Discovery of Jurassic ammonoids from the Shyok suture zone to the northeast of Chang La Pass, Ladakh, northwest India and its tectonic significance

Abstract   Callovian (late Middle Jurassic) ammonoids Macrocephalites and Jeanneticeras were recovered from the Shyok suture zone, northeast of Chang La Pass, Ladakh, northwest India. They are the first reliable Jurassic fossils and the oldest chronologic data from the Shyok suture zone. The ammonoid-bearing Jurassic strata, newly defined as the Tsoltak Formation, consist largely of terrigenous mudstone with thin sandstone beds and were probably a part of the continental basement to the Cretaceous Ladakh Arc.     

A Perspective on Water Resources in China: Interactions between Climate Change and Soil Degradation

Water is one of the most critical resources in China. Climate change and soil degradation will be two major, interrelated environmental challenges faced by managers of water resources in coming decades. In this study, we used a water-balance model and updated databases to assess the interacting impacts of climate change and soil degradation on Chinas future water resources. We plotted the spatial pattern of changes in actual and potential evapotranspiration, soil moisture deficits, and surface runoff across China in the 2020s using a resolution of 0.5° latitude and longitude under scenarios based on climate change, soil degradation, and a combination of the two. The results showed that climate change would affect the magnitude and spatial pattern of water resources on a national scale. Some regions in central, southwestern, and northeastern China would become more vulnerable to disastrous drought and floods as a result of soil degradation. Under the combined impacts of climate change and soil degradation, soil moisture deficits would increase most in central, western, and southwestern China; surface runoff would increase most in southeastern China. More detailed process-based models are needed to capture feedback mechanisms more effectively.     

Ultraviolet-background-induced bifurcation of galactic morphology

Based upon a novel paradigm of galaxy formation under the influence of an ultraviolet background, the evolutionary bifurcation of pre-galactic clouds is compared with observations of elliptical and spiral galaxies. The theory predicts that the dichotomy between dissipational and dissipationless galaxy formation stems from the degree of self-shielding from the ultraviolet background radiation. This is demonstrated on a bifurcation diagram of collapse epochs versus masses of pre-galactic clouds. Using the observed properties, the collapse epochs and mass are assessed for each type of galaxy . By direct comparison of the theory with observations, it turns out that the theoretical bifurcation branch successfully discriminates between elliptical and spiral galaxies. This suggests that the ultraviolet background radiation could play a profound role in the differentiation of galactic morphology into the Hubble sequence.     

Phytoremediation of heavy metal‐contaminated water and sediment by Eleocharis acicularis

Phytoremediation is an environmental remediation technique that takes advantage of plant physiology and metabolism. The unique property of heavy metal hyperaccumulation by the macrophyte Eleocharis acicularis is of great significance in the phytoremediation of water and sediments contaminated by heavy metals at mine sites. In this study, a field cultivation experiment was performed to examine the applicability of E. acicularis to the remediation of water contaminated by heavy metals. The highest concentrations of heavy metals in the shoots of E. acicularis were 20 200 mg Cu/kg, 14 200 mg Zn/kg, 1740 mg As/kg, 894 mg Pb/kg, and 239 mg Cd/kg. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb in the shoots correlate with their concentrations in the soil in a log‐linear fashion. The bioconcentration factor for these elements decreases log‐linearly with increasing concentration in the soil. The results indicate the ability of E. acicularis to hyperaccumulate Cu, Zn, As, and Cd under natural conditions, making it a good candidate species for the phytoremediation of water contaminated by heavy metals.     

Broadband Ground Motion Reconstruction for the Kanto Basin during the 1923 Kanto Earthquake

