Simple monitoring method for precaution of landslides watching tilting and water contents on slopes surface

A low-cost and simple monitoring method for early warning of landslides is proposed. To detect abnormal deformation of a slope, this method employs a tilt sensor in place of an extensometer on the slope surface. In order to examine the relevance of measuring rotation angle on a slope surface by tilt sensor, model tests were conducted, and rotation on the slope surface was observed together with slide displacement along the surface. The rotation data responded 30 min before failure in a model test, which could be useful as a signal for early warning. However, the behavior of rotation before failure varies from case to case, and thus, criteria to issue warning should be defined more carefully. For a model slope made of uniform loose sand, measurement of slide displacement along the slope surface is sensitive to failure at the toe, while the measurement of rotation on the slope surface is useful to detect the development of progressive failure upward along the slope. Wireless sensor units with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) tilt sensor and volumetric water content sensor were also examined on a real slope in Kobe City, and a long-term monitoring was attempted. A simple but possible way to define the criteria of judgment to issue warning can be proposed based on combination of data obtained by the tilt sensors and volumetric water content sensors.     

Bifurcation of barotropic flow and homogenization of potential vorticity in a rotating laboratory model

Laboratory experiments with a rotating tank confirm the bifurcation character of a barotropic flow driven by an inflow and an outflow described by Sakai (1986). The model, a circular basin with a topographic β-effect, simulates a mid-latitude oceanic feature. At a low Rossby number, stationary Rossby waves are observed which are symmetrical with a line connecting the inlet and the outlet. As the Rossby number increases, a bifurcation occurs and two kinds of vortex flows are observed. In the vortex, potential vorticity is almost uniform. In addition to the two vortex flows, a jet-like inertial flow can also be observed. In general, thre results of these experiments agree well with those of a low-order model and a numerical model.     

Effects of structural walls on the elastic–plastic earthquake responses of frame–wall buildings

Effects of structural walls on the elastic–plastic earthquake response of short- to medium-height reinforced concrete buildings were investigated. The analytical model consists of independent lumped mass systems representing walls and frames connected at each floor. The wall structure undergoes flexural as well as shear deformation and fails in shear at relatively small story drifts, the frames deforming only in shear. As a measure of structural damage, the ductility factor responses of frame structures were calculated for different combinations of base shear coefficients for the frames and walls. In buildings with relatively weak frames, the installation of structural walls did not improve the large plastic response of the frames up to the point where the walls were unfailed in shear and the ductility factors of the frame structure were suddenly reduced to a very small number. For relatively strong frames, however, the response displacements decreased gradually as the number of walls increased, whether or not the walls failed. Empirical formulas for the required base shear coefficients of the walls and frames which gave a target ductility factor response also were derived for two particular groups of accelerograms. These equations should be of practical use in designing frame-wall type buildings and in retrofitting damaged buildings. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sound velocity measurements in dhcp-FeH up to 70 GPa with inelastic X-ray scattering: Implications for the composition of the Earth's core

We have determined the density evolution of the sound velocity of dhcp-FeH_x (x ≈ 1) up to 70 GPa at room temperature, by inelastic X-ray scattering and by X-ray diffraction. We find that the variation of V_P with density is different for the ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic dhcp-FeH_x, and that only nonmagnetic dhcp-FeH_x follows Birch's law. Combining our results with Birch's law for iron and assuming an ideal two-component mixing model, we obtain an upper bound of the hydrogen content in the Earth's inner core, 0.23(6) wt.% H, corresponding to FeH_0.13(3). The iron alloy with 0.23(6) wt.% H can satisfy the density, and compressional and shear sound velocities of the PREM inner core, assuming that there are no other light elements in the inner core.     

The role of crabs (Macrophthalmus japonicus) burrows on organic carbon cycle in estuarine tidal flat,Japan

The objective of this study is to elucidate the burrow structure and to clarify the role of burrows in material cycle in the tidal flat. In our work, we focused on the dominant species in muddy tidal flat, crab Macrophthalmus japonicus.Burrow structure of Macrophthalmus japonicus was investigated on a Katsuura river tidal flat in Tokushima prefecture, Japan, using in situ resin casting. Sampling was conducted in August 2006, and a total of 48 burrow casts were obtained. Burrows consisted mainly of J-shaped structures (98%) while the rest belonged to U-shaped structures (2%). The maximum measured burrow volume was 120 cm³ and wall surface area was 224 cm², while maximum burrow length and depth were 23.2 cm and 16.5 cm, respectively. Burrow volume and surface area were strongly correlated with carapace width of M. japonicus. Investigation of the individual number of M. japonicus in 13 quadrats (50 × 50 × 20 cm) was conducted using 2 mm sieve. The number of M. japonicus was 15–31 ind./m². Using cohort analysis we estimated that surface area of burrows was 0.07–0.15 m²/m².CO₂ emission rate was measured at the surface sediment during the period from June to December 2008. Results varied from 13.8 ± 2.2 to 49.4 ± 3.2 mg CO₂/m²/h, and organic carbon decomposition was 3.8 ± 0.6–13.5 ± 0.9 mg C/m²/h. This leads the increase of organic carbon decomposition by 1.1 times, because of the expansion of the tidal flat surface area by burrowing activity. Organic carbon decomposition in burrow walls therefore contributed to organic matter decomposition in the tidal flat. These results indicated that in situ activities of Macrophthalmus japonicus significantly influence the material cycle and it is important to consider the existence of burrow in order to understand the fluxes of materials and to evaluate the purification function of the tidal flat.     

