A Simulating Experiment in the Process of Soil Erosion on Bare Land in Mt. Tanakami

In order to understand the process of surface erosion and acquire basic data of conditions on hillslope without vege tation, a sprinkling experiment is conducted on a bare slope in Mt. Tanakami in the central part of Japan. Based on the mea surements of runoff, mean soil erosion depth, and sediment yield, etc. , the results suggest the following characteristics in the process of surface erosion in the experimental area. (1) The occurrence of sediment discharge is interrupted; (2) Surface runoff is a saturated overland flow; (3) The mean soil erosion depth is thick compared with other areas in Mt. Tanakami;(4) Sediment discharge process is detachment- limited.     

Modeling households’ decisions on reconstruction of houses damaged by earthquakes––Japanese case study

In this study, households’ decisions on reconstruction of damaged houses were modeled, using questionnaire data in Japan. Characteristics of households’ decisions were investigated using parameter estimation results. The effects of subsidizing policy were evaluated as follows. First, subsidy for rebuilding may be effective for the households whose houses were heavily damaged. Second, there is a possibility that subsidy accelerated rebuilding of houses by the households having children. Third, subsidy for rebuilding may not be effective for elderly people’s households and households in depopulated areas.     

Satellite detection of red tide in Ariake Sound, 1998–2001

High resolution SeaWiFS data was used to detect red tide events that occurred in the Ariake Sound, Japan, a small embayment known as one of the most productive areas in Japan. SeaWiFS chlorophyll data clearly showed that a large red tide event, which damaged seaweed (Nori) cultures, started early in December 2000 in Isahaya Bay, expanded to the whole sound and persisted to the end of February 2001. The monthly average of SeaWiFS data from May 1998 to December 2001 indicated that the chlorophyll peaks appeared twice a year, in early summer and in fall, after the peaks of rain and river discharge. The SeaWiFS data showed that the red tide event during 2000–2001 winter was part of the fall bloom; however, it started later and continued significantly longer than other years. Satellite ocean color data is useful to detect the red tide; however the algorithms require improvement to accurately estimate chlorophyll in highly turbid water and in red tide areas.     

Mesopelagic fishes of the Bering Sea and adjacent northern North Pacific Ocean

Fourteen midwater trawl collections to depths of 450 m to 1,400 m were taken at eleven stations in the Bering Sea and adjoining regions of the northern North Pacific by the R/V Hakuho Maru during the summer of 1975. A total of 29 kinds of fishes were identified. Mesopelagic fishes of the families Myctophidae, Gonostomatidae and Bathylagidae predominated in the catches, contributing 14 species (94%) of the fishes caught.Seventeen species of fishes were caught in the Bering Sea, and all of these are known from nearby areas. The mesopelagic fish fauna of the Bering Sea is similar to that in adjoining regions of the northern North Pacific Ocean: endemic species are rare or absent. Stenobrachius nannochir was usually the most common mesopelagic fish in our catches.Stenobrachius leucopsarus is a diel vertical migrant that is usually the dominant mesopelagic fish in modified Subarctic waters of the northeastern Pacific. The change in dominance fromS. nannochir in the western Bering Sea toS. leucopsarus in the eastern Bering Sea is related to differences in oceanographic conditions.     

Some features of jump in water temperature in aSargassum forest

To clarify the influence of aSargassum forest on water temperature distributions observations were made inside and outside aSargassum forest off the Nagata Shore on the northern Saiki Bay open to the Bungo Channel on the Pacific side of Kyushu, Japan. About sixty thermistor probes were deployed at 0.5 m depth intervals from the bottom to the sea surface at seven stations spaced at 50–80 m distances along two transects: one inside the forest and the other outside. Water temperature was measured at five minutes intervals from 6 to 9 August 1987 with thermistor probes. The spatial standing crop distribution of theSargassum forest along the transects was investigated. A water temperature jump of about 2°C, recorded during the observation, is probably caused by an intrusion of a warm water mass from the central Bungo Channel to Saiki Bay. The water temperature jump under theSargassum forest on the rough bottom with stones occurred one to two hours behind that outside the forest (sandy bed) although the distance between the transects inside and outside the forest was only 50–80 m. It is suggested that theSargassum forest and the rough bottom would prevent intruding warm water from smoothly replacing cold water due to resistance of theSargassum species and the bottom to a current.     

