Point defects and pre-dose requirements for sensitization of the 300°C TL peak in natural quartz

This paper discusses the structural features required to stimulate a strong thermoluminescence (TL) glow peak near 300°C in clear natural quartz. For that reason, fresh TL data taken from several specimens prepared from five single crystals with known impurity content are shown. The TL emission was measured with a test dose of 10 mGy of γ-rays in the readout intervals 50–160 and 160–320°C. The readings were carried out prior and after the administration of a pre-dose of 175 kGy of γ-rays followed by heat-treatments at 400°C. For each single specimen, the OH content and the population of inclusions were evaluated by infrared spectroscopy and optical microscopy, respectively. The darkening induced by high γ dose was evaluated by optical spectroscopy. It was observed that the absorption at 475 nm and TL responses decrease with increase of the OH. It was shown that both smoky darkening and TL signals were better explained in terms of Li/Al and Li/OH content ratios rather than the absolute values of aluminum and alkali concentrations. The sensitization with high γ dose and heating is essential to create and stabilize a class of defects sites with Li⁺ ions dislodged from [AlO₄/Li]⁰ and Li-dependent OH centers. It is suggested that the defect sites formed with Li⁺ act as electron traps during test dose irradiation, whereas electron-hole recombination occurs essentially at [AlO₄]⁰ centers during the TL output near 300°C.     

Subduction of the Woodlark Basin at New Britain Trench, Solomon Islands region

The Woodlark Basin, located south of the Solomon Islands arc region, is a young (5 Ma) oceanic basin that subducts beneath the New Britain Trench. This region is one of only a few subduction zones in the world where it is possible to study a young plate subduction of several Ma. To obtain the image of the subducting slab at the western side of the Woodlark Basin, a 40-day Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) survey was conducted in 1998 to detect the micro-seismic activity. It was the first time such a survey had been performed in this location and over 600 hypocenters were located. The seismic activity is concentrated at the 10–60 km depth range along the plate boundary. The upper limit just about coincides with the leading edge of the accretionary wedge. The upper limit boundary was identified as the up-dip limit of the seismogenic zone, whereas the down-dip limit of the seismogenic zone was difficult to define. The dip angle of the plate at the high seismicity zone was found to average about 30°. Using the Cascadia subduction zone for comparison, which is a typical example of a young plate subduction, suggests that the subduction of the Woodlark Basin was differentiated by a high dip angle and rather landward location of the seismic front from the trench axis (30 km landward from the trench axis). Furthermore, as pointed out by previous researchers, the convergent margin of the Solomon Islands region is imposed with a high stress state, probably due to the collision of the Ontong Java Plateau and a rather rapid convergence rate (10 cm/year). The results of the high angle plate subduction and inner crust earthquakes beneath the Shortland Basin strongly support the high stress state. The collision of the Ontong Java Plateau, the relatively rapid convergence rate, and moderately cold slab as evidenced by low heat flow, rather than the plate age, may be dominantly responsible for the geometry of the seismogenic zone in the western part of the Woodlark Basin subduction zone.     

P-wave velocity structure of the margin of the southeastern Tsushima Basin in the Japan Sea using ocean bottom seismometers and airguns

The Tsushima Basin is located in the southwestern Japan Sea, which is a back-arc basin in the northwestern Pacific. Although some geophysical surveys had been conducted to investigate the formation process of the Tsushima Basin, it remains unclear. In 2000, to clarify the formation process of the Tsushima Basin, the seismic velocity structure survey with ocean bottom seismometers and airguns was carried out at the southeastern Tsushima Basin and its margin, which are presumed to be the transition zone of the crustal structure of the southwestern Japan Island Arc. The crustal thickness under the southeastern Tsushima Basin is about 17 km including a 5 km thick sedimentary layer, and 20 km including a 1.5 km thick sedimentary layer under its margin. The whole crustal thickness and thickness of the upper part of the crust increase towards the southwestern Japan Island Arc. On the other hand, thickness of the lower part of the crust seems more uniform than that of the upper part. The crust in the southeastern Tsushima Basin has about 6 km/s layer with the large velocity gradient. Shallow structures of the continental bank show that the accumulation of the sediments started from lower Miocene in the southeastern Tsushima Basin. The crustal structure in southeastern Tsushima Basin is not the oceanic crust, which is formed ocean floor spreading or affected by mantle plume, but the rifted/extended island arc crust because magnitudes of the whole crustal and the upper part of the crustal thickening are larger than that of the lower part of the crustal thickening towards the southwestern Japan Island Arc. In the margin of the southeastern Tsushima Basin, high velocity material does not exist in the lowermost crust. For that reason, the margin is inferred to be a non-volcanic rifted margin. The asymmetric structure in the both margins of the southeastern and Korean Peninsula of the Tsushima Basin indicates that the formation process of the Tsushima Basin may be simple shear style rather than pure shear style.     