Unstable forearc stress in the eastern Nankai subduction zone for the last 2 million years

Transpressional tectonics characterizes the SW Japan arc. However, we will show in this article that offshore seismic profiles and onshore mesoscale faults indicate that the eastern part of the forearc was subject to transtensional tectonics since ca. 2.0 Ma. Offshore normal faults imaged on the profiles run parallel to the Nankai Trough, and started activity at 1.0 Ma, but transtensional tectonics commenced the onshore area earlier. In order to understand the stress history in the forearc region, we collected fault-slip data from onshore mesoscale faults in Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary rocks in the Kakegawa area at the northeastern extension of the offshore normal faults. Most of the mesoscale faults are oblique-normal, indicating that the area was subject to transtensional tectonics. The faults suggest that the compressional tectonic regime was followed by the transtensional one at 2.0 Ma, in agreement with regional tectonostratigraphic data, which indicate that folding ceased at that time. Present compressional stress followed the transtensional tectonic regime sometime in the late Pleistocene. Transtensional or extensional tectonic zone shifted from the Kakegawa area to the offshore region.These observations indicate that the state of stress just behind the accretionary prism of the eastern Nankai subduction zone has been unstable in the last 2 million years, suggesting that the forearc wedge has been at critical state in that gravitational force and basal shear traction on the wedge have been balanced, but the forearc tectonics has been susceptible to small perturbations. Possible factors compatible with the observed stress history include the change of subduction direction of the plate at 1.0 Ma, and the rapid uplift of Central Japan thereafter.     

Geology of the summit limestone of Mount Qomolangma (Everest) and cooling history of the Yellow Band under the Qomolangma detachment

Abstract   Newly discovered peloidal limestone from the summit of Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest) contains skeletal fragments of trilobites, ostracods and crinoids. They are small pebble-sized debris interbedded in micritic bedded limestone of the Qomolangma Formation, and are interpreted to have been derived from a bank margin and redeposited in peri-platform environments. An exposure of the Qomolangma detachment at the base of the first step (8520 m), on the northern slope of Mount Qomolangma was also found. Non-metamorphosed, strongly fractured Ordovician limestone is separated from underlying metamorphosed Yellow Band by a sharp fault with a breccia zone. The ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages of muscovite from the Yellow Band show two-phase metamorphic events of approximately 33.3 and 24.5 Ma. The older age represents the peak of a Barrovian-type Eo-Himalayan metamorphic event and the younger age records a decompressional high-temperature Neo-Himalayan metamorphic event. A muscovite whole-rock ⁸⁷Rb–⁸⁶Sr isochron of the Yellow Band yielded 40.06 ± 0.81 Ma, which suggests a Pre-Himalayan metamorphism, probably caused by tectonic stacking of the Tibetan Tethys sediments in the leading margin of the Indian subcontinent. Zircon and apatite grains, separated from the Yellow Band, gave pooled fission-track ages of 14.4 ± 0.9 and 14.4 ± 1.4 Ma, respectively. These new chronologic data indicate rapid cooling of the hanging wall of the Qomolangma detachment from approximately 350°C to 130°C during a short period (15.5–14.4 Ma).     

Hydrogen sulfide and organic carbon at the sediment–water interface in coastal brackish Lake Nakaumi, SW Japan

The relationship among H₂S, total organic carbon (TOC), total sulfur (TS) and total nitrogen contents of surface sediments (0–1 cm) was examined to quantify the relationship between H₂S concentrations and TOC content at the sediment water interface in a coastal brackish lake, Nakaumi, southwest Japan. In this lake, bottom water becomes anoxic during summer due to a strong halocline. Lake water has ample dissolved SO₄ ^2? and the surface sediments are rich in planktic organic matter (C/N 7–9), which is highly reactive in terms of sulfate reduction. In this setting the amount of TOC should be a critical factor regulating the activity of sulfate reduction and H₂S production. In portions of the lake where sediment TOC content is less than 3.5 %, H₂S was very low or absent in both bottom and pore waters. However, in areas with TOC >3.5 %, H₂S was correlated with TOC content (pore water H₂S (ppm) = 13.9 × TOC (%) ? 52.1, correlation coefficient: 0.72). H₂S was also present in areas with sediment TS above 1.2 % (present as iron sulfide), which suggests that iron sulfide formation is tied to the amount of TOC. Based on this relationship, H₂S production has progressively increased after the initiation of land reclamation projects in Lake Nakaumi, as the area of sapropel sediments has significantly increased. This TOC–H₂S relationship at sediment–water interface might be used to infer H₂S production in brackish–lagoonal systems similar to Lake Nakaumi, with readily available SO₄ ^2? and reactive organic matter.