Spectroscopic properties of Cr-doped and Cr,Li-doped synthetic forsterite crystals

Cr-droped and Cr,Li-doped forsterite crystals were grown and their optical properties were investigated. It was shown that when only Cr is doped, Cr³⁺ is substituted at the site of low crystal field, and the energy level ²E lie above the ⁴T₂ level, while ⁴T₂ is just above ²E when Cr and Li are codoped. The difference was rationalized by a deformation of the Cr substituted site with the introduction of Li.     

The SP_PREP Data Preparation Package for the Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter

The Hinode/Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) is the first space-borne precision spectro-polarimeter for the study of solar phenomena. It is primarily intended for measuring the solar photospheric vector magnetic field at high spatial and spectral resolution. This objective requires that the data are calibrated and conditioned to a high degree of precision. We describe how the calibration package SP_PREP for the SP operates.     

Identification of yield drift deformations and evaluation of the degree of damage through the direct sensing of drift displacements

Inter‐story drift displacement data can provide useful information for story damage assessment. The authors' research group has developed photonic‐based sensors for the direct measurement of inter‐story drift displacements. This paper proposes a scheme for evaluating the degree of damage in a building structure based on drift displacement sensing. The scheme requires only measured inter‐story drift displacements without any additional finite element analysis. A method for estimating yield drift deformation is proposed, and then, the degree of beam end damage is evaluated based on the plastic deformation ratios derived with the yield drift deformation values estimated by the proposed method. The validity and effectiveness of the presented scheme are demonstrated via experimental data from a large‐scale shaking table test of a one‐third‐scale model of an 18‐story steel building structure conducted at E‐Defense. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Baroclinic circulation and its high frequency variability in Otsuchi Bay on the Sanriku ria coast,Japan

Hydrographic observations were made in Otsuchi Bay on the Sanriku ria coast, Japan, to provide clear images of the baroclinic circulation extending over the bay together with the associated intrusion of lower-layer water (bottom water) from outside the bay. In summer, a prominent baroclinic circulation with flow speeds \({>} 0.1\ \text{ m }\ \text{ s }^{-1} \) extends over the greater part of the bay. A main pycnocline (thermocline), which separates the upper and lower layers, is located at a depth of 15–40 m in and around the bay. The direction of the lower-layer flow (inflow into and outflow from the bay) is opposite to that of the upper-layer flow, which are baroclinically coupled to each other. Moreover, with regard to the lower-layer flow, the inflow tends to occur mainly through the northwestern part of the bay mouth, whereas the outflow tends to occur mainly through the southeastern part. The inflow and outflow alternate on time scales of several to a few tens of hours, and the flow directions are sometimes related to the tidal ones, although the relationship is not applied persistently. In winter, the baroclinic circulation is considerably weaker than in summer, because the stratification breaks down.     

Origin of the Moon — Capture by gas drag of the Earth's primordial atmosphere

We propose a new scenario of the lunar origin, which is a natural extension of planetary formation processes studied so far by us in Kyoto. According to these studies, the Earth grew up in a gaseous solar nebula and, consequently, the sphere of its gravitational influence (i.e., the Hill sphere of the Earth) was filled by a gas forming a dense primordial atmosphere of the Earth. In the later stages, this atmosphere as well as the solar nebula was dissipated gradually, owing to strong activities of the early-Sun in a T Tauri-stage.In the present and the subsequent papers, we study a series of dynamical processes where a lowenergy (i.e., slightly unbound) planetisimal is trapped within the terrestrial Hill sphere, under the above-mentioned circumstances that the gas density of the primordial atmosphere is gradually decreasing. It is clear that two conditions must be satisfied for the lunar origin: first, an unbound planetesimal entering the Hill sphere have to dissipate its kinetic energy and come into a bound orbit before it escapes from the Hill sphere and, second, the bound planetisimal never falls onto the surface of the Earth.In this paper we study the first condition by calculating the oribital motion of a planetesimal in the Hill sphere, which is affected both by solar gravity and by atmospheric gas drag. The results show that a low-energy planetisimal with the lunar mass or less can be trapped in the Hill sphere with a high probability, if it enters the Hill sphere at stages before the atmospheric density is decreased to about 1/50 of the initial value.In the subsequent paper, the second condition will be studied and it will be shown that a tidal force, among other forces, is very important for a trapped planetesimal to avoid collision with the Earth and stay eternally in the Hill sphere as a satellite.     

