The Zealandia Volcanic Complex: Further evidence of a lower crustal “hot zone” beneath the Mariana Intra‐oceanic Arc,Western Pacific

This paper addresses formation of felsic magmas in an intra‐oceanic magmatic arc. New bathymetric, petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic data for Zealandia Bank and two related volcanoes in the south‐central Mariana arc is presented and interpreted. These three volcanoes are remnants of an older andesitic volcano that evolved for some time and became dormant long enough for a carbonate platform to grow on its summit before reawakening as a rhyodacitic volcano. Zealandia lavas are transitional between low‐ and medium‐K and tholeiitic and calc‐alkaline suites. They define a bimodal suite with a gap of 56–58 wt% SiO₂; this suggests that mafic and felsic magmas have different origins. The magmatic system is powered by mantle‐derived basalts having low Zr/Y and flat rare earth element patterns. Two‐pyroxene thermometry yields equilibration temperatures of 1000–1100 °C for andesites and 900–1000 °C for dacites. Porphyritic basalts and andesites show textures expected for fractionating magmas but mostly fine‐grained felsic lavas do not. All lavas show trace element signatures expected for mantle and crustal sources that were strongly melt‐depleted and enriched by subduction‐related fluids and sediment melts. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions fall in the normal range of Mariana arc lavas. Felsic lavas show petrographic evidence of mixing with mafic magma. Zealandia Bank felsic magmatism supports the idea that a large mid‐ to lower‐crustal felsic magma body exists beneath the south‐central Mariana arc, indicating that MASH (mixing, assimilation, storage, and homogenization) zones can form beneath intra‐oceanic as well as continental arcs.     

Local structure of (Ca, Sr)2 (Mg, Co, Zn) Si2O7 melilite solid-solution with modulated structure

The local structure around Co, Zn and Sr atoms in incommensurately modulated, melilite-type X₂T¹ T ₂ ² O₇ (X=Ca and Sr, T¹=Mg, Co and Zn, T²=Si) solid-solutions has been investigated by EXAFS analyses. The modulated structure was confirmed in Ca_2-xSr_xCoSi₂O₇ solid-solutions with X=0.0 to 0.6 and for both Ca₂Mg_1-YCo_YSi₂O₇ and Ca₂Mg_1-YZn_YSi₂O₇ solid-solutions over the whole compositional range at room temperature. The actual bond-distances determined by the EXAFS method for the T¹ site (Co-, Zn-O) in the modulated structure are longer than the mean bond-distances obtained from the X-ray diffraction method. This is attributable to the libration of the T¹ tetrahedra. In the Ca_1-XSr_XCoSi₂O₇ solid-solution both the Sr-O and Co-O distances by the EXAFS method for the X-site increase from Ca end-member to Sr end-member. These increases are respectively 0.8% and 0.6%. This means the local expansions of the tetrahedral sheets and of the XO polyhedra are well matched. In the modulated Ca₂Co_1-YMg_YSi₂O₇ and Ca₂Zn_1-YMg_YSi₂O₇ solid-solutions, the actual Co-O and Zn-O distances for the T¹-sites are nearly constant in the whole compositional range. The compositional variations of the local structure around the cations in the solid-solution are different for the X and T¹ sites. It is concluded that the local geometric restriction for the size of substituted cation in X site is larger than that in T¹ site. The dimension of the tetrahedral sheet puts restriction on the size of the cations situated at the interlayer X sites. In other words, the different behavior of the local geometric restriction between the X and T¹ sites is an important feature of the melilite structure and is also related to the modulated structure.     

