Diagnostic metrics for evaluation of annual and diurnal cycles

Two sets of diagnostic metrics are proposed for evaluation of global models?? simulation of annual and diurnal cycles of precipitation. The metrics for the annual variation include the annual mean, the solstice and equinoctial asymmetric modes of the annual cycle (AC), and the global monsoon precipitation domain and intensity. The metrics for the diurnal variation include the diurnal range, the land?Csea contrast and transition modes of the diurnal cycle (DC), and the diurnal peak propagation in coastal regions. The proposed modes for the AC and DC represent faithfully the first two leading empirical orthogonal functions and explain, respectively, 82% of the total annual variance and 87% of the total diurnal variance over the globe between 45°S and 45°N. The simulated AC and DC by the 20-km-mesh MRI/JMA atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) are in a wide-ranging agreement with observations; the model considerably outperforms any individual AMIP II GCMs and has comparable performance to 12-AMIP II model ensemble simulation measured by Pearson??s pattern correlation coefficient. Comparison of four versions of the MRI/JMA AGCM with increasing resolution (180, 120, 60, and 20?km) reveals that the 20-km version reproduces the most realistic annual and diurnal cycles. However, the improved performance is not a linear function of the resolution. Marked improvement of the simulated DC (AC) occurs at the resolution of 60?km (20?km). The results suggest that better represented parameterizations that are adequately tuned to increased resolutions may improve models?? simulation on the forced responses. The common deficiency in representing the monsoon domains suggests the models having difficulty in replicating annual march of the Subtropical Highs that is largely driven by prominent east-west land?Cocean thermal contrast. Note that the 20-km model reproduces realistic diurnal cycle, but fails to capture realistic Madden-Julian Oscillation.     

Statistical properties of metal abundances of the intracluster medium in the central region of clusters

We measured metal abundances of the intracluster medium in the central regions of 34 nearby clusters of galaxies, using ASCA data. Clusters that have a sharp X-ray emission centred on a cD galaxy are commonly found to exhibit a central increment in the Fe abundance, which is more pronounced in lower temperature clusters; +(0.1–0.2) solar at kT >5 keV, compared with +(0.2–0.3) solar at 1.5< kT <4 keV. These central excess metals are thought to be ejected from cD galaxies. Several low-temperature cD type clusters also show significant Si abundance increase by +(0.1–0.2) solar at the central region. Compared with the Si-rich abundances observed in the outer regions of rich clusters, the Si to Fe abundance ratio of central excess metals tends to be near the solar ratio, implying that type Ia products from cD galaxies are dominant for the central excess metals. On the other hand, some other clusters do not show the central Fe abundance increase. As these clusters tend to contain two or three central giant galaxies, it is suggested that galaxy interactions have removed the central abundance increase.     

Double fracture method ofin situ stress measurement in brittle rock

Summary A new technique, the Double Fracture Method ofin situ stress measurement, is described with regard to its theoretical principles and field instrumentation. The method differs from the hydraulic fracture method in that the loading fluid is prevented from penetrating into the induced fractures. In the new method, the loading pressure is raised to create a set of two mutually perpendicular microfractures on the borehole boundary. The principal stresses and their orientation in the plane normal to the borehole can be deduced from the diametral deformation of the borehole. Laboratory and field measurements validating the method are discussed.     

Source characteristics of the 1992 Nicaragua tsunami earthquake inferred from teleseismic body waves

We analyzed the broadband body waves of the 1992 Nicaragua earthquake to determine the nature of rupture. The rupture propagation was represented by the distribution of point sources with moment-rate functions at 9 grid points with uniform spacing of 20 km along the fault strike. The moment-rate functions were then parameterized, and the parameters were determined with the least squares method with some constraints. The centroid times of the individual moment-rate functions indicate slow and smooth rupture propagation at a velocity of 1.5 km/s toward NW and 1.0 km/s toward SE. Including a small initial break which precedes the main rupture by about 10 s, we obtained a total source duration of 110 s. The total seismic moment isM _o =3.4×10²⁰ Nm, which is consistent with the value determined from long-period surface waves,M _o =3.7×10²⁰ Nm. The average rise time of dislocation is determined to be 10 s. The major moment release occurred along a fault length of 160 km. With the assumption of a fault widthW=50 km, we obtained the dislocationD=1.3 m. From andD the dislocation velocity isD=D/0.1 m/s, significantly smaller than the typical value for ordinary earthquakes. The stress drop =1.1 MPa is also less than the typical value for subduction zone earthquakes by a factor of 2–3. On the other hand, the apparent stress defined by 2E _s /M _o , where andE _s are respectively the rigidity and the seismic wave energy, is 0.037 MPa, more than an order of magnitude smaller than . The Nicaragua tsunami earthquake is characterized by the following three properties: 1) slow rupture propagation; 2) smooth rupture; 3) slow dislocation motion.     

