Todorokite formation in seawater by microbial mediation

Microbial manganese oxidation in seawater was carried out in enrichment cultures which were obtained from the seawater supply system at the Marine Science Museum, Tokai University (Shimizu-shi, Japan). The manganese oxide formed was well-crystallized todorokite. The major element composition was within the range of marine manganese concretions and the O/Mn molar ratio was 1.8. The conditions for formation of manganese oxide minerals in marine environments are discussed on the basis of these results.     

Metal-organic complexes in seawater pumped up from under the ground

Metal-organic complexes of transition elements removed by Amberlite XAD-2 resin from seawater pumped up from under the ground were determined. The proportions of iron, copper and zinc retained on the resin to dissolved forms of these metals were about 70, 40 and 5%, respectively, while manganese, cobalt and nickel were not retained on the resin. These results suggest that although iron may be retained in colloidal form, a significant fraction of copper is present in some organic form(s).     

The chemical forms of transition elements in marine sediments

The chemical forms of transition metals in marine sediments are discussed on the basis of differential chemical leaching.A large part of hydrogenous transition metals in the near-shore sediments is leached with dilute acetic acid, whereas hydrogenous transition metals in the deep-sea sediments are slightly leached with the acid solution and mostly leached with the reducing agent solution. This difference is attributed to the different forms of hydrogenous iron and manganese between the near-shore and deep-sea sediments.The chemical behavior of hydrogenous transition metals in the deep-sea sediments for the acid and reducing agent leaching solutions is similar to that in ferromanganese nodules. This similarity indicates that the major parts of hydrogenous transition metals in deep-sea sediments are associated with iron-manganese oxide minerals dispersed in or coated on the sediments.     

Direct Measurements of Deep Currents in the Northern Japan Sea

Long-term current measurements by means of subsurface moorings were made for the first time at seven sites in the Japan Basin, the northern part of the Japan Sea. The objective was to directly explore the velocity field in the highly homogeneous deep water mass (the Japan Sea Proper Water) that occupies depths below 500 m. On each mooring three current meters were equipped at an approximately equal distance below about 1000 m depth. Duration of the measurements was 1 to 3 years depending on specific site. This paper describes the basic data set from the moored measurements. It is found that the deep water of the Japan Basin is very energetic with eddies and vertically coherent currents of the order of 0.1 m/s. Surprisingly, the currents and eddies exhibit strong seasonal dependence even in the deepest layers of the Basin. The observed new current features are discussed in comparison with conventional deep circulation pictures derived from hydrographic data. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The incorporation of minor transition metals into marine manganese nodules

The mechanisms of incorporation of minor transition metals into marine manganese nodules are discussed on the basis of differential chemical leaching.A small portion of iron and manganese in deep-sea nodules was dissolved in dilute acetic acid. Hydrogenous cobalt and nickel in nodules were also slightly leached with the acid solution, while 50–60 % of hydrogenous copper and zinc were leached. This difference suggests that the greater parts of hydrogenous cobalt and nickel are present in the lattices of manganese oxide phases, while the major parts of hydrogenous copper and zinc are present in the sorption sites of manganese oxide phases.The enrichment of minor transition metals in manganese nodules may be controlled by their substitution for manganese atoms in manganese oxide lattices after their sorption on manganese oxide phases.     

Factors regulating the distribution of elements in marine sediments predicted by a simulation model

The contents of oxyanionic elements (V, Se and Mo) and cationic transition metals (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) in sediments from near-shore to deep-sea environments were measured to clarify factors regulating the distribution of these elements in marine sediments. For cationic transition metals of which contents increase from near-shore to deep-sea environments, the chemical composition of pelagic clays is modeled by a mixture of aluminosilicates having the chemical composition of average shale and Fe–Mn oxides having the chemical composition of associated manganese nodules. The content of V is fairly constant in sediments from near-shore to deep-sea areas. The mixture model of average shale and manganese nodules holds also for V, although most of the V is located in the aluminosilicate lattices. The content of Se in the near-shore sediments is higher and that in the deep-sea sediments is lower than that in average shale. The high content in the near-shore sediments is interpreted as the addition of biogenic materials to aluminosilicates with average shale composition and the low content in deep-sea sediments is explained by oxidative release of Se from aluminosilicates. The content of Mo in sediments increases from near-shore to deep-sea environments. The general distribution of Mo in marine sediments is expressed by the mixture model. An anomalously high content of Mo in a near-shore sediment is attributed to adsorption of molybdate on manganese oxides.     

Barotropic instability of a viscous boundary jet

The barotropic instability of a boundary jet on a beta plane is considered with emphasis on the effect of internal viscosity. An eigenvalue problem for the disturbance equations and its inviscid version are solved by the aid of numerical methods, and instability characteristics are determined as functions of the Reynolds numberR for various values of the beta-parameter. Typical disturbance structures (eigenfunctions) are also computed. Numerical examples show that the minimum critical Reynolds numberR _cr for instability is smaller than 100. At a Reynolds number of the order of hundreds, there appears a second mode of instability in addition to the first unstable mode originating atR _cr ; a kind of ‘resonance’ between the first and second eigenvalues occurs at the particular value ofR. The neutral stability curves are accordingly multi-looped. Although each of the two unstable modes asymptotically approaches its inviscid counterpart asR→∞, the asymptotic approach to the inviscid limit is rather slow and the effect of varyingR is conspicuous even atR∼O (10⁴). It is thus demonstrated that the Reynolds number is an essential stability parameter for real boundary jets. The main part of the material contained in this paper was presented at 1981-Autumn Assembly of the Oceanographical Society of Japan.     

Basin-To-Basin and Year-To-Year Variation of Temperature and Salinity Characteristics in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Analysis of CTD data from four CREAMS expeditions carried out in summers of 1993–1996 produces distinct T-S relationships for the western and eastern Japan Basin, the Ulleung Basin and the Yamato Basin. T-S characteristics are mainly determined by salinity as it changes its horizontal pattern in three layers, which are divided by isotherms of 5°C and 1°C; upper warm water, intermediate water and deep cold water. Upper warm water is most saline in the Ulleung Basin and the Yamato Basin. Salinity of intermediate water is the highest in the eastern Japan Basin. Deep cold water has the highest salinity in the Japan Basin. T-S curves in the western Japan Basin are characterized by a salinity jump around 1.2–1.4°C in the T-S plane, which was previously found off the east coast of Korea associated with the East Sea Intermediate Water (Cho and Kim, 1994). T-S curves for the Japan Basin undergo a large year-to-year variation for water warmer than 0.6°C, which occupies upper 400 m. It is postulated that the year-to-year variation in the Japan Basin is caused by convective overturning in winter. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The partition of vanadium and molybdenum between manganese oxides and sea water

The partition of V and Mo between manganese oxides and sea water was investigated in the sea water supply system for aquaria at the Marine Science Museum, Tokai University, where both todorokite and birnessite are precipitated from aerated well sea water. The distribution coefficient of V was an order of magnitude higher than that of Mo. Assuming that the distribution coefficients can be applied to marine environments and that manganese oxides are precipitated from sea water, the calculated contents of these oxyanionic elements in manganese oxides were comparable to those in marine manganese nodules.