1974 activity of chokai volcano,Japan

Shallow intrusion of magma caused phreatic explosions and mud flows at the snow-covered summit of Chokai volcano, northeast Honshu, Japan, after 153 years of dormancy. Total heat emission by the eruption is estimated at more than 3.0 × 10²¹ erg. Equivalent amount of magma is about 2.2 × 10⁸ ton. Focal mechanisms of the associated volcanic earthquakes, which had been variable during the period of eruption. became stable after the cessation of the surface activity with pressure axis in a NW direction which is also the strike of the epicenter distribution. This temporal change of focal mechanisms may be interpreted as the result of propagation of increased pore pressure in the direction of the maximum pressure in the post eruptive period. The magmatic pressure which certainly predominated during the eruption period and caused carthquakes with variable mechanisms, decreased through surface activity.     

Thermal alteration of hydrated minerals during hypervelocity capture to silica aerogel at the flyby speed of Stardust

Abstract— Outside the Earth's atmosphere, silica aerogel is one of the best materials to capture finegrained extraterrestrial particles in impacts at hypervelocities. Because silica aerogel is a superior insulator, captured grains are inevitably influenced by frictional heat. Therefore, we performed laboratory simulations of hypervelocity capture by using light‐gas guns to impact into aerogels finegrained powders of serpentine, cronstedtite, and Murchison CM2 meteorite. The samples were shot at >6 km s^?1 similar to the flyby speed at comet P/Wild‐2 in the Stardust mission. We investigated mineralogical changes of each captured particle by using synchrotron radiation X‐ray diffraction (SR‐XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE‐SEM). SR‐XRD of each grain showed that the majority of the bulk grains keep their original mineralogy. In particular, SR‐XRD and TEM investigations clearly exemplified the presence of tochilinite whose decomposition temperature is about 300 °C in the interior of the captured Murchison powder. However, TEM study of these grains also revealed that all the samples experienced melting and vesiculation on the surface. The cronstedtite and the Murchison meteorite powder show remarkable fracturing, disaggregation, melting, and vesiculation. Steep thermal gradients, about 2500 °C/μm were estimated near the surface of the grains (<2 μm thick) by TEM observation. Our data suggests that the interior of >4 μm across residual grains containing abundant materials that inhibit temperature rise would have not experienced >300 °C at the center.     

Measurements of stable carbon isotopic composition of ethane and propane over the western North Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean: A useful indicator of atmospheric transport process

Stable carbon isotopic composition of ethane and propane over the western North Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean between 31°N and 26°S was investigated from February through March 2004. The isotopic composition of ethane ranged from −28 to −18‰ and showed a gradual increase from north to south. Conversely, that of propane was between −31 and −24‰; it showed no systematic latitudinal variation. Investigation of the ethane/propane ratio indicates that ethane and propane that originated from northern mid-latitude countries in the eastern part of Eurasia were both transported into the western North Pacific region. However, the results of the isotopic analyses indicate the contribution of oceanic emission to the atmospheric propane during transport, although that contribution can not be discerned for ethane. A ship based stationary observation conducted in the western equatorial North Pacific showed that the isotopic composition of ethane varied from −25 to −19‰ and showed clear systematic diurnal variation: propane ranged between −32 to −26‰ and no such isotopic diurnal signal was observed. The diurnal variation for ethane is explained by entrainment of free tropospheric air, whereas the variation for propane was influenced by oceanic emissions as well as the entrainment. The contribution of oceanic emissions to the atmospheric propane inventory was considered from our isotopic observation. Isotopic composition of dissolved propane is estimated to be less than −38‰, and the contribution up to 79% was calculated when the isotopic composition of dissolved propane is assumed to be −40‰. Our study demonstrates that isotopic analysis can be more useful than ratio-based analysis to improve our present understanding of transport processes, especially for impact of the oceanic emissions on the atmospheric distribution of low level C₂–C₅ non-methane hydrocarbons such as propane in the remote marine atmosphere.     