Canopy structure metrics governing stemflow funnelling differ between leafed and leafless states: Insights from a large-scale rainfall simulator

An increasing number of studies have examined the effects of various biotic and abiotic factors on stemflow production. Of those that have ascribed the importance of canopy structure to stemflow production, there has been a bias towards field studies. Coupling Bayesian inference with the NIED (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, Tsukuba, Japan) large-scale rainfall simulator, this study leveraged a unique opportunity to control rainfall amounts and intensities to pinpoint the canopy structural metrics that differentially influence stemflow funnelling ratios for three common tree species between leafed and leafless canopy states. For the first time, we examined whether canopy structure metrics exert a static control on stemflow funnelling ratios or whether different elements of canopy structure are more or less important under leafed or leafless states, thereby allowing us to determine if tacit assumptions about the static influence of canopy structure on stemflow production (and funnelling) are valid (or not). Rainfall simulations were conducted at 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 mm h⁻¹ under both leafed and leafless tree conditions (12 simulations in total) to detect any differential effects on the presence or absence of foliage on stemflow funnelling ratios. For leafed conditions, the highest percentages of best-fitting models (ΔDIC ≤2) indicated that stemflow funnelling ratios were mainly controlled by total dry aboveground biomass (B_all), diameter at breast height (D_BH), total dry foliar biomass (B_f), tree height (H), and woody to foliar dry biomass ratio (BR). Whilst for the leafless state, the highest percentages of best-fitting models (ΔDIC ≤2) indicated that total dry branch biomass (B_br) was relatively dominant as was the interaction effects between crown projection area and species (CPA:species). These results compel us to reject any assumption of a static effect of different elements of canopy structure on stemflow funnelling.     

New compact ocean bottom cabled seismometer system deployed in the Japan Sea

The Japanese islands are positioned near the subduction zones, and large earthquakes have repeatedly occurred in marine areas around Japan. However, the number of permanent earthquake observatories in the oceans is quite limited. It is important for understanding generation of large earthquakes to observe seismic activities on the seafloor just above these seismogenic zones. An ocean bottom cabled seismometer (OBCS) is the best solution because data can be collected in real-time. We have developed a new compact OBCS system. A developed system is controlled by a microprocessor, and signals from accelerometers are 24-bit digitized. Clock is delivered from the global positioning system receiver on a landing station using a simple dedicated line. Data collected at each cabled seismometer (CS) are transmitted using standard Internet Protocol to landing stations. The network configuration of the system adopts two dual methods. We installed the first practical OBCS system in the Japan Sea, where large earthquakes occurred in past. The first OBCS system has a total length of 25 km and 4 stations with 5 km interval. Installation was carried out in August 2010. The CSs and single armored optical submarine cable were buried 1 m below the seafloor to avoid a conflict with fishing activity. The data are stored on a landing station and sent to Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo by using the Internet. After the installation, data are being collected continuously. According to burial of the CSs, seismic ambient noises are smaller than those observed on seafloor.     

Quick triggering of magnetic reconnection in magnetotail

Recently, quick triggering of magnetic reconnection (QMRT) even in an ion-scale current sheet is found to be possible with the help of the nonlinear evolution of the lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI). The details of the QMRT mechanism are reviewed mostly based on three-dimensional full-particle simulation results of our group. QMRT is mediated by LHDI and its time scale is comparable to the saturation time scale of LHDI. Depending on the initial current sheet thickness, two types of QMRT, so-called Type-I and Type-II QMRT, are demonstrated.     

