Recent and historical tsunami deposits from Lake Tokotan,eastern Hokkaido,Japan, inferred from nondestructive,grain size,and radioactive cesium analyses

Geological evidence of recent tsunamis from sediment samples collected from Lake Tokotan, a coastal lagoon in eastern Hokkaido, northern Japan, was detected using computed tomography (CT) and soft X-ray images, grain size, and radionuclide profiles. Initial field observations revealed that sediments had no discernable sedimentary structures at the top of the core. However, results of CT imaging, soft X-ray, and grain size analyses show evidence for three invisible sand layers that are intercalated with mud layers. These sand layers exhibit trends of landward fining and thinning. Furthermore, the distribution of sand layers was limited to the center and seaward parts of the lake. Vertical profiles of cesium and lead concentrations in combination with recent eyewitness accounts indicated that these sand layers are correlated with the 1973 Nemuro-oki, 1960 Chilean, and 1952 Tokachi-oki tsunami events. The deeper part of the sediment cores includes three volcanic ash layers and three prehistoric coarse sand layers. The prehistoric layers are correlated with unusually large tsunamis that were geologically identified in previous studies from eastern Hokkaido. These findings suggest that nondestructive techniques, in combination with radionuclide analysis, allow for detection of frequent but faint tsunami deposits. This technique allows for an improved understanding of the history of tsunami inundation in Lake Tokotan and of other locations for which stratigraphic evidence for faint tsunamis layers is not readily apparent from field assessments.

     

Partitioning of elements between majorite garnet and melt and implications for petrogenesis of komatiite

Partitioning of elements between majorite garnet and ultrabasic melt has been studied at 16 GPa and 1950° C. Ca, Ti, La, Sm, Gd, Zr, Hf, Fe, Ni, Mn, K, and Na are enriched in the melt, whereas Al, Cr, V, Sc and Yb are concentrated in majorite garnet. Thus, majorite garnet fractionation by partial melting could produce chemical heterogeneities in these elements deviating from chondritic abundance. Using the partitioning behaviour of elements between majorite garnet and ultrabasic melt, the petrogenesis of komatiite is discussed. A simple model to explain the chemical varieties of komatiites is as follows. Aluminadepleted komatiite was generated by partial melting of the primitive mantle at 200–650 km depth, and alumina-enriched komatiite is the product of remelting of the residual solid at the same depths, whereas alumina-undepleted komatiite was formed by partial melting of the primitive upper mantle at depths shallower than 200 km. We suggest the possibility of large-scale chemical layering or heterogeneity in the early Archean upper mantle as an alternative model for komatiite genesis; shallower mantle depleted in majorite garnet and the underlying mantle enriched in majorite garnet. Alumina-depleted and alumina-enriched komatiites in the early Archean might be generated by a high degree of partial melting of the layered mantle. Such chemical layering could have been homogenized by the late Archean. This explains the observations that alumina-depleted and alumina-enriched komatiites were generally formed in the early Archean but alumina-undepleted komatiite was erupted in the late Archean.     

Application of a 3-D chemical fate prediction model (FATE3D) to predict dioxin concentrations in the Tokyo Bay

A 3-D chemical fate prediction model (FATE3D) was applied to predict the dioxin concentrations in the seawater of Tokyo Bay, Japan. The simulations were carried out for a period of one year (from September 2002 to August 2003). Parameters such as meteorological data, flow field conditions, concentrations and sinking rates of organic particulate matter, initial and boundary conditions, and loading fluxes and physico-chemical properties of dioxins were used as the model inputs.The simulation results compared favorably with the field measurements of dioxin concentrations in the bay for both the particulate and dissolved phases, indicating the validity and predictive capability of the model. Furthermore, the differences in the seasonal cycles and distributions between the particulate- and dissolved-phase dioxins in the bay were estimated from the simulation results.However, the particulate-phase dioxin concentrations in the bottom layers (+1 m from the bottom) were underestimated, probably because the resuspension process was not taken into account in the model. The improvement of the model's predictive capability, including the resuspension process, shall be the focus of our next study.     

