Double seismic zones and stresses of intermediate depth earthquakes

Summary. Data from Japanese local seismograph networks suggest that the stresses in double seismic zones are in-plate compression for the upper zone and in-plate tension for the lower zone; the stresses do not necessarily appear to be down-dip. It may therefore be possible to identify other double seismic zones on the basis of data which indicate that events with differing orientations of in-plate stresses occur in a given segment of slab.
A global survey of published focal mechanisms for intermediate depth earthquakes suggests that the stress in the slab is controlled, at least in part, by the age of the slab and the rate of convergence. Old and slow slabs are under in-plate tensile stresses and the amount of in-plate compression in the slab increases with increasing convergence rate or decreasing slab age. Young and fast slabs are an exception to this trend; all such slabs are down-dip tensile. Since these slabs all subduct under continents, they may be bent by continental loading. Double seismic zones are not a feature common to all subduction zones and are only observed in slabs which are not dominated by tensile or compressive stresses.
Unbending of the lithosphere and upper mantle phase changes are unlikely to be the causes of the major features of double zones, although they may contribute to producing some of their characteristics. Sagging or thermal effects, possibly aided by asthenospheric relative motion, may produce the local deviatoric stresses that cause double zones.     

The comoving-frame equation of radiative transfer in relativistic flows

The comoving-frame equations of radiative transfer and moment equations to accurate terms of all orders inv/c are derived in the modified Lagrangian form. The equations exactly describe the interaction of radiation with matter in a relativistically moving medium in flat or curved spacetime. Two specialized sets of equations are presented: (1) the equation of radiative transfer and moment equations accurate to terms of second order (v ²/c ²), and (2) the transfer equation and moment equations for a radial flow in curved spacetime with the Schwarzschild-type metric.     

Photographic observations of deep-sea infaunal ophiuroids in Suruga Bay,central Japan: an application of a free-fall system of time-lapse cameras and current meters

Underwater observations of infaunal amphiurid ophiuroids were made at a depth of about 480 m in Suruga Bay, central Japan, using a free-fall system which consists of time-lapse stereo-photography units and current meters. The megabenthos fauna was characterized by the dominance of infaunal echinoderms; in particular, amphiurid ophiuroids were numerically dominant. The density and biomass of the amphiurids were 170 m^–2 and 37 g m^–2, respectively. They buried their discs in the sediment and extended their arm tips out of the sediment surface. They protruded 2.2 arms per individual on the average. Strong bottom currents were observed, and the average velocity was 12 cm sec^–1 at 4 m above the sea floor. No arm tip was observed to be raised vertically into the water column for suspension feeding utilizing the bottom current, and amphiurids were considered to be primarily a surface deposit feeder at the present site.     

The anoxic water mass in Hiuchi-Nada

Distribution of the anoxic water mass in the eastern part of Hiuchi-Nada was investigated from 1981 to 1983. A cold water mass was found on the bottom of the area concerned in summer, and a second (i.e. lower) thermocline appeared just above the cold water mass. The anoxic water was observed below a second thermocline. The horizontal distribution of the cold water mass coincided with that of the anoxic water mass, and also with a region of high concentration of organic matter in the sediment. These results suggest two important effects of the second thermocline on the generation of the anoxic water mass. Firstly, it prevents supply of dissolved oxygen from the upper to bottom layer of the water column. Secondly, it accelerates settling of particulate material resulting in a large accumulation of organic matter in the bottom water and the sediment which leads to an increase in the rate of oxygen consumption. The net oxygen consumption rate in the bottom layer in this sea was much smaller than that in Mikawa Bay where anoxia occurs at almost the same level as in Hiuchi-Nada. This finding also suggests the important role of the second thermocline.     

Renewable energy from the ocean

Growing concern over the threat of global climate change has led to an increased interest in research and development of renewable energy technologies. The ocean provides a vast source of potential energy resources, and as renewable energy technology develops, investment in ocean energy is likely to grow. Research in ocean thermal energy conversion, wave energy, tidal energy, and offshore wind energy has led to promising technologies and in some cases, commercial deployment. These sources have the potential to help alleviate the global climate change threat, but the ocean environment should be protected while these technologies are developed. Renewable energy sources from the ocean may be exploited without harming the marine environment if projects are sited and scaled appropriately and environmental guidelines are followed.     

