The nature of scattered and concretion pyrite in the Upper Abalak Formation of the Salym oil field (Western Siberia)

Dispersed and concretionary pyrite in chert–clay–carbonate and carbonate rocks of the Abalak Formation (Salym oil field) have been studied. The study was conducted using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), and high spatial resolution Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (Nano-SIMS). As a result, three morphological groups of pyrite have been distinguished: large cubic crystals, framboidal pyrite, and fine-crystal aggregates that replace organic remnants. The sulphur isotope ratio allows one to distinguish two genetic types of pyrite. The source of the sulphur for the first genetic group was H₂S produced by bacterial sulphate reduction, while the second group pyrite was formed with sulphur as a product of thermochemical sulphate reduction.     

Measures for groundwater security during and after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (1995) and the Great East Japan earthquake (2011), Japan

Many big earthquakes have occurred in the tectonic regions of the world, especially in Japan. Earthquakes often cause damage to crucial life services such as water, gas and electricity supply systems and even the sewage system in urban and rural areas. The most severe problem for people affected by earthquakes is access to water for their drinking/cooking and toilet flushing. Securing safe water for daily life in an earthquake emergency requires the establishment of countermeasures, especially in a mega city like Tokyo. This paper described some examples of groundwater use in earthquake emergencies, with reference to reports, books and newspapers published in Japan. The consensus is that groundwater, as a source of water, plays a major role in earthquake emergencies, especially where the accessibility of wells coincides with the emergency need. It is also important to introduce a registration system for citizen-owned and company wells that can form the basis of a cooperative during a disaster; such a registration system was implemented by many Japanese local governments after the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and is one of the most effective countermeasures for groundwater use in an earthquake emergency. Emphasis is also placed the importance of establishing of a continuous monitoring system of groundwater conditions for both quantity and quality during non-emergency periods.     

Simplified formulae for designing coastal forest against tsunami run-up: one-dimensional approach

In the present study, laboratory experiments were conducted to validate the applicability of a numerical model based on one-dimensional nonlinear long-wave equations. The model includes drag and inertia resistance of trees to tsunami flow and porosity between trees and a simplified forest in a wave channel. It was confirmed that the water surface elevation and flow velocity by the numerical simulations agree well with the experimental results for various forest conditions of width and tree density. Further, the numerical model was applied to prototype conditions of a coastal forest of Pandanus odoratissimus to investigate the effects of forest conditions (width and tree density) and incident tsunami conditions (period and height) on run-up height and potential tsunami force. The modeling results were represented in curve-fit equations with the aim of providing simplified formulae for designing coastal forest against tsunamis. The run-up height and potential tsunami forces calculated by the curve-fit formulae and the numerical model agreed within ± 10% error.     

A note on the chemical composition of lake water in the Laguna Amarga,a saline lake in Patagonia,Chile

The chemical composition of lake water in Laguna Amarga, a small, shallow, saline lake near the Torres del Paine National Park (at 51°S), Chilean Patagonia, was studied in January, 1993. The water was strongly alkaline (pH 9.4) conductivity was 71.4 mS cm^–1, and salinity was 77 g L^–1. The major ions were sodium and sulphate.     

Numerical study of the oxidation process of dimethylsulfide in the marine atmosphere

A box model, involving simple heterogeneous reaction processes associated with the production of non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO ₄ ^2– ) particles, is used to investigate the oxidation processes of dimethylsulfide (DMS or CH₃SCH₃) in the marine atmosphere. The model is applied to chemical reactions in the atmospheric surface mixing layer, at intervals of 15 degrees latitude between 60° N and 60° S. Given that the addition reaction of the hydroxyl radical (OH) to the sulfur atom in the DMS molecule is faster at lower temperature than at higher temperature and that it is the predominant pathway for the production of methanesulfonic acid (MSA or CH₃SO₃H), the results can well explain both the increasing tendency of the molar ratio of MSA to nss-SO ₄ ^2– toward higher latitudes and the uniform distribution with latitude of sulfur dioxide (SO₂). The predicted production rate of MSA increases with increasing latitude due to the elevated rate constant of the addition reaction at lower temperature. Since latitudinal distributions of OH concentration and DMS reaction rate with OH are opposite, a uniform production rate of SO₂ is realized over the globe. The primary sink of DMS in unpolluted air is caused by the reaction with OH. Reaction of DMS with the nitrate radical (NO₃) also reduces DMS concentration but it is less important compared with that of OH. Concentrations of SO₂, MSA, and nss-SO ₄ ^2– are almost independent of NO _x concentration and radiation field. If dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO or CH₃S(O)CH₃) is produced by the addition reaction and further converted to sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) in an aqueous solution of cloud droplets, the oxidation process of DMSO might be important for the production of aerosol particles containing nss-SO ₄ ^2– at high latitudes.     

Refractory inclusions in the Murchison meteorite

Mineralogical and petrographic studies of a wide variety of refractory objects from the Murchison C2 chondrite have revealed for the first time melilite-rich and feldspathoid-bearing inclusions in this meteorite, but none of these is identical to any inclusion yet found in Allende. Blue spinel-hibonite spherules have textures indicating that they were once molten, and thus their SiO₂-poor bulk composition requires that they were exposed to higher temperatures (>1550°C) than those deduced so far from any Allende inclusion. Melilite-rich inclusions are similar to Allende compact Type A's, but are more Al-, Ti-rich. One inclusion (MUCH-1) consists of a delicate radial aggregate of hibonite crystals surrounded by alteration products, and probably originated by direct condensation of hibonite from the solar nebular vapor. The sinuous, nodular and layered structures of another group of inclusions, spinel-pyroxene aggregates, suggest that these also originated by direct condensation from the solar nebular gas. Each type of inclusion is characterized by a different suite of alteration products and/or rim layers from all the other types, indicating modification of the inclusions in a wide range of different physico-chemical environments after their primary crystallization. All of these inclusions contain some iron-free rim phases. These could not have formed by reaction of the inclusions with fluids in the Murchison parent body because the latter would presumably have been very rich in oxidized iron. Other rim phases and alteration products could have formed at relatively low temperatures in the parent body, but some inclusions were not in the locations in which they were discovered when this took place. Some of these inclusions are too fragile to have been transported from one region to another in the parent body, indicating that low temperature alteration of these may have occurred in the solar nebula.     

ASCA observations of the Galactic superluminal sources GRO J1655–40 and GRS 1915+105

We summarize the ASCA observations of the two Galactic superluminal sources GRO J1655–40 and GRS 1915+105, focusing on theabsorption line features.The high spectroscopic capability of ASCA enabled us to detectiron-K absorption line features from both objects. This is direct evidence for the presence of highly ionized plasma in a non-spherical configuration around a black hole, and is considered to be a unique signature of superluminal jet systems. The candidate of the line-absorber would be a part of an accretion disk at a distance of 10^9-11 cm from the central X-ray source.