Automated classifications of topography from DEMs by an unsupervised nested-means algorithm and a three-part geometric signature

An iterative procedure that implements the classification of continuous topography as a problem in digital image-processing automatically divides an area into categories of surface form; three taxonomic criteria–slope gradient, local convexity, and surface texture–are calculated from a square-grid digital elevation model (DEM). The sequence of programmed operations combines twofold-partitioned maps of the three variables converted to greyscale images, using the mean of each variable as the dividing threshold. To subdivide increasingly subtle topography, grid cells sloping at less than mean gradient of the input DEM are classified by designating mean values of successively lower-sloping subsets of the study area (nested means) as taxonomic thresholds, thereby increasing the number of output categories from the minimum 8 to 12 or 16. Program output is exemplified by 16 topographic types for the world at 1-km spatial resolution (SRTM30 data), the Japanese Islands at 270 m, and part of Hokkaido at 55 m. Because the procedure is unsupervised and reflects frequency distributions of the input variables rather than pre-set criteria, the resulting classes are undefined and must be calibrated empirically by subsequent analysis. Maps of the example classifications reflect physiographic regions, geological structure, and landform as well as slope materials and processes; fine-textured terrain categories tend to correlate with erosional topography or older surfaces, coarse-textured classes with areas of little dissection. In Japan the resulting classes approximate landform types mapped from airphoto analysis, while in the Americas they create map patterns resembling Hammond's terrain types or surface-form classes; SRTM30 output for the United States compares favorably with Fenneman's physical divisions. Experiments are suggested for further developing the method; the Arc/Info AML and the map of terrain classes for the world are available as online downloads.     

NWA 10214—An LL3 chondrite breccia with an assortment of metamorphosed,shocked, and unique chondrite clasts

NWA 10214 is an LL3‐6 breccia containing ~8 vol% clasts including LL5, LL6, and shocked‐darkened LL fragments as well as matrix‐rich Clast 6 (a new kind of chondrite). This clast is a dark‐colored, subrounded, 6.1 × 7.0 mm inclusion, consisting of 60 vol% fine‐grained matrix, 32 vol% coarse silicate grains, and 8 vol% coarse opaque grains. The large chondrules and chondrule fragments are mainly Type IB; one small chondrule is Type IIA. Also present are one 450 × 600 μm spinel‐pyroxene‐olivine CAI and one 85 × 110 μm AOI. Clast 6 possesses a unique set of properties. (1) It resembles carbonaceous chondrites in having relatively abundant matrix, CAIs, and AOIs; the clast's matrix composition is close to that in CV3 Vigarano. (2) It resembles type‐3 OC in its olivine and low‐Ca pyroxene compositional distributions, and in the Fe/Mn ratio of ferroan olivine grains. Its mean chondrule size is within 1σ of that of H chondrites. The O‐isotopic compositions of the chondrules are in the ordinary‐ and R‐chondrite ranges. (3) It resembles type‐3 enstatite chondrites in the minor element concentrations in low‐Ca pyroxene grains and in having a high low‐Ca pyroxene/olivine ratio in chondrules. Clast 6 is a new variety of type‐3 OC, somewhat more reduced than H chondrites or chondritic clasts in the Netschaevo IIE iron; the clast formed in a nebular region where aerodynamic radial drift processes deposited a high abundance of matrix material and CAIs. A chunk of this chondrite was ejected from its parent asteroid and later impacted the LL body at low relative velocity.     

Enrichment of alkanes within a phytoplankton bloom during an in situ iron enrichment experiment in the western subarctic Pacific

During the Subarctic Pacific Iron Experiment for Ecosystem Dynamics Study ΙΙ (SEEDS-II), we monitored variations in the concentrations of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), CH₃Cl, N₂O, and CH₄ within a phytoplankton bloom. Stable isotopic compositions were also determined to evaluate the sources of the variations. Although there was little variation in either the concentrations or the stable isotopic compositions of alkenes, CH₃Cl, N₂O, and CH₄ during the 23-day observation period, alkane concentrations increased substantially as the phytoplankton bloomed. The column-integrated quantities of alkanes increased to 3 times pre-bloom levels for C₂H₆, 5 times for C₃H₈, and 20 times for n-C₄H₁₀. The δ¹³C values of both C₂H₆ and C₃H₈ remained almost constant while concentrations increased, whereas that of n-C₄H₁₀ increased by about 12‰. To evaluate the sources of the alkanes produced during the bloom, we compared their δ¹³C values with those of alkanes produced in axenic phytoplankton cultures in our laboratory. We concluded that during the SEEDS-ΙΙ experiment the major portions of C₂H₆ and C₃H₈ were produced during the autolysis of diatoms cells, whereas n-C₄H₁₀ was produced during autolysis of other phytoplankton cells such as cryptophytes and dinoflagellates.     

