Locomotor activity rhythm in the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica elvers

Under artificial LD cycles(6,12,18 L),the elvers of Japanese eel,Anguilla japonica,showed a 24 h cycle of locomotor activity rhythm being most active at light transitions:the eels' activity rose to a primary peak after lights-off,followed by a quiescent period during which they buried into the shelters or lying motionlessly on sand for most of the time,and then reached a secondary peak before lights-on.Elvers could resynchronize their activity rhythm with a new photo cycle within 4 d.Moreover,their activity level at dark phase significantly increased as the light period was prolonged:higher activity levels during shorter dark period.However,the elvers did not display clearly the existence of a circadian rhythm under constant light or dark conditions.The timing of daily activity rhythm evidenced in the Japanese eels may occur through the action of the LD cycles with a weak participation of an endogenous circadian system.In all the LD cycles,over 99% of the activity occurred in the dark phase,indicating that the eels were always nocturnally active no matter what time of day it might be.Under 12 L conditions,the eels' activity level and the time outside sand were significantly elevated both at light and dark phases as temperature increased from 10~15 to 20~25 ℃.The activity rhythm pattern(i.e.,two peaks occurring around light transitions) did not apparently change among temperatures.However,in contrast with the primary activity peaks immediately after lights-off at 20 and 25 ℃,the timing of the primary peaks at 10 and 15 ℃ showed a latency of a few hours following lights-off,indicating the inhibiting effect of low temperature on the eels' activity.     

Model simulations of carbon sequestration in the northwest Pacific by patch fertilization

Iron fertilization of nutrient-rich surface waters of the ocean is one possible way to help slow the rising levels of atmospheric CO₂ by sequestering it in the oceans via biological carbon export. Here, I use an ocean general circulation model to simulate a patch of nutrient depletion in the subpolar northwest Pacific under various scenarios. Model results confirm that surface fertilization is an inefficient way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere (Gnanadesikan et al., 2003), since only about 20% of the exported carbon comes initially from the atmosphere. Fertilization reduces future production and thus CO₂ uptake by utilizing nutrients that would otherwise be available later. Effectively, this can be considered as leakage when compared to a control run. This “effective” leakage and the actual leakage of sequestered CO₂ cause a significant, rapid decrease in carbon retention (only 30–45% retained after 10 years and less than 20% after 50 years). This contrasts markedly with the almost 100% retention efficiency for the same duration using the same model, when carbon is disposed directly into the northwest Pacific (Matsumoto and Mignone, 2005). As a consequence, the economic effectiveness of patch fertilization is poor in two limiting cases of the future price path of carbon. Sequestered carbon in patch fertilization is lost to the atmosphere at increasingly remote places as time passes, which would make monitoring exceedingly difficult. If all organic carbon from one-time fertilization reached the ocean bottom and remineralized there, acidification would be about −0.05 pH unit with O₂ depletion about −20 μmol kg⁻¹. These anomalies are probably too small to seriously threaten deep sea biota, but they are underestimated in the model because of its large grid size. The results from this study offer little to advocate purposeful surface fertilization as a serious means to address the anthropogenic carbon problem.     

Measuring the k–S–p relations on DNAPLs migration

Migration characteristics of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) in the subsurface can be expressed as a water–DNAPL two-phase system based on mainly the k–S–p relations, which describe the relations among relative permeability (k), degree of water saturation (S), and capillary pressure head (p). The aims of this research are to develop an experimental system with new type of probes, such as the electrical conductivity probe for measuring the degree of water saturation and the hydrophilic and hydrophobic tensiometer for measuring the pore water and DNAPL pressures, and also to estimate the results obtained from the developed experimental system. From these tests, the excellent k–S–p relations were obtained and the efficiency and validity of this developed experimental system have been confirmed in terms of the concept of the scaling coefficient calculated by interfacial tensions.     

Excess228Th in the airborne dust: an indicator of continental dust from the East Asian deserts

Thorium isotopes in the airborne dust collected at Tsukuba Science City in Japan from January 1981 to December 1982 show clear seasonal variations. Especially²²⁸Th in the airborne particles have a typical maximum cincentration between February and April, which is about an order of magnitude higher than during the remainder of the year. According to the result of size distribution of thorium isotope-bearing particles in the air, about 53% of²²⁸Th is associated with the particles less than 1.6 μm aerodynamic diameter. These results reveal that²²⁸Th in the airborne particles is present in fine soily matters originating from the East Asian deserts.     

