Inter-manufacturer Difference and Temperature Dependency of the Fall-Rate of T-5 Expendable Bathythermograph

The fall-rate of the T-5 expendable bathythermograph (XBT) produced by Tsurumi Seiki (TSK) Co., Ltd and that by Sippican Inc., are intercompared by a series of contemporaneous and colocated measurements with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers. It is confirmed that the fall-rates of the two manufacturers' T-5 differ by about 5 percent, despite the fact that they had been believed to be identical for many years. The cause of the difference is discussed on the basis of a detailed cross-examination of the two T-5 models. It is found for the first time that the two models are different in several respects. The manufacturer's fall-rate equation is only applicable to the Sippican T-5, for which Boyd and Linzell's (1993) equation seems to be slightly more accurate. Kizu et al.'s (2005) equation gives a clearly less biased depth than the manufacturers' equation for the TSK T-5. It is also found that the fall-rates of both T-5 models are dependent on water temperature, perhaps because of viscosity. The temperature-dependency of the fall-rate of the TSK T-5 is larger than that of the Sippican T-5.     

Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe U-Pb Zircon and 40Ar-39Ar Muscovite Ages of the Yinshan Deposit in the Northeast Jiangxi Province, South China

The Yinshan deposit in the Jiangnan tectonic belt in South China consists of Pb‐Zn‐Ag and Cu‐Au ore bodies. This deposit contains approximately 83 Mt of the Cu‐Au ores at 0.52% Cu and 0.8 g/t Au, and 84 Mt of the Pb‐Zn‐Ag ores at 1.25% Pb, 1.02% Zn and 33.3 g/t Ag. It is hosted by low‐grade metamorphosed sedimentary rocks and mafic volcanic rocks of the lower Mesoproterozoic Shuangqiaoshan Group, and continental volcanic rocks of the Jurassic Erhuling Group and dacitic subvolcanic rocks. The ore bodies mainly consist of veinlets of sulfide minerals and sulfide‐disseminated rocks, which are divided into Cu‐Au and Pb‐Zn‐Ag ore bodies. The Cu‐Au ore bodies occur in the area close to a dacite porphyry stock (No. 3 stock), whereas Pb‐Zn‐Ag bodies occur in areas distal from the No. 3 stock. Muscovite is the main alteration mineral associated with the Cu‐Au ore bodies, and muscovite and chlorite are associated with the Pb‐Zn‐Ag ores. A zircon sensitive high‐resolution ion microprobe U‐Pb age from the No. 3 dacite stock suggests it was emplaced in Early Jurassic. Three ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar incremental‐heating mineral ages from muscovite, which are related to Cu‐Au and Pb‐Zn‐Ag mineralization, yielded 179–175 Ma. These muscovite ages indicate that Cu‐Au mineralization occurred at 178.2±1.4 Ma (2σ), and Pb‐Zn‐Ag mineralization at 175.4±1.2 Ma (2σ) and 175.3±1.1 Ma (2σ), which supports a restricted period for the mineralization. The Early Jurassic ages for the mineralization at Yinshan are similar to that of the porphyry Cu mineralization at Dexing in Jiangnan tectonic belt, and suggest that the polymetallic mineralization occurred in a regional transcompressional tectonic regime.     

Detection of Aseismic Slip on an Inland Fault by Crustal Movement and Groundwater Observations: A Case Study on the Yamasaki Fault, Japan

To understand the detailed process of fault activity, aseismic slip may play a crucial role. Aseismic slip of inland faults in Japan is not well known, except for that related to the Atotsugawa fault. To know whether aseismic slip does not occur, or is merely not detected, is an important question. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology constructed an observation site near Yasutomi fault, a part of the Yamasaki fault system, and has collected data on the crustal strain field, groundwater pressures, and crustal movement using GPS. In a departure from the long-term trend, a transient change of the crustal strain field lasting a few months was recorded. It indicated the possibility of an aseismic slip event. Furthermore, analyses of data from the extensometers at Yasutomi and Osawa observation vaults of Kyoto University, as well as GPS data from the Geographical Survey Institute (GEONET), revealed unsteady crustal strain changes. All data could be explained by local, left-lateral, aseismic slip of the order of 1 mm in the shallow part of the Yasutomi fault.     

