Solidification depth and crystallization age of the Shiaidani Granodiorite: Constraints to the average denudation rate of the Hida Range,central Japan

Solidification pressure and crystallization age of the ~5 Ma Shiaidani Granodiorite (Hida Mountain Range, central Japan) are determined based on Al-in-hornblende geobarometry and U–Pb zircon dating. Al-poor patchy replacements developed in amphiboles are common in this granite and petrographic study revealed that the replacements include chloritized biotite and albitic plagioclase. These are probably the hydrothermally recrystallized domains, and should not be used for solidification pressure estimates. Magmatic rim of amphibole is characterized by Si < 7.3 a.p.f.u. (Al_IV > 0.7 a.p.f.u.), and utilized in solidification pressure estimate that yielded 0.17–0.29 GPa. The solidification age of the granite is estimated as ~5.6–5.2 Ma using U–Pb zircon dating. From these data, the lower limit of an average denudation rate after ~5.6–5.2 Ma for the area where Shiaidani Granodiorite is exposed is estimated as 0.93–2.5 mm/year.     

Permian Peri‐glacial Deposits from Central Mongolia in Central Asian Orogenic Belt: A Possible Indicator of the Capitanian Cooling Event

A dropstone‐bearing, Middle Permian to Early Triassic peri‐glacial sedimentary unit was first discovered from the Khangai–Khentei Belt in Mongolia, Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The unit, Urmegtei Formation, is assumed to cover the early Carboniferous Khangai–Khentei accretionary complex, and is an upward‐fining sequence, consisting of conglomerates, sandstones, and varved sandstone and mudstone beds with granite dropstones in ascending order. The formation was cut by a felsic dike, and was deformed and metamorphosed together with the felsic dike. An undeformed porphyritic granite batholith finally cut all the deformed and metamorphosed rocks. LA‐ICP‐MS, U–Pb zircon dating has revealed the following ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean igneous ages: (i) a granite dropstone in the Urmegtei Formation is 273 ± 5 Ma (Kungurian of Early Permian); (ii) the deformed felsic dike is 247 ± 4 Ma (Olenekian of Early Triassic); and (iii) the undeformed granite batholith is 218 ± 9 Ma (Carnian of Late Triassic). From these data, the age of sedimentation of the Urmegtei Formation is constrained between the Kungurian and the Olenekian (273–247 Ma), and the age of deformation and metamorphism is constrained between the Olenekian and the Carnian (247–218 Ma). In Permian and Triassic times, the global climate was in a warming trend from the Serpukhovian (early Late Carboniferous) to the Kungurian long and severe cool mode (328–271 Ma) to the Roadian to Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) warm mode (271–168 Ma), with an interruption with the Capitanian Kamura cooling event (266–260 Ma). The dropstone‐bearing strata of the Urmegtei Formation, together with the glacier‐related deposits in the Verkhoyansk, Kolyma, and Omolon areas of northeastern Siberia (said to be of Middle to Late Permian age), must be products of the Capitanian cooling event. Although further study is needed, the dropstone‐bearing strata we found can be explained in two ways: (i) the Urmegtei Formation is an autochthonous formation indicating a short‐term expansion of land glacier to the central part of Siberia in Capitanian age; or (ii) the Urmegtei Formation was deposited in or around a limited ice‐covered continent in northeast Siberia in the Capitanian and was displaced to the present position by the Carnian.     

菲律宾Zambales蛇绿岩套的再研究：对其特提斯来源的启示

A number of geological studies have already been conducted on the Zambales Ophiolite Complex (ZOC), a north-south trending complete ophiolite sequence exposed in the western portion of Central Luzon, Philippines. Previous works recognized the ZOC as being made up of two blocks, the Acoje and the Coto, acting as an arc-back arc pair sometime during the Eocene.     

