Diffuse Emission of CO2 from Showa-Shinzan, Hokkaido, Japan: A Sign of Volcanic Dome Degassing

Two soil CO₂ efflux surveys were carried out in September 1999 and June 2002 to study the spatial distribution of diffuse CO₂ degassing and estimate the total CO₂ output from Showa-Shinzan volcanic dome, Japan. Seventy-six and 81 measurements of CO₂ efflux were performed in 1999 and 2002, respectively, covering most of Showa-Shinzan volcano. Soil CO₂ efflux data showed a wide range of values up to 552 g m^-2 d^-1. Carbon isotope signatures of the soil CO₂ ranged from -0.9‰ to -30.9‰, suggesting a mixing between different carbon reservoirs. Most of the study area showed CO₂ efflux background values during the 1999 and 2002 surveys (B = 8.2 and 4.4 g m^-2 d^-1, respectively). The spatial distribution of CO₂ efflux anomalies for both surveys showed a good correlation with the soil temperature, indicating a similar origin for the extensive soil degassing generated by condensation processes and fluids discharged by the fumarolic system of Showa-Shinzan. The total diffuse CO₂ output of Showa-Shinzan was estimated to be about 14.0–15.6 t d^-1 of CO₂ for an area of 0.53 km².     

Oxygen isotope fractionation factors between anhydrite and water from 100 to 550°C

Oxygen isotope exchange between anhydrite and water was studied from 100 to 550°C, using the partial equilibrium method. The exchange rate was extremely low in NaCl solution. In the lower-temperature range, acid solutions were used to produce sufficient reaction to determine the oxygen isotope fractionation factors. The fractionation factors obtained in the present study are definitely different from those given by Lloyd [8]. They are similar to those for the HSO₄^?-water system studied by Mizutani and Rafter [19], and are consistently 2‰ higher than those of the barite-water system by Kusakabe and Robinson [5]. The temperature dependence of the oxygen isotope fractionation factors was calculated by the least squares method in which the weight was taken to be inversely proportional to the experimental error. The fractionation is given by:10³lnαanhydrite-water=3.21×(10³/T)²?4.72Available δ¹⁸O values of natural anhydrite were used to test the validity of this expression. It is shown that this newly revised geothermometer can be successfully applied to natural hydrothermal anhydrite.     

Effect of hydrostatic pressure on the lattice parameters of Fe2SiO4 olivine up to 70 kbar

The pressure dependence of the three lattice parameters and unit cell volume of fayalite (Fe₂SiO₄ olivine) was determined by X-ray diffraction under hydrostatic pressures up to 70 kbar. In order to eliminate stress inhomogeneity within a composite material consisting of a specimen mixed with an internal-pressure standard, a liquid (1 : 1 mixture of ethanol and methanol) was used as a pressure-transmitting medium. The isothermal bulk modulus calculated on the basis of the second-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state gives the values K₀ = 1.19 ± 0.10 Mbar and K₀′ = 7 ± 4, and if we assume K₀′ = 5: K₀ = 1.24 ± 0.02 Mbar. Three axes of fayalite were found to be compressible in the following order, b >c >a. Comparisons with the results obtained under non-hydrostatic compression are made.     

The chemical composition of a Greenland glacier

Chemical analyses on water from dated strata of a south Greenland permanent ice sheet revealed that there is a larger amount of sulfate in samples accumulated during the past decade than in those 60 or more years older. This increase is attributed to combustion of fossil fuel. With the exception of mercury, cadmium and possibly copper, the heavy metal distributions in the glacial waters are similar to those in atmospheric dusts. Previously reported higher mercury values in recently deposited strata were not confirmed.     

Lead-210 and pollen geochronologies on Lake Superior sediments

Rates of sedimentation in two Lake Superior deposits were determined by both ragweed pollen and ²¹⁰Pb geochronologies. The former yields an average rate over the time since the first appearance of enhanced concentrations of the pollen as a consequence of human settlement. Sedimentation rates derived on these two bases can be brought into accord if the first appearance of ragweed pollen in the sediments was around 1830 and if the sedimentation rates have been uniform over the past century.     

Depositional history of artificial radionuclides in the Ross Ice Shelf,Antarctica

The annual fluxes of artificial radionuclides (²³⁸Pu,^239+240Pu,²⁴¹Am,¹³⁷Cs,⁹⁰Sr and³H) from the atmosphere to the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica were determined from measurements in strata dated by²¹⁰Pb. Recognizable sources include the U.S. tests (Mike-Ivy and Castle Hill) in the early 1950s, the U.S.S.R. tests of the early 1960s, the SNAP-9A burnup of 1964 and the French and Chinese tests in the late 1960s and 1970s. There are several problems still awaiting resolution: the differences in atmospheric chemistries of fission products and of transuranics produced in weapons tests and the anomalous fluxes of²³⁸Pu to the ice shelf which do not appear to reflect a one-year stratospheric residence. There is no evidence for a smearing of the fallout record as a consequence of diffusion of these radionuclides in the glacial column.     

