Transformation dynamics and reactivity of dissolved and colloidal iron in coastal waters

We have investigated the chemical forms, reactivities and transformation kinetics of Fe(III) species present in coastal water with ion exchange and filtration methods. To simulate coastal water system, a mixture of ferric iron and fulvic acid was added to filtered seawater and incubated for a minute to a week. At each incubation time, the seawater sample was acidified with hydrochloric acid and then applied to anion exchange resin (AER) to separate negatively charged species (such as fulvic acid, its complexes with iron and iron oxyhydroxide coated with fulvic acid) from positively charged inorganic ferric iron (Fe(III)′). By monitoring the acid-induced Fe(III)′ over an hour, it was found that iron complexed by fulvic acid dissociated rapidly to a large extent (86–92% at pH 2), whereas amorphous ferric oxyhydroxide particles associated with fulvic acid (AFO-L) dissociated very slowly with the first-order dissociation rate constants ranging from 6.1 × 10^− 5 for pH 3 to 2.7 × 10^− 4 s^− 1 for pH 2. Therefore, a brief acidification followed by the AER treatment (acidification/AER method) was likely to be able to determine fulvic acid complexes and thus differentiate the complexes from the AFO-L particles (the dissolution of AFO-L was insignificant during the brief acidification). The acidification/AER method coupled with a simple filtration technique suggested that the iron–fulvic acid complexes exist in both the < 0.02 μm and 0.02–0.45 μm size fractions in our coastal water system. The truly dissolved iron (< 0.02 μm) was relatively long-lived with a life-time of 14 days, probably due to the complexation by strong ligands. Such an acid-labile iron may be an important source of bioavailable iron in coastal environments, as a significant relationship between the chemical lability and bioavailability of iron has been well recognised.     

Response of Equatorial Pacific Mean Temperature Field to Intraseasonal Wind Forcing

The effects of intra-seasonal wind forcing on the mean field of the tropical Pacific Ocean has been studied using an ocean general circulation model (GCM). Idealized intra-seasonal zonal wind forcing with zero mean, which propagates eastward, induces net eastward jets at the equator that shift the warm water pool to the east. The mean temperature of the upper 200 m of the ocean increases off the equator and decreases at the equator. The change is independent of the propagation speed of the intra-seasonal wind forcing. The magnitude of the change depends on the amplitude and the period of the forcing, and the ocean structure, while the spatial pattern is independent of these parameters. A simple shallow water model is used to explain these changes. It is found that the term responsible for the enhanced eastward Equatorial jet is the Reynolds stress term, which arises from a phase shift of the zonal current due to friction. The resultant convergence of eastward momentum on the equator and geostrophic adjustment of the interface to the change of zonal current brings about the thermal redistribution of the upper ocean seen in the GCM.     

Deformation behaviour of a large underground cavern

Summary The Imaichi underground power station, with a cross sectional area of 1420 m², which is now under construction by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc., is one of the largest underground caverns in the world. Due to the considerable depth of the over-burden of 400 m, the horseshoe-shaped section was adopted for the first time in Japan to minimize excesive stress concentration on the surrounding bedrock and keep loosened zones to a minimum.The bedrock consists of sandstone, slate, siliceous sandstone and breccia. The rock is generally hard and compact, with few fractured zones which may have an adverse influence on the excavation of the cavern.The supporting system of the cavern consists of prestressed rock anchors, rock bolts and shotcrete.Approximately 800 instruments, mainly multiple stage extensometers, were used to monitor behaviour of the surrounding rock during excavation of the cavern. With the exception of some cracks which occurred in a portion of the shotcrete when about half the height of the cavern had been excavated, excavation work was completed without any major trouble. In spite of the symmetrical shape of the cavern, the deformation behaviour of the surrounding rock during excavation was remarkedly asymmetric. The reason for this was concluded to be the peculiar deformation behaviour exhibited by Breccia during stress relief, as shown by in-situ rock tests, etc., and analysis of deformation data after completion of the excavation work.     

