Effectiveness of Neural Kriging for Three-Dimensional Modeling of Sparse and Strongly Biased Distribution of Geological Data with Application to Seafloor Hydrothermal Mineralization

Mathematical Geosciences - Three-dimensional modeling of geoscientific data of limited amounts and strongly biased locations is difficult and impractical using almost any method. To obtain a...     

Deep seismic reflection profiling across the Ou Backbone range, northern Honshu Island, Japan

Knowledge of the crustal structure, especially the geometry of seismogenic faults, is key to understanding active tectonic processes and assessing the size and frequency of future earthquakes. To reveal the relationship between crustal structure and earthquake activity in northern Honshu Island, common midpoint (CMP) deep reflection profiling and earthquake observations by densely deployed seismic stations were carried out across the active reverse faults that bound the Ou Backbone range. The 40-km-long CMP profiles portray a relatively simple fault geometry within the seismogenic layer. The reverse faults merge at a midcrustal detachment just below the base of the seismogenic layer, producing a pop-up structure that forms the Ou Backbone range. The top of the reflective middle to lower crust (4.5 s in travel time (TWT)) nearly coincides with the bottom of seismogenic layer. The P-wave velocity structure and surface geology suggest that the bounding faults are Miocene normal faults that have been reactivated as reverse faults.     

Seismological features of island arc crust as inferred from recent seismic expeditions in Japan

Crustal studies within the Japanese islands have provided important constraints on the physical properties and deformation styles of the island arc crust. The upper crust in the Japanese islands has a significant heterogeneity characterized by large velocity variation (5.5–6.1 km/s) and high seismic attenuation (Qp=100–400 for 5–15 Hz). The lateral velocity change sometimes occurs at major tectonic lines. In many cases of recent refraction/wide-angle reflection profiles, a “middle crust” with a velocity of 6.2–6.5 km/s is found in a depth range of 5–15 km. Most shallow microearthquakes are concentrated in the upper/middle crust. The velocity in the lower crust is estimated to be 6.6–7.0 km/s. The lower crust often involves a highly reflective zone with less seismicity, indicating its ductile rheology. The uppermost mantle is characterized by a low Pn velocity of 7.5–7.9 km/s. Several observations on PmP phase indicate that the Moho is not a sharp boundary with a distinct velocity contrast, but forms a transition zone from the upper mantle to the lower crust. Recent seismic reflection experiments revealed ongoing crustal deformations within the Japanese islands. A clear image of crustal delamination obtained for an arc–arc collision zone in central Hokkaido provides an important key for the evolution process from island arc to more felsic continental crust. In northern Honshu, a major fault system with listric geometry, which was formed by Miocene back arc spreading, was successfully mapped down to 12–15 km.     

Configuration of subducting Philippine Sea plate and crustal structure in the central Japan region

A seismic experiment with six explosive sources and 391 seismic stations was conducted in August 2001 in the central Japan region. The crustal velocity structure for the central part of Japan and configuration of the subducting Philippine Sea plate were revealed. A large lateral variation of the thickness of the sedimentary layer was observed, and the P-wave velocity values below the sedimentary layer obtained were 5.3–5.8 km/s. P-wave velocity values for the lower part of upper crust and lower crust were estimated to be 6.0–6.4 and 6.6–6.8 km/s, respectively. The reflected wave from the upper boundary of the subducting Philippine Sea plate was observed on the record sections of several shots. The configuration of the subducting Philippine Sea slab was revealed for depths of 20–35 km. The dip angle of the Philippine Sea plate was estimated to be 26° for a depth range of about 20–26 km. Below this depth, the upper boundary of the subducting Philippine Sea plate is distorted over a depth range of 26–33 km. A large variation of the reflected-wave amplitude with depth along the subducting plate was observed. At a depth of about 20–26 km, the amplitude of the reflected wave is not large, and is explained by the reflected wave at the upper boundary of the subducting oceanic crust. However, the reflected wave from reflection points deeper than 26 km showed a large amplitude that cannot be explained by several reliable velocity models. Some unique seismic structures have to be considered to explain the observed data. Such unique structures will provide important information to know the mechanism of inter-plate earthquakes.     

Depositional Age of a Fossil Whale Bone from São Paulo Ridge,South Atlantic Ocean,Based on Os Isotope Stratigraphy of a Ferromanganese Crust

Whale carcasses (whale falls) deposited on the deep seafloor are associated with a distinctive biotic community. A fossil whale bone recovered from São Paulo Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean, during cruise YK13–04 Leg 1 of R/V Yokosuka was covered by a ferromanganese (Fe–Mn) crust approximately 9 mm thick. Here, we report an age constraint for this fossil bone on the basis of Os isotopic stratigraphy (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratio) of the Fe–Mn crust. Major‐ and trace‐element compositions of the crust are similar to those of Fe–Mn crusts of predominantly hydrogenous origin. Rare earth element concentrations in samples of the crust, normalized with respect to Post‐Archean average Australian Shale, exhibit flat patterns with positive Ce and negative Y anomalies. These results indicate that the Fe–Mn crust consists predominantly of hydrogenous components and that it preserves the Os isotope composition of seawater at the time of its deposition. ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios of three Fe–Mn crust samples increased from 0.904 to 1.068 in ascending stratigraphic order. The value of 1.068 from the surface slice (0–3 mm depth in the crust) was identical to that of present‐day seawater within error (~1.06). The value of 0.904 from the basal slice (6–9 mm) equaled seawater values from ca. 4–5 Ma. Because it is unknown how long the bone lay on the seafloor before the Fe–Mn crust was deposited, the Os stratigraphic age of ca. 5 Ma is a minimum age of the fossil. This is the first application, to our knowledge, of marine Os isotope stratigraphy for determining the age of a fossil whale bone. Such data may offer valuable insights into the evolution of the whale‐fall biotic community.     

