Non-volcanic deep low-frequency tremors accompanying slow slips in the southwest Japan subduction zone

Non-volcanic deep low-frequency tremors in southwest Japan exhibit a strong temporal and spatial correlation with slow slip detected by the dense seismic network. The tremor signal is characterized by a low-frequency vibration with a predominant frequency of 0.5–5 Hz without distinct P- or S-wave onset. The tremors are located using the coherent pattern of envelopes over many stations, and are estimated to occur near the transition zone on the plate boundary on the forearc side along the strike of the descending Philippine Sea plate. The belt-like distribution of tremors consists of many clusters. In western Shikoku, the major tremor activity has a recurrence interval of approximately six months, with each episode lasting over a week. The tremor source area migrates during each episode along the strike of the subducting plate with a migration velocity of about 10 km/day. Slow slip events occur contemporaneously with this tremor activity, with a coincident estimated source area that also migrates during each episode. The coupling of tremor and slow slip in western Shikoku is very similar to the episodic tremor and slip phenomenon reported for the Cascadia margin in northwest North America. The duration and recurrence interval of these episodes varies between tremor clusters even on the same subduction zone, attributable to regional difference in the frictional properties of the plate interface.     

Transmission electron microscopy of the “LOW-CA” hydrated interplanetary dust particle

Transmission electron microscopy of a hydrated interplanetary dust particle indicates that it consists largely of a poorly crystalline phyllosilicate containing Fe, Mg and Al with an interlayer spacing of 10 to 12Åand so is distinct from the major phyllosilicate in CI and CM carbonaceous chondrites. The silicate is probably an Fe- and Mg-rich smectite or mica. Submicron, spherical to euhedral pyrrhotite and pentlandite are prominent. Unusual, low-Ni ( < 3 at.% Ni) pentlandite is also common and typically occurs as rectangular platelets. Unlike many chondritic interplanetary dust particles, olivine is rare and pyroxene was not observed. Other less abundant phases are magnetite, chromite, and an unidentified phase containing Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, and Mn. This particle differs from a hydrated micrometeorite described previously by Brownlee [1], indicating there are mineralogically different subsets of hydrated interplanetary dust particles. Despite gross similarities in mineralogy between the particle and the carbonaceous chondrites, they show appreciable differences in detail.     

Campanian Climatic Change: Isotopic Evidence from Far East, North America, North Atlantic and Western Europe

Paleoclimatic settings have been reconstructed for the Campanian using original oxygen-isotopic analyses of well-preserved molluskan and foraminifera shells from Russian Far East, Hokkaido, USA, Belgium and some DSDP holes (95, 98, 102, 390A, and 392A) in North Atlantic. Early Early Campanian climatic optimum has been recognized from data on high bottom shelf water paleotemperatures in middle latitudes of both the western circum-Pacific (to 24.2°C) and the eastern circum-Pacific (to 26.4°C) areas and high bottom shallow water paleotemperatures in high latitudes of the Koryak Upland (22.4–25.5°C), which agrees with the data on the Campanian Barykovskaya flora in high latitudes (Golovneva and Herman, 1998) and Jonker flora and its equivalents in middle latitudes. Judging from the data on comparatively high bottom shallow water paleotemperature values in high latitudes, South Alaska (19.4°C) and the Koryak Upland (22.4–25.5°C), we also expect Latest Campanian temperature maximum, which has not been confirmed, however, for low and middle latitudes by neither of isotopic nor paleobotanic data now. Main climatic tendency during the Campanian (with the exception of Latest Campanian) has been learned from isotopic composition of Campanian aragonitic ammonoid shells from the Hokkaido-South Sakhalin (Krilyon) marine basin. In contrary to Huber’s et al. (2002) assumption, we expect warm greenhouse conditions during the most part of the Campanian.     

Hydrothermal alteration experiments of enstatite: Implications for aqueous alteration of carbonaceous chondrites

Abstract— Enstatite is one of the major constituent minerals in carbonaceous chondrites. Hydrothermal alteration experiments (26 in total) of enstatite were carried out at pH 0, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14, at temperatures of 100, 200, and 300 °C, and for run durations of 24, 72, 168, and 336 h in order to provide constraints on the aqueous‐alteration conditions of the meteorites. The recovered samples were studied in detail by using powder X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Under acidic and mildly acidic conditions (pH 0, 6), no significant alteration occurred, whereas under neutral to alkaline conditions (pH 7–14), serpentine and saponite formed in various proportions by replacing enstatite. At 300 °C for 168 h, serpentine formed under neutral to moderately alkaline conditions (pH 7, 12), and serpentine and saponite formed as unit cell‐scale coherent intergrowths under highly alkaline conditions (pH 13, 14). The amounts of phyllosilicates have a tendency to increase with increasing pH, temperature, and run duration. There is also a tendency for saponite to form at higher pH and temperature and under longer run‐durations than serpentine. The results indicate that alteration of enstatite is strongly dependent on the experimental conditions, especially pH. They suggest that CM chondrites experienced aqueous alteration under neutral to alkaline conditions, whereas CV and CI chondrites experienced aqueous alteration under more alkaline conditions. The results also suggest that aqueous alteration in CI chondrites occurred at higher temperatures than in CM chondrites, and aqueous alteration in CV chondrites occurred at even higher temperatures than in CI chondrites.     

