Radiolarian-bearing conglomerate from the Hayang Group, the Kyongsang Supergroup, southeastern Korea

The non-marine Cretaceous Kyongsang Supergroup, which is divided into the Sindong, the Hayang and the Yuchon groups, is widely distributed in southeastern Korea. Radiolarian-bearing pebbles are collected from the conglomerates of the Kumidong and the Kisadong formations of the Hayang Group. The age of radiolarian fossils range from Late Permian to Middle Jurassic. In Korea, Permian to Middle Jurassic marine chert beds are not exposed. The directions of paleocurrents of the Kumidong and the Kisadong formations are mainly from the northeast to southwest. During Cretaceous time, the Mino-Tamba Belt, within which Permian to Middle Jurassic chert beds are exposed, is suggested to have been located northeast of the Kyongsang Basin. The radiolarian faunas of the Hayang Group are similar to those of the Mino-Tamba Belt and other associated Mesozoic accretionary belts in Japan (e.g. the Ashio Belt). The provenance of the radiolarian-bearing pebbles collected from the Kumidong and the Kisadong formations is interpreted to be the Mino-Tamba Belt and other associated Mesozoic accretionary belts in Japan.     

Distribution of fault rocks in the fracture zone of the Nojima Fault at a depth of 1140 m: Observations from the Hirabayashi NIED drill core

Abstract Characteristics of deformation and alteration of the 1140 m deep fracture zone of the Nojima Fault are described based on mesoscopic (to the naked eye) and microscopic (by both optical and scanning electron microscopes) observations of the Hirabayashi National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) drill core. Three types of fault rocks; that is, fault breccia, fault gouge and cataclasite, appear in the central part of the fault zone and two types of weakly deformed and/or altered rocks; that is, weakly deformed and altered granodiorite and altered granodiorite, are located in the outside of the central part of the fault zone (damaged zone). Cataclasite appears occasionally in the damaged zone. Six distinct, thin foliated fault gouge zones, which dip to the south-east, appear clearly in the very central part of the fracture zone. Slickenlines plunging to the north-east are observed on the surface of the newest gouge. Based on the observations of XZ thin sections, these slickenlines and the newest gouge have the same kinematics as the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake (Kobe earthquake), which was dextral-reverse slip. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the freeze-dried fault gouge show that a large amount of void space is maintained locally, which might play an important role as a path for fluid migration and the existence of either heterogeneity of pore fluid pressure or strain localization.     

Mapping from ASTER stereo image data: DEM validation and accuracy assessment

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on-board the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Terra spacecraft provides along-track digital stereo image data at 15-m resolution. As part of ASTER digital elevation model (DEM) accuracy evaluation efforts by the US/Japan ASTER Science Team, stereo image data for four study sites around the world have been employed to validate prelaunch estimates of heighting accuracy. Automated stereocorrelation procedures were implemented using the Desktop Mapping System (DMS) software on a personal computer to derive DEMs with 30- to 150-m postings. Results indicate that a root-mean-square error (RMSE) in elevation between ±7 and ±15 m can be achieved with ASTER stereo image data of good quality. An evaluation of an ASTER DEM data product produced at the US Geological Survey (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC) yielded an RMSE of ±8.6 m. Overall, the ability to extract elevations from ASTER stereopairs using stereocorrelation techniques meets expectations.     

Upwelling of oxygen-depleted water (Sumishio) in Omura Bay,Japan

Wind-induced circulation and the distribution of hypoxia corresponding to the upwelling of oxygen-depleted water (called “Aoshio” in Japan and “Sumishio” locally in Omura Bay) in Omura Bay, Japan, was examined field observations and by three-dimensional modeling. During the calm weather in summer, well-mixed strait water, in rich oxygen at the mouth of the bay intruded into the middle layer of the bay, southward and northward along the west and east coast, respectively, forming basin-scale cyclonic circulation. A stagnant water mass was formed below the center of this cyclonic circulation, and it became hypoxic water. As a result of the prevailing strong southeast (northeast) wind, the bottom hypoxia moved in a southeasterly (northeasterly) direction. This induces the upwelling of hypoxic water, accompanied by mass mortality of marine organisms.     

