Differences in abundance and distribution of Alexandrium cysts in Sendai Bay,northern Japan,before and after the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake

The tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 greatly influenced the coastal benthic environment on the northern Pacific coast of Japan. We used the direct count method to investigate changes in the abundance and distribution of Alexandrium (Alexandrium tamarense and Alexandrium catenella) cysts before and after the tsunami in Sendai Bay. Densities of Alexandrium cysts in sediments collected in summer 2011 ranged from 0 to 8,190 cysts cm^?3. In the western part of the bay, the density increased greatly after the tsunami, the highest density being approximately 10 times the density recorded in 2005. Molecular identification of single cysts with multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed that Alexandrium tamarense dominated the cyst population in the southwestern part of the bay in 2011. Furthermore, accumulation of cysts on the surface sediment after disturbance of the sediment was confirmed by a laboratory experiment. The main factor causing the drastic changes in abundance and distribution of Alexandrium cysts after the earthquake was considered to be vertical and horizontal redistribution of the cysts in sediments after the tsunami.     

Accumulation in Svalbard glaciers deduced from ice cores with nuclear tests and Chernobyl reference layers

Mean net annual balance and the related spatio-temporal variations have been determined on the basis of well-dated artificial layers in shallow ice cores (Chernobyl, 1986, and atmospheric thermonuclear tests, mainly in 1961-62 in Novaya Zemlya). Seventy ice cores from 13 Svalbard glaciers have been analysed. On each glacier, in its accumulation area and at the highest elevation, one ice core was recovered down to about 40 m and sampled for radioactivity measurements to determine the 1986 and 1962-63 layer (1954 was the initial date of the nuclear tests). For each glacier, at least five complementary ice cores from the accumulation area were analysed to determine the Chernobyl reference layer. Six ice cores exhibit both the Chernobyl and nuclear tests layers and are of special interest in this study.
This work provides new data on the deposition rates of natural and artificial radioisotopes. Using ice cores samples from the Arctic glaciers, even with superimposed ice accumulation, it is possible to distinguish between the Chernobyl and the nuclear tests fallouts. This work also shows that the mean annual net balance did not significantly change for at least five ice core locations in the Svalbard glaciers for the two periods extending from 1963 to 1986 to the recent date of drilling.     

Gray box identification of flexible structures: application to robust active vibration suppression control

The paper deals with gray box identification of flexible structures and active vibration suppression from a robust control perspective. First, the linearized mathematical model of an N‐storey flexible structure is presented. Next, the generalized mathematical model is particularized for the investigated three‐storey flexible structure. The considered flexible structure is identified based on black box and gray box identification methods and the model's parametric uncertainties are deduced. Furthermore, control constraints are presented for the design problem, in case of velocity as well as acceleration feedback, from a robust control perspective. Finally, the effectiveness of the control system is tested through experiments, when the input disturbance is assumed to be a sinusoidal one as well as a historical earthquake record (1940 El Centro record). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A study on the duration and amplitude characteristics of earthquake ground motions

The duration, total power, rms amplitude, and peak ground acceleration (PGA) are examined using the data from the KiK-net digital borehole accelerograph arrays in Japan during three large earthquakes. We investigate correlations between the duration, PGA on the surface and hypocentral distance, instrumental seismic intensity, and the local site conditions. Also considered in this paper, are correlation between the duration and PGA. This present study suggests that PGA is inversely proportional to the duration.Comparing the duration, total power, rms amplitude, and PGA on the surface with those at the bottom of borehole, the duration and maximum amplitude characteristics of earthquake ground motions are investigated with emphasis on site amplification due to the local site conditions. The difference of amplification factors is not only site-dependent but also event-dependent. The comparison of the site amplification factors and the average shear-wave velocity in the upper 30-m showed a good agreement.This paper indicated that the duration and amplitude characteristics suffer a reciprocal effect due to the local site conditions and the site dependency of maximum amplitude PGA is greater than that of the duration. In view of the results, the duration is not less important than the maximum amplitude and frequency content in earthquake engineering. Moreover, this study provided meaningful information of input motion available to earthquake-resistant design.     

