Solar radio burst (type III)

This article describes the observations of a type III radio burst observed at 103 MHz simultaneously by the two radio telescopes situated at Rajkot (22.3°N, 70.7°E) and Thaltej (23°N, 72.4°E). This event occurred on September 30, 1993 at about 0430 UT and lasted for only half a minute. The event consisted of several sharp spikes in a group. The rise and fall time of these are comparable, however the peaks of individual spikes varied by a factor of four. The comparison of these observations with the data of solar radio spectrograph HiRAS indicates that this was a metric radio burst giving highest emission at about 103 MHz.     

Ecologic and taxonomic diversification in the Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan, with emphasis on infaunalization of heterodonts

Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan diversified in three steps: at the beginning of the Early Jurassic, Early and Late Cretaceous. The Hettangian Niranohama Fauna in northeastern Honshu represents the establishment of a heterodont-dominated brackish-water fauna that persisted until the early Late Cretaceous. No similar composition is known from the Triassic. The infauna consists mostly of non-siphonate and some short-siphonate heterodonts, while the epifauna is represented by diverse pteriomorphian families. In the Early Cretaceous Tetori Group in central Honshu, the long-siphonate heterodonts Tetoria (Corbiculidae) and the semi-infaunal soft-bottom oyster Crassostrea appeared. The evolutionary diversification of the latter, known as the most important element of modern brackish-water faunas, may thus originate at that time. In the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Goshoura and Mifune Groups in west Kyushu, several euryhaline deep-burrowing heterodont families, such as Veneridae and Tellinidae, further diversified in the brackish and marine environments. The Late Cretaceous is characterized by massive shell biolithic beds in which large Crassostrea species are common, a feature common for Cenozoic brackish-water faunas. The long-term changes in the composition of the brackish-water faunas in Japan represents thus an evolutionary record, irrespective of the severe physiological and environmental conditions imposed on the highly conservative nature of the fauna.     

Biogenic Silica Record in Lake Biwa of Central Japan over the Past 145,000 Years

The record of the biogenic silica flux (BSF, g cm⁻²(10³yr)⁻¹) in Lake Biwa reflects changes in diatom productivity in the lake and provides information regarding changes in paleoclimatic conditions. The BSF record of Lake Biwa demonstrates five periods over the past ca. 145,000 yr when the BSF values were significantly greater than 7.5 g cm⁻²(10³yr)⁻¹, and five intervals when they were lower. The data imply that paleoclimatic conditions were warmer and wetter from ca. 123,000 to 115,000, 103,000 to 95,000, 88,000 to 72,000, 57,000 to 32,000 yr B.P., and around ca. 6000 yr B.P. when the BSF values were greater, and relatively dry and cold from ca. 141,000 to 123,000 yr B.P. and during intervals between two of the five warm and wet episodes when the BSF values were lower. Time series of the BSF record can be correlated with the record of biogenic silica content in Lake Baikal and the marine oxygen isotope stages 1 through 6. Furthermore, the BSF values varied with much higher amplitude during the last interglaciation than during the last glaciation, probably implying that the diatom productivity in Lake Biwa was likewise more variable and had a larger range under interglacial conditions than under glacial conditions.     

Ore and Skarn Mineralogy of the Yamato Mine,Yamaguchi Prefecture,Japan, with Emphasis on Silver‐, Bismuth‐, Cobalt‐, and Tin‐bearing Sulfides

Assemblages and chemical compositions of ore minerals from the Yamato mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, were investigated in detail to clarify its characteristics as a skarn deposit. Special attention was paid to silver‐, bismuth‐, cobalt‐, and tin‐bearing sulfide minerals and native gold at the mine, which are described here for the first time. Samples of arsenopyrite‐dominant massive ore, and garnet‐rich, clinopyroxene‐garnet‐rich, and wollastonite‐bearing skarn ores were collected from the mine dump. Arsenopyrite is the most abundant ore mineral (>80 vol.%) in the massive ore, in association with both As‐poor/free and As‐bearing pyrite. The major ore minerals in the skarn specimens are pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite, along with minor argentite, Ag‐Pb‐Bi sulfate, matildite, bismuthinite, native bismuth, molybdenite, scheelite, stannite, stannoidite, cassiterite, cobaltite, gersdorffite, and Co‐rich violarite. In addition, native gold is observed in the interstices of gangue minerals. Based on the mineral assemblages and textures of the specimens examined, the major ore minerals formed in the early stage of mineralization, and the Bi‐, Ag‐, Co‐, Ni‐, As‐ and Sn‐mineralization occurred in the middle stage. Native gold was deposited in the late stage. The estimated formation temperature of the middle mineralization stage was 312±5 °C, according to iron and zinc partitioning between stannite and coexisting sphalerite. The mineralogical properties and mineralization process of the Yamato mine are consistent with those of common skarn‐ and vein‐type ore deposits associated with ilmenite‐series granitoids in the San‐yo and San‐in districts.     

