Limestone of the Daiichi Kashima Seamount and the fate of a subducting guyot: fact and speculation from the Kaiko “Nautile” dives

The Daiichi-Kashima Seamount subducting in the Japan Trench has two reef-capped flat tops with different depths, which are bounded by a nearly straight scarp. The western (inboard) crest is 5300–5450 m deep, and the eastern (outboard) one is 3880–4000 m deep.

A variety of shallow-water reefoid limestones studied by the Kaiko “Nautile” dives not only confirms the similarity in thickness and lithologies, but also establishes an approximate biostratigraphic correlation between the two reefoid caps, based for the first time on the orbitolinid foraminifers (Orbitolina (Mesorbitolina) parva from the western block and O. (M.) texana from the eastern block).

This conclusion supports the interpretation that the present topography of the seamount has resulted from a subduction-induced faulting of a once single reef-capped guyot. A plausible scenario of the fate of a subducting Early Cretaceous guyot in the Western Pacific is outlined as exemplified by the Daiichi-Kashima Seamount.     

Theoretical investigation of the time variation of drainage density

A theoretical equation was developed to express the time variation of drainage density in a basin or geomorphic surface: D_i(t, T) is the drainage density at time T on the i-th basin or geomorphic surface, which was formed at time t; β(τ) is a factor related to the erosional force causing the development of the rivers of the basin or surface at time τ; δ_i is the maximum drainage density; and D_i is the initial drainage density on the i-th geomorphic surface or basin. The equation is based on the assumption that the drainage density increases with time until it reaches a specific upper limit δ_i(t)), the maximum drainage density, which is related to certain physical properties of the basin. The equations for various dated basins or geomorphic surfaces can be combined into one modified equation if the same relative erosional forces have acted on those basins or surfaces (β(t) = β(t) and if the basins or surfaces have the same physical properties δ_i(t) = δ_i(t), (D_i = D₀). The application of this equation to coastal terraces and glacial tills shows that the model is compatible with observed drainage densities on various dated basins or surfaces.     

Composition of aqueous fluid coexisting with mantle minerals at high pressure and its bearing on the differentiation of the Earth’s mantle

In order to understand the role of aqueous fluid on the differentiation of the mantle, the compositions of aqueous fluids coexisting with mantle minerals were investigated in the system MgO-SiO₂-H₂O at pressures of 3 to 10 GPa and temperatures of 1000 to 1500°C with an MA8-type multianvil apparatus. Phase boundaries between the stability fields of forsterite + aqueous fluid, forsterite + enstatite + aqueous fluid, and enstatite + aqueous fluid were determined by varying the bulk composition at constant temperature and pressure. The composition of aqueous fluid coexisting with forsterite and enstatite can be defined by the intersection of these two phase boundaries. The solubility of silicate components in aqueous fluid coexisting with forsterite and enstatite increases with increasing pressure up to 8 GPa, from about 30 wt% at 3 GPa to about 70 wt% at 8 GPa. It becomes almost constant above 8 GPa. The Mg/Si weight ratio of these aqueous fluids is much higher than at low pressure (0.2 at 1.5 GPa) and almost constant (1.2) at pressures between 3 and 8 GPa. At 10 GPa, it becomes about 1.4. Aqueous fluid migrating upward through the mantle can therefore dissolve large amounts of silicates, leaving modified Mg/Si ratios of residual materials. It is suggested that the chemical stratification of Mg/Si in the Earth may have been formed as a result of aqueous fluid migration.     

Decreases in turbidity during neap tides initiate late winter blooms of Eucampia zodiacus in a macrotidal embayment

Eucampia zodiacus Ehrenberg is harmful, as it causes reduction in the quality of the aquacultured Porphyra thalli owing to nutrient depletions during dense blooms in the late winter in the macrotidal Ariake Sea, Japan. To understand the mechanism of bloom development, changes in the abundance of E. zodiacus during a bloom were investigated along vessel transects from February to April 2012. In addition, marine environmental variables were continuously monitored by the Ariake Sea Monitoring Tower, which revealed that turbidity periodically decreased during neap tides. During the 16 February neap tide, a high Secchi depth (4.3 m) was recorded at offshore stations and the Z _1% depth, at which the light intensity attenuates to 1 % of that at the sea surface, exceeded the water depth. On 16 February, the abundance of E. zodiacus was 52–732 cells mL^?1, peaking at 7.0 m depth offshore. Subsequently, abundance increased at all stations. During the 22 February spring tide, abundance became vertically uniform. On 19 March, abundance at the tower reached 3758 cells mL^?1 at the surface. We conclude that an improvement in light conditions in the deeper layer triggered the bloom, although the size and the duration of the bloom were determined by nutrient availability. Thus, decreases in turbidity during neap tides and subsequent strong vertical mixing during spring tides may be instrumental in the population dynamics of the large diatom E. zodiacus in macrotidal environments.     

