Geophysical studies of crustal structure of the Ongul Islands and the Northern Mizuho Plateau, East Antarctica

Explosion seismic experiments, gravity measurements and aeromagnetic surveys were made in the northern Mizuho Plateau including the Ongul Islands, East Antarctica, from 1979 to 1982 by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions. The objective of these field operations was to determine the crustal structure along the 300 km-long oversnow traverse route between Syowa and Mizuho Stations. Three big shots were fired; at sea near Syowa Station, in an ice hole near Mizuho Station and in an ice hole between both stations. Twenty-seven temporal seismic stations were set up along the route. Gravity measurements were carried out at 30 points along this route. Aeromagnetic surveys over the area were made four times.In the seismic experiments, clear refracted waves from the Conrad (estimated depth 30 km) and the Moho (estimated depth 40 km) discontinuities were recorded. No layer with a velocity of less than 6 km/s was found in the Ongul Islands nor beneath the ice sheet in the surveyed area. The P-wave velocity in the upper layer varies with depth from 6.0 km/s on the surface to 6.4 km/s at a depth of 13 km. Comparing the observed record section with synthetic seismograms, it was derived that the Conrad was not associated with a sharp velocity discontinuity, but a linear velocity increase of 0.55 km/s in a transition zone of 2.4 km thick. Velocities of P^* and P_n were determined as 6.95 km/s and 7.93 km/s assuming a flat layered structure.Bouguer gravity anomalies could not be calculated along the whole profile because of a lack of data on bedrock topography, so reduced gravity anomalies were calculated. These anomalies indicate no abrupt changes of the bedrock topography.     

Evaluation of the non-hydrostatic stress produced in a multi-anvil high pressure apparatus

Olivine single crystals have been deformed under high confining pressure (P=5?GPa) and temperature (T=1400?°C) conditions in a multi-anvil high pressure apparatus. NaCl, diamond and NaCl+diamond (2:1 by volume) powders were encapsulated along with the olivine single crystals in order to produce a range of stress states. The change of the non-hydrostatic stress transmitted to the olivine samples, enclosed within these three different media, during heating has been evaluated by observation of dislocation microstructure and density. A higher differential stress can be generated with diamond powder (0.1?GPa) than with NaCl powder (0.02?GPa). Although an intermediate differential stress between 0.1?GPa and 0.02?GPa had been expected to be generated using NaCl+diamond powder, the generation of non-hydrostatic stress in the olivine sample was unsuccessful. This may be caused by the fact that compaction (or sintering) proceeded in the capsule throughout the experiments. The most important finding of these experiments is that a constant non-hydrostatic stress can be applied to a sample under very high pressure and temperature conditions within the multi-anvil high pressure apparatus for the duration of the experiment. This approach is therefore suitable for investigating the steady-state rheological properties of mantle minerals at near-mantle conditions.     

structure of south-western Honshu, Japan and the nature of the Mohorovicić discontinuity

Summary. Two record sections have been prepared for a series of explosions near Lake Biwa, south-western Honshu, Japan. The record sections cover both the array stations and the network of microearthquake stations that are distributed throughout the area. This enabled us to detect for the first time in the Japanese islands the phase reflected at the Mohorovicić discontinuity. Until now the weakness and obscurity of the phase has made it difficult to detect. We were able to overcome this problem by processing the seismograms to enhance the phase. Our work leads us to propose that the surface of the Mohorović discontinuity may be divided into pieces by a number of deep faults, while a thin layer of ultrabasic rock in the lower crust may account for the weakness of the signal.     

Observation of the S-component of the solar radio emission by an eight element grating interferometer at 17 Gc/s

The slowly varying components (S-components) of the solar radio emission were observed by a 17 Gc/s grating interferometer. In combination with 4 Gc/s data, it is deduced that the source of the 17 Gc/s S-component is optically thin.     

Curation protocol of Phobos sample returned by Martian Moons eXploration

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission will launch a spacecraft in 2024 to return samples from Phobos in 2029. Curatorial work for the returned Phobos samples is critical for the sample allocation without degrading the sample integrity and subsequent sample analysis that will provide new constraints on the origin of Phobos and the evolution of the circum-Mars environment. The Sample Analysis Working Team of the MMX is designing the sample curation protocol. The curation protocol consists of three phases: (1) quick analysis (extraction and mass spectrometry for gases), (2) pre-basic characterization (bulk-scale observation), and (3) basic characterization (grain-by-grain observation and allocation of the sample aliquots). Nondestructive analyses within the clean chamber (e.g., visible and near-infrared spectral imaging) and outside the chamber (e.g., gas mass spectrometry) are incorporated into the curation flow in coordination with the MMX mission instrument teams for ground-truthing the remote-sensing data sets. The MMX curation/sample analysis flow enables the seamless integration between the sample and remote-sensing data sets to maximize the scientific value of the collected Phobos samples.     

