Gas seepage from Tokamachi mud volcanoes, onshore Niigata Basin (Japan): Origin, post-genetic alterations and CH4-CO2 fluxes

Methane and CO₂ emissions from the two most active mud volcanoes in central Japan, Murono and Kamou (Tokamachi City, Niigata Basin), were measured in from both craters or vents (macro-seepage) and invisible exhalation from the soil (mini- and microseepage). Molecular and isotopic compositions of the released gases were also determined. Gas is thermogenic (δ¹³C_CH4 from −32.9‰ to −36.2‰), likely associated with oil, and enrichments of ¹³C in CO₂ (δ¹³C_CO2 up to +28.3‰) and propane (δ¹³C_C3H8 up to −8.6‰) suggest subsurface petroleum biodegradation. Gas source and post-genetic alteration processes did not change from 2004 to 2010. Methane flux ranged within the orders of magnitude of 10¹-10⁴ g m⁻² d⁻¹ in macro-seeps, and up to 446 g m⁻² d⁻¹ from diffuse seepage. Positive CH₄ fluxes from dry soil were widespread throughout the investigated areas. Total CH₄ emission from Murono and Kamou were estimated to be at least 20 and 3.7 ton a⁻¹, respectively, of which more than half was from invisible seepage surrounding the mud volcano vents. At the macro-seeps, CO₂ fluxes were directly proportional to CH₄ fluxes, and the volumetric ratios between CH₄ flux and CO₂ flux were similar to the compositional CH₄/CO₂ volume ratio. Macro-seep flux data, in addition to those of other 13 mud volcanoes, supported the hypothesis that molecular fractionation (increase of the “Bernard ratio” C₁/(C₂ + C₃)) is inversely proportional to gas migration fluxes. The CH₄ “emission factor” (total measured output divided by investigated seepage area) was similar to that derived in other mud volcanoes of the same size and activity. The updated global “emission-factor” data-set, now including 27 mud volcanoes from different countries, suggests that previous estimates of global CH₄ emission from mud volcanoes may be significantly underestimated.     

Breaking pattern and critical breaking condition of Japanese pine trees on coastal sand dunes in huge tsunami caused by Great East Japan Earthquake

Coastal vegetation is widely recognized to reduce tsunami damage to people and buildings, and it has been studied recently because it requires relatively little capital investment compared with artificial measures, provides human-friendly beach fronts, and enhances inter-relationships with other ecological systems. However, the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake at 14:46 JST on March 11, 2011, with a magnitude of 9.0 and epicenter 129?km east of Sendai, broke most of the sea wall (tsunami gates, large embankments) and caused catastrophic damage to coastal forests in the Tohoku and Kanto districts of Japan. A field survey was conducted to elucidate the critical breaking condition of Japanese coastal pine trees. Tree-trunk breakage was observed when the sea embankment was washed out or when there was no sea embankment and the tree was under strong inertia force or impact force by debris. Even though the trunk bending and breaking phenomena are different, statistical analysis showed that the critical diameters for trunk bending and trunk breaking were not very different. The overturning phenomenon is a little more complex than trunk breaking because the resistive force is a function of the substrate and root anchorage. An equation to determine the critical diameters for trunk bending, trunk breaking, and overturning was derived as a function of tsunami water depth, soil-root strength, and the hydrodynamic parameter (H _D ) formulated by Froude number, drag coefficient, and the ratio of impact force to drag force considering the physical mechanisms to resist the tsunami. Trunk bending and breaking were closely related to tsunami water depth and the hydrodynamic parameter (H _D ), but tree overturning was found to be more site specific, and the root-soil strength greatly affected the critical value. The proposed critical diameter equation and its coefficient are useful for the design of an inland forest of pine trees that can trap large trees, cars, debris, etc., to its breaking limit. The trapping function should be utilized more in the future designs of inland forests, if possible, on embankments.     

