Dating of altered mafic intrusions by applying a zircon fission track thermochronometer to baked country rock,and implications for the timing of volcanic activity during the opening of the Japan Sea

Once a mafic intrusive rock has become altered, it is generally difficult to obtain a reliable intrusion age using conventional isotopic dating methods. To overcome this problem, this study used zircon fission track (ZFT) thermochronometry to determine the timing of crystallization of altered mafic intrusions. ZFT dating was carried out on samples of baked granite country rock adjacent to dolerite dikes (5–10 m thick) in the Takato area of central Japan. Three granite samples collected within 8 mm of a dike contact yielded consistent ZFT ages of 17–16 Ma, with confined track lengths indicative of the complete annealing of pre‐existing tracks by reheating due to dike intrusion. An older ZFT age was obtained for one granite sample collected within 20 mm of the contact, but confined track length measurements indicate that this is an incompletely reset age that lies between the ZFT age of the unbaked granitic country rocks (ca. 55 Ma) and the emplacement age of the dike. Petrographic examinations suggest that post‐intrusion hydrothermal activity did not influence the ZFT ages. We conclude that the 17–16 Ma ZFT age represents the emplacement age of the dikes. Our results show that ZFT dating of baked country rock is an effective tool for dating altered mafic intrusions, for which other dating techniques are not applicable. In the eastern part of Southwest Japan, dispersed volcanic activity occurred in the late Early to early Middle Miocene (18–15 Ma), and the volcanic belt extended into the forearc. This pulse of activity was possibly related to the injection of asthenospheric material into the trench‐side mantle wedge beneath the Japan arc. We also present young apatite fission track ages (ca. 4 Ma) that may reflect a Middle Miocene or later thermal event associated with local magmatic activity near the Takato area.     

Luminescence dating of marine sediments from the Sea of Japan using quartz OSL and polymineral pIRIR signals of fine grains

Luminescence dating has long been used for chronological constraints on marine sediments due to the ubiquitous dating materials (quartz and feldspar grains) and its applicability over a relatively long time range. However, one of the main difficulties in luminescence dating on marine sediments is partial bleaching, which causes age overestimations. Especially, partial bleaching is typically difficult to be detected in the fine grain fraction (FG) of marine sediments. The recently developed feldspar post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) protocol can detect non-fading signals and thus avoid feldspar signal instability. In the current study, fine grains were extracted from a gravity core in the northern Sea of Japan, and the aim is to test the feasibility of using different luminescence signals with various bleaching rates to explore the bleaching conditions of fine grain fraction in marine sediments. The results suggest that the quartz OSL signal and polymineral pIRIR signals at stimulation temperatures of 150 °C and 225 °C (pIRIR₁₅₀ and pIRIR₂₂₅) of FG were well bleached prior to deposition. The OSL ages were used to establish a chronology for this sedimentary core and the resulting age-depth relationship is self-consistent and comparable with radiocarbon dates. We conclude that different luminescence signals with various bleaching rates can be used to test the bleaching conditions of fine grain fraction in marine sediments; and the luminescence dating can be applied to marine sediments with great potential.     

Breach of a tailings dam in the 2011 earthquake in Japan

The eastern region of the northern part of Japanese mainland has been known historically as an area of mines producing gold and silver. When the extraordinarily strong earthquake rocked the eastern part of the Japanese mainland on March 11, 2011, there were more than 20 old and new dams retaining tailings from many mines.Out of these, three dams suffered breach due to liquefaction of tailings materials and released a large amount of slime, bringing about damage to farmlands and houses downstream. Of particular interest was Kayakari dam at Ohya mine that failed and Takasega-mori dam in its vicinity that did not, although they were equally subjected to strong shaking.In this paper features of these two dams in the design and construction, and damage or non-damage during the earthquake will be described, together with the geotechnical investigations and some analyses that were conducted after the earthquake.     

地电场对青藏高原东北部季节冻土的响应特性

地电场的变化与台址环境的水文、气象及地质背景等相关,在青藏高原东北部季节冻土区,11个地电场台站处于较高的海拔,据台址下覆场地属性分为A类（黄土型）和B类（高原草场型）台站。通过对青藏高原季节冻土区域的地电场和大地电流场的计算和分析,联系区域构造活动和地质环境得出以下认识：青藏高原东北部季节冻土区地电场变化对水热环境响应明显,冬、夏两季测值可能发生跃变;长周期的地电场变化曲线可能与台址附近气温变化相关;台站大地电流矢量在冻土部分冻融交替过程中发生方向和幅度值的改变。A类和B类台址显示出不同的季节变化规律,地电场曲线上升和下降的时间节点各异,这种现象可应用于监测该区域冻土冻融情况和冻土的时空演变。     

Concentrations of 137Cs, 90Sr, 108m Ag, 239+240 Pu and atom ratio of 240Pu/239Pu in tanner crabs, Chionoecetes japonicus and Chionoecetes opilio collected around Japan

The anthropogenic radionuclides, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ^108mAg, ^239+240Pu, were measured in two Chionoecetes species, red queen crab (Chionoecetes japonicus) and snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) collected around Japan during 1996–2007. There was no increase in the concentrations of these radionuclides and no large variation of the atom ratio of ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu during this research period. These results indicated that the source of the radionuclides was not the radioactive wastes dumped by the former USSR and Russia and originated from past nuclear weapon tests. The higher atom ratio in the crab species than that from global fallout would be contributed by the Pacific Proving Grounds close-in fallout. The variability of the concentration of radionuclides in the crab species would result from the variability of the composition and quantity in the diet. However, the decrease in the concentration of radionuclides with sampling depth would depend on the concentration in the seawater and diet.     

