Current structure and volume transport of the Soya Warm Current in summer

ADCP, CTD and XBT observations were conducted to investigate the current structure and temperature, salinity and density distributions in the Soya Warm Current (SWC) in August, 1998 and July, 2000. The ADCP observations clearly revealed the SWC along the Hokkaido coast, with a width of 30–35 km and an axis of maximum speed of 1.0 to 1.3 ms⁻¹, located at 20–25 km from the coast. The current speed gradually increased from the coast to a maximum and steeply decreased in the offshore direction. The SWC consisted of both barotropic and baroclinic components, and the existence of the baroclinic component was confirmed by both the density front near the current axis and vertical shear of the alongshore current. The baroclinic component strengthened the barotropic component in the upper layer near the axis of the SWC. The volume transport of the SWC was 1.2–1.3 SV in August, 1998 and about 1.5 SV and July, 2000, respectively. Of the total transport, 13 to 15% was taken up by the baroclinic component. A weak southeastward current was found off the SWC. It had barotropic characteristics, and is surmised to be a part of the East Sakhalin Current.     

Mean circulation induced over bottom topography by mesoscale variabilities in the Kuroshio Extension

Circulation could be generated over bottom topography by vertical shrinking or stretching of a water parcel, in which potential vorticity is conserved. The water parcel moves up or down over the bottom topography yielding shrinking or stretching. In addition to a prevailing current which advects the water parcel in one direction, an oscillatory motion can also induce shrinking and stretching, and circulation is consequently generated over the bottom topography, once it is averaged in time. A two-layer quasi-geostrophic model has been used to reproduce mesoscale variabilities both in and under the Kuroshio Extension around the Shatsky Rise. A combination of TOPEX and ERS altimeters provided information on an eddy field near the sea surface, while a data assimilation method was used to reconstruct the flow field below the main thermocline. Among various mesoscale processes associated with the Kuroshio, it is remarkable that topographic Rossby waves trapped over the Shatsky Rise are generated by the upper-layer mesoscale variability. A persistent anticyclonic circulation is produced on the Shatsky Rise through a water parcel moving up and down over the bottom slope, and is consistent with the observed density anomaly in the WOA94.     

Measurements of vertical air temperature gradients with dipmeter

By means of measuring the dips of horizon with a Pulfrich dipmeter, vertical air temperature gradients near the sea surface were obtained with an accuracy of ca. ±0.01°C/m, much better than a conventional method with an array of temperature sensors. The additional advantage of this technique was that the measurements were made on board a ship underway, consequently data from wide oceanic areas could be accumulated rather quickly and easily. From the results of dip measurements at 125 stations on two cruises of the T/V Oshoro Maru of the Hokkaido University, extending from the Bering Sea to the south of Australia, the temperature gradients were computed with a new formula with an assumption that the refractive index of air varied with a height only. It was found that, in the northern North Pacific Ocean, vertical air temperature gradients were positive, while in the subtropical and tropical Pacific Ocean both the negative and positive gradients were observed. Generally, in the same sea region, the temperature profiles had the similar form, irrespective of air-sea temperature differences.     

Radium isotopes in coastal and open ocean surface waters of the Western North Pacific

Using manganese-impregnated fiber extraction and high-efficiency gamma counting techniques, we measured the distribution of ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra in surface waters near the coast of Japan and in the western North Pacific. There is no evidence in our data that any significant amount of ²²⁸Ra is added to open ocean surface waters from the coastal waters around Tokyo Bay. High ²²⁸Ra concentrations (> 10 dpm/10³ kg), were observed along the Kuroshio Current as compared to < 2.5 dpm/10³ kg between 10° and 30°N of the central gyre, and hence the major source of ²²⁸Ra in the surface water is likely to be the East Asian continental shelf zones. A simple one-dimensional eddy diffusion and advection model is used to explain the observed decrease of ²²⁸Ra from coast to the open ocean. The model results indicate two mixing regimes across the Kuroshio Current System with apparent eddy diffusion coefficients of K_y = 4 × 10⁵ cm² s⁻¹ at distance y < 200 km from the coast, and K_y = 4 × 10⁷ cm² s⁻¹ at y > 200 km. Along 40°N where an eastward flow of the ‘Kuroshio Extension’ prevails, an advective flow of > 0.1 knot is consistent with the observation of nearly constant ²²⁸Ra along the track.The geographical distribution pattern of ²²⁸Ra is clearly different from that of atmospherically derived ²¹⁰Pb. Thus the ²²⁸Ra in surface water serves as a useful tracer that accompanies fluvially and coastally derived elements during their subsequent lateral transport toward the central gyre.     