Ecosystem Responses of the Subtropical Kaneohe Bay,Hawaii, to Climate Change: A Nitrogen Cycle Modeling Approach

The global coastal zone is characterized by high biological productivity and serves as an important channel through which materials are transferred from land to the open ocean, yet little is known how it will be affected by climate change. Here, we use Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, a semi-enclosed subtropical embayment partially surrounded by a mountainous watershed and fed by river runoff as an example to explore the potential impact of climate change on the pelagic and benthic cycling of nitrogen. We employ a nine-compartment nitrogen cycle biogeochemical box model and perturb it with a set of four idealized climate scenarios. We find that hydrological changes play a dominant role in determining the ecosystem structure, while temperature changes are more important for the trophic state and stability of the ecosystem. The ecosystem stability against storm events does not significantly change under any scenario. The system remains autotrophic in the future; however, it becomes significantly less autotrophic under drier climate, while it turns slightly more autotrophic under wetter climate. These findings may have implications for other high island watershed and coastal ecosystems in the tropics and subtropics.     

Geometry of the Nojima Fault at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan – II. Microstructures and their Implications for Permeability and Strength

Samples of damage-zone granodiorite and fault core from two drillholes into the active, strike-slip Nojima fault zone display microstructures and alteration features that explain their measured present-day strengths and permeabilities and provide insight on the evolution of these properties in the fault zone. The least deformed damage-zone rocks contain two sets of nearly perpendicular (60–90° angles), roughly vertical fractures that are concentrated in quartz-rich areas, with one set typically dominating over the other. With increasing intensity of deformation, which corresponds generally to increasing proximity to the core, zones of heavily fragmented rock, termed microbreccia zones, develop between prominent fractures of both sets. Granodiorite adjoining intersecting microbreccia zones in the active fault strands has been repeatedly fractured and locally brecciated, accompanied by the generation of millimeter-scale voids that are partly filled with secondary minerals. Minor shear bands overprint some of the heavily deformed areas, and small-scale shear zones form from the pairing of closely spaced shear bands. Strength and permeability measurements were made on core collected from the fault within a year after a major (Kobe) earthquake. Measured strengths of the samples decrease regularly with increasing fracturing and fragmentation, such that the gouge of the fault core and completely brecciated samples from the damage zone are the weakest. Permeability increases with increasing disruption, generally reaching a peak in heavily fractured but still more or less cohesive rock at the scale of the laboratory samples. Complete loss of cohesion, as in the gouge or the interiors of large microbreccia zones, is accompanied by a reduction of permeability by 1-2 orders of magnitude below the peak values. The core samples show abundant evidence of hydrothermal alteration and mineral precipitation. Permeability is thus expected to decrease and strength to increase somewhat in active fault strands between earthquakes, as mineral deposits progressively seal fractures and fill pore spaces.     

The nature of scattered and concretion pyrite in the Upper Abalak Formation of the Salym oil field (Western Siberia)

Dispersed and concretionary pyrite in chert–clay–carbonate and carbonate rocks of the Abalak Formation (Salym oil field) have been studied. The study was conducted using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), and high spatial resolution Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (Nano-SIMS). As a result, three morphological groups of pyrite have been distinguished: large cubic crystals, framboidal pyrite, and fine-crystal aggregates that replace organic remnants. The sulphur isotope ratio allows one to distinguish two genetic types of pyrite. The source of the sulphur for the first genetic group was H₂S produced by bacterial sulphate reduction, while the second group pyrite was formed with sulphur as a product of thermochemical sulphate reduction.     

