Rainfall-induced failures of volcanic slopes subjected to freezing and thawing

AbstractRainfall- and earthquake-induced failures of slopes formed by volcanic soils occur frequently in Hokkaido, Japan. The aim of this study is to clarify the failure mechanisms of volcanic slopes caused by both rainfall and freeze–thaw action in cold regions such as Hokkaido. Using model slopes of different shapes formed by volcanic soils, a series of rainfall tests are conducted under field conditions in which a spray nozzle is used to simulate rainfall intensity. Test results show that the surface failure of volcanic slopes differs depending strongly on the angle and the initial moisture content of the slopes. Based on the results of the model testing, the effects of freezing and thawing on the failure mechanism are drawn upon to propose an evaluation method for slope stability. In consideration of the model test results, it is found that the formation of a frozen layer and the softening of the slope surface, due to the freeze–thaw action, are significant for the stability of volcanic slopes in cold regions, and that slope failure can be uniquely assessed by the changes in water content in zones subjected to rainfall and freeze–thaw action

Deep Investigations of Outer-Rise Tsunami Characteristics Using Well-Mapped Normal Faults Along the Japan Trench

To assess the risk of tsunamis from outer-rise earthquakes, we carried out tsunami simulations using 33 simple rectangular fault models with 60° dip angles based on marine seismic observations and surveys of the Japan Trench. The largest tsunami resulting from these models, produced by a Mw 8.7 normal-faulting event on a fault 332 km long, had a maximum height of 27.0 m. We tested variations of the predictions due to the uncertainties in the assumed parameters. Because the actual dip angles of the Japan Trench outer-rise faults range from 45° to 75°, we calculated tsunamis from earthquakes on fault models with 45°, 60°, and 75° dip angles. We also tested a compound fault model with 75° dip in the upper half and 45° dip in the lower half. Rake angles were varied by ±15°. We also tested models consisting of small subfaults with dimensions of about 60 km, models using other earthquake scaling laws, models with heterogeneous slips, and models incorporating dispersive tsunami effects. Predicted tsunami heights changed by 10–15% for heterogeneous slips, up to 10% for varying dip angles, about 5–10% from considering tsunami dispersion, about 2% from varying rake angles, and about 1% from using the model with small subfaults. The use of different earthquake scaling laws changed predicted tsunami heights by about 50% on average for the 33 fault models. We emphasize that the earthquake scaling law used in tsunami predictions for outer-rise earthquakes should be chosen with great care

Spatial variations of incoming sediments at the northeastern Japan arc and their implications for megathrust earthquakes

The nature of incoming sediments is a key controlling factor for the occurrence of megathrust earthquakes in subduction zones. In the 2011 Mw 9 Tohoku earthquake (offshore Japan), smectite-rich clay minerals transported by the subducting oceanic plate played a critical role in the development of giant interplate coseismic slip near the trench. Recently, we conducted intensive controlled-source seismic surveys at the northwestern part of the Pacific plate to investigate the nature of the incoming oceanic plate. Our seismic reflection data reveal that the thickness of the sediment layer between the seafloor and the acoustic basement is a few hundred meters in most areas, but there are a few areas where the sediments appear to be extremely thin. Our wide-angle seismic data suggest that the acoustic basement in these thin-sediment areas is not the top of the oceanic crust, but instead a magmatic intrusion within the sediments associated with recent volcanic activity. This means that the lower part of the sediments, including the smectite-rich pelagic red-brown clay layer, has been heavily disturbed and thermally metamorphosed in these places. The giant coseismic slip of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake stopped in the vicinity of a thin-sediment area that is just beginning to subduct. Based on these observations, we propose that post-spreading volcanic activity on the oceanic plate prior to subduction is a factor that can shape the size and distribution of interplate earthquakes after subduction through its disturbance and thermal metamorphism of the local sediment layer

