Recognition of conjugate solid-type and liquid-type relationship among the oceanic basalts,with respect to REE

The REE abundances and their chondrite-normalized pattern lead one to consider that the basalt from the Caroline ridge area southeast of the Marianas Arc and the one from the Puerto Rico Trench happen to be equivalent to conjugate liquid-type and solid-type materials, respectively, reflecting an equilibrium of a 20% partial melting. This line of interpretation enables us not only to assess the REE abundances in the original solid-type material (M), but also to estimate the corresponding values in the product (¯L) of a very small (say, less than 1 %) extent of a partial melting. It is also found that the relative REE abundances in a basalt from directly east of the Marianas Trench are quite the same as those thus estimated. Alternatively, it is possible to interpret this basalt as representing the residual liquid left after the primary fractional differentiation of the mantle.It is suggested that the straight-type bulk partition coefficients, the absence of the apparent europium anomaly, and the higher pressure are closely associated.     

The Asymmetry of Recirculation of a Double Gyre in a Two Layer Ocean

Using an eddy-resolving two layer primitive-equation model forced by symmetric wind stress, we investigate the asymmetry of the recirculation of a double gyre (subpolar gyre and subtropical gyre). In the case where the layer thickness change is large, cyclonic recirculation becomes unstable and splits into meso-scale vortices more easily than anti-cyclonic recirculation in their developing stage. The subpolar gyre is, therefore, filled with more vortices than the subtropical gyre. Moreover, the effect of the upper layer potential vorticity on the lower layer potential vorticity in the subpolar gyre is stronger than that in the subtropical gyre. The characteristic of turbulence in the subpolar gyre is different from that found in the subtropical gyre and, therefore, the asymmetry of the recirculation of the double gyre is maintained by this difference. The asymmetry can not be produced in a quasi-geostrophic model because it ignores the nonlinearity associated with layer thickness change. Moreover, we investigate the effects of layer thickness and lateral viscosity on the asymmetry of the recirculation of the double gyre. In the case of realistic physical parameters, the asymmetry of the recirculation of the double gyre is noticeable from the view of the activities of the eddies. In the case with the shallowest upper layer, the position of separation of the western boundary current moves further southward.     

A new typhoon bogussing scheme to obtain the possible maximum typhoon and its application for assessment of impacts of the possible maximum storm surges in Ise and Tokyo Bays in Japan

We developed the new typhoon bogussing scheme to obtain the possible maximum typhoon approaching any region under any climatic conditions by using a potential vorticity inversion method. Numerical simulations with the new typhoon bogussing scheme are conducted for assessment of storm surges by possible maximum typhoons under the present-day and global warming climatic conditions in Ise and Tokyo Bays in Japan. The results suggest that the storm tide higher than the maximum storm tide in recorded history can occur in Ise and Tokyo Bays even for the present-day climate and the storm tide higher than the design sea level can cause severe damage to Nagoya and Tokyo megacities, in particular, airport facilities in Ise Bay for the global warming climate. These results suggest that the new typhoon bogussing scheme we developed is useful for assessment of impacts of storm surge by the possible maximum typhoons.     

Rare-earths in Icelandic neovolcanic rocks

Seven volcanic rocks from neovolcanic zone of Iceland were analysed for rare-earths (RE). The bulk partition coefficients are estimated from combination of the studied samples. In contrast with the mid-ocean ridge basalts which show the solid-type RE patterns, four of five arbitrarily chosen Icelandic basalts appear to have liquid-type RE patterns. The occurrence of relatively pristine lava with relative unfractionated RE abundances to chondrite is also considered to be associated with the peculiar tectonics of Iceland.     

Dating of a volcanic rock by electron spin resonance

The age of a volcanic rock has been determined by ESR dating using the Ge center in quartz. The total dose of natural radiation and the age obtained from the Ge center are 460 krad and 2.07 ± 0.50 Ma, respectively, and those from the unidentified defect at g = 2.011 are 484 krad and 2.16 ± 0.21 Ma, respectively. These dates agree well with the age of 2.0 ± 0.5 Ma determined by the fission-track method. High stress or temperature destroy these accumulated defects but, in the same time, produce a lot of new diamagnetic precursors which enable us to observe the clear ESR signal.     

Coordination of sodium ions in NaAlO2–SiO2 melts: a high temperature 23Na NMR study

The coordination environment of the sodium ion in the melts of several simple ionic liquids and an Na₂O–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ mixture has been investigated by high temperature ²³Na NMR measurements. A new high temperature NMR probe was utilized for the measurements of the compositional and temperature dependence of the ²³Na NMR chemical shift at temperatures up to 1600?°C. ²³Na NMR spectra of ionic liquids, NaCl, NaBr and NaNO₃, show two peaks at their solid to liquid transition, corresponding to the solid and liquid state, respectively. The ²³Na NMR peak shift in passing from the liquid to the solid is positive. This suggests a decrease in the coordination number for the molten state compared to the crystalline state. The ²³Na peak position for the Na₂O–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ melts of the composition range Na/Al≥1 shifted almost linearly in the positive direction as a function of both the increased degree of depolymerization, NBO/T, and [Al]/([Al]+[Si]). ²³Na MAS-NMR measurement for crystalline silicate compounds of known structure provided a revised relationship between the mean Na–O distances and ²³Na chemical shifts. Comparison of the ²³Na chemical shift of the melts with that of crystalline silicate compounds suggests that the coordination number of Na in those melts is around 6–8 with little compositional dependence. The ²³Na peak position shifted in the negative direction with increasing temperature for sodium silicates, whereas that of aluminosilicates did not show any temperature dependence. The activation energy from the temperature dependence of the ²³Na line width shows little compositional dependence, and the value (51～58?kJ/mol) was close to that of the trace Na ion diffusion in NaAlSi₃O₈ glass.     

ESR dating of quaternary tephra from Mt. Osore-zan using Al and Ti centres in quartz

Quaternary tephra of Mt. Osore-zan was dated by electron spin resonance. Quartz grains were separated from the tephra and ESR signals of Al and Ti centres were measured at 77 K. The signals of Al and Ti centres which have a complicated hyperfine structure were simplified by using wider field modulations width (5 gauss) than usually used (0.5–1 gauss). The influence of 5 gauss modulation width on the measurement of the signal intensity of Al and Ti centres was investigated. The intensity of the signal increases linearly with gamma irradiation and total doses obtained were 178 to 273 Gy and ESR ages were 0.19 to 0.32 Ma. These ages agree with the estimated age of about 0.3 Ma from the correlation of volcanic ash and terrace level.