Abundance and biomass of scyphomedusae, Aurelia aurita and Chrysaora melanaster, and Ctenophora, Bolinopsis mikado, with estimates of their feeding impact on zooplankton in Tokyo Bay, Japan

The abundance of a scyphomedusae, Aurelia aurita and Chrysaora melanaster, and a ctenophore, Bolinopsis mikado, in Tokyo Bay was investigated from 1995 to 1997. Aurelia aurita appeared throughout the year with a peak in abundance occurring from spring to summer. The average abundance and biomass during this period for the three successive years was 4.8, 43.8 and 3.2 ind. m⁻², and 1.02, 10.0 and 0.42 gC m⁻², respectively. The values in 1995 and 1997 were comparable with those previously reported for A. aurita abundance from 1990 to 1992. Values were very high in 1996, but the size composition of the bell diameter did not differ from other years, which suggested the absence of food limitation for A. aurita in 1996. C. melanaster was scarce over the survey period (<1.0 ind. m⁻²) while Bolinopsis mikado was more abundant during September to December, with maximum values of 172 ind. m⁻² and 0.33 gC m⁻² observed in December 1997. The weight-specific clearance rate for A. aurita on zooplankton (mainly copepods and their nauplii) was 0.16 ± 0.05 lgWW⁻¹ h⁻¹ (n = 13). Population clearance rate peaked from spring to summer, with average levels of 14.2%, 162% and 5.0% day⁻¹ obtained from spring to summer for respective years. Population clearance rates for B. mikado, calculated based on minimum carbon requirements, was 7.1% day⁻¹ in December 1997. Consequently, the trophic role of gelatinous zooplankton as predators in Tokyo Bay is important all the year round, considering the high impact of A. aurita from spring to summer and B. mikado from autumn to winter.     

Stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basin induced by mantle diapiric upwelling and eustatic event

The stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basin provides important constraints on the rheological structure of the upper mantle and the crust, eustatic events and tectonic movements. In this study, we examined the convective coupling between the uppermost mantle and ductile lower crust as a formation mechanism of sedimentary basins. In this mechanism, the lower crust is squeezed by the upper mantle flow associated with mantle diapiric upwelling, resulting in the surface subsidence and formation of sedimentary basin. We investigated the stratigraphic architecture by taking into account the horizontal migration of the upwelling in time and spatial domains. The sedimentary basin is characterized by both the thickness and formation period for its gross feature and the sequence stratigraphy. The decay of the upwelling causes the surface uplift, and some parts of sediments deposited during the surface subsidence are consequently eroded. The subsidence area moves as the activity of upwelling horizontally migrates, resulting in the formation of unconformity for the uplifted and eroded area over the previous upwelling. We also incorporated the effects of third order eustasy, with amplitude of 100 m and period of 1 Myr, into convective coupling model. An application of our model to Karatsu-Sasebo coalfield in the Tertiary of the northwest Kyushu, Japan, indicates that the stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basin including two effects, i.e. convective coupling and eustasy, may provide important information about the viscosity structure of the lower crust and uppermost mantle and spatio-temporal growth and decay histories of the mantle diapiric upwelling.     

Very high-density carbonic fluid inclusions in sapphirine-bearing granulites from Tonagh Island in the Archean Napier Complex, East Antarctica: implications for CO2 infiltration during ultrahigh-temperature (T>1,100 °C) metamorphism

The ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism of the Napier Complex is characterized by the presence of dry mineral assemblages, the stability of which requires anhydrous conditions. Typically, the presence of the index mineral orthopyroxene in more than one lithology indicates that H₂O activities were substantially low. In this study, we investigate a suite of UHT rocks comprising quartzo-feldspathic garnet gneiss, sapphirine granulite, garnet-orthopyroxene gneiss, and magnetite-quartz gneiss from Tonagh Island. High Al contents in orthopyroxene from sapphirine granulite, the presence of an equilibrium sapphirine-quartz assemblage, mesoperthite in quartzo-feldspathic garnet gneiss, and an inverted pigeonite-augite assemblage in magnetite-quartz gneiss indicate that the peak temperature conditions were higher than 1,000 °C. Petrology, mineral phase equilibria, and pressure-temperature computations presented in this study indicate that the Tonagh Island granulites experienced maximum P-T conditions of up to 9 kbar and 1,100 °C, which are comparable with previous P-T estimates for Tonagh and East Tonagh Islands. The textures and mineral reactions preserved by these UHT rocks are consistent with an isobaric cooling (IBC) history probably following an counterclockwise P-T path. We document the occurrence of very high-density CO₂-rich fluid inclusions in the UHT rocks from Tonagh Island and characterize their nature, composition, and density from systematic petrographic and microthermometric studies. Our study shows the common presence of carbonic fluid inclusions entrapped within sapphirine, quartz, garnet and orthopyroxene. Analysed fluid inclusions in sapphirine, and some in garnet and quartz, were trapped during mineral growth at UHT conditions as 'primary' inclusions. The melting temperatures of fluids in most cases lie in the range of -56.3 to -57.2 °C, close to the triple point for pure CO₂ (-56.6 °C). The only exceptions are fluid inclusions in magnetite-quartz gneiss, which show slight depression in their melting temperatures (-56.7 to -57.8 °C) suggesting traces of additional fluid species such as N₂ in the dominantly CO₂-rich fluid. Homogenization of pure CO₂ inclusions in the quartzo-feldspathic garnet gneiss, sapphirine granulite, and garnet-orthopyroxene gneiss occurs into the liquid phase at temperatures in the range of -34.9 to +4.2 °C. This translates into very high CO₂ densities in the range of 0.95-1.07 g/cm³. In the garnet-orthopyroxene gneiss, the composition and density of inclusions in the different minerals show systematic variation, with highest homogenization temperatures (lowest density) yielded by inclusions in garnet, as against inclusions with lowest homogenization (high density) in quartz. This could be a reflection of continued recrystallization of quartz with entrapment of late fluids along the IBC path. Very high-density CO₂ inclusions in sapphirine associated with quartz in the Tonagh Island rocks provide potential evidence for the involvement of CO₂-rich fluids during extreme crustal temperatures associated with UHT metamorphism. The estimated CO₂ isochores for sapphirine granulite intersect the counterclockwise P-T trajectory of Tonagh Island rocks at around 6-9 kbar at 1,100 °C, which corresponds to the peak metamorphic conditions of this terrane derived from mineral phase equilibria, and the stability field of sapphirine + quartz. Therefore, we infer that CO₂ was the dominant fluid species present during the peak metamorphism in Tonagh Island, and interpret that the fluid inclusions preserve traces of the synmetamorphic fluid from the UHT event. The stability of anhydrous minerals, such as orthopyroxene, in the study area might have been achieved by the lowering of H₂O activity through the influx of CO₂ at peak metamorphic conditions (>1,100 °C). Our microthermometric data support a counterclockwise P-T path for the Napier Complex.     

BSRs and Associated Reflections as an Indicator of Gas Hydrate and Free Gas Accumulation: An Example of Accretionary Prism and Forearc Basin System along the Nankai Trough, off Central Japan

Abstract. Multi-channel seismic data obtained from the Nankai accretionary prism and forearc basin system has been studied to elucidate the migration and accumulation process of gas to the BGHS and examine the distribution pattern of BSRs and characteristic reflections associated with them.
BSRs are distributed widely in the Nankai accretionary prism and associated forearc basins (33,000 km²) and 90 % of them have migration and recycling origins. The widest distribution of the BSRs can be seen at the prism. A correlation between the BSR distributions and prism size shows that the BSRs tend to be more well-developed in a prism of large size. This suggests that a large prism may produce much amount of gas-bearing fluids that migrate to the BGHS and form the BSRs (tectonic control), hi the forearc basins, the BSRs are identified at topographic highs, anticlines and basin margins (structural control).
The upward migration of gas-bearing fluids is carried out through permeable sand layers and as a result, the distribution of BSRs is confined to alternating beds of sand and mud facies (sedimentary control). However, if there is enough time for upward migration and accumulation of gas to the BGHS, the BSRs can be generated widely in low-permeable mud facies (time control).
Those results imply that structural, tectonic, sedimentary and time controls are primary factors to decide the distribution of BSRs in the Nankai Trough area.