Simplification of strong ground motion considering inelastic responses of structures

Simplification of strong ground motions to 1 cycle sine waves was investigated from the elastic and inelastic earthquake response analyses and response analyses under sine wave input using single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems. Strong ground motions could be simplified to 1 cycle sine waves if large plastic deformations, with ductility factor more than 2, were assumed. This is because the approximate maximum responses from input sine waves are determined by the initial response cycle, due to period elongation and plastic energy dissipation of the systems. A sine wave whose acceleration amplitude is the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and whose period is that of an equivalent 1 cycle sine wave is proposed. The period of an equivalent sine wave is easily obtained from the elastic response acceleration spectrum of a seismic record. This means that the inelastic responses are approximately determined by the PGA and an equivalent 1 cycle sine wave period. Therefore, an equivalent 1 cycle sine wave period provides a single index to express the frequency characteristics of a strong ground motion. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of waves under explosive cyclones in the Northwestern Pacific

The development of ocean waves under explosive cyclones (ECs) is investigated in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean using a hindcast wave simulation around Japan during the period 1994 through 2014. A composite analysis of the ocean wave fields under ECs is used to investigate how the spatial patterns of the spectral wave parameters develop over time. Using dual criteria of a drop in sea level pressure below 980 hPa at the center of a cyclone and a decrease of at least 12 hPa over a 12-h period, ECs are identified in atmospheric reanalysis data. Two areas under an EC were identified with narrow directional spectra: the cold side of a warm front and the right-hand side of an EC (relative to the propagating direction). Because ECs are associated with atmospheric fronts, ocean waves develop very differently under ECs than they do under tropical cyclones. Moreover, ECs evolve very rapidly such that the development of the ocean wave field lags behind the peak wind speed by hours. In a case study of an EC that occurred in January 2013, the wave spectrum indicates that a warm front played a critical role in generating distinct ocean wave systems in the warm and cold zones along the warm front. Both the warm and cold zones have narrow directional and frequency spectra. In contrast, the ocean wave field in the third quadrant (rear left area relative to the propagation direction) of the EC is composed of swell and wind sea systems propagating in different directions.     

Wind- and density-driven circulation in a bay on the Sanriku ria coast,Japan: study of Shizugawa Bay facing the Pacific Ocean

Flow fields in Shizugawa Bay on the Sanriku ria coast, which faces the Pacific Ocean, were investigated using hydrographic observations for the purpose of understanding oceanographic conditions and the process of water exchanges in the bay after the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku. In spring to summer, density-driven surface outflow is part of estuarine circulation and is induced by a pressure gradient force under larger longitudinal gradients in density along with lower salinity water in the innermost part of the bay, regardless of wind forcing. In winter to summer, another density-driven current with a thermal structure is induced by a pressure gradient force under the smaller longitudinal density gradients in calm wind conditions. Particularly in winter, Tsugaru Warm Current water can be transported in the surface layer inside the bay. Wind-driven bay-scale circulation with downwind and upwind currents in the surface and deeper layers, respectively, is induced by strong longitudinal wind forcing under the smaller longitudinal density gradients, irrespective of season. Particularly in fall to spring, this circulation can cause the intrusions of oceanic water associated with Oyashio water and Tsugaru Warm Current water in the deeper layer. These results suggest that wind- and density-driven currents can produce the active exchange of water from inside and outside the bay throughout the year.     

Seasonal transition of hydrological processes in a slow‐moving landslide in a snowy region

A comprehensive understanding of seasonal hydrological dynamics is required to describe the influence of pore‐water pressure on the stability of landslides in snowy regions. This study reports on the results of continuous meteorological and hydrological observations over 2 years on a landslide body comprising Neogene sedimentary rocks in northern Japan, where a thick (3–5 m) seasonal snowpack covers the land surface. Monitoring of the volumetric water content in shallow unsaturated zones (<0.8 m depth) and pore‐water pressure in saturated bedrock at depths of 2.0 and 5.2 m revealed clear seasonality in hydrological responses to rainfall and meltwater supply. During snow‐free periods, both the shallow soil moisture and deep pore‐water pressure responded rapidly to intense rainwater infiltration. In contrast, during snowmelt, the deep pore pressure fluctuated in accordance with the daily cycle of meltwater input, without notable changes in shallow moisture conditions. During occasional foehn events that cause intense snow melting in midwinter, meltwater flows preferentially through the layered snowpack, converging to produce a localized water supply at the ground surface. This episodically triggers a significant rise in pore‐water pressure. The seasonal differences in hydrological responses were characterized by a set of newly proposed indices for the magnitude and quickness of increases in the pressure head near the sliding surface. Under snow‐covered conditions, the magnitude of the pressure increase tends to be suppressed, probably owing to a reduction in infiltration caused by a seasonal decrease in the permeability of surface soils, and effective pore‐water drainage through the highly conductive colluvial layer. Deep groundwater flow within bedrock remained in a steady upwelling state, enhanced by increasing moisture in shallow soils under snow cover, reflecting the convergence of subsurface water from surrounding hillslopes.     

