Simulated biogeochemical responses to iron enrichments in three high nutrient, low chlorophyll (HNLC) regions

To fill temporal gaps in iron-enrichment experimental data and gain further understanding of marine ecosystem responses to iron enrichments, we apply a fifteen-compartment ecosystem model to three iron-enrichment sites, namely SEEDS (the Subarctic Pacific Iron Experiment for Ecosystem Dynamics Study; 48.5°N, 165°E) in the western North Pacific, SOIREE (the Southern Ocean Iron RElease Experiment; 61°S, 140°E) in the Southern Ocean, and IronExII (the second mesoscale iron enrichment experiment; 3.5°S, 104°W) in the Equatorial Pacific. The ecological effects of iron in the model are represented by changing two photosynthetic parameters during the iron-enrichment period. The model results successfully reproduce the observed biogeochemical responses inside and outside the iron patch at each site, such as rapid increases in plankton biomass and biological productivity, and decreases in surface nutrients and pCO₂, inside the patch. However, the modeled timing and magnitude of changes differ among the sites because of differences in both physical environments and plankton species. After the iron enrichment, the diatom productivity is strongly controlled by light at SOIREE and by silicate at IronExII and SEEDS. Light limitation due to self-shading by the phytoplankton is significant during the bloom at all sites. Sensitivity analysis of the model results to duration of the iron enrichment reveals that long-term multiple infusions over more than a week would not be effective at SEEDS because of strong silicate limitation on diatom growth. Sensitivity of the model to water temperature shows that export production is higher at lower temperatures, because of slower recycling of particulate organic carbon. Therefore, the e-ratio (the ratio of export production to primary production) is inversely correlated with temperature, and the relationship can be described with a linear function. Through this study, we conclude that ecosystem modeling is a powerful tool to help design future iron-enrichment experiments and observational plans.     

Estimation of underwater scattering radiances up to the third order

Vertical distribution of underwater scattering radiances of the first, the second and the third order is estimated by the Jerlov's method. In the estimation the volume attenuation coefficient and the volume scattering function are assumed to be constant in near surface layer, and the sky radiation separated from solar radiation to be a parallel beam and to fall into the sea in the vertical direction only.In the zenith direction the second scattering radiance is more intense than the first scattering radiance in near surface layer. As for the total radiance which is a sum of radiances up to the third order, the zenith radiation is largest, the nadir radiation is moderate and the horizontal radiation is least.     

Ocean anoxic events in the mid-Cretaceous simulated by a 3-D biogeochemical general circulation model

The mid-Cretaceous is well known for its ocean anoxic events. The causal mechanisms are controversial: stagnant deepwater, high biological productivity in the surface waters, and other possibilities have been suggested. Our study simulated the mid-Cretaceous ocean, using general circulation models combined with a marine biogeochemical cycle model to explore the relationship between thermohaline circulation and biogeochemical cycles and investigate the causes of ocean anoxic events. The simulated thermohaline circulation shows an unsteady inactive state. Oxygen concentrations in the deepwater decrease under the inactive state, but a horizontal gradient develops, with higher oxygen concentrations in the Tethys and lower concentrations in eastern Panthalassa. This is not due to the different ages of the deepwater but rather to the differences in biological productivity in the surface water, meaning that the relationship between thermohaline circulation and biogeochemical cycles under the inactive state is different from that in the present ocean. In the standard simulation, assuming the present level of the total amount of phosphate in the ocean, 29% of the bottom water is anoxic. The experiments increasing the amount of phosphate show its high sensitivity for extending the anoxic region with global-scale anoxia simulated under the doubled amount of phosphate. The high amount of phosphate would be reasonable because the inactive state would induce an imbalance of phosphate between riverine input and sediment output. Therefore, both the inactive thermohaline circulation and the increase in the total amount of phosphate in the ocean induce the global-scale anoxic condition in the deepwater.     

Roles of Physical Processes in the Carbon Cycle Using a Simplified Physical Model

A simplified physical model is proposed in this article to describe differences among basins in substance distributions which were not well described by previous simplified models. In the proposed model, the global ocean is divided into the Pacific/Indian Ocean (PI), the Atlantic Ocean (AT), the Southern Ocean and the Greenland/Iceland/Norwegian Sea. The model is consisted of five physical parameters, namely the air-sea gas exchange, the thermohaline circulation, the horizontal and vertical diffusions, and the deep convection in the high-latitude regions. Individual values of these parameters are chosen by optimizing model distribution of natural ¹⁴C as a physical tracer. The optimal value for a coefficient of vertical diffusion in the low-latitude region is 7.5 × 10^–5 [m²s^–1]. Vertical transports by the Antarctic Bottom Water and the North Atlantic Deep Water are estimated at 1.0 Sv and 9.0 Sv. Global-mean air-sea gas exchange time is calculated at 9.0 years. Using these optimal values, vertical profiles of dissolved inorganic carbon without biological production in PI and AT are estimated. Oceanic responses to anthropogenic fluctuations in substance concentrations in the atmosphere induced by the industrialization and nuclear bomb are also discribed, i.e., the effects appear significantly in AT while a signal is extremely weak in PI. A time-delay term is effective to make the PI water older near the bottom boundary.     