Piezomagnetic fields produced by dislocation sources

Tectonomagnetic modeling based on the linear piezomagnetic effect is reviewed with special attention to dislocation models. Stacey's scheme was the prototype for such modeling, as proposed in his first seismomagnetic calculations in 1964. The linear piezomagnetic law is presented, in which the stress-induced magnetization is expressed as a linear combination of stress components. The Gauss law for magnetic field and the Cauchy-Navier equation for static elastic equilibrium are combined through linear piezomagnetism and the Hooke law to yield the basic equation for piezomagnetic potential. A representation theorem for its solution is given by surface integrals of the displacement and its normal derivative over the strained body.A Green's function method is developed to compute the piezomagnetic field produced by a dislocation surface in an elastic half-space. Volterra's formula for piezomagnetic potential is derived by modifying Stacey's scheme for tectonomagnetic modeling. The Green's functions for the problem are called elementary piezomagnetic potentials, which are defined as potentials produced by elementary dislocations. Special consideration is required to construct the elementary piezomagnetic potentials, because the stress field around a point dislocation has a singularity of orderr ^–3. The integral representing elementary piezomagnetic potentials is not uniformly convergent. Owing to inappropriate convergency, the Green's functions obtained in an earlier study led to a puzzling outcome. Revised Green's functions give consistent results with those obtained so far by numerical integrations. Generally the piezomagnetic field produced by dislocation sources is weak in the case of a homogeneous earth model. Two enhancement effects for piezomagnetic signals are suggested: one due to inhomogeneous magnetization and the other via bore-hole observations.     

Storage-efficient reconstruction framework for planar contours

A storage-efficient reconstruction framework for cartographic planar contours is developed. With a smaller number of control points, we aim to calculate the area and perimeter as well as to reconstruct a smooth curve. The input data forms an oriented contour, each control point of which consists of three values: the Cartesian coordinates (x, y) and tangent angle θ. Two types of interpolation methods are developed, one of which is based on an arc spline while the other one is on a cubic Hermite spline. The arc spline-based method reconstructs a G¹ continuous curve, with which the exact area and perimeter can be calculated. The benefit of using the Hermite spline-based method is that it can achieve G² continuity on most control points and can obtain the exact area, whereas the resulting perimeter is approximate. In a numerical experiment for analytically defined curves, more accurate computation of the area and perimeter was achieved with a smaller number of control points. In another experiment using a digital elevation model data, the reconstructed contours were smoother than those by a conventional method.     

Damage to buildings and structures due to recent devastating wind hazards in East Asia

Extreme wind events such as typhoons and tornadoes can cause devastating damage to structures and huge losses to human societies. This paper introduces recent devastating wind-related disasters in East Asia, including disasters in Japan, the Philippines and China, from 2013 to 2016. In particular, it describes several post-disaster investigations including those on Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 in the Philippines; typhoon Mujigae and two typhoon-associated tornadoes in October, 2015, in Guangdong, China; and a tornado in June, 2016 in Yancheng, China. Meteorological features, damage details and failure mechanisms of structures, factors related to damage generation and spread, scales to evaluate storms, estimations of tornado wind speeds and so on are discussed, with the aim of mitigating future wind-related disasters and to create safer and sustainable societies. Lessons derived from aerodynamic effects, cladding and component performances, debris impacts, building arrangements, fatigue effects, construction methods, etc. together with suggestions for wind-resistant design of buildings are given.     

Human impacts on large benthic foraminifers near a densely populated area of Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands

Human impacts on sand-producing, large benthic foraminifers were investigated on ocean reef flats at the northeast Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, along a human population gradient. The densities of dominant foraminifers Calcarina and Amphistegina declined with distance from densely populated islands. Macrophyte composition on ocean reef flats differed between locations near sparsely or densely populated islands. Nutrient concentrations in reef-flat seawater and groundwater were high near or on densely populated islands. δ¹⁵N values in macroalgal tissues indicated that macroalgae in nearshore lagoons assimilate wastewater-derived nitrogen, whereas those on nearshore ocean reef flats assimilate nitrogen from other sources. These results suggest that increases in the human population result in high nutrient loading in groundwater and possibly into nearshore waters. High nutrient inputs into ambient seawater may have both direct and indirect negative effects on sand-producing foraminifers through habitat changes and/or the collapse of algal symbiosis.     