Crustal structure and growth of the Forearc region of Izu-Ogasawara arc

（独）海洋研究開発機構(JAMSTEC)では、2002年から伊豆・小笠原・マリアナ島弧において、大陸地殻の生成過程を明らかにすることを目的に構造調査を進め、現在の島弧地殻のボリュームより多くの玄武岩マグマが必要で島弧地殻を生成する過程でマフィックな島弧地殻の一部をマントル内に戻していること（Takahashi et al., 2007, 2008; Tatsumi et al., 2008）、火山フロントと背弧側の地殻の厚さ分布には相関があり過去のリフティングが検出されたこと（Kodaira et al., 2009）などがわかってきた。前弧域の地殻に関しては、厚い地殻と薄い地殻が存在すること（Takahashi et al., 2011）、地磁気異常から島弧的な構造があること（Yamazaki and Yuasa, 1998）がわかっているが、地殻構造から実証されていなかった。前弧域の地殻構造を求め、地殻進化の影響をどの程度受けているのか、前弧域の島弧成長を明らかにするために、（独）海洋研究開発機構の深海調査船「かいれい」を用いて人工地震探査を行った。 地震探査の測線は、新黒瀬からスミス海脚、第二東鳥島海丘、大町海山を通って、小笠原トラフに至る。得られた速度構造から前弧域は25km程度の地殻の厚い部分と10～15km程度の薄い部分があることが明らかになった。厚い地殻は、北緯32.5度付近、スミス海脚、第二東鳥島海丘、大町海山の下に分布する。新黒瀬側は厚い地殻を持たない。大町海山の内部には異常に厚い下部地殻が分布する。薄い地殻が分布するところでは、堆積層が厚く地殻の厚さの半分近くを占める。大町海山以外の地殻が厚く分布するところでは、P波速度6km/sの速度コンターが上に凸、7km/sの速度コンターが下に凸の形状を示す。火山フロントに沿った地殻構造では、むしろ6km/s以下の速度を持つ層が厚いことが示されている（Kodaira et al., 2007）。これは、前弧域下の島弧地殻は、火山フロント下と比較して未分化な物質を多く含むことを示唆おり、過去の掘削結果とも整合する（e.g., Taylor, 1992）。前弧海盆下の島弧地殻の分布は、地磁気異常の空間分布（Yamazaki and Yuasa, 1998）とよく合致する。新黒瀬周辺で見られる地磁気異常は、本研究から明らかになった地殻が薄く地殻全体が盛り上がっている形状と合致する。伊豆小笠原島弧の本州弧への衝突が新黒瀬の浅海部を作っているものと示唆される。SCG66-03発表要旨 / 日本地球惑星科学連合2012年大会（2012年5月20日～5月25日, 幕張メッセ国際会議場） / 日本惑星科学連合の許諾に基づき本文ファイルを掲

Aperture Synthesis Observations of CO, HCN, and 89GHz Continuum Emission toward NGC 604 in M 33: Sequential Star Formation Induced by Supergiant Hii region

We present the results from new Nobeyama Millimeter Array observations of CO(1-0), HCN(1-0), and 89-GHz continuum emissions toward NGC 604, known as the supergiant H ii region in a nearby galaxy M 33. Our high spatial resolution images of CO emission allowed us to uncover ten individual molecular clouds that have masses of (0.8 -7.4) 10$^5$M_{\sun } and sizes of 5 -- 29 pc, comparable to those of typical Galactic giant molecular clouds (GMCs). Moreover, we detected for the first time HCN emission in the two most massive clouds and 89 GHz continuum emission at the rims of the "H${\alpha}$ shells". Three out of ten CO clouds are well correlated with the H${\alpha}$ shells both in spatial and velocity domains, implying an interaction between molecular gas and the expanding H ii region. Furthermore, we estimated star formation efficiencies (SFEs) for each cloud from the 89-GHz and combination of H${\alpha}$ and 24-${\mu}$m data, and found that the SFEs decrease with increasing projected distance measured from the heart of the central OB star cluster in NGC 604, suggesting the radial changes in evolutionary stages of the molecular clouds in course of stellar cluster formation. Our results provide further support to the picture of sequential star formation in NGC604 initially proposed by Tosaki et al. (2007) with the higher spatially resolved molecular clouds, in which an isotropic expansion of the H ii region pushes gases outward and accumulates them to consecutively form dense molecular clouds, and then induces massive star formations.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

