Seismic moment of great deep shocks

The long-period Rayleigh waves were investigated for the largest four deep shocks in 1963–1973 to determine the seismic moment by the same technique as used for shallow earthquakes. The results could be used for a quantitative comparison of source parameters between shallow and deep events. Three of the four shocks occurred beneath the South American continent (the Colombia earthquake, 1970; the western Brazil earthquake, 1963; the Peru—Bolivia border earthquake, 1963) and the other beneath the Japan Sea (1973). The focal depths are 653, 576, 593 and 575 km, respectively. The largest value of seismic moment was obtained as 2.1 · 10²⁸ dyncm for the Colombia earthquake. This value is still about forty times smaller than that for the great Alaskan earthquake. A slight inconsistency was found between the first-motion diagram and the Rayleigh wave radiation pattern for the Colombia earthquake and the Peru—Bolivia border earthquake.     

Evolution of lunar materials in light of the abundance variation of oxyphile trace elements

Based on the lunar data on lanthanides, U, Th, Ba, and Sr, the partition coefficients for fractional solidification were estimated for these elements. The resultant values suggest the removal of solids with perhaps pyroxenic composition. The partition coefficient for europium can be judged to be normal as divalent europium dominantly present in the melt. When we go back following the trend of fractionation of abundances, we can reach the stage where there is no europium anomaly and where the thorium concentration level is chondritic. It can be imagined that the material corresponding to this stage was the directly original lunar material system. As a possibility, a zone melting is thought to be a possible process for the derivation of that material from chondritic material. The chondrite-normalized lanthanide patterns for silicate materials of two stony-irons appear to provide us with an intriguing clue to this problem.     

Estuarine, barrier-island to strand-plain sequence and related ravinement surface developed during the last interglacial in the Paleo-Tokyo Bay, Japan

Recognition of sequence boundaries and transgressive surfaces (i.e. ravinement surfaces, RS) is now known to be of great importance in stratigraphy. The sedimentary features of deposits immediately above a transgressive surface are well exposed in the Upper Pleistocene Kioroshi Formation of the Kanto Plain in central Japan. The formation comprises mainly coastal and shallow-marine deposits (estuarine, barrier-island and the strand-plain systems) which accumulated along a wavedominated coast in the Late Pleistocene, i.e., the last interglacial to last glacial period. The Kioroshi Formation is bounded above and below by sequence boundaries that formed in the lowstand periods correlative to the glacial periods of oxygen isotope stages 4 and 6, respectively. A significant transgressive surface that was formed by landward migration of barrier islands during the transgressive interval, the ravinement surface (RS), is found within the deposits of the upper shelf environment.

This ravinement surface is characterized by the exotic nature of the overlying sediment veneer (pebbles, shells and scattered mud clasts) which is poorly sorted. The RS shows a very flattened erosional surface in the shore-parallel sense, and the gradient of the surface in shore-normal sense is calculated as 0.0021, where the syndepositional tectonic movement is revised. The RS commonly cuts through the lower sequence boundary. However, in the places where the river or tidal channel valleys incised, the valley-filling sediment shows a deepening-upward sequence recognized as a transgressive systems tract and the RS can be clearly distinguished from the lower sequence boundary.     

Excess bottom222Rn profiles and their implications in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Vertical profiles of excess bottom²²²Rn and potential temperature were measured at 23 stations in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The Rn profiles were classified into the following three types: quasi-exponential (type E), benthic boundary layer (type B), and horizontally disturbed (type H). The ratio among types E, B and H was approximately 2 : 3 : 1.An apparent vertical eddy diffusivity (K) was calculated by applying a one-dimensional diffusion model to the Rn profiles of types E and B. Type E had K values ranging from 15 to 180 cm² s^?1 (average: 70 cm² s^?1). As to type B, K values for the benthic boundary layer (4.5–260 cm² s^?1, average: 120 cm² s^?1) were always more than an order of magnitude larger than those for the upper layer (0.2–35 cm² s^?1, average: 7 cm² s^?1), indicating more active vertical mixing in the benthic boundary layer than in the upper layer.Rn profiles were measured in regions where the bottom topography is known. It was verified that the occurrence of type H related closely with local bottom topographic features accompanied by lateral transient supply of Rn-rich or Rn-poor water.A couple of Rn profiles at the same location, measured at time intervals of several years, were compared with each other for three locations. The general characteristics of Rn profiles were shown to remain unaltered with time, while the fine structure of Rn profiles may have short-term variations caused by local bottom topography and fluctuations of bottom current as indicated in type H.     

Reconstruction of pollution history of organic contaminants in the upper Gulf of Thailand by using sediment cores: first report from Tropical Asia Core (TACO) project

This paper reports the first reconstruction of a pollution history in tropical Asia from sediment cores. Four sediment core samples were collected from an offshore transect in the upper Gulf of Thailand and were analyzed for organic micropollutants. The cores were dated by measurement of (137)Cs and geochronometric molecular markers (linear alkylbenzenes, LABs; and tetrapropylene-type alkylbenzenes, TABs). Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations showed a subsurface maximum in layers corresponding to the 1970s, indicating the effectiveness of regulation of PCBs in Thailand. LAB concentrations increased over time, indicating the increase in input of sewage into the Gulf during the last 30 years. Hopanes, biomarkers of petroleum pollution, also increased over time, indicating that the inputs of automobile-derived hydrocarbons to the coastal zone has been increasing owing to the increased number of cars in Thailand since the 1950s. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increased in the layers corresponding to the 1950s and 1960s, probably because of the increased inputs of automobile-derived PAHs. PAH concentrations in the upper layers corresponding to the 1970s and later remained constant or increased. The absence of a subsurface maximum of PAHs contrasts with results observed in industrialized countries. This can be explained by the facts that the Thai economy did not depend on coal as an energy source in the 1960s and that economic growth has continued since the 1970s to the present. The deposition flux of PAHs and hopanes showed a dramatic offshore decrease, whereas that of LABs was uniform.     

Deuterium abundance of natural waters

The deuterium abundance of natural water of various sources has been determined by the use of a deuterium mass spectrometer. The absolute deuterium contents of the reference sample nos. 1 and 1a of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards were found to be 0·0149 and 0·0128 mole % D₂O, respectively, by the comparison of the samples with the standard samples of known deuterium content. Relative enrichment of no. la to no. 1 (R_1a−R₁)/R₁×100 was 14·13 ± 0·23, which agrees perfectly to the value reported by . The variation of deuterium contents of tap waters of Tokyo and Osaka during last 2 years were within ± 1 per cent and any seasonal regularities could not be detected. Marine waters of the West Pacific have almost the same deuterium content as those of the Pacific coast of the United States. Marine waters at various depths of the Antarctic showed relatively large variation of deuterium content (from +0·84 to −1·16 per cent on the SMOW-scale), whereas the samples of Black Current of the Pacific showed little variation. It was found that the deuterium content of spring water suggests the origin of springs in some cases.