Why is Shirase Glacier turning its flow direction eastward?

We applied an image correlation method to Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data obtained from 1996 to 1998 to examine flow velocity within Shirase Glacier, Antarctica. From the grounding line to the downstream region of the glacier, the obtained ice-flow velocity was systematically higher on the western streamline than the eastern. The differences between the two streamlines were 0.31 km/a in 1996 and 0.37 km/a in 1998, significantly larger than the error estimate of 0.03 km/a. The direction of ice flow was about 312° at the grounding line and changed to 327° at 10 km, 346° at 20 km and 2° at 30 km downstream from the grounding line. The total accumulated deflection is 50° to the east. Under the assumption of the conservation of ice mass across the glacier, the observed eastward change in flow direction can be explained by an asymmetric deepening of bedrock topography, that is, across the 8 km width of the glacier, the eastern side is 50 m (10%) deeper than the western side. This eastward turning of flow direction appears to be accelerated by tributary inlets, that flow to the north and northeast at 60–75% of the velocity of inlets on the western streamline.     

GPS radio holography as a tool for remote sensing of the atmosphere, mesosphere, and terrestrial surface from space

GPS radio occultation (RO) signals are highly coherent and precise, and thus sufficient for holographic investigation of the atmosphere, ionosphere, and the Earth's surface from space. In principle, three-dimensional radio-holographic remote sensing is possible by using new radio holographic equations to retrieve the radio field within the atmosphere from a radio field known at some interface outside the atmosphere. A simplified two-dimensional form of the radio-holographic equations which are developed under an assumption of local spherical symmetry can be used to obtain two-dimensional radio images of the atmosphere and terrestrial surface. To achieve this, radio holograms recorded by a GPS receiver onboard a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite at two GPS frequencies can be used and focused synthetic aperture principle applied. Analysis of GPS/MET RO data is presented to show the effectiveness of a radio-holographic approach. It is shown that the amplitude of GPS radio signals (in addition to phase data) can be used to obtain detailed altitude profiles of the vertical gradient of refractivity in the atmosphere and electron density in the mesosphere. The results demonstrate the applicability of GPS radio holography for a detailed global study of the natural processes in the atmosphere and mesosphere. Electronic Publication     

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.     

CodaQ as a combination of scattering and intrinsic attenuation: Numerical simulations with the boundary integral method

Numerical modelling ofSH wave seismograms in media whose material properties are prescribed by a random distribution of many perfectly elastic cavities and by intrinsic absorption of seismic energy (anelasticity) demonstrates that the main characteristics of the coda waves, namely amplitude decay and duration, are well described by singly scattered waves in anelastic media rather than by multiply scattered waves in either elastic or anelastic media. We use the Boundary Integral scheme developed byBenites et al. (1992) to compute the complete wave field and measure the values of the direct waveQ and coda wavesQ in a wide range of frequencies, determining the spatial decay of the direct wave log-amplitude relation and the temporal decay of the coda envelope, respectively. The effects of both intrinsic absorption and pure scattering on the overall attenuation can be quantified separately by computing theQ values for corresponding models with (anelastic) and without (elastic) absorption. For the models considered in this study, the values of codaQ ^–1 in anelastic media are in good agreement with the sum of the corresponding scatteringQ ^–1 and intrinsicQ ^–1 values, as established by the single-scattering model ofAki andChouet (1975). Also, for the same random model with intrinsic absorption it appears that the singly scattered waves propagate without significant loss of energy as compared with the multiply scattered waves, which are strongly affected by absorption, suggesting its dominant role in the attenuation of coda waves.     

Year-to-Year and interdecadal variability in the activity of intraseasonal fluctuations in the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation

Summary Interannual variability in the activity of fluctuations with subseasonal time scales is investigated based upon observed data of the extratropical Northern Hemisphere circulation over the recent 38 winters. Their activity is represented in the root mean square (RMS) field of filtered geopotential height in which the fluctuations with time scales between 10 days and a season are retained. The singular value decomposition (SVD) was applied to the covariance matrix between the seasonal mean and RMS fields for the 500-hPa height.The leading SVD mode for the north Pacific represents the strong relationship between the polarity of the Pacific/North American (PNA) pattern in the seasonal-mean anomalies and the amplitude of a meridionally-oriented dipole-like oscillation within the season. It tends to be more active when the seasonal-mean jet stream is strongly diffluent over the central Pacific than when the jet is extended zonally across the Pacific. The leading SVD mode for the north Atlantic is indicative of stronger intraseasonal fluctuations near Greenland in the presence of anticyclonic seasonal-mean anomalies associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).The intraseasonal variability in the extratropics is strongly correlated with the underlying sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, and that in the north Pacific also exhibits significant but rather weak correlation with SST anomalies in the equatorial Pacific. The activity of the atmospheric intraseasonal fluctuations is found to be modulated in accordance with interdecadal variability in the seasonal-mean circulation and SST.On leave from Department of Earth & Planetary Physics, University of Tokyo.With 12 Figures     

