Effect of oxygen partial pressure on the dislocation recovery in olivine: a new constraint on creep mechanisms

The dislocation annihilation rate in experimentally deformed olivine single crystals was measured as a function of oxygen partial pressure (P_O2). It was shown that the dislocation annihilation rate decreased with increasing P_O2. This result is inconsistent with the reported P_O2 dependence of creep rate () in single olivine crystals, thus indicating that the creep in single olivine crystals is not rate-controlled by recovery, under the experimentally investigated conditions.     

Rockfall hazard in the Daisekkei Valley, the northern Japanese Alps, on 11 August 2005

This paper describes a rockfall event in the Daisekkei Valley of Mount Shirouma-dake (2,932 m), the northern Japanese Alps. The rockfall occurred on a steep cliff comprising well-jointed felsites and produced debris of ≥8,000 m³. Most debris was deposited on an elongated snowpatch located immediately beneath the cliff, and it caused casualties among people who were trekking along a trail on the snowpatch. Additionally, a large rock block slipped 1 km on the snowpatch. The rockfall could have been due to the differential retreat of the rockwall, which contains areas of high- and low-density joints. Seasonal and diurnal freeze–thaw activities and snow avalanches and wash appear to be important factors responsible for the retreat. Although some rock blocks that can collapse further remain on the rockwall, the position of the mountain trail in the Daisekkei Valley is fixed. Fundamental reform of tourism systems for climbers, including education on natural hazards, is required.     

Carbonate deposits on submerged seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Abstract   The lithology of shallow-water carbonates collected from 19 sites on 16 seamounts in six areas of the northwestern Pacific Ocean using the Deep-sea Boring Machine System are described. The areas include the Amami Plateau, Daito Ridge, Oki-Daito Ridge, Urdaneta Plateau, Kyushu-Palau Ridge and Ogasawara Plateau. Chronological constraint is provided by calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy, larger foraminiferal biostratigraphy and strontium (Sr) isotope stratigraphy. Large amounts of shallow-water carbonates accumulated on the seamounts during the Oligocene, a relatively cool period, whereas limited carbonate deposits formed during the Early Miocene, a relatively warm period. This might indicate that deposition of shallow-water carbonates on seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean was not necessarily controlled by climatic conditions, but was related to volcanism and tectonics that served as foundations for reef/carbonate-platform formation. Remarkable differences in biotic composition exist between Cretaceous and Cenozoic shallow-water carbonates. Late Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates are distinguished by the occurrence of rudists, solenoporacean algae and microencrusters. Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene shallow-water carbonates are dominated by Halimeda or nummulitid and discocyclinid larger foraminifers. Scleractinian corals became common from the Oligocene onward. Nongeniculate coralline algae and larger foraminifers were common to abundant throughout the Eocene to the Pleistocene. The replacement of major carbonate producers in the shallow-water carbonate factory during post-Cretaceous time is in accordance with previous studies and is considered to reflect a shift in seawater chemistry.     

Non‐linear system identification of the versatile‐typed structures by a novel signal processing technique

Non‐linear structural identification problems have raised considerable research efforts since decades, in which the Bouc–Wen model is generally utilized to simulate non‐linear structural constitutive characteristic. Support vector regression (SVR), a promising data processing method, is studied for versatile‐typed structural identification. First, a model selection strategy is utilized to determine the unknown power parameter of the Bouc–Wen model. Meanwhile, optimum SVR parameters are selected automatically, instead of tuning manually. Consequently, the non‐linear structural equation is rewritten in linear form, and is solved by the SVR technique. A five‐floor versatile‐type structure is studied to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, in which both power parameter known and unknown cases are investigated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Coastal Marine Ecosystem Model Study Coupled with Hydrodynamics and Tidal Flat Ecosystem Effect

A new coastal marine ecosystem model was developed, which was composed of pelagic and benthic ecosystems, and was applied to Mikawa Bay, Japan. This model deals with variations of biochemical and physical interactions among dissolved oxygen and C–N–P species (composition formed out of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus elements) so that it resolves the flux dynamics of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen elements. The physical and biochemical mechanism figured in this model is constructed for the purpose of simulating the estuarine lower trophic ecosystem, in areas where the sea was too deep for light to reach the sea-bottom. As a result of coupling the benthic with pelagic system, the effect of process of sedimentation and nutrient diffusion back to the pelagic system could be indicated. In addition, by implementing the tidal flat ecosystem model's calculation result, the integrated model can include the effect of water purification in tidal flats where the light can reach the sea-bottom, and where sea-weed, sea grass and benthic algae exist. In this study, the model indicates that oxygen-depleted water exists at the sea-bottom especially in summer mainly caused by an increase of oxygen consumption in the benthic system and a decrease of the vertical mixing water process. Furthermore, by comparing the case – with the tidal flat ecosystem model and the case without it, the effect of water purification of tidal flat estuaries was indicated. From the viewpoint of a short time scale, the tidal flat has the potential to restrict red tide (rapid increase of phytoplankton), and from the viewpoint of a long time scale, it restricts the sedimentation of detritus. Restricting the sedimentation prevents oxygen-depleted water occurring in the coastal marine system of Mikawa Bay.     

