Age model, physical properties and paleoceanographic implications of the middle Pleistocene core sediments in the Choshi area, central Japan

Abstract   A continuous, well-preserved core was obtained from the Choshi area, on the Pacific side of Japan, to investigate paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic changes around the northwestern Pacific region during the middle Pleistocene. Siliciclastic sequences in the core are divided into five formations – the Obama, Yokone, Kurahashi and Toyosato Formations in the Inubo Group and the Katori Formation, in ascending order. Examination of calcareous nannofossils and magnetic polarities detected four datums in the core sediments of the Inubo Group: the top of Reticulofenestra asanoi , the base of Helicosphaera inversa , the top of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa and the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary. Fourteen marine isotope stages (MIS24–MIS11) were identified in the δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C records based on detected datums and the graphic correlation with the standard stack oxygen isotope curve. Magnetic susceptibility and gamma-ray attenuation porosity evaluator density were also measured and low values characterize the glacial intervals. Biogenic sedimentation by primary production may be larger during the glacial periods because of invasions of nutrient-rich northern surface-waters related to the southward shift of the Kuroshio front in the Choshi area.     

Lithological and physical properties of core samples from the Sagara oil field: Oil occurrence in Sagara core samples

Abstract   A drilling and coring investigation of the Sagara oil field, central Honshu, Japan, was conducted to contribute to the understanding of hydrocarbon migration processes in a forearc basin. Core samples were analyzed to determine lithology, physical properties (specifically gas permeability) and the characteristics of oil occurrence. Gas permeability values greater than approximately 10⁻¹¹ m² constitute the basic precondition for any lithology to serve as a potential fluid conduit or reservoir in the Sagara oil field. Cores recovered from the 200.6-m-deep borehole were primarily composed of alternating siltstone, sandstone and conglomerate, all of which are correlated to the late Miocene Sagara Group. Both sandstone and conglomerate can be classified into two types, carbonate-cemented and poorly to non-cemented, based on matrix material characteristics. Oil stains are generally absent in the former lithology and more common in the latter. Variations in physical properties with respect to gas permeability values are directly related to the presence and character of carbonate cement, with higher permeabilities common in poorly to non-cemented rocks. The relationships between lithology, oil-staining, cementation and permeability indicate that cementation preceded oil infiltration and that cementation processes exerted significant control on the evolution of the reservoir.     

Oxygen isotope fractionation factors between anhydrite and water from 100 to 550°C

Oxygen isotope exchange between anhydrite and water was studied from 100 to 550°C, using the partial equilibrium method. The exchange rate was extremely low in NaCl solution. In the lower-temperature range, acid solutions were used to produce sufficient reaction to determine the oxygen isotope fractionation factors. The fractionation factors obtained in the present study are definitely different from those given by Lloyd [8]. They are similar to those for the HSO₄^?-water system studied by Mizutani and Rafter [19], and are consistently 2‰ higher than those of the barite-water system by Kusakabe and Robinson [5]. The temperature dependence of the oxygen isotope fractionation factors was calculated by the least squares method in which the weight was taken to be inversely proportional to the experimental error. The fractionation is given by:10³lnαanhydrite-water=3.21×(10³/T)²?4.72Available δ¹⁸O values of natural anhydrite were used to test the validity of this expression. It is shown that this newly revised geothermometer can be successfully applied to natural hydrothermal anhydrite.     

The chemical composition of a Greenland glacier

Chemical analyses on water from dated strata of a south Greenland permanent ice sheet revealed that there is a larger amount of sulfate in samples accumulated during the past decade than in those 60 or more years older. This increase is attributed to combustion of fossil fuel. With the exception of mercury, cadmium and possibly copper, the heavy metal distributions in the glacial waters are similar to those in atmospheric dusts. Previously reported higher mercury values in recently deposited strata were not confirmed.     