Origin of felsic volcanism in the Izu arc intra-arc rift

An intra-arc rift (IAR) is developed behind the volcanic front in the Izu arc, Japan. Bimodal volcanism, represented by basalt and rhyolite lavas and hydrothermal activity, is active in the IAR. The constituent minerals in the rhyolite lavas are mainly plagioclase and quartz, whereas mafic minerals are rare and are mainly orthopyroxene without any hydrous minerals such as amphibole and biotite. Both the phenocryst and groundmass minerals have felsic affinities with a narrow compositional range. The petrological and bulk chemical characteristics are similar to those of melts from some partial melting experiments that also yield dry rhyolite melts. The hydrous mineral-free narrow mineral compositions and low-Al₂O₃ affinities of the IAR rhyolites are produced from basaltic middle crust under anhydrous low-temperature melting conditions. The IAR basalt lavas display prominent across-arc variation, with depleted elemental compositions in the volcanic front side and enriched compositions in the rear-arc side. The across-arc variation reflects gradual change in the slab-derived components, as demonstrated by decreasing Ba/Zr and Th/Zr values to the rear-arc side. Rhyolite lavas exhibit different across-arc variations in either the fluid-mobile elements or the immobile elements, such as Nb/Zr, La/Yb, and chondrite-normalized rare earth element patterns, reflecting that the felsic magmas had different source. The preexisting arc crust formed during an earlier stage of arc evolution, most probably during the Oligocene prior to spreading of the Shikoku back-arc basin. The lack of systematic across-arc variation in the IAR rhyolites and their dry/shallow crustal melting origin combines to suggest re-melting of preexisting Oligocene middle crust by heat from the young basaltic magmatism.     

Relativistic corrections to the multiple scattering effect on the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect in the isotropic approximation

We extend the formalism for the calculation of the relativistic corrections to the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect for clusters of galaxies and include the multiple scattering effects in the isotropic approximation. We present the results of the calculations by the Fokker–Planck expansion method as well as by the direct numerical integration of the collision term of the Boltzmann equation. The multiple scattering contribution is found to be very small compared with the single scattering contribution. For high-temperature galaxy clusters of     the ratio of both the contributions is −0.2 per cent in the Wien region. In the Rayleigh–Jeans region the ratio is −0.03 per cent. Therefore the multiple scattering contribution is safely neglected for the observed galaxy clusters.     

Effects of atmospheric oscillations on the field-aligned ion motions in the polar F-region

The field-aligned neutral oscillations in the F-region (altitudes between 165 and 275 km) were compared using data obtained simultaneously with two independent instruments: the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) UHF radar and a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). During the night of February 8, 1997, simultaneous observations with these instruments were conducted at Tromsø, Norway. Theoretically, the field-aligned neutral wind velocity can be obtained from the field-aligned ion velocity and by diffusion and ambipolar diffusion velocities. We thus derived field-aligned neutral wind velocities from the plasma velocities in EISCAT radar data. They were compared with those observed with the FPI (=630.0 nm), which are assumed to be weighted height averages of the actual neutral wind. The weighting function is the normalized height dependent emission rate. We used two model weighting functions to derive the neutral wind from EISCAT data. One was that the neutral wind velocity observed with the FPI is velocity integrated over the entire emission layer and multiplied by the theoretical normalized emission rate. The other was that the neutral wind velocity observed with the FPI corresponds to the velocity only around an altitude where the emission rate has a peak. Differences between the two methods were identified, but not completely clarified. However, the neutral wind velocities from both instruments had peak-to-peak correspondences at oscillation periods of about 10–40 min, shorter than that for the momentum transfer from ions to neutrals, but longer than from neutrals to ions. The synchronizing motions in the neutral wind velocities suggest that the momentum transfer from neutrals to ions was thought to be dominant for the observed field-aligned oscillations rather than the transfer from ions to neutrals. It is concluded that during the observation, the plasma oscillations observed with the EISCAT radar at different altitudes in the F-region are thought to be due to the motion of neutrals.     

In situ X-ray diffraction study of an aluminous phase in MORB under lower mantle conditions

In situ X-ray diffraction study was conducted to identify the crystal structure of the “Al-phase”, which was previously reported to form in basaltic compositions at pressures and temperatures of the uppermost part of the lower mantle. Le Bail whole-pattern fitting method was adopted to investigate the structure of the Al-phase under high pressure and temperature as well as ambient conditions. Observed patterns were satisfactorily fitted using the “hexagonal phase” with space group P6₃/m (plus minor amount of garnet) under both of these conditions. On the other hand, the calcium ferrite structure model proposed in some earlier studies based on quench experiments yielded profile-fitting results at significantly lower confidence levels, particularly at simultaneous high pressure and high temperature conditions, suggesting that this phase may not form in oceanic crust materials subducted in the uppermost lower mantle. The difference in densities of hexagonal and calcium ferrite phases, however, is only ~1% under pressures and temperatures of the uppermost part of the lower mantle conditions, which yields a negligible effect on the bulk density of the subducted oceanic crust.