汶川地震前的b值变化

Gutenberg-Richter定理给出了地震频度随震级的分布特征.大量研究表明频度-震级关系的斜率（b值）在大地震孕育的过程中会出现减小.为了考察b值在汶川地震孕育过程中的时间演化特征,本文尝试基于破裂断层选取研究区域,考察了2000年1月至2008年4月间,汶川地震（M_S8.0）破裂区的地震活动性,并对该区域b值的变化进行了探讨.结果表明,在2005年中至2006年底,地震月频度及季度频度有一个较明显的下降.b值从2002年始至地震前呈现出一个长期趋势性减小;在地震前约半年,出现快速、显著的下降.b值的这一时间变化特征与其他研究者报道的日本东北M_W9.0级地震前的b值变化特征具有很高相似性,可能反映了大地震准备过程中的应力变化.以上结果有益于认识和理解大地震孕育演化过程,同时也表明b值在中长期地震灾害评估中具有潜在价值.     

基于参考台的盲源分离法在抑制地磁场近场噪音中的应用研究

随着城市建设的不断发展,地磁场观测受到的人文干扰越来越严重.汽车、地铁、高铁等产生的近场噪音造成了地磁脉动等空间场源信号难以被精确观测,严重影响了地磁观测资料的实际使用价值.因此抑制这些近场噪音、提取空间场源信号具有科学意义和应用价值.本研究将远场参考法和盲源信号分离法相结合,提出了一种能有效分离空间场源信号和近场噪音的方法.首先,基于仿真分析,我们准确分离了不同特征的源信号,阐明了此方法的有效性.然后,我们将该方法应用于日本千叶地区受电车干扰较为严重的实际磁场观测数据,并选用数据质量较高的KAK国际基准台作为远场参考,实现了地磁脉动和电车干扰信号的分离,并在此基础上对观测台站的近场噪音进行了抑制.这些结果表明基于参考台的盲源信号分离法在抑制近场噪音、提取地磁场信号中是有效的,可能在电磁法勘探中具有潜在的应用价值.     

How hydrological factors initiate instability in a model sandy slope

Knowledge of the mechanisms of rain‐induced shallow landslides can improve the prediction of their occurrence and mitigate subsequent sediment disasters. Here, we examine an artificial slope's subsurface hydrology and propose a new slope stability analysis that includes seepage force and the down‐slope transfer of excess shear forces. We measured pore water pressure and volumetric water content immediately prior to a shallow landslide on an artificial sandy slope of 32°: The direction of the subsurface flow shifted from downward to parallel to the slope in the deepest part of the landslide mass, and this shift coincided with the start of soil displacement. A slope stability analysis that was restricted to individual segments of the landslide mass could not explain the initiation of the landslide; however, inclusion of the transfer of excess shear forces from up‐slope to down‐slope segments improved drastically the predictability. The improved stability analysis revealed that an unstable zone expanded down‐slope with an increase in soil water content, showing that the down‐slope soil initially supported the unstable up‐slope soil; destabilization of this down‐slope soil was the eventual trigger of total slope collapse. Initially, the effect of apparent soil cohesion was the most important factor promoting slope stability, but seepage force became the most important factor promoting slope instability closer to the landslide occurrence. These findings indicate that seepage forces, controlled by changes in direction and magnitude of saturated and unsaturated subsurface flows, may be the main cause of shallow landslides in sandy slopes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Opening and closing process of the Paleo-Tethys in Northern Thailand

The Paleo-Tethys formed a large ocean basin that existed between Laurasia and Gondwana during Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic times. It opened in the Early Devonian by the rifting of Gondwanaland and closed at around latest Triassic time by the collision of the Cimmerian continent to Laurasia (Metcalfe, 1999). We reconstructed opening and closing process of the Paleo-Tethys in Northern Thailand.     

Carboniferous foraminifers from the lower part of Paleo-Tethyan seamount-type carbonates in the Changning-Menglian Belt, western Yunnan, Southwest China

The Changning-Menglian Belt in West Yunnan, Southwest China is well-known as a closed remnant of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in East Asia (Wu et al., 1995; Liu et al., 1996). It is delineated to the east with the Lincang Massif by the Changning-Shuangjiang Fault and to the west with the Baoshan Block by the Kejie-Nandinghe Fault, and is generally subdivided into three zones: east, central, and west zones. In the central zone, various kinds of oceanic rocks such as harzburgite, cumulate websterite, gabbro, both mid-oceanic ridge basalt and oceanic island basalt, Devonian-Triassic radiolarian chert, and Carbonifer-ous-Permian massive and huge carbonates with basaltic effusives as their pedestal are exposed (Liu et al., 1991, 1996; Wu et al., 1995; Ueno et al., 2003). These Central zone rocks are now interpreted to have been emplaced as nappes structurally overlying the East and West zones, which are considered as consisting mainly of passive margin sediments of the Baoshan Block (Wu, 1991; Ueno et al., 2003).