Mineralogical characterization of a unique material having heavy oxygen isotope anomaly in matrix of the primitive carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094

We report the mineral compositions and micro-texture of the isotopically anomalous (δ^17,18O_SMOW ∼ +180‰) Fe-S-Ni-O material recently discovered in matrix of the primitive carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094 [Sakamoto N., Seto Y., Itoh S., Kuramoto K., Fujino K., Nagashima K., Krot A. N. and Yurimoto H. (2007) Oxygen isotope evidence for remnants of the early solar system primordial water. Science317, 231-233]. Synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies indicate that this material consists of the symplectitically intergrown magnetite (Fe₃O₄) and pentlandite (Fe_5.7Ni_3.3S₈) with magnetite/pentlandite volume ratio of ∼2.3. Magnetite forms column-shaped grains (10-30 nm in diameter and 100-200 nm in length); pentlandite occurs as worm-shaped grains or aggregates of grains 100-300 nm in size between magnetite crystals. Although both the X-ray diffraction and electron energy loss spectra support identification of iron oxide as magnetite, the electron diffraction patterns show that magnetite has a weak 3-fold superstructure, possibly due to ordering of vacancies. We infer that the isotopically anomalous symplectite formed by sulfurization and oxidization of metal grains either in the solar nebula or on an icy planetesimal. The intersite cation distribution of pentlandite suggests that timescale of oxidation was no longer than 1000 years.     

Numerical simulation of Pacific water intrusions into Otsuchi Bay,northeast of Japan,with a nested-grid OGCM

A numerical simulation of Otsuchi Bay located on the northeast coast of the Honshu, the largest island of Japan, is conducted, using an ocean general circulation model (OGCM) with a nested-grid system in order to illustrate seasonal variability of the circulation in the bay. Through a year, an anticlockwise circulation is dominant in the bay, as observational studies have implied, although it is modified in the bay-mouth-half of the bay in winter. In addition, there is an intense outflow at the surface layer during spring to autumn, influenced by river water discharge. Intrusion of the Pacific water into the bay is influened by mean circulations, but it is also influenced by baroclinic tides from spring to autumn. Pacific water intrusions affected by baroclinic tides may have an impact on the environment in Otsuchi Bay.     

Cycladophora davisiana (Radiolaria) in the Okhotsk Sea: A key for reconstructing glacial ocean conditions

Cycladophora davisiana, a radiolarian species dwelling at mesopelagic depths, is known as a representative glacial fauna due to its unique distribution during glacial periods. In the present ocean, abundant production of C. davisiana is only observed in the Okhotsk Sea, indicating an adaptation of C. davisiana for seasonal sea-ice covered conditions. We found pronounced abundant production of C. davisiana during the early to middle Holocene in the Okhotsk Sea, suggesting more favorable conditions for C. davisiana than the present Okhotsk Sea. In order to clarify the reason, oceanographic conditions during the Holocene were reconstructed based on biomarkers, lithogenic grains including ice-rafted debris (IRD), biogenic opal, and total organic carbon (TOC) in two sediment cores from the Okhotsk Sea. These indicators suggest that the pronounced C. davisiana production may be attributed to: 1) a supply to mesopelagic depths under intensified stratification of fine organic particles derived from coccolithophorids, bacteria, and detrital materials; and 2) cold, well-ventilated intermediate water formation.     

El Niño flood deposits at Batán Grande,northern Peru

Recent construction of a 10 × 3 irrigation canal across the Batán Grande–Poma archaeological complex of northern Peru provided an opportunity for inspection of soil profiles and detailed sampling along a five km transect bisecting an important concentration of ceremonial structures built during the past 3000+ years. From laboratory analysis of 80 soil samples we conclude no long-term irrigation agriculture was practiced in this area and it was unimportant as a resource base. Stratigraphic studies indicate few sediments survive from the 1925 El Niño event, but a massive bed attributable to prehistoric slack-water flood sediments has been identified and can be bracketed between ca. A. D. 650–1000 by associated diagnostic funerary ceramics. Other flood deposits representing the same or different events are described, but we conclude intervalley correlations will be difficult until more precise dating methods are available.     

