitic rocks. The positive anomalies of Cu and Cd coincide with the distribution of stratabound Cu deposits in the Sanbagawa Belt. Positive anomalies of Sb in the northern area are associated with Sb deposits near the large Median Tectonic Line fault zone. A high-Hg zone is present in the southern fore-arc area. The median concentrations for stream sediments in Shikoku are higher in Hg, Cu, Ni, Cr, Rb, Li, Cs, K, slightly higher in Nb, Ta, La, Ce, Sn and lower in Ca than those for average Japanese stream sediments. The median concentrations for the four geologic zones show systematic wide variations of mafic associated elements, and narrow variations of lithophile elements generally more abundant in felsic rocks. The chemical compositions of the stream sediments in Shikoku largely reflect the concentrations in the pre-Neogene accretionary complexes and in the high-P metamorphic rocks mainly formed from clastic materials derived from continental margins, and ratios of mafic and ultramafic materials within surface rocks; they are partly influenced by sulfide mineralization and fluid migration.     

Reconstruction of historical pressure patterns over Japan using two-point pressure–temperature datasets since the nineteenth century

The temperature and pressure differences between Tokyo and Nagasaki were used to reconstruct past climate conditions. January and July in each available year since the 1820s were classified into several types with characteristic sea level atmospheric pressure patterns. This results in 18 years of pre-1881 data and a continuous series thereafter. The series indicate that the warming after 1900 (after the end of the so-called Little Ice Age) and again after 1960 can at least partly be attributed to an increase in the frequency of warm circulation pattern types at the expense of cold types. The difference in nature of the shifts in circulation types that occurred in the late nineteenth century compared with that in the late twentieth centuries suggests that the mechanism behind the warming in the late nineteenth century differs from that in the late twentieth century.     

Elemental distribution of coastal sea and stream sediments in the island-arc region of Japan and mass transfer processes from terrestrial to marine environments

A total of 49 elements have been identified in 338 coastal sea sediment samples collected from an area situated off the Ise-Tokai region of Japan for a nationwide marine geochemical mapping project. The spatial distribution patterns of the elemental concentrations in coastal seas along with the existing geochemical maps in terrestrial areas were used to define the natural geochemical background variation, mass transport, and contamination processes. The elemental concentrations of coastal sea sediments are determined primarily by particle size and regional differences. Most elemental concentrations increase with a decrease in particle size. Some elements such as Ca, Mn, and Yb are found to exist in large quantities in coarse particles containing calcareous shells, Fe–Mn oxides, and felsic volcanic sediments. Regional differences reflect the mass transfer process from terrestrial areas to coastal seas and the influence of the local marine geology. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals that for many elements, the particle size effect is predominant over regional difference. The mean chemical compositions of coastal sea sediments are similar to those of stream sediments in adjacent terrestrial areas and in the upper crust of Japan. This observation supports the fact that coastal sea sediments have certainly originated from terrestrial materials. However, the spatial distributions of elemental concentrations are not always continuous between the land and coastal seas. The scale of mass movement observed in marine geochemical maps occurs at a distance of 20 km from the river mouth. A detailed examination of the spatial distribution patterns of K (K₂O) and Cr concentrations suggests that terrestrial materials supplied through rivers are deposited near the shore initially, and then gravity-driven processes shift the sediments deeper into the basin. Contamination with heavy metals such as Zn, Cd and Pb was observed in coastal bays surrounded by urban and industrial areas. It is noteworthy that the areas with the highest concentration of these elements usually do not occur near the shore (not near the contamination source) but at the center of the bay. Unexpected low concentrations of Zn, Cd and Pb near shore may either be due to a decreased anthropogenic load in the most recent sediments or to dilution by unpolluted flood sediments.     

A new model for predicting three-dimensional beach changes by expanding Hsu and Evans' equation

The empirical bay shape model proposed by Hsu and Evans in 1989 for predicting the static planform of a pocket beach is expanded to enable the calculation of three-dimensional beach changes on a pocket beach with a seawall. The original formulation was developed on the basis of a second-order regression analysis. Unlike the one-line model of shoreline changes, the model of Hsu and Evans does not require repeated calculations of the wave field and shoreline position, because it was derived on the assumption of null sediment movement within a pocket beach in static equilibrium, hence without the need of applying the continuity condition of total sand volume in the calculation. The expanded model proposed by the present authors satisfies the total sand budget on a pocket beach, by taking into account the concept of depth change due to longshore sand transport. Model tests were carried out and the new model was further applied to the beach changes at Kemigawa on the northeast of Tokyo Bay in Chiba Prefecture, as well as at Oarai in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. On both locations, seawall has been installed as countermeasures against beach erosion, where wave sheltering effect of the main breakwater and beach changes in front of the seawall has also been observed. With this expansion, the present model can be applied to predict the three-dimensional beach changes on a coast with seawall on a pocket beach.     

