Fate of carbonates within oceanic plates subducted to the lower mantle, and a possible mechanism of diamond formation

We report on high-pressure and high-temperature experiments involving carbonates and silicates at 30–80 GPa and 1,600–3,200 K, corresponding to depths within the Earth of approximately 800–2,200 km. The experiments are intended to represent the decomposition process of carbonates contained within oceanic plates subducted into the lower mantle. In basaltic composition, CaCO₃ (calcite and aragonite), the major carbonate phase in marine sediments, is altered into MgCO₃ (magnesite) via reactions with Mg-bearing silicates under conditions that are 200–300°C colder than the mantle geotherm. With increasing temperature and pressure, the magnesite decomposes into an assemblage of CO₂ + perovskite via reactions with SiO₂. Magnesite is not the only host phase for subducted carbon—solid CO₂ also carries carbon in the lower mantle. Furthermore, CO₂ itself breaks down to diamond and oxygen under geotherm conditions over 70 GPa, which might imply a possible mechanism for diamond formation in the lower mantle.     

Intensity of radiation reflected by a vertically inhomogeneous medium through multiple scattering

To facilitate the computation of the radiative intensity reflected, upon multiple scattering, by a vertically inhomogeneous medium, an implicit formula for integrating the invariant imbedding equation for Fourier-decomposed reflection function is derived starting with the formal solution: the height variations of the single-scattering albedo and the phase function characterizing the degree of inhomogeneity are thereby approximated by piece-wise, but continuous, linear functions of optical height , while the reflection function is approximated by a piece-wise quadratic polynomial in over each integration step. Using these approximations, the integration involved in the formal solution is then carried out analytically, yielding a correctortype formula for finding the reflection function at each step of . It is expected that this formula is capable of handling general cases of inhomogeneous media where both single-scattering albedo and phase function are allowed to vary continuously with height.Similar, but explicit expressions are also derived for the single and the second-order scattering solutions, with which the higher-order Fourier terms of reflection function are to be approximated, thereby enabling us to avoid the iterative process.     

Hα red asymmetry of solar flares

The evolutional characteristics of the red asymmetry of H flare line profiles were studied by means of a quantitative analysis of H flare spectra obtained with the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory. Red-shifted emission streaks of H line are found at the initial phase of almost all flares which occur near the disk center, and are considered to be substantial features of the red asymmetry. It is found that a downward motion in the flare chromospheric region is the cause of the red-shifted emission streak. The downward motion abruptly increases at the onset of a flare, attains its maximum velocity of about 40 to 100 km s^-1 shortly before the impulsive peak of the microwave burst, and rapidly decreases before the intensity of H line reaches its maximum. Referring to the numerical simulations made by Livshits et al. (1981) and Somov et al. (1982), we conclude that the conspicuous red-asymmetry or the red-shifted emission streak of H line is due to the downward motion of the compressed chromospheric flare region produced by the impulsive heating by energetic electron beam or thermal conduction.Contributions from the Kwasan and Hida Observatories, University of Kyoto, No. 258.     

A direct numerical approach to the Chandrasekhar'sH-functions for arbitrary characteristic functions

The purpose of this paper is to present a numerical technique to directly compute the Chandrasekhar'sH ()-function for anisotropic scattering in terms of the roots of the characteristic equations as well as the quadrature points of a certain degreen employed to approximate the definite integral involved in the basic equation. The principal feature of the algorithm proposed here is a compact computer code to enumerate _n C _m combinations ofn distinct integers {1,...,n} takenm at a time. With these quantities available, the coefficients of the polynomial equation of the characteristics equation can be readily computed for any given characteristic function, so that a standard technique such as the Laguerre method can be applied to find all the roots.It is shown that the results obtained for some representativeH()-functions using the present technique with relatively low-order formula (e.g.,n=7) are sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes.     

Literature review of sand transport by wind on a dry sand surface

A critical and comprehensive literature survey of sand transport by wind on a dry sand surface is made from the perspective of engineering use. Principal findings are: (1) Most predictive expressions for the sand transport rate show a cubic dependence on the shear velocity, or obey a similar power law. (2) Some difference is found in the value of the multiplicative empirical coefficient in the various formulas, and much of the scatter may be ascribed to relative trap efficiency. (3) Verification of predictive formulas has mainly rested on laboratory measurements, and reliable but limited field verification has not been made until recently. (4) The laboratory and field data indicate that both the Bagnold and the Kawamura formulas are applicable to a well-sorted sand and can be used for estimation of wind-blown sand transport on dry natural beaches. Modifications have been made for a widely distributed sand and for fluctuating wind velocity.     