Dislocation microstructures in naturally deformed silicate garnets

Dislocation microstructures of naturally deformed silicate garnets and olivines in garnet-peridotites and silicate garnets in eclogites from four localities have been observed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to clarify the dislocation characteristics of silicate garnets. We have obtained the following results: (1) dislocation densities of garnets in all the garnet-peridotites (ρ = 10⁵−10⁷ cm⁻²) are always nearly an order of magnitude lower than those of co-existing olivines; (2) dislocation densities of garnets in eclogites (ρ = 10⁵−10⁸ cm⁻²) which are embedded in garnet-peridotites are almost an order of magnitude higher than those of garnets in the surrounding garnet-peridotites; (3) the dominant Burgers vector, b, of mainly edge dislocations in garnet is 100 for specimens with dislocation density ρ = 10⁵−10⁶ cm⁻², while b=1/2111 for specimens with ρ = 10⁷−10⁸ cm⁻². Result (1) indicates that the observed dislocations in garnets were formed by plastic deformation under the same stresses as for co-existing olivines, and that there is a similar relationship between applied stress and dislocation density for garnets as for olivines. Result (2) suggests that the stress concentration occurred around eclogites embedded in garnet-peridotites, and the resulting differential stress in garnets in eclogites was further elevated by the interlocking of neighboring hard garnet grains. Finally, result (3) indicates that the dominant Burgers vector of mainly edge dislocations in garnet changes from 100 to 1/2111 with increasing applied differential stress.     

Synchronization of human walking observed during lateral vibration of a congested pedestrian bridge

Observation of human-induced large-amplitude lateral vibration of an actual pedestrian bridge in an extremely congested condition is reported. Walking motions of pedestrians recorded by a video camera are analysed. It is found that walking among 20 per cent or more of the pedestrians on the bridge was synchronized to the girder lateral vibration. With this synchronization, the total lateral force from the pedestrians to the girder is evidently increased and it acts as a resonant force on the girder lateral vibration.     

CQC modal combination rule for high-frequency modes

The CQC rule for modal combination is extended to include the quasi-static contribution of truncated modes and the effects of input narrow-bandedness and cut-off frequency. A simple measure of the error in approximating a high-frequency modal response by its quasi-static contribution is derived. The extended rule is applicable to structures with high-frequency modes and to seismic inputs which may not be regarded as wide band. Numerical examples demonstrate the significance of input bandwidth and cut-off frequency on modal cross-correlation coefficients, and on the error resulting from truncation of high-freqeuncy modes.     

Quantitative distribution of late Cenozoic volcanic materials in Japan

The late Cenozoic orogeny in Japan is briefly reviewed. Amounts of volcanic materials in the three periods of the orogeny are estimated at: early Neogene 150 × 10³ km³ (mafic 40 %, salic 60 %), middle and late Neogene 20 × 10³ km³ (mafic 70 %, salic 30 %), Quaternary 5 × 10³ km³ (mafic 80 %, salic 20 %). The largest volume per unit time is in the early Neogene, and the smallest in the middle and late Neogene. Volume per unit area becomes larger towards the southeastern margin or «front» of the volcanic belt. Thermal energy transported by volcanic materials is compared with the terrestrial heat flow in the belt.     

Compositional relations of coexisting orthopyroxene,pigeonite and augite in a tholeiitic andesite from Hakone Volcano

The compositions of five different coexisting pyroxenes hypersthene, pigeonite and augite in groundmass and bronzite and augite of phenocryst in a tholeiitic andesite from Hakone Volcano, Japan have been determined by the electron probe microanalyser. It is shown that there is a compositional gap of about 25 mole per cent CaSiO₃ between groundmass pigeonite and augite, compared with 35 per cent CaSiO₃ between phenocrystic augite and bronzite. Subcalcic augite or pigeonitic augite was not found. The groundmass augite, which occurs only as thin rims of pigeonite and hypersthene, is less calcic and more iron-rich than the phenocryst augite. It is also shown that the groundmass pigeonite is 3–4 mole per cent more CaSiO₃-rich than the coexisting groundmass hypersthene. The Fe/(Mg + Fe) ratios of these coexisting hypersthene and pigeonite are about 0.31 and 0.33, respectively. It is suggested from these results that a continuous solid solution does not exist between augite and pigeonite of the Fe/(Mg + Fe) ratio at least near 0.3 under the conditions of crystallization of groundmass of the tholeiitic andesite. It is suggested from the Mg-Fe partition and the textural relation that the groundmass augite crystallized from a liquid more iron-rich than that from which groundmass hypersthene and pigeonite crystallized.