Statistical analysis for thermal data in the Japanese Islands

We calculated statistical average of thermal data to speculate regional thermal structure of the forearc area of the Japanese Islands. The three thermal statistical averages show a difference of a high thermal regime in the western part of forearc inner zone and a low in the Kanto forearc outer zone. The Kanto zone marks 18 K km⁻¹ for mean geothermal gradient, 44 mW m⁻² for mean heat flow, while the western inner zone shows 27 K km⁻¹ for mean geothermal gradient, 63 mW m⁻² for mean heat flow. The geothermal gradients of the Nobi Plain and the Osaka Plain in the western inner zone are 29 and 36 K km⁻¹, respectively, while the value of the Kanto Plain in the Kanto zone is 21 K km⁻¹. Taking account of the effect of accumulation of sediments, we see the difference in the thermal regime between the plains and conclude that the difference is significant. Heat flux in the crust depends on the volume of granite rich in radioactive elements. There are few granitic rocks in the Kanto zone, while granitic rocks are dominant in the western inner zone. The heat flow of 20 mW m⁻² is attributed to the granitic rocks of about 8 km in thickness. There are two oceanic plate subductions of the Pacific plate and the Philippine Sea plate under the Kanto zone, while only the Philippine Sea plate has been subducting under the western inner zone. The model simulation based on thermal and subduction model shows a heat flow ranging 50-60 mW m⁻² in the southwest Japan forarc area and a low value of about 20 mW m⁻² in the northeast Japan forearc area. The heat flux from the cooling oceanic lithosphere depends on the age of plate. The Shikoku Basin, a part of the Philippine Sea plate, off the western inner zone is 15-30 Ma, while the Pacific plate off the Kanto zone is 122-132 Ma. Theoretically, heat flux values of 15 and 50 Ma oceanic plates range 60-120 mW m⁻² and those of 122-132 Ma could be about 10 mW m⁻². If the heat flux contribution from the Philippine Sea plate under the Kanto zone is smaller than the plate under the western inner zone, there could be a thermal regime difference in order of several tens of mW m⁻². Conclusively, the cause of the difference of heat flux could be the uneven granitic rocks distribution and/or the difference of heat flux between the two subducting plate.     

Experiments on the Element Distribution between the Granodiorite JG-1a and 2M NaCl Hydrothermal Solution at Temperatures of 300 to 800°C and a Pressure of 1 kb

Abstract. The distribution of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Mn and Fe between the granodiorite JG-la, one of the geochemical standard rocks, and 2M NaCl aqueous solution was experimentally determined at temperatures of 300 to 800C and a pressure of 1 kb using standard cold seal-type pressure vessels. The solid run products melted partially at 800C. Only K shows a significantly different behavior from the experiments using the basalt JB-la (Uchida and Tsutsui, 2000) due to the presence of ortho-clase in the JG-la. The transition elements tend to be preferably partitioned into the aqueous chloride solutions with increasing temperature. At 800C and 1 kb, the Fe concentration of the aqueous chloride solutions reached up to 5,000 ppm, and the Mn concentration up to 350 ppm. The distribution coefficient, K_{D, i} = C_{i, sol}/C_i, rock, is in the order of Na>K>Mn>Ca> Fe>Mg at 300C, but changed in the order of Mn>N>K>Fe>Ca>Mg at 800C. The distribution coefficients of the divalent cations for the JG-la are higher than those for the JB-1a. The distribution coefficient of the transition elements, Fe and Mn, increases significantly with increasing temperature. The thermodynamic analysis for aqueous speciation revealed that this is attributable to the formation of the tri-chloro complexes of the transition elements at higher temperatures.     

Simulation of eutrophication and associated occurrence of hypoxic and anoxic condition in a coastal bay in Japan

A probabilistic method of calculating the occurrence of oxygen-depleted water within a combined hydrothermal and water quality model was presented in this paper to investigate the environmental impact of eutrophication on the living resources. The method was applied to an eutrophicated shallow coastal bay in western Japan, where the occurrence of red tides at the water surface and the onset of bottom hypoxic waters are observed every summer. Both meteorology and freshwater inflow contribute to the development of stratification of the bay, thus limiting the dissolved oxygen supply to bottom waters. The resulting hydrodynamics enhances the development of oxygen-depleted bottom waters by transporting organic matter produced by algal blooms to the inner bay, where it decomposes and exerts high SOD. During August, about 60% of the inner bay is hypoxic for prolonged durations and as a result most of the benthic biota and fish die. The method used here is a very useful and informative way to evaluate the spatial and temporal damage and severity caused by hypoxia on living resources. Moreover, the model results agreed very well with the observed hydrodynamics, thermal structure and water quality data of the stratified bay. The model can be used for other lakes and bays where knowledge of temperature and density stratification is important for assessing water quality.     