In-water algorithms for ADEOS/OCTS

In-water algorithms for OCTS standard products were developed using in situ data and installed for operationally processing at NASDA/EOC. This paper describes the in-water algorithms Version 1.0 for chlorophylla concentration, pigment concentration, and attenuation coefficient at a wavelength of 490 nm. The selected OCTS standard algorithms (Ver. 1.0) are as follows:      

Dispersion and accumulation of radionuclide in sediment of Urazoko Bay-II

Further studies on the transport in sea water and accumulation in marine sediment of the radionuclides, released from a nuclear power plant, on Urazoko Bay, Fukui Prefecture were reported.The partition of radionuclides among the particle size fractions of a sediment sample indicated that the accumulation of⁶⁰Co,¹³⁷Cs and⁵⁴Mn in the sediment were dominated substantially by the sorption on the particle surface in sea water, and the patterns of their sorption were considerably similar to each other.In regard to the⁶⁰Co contamination of marine sediments in an area of about 13 km² around the nuclear power plant, 60% of the⁶⁰Co contamination were retained in Urazoko Bay, which occupies only 7% of the bottom surface of the region.It is clear that a part of⁶⁰Co accumulated in the sediment of Urazoko Bay gradually moved to the outerward.     

Artificial radionuclides in the western Northwest Pacific (I)90Sr and137Cs in the deep waters

⁹⁰Sr and¹³⁷Cs concentrations and their vertical distributions were determined in deep waters in the western Northwest Pacific, including the adjacent seas of Japan, from 1976 to 1979.The profiles of the radionuclides show distribution patterns with two parts with an exponential variation of radioisotope content with depth in both parts.Generally speaking, the inventories of⁹⁰Sr and¹³⁷Cs in the open waters of the northwestern Pacific correspond fairly well to the fallout inputs, but in some circumstances there seems to be considerable removal of radionuclides from the water column or they are diluted with water of lower radioactivity from other regions.The possibility of radioisotope remobilization from the bottom sediment or particulate matter is also discussed.     

Modification of North Pacific Intermediate Water around Mixed Water Region

The mixing processes in the Mixed Water Region (MWR) that lead to changes in the properties of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) have been studied using observational data sets obtained in May–June 1998. Neutral surfaces, the equation of water mass conversion rate on neutral surfaces and the equation of vertical velocity across neutral surfaces have been used to distinguish dominant processes by assuming the horizontal scale to be the streamer scale (under 100 km). The possibility of double diffusive convection is also discussed in relation to the density ratio. These results may be summarized as follows: (1) the difference between the potential density surface and the neutral surface may rise to −0.04 kg/m³ around the source water of NPIW; (2) horizontal diffusion causes strong modifications of the source water of NPIW; (3) the density range within which strong modification of the source water of NPIW occurs becomes dense from the northern part of MWR near the Oyashio Front to the southern part near the Kuroshio Front, and to the eastern part. Our modeling of these processes shows that cabbeling has effects on the density increment of the source water of NPIW in the northern and southern part of MWR. Double diffusive convection has effects on the density increment of the source water of NPIW, mainly in the northern part of MWR. The possible density increment due to cabbeling in these areas is estimated to be 0.01≈0.03 kg/m³. The possible density increment due to double diffusive convection is 0.01≈0.03 kg/m³. The total density increment due to cabbeling and double diffusive convection amounts to 0.06 kg/m³. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Artificial radionuclides in the western Northwest Pacific (II):137Cs and239,240Pu inventories in water and sediment columns observed from 1980 to 1986

Concentrations and inventories of¹³⁷Cs and^239,240Pu were determined in sea waters and sediments columns from the western North Pacific from 1980 to 1986.The^239,240Pu/¹³⁷Cs activity ratio in the water column shows a tendency to increase from the surface (10^–3) to bottom waters (10^–1), but the ratio in sediment is within a rather narrow range (10^–2 to 10^–1), indicating more effective removal of plutonium from the water column than¹³⁷Cs. In regions south of 40N, the radionuclide inventories in the water column significantly exceed the estimated global fallout (stratospheric fallout due to the atmospheric nuclear explosion), especially in the case of^239,240Pu. These excess inventories imply that local or close-in fallout derived from nuclear explosions in the equatorial North Pacific are well-preserved and retained in the regions, despite about 20 years since the atmospheric nuclear explosion moratorium. Data suggesting lateral transport of¹³⁷Cs in surface water from north of 40N to southern regions is shown. Some data on⁹⁰Sr contents are also shown.