Simultaneous crystallization and melting at both the roof and floor of crustal magma chambers: Experimental study using NH4Cl–H2O binary eutectic system

Thermal and compositional evolution of magmas after emplacement of basalt into continental crust has been investigated by means of fluid dynamic experiments using a cold solid mixture with eutectic composition and a hot liquid with higher salinity in the NH₄Cl–H₂O binary eutectic system. The experiments were designed to simulate cases where crystallization of a basalt magma is accompanied by melting at both the roof and floor of a crustal magma chamber. The results show that thermal and compositional convection occur simultaneously in the solution; the thermal convection is driven by cooling at the roof and the compositional convection is driven by melting and crystallization at the floor. The roof was rapidly melted by the convective heat flux, which resulted in formation of a separate eutectic melt layer (the upper liquid layer) with negligible mixing of the underlying liquid (the lower liquid layer). On the other hand, a mushy layer formed at the floor. The compositional convection at the floor carried a low heat flux, so that the heat transfer at the floor was basically explained by simple heat conduction. The thermal boundary layer in the lower liquid layer at the interface with the upper liquid layer became thicker with time and subsequently temperature decreased upward throughout the lower liquid layer. Compositional gradient with NH₄Cl content decreasing upward formed by compositional convection in the lower liquid layer. The formation of these gradients resulted in formation of double-diffusive convecting layers in the lower liquid layer. The upward heat transfer was suppressed when compared with the case where the liquid region is homogenized by vigorous convection.These experimental results imply that, when a basalt magma is emplaced in continental crust, floor melting does not always enhance the cooling of the magma, but it may even reduce the total heat loss from the magma to the crusts due to suppression of convection by formation of a stabilizing compositional gradient.     

Crustal structure in and around the region of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake deduced from a wide-angle and refraction seismic exploration

Abstract The 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake (M_JMA 7.2, M_w 6.9) occurred on Jan. 17, 1995, at a depth of 17 km, beneath the areas of southern part of Hyogo prefecture and Awaji Island. To investigate P-wave velocity distribution and seismological characteristics in the aftershock area of this great earthquake, a wide-angle and refraction seismic exploration was carried out by the Research Group for Explosion Seismology (RGES) . The profile including 6 shot points and 205 observations was 135 km in length, extending from Keihoku, Northern Kyoto prefecture, through Kobe, to Seidan on Awaji Island. The charge of each shot was 350–700 kg. The P-wave velocity structure model showed a complicated sedimentary layer which is shallower than 2.5 km, a 2.5 km-thick basement layer whose velocity is 5.5 km/s, overlying the crystalline upper crust, and the boundary between the upper and lower crust.
Almost all aftershock hypocenters were located in the upper crust. However, the structure model suggests that the hypocenters of the main shock and some aftershock clusters were situated deeper than the boundary between the upper and lower crust. We found that the P-velocity in the upper crust beneath the northern part of Awaji Island is 5.64 km/s which is 3% lower than that of the surrounding area. The low-velocity zone coincides with the region where the high stress moment release was observed.     

The multiple chronological techniques applied to the Lake Suigetsu SG06 sediment core,central Japan

The varved sediment of Lake Suigetsu (central Japan) provides a valuable opportunity to obtain high‐resolution, multi‐proxy palaeoenvironmental data across the last glacial/interglacial cycle. In order to maximize the potential of this archive, a well‐constrained chronology is required. This paper outlines the multiple geochronological techniques being applied – namely varve counting, radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology (including argon–argon dating) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) – and the approaches by which these techniques are being integrated to form a single, coherent, robust chronology. Importantly, we also describe here the linkage of the floating Lake Suigetsu (SG06) varve chronology and the absolute (IntCal09 tree‐ring) time scale, as derived using radiocarbon data from the uppermost (non‐varved) portion of the core. This tie‐point, defined as a distinct (flood) marker horizon in SG06 (event layer B‐07–08 at 1397.4 cm composite depth), is thus derived to be 11 255 to 11 222 IntCal09 cal. years BP (68.2% probability range).     

Biostratigraphy and depositional facies of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary strata in Amakusa-Shimojima,Kyushu, Western Japan

The Upper Himenoura Subgroup exposed in the island of Amakusa-Shimojima, Kyushu, Japan shows an example of the terminal Cretaceous stratigraphic record in the circum Pacific region. This sequence is a part of the Upper Cretaceous intra-arc basins of southwest Japan. Four cycles of upward coarse-graded facies are recognized. Each cycle consists of a basinal mud facies in the lower part and a tide-dominated shallow marine to brackish coarse clastic facies in the upper part. Biostratigraphic correlation chiefly based on ammonites, inocerami and trigoniids indicates that this sequence is Campanian to Maastrichtian in age. The occurrence of the above three fossils decreases upward and is terminated at the top of the sequence, being replaced by a molluscan assemblage similar to the Danian. This suggests that the sedimentation may have continued to the very end of the Cretaceous period and possibly to the beginning of the Tertiary.     

The Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect and Faraday rotation contributions of galaxy groups to the CMB angular power spectrum

The Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and the Faraday rotation from haloes are examined over a wide mass range, including gas condensation and magnetic field evolution. Contributions to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) angular power spectrum are evaluated for galaxy clusters, galaxy groups and galaxies. Smaller mass haloes are found to play a more important role than massive haloes for the B -mode polarization associated with the SZ CMB anisotropies. The B modes from the Faraday rotation dominate the secondary B modes caused by gravitational lensing at  ℓ > 3000  . Measurement of B -mode polarization in combination with the SZ power spectrum can potentially provide important constraints on intracluster magnetic field and gas evolution at early epochs.     

