Effects of plant roots on the soil erosion rate under simulated rainfall with high kinetic energy

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of herbaceous plant roots on interrill erosion using two herbaceous species: clover (Trifolium repens) and oats (Avena sativa). We developed a simple rainfall simulator with relatively high normalized kinetic energy (KE; 23.2 J m^?2 mm^?1). Under simulated rainfall, we measured eroded soil for 42 boxes with various amounts of aboveground and belowground biomass. Aboveground vegetation had a significant effect on the soil erosion rate (SER). We found a clear negative relationship between the percent vegetation cover (c) and the SER. In contrast, plant roots showed no effects on the SER. The SER was not significantly different between the boxes with and without plant roots under similar c conditions. Thus, plant roots could have less of an effect on the SER under higher KE conditions.

Editor M.C. Acreman Associate editor N. Verhoest     

Relationship between macrobenthos and physical habitat characters in tidal flat in eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan

The investigations were carried out at 6 tidal flats located on the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. This study was focused on physical characteristics of sediments, namely as particle size of sediment and difference in elevation, and generalizes the relationship between sediments and macrobenthos. A total of 192 species were collected at 187 stations at 6 tidal flats. Physical characteristics of sediment were classified into 9 groups by cluster analysis in relation to sediment particle size and difference in elevation. Those groups had also significant difference in physical characteristics of sediments, and were characterized by some specific macrobenthos species. Distribution of macrobenthos can be explained by the classification of physical characteristics of sediment. These findings show the possibility to predict the variety of macrobenthos community using the physical characteristics of sediment.     

The role of crabs (Macrophthalmus japonicus) burrows on organic carbon cycle in estuarine tidal flat,Japan

The objective of this study is to elucidate the burrow structure and to clarify the role of burrows in material cycle in the tidal flat. In our work, we focused on the dominant species in muddy tidal flat, crab Macrophthalmus japonicus.Burrow structure of Macrophthalmus japonicus was investigated on a Katsuura river tidal flat in Tokushima prefecture, Japan, using in situ resin casting. Sampling was conducted in August 2006, and a total of 48 burrow casts were obtained. Burrows consisted mainly of J-shaped structures (98%) while the rest belonged to U-shaped structures (2%). The maximum measured burrow volume was 120 cm³ and wall surface area was 224 cm², while maximum burrow length and depth were 23.2 cm and 16.5 cm, respectively. Burrow volume and surface area were strongly correlated with carapace width of M. japonicus. Investigation of the individual number of M. japonicus in 13 quadrats (50 × 50 × 20 cm) was conducted using 2 mm sieve. The number of M. japonicus was 15–31 ind./m². Using cohort analysis we estimated that surface area of burrows was 0.07–0.15 m²/m².CO₂ emission rate was measured at the surface sediment during the period from June to December 2008. Results varied from 13.8 ± 2.2 to 49.4 ± 3.2 mg CO₂/m²/h, and organic carbon decomposition was 3.8 ± 0.6–13.5 ± 0.9 mg C/m²/h. This leads the increase of organic carbon decomposition by 1.1 times, because of the expansion of the tidal flat surface area by burrowing activity. Organic carbon decomposition in burrow walls therefore contributed to organic matter decomposition in the tidal flat. These results indicated that in situ activities of Macrophthalmus japonicus significantly influence the material cycle and it is important to consider the existence of burrow in order to understand the fluxes of materials and to evaluate the purification function of the tidal flat.     

ASCA and ROSAT observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy RX J0437.4−4711

Results of ASCA and ROSAT observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy RX J0437.4−4711 are presented. The X-ray continuum spectrum can be described by the sum of a power law with photon index 2.15 ± 0.04 and a soft emission component characterized by a blackbody with temperature 29 ± 2 eV. The total luminosity of the soft component is larger than that of the power-law component if the power law is cut off around a few hundred keV. A weak absorption edge with τ = 0.26 ± 0.13 at the rest-frame energy of E  = 0.83 ± 0.05 keV and an Fe Kα line with EW = 430 ± 220 eV at an energy E  = 6.47 ± 0.15 keV are also detected. The X-ray flux showed a 47 per cent increase between two ASCA observations 4 months apart, but no spectral variability was seen. We argue that reprocessing of the hard X-ray emission cannot produce all the soft X-ray emission, since the total luminosity of the soft component is larger than that of the integrated power-law component. Similarities with some stellar black hole candidates are briefly discussed.     