Effects of time series analysis protocols on transfer functions calculated from earthquake accelerograms

Transfer functions represent the ratio in the frequency domain of one ground motion to another. Transfer functions are a convenient way by which the variation of earthquake ground motions from the free-field to the foundation level of a structure can be quantified for studies of kinematic soil–structure interaction. Aside from ordinary filtering and baseline correction, substantial signal processing occurs in the computation of transfer functions, including windowing (to extract the S-wave portion of the record) and smoothing (to reduce scatter that can obscure physically significant trends). Utilizing several signal processing techniques on a sample data set, we find that detailed features of the transfer function ordinates (i.e., frequency-to-frequency variations) can be affected by the degree of smoothing and by the window length (e.g., whole record versus S-window). However, the overall shape and magnitude of the transfer functions are relatively consistent. More important than signal processing details is the frequency bandwidth over which the results are considered valid, because significant portions of the spectrum can be dominated by stochastic processes with little physical meaning. We argue that transfer functions should be interpreted over those portions of the spectrum having minimal noise impact, as indicated by high coherence.     

2003年5月26日宫城县近海地震--由工程学角度研究强震动的特征与所造成的灾害

引言2003年5月26日下午6时24分发生了震源位于宫城县近海的7.0级地震(以下简称“5·26”地震)。地震造成港口设施、东北新干线天桥部分受损,并发生滑坡。由于天桥受损导致东北新干线部分区段运输中断,不仅延误了自治体的信息传递,移动电话等也不能及时通活。万没想到的是,在与这次地震发生的同一地区,即2003年7月26日的午前0时13分M5.5,7时13分M6.2,午后4时56分M5.3的地震又相继发生,震源均位于宫城县北部地区(以下简称为“7·26”地震)。“7·26”地震造成的灾害比“5·26”地震大得多,下面,对这两次地震的受灾情况做一介绍。1“5·26”…     

Robust active vibration suppression control with constraint on the control signal: application to flexible structures

A unified mathematical framework, sustained by experimental results, is presented for robust controller design taking into account the constraint on the control signal. The design procedure is exemplified for an active vibration suppression control problem with applications to flexible structures. The considered experimental set‐up is a three‐storey flexible structure with an active mass driver placed on the last storey. First, the considered flexible structure is identified and the model's parametric uncertainties are deduced. Next, control constraints are presented for the robust control design problem, taking into account the restriction imposed on the control signal. Finally, the effectiveness of the control system is tested through experiments, when the input disturbance is assumed to be a sinusoidal one as well as a historical earthquake record (1940 El Centro record). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of irradiance on excystment of tintinnids from marine sediments

The effects of irradiance on the excystment of tintinids from marine sediments were examined by incubating sediment samples in filtered seawater under various light levels. The total incidence of tintinnid excystment over five days was significantly less at low irradiance at and less than 2.5 E m^–2sec^–1 comparing to that at higher irradiance, at and more than 6.9 E m^–2sec^–1 (p<0.01), indicating that excystment of tintinnids is inhibited under low irradiance conditions. These results imply that water depth, disturbance of surface sediments and vertical mixing of water influence the excystment of tintinnids in coastal areas because these factors determine the light levels to which the tintinnid cysts are exposed.     

Submersible observations of manganese nodule and crust deposits on the Tenpo Seamount,Northwestern Pacific

Pavements of manganese nodules and crusts and outcrops of Miocene limestones were observed on the flanks and flat top of the Tenpo Seamount during three Shinkai 2000 dives. The pre‐Miocene volcano supplied nuclei of volcanic rocks and hydrothermal manganese deposits, and subsequent slow or no sedimentation promoted deposition of abundant hydrogenetic nodules and crusts, mainly on the upper flank of the seamount. Nodule pavements generally cover calcareous sand surface sediments, while crusts cover hard outcrops composed probably of volcanic rocks. The fields of crusts and nodules are sparsely distributed with each other on scales of meters to tens of meters. The on‐site observation suggests the deposits have encountered tectonic and/or mass movements that resulted in unusual occurrences of densely stacked nodules and occasionally the nodules resting directly on crusts or hard substrates. Mineralogical and chemical compositions reveal that for nodules and crusts the encrusting manganese layers of around 1 cm thickness are composed of hydrogenetic vernadite, and diagenetic influence is negligible.     

Seismic response analysis of laterally inhomogeneous ground with emphasis on strains

The objective of this paper is to make it clear how strain behaviors are affected by the lateral inhomogeneity of ground based on both theoretical simulation and array observation of earthquake motions. We use a two-dimensional pseudo-spectral method to numerically obtain strain motions as well as acceleration motions. We applied the method to some model grounds, which have typical inhomogeneity in the horizontal direction, to estimate general features of strains and accelerations. In addition, the technique was also applied to a site where subsurface irregularity is typically found and an array observation system of earthquake motions was densely deployed. In the latter application of the method, we placed emphasis on comparisons between the observed and simulated motions.