Precipitation of authigenic uranium in suboxic continental margin sediments from the Okinawa Trough

Concentrations of U and Th isotopes in Okinawa Trough and East China Sea sediment cores were determined by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) to investigate the behavior of redox sensitive uranium in suboxic hemipelagic sediments and determine their significance in oceanic uranium balance. ²³⁸U concentrations and ²³⁸U/²³²Th activity ratios in the East China Sea sediments showed no remarkable variation with depth. However, ²³⁸U and ²³⁸U/²³²Th ratios in the Okinawa Trough sediments were low in the surface oxidizing layer but increased where the suboxic condition was encountered. The distribution profiles of ²³⁰Th and ²³²Th concentrations were relatively constant with depth in both the Okinawa Trough and East China Sea sediment cores. These results suggested that there has been post-depositional precipitation of authigenic uranium within the suboxic Okinawa Trough sediment column. The post-depositional precipitation rates of authigenic uranium were estimated to be 47 ± 5 to >62 ± 8 ng cm⁻² yr⁻¹; these rates were comparable to those previously reported for several anoxic sediments. A mechanism controlling precipitation of uranium may be the downward diffusion of uranium U(VI), reduction to U(IV) and finally precipitation onto the solid phase. The accumulation rate of uranium for the Okinawa Trough sediments was approximately eight times higher than the world average rate reported for suboxic sediments. This removal of uranium in the oceanic budget increases the importance of the suboxic sediment sink.     

High‐pressure minerals in shocked meteorites

Heavily shocked meteorites contain various types of high‐pressure polymorphs of major minerals (olivine, pyroxene, feldspar, and quartz) and accessory minerals (chromite and Ca phosphate). These high‐pressure minerals are micron to submicron sized and occur within and in the vicinity of shock‐induced melt veins and melt pockets in chondrites and lunar, howardite–eucrite–diogenite (HED), and Martian meteorites. Their occurrence suggests two types of formation mechanisms (1) solid‐state high‐pressure transformation of the host‐rock minerals into monomineralic polycrystalline aggregates, and (2) crystallization of chondritic or monomineralic melts under high pressure. Based on experimentally determined phase relations, their formation pressures are limited to the pressure range up to ~25 GPa. Textural, crystallographic, and chemical characteristics of high‐pressure minerals provide clues about the impact events of meteorite parent bodies, including their size and mutual collision velocities and about the mineralogy of deep planetary interiors. The aim of this article is to review and summarize the findings on natural high‐pressure minerals in shocked meteorites that have been reported over the past 50 years.     

Volume transport of the Soya Warm Current revealed by bottom-mounted ADCP and ocean-radar measurement

The vertical structure of the Soya Warm Current (SWC) was observed by a bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) in the region of the SWC axis near the Soya Strait during a 1-year period from May 2004. The ADCP data revealed a marked seasonal variability in the vertical structure, with positive (negative) vertical shear in summer and fall (winter and spring). The volume transport of the SWC is estimated on the basis of both the vertical structure observed by the ADCP and horizontal structure observed by the ocean radars near the strait. The transport estimates have a minimum in winter and a maximum in fall, with the yearly-averaged values in the range of 0.94–1.04 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹). These lie within a reasonable range in comparison to those through other straits in the Japan Sea.     

Isotope dilution sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry combined with extraction chromatography for rapid determination of 241Am in marine sediment samples: A case study in Sagami Bay, Japan

²⁴¹Am is a useful tracer for understanding biogeochemical processes in the marine environment. ²⁴¹Am also poses a potential radiation threat to human health due to the continuous increase of its concentration in the global environment. We report a rapid analytical method for determining ²⁴¹Am in marine sediments using isotope dilution sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) combined with a high-efficiency sample introduction system (APEX-Q). A selective CaF₂ co-precipitation procedure followed by TRU extraction chromatography was employed to effectively remove the major sediment matrix and to pre-concentrate ²⁴¹Am. We achieved an extremely low detection limit of 0.32 fg/g or 0.041 mBq/g (for 1 gram sediment), which is better than that of alpha spectrometry, and it allowed the accurate determination of ²⁴¹Am in low-level marine sediment samples. The accuracy and precision of the developed analytical method was evaluated using a laboratory prepared Am isotope standard solution and Ocean Sediment reference material (IAEA-368). The results were satisfactory. For sediment samples, overall chemical recoveries varied from 60–90%. The developed method was applied to the study of ²⁴¹Am depth distribution in Sagami Bay, Japan, where we observed different depth profiles between ²⁴¹Am activity and ^239+240Pu activity.     

Large kinetic power in FRII radio jets

We investigate the total kinetic powers (L _j) and ages (t _age) of powerful jets of four FR II radio sources (Cygnus A, 3C 223, 3C 284, and 3C 219) by the detail comparison of the dynamical model of expanding cocoons with observed ones. It is found that these sources have quite large kinetic powers with the ratio of L _j to the Eddington luminosity (L _Edd) resides in 0.02<L _j/L _Edd<10. Reflecting the large kinetic powers, we also find that the total energy stored in the cocoon (E _c) exceed the energy derived from the minimum energy condition (E _min): 2<E _c/E _min<160. This implies that a large amount of kinetic power is carried by invisible components such as thermal leptons (electron and positron) and/or protons.