Depth dependence and exponential models of permeability in alluvial-fan gravel deposits

To determine depth dependence of permeability in various geologic deposits, exponential models have often been proposed. However, spatial variability in hydraulic conductivity, K, rarely fits this trend in coarse alluvial aquifers, where complex stratigraphic sequences follow unique trends due to depositional and post-depositional processes. This paper analyzes K of alluvial-fan gravel deposits in several boreholes, and finds exponential decay in K with depth. Relatively undisturbed gravel cores obtained in the Toyohira River alluvial fan, Sapporo, Japan, are categorized by four levels of fine-sediment packing between gravel grains. Grain size is also analyzed in cores from two boreholes in the mid-fan and one in the fan-toe. Profiles of estimated conductivity, $ \overline{K} $ , are constructed from profiles of core properties through a well-defined relation between slug-test results and core properties. Errors in $ \overline{K} $ are eliminated by a moving-average method, and regression analysis provides the decay exponents of $ \overline{K} $ with depth. Moving-average results show a similar decreasing trend in only the mid-fan above ～30-m depth, and the decay exponent is estimated as ≈0.11 m^?1, which is 10- to 1,000-fold that in consolidated rocks. A longitudinal cross section is also generated by using the profiles to establish hydrogeologic boundaries in the fan.     

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.     

数据驱动的水下潜航器在线建模及运动控制技术

面向未来高机动水下潜航器对精确运动控制的需求,考虑到现有控制方法所面临的动态跟踪能力差、耦合系统控制精度低等不足,研究基于模型的控制方法。水下潜航器水动力非线性强、建模困难,研究了数据驱动的水下潜航器运动建模方法,可实现对潜航器未来运动的长时精确预报。面向微小型水下潜航器难以安装声学测速及推进器转速测量装置,研究了无声学传感信息下线速度多步预报技术,仅需惯导数据及推进器、舵角控制信号,实现对不同航次线速度长时精确预报。基于该建模方法,研究了水下潜航器 MPC 及基于模型的强化学习运动控制技术,基于仿真平台及无人机实物平台验证了控制方法的有效性。     

In situ observation of a phase transition in Fe2SiO4 at high pressure and high temperature

We used an in situ measurement method to investigate the phase transition of Fe₂SiO₄ polymorphs under high pressures and temperatures. A multi-anvil high-pressure apparatus combined with synchrotron X-ray radiation was used. The stability of each polymorph was identified by observing the X-ray diffraction data from the sample. In most experiments, the diffraction patterns were collected 10–30 min after reaching the desired pressure and temperature conditions. The transition boundary between the olivine and spinel phase at T = 1,000–1,500 K and P = 2–8 GPa was determined to occur at P (GPa) = 0.5 + 0.0034 × T (K). The transition pressure determined in this study was in general agreement with that observed in previous high-pressure experiments. However, the slope of the transition, dP/dT, determined in our study was significantly higher than that estimated by the previous study combined with the in situ X-ray method.     

Influence of housing and urban development on debris flow flooding and deposition

Debris flows form deposits when they reach an alluvial fan until they eventually stop.However,houses located in the alluvial fan might affect the debris flow flooding and deposition processes.Few previous studies have considered the effects of houses on debris flow flooding and deposition.This study conducted model experiments and numerical simulations using the Kanako2D debris flow simulator to determine the influence of houses on debris flow flooding and deposition.The model experiments showed that when houses are present,the debris flow spreads widely in the cross direction immediately upstream of the houses,especially when the flow discharge is large or the grain size is small.Houses located in the alluvial fan also influence the deposition area.The presence of houses led to flooding and deposition damage in some places and reduced the damage in others.The simulation also demonstrated the influence of houses.Both the model experiment and the simulation showed that houses change the flooding and deposition areas.     

Metabolism and chemical composition of zooplankton from 500 to 5,000?m depth of the western subarctic Pacific Ocean

Respiration (=oxygen consumption) rates of 28 zooplankton species belonging to 10 taxa from 500 to 5,000?m depth of the western subarctic Pacific Ocean were determined as 0.027–0.44?μLO₂ mg dry mass^?1 h^?1 at in situ temperatures (1.5–3?°C), which are 80?% lower than the rates of the epipelagic Antarctic zooplankton with similar body mass and at a comparable temperature. In terms of adjusted metabolic rate to 1?mg body N (AMR; μLO₂?mg?N^?0.8?h^?1) at 1?°C, the present results (mean 1.66) fall well within the range (0.84–3.32) reported for copepods, chaetognaths, and mixed crustaceans from 500 to 7,000?m in the subarctic Pacific Ocean and Antarctic waters. Judging from their body C:N elemental ratios and ash-free dry mass (=organic matter) data, the major component of organic matter is deduced to be protein (C:N?=?3.4–8.1, by mass) for 19 out of 28 species and lipids (C:N?=?8.6–13.0) for the remaining 9 species.     