Revision of the first order triangulation in the region disturbed by the Nankaido Earthquake of 1946

Zusammenfassung Nach dem Erdbeden von Nanka?do im Jahre 1946 hat man das Dreiecksnetz I. Ordnung in einem Gebiet von etwa 300 km Umkreis wiederbeobachtet, und zwar auf 47 Punkten insgeasamt 68 Winkel. Die letzte Triangulation fand in den Jahren 1885–96 statt.—Nach der Ausgleichung des Netzes wurden Punkverschiebungen bis zu 1,69 m festgestellt.

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Resumen Después del temblor de tierra de 1946, en Nanka?do, se ha vuelto a observar la red de triangulación de 1_H orden en un radio de 300 kilómetros aproximadamente. Los puntos de nuevo observados son 47 y los triángulos 68. La triangulaciín precedente se remontaba a los a?os 1885–96. Después de compensar la red, se han deducido los desplazamientos experimentados por los puntos sobre el terreno, que llegaron a ser de 1,69 metros.

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Résumé Après le tremblement de tèrre de 1946 à Nankaido, on a réobservé le réseau de triangulation de premier ordre dans un rayon de 300 km environ. Les points réobservés sont au nombre de 47, et les triangles en nombre de 68. La triangtlation précédente remontait aux années 1885–96. La compensation du réseau effectuée, on en a déduit les déplacements subis par les points sur le terrain, qui importent jusqu’à 1,69 m.

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Sommario Dopo il terremoto di Nankaido del 1946, è stata riosservata la rete di prim’ordine entro un raggio di circa 300 km. La precedente triangolazione risaliva agli anni 1885–96. Effettuata la compensazione, il confronto fra l’anticae la nuova triangolazione ha rivelato spostamenti nei vertici ammontanti fino a m 1,69.

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Communication présentée à l’Assemblée Générale de Bruxelles en 1951     

Wide-Field Camera for Gravitational Microlensing Survey: MOA-cam2

We have constructed a large, mosaic CCD camera called MOA-cam2 which has 4096 × 6144-pixelsto search for gravitational microlensing events. MOA-cam2 has three4096 × 2048-pixel SITe CCD chips, which have a very high quantum efficiency (nearly 80% in the wave region 500 to 800 nm),and three buttable sides. We have placed the threechips side by side with 100 m dead space. MOA-cam2 has been installed on the 61 cm Boller and Chivens telescope of the MOA collaboration at the Mt. John University Observatory (MJUO) in NewZealand since July 1998. The field coverage is 0.92° × 1.38° per exposure. The technical details of MOA-cam2 and the first images obtained with the Boller and Chivens telescope are presented. MOA-cam2 introduces a second phase of research on gravitational microlensing by the MOA collaboration.     

Floral changes in calcareous nannofossils and their paleoceanographic significance in the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the last 500 000 years

Abstract   The late Quaternary calcareous nannofossil assemblages from Ocean Drilling Program Holes 807A and 846B, located in the western and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, respectively, were analyzed to clarify changes in surface-water conditions during the last 500 000 years. The uppermost Quaternary sediments in both holes contain abundant nannofossils, and their assemblages are characterized by high species diversity. The absolute abundances of coccoliths (specimens/g) and relative numbers of small reticulofenestrids decreased drastically in both holes between 0.3 and 0.2 Ma, whereas the relative abundance of warm-water species and Florisphaera profunda increased suddenly at this time. These data indicate that upwelling around the western and eastern equatorial Pacific regions weakened after 0.2 Ma, which was caused by a decrease in trade-wind strength.     

Damage process of pile foundation in liquefied ground during strong ground motion

The 1995 Hyogoken–Nambu earthquake caused severe liquefaction over wide areas of reclaimed land. Furthermore, the liquefaction induced large ground displacement in horizontal directions, which caused serious damage to foundations of structures. However, few analyses of steel pipe piles based on field investigation have so far been conducted to identify the causes and process of such damage. The authors conducted a soil–pile-structure interaction analysis by applying a multi-lumped-mass-spring model to a steel pipe pile foundation structure to evaluate the causes and process of its damage. The damage process analyzed in the time domain corresponded well with the results of detailed field investigation. It was found that a large bending moment beyond the ultimate plastic moment of the pile foundation structure was induced mainly by the large ground displacement caused by liquefaction before lateral spreading of the ground and that the displacement appeared during the accumulating process of the excess pore water pressure.     

Cohesive Crack Analysis of Toughness Increase Due to Confining Pressure

Apparent fracture toughness in Mode I of microcracking materials such as rocks under confining pressure is analyzed based on a cohesive crack model. In rocks, the apparent fracture toughness for crack propagation varies with the confining pressure. This study provides analytical solutions for the apparent fracture toughness using a cohesive crack model, which is a model for the fracture process zone. The problem analyzed in this study is a fluid-driven fracture of a two-dimensional crack with a cohesive zone under confining pressure. The size of the cohesive zone is assumed to be negligibly small in comparison to the crack length. The analyses are performed for two types of cohesive stress distribution, namely the constant cohesive stress (Dugdale model) and the linearly decreasing cohesive stress. Furthermore, the problem for a more general cohesive stress distribution is analyzed based on the fracture energy concept. The analytical solutions are confirmed by comparing them with the results of numerical computations performed using the body force method. The analytical solution suggests a substantial increase in the apparent fracture toughness due to increased confining pressures, even if the size of the fracture process zone is small.