Life history ofEuphausia similis (crustacea,euphausiacea) in Sagami Bay,central Japan

The life history ofEuphausia similis G.O. Sars in Sagami Bay, central Japan, has been studied by examining the abundance, size distribution, and occurrence of each growing stage from egg to adult. Three cohorts were laid within the period from July 1979 to July 1980. Individuals of cohort I of 1980 were laid in November and December 1979, and matured and spawned in March and April of the following year. Those of cohort II of 1980 laid in January and February 1980 should mature in November and spawn after December, by analogy with cohort II of 1979. Cohort III of 1980 was laid in April 1980, but decreased in number in July. Cohort II was the dominant cohort in Sagami Bay throughout the period studied. From December 1979 to April 1980 when the mixing layer was present, many eggs ofE. similis were in the epipelagic zone. It is suggested that the spawning season ofE. similis roughly coincided with the season of active feeding, indicated by high fullness of stomachs in individuals. The production of juveniles and adults was about 1.33 mg C m^–2 day^–1, and the production to bio mass (P/B) ratio was estimated to be 4.78 between July 1979 and July 1980.     

Annual and interannual variations of large-scale circulation over the tropics as revealed from OLR data

In this study, the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data of eight years have been used to investigate the annual and interannual variations of large-scale circulation over the tropics. The results of EOF analysis indicate that the first three eigenvectors reflect the essential features in OLR annual variation. However, they contribute little to the interannual change. In comparison, the fourth to the sixth components have very large year-to-year variations. The pronounced anomalies are located over the tropics with east-west dipole pattern. It implies that ENSO events are related closely to the variation of the Walker circulation.     

Irrotational,progressive surface gravity waves near the limiting height

Numerical solutions of irrotational, progressive surface gravity waves in water of a constant depth are obtained by means of an iterative method. Our results suggest that waves with the surface slope angle greater than/6 may exist. The calculated phase velocity of deep water waves near the wave steepness 0.14 is significantly smaller than the value given by the Stokes' fourth approximation.In order to check our method, we apply it to the problem proposed byDavies (1951), which is hypothetical but similar to the present problem, and for which the exact solution is known. In this case our results show good agreement with the exact solution.     

Difference characteristics of sea surface temperature observed by GLI and AMSR aboard ADEOS-II

This study compares infrared and microwave measurements of sea surface temperature (SST) obtained by a single satellite. The simultaneous observation from the Global Imager (GLI: infrared) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR: microwave) aboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) provided an opportunity for the intercomparison. The GLI-and AMSR-derived SSTs from April to October 2003 are analyzed with other ancillary data including surface wind speed and water vapor retrieved by AMSR and SeaWinds on ADEOS-II. We found no measurable bias (defined as GLI minus AMSR), while the standard deviation of difference is less than 1°C. In low water vapor conditions, the GLI SST has a positive bias less than 0.2°C, and in high water vapor conditions, it has a negative (positive) bias during the daytime (nighttime). The low spatial resolution of AMSR is another factor underlying the geographical distribution of the differences. The cloud detection problem in the GLI algorithm also affects the difference. The large differences in high-latitude region during the nighttime might be due to the GLI cloud-detection algorithm. AMSR SST has a negative bias during the daytime with low wind speed (less than 7 ms⁻¹), which might be related to the correction for surface wind effects in the AMSR SST algorithm.     

REE Abundance and REE Minerals in Granitic Rocks in the Nanling Range,Jiangxi Province,Southern China,and Generation of the REE‐rich Weathered Crust Deposits

Studies of Mesozoic granites associated with rare earth element (REE)‐rich weathered crust deposits in southernmost Jiangxi Province indicate that they have high‐K to shoshonite compositions and belong to ilmenite‐series I‐type granites. Of the studied rocks at 59–292 ppm of bulk REE content, the highest are seen in the biotite granites of Dingnan (358, 429 ppm) and mafic biotite granite of the Wuliting Granite (344 ppm) near the Dajishan tungsten mine, both areas where weathered‐crust REE deposits occur. REE‐bearing accessory minerals in these granites are mainly zircon, apatite and allanite, and REE‐fluorocarbonates are common. REE enrichment occurs in the rims of apatite crystals, and in fluorocarbonates that occur along grain boundaries of and cracks in major silicate minerals, and in fluorocarbonates that replaced altered biotite. It is therefore thought that a major part of the REE content of these granites was concentrated during deuteric activity, rather than during magmatic crystallization. The crack‐filling REE‐fluorocarbonates could subsequently have been easily leached out and deposited in weathered crust developed during a long period of exposure.