Crustal structure in and around the region of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake deduced from a wide-angle and refraction seismic exploration

Abstract The 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake (M_JMA 7.2, M_w 6.9) occurred on Jan. 17, 1995, at a depth of 17 km, beneath the areas of southern part of Hyogo prefecture and Awaji Island. To investigate P-wave velocity distribution and seismological characteristics in the aftershock area of this great earthquake, a wide-angle and refraction seismic exploration was carried out by the Research Group for Explosion Seismology (RGES) . The profile including 6 shot points and 205 observations was 135 km in length, extending from Keihoku, Northern Kyoto prefecture, through Kobe, to Seidan on Awaji Island. The charge of each shot was 350–700 kg. The P-wave velocity structure model showed a complicated sedimentary layer which is shallower than 2.5 km, a 2.5 km-thick basement layer whose velocity is 5.5 km/s, overlying the crystalline upper crust, and the boundary between the upper and lower crust.
Almost all aftershock hypocenters were located in the upper crust. However, the structure model suggests that the hypocenters of the main shock and some aftershock clusters were situated deeper than the boundary between the upper and lower crust. We found that the P-velocity in the upper crust beneath the northern part of Awaji Island is 5.64 km/s which is 3% lower than that of the surrounding area. The low-velocity zone coincides with the region where the high stress moment release was observed.     

Alkaline leaching characteristics of biogenic opal in Eocene sediments from the central Arctic Ocean: a case study in the ACEX cores

Accurate knowledge of the extent of biogenic opal preservation in marine sediment cores is important for paleoceanographic reconstructions. The alkaline leaching method is widely employed for %biogenic opal analysis due to its ease and speed. In this study, a revised method for measuring %biogenic opal in sediment from arctic coring expedition samples was suggested. The studied middle Eocene sediments from the central Arctic Ocean presented a problem in insufficiently leaching biogenic opal with a Na₂CO₃ solution. Based on XRD analysis, it was suggested that such an alkaline resistance results from slight diagenesis of biogenic opal. In order to solve this problem, an alkaline leaching method utilizing a 2 M NaOH solution was suggested for the accurate measurement of %biogenic opal in the Eocene sediments from the central Arctic. Furthermore, dissolution rates from lithogenic matter by NaOH solution were measured in order to correct the %biogenic opal values.     

Estimation of net accumulation rate at a Patagonian glacier by ice core analyses using snow algae

Snow algae in a 45.97-m-long ice core from the Tyndall Glacier (50°59′05″S, 73°31′12″W, 1756 m a.s.l.) in the Southern Patagonian Icefield were examined for potential use in ice core dating and estimation of the net accumulation rate. The core was subjected to visual stratigraphic observation and bulk density measurements in the field, and later to analyses of snow algal biomass, water isotopes (¹⁸O, D), and major dissolved ions. The ice core contained many algal cells that belonged to two species of snow algae growing in the snow near the surface: Chloromonas sp. and an unknown green algal species. Algal biomass and major dissolved ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻) exhibited rapid decreases in the upper 3 m, probably owing to melt water elution and/or decomposition of algal cells. However, seasonal cycles were still found for the snow algal biomass, ¹⁸O, D-excess, and major ions, although the amplitudes of the cycles decreased with depth. Supposing that the layers with almost no snow algae were the winter layers without the melt water essential to algal growth, we estimated that the net accumulation rate at this location was 12.9 m a^− 1 from winter 1998 to winter 1999, and 5.1 m from the beginning of winter to December 1999. These estimates are similar to the values estimated from the peaks of ¹⁸O (17.8 m a^− 1 from summer 1998 to summer 1999 and 11.0 m from summer to December 1999) and those of D-excess (14.7 m a^− 1 from fall 1998 to fall 1999 and 8.6 m a^− 1 from fall to December 1999). These values are much higher than those obtained by past ice core studies in Patagonia, but are of the same order of magnitude as those predicted from various observations at ablation areas of Patagonian glaciers.     