Characterization of Banded Iron Formations by Two-Dimensional XRF Imaging and XANES Analyses

Abstract: Synchrotron radiation-induced X–ray fluorescence (SR–XRF) and conventional X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses were applied to determine the distributions of iron, manganese, calcium, titanium, and silicon, and chemical forms of iron and trace manganese in three banded iron formation (BIF) samples. The XRF imagings on the weathered and altered BIF from the Cleaverville Formation (3. 3–3. 1 Gyr), Western Australia, showed redistributions of iron, calcium, and manganese with the disappearance of the primary bandings, while, in contrast, titanium preserved its primary depositional distribution. The XRF imagings on the BIF from the Hamersley Group (2. 5 Gyr), Western Australia, showed that manganese and titanium distribute originally at boundary region between the iron-rich mesoband and the silica-rich mesoband. The X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) analysis revealed that the chemical forms of manganese and iron well represent the rhythmic change of the bandings.     

On the importance of accurately ray-traced troposphere corrections for Interferometric SAR data

Numerical weather models offer the possibility to compute corrections for a variety of space geodetic applications, including remote sensing techniques like interferometric SAR. Due to the computational complexity, exact ray-tracing is avoided in many cases and mapping approaches are applied to transform vertically integrated delay corrections into slant direction. Such an approach works well as long as lateral atmospheric gradients are small enough to be neglected. But since such an approximation holds only for very rare cases it is investigated how horizontal gradients of different atmospheric constituents can evoke errors caused by the mapping strategy. Moreover, it is discussed how sudden changes of wet refractivity can easily lead to millimeter order biases when simplified methods are applied instead of ray-tracing. By an example, based on real InSAR data, the differences of the various troposphere correction schemes are evaluated and it is shown how the interpretation of the geophysical signals can be affected. In addition, it is studied to which extend troposphere noise can be reduced by applying the exact ray-tracing solution.     

Selection and trajectory design to mission secondary targets

Recently, with new trajectory design techniques and use of low-thrust propulsion systems, missions have become more efficient and cheaper with respect to propellant. As a way to increase the mission’s value and scientific return, secondary targets close to the main trajectory are often added with a small change in the transfer trajectory. As a result of their large number, importance and facility to perform a flyby, asteroids are commonly used as such targets. This work uses the Primer Vector theory to define the direction and magnitude of the thrust for a minimum fuel consumption problem. The design of a low-thrust trajectory with a midcourse asteroid flyby is not only challenging for the low-thrust problem solution, but also with respect to the selection of a target and its flyby point. Currently more than 700,000 minor bodies have been identified, which generates a very large number of possible flyby points. This work uses a combination of reachability, reference orbit, and linear theory to select appropriate candidates, drastically reducing the simulation time, to be later included in the main trajectory and optimized. Two test cases are presented using the aforementioned selection process and optimization to add and design a secondary flyby to a mission with the primary objective of 3200 Phaethon flyby and 25143 Itokawa rendezvous.     

A GIS-based study toward forecast of suburban forest change

At a time when the concept of ‘human and environmental symbiosis’ has taken on much significance, protection of suburban forests (i.e. forests adjacent to or near developed areas) is a topic that has drawn much attention. Suburban forests have, since ancient times, been places where people have gathered firewood and cultured trees. As a result, the vegetation of suburban forests is only partially natural and continues to change as the forms of human activity in and around them changes. Accurate forecasts of how suburban forests will change are, therefore, an important element in the debate over how to protect them. In this study, a suburban forest was analyzed with laser radar sensing, multi-spectrum scanning, digital photogrammetry analysis, aerial photograph interpretation, and a field survey. Data gathered using these techniques were compiled on a GIS to forecast future changes in the forest. Aerial photographs taken over the past 50 years were analyzed to illuminate changes in the forest over that period. Specifically, comparisons of precise Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) measured by using digital photogrammetry workstations made it possible to estimate growth in forest height. The possible future conversion of such results to estimates of amounts of carbon dioxide consolidated by forests should be very significant for discussions of global environmental problems. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MEAN SEA LEVEL AND SEA SURFACE VARIABILITY OF NQRTHWEST PACIFIC OCEAN AND EASTERN CHINA SEAS FROM GEOSAT ALTIMETRY

Collinear analysis technique is widely used for determining sea surface variability with Geosat altimeterdata from its Exact Repeat Mission(ERM).But most of the researches have been only on global scaleor in oceans deeper than 2000 m.In shallow shelf waters this method is hampered by the inaccuracy ofocean tide data supplied with Geosat Geophysical Data Records(GDRs).This work uses a modified collinearanalysis technique characterized by simultaneous separation of mean sea level and ocean tide with theleast squares method,to compute sea surface variability in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and eastern ChinaSeas.The mean sea level map obtained contains not ouly bathymetric but also dynamic features such asamphidromes,indicating considerable improvement over previous works.Our sea surface variability mapsshow clearly the main current system,the well-known Zhejiang coastal upwelling,and a northern East Chi-na Sea meso-scale eddy in good agreement with satellite sea surface temperature(SST)observation and his-to