Thermochronology of hydrothermal alteration zones in the Kii Peninsula, southwest Japan; An Attempt for detecting the thermal anomalies and implications to the regional exhumation history

Sueoka, Shigeru; Iwano, Hideki*; Danhara, Toru*; Niwa, Masakazu; Kanno, Mizuho; Kohn, B. P.*; Kawamura, Makoto; Yokoyama, Tatsunori; Kagami, Saya; Ogita, Yasuhiro; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 75(1), p.177_1 - 177_24, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-023-01921-5

Fluid-inclusion and thermochronometric analyses have been applied to hydrothermal alteration zones and their host rocks outcropping in the Hongu area of the Kii Peninsula, southwestern Japan in an attempt to detect thermal anomalies related to hydrothermal events and quantify the thermal effects on the host rocks. Hydrothermal events at ca 150 deg. C and ca 200 deg. C were identified by fluid-inclusion microthermometry of quartz veins in the alteration zones. For the host rocks and alteration zones, in the youngest population zircon yielded U-Pb dates ranging between ca 74.7-59.2 Ma, fission-track dates of ca 27.2-16.6 Ma, and (U-Th)/He single-grain dates of ca 23.6-8.7 Ma. Apatite yielded pooled fission-track ages of ca 14.9-9.0 Ma. The zircon U-Pb dates constrain the maximum depositional ages of the sedimentary samples. However, the fission-track and (U-Th)/He dates show no clear trend as a function of distance from the alteration zones. Hence, no thermal anomaly was detected in the surrounding host rocks based on the thermochronometric data patterns. The fission-track and (U-Th)/He dates are rather thought to record regional thermal and exhumation histories rather than a direct thermal imprint of fluid flow, probably because the duration of such activity was too short or because fluid flow occurred before regional cooling events and were later thermally overprinted. Apatite fission-track ages of ca 10 Ma may reflect regional mountain uplift and exhumation related to the obduction of the SW Japan lithospheric sliver onto the Shikoku Basin, or the rapid subduction of the Philippine Sea slab associated with the clockwise rotation of the Southwest Japan Arc.

Estimate of economic impact of atmospheric radiation storm associated with solar energetic particle events on aircraft operations

Saito, Susumu*; Wickramasinghe, N. K.*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Shiota, Daiko*

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.57_1 - 57_10, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01377-5

By using an flight trajectory generation algorithm and the global effective dose rate (EDR) distribution calculated WASAVIES, the economic impacts of SEP events on aircraft operation, namely the flight path length, flight time, and fuel consumption, are estimated. The flight path length, flight time, and fuel consumption for a flight route from New York, US to Tokyo, Japan are estimated with constraints in flight routes to avoid the hazard of radiation and compared with those of the reference case without the SEP effects. Setting more flexible constraints in the flight route and generating optimal flight trajectories with minimal economic impacts by fully utilizing the global EDR distribution is the next step.

MIRS: an imaging spectrometer for the MMX mission

Barucci, M. A.*; Reess, J.-M.*; Bernardi, P.*; Doressoundiram, A.*; Fornasier, S.*; Le Du, M.*; Iwata, Takahiro*; Nakagawa, Hiromu*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Andr, Y.*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.211_1 - 211_28, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01423-2

The MMX InfraRed Spectrometer (MIRS) is an imaging spectrometer on board of MMX JAXA mission. MIRS is built at LESIA-Paris Observatory in collaboration with four other French laboratories, collaboration and financial support of CNES and close collaboration with JAXA and MELCO. The instrument is designed to fully accomplish MMX's scientific and measurement objectives. MIRS will remotely provide near-infrared spectral maps of Phobos and Deimos containing compositional diagnostic spectral features that will be used to analyze the surface composition and to support the sampling site selection. MIRS will also study Mars atmosphere, in particular to spatial and temporal changes such as clouds, dust and water vapor.

PSTEP: Project for solar-terrestrial environment prediction

Kusano, Kanya*; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi*; Ishii, Mamoru*; Miyoshi, Yoshizumi*; Yoden, Shigeo*; Akiyoshi, Hideharu*; Asai, Ayumi*; Ebihara, Yusuke*; Fujiwara, Hitoshi*; Goto, Tadanori*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.159_1 - 159_29, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01486-1

The PSTEP is a nationwide research collaboration in Japan and was conducted from April 2015 to March 2020, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. It has made a significant progress in space weather research and operational forecasts, publishing over 500 refereed journal papers and organizing four international symposiums, various workshops and seminars, and summer school for graduate students at Rikubetsu in 2017. This paper is a summary report of the PSTEP and describes the major research achievements it produced.

Transient ionization of the mesosphere during auroral breakup; Arase satellite and ground-based conjugate observations at Syowa Station

Kataoka, Ryuho*; Nishiyama, Takanori*; Tanaka, Yoshimasa*; Kadokura, Akira*; Uchida, Herbert Akihito*; Ebihara, Yusuke*; Ejiri, Mitsumu*; Tomikawa, Yoshihiro*; Tsutsumi, Masaki*; Sato, Kaoru*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 71(1), p.9_1 - 9_10, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-019-0989-7

Transient ionization of the mesosphere was detected at around 65 km altitude during the isolated auroral expansion occurred at 2221-2226 UT on June 30, 2017. A general-purpose Monte Carlo particle transport code PHITS suggested that significant ionization is possible in the middle atmosphere due to auroral X-rays from the auroral electrons of 10 keV.

An Evaluation method of reflectance spectra to be obtained by Hayabusa2 Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) based on laboratory measurements of carbonaceous chondrites

Matsuoka, Moe*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Osawa, Takahito; Iwata, Takahiro*; Kitazato, Kohei*; Abe, Masanao*; Nakauchi, Yusuke*; Arai, Takehiko*; Komatsu, Mutsumi*; Hiroi, Takahiro*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 69(1), p.120_1 - 120_12, 2017/12

AA2017-0327.pdf:1.53MB

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-017-0705-4

We have conducted ground-based performance evaluation tests of the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) onboard Hayabusa2 spacecraft and established a method for evaluating its measured reflectance spectra. Reflectance spectra of nine powdered carbonaceous chondrite samples were measured by both NIRS3 and a FT-IR spectrometer. Since raw data obtained by NIRS3 had considerable spectral distortion caused by systematic offsets in sensitivity of individual pixels, we have established two methods for correcting the NIRS3 data by comparing them with the corresponding FT-IR data. In order to characterize the absorption bands in NIRS3 spectra, the depth of each band component D is defined for each wavelength (m). Reflectance spectra of asteroid Ryugu, the target asteroid of Hayabusa2, to be recorded by the NIRS3 are expected to reveal the characteristics of the surface materials by using the evaluation technique.

Three-dimensional magnetotelluric imaging of crustal fluids and seismicity around Naruko Volcano, NE Japan

Ogawa, Yasuo*; Ichiki, Masahiro*; Kanda, Wataru*; Mishina, Masaaki*; Asamori, Koichi

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 66(1), p.158_1 - 158_13, 2014/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-014-0158-y

We have analyzed three-dimensional resistivity structure around Naruko volcano, NE Japan. From the inversion of full tensor components, the following model features are found. Sub-vertical conductors exist at Naruko volcanoes below a depth of few kilometers. The conductor reaches to the surface of Naruko volcano and deepens southward away from the volcano along the backbone ranges. High seismicity in the upper crust is observed above and around the conductors. This implies that the seismicity is fluid-driven and also that the fluid trap is created by the precipitation of quartz due to loss of solubility at shallow depth.