Lunar photometric properties at wavelengths 0.5-1.6 μm acquired by SELENE Spectral Profiler and their dependency on local albedo and latitudinal zones

The lunar photometric function, which describes the dependency of the observed radiance on the observation geometry, is used for photometric correction of lunar visible/near-infrared data. A precise photometric correction parameter set is crucial for many applications including mineral identification and reflectance map mosaics. We present, for the first time, spectrally continuous photometric correction parameters for both sides of the Moon for wavelengths in the range 0.5-1.6 μm and solar phase angles between 5° and 85°, derived from Kaguya (SELENE) Spectral Profiler (SP) data. Since the measured radiance also depends on the surface albedo, we developed a statistical method for selecting areas with relatively uniform albedos from a nearly 7000-orbit SP data set. Using the selected data set, we obtained empirical photometric correction parameter sets for three albedo groups (high, medium, and low). We did this because the photometric function depends on the albedo, especially at phase angles below about 20° for which the shadow hiding opposition effect is appreciable. We determined the parameters in 160 bands and discovered a small variation in the opposition effect due to the albedo variation of mafic mineral absorption. The consistency of the photometric correction was checked by comparing observations made at different times of the same area on the lunar surface. Variations in the spectra obtained were lower than 2%, except for the large phase angle data in mare. Lastly, we developed a correction method for low solar elevation data, which is required for high latitude regions. By investigating low solar elevation data, we introduced an additional correction method. We used the new photometric correction to generate a 1° mesh global lunar reflectance map cube in a wavelength range of 0.5-1.6 μm. Surprisingly, these maps reveal that high latitude (?75°) regions in both the north and south have much lower spectral continuum slopes (color ratio r_1547.7nm/r_752.8nm ? 1.8) than the low and medium latitude regions, which implies lower degrees of space weathering.     

冰尘结构特征及形成分析——以乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川为例

利用2007-2010年夏季在乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川采集的5个冰样, 对冰样中冰尘的特征、冰尘中蓝藻的种类及冰尘中无机矿物颗粒的粒度特征进行了分析研究. 研究表明: 冰尘为棕色球状聚合体, 粒径为0.27~3.5 mm, 分布在冰川消融区表面, 其组成成分为有机质、无机矿物颗粒和微生物. 冰尘有4种主要的内部结构: 类型Ⅰ, 具有同心层结构的冰尘;类型Ⅱ, 带有亚颗粒的冰尘;类型Ⅲ, 内部无明显结构的冰尘;类型Ⅳ, 中心位置处具有较大无机颗粒的冰尘. 冰尘中无机矿物颗粒的数量主要分布在d<3.5 μm的范围内, 且体积分布的粒径众数介于3~25 μm之间. 同时, 对冰尘中的蓝藻进行了16S rRNA基因序列的系统发育分析, 共从蓝藻16S rRNA基因文库中筛选了247个阳性克隆, RFLP分型得到10个不同的OTUs. BLAST比对, 系统发育分析将这10个OTUs归为颤藻目(Oscillatoriales)、色球藻目(Chroococcales)、未定种(Unclassified). 颤藻目为绝对优势类群, 占整个基因克隆文库的91%. 经估算, 冰尘中存在大量的有机物质和微生物, 无机矿物颗粒只占了很小的比例, 表明影响冰川消融区表面反照率的主要因素为冰尘中的有机部分, 包括有机物质和微生物.     

Discovery of an ice cave in the Yatude Valley, Langhovde, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica

A circular hole was discovered on the downstream side of a glacier dam in the Yatude Valley, Langhovde, East Antarctica, during the 2005–2006 austral summer. The opening of this hole is the first opportunity enabling us to observe the interior of the dam. The opening led to a large cave in the dam, raising the possibility of meltwater drainage through the dam. The Yatude Valley is an approximately U-shaped fluvial valley. The valley floor has been incised to form a box-shaped inner valley that contains fluvial terraces and large boulders upon the valley floor. The origin of these features can be explained by a large amount of running water; however, we consider it unlikely that a regular current has flowed through this site for a long period. Instead, it is more likely that large quantities of lake water have been periodically discharged due to collapse of the glacier dam or spilling out through a tunnel channel within the cave. The discovered hole and the ice cave are key features in understanding the historical development of the Yatude Valley in relation to the melting history of the Antarctic ice sheet.