Identification of a one-dimensional model for a soil-layer–bedrock system during an earthquake

The propriety of adopting a multi-degree-of-freedom lumped mass–spring–dampers system driven by white noise support excitation as a one-dimensional model for a soil-layer–bedrock system during an earthquake is investigated by means of statistical system identification of the model with noisy measurement of the earthquake ground velocity. The present discussion also suggests that this model may not be applicable to all observed earthquake records, since the model itself depends on the statistical nature of the earthquake motion. For appropriate earthquake records, the system identification procedure may be accomplished; then dynamical properties of the soil-layer and the power spectral density for white noise excitation acting upon the bedrock can be estimated as shown in a numerical example.     

Resonance capacity method for earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures

The Resonance Capacity Method is proposed for the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures. Resonance Capacity is a physical quantity of structures which is related to the hysteretic energy absorbed by structures in one cycle and is equated to the acceleration, velocity and displacement amplitudes α₀, d₀ and d₀ of earthquake ground motions at resonance.¹ According to the idealized trapezoidal approximation of earthquake ground motions in the logarithmic period–velocity plane as proposed by Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ the Resonance Capacity property applies in each period range, short, medium and long, where α₀, v₀ and d₀ respectively are approximately constant. In the medium range of periods, the energy dissipated in hysteretic loops and the deformation amplitudes of a single-degree system with elasto–plastic force–deformation relationships are calculated for the case of El Centro 1940, 18 May earthquake, by this Resonance Capacity Method. The result is compared with results from conventional numerical response analyses obtained by Berg and Thomaides,¹⁴ Kato and Akiyama¹² and Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ and the general agreement is seen to be good. Therefore, it may be possible to apply this Resonance Capacity Method over the entire range of periods. By means of this method the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic systems can be performed easily, and the hysteretic energy and fatigue characteristics of structures may be taken into account directly, up to the point of fracture.     

Fast Oxidation Reaction of Nitrite by Dissolved Oxygen in the Freezing Process in the Tropospheric Aqueous Phase

Nitrite oxidation in the tropospheric aqueous phase by freezing was evaluated by freezing a field sample. Nitrite oxidation by dissolved oxygen in the freezing process is much faster than by other oxidation processes, such as reactions with ozone, hydrogen peroxide or dissolved oxygen in an aqueous solution at pHs 3 to –6. At pH 4.5 and 25°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the aqueous phase is ca. 1 hr in oxidation by ozone (6×10^-10 mol dm^-3), ca. 10 hr in oxidation by H₂O₂ (2×10^-4 mol dm^-3), and 7.5 hr (Fischer and Warneck, 1996) in photodissociation at midday in summer. Under the same conditions at a temperature below 0°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the freezing process is estimated as ca. 2 sec when the droplets are frozen within a second. The reaction by freezing is affected by the presence of salts, such as NaCl or KCl, or orgnaic compounds, such as methanol or acetone. The results of freezing a field rain or fog sample showed that nitrite oxidation proceeds below pH 6, and the conversion ratio of nitrate from nitrite increases with decreasing pH. The oxidation of nitrite by freezing was also observed in freezing fog particles generated by an ultrasonic humidifier. The ratios of the concentrations of ions in the winter sample to those in the summer sample (or those in the fog sample) were almost the same values. However, the concentration of nitrite in the winter sample was lower than that estimated by the ratios of other ions. From the present study, it seems that the freezing process plays an important role in the nitrite sink process in the tropospheric aqueous phase.     

Frequency-dependent Attenuation of High-frequency P and S Waves in the Upper Crust in Western Nagano, Japan

—Borehole seismograms from local earthquakes in the aftershock region of the 1984 western Nagano Prefecture, Japan earthquake were analyzed to measure the frequency-dependent characteristics of P- and S-wave attenuation in the upper crust. The records from a three-component velocity seismometer at the depth of 145m exhibit high S/N-ratio in a wide frequency range up to 100 Hz. Extended coda normalization methods were applied to bandpass-filtered seismograms of frequencies from 25 to 102 Hz. For the attenuation of high-frequency P and S waves, our measurements show Q _P ^-1? 0.052?^-0.66 and Q _S ^-1? 0.0034?^-0.12 respectively. The frequency dependence of the quality factor of S waves is very weak as compared with that of P waves. The ratio of Q _P ^-1/Q _S ^-1 is larger than unity in the entire analyzed frequency range.