利用TDR对土壤含水量及土壤溶液电导率的同步连续测量

土壤含水量和可溶解的土壤盐分浓度的测定, 对了解土壤盐分的分布及移动具有重要的意义. 在内蒙古黄河流域灌溉玉米田的一个野外实验中, 利用TDR对土壤含水量及土壤溶液电导率进行了同时连续测量. 结果表明: 在降雨量较少的时期内, 当土壤水分从地下含水层向地表面移动的同时, 地下水中含有的盐分也通过作物根区层向地表移动;当灌溉或有强降雨存在时, 土壤表面蓄积的盐分在未能完全溶解于灌溉水及雨水之前, 大量的灌溉水及降雨通过土壤内的大空隙快速渗入土壤下层;余下的水分在完全溶解了土壤表面的盐分之后, 缓慢通过土壤小空隙下渗.     

Sub-Moho seismic profile in the Mariana Basin — Ocean bottom seismograph long-range explosion experiment

Ocean bottom seismograph (OBS) long-range explosion experiments were carried out in the Mariana Basin in 1973 and 1976. Seven large shots (8.5–1.5 ton) as well as several tens of small shots were fired. The maximum range of observation was about 1900 km. As many as 25 OBS stations were deployed in an array of about 800 km. It is found that the sub-Moho P-wave velocity structure is of stratified nature, being composed of alternating high- and low-velocity layers. High-velocity layers with apparent velocities of 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.6 and 8.7 km/s are identified. Low-velocity layers, sandwiched between the high-velocity layers of 8.4, 8.6 and 8.7 km/s, are very prominent. The sub-Moho high-velocity lid with an apparent velocity of 8.4 km/s is very thin. Thinning of this lid, thickening of the low-velocity layer, and the presence under it of another high-velocity layer (8.6 km/s) appear to characterize the uppermost mantle structure beneath the Mariana Basin.     

Fracture-zone conditions on a recently active fault: insights from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of the Hirabayashi NIED drill core on the Nojima fault, southwest Japan, which ruptured in the 1995 Kobe earthquake

An 1800-m-deep borehole into the Nojima fault zone was drilled at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan, after the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake. Three possible fracture zones were detected at depths of about 1140, 1300, and 1800 m. To assess these fracture zones in this recently active fault, we analyzed the distributions of fault rocks, minerals, and chemical elements in these zones. The central fault plane in the shallowest fracture zone was identified by foliated blue-gray gouge at a depth of 1140 m. The degree of fracturing was evidently greater in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Minerals detected in this zone were quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and biotite, as in the parent rock (granodiorite), and also kaolinite, smectite, laumontite, stilbite, calcite, ankerite, and siderite, which are related to hydrothermal alteration. Biotite was absent in both the hanging wall and footwall across the central fault plane, but it was absent over a greater distance from the central fault plane in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Major element compositions across this zone suggested that hydrothermal alteration minerals such as kaolinite and smectite occurred across the central fault plane for a greater distance in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Similarly, H₂O+ and CO₂ had higher concentrations in the hanging wall than in the footwall. This asymmetrical distribution pattern is probably due to the greater degree of wall–rock fracturing and associated alteration in the hanging wall. We attributed the characteristics of this zone to fault activity and fluid–rock interactions. We analyzed the other fracture zones along this fault in the same way. In the fracture zone at about 1300 m depth, we detected the same kinds of hydrothermal alteration minerals as in the shallower zone, but they were in fewer samples. We detected relatively little H₂O+ and CO₂, and little evidence for movement of the major chemical elements, indicating little past fluid–rock interaction. In the fracture zone at about 1800 m depth, H₂O+ and CO₂ were very enriched throughout the interval, as in the fracture zone at about 1140 m depth. However, smectite was absent and chlorite was present, indicating the occurrence of chloritization, which requires a temperature of more than 200 °C. Only smectite can form under the present conditions in these fracture zones. The chloritization probably occurred in the past when the fracture zone was deeper than it is now. These observations suggest that among the three fracture zones, that at about 1140 m depth was the most activated at the time of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake.     