Reproductive ecology of the dominant dinoflagellate, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ceratium fusus</Emphasis>, in coastal area of Sagami Bay,Japan

The seasonal abundance of the dominant dinoflagellate, Ceratium fusus, was investigated from January 2000 to December 2003 in a coastal region of Sagami Bay, Japan. The growth of this species was also examined under laboratory conditions. In Sagami Bay, C. fusus increased significantly from April to September, and decreased from November to February, though it was found at all times through out the observation period. C. fusus increased markedly in September 2001 and August 2003 after heavy rainfalls that produced pycnoclines. Rapid growth was observed over a salinity range of 24 to 30, with the highest specific rate of 0.59 d⁻¹ measured under the following conditions: salinity 27, temperature 24°C, photon irradiance 600 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. The growth rate of C. fusus increased with increasing irradiance from 58 to 216 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹, plateauing between 216 and 796 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹ under all temperature and salinity treatments (except at a temperature of 12°C). Both field and laboratory experiments indicated that C. fusus has the ability to grow under wide ranges of water temperatures (14–28°C), salinities (20–34), and photon irradiance (50–800 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹); it is also able to grow at low nutrient concentrations. This physiological flexibility ensures that populations persist when bloom conditions come to an end.     

The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel,Japan —Periodic intrusion of oceanic warm water

Kyucho is a sudden and swift current which is usually accompanied by rise of water temperature. Several features of the Kyucho in the Bungo Channel, Japan, are presented through field observations. The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel is an intrusion of warm water from the Pacific Ocean into the eastern half of the Bungo Channel, being driven gravitationally and advancing along the eastern coast of the channel. The Kyucho occurs usually in summer and seldom occurs in winter. It occurs at neap tides showing the prominent spring-neap periodicity. The modulation of the vertical mixing intensity associated with the variations of tidal current, wind and surface heating etc. is supposed to be a main cause of springneap and seasonal periodicities.     

Accelerated continental-scale snowmelt and ecohydrological impacts in the four largest Siberian river basins in response to spring warming

River runoff from the four largest Siberian river basins (the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Kolyma) considerably contributes to freshwater flux into the Arctic Ocean from the Eurasian continent. However, the effects of variation in snow cover fraction on the ecohydrological variations in these basins are not well understood. In this study, we analysed the spatiotemporal variability of the maximum snow cover fraction (SCF_max) in the four Siberian river basins. We compared the SCF_max from 2000 to 2016 with data in terms of monthly temperature and precipitation, night-time surface temperatures, the terrestrial water storage anomaly (TWSA), the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), and river runoff. Our results exhibit a decreasing trend in the April SCF_max values since 2000, largely in response to warming air temperatures in April. We identified snowmelt water as the dominant control on the observed increase in the runoff contribution in May across all four Siberian river basins. In addition, we detected that the interannual river runoff was predominantly controlled by interannual variations in the TWSA. The NDVI in June was strongly controlled by the timing of the snowmelt along with the surface air temperature and TWSA in June. The rate of increase in the freshwater flux from the four Siberian rivers decreased from 2000 to 2016, exhibiting large interannual variations corresponding to interannual variations in the TWSA. However, we identified a clear increase trend in the freshwater flux of ~4 km³/year when analysing the long-term 39-year historical record (1978–2016). Our results suggest that continued global warming will accelerate the transition towards the earlier timing of snowmelt and spring freshwater flux into the Arctic Ocean. Our findings also highlight the effects of earlier snowmelt on ecohydrological changes in the Northern Hemisphere.     

Evidence of a phase shift to Epizoanthus gabrieli Carlgreen, 1951 (Order Zoanthidea) and loss of coral cover on reefs in the Southwest Atlantic

There is at present a ‘coral reef crisis’; one of the more drastic consequences of this is a phase shift, in which reef‐building corals are replaced by non‐reef building benthos such as macroalgae and soft corals. Previous studies have principally focused on the shift to macroalgae. Our goal was to investigate whether the dominance of the zoanthid Epizoanthus gabrieli on some reefs of Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil, represented a non‐algal phase shift. In 2003, we identified a high cover of this species on two reefs (52% and 70%), but only in 2007 was it possible to confirm a reduction in coral cover. This dominance has persisted for over 9 years, characterizing a true phase shift. This loss of coral cover may be a result of anthropogenic disturbances within the bay; however, given the large number of human impacts, further studies are needed to identify specific causes of this shift. Although there are some reports of phase shift involving species pertaining to the Class Anthozoa, this is the first report of this phenomenon involving the order Zoanthidea.     

The degree of Cl-loss for the particulate matter (PM) and fog water sampled at the same air mass at the Hachimantai mountain range in northern Japan

It is well known that sea-salt aerosols in particulate matter (PM) react with acids such as H₂SO₄ and HNO₃ during transportation and thereby lose chloride ions (Cl-loss). The PM and fog were sampled concurrently at different altitudes in the Hachimantai mountain range, northern Japan. The PM and fog sampled at different altitudes had nearly identical properties for the ion components. However, the PM was in a Cl-depleted state (more than 80% of all samples), but the fog water was not in so Cl-depleted state (less than 29%). As a result, it could be explained that this phenomenon caused because the fog droplets took up the gaseous state HCl other than sea-salt PM. After all Cl^- in the fog water recovered and was rather rich compared with the sea-salt or the PM by the uptake of the gaseous state HCl. Moreover, it was found that for PM_coarse(2.5 < D < 10), 86% of the acid (H₂SO₄ and HNO₃) was consumed for Cl-loss reactions and/or for dissolution of Ca and Mg in soil particles.