Mobility of metamorphic fluids inferred from infrared microspectroscopy on natural fluid inclusions: the example of Tinos Island,Greece

OH structure of metamorphic fluids has been studied by high temperature infrared (IR) microspectroscopy on natural fluid inclusions contained in quartz veins, over the temperature range 25–370 °C. Blueschist-facies veins from Tinos island core complex (Cyclades, Greece) display H₂O–NaCl–CaCl₂–CO₂ inclusions whereas greenschist-facies veins contain H₂O–NaCl ± CO₂ inclusions. From 25 to 370 °C, peak positions of OH stretching IR absorption bands increase quasi-linearly with slopes of 0.25 and 0.50 cm^–1 °C^–1 for inclusions trapped under blueschist and greenschist conditions, respectively. Extrapolation to 400 °C yield peak positions of 3,475 cm^–1 for blueschist inclusions and 3,585 cm^–1 for greenschist inclusions. Because the smaller wave number indicates the shorter hydrogen-bond distance between water molecules, fluids involved in the greenschist event have a loose structure compared with blueschist fluids. We suggest that these properties might correspond to a low wetting angle of fluids. This would explain the high mobility of aqueous fluids suggested by structural observation and stable isotope analysis.Editorial responsibility: J. Hoefs     

Calcium-alkalinity-nitrate relationship in the north pacific and the Japan Sea

When biogenic particles of calcium carbonate and organic matter are formed or decomposed in sea water, calcium concentration, alkalinity and nitrate concentration are changed according to the following equation: ΔCa=0.5 ΔTA+0.63 ΔNO ₃, where ΔCa, ΔTA and ΔNO ₃ are the differences in calcium, alkalinity and nitrate concentration, respectively, between two waters. This relationship was pointed out in a previous paper of ours, and it holds well for data obtained from the North Pacific and the Japan Sea. Furthermore, in sea water containing little or no nutrients, the variations in calcium concentration and alkalinity are consistent with the variations expected from the formation and dissolution of calcium carbonate alone.     

Water content in natural eclogite and implication for water transport into the deep upper mantle

Infrared spectroscopy and ion micro-probe measurements showed that the major constituent minerals of eclogites from the Kokchetav massif, which have been subducted to 180 km depths, contain significant amounts of water up to 870 ppm H₂O (by weight) in omphacite, 130 ppm H₂O in garnet and 740 ppm H₂O in rutile. Omphacite shows three hydroxyl absorption bands at 3440–3460, 3500–3530 and 3600–3625 cm^− 1, garnet has a single band at 3580–3630 cm^− 1 and rutile has a single sharp band at 3280 cm^− 1. The hydroxyl absorbance at these wavenumbers changes with the crystal orientation in polarized infrared radiation, indicating that the water is structurally incorporated in these minerals. The water contents in omphacite and garnet increase systematically with the metamorphic pressure of the host eclogites. The partitioning coefficient of the water content between coexisting garnet and omphacite is similar in different eclogites, D^Grt/Omp0.1–0.2, but decreases slightly at high pressure. Based on the mineral proportions of the eclogites, we estimate bulk-rock water content in the eclogites ranging from 3070 to 300 ppm H₂O (by weight). Although hydrous minerals are absent in the diamond-grade eclogite (60 kbar and 1000 °C), trace amounts of water are incorporated in the nominally anhydrous minerals such as omphacite and garnet. The presence of significant water in these minerals implies that the subducting oceanic crust can transport considerable amounts of water into the deep upper mantle beyond the stability of hydrous minerals. Such water may be stored in the deep upper mantle and have an important influence on dynamics in the Earth's interior.     

The high frequency spectrum of wind-generated waves

The high frequency part (10 Hz50 Hz) of the one-dimensional wave spectrum was measured in a wind-wave channel under accurately controlled conditions. The results are compared with the spectral forms for the capillary range that have been proposed recently byPierson andStacy (1973) andToba (1973). In a general sense, fairly good agreement is found between the present results and those ofPierson andStacy (1973) and ofToba (1973). The spectrum in the capillary range is clearly wind speed dependent, and the spectral density in that range increases with increasing wind speed.However, closer examination shows systematic deviations of the present results from those previously proposed, particularly for high speed winds.     

Numerical analysis of equatorial enhancement of geomagnetic sudden commencement

Equatorial behaviour of a polar-originating ionospheric current is examined by solving numerically the continuity equation on a two-dimensional spherical shell with appropriate assumptions for the ionospheric conductivity and the field-aligned source currents. The results show a clear daytime equatorial enhancement of the ionospheric currents in spite of much reduced electric field due to shielding effects of the enhanced Cowling conductivity there. The results are used for interpretation of the preliminary impulse of the geomagnetic sudden commencement.     

Permeability measurements of natural and experimental volcanic materials with a simple permeameter: Toward an understanding of magmatic degassing processes

Permeability measurement of quenched volcanic porous materials is an important approach to understand permeability development and degassing of vesicular silicic magmas. In this study, we developed a gas permeameter to measure permeability of natural samples and experimental products. The permeameter has broad measurement ranges of pressure difference (10¹–10⁵ Pa) and gas-flow rate (10^− 9–10^− 5 m³/s). These ranges enable us to measure viscous permeability in the range of 10^− 17–10^− 9 m² for 1 centimeter-scale samples, using the Forchheimer equation, which includes the inertial effect of gas flow permeating through the samples. In addition, we improved the procedure for performing permeability measurements of mm-sized products of decompression experiments. Although a previous study reported the first permeability data for vesicular silicic glass products of decompression experiments, we found an overestimation in their permeability data due to problems in sample preparation, especially for very low permeability samples. Our improved measurements give lower permeability values than those of Takeuchi et al. (2005)(Takeuchi, S., Nakashima, S., Tomiya, A., Shinohara, H., 2005. Experimental constraints on the low gas permeability of vesicular magma during decompression. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L10312 doi:10.1029/2005GL022491).     

Formation of a void and galaxies in a neutrino-dominated universe

The recent discovery of the large honeycomb structure of the Universe has triggered many models of the Universe dominated by dark matter. The neutrino-dominated universe is a favorable model for explaining the size of the large-scale structure and the dark matter of the larger scale than the galactic one. Our calculations on the evolution of density perturbations in a two-component universe composed of neutrinos and dissipative gas on a spherically-symmetric model have shown that the galactic scale does correlate the scale of a void of galaxies: if a neutrino has the mass of some tens eV, galaxies of the typical size form surrounding a typical void.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Does heavy oil pollution induce bacterial diseases in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus?

As basic research for the effect of heavy oil on the fish immune system, in this study, the number of leukocyte was counted in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, after exposure to heavy oil at a concentration of 30 g/8 L for 3 days. To compare the numbers of bacteria in the skin mucus between oil-exposed and control fish, viable bacteria were enumerated by counting colony forming unit (CFU). Compared with 5.79 ± 1.88 × 10⁷ leukocytes/mL in the controls, the exposed fish demonstrated higher counts, averaging 1.45 ± 0.45 × 10⁸ cells/mL. The bacterial numbers of control fish were 4.27 ± 3.68 × 10⁴ CFU/g, whereas they were 4.58 ± 1.63 × 10⁵ CFU/g in the exposed fish. The results suggest that immune suppression of the fish occurred due to heavy oil stressor, and bacteria could invade in the mucus, resulting in the increasing leukocyte number to prevent infectious disease.