Emplacement processes of proto-arc basalt in the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc system

Ascertaining the emplacement mechanism of oceanic basaltic lavas is important in understanding how ocean floor topography is produced and oceanic plates evolve, particularly during the early stages of crustal development of a supra-subduction zone. A detailed study of the volcanic stratigraphy at International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1438 in the Amami Sankaku Basin, west of the Kyushu–Palau Ridge, has revealed the development of lava accretion and ridge topography on the Philippine Sea plate at about 49 Ma. Igneous basement rocks penetrated at Site U1438 are the uppermost 150 m of ~6 km-thick oceanic crust, and comprise, in a downhole direction, sheet flows (12.6 m), lobate sheet flows (61.3 m), pillow lavas (50.7 m), and thin sheet flows (25.3 m). The lowermost sheet flows are intercalated with layers of limestone and epiclastic tuff. Lithofacies analysis reveals that the lowermost sheet flows, limestone, and tuff formed on an axial rise, the pillow lavas were emplaced on a ridge slope, and the lobate sheet flows formed off ridge on an abyssal plain. The lithofacies of the basement basalt corresponds to the upper portions of fast-spreading oceanic crust, suggesting that subduction initiation was associated with intermediate to fast rates of seafloor spreading. The surface sheet flows are olivine–clinopyroxene-phyric basalt and differ from the lower basalt flows that contain phenocrysts of olivine and plagioclase, with or without clinopyroxene. The depleted chrome-spinel composition and olivine–clinopyroxene phenocryst assemblage in the surface sheet flows suggests a slight contribution of water for magma generation not present for the lower basalt flows. Considering the lithological difference between the backarc and forearc oceanic crust in the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc, with sheet flow dominant in the former, seafloor spreading occurred faster in the later stage of subduction initiation.     

Formation of TiC core‐graphitic mantle grains from CO gas

Abstract— We demonstrate a new formation route for TiC core‐graphitic mantle spherules that does not require carbon‐atom addition and the very long time scales associated with such growth (Bernatowicz et al. 1996). Carbonaceous materials can be formed from C₂H₂ and its derivatives, as well as from CO gas. In this paper, we will demonstrate that large‐cage‐structure carbon particles can be produced from CO gas by the Boudouard reaction. Since the sublimation temperature for such fullerenes is low, the large cages can be deposited onto previously nucleated TiC and produce TiC core‐graphitic mantle spherules. New constraints for the formation conditions and the time scale for the formation of TiC core‐graphitic mantle spherules are suggested by the results of this study. In particular, TiC core‐graphitic mantle grains that are found in primitive meteorites that have never experienced hydration could be mantled by fullerenes or carbon nanotubes rather than by graphite. In situ observations of these grains in primitive anhydrous meteoritic matrix could confirm or refute this prediction and would demonstrate that the graphitic mantle on such grains is a metamorphic feature due to interaction of the presolar fullerenes with water within the meteorite matrix.     

Dredge petrology of the boninite‐ and adakite‐bearing Hahajima Seamount of the Ogasawara (Bonin) forearc: An ophiolite or a serpentinite seamount?§