Lead-210 and pollen geochronologies on Lake Superior sediments

Rates of sedimentation in two Lake Superior deposits were determined by both ragweed pollen and ²¹⁰Pb geochronologies. The former yields an average rate over the time since the first appearance of enhanced concentrations of the pollen as a consequence of human settlement. Sedimentation rates derived on these two bases can be brought into accord if the first appearance of ragweed pollen in the sediments was around 1830 and if the sedimentation rates have been uniform over the past century.     

Depositional history of artificial radionuclides in the Ross Ice Shelf,Antarctica

The annual fluxes of artificial radionuclides (²³⁸Pu,^239+240Pu,²⁴¹Am,¹³⁷Cs,⁹⁰Sr and³H) from the atmosphere to the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica were determined from measurements in strata dated by²¹⁰Pb. Recognizable sources include the U.S. tests (Mike-Ivy and Castle Hill) in the early 1950s, the U.S.S.R. tests of the early 1960s, the SNAP-9A burnup of 1964 and the French and Chinese tests in the late 1960s and 1970s. There are several problems still awaiting resolution: the differences in atmospheric chemistries of fission products and of transuranics produced in weapons tests and the anomalous fluxes of²³⁸Pu to the ice shelf which do not appear to reflect a one-year stratospheric residence. There is no evidence for a smearing of the fallout record as a consequence of diffusion of these radionuclides in the glacial column.     

Identification of a one-dimensional model for a soil-layer–bedrock system during an earthquake

The propriety of adopting a multi-degree-of-freedom lumped mass–spring–dampers system driven by white noise support excitation as a one-dimensional model for a soil-layer–bedrock system during an earthquake is investigated by means of statistical system identification of the model with noisy measurement of the earthquake ground velocity. The present discussion also suggests that this model may not be applicable to all observed earthquake records, since the model itself depends on the statistical nature of the earthquake motion. For appropriate earthquake records, the system identification procedure may be accomplished; then dynamical properties of the soil-layer and the power spectral density for white noise excitation acting upon the bedrock can be estimated as shown in a numerical example.     

Resonance capacity method for earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures

The Resonance Capacity Method is proposed for the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures. Resonance Capacity is a physical quantity of structures which is related to the hysteretic energy absorbed by structures in one cycle and is equated to the acceleration, velocity and displacement amplitudes α₀, d₀ and d₀ of earthquake ground motions at resonance.¹ According to the idealized trapezoidal approximation of earthquake ground motions in the logarithmic period–velocity plane as proposed by Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ the Resonance Capacity property applies in each period range, short, medium and long, where α₀, v₀ and d₀ respectively are approximately constant. In the medium range of periods, the energy dissipated in hysteretic loops and the deformation amplitudes of a single-degree system with elasto–plastic force–deformation relationships are calculated for the case of El Centro 1940, 18 May earthquake, by this Resonance Capacity Method. The result is compared with results from conventional numerical response analyses obtained by Berg and Thomaides,¹⁴ Kato and Akiyama¹² and Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ and the general agreement is seen to be good. Therefore, it may be possible to apply this Resonance Capacity Method over the entire range of periods. By means of this method the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic systems can be performed easily, and the hysteretic energy and fatigue characteristics of structures may be taken into account directly, up to the point of fracture.     

Sex‐related differences in size,function and regeneration of the major cheliped in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi

Pagurus hermit crabs have a well‐developed right cheliped (major cheliped) and in some species the major cheliped of males is longer than that of females. This paper describes sex‐related differences in major cheliped length and regeneration pattern of the major cheliped in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi. We also examined the function of the major cheliped in male–male competition. Major cheliped length of males was longer than that of females in P. filholi. Males regenerated larger chelipeds than females at the first molt after experimentally induced autotomy. Body size growth in males of the regeneration group was less than that in intact males of the control group while there was no significant difference in body size growth of females between regeneration and control groups. Major cheliped length was included in the best model to explain the outcome of male–male competition and thus sexual selection appears to be a causative factor in the sex‐related difference of the major cheliped length. Sex‐related differences in the regeneration pattern may reflect differences in evolutionary pressures on males for large major chelipeds and females for large body size.