Phytoplankton communities in the Bering Sea and adjacent seas

Vertical distribution of phytoplankton in early warming season in the eastern Bering Sea and adjacent sea areas was investigated. In the surface layer which was under the influence of newly melted sea ice in the shelf water region of the Bering Sea in May, remarkably dense populations ofThalassiosira hyalina andT. nordenskiöldii and relatively large populations ofFragilaria andNavicula occupied large part of phytoplankton community. In June, although theThalassiosira populations sunk into the bottom layer and withered, a certain part of theFragilaria-Navicula populations was still suspended in subsurface layer. Thus,Fragilaria-Navicula were the leading components of the June community in the shelf region.In the Bering Basin region, no dense phytoplankton populations were developed until a shallow thermocline was established. In June when the shallow thermocline developed near shelf edge,Thalassiosira decipiens burst out. As the shallow thermocline extended from near shelf to central part of the Basin region with surface warming, the areas of blooming also shifted from near shelf to the central part.Contribution No. 73 from the Research Institute of North Pacific Fisheries, Hokkaido University.     

Application of AVO Analysis to Seismic Data for Detection of Gas below Methane Hydrate Stability Zone in Nankai Trough Area

Abstract. For the purpose of development of methane hydrate, occurring in the deep marine subsurface, as a resource, the most important issue is to understand the methane hydrate system (generation, migration and accumulation) as well as to delineate the methane hydrate reservoir properties. We have applied the Amplitude Versus Offset (AVO) analysis to the seismic data acquired in the Nankai Trough, offshore Japan, in order to confirm the occurrence of gas just below the methane hydrate-bearing zone, assuming that gas will show a so-called Class-3 AVO response. Knowledge of the amount and occurrence of gas in the sediment below methane hydrate-bearing zone is one of the keys to understand the methane hydrate system.
We have utilized the qualitative analysis of AVO methodology to delineate how gas is located below the BSR, which is thought to be the reflection event from the interface between the methane hydrate-bearing zone and the underlying gas-bearing zone. In the region of MITI Nankai Trough Well PSW-3, we observe two BSRs separated by 25 ms. After AVO modeling using well data, we applied AVO attribute analysis and attribute crossplot analysis to the seismic data. Finally we applied an offset-amplitude analysis to CMP gather data at specific locations to confirm the results of AVO attribute analysis. The AVO analysis shows that there is very little gas located in the underlying sediment below methane hydrate-bearing zone. This result supports the fact that we could not obtain any clear evidence of gas occurrence just below the methane hydrate-bearing zone in the Nankai Trough well drilling.     

Diagnosis of earth-fill dams by synthesised approach of sounding and surface wave method

The spatial distribution of the strength inside the earth-fill is identified by the sounding tests. In this research, the Swedish weight sounding (SWS) is employed, and the spatial high-density test is performed to identify the spatial correlation structure. Furthermore, the synthesised approach of the SWS and surface wave method, which is one of the geophysical method, is proposed to compensate the shortage of each approach. Consequently, the correlation structure of an earth-fill could be identified accurately, and the high resolution of the spatial distribution could be visualised based on the survey results.     

Structure and development of the Sagami trough and the Boso triple junction

The Sagami trough is located at the particular plate margin where the Izu forearc is subducted underneath the Honshu forearc. At its southeastern end, the world's only known TTT-type triple junction (Boso triple junction) has developed. Several different kinds of basins occur in different segments along the Sagami trough and at the triple junction. The bathymetric, geologic, and geophysical data obtained during the Kaiko Project and from additional studies are summarized together with our onland studies. We suggest that the right-lateral oblique plate motion formed an eduction margin in the Sagami basin, while a normal subduction margin and an oblique subduction margin have been formed in the Middle Sagami trough basin. These tectonic phenomena resulted from the long-lasting compressional covergence between the Philippine Sea plate and Eurasian plate since the early or middle Miocene. The North basin on the northeasternmost margin of the Philippine Sea plate near the Boso triple junction has developed as a stretched basin due to the westward motion of the Philippine Sea plate with respect to the Eurasian plate.     

Estimated Recharge Rates From Groundwater Temperatures In The Nara Basin,Japan

Groundwater recharge rates to the sandy aquifer in the Nara basin, Japan, were determined by using a theory that describes the simultaneous transfer of heat and water in a porous medium. Seasonal changes in temperatue-depth profiles were used to estimate the recharge rates in a relatively shallow aquifer. Estimations of the recharge rates were done by fitting a dimensionless parameter to the type curves developed by Taniguchi (1993) after the amplitudes of annual variations of groundwater temperatures were measured at several depths. Annual recharge rate estimated by fitting observed temperatures to the type curves was 459 mm in the Nara basin. This value agrees well with values calculated from water-balance methods and values reported in the literature. Résumé: Les taux de recharge d'un aquifère sableux dans le bassin de Nara (Japon) ont été déterminés au moyen d'un modèle qui décrit le transfert simultané de la chaleur et de l'eau en milieu poreux. Les variations saisonnières le long de profils verticaux de température sont utilisées pour estimer les taux de recharge dan un aquifère relativement superficiel. Les estimations de ces taux de recharge ont été réalisées par l'ajustement d'un paramètre sans dimension aux courbes types proposées par Taniguchi (1993) d'après les amplitudes des variations annuelles de la température de l'eau souterraine mesurée à différentes profondeurs. La recharge annuelle estimée par l'ajustement des températures observées aux courbes types est 459 mm dans le bassin de Nara. Cette valeur est en bon accord avec celles caculées à partir du bilan hydrologique et avec celles de littérature. Resumen: Las velocidades de recarga en el acuífero arenoso de la cuenca del Nara, Japón, se determinaron por medio de una teoría que describe la transferencia simultánea de calor y agua en un medio poroso. Los cambios estacionales en los perfiles temperatura-profundidad permitieron estimar las velocidades de recarga en una acuífero relativamente somero. Las estimaciones de la velocidad de recarga se hicieron por ajuste de un parámetro adimensional a las curvas-tipo desarrolladas por Taniguchi (1993). Para ello se utilizaron las amplitudes de las variaciones anuales de las temperaturas del agua a distintas profundidades. La recarga anual en la cuenca del Nara, estimada mediante este método de ajuste de curvas, fue de 459 mm. Este valor es semejante a la recarga calculada a partir de métodos de balance y a la obtenida de la bibliografía.     