Heavily fractionated noble gases in an acid residue from the Klein Glacier 98300 EH3 chondrite

Noble gases were measured both in bulk samples (stepped pyrolysis and total extraction) and in a HF/HCl residue (stepped pyrolysis and combustion) from the Klein Glacier (KLE) 98300 EH3 chondrite. Like the bulk meteorite and as seen in previous studies of bulk type 3 E chondrites (“sub-Q”), the acid residue contains elementally fractionated primordial noble gases. As we show here, isotopically these are like those in phase-Q of primitive meteorites, but elementally they are heavily fractionated relative to these. The observed noble gases are different from “normal” Q noble gases also with respect to release patterns, which are similar to those of Ar-rich noble gases in anhydrous carbonaceous chondrites and unequilibrated ordinary chondrites (with also similar isotopic compositions). While we cannot completely rule out a role for parent body processes such as thermal and shock metamorphism (including a later thermal event) in creating the fractionated elemental compositions, parent body processes in general seem not be able to account for the distinct release patterns from those of normal Q noble gases. The fractionated gases may have originated from ion implantation from a nebular plasma as has been suggested for other types of primordial noble gases, including Q, Ar-rich, and ureilite noble gases. With solar starting composition, the corresponding effective electron temperature is about 5000 K. This is lower than inferred for other primordial noble gases (10,000-6000 K). Thus, if ion implantation from a solar composition reservoir was a common process for the acquisition of primordial gas, electron temperatures in the early solar system must have varied spatially or temporally between 10,000 and 5000 K.Neon and xenon isotopic ratios of the residue suggest the presence of presolar silicon carbide and diamond in abundances lower than in the Qingzhen EH3 and Indarch EH4 chondrites. Parent body processes including thermal and shock metamorphism and a late thermal event also cannot be responsible for the low abundances of presolar grains. KLE 98300 may have started out with smaller amounts of presolar grains than Qingzhen and Indarch.     

The Triassic age for oceanic eclogites in the Dabie orogen: Entrainment of oceanic fragments in the continental subduction

Low-temperature and high-pressure eclogites with an oceanic affinity in the western part of the Dabie orogen have been investigated with combined Lu–Hf and U–Pb geochronology. These eclogites formed over a range of temperatures (482–565 °C and 1.9–2.2 GPa). Three eclogites, which were sampled from the Gaoqiao country, yielded Lu–Hf ages of 240.7 ± 1.2 Ma, 243.3 ± 4.1 Ma and 238.3 ± 1.2 Ma, with a corresponding lower-intercept U–Pb zircon age of 232 ± 26 Ma. Despite the well-preserved prograde major- and trace-element zoning in garnets, these Lu–Hf ages mostly reflect the high-pressure eclogite-facies metamorphism instead of representing the early phase of garnet growth due to the occurrence of omphacite inclusions from core to rim and the shell effect. An upper-intercept zircon U–Pb age of 765 ± 24 Ma is defined for the Gaoqiao eclogite, which is consistent with the weighted-mean age of 768 ± 21 Ma for the country gneiss. However, the gneiss has not been subjected to successive high-pressure metamorphism. The new Triassic ages are likely an estimate of the involvement of oceanic fragments in the continental subduction.     

Velocity of finer fragments from impact

We describe the method and the result of a new experiment to obtain velocity distribution of fine ejecta fragments, from a few to a hundred microns in size, produced from basalt targets by impacts of nylon projectiles at a velocity of 3.7 km s⁻¹. The size distribution of holes perforated by the ejecta fragments on thin films and foils placed around the targets was investigated, and the size-velocity relation was determined with the aid of an empirical formula for threshold penetration (McDonnell and Sullivan, Hypervelocity Impacts in Space, Unit for Space Sciences, University of Kent, 1992). The velocity of the fastest fragments, at a given size, is from the extrapolation of the size-velocity relation for 1–100 mm fragments (Nakamura and Fujiwara, Icarus92, 132–146, 1991; Nakamura et al, Icarus100, 127–135, 1992). The laboratory results are also compared with those obtained from the study of secondary craters around large lunar craters (Vickery, Icarus67, 224–236, 1986, Geophys. Res. Lett. 14, 726–729, 1987). All these data provide a smooth size-velocity relationship in the normalized fragment size range of four orders of magnitude.     