A magnetodynamic mechanism for the heating of emerging magnetic flux tubes and loop flares

A new magnetodynamic model for loop flares is proposed to explain the following observational facts obtained from space during the last solar activity maximum: (i) Blueshifted lines of Ca xix and Fe xxv appear in some cases a minute or so before the initiation of impulsive bursts and relax into the unshifted lines with large width by the time of the onset of impulsive bursts, (ii) the hot source is formed by that time at the top of a loop-like structure, and confined there for a considerable time, and (iii) -ray line enhancement occurs at about the same time as hard X-ray spikes.In our model, the supply of energy to the loop top comes from below the chromosphere immediately before the flare (30 s-1 min before the hard X-ray impulsive bursts) in the form of the relaxing fronts of magnetic twist of opposite sign. These packets are thought to be built up in the process of loop emergence, stored at the footpoints of the loop below the photosphere, and released when the part of the feet floats up further. These released packets of magnetic twist drive the mass in the high chromosphere and transition zone into helical flows with pinch heating, and when these collide at the top of the loop, a very hot region appears there with a violent unwinding of the twists, resulting in the rapid dynamical annihilation of the magnetic energy, . Electrons and ions, raised to medium energies in the pinch at the incidence of the packets to the loop, are accelerated further by the Fermi-I mechanism between the approaching fronts of magnetic twist, and when B is weakened by unwinding they are released towards the chromosphere, and cause simultaneous -ray and hard X-ray bursts.     

Observations of Flares and Active Regions from Yohkoh, and Magnetodynamic Models Explaining Them

We discuss here some of the new aspects about solar flares and active regions found by the Solar X-ray Satellite Yohkoh, by taking advantage of the wider dynamic range and higher cadence observations with higher spatial resolution compared with the previous satellites. Those new aspects have lead us to new ways of understandings, with contradictions to the previous views about flares and active regions that are widely conceived for a long time. We give some models that explain those newly revealed observational results. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cold water areas in the vicinity of the shoal,Kokushô-sone

By using data obtained at about 120 XBT stations, cold water regions in the vicinity of the shoal, Kokushô-sone (30°00N, 128°30E), which is located in the current zone of the Kuroshio in the East China Sea, were investigated.The temperature cross-sections obtained were compared with corresponding cross-sections obtained from the four former cruises which were already reported. On the present cruise forced upwelling area was found along the south slope of the shoal, instead of the north slope as was found on the former cruises.The area of the cold water region found along the south slope tends to decrease with decrease in depth, and at depths shallower than 250 m the cold water region extends northward passing the shoal. The area at a depth of 400 m is comparable to that of the shoal itself, and is about 35 km².Physical parameters and their scales which seem to be related to the dynamics near the shoal are given in the Appendix.     

The latest batch-to-batch difference table of standard seawater and its application to the WOCE onetime sections

An updated batch-to-batch difference table of IAPSO standard seawater (SSW) up to P145 is proposed. The batch-to-batch difference table is based on several recent SSW comparison experiments, including the experiments conducted independently at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and Woods Hole Institute of Oceanography (WHOI) at about the same time using the same procedure. Proposed batch-to-batch differences range from 1.2 × 10⁻³ to −1.9 × 10⁻³ with reference to the average of those from P91 to P102. Batch-to-batch differences from P29 to P145 with reference to the recent batches and this average over every 5 years since 1960 are also presented, together with standard deviation. This reveals that inconsistency among batches has improved since 1980s. In particular, the standard deviation was 0.3 × 10⁻³ in this decade, which is about one-half the value reported previously and almost equal to the modern measurement precision (0.2 × 10⁻³) and is within-batch difference (<0.3 × 10⁻³). Proposed batch-to-batch differences were applied to the observational results of the WOCE hydrographic onetime section (WHP onetime) in the Indian Ocean. Average absolute salinity differences at 14 crossover points in the Indian Ocean were slightly larger, from 1.2 × 10⁻³ to 1.5 × 10⁻³, when the batch-to-batch difference table was applied; however, when results from the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans were combined, application of the batch-to-batch difference table yielded statistically acceptable salinity differences. The table was also applied to WHP sections P1 and P17 (revisited about 10 years after the original observations during the WOCE period) and sections I1, I7, and I8 (visited twice by different research vessels in the same year). In all cases, the table corrected unrealistically large salinity changes in space and time. The results suggest that the application of the batch-to-batch table to well-controlled salinity data such as WOCE datasets would be effective in making the datasets more consistent in space and time.