Discovery of a c.370 Ma granitic gneiss clast from the Hwanggangri pebble-bearing phyllite in the Okcheon metamorphic belt, Korea

The chemical Th–U total Pb isochron method (CHIME) of dating was carried out on accessory minerals in samples from the Okcheon metamorphic belt in Korea. Dated minerals include xenotime and monazite with overgrown mantles in a granitic gneiss clast from the Hwanggangri Formation, metamorphic allanite in garnet-bearing muscovite–chlorite schist of the Munjuri Formation, and polycrase and monazite in post-tectonic granite from the Hwanggangri area. Overgrowth of mantles took place at 369 ± 10 Ma on c. 1750 Ma cores of xenotime and monazite in the granitic gneiss. Allanite, occurring in textural equilibrium with peak metamorphic minerals, yields a CHIME age of 246 ± 15 Ma that is discriminably older than the polycrase (170 ± 6 Ma) and monazite (170 ± 3 Ma) ages of the post-tectonic granite. These chronological data suggest that some of the metasedimentary rocks in the belt formed through a single stage of metamorphism at c. 250 Ma from post-370 Ma sediments. Late Permian age signatures have also been reported from the Precambrian Gyeonggi and Yeongnam massifs that border the Okcheon metamorphic belt, and indicate that parts of the basement massifs and the metamorphic belt were affected by the same regional metamorphic event.     

Radiolarian Age of Manganese Ore and Red Chert from the Ananai Stratiform Manganese Deposit in the Northern Chichibu Belt, Central Shikoku, Japan

Abstract. We obtain radiolarian fossils such as Follicucullus monacanthus, Pseudoalbaillella aff. globosa, Pseudoalbaillella cf fusiformis , and Pseudoalbaillella spp. belonging to the Pseudoalbaillella globosa and Follicucullus monacanthus Zones from manganese ore and associated red chert of the Ananai stratiform manganese deposit in the Northern Chichibu Belt, central Shikoku. The depositional age of the Ananai ore deposit is constrained as Guadalupian (Middle Permian) that is between 270.6 and 260.4 Ma in the updated geologic time scale.     

Seismic performance evaluation of non‐structural components: drywall partitions

As the first part of non‐structural component test series, interior drywall partitions are selected for an experimental program. This test series will cover non‐structural components that are significant in the economic losses in buildings subjected to seismic loading, namely interior drywall partitions, exterior cladding and window glasses, and ceilings. Four full‐scale drywall partitions with light‐gage steel stud framing were tested to observe damage in cyclic loading conditions. Effects of a door and an intersecting wall on the behaviour of drywall partition are studied. Damage was concentrated to perimeter regions where gypsum boards made contacts with ceiling, floor, or columns. Dynamic loading did not amplify the damage on a drywall partition over the damage observed from the quasi‐static test. Damage–repair cost relationships show that the repair cost reaches almost the initial cost under 2% radian interstorey drift. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of contamination on banded iron formations in the Isua supracrustal belt,West Greenland: Reevaluation of the Eoarchean seawater compositions

Banded Iron Formations(BIFs) are chemical sediments, ubiquitously distributed in the Precambrian supracrustal belts; thus their trace element compositions are helpful for deciphering geochemical evolution on the Earth through time. However, it is necessary to elucidate factors controlling the whole-rock compositions in order to decode the ancient seawater compositions because their compositions are highly variable. We analyzed major and trace element contents of the BIFs in the 3.8-3.7 Ga Isua supracrustal belt(ISB), southern West Greenland. The BIFs are petrographically classified into four types:Black-,Gray-, Green-and White-types, respectively. The Green-type BIFs contain more amphiboles, and are significantly enriched in Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, heavy rare earth element(HREE) and U contents. However,their bulk compositions are not suitable for estimate of seawater composition because the enrichment was caused by secondary mobility of metamorphic Mg, Ca and Si-rich fluid, involvement of carbonate minerals and silicate minerals of olivine and pyroxene and/or later silicification or contamination of volcanic and clastic materials. The White-type BIFs are predominant in quartz, and have lower transition element and REE contents. The Gray-type BIFs contain both quartz and magnetite. The Black-type BIFs are dominated by magnetite, and contain moderate to high transition element and REE contents. But,positive correlations of V, Ni, Zn and U contents with Zr contents suggest that involvement of detrital,volcanic and exhalative materials influences on their contents. The evidence for significant influence of the materials on the transition element contents such as Ni in the BIFs indicates the transition element contents in the Archean ocean were much lower than previously estimated. We reconstructed secular variations of V,Co, Zn and U contents of BIFs through time, which show Ni and Co contents decreased whereas V, Zn and U contents increased through time. Especially, the Ni and Co contents drastically decreased in the Mesoarchean rather than around the Great Oxidation Event. On the other hand, the V,Zn and U contents progressively increased from the Mesoarchean to the Proterozoic. Stratigraphical trends of the BIFs show increase in Y/Ho ratios and decrease in positive Eu anomaly upwards, respectively. The stratigraphic changes indicate that a ratio of hydrothermal fluid to seawater component gradually decrease through the deposition, and support the Eoarchean plate tectonics, analogous to the their stratigraphic variations of seafloor metalliferous sediments at present and in the Mesoarchean.     