日本Ms9.0地震前的重力高频扰动

选取中国重力台网14台gPhone弹簧重力仪组成2个观测剖面,对日本本州东海岸附近海域Ms9.0特大地震前（3月1日至10日）的观测数据进行了分析。结果表明：沿海各台站统一出现了喇叭口状的“重力异常扰动”现象,且扰动异常随震中距的增加呈衰减趋势。     

日本海洋环境问题的社会学研究动向

日本学术界已经注意到,各种环境问题中,海洋环境问题是最难解决的,棘手的原因有技术层面的问题,而更多的则是社会层面的问题。因此,将社会学引入海洋环境问题的研究是十分必要的。目前阶段,日本海洋环境问题的社会学研究在海洋观教育的基本脉络之下,分成海岸带、"森林?河流?海洋的共生"、潮间带、海洋漂浮垃圾等专题研究动向,而这些研究动向之所以形成又是与日本海洋立国的需要有着必然的联系与规律。海洋环境问题的研究是21世纪一个热点领域,有必要引进海洋国家日本关于多元化海洋环境问题与社会问题的观念和研究模式,在国际比较研究的基础上,进行中国的海洋环境社会学学科建设。     

Temporal variations in channel patterns and facies architecture in a gravelly fluvial system: The Paleogene Iwaki Formation on the Joban Coalfield,a forearc basin in Northeast Japan

This paper examined sequence‐stratigraphic features of a gravelly fluvial system of the Iwaki Formation, which developed in a forearc‐basin setting in Northeast Japan during the Eocene through Oligocene. On the basis of three‐dimensional architectural element analysis, we discriminated three major cycles of channel complexes, which contain ten component channel deposits in total in the fluvial succession. Component channel deposits in the uppermost part of each cycle are sandier and associated with overbank muddy deposits and coal beds as compared with those in the lower part of the cycle. Mean clast‐size also decreases upsection in the entire gravelly fluvial deposits. The fluvial succession is interpreted to have been deposited in response to an overall rise in relative sea level that was superimposed by three short‐term relative sea‐level rises on the basis of vertical stacking patterns and component lithofacies features of channel deposits, and of correlation of the fluvial succession with an age‐equivalent marine succession in an area about 50 km offshore. However, geometry and stacking patterns of the channel complexes do not exhibit any distinct temporal variation and amalgamated channel and bar deposits are dominant throughout the transgressive fluvial succession. On the other hand, an overall fining‐upward pattern of the entire Iwaki Formation fluvial deposits in association with three component fining‐upward patterns is distinct, and is interpreted to be consistent with the tenet of the standard fluvial sequence‐stratigraphic models. This indicates that the present example represents one type of variation in the standard fluvial sequence‐stratigraphic models, possibly reflecting the forearc‐basin setting, which is generally represented by higher valley slope, higher shedding of coarse‐grained sediments, and shorter longitudinal profiles to the coastal area as compared with a passive‐continental‐margin setting.     

A Late Cretaceous mammalian dentary from the Ashizawa Formation (Futaba Group), Fukushima,northeastern Japan

A mammalian dentary discovered in the Coniacian Ashizawa Formation (Fukushima, northeastern Japan) is described. The specimen is a fragment of the horizontal ramus of a left edentulous dentary with five alveoli, the distal four of which are plugged with broken roots. Based on the morphologies of the dentary and the roots, it is considered to be of a therian mammal. This constitutes the first discovery of a Mesozoic mammal in northeastern Japan and highlights the potential for future mammal discoveries in the Cretaceous System in northeastern Japan, which will be significant for disclosure of the mammalian faunal evolution in East Asia during the Late Cretaceous.     

渝东北地区WX2井页岩气赋存特征及其勘探指示意义

为了深入研究渝东北地区龙马溪组页岩气赋存特征,该文以WX2井页岩高温高压等温吸附及覆压孔隙度实验数据为 基础,通过误差最小原则挑选了适合研究区的吸附模型,并基于孔隙度随有效应力变化关系建立游离气模型,综合分析了 吸附气、游离气及总含气随埋藏深度的变化特征。研究结果表明：WX2井页岩不同温度下过剩吸附量随着压力增大,均呈 现先增大后减小的趋势,随着温度的升高,最大吸附量逐渐减小,而校正后的绝对吸附量随压力增加,先迅速增大后增速 放缓,且用D-A模型拟合绝对吸附量数据平均误差最小,基本可以反应研究区页岩真实吸附过程。页岩样品在加压过程中 孔隙及微裂隙会逐渐闭合,卸压时绝大部分会重新打开,存在部分塑性变形造成的不可逆损伤,但不可逆损伤所占比重较 轻。不同方向样品孔隙度与有效应力之间具有负指数关系,富含层理页岩平行样品较垂直样品具有更大的初始孔隙度以及 更强的孔隙应力敏感性。页岩气赋存特征综合受控于储集层特征、吸附能力、温度及压力等因素,其中温度对吸附气和游 离气含量为负效应,储层压力为正效应;吸附气、游离气及总含气量均遵循先增大后减小的总体趋势,其中吸附气及游离 气含量分别主要受控于温度及储层压力。此外,临界深度上下,页岩吸附态与游离态相对含量发生变化,其对页岩气富集 评价具有重要意义。