Structure of the subsurface counter current beneath the Tsushima warm current simulated by an ocean general circulation model

The subsurface counter current beneath the Tsushima Warm Current is simulated using a three-dimensional circulation model. The model well reproduces the counter current beneath the Tsushima Warm Current on the shelf break. The counter current appears as nearshore parts of the subsurface clockwise circulations from spring to early winter. The clockwise circulations are separated by developed shelves such as the Oki Spur and the Noto Peninsula, thus the counter current is not a continuous flow along the Japanese coast in this model. The vertical structure of the counter current can be explained by a density structure with the thermal wind relationship. The permanent and seasonal pycnoclines form mutually opposite horizontal density gradients near the Japanese coast in summer. Such a density structure results in a speed maximum of the counter current away from the bottom. It is remarkable that the second baroclinic mode is dominant in nearshore parts of the subsurface clockwise circulations in summer, which are attributed to the density structure. Similar density structures are also found in some coastal regions of the world oceans where subsurface counter currents are expected.     

Seasonal variations of shelf circulation in Hidaka Bay,Hokkaido, Japan,with an interpretation of the migration route of juvenile walleye pollock

The outer shelf of Funka Bay, located at the bay head of Hidaka Bay, is a recognised main winter spawning ground for walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), whose newly hatched juveniles migrate eastward along the Hidaka shelf to the nursery ground located in the Doto area. To examine the seasonal change of the coastal current along this migration route, four current moorings were deployed along the shelf in Hidaka Bay from April, 2004 to June, 2006. Since these mooring sites were close to the coast, the circulation was estimated after removal of the wind-driven component. It was found that the winter coastal flow, forced by a north-westerly monsoon wind, is clockwise along the Hidaka shelf. However, this flow is weak due to the superimposition of the opposite Coastal Oyashio flow trapped on the shelf. In summer, a bifurcation of the coastal current occurs along the north-eastern Hidaka shelf with a south-eastward flow, associated with the Tsugaru Gyre, and a north-westward flow, consisting of a branch from this gyre. Our results provide a new understanding of the migration of juvenile walleye pollock: (1) very slow transport of juveniles along the Hidaka shelf from winter to spring, and (2) selection of earlier spawning survivors due to the bifurcated flow in early summer.     

Trace element composition and degree of partial melting of pelitic migmatites from the Aoyama area, Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan: Implications for the source region of tourmaline leucogranites

Degree of partial melting of pelitic migmatites from the Aoyama area, Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan is determined utilizing whole-rock trace element compositions. The key samples used in this study were taken from the migmatite front of this area and have interboudin partitions filled with tourmaline-bearing leucosome. These samples are almost perfectly separated into leucosome (melt) and surrounding matrix (solid). This textural feature enables an estimate of the melting degree by a simple mass-balance calculation, giving the result of 5–11 wt.% of partial melting. Similar calculations applied to the migmatite samples, which assume average migmatite compositions to be the residue solid fraction, give degree of melt extraction of 12–14 wt.% from the migmatite zone. The similarity of the estimated melting degree of 5–11 wt.% with that in other tourmaline–leucogranites, such as Harney Peak leucogranite and Himalayan leucogranites, in spite of differences in formation process implies that the production of tourmaline leucogranites is limited to low degrees of partial melting around 10 wt.%, probably controlled by the breakdown of sink minerals for boron such as muscovite and tourmaline at a relatively early stage of partial melting. Because the amount of boron originally available in the pelitic source rock is limited (on average 100 ppm), 10 wt.% of melting locally requires almost complete breakdown of boron sink mineral(s) in the source rock, in order to provide sufficient boron into the melt to saturate it in tourmaline. This, in turn, means that boron-depleted metapelite regions are important candidates for the source regions of tourmaline leucogranites.     

