Mesozoic radiolarians and radiolarian-bearing sequences in the circum-Pacific regions: A report of the symposium-'Radiolarians and Orogenic Belts'

Abstract This paper contains extended abstracts of the seven papers presented at the symposium 'Radiolarians and Orogenic Belts' held at the seventh meeting of the International Association of Radiolarian Paleontologists (INTERRAD). Important results of the symposium include the following: (1) Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic cherts are widely distributed within accretionary complexes in the circum-Pacific orogenic belt. Radiolarian dating reveals that long durations of chert sedimentation in a pelagic environment are recorded on both sides of Pacific-rim accretionary complexes (e.g. New Zealand, Japan, Russian Far East, Canadian Cordillera). (2) Triassic radiolarian faunas from New Zealand and the Omolon Massif, northeast Siberia are similar in composition and are characterized by the absence of typical Tethyan elements. This suggests that radiolarian faunal provincialism may have been established as early as the Triassic. High-latitude radiolarian taxa exhibit a bi-polar distribution pattern. (3) The Lower Triassic interval in chert dominant pelagic sequences is mechanically weaker than other levels and acted as a décollement in accretionary events. This lithologic. contrast in physical property is considered to reflect radiolarian evolution, such as the end-Permian mass extinction.     

A SIMPLIFIED APPROACH TO MODELING 3D SEDIMENT-LADEN TURBULENT FLOWS

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A climatological study of nocturnal equatorial F-region irregularities at the west Pacific longitudes by using phase fluctuations of the global positioning system

This study investigated a long-term climatology of nocturnal equatorial F-region irregularities by using phase fluctuations of the global positioning system during the solar cycle of 1996–2006 at the west Pacific longitudes. The results showed that the distribution of the occurrence of irregularities is a two-peak pattern, which peaks in equinoxes with a shallow/deep dip in June/December solstice during high solar activity but with two about the same dips in magnitude in both June and December solstices during low solar activity. Moreover, the most interesting longitudinal effect in the area is in solstice occurrences of irregularities during high solar activity that the irregularities in December solstice months develop easier in the west area but those in June solstice months develop easier in the east area.     

Low-latitude total ozone measurements in the Brazilian sector

Regular measurements of the atmospheric ozone in the Brazilian sector were started at Cachoeira Paulista (22.7°S, 45.0°W), and Natal (5.8°S, 35.2°W) in May 1974 and November 1978, respectively. The results of the total ozone measurements carried out at these two stations up to 1981 are presented in this communication and compared with other low-and mid-latitude stations. Although Natal is an equatorial station, it presents a prominent annual variation, and the average total ozone content is high compared to satellite measurements. During 1977–78, abnormally low values of total ozone were observed at Cachoeira Paulista. Some preliminary results about the QBO 9quasi-biennial oscillation) during 1974–81 are also presented.     

The difference in chemical composition of the 1962 lava from miyakezima magma reservoir in Japan

Many examples of mixed magmas in banded lavas have been studied. Another type of mixed magmas or inhomogeneity of magma reservoir found in the 1962 lava flows of Miyake-zima Volcano erupted from fissures is reported.     

Long-term effects of crude oil on microbial processes in subarctic marine sediments: Studies on sediments amended with organic nutrients

Subarctic marine sediments amended with various organic compounds were exposed to fresh Cook Inlet crude oil at a concentration of 50 ppt for either 6 or 8 months. After the sediments were initially treated, they were returned to the approximate location where they were collected and left to be exposed to natural environmental conditions until they were retrieved for analysis. As a result of crude oil treatment, the activities of the enzymes that hydrolyse structural polysaccharides were reduced and the activities of the enzymes that hydrolyse storage polysaccharides were stimulated. In addition to these changes, we observed changes in phosphatase activity, nitrogen fixation rates, potential denitrification rates, methane concentrations, CO₂ production rates, and the glucose uptake and mineralization rates. The effect of the crude oil perturbation was different depending on the organic compound used in the amended sediments. Many of these differences could be explained by the effect of crude oil on the hydrolases which were responsible for degrading the compound in question. The results of this study suggest the effect of crude oil on microbial processes may be affected by the type of organic material present in the impacted marine sediment. This study also illustrates the value of measuring hydrolase activity in studies designed to determine the effects of this or any other pollutant on microbial processes in marine sediments.     