Statistics of Wind and Waves off Tsuyazaki, Fukuoka, in the Eastern Tsushima Strait

The variability of the sea surface wind and wind waves in the coastal area of the Eastern Tsushima Strait was investigated based on the hourly data from 1990 to 1997 obtained at a station 2 km off Tsuyazaki, Fukuoka. The annual mean wind speed was 4.84 m s⁻¹, with strong northwesterly monsoon in winter and weak southwesterly wind in summer. Significant wave heights and wave periods showed similar sinusoidal seasonal cycles around their annual means of 0.608 m and 4.77 s, respectively. The seasonal variability relative to the annual mean is maximum for wave heights, medium for wind speeds, and minimum for wave periods. Significant wave heights off Tsuyazaki turned out to be bounded by a criterion, which is proportional to the square of the significant wave period corresponding to a constant steepness, irrespective of the season or the wind speed. For terms shorter than a month, the significant wave height and the wave period were found to have the same spectral form as the inshore wind velocity: white for frequencies less than 0.2 day⁻¹ and proportional to the frequency to the −5/3 power for higher frequencies, where the latter corresponds to the inertial subrange of turbulence. The spectral levels of wave heights and wave periods in that inertial range were also correlated with those of the inshore wind velocity, though the scatter was large. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Study on hydraulic characteristics of sabo dam with a flap structure for debris flow

The front part of the flow is very important and complex in the case of debris flow where there is an accumulation of large boulders. It is important to control or dampen the energy of the frontal part of a debris flow for the safety of the downstream area because the impact pressure of debris flow is much greater than that of clear fluid. The main objective of this study is to analyze the hydraulic characteristics of the proposed dam (i.e. closed-type dam with flap). The vertical pressure distribution of this type is compared with conventional dam types. In the experiments, the total pressure associated with major debris flows was recorded in real time by a system consisting of four dynamic pressure sensors installed on different types of dam. The results from experimental data clearly show that the dam with the flap has advantages of capturing the debris flow with large boulders and controls the total pressure by flow circulation due to presence of the flap structure compared to a closed-type dam without flap. Further-more, the empirical coefficients of hydrodynamic and solid collision models were proposed and com-pared with available coefficients.     

Estimation of debris flow discharge coefficient considering sediment concentration

A sabo dam has a purpose to block the path of debris flow. However, when overflow occurs, a sabo dam works as a weir, a vertical obstruction, where the fluid must flow over. Many empirical formulas and discharge coefficients for weirs relating flow depth to discharge have been proposed to calculate overflow discharges. However, only a few studies about overflow discharge coefficients are available in the case of debris flow. In this paper, experiments and numerical simulations were done to estimate debris flow discharge coefficients by considering the sediment concentration. In the numerical simulation, a complete overflow equation and a free overfall equation were implemented to calculate debris overflow discharges at a sabo dam. To determine the discharge coefficients for each equation, single factor regression analysis was used. Laboratory experiments were done to calibrate and to compare with the simulation. Study results showed that the discharge coefficients increase as the sediment concentration increases. This finding suggests debris flow discharge coefficients are derived to calculate the debris overflow discharges at a sabo dam.     

Development of U–Pb dating of uraninite using a secondary ion mass spectrometer: Selection of reference material and establishment of calibration method

A method for U–Pb isotopic dating using secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) was developed for uraninite. Correlation between ²⁵¹(UO)⁺/²³⁵U⁺ and ²⁰⁶Pb⁺/²³⁵U⁺ obtained by a sensitive high‐resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) was adopted for a calibration from secondary ion ratios (Pb⁺/U⁺) to the atomic abundance ratios (Pb/U). In this study, a uraninite sample (²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U = 0.1647) collected from Faraday mine, Bancroft, Canada, is used as a reference material for the U–Pb calibration. The established method was applied to three uraninite samples collected from the Chardon, Ecarpière, and Mistamisk mines. The calibrated ²⁰⁶Pb^*/²³⁸U ratios of the three uraninites show correlation with Pb/U elemental ratios obtained using an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) (correlation coefficients: 0.98, 0.99, and 0.97, respectively), which indicates the reliability of the SHRIMP calibration method used in this study. The analysis of Ecarpière uraninite provides concordant U–Pb data, and a weighted average of the ²⁰⁶Pb^*/²³⁸U age is 287 Ma ±8 Ma (95 % conf.) which is consistent with the previous chronological results by SIMS. Mistamisk uraninite provides discordant U–Pb data with the upper and lower intercept ages of 1 729 and 421 Ma, which correspond to uraninite formation in association with the Hudsonian orogeny and the remobilization of uranium as pitchblende, respectively. The U–Pb age of Chardon uraninite (315 Ma) is consistent with the igneous activity of Mortagne granite, but is older than the previously reported age (264 Ma). Marcasite in the Chardon uraninite altered to goethite under the oxidizing condition, which indicates that U–Pb system in the uraninite crystallized at 315 Ma was disturbed under the oxidizing condition. The established calibration method using Faraday uraninite is useful for U–Pb isotopic dating on the scale of a few micrometers to tens of micrometers, which make it possible to obtain the accurate age of uraninite.     

The New SCIAMACHY Reference Solar Spectral Irradiance and Its Validation

This paper describes a new reference solar spectrum retrieved from measurements of the satellite instrument SCIAMACHY in the wavelength region from \(0.24~\upmu\mbox{m}\) to \(2.4~\upmu\mbox{m}\) and its comparison with several other established solar reference spectra. The SCIAMACHY reference spectrum was recorded early in the mission before substantial optical degradation due to the harsh space environment sets in. The radiometric calibration of SCIAMACHY, applied in this study, includes a physical model of the scanner unit. Furthermore, SCIAMACHY’s internal white light source (WLS) is used to correct for on-ground to in-flight changes. The resultant calibrated solar spectrum from SCIAMACHY is in good agreement with several available solar spectral irradiance (SSI) references in the visible spectral range. Strong throughput losses due to detector icing in the near infrared (NIR) are now adequately accounted for. Nevertheless, a deficit with respect to the ATLAS-3 composite and SORCE/SIM SSI is observed in the NIR. However, the SCIAMACHY solar reference spectrum agrees well with the recently re-evaluated SOLAR/SOLSPEC-ISS and recent ground measurements taken at Mauna Loa in the NIR.