Rifting of Kyushu, Japan, based on the fault-controlled concurrent eruption of oceanic island basalt-type and island arc-type lavas

The tectonic environment of Kyushu, Japan is affected both by the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate and by the extensional tectonics related to rifting of Okinawa Trough at the eastern margin of the Eurasia Plate. We found that the Sendai fault zone acts as a channel for concurrent eruption of oceanic island basalt (OIB)-type and island arc (IA)-type basaltic rocks, propagating west to east in the Sendai region of southern Kyushu. The location of the Sendai fault zone is likely to correspond to the left-lateral shear zone in southern Kyushu as inferred by GPS Earth Observation Network. A similar magmatic association is present in the Beppu–Shimabara (BS) graben system in central Kyushu. The associate magmas of OIB-type rocks in Kyushu can be classified into typical, EM II-like and their intermediate OIB-type magmas in addition to MORB-like OIB-type magma in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr–Nb/Y systematics. Typical OIB-type and intermediate OIB-type magmas are erupted within the Sendai fault zone and BS graben system, respectively. The former is characterized by highest Nb/Y but low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr similar to MORB-like OIB-type magma erupted in northern Kyushu and the latter has intermediate Nb/Y and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr between typical and EM II-like OIB-type magmas. Almost all the IA-type rocks within the Sendai fault zone are generated from parental IA-type magma in Kyushu and characterized by weak crustal assimilation, having the lowest ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr similar to typical OIB-type magma but the highest ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of arc magmas in Kyushu. The ages of both types of basaltic rocks within the Sendai fault zone range from 1.6 to <0.01?Ma clearly younger than those of andesitic rocks on northern and southern outsides of the fault zone and become younger from west to east. Initial formation of the fault zone has been induced by the counterclockwise rotation of southern Kyushu during the last 2?Ma as well as the BS graben system. Kyushu has continued to be split into three parts by the Sendai fault zone and BS graben during the Quaternary; northern, central, and southern zones. Their initial formation ages are likely to be linked to the initial rifting age of the middle Okinawa Trough back-arc basin.     

Life Recovery of 1995 Kobe Earthquake Survivors in Nishinomiya City: A Total-Quality-Management-Based Assessment of Disadvantaged Populations

The main objectives of this study were (1) to examine what has beenrecovered and what has not yet been recovered in Nishinomiya City five years after the GreatHanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and (2) to find current service needs for the earthquake survivors,especially for the disadvantaged populations. Disadvantaged populations are minorities in society, andtheir needs and opinions are often ignored and not reflected in the services or mitigation policy,despite the fact that they are the ones who are affected most by various hazards. At the same time, becauseof their unique characteristics and positions in society, their needs differ from the majorityof the society. Six hundred eighty-six opinion cards were collected in nine grassroots workshopsessions with various disadvantaged groups in Nishinomiya City, such as the physically challenged,the visually impaired, the elderly living in public housing, junior and senior high school students,mothers with small children, and those who lost their own homes because of the earthquake. Theseopinion cards were sorted out and analyzed by using a TQM(Total Quality Management)-basedassessment method. Since the TQM-based assessment method allows bottom-up integration ofopinions from each individual, it helps us identify unique needs of the disadvantaged groupsand reflect their opinions in mitigation plan and policies. The main findings of this study include (1)the city redevelopment cannot be achieved without integrating the viewpoints of thedisadvantaged; (2) the social support was a key resource for both mental health and community development;and (3) disaster experiences and adaptation produced civic mindedness among people in a community.     

Characterization of Fe(III) (hydr)oxides in arsenic contaminated soil under various redox conditions by XAFS and Mössbauer spectroscopies

Characterization of Fe(III) (hydr)oxides in soils near the Ichinokawa mine was conducted using X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and Mössbauer spectroscopies, and the structural changes were correlated with the release of As into pore-water. The Eh values decreased monotonically with depth. Iron is mainly present as poorly-ordered Fe(III) (hydr)oxides, such as ferrihydrite, over a wide redox range (from Eh = 360 to −140 mV). Structural details of the short-range order of these Fe(III) (hydr)oxides were examined using Mössbauer spectroscopy by comparing the soil phases with synthesized ferrihydrite samples having varying crystallinities. The crystallinity of the soil Fe (hydr)oxides decreased slightly with depth and Eh. Thus, within the redox range of this soil profile, ferrihydrite dominated, even under very reducing conditions, but the crystalline domain size, and, potentially, particle size, changed with the variation in Eh. In the soil–water system examined here, where As concentration and the As(III)/As(V) ratio in soil water increased with depth, ferrihydrite persisted and maintained or even enhanced its capacity for As retention with increased reducing conditions. Therefore, it is concluded that As release from these soils largely depends on the transformation of As(V) to As(III) rather than reductive dissolution of Fe(III) (hydr)oxide.