The effect of a tidal cycle on the dynamics of nutrients in a tidal estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

A 24 hour time series survey was carried out during a spring tide (tidal range ca.2 m) of May 1995 on a tidal estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, in the context of an integrated program planned to quantify the dynamics of biophilic elements (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) and the roles played by the macrobenthos on the processes. Three stations were set along a transect line of about 1.4 km, which linked the river to the rear to the innermost part of the subtidal zone. Every hour, at each station, measurements were made of surface water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen concentration, and surface water was collected for the determination of nutrients [NH₄ ⁺−N, (NO₃ ⁻+NO₂ ⁻)−N, PO₄ ³⁻−P and Si (OH)₄−Si]. During the ebb flow, riverine input of silicate and nitrate+nitrite significantly increased the concentrations of both the intertidal and the subtidal stations. Conversely, during the high tide, river nutrient concentrations were lowered by the mixing of fresh water with sea water. As a result, best (inverse) correlations were found at the river station for salinity against silicate (y=-2.9 Sal.+110.7,r ²=0.879) and nitrate+nitrite (y=-1.3 Sal.+48.4,r ²=0.796). In contrast, ammonium nitrogen concentrations were higher at intermediate salinities. Indeed, no significant correlation was found between salinity and ammonium. The effect of the macrobenthos, which is abundant on the intertidal flat, is discussed as a biological component that influences the processes of nutrient regeneration within the estuary. The effect of the tidal amplitude is an important one in determining the extent of the variations in nutrient concentrations at all three stations, which were stronger between the lower low tide and the higher high tide.     

Distribution of Planetesimals around a Protoplanet in the Nebula Gas

We have developed a semi-analytic method of calculating the changes in heliocentric Keplerian orbital elements due to gravitational scattering by a protoplanet as a three-body problem. In encounters with high incident velocities, either the gravity of the protoplanet or the solar gravity can be regarded as perturbation force. In close encounters, by taking into account the solar gravity as a perturbation, we modified the two-body gravitational scattering. On the other hand, in slightly distant encounters, we apply the perturbing force of the protoplanet to the heliocentric Keplerian orbit of planetesimals. As a result, as for high-velocity encounters, the three-body problem is semi-analytically solvable. Our semi-analytic method can reproduce the numerical result of the orbital changes of individual planetesimals for the broad range of high-energy encounters with surprising high accuracy. We found that our method is valid under the conditions (i)b₀? 2 and (ii) (e²₀+i²₀− b²₀)^1/2? 4, wheree₀andi₀are eccentricity and inclination of relative motion normalized by the reduced Hill radius andb₀is the difference between semimajor axes normalized by the Hill radius. Though our method needs some numerical procedure, its cpu time is negligibly short compared with that of the direct orbital integration. In simulation of orbital evolution of planetesimals around a protoplanet in the gas, which we will perform in the subsequent paper, most encounters can be calculated by the semi-analytic method. This makes it possible to perform the long term (∼10⁵years) orbital calculation of ∼10^3–4planetesimals.     

A crystal chemical study of protoanthophyllite: orthoamphiboles with the protoamphibole structure

Two new protoamphibole-type amphiboles with space group type Pnmn, have been found in nature: protoferro-anthophyllite (Fe_0.80Mn_0.20)₂ (Fe_0.98Mg_0.02)₅ (Si₄O₁₁)₂(OH)₂, and protomangano-ferro-anthophyllite, (Mn_0.70Fe_0.30)₂ (Fe_0.82Mg_0.18)₅ (Si₄O₁₁)₂(OH)₂. Protoferro-anthophyllite (PFA) occurs in pegmatites at both Gifu Prefecture, Japan and at Cheyenne Mountain, El Paso County, Colorado, USA. Protomangano-ferro-anthophyllite, (PMFA) occurs in pegmatites at Fukushima Prefecture and in a Mn mine at Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Structure determinations of the two amphiboles show that both are isostructural with the synthetic fluorian-amphibole, protoamphibole (= protofluorian-lithian-anthophyllite). A calculation of the procrystal electron density distributions, the bond paths and the bond critical point properties of PFA, PMFA, grunerite and protoamphibole indicates that the M4 cation in these amphiboles is 4-coordinated. A calculation of the electron density distributions at the Becke3LYP/6-311G(2d,p) level for model silicate tetrahedra for these amphiboles and anthophyllite reveals that the value of the electron density at the bond critical points, ρ(r _c ), for the SiO(nbr) bonds is larger, on average (0.93 e/ų), than that for the SiO(br) bonds (0.90 e/ų). The observed SiO bond lengths decrease linearly with increasing ρ(r _c ) while the magnitudes of the curvatures of ρ(r _c ) both perpendicular and parallel to the bonds and the Laplacian of ρ(r _c ) each increases. These trends are associated with an increase in the electronegativity of the Si cation, a possible increase in the covalent character of the SiO bond and a tendency for SiO(nbr) bonds to be involved in wider OSiO angles than SiO(br) bonds. It is possible, if not likely, that protoanthophyllite has often been misidentified as anthophyllite.     