Late Triassic ammonoid Sirenites from the Sabudani Formation in Tokushima,Southwest Japan,and its biostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic implications

Discovery of Sirenites senticosus (Dittmar) in the upper part of the Sabudani Formation of the Kurosegawa Belt, Kito area, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, establishes a late Early Carnian age for this part of the stratigraphic unit. Because S. senticosus was mainly distributed in the Tethyan region, its occurrence provides evidence that Late Triassic ammonoids of Japan had strong affinities with those of the Tethyan faunas. This finding clearly differs from the biogeographic distribution of contemporary bivalves in the region, which are referred to as the Kochigatani bivalve faunas, and show strong affinities to faunas of the Boreal region.     

The paleobiogeographical significance of the Silurian and Devonian trilobites of Japan

Six major groups of trilobites from the Silurian and Devonian of Japan are evaluated for their paleobiogeographical signature. Silurian illaenids and scutelluids show four generic‐level and at least two species‐level links with the Australian segment of the Gondwana paleocontinent; encrinurids also indicate two generic‐level links with Australia and also the South China paleocontinent; whilst Devonian phacopids, and possibly proetids, suggest at least two generic‐level links with the North China paleocontinent. These different patterns may reflect the fragmentary biostratigraphical record of Japanese trilobites, but they also appear to reflect paleoenvironmental parameters associated with lithofacies, and paleoecology. Thus, Japanese assemblages of proetids and phacopids occurring in deep‐water clastic lithofacies have counterparts in similar settings in North China, and Japanese scutelluids and illaenids are strongly associated with shallow marine carbonate lithofacies that are similar to those of their occurrences in Australia. Japanese encrinurids occur in carbonate rocks indicative of shallow marine settings in the Kurosegawa Terrane, and they demonstrate a consistent paleobiogeographical affinity with Australia and South China. Larval ecology cannot be directly assessed for Japanese trilobite groups. However, proetids have consistently been shown to have planktonic protaspides, whereas illaenids, scutelluids, and encrinurids have benthic protaspides. Planktonic protaspides would have a greater propensity for distribution in ocean currents than benthic ones, and therefore may be of more limited paleobiogeographical utility. The combined data from the six different groups indicates that the complex paleobiogeographical patterns of the Japanese trilobite assemblages need to be interpreted with caution, and similarity of taxa does not necessarily denote paleogeographical proximity to other regions.     

Zircon U–Pb ages of granitic and mafic dikes associated with granitoids and metamorphic rocks of the Ryoke Belt in the eastern Kii Peninsula,southwest Japan

Zircon U–Pb dates for felsic and intermediate to mafic dikes intruding into the Ryoke granitoids and metamorphic rocks at selected outcrops in the Takamiyama area of the eastern Kii Peninsula, southwest Japan, were determined along with their geology and petrography to reveal the history of Cretaceous magmatism. At each outcrop, the felsic and intermediate to mafic dikes exhibit specific structures that are indicative of magma intermingling and have coeval intrusion ages of ca. 81–77 Ma. Our zircon U–Pb data complement previously published data, suggesting that the mafic magmatism continued intermittently from 83 to 76 Ma in the Takamiyama area and that magmatism migrated eastward within the Ryoke Belt. A comparison of intrusion ages between a dike and a host Ryoke granitoid at one outcrop indicates that the host rock experienced ductile deformation at ~88 to ~83 Ma. Judging from the small number of zircons and the concordant date distributions, we didn't recognize the evidence suggesting the partial melting of the host rocks, as Nakajima et al. (Journal of the Geological Society of Japan, 2021, 127, 69–78) reported.     

Geology ‘far from the madding crowd’, along the northern border of Vietnam

To the north of Hanoi, about a day's drive by car, lies Ha Giang Province, the northernmost region of Vietnam. Ha Giang is remote from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and beyond its eponymous provincial capital towards the border with China, mountains rise quickly to Quan Ba, ‘Heaven's Gate’. The mountains form an uneven landscape of steep‐sided karst rising from deep river‐cut gorges and form a formidable barrier on the northern frontier of Vietnam. Beyond ‘Heaven's Gate’ lies the little travelled region of Dong Van, with its majestic mountains of Palaeozoic strata rising precipitously to the sky. Here, a century ago, the French geologists Henri Mansuy and Jacques Deprat documented early finds of fossils from lower Palaeozoic strata on the border with China.