Near inertial motion excited by wind change in a margin of the Typhoon 9019

An excitation of inertial oscillation in the upper layer east of course of Typhoon 9019 was fortuitously observed at three surface buoys deployed during the Ocean Mixed Layer Experiment (OMLET). The observed inertial oscillation was compared with wind fluctuation measured at Ocean Weather Station T (29°N, 135°E) which was placed at the center of a triangle with three vertexes occupied by the respective surface buoys. Inertial oscillation is effectively excited in the mixed layer at the eastern margin of the typhoon by a rapid decrease of wind rather than by prevailing strong wind. It is shown by means of a least square deviation that the inertial oscillation observed in the mixed layer has a period of 23.9 hours shorter than the local inertial period of 24.7 hours. This shorter period suggests that the inertial oscillation has the finite velocities of phase and group as an inertial internal wave. A theoretically obtained ratio of vertical component of group velocity to that of phase velocity, approximately agrees with observed value. The inertial internal wave is excited by fluctuation of divergence with near inertial period in the mixed layer.     

Determination of the lithium and rubidium in sea water by double channel flame emission spectrophotometry

A precise and accurate technique for the determination of Li and Rb in sea water has been developed by using a double channel flame emission spectrophotometer. The advantage of this technique is that it is possible to correct the background emission by making use of the double channel system of the apparatus and to obtain constant intensity of emission even if there are large scale changes in the salinity of the sample. Sea water samples collected in the open sea and coastal areas of Japan were analyzed by this method. In one of the coastal areas, an extraordinarily high concentration of Li was found.     

An overview of the Oyashio ecosystem

The Oyashio shelf region and the seasonally ice-covered areas north of Hokkaido are highly productive, supporting a wide range of species including marine mammals, seabirds and commercially important species in the western subarctic Pacific. The fishes include gadids, such as walleye pollock and Pacific cod, and subarctic migratory pelagic fishes such as chum salmon and pink salmon. It is also an important summer feeding ground for subtropical migrants such as the Japanese sardine, Japanese anchovy, Pacific saury, mackerels, Japanese common squid, whales and seabirds. In recent decades, some components of the Oyashio ecosystem (i.e., phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, gadid fish, and subtropical migrants) have shown changes in species abundance or distribution that are correlated with environmental changes such as the 1976/1977 and 1988/1989 regime shifts. The First Oyashio Intrusion moved northward from the mid-1960s until the late 1970s, when it moved southward until the 1980s, after which it returned to the north again after the mid-1990s. The sea-surface temperature in spring decreased after the late 1970s, increased after the late 1980s, and remained high during the 1990s. The extent of ice cover in the Sea of Okhostk also decreased during the latest warming in the 1980–1990s but has increased again since the late 1990s. This and other variabilities affect the Oyashio ecosystem and the surrounding region.     

Construction and Visualization of a Three Dimensional Geologic Model Using GRASS GIS

The present work aims at introducing a basic theory, implementing methodology and algorithms for 3‐D modeling, and visualizing a geologic model using the Open Source Free GIS GRASS environment. A 3‐D geologic model is constructed from the boundary surfaces of geologic units and the logical model of geologic structure. The algorithms for construction and visualization of the proposed model are based on the geologic function g . The geologic function g assigns a unique geologic unit to every point in the objective 3‐D space. The boundary surface that divides the objective space into two subspaces is estimated using data from field survey. The logical model showing the hierarchical relationship between these boundary surfaces and geologic units can be automatically generated based on the stratigraphic sequence and knowledge of geologic structures. Based on these algorithms, a 3‐D geologic model can be constructed virtually in the GRASS GIS. Applying this model, various geologic surfaces and section models can be visualized in the GRASS GIS environment. “Nviz” was used for dynamic visualization of geologic cross‐sections and generation of animated image sequences. Further, the described algorithms and methods are applied and an online 3‐D geologic modeling system is developed.     

Formation and shortening deformation of a back-arc rift basin revealed by deep seismic profiling, central Japan

The northern Fossa Magna (NFM) basin is a Miocene rift system produced in the final stages of the opening of the Sea of Japan. It divides the major structure of Japan into two regions, with north-trending geological structures to the NE of the basin and EW trending structures to the west of the basin. The Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) bounds the western part of the northern Fossa Magna and forms an active fault system that displays one of the largest slip rates (4–9 mm/year) in the Japanese islands. Deep seismic reflection and refraction/wide-angle reflection profiling were undertaken in 2002 across the northern part of ISTL in order to delineate structures in the crust, and the deep geometry of the active fault systems. The seismic images are interpreted based on the pattern of reflectors, the surface geology and velocities derived from refraction analysis. The 68-km-long seismic section suggests that the Miocene NFM basin was formed by an east dipping normal fault with a shallow flat segment to 6 km depth and a deeper ramp penetrating to 15 km depth. This low-angle normal fault originated as a comparatively shallow brittle/ductile detachment in a high thermal regime present in the Miocene. The NFM basin was filled by a thick (>6 km) accumulation of sediments. Shortening since the late Neogene is accommodated along NS to NE–SE trending thrust faults that previously accommodated extension and produce fault-related folds on their hanging wall. Based on our balanced geologic cross-section, the total amount of Miocene extension is ca. 42 km and the total amount of late Neogene to Quaternary shortening is ca. 23 km.     