Oxygen isotopic compositions of Allende Type C CAIs: Evidence for isotopic exchange during nebular melting and asteroidal metamorphism

In situ oxygen isotopic measurements of primary and secondary minerals in Type C CAIs from the Allende CV3 chondrite reveal that the pattern of relative enrichments and depletions of ¹⁶O in the primary minerals within each individual CAI are similar to the patterns observed in Types A and B CAIs from the same meteorite. Spinel is consistently the most ¹⁶O-rich (Δ¹⁷O = −25‰ to −15‰), followed by Al,Ti-dioside (Δ¹⁷O = −20‰ to −5‰) and anorthite (Δ¹⁷O = −15‰ to 0‰). Melilite is the most ¹⁶O-depleted primary mineral (Δ¹⁷O = −5‰ to −3‰). We conclude that the original melting event that formed Type C CAIs occurred in a ¹⁶O-rich (Δ¹⁷O  −20‰) nebular gas and they subsequently experienced oxygen isotopic exchange in a ¹⁶O-poor reservoir. At least three of these (ABC, TS26F1 and 93) experienced remelting at the time and place where chondrules were forming, trapping and partially assimilating ¹⁶O-poor chondrule fragments. The observation that the pyroxene is ¹⁶O-rich relative to the feldspar, even though the feldspar preceded it in the igneous crystallization sequence, disproves the class of CAI isotopic exchange models in which partial melting of a ¹⁶O-rich solid in a ¹⁶O-poor gas is followed by slow crystallization in that gas. For the typical (not associated with chondrule materials) Type C CAIs as well for as the Types A and B CAIs, the exchange that produced internal isotopic heterogeneity within each CAI must have occurred largely in the solid state. The secondary phases grossular, monticellite and forsterite commonly have similar oxygen isotopic compositions to the melilite and anorthite they replace, but in one case (CAI 160) grossular is ¹⁶O-enriched (Δ¹⁷O = −10‰ to −6‰) relative to melilite (Δ¹⁷O = −5‰ to −3‰), meaning that the melilite and anorthite must have exchanged its oxygen subsequent to secondary alteration. This isotopic exchange in melilite and anorthite likely occurred on the CV parent asteroid, possibly during fluid-assisted thermal metamorphism.     

Reconstruction of sea surface dimethylsulfide in the North Pacific during 1970s to 2000s

We proposed an empirical equation of sea surface dimethylsulfide (DMS, nM) using sea surface temperature (SST, K), sea surface nitrate (SSN, μM) and latitude (L, °N) to reconstruct the sea surface flux of DMS over the North Pacific between 25°N and 55°N: ln DMS = 0.06346 · SST − 0.1210 · SSN − 14.11 · cos(L) − 6.278 (R² = 0.63, p < 0.0001). Applying our algorithm to climatological hydrographic data in the North Pacific, we reconstructed the climatological distributions of DMS and its flux between 25 °N and 55 °N. DMS generally increased eastward and northward, and DMS in the northeastern region became to 2–5 times as large as that in the southwestern region. DMS in the later half of the year was 2–4 times as large as that in the first half of the year. Moreover, applying our algorithm to hydrographic time series datasets in the western North Pacific from 1971 to 2000, we found that DMS in the last three decades has shown linear increasing trends of 0.03 ± 0.01 nM year^− 1 in the subpolar region, and 0.01 ± 0.001 nM year^− 1 in the subtropical region, indicating that the annual flux of DMS from sea to air has increased by 1.9–4.8 μmol m^− 2 year^− 1. The linear increase was consistent with the annual rate of increase of 1% of the climatological averaged flux in the western North Pacific in the last three decades.     

Precursory seismicity of the 1994 eruption of Popocatépetl Volcano,Central Mexico

Popocatépetl Volcano is located in the central Mexican Volcanic Belt, within a densely populated region inhabited by over 20 million people. The eruptive history of this volcano indicates that it is capable of producing a wide range of eruptions, including Plinian events. After nearly 70 years of quiescence, Popocatépetl reawakened in December 21, 1994. The eruptive activity has continued up until the date of this submission and has been characterized by a succession of lava dome growth-and-destruction episodes, similar to events that have apparently been typical for Popocatépetl since the fourteenth century. In this regime, the episodes of effusive and moderately explosive activity alternate with long periods of almost total quiescence. In this paper we analyze five years of volcano-tectonic seismicity preceding the initial eruption of the current episode. The evolution of the V-T seismicity shows four distinct stages, which we interpret in terms of the internal processes which precede an eruption after a long period of quiescence. The thermal effects of a magma intrusion at depth, the fracturing related to the slow development of magma-related fluid pathways, the concentration of stress causing a protracted acceleration of this process, and a final relaxation or redistribution of the stress shortly before the initial eruption are reflected in the rates of V-T seismic energy release. A hindsight analysis of this activity shows that the acceleration of the seismicity in the third stage asymptotically forecast the time of the eruption. The total seismic energy release needed to produce an eruption after a long period of quiescence is related to the volume of rock that must be fractured so imposing a characteristic threshold limit for polygenetic volcanoes, limit that was reached by Popocatépetl before the eruption.