Global variation in the atmospheric electric field

Summary An analysis of the global nature of the atmospheric electric field is presented on the basis of comparison of measurements on the research vessel, Hakuho-Maru, on the Mid- and South-Pacific Ocean, with those at Syowa Station in Antartica and on two vessels on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. The comparison of daily averages gave a different type of latitude dependence, which was characterized by a gradual decrease toward the antarctic region. Diurnal variations at these globally representative stations on the same day were checked with each other for the first time, and the correlation between them was found much higher than that between land stations. The regional effect, which might depend on the distance from the thunderstorm area, was not evidently detected. So the influence of the generator area was considered to propagate over the entire globe without significant attenuation.

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Zusammenfassung Auf der Grundlage von Vergleichen zwischen Messungen an Bord des Forschungsschiffes Hakohu-Maru im mittleren und südlichen Pazifischen Ozean, an der antarktischen Forschungsstation Syowa und an Bord von zwei Forschungsschiffen im mittleren Atlantik wird eine Analyse der weltweiten Natur des luftelektrischen Feldes vorgelegt. Der Vergleich von Tagesmitteln ergab eine spezielle Abhängigkeit von der geographischen Breite, gekennzeichnet durch eine allmähliche Abnahme in Richtung auf den antarktischen Bereich. Die Tagesgänge an diesen weltweitrepräsentativen Stationen wurden zum ersten Mal untereinander für jeweils die gleichen Tage verglichen. Es wurde gefunden, dass die Korrelation zwischen ihnen weitaus grösser war als sie zwischen Landstationen ist. Ein regionaler Effekt, vermutbar in der Form einer Abhängigkeit von der Entfernung zur Gewitterzone, wurde nicht sicher gefunden. Deswegen wird angenommen, dass die Auswirkungen des Generatorbereichs sich über die gesamte Erde ohne merkliche Verminderung erstrecken.

     

U–Pb ages of zircons from metamorphic rocks in the upper sequence of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt,Hokkaido, Japan: Identification of two metamorphic events and implications for regional tectonics

The Hidaka Metamorphic Belt is a well-known example of island-arc crustal section, in which metamorphic grade increases westwards from unmetamorphosed sediment up to granulite facies. It is divided into lower (granulite to amphibolite facies) and upper (amphibolite to greenschist facies) metamorphic sequences. The metamorphic age of the belt was considered to be ~55 Ma, based on Rb – Sr whole-rock isochron ages for granulites and related S-type tonalities. However, zircons from the granulites in the lower sequence yield U – Pb ages of ~21 – 19 Ma, and a preliminary report on zircons from pelitic gneiss in the upper sequence gives a U – Pb age of ~40 Ma. In this paper we provide new zircon U – Pb ages from two pelitic gneisses in the upper sequence to assess the metamorphic age and also the maximum depositional age of the sedimentary protolith. The weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages from a biotite gneiss in the central area of the belt yield 39.6 ± 0.9 Ma for newly grown metamorphic rims and 53.1 ± 0.9 Ma for the youngest detrital cores. The ages of zircons from a cordierite–biotite gneiss in the southern area are 35.9 ± 0.7 Ma for metamorphic rims and 46.5 ± 2.8 Ma for the youngest detrital cores. These results indicate that metamorphism of the upper sequence took place at ~40 – 36 Ma, and that the sedimentary protolith was deposited after ~53 – 47 Ma. These metamorphic ages are consistent with the reported ages of ~37–36 Ma plutonic rocks in the upper sequence, but contrast with the ~21–19 Ma ages of metamorphic and plutonic rocks in the lower sequence. Therefore, we conclude that the upper and lower metamorphic sequences developed independently but coupled with each other before ~19 Ma as a result of dextral reverse tectonic movement.