应用CT扫描研究非饱和砂土中污染物的迁移规律

应用CT扫描技术对两种稳定非饱和状态的砂土试样分层进行扫描,得到不同深度CT扫描层图像,采用Image J图像处理软件将CT图像转化为CT数均值,然后在稳定非饱和试样中分别间断性连续注入污染物KI溶液,测定不同时间间隔CT扫描图像,计算注入污染物先后扫描图像结果的差值,建立CT数均值和污染物迁移之间的关系,研究污染物在非饱和砂土中的运移特征,得出非饱和砂土中污染物浓度随时间和深度的变化规律,对研究其他介质中污染物的迁移具有重要的指导作用。     

RE J2248−511: not all variable, ultrasoft, X-ray AGN have narrow Balmer lines

We present ASCA data on RE J2248−511, extending existing optical and soft X-ray coverage to 10 keV, and monitoring the soft component. These data show that, despite a very strong ultrasoft X-ray excess below 0.3 keV and a soft 0.3–2 keV spectral index in earlier ROSAT data, the hard X-ray spectrum ( α ∼−0.8; 0.6–10 keV) is typical of type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN), and the soft component has since disappeared. Optical data taken at two different epochs show that the big blue bump is also highly variable. The strength of the ultrasoft X-ray component and the extreme variability in RE J2248−511 are reminiscent of the behaviour observed in many narrow line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s). However, the high-energy end of the ROSAT spectrum, the ASCA spectrum and the Balmer line full widths at half maximum of ∼3000 km s⁻¹ in RE J2248−511 are typical of normal Seyfert 1 AGN.
The change in the soft X-ray spectrum as observed in the ROSAT and ASCA data is consistent with the behaviour of Galactic Black Hole Candidates (GBHCs) as they move from a high to a low state, i.e. a fall in the ultrasoft component and a hardening of the X-ray continuum. This GBHC analogy has also been proposed for NLS1s. Alternatively, the variability may be caused by opacity changes in a hot, optically thin corona which surrounds a cold, dense accretion disc; this was first suggested by Guainazzi et al. for 1H 0419−577, an object which shows remarkably similar properties to RE J2248−511.     

Maximum seismic displacement of inelastic systems based on energy concept

The energy balance and energy input of Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDF) systems under earthquake motion is studied for elastic and inelastic systems. The maximum displacement of an inelastic system is related to that of an elastic system having the same initial stiffness and mass by considering the earthquake energy input per cycle of oscillation. With an assumption that the cyclic energy input is equal for both elastic and inelastic system for intermediate- and long-period systems, a simplified relation is suggested. Newmark's equal energy rule is shown to be the upper bound of the simplified relation; the lower bound of maximum response displacement is also derived in this paper. The numerical analysis results were mostly shown to fall between the proposed upper and lower bounds. A separate approximate relation is proposed for short-period systems. The reason for divergence from the suggested relations is discussed for short-period systems. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Geochemical behavior of rare-earth elements and other major and minor elements in soundproducing and silent beach sands in Japan

The major element composition of sound-producing sand is reported together with rare-earth elements (REE) and other selected elements for the first time. Rare-earth element concentrations in beach sands from Miyagi and Tottori in Japan were determined by induction-coupled, argon-plasma spectrometry (ICP-MS) to characterize the REE of sound-producing and silent sands relative to the parental rocks. Sound-producing sand beaches are very common and all over in Japan: five beaches in Miyagi and 2 in Tottori are selected with other silent sand beaches in the areas. Both sound-producing sand and silent sand samples from Miyagi and Tottori contain more than 60wt% of SiO2 and are composed mainly of quartz and feldspar. Miyagi sand samples are characterized by light REE enrichment and flat chondrite-normalized patterns that are similar to those of local source sandstone. However, all sand samples from Miyatojima in Miyagi show positive Eu anomalies, a characteristic feature not shown in other sand samples from Miyagi. Tottori sand samples also are characterized by high REE contents and remarkable positive Eu anomalies. The sands containing lower REE contents are due to high quartz and feldspar contents. Miyatojima sand samples and Tottori sand samples have high REE contents and show remarkable positive Eu anomalies due to the presence of feldspar. The best results are obtained using all of the geological methods and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as a measure of the similarity between sound-producing sand and silent sand. The difference between sound-producing sand and silent sand is obtained from the PCA results.