Change in seismic activity in the Tokai region related to weakening and strengthening of the interplate coupling

We investigate the relationship between changes in seismicity and crustal deformations in the Tokai region. We describe how seismicity in the subducted slab increased remarkably in the fall of 2000 and decreased in the fall of 2001, while in contrast, the crust seismicity decreased in the fall of 2000 and increased in the fall of 2001. We note that the trend of horizontal displacement at GPS stations changed coincidentally and we propose interpreting the increase and decrease in seismic activities and the changes in crustal deformations in a unified way based on changes in the state of the interplate coupling, i.e., the back-slip rate was reduced in the fall of 2000 and was partially restored in the fall of 2001. We explain why reduction of the back-slip rate increases seismogenic stress in the slab and decreases stress in the crust. We also describe the substantial positive dilatation observed in the region around Mt. Fuji in the fall of 2000 and suggest that the remarkable increase of low-frequency earthquakes beneath Mt. Fuji in October 2000 may have been caused by deceleration of the converging motion of the Izu micro-plate with the Eurasian plate. The decrease of the subduction velocity of the Izu micro-plate on the Suruga Trough in late 2000 would also have contributed to weakening of the interplate coupling beneath the Tokai region, since reduction of the relative velocity between overriding and subducting plates produces the same effect on the plate interface as a diminishing back-slip rate. However, subduction of the Izu micro-plate on the Suruga Trough was accelerated in early 2003, which may have caused increases in both slab and crust seismicities in that period.     

Mussel watch of PCBs and persistent pesticide residues in Perna viridis Linnaeus from Malaysian and Singapore waters

Mussel watch pollution monitoring programmes, performed at six predetermined stations on the Island of Penang, Malaysia, showed that levels of the pollutant pp′-DDE ranged between 3·7 and 17·4 ppb, while PCBs ranged between 99·9 and 599·9 ppb on a dry weight basis. Similar studies on samples from three stations in the Republic of Singapore varied from 7·11 to 8·12 and 139·8 to 256·4 ppb, respectively, for pp′-DDE and PCBs.The study further indicated that other organic chlorinated hydrocarbons were not detectable in this marine bivalve at either locality. Their absence in this instance could be a feature of the tropics, resulting perhaps from a high rate of degradation, purification or a geographical separation between the source of the pollution and the population investigated.     

Characterization of serpentinization in olivine-orthopyroxene-H2O system revealed by thermogravimetric and multivariate statistical analyses

Thermogravimetric (TG) analyses were used to characterize the products and quantify the extent of serpentinization as a stepwise weight loss during heating (TG loss) or its derivative (DTG). Multivariate analyses are powerful tools for extracting information from complicated spectrum data; however, no studies have applied them to characterize serpentinites. In this study, hydrothermal experiments of olivine-H₂O, olivine–orthopyroxene-H₂O and orthopyroxene-H₂O were conducted at 250–400°C and under vapor-saturated pressure. The product minerals observed were serpentine+brucite+magnetite in the olivine-H₂O experiments and serpentine±talc in the orthoyroxene-H₂O and olivine-orthopyroxene-H₂O experiments. These results are consistent with those of previous studies; however, the positions and width of DTG peaks for individual minerals were varied depending on the experimental conditions. To extract systematics from the TG spectra, non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), an unsupervised machine learning technique, was applied to the DTG spectra of the experimental products. NMF revealed that the DTG profiles were explained by a linear combination of six basis spectra, which corresponded to the characteristic products, including three types of serpentine minerals (low-, medium-, and high-T), two types of brucite (low-and high-T), two type of talc (talc+serpentine mixture, well-crystallized talc) with different crystallinity, and noise during the TG measurement. Systematic changes in the factor loading revealed that, in the olivine-H₂O systems, the products changed from medium-T serpentine+low-T brucite to high-T serpentine+high-T brucite as serpentinization progressed. In the olivine-orthopyroxene system, low-T serpentine or poorly crystallized talc+serpentine mixture was initially formed, followed by the formation of well-crystallized talc, resulting in dehydration. Applying NMF to DTG showed the mineralogical differences between olivine and orthopyroxene systems and increases of the crystallinity during the progress of serpentinization, suggesting its potential for characterizing various serpentinites within oceanic lithospheres that suffer from several stages of alteration and weathering at different temperatures.     

