Particular solutions to the problem of horizontal flow of water and air through porous media near a water table

Particular solutions to the problem of horizontal flow of water and air through porous media near a water table are derived and regularity properties of the solutions are presented. It is found that a singularity occurs in the solutions at the water table and the water table can be interpreted as an acceleration wave of the nth order in terms of either air or water flow where n is a positive integer. Effects of air flow on water flow are discussed.     

Chemical variations of magmas at Izu-Oshima volcano,Japan: plagioclase-controlled and differentiated magmas

Systematic analyses of the major-element chemistry of products of several eruptions during syn-and post-caldera stages of Izu-Oshima volcano were compiled. Comparisons of the products of large-scale eruptions in 1338?, 1421? and 1777–1778, of intermediate-scale eruptions in 1950–1951 and 1986, and of small-scale eruptions in 1954, 1964 and 1974 clearly show the existence of two types of magmas. One is “plagioclase-controlled” and the other is “differentiated” magma (multimineral-controlled); i.e. the bulk chemistry of the first magma type is controlled by plagioclase addition or removal, while that of the second type is controlled by fractionation of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and titanomagnetite. Eruptions of Izu-Oshima volcano have occurred at the summit and along the flanks. Summit eruptions tap only plagioclase-controlled magmas, while flank eruptions supply both magma types. It is considered unlikely that both magma types would coexist in the same magma chamber based on the petrology. In the case of the 1986 eruption, the flank magma was isolated sometime in the past from the summit magma chamber or central conduit, and formed small magma pockets, where further differentiation occurred due to relatively rapid cooling. In a period of quiescence prior to the 1986 eruption, new magma was supplied to the summit magma chamber, and the summit eruption began. The dike intrusion or fracturing around the small magma pockets triggered the flank eruption of the differentiated magma. This model can be applied to the large-scale flank eruption in 1338(?) which erupted differentiated magmas. In 1421(?), the flank eruption tapped plagioclase-controlled magma. In this case, the isolated magmas from the summit magma chamber directly penetrated the flank without differentiation.     

Variation of the distribution coefficients of rare earth elements in modern coral-lattices: species and site dependencies

Rare earth element (REE) concentrations in the carbonate lattice of four species of coral have been analyzed and compared with the dissolved REE in ambient seawaters. The corals were from two areas of different salinity, marine (34-34.5) and bay (33-34). The measurement of REE in coral was carried out with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after meticulous washing of coral samples, digestion with acetic acid and preconcentration of REE. The concentrations of REE in the two ambient seawaters were quite different, being ten-times higher in the bay area and enriched in light REE. However, the average distribution coefficients (D’s) were almost identical in the two areas. Substantial distribution coefficient differences were observed among the four coral species and the magnitude of inter-species variation in D was also species-dependent. Theoretical calculations imply that pH variation could cause variations in D large enough to account for the small differences between the two areas.     

Deformation structures in shale bed indicate flow direction of overlying Miocene subaqueous pyroclastic flow

Thrusts, pinch-and-swell structures and undulations are present within a 2-m-thick layered shale bed of Miocene age that is overlain by a rhyolite subaqueous pyroclastic flow deposit 2–3 m thick. The deformation structures were caused by loading and lateral compression by the subaqueous pyroclastic flow, probably analogous to those observed in layered muds deformed by a sand mass advancing across them. Prominent thrusts strike east-west and dip south, and the crests of undulations strike east-west, indicating that the subaqeuous pyroclastic flow moved northward.     

CHIME monazite ages of metasediments from the Altai orogen in northwestern China: Devonian and Permian ages of metamorphism and their significance

Abstract   The chemical Th-U-total Pb isochron method (CHIME) has been applied to determine the ages of monazite grains from metasediments of greenscshist-amphibolite facies in the Altai orogen, northwest China. The area of distribution of these metamorphic rocks is divided into the Permian (261–268 Ma) central-western and Devonian (377–382 Ma) eastern units on the basis of their metamorphic ages. The Devonian CHIME ages are consistent with the Pb–Pb ages of granitoid in the eastern unit, and support the idea that emplacement of the granitoids was synchronous with regional metamorphism at deep levels. The Permian metamorphic ages (the present study) and igneous ages previously reported from the central-western unit can be interpreted in terms of subduction of crustal material and oceanic plate, and rapid exhumation.     

Asymptotic behaviour of solutions to the problem of wetting fronts in one-dimensional,horizontal and infinite porous media

The asymptotic behavior of solutions to the problem of wetting fronts is studied in one-dimensional, horizontal and infinite porous media with the soil-water diffusivity proportional to some power of the water content. The uniqueness of the similarity solution for the problem is studied and the properties of this solution are presented. It is shown that the similarity solution is an asymptotic solution of a wide class of initial value problems of wetting fronts in the media. The use of the similarity solution is discussed for the experimental determination of the soil-water diffusivity.     