In situ hydraulic tests in the active fault survey tunnel, Kamioka Mine, excavated through the active Mozumi-Sukenobu Fault zone and their hydrogeological significance

Abstract   The spatial hydrogeological and structural character of the active Mozumi-Sukenobu Fault (MSF) was investigated along a survey tunnel excavated through the MSF in the Kamioka Mine, central Japan. Major groundwater conduits on both sides of the MSF are recognized. One is considered to be a subvertical conduit between the tunnel and the surface, and the other is estimated to be a major reservoir of old meteoric water alongside the MSF. Our studies indicate that part of the MSF is a sub-vertical continuous barrier that obstructs younger meteoric water observed in the south-eastern part of the Active Fault Survey Tunnel (AFST) and water recharge to the rock mass intersected by the north-western part of the AFST. The MSF might be a continuous barrier resulting in the storage of a large quantity of older groundwater to the northwest. The observations and results of in situ hydraulic tests indicate that the major reservoir is not the fault breccia associated with the northeast–southwest trending faults of the MSF, but the zone in which blocks of fractured rocks occur beside high angle faults corresponding to X shears whose tectonic stress field coincides with the present regional stress field and antithetic Riedel shears of the MSF. The results from borehole investigations in the AFST indicate that secondary porosity is developed in the major reservoir due to the destruction of filling minerals and fracture development beside these shears. The increase in hydraulic conductivity is not directly related to increased density of fractures around the MSF. Development of secondary porosity could cause the increase in hydraulic conductivity around the MSF. Our results suggest that minor conduits of the fracture network are sporadically distributed in the sedimentary rocks around the MSF in the AFST.     

Prediction of Changes in Soil Moisture Associated with Climatic Changes and Their Implications for Vegetation Changes: Waves Model Simulation on Taihang Mountain, China

The WAVES model was used to simulate the effect of global warming on soil moisture on the semi-arid Taihang Mountain in China. Parameters of the WAVES model were first adjusted according to soil moisture data from a field global warming experiment. Then, the reliability of WAVES in predicting soil moisture changes induced by climatic change was confirmed by comparing the simulated and observed soil moisture values under different climatic conditions and plant growth rates of another field treatment. Next, 10 climate change scenarios incorporating increases in temperature and changes in precipitation were designed. When a simulation was conducted using the leaf area index (LAI) growth pattern from a field experiment under the present climatic conditions, the results suggested that the combination of temperature increase and precipitation decrease would greatly decrease soil water content throughout the entire simulation period. On the other hand, only when precipitation increased by 20% and temperatureincreased by 2 °C, the effect of precipitation increase on soil moisture was obviously positive. Although soil moisture conditions in the T2P1 (temperature increase by 2 °C and precipitation increase by 10%) and T4P2 (temperature increase by 4 °C and precipitation increase by 20%) scenarios were slightly better during the rainy season and notmuch changed before the rainy season, the positive effect of 10%precipitation increase on soil moisture was totally offset by moisture decrease caused bya 4 °C temperature increase in the T4P1 scenario. At the same time, the trends of soil-moisture change were highly coincident with predicted changes in productivity. Finally, the predicted LAI values from other studies were combined with the climatic change scenarios and used in the simulation. The results showed that changes in LAI alleviated, at least to some extent, the effects of temperature and precipitation changes on soil moisture.     

Organic- and carbonate-rich soil formation ∼2.6 billion years ago at Schagen, East Transvaal district, South Africa

A ∼17-m paleosol sequence at Schagen, South Africa, which developed on a serpentinized dunite intrusion in a granite-gneiss terrain ∼2.6 Ga ago, is characterized by an alternating succession of thick (∼1-3 m) carbonate-rich (dolomite and calcite) zones and silicate-rich (serpentines, talc, and quartz) zones; the upper ∼8 m section is especially rich in organic C (up to ∼1.4 wt.%). Petrologic and geochemical data suggest the upper ∼8 m section is composed of at least three soil profiles that developed on: (i) silicate-rich rock fragments (and minerals) that were transported from local sources (serpentinite and granite) by fluvial and/or eolian processes; and (ii) dolomite and calcite zones that formed by locally discharged groundwater. The Mg and Fe in the paleosol sequence were largely supplied from local sources (mostly serpentinite), but the Ca, Sr, and HCO₃⁻ were supplied by groundwater that originated from a surrounding granite-gneiss terrain. In the uppermost soil profile, the (Fe is retained, the Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ ratio increases, and ferri-stilpnomelane is abundant. These data suggest the atmospheric pO₂ was much greater than ∼10^−3.7 atm (>0.1% present atmospheric level [PAL]).The carbonaceous matter in the soils is intimately associated with clays (talc, chlorite, and ferri-stilpnomelane) and occurs mostly as seams (20 μm to 1 mm thick) that parallel the soil horizons. These occurrences, crystallographic structures, H/C ratios, and δ¹³C_org values (−17.4 to −14.4‰ PDB) suggest that the carbonaceous matter is a remnant of in situ microbial mats, originally ∼1 to ∼20 mm thick. The microbial mats developed: (a) mostly on soil surfaces during the formation of silicate-rich soils, and (b) at the bottom of an evaporating, anoxic, alkaline pond during the precipitation of the Fe-rich dolomite. These δ¹³C_org values are difficult to be explained by a current popular idea of a methane- and organic haze-rich Archean atmosphere (Pavlov et al., 2001); these values, however, can be easily explained if the microbial mats were composed of cyanobacteria and heterotrophs that utilized the remnants of cyanobacteria in a strongly evaporating environment.     