ISR-DEPENDENT METABOLIC REGULATION

The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) phosphorylation‐dependent integrated stress response (ISR), a component of the unfolded protein response, has long been known to regulate intermediary metabolism, but the details are poorly worked out. We report that profiling of mRNAs of transgenic mice harboring a ligand‐activated skeletal muscle–specific derivative of the eIF2α protein kinase R‐like ER kinase revealed the expected up‐regulation of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis and transport but also uncovered the induced expression and secretion of a myokine, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), that stimulates energy consumption and prevents obesity. The link between the ISR and FGF21 expression was further reinforced by the identification of a small‐molecule ISR activator that promoted Fgf21 expression in cell‐based screens and by implication of the ISR‐inducible activating transcription factor 4 in the process. Our findings establish that eIF2α phosphorylation regulates not only cell‐autonomous proteostasis and amino acid metabolism, but also affects non‐cell‐autonomous metabolic regulation by induced expression of a potent myokine.—Miyake, M., Nomura, A., Ogura, A., Takehana, K., Kitahara, Y., Takahara, K., Tsugawa, K., Miyamoto, C., Miura, N., Sato, R., Kurahashi, K., Harding, H. P., Oyadomari, M., Ron, D., Oyadomari, S. Skeletal muscle‐specific eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α phosphorylation controls amino acid metabolism and fibroblast growth factor 21‐mediated non‐cell‐autonomous energy metabolism

Primary tumor-secreted lymphangiogenic factors induce pre-metastatic lymphvascular niche formation at sentinel lymph nodes in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the formation of lymphvascular niches in lymph nodes of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and investigate the roles of lymphangiogenic and angiogenic factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D, expressed in the primary tumors. Materials and Methods: Forty-four patients with previously untreated clinically late T2 or T3 OSCC of cN0 were evaluated for primary tumors and 166 sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). Primary tumors were immunohistochemically analyzed for expressions of VEGFs. Densities of lymphatic vessels (LVDpodoplanin) and high endothelial venules (HEVD) in the SLNs were also calculated using antibodies for each marker, podoplanin and MECA-79, respectively. Results: In 25 patients, all lymph nodes were metastasis-negative, whereas, in 19 patients, metastasis was positive for at least one lymph node (either at SLN, non-SLN, or nodal recurrence). From the analyses of 140 SLNs without metastasis, LVDpodoplanin in 50 SLNs of metastasis-positive cases was significantly higher than that in 90 SLNs of metastasis-negative cases (p = 0.0025). HEVD was not associated with lymph node metastasis. The patients with VEGF-A-High or VEGF-D-High tumors had significantly higher LVDpodoplanin than patients with their Low counterparts (p = 0.0233 and p = 0.0209, respectively). In cases with lymph node metastasis, the VEGF-D-expression score was significantly higher than in those without lymph node metastasis (p = 0.0006). Conclusions: These results suggest that lymph node lymphangiogenesis occurs before metastasis in OSCC. VEGF-A and VEGF-D play critical roles in this process. VEGF-D is a potential predictive marker of positive lymph node metastasis in cN0 patients. © 2015 Wakisaka et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Skeletal muscle–specific eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α phosphorylation controls amino acid metabolism and fibroblast growth factor 21–mediated non–cell-autonomous energy metabolism

The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) phosphorylation-dependent integrated stress response (ISR), a component of the unfolded protein response, has long been known to regulate intermediary metabolism, but the details are poorly worked out. We report that profiling of mRNAs of transgenic mice harboring a ligand-activated skeletal muscle-specific derivative of the eIF2α protein kinase R-like ER kinase revealed the expected up-regulation of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis and transport but also uncovered the induced expression and secretion of a myokine, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), that stimulates energy consumption and prevents obesity. The link between the ISR and FGF21 expression was further reinforced by the identification of a small-molecule ISR activator that promoted Fgf21 expression in cell-based screens and by implication of the ISR-inducible activating transcription factor 4 in the process. Our findings establish that eIF2α phosphorylation regulates not only cell-autonomous proteostasis and amino acid metabolism, but also affects non-cell-autonomous metabolic regulation by induced expression of a potent myokine.Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Culture (MEXT) of Japan Inoue Foundation for Science Mitsubishi Foundation Uehara Memorial Foundation Naito Foundation Cell Science Research Foundation Takeda Science Foundation Sankyo Foundation Ono Medical Research Foundation Mochida Memorial Foundation Ube Foundation Kowa Life Science Foundation Suzuken Memorial Foundation Kanae Foundation Japan Diabetes Foundation Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) EU FP7. Grant Number: 277713 Wellcome Trust. Grant Number: 084812/Z/08/