Aerodynamic roughness over an inhomogeneous ground surface

The aerodynamic roughness parameter z ₀ over inhomogeneous ground surfaces, such as cities, rural towns and so on, is determined by analyzing the wind data at AMeDAS observatories in the Tohoku and Kanto districts of Japan, by making use of Rossby number similarity theory. It is found that the aerodynamic roughness parameter is proportional to the average size of the roughness elements.A practical method of estimating the aerodynamic roughness parameter over an extensive area with various inhomogeneities is developed. In this method, the Digital National Land Information data bank is employed. As an example, the roughness parameter distribution around Tsukuba Academic City is presented.     

A Simple Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model For Atmospheric Models: Comparison With Multi-Layer And Slab Models

We developed a simple, single-layer urban canopy model, and comparedit to both multi-layer and slab models. Our single-layer model has thefollowing features: (a) It is a column model of energy and momentumexchange between an urban surface and the atmosphere, (b) it includesthe influence of street canyons, which are parameterized to representthe urban geometry, (c) it includes shadowing from buildings andreflection of radiation, and (d) it estimates both the surfacetemperatures of, and heat fluxes from, three surface types: roof, wall,and road. In the simulation of the single-layer model, the roof washottest during the daytime, but coolest from midnight to early morning.This is consistent with output from the multi-layer model and fieldobservations at a residential area on a clear, summer day. The diurnalvariation of the energy budget from the single-layer model agrees wellwith that from the multi-layer model. Our single-layer model'sperformance is nearly that of a multi-layer model for studyingmesoscale heat islands. Nevertheless, it is simply parameterized,and thus easily included in larger-scale atmospheric models. The slabmodel has the largest nighttime cooling rate of the three models. Toovercome this, it needs more adjustments than for the canopy models.     

Macroscopic criteria for Green type porous materials with spheroidal voids: application to double porous materials

Combined effects of matrix plastic compressibility and void shape are investigated for ductile porous materials. To this end, a spheroidal volume containing a confocal spheroidal (prolate or oblate) void subjected to uniform strain rate boundary conditions has been first studied. A Green type matrix is chosen as a prototype for investigating effects of plastic compressibility. This is carried out by using a kinematics limit analysis theory from which a closed‐form expression of the macroscopic criterion is established for the considered class of materials. These results are then extended to ductile porous materials made up of a green matrix containing randomly oriented spheroidal voids. In the framework of a two‐step homogenization procedure, the obtained results are implemented to describe the macroscopic behavior of double porous materials involving spherical voids at the microscale and randomly oriented and distributed spheroidal voids at the mesoscale. For validation purpose, the new derived criteria are assessed and validated by comparing their predictions to available upper bounds and numerical data from literature. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nitric oxide profiles measured in situ during the Globus '85 campaign

Nitric oxide profiles obtained from three flights of chemiluminescent instruments during the Globus '85 campaign held in France in the autumn of 1985 are reported. When the profile obtained in the early morning of 20 September is compared with the flight made the previous afternoon, an average morning to midday NO ratio of 0.7 for the region between 26 and 33 km is obtained. This value is in good agreement with theoretical studies involving the photolysis of N₂O₅ and the establishment of the NO₂–NO equilibrium.     

Strontium isotopic compositions of Mesozoic granitic rocks in the Hida belt, central Japan: diversities of magma sources and of processes of magma evolution in a continental margin area

The Sr isotopic compositions of Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Funatsu granitic rocks in the Hida belt, Japan, were determined and variations of the compositions within single intrusions and on a regional scale were compared with previously reported data.

Relatively low and constant (or narrow range of) initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of granitic rocks within an intrusion (0.7044-0.7055) are found mostly in the outer part of the belt, while intrusions with high and wide ranges of initial ratios (0.7056-0.7105) are situated in the inner part. This difference in initial ratios within an intrusion is due to the different degrees of mixing between the parental mafic magma from the lower crust or upper mantle and the middle to upper crustal (or crust-derived) materials. On a regional scale, a smooth and regular increase of the ratios from 0.7044 to 0.7057, from outer to inner part, is outlined by the lowest ratio in each intrusion and this almost coincides with a trend given by the ratios of mafic rocks (or mafic enclaves) in the intrusion. This suggests a gradual change of source materials in the lower crust or upper mantle. The degree of crustal contributions to the parental magma, lesser in the outer part and larger in the inner part of the Hida belt, shows close relationships to some geophysical factors, such as the emplacement depth and uplift rate of mafic magma from deeper levels and stress state (extensional or compressional) in the middle to upper crustal levels. These factors are probably due to the plate tectonic configuration in the continental margin area where the Hida belt was included.