Simulations of seasonal variations of sulfur compounds in the remote marine atmosphere

A photochemical box model is used to simulate seasonal variations in concentrations of sulfur compounds at latitude 40° S. It is assumed that the hydroxyl radical (OH) addition reaction to sulfur in the dimethyl sulfide (DMS) molecule is the predominant pathway for methanesulfonic acid (MSA) production, and that the rate constant increases as the air temperature decreases. Concentration of the nitrate radical (NO₃) is a function of the DMS flux, because the reaction of DMS with NO₃ is the most important loss mechanism of NO₃. While the diurnally averaged concentration of OH in winter is a factor of about 8 smaller than in summer, due to the weak photolysis process, the diurnally averaged concentration of NO₃ in winter is a factor of about 4–5 larger than in summer, due to the decrease of DMS flux. Therefore, at middle and high latitudes in winter, atmospheric DMS is mainly oxidized by the reaction with NO₃. The calculated ratio of the MSA to SO₂ production rates is smaller in winter than in summer, and the MSA to non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO₄ ^2-) molar ratio varies seasonally. This result agrees with data on the seasonal variation of the MSA/nssSO₄ ^2- molar ratio obtained at middle and high latitudes. The calculations indicate that during winter the reaction of DMS with NO₃ is likely to be a more important sink of NO_x (NO+NO₂) than the reaction of NO₂ with OH, and to serve as a significant pathway of the HNO₃ production. If dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is produced through the OH addition reaction and is heterogeneously oxidized in aqueous solutions, half of the nssSO₄ ^2- produced in summer may be through the oxidation process of DMSO. It is necessary to further investigate the oxidation products by the reaction of DMS with OH, and the possibility of the reaction of DMS with NO₃ during winter.     

Numerical study of the oxidation process of dimethylsulfide in the marine atmosphere

A box model, involving simple heterogeneous reaction processes associated with the production of non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO ₄ ^2– ) particles, is used to investigate the oxidation processes of dimethylsulfide (DMS or CH₃SCH₃) in the marine atmosphere. The model is applied to chemical reactions in the atmospheric surface mixing layer, at intervals of 15 degrees latitude between 60° N and 60° S. Given that the addition reaction of the hydroxyl radical (OH) to the sulfur atom in the DMS molecule is faster at lower temperature than at higher temperature and that it is the predominant pathway for the production of methanesulfonic acid (MSA or CH₃SO₃H), the results can well explain both the increasing tendency of the molar ratio of MSA to nss-SO ₄ ^2– toward higher latitudes and the uniform distribution with latitude of sulfur dioxide (SO₂). The predicted production rate of MSA increases with increasing latitude due to the elevated rate constant of the addition reaction at lower temperature. Since latitudinal distributions of OH concentration and DMS reaction rate with OH are opposite, a uniform production rate of SO₂ is realized over the globe. The primary sink of DMS in unpolluted air is caused by the reaction with OH. Reaction of DMS with the nitrate radical (NO₃) also reduces DMS concentration but it is less important compared with that of OH. Concentrations of SO₂, MSA, and nss-SO ₄ ^2– are almost independent of NO _x concentration and radiation field. If dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO or CH₃S(O)CH₃) is produced by the addition reaction and further converted to sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) in an aqueous solution of cloud droplets, the oxidation process of DMSO might be important for the production of aerosol particles containing nss-SO ₄ ^2– at high latitudes.     

High-energy observations of solar flares

Extensive observations of solar flares made in high energy bands during the maximum of the present solar cycle are discussed with a special reference to the results from HINOTORI, and with attention to the relevant flare models. The hard X-ray (HXR) images from HINOTORI showed mostly coronal emission at 20–25 keV suggesting that the HXR is emitted from multiple coronal loops, consistent with the non-thermal electron beam model in a high density corona. The thermal HXR model seems to be inconsistent with some observations. Three types of flares which have been classified from the Hinotori results are described, along with newly discovered hot thermal component of 30–40 million K which contributes thermal HXR emission. A summary is given for the characteristics of the energy release in an impulsive burst; and an empirical model is described, which explains simultaneous energy releases in multiple loops and successive movements of the release site as suggested from the HXR morphology. The discovery of large blue-shifted hot plasma from the soft X-ray line spectrum leads to some quantitative arguments for the evaporating flare model. An electron-heated flare atmosphere appears to explain various observations consistently.Invited paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.