High-reliability zircon separation for hunting the oldest material on Earth: An automatic zircon separator with image-processing/microtweezers-manipulating system and double-step dating

Despite the recent development in radiometric dating of numerous zircons by LA-ICPMS, mineral separation still remains a major obstacle, particularly in the search for the oldest material on Earth. To improve the efficiency in zircon separation by an order of magnitude, we have designed/developed a new machine-an automatic zircon separator(AZS). This is designed particularly for automatic pick-up of100 μm-sized zircon grains out of a heavy mineral fraction after conventional separation procedures. The AZS operates in three modes:(1) image processing to choose targeted individual zircon grains out of all heavy minerals spread on a tray,(2) automatic capturing of the individual zircon grains with microtweezers, and(3) placing them one-by-one in a coordinated alignment on a receiving tray. The automatic capturing was designed/created for continuous mineral selecting without human presence for many hours. This software also enables the registration of each separated zircon grain for dating, by recording digital photo-image, optical(color) indices, and coordinates on a receiving tray. We developed two new approaches for the dating; i.e.(1) direct dating of zircons selected by LA-ICPMS without conventional resin-mounting/polishing,(2) high speed U-Pb dating, combined with conventional sample preparation procedures using the new equipment with multiple-ion counting detectors(LA-MIC-ICPMS).With the first approach, Pb-Pb ages obtained from the surface of a mineral were crosschecked with the interior of the same grain after resin-mounting/polishing. With the second approach, the amount of time required for dating one zircon grain is ca. 20 s, and a sample throughput of 150 grains per hour can be achieved with sufficient precision(ca. 0.5%).We tested the practical efficiency of the AZS, by analyzing an Archean Jack Hills conglomerate in Western Australia with the known oldest(4.3 Ga) zircon on Earth. Preliminary results are positive; we were able to obtain more than 194 zircons that are over 4.0 Ga out of ca. 3800 checked grains, and 9 grains were over 4300 Ma with the oldest at 4371 ± 7 Ma. This separation system by AZS, combined with the new approaches, guarantees much higher yield in the hunt for old zircons.     

Landslides triggered by the 2016 Mj 7.3 Kumamoto,Japan, earthquake

The aim of this study is to establish a detailed and complete inventory of the landslides triggered by the Mj 7.3 (Mw 7.0) Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake sequence of 15 April 2016 (16 April in JST). Based on high-resolution (0.5–2 m) optical satellite images, we delineated 3,467 individual landslides triggered by the earthquake, occupying an area of about 6.9 km². Then they were validated by aerial photographs with very high-resolution (better than 0.5 m) and oblique field photos. Of them, 3,460 landslides are distributed in an elliptical area about 6000 km², with a NE-SW directed 120-km-long long axis and a 60-km-long NW-SE trending short axis. Most of the landslides are shallow, disrupted falls and slides, with a few flow-type slides and rock and soil avalanches. The analysis of correlation between the landslides and several control factors shows the areas of elevation 1000–1200 m, stratum of Q₃-Hvf, seismic intensity VIII and VIII+, and peak ground acceleration (PGA) 0.4–0.6 g register the highest landslide abundance. This study also discussed the relationship between the spatial pattern of the landslides and the seismotectonic structure featured by a strike-slip fault with a normal component and the volcanism in the study area.     

中国峨眉山地区湿沉降化学

近年，酸雨是世界上最严重的环境问题之一。峨眉山位于四川盆地的西南缘。峨眉山酸雨频率达到85．4％，雨水pH值平均为4．37。冷杉分布于海拔1700m-3098m区域，森林遭到破坏。为了弄清峨眉山污染物质的来源，从1998年4月开始在22个取样点每月采集水样。本文中主要论述1998年6月的雨水化学成分特征。     

Analysis Of The Disappearing Filament And Flare Of 7 May 1992

By using Yohkoh soft X-ray data, H filtergrams, and radio data, the activation of the disappearing filament and the flare eruption on 7 May 1992 have been studied. Main conclusions are as follows: (1) the emergence of new magnetic flux tends to affect the pre-existing X-ray loops, which usually appear in arcades spanning H filament, changing the magnetic environment of the filament, and then enhance the current in the filament. Therefore newly emerging flux plays a fundamental role in the destabilization of this filament. (2) According to the H data and the rising motion of the filament, the corresponding current variation in the filament has been calculated. It seems that the current interruption may be a possible trigger mechanism for this filament disappearance. (3) The magnetic field strength and the energy flux of energetic electrons in the source region of microwave bursts have been estimated by using the microwave spectrum. During the main phase, the mean magnetic strength and the energy flux of energetic electrons are about 300–400 G and 1×1011 erg cm–2 s –1, respectively. (4) The energy provided by reconnection of the current sheet and the total energy of the current filament are estimated and we show that there is enough energy stored in the filament to feed the 7 May, 1992 flare.