Localized identification of MDOF structures in the frequency domain

For the identification of multi-degree-of-freedom structures, it is not practical to identify all of the parameters included in the structures because enormous computation time is required and because identifiability may not be possible. In this paper, a localized identification approach through substructuring is formulated in the frequency domain. A technique of spectral smoothing is incorporated in the approach to deal with noise-corrupted data. The proposed approach can be used to identify the structural parameters in any part of interest in a structure. The numerical investigations for a lumped mass-spring-dashpot system indicate that faster convergence and higher accuracy are achieved and the noise influences on the identified results are reduced greatly by spectral smoothing. The approach also applies to whole-structure identification if the required records available and the numerical example shows that higher accuracy results are obtained with less cpu time and more poorly guessed initial values as compared with the general complete-structure identification.     

Geology of Tok Island,Korea: eruptive and depositional processes of a shoaling to emergent island volcano

Detailed mapping of Tok Island, located in the middle of the East Sea (Sea of Japan), along with lithofacies analysis and K-Ar age determinations reveal that the island is of early to late Pliocene age and comprises eight rock units: Trachyte I, Unit P-I, Unit P-II, Trachyandesite (2.7±0.1 Ma), Unit P-III, Trachyte II (2.7±0.1 Ma), Trachyte III (2.5±0.1 Ma) and dikes in ascending stratigraphic order. Trachyte I is a mixture of coherent trachytic lavas and breccias that are interpreted to be subaqueous lavas and related hyaloclastites. Unit P-I comprises massive and inversely graded basaltic breccias which resulted from subaerial gain flows and subaqueous debris flows. A basalt clast from the unit, derived from below Trachyte I, has an age of 4.6±0.4 Ma. Unit P-II is composed of graded and stratified lapilli tuffs with the characteristics of proximal pyroclastic surge deposits. The Trachyandesite is a massive subaerial lava ponded in a volcano-tectonic depression, probably a summit crater. A pyroclastic sequence containing flattened scoria clasts (Unit P-III) and a small volume subaerial lava (Trachyte II) occur above the Trachyandesite, suggesting resumption of pyroclastic activity and lava effusion. Afterwards, shallow intrusion of magma occurred, producing Trachyte III and trachyte dikes.The eight rock units provide an example of the changing eruptive and depositional processes and resultant succession of lithofacies as a seamount builds up above sea level to form an island volcano: Trachyte I represents a wholly subaqueous and effusive stage; Units P-I and P-II represent Surtseyan and Taalian eruptive phases during an explosive transitional (subaqueous to emergent) stage; and the other rock units represent later subaerial effusive and explosive stages. Reconstruction of volcano morphology suggests that the island is a remnant of the south-western crater rim of a volcano the vent of which lies several hundred meters to the north-east.     

Upper mantle plasticity from laboratory experiments

On the basis of two assumptions i.e. (1) plastic and anelastic behaviour of the upper mantle can be approximated by the behaviour of the dominant mineral olivine, and (2) the behaviour of natural olivine and synthetic forsterite are similar, we have investigated the flow laws and the flow microstructures of forsterite single crystals. The results obtained between 1400–1650°C and 10–100 MPa suggest a model of climb controlled creep in which the a edge dislocations are dominant. The activation energy measured in that regime is 4.7 eV, close to that of Si self-diffusion and the flow law is $\text{?}\text{?}\text{=10}{}^6\text{σ}{}^{2.6}\text{exp}\text{(?4.7}\text{eV/k}\text{T)}$, where σ is in MPa. Extrapolation of these results to the upper mantle would imply very low stresses (i.e. ?10 MPa) in the asthenosphere. However the effect of pressure and grain size are unknown and extrapolation to very low stresses is not straightforward.     

On the gravity wave-driven instability of E layer at mid-latitude

The plasma instability process during internal gravity wave propagation through the ionospheric E region is considered. The growth rate of the instability has been found and it has been shown that it depends on perturbation wavelength, gravity wave parameters and direction of propagation. The conditions for the instability are favorable when the vorticity of the associated neutral motion becomes antiparallel to the geomagnetic field. In the proposed instability mechanism plasma irregularities could seed the large-scale sporadic E layer structuring because they are generated in situ as a part of the same neutral wind structure that serves to initiate the formation of the layer.