TeV γ-rays from old supernova remnants

We study the emission from an old supernova remnant (SNR) with an age of around 10⁵ yr and that from a giant molecular cloud (GMC) encountered by the SNR. When the SNR age is around 10⁵ yr, proton acceleration is efficient enough to emit TeV γ-rays both at the shock of the SNR and that in the GMC. The maximum energy of primarily accelerated electrons is so small that TeV γ-rays and X-rays are dominated by hadronic processes,  π⁰  -decay and synchrotron radiation from secondary electrons, respectively. However, if the SNR is older than several 10⁵ yr, there are few high-energy particles emitting TeV γ-rays because of the energy-loss effect and/or the wave-damping effect occurring at low-velocity isothermal shocks. For old SNRs or SNR–GMC interacting systems capable of generating TeV γ-ray emitting particles, we calculated the ratio of TeV γ-ray (1–10 TeV) to X-ray (2–10 keV) energy flux and found that it can be more than  ∼10²  . Such a source showing large flux ratio may be a possible origin of recently discovered unidentified TeV sources.     

Acceleration of electrons and solar flares due to quasi-static electric field

The storage of flare energy, efficient acceleration of electrons and the trigger of the flares are suggested to be attributed to a quasi-static electric field caused by a gas motion near the photosphere without satisfying the frozen condition. The primary cause of the onset of flares would be the acceleration of electrons due to the electric field above a critical strength. The electrons excite plasma waves which make the conductivity lower by several orders in the lower corona, so that the electro-magnetic energy I ² L stored before the onset of the flare would be rapidly converted into the heat due to the ohmic loss in about 10 s.     

Time variation of the spectrum of Gyro-synchrotron emission from the Sun

The emission spectra and their time variations of gyro-synchrotron emission from an ensemble of energetic electrons are computed for some initial power-law distributions of the electron energies N()d= ^– with =2 or 4. The spectra and decay curves of the emission are compared with solar microwave bursts in order to separately estimate the magnetic field H and . From a limited number of observations, we have 3 and H 10³ gauss for the microwave impulsive bursts, and 2 and H (500–1000) gauss for the microwave type-IV bursts.     

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.     

Depositional Age of a Fossil Whale Bone from São Paulo Ridge,South Atlantic Ocean,Based on Os Isotope Stratigraphy of a Ferromanganese Crust

Whale carcasses (whale falls) deposited on the deep seafloor are associated with a distinctive biotic community. A fossil whale bone recovered from São Paulo Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean, during cruise YK13–04 Leg 1 of R/V Yokosuka was covered by a ferromanganese (Fe–Mn) crust approximately 9 mm thick. Here, we report an age constraint for this fossil bone on the basis of Os isotopic stratigraphy (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratio) of the Fe–Mn crust. Major‐ and trace‐element compositions of the crust are similar to those of Fe–Mn crusts of predominantly hydrogenous origin. Rare earth element concentrations in samples of the crust, normalized with respect to Post‐Archean average Australian Shale, exhibit flat patterns with positive Ce and negative Y anomalies. These results indicate that the Fe–Mn crust consists predominantly of hydrogenous components and that it preserves the Os isotope composition of seawater at the time of its deposition. ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios of three Fe–Mn crust samples increased from 0.904 to 1.068 in ascending stratigraphic order. The value of 1.068 from the surface slice (0–3 mm depth in the crust) was identical to that of present‐day seawater within error (~1.06). The value of 0.904 from the basal slice (6–9 mm) equaled seawater values from ca. 4–5 Ma. Because it is unknown how long the bone lay on the seafloor before the Fe–Mn crust was deposited, the Os stratigraphic age of ca. 5 Ma is a minimum age of the fossil. This is the first application, to our knowledge, of marine Os isotope stratigraphy for determining the age of a fossil whale bone. Such data may offer valuable insights into the evolution of the whale‐fall biotic community.     

Landslide risk evaluation and hazard zoning for rapid and long-travel landslides in urban development areas

Risk evaluation for earthquake-induced rapid and long-travel landslides in densely populated urban areas is currently the most important disaster mitigation task in landslide-threatened areas throughout the world. The research achievements of the IPL M-101 APERITIF project were applied to two urban areas in megacities of Japan. One site is in the upper slope of the Nikawa landslide site where previous movements were triggered by the 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu earthquake. During detailed investigation, the slope was found to be at risk from a rapid and long-travel landslide induced by sliding surface liquefaction by earthquakes similar in scale to the 1995 event. A new plan to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon was proposed and the plan was implemented. Another area is the Tama residential area near Tokyo. A set of field and laboratory investigations including laser scanner, geological drilling and ring-shear tests showed that there was a risk of sliding surface liquefaction for both sites. A geotechnical computer simulation (Rapid/LS) using the quantitative data obtained in the study allowed urban landslide hazard zoning to be made at individual street level.