Predominant hosting lead(II) in ternary mixtures of heavy metal ions by a novel of diethylaminomethyl-calix[4]resorcinarene

Heavy metal ions from single and ternary systems of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Ni(II) adsorbed by calix[4]resorcinarenes in water–chloroform extraction were studied. Comparison was made of calix[4]resorcinarenes, 2,8,14,20-tetraundecyl calix[4]resorcinarene-4,6,10,12,16,18,22,24-octol, and diethylaminomethyl-calix[4]resorcinarene, 5,11,17,23-tetra(diethylaminomethyl)-2,8,14,20- tetraundecylcalix[4]resorcinarene-4,6,10,12,16,18,22,24-octol, for predominant extraction of their ions from the ternary mixture of aqueous solution at different pH in a water layer. The hosting of Pb(II) by the diethylaminomethyl-calix[4]resorcinarene occurred efficiently at pH 6–7. The hosting of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Ni(II) ions for the ternary aqueous mixture was applied to the Langmuir isotherm. Adsorption was studied using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a water–deuterium chloroform extraction system. Results showed that as the heavy metal ions were included into the host cavity, the observation of shifted peaks of water molecules from downfield to higher field was visible in the nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, meaning that water molecules were included with heavy metal ion into the host cavity. The spectra also showed that the diethylamino group expressed formation of the coordination complex between the diethylaminomethyl-calix[4]resorcinarene and Pb(II) for the purpose of predominant hosting of Pb(II).     

A case study of the application of a microcomputer-based favorability evaluation system: Uranium exploration in the Alligator Rivers Uranium Field, Northern Territory, Australia

We have attempted to develop an expert system to evaluate the favorability of uranium exploration projects using the Data-directed Numerical Method (DdM). We developed the system for the Macintosh personal computer, so as to facilitate the iterative processes of trial and error inherent in the DdM. In a detailed case study, we use the above system to evaluate the favorability of the Alligator Rivers Uranium Field, Northern Territory, Australia. The favorability of the target area is evaluated by considering several exploration parameters related to the geological factors controlling ore formation. The selection of appropriate exploration parameters is important to the success of the method. We then selected 15 model cells to validate each exploration parameter and also to design the exploration model by the application of the chi-square test. The result of the favorability evaluation, as displayed by the developed system, indicates that our designed exploration model is acceptable. By employing the above processes we conclude that the system using the DdM is applicable as an exploration tool and is useful in establishing an exploration model.     

Feeding Strategy of Japanese Sand Lance Larvae in Relation to Ciliated Protozoa in the Vicinity of a Thermohaline Front

Larval feeding and survival strategies are described on a Japanese sand lance, Ammodytes personatus Girard, collected in the vicinity of a thermohaline front in the Ise Bay, in comparison with those of other predominant larvae, Hexagrammos spp. and Sebastiscus marmoratus (Cuvier). First-feeding A. personatus larvae (3.1–3.9 mm NL) fed primarily on tintinnid ciliates, subsequently switching to copepod nauplii (4.0–7.9 mm NL larvae) and post-naupliar copepods (8.0–11.3 mm NL larvae). First-feeding Hexagrammos spp. larvae (6.5–6.9 mm NL) fed primarily on post-naupliar copepods, and first-feeding S. marmoratus larvae (<4.0 mm NL), mostly on copepod nauplii. The different food preferences of these species at first-feeding were related to their different mouth widths (0.15–0.19, 0.52–0.56 and 0.32–0.40 mm, respectively) and/or body size (3.1–3.9, 6.5–6.9 and 3.2–3.9 mm NL, respectively). Ciliate-feeding by first-feeding A. personatus larvae was strongly related to the convergence of the larvae and their prey near the thermohaline front, densities of both being greater on the inshore side of the frontal zone. In conclusion, the aggregation of ciliates near the thermohaline front may have improved feeding conditions and survival of first-feeding A. personatus larvae.