Indicators of parent-body processes: Hydrated chondrules and fine-grained rims in the Mokoia CV3 carbonaceous chondrite

A petrographic and electron microscopic study of the Mokoia CV3 carbonaceous chondrite shows that all of the chondrules and inclusions (>400 μm in diameter) and most of their fine-grained rims studied (referred to as chondrules/rims) contain various amounts of hydrous phyllosilicates (mostly saponite) formed by aqueous alteration of anhydrous silicates. The rims mainly consist of fine-grained olivine and saponite in varying proportions and contain crosscutting veins of Fe-rich olivine. The boundaries between the chondrules and their rims are irregular and show abundant evidence of aqueous alteration interactions between them. In contrast, the host matrix contains very minor amounts of saponite and shows no evidence of such extensive aqueous alteration. The boundaries between the chondrules/rims and the matrix are sharp and show no traces of the matrix having been involved in the alteration of the chondrules/rims. These observations indicate that the aqueous alteration in the chondrules/rims did not occur in the present setting.We suggest that the chondrules/rims are actually clasts transported from a location on the meteorite parent body different from where the Mokoia meteorite was from. The aqueous alteration of the chondrules/rims probably occurred there. The veins in the rims were originally fractures produced in an interchondrule matrix by impacts; these were later filled by Fe-rich olivine during aqueous activity. This location was then involved in impact brecciation, and individual chondrules were ejected as clasts with remnants of the matrix surrounding them. During the continuing brecciation, those chondrule/rim clasts were transported, mixed with anhydrous matrix grains, and finally lithified to the present meteorite. Therefore, the rims are fragmented remnants of a former matrix.Textures characterized by fine-grained rims surrounding chondrules in chondrites have been widely thought to have formed in the solar nebula before they accreted into their parent bodies. However, our results suggest that some textures may not be explained by such an accretionary model; instead, the multi-stage parent-body process modeled for the Mokoia rim formation may be a more plausible explanation.     

Heating effects of the matrix of experimentally shocked Murchison CM chondrite: Comparison with micrometeorites

Abstract— Micrometeorites have been significantly altered or melted by heating, which has been mainly ascribed to aerodynamic drag during atmospheric entry. However, if a major fraction of micrometeorites are produced by impacts on porous asteroids, they may have experienced shock heating before contact with the Earth's atmosphere (Tomeoka et al. 2003). A transmission electron microscope (TEM) study of the matrix of Murchison CM chondrite experimentally shocked at pressures of 10–49 GPa shows that its mineralogy and texture change dramatically, mainly due to shock heating, with the progressive shock pressures. Tochilinite is completely decomposed to an amorphous material at 10 GPa. Fe‐Mg serpentine is partially decomposed and decreases in amount with increasing pressure from 10 to 30 GPa and is completely decomposed at 36 GPa. At 49 GPa, the matrix is extensively melted and consists mostly of aggregates of equigranular grains of Fe‐rich olivine and less abundant low‐Ca pyroxene embedded in Si‐rich glass. The mineralogy and texture of the shocked samples are similar to those of some types of micrometeorites. In particular, the samples shocked at 10 and 21 GPa are similar to the phyllosilicate (serpentine)‐rich micrometeorites, and the sample shocked at 49 GPa is similar to the olivine‐rich micrometeorites. The shock heating effects also resemble the effects of pulse‐heating experiments on the CI and CM chondrite matrices that were conducted to simulate atmospheric entry heating. We suggest that micrometeorites derived from porous asteroids are likely to go through both shock and atmospheric‐entry heating processes.     

Microbially induced formation of ooid-like coated grains in the Late Cretaceous methane-seep deposits of the Nakagawa area, Hokkaido, northern Japan

Abstract   Ooid-like coated grains are found in the Late Cretaceous methane-seep deposits in the Nakagawa area, Hokkaido, Japan. The coated grains were examined using macro- and microscopic observations, electron-probe microanalysis, and biomarker analysis. They are round- to oval-shaped, with nuclei consisting of fractured sediment and micritic envelopes. The fractures probably occurred as a result of increasing hydrostatic pressure when the sediment was still unconsolidated or weakly consolidated. Biomarker analysis revealed that two types of molecules, crocetane and PMI, are predominant in the hydrocarbon fraction with highly negative carbon isotopic composition as low as −122‰ ( vs Vienna Peedee Belemnite). These data suggest that the coated grains were formed under the influence of anaerobic oxidation of methane, near the sediment/seawater interface. The presence of such grains indicates that methane-containing pore water reached the sea floor at that time.