Seasonal Neutron-Flux Variations in the Polar Caps of Mars as Revealed by the Russian HEND Instrument Onboard the NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft

We analyze the flux of epithermal neutrons from the Martian surface recorded by the Russian High-Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) from February 19 through December 19, 2002. The HEND was installed onboard the NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft and is designed to measure neutron fluxes with energies above 1 eV. Over the period of observations, statistically significant variations in the flux of epithermal (10–100 keV) neutrons were found in the northern and southern polar caps. The largest neutron-flux variations were found at subpolar latitudes, where the relative difference between the summer and winter values can reach severalfold. This correlation becomes weaker with increasing distance from the poles. Thus, the relative change in the neutron flux near the 60° parallel is slightly more than 10%. We assume that the detected variations result from the global circulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide in subpolar Martian regions. To additionally test this assumption, we compared the HEND neutron measurements onboard 2001 Mars Odyssey and the seasonal variations in the CO₂-layer thickness as observed by the Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) onboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS).     

Spatial variations in throughfall in a Moso bamboo forest: sampling design for the estimates of stand‐scale throughfall

We investigated the spatial and seasonal variations in throughfall (Tf) in relation to spatial and seasonal variations in canopy structure and gross rainfall (Rf) and assessed the impacts of the variations in Tf on stand‐scale Tf estimates. We observed the canopy structure expressed as the leaf area index (LAI) once a month and Tf once a week in 25 grids placed in a Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forest for 1 year. The mean LAI and spatial variation in LAI did have some seasonal variations. The spatial variations in Tf reduced with increasing Rf, and the relationship between the spatial variation and the Rf held throughout the year. These results indicate that the seasonal change in LAI had little impact on spatial variations in Tf, and that Rf is a critical factor determining the spatial variations in Tf at the study site. We evaluated potential errors in stand‐scale Tf estimates on the basis of measured Tf data using Monte Carlo sampling. The results showed that the error decreases greatly with increasing sample size when the sample size was less than ～8, whereas it was near stable when the sample size was 8 or more, regardless of Rf. A sample size of eight results in less than 10% error for Tf estimates based on Student's t‐value analysis and would be satisfactory for interception loss estimates when considering errors included in Rf data. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hard X-ray and gamma-ray flares on the Sun: Stereoscopic effects near the limb from observations on the 2001 <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mars Odyssey</Emphasis> spacecraft and near-Earth spacecraft

We present the first results of data on solar flares detected by the HEND instrument onboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey interplanetary spacecraft during its flight to Mars and in orbit around Mars. The instruments carried by the spacecraft, which was developed at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, included a scintillation detector with two crystals, enabling the detection of photons with energies from tens of keV to 2.5 MeV with high time resolution. Several dozen flares were detected on both the sides visible from the Earth and back side of the Sun, supplementing other available data in a number of cases. A joint analysis of the HEND data together with data obtained in near-Earth orbits enabled the detection of variations in the integrated fluxes of photons with energies exceeding 80 keV during observations of flares near the limb from various directions. Two events were analyzed in great detail: the setting of a region displaying frequent very short flares on May 20, 2001, and the rising of the group 10486, which displayed numerous flare phenomena on the limb followed by extremely high activity in October–November 2003. These variations appear in simultaneous observations of limb M flares made at angles differing by only 8°–10°. Analyses of observations of rising sources obtained on two spacecraft lead to similar results. This indicates that the vast majority of emission at energies exceeding 80 keV arises at altitudes of no higher than seven to ten thousand kilometers. We briefly consider the powerful solar-disk gamma-ray flare of August 25, 2001. In this case, there are some differences in the behavior of the hard radiation in the decay phase for observations made at angles differing by 25°, which is most likely due to differences in the instrumental responses to radiation with this spectrum. The absence of hard radiation at great heights in the region of the “cusp” places some constraints on our picture of the physical processes occurring in powerful solar flares.