Lead-210 and pollen geochronologies on Lake Superior sediments

Rates of sedimentation in two Lake Superior deposits were determined by both ragweed pollen and ²¹⁰Pb geochronologies. The former yields an average rate over the time since the first appearance of enhanced concentrations of the pollen as a consequence of human settlement. Sedimentation rates derived on these two bases can be brought into accord if the first appearance of ragweed pollen in the sediments was around 1830 and if the sedimentation rates have been uniform over the past century.     

Depositional history of artificial radionuclides in the Ross Ice Shelf,Antarctica

The annual fluxes of artificial radionuclides (²³⁸Pu,^239+240Pu,²⁴¹Am,¹³⁷Cs,⁹⁰Sr and³H) from the atmosphere to the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica were determined from measurements in strata dated by²¹⁰Pb. Recognizable sources include the U.S. tests (Mike-Ivy and Castle Hill) in the early 1950s, the U.S.S.R. tests of the early 1960s, the SNAP-9A burnup of 1964 and the French and Chinese tests in the late 1960s and 1970s. There are several problems still awaiting resolution: the differences in atmospheric chemistries of fission products and of transuranics produced in weapons tests and the anomalous fluxes of²³⁸Pu to the ice shelf which do not appear to reflect a one-year stratospheric residence. There is no evidence for a smearing of the fallout record as a consequence of diffusion of these radionuclides in the glacial column.     

Identification of a one-dimensional model for a soil-layer–bedrock system during an earthquake

The propriety of adopting a multi-degree-of-freedom lumped mass–spring–dampers system driven by white noise support excitation as a one-dimensional model for a soil-layer–bedrock system during an earthquake is investigated by means of statistical system identification of the model with noisy measurement of the earthquake ground velocity. The present discussion also suggests that this model may not be applicable to all observed earthquake records, since the model itself depends on the statistical nature of the earthquake motion. For appropriate earthquake records, the system identification procedure may be accomplished; then dynamical properties of the soil-layer and the power spectral density for white noise excitation acting upon the bedrock can be estimated as shown in a numerical example.     

Resonance capacity method for earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures

The Resonance Capacity Method is proposed for the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic structures. Resonance Capacity is a physical quantity of structures which is related to the hysteretic energy absorbed by structures in one cycle and is equated to the acceleration, velocity and displacement amplitudes α₀, d₀ and d₀ of earthquake ground motions at resonance.¹ According to the idealized trapezoidal approximation of earthquake ground motions in the logarithmic period–velocity plane as proposed by Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ the Resonance Capacity property applies in each period range, short, medium and long, where α₀, v₀ and d₀ respectively are approximately constant. In the medium range of periods, the energy dissipated in hysteretic loops and the deformation amplitudes of a single-degree system with elasto–plastic force–deformation relationships are calculated for the case of El Centro 1940, 18 May earthquake, by this Resonance Capacity Method. The result is compared with results from conventional numerical response analyses obtained by Berg and Thomaides,¹⁴ Kato and Akiyama¹² and Veletsos and Newmark,⁸ and the general agreement is seen to be good. Therefore, it may be possible to apply this Resonance Capacity Method over the entire range of periods. By means of this method the earthquake response analysis of hysteretic systems can be performed easily, and the hysteretic energy and fatigue characteristics of structures may be taken into account directly, up to the point of fracture.     

Factors controlling regional spatial distribution of 53 elements in coastal sea sediments in northern Japan: Comparison of geochemical data derived from stream and marine sediments

In all, 53 elements were analyzed in 1406 coastal sea sediment samples collected from an area off Hokkaido and the Tohoku region of Japan during a nationwide marine geochemical mapping project. The spatial distribution patterns of the elemental concentrations in coastal seas along with the existing geochemical maps in terrestrial areas were used to define natural geochemical background variation and mass transport processes. The terrestrial area is covered by mafic volcanic rocks and accretionary complexes associated with ophiolite, which has small amounts of felsic volcanic rocks and granite. The spatial distribution patterns of elements enriched in mafic lithologies such as Fe (Total Fe₂O₃) and Sc in marine environments are influenced by adjoining terrestrial materials. The spatial distribution patterns of Cr and Ni concentrations, which are highly abundant in ultramafic rocks on land, are used to evaluate the mass transport from land to the sea and the dispersive processes caused by oceanic currents. The scale of mass transport by oceanic currents occurs up to a distance of 100–200 km from the coast along the coastal areas. The regional differences of elements rich in felsic lithologies such as K (K₂O), Nb and La in marine sediments are determined mainly by the relative proportion of minerals and lithic fragments enriching felsic materials to those associated with mafic materials. The spatial distribution of elemental concentration is not always continuous between the land areas and coastal sea areas. That difference is interpreted as resulting from (1) transportation of marine sediments by oceanic currents and storm waves, (2) contribution of volcanic materials such as tephra, (3) occurrence of shell fragments and foraminifera tests and (4) distribution of relict sediments of the last glacial age and early transgression age. Contamination with Cu, Zn, Cd, As, Mo, Sn, Sb, Hg, Pb and Bi was not observed in marine environments because the study area has little anthropogenic activity. Terrestrial materials are the dominant source for these metals. The Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Hg, Pb and Bi are abundant in silty and clayey sediments locally because of early diagenetic processes, authigenic precipitation and organic substances associated with these elements. The spatial distribution of As concentration shows exceptions: it is concentrated in some coarse and fine sands on the shelf. The enrichment is explained by adsorption of As, sourced from a coal field, to Fe hydroxide.     