Cluster formation and the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich power spectrum in modified gravity: the case of a phenomenologically extended DGP model

We investigate the effect of modified gravity on cluster abundance and the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) angular power spectrum. Our modified gravity is based on a phenomenological extension of the Dvali–Gabadadze–Porrati model which includes two free parameters characterizing deviation from Λ cold dark matter cosmology. Assuming that Birkhoff's theorem gives a reasonable approximation, we study the spherical collapse model of structure formation and show that while the growth function changes to some extent, modified gravity gives rise to no significant change in the linear density contrast at collapse time. The growth function is enhanced in the so called normal branch, while in the 'self-accelerating' branch it is suppressed. The SZ angular power spectrum is computed in the normal branch, which allows us to put observational constraints on the parameters of the modified gravity model using small scale cosmic microwave background observation data.     

The cross-correlation of the CMB polarization and the 21-cm line fluctuations from cosmic reionization

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization and the 21-cm line fluctuations are powerful probes of cosmological reionization. We study how the cross-correlation between the CMB polarization ( E modes) and the 21-cm line fluctuations can be used to gain further understanding of the reionization history, within the framework of inhomogeneous reionization. Since the E -mode polarization reflects the amplitude of the quadrupole component of the CMB temperature fluctuations, the angular power spectrum of the cross-correlation exhibits oscillations at all multipoles. The first peak of the power spectrum appears at the scale corresponding to the quadrupole at the redshift, which is probed by the 21-cm line fluctuations. The peak reaches its maximum value in redshift when the average ionization fraction of the universe is about half. On the other hand, on small scales, there is a damping that depends on the duration of reionization. Thus, the cross-correlation between the CMB polarization and the 21-cm line fluctuations has the potential to accurately constrain the epoch and the duration of reionization.     

Measurement of the sea surface emissivity

The sea surface emissivity in the infrared region is determined on the basis of data analyses. Net radiation, surface irradiance and other oceanographical and meteorological variables are measured throughout most of the year at the oceanographical observatory tower in Tanabe Bay, Japan. We have found that 0.984±0.004 is a reliable emissivity value from the night time data. Surface emission radiates not from the subsurface water but from the sea surface. The thermal skin layer on the sea surface, however, is disturbed and disappears under high wind speed over 5 m/s through the analyses of the radiation observation using the emissivity value of 0.984. Under low wind speed, the sea surface can be cooler or warmer than the subsurface due to overlying thermal conditions and the skin layer can be neutral as the transient process between them. By using an emissivity value of 0.984, the temperature difference between the sea surface temperature and the temperature determined from surface irradiance that has been reported in the satellite data analyses is found to be reduced by half.     

Box model analysis on phytoplankton production and grazing pressure in a eutrophic estuary

To determine the quantitative relationship between phytoplankton production and zooplankton grazing pressure in Atsumi Bay, a eutrophic and partially-mixed estuary, a series of investigations, including measurements of hydrographic conditions, dissolved oxygen, dissolved total nitrogen, particulate organic nitrogen, and phyto- and zooplankton biomass were conducted 13 times at intervals of 2–7 days in June and July 1984. Continuous measurements of water flow and salinity were also carried out to examine transverse flow and horizontal diffusivity. The supply of freshwater and nitrogen was estimated from given data. The changes of hydrographic condition, net photosynthetic rate and community primary production were calculated by a two-layered box model analysis. The grazing rate on phytoplankton obtained as the difference between net photosynthetic rate and community primary production was compared to the one estimated from zooplankton biomass and sardine,Sardinops melanosticta, biomass. The agreement between the data was remarkable in the upper layer, showing the grazing pressure on phytoplankton followed phytoplankton production, suggesting that a large part of produced phytoplankton was immediately grazed by zooplankton. Consequently, the community primary production was depressed to a fairly lower level. An important role of nutrient supply and water circulation, to limit phytoplankton production, was also confirmed. Dynamic response observed between the calculated grazing pressure and the biomass of phytoplankton and protozoa was also analyzed.     

Seasonal and mesoscale variation in the surface temperature and salinity at the coastal and shelf region off Shikoku,Japan

A three-year-long time series of water temperature and salinity observed on a ferryboat in the shelf region off Shikoku Japan was analyzed, focusing on the phenomena with a time scale of more than one month. We found two remarkable fronts in the seasonal variations. One is the well-known Kii Channel Front. This front remains as a haline front in summer while a thermohaline front in winter. The other, which is formed near Cape Ashizuri-misaki, is newly found. Density gradient across the front in winter is in the opposite direction to that in summer. Next, focusing on phenomena with a shorter time scale, we found the simultaneous variation in water temperature over the observational region, the time scale of which is about three months. It has a good coherence with the variation in air temperature observed at the coast, which implies that this variation has something to do with a phenomenon including the atmospheric system. Warm water intrusion from the Kuroshio is also correlated with this variation. Short-period variations such as the eastward progression of warm water mass tend to be active when the simultaneous variation in water temperature is in the warming phase, i.e., water temperature is increasing.