搭建地震方法和大地测量方法所检测的慢地震之间的桥梁

最近观测到的异常地震事件——深部低频地震和颤动、甚低频地震及慢滑动事件——形成了慢震群,而这个慢震群受控于不同于普通地震的标定律。根据这个标定律,我们在日本西部的纪伊半岛下方观测到了之前未知的事件,其震源持续时间约20-200s,矩震级为3～4级。这些地震在2～8Hz的频带范围内辐射能量,直接与其地震矩率成比例,但这个比例常数比一般地震小4～5个数量级。这个地区的慢地震可能是由大量的剪切滑动事件组成的,从地震方法上看,总体上会呈现为颤动或长达200s持续时间的较长独立事件,从大地测量方法上看,是慢滑动事件。     

Occurrence conditions of hyperpycnal flows, and their significance for organic-matter sedimentation in a Holocene estuary, Niigata Plain, Central Japan

River floods influence sedimentary environments and ecosystems from the terrestrial to the deep-marine. This study documents the occurrence conditions of hyperpycnal flows generated by river floods and related organic-matter sedimentation for Holocene sediments of the Niigata Plain, Central Japan, based on detailed sedimentary facies, total sulfur and total organic carbon content, diatom assemblages and organic-matter composition. Holocene sediments of the Niigata Plain consist of sand, mud and gravel that were deposited in estuarine and fluvial systems during a sea-level rise (15 000–6800 years BP) and stillstand (after 6800 years BP) following the Last Glacial Maximum. Hyperpycnites are present in the upper part of the estuarine lagoon sediments. The depositional age is considered to be about 5000 years BP. The hyperpycnites comprise two successions of a top fining-up unit and a basal coarsening-up unit, and include abundant terrigenous organic matter and freshwater diatoms. A large volume of freshwater is inferred to have flowed into the lagoon during deposition of the upper part of the lagoon sediments. In consequence, hyperpycnal flows may have readily formed in the lagoon, because the halocline was weak. The hyperpycnal flows also produced a layer of concentrated terrigenous organic matter in the uppermost part of the hyperpycnites. The abundant organic matter on the estuarine floor is inferred to have produced anoxic bottom conditions owing to oxidative decomposition by benthic bacteria.     

Experimental study on countermeasure against liquefaction-induced flotation of manhole using recycled materials packed in sandbags

The 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu earthquake in Japan caused serious damage to sewage facilities such as uplift of manholes and settlement of pavement above backfill soil for pipes. This paper deals with shake table tests in a 1 g gravity field on application of recycled materials for ground improvement to mitigation of liquefaction-induced flotation of manhole during earthquakes. The recycled materials used in tests were tire chips made of waste tires and crushed gravels made of waste reinforced concrete, and they were packed in sandbags. From the test results, it was confirmed that the recycled materials packed in sandbags could be treated as one of the countermeasures to restrain the flotation of manholes and settlement of ground surrounded by sandbags.     

Temporal dynamics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) produced in a microcosm with red tide forming algae <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chattonella marina</Emphasis> and its associated bacteria

Acute and severe hypoxia associated with harmful algal bloom has become one of the major causes for the environmental deterioration of coastal areas. Although it is generally thought that a large part of the dissolved oxygen consumption at a bloom site is initiated by heterotrophic bacteria that attack organic matter derived from dead or dying algal cells, precise microbial processes leading to the hypoxia are yet to be examined. Here we show temporal dynamics of extracellular dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of the red tide forming raphidophyte Chattonella marina and bacterial populations associating with the algae under laboratory conditions. During the growth of non-axenic strains of C. marina, we monitored abundance of algae, associated bacteria, and DOC in the culture media. Bacterial cell abundance increased in response to the increase in DOC both at the beginning and the late log phase of the algal growth. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that transient increase in the percentage of respiratory-active bacterial cells also coincided with the timing of the increase in bacterial abundance and DOC. These results strongly suggest that DOC released from growing C. marina fuels respiration and growth of planktonic bacteria surrounding the algae. This has implications for the role of DOC released from C. marina bloom before the collapse in mediating interactions between neighboring algae and bacterial assemblage which may eventually lead to algal bloom-associated hypoxia.