Variation of the partial pressure of CO2 in surface water from Kuroshio to Oyashio and the relation between environmental factors and the partial pressure at 144°E off Sanriku, northwestern North Pacific in May, 1997

Partial pressure of CO₂ in surface sea water (pCO₂) was measured continuously off Sanriku in May, 1997 by a new pCO₂ measurement system. We have examined the relation of pCO₂ to physical factors such as temperature, salinity and density, chemical and biological factors such as nutrients and carbonate system and chlorophylla. In the Kuroshio region pCO₂ was not correlated to physical, chemical and biological factors in the range of 260 to 290 μatom. In transition water (Tr1) between Kuroshio and the Oyashio second branch, pCO₂ was weakly correlated to physical factors and strongly correlated to nutrients. In transition water (Tr2) between the Oyashio first and second branches, pCO₂ was highly correlated to temperature (SD: 10.9 μatom) and salinity (SD: 8.6 μatom) and also to nutrients. In transition water (Tr1+Tr2), pCO₂ was highly multivariately correlated to temperature (T), salinity (S), chlorophylla (CH) (or nitrate+nitrite (N)) as follows, pCO₂(μatom)= 10.8×T(°C)+27.7×S+2.57CH(μg/1) −769, R²= 0.86, SD = 20.9, or pCO₂(μatom)= 3.9×T(°C)+25.5×S+16.0NO₃(μM) −686, R²= 0.99, SD = 6.4. Moreover, pCO₂ was predicted by only two factors, one physical (S) and the other chemical/biological (N) as follows: pCO₂ (μatom)=32.8×S+19.4N−908, R²=0.97, SD=8.4. The pH measured at 25°C was well correlated with normalized pCO₂ at a fixed temperature. In the Oyashio region pCO₂ was decreased to 160 μatom, probably because of spring bloom, but was not correlated linearly to chlorophylla. The results obtained showed the possibility of estimating pCO₂ of the Oyashio and transition regions in May by satellite remote sensing of SST, but the problem of estimation of pCO₂ in Kuroshio water remains to be solved.     

A fast and accurate DE-formula algorithm to evaluate Ambartsumian-Chandrarasekhar $H$ -function for isotropic scattering

Astrophysics and Space Science - Electrostatic (ES) waves generated in space plasmas, e.g., Langmuir and ion-acoustic waves, are subject to multiple applications, such as plasma diagnosis,...     

Sublimation’s impact on temporal change of albedo dichotomy on Iapetus

Iapetus, one of the saturnian moons, has an extreme albedo contrast between the leading and trailing hemispheres. The origin of this albedo dichotomy has led to several hypotheses, however it remains controversial. To clarify the origin of the dichotomy, the key approach is to investigate the detailed distribution of the dark material. Recent studies of impact craters and surface temperature from Cassini spacecraft data implied that sublimation of H₂O ice can occur on Iapetus’ surface. This ice sublimation can change the albedo distribution on the moon with time.In this study, we evaluate the effect of ice sublimation and simulate the temporal change of surface albedo. We assume the dark material and the bright ice on the surface to be uniformly mixed with a certain volume fraction, and the initial albedo distribution to incorporate the dark material deposits on the surface. That is, the albedo at the apex is lowest and concentrically increases in a sinusoidal pattern. This situation simulates that dark materials existed around the Iapetus’ orbit billions of years ago, and the synchronously rotating Iapetus swept the material and then deposited it on its surface. The evolution of the surface albedo during 4.0 Gyr is simulated by estimating the surface temperature from the insolation energy on Iapetus including the effect of Saturn’s eccentricity and Iapetus’ obliquity precession, and evaluating the sublimation rate of H₂O ice from the Iapetus’ surface.As a result, we found that the distribution of the surface albedo changed dramatically after 4.0 Gyr of evolution. The sublimation has three important effects on the resultant surface albedo. First, the albedo in the leading hemisphere has significantly decreased to approach the minimum value. Second, the albedo distribution has been elongated along the equator. Third, the edge of the low albedo region has become clear. Considering the effect of ice sublimation, the current albedo distribution can be reconstructed from the sinusoidal albedo distribution, suggesting the apex-antapex cratering asymmetry as a candidate for the origin of the albedo dichotomy. From the model analysis, we obtained an important aspect that the depth of the turn-over layer where the darkening process proceeded for 4 Gyr should be an order of 10 cm, which is consistent with evaluation from the Cassini radar observations.