Preparation of the standard solutions of nitrate and their application to seawater and freshwater

Responding to the recommendation at the first Meeting of the International Coordination Group for the Cooperative Study of the Kuroshio and Adjacent Regions (CSK) 1965, a series of nitrate standard solutions consisting of eight different concentrations ranging from 0 to 50g-at NO₃-N/l in 30.5 sodium chloride solution with the highest purity was prepared for nitrate-N determination in seawater. The solutions have been proved to be stable at least 520 days after preparation.The best way of handling and conditioning the copper-cadmium column was studied for securing the perfect and reproducible conversion of nitrate to nitrite for the procedure as proposed byWood et al. (1967).It was also shown that the method can be applied to freshwater samples by the addition of sodium chloride and adjusting pH properly.     

Placental transfer of arsenic to fetus of Dall's porpoises (Phocoenoides dalli)

Concentrations of total arsenic and individual arsenic compounds were determined in liver, muscle, kidney and blubber of mother and fetus of Dall’s porpoises collected from off Sanriku, Japan, in the year 2000 to characterize the placental transfer of arsenic to fetus in cetaceans. Arsenic was detected in all the tissues of Dall’s porpoises. Total arsenic concentrations in liver, kidney, muscle and blubber were 0.76, 0.69, 0.35 and 0.55 μg/g wet wt, respectively, for mother and 0.28, 0.23, 0.26 and 0.07 μg/g wet wt, respectively, for fetus. In all the tissues, concentrations of total arsenic in mother Dall’s porpoise were higher than in fetus. Arsenic speciation revealed that arsenobetaine was the major arsenic compound in liver, kidney and muscle of both mother and fetus. The percentage of arsenobetaine to total arsenic ranged from 76.0 to 91.0% in the tissues. Dimethylarsinic acid, arsenocholine, methylarsonic acid and an unidentified arsenic compound were also detected in tissues of both mother and fetus as minor constituents, whereas tetramethylarsonium ion was not detected in tissues of the fetus. These results suggest that arsenobetaine, dimethylarsinic acid, arsenocholine and methylarsonic acid are transferable from mother to fetus in Dall’s porpoises. To our knowledge, this is the first report on placental transfer of arsenic compounds to fetus in marine mammals.     

Orbital evolution and accretion of protoplanets tidally interacting with a gas disk: II. Solid surface density evolution with type-I migration

This paper investigates the surface density evolution of a planetesimal disk due to the effect of type-I migration by carrying out N-body simulation and through analytical method, focusing on terrestrial planet formation. The coagulation and the growth of the planetesimals take place in the abundant gas disk except for a final stage. A protoplanet excites density waves in the gas disk, which causes the torque on the protoplanet. The torque imbalance makes the protoplanet suffer radial migration, which is known as type-I migration. Type-I migration time scale derived by the linear theory may be too short for the terrestrial planets to survive, which is one of the major problems in the planet formation scenario. Although the linear theory assumes a protoplanet being in a gas disk alone, Kominami et al. [Kominami, J., Tanaka, H., Ida, S., 2005. Icarus 167, 231-243] showed that the effect of the interaction with the planetesimal disk and the neighboring protoplanets on type-I migration is negligible. The migration becomes pronounced before the planet's mass reaches the isolation mass, and decreases the solid component in the disk. Runaway protoplanets form again in the planetesimal disk with decreased surface density. In this paper, we present the analytical formulas that describe the evolution of the solid surface density of the disk as a function of gas-to-dust ratio, gas depletion time scale and semimajor axis, which agree well with our results of N-body simulations. In general, significant depletion of solid material is likely to take place in inner regions of disks. This might be responsible for the fact that there is no planet inside Mercury's orbit in our Solar System. Our most important result is that the final surface density of solid components (Σd) and mass of surviving planets depend on gas surface density (Σg) and its depletion time scale (τdep) but not on initial Σd; they decrease with increase in Σg and τdep. For a fixed gas-to-dust ratio and τdep, larger initial Σd results in smaller final Σd and smaller surviving planets, because of larger Σg. To retain a specific amount of Σd, the efficient disk condition is not an initially large Σd but the initial Σd as small as the specified final one and a smaller gas-to-dust ratio. To retain Σd comparable to that of the minimum mass solar nebula (MMSN), a disk must have the same Σd and a gas-to-dust ratio that is smaller than that of MMSN by a factor of 1.3×(τdep/1 Myr) at ∼1 AU. (Equivalently, type-I migration speed is slower than that predicted by the linear theory by the same factor.) The surviving planets are Mars-sized ones in this case; in order to form Earth-sized planets, their eccentricities must be pumped up to start orbit crossing and coagulation among them. At ∼5 AU, Σd of MMSN is retained under the same condition, but to form a core massive enough to start runaway gas accretion, a gas-to-dust ratio must be smaller than that of MMSN by a factor of 3×τdep/1 Myr.