Soft X-Ray and White-Light Coronal Observations of the Post-Flare Arch on 2 November 1991

A giant post-flare arch observed on 2-3 November 1991 was analyzed using the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) on board Yohkoh and the Mark III (MK3) K-coronameter at the High Altitude Observatory/Mauna Loa Solar Observatory. The rising arch was observed in both soft X-ray and K-corona observations. The estimated rising speed from the MK3 observation was approximately 4 km s^-1. A V-shaped depression area was observed on the south side of the giant arch. Change in the K-corona observations was faint while the arch was rising. According to the solar wind observations by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Interplanetary Cometary Explorer, this giant arch event may have been associated with an interplanetary shock.     

中川地区一次负地闪的起始过程研究

利用ＧＰＳ同步的多点慢天线电场变化仪在甘肃中川地雷暴过程中测量得到的资料,对一次负地闪的起始过程进行了分析。发现地闪产和在击发之前常有持续１７０－３００ｍｓ的去２内放电过程发生,它可有数据不等的Ｋ变化组成。     

The evolution of Pinatubo aerosols in the Arctic stratosphere during 1994–2000

Balloon-borne aerosol measurements were performed with an optical particle counter between 1994 and 2000 at Ny-Ålesund (79°N), Svarbard. Throughout the observation period, continuous decay was found in the concentrations of particles with 0.4–0.6 μm in radius in the Arctic stratosphere, suggesting that Pinatubo aerosols remained even at the end of the 1990s. The decay rate was clearly higher for larger particle sizes, and higher at higher altitude (e-folding time of 970–526 days), suggesting a gravitational sedimentation effect. For smaller particles with R<0.4 μm, slight increases in concentration with time were found, which agreed with the measurements at mid-latitude. The sulfate mass mixing ratio in the Arctic stratosphere before 1998 showed values higher than those at middle latitude, while values were almost the same in both regions after 1998. A possible explanation of the latitudinal difference is a time lag (of 0.5–1 year) in the arrival of Pinatubo aerosols in the Arctic.     

Biological and environmental changes in Lake Baikal during the late Quaternary inferred from carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotopes

An 8-m continuous sediment core, approximately 250-ky-old at the bottom, from Academician Ridge in Lake Baikal, has been analyzed for the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, in order to study the paleoclimatic and paleobiological changes that occurred in the Eurasian continental interior. These isotopic changes are closely related to changes in vertical lake-water circulation between glacial and interglacial periods. Sedimentary organic carbon in cool periods is more enriched in ¹³C (−23.8‰ on average) than that in warm periods (−27.0‰ on average). The ¹³C-enrichment of organic carbon suggests a decrease of land-derived organic matter influx to the lake, less precipitation, and loss of terrestrial vegetation around Lake Baikal in cool periods. Pyrite in high total sulfur/total organic carbon (TS/TOC) layers shows strong depletion in ³⁴S (−20.8‰ to −32.4‰) during climate transitions from glacial to interglacial periods at the beginning of oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 1, 5 and 7. The ³⁴S-depleted pyrite indicates augmentation of dissimilatory sulfate reduction by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) at the sediment-water interface. Enhancement of aqueous sulfate concentrations and limitation of oxygen circulation to the surface sediments might also occur in the climate transition periods. The δ¹⁵N values of total nitrogen increase abruptly by ∼2‰ just after the δ³⁴S negative peaks, which may result from low nutrient concentrations in the euphotic zone associated with water circulation changes in Lake Baikal.