Studies on critical Reynolds number indices for wind-tunnel experiments on flow within urban areas

Reynolds-number dependence of flow fields within a modelled urban area was studied in a wind tunnel. We measured flow around a single model building and around model city blocks at various wind speeds, and studied Reynolds number indices more appropriate than the building Reynolds number. Our results led to the following conclusions. Firstly, the flow around the models in the wind tunnel was roughly divided into three parts according to the intensities of viscous stress and Reynolds stress as follows: (1) the flow in the vicinity of the ground or the surfaces of the model, where viscous stress became dominant under certain conditions; (2) the flow detached from the surfaces of the model, where Reynolds stress was always dominant; and (3) the flow around the separation bubble at the leading edge of the building model, where the influences of both viscous stress near the wall and the Reynolds stress in the separated boundary layer were mixed.Secondly, the critical Reynolds number of the flow in the modelled urban area could be defined by using both the roughness Reynolds number Re_z0 (= z₀u_*/) and the dimensionless height z₊ (= zu_*/). Reynolds-number independence could be expected for whole flow fields in the modelled urban areas as long as the critical values of Re_z0 and z₊ were satisfied.     

Anomalous Rayleigh-Wave Propagation Along Oceanic Trench

A clear later phase of amplitude larger than the direct surface wave packet was observed at stations in Hokkaido, Japan, for several events of the December 1991 off-Urup earthquake swarm in the Kuril Islands region. From its particle motion, this phase is likely to be a fundamental Rayleigh wave packet that arrived with an azimuth largely deviated from each great-circle direction. As its origin, Nakanishi (1992) proposed that the sea-trench topography in this area as deep as 10 km may produce a narrow zone of low velocity for Rayleigh waves of periods around 15 sec. Following this idea, we compute ray paths and estimate how Rayleigh waves would propagate if we assume that lateral velocity variations are caused only by seafloor topography. We confirm that thick sea water in the trench indeed produces the phase velocity of Rayleigh waves to be smaller than in a surrounding area by the degree over 100%. Such a low-velocity zone appears only in a period range from 12 to 20 sec. Although this strong low-velocity zone disturbs the direction of Rayleigh wave propagation from its great circle, the overall ray paths are not so affected as far as an epicentre is outside this low-velocity zone, that is, off the trench axis. In contrast, the majority of rays are severely distorted for an event within the low-velocity zone or, in other words, in the neighborhood of the trench axis. For such an event, a part of wave energy appears to be trapped in this zone and eventually propagates outwards due to the curvature or bend of trench geometry, resulting in very late arriving waves of large amplitude with an incident direction clearly different from great circles. This phenomenon is observed only at a very limited period range around 16 sec. These theoretical results are consistent with the above mentioned observation of Nakanishi (1992).     

A crack-like rupture model for the 19 September 1985 Michoacan,Mexico, earthquake

Evidence supporting a smooth crack-like rupture process of the Michoacan earthquake of 1985 is obtained from a major earthquake for the first time. Digital strong motion data from three stations (Caleta de Campos, La Villita, and La Union), recording near-field radiation from the fault, show unusually simple ramped displacements and permanent offsets previously only seen in theoretical models. The recording of low frequency (0 to 1 Hz) near-field waves together with the apparently smooth rupture favors a crack-like model to a step or Haskell-type dislocation model under the constraint of the slip distribution obtained by previous studies. A crack-like rupture, characterized by an approximated dynamic slip function and systematic decrease in slip duration away from the point of rupture nucleation, produces the best fit to the simple ramped displacements observed. Spatially varying rupture duration controls several important aspects of the synthetic seismograms, including the variation in displacement rise times between components of motion observed at Caleta de Campos. Ground motion observed at Caleta de Campos can be explained remarkably well with a smoothly propagating crack model. However, data from La Villita and La Union suggest a more complex rupture process than the simple crack-like model for the south-eastern portion of the fault.     

Relationship between growth of albite porphyroblasts and deformation in a sambagawa schist, Central Shikoku, Japan

Albite porphyroblasts in a basic schist of the Sambagawa metamorphic belt (Besshi—Bashi, Central Shikoku) show zonal variation of inclusions defined by inclusion-free mantles and inclusion-rich cores, though matrix minerals are partly incorporated in the outer zones of the mantles. From comparison of the crystallographic and dimensional fabrics of inclusion and matrix epidote, it has been concluded that the orientation of the principal axes of strain was different for the deformation of matrix fabrics and inclusion fabrics (fabrics produced before formation of cores). Inclusion amphibole in the cores belongs to the actinolite—common hornblende group, with Si content more than 7.0, whereas amphibole in the matrix and outer zones of mantles belongs to the common hornblende group, with Si content less than 7.1. This shows that the metamorphic temperature was higher during the phase of formation of the outer zones of the mantles than during that of the cores. The average direction of maximum growth of the mantles, which has been estimated from differences between the average shapes of porphyroblasts and those of cores, is parallel to the linear orientation of amphibole and epidote in the matrix. The average direction of minimum growth of the mantles coincides with the normal to the schistosity of the matrix. The mantles appear to be of the same generation as the matrix fabrics.