Characteristics of observed turbulent mixing across the Antarctic Slope Front at 140°E, East Antarctica

The strength of mixing due to turbulence in the Antarctic Slope Front (ASF) region was investigated using CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth profilers) observations and direct measurements of turbulence conducted off Adélie Land, East Antarctica along 140°E from the 12th–14th February, 2005. The strongest horizontal gradient of the ASF was located below 300 m depth near the 1000 m isobath. The turbulent measurements revealed that the energy dissipation rate frequently exceeded 10^?8 Wkg^?1 on the continental shelf and upper slope regions. Turbulent diffusivities near the shelf break were higher than 10^?3 m²s^?1. Near the ASF the average turbulent heat flux was 5.7 Wm^?2 and 1.1 Wm^?2 across the temperature minimum layer to 250 m and from 300 to 600 m, respectively. The distribution of the high dissipation rate was consistently explained by the characteristic curve of the M2 internal wave emanating from the shelf break and continental slope. The water mass observed in the ASF below 300 m in the continental slope comprised Modified Circumpolar Deep Water and low salinity Shelf Water originating from either the upper layer of the Adélie Depression or the Adélie Bank, and produced by boundary mixing near the shelf break.     

X-ray CT based numerical analysis of fracture flow for core samples under various confining pressures

The X-ray CT based numerical analysis of fracture flow for core samples, recently developed by the authors, was applied to two granite core samples having either a mated artificial or a mated natural fracture at confining pressures of 5 to 50 MPa. A third-generation medical X-ray CT scanner was used to image the samples within a core holder consisting of an aluminum liner and a carbon fiber overwrap. Fracture models (i.e., aperture distributions) were obtained by the CT images, the resolution of which was coarser than the apertures, and a single-phase flow simulation was performed using a local cubic law-based fracture flow model. Numerical results were evaluated by a fracture porosity measurement and a solution displacement experiment using NaCl and NaI aqueous solutions. These numerical results coincided only qualitatively with the experimental results, primarily due to image noise from the aluminum liner of the core holder. Nevertheless, the numerical results revealed flow paths within the fractures and their changes with confining pressure, whereas the experimental results did not provide such results. Different stress-dependencies in the flow paths were observed between the two samples despite the similar stress-dependency in fracture porosity and permeability. The changes in total area of the flow paths with confining pressure coincided qualitatively with changes in breakthrough points in the solution displacement experiment. Although the data is limited, the results of the present study suggest the importance of analyzing fluid flows within naturally fractured core samples under in situ conditions in order to better understand the fracture flow characteristics in a specific field. As demonstrated herein, X-ray CT-based numerical analysis is effective for addressing this concern. Using a multi-phase flow model, as well as a core holder constructed of an engineered plastic, should provide a useful, non-destructive, and non-contaminative X-ray CT-based fracture flow analysis for core samples under in situ conditions in future studies.     

Direct ascent to the surface of asthenospheric magma in a region of convex lithospheric flexure

The stress field of oceanic lithosphere controls the distribution of submarine petit-spot volcanoes. However, the eruption sites of these petit-spot volcanoes are considered to be limited to concavely flexed regions of lithosphere off the outer rise. Here, we present new data for a recently identified petit-spot lava field on a convexly flexed section of the lithosphere adjacent to the subduction zone offshore of northeast Japan in an area containing more than 80 volcanoes. This area is marked by strongly alkaline lavas that were erupted on the convexly flexed region. As for the concavely flexed region where the petit-spots previously reported, the base of the lithosphere beneath the eruption sites is under extension, whereas the upper part of the lithosphere is under compression. This change in the stress field, from the lower to upper lithosphere, causes ascending dikes to stall in the mid-lithosphere, leading to metasomatic interaction with the surrounding peridotite. The new geochemical data of rocks and xenocrysts presented in this study indicate that strongly alkaline magmas erupted on the convexly flexed region would have ascended more rapidly through the mid-depth of lithosphere because of the extensional regime of the upper lithosphere and decreasing the degree of metasomatic reaction with the surrounding mantle peridotite. The results indicate that the degree of metasomatism and the compositional variations of petit-spot magmas are controlled mainly by the stress field of the lithosphere.     

Identification and possible recurrence of an oversized tsunami on the Pacific coast of northern Japan

Geological evidence of severe tsunami inundation has been discovered in northern Japan. In the dune fields of Shimokita, in northernmost Tohoku, we have found two distinctive sand layers that are tsunami deposits. The run-up height of >20 m and inland inundation of at least 1.4 km are notably larger than any known historical case in Japan. The tsunami-genic earthquake that resulted in these deposits is thought to have taken place in the Kuril Forearc-Trench system nearly 700 years ago. The recurrence interval of major tsunamis originating in the Kuril subduction zone is about 400 years. Given that the most recent unusually large earthquake took place in AD 1611 (corresponding to the Keicho earthquake tsunami), the findings presented here increase the potential and hazard for an outsized tsunami striking the Pacific coast of northern Japan.