Ground motions of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake inside the Kanto Basin are numerically simulated in a wide frequency range (0?C10?Hz) based on new knowledge of the earthquake??s source processes, the sedimentary structure of the basin, and techniques for generating broadband source models of great earthquakes. The Kanto Earthquake remains one of the most important exemplars for ground motion prediction in Japan due to its size, faulting geometry, and location beneath the densely populated Kanto sedimentary basin. We reconstruct a broadband source model of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake from inversion results by introducing small-scale heterogeneities. The corresponding ground motions are simulated using a hybrid technique comprising the following four calculations: (1) low-frequency ground motion of the engineering basement, modeled using a finite difference method; (2) high-frequency ground motion of the engineering basement, modeled using a stochastic Green??s function method; (3) total ground motion of the engineering basement (i.e. 1?+?2); and (4) ground motion at the surface in response to the total basement ground motion. We employ a recently developed three-dimensional (3D) velocity structure model of the Kanto Basin that incorporates prospecting data, microtremor observations and measurements derived from strong ground motion records. Our calculations reveal peak ground velocities (PGV) exceeding 50?cm/s in the area above the fault plane: to the south, where the fault plane is shallowest, PGV reaches 150?C200?cm/s at the engineering basement and 200?C250?cm/s at the surface. Intensity 7, the maximum value in the Japan Meteorological Agency??s intensity scale, is calculated to have occurred widely in Sagami Bay, which corresponds well with observed house-collapse rates due to the 1923 event. The modeling reveals a pronounced forward directivity effect for the area lying above the southern, shallow part of the fault plane. The high PGV and intensity seen above the southeastern corner of the fault plane and further east are largely due to this effect. Waveforms above the fault plane contain both short- and long-period components, but the short-period components are not observed further afield. Away from the fault, long-period waves (>2?s) dominate the ground motion, and in areas where the base of the third layer is relatively deep, the predominant period is >5?s. Levels of long-period ground motion in the southern part of the study area, around Sagami Bay and the southern parts of Boso Peninsula and Tokyo Bay, exceed that recorded at Tomakomai during the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, when large oil storage tanks collapsed in response to sloshing generated by strong long-period motions.     

Life‐cycle reliability of RC bridge piers under seismic and airborne chloride hazards

Over the last two decades, the probabilistic assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures under seismic hazard has been developed rapidly. However, little attention has been devoted to the assessment of the seismic reliability of corroded structures. For the life‐cycle assessment of RC structures in a marine environment and earthquake‐prone regions, the effect of corrosion due to airborne chlorides on the seismic capacity needs to be taken into consideration. Also, the effect of the type of corrosive environment on the seismic capacity of RC structures has to be quantified. In this paper, the evaluation of the displacement ductility capacity based on the buckling model of longitudinal rebars in corroded RC bridge piers is established, and a novel computational procedure to integrate the probabilistic hazard associated with airborne chlorides into life‐cycle seismic reliability assessment of these piers is proposed. The seismic demand depends on the results of seismic hazard assessment, whereas the deterioration of seismic capacity depends on the hazard associated with airborne chlorides. In an illustrative example, an RC bridge pier was modeled as single degree of freedom (SDOF). The longitudinal rebars buckling of this pier was considered as the sole limit state when estimating its failure probability. The findings show that the life‐cycle reliability of RC bridge piers depends on both the seismic and airborne chloride hazards, and that the cumulative‐time failure probabilities of RC bridge piers located in seismic zones can be dramatically affected by the effect of airborne chlorides. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do Solar Coronal Holes Affect the Properties of Solar Energetic Particle Events?

The intensities and timescales of gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) events at 1 AU may depend not only on the characteristics of shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), but also on large-scale coronal and interplanetary structures. It has long been suspected that the presence of coronal holes (CHs) near the CMEs or near the 1-AU magnetic footpoints may be an important factor in SEP events. We used a group of 41 E≈ 20 MeV SEP events with origins near the solar central meridian to search for such effects. First we investigated whether the presence of a CH directly between the sources of the CME and of the magnetic connection at 1 AU is an important factor. Then we searched for variations of the SEP events among different solar wind (SW) stream types: slow, fast, and transient. Finally, we considered the separations between CME sources and CH footpoint connections from 1 AU determined from four-day forecast maps based on Mount Wilson Observatory and the National Solar Observatory synoptic magnetic-field maps and the Wang–Sheeley–Arge model of SW propagation. The observed in-situ magnetic-field polarities and SW speeds at SEP event onsets tested the forecast accuracies employed to select the best SEP/CH connection events for that analysis. Within our limited sample and the three analytical treatments, we found no statistical evidence for an effect of CHs on SEP event peak intensities, onset times, or rise times. The only exception is a possible enhancement of SEP peak intensities in magnetic clouds.     

Hayabusa‐returned sample curation in the Planetary Material Sample Curation Facility of JAXA

Abstract– The Planetary Material Sample Curation Facility of JAXA (PMSCF/JAXA) was established in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan, to curate planetary material samples returned from space in conditions of minimum terrestrial contaminants. The performances for the curation of Hayabusa‐returned samples had been checked with a series of comprehensive tests and rehearsals. After the Hayabusa spacecraft had accomplished a round‐trip flight to asteroid 25143 Itokawa and returned its reentry capsule to the Earth in June 2010, the reentry capsule was brought back to the PMSCF/JAXA and was put to a series of processes to extract recovered samples from Itokawa. The particles recovered from the sample catcher were analyzed by electron microscope, given their ID, grouped into four categories, and preserved in dimples on quartz slide glasses. Some fraction of them has been distributed for initial analyses at NASA, and will be distributed for international announcement of opportunity (AO), but a certain fraction of them will be preserved in vacuum for future analyses.