Estimation of net accumulation rate at a Patagonian glacier by ice core analyses using snow algae

Snow algae in a 45.97-m-long ice core from the Tyndall Glacier (50°59′05″S, 73°31′12″W, 1756 m a.s.l.) in the Southern Patagonian Icefield were examined for potential use in ice core dating and estimation of the net accumulation rate. The core was subjected to visual stratigraphic observation and bulk density measurements in the field, and later to analyses of snow algal biomass, water isotopes (¹⁸O, D), and major dissolved ions. The ice core contained many algal cells that belonged to two species of snow algae growing in the snow near the surface: Chloromonas sp. and an unknown green algal species. Algal biomass and major dissolved ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻) exhibited rapid decreases in the upper 3 m, probably owing to melt water elution and/or decomposition of algal cells. However, seasonal cycles were still found for the snow algal biomass, ¹⁸O, D-excess, and major ions, although the amplitudes of the cycles decreased with depth. Supposing that the layers with almost no snow algae were the winter layers without the melt water essential to algal growth, we estimated that the net accumulation rate at this location was 12.9 m a^− 1 from winter 1998 to winter 1999, and 5.1 m from the beginning of winter to December 1999. These estimates are similar to the values estimated from the peaks of ¹⁸O (17.8 m a^− 1 from summer 1998 to summer 1999 and 11.0 m from summer to December 1999) and those of D-excess (14.7 m a^− 1 from fall 1998 to fall 1999 and 8.6 m a^− 1 from fall to December 1999). These values are much higher than those obtained by past ice core studies in Patagonia, but are of the same order of magnitude as those predicted from various observations at ablation areas of Patagonian glaciers.     

Physical parameters identification for full-scale ten-story reinforced concrete building with degrading tri-linear model by modal iterative error correction method

To assess the post-earthquake seismic safety of buildings, it is crucial to predict seismic response, and it is necessary to set the appropriate physical parameters of the response analysis model. Numerous methods have been proposed to identify physical parameters. However, most of them are limited to linear systems, and previous researches on nonlinear systems have difficulties in practical applications. In this paper, a nonlinear response analysis model is identified for a full-scale ten-story reinforced concrete building with the degrading tri-linear stiffness model by the modal iterative error correction (MIEC) method, and the accuracy of this technique is discussed by comparing with the shaking table test.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000917

Important ecological changes of the Earth(oxidization of the atmosphere and the ocean) increase in nutrient supply due to the break-up of the super continent(Rodinia) and the appearance of multi-cellular organisms(macroscopic algae and metazoan) took place in the Ediacaran period,priming the Cambrian explosion.The strong perturbations in carbon cycles in the ocean are recorded as excursions in carbonate and organic carbon isotope ratio(δ~(13)C_(carb) and δ~(13)C_(org)) from the Ediacaran through early Cambrian periods.The Ediacaran-early Cambrian sediment records of δ~(13)C_(carb) and δ~(13)C_(org),obtained from the drill-core samples in Three Gorges in South China,are compared with the results of numerical simulation of a simple one-zone model of the carbon cycle of the ocean,which has two reservoirs(i.e.,dissolved organic carbon(DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon(DIC).The fluxes from the reservoirs are assumed to be proportional to the mass of the carbon reservoirs.We constructed a model,referred to here as the Best Fit Model(BFM),which reproduce δ~(13)C_(carb) and δ~(13)C_(org) records in the Ediacaran-early Cambrian period noted above.BFM reveals that the Shuram excursion is related to three major changes in the carbon cycle or the global ecological system of the Earth:(1) an increase in the coefficient of remineralization by a factor of ca.100,possibly corresponding to a change in the dominant metabolism from anaerobic respiration to aerobic respiration,(2) an increase of carbon fractionation index from 25‰ to 33‰,possibly corresponding to the change in the primary producer from rock-living cyanobacteria to free-living macro algae,and(3) an increase in the coefficient of the organic carbon burial by a factor of ca.100,possibly corresponding to the onset of a biological pump driven by the flourishing metazoan and zooplankton.The former two changes took place at the start of the Shuram excursion,while the third occurred at the end of the Shuram excursion.The other two excursions are explained by the tentative decrease in primary production due to cold periods,which correspond to the Gaskiers(ca.580 Ma) and Bikonor(ca.542 Ma) glaciations.