Seasonal and spatial variation in the denitrifying activity in estuarine and lagoonal sediments

We have elucidated the seasonal and spatial variation in the potential denitrifying activity in estuarine and coastal lagoonal sediments in Lakes Shinji and Nakaumi, Japan. The denitrifying activity increased from summer through autumn and was positively correlated with the temperature of the overlying water at all sites except one, where the bottom was always more reductive than at the other sites and there was no NO₃ ⁻ as a substrate for denitrification from spring to autumn. Moreover, the relationship between the denitrifying activity and the distance from the sea showed different trends in estuarine and lagoonal sediments. These spatial differences indicate that different factors regulate the denitrification in estuarine and lagoonal sediments. Denitrifying activity in estuarine sediment was regulated by the discharge of freshwater containing NO₃ ⁻ or organic matter, while in the lagoonal sediments the occurrence of nitrification via the intrusion of oxic seawater into the reductive sediment appears to be a key requirement for the process of denitrification. Therefore, the denitrifying activity in the lagoonal sediment appears to be greater near the sea. Water intrusion is one of the key factors controlling denitrification in coastal marine ecosystems by affecting the supply of substrate available for denitrification.     

Holocene migration of oceanic front systems over the Conrad Rise in the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean

There has been limited previous research about Holocene climate variability in the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean. Here we examine centennial‐scale changes in diatom assemblages and stable isotopic ratios since 10 000 cal a BP in a high‐accumulation‐rate sediment core from the Conrad Rise. Although abundances of dominant diatom taxa (Fragilariopsis kerguelensis and Thalassiothrix antarctica) are comparatively constant, relative abundances of secondary taxa fluctuate. Before c. 9900 cal a BP, winter sea‐ice and cold water covered the Conrad Rise. Following deglaciation the sea‐ice retreated from the Conrad Rise, lagging that of the Atlantic and eastern Indian Sectors by about 1500 a. The Polar Front moved southward during the early Holocene optimum and north Antarctic Zone waters covered the Conrad Rise for about 650 a. After 9300 cal a BP, solar insolation strongly influenced sea surface temperature and primary productivity in the Southern Ocean. In the high‐latitude Indian Sector, productivity increased 1500 a after the onset of late Holocene neoglaciation. Periodic δ¹⁸O and cold‐water diatom taxa spikes (at intervals of 200 and 300–500 a, respectively) occurred after 9300 cal a BP, probably associated with solar activity. Fluctuations in short‐term sea surface temperature and cold‐water taxa are synchronous with changes in δD observed in an east Antarctic ice core. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solar vector magnetograms of the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory

The title instrument is mounted on the 65 cm solar Coudé telescope at the Okayama observatory. Observation is usually of the Fei 5250 Å line. The data obtained are briefly described.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

The gravitational instability in the dust layer of a protoplanetary disk:: axisymmetric solutions for nonuniform dust density distributions in the direction vertical to the midplane

The gravitational instability in the dust layer of a protoplanetary disk with nonuniform dust density distributions in the direction vertical to the midplane is investigated. The linear analysis of the gravitational instability is performed. The following assumptions are used: (1) One fluid model is adopted, that is, difference of velocities between dust and gas are neglected. (2) The gas is incompressible. (3) Models are axisymmetric with respect to the rotation axis of the disk. Numerical results show that the critical density at the midplane is higher than the one for the uniform dust density distribution by Sekiya (1983, Prog. Theor. Phys. 69, 1116-1130). For the Gaussian dust density distribution, the critical density is 1.3 times higher, although we do not consider this dust density distribution to be realistic because of the shear instability in the dust layer. For the dust density distribution with a constant Richardson number, which is considered to be realized due to the shear instability, the critical density is 2.85 times higher and is independent of the value of the Richardson number. Further, if a constant Richardson number could decrease to the order of 0.001, the gravitational instability would be realized even for the dust to gas surface density ratio with the solar abundance. Our results give a new restriction on planetesimal formation by the gravitational instability.     

Gas flow in the solar nebula leading to the formation of Jupiter

Three-dimensional gas flow in the solar nebula, which is subject to the gravity of the Sun and proto-Jupiter, is numerically calculated by using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic code - i.e., the socalled smoothed-particle method. The flow is circulating around the Sun as well as falling into a potential well of proto-Jupiter. The results for various masses of proto-Jupiter show that (1) the e-folding growth time of proto-Jupiter by accretion of the nebular gas is as short as about 300 years in stages where the mass of proto-Jupiter is 0.2 ~ 0.5 times the present Jovian mass, and that (2) proto-Jupiter begins to push away the nebular gas from the orbit of proto-Jupiter and form a gap around the orbit, when its mass is about 0.7 times the present Jovian mass. It is possible that this pushing-away process determined the present Jovian mass.