Study on the chemical forms of radionuclides in seawater-III complexes of60Co with amino acids

Stability constants were determined for⁶⁰Co (II)-amino acid complexes in sodium perchlorate media at an ionic strength=0.67, using cation exchange resins. Stability constants were, for Co(II)-phenylalanine, log ₁=4.4, log ₂=8.2, log ₃=11.7, for Co(II)-histidine, log ₁=7.4. for Co(II)-valine, log ₁=4.3, log ₂=8.5, for Co(II)-proline, log ₁=4.1, and for Co(II)-tyrosine, log ₁=7.2, respectively. The abundance of Co(II)-amino acid complexes in seawater was calculated from these stability constants on the basis of chemical equilibrium, assuming the concentration of individual amino acid to be 10^–7 to 10^–8 mol l^–1. It was inferred that the Co(II)-amino acid complexes are probably not formed abundantly in seawater while inorganic species of⁶⁰Co(II) may still be dominant for a short period of time after discharge into seawater as liquid waste.     

Effects of bacterial films on diatom attachment in the initial phase of marine fouling

The effects of bacterial films on diatom attachment were examined in short-term laboratory experiments, comparing the density of immotile pennate diatoms attached to plates previously coated with bacterial films (BP) with that of sterile plates (SP). The predominant diatom and bacterium wereSynedra sp. andAlcaligenes sp., respectively. There was no significant difference between densities of diatoms on SP and those on BP at each contact time (2, 5, 10, 30, 60 min), although bacterial densities on BP were 17 to 185 times those on SP. Moreover, SEM observations showed that the percentage of diatoms in contact with bacteria on SP were quite low. The results of this study indicate that a bacterial film is not always necessary for diatoms to attach to substrata and that the film ofAlcaligenes sp. had no effect on the attachment ofSynedra sp.     

Safety Management Based on Detection of Possible Rock Bursts by AE Monitoring during Tunnel Excavation

Summary. As underground development continues at great depths, the danger of rock bursts will inevitably increase. It is important to consider countermeasures for avoiding rock bursts in underground work. In Japan, rock bursts have actually been experienced during construction of several tunnels, including the Kan-etsu tunnel construction project, during which many rock bursts were observed. Stress analysis of tunnels is performed based on initial stress measurements in the base rock. In addition, AE measurement has been adopted in construction management, allowing safer excavation. Collective analysis of the data obtained has been shown to be effective for safety control during excavation of hard base rock. In this research, initial stress measurements in base rock, secondary stress analysis around a tunnel, and AE measurements are examined. Based on the results of this analysis, it is clear that the generation of rock bursts is related to the presence of geological discontinuities.     

Fracture-zone conditions on a recently active fault: insights from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of the Hirabayashi NIED drill core on the Nojima fault, southwest Japan, which ruptured in the 1995 Kobe earthquake

An 1800-m-deep borehole into the Nojima fault zone was drilled at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan, after the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake. Three possible fracture zones were detected at depths of about 1140, 1300, and 1800 m. To assess these fracture zones in this recently active fault, we analyzed the distributions of fault rocks, minerals, and chemical elements in these zones. The central fault plane in the shallowest fracture zone was identified by foliated blue-gray gouge at a depth of 1140 m. The degree of fracturing was evidently greater in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Minerals detected in this zone were quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and biotite, as in the parent rock (granodiorite), and also kaolinite, smectite, laumontite, stilbite, calcite, ankerite, and siderite, which are related to hydrothermal alteration. Biotite was absent in both the hanging wall and footwall across the central fault plane, but it was absent over a greater distance from the central fault plane in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Major element compositions across this zone suggested that hydrothermal alteration minerals such as kaolinite and smectite occurred across the central fault plane for a greater distance in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Similarly, H₂O+ and CO₂ had higher concentrations in the hanging wall than in the footwall. This asymmetrical distribution pattern is probably due to the greater degree of wall–rock fracturing and associated alteration in the hanging wall. We attributed the characteristics of this zone to fault activity and fluid–rock interactions. We analyzed the other fracture zones along this fault in the same way. In the fracture zone at about 1300 m depth, we detected the same kinds of hydrothermal alteration minerals as in the shallower zone, but they were in fewer samples. We detected relatively little H₂O+ and CO₂, and little evidence for movement of the major chemical elements, indicating little past fluid–rock interaction. In the fracture zone at about 1800 m depth, H₂O+ and CO₂ were very enriched throughout the interval, as in the fracture zone at about 1140 m depth. However, smectite was absent and chlorite was present, indicating the occurrence of chloritization, which requires a temperature of more than 200 °C. Only smectite can form under the present conditions in these fracture zones. The chloritization probably occurred in the past when the fracture zone was deeper than it is now. These observations suggest that among the three fracture zones, that at about 1140 m depth was the most activated at the time of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake.     

Spatial periodicity of galaxy number counts, CMB anisotropy, and SNIa Hubble diagram based on the universe accompanied by a non-minimally coupled scalar field

We have succeeded in establishing a cosmological model with a non-minimally coupled scalar field φ that can account not only for the spatial periodicity or the picket-fence structure exhibited by the galaxy N-z relation of the 2dF survey but also for the spatial power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) temperature anisotropy observed by the WMAP satellite. The Hubble diagram of our model also compares well with the observation of Type Ia supernovae. The scalar field of our model universe starts from an extremely small value at around the nucleosynthesis epoch, remains in that state for sufficiently long periods, allowing sufficient time for the CMB temperature anisotropy to form, and then starts to grow in magnitude at the redshift z of ～1, followed by a damping oscillation which is required to reproduce the observed picket-fence structure of the N-z relation. To realize such behavior of the scalar field, we have found it necessary to introduce a new form of potential V(φ)∝ φ ²exp?(?q φ ²), with q being a constant. Through this parameter q, we can control the epoch at which the scalar field starts growing.     

Geneses of Two Types of Mafic Rocks to Carry Placer‐Magnetite Ores in the Sanin Granitic Belt,SW Japan

Two types of mafic rocks from the central Sanin district, and their mafic minerals, were studied chemically and microscopically. They are classified into pyroxene‐containing gabbroid and hornblende–biotite quartz diorite. The gabbroid had higher color index but lower magnetite content; while the quartz diorite had lower color index, but higher magnetite content. The magnetite contents are also related to the amounts of hydrous mafic silicates. The gabbroic magma having pyroxene–amphibole assemblage, originated in the upper mantle, was considered essentially anhydrous, but became partly hydrous on the way to the site of solidification in the continental crust, and crystallized some magnetites with hypersthene and amphibole. The quartz dioritic magma was formed by partial melting of possibly subducting ocean‐floor basalts, once exposed to the sea‐floor then altered; thus the magmas became hydrous and oxidized originally, and precipitated abundant magnetite and hydrous mafic silicates from the early crystallization stage onward. Their weathered parts provided the most placer magnetite ores in the history.     

Response to Morgan's comment

We respond to Morgan's comment on our model for cross‐profile morphology for glacial valleys. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.