Association of picophytoplankton distribution with ENSO events in the equatorial Pacific between 145°E and 160°W

Climatological variability of picophytoplankton populations that consisted of >64% of total chlorophyll a concentrations was investigated in the equatorial Pacific. Flow cytometric analysis was conducted along the equator between 145°E and 160°W during three cruises in November–December 1999, January 2001, and January–February 2002. Those cruises were covering the La Niña (1999, 2001) and the pre-El Niño (2002) periods. According to the sea surface temperature (SST) and nitrate concentrations in the surface water, three regions were distinguished spatially, viz., the warm-water region with >28 °C SST and nitrate depletion (<0.1 μmol kg⁻¹), the upwelling region with <28 °C SST and high nitrate (>4 μmol kg⁻¹) water, and the in-between frontal zone with low nitrate (0.1–4 μmol kg⁻¹). Picophytoplankton identified as the groups of Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes showed a distinct spatial heterogeneity in abundance corresponding to the watermass distribution. Prochlorococcus was most abundant in the warm-water region, especially in the nitrate-depleted water with >150×10³ cells ml⁻¹, Synechococcus in the frontal zone with >15×10³ cells ml⁻¹, and picoeukaryotes in the upwelling region with >8×10³ cells ml⁻¹. The warm-water region extended eastward with eastward shift of the frontal zone and the upwelling region during the pre-El Niño period. On the contrary, these regions distributed westward during the La Niña period. These climatological fluctuations of the watermass significantly influenced the distribution of picophytoplankton populations. The most abundant area of Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus extended eastward and picoeukaryotes developed westward during the pre-El Niño period. The spatial heterogeneity of each picophytoplankton group is discussed here in association with spatial variations in nitrate supply, ambient ammonium concentration, and light field.     

Distribution of phototrophic bacteria in Omura Bay during the summer with special reference to brownChlorobium

The distribution of phototrophic bacteria was investigated during the summers of 1969 and 1970 in Omura Bay of western Kyushu. Phototrophic sulfur- and nonsulfur-bacteria were distributed numerously in the mud and bottom water. Brown strains usually dominated in number. In water column, other than bottom water, there were usually few or no phototrophic bacteria. On occasion, however, a large number of brown bacteria were found in the middle of water column. Six strains, two each of the purple, green and brown bacterial colonies, were isolated from mud and sea water. The purple and green bacterial strains were identified as belonging to the generaChromatium andChlorobium, respectively. The brown strains could not be identified using Bergey's manual, but were found to be similar to the brownChlorobium described byPfennig. All six strains required sulfide for growth. Heterotrophic tendency was greater for the purple and green strains than for the brown strains. Their growth was enhanced by the addition of thymine. Living cells, taken from enrichment cultures of mud samples from four stations, gave absorption spectra almost identical to the spectrum of brownChlorobium. Thus it appears that during the summer brownChlorobium is the dominant phototrophic bacterial group in Omura Bay.     

Recent Occurrences of Dinophysis fortii (Dinophyceae) in the Okkirai Bay, Sanriku, Northern Japan, and Related Environmental Factors

Occurrence of Dinophysis fortii, a causative organism of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, in the Okkirai Bay, Sanriku was surveyed in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999. In each year, its major occurrence was detected from the late May or early June and continued until the late June or early July. Seawater temperature, salinity and nutrients measurements suggested that inflows of offshore water into the bay played key role on the first major occurrence of D. fortii. With an analysis of continuous temperature data in the Otsuchi Bay which locates north of the Okkirai Bay, this influent was considered to be intermittent inflow of the offshore water by internal tidal waves which propagated from north to south. First occurrence peak of D. fortii was synchronous with phycobilin containing microalgae, synechococcoid cyanobacteria and cryptomonad, in all years. In vivo fluorescence measurement of D. fortii cells in 1995 and 96 showed that the cells in these microalgal-rich water contained more phycobilin pigment than those in the microalgal-poor water. The result may support a hypothesis that D. fortii acquires phycobilin by an uptake of these microalgae. After the first major occurrence in the bay, D. fortii sometimes occurred in rather inshore waters where showed elevated ammonium level possibly due to increased heterotrophic activity. Together with another finding that D. fortii is mixotrophic, it could be assumed that the environment being suited to heterotrophic nutrition also stimulates D. fortii growth in the bay.     

The Effect of the CO32- to Ca2+ Ion activity ratio on calcite precipitation kinetics and Sr2+ partitioning

Background  

A proposed strategy for immobilizing trace metals in the subsurface is to stimulate calcium carbonate precipitation and incorporate contaminants by co-precipitation. Such an approach will require injecting chemical amendments into the subsurface to generate supersaturated conditions that promote mineral precipitation. However, the formation of reactant mixing zones will create gradients in both the saturation state and ion activity ratios (i.e., ). To better understand the effect of ion activity ratios on CaCO₃ precipitation kinetics and Sr²⁺ co-precipitation, experiments were conducted under constant composition conditions where the supersaturation state (Ω) for calcite was held constant at 9.4, but the ion activity ratio was varied between 0.0032 and 4.15.