Mineralogical Associations of Arsenic and Antimony in Thirty Five Geochemical Reference Materials by Sequential Extraction with Hydride Generation and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A method is described to estimate the chemical forms of arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) in a variety of geochemical reference materials, combining a sequential extraction scheme with hydride generation and atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). The fractions dissolved by sequential extraction are empirically defined as the exchangeable, EDTA soluble, oxide, sulfide and residual fractions. The amount of As and Sb in the EDTA soluble fraction have been derived mainly from oxide phases, and partly from carbonate minerals. Most sulfide minerals in common geological samples were considered to be dissolved with the digestion of 0.7 mol l⁻¹ NaOCl, but only small fraction of arsenopyrite and loellingite in ores could be dissolved in this way. Satisfactory agreement was observed between the sum of the As or Sb values from exchangeable to residual fractions and the reported total As or Sb values, with a few exceptions. Analytical results of As and Sb for thirty five geochemical reference materials are tabulated, and geochemical and mineralogical features are discussed.     

Zooplankton ecology with particular reference to the behaviour of diurnal vertical migration

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Zooplankton ecology with particular reference to the behaviour of diurnal vertical migration

     

Dynamics of microphytobenthic biomass in a coastal area of western Seto Inland Sea, Japan

This study focused on the causes of the variation in microphytobenthic biomass and the effects of this variation on macrobenthic animals in the western Seto Inland Sea, Japan, where the importance of microphytobenthos as the primary food source for benthic animals has been recently reported. We investigated the microphytobenthic biomass together with light attenuation of seawater, phytoplanktonic biomass, macrobenthic density and biomass at eight stations (water depth = 5–15 m) during four cruises in 1999–2000. The increased light attenuation coefficient of the water column associated with increased concentration of the phytoplanktonic Chl-a caused a decrease in light flux that reached the seafloor. The biomass of the microphytobenthos within the upper 1 cm of the sediment, 1.9–46.5 mg Chl-a m⁻², was inversely correlated with the phytoplanktonic biomass in the overlying water column, 10.9–65.0 mg Chl-a m⁻². Thus, interception of light by phytoplankton is considered to be a main cause of the variation in the microphytobenthic biomass. The microphytobenthos biomass showed a significant positive correlation with the macrobenthic density (78–9369 ind. m⁻²) and biomass (0.4–78.8 gWW m⁻²). It appears that the increase in oxygen production by the microphytobenthos allowed macrobenthic animals to become more abundant, as a consequence of oxygenation of the organically enriched muddy sediments (14.5 ± 2.69 mg TOC g⁻¹). This study suggests that the variation in the microphytobenthic biomass is influenced by the phytoplanktonic biomass due to shading effect, and the balance between these two functional groups might affect the variability in the macrobenthic density and biomass.     

Effects of irradiance on excystment of tintinnids from marine sediments

The effects of irradiance on the excystment of tintinids from marine sediments were examined by incubating sediment samples in filtered seawater under various light levels. The total incidence of tintinnid excystment over five days was significantly less at low irradiance at and less than 2.5 E m^–2sec^–1 comparing to that at higher irradiance, at and more than 6.9 E m^–2sec^–1 (p<0.01), indicating that excystment of tintinnids is inhibited under low irradiance conditions. These results imply that water depth, disturbance of surface sediments and vertical mixing of water influence the excystment of tintinnids in coastal areas because these factors determine the light levels to which the tintinnid cysts are exposed.