Congruence between euphausiid community and water region in the northwestern Pacific: particularly in the Oyashio–Kuroshio Mixed Water Region

The relationship between euphausiid community structure and water region was studied during a 2-year seasonal survey in the northwestern (NW) Pacific Ocean. The euphausiid community structure and its associated species were analyzed from 38 micronekton samples collected during eight cruises. The euphausiid community structure and its distribution patterns clearly corresponded to physical oceanographic features in the Oyashio region, Oyashio–Kuroshio Mixed Water Region (OKMWR), and Kuroshio region. In contrast, community structure was unrelated to seasonality. The 19 species out of 40 identified in this area were grouped and named after their habitats. The six cold-water species were grouped into three regional types: two coastal Oyashio species, three Oyashio–OKMWR species, and one Oyashio–Kuroshio species. The four species dominating in the OKMWR were categorized into each specific types: Nematoscelis difficilis as OKMWR–Oyashio species, Euphausia gibboides as OKMWR species, Euphausia similis as OKMWR–Oyashio & OKMWR–Kuroshio species, and Euphausia recurva as OKMWR–Kuroshio species. The seven warm-water species were categorized as Kuroshio–OKMWR species or Kuroshio species. The other two species were categorized as cosmopolitan species. In particular, regarding the result in the OKMWR, our study suggest that (1) the OKMWR has high species diversity, and (2) the dominant species, such as Euphausia pacifica, N. difficilis, E. similis, and E. gibboides, are considered to be key species in the food webs in this region.     

Shaking table tests of steel frame with superelastic Cu–Al–Mn SMA tension braces

Shaking table tests are performed on a one‐bay one‐story steel frame with superelastic Cu–Al–Mn shape memory alloy (SMA) tension braces. The frame is subjected to a series of scaled ground motions recorded during the 1995 Kobe earthquake, Japan. The test results demonstrate that the SMA braces are effective to prevent residual deformations and pinching. It is also shown that the time history responses observed from the shaking table tests agree well with the numerical predictions using a rate‐independent piecewise‐linear constitutive model calibrated to the quasi‐static component tests of the SMA braces. This suggests that the loading rate dependence of Cu–Al–Mn SMAs as well as the modeling error due to the piecewise linear approximation can be neglected in capturing the global response of the steel frame. Numerical simulations under a suite of near‐fault ground motion records are further performed using the calibrated analytical models to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SMA braces when the variability of near‐fault ground motions is taken into account. A stopper, or a deformation restraining device, is also proposed to prevent premature fracture of SMA bars in unexpectedly large ground motions while keeping the self‐centering capability in moderate to large ground motions. The effectiveness of the stopper is also demonstrated in the quasi‐static component and shaking table tests. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fifteen years progress of the TRITON array in the Western Pacific and Eastern Indian Oceans

The Triangle Trans‐Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) project by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology began with deployment in the western tropical Pacific Ocean in 1998 and has shifted to steady, long-term observations since 1999. After on-site inter-comparison with the Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System mooring system of the Tropical Atmosphere and Ocean (TAO) array by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the TRITON array became the international TAO/TRITON array in 2000 as a key component of the Global Ocean and Climate Observing Systems. The TAO/TRITON array took over from the TAO array, which was developed during the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere program (1985–1994), and replaced the western part of TAO with new additional real-time measurements of salinity and ocean currents. In 2001, two TRITON moorings were deployed in the eastern Indian Ocean for capturing the eastern pole of the Indian Ocean Dipole. From this initiative, the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS) was designed, and the Indian Ocean mooring array (Research Moored Array for Africa–Asian–Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction) was developed as a key component of IndOOS. In this paper, 15 years of progress in the TRITON project in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans is reviewed with regards to scientific outcomes, technological development, and collaborations with international and domestic partners. Future directions for sustainable observation in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are also discussed.