A hybrid approach for deriving horizontal site amplification factors considering both the similarity of HVSRE and the vertical amplification correction function

Under hypothetical and idealized conditions, the horizontal site amplification factor (HSAF) is defined as the ratio of the horizontal Fourier amplitude spectrum (FAS) at a point on the Earth's surface with respect to the horizontal FAS at the identical location but on the outcropping seismological bedrock. The HSAF reflects the profile of local sedimentary soils and weathered rock formations, indicating site effects. In most cases, such an idealized HSAF is difficult to measure directly. Thus, quantitatively estimating a HSAF value is a crucial task in strong-motion prediction over the last century. Fortunately, many strong-motion stations have been constructed throughout Japan, facilitating the characterization of HSAFs down to seismological bedrock at more than 1600 observational sites by the generalized inversion technique (GIT). First, this study reported the similarity distribution of the HSAF and the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio of earthquakes (HVSR_E). Subsequently, we proposed a hybrid method from a novel aspect for estimating HSAF in terms of the observed similarity distribution and the vertical amplification correction function (VACF) proposed previously. Compared with the direct use of HVSR_E for substituting HSAF, the hybrid method proposed herein demonstrated an improvement of greater than 30% in terms of the residuals between estimated HSAFs and those separated from observations.     

新疆阿尔泰冲乎尔地区蓝晶石-夕线石型变质带独居石CHIME二叠纪年龄及其地质意义

新疆冲乎尔地区的蓝晶石-夕线石型递增变质带由绿泥石-黑云母带、黑云母-石榴石带、石榴石-十字石带、十字石-蓝晶石带和夕线石带组成;递增变质作用峰期温度、压力分别为T=520～640℃,p=(4.5～5.8)×108Pa;十字石-蓝晶石带和夕线石带变质岩中含有丰富的独居石,而且Th-U-Pb含量比较高,适合电子探针独居石CHIME法定年,独居石CHIME法确定的变质时代为268±10～261±20Ma,与阿勒泰地区发育的红柱石-夕线石型(低压型)变质带形成时代(262±10～264±22Ma)一致,说明阿尔泰造山带蓝晶石-夕线石型和红柱石-夕线石型递增变质带是同一次大规模的构造热事件的产物,时代为二叠纪中期。     

Effect of seasonal forcing on global circulation in a world ocean general circulation model

 Effects of the seasonal variation in thermohaline and wind forcing on the abyssal circulation are investigated by using an ocean general circulation model. To isolate effects of the seasonality in the thermohaline forcing from those in the wind forcing, we carry out three experiments with (1) annual-mean wind forcing and perpetual-winter thermohaline forcing, (2) annual-mean wind forcing and seasonal thermohaline forcing, and (3) seasonal wind forcing and seasonal thermohaline forcing. The deep water under the seasonal thermohaline forcing becomes warmer than under the perpetual-winter thermohaline forcing. Although the perpetual-winter thermohaline forcing is widely used and believed to reproduce the deep water better than the annual-mean forcing, the difference between the results of the perpetual-winter and the seasonal thermohaline forcing is significant. The seasonal variation of the Ekman convergence and divergence produces meridional overturning cells extending to the bottom because the period of seasonal cycle is shorter than the adjustment timescale by baroclinic Rossby waves. The heat transport owing to those Ekman flows and temperature anomalies makes the upper water (0–200 m) colder at low to mid-latitudes (40S–40N) and warmer at high latitudes. Also the deep water becomes warmer owing to the warming of the northern North Atlantic, the main source region of North Atlantic Deep Water. The model is also synchronously (i.e., without acceleration) integrated with seasonal forcing for 5400 y. A past study suggested that under seasonal forcing, a sufficient equilibrium state can be achieved after only decades of synchronous integration following more than 10 000 y of accelerated integration. Here, the result so obtained is compared with that of the 5400-y synchronous integration. The difference in the global average temperature is as small as 0.12 °C, and most of the difference is confined to the Southern Ocean. Received: 1 May 1998 / Accepted: 5 January 1999     

Roles of vertical turbulent mixing in the ocean response to Typhoon Rex (1998)

How the role of vertical turbulent mixing (VTM) in sea surface cooling (SSC) varies with the moving speed of a tropical cyclone was examined for Typhoon Rex (1998) by using the Meteorological Research Institute Community Ocean Model (MRI.COM). The MRI.COM well reproduced TRMM/TMI three-day mean sea surface temperature (SST) fields along Rex’s track. During the fast-moving phase of Rex, SSC simulated by the MRI.COM was caused by shear-induced VTM on the right side of the track. During the slowly-moving phase, on the other hand, the Ekman-pumping area mostly overlapped the VTM area right behind Rex’s center. During the recurvature phase, cool water transported by the upwelling was more efficiently entrained into a mixed layer by the VTM for nearly a 1 near-inertial period after the passage of Rex. We then modified the entrainment formulation of Deardorff (1983), which was incorporated into a slab mixed-layer ocean model (SOM) so as to fit to the results simulated by the MRI.COM. The principal modifications are as follows: (1) consideration of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) production caused by surface wave breaking; (2) increase in the coefficient for estimating dissipation to balance with TKE production due to turbulent transport; and (3) changing the initial guess for the critical Richardson number. These modifications led to an improvement of SST simulations by the SOM. The impact of the modifications on simulated SSTs turned out to be more significant than the impacts of initial mixed-layer depth and the difference between diurnally-varying and daily mean short-wave radiation.