Complex Earthquake Cycle Simulations Using a Two-Degree-of-Freedom Spring-Block Model with a Rate- and State-Friction Law

Numerical simulations of complex earthquake cycles are conducted using a two-degree-of-freedom spring-block model with a rate- and state-friction law, which has been supported by laboratory experiments. The model consisted of two blocks coupled to each other and connected by elastic springs to a constant-velocity, moving driver. By widely and systematically varying the model parameters, various slip patterns were obtained, including the periodic recurrence of seismic and aseismic slip events, and several types of chaotic behaviour. The transition in the slip pattern from periodic to chaotic is examined using bifurcation diagrams. The model system exhibits typical period-doubling sequences for some parameter ranges, and attains chaotic motion. Simple relationships are found in iteration maps of the recurrence intervals of simulated earthquakes, suggesting that the simulated slip behaviour is deterministic chaos. Time evolutions of the cumulative slip distance in chaotic slip patterns are well approximated by a time-predictable model. In some cases, both seismic and aseismic slip events occur at a block, and aseismic slip events complicate the earthquake recurrence patterns.     

Erratum to: A spatio-temporal three-dimensional conceptualization and simulation of Dera Ismail Khan alluvial aquifer in visual MODFLOW: a case study from Pakistan

The Gour Oumelalen area exposes Paleoproterozoic (1.9 Ga) marbles and calc-silicate granulites. Some marbles show a specific mineralogy characterized by the presence of a highly aluminous clinopyroxene with Al₂O₃ content exceeding16 wt%. This clinopyroxene shows a marked zoning with a hedenbergitic core rimmed by fassaite. Phase relations are expressed by spectacular reaction textures in calc-silicate granulites as Opx + Cpx + Pl + H₂O  == > Grt + Qtz ± Am and Cpx + Ilm + Pl ± Mt = > Grt + Qtz + Spn. In olivine-bearing marbles, clinopyroxene and dolomite occur around olivine and calcite. According to thermodynamic modeling in the Na₂O–CaO–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–Fe₂O₃ (NCFMASHTO) system, the first stage of metamorphism is located at 800 °C and 6–7 kbar, which is followed by an increase in pressure at 9–10 kbar and 800 °C and an isobaric cooling at 680 °C. The deduced anticlockwise P–T path is consistent with a granulitic metamorphism occurring in an active continental margin context.

     

Features of the orbital variability in the brightness of the WZ Sge type dwarf nova V1108 Her

Results are presented from photometric studies of the dwarf nova V1108 Her conducted at the primary focus of the 2.6-m G. A. Shajn Telescope at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory during June-July 2008, 4 years after the 2004 outburst. An orbital period of 0.05672(4) days is found for the system. An analysis of observations made earlier during the 2004 outburst reveals an orbital signal which indicates that V1108 Her is an eclipsing system. The mass ratio of the secondary component to the white dwarf is estimated to be q = 0.068, which makes it highly likely that the secondary component of this system is a brown dwarf. The orbital light curves indicate a complex structure for the accretion disk whose radius has reached a 2:1 resonance. An explanation is suggested for a quasi-periodic modulation in the brightness at 1/4 of the orbital period observed in V1108 Her and other WZ Sge systems.     

Hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic simulations of moist convection: Review and further study

Summary Quantitatively comparative experiments of moist convection using hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic models are reviewed and a further study is made of the suitability of the hydrostatic approximation for a high-resolution model when the grid size falls below 20 km. Idealized moist convection is treated, and then the torrential rain that occurred on 6 August 1993 in Kagoshima, southern Kyushu, Japan is simulated by each model. An explicit warm-rain process predicting cloud water and rainwater and the scheme of moist convective adjustment are individually or conjunctively employed in the model. The effect of hydrostatic water loading is also examined in detall.For the simulation of idealized convection, the hydrostatic simulation tends to overestimate and overexpand precipitation in comparison with the non-hydrostatic counterpart, and the drag effect of hydrostatic water loading is more significant for convective development than the non-hydrostatic effect. In the 20-km simulations, however, the hydrostatic simulation with hydrostatic water loading produces results that are comparable to the nonhydrostatic counterpart. For the simulation with real data, the comparative results well correspond to those of idealized convection. Furthermore, the 5 km hydrostatic simulation overestimates total precipitation more than that of dealized convection. On the basis of these results, when developing 1020 km numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, hydrostatic water loading should be evaluated in preference to adopting non-hydrostatic models, and a non-hydrostatic model with hydrostatic water loading is thought to be recommendable for a high-resolution NWP model.With 7 Figures     

Geochemical constraints on the origin of bimodal magmatism at the Okinawa Trough, an incipient back-arc basin

The magmatism at the axial zone of the middle Okinawa Trough, a young continental back-arc basin, comprises a bimodal basaltic–rhyolitic suite, accompanied by minor intermediate rocks. We report major and trace element and Sr–Nd isotopic data for the intermediate to silicic suites, to provide constraints on their petrogenesis. The rhyolites, recovered as lava and pumice, fall into three geochemical groups (type 1, 2, and 3 rhyolites). Type 1 rhyolites have ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7040–0.7042) and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.5128–0.5129) identical to those of associated basalts, and are characterized by highly fractionated REE patterns. Petrogenesis of type 1 rhyolites is explicable in terms of fractional crystallization of the associated basalt. In contrast, type 2 rhyolites and andesite have slightly higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7044–0.7047) but similar ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.5128) compared to those of the basalts. The compositions of type 2 rhyolite and andesite can be explained by assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) processes of the basalt magma; quantitative analysis suggests assimilation/fractional crystallization (M_a/M_c) ratios of ≤0.05. Hybrid andesite generated by mixing of evolved basalt and type 1 rhyolite is also present. We emphasize that mechanical extension in this part of the Okinawa Trough involves gabbroic lower crust that resulted from fractionation of mantle-derived basaltic magmas. Type 3 rhyolite occurs only as pumice, which makes its derivation questionable. This rhyolite has major and trace element compositions and Sr–Nd isotopic ratios, which suggests that it may be derived from volcanic activity on the southern Ryukyu volcanic front, and arrived in the Okinawa Trough by drifting on the Kuroshio Current.