Abstract During the Hakuho‐Maru KH03‐3 cruise and the Tansei‐Maru KT04‐28 cruise, more than 1000 rock samples were dredged from several localities over the Hahajima Seamount, a northwest–southeast elongated, rectangular massif, 60 km × 30 km in size, with a flat top approximately 1100 m deep. The rocks included almost every lithology commonly observed among the on‐land ophiolite outcrops. Volcanic rocks included mid‐oceanic ridge basalt (MORB)‐like tholeiitic basalt and dolerite, calc‐alkaline basalt and andesite, boninite, high‐Mg adakitic andesite, dacite, and minor rhyolite. Gabbroic rocks included troctolite, olivine gabbro, olivine gabbronorite (with inverted pigeonite), gabbro, gabbronorite, norite, and hornblende gabbro, and showed both MORB‐type and island arc‐type mineralogies. Ultramafic rocks were mainly depleted mantle harzburgite (spinel Cr? 50–80) and its serpentinized varieties, with some cumulate dunite, wehrlite and pyroxenites. This rock assemblage suggests a supra‐subduction zone origin for the Hahajima Seamount. Compilation of the available dredge data indicated that the ultramafic rocks occur in the two northeast–southwest‐oriented belts on the seamount, where serpentinite breccia and gabbro breccia have also developed, but the other areas are free from ultramafic rocks. Although many conical serpentinite seamounts 10 km in size are aligned along the Izu–Ogasawara (Bonin)–Mariana forearc, the Hahajima Seamount may be better interpreted as a fault‐bounded, uplifted massif composed of ophiolitic thrust sheets, resembling the Izki block of the Oman ophiolite in its shape and size. The ubiquitous roundness of the dredged rocks and their thin Mn coating (<2 mm) suggest that the Hahajima Seamount was uplifted above sealevel and wave‐eroded, like the present Macquarie Is., a rare example of ophiolite exposure in an oceanic setting. The Ogasawara Plateau on the Pacific Plate is adjacent to the east of the Hahajima Seamount, and collision and subduction of the plateau may have caused uplift of the forearc ophiolite body.     

Constraining tephra dispersion and deposition from three subplinian explosions in 2011 at Shinmoedake volcano,Kyushu, Japan

Constraining physical parameters of tephra dispersion and deposition from explosive volcanic eruptions is a significant challenge, because of both the complexity of the relationship between tephra distribution and distance from the vent and the difficulties associated with direct and comprehensive real-time observations. Three andesitic subplinian explosions in January 2011 at Shinmoedake volcano, Japan, are used as a case study to validate selected empirical and theoretical models using observations and field data. Tephra volumes are estimated using relationships between dispersal area and tephra thickness or mass/area. A new cubic B-spline interpolation method is also examined. Magma discharge rate is estimated using theoretical plume models incorporating the effect of wind. Results are consistent with observed plume heights (6.4–7.3 km above the vent) and eruption durations. Estimated tephra volumes were 15–34?×?10⁶ m³ for explosions on the afternoon of 26 January and morning of 27 January, and 5.0–7.6?×?10⁶ m³ for the afternoon of 27 January; magma discharge rates were in the range 1–2?×?10⁶ kg/s for all three explosions. Clast dispersal models estimated plume height at 7.1?±?1 km above the vent for each explosion. The three subplinian explosions occurred with approximately 12-h reposes and had similar mass discharge rates and plume heights but decreasing erupted magma volumes and durations.     

Relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics,Satono‐yu hot spring,Japan

The relative influences of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics are still not well understood, despite increasing interest in the last decade to better understand the record of ancient microbial life and sedimentary fabrics in microbial hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study examines travertines at Satono‐yu hot spring in Japan (the temperature of water flowing over the travertine was ca 35°C), to better understand the interaction between depositional, hydrochemical and microbial parameters at different flow settings. Characteristics of the bulk hydrochemistry, mineralogy (exclusively aragonite) and the driving force for precipitation (primarily abiotic CO₂ degassing with some photosynthetic microbial contribution) were similar among all of the flow settings. Conversely, the increase in flow velocity suppressed the influence of photosynthesis and enhanced the abiotic precipitation due to the thinner diffusive boundary layer at the travertine surface–water interface. Additionally, the increase in flow velocity changed the microbial composition and decreased the bacterial diversity by reflecting their adhesion efficiency on the travertine substrate. The acidity of the cyanobacterial sheaths controls the aragonite nucleation rate and the resulting calcification, even at significantly high equilibrium CO₂ partial pressure (ca 22 to 28 matm), high dissolved inorganic carbon concentration (ca 35 to 38 mmol l^?1), and elevated aragonite saturation state (ca 20‐fold to 34‐fold). Therefore, the increase in flow velocity suppresses the microbial influence with respect to the increase in the saturation state, the nucleation site supply and pore space generation. Overall, this results in the predominance of abiotic precipitation under high flow velocities. Consequently, a sparse‐micritic fabric with abundant interlamina porosity forms under lower flow velocity where the microbial influence is effective, while a dense‐sparitic fabric with little inter‐crystalline porosity forms under higher flow velocity where abiotic precipitation prevails. These findings provide an